Buftex

The "stars" chime in: http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-207_162-57590172/stars-pay-tribute-to-james-gandolfini/

Agreed... I realize, a lot of people were turned off by the NBA years ago as it was (maybe rightfully) perceived as a "me first" game...but teams like the Spurs, and Pistons in particular, early in this past decade, really illustrated that the team first approach can still work. I think the style of play has been elevated a lot over the last 10-12 years or so... inconsistant officiating is its' biggest problem right now. Whenever any team loses (I live in Austin, only about an hour or so from San Antonio) a big game, they feel like they got jobbed by the officials. Spurs fans here, over the last 24 hours have been crying about how the officials gave game #6 to the Heat.. they point to a few plays at the end...all sort of subjective stuff... conveniently forgetting (IMO) that the officials were pretty kind to them on a number of occaisons early in the same game...and, hell, the missed a boat-load of free-throws down the stretch. The officials haven't been perfect, but the Spurs really only have themselves to blame for that loss. Game 7 (I am assuming a Heat win, though pulling for the Spurs) won't likely live up to game 6.

:thumbsup:

Just read an interview with him, from about a year ago, saying he just wanted to get away from violent roles...he said that he had issues with violence, and anger, and didn't want to just be known as the guy who beat up that chick in True Romance. I remember when the Sopranos ended...it was primarily because Gandolfini was worn out on the role. He said something to the effect that he had to be a person he didn't like, to play Tony Soprano, and it was taking its' toll on him. Also a a big sports fan: http://www.sportingn...rs-eric-mangini

Short-changing Andre Reed has been a very popular past-time on TSW for a while...

Jeez...did I jinx Gandolfini?

I understand what you are saying, but that is the attitude that, I think, is more and more turning older people off of sports. Maybe so, but he is showing the world what a fraud he is. The same guy who bad mouthed Ray Allen for leaving is fugging over the franchise that made him...stuck with him when everyone thought he was an awful coach...they gave him the pieces to win a ring, paid him very nicely...just last season he claimed he was in it for the long haul, realizing a rebuild was on the way. Part of the reason the Celtics wanted him so badly was that he is popular with players, and a good recruitment piece for the Celtics. Not many players want to go to Boston...even Kevin Garnett had to be convinced to accept a trade to the Celtics...Celtics did everything right by Rivers, and it isn't that he doesn't want to coach next season, he just doesn't want to stick with a team that is going to rebuild..very disappointed with him. I don't begrudge players who want out as much as a coach that a team is bending over backwards to appease...players have less control over where they will be, how long they will play, and how much money they will make. Back before Thibideux left for the Bulls, there was a buzz that the Celtics shouldn't let him go....

What Doc Rivers is about to do to the Celtics is almost every bit as bad. He is dead to me...

I hate Miami as much (maybe even more) than anyone... don't blame LeBron for his choice, just the way he went about making it. I think the hate for him personally is a little out of whack... honestly, though I will always root against him, he seems like a pretty decent person. It is hard to hate him... "franchise" players leave their teams all the time....it is just the way sports have evolved. Players in all leagues now have more freedom than they did when many of us (30-40-50 somethings) were falling in love with sports.

I wonder if it went down any way like this...

Was just waxing poetic about Gandolfini in a thread earlier today... very sad news.

Hey DC, since I don't do PPP anymore, I don't get to enjoy your wit and witticism as much... has "your an idiot" become public domain? I noticed you don't use that as much any more.

As a big Celtics fan, Ray hittng that shot really killed...part of me was happy for him, but I have to admit, my petty sports grudges had me silently hoping that the Heat do not win a ring...and if they do, I really wanted Ray Allen to have no meaingful contribution...instead, his shot likely stole a ring from the Spurs.

EJ should and will be the opening day starter.

As an example, check out that "Teardrop Awards" clip posted earlier in this thread.

Like I said earlier, I think MTV kind of killed Clapton, artistically. It gave him a broader audience, and probably helped him to sell more records, but instead of doing what he wanted to do (love "Backless", "Slowhand", etc etc), he was kind of trying to appeal to more people, and the music just became dull to me...couple of cool tracks ("Rita Mae" I always liked) but the records seem to become more about production values than great songs.

Yeah, no doubt, EC is a fantastic guitar player, and that Ronnie Scotts performance is great... just that his albums are just kind of un-inspiring, unless he is just doing flat-out blues stuff...

Nicely done... have to admit it's gettting bettter all the time...

Like the Yardbirds, Cream, Derek & Dominoes...even some of his sort of "country" albums from the late 70's...but he is one of those artists, IMO, who was sort of ruined by the MTV explosion in the early 80's. You might be offended by this...or you might chuckle a time or two... Tobias and Saul Goodman on MR Show...the "Teardrop Awards" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b1mzDR3onnI

It wasn't? (waits 5 more minutes to post "Really, you sure?")

I saw Paul back in 1989, while it was pretty good, it wasn't great, because, at that time, showing too much deference to the Bealtes part of his career was still a bit taboo for some reason. With some hesitancy, I went to see him a couple of weeks ago. I don't go to too many "big shows" like this anymore...but I love the Beatles, and Paul isn't going to be around forever, as healthy as he seems. Gotta say, I had a blast...so glad I went. He still sounds terrific (only one or two moments where he couldn't quite hit the notes he used to), and his band (for some reason he chooses not to introduce them...curious I thought) was top notch. While in the 80's he did about 10 Beatles songs to about 30 solo songs, the new ratio was about 26/14 in favor of the Beatles. I would trade "Lovely Rita" for "Ebony & Ivory" any day....if Paul is coming your way, go see him. My only complaint (more an observaiton than a complaint really) he just has such an amazing repetoire of songs, after about 2 hours (he played for 3) it was almost like being force fed your favorite food...bludgenoned by pizza, if you wil! I started having a problem differntiating in my brain between the songs "I hope he does" from songs "I think he already did"...pretty amazing show. Get their early enough to enjoy the DJ who goes on about an houre before Paul. Really cool "mash-up" of McCartney/Beatles songs done by them, and other artists, with lots of cool visuals. I didn't have great seats, upper deck, but that didin't really impede me from enjoying. For a 12,000 seat basketball arena (as likely as small a "club" as I would ever get to see Paul McCartney) the sound was fantastic.

Yeah, I am not implying that I agree with the offending comments about Clapton (I just think he is kind of dull), but at its' heart, rock'n' roll has always been about offending societal sensibitlites.

I loved Moulds too, but I was a little put off by his last two seasons or so in Buffalo. It almost seemed like that monster year that he and Peerless had, during Bledsoe's first year went to his head a little. I just remeber so many times, watching the game at the bar, and getting the feeling too many times, that Moulds had become more concerned with drawing Pass Interference calls than makig catches. It just seem like he was flapping his arms and whining to the officials on nearly every pass play, sometimes when the ball was still whizzing right over his head. Maybe he was just getting old at that point...but I remember it vividly.

There are no "lines" in rock n'roll...or at least their shouldn't be.

Lennon copped to it...he had anger issues as a young man, and he hit his first wife Cynthia, more than once. She wrote a book about their marrage, and John was not particularly good to her. Perahps it is people being hopeless apologists for their idols, but Lennon was far from a perfect person, but he credited Yoko Ono for making him a better person and a better man...his failings as a human being, IMO, are part of the Lennon aura that always gave him more "street cred" than McCartney. When Lennon sang about pain, it seemed more hearlfelt, because he had so many demons. To me, two of Lennon's greatest songs were "Yer Blues" and "Don't Let Me Down". Both are pretty simple sort of blues based songs, nothing too clever, but Lennons' personal torment bleeds through so much in the performances, that IMO, they are masterpieces. Paul could have written both of those songs, but they wouldn't have meant as much if he had sung them too. McCartney, it seems, a fantastic songwriter as well (like I need to defend Paul McCartney), but seemed to have been a much more well-adjusted person, so songwriting was as much a craft for Paul, as it was a necessary means of communication for John.