The Critic

I'm anxious for some baseball!! And after a loooooooong offseason of gnashing of teeth and prophecies of doom, if I'm going to bash someone, I at least want some fresh crappy outings to refer to during the bash!!! I always look forward to baseball season - it's the official beginning of spring, even when the snow and slush, blackened from car exhaust, still clings to the street!

Isn't Courtney Duncan the failed Cubbie? If I'm not mistaken, he wore #55 before the immortal Shorn Testes wore it. Doom awaits the wearer of 55 in Cubbie Blue!!!

Spice channel. Is that channel even around anymore? If not, then I'm going to dip into classic British TV and say that I'd want to be a Young One. Blissfully stupid, violent, dirty and smelly.....hmmm....sounds like my own past!!

Questions: Should I wait to order until an official logo is decided upon? Will you delay printing until the logo is decided upon? Might it be a better idea to have a few logos to choose from? I'll hang up and listen to your answers....

Just thought I'd translate this quote from "Bulls***ish" to English...

Oh, I SAW an ass-whoopin', it just wasn't the one I expected to see. If the seam of Lewis' glove hadn't opened Klitschko up, Lewis wouldn't be retiring with any belts. Lennox, nice to see ya....and nice to see ya go.

He left out the part about running from Klitschko.

Some favorites off the top of the head, miles away from the CD collection: ( not including any greatest-hits collections, cuz that's CHEATING ) The Wildhearts - Earth Vs. The Wildhearts The Clash - self-titled debut The Cure - Disintegration Guns N Roses - Appetite For Destruction Kiss - Alive! ( live discs do NOT count as greatest-hits....NO THEY DON'T.... ) The Police - Outlandos D'Amour Suicidal Tendencies - How Will I Laugh Tomorrow... Testament - The Gathering Supersuckers - The Evil Powers Of Rock And Roll Angel City - Two Minute Warning There are more.....many more....

I knew that story was fake when the Billy Worst character called them "season ticket holders" instead of his favorite phrase, "Season RESERVATIONISTS". What a pathetic dumping ground that once-proud franchise has become. And their owner couldn't care less. I feel like WSI's "Lip Man" when it comes to the SlackHawks - he has nothing good to say about the Sox, and I have nothing good to say about the Slackeys.

3 things not seen from the SlackHawks very often, if ever, happened in this game: Wings come back from 2 goals down Wings win on the road Wings win in Overtime THAT is how winning teams play, Billy Buck Worst...not that YOU'd know or care...

Wings score, 2-1 Colorado. It's going to be a fun, intense, aggressive game. SlackHawks should be taking notes.

GoodFellas Caddyshack Rocky II - best sequel ever, hands down Donnie Brasco Slap Shot There are a LOT of close calls, but those 5 jump out at me right now.

Poor guy - I can just imagine the scene at home: "KURT, YOU should be playing, NOT MARC! You are SO MUCH BETTER than him!!! PLUS, we NEVER see him at church!! Should I call Coach Martz again to remind him that YOU need to play more? I don't know WHY I keep getting his answering machine! Would you like any more S'mores and chocolate milk???" ( thump.......thump.......thump....the sound of Kurt slamming his head against the wall.....)

Avalanche starting off HOT against the Red Wings. 3 shots, 2 goals. NICE move by Alex Tanguay to deke CuJo out of position and flipped it in easily. ALWAYS fun when the Wings and Avs collide.

The other question for Cubs fans is, Will last year's overuse of starting pitchers be this year's downfall? They've been Dusty-ized! Mercker has started in the past, hasn't he? Hawkins has too, right? They might need them again, if history holds true. Pitchers who throw as many innings as theirs did normally miss some starts the following season. ( Which actually is a concern of mine about Loaiza.... )

I ended up liking Playmakers more than I thought I would, but I can live without it. I wonder if HBO would take it on, since they also do that "Inside The NFL" show. My guess is HBO wouldn't mind taking the chance of pissing off the NFL, unless they are also somehow tied in with ESPN's parent company.

One other by-product of that move was a pretty major blow as well, and that was Harry Caray jumping ship when the Sox went to SportsVision, and blasting them pretty good while jumping. And I guess I'll agree to disagree with Airdale, finishing my point by saying that if MOST Sox fans really do care more about beating the Cubs than winning the division, it's a pretty sad statement.

I may be missing your point, Airdale, but my point is that it should NEVER take the Cubs to motivate the Sox. They shouldn't need stupid petty jealousy to make them want to improve. It should be the disappointing second-place finishes to a team that they had superior talent to. It should be the fact that Kansas City posed a more valid threat to Minnesota than they did for almost 4 months last year. It should be PROFESSIONAL PRIDE that motivates them to get better, and that should have nothing to do with the Cubs or any other National League team. The Cubs are ( or rather, should be ) a non-issue to the Sox or their fans. Too many people get too worked up over the Cubs around here, and it detracts from the Sox discussion, in my opinion. That said, I must admit that I truly and completely enjoyed the last 11 innings of the National League Championship Series last October, because it finally brought a halt to the Cubbie Delirium at my workplace. But even that won't be a factor this year, since I have been relocated to another section of the building, where I no longer have to hear from the Cub Cult.

They should be professional enough to focus on their competition. Their competition is not the Chicago Cubs. They will never draw away loyal Cub fans and the people who go to whoever's winning will go to them if they play well and win. Their competition is the AL Central - I'd GLADLY dump all 6 games to the Chicago NATIONAL LEAGUE team in exchange for an AMERICAN LEAGUE CENTRAL division championship. "Bragging rights", while fun at the bar, mean NOTHING in the grander scheme of things.

They haven't figured it out yet. He must give an IQ test for prospective clients, and if they score too high, he doesn't take them on. Or maybe he's a hypnotist....

I love listening to LeBetard on ESPN radio on Sunday mornings. He is one crabby-ass bastard, but doesn't come off as smarmy as Tony Kornheiser. He's got a dry sense of humor. Good stuff.

Completely and totally agree 100%. That attitude should spill over to Sox fans as well, in my opinion.

I'd really hate to lose Frank Thomas. Even though he doesn't return phone calls ( ), he is still a VERY dangerous hitter and more productive than PK, especially when allowed to play defense. I understand why LA would want Frank ( lower price tag than PK, better hitter, more name value ), but I really hope that if it comes down to FT or PK, that Paulie is the one who goes. NOTHING AGAINST PK - I happen to believe that he's going to rebound this year and put up some really good numbers. I just think that Frank is more important to this team's offense. The Dodgers need to do something splashy to keep up with the Joneses in Anaheim, and Maddux and Thomas would be splashy.

Just finished reading "Blind Man's Bluff", a book about US submarine spies. Pretty interesting read. I may just re-read "Eight Men Out" to get myself geared up for baseball season. Despite the subject matter, I love the book and the movie is one of my all-time favorites.

Like it or not, I think the Cubs will win their division. Not entirely sold on the two Spankees pitching in a bandbox instead of that Death Valley in left-center at Spankee Cemetary. The Astros have similar offense compared to the Cubs, Dotel is unproven as a closer ( although I think he'll be great ) and the Cubs have superior pitching in my opinion. I'd like to be wrong, but I can't see the Cubs NOT winning that division. The Cardinals will be a non-factor - their pitching is weak, and their rotation stands to be REALLY bad.