Controlled Chaos

You have to have a write up for this week.

I can get you a free DVD CLoner IV. I haven't used it, but going by what Rock says it could be worth it for you. Let me know if ya want it.

QUOTE(BigSqwert @ Apr 9, 2007 -> 12:34 PM) That would make too much sense CC. Especially since Ozzie gives the Twins so much love. You think he would try to emulate their approach instead of just admiring it.

Anybody hear Brennaman and Grace discussing the Twins organization and how Gardenhire and his staff go about coaching fundamentals from the minors on up. This formula has worked so well for the Twins, why haven't more teams gone to it. Can't we dig up a minor league coach in the Twins organization and bring him over with a promotion. Get our young hitters to use the right approach at the dish.

Well the typical genre's according to IMDB are: Action, Adventure, Animation, Biography, Comedy, Crime, Documentary, Drama, Family, Fantasy, Film-Noir, Game-Show, History, Horror, Music, Musical, Mystery, News, Reality-TV, Romance, Sci-Fi, Short, Sport, Talk-Show, Thriller, War, Western If I had to label it with one genre it would have to be Horror.

When Tony was talking to Bobby on the boat about someone he was grooming to take over, but that someone may be going another rout or something. He was talking about Christopher correct?

I read this guy after every episode. He's pretty good. Sopranos Rewind: Livia's legacy, Bacala's broken heart Posted by Alan Sepinwall April 08, 2007 9:56PM Categories: The Sopranos WARNING: This column contains major plot spoilers for last night's "Sopranos" episode. "Tony is not a vindictive man." Uh, Carm? You want to watch last night's episode and get back to me on that? Forcing Bacala to get his hands bloody after so many years of avoiding murder was the worst thing Tony could have done to his brother-in-law, short of whacking one of Bobby's kids. And all over a fight that started with a silly argument over the unofficial Free Parking rule in Monopoly. That is some revenge served up sub-zero, the sort of calculating evil that only one other character in "Sopranos" history would be capable of: Livia. Ever since Janice turned up in season two, we've been taught to believe in an obvious gender-based personality inheritance. Tony is his father's son, with Johnny Boy's temper and ego. Janice is Livia's daughter, with the scheming and the passive-agressive manipulation. Simple, right? Not really, according to the final season premiere, "Soprano Home Movies," in which Janice of all people - delusional Janice, who rewrites every second of her autobiography to make herself into the heroine - suggests that the roles might be reversed. And, in fact, killing Richie for punching her in the mouth (presented in a sad, funny alternate history to Carmela) was more a Johnny Boy reaction than a Livia one. Livia wouldn't have shot Richie. She would have henpecked him to death, or found something he loved and taken it from him. What Tony did to Bacala, meanwhile, as payback for the Monopoly brawl, is exactly the move Livia would have made, where Johnny Boy and Janice both would have gone straight to pistols or knives or whatever weapon was handy. In looking back over the series, I've always wondered how things would have gone if Nancy Marchand hadn't died after season two. Livia was so fundamental to the show - David Chase having based her on his own mother - that everything after her death feels almost like a backup plan. And yet as the show heads to a close, Livia's spirit remains a presence, and last night's episode was our strongest hint since season five's "Cold Cuts" (the one where Tony provoked Janice into attacking him because he was jealous of her good mood) that Tony is in the process of becoming the person he most feared and loathed. He isn't becoming New Tony, that's for sure. It took a while after last year's shooting, but all the "every day a gift" and "they go about in pity for themselves" quotes couldn't keep Tony's true nature hidden forever. If "Soprano Home Movies" was slower-paced and more claustrophobic than I suspect some of you may have liked, it was also a crucial reminder that Tony is not, no matter how much we try to rationalize all his behavior because James Gandolfini is so charismatic, a nice person, not in any way. He is selfish and judgmental. He nurses grudges and takes advantage of his power as boss to make sure he always wins. He's a monster, even if he's our monster, and even if Livia made him into one. (She did a number on Janice, too, obviously. Watching Janice flip out over Nica for acting her age and saying "No!" made me feel just a little bit sorry for her for the first time. And it made me feel very sorry for Nica, who's destined to put some therapist's kid through private school.) The show began with a brief prologue where Tony was arrested for the gun he dropped in the snow at the end of season five. (Carmela's "Is this it?" as the Essex County sherriffs pounded on the front door served as a nice opening statement for a season where the audience is waiting to see when or if Tony will be arrested or killed.) But after cameo appearances by most of the wiseguys from both sides of the Hudson (the Jersey ones awaiting Tony's return from jail, the New York ones greeting the rehabilitated Phil Leotardo and telling jokes about the "farmers" in Jersey), Tony, Carm and the episode headed off for Bacala's cabin for their own road company version of "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" Even by the standards of "Sopranos" episodes set largely outside the characters' home turf, this one felt like a departure. Director Tim Van Patten's use of dissolves to illustrate the passage of time, coupled with all those lingering shots of Bacala's lake, gave the precedings a relaxed, almost hypnotic quality, one that made the ugliness of the Monopoly game (even before the brawl) especially shocking. Everyone's having a fine old time telling old stories, getting drunk, singing karaoke, and all of a sudden Tony's getting pounded on by walking fat joke Bacala? The hour was largely a refresher course on Tony, Janice and their history, but it also gave Bacala the dignity he's so often been deprived by the writers. Having to kill that Canadian guy just crushed him, and when the Canadian ripped open Bobby's shirt as the second bullet was fired, it exposed his broken heart for all of us to see. As I said in my preview last week, if "Soprano Home Movies" was too on the quiet side for your taste (even with the brawl and the shooting and Tony teaching that tree a lesson it won't forget), know that next week's show will likely be more your speed. In the meantime, some other thoughts: -Proving once again that the genius of the show is in the little details, I give you Carmela brushing off the Monopoly piece stuck to Tony's bloody cheek. -Michael Imperioli had, what, 10 or 15 seconds of screentime? Still, Christopher seemed clear-headed in that cameo, so maybe he's on the wagon again. Either way, Tony doesn't seem over the Julianna thing. -Some of the funniest aspects of the show are the things left unsaid. Last year, a big deal was made of Tony getting tough with A.J. and forcing him to do that construction job, and we were left with the implication that A.J. had finally come within spitting distance of a work ethic. So, of course, we return from hiatus and now he's working at a pizzeria. So much for both his maturity and Tony's tough love. -Know your Family: Two important characters to keep an eye on from the brief glimpse of the New York mob are Doc Santoro and Gerry "The Hairdo" Torciano. Doc's the white-haired guy who's been serving as unofficial boss during Phil's recovery, the one the other wiseguys were complaining about. Gerry the Hairdo (possibly my favorite nickname in show history) is the one who complimented Phil on looking good. He popped up several times last season (looking blonder); he was one of Vito's killers. -"Sopranos" hypocrisy in action: the "they oughta build a wall now" comments after Bobby's story about his grandfather entering America illegally. -When Tony started asking Janice, "I'm different how? How am I different?," I can't have been the only one to flash back to the "Funny how?" scene from "Goodfellas," can I? -In addition to Janice's Richie story, we had Tony and Bacala discussing the killing prowess of the late Bacala Sr., played by Burt Young, who coughed himself to death after the bloodiest shootout in "Sopranos" history, in season three's "Another Toothpick." -Another subtle callback: Carmela's other birthday present for Tony (the one in the bedroom, not the golf clubs) was a reminder of the scene in season one's "Boca" where we found out that Tony returns the favor once a year and only once a year. -Sopranos Rewind will continue to appear in The Star-Ledger for the rest of this season, but it'll have a second home on-line, as part of a five-day-a-week blog at blog.nj.com/alltv/. We'll have Sopranos Rewind there on Mondays (I'll also have an NJ.com chat Mondays at noon), and reader feedback, links, classic moments and other "Sopranos" content to bridge the wait between episodes. Alan Sepinwall may be reached at [email protected], or by writing him at 1 Star-Ledger Plaza, Newark, N.J. 07102-1200.

I want him becuase he is Italian. We need a good paisan on the team!!

Reminds when that politician used the word n****rdly and was forced to resign because it offended a black person. Not to mention if you look at it in the context he was using, it certainly doesn't read like he was using it as a slur. It reads as if he was using it the way he said.

QUOTE(Linnwood @ Apr 6, 2007 -> 02:38 AM) With all the hype around Daisuke Matsuzaka coming to America, Nike has been running some ad in Japan called "Enjoy the Pressure." After digging around I found the ad on Nike's Japanese site... and it shows Matsuzaka getting ready to come out and face... A.J. Pierzynski. With all the Red Sox / Yankees stuff in the ad I found that an interesting choice... You can view the full ad here: http://nike.jp/jdi/?id=31 I think AJ is signed with Nike, so that's probably why he is in it.

GONE

Gameday has Bobby at 95,94,96,90,94,97,96/

I'll take the sac down by one run. No AJ needs to get the single to drive in some runs.

Bases jacked for Gooch

Thump!!

there we go.

QUOTE(Steve9347 @ Apr 5, 2007 -> 11:01 AM) I missed something... what's wrong with Mariotti health-wise.

Watch the whole thing

QUOTE(CanOfCorn @ Apr 4, 2007 -> 01:20 PM) From the Trib: Nice going, Drew. Although I can hear his explanation now....... "No comment." Not sure if the owners are choosing Briggs situation to set an example, but some of them are actually showing some solidarity. There is no way Briggs gets a guranteed 15 million if he doesn't play all next year.

The players have been taking the losses fairly well. So their emotional state is in pretty good shape. Yay!

QUOTE(Wanne @ Apr 5, 2007 -> 12:24 AM) I gottta tell ya. I missed the last 3 batters in the 9th...had a client in (in hindsight should have told him to hold his shorts on)...but I just now saw that friggin catch at the end of the game. GOOOODDAMMMMMN! You've gotta be s***tin' me?!?!?!? So basically...this putz fallin on his ass and catchin the ball basically altered the state of the state of affairs with the Sox this season. A gust of wind out...Michaels doesn't pull it outta his ass...all is good in SoxLand today. After seeing that...I don't feel nearly as bad. Still pissed we lost...but not standing on my roof with a knife at my throat like Willie. Calm down big shooter...."all is well" (in your best Kevin Bacon voice). ok...back to my gin and tonics. It really shouldn't have come to that. That might have masked some things, but it wouldn't have prevented this thread, I guarantee you that.

out of all the scenarios posted nobody said stirke out the side. what's wih you peeps?

Clutch time?? Twice in one game?

QUOTE(daa84 @ Apr 4, 2007 -> 03:25 PM) see i feel like it is way better this year on location than it was last year....and yeah the angles are exaggerated... Farmer has said 4 times or so this game "way outside" and the location shown has been inside. It's been pretty wrong all game. Then again I can only go by what Farmer is saying.