The Critic

My guess is that his lawyers told him to hold any statement until a decision was made whether or not to file charges. If no charges were filed, he could say "I told you so", and when charges were filed, go to Plan B, which was admitting a sexual encounter but denying any use of force. My gut feeling is that he did it, but that's ALL it is....a gut feeling, with NO basis in evidence or fact. I just got a real bad feeling from his admission/denial/love letter to his wife at the Staples Center. That was kinda creepy and weird. I'm going to wait until the evidence comes out before I form a real opinion.

I don't see how a previous overdose has anything to do with this. If you mean that it hurts her credibility, I don't know about that. Bryant has acknowledged that they had some sort of sex - the only question is consent. An overdose months ago is completely irrelevant, in my eyes.

YOU GOTTA BE KIDDING! Did that really happen on Thursday? That is pathetic. I would never EVER throw a HR ball back on the field - I'd give it to a kid instead. I was happy at the ASG that the attempted waves did not happen - that and the Tomahawk Chop are the two most nauseating crowd activities ever.

Pirates trade Mike Williams, their "All-Star" with a 6.00 ERA, for somebody named Mike Brocks or Frank Brooks or something... Interesting???

Is this supposed to be some kind of "feel-good" move? Bringing back a guy who has quit on his team in the past, carried weapons in his car, has been surly and uncooperative with the media ( can't really blame him there, but still ) and is sliding down the hill rapidly? There MUST have been better ways to spend 5 million dollars this year and next. ...I see Rodman wants to play again - hey, HE was on some of those title teams, too!!!

TRUTH. How DARE they disappoint their SIX listeners by going to the game??? :finger smoke-free Maury :dips***

Random thoughts on this thread: I'm glad people are showing up, and I don't really care why they are. If they show up for the fireworks and the Sox put on a good show, maybe next time they come for a ballgame instead. Do Sox fans REALLY want to see "Cellville" come to life, with the "casual fan" element it will bring along for the ride? ( Related note: is that ivy going up to make the Cellville people feel comfortable??? ) If that IKEA/parking/strip mall happens, how bad would traffic suck on game days?

Anaheim might be an accurate comparison to the Royals, but that 2001 DBacks team had a TON of veterans with playoff experience, and a MAJOR difference in the 1-2 punch on the mound. That said, the longer the Royals stay in 1st, the more they're gonna feel like they belong there, and play that way as a result. ( Exception, of course.....'69 Cubs......anything can happen.... ) Do I think the Sox will catch KC? Honestly, no. Too inconsistent, and it would take a REALLY good second half AND a major dropoff by the Royals.

I got one ( cuz they were free and my wife always wants more cheap workout shirts but the slogan on the front might be too big for my scanner. I'll try to scan it and I'll post it if I can get a decent image. They're fairly s***ty shirts, don't know if it's worth it to buy one.

That "you and me" song is ( I think ) by the Cherry Poppin Daddies, and it actually says either "you and me and the devil make three tonight" or "you and me and the bottle make three tonight". I can't remember which, but I heard that song a million times during that horrid ( but thankfully brief ) swing revival a couple years ago.

I personally don't like them at all, but if you like it, then yeah, get a CD and check them out! ...there's always the used CD store if you end up hating it...

I just wish they would stop trying to promote the Sox like they're a picnic at Navy Pier or something. OK, we GET IT, you want families to come to games!!!! Just promote the players and the game!!!!

This is what I've been saying all season, too! Perception really is everything - the two teams are having pretty similar seasons. Pitching has been good, hitting hasn't, closers blow, each play poorly against bad teams and win a few marquee series. Their records are practically identical, and yet the spin is that the Cubs are much improved and the Sox are underachieving. Not completely untrue, by the way. Maybe the Cubs fans and media are just happier because their standards are SO LOW that a .500 record is reason for jubilation. After all, it has been 30 years since they strung together TWO seasons over .500 - so a .500 season is a GREAT season!!!

With all due respect, Killa, I have to disagree with you. I personally think it's in very poor taste to make fun of Baker's son. The kid's done nothing wrong to anyone. Say what you want about Dusty ( such as "he puts wood in his mouth every day" ), but his son is off-limits to me. a general question: should it really be OK to make racist comments about a racist? or does it fall under 2 wrongs not making a right?

That would be a nice START, but Ruutu alone will not help. The Slackoffs will NOT sign the necessary number of key players needed to seriously compete for anything. They really need to blow up the or-gan-I-za-tion and start over.

That commercial is stupid. Rob Gallas is horrible. Steve Dahl is washed up.

His numbers ARE in the Hall of Fame. It is not like there is no mention of Pete at all in Cooperstown. My understanding is that you will see references to Pete and his many records many times in the Hall. His records still stand and are recognized. The only thing missing for Pete is the plaque saying he is an inducted member. What I was saying is that his numbers should be enough to get him the plaque. That's why I said the numbers should "gain him entry". I realize that he's mentioned in the HOF...

Well, I looked it up, and he was a player-manager for 2 and 1/2 seasons. Next question - is there any evidence that points to him betting on games while a player-manager? If not, then I still think he goes in. If so, then my opinion changes.

Was he ever a player-manager? I thought he managed after he retired as a player...

Pete Rose was not an active ballplayer when he was caught gambling ( or rather, when he signed the agreement to be punished ). In my opinion, nothing he did after retiring as a ballplayer should minimize his on-field accomplishments. When you get more hits than anyone who ever played, that should guarantee HOF status. Keep the lifetime ban, since he agreed to it, but his numbers should gain him entry into the Hall.

Can't have it both ways - if booing is classless at the ASG, then ANY booing at the ASG is classless. My not-at-all-humble opinion...

I know I heard that excuse bandied about somewhere..........maybe it was on the Classiest Network In The World, ESPN.

Saw the Murderdolls CD at Tower for $18.99 - that's pretty close to 20. Bought it at a used CD store for $8.99 - that's more like it. Used CD stores are the way to go. Most of the $14 CDs at Best Buy are 14-dollar piles of mule s***. To answer the original question, if you're not looking for anything specific, just trying to find music at random, try record labels sites like vagrant.com or epitaph.com. I also go to sites like blabbermouth.net ( for metal mp3s ) and punkbands.com ( for............well, punk ).

It can also be said that the All-Star Game is a gimmick - it's a meaningless exhibition, and it does nothing to change my opinion of anyone I boo or cheer. The fact that someone was chosen to a midseason exhibition game does not make him a good guy. Your opinion of what is and is not classy is just that - an opinion. An equally valid ( and equally irrelevant ) opinion is that ANY booing can be taken as classless. I thought it was classless to stick a sign in a 4 year old's hand lobbying pitchers not to walk Bonds during his HR record chase, but that's my opinion. People will think and do what they want, and that is everyone's right. Doesn't make anyone better than anyone else. If Bonds didn't WANT to take part in the HR Derby, he could have been honest and said that, and not insinuated that his father's health was the reason. If he wanted to be at his father's side, he should have declined the invitation altogether to let someone else have the roster spot. For him to be at the park for the warmups and not to be in the HR Derby was pointless, in my opinion.

I booed Bonds because he's an asshole, and because he pimped out his kids to hold up signs that read "Please Pitch To My Daddy" when they were like 4 years old, and could not have had a CLUE what that meant. I booed all the Yankees because I HATE the Yankees, and always have. I booed the Twins and Royals because they are divisional rivals. I booed Dusty Baylor and Kerry Wood because they are Cubs - did we cheer them a few weeks ago?? Then why would I cheer them now? I booed Chris Berman because he is a know-nothing and does that combover - YOU'RE BALD, CHRIS, ACCEPT IT. The fact that it's an exhibition game does not change my feelings toward any of those people, and I'm NOT going to pretend to like someone just so ESPN thinks I'm "classy". Like they'd know what that is anyway... :finger