Milkman delivers

I really want to see him hit a homer as a 50-year-old.

Uh, anyone know of any good FREE programs to convert video files into a format for an ipod?

I find it almost surprising that we have two rookie starters that are actually doing decently with the stick. It's encouraging. Also, I'm starting to doubt that Thome will hit #500 this year.

QUOTE(FlaSoxxJim @ Aug 12, 2007 -> 12:12 PM) Good stuff. I especially like his picking up on the Tiger mascot as a stand-in for the orange death cat in the diner. and the fact that all of that was intentional set dressing lends a lot of weight to the argument. Or, at least, it shows the degree to which Chase wanted to align the stars to point to an inescapable end for Tony. That said, I think there was true brilliance in not showing an on-screen demise for Tony. Whether it happened there in the diner, or whether it happens one year from now or 10, all of those ominous portents still hold true. And Tony's perpetual need for paranoia about every stranger he sees out of the corner of his eye almost makes death sooner rather than later the more appealing prospect. Stepping back to motive here, who would have ordered the hit? Or would it have been a grudge killing or an internal power grab. If so, by who? That pert of it is less well laid out for me than the all of Chase's death imagery and foreshadowing, but it's enough for me that I'm still open as to what happened. At first, I hated the ending. Now I've come to actually enjoy it. And I really believe this guy's translation because this final episode was one of only TWO that were directed personally by David Chase. Add in the fact that he (Chase) had been putting all of this together for like 22 months, then it seems almost impossible that these things just happened to come together without any meaning. And as to who ordered the hit, I would have to believe it was Butch. With the death of Phil (and the previous deaths of all the other major NY mobsters, including Johnny Sack, Doc Santoro, Gerry Torciano, Rusty Millio, etc.), the only guy that seemingly would have the right and power to take over would be Butch, especially considering the fact that Carmine Jr. wanted nothing to do with the ongoing bloodshed that would be required to be the boss. Also, Butch was the guy who gave the go-ahead to Tony to take out Phil, again showing that he was the next boss. Then consider that all of the major players in the NJ family were gone (Chris, Silvio, Bacala, and Vito). That just leaves some pretty minor guys to take over the family. Basically, the only guys left that held any sort of higher ranking position were Pauly, Patsy, Carlo, and Benny. Pauly would be the obvious guy to take over, but I think it would be obvious to anyone that he'd be a terrible boss and/or he'd just lay down to the NY family. Carlo flipped, so he's clearly out of the question. Patsy certainly didn't have the balls or weight to take over, and Benny was relatively the same as that, except he was very young. So, what Butch (or whoever would take over) would have here is the opportunity to pretty easily eliminate the NJ family, or even just integrate what was left of it into his own crew. For a mobster, that'd be a winfall that would be almost impossible to pass up. For them, it's all about the money. That kind of opportunity just simply had to be too tempting.

QUOTE(MHizzle85 @ Aug 12, 2007 -> 10:52 AM) Wow, someone had a lot of time on their hands. Ha, I know. But after reading that, wouldn't you agree that Tony is dead?

I don't feel like searching for the Sopranos thread, but I think this is a good read for everyone who didn't really know what happened in the last episode. http://www.bobharris.com/content/view/1406/1/ I really wasn't sure what became of Tony even after watching the episode a couple of times. After reading what this guy has to say, I am totally convinced that Tony Soprano was killed.

Give 'em hell, Iguchi.

QUOTE(Soxbadger @ Aug 8, 2007 -> 05:19 PM) If I would have caught the ball, I would have given it to Barry for free on the condition that I get to meet him and maybe have dinner. Just being able to say that I caught the ball would be enough for me, and I would never even consider giving the ball to anyone but Barry, so i wouldnt rake him over the coals. Some things in life are priceless, and to Barry that ball is priceless. He earned it, he deserves it, so if I had been lucky enough, I would have just told them to escort me to the dugout so I can hand him the ball. I dont care if he cheated, I dont care about any of it, I dont know 1 person who hasnt cheated in some way shape or form. In the end, if you arent cheating you arent trying hard enough to win. You are a better man than I.

QUOTE(Linnwood @ Aug 8, 2007 -> 05:16 PM) Honest to God, if I had that ball I would destroy it. A sad day for baseball. No you wouldn't. That's millions of dollars in your pocket.

QUOTE(Steff @ Aug 8, 2007 -> 10:42 AM) Oh Lord.. you would be ill beyond your past worse illness if I repeated things I saw first hand in Baltimore from '97 to '99. Cal is not so nice. And Brady Anderson... oye. I asked Canseco if he wrote another book to PLEASE out Brady. The things some of these guys do is simply repulsive. So, Ripken is a jerk? I'd heard that.

QUOTE(AirScott @ Aug 8, 2007 -> 10:36 AM) There's plenty of instances of Bonds being a jerk to fans. There was an ESPN.com spring training article a few years ago that began with an anecdote about Ray Durham arriving and being met by a bunch of fans asking for autographs, and he obliged. When Barry showed up, he yelled or said something to the effect of "Don't you people have lives?" But there's also plenty of stories about him being gracious and kind to people. When I read Jeff Pearlman's Love Me, Hate Me, I would hate Bonds one moment and almost like him a few pages or a chapter later. As for the record...it sucks that it came to this, it's very likely Bonds did use performance-enhancing drugs (I think he did). But he hasn't tested positive, and he wouldn't have even been breaking the rules of the game until 2002. If they put an asterisk next to this record, or wipe it clean, the same has to be done for EVERYTHING from about 1980 to 2004. Pretty sure it was against the rules even before that. They just hadn't come up with a system for testing yet.

I can't watch the games, but it seems that Owens might actually be a viable singles hitter eventually by the numbers. Does anyone else agree that sees him play more often?

QUOTE(Rowand44 @ Aug 6, 2007 -> 06:40 PM) Correct. Only 7 pitchers have been inducted with an era higher than 3 and a half, and zero with an era over 4. Wells was a good pitcher but Hall of Famer he is not. Who are they?

Very happy that Regal is the GM.

QUOTE(SoxFan1 @ Aug 6, 2007 -> 03:22 PM) Steroids do not make you hit the ball with more regularity. Steroids do not make you have better hand eye coordination. If Bonds did use steroids, it should be taken with a grain of salt. So did Guillermo Mota and Robert Valido... Tired of hearing this. Certain steroids and HGH can help vision.

QUOTE(Shadows @ Aug 6, 2007 -> 11:33 AM) Im willing to bet you know absolutely nothing about steroids except for "they're bad".. Steroids will not help you hit the ball, that is still a skill that you have to be able to do on your own, if anything, the bulk that you put on from steroids would hinder that ability. Steroids make your muscles grow, your tendons and ligaments do not. If they help so much, why is Bonds pretty much the only player who has done anything while "on them". Why isn't Neifi Perez badass? Why did Jason Giambi crumble, yet Bonds has shown no sign of slowing down? What about those 100 or so unnamed players who failed tests in 2003 when they first tested? I actually did a whole lot of reasearch into steroids about 2 years ago. Not only reading about the uses for certain steroids and their effects, but also opinions from doctors who specialize in the very topic. And as I said before, HGH CAN help vision and certain steroids CAN help fast-twitch muscles, making the person's reactions faster.

The best thing for Mark Buehrle's chances at making the HOF would be for him to play a solid couple of years in New York, Boston, or some other national favorite.

QUOTE(LosMediasBlancas @ Aug 5, 2007 -> 02:44 PM) Everyone in attendance who was booing him WHILE HIS WIFE AND KIDS WERE THERE, should be kicked in the face. f*** that. I'd boo him walking down the street with his wife and kids.

I think he can definitely get to #13 overall by the time he retires. Of course, he'll probably be passed by the likes of Manny and A-Rod soon after.

So, Kalapse and I are the only two who didn't think the Simpsons movie was hilarious? I thought it was "meh" at best.

I love Mark Buehrle.

I'm pretty sure steroids WERE against the rules. They just didn't have a testing program. Also, I think HGH helps your vision. So, it would indeed help hand-eye coordination.

QUOTE(Shadows @ Aug 4, 2007 -> 10:13 PM) Maybe not dominated, but I don't think any of them would be as glorified as they are today when their careers were up So, is Timo Perez a Hall of Famer if he played in the 40's?

Ha, Barry Bonds plays against almost the same amount of African American players that Ruth did.

QUOTE(greasywheels121 @ Aug 4, 2007 -> 10:09 PM) Saw all the movies for the first time in the past two days--Identity last night and Supremacy and Ultimatum today. This series transitions incredibly well and the third was definitely the best. Great stuff. As of right now, the movie has a 9.0 rating on IMDB.com. If it keeps that up, it'll be #3 on the top 250 movies of all time when it gets enough votes tallied. Also, saw Hot Rod today. It was actually good. I thought it might've just had the few funny parts in the commercials, but it was much funnier than I expected. Ebert gave it a great review, too.