More Giants

Looks like Shaun O'Hara will be sticking around and taking pressure of Eli and the draft. The Giants should have him locked up before FA starts at 12:01 am.

More Giants

Could Willis McGahee be a Giant soon? I hear it's probable. Do I like the move? That all depends on what it costs. If it's for a 4th round pick, and he can pass an extensive physical, then I like the idea of giving him a shot. If it's for a 3rd, I don't like it, and would need Jerry Reese to find us more picks before or during the draft. The Giants are definitely gonna hit the backfield and probably twice since both Tiki and Ward won't be back. Go Giants!

Knicks BLOW ANOTHER ONE

The Knicks came all the way back from being down 24 in the first half, only to let the Celtics crawl back into it by virtue of their own poor shot selections. At crunch time Thomas pulled them out of the 2-3 zone that had created the comeback, only to have them abused in man coverage. Pathetic.

More Giants

Free Agency and trade season starts at 12:01 am est on March 2, in other words, tomorrow night, just after midnight. I expect the Giants to start things off with two big moves, one pictured above, and the other probably being a linebacker... Stay tuned, it should be exciting.

My Greatest 100 (or so) Albums...

What's Going On (Motown, 1971) Marvin Gaye. This is where Marvin broke free from Motown's traditional production technique, and raised the bar for everyone. What's Going On is not only one of the best albums ever made, but it's one of the most important albums, too. Marvin showed Stevie Wonder and Curtis Mayfield, among others, just what was possible for the modern Soul Man. I generally despised overtly messagey stuff, but Marvin served it up right and kept it wonderfully tuneful. Here are the tracks:

"What's Going On" (Al Cleveland, Marvin Gaye, Renaldo Benson) – 3:52
"What's Happening Brother" (James Nyx, M. Gaye) – 2:44
"Flyin' High (In the Friendly Sky)" (M. Gaye, Anna Gordy Gaye, Elgie Stover) – 3:49
"Save the Children" (Cleveland, M. Gaye, Benson) – 4:03
"God is Love" (M. Gaye, A. Gaye, Stover, Nyx) – 1:49
"Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)" (M. Gaye) – 3:49
"Right On" (Earl DeRouen, M. Gaye) – 7:31
"Wholly Holy" (Cleveland, M. Gaye, Benson) – 3:08
"Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler)" (M. Gaye, Nyx) – 5:26

What's Going On, Mercy Mercy Me, Save the Children and Inner City Blues, are my favorites, but every song here is tremendous and if you don't have this one, get it.

More Yanks

Ondeckbaseball has come out with their Yankee prospect rankings. Their formula tries to balance numbers with age. It produces some slightly surprising results. Check it out. http://www.ondeckbaseball.com/yankees.html

Knicks Tonight

at Boston, 7:30 pm est. Game 1 of the Post-Jamal Crawford run begins. Quentin Richardson will start at the 2. Go Knicks!

Jamal Crawford Gone For Season!

Jamal Crawford will miss the rest of the season with a stress fracture in his ankle. Get well soon, Jamal!

Rangers Tonight

Home against Montreal. The Trade Deadline is rapidly approaching and they haven't done anything stupid yet.

Best New Show

Heroes. As February sweeps come to an end, I must say, my pick for best new show this year is Heroes. I've been into superheroes all my life, and when they are done right, I know it. Heroes adds to the great non-comicbook contributions to Superhero lore we've seen over the past several years. Others include Unbreakable, the Spiderman flicks, and Batman Begins. Well done, Heroes.

Knicks Win!!!!!!!

Starbury took over in the 4th quarter and the Knicks won a tight one against the Heat. Curry was dominant till they stopped getting him the ball. Crawford was once again a hero in the 4th! Here's the boxscore:
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=270226018

More Yanks

According to Peter Abraham's Blog, the MRI on Humberto Sanchez revealed elbow inflamation, but no ligament problem. He is day to day.

Abreu could take a while, but Cashman is not looking to Bernie.

And, thankfull, Bruney's MRI was negative and he will be back.

Knicks Tonight

Home agains the Heat, 7:30 pm est. It's on NBATV so don't think you're not getting it unless you really aren't. They need to win. It's getting a little disheartening that their progress has been stalled.

Note: David Lee is OUT again. Steve Francis is thinking about shutting it down for the year.

More Yanks

After throwing well yesteday, Humberto Sanchez's right forearm tightened back up, so now he and the Yankees are worried. He'll go for tests.

Bobby Abreu has an oblique strain an is now shut down for what could be several weeks.

Brian Bruney is feeling better and hopes to throw tomorrow.

Pavano expects to be well enough to pitch in a game on Sunday.

Strahan On The Way Out?

I woke this morning to all sorts of rumors about Michael Strahan being cut by the Giants. After sifting through them, it looks like a restructure or possibly a cut could be on the way.

Knicks Lose

This isn't even over and I'm calling it. What a disgrace. They're as embarrassing as the Rangers tonight.

Knicks Giving One Away in Jersey

Not playing any D and letting the Nets act like a bunch of punks afterevery made basket. The 4th is just starting and there's no indication that they will do what it takes to win this one.

Knicks Tonight

at New Jersey 6pm est. This would be a good game to win, but it will be tough with Lee sitting out. Go Knicks!

Rangers LOSE

The Rangers rushed out to a two goal lead in the first half of the first period, then took the rest of the night off. The Columbus goals included yet another off a Ranger, and 2 shorthanded goals when the Rangers were on their pathetic power play. There is NO TRADE they could make before the deadline that will change the fact that they are NOT MAKING THE PLAYOFFS. They don't have the character, the coaching or the chemistry that would take. This is a disgrace of the first Garden Magnitude.

My Greatest 100 (or so) Albums...

Al Green Explores Your Mind (Hi, 1974) Al Green. Here Al and producer Willie Mitchell keep the groove going. This was an insanely cool name for a record. And all the tracks were cool including the Take Me To the River and Sha-la-la. Dig em:

Sha-La-La (Make Me Happy)"
"Take Me To The River"
"God Bless Our Love"
"The City"
"One Nite Stand"
"I'm Hooked On You"
"Stay With Me Forever"
"Hangin' On"
"School Days"

I have really been getting back into my soul collection this month and it feels right.

More Yanks

Glass Carl took one off of his left foot today, but will supposedly be ready Tuesday. Sanchez sat out today with some routine forearm stiffness. The rest of the news was pretty encouraging. http://tinyurl.com/2e34wh

Rangers Tonight

Home against Columbus, 7pm est. Aaron Ward is a healthy scratch and rumors or trades - most likely dumb ones - are swirling tonight.

More Giants

Jerry Reese talked to reporters today. Here is the audio link:

http://tinyurl.com/yu2e4l

Knicks WIN!

Marbury and Craw woke up, but still didn't get Curry involved. Frye won it by hitting 2 free throws with less than a second left, then blocking the inbound pass. His grandpa, a Tuskegee Airman, was there. So that rocks. Here's the box:http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=270223018

The Knicks are an Embarrassment Right Now

They are down 8 early in the 4th against the hapless Bucks. They are in the jam primarily because they cannot take care of the ball, and because Steph and Craw refuse to drive and dish or get the ball to Curry. Curry is 3-3 in 26 minutes tonight. That's right 3 shots through 3 quarters and change. That is on the guards who are playing without a plan and whithout any guts. And worst of all, David Lee was taken to the locker room with a turned ankle.

My Greatest 100 (or so) Albums...

3+3 (T-Neck, 1973) The Isley Brothers. The Isley's consisting of Rudolph, Ronald and O'Kelly had been around since the `50's and had made consistent hits on the R&B charts. In the early `70's they expanded the group to include two more younger brothers and a brother in law. The new blood was added seemlessly here, and li'l brother Ernie's guitar stole the show, as they covered James Taylor, The Doobies, Jonathan Edwards and Seals and Crofts! Here are the tracks:

That Lady (Part 1 & Part 2)
Don't Let Me Be Lonely Tonight
If You Were There
You Walk Your Way
Listen to the Music
What It Comes Down To
Sunshine (Go Away Today)
Summer Breeze
The Highways Of My Life

If you have a soul, you want this one.

Knicks Tonight

Home against the Bucks, 7:30 pm est. Must win.

Favorite Comic Book Covers!

Creepy #19 by Frank Frazetta! Gorrilla Men in the Mist!

Rangers LOSE

They played a good first period and a half to take a 2-0 lead, then started coasting and never got any momentum back. They lost in a shootout. Lundqvist was great in the game, but lousy in the shootout.

My Greatest 100 (or so) Albums...

I'm Still In Love With You (Hi, 1972) Al Green. Check out Al in his wicker throne! This album has always been a little underrated, but the title song and several other cuts stand with his very best work. I think when you have an artist of this stature, sometimes, people just downgrade some of their work for variety. They are most certainly applying a seperate standard. Here are the tracks. They are all excellent:

1. I'm Still In Love With You
2. I'm Glad
You're Mine
3. Love And Happiness
4. What A Wonderful Thing Love IS
5. Simply Beautiful
6. Oh, Pretty Woman
7. For The Good Times
8. Look What You Done For Me
9. One Of These Good Old Days

As always, you can get it at Amazon.

More Yanks

From the Newsday Blog:

'A Young Rocket'
Starting pitchers threw live batting practice to hitters today, and Phil Hughes caught everyone's attention. Jason Giambi called him a "young Rocket," and he mentioned several times that Hughes "could have really helped us last year." The Yankees insist Hughes won't break camp with them this year, but I don't think there's any doubt he will be in the majors this year. Get ready to read a lot of Hughes stories off this.

Now here's Peter!

http://yankees.lohudblogs.com/2007/02/22/batting-practice-breakdown-from-today/

Channing Bye?

Rumors are presently swirling that Channing Frye could be on his way out here in a deal for Lamar Odom. There would need to be more parts in the deal, likely QRich and Rose. We'll see.

Rangers Tonight

Home against the Devils. They have to win this one to have any hope of making the playoffs. They are running out of time.

Rangers Tonight

Home against the Devils, 7pm est. This is literally a must win game, if they want to get to the playoffs this year.

Knicks Embarrass Us All Again

They lose to a terrible 6er team. Just like a bunch of dogs who were happy they got a bone last night. They never get the ball to Curry consistently.

Fat Camp

Back in the `70's, the tax situation in Sweden was so oppressive that pop supergroup ABBA often asked to be paid in food. Apparently, the tax situation in Massachusetts is now just as oppressive!

He's Back!

According to Nardi Contreras, Matty DeSalvo is having a great Spring Training and appears to be back! You might recall that Matty throws around 93 to both sides of the plate and has all sorts of pitches he will throw at any time. He had a surprisingly bad season last year, that seemed due to some personal issues. With those behind him, he adds another good looking, though older, prospect to the Yanks passel of pitchers. Rock on, Matty!

My Greatest 100 (or so) Albums...

Let's Stay Together (Hi, 1972) Al Green. As I mentioned in my last Otis Redding comment, Al Green also belongs to that strata of genius singer/songwriters who had at least one period of incredible productivity. There are a few other things that connect Al and Otis. They both made their records in Memphis, and notably both built their best records on the dynamic drumming of Mr. Al Jackson. I would assume that Stax musicians other than Jackson played on some of Al's tracks, but I'd have to see breakdowns to know which ones. I don't think Steve Cropper ever did. Al's sound was a little more sophisticated than Redding't but it still remained raw. Like Otis, his voice could go between rough and raw in a single phrase. He sings in a higher register than Otis, but his voice is still very powerful. Okay, here are the tracks on this one:

"Let's Stay Together" (Green, Jackson, Mitchell) – 3:18
"La-La for You" (Green, Mitchell) – 3:31
"So You're Leaving" (Green) – 2:57
"What Is This Feeling?" (Green) – 3:42
"Old Time Lovin'" (Green) – 3:19
"I've Never Found a Girl (Who Loves Me Like You Do)" (Floyd, Isbell, Jones) – 3:41
"How Can You Mend a Broken Heart?" (Gibb, Gibb) – 6:22
"Judy" (Green) – 3:47
"It Ain't No Fun to Me" (Green) – 3:23

You know the big hit, but everything here should be heard. His version of How Can You Mend a Broken Heart? proves just how great the Bee Gee's writing could be. Check it out!

Knicks Tonight

at Philly, 7pm est. The Knicks once again have a shot to grab some momentum. Let's hope they do.

Knicks WIN, Rangers LOSE

Both of our teams needed wins tonight, both played tough games, but only the Knicks came out on top. http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=270220018 Curry still isn't getting enough shots, but other players played well. Lee had yet another double double. They're on the road tomorrow against the 76ers. They have to win that one, too.

Prucha scored the only goal in the Rangers 2-1 loss to the Rockies. It was a tough game and several Rangers notably Avery and Orr, manned up. We get them again Thursday and have to get 2 points!

More Yanks

ARod looks like he's lost more than the 12 pounds Peter Abraham notes in his great blog. He looks like he means business. PA reports that he also plans to steal more bases this year.

My Greatest 100 (or so) Albums...

The Soul Album (Volt, 1966) Otis Redding. This is yet another Otis classic, and as I've reviewed Otis this week, I see I made a mistake when talking about Singer/Songwriters a couple of weeks ago with reference to Van Morrison. At that time I said I thought only Bob Dylan, Elvis Costello and Graham Parker had had periods as consistently brilliant as Van Morrison did back in the late-`60's to the mid-`70's. I was wrong. Otis Redding was every bit as brilliant and productive as any of those guys were from `64 to his untimely death in late `67. In fact, he's looking more and more like a model for some of these guys. I'll clearly also be adding Al Green to the list.

Anyway, here's The Soul Album:


Just One More Day
3:30

It's Growing
2:49

Cigarettes & Coffee
4:00

Chain Gang
3:01

Nobody Knows You When You're Down & Out
3:10

Good To Me
3:52

Scratch My Back
2:42

Treat Her Right
2:11

Everybody Makes A Mistake
3:22

Any Ole Way
2:38

634-5789

I wonder how many of the songs from Dictionary of Soul, Otis Blue and The Soul Album came out of the same sessions... They are all amazing works. Get them!

Rangers Tonight

at New Jersey, 7:30 pm est. They need to get at least 3 points out of the home and home series with the Devils that begins tonight.

Knicks Tonight

Home against Orlando in a must win game, 7pm est. They are all must-wins right now.

A Classic on TCM This Month

The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (Paramount, 1962) Directed by John Ford. This is Ford's last great and perhaps his greatest movie. This is one of the few "society" Westerns that I really love, and that's because the characters are so finally drawn and the larger issue of a territory at stake between the rule of law and lawlessness takes on far reaching and shattering personal dimensions. This one has a lot of my favorite actors in it: John Wayne, Jimmy Stewart, Lee Marvin, Lee Van Cleef, Andy Devine, Strother Martin, and in my favorite role in the flick, our old pal Edmund O'Brien from D.O.A as the local newspaper editor. Ford shot this one in glorious black and white, and I think it is also the last great black and white Western. Check it out!

Favorite Comic Book Covers!

Amazing Spiderman #23 by Steve Ditko. More great and late Ditko Spidey.

The Veteran Players Ballot

Dick Allen
Bobby Bonds
Ken Boyer
Rocky Colavito
Wes Ferrell
Curt Flood
Joe Gordon
Gil Hodges
Jim Kaat
Mickey Lolich
Sparky Lyle
Marty Marion
Roger Maris
Carl Mays
Minnie Minoso
Thurman Munson
Don Newcome
Lefty O'Doul
Tony Oliva
Al Oliver
Vada Pinson
Ron Santo
Luis Tiant
Joe Torre
Cecil Travis
Mickey Vernon
Maury Wills

I could see Curt Flood eventually going in for contributions or something. He was a great CF for awhile. I expect Torre to get into the Hall as a manager. As as catcher he was a great hitter, but I think he's borderline. I'd have to see park and era adjustments, he like Allen, Boyer, Santo, Pinson, Oliva, and Wills spent much of his career in a pitchers era.

Allen, Boyer and Santo still managed to put up great #'s in a bad era for hitters. If any or all of them had played in the `30's they would have been first ballot HoFers. They've been overlooked for too long.

I said yes to Lefty O'Doul, but he's problematical, cause he only played 11 years in the major leagues and bounced around quite a bit. However, I am biased toward a player's peak years, and Lefty's peak seasons were so impressive that his career OPS is 942. I'd take that.

I said no to Tony Oliva and Al Oliver. They were both outstanding hitters, who didn't walk and as a result had good but not Hall of Fame good career OBP's. Their OPS+'s were 132 and 120 respectively. Oliva's closer, but I don't think he's a Hall of Famer.

Minnie Minoso and Don Newcome were great players who lost years to human stupidity. That's can't take away from their greatness nor should it. They should both be in.

Luis Tiant and Jim Kaat got a lot more done than many Hall of Fame pitchers and should probably be in. They were both good and sometimes great for an awfully long time.

Sparky Lyle pitches a ton of high leverage innings for a long time... I think the bias against relievers is starting to fade, Sparky was one of the great ones.

Gil Hodges and one of my favorites, Thuman Munson, just don't have the offensive production.

Mickey Lolich had a great couple of seasons at the height of the `60's pitchers' era, but then essentially ate his way down to average.

Bonds, Maris, and Colavito also had some great years, but I see them as borderline. Bobby was a great leadoff hitter, but teams just wouldn't leave him there. Maris had back to back MVP seasons but not enough HoF type years around them. Colavito was a very popular player who just didn't have the career.

Carl Mays probably belongs, but he killed a man with a pitch and never seemed to express remorse. I don't think they will ever reward him for that. And I'm not sure they should.

Marty Marion might go in under the Ozzie Smith defensive wunderkind definition, but he was way before my time, so I didn't see him to know.

Mickey Vernon(OPS+116) and Maury Wills (OPS+88!) just didn't do enough.

It's quite a ballot and I hope they start letting some of these guys in.

More Yanks

Joe Gordon is finally getting a close examination by the Veterans Committee. It's a joke that he's not in the Hall of Fame. He was a better player than Bobby Doerr and Tony Lazerri, both of whom are in. He died young, and has had no one to champion his candidacy, but he belongs. He was the greatest second baseman of the 40's, and an all time great Yankee.
http://newyork.yankees.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20070216&content_id=1804167&vkey=news_mlb&fext=.jsp&c_id=nyy