There's a light snow falling on this most special of days, and it's causing traffic to become snarled. Yep, it's Festivus and I'm in a bad mood, because you've all disappointed me again this year. Let me take this opportunity, after brianS gets the aluminum pole out from the crawl space, to discuss all of the ways I've been let down in 2008.
1. Billy Smith -- Way to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. You got an MVP caliber performance from your catcher, another nice year from your first baseman, your starting pitching staff did yeoman's work, Dino Span was a pleasant surprise and Nick Punto didn't stink to high heaven. All you had to do was make one good move and the Twins could have had a run at a World Championship in this Yankee-less year. But no. You sat on your hands while Chad Bradford was claimed on waivers by Tampa Bay and then you go out and sign "Yesteryear" Eddie Guardado. Boo. You cost us post season baseball.
2. Glen Taylor -- You suggested that KG gave up on the Wolves before you traded him to the Celtics. Yep, KG was the problem. Since the trade, the Celtics are 92-18 during the regular season. In the last three plus seasons, the Wolves are 91-181. Since the trade, the Wolves are 26-82. You should have fired Kevin McHale about six or seven years ago. Your roster is a mess, your front office is a joke, and you frittered away the best years of KG's career. But, at least we've found out the answer to the question, "What if KG was actually surrounded by a couple of players?" The answer is this: his team turns into one of the greatest teams of all time. And thanks for this: Before the trade, I'd started to compare him to Bill Russell. My comparison was made to suggest that he is so dominant on the court in all facets that he doesn't need to be the top scorer on a club or take the last second shot to be the best player on the floor by far. The comparison kind of fell apart (no rings, dude), but he's got the ring now, and everyone else is picking up on a comparison I made years ago.
3. NDSU football -- The last two years of their transition period to DIV I-AA (or whatever they call it now), the Bison were 20-2 with three wins over I-A schools, including a manhandling of the Gophers. This year, finally(!), they were eligible for the playoffs, and they went 6-5 and miss the playoffs. Oy vey!
4. Minnesota Vikings -- Okay, I'm not really disappointed. I am more amused with the various failures of the Vikings. We all know about "Take a knee, Denny" or "41-doughnut" or the game in Arizona where Jake McClown (sic) knocked the Vikings out of the playoffs, and various other indignities suffered by this club. When I was a kid, the Vikings had the decency of either losing in the Super Bowl or getting shafted by the referees (that wasn't a Hail Mary, that was freaking offensive pass interference). But, now, they just stumble through one shop of horrors after another. Seven fumbles against Atlanta. I suppose the impossible can happen and the Vikings can still make the playoffs (impossible, because they usually screw up and miss the playoffs these days). But, I will note that the schedule maker ominously set up the last three games against Arizona (McClown), Atlanta (Take a knee), and New York (41-0). Cover your eyes, Vikings fans. I'll be watching the events like a proverbial car wreck.
5. Target Field -- Jeebus. The Twins could have gone with LOL Park and we would have all enjoyed that for about a millenia. But no. Target is a good enough Minnesota company and they sell this pasta sauce that my wife likes, and hell, they've got decent enough merchandise, the aisles are well-marked, and the stores aren't crowded and dirty like that outfit out of Arkansas, but good grief, don't the Twins realize the bad karma associated with playing in a facility named for this particular corporation? It's bad enough that they are going to be located right next door to those fools at 600 First Avenue North, but do they have to have the same corporate sponsor? This is more fate tempting than I'm comfortable with. Then again, the Twins have shared a stadium with the Vi-Queens for 47 seasons, so maybe they can survive the name Target Field. However, if they hire Dave Winfield to be the GM, I'm running for the hills. Then again, considering the occupant at the top of this list, I'm willing to roll the dice with someone else. Just so Carl Pohlad doesn't hire someone because he always wanted to meet him.
6. Those two Iowegians caught humping at the Metrodome -- It's too bad that they became the story, because that game was one of those things of beauty that don't come along very often. Well, okay, they do come along quite a bit for the Goofers. I don't know why I hate the Gophers -- they didn't really do anything to me. They aren't a natural rivalry for the Bison, although they do make a nice, soft non-conference opponent for the Thundering Herd. I guess I really enjoy seeing them fail. It's too bad, because the Goofers of the early sixties were a great club. I suppose when my Dad was in high school, they were fun to watch. Maybe, with the new stadium, they'll become competitive. But, hey, Joel Maturi is talking about extending Brewster's contract on the heels of his epic collapse, including that 55-nil debacle against Iowa at home. Come on, Maturi, do it! Extend him! But, again, these two clowns mating in the wilds of a Metrodome bathroom has served to deflect the attention away from the, um, pounding, that occurred on the field of play inside the stadium.
There you go. I could go on and on, but I've got to wrestle ubelmann now.
Is it just me or does Borzi paint a pretty unflattering picture of neophyte GM Bill Smith? Overwhelmed? Not words I like to hear. I don't recall if any of our esteemed beat writers painted a picture of a clubhouse disappointed over the lack of a move. Then again, maybe I missed that.
I was driving down the road from Eagan (which the Headquarters of The WGOM, in case you haven't heard) to the beautiful city of Winona yesterday afternoon when the thought struck me, man I hate making this drive. No, that wasn't it, although there's some truth to that, too. I thought, man, maybe Billy Smith just really played the Seattle Mariners big time. Yep, Jarrod Washburn is a pretty sucktastic pitcher and he's in no way one of the five best pitchers on this club (unless we traded about three of our guys to get him), but maybe he was really just blocking the White Sox.
Washburn and his 4.95 xFIP doesn't exactly look like anything much when lined up against the White Sox pitchers, either. He looked like even less of a deal for them last week before Jose Contreras got hurt. It's not inconceivable that the White Sox would be interested, especially since Contreras might be out most of next year, too, if he ever gets back. He almost makes sense in Chicago.
Plus, Billy tried to pry Adrian Beltre from the Mariners last month and he found out that they wanted the moon and the stars for Beltre, so there's pretty good evidence right there that they aren't (why not? because they are delusional) interested in a salary dump. Then, the Yankees made an offer for Washburn before the deadline that Seattle didn't take. It doesn't seem likely that they'd just dump him for nothing two weeks later. They are irrational, but it's quite possible that they are consistent -- they expect to fleece everyone the way that they got fleeced in the Bedard trade. They expect other teams to take their shit and "give them value" for it, as if reducing their payroll by $13 million isn't value.
Washburn himself was absolutely dying to come to the Twins. Just read this from Larry Stone, a Seattle beat writer:
If you wondered about Jarrod Washburn's reaction to not being traded, he wore it on his face as he walked into the clubhouse today. He did not look happy. And, it turned out, he wasn't. He said he found out yesterday about the possible Twins' trade about the same time he found out it wasn't happening.
"I had mixed emotions,'' he said. "I was happy and upset at the same time."
The happiness came from the possibility of being traded to the Twins, which was just about the top team on his list of possible destinations. His home, he said, is an hour and a half drive away.
"If the rumors are accurate, it's too bad,'' he said. "It would have been ideal. It would have been perfect. It would have gotten me to a place that's contending and it's in my own damn backyard.''
On the rumors that the Twins were offering Boof Bonser, Washburn said: "If that was the case, how much more do you think you're going to get? A young guy with a great arm who's cheap.''
What do you think the clubhouse is like in Seattle these days? Washburn is openly admitting he wants out and basically telling the front office, you fools, you got a great deal there and you turned it down!
A little more reading from Mr. Stone confirms that the Mariners are absolutely kidding themselves. Here's the general manager:
"In general, on the issue of dumping salaries, our goal here is to get better. Even back to the trade deadline, and moving forward, we want to get players back that will make us better now and in the future. Money can give you flexibility, but there's no guarantee you can turn that flexibility into anything.
"I've said all along, with players under our control that people are assuming we want to move, we'd like to get value back for them. We want to get the best deal we can get for them, now or later. Other deals may come along and develop into something larger, and even involve us eating some money to get players that make us better.''
On the issue of "no guarantee that can turn that flexibility into anything," the USS Mariner retorts
This off-season, at least one free agent pitcher who has superior numbers to Washburn will sign a one-year deal for under Washburn’s 2010 salary of $10m. And here, I mean numbers indicative of a pitcher’s ability:
* Strikeout rate
* Walk rate
* Line drive rate (and HR rate)
* Ground ball/fly ball split
I predict this year we’ll see at least one pitcher who is clearly superior enough to Washburn to make arguing moot, but here’s our specific criteria: at least 180 IP in 2008, K rate equal or better than Washburn’s, walk rate equal or better than Washburn, LD/HR rate equal or better than Washburn’s. They will sign a deal for one year for less than $10m. Bonus points for 2y under $10m.
I’ll make an additional secondary prediction: there will be at least one free agent hitter who signs a one-year deal for under $10m who would provide a +20 run overall upgrade at a Mariner position from this year, with offense measured by any reasonable advanced metric and defense by UZR, PMR, +/-, or any like decent defensive stat.
Yep, we weren't dealing with anybody smart here, and I'm going to hope that old Billy was crazy like a Fox.
Well, you’ve got your diamonds and you’ve got your pretty clothes
And the chauffeur drives your car
You let everybody know
But don’t play with me, ’cause you’re playing with fire
On August 1, 2008, the Twins designated Livan Hernandez for assignment and called up Francisco Liriano. Since this move was made after the trading deadline, the Twins had to offer waivers on Hernandez and he was claimed by the Colorado Rockies. The Twins subsequently dropped Hernandez on the defending National League Champions, and the results so far have been predictable. Hernandez was an innings eater, something that may or may not come back to bite the Twins in the wallet, but whatever, he's not what you would call an ace or anything.
Let's compare Livan with the other four starters that comprised the Twins starting staff before he was cut free:
Pitcher
IP
K/G
BB/G
HR/G
xFIP
Livan
139.7
3.3
1.8
1.10
4.77
Baker
114.3
8.1
2.0
1.38
3.93
Blackburn
144.7
4.8
1.5
0.88
4.42
Perkins
110.7
4.5
2.3
1.04
4.88
Slowey
114.3
6.7
1.4
1.27
4.26
Yep, Livan can go out there, let the game get out of reach, and then pitch another five or six innings. If you can live with losing a lot of games when he's pitching, he can take a helluva a beating and prevent the bullpen from being further strained. So, there's that. Another thing is that his pitching wasn't that much worse than some of these younger starters. But, he's got a $5 million contract with bonuses based on innings pitched that could make it a $7 million contract. Hell, Boof Bonser had pitched better than Livan has (4.51 xFIP), and he's making about a half mil, and he's also been banished to the bullpen.
Let's look at that chart again with mystery player JW added in.
Pitcher
IP
K/G
BB/G
HR/G
xFIP
Livan
139.7
3.3
1.8
1.10
4.77
Baker
114.3
8.1
2.0
1.38
3.93
Blackburn
144.7
4.8
1.5
0.88
4.42
Perkins
110.7
4.5
2.3
1.04
4.88
Slowey
114.3
6.7
1.4
1.27
4.26
JW
135.7
5.0
2.6
1.03
4.96
Old JW doesn't miss many bats, although he kind of fits in with the Twins starters for most part in that category, he walks a few more than the Twins staff, and his home runs allowed are fairly low, but look at that xFIP -- 4.96. He's also making $10 million this year and next. Of course, he's Jarrod Washburn.
Seattle put Washburn on waivers and the Twins claimed him. Wow, what a risky move. Had Seattle just let him go, Washburn would have been the 7th best starter on the staff -- and he would also have been one of four guys making $10 million plus on the 2009 Twins (the studs Nathan, Morneau, and Mauer being the other three). Honestly, I was sick to my stomach worrying about this from the time I heard that the Twins had made a claim (apparently to block Washburn from going to the White Sox, or at least that's what I've heard) until I found out that he wasn't going to be a Twin.
Apparently, the Twins were in serious talks with the Mariners about Washburn. It should be pointed out that Washburn has sucked for a while -- his 4.96 xFIP is the best he's done in the past five years -- and there's absolutely no reason to believe, at the age of 34 (older than Livan, supposedly) that he'd get any better. The prudent course of action for the Mariners was to unload him to the Yankees at the deadline, but Seattle wasn't interested in that. Apparently, the Yankees weren't interested in Washburn anymore, either, since the Twins won the claim, despite having a better record than the Yankees. At this point, it should have been clear that the market for Washburn was practically non-existent. Merely dumping Washburn on the Twins would have saved the Mariners $13 million. Instead, though, the Mariners thought that they were dealing from a position of strength and wanted the Twins to take on Washburn's salary (which, inexplicably, the Twins were apparently willing to do, WTF, Billy Smith!) AND get this, give up one of their starters.
Luckily, the Twins were dealing with fools. Luckily, when the Twins backed away from the table, the Mariners didn't just dump Washburn on the Twins. Tomorrow night, Washburn will be in the Metrodome, but thankfully in a Mariners uniform. The Twins were playing with fire here. Billy, you just about got burned.
Here we go with another week gazing at the vast wasteland that is sports columnizing in this town.
Grandpa Sports
What a week for the old-timer. I'm saying it now. Stop with all the negativity, Sid! I can't take it. Why can't you be positive about the hometown clubs just once????
First, he tells us that Zygi Wilf is expecting a big season from the Vikings. Now that might sound a positive, sell-some-tickets statement but let's be clear. Sid is telling us that the owner has lost patience with his club, coaches, and probably the City of Minneapolis. Storm clouds are on the horizon. When the Vikings perform their ritual heart-ripping on their most rabid fans, I'll point you to this column.
Actually, this column is a double knife in the back. Later on, Sid reveals Twins General Manager Billy Smith to be a bold-faced liar.
Twins General Manager Bill Smith realizes there is a problem with a bullpen that has an ERA of 2.11 at home and 6.19 on the road (before Wednesday's 7-3 victory at Seattle). He says he is watching the waiver wire, ready to claim anybody who can help.
The steely Sid puts the rookie on the record and makes him look bad when Chad Bradford is claimed by the Rays (and thus, not by the Twins) about a day later. Watch out when you talk to El Sid, rook. He's going to make you look like a fool.
The vise grip is slowly tightening on this Vikings squad. The diabolical Hartman takes away any excuse about dissension in the lockerroom with this cutting entry about how the Vikings players all get along. Yep, there'll be no recourse to the old "lack of chemistry" excuse when the Vikings get to the point in the season when all appears lost (which happens every season). They won't be able to say, so-and-so farts in front of my locker all day, they'll just have to admit that they aren't as good as the other team.
And, oh, the shot he takes at the Gophers later on in the column (a different page, so worth another link)! My goodness! What skill with the verbal cutlery! The Gophers almost ran a deficit in their athletic budget, but barely squeaked by. Says battleworn AD Joel Maturi:
[W]e were wondering if we were going to operate in the black, and all of a sudden, because this happens or that happens and we didn't spend here or didn't have to spend there, we're OK. We feel good about what we accomplished in '07-08.
We feel good about what we accomplished in '07-08. The football team was 1-11 and one field goal away from a winless season. The hockey team sa-hucked and had a controversial mid-season defection, which included an NHL coach questioning the quality of coaching in Minneapolis, the basketball team was the bright spot, and it was so-so. Sid knows we know all this, see, and he's got Maturi looking like a total idiot with that quote. Sid also knows that "because this happens" means that the Gophers made a lot of money off of NDSU grads who filled the dome to watch the NDSU Bison kick the shit out of the Gophers. But, Glen's in his happy place. Wow, Sid. Why'd you have to kick a man when he's down?
Even Purple Jesus isn't immune from the cutting. "This is what a column would look like," says O.J. Simpson, "If I Did It". All Adrian "All Day" Peterson did was set the world on fire last season, but that's not enough for the rhetorical killer, Sid Hartman. No sir. He has to be much, much better. It seems that Mr. Peterson is doing all he can to improve, but something tells me that it won't please the Dean of Minneapolis sportswriters.
Finally, Sid takes apart the Vikings for not getting Brett Favre into a purple uniform. The Vikings played their first preseason game and Hartman tells us that the scribes are unimpressed with Tarvaris Jackson ("many in the media still question Jackson's ability to lead the Vikings offense"). He even gets Jackson to admit that he sucks. Says Jackson, "If [Favre] would have came in, they would have brought him in for a reason and I understand that." That reason, of course, is that Jackson sucks and is going to bring this team down. Sid knows it, Jackson knows it, we all know it, and Sid has him admitting it. It's gonna get ugly.
As if that's not enough, Sid explores the dark recesses of Tim Brewster's mind. "Gophers football coach Tim Brewster sat in his office Saturday afternoon watching film of the same day's morning scrimmage, and he was all smiles as he pointed out one outstanding defensive play after another." Oh, come on, Sid, that's just hurtful.
All the negativity that's in this town sucks.
Top Jimmy
It's bad enough that Sid's out there cutting everyone off at the knees, but what really sucks is that the RSS feed from Top Jimmy and Reusse isn't working, meaning that I'm really going to have to work to finish this rant. Of course, they don't have RSS feeds over at the PiP. Cost cutting measure, apparently.
Souhan is in China following the Olympics. He writes about a Minnesotan who coaches the U.S. Table Tennis team, which includes a bunch of Chinese players. Nothing gets your nationalistic spirit up like a bunch of immigrants playing a sport that we don't care about.
This just in! Beijing is polluted, the Chinese eat foods that seem weird to us, and the government is oppressive! No signs of any poultry references (other than the name of the Olympic stadium, The Bird's Nest), but bad jokes abound. "And if China was serious about its medal count, it would have found a way to make spitting an Olympic sport. These people are good. For them, expectorating is a performance art." Or how about this one: "Everywhere there are grim-looking soldiers, thin as Corey Brewer, only better shooters." Good grief. I know Souhan is better than this. I read him for years before he was a columnist and he's pretty good on television. But, his radio show and columns like this are just terrible.
The week ended with a devastating tragedy for a Minnesota family. A random act of violence ends the life of a Minnesota man and leaves his wife fighting for her life. Souhan writes a great piece detailing the crushed spirit of the Olympic volleyball team, playing on after the news that a member of the family was murdered.
Patrick Reusse
On Monday, Reusse wrote about Francisco Liriano's first start since April and suggests that the path to a Central Division title is a lot easier this year now that Liriano is back, especially as compared to the path that they took in 2006. No veteran leadership, which seemed so important last week. Just capable arms. What will we do?
While Top Jimmy vacillates between the sublime and the ridiculous in Beijing, Reusse's off to Oakland, MI to watch the PGA golf tournament. Reusse writes a wholebunchofgolfcolumns, (seriously, severalgolfcolumns) but guess what? Golf without Tiger Woods is boring.
Shooter
Baseless speculation gets the week off. Shooter's gone fishin'.
Tom Powers
Tom says Tavaris Jackson was pretty good in the first preseason game. Tom takes in the UFC at Target Center this weekend and is a little less than impressed. Actually, I think he's more like appalled. But, there's a key piece of information in there: the Chinese probably won't like it. There's no spitting allowed.
Bob Sansevere
Man, Sansevere was working hard this week. Ten columns! Ten! Man, he must have been working late at night to generate all of those items! Let's take a look. Oh, well. Maybe not. Bob talks to a few guys and gets a quote or two. For instance, Ryan Longwell answers one question. Robert Ferguson answers one question. Chad Greenway answers three questions. Cullen Loeffler answers two questions. Tavaris Jackson answers one question. He also talks to Adam Weber, Gophers quarterback, with plenty of that huckster Tim Brewster thrown in. The article reads like Weber talking and Brewster interrupting. Weber says he wants to be known as a guy that took his team from 1-11 to 11-1 or an undefeated season. Well, he's got the first part down. Antoine Winfield gives Bob a handful of cliches. Darren Sharper answers a bunch of questions about Brett Favre. Bob also tells us that the Favre controversy was good for the Vikings. That was written before the Favre trade. After the Favre trade, Bob tells us that if Tavaris Jackson is good, that would be good for the Vikings.
The first-place Tampa Bay Rays acquired reliever Chad Bradford from the Baltimore Orioles on Thursday, bolstering their bullpen with a proven postseason pitcher.
The Rays claimed the submarining right-hander on waivers and then got him from the Orioles in a trade for a player to be named.
The 33-year-old Bradford is 3-3 with a 2.45 ERA this year. The durable reliever has made 47 appearances and thrown 40 1/3 innings.
Meanwhile, Sid wrote today that the Twins were checking the waiver wire for bullpen help, but this guy got past them (the Twins obviously did not put in a claim).
I opened up my virtual Sunday morning newspapers, and this is what I saw.
Top Jimmy: Brett Favre is tarnishing his reputation because he still wants to play. Maybe so, but hasn't he been doing this for years? Favre is going to want to play right up until the day they order the artificial hips. By the way, I'm pretty sure Top Jimmy wrote this column without leaving the comfort of his mother's basement.
Patrick Reusse: Profiles Ron Streck, who's playing in the old codger's golf tournament in town this weekend. Turns out Streck was the first player to win on the PGA tour using a metal wood. Includes this quote from some golfer, when seeing the metal wood: "That looks like a practice club. I'll never use one of these." That golfer was Jack Nicklaus. Here's Reusse's genius. He writes a column about someone you've never heard of and it's interesting. Nice piece.
Sid Hartman: ZOMG! Both the pitcher (Glen Perkins) and the catcher (Joe Mauer) are from Minnesota! And they are teh awesum!
Charley Walters: The Vikings should trade for Brett Favre (really!) and the NFL might make it happen. I have to quote this so you don't think I'm making it up:
If Brett Favre wants to play for the Vikings, which he seems to want to do, and if the Vikings want Favre, which they seem to, there would seem to be a deal to be made, with the NFL steering it behind the scenes.
A deal for the future hall of fame quarterback could be good business for the league.
Well, if the Packers trade Brett Favre to the Minnesota Vikings, you heard it here first. Also, this should make you all cringe and rethink your vote on the Billy Smith poll from earlier this week.
Twins general manager Bill Smith, on Livan Hernandez, who improved to 10-6 with a 5.29 earned-run average with Saturday's victory over Texas: "I'll take the (10) wins. Who do you want, a guy who's 10-15 with a 2.80 ERA or a guy who's 16-8 with a 7.00 ERA? I'll take the 16-8."
Tom Powers: He profiles Tom Streck [actually, Tom wasn't speaking to the media, so he profiled Ron, just like Reusse], too! Suddenly, the Reusse column isn't looking so great. He even has the Nicklaus quote. Strike all that about Reusse's genius.
Bob Sansevere: Profiles some other codger golfer, Loren Roberts. Wow. I guess he was unable to make the Tom Ron Streck press conference.
I'd have to say that Shooter wins for best column. It's funny (although presumably unintentionally so) and he's got that Billy Smith quote.
Lucy and I went for a walk last night and I pushed Miss SBG out in the stroller. It was a little cool, cool enough for a blanket for Miss SBG. But, wow, did the spring air feel good.
DK wrote: This doesn't just apply to sports, obviously, but I am so glad guys like Olney are here to tell me what news is. I'd have absolutely no idea without them.
cheaptoy wrote: Its no wonder Jayson Williams has all those championships
Milt on Tilt wrote: I won't attack him, cause I generally like Olney and it is Spring Training with little to report, but there have been internal discussions in my office about trading Morneau for Pujols. Write it up!
Andrew wrote: I'm … My old roommate Adam and I always refer to Juan Dixon, formerly of Maryland, as The Illiterate Juan Dixon. Through him, my hatred for Maryland basketball is 3rd to only Purdue…
AMR wrote: I bought it for my wife for her … two originals on it, but they're both very good. All of the songs are religiously themed. Some old gospel standards. Others not so…
E-6 wrote: I'm with you, AMR. Patty Griffin is awesome. I happen to think this is one of her best songs, too. And while I would also prefer she sang it solo, Ms. Maines doesn't exactly ruin…
AMR wrote: Awesome. One of her best songs. It and "Tony" were the first that drew me to her.
One of the few things my wife and I can agree on, so she gets a lot…
December 23, 2008, at 7:17 am 
Recent Letters to the Editor
In Response to Cup of Coffee: March 16, 2010,
cheaptoy wrote: Poor Tim Duncan.
DK wrote: This doesn't just apply to sports, obviously, but I am so glad guys like Olney are here to tell me what news is. I'd have absolutely no idea without them.
Rhubarb_Runner wrote: The Yanks want Span? Well, then it's inevitable!
SBG wrote: And at this website, if you recall yesterday's COC.
SBG wrote: Eddie Griffin = … Eddie. RIP.
Andrew wrote: Shaun Kemp > Bill Russell
Milt on Tilt wrote: Buster Olney writes for the NY Post?
hungry joe wrote: span for hughes, eh? nah.
cheaptoy wrote: Its no wonder Jayson Williams has all those championships
Milt on Tilt wrote: I won't attack him, cause I generally like Olney and it is Spring Training with little to report, but there have been internal discussions in my office about trading Morneau for Pujols. Write it up!
In Response to Cup of Coffee: March 15, 2010,
SBG wrote: And, apparently, it is insured.
SBG wrote: Is Nathan's contract insured? Because if it is, then you have to readjust your calculus.
brianS wrote: that is awesome.
brianS wrote: Meat?? Calling Meat!!!
Andrew wrote: I'm … My old roommate Adam and I always refer to Juan Dixon, formerly of Maryland, as The Illiterate Juan Dixon. Through him, my hatred for Maryland basketball is 3rd to only Purdue…
SBG wrote: I'll do that, what is it?
frightwig wrote: And Sampras never even mentioned crystal meth.
In Response to The Fiery Furnaces - Blueberry Boat,
AMR wrote: That, plus the discussion, plus I've heard the FFs (Only Widow City) and I know their reputations.
FirstTimeLongTime wrote: What, the 4.14 rating gave you the impression it would be a bad video?
AMR wrote: Not as bad as I feared.
In Response to Patty Griffin - Mary,
AMR wrote: I bought it for my wife for her … two originals on it, but they're both very good. All of the songs are religiously themed. Some old gospel standards. Others not so…
E-6 wrote: I'm with you, AMR. Patty Griffin is awesome. I happen to think this is one of her best songs, too. And while I would also prefer she sang it solo, Ms. Maines doesn't exactly ruin…
AMR wrote: Awesome. One of her best songs. It and "Tony" were the first that drew me to her. One of the few things my wife and I can agree on, so she gets a lot…
In Response to Happy Birthday--March 16,
CarterHayes wrote: .
E-6 wrote: Blondie? Patsy? Flowers? It's a league of their own.