UConn James

There are all kinds of opinions about the man and what he did for sports --- which could be good and bad depending on your perspective. The out-of-control spending made baseball not very fun for 2/3 of the MLB teams for the past 30 years. His style put small markets at a disadvantage. One thing that can be said about him is that he transitioned for this event in the best possible way. He got older, realized his decisions weren't helping the team and he stepped back. He laid the groundwork to build a new stadium that will house the team this century. He left no questions of the team ownership lingering. He took care of the fans, and he ran that organization with the sole mindset to be the best. Granted, this took $ and in turn the fans covered his costs, but they covered his costs with the $72 tickets they bought willingly, and never with an implied threat to move the team if ticket sales didn't pick up --- all for the privilege to watch garbage teams get beaten badly. Steinbrenner was never hesitant to do something b/c he didn't think he could get someone else to pay for it, b/c winning will pay for it. Now, contrast that last paragraph with self-defeatist nickel-squeezer Ralph Wilson.

Even tho I wear a Red Sox hat, I'll still say RIP, and condolences to the Steinbrenner family. Can't fault the man for doing everything he could to produce championships for his business.

Link Here comes the agency by which the govt "spreads the wealth around a bit" (to quote the Current Occupant).

How 'bout Wesley Sneijder?

I'd like to give some props to ESPN3.com for carrying, literally, all the games live. They've done this for many events, including French Open, Wimbeldon, etc. since I got this new computer that can handle video. (You also have to be on an ISP that allows access.) And ESPN3 is run w/o ads... tho I'm sure this will be changing in the future. Seems like for right now they're gauging video performance, interest and user stats. But as far as the future of broadcasting, anything that can offer an alternative to cable or sat and get us closer to a-la-carte channels is awesome. Yeah. Like Brasil doesn't have enough of an advantage on everybody....

Wouldn't be surprised if it were connected with the 'New START' treaty discussions.

Link. Like an ice cream cone on a hot summer day. Which, in the East, it is.

The Academy is with Coco! Four Emmy nominations, including Best Variety Show, which is the top prize for its genre. How much of a "SUCK ON THIS!!!" to NBC and Leno was that??!! I nearly spewed my tea when I watched that this morning.

Wow. LOST gets 13 Emmy nominations. - LOST, Outstanding Drama - Matthew Fox, Outstanding Lead Actor, Drama - Michael Emerson, Outstanding Supporting Actor, Drama - Terry O'Quinn, Outstanding Supporting Actor, Drama - Elizabeth Mitchell in LOST episode "The End," Outstanding Guest Actress, Drama - LOST episode "The End," Outstanding Directing For a Drama Series - LOST episode "The End," Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series - LOST episode "Ab Aeterno," Outstanding Art Direction For a Single-Camera Series - LOST episode "The End," Outstanding Single-Camera Picture Editing For a Drama Series - LOST episode "The End," Outstanding Music Composition For a Series (Original Dramatic Score) - LOST episode "The End," Outstanding Sound Editing For a Series - LOST episode "The End," Outstanding Sound Mixing For a Comedy Or Drama Series (One Hour) - "Mysteries of the Universe: The DHARMA Initiative" on abc.com/lost [This was a short feature on the DI], Outstanding Special Class Program ----- My notes: Foxy finally got a nod for leading actor! Pulling for him, but I don't think he wins given the competition. Count this as a tribute from viewer-voters to how much he devoted to the show for 6 seasons. As Christian Shepherd said in the church alcove, "Nobody does it alone. You needed them... and they needed you." The friendly battle b/w O'Quinn & Emerson in the supporting actor category continues. Emerson won this last year, and was nominated in 2007 & 2008. O'Quinn won in 2007, and was nominated in 2005. The depth / ensemble this show had really propelled it to greatness. To all the haters out there, it sure looks like Hollywoodland loved "The End." (Best Writing, even with "Kiss me, James!" "You got it, Blondie"??? Well... OK!) Props to Michael Giacchino!!! Without his orchestral scores, LOST just would not have been LOST. Dude is the next John Williams. A little surprised that Allison Janney didn't get a guest actress nod for "Across the Sea." And that EM did get one for "The End" (She had, what? Five minutes of screen time?) Some nice recognitions for a superb final season on one of the best shows, ever. Even if they never touch an Emmy personally, my thanks as a viewer goes out to everyone who was involved in making LOST exactly what it was. (And, 12 minutes of what it has yet to be.)

If liberals ever "support" the 2nd/at best stop attacking it, the sneaky caveat will be that they don't support ready access to ammunition. After all, the 2nd guarantees the arms, but it says nothing about the projectiles. Have you seen the f---ing prices of ammo lately? I've read that the U.S. Gov't recently stopped selling scrap brass for a profit to ammo companies, and are shipping it overseas in a transaction that, with transport costs, likely loses money. Don't think for a minute that the process isn't already in the works with this administration.

Thanks. I looked last week. Tho, looking for anything on the EW page is weird. Sometimes, an article will be in the "MOST VIEWED ON EW" column on the right, and will not be listed when you click the "LOST" heading.... Right now, the part 1 to this latest string of the 'Island as Carrie' is not there. Doc Jensen | Part 2: What the Island 'Saw' ----- Also, this won't be the last bit from Doc about LOST. There's at least Emmys coverage, then there's sure to be a column or two on the DVD release's Hurley epilogues. But even after that... I get the feeling that there will be discussion about the show for a long time. Great works with great characters and intriguing plots have a way of staying in the collective conscience. I would actually welcome (and read) an English major's master's/doctoral thesis on this show. But that would be quite a challenge for anyone brave enough to try it. Two-hour movies have provided for hundreds of pages of discussion; LOST was over 120 hours?

Interesting little vignette, Dank. FYI --- Emmy nominations are tomorrow morning.

I assume that re-arranging the furniture a bit is out of the question? It's the getting through the subfloor on that 2nd floor that will be the trickiest part. But for someone who knows what they're doing and has the right tools, running another line would be easier and probably cheapest, especially in the long run. If you get another wireless box, that's the $300+ upfront, headaches with the G/WAF, then more electricity use every month. The WAF alone would do it for me. Much rather have a one-time, 'Do you really have to make all that noise?!" than a built-in argument-starter.... Picture it now. "What do we need this thing for? I keep tripping over this damn thing!" ==> to the inevitable "Well, you wouldn't trip on it if you watched where you were f---ing walking!" and then bad things after that. Been there, done that, got the T-shirt.

Van Brommel has been the only flopper I've seen on the Dutch side in this WC. All the other guys might get hit, but they get right back up and there's very little talk to the ref, much less whining for calls. That was a nasty kick to the face #14 got from the Uruguayan #22 Cavaras(? I don't quite remember). Even on this choppy ESPN3.com feed I've got (which is awesome, I might add! Especially for us antenna-only people) you could see he got his face re-arranged.

And now, they may have a chance to get two birds with one stone.... (knock on wood).

Uruguay = Flop! Flop! Come on....

Top shelf, where mama hides the cookies!! Go Oranje!

It's catch-and-release that keeps the lawyers and courts in business.

Rocked my 'Nederland' track jacket today! Not that anyone who saw it knew or cared....

Reuters: Two in three people want video replays, [globalized] poll shows

It was the Immaculate Happy Ending (attempt)!

NYT: FIFA president apologizes for refereeing errors Note that this is not necessarily a video replay system. In the offing is a 'Hawkeye' system (as used in tennis) for soccer or a chip embedded in the ball that goes off when it passes the goal line. Also has been said that a referee assistant might be used to help police the field better. I've thought this for a long time --- that's a hell of a lot of area for one dude to cover. NFL has, what, 8 people in a crew for a field that's close to a third the size?

The final "Totally LOST" video set. Still waiting for Doc's Part 2 of his final, final LOST thoughts that was promised in this column (that duey linked here) a couple of weeks ago. ----- The geography of LOST, created by a US DoD cartographer. ----- I, too, haven't read the Red theory yet... so the admonishment is pretty hypocritical. Was kind of hoping for some discussion here to motivate me to get to it. I haven't started a re-watch yet. This is the longest amount of time after a finale that I've gone w/o starting. Still just giving it time to digest and take a break from it so I can come back with fresher eyes. I'm probably going to wait until early August so finishing S5 converges with the S6 release. Which is totally going to be ruined, b/c the first thing I'm going to be watching is the epilogue. .... Perhaps I should wait and start the rewatch in late August, then.

Couple more links.... "How 'LOST' Should Have Ended" short cartoon parody. USA Today: "What to expect from 'LOST: The Complete Collection." ----- No discussion about the Vozzek69 stuff?

Sad, but typical. What exactly is so unclear about the 2nd amendment? Unless I missed a subordinate clause that says "... unless you live in X, Y or Z."