Beakman's Back!

"Beakman's World" the greatest and funniest kids science show ever produced is back on the air! This award winner was a favorite of kids, parents and even teachers alike. Check local listings, then check it out! Beakmania Lives!

Don't Forget Yankees Hot Stove

On YES tonight at 6:30 pm est. They probably don't have much Yankee news, but they should at least have Kei Igawa footage.

More Yanks!

Apparently, the Yanks are still in the market for another starter. Names being bandied about in the articles are Lilly, Meche, Batista, Pettitte, Clemens and now Padilla. Obviously the best buy will be whoever will except the shortest deal. That would put Clemens, Pettitte and Batista at the top of the list. Of the pitchers who will require 4 year deals, Padilla is probably better than Lilly and Meche, but has had some off field issues down in Nicaragua. Whatever the Yanks are able to do here, it's important that they not block the kids who'll be ready in `07,`08,`09 etc, and that they get something GOOD for Pavano. Hopefully, something from the Nats.

The Yanks remain in the hunt for a back-up catcher, 1st baseman, UT and lefty in the pen. Let's hope they are all upgrades over last year's performers at those spots.

Favorite Comic Book Covers!

Stange Tales #161 (1967) Another Steranko materpiece featuring Nick Fury, Agent of Shield and Captain America nearly in the clutches of the insidious Yellow Claw. You can see the heavy Kirby influence in this one. Awesome stuff.

My Greatest 100 (or so) Albums...

The All Time Greatest Hits of Roy Orbison (Monument, 1972) . Ever been sad? Roy has. Ever been lonely? Roy has. Every cried? Roy has. Collected here are all the hits of his original prime (I would argue that he had a hell of comeback in the 1980's both solo and with the Travelling Wilbury's). This is some of the greatest and at times most haunting music ever made. "In Dreams", "Running Scared", "Cryin", "Pretty Woman" they're all here. I hope someday someone compiles the stuff that he did in the `80's before his sudden death. Roy was amazing.

Knicks Win! Knicks Win! Knicks Win!

Quentin Richardson had a great night after missing a game with a strained hammy and Eddy Curry came through big when they got him the ball in the 4th quarter. All the guards had their moments and mysteries. In fact, Francis was having a terrific game until he missed a pair of free throws and tossed an airball at crunch time. The Knicks blew a lead in the third, but came all the way back to win by 3. Well done! Here's the boxscore!
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=261129005

More Yanks!

Philip Hughes won AA pitcher of the Year and Tyler Clippard won best single game performance in AA.

The Yanks' Cody Ehlers and George Kontos were also honored for their seasons in High A and Shortseason. New Yank Anthony Clagget was honored as Class A reliever of the year! Way to go, Yanks!

http://www.minorleaguebaseball.com/app/news/awards/y2006/index.jsp

Knicks UP 56-51 at the Half

Marbury has played a little better, and QRich, Curry and Lee have all looked good! Last night, we collapsed in the 4th quarter. Let's avoid that tonight and welcome a win.

Knicks Tonight

QRich is back and that should help. He needs to feed the pivot though.

Favorite Comic Book Covers!

Here's Justice Inc. #1 by Joe Kubert. Kubert, I believe was a big desciple of the legendary Burne Hogarth, who drew Prince Valiant, and authored "Dynamic Figure Drawing" and "Dynamic Head Drawing." Anyway, when I was a kid his dynamic work was all over DC where he handled Tarzan, Sgt. Rock and is the artist of record on their Hawkman books. He went for realism, like Buscema and some others we've looked like and his work was always a bonus for the reader. Rock on, Joe, wherever you are.

My Greatest 100 (or so) Albums...

Silk Degree (Columbia, 1976). By 1976 Boz Scaggs was a grown up and he made a grown up soul record full of great songs like "Lowdown", "It's Over", "Harbor Lights", "We're All Alone", "Lido Shuffle", and my favorite "Georgia" which turned out to be written about a good friend of mine's daughter. This is about as close to making a Van Morrison album as an American has ever come, he doesn't use Van's mystical imagery, but the rest is right there. Boz is a great singer and songwriter and here he was at the very top of his powers. He apparently ended up firing his manager, because the manager wouldn't let RSO put Lowdown in Saturday Night Fever. That ended up costing him millions, his new manager made sure he had a few songs in Urban Cowboy. The things you can learn here! Give a listen.

Knicks Tonight

At Cleveland at 7:00. Balkman has to guard LeBron. Could be tough for the rook, but he'll try. This one probably depends on how much Marbury plays. The less, the better. Go Knicks.

Is House Jumping the Shark?

My favorite show is really starting to bug the crap out of me. Several weeks ago I wrote about their traditional "bring in the outsider" to challenge House arc. This year they been working that angle through a vigilante cop, played by David Morse, who apparently has more power than the President. So far, he has stalked House, arrested House, and frozen the assets of everyone involved with House. This nonsense is wholly unbelievable, and virtually any group of doctors being so persecuted would have long since had the vigilante's badge by now. I hope they get this arc wrapped up soon, as the vigilante scenes are brutally unwatchable. BTW, the actors all continue to do a great job, and there's plenty of drama, but this yearly "outsider" arc has been too incredulous. I know the challenges of creating a consistently excellent procedural are vast, but this really seems like a little too unreal.

Stephon Marbury is Killing the Knicks

The Knicks are in the process of getting blown out in the 4th quarter of what had been a tight game all night because Stephon Marbury was on the court way too much. His horrific play has wasted winning efforts by Curry, Lee and Francis. The Knicks need to find a taker or buy him out. They cannot beat anyone these days when he is on the court. He is not remotely the player he's been in the past.

Rangers LOSE

Holik gets his own rebound past a lousy Lundqvist. That's two overtime losses in a row! Craptastic, boys. Play Callahan.

Rangers TIED after 3

Another night of overtime! They played poorly with a 3-1 lead than Nylander had to score to tie it at 4! Lundqvist has not been his superstar self tonight, though, as always it's not all his fault.

More Yanks

So, with Kei Igawa basically secured our starters are Wang, Moose, Johnson, Pavano, Kei. Anyone else want to see if we can build a Nick Johnson package around Carl Pavano? Even if the pitching poor Nationals don't want Pavano, there are teams that do, and perhaps we can get some parts from them to put together a trade for Nick and Brian Schneider. I think they'd take Pavano+ and I think that's a move we should strongly consider. Our remaining needs are 1st, back-up catcher and bullpen. If we trade Pavano we could also sign Batista for a starter/bullpen role till the kids are ready.

Rangers UP 3-2 after 2.

The first Thrasher goal was soft. The second came off a Marcel Hossa turnover. He's getting way too much time, and that's the cost. Our goals came from Adam Hall (again) and Straka. Ryan Callahan has been recalled from the minors, but they're not letting him play! That's foolishiness, as anyone who's ever seen Blair Betts or Marcell Hossa blow and easy scoring chance can attest. Callahan is a scorer!

Rangers UP 1-0 after 1

Adam Hall from Prucha and Ozolinsh! It was a power play goal!

Rangers Game Night!

Go Rangers!!!!!!! Let's hope more than just Straka can score tonight!

Yanks Apparently Win Bid For Kei Igawa

The Yanks have apparently posted the winning bid in the less heralded Kei Igawa sweepstakes. The number being thrown around is 25M. That's a lot of money, but I really believe it beats bringing back Ted Lilly for 4 years at an inflated price. He's a fastball, slider, change pitcher. He's a healthy innings eater. Some reports have his fastball in the 80's, while others say he throws in the low 90's and can reach back for a little more at times. The worst case scenario is that he ends up in the pen, and we can always use a lefty in the pen.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IYRbIougvyA&mode=related&search=

Favorite Comic Book Covers!

Spiderman #7 by Steve Ditko. Here Spidey fights the Vulture high above NYC. I always found the Vulture to be a scary villain when I was a kid, I think it was because he was old and Ditko's design of him was so evil. Anyway, I wonder what he's up to these days.

My Greatest 100 (or so) Albums...

Sly and the Family Stone Anthology (Epic 1981) Now Sly made great albums, especially Stand and There's a Riot Going On, which I think you can now only find paired with something else. If you can find them paired together, pick it up, if you can't get this! Sly and the Family Stone were profoundly influential, and one listen to "Dance to the Music," "Stand," "Hot Fun in the Summertime," and "Family Affair" will clue you into how broad their influence was. The merged pop with funk, soul,and rock, and created incredible music. Sly is in the Hall of Fame of tortured geniuses (genii) with Brian Wilson and a few others, and it's a shame that he didn't keep it going past his heyday in the late sixties and early seventies. We missed a lot, don't miss this.

Rangers Tonight

Rangers host Atlanta tonight, 7pm est. Another tough game for the Rangers. We'll have to hope for another superhuman effort from Lundqvist to stay in it. Prucha really needs to get going, as we are depending too much on the big 4.

Knicks Tonight

Knicks at Bulls, 8:30 pm est. I don't know if QRich is playing tonight, but Frye sure isn't a David Lee will start in his place. The Bulls really embarrassed the Knicks the other night, and I'm not sure we can return the favor without Frye and possibly Q. The interesting thing will be to see what kind of numbers Lee can put up as a starter, what Balkman will do with more time, and if Marbury moves himself any closer to a trade or buyout. Go Knicks.

Recommended Noirs

Behold Notorious! (RKO, 1946) directed by Alfred Hitchcock! written by Ben Hecht! Here's a thing about great talents like Hitch and Hecht: they could do anything! Hitchcock ended up doing a bunch of noirs. In fact, I'd say three of his top ten were noirs, including this one. In this one Cary Grant is a cold hearted government agent named Devlin, who must seduce the beautiful and temporarily nihistic daughter of a Nazi Spy, Alicia Huberman(Ingrid Bergman), into undertaking a dangerous mission in South America. The mission calls for Bergman to marry Claude Rains, as he and a cadre of uncaught Nazi's plan to get things going again. That's when things get intense. Now, even a non-noir about confronting rooting out Nazi's would be cool, the attitudes played here are totally noir and all the cooler for it. Devlin, like Sam Spade, seems to have situational relationship with any sort of ethics, so does Alicia Huberman, who's basically trying to party herself to death when they hook-up. The story is great and Hitchcock's feel for noir was sublime. Check it out!

My Greatest 100 (or so) Albums...

Born to Run (Columbia, 1975). Now Phil Spector's influence on this has always been easily recognized and oft proclaimed. But, there is also a hell of a lot of Pet Sounds in here. The albums structure is pretty openly influenced by the Beach Boys, even if fewer chords come into play. But beyond attributable influences, this is just a great rock record from a time when we really needed them. We'll see more of Bruce on this list'o'mine, but we might as well start here. "Thunder Road," "Born To Run," "Backstreets," "Jungleland." Keep playin', Bruce! I've seen you 30 times, but not for some time.

Favorite Comic Book Covers!

Thor #126 just a part of his epic multi issue battle with Hercules. Of course, you know it's another Jack Kirby masterpiece and here Jack is clearly inked by Vince Colletta. Vince used this "feathering" technique that didn't alwas work on all comics or artists, but it worked over Kirby in Thor. You're gonna see a lot of Kirby here, so get ready.

Monster Movie Day on TCM

12:00pm
Thin Man, The (1934) A husband-and-wife detective team takes on the search for a missing inventor and almost get killed for their efforts.Cast: William Powell, Myrna Loy, Maureen O'Sullivan. Dir: W.S. Van Dyke II. BW-93 mins, TV-PG




4:00pm
From Here To Eternity (1953) Enlisted men in Hawaii fight for love and honor on the eve of World War II.Cast: Burt Lancaster, Montgomery Clift, Frank Sinatra. Dir: Fred Zinnemann. BW-118 mins, TV-PG




6:00pm
12 Angry Men (1957) A jury holdout tries to convince his colleagues to vote not guilty.Cast: Henry Fonda, Lee J. Cobb, E.G. Marshall. Dir: Sidney Lumet. BW-96 mins, TV-PG



8:00pm
Public Enemy, The (1931) An Irish-American street punk tries to make it big in the world of organized crime.Cast: James Cagney, Edward Woods, Jean Harlow. Dir: William A. Wellman. BW-83 mins, TV-PG



9:30pm
African Queen, The (1951) A grizzled skipper and a spirited missionary take on the Germans in Africa during World War I.Cast: Humphrey Bogart, Katharine Hepburn, Robert Morley. Dir: John Huston. C-105 mins, TV-PG



11:30pm
North By Northwest (1959) An advertising man is mistaken for a spy, triggering a deadly cross-country chase.Cast: Cary Grant, Eva Marie Saint, James Mason. Dir: Alfred Hitchcock. C-136 mins, TV-PG



2:00am
Manchurian Candidate, The (1962) A Korean War hero doesn't realize he's been programmed to kill by the enemy.Cast: Laurence Harvey, Frank Sinatra, Angela Lansbury. Dir: John Frankenheimer. BW-126 mins, TV-PG




The Thin Man has already started but that along with everything on this list is pretty much must see stuff. All times are EST and the Rangers and Knicks are off tonight.

My Greatest 100 (or so) Albums...

The Temptations Anthology (Motown, 1974), now I don't generally support putting greatest hits collections on top albums lists, but in the case of certain Motown stars, and some others who's regular album were composed of a couple of hits and filler, I will gladly recommend the collections like this one which features the best of the Tempting Temptations from `64 through `73. The Temptations basically consisted of 5 lead singers: Eddie Kendricks, David Ruffin, Paul Williams, Melvin Franklin and Otis Williams. If I ever do a list of favorite singers Kendricks, Ruffin, Paul Willians and Ruffin's first replacement, Dennis Edwards will all be on the list! That's how much vocal talent they had over the years.

In their early years, The Temps basically sang music written and produced by the Great Smokey Robinson, this was their "My Girl," "It's Growing," and "Get Ready" period and leads were generally sung by Eddie Kendricks, though Ruffin and occasionally Paul Williams got them, too. All that's on here.

And the Tempts greater Norman Whitfield (writer producer) phase is also comprehensively represented with everything from "I Wish it Would Rain" to "Papa Was a Rolling Stone" and all the classics in between. Whitfield took them from romantic baladeers to funky social comentators, often in the space of two songs. By this time Ruffin was taking most of the leads, and Paul Williams who was just as great, was more or less crowded out. He was replaced initially by Richard Street. Ruffin left and was replaced by Dennis Edwards, who you know from his leads on every non Kendricks song from "Cloud Nine" through "Papa Was a Rolling Stone." You know his voice. You dig it. You gotta hear it.

Anyway, it's all here, and if you want to know why I'm such a fan of Paul Williams, check out his leads on "Walk and Don't Look Back" and "The Impossible Dream" he's also the deeper lead on "Just My Imagination." Enjoy!

Rangers LOSE 3-2

Drury deflects it in and Lundqvist who'd had a great game was handcuffed. This came after a face off in the Ranger zone which came after 210 turned it over in the zone and Lundqvist stopped a shot. Shanny is furious cause he thinks he was interfered with. It's good that we got a point, but this just shows we are no closer to the younger, faster Sabres than we were several weeks ago. It's amazing that the Sabres are outskating us with 6 rookies. This is especially amazing in light of the fact that we basically get no scoring from anyone but the Jagr line and Shanny. Prucha and Cullen have been big disappointments. But beyond that we have a lot of really average or worse vets who could be replaced by kids. The top two lines and kids should be the formula. Tough loss, especially for Lundqvist who was brilliant.

Rangers and Sabres Head to Overtime!

Two nights in a row, can your heart stand it?

Rangers DOWN 2-1 after 2

Both Sabre goals were the products of turnovers. The first by Cullen, the second by Ozolinsh. There were so many Sabre power plays that I can't remember if any of the Sabre goals were even strength, but if you're reading this don't get the idea that Lundqvist hasn't been great, because he has. After the second Sabre goal, Jagr came right back and made a brilliant pass to Straka for the Ranger goal. After that the Rangers had more jump. I'd love to see them come all the way back here. Why should Titans fans have all the fun?

Straka just tied it!!!!! From Nylander!!!!!!

Does Giant Pride Really Exist?

I don't understand how Giant Pride could produce efforts like we've seen the last three weeks. So, does it really exist or is it a meaningless turn of phrase. I guess we'll find out, but, it certainly has not been restored. Let me know what you think about Giant Pride.

Rangers TIED 0-0 after 1

They'll still be on a power play when the second half begins.

Giants Give Another One Away

The Giants, through a series of terrible player decisions in the 4th quarter, gave up a 21 point lead and with under a minute left Eli Manning threw his second interception of the quarter (both to PacMan Jones) and lost on a Rob Baronas 49 yard field goal 24-21.

The problems started for the Giants when Eli tried a needlessly deep throw to Plaxico Burress that Burress, somewhat typically, quit on only to see PacMan Jones pick it off and return it when Burress was too apathetic to tackle him. This led to a Touchdown. Later, with the score 21-14 and a 4th and 10 for the Titans, rookie Mathias Kiwanuka sacked Vince Young - only he let him go before bringing him down and Vince ran for a first. The drive continued and they tied the game. Finally, with the game tied and the Giants needing to move into FG position, Eli rolled out and threw another pick. Killing our chances, and very possibly our season.

Giants UP 21-0 at the Half

Balance has been restored as Shockey is back in the game plan, and the run has balanced the pass. Plax is holding onto them today, and so is Tiki. Brandon Jacobs has 2 TD's so far, Plax has the other. More to come in the second half. Go Giants!

Giants Today

The Giants play the Titans today at 4:15 pm est. The Titans are a bad team. Over the last game and a half, the Giants have also been a bad team. Things blew up this week when Tiki Barber once again threw the coaching staff under the bus for their gameplanning and playcalling. Though what Tiki said validated the feelings of Giants fans, it's a bad situation, and he should have gone straight to the coach. For the past several weeks, Eli Manning has looked like Dave Brown, and it's on Eli to start looking like a Manning again.

Onto the game, with a banged up front 7 the Giants will have to really focus on their assignments to keep Vince Young from running all over them. Sadly, with Sam Madison still out, and Cory Webster questionable, Coach Lewis will probably not suplement the pass rush with aggressive blitzes. As a result, Young might get off in the passing game.

On O, we should be able to run on the Titans, but we don't seem to like to anymore, so we better hope that Plax and Carter can hold onto the bombs, and Jeremy Shockey takes pride in his pass blocking. Eli needs to be much better today, even if the playcalls remain an issue.

Ultimately, this is a team the Giants should get well against, but truthfully, who knows if they will? They should have won their last two games... 7-4 would help. BTW, you can listen to the game right here http://wfan.com/ and you can follow a full pre and postgame menu of features at http://giants.com/. I hope we can all enjoy the game this week, Go Giants!

Rangers Tonight

Home against Buffalo, 7pm est. This is a measuring game. The Rangers have won 3 in a row, but regardless of how hot they may appear, the Sabres have been a much, much better team this year. The Rangers need to start beating teams like this if they want to go anywhere. BTW, we all know that Jagr, Nylander, Straka and Shanahan have been playing too much this year, and that's going to lead to problems, but now, Renney is giving too much ice time to Marcel Hossa! That's not gonna LEAD to problems, that is a problem. Last night, he played in overtime, and Petr Prucha didn't. Keep an eye on this situation. I don't want to see Prucha traded for an old guy because Renney has devalued him.

My Greatest 100 (or so) Albums...

"Martinis and Bikinis" by Sam Phillips (Virgin `94) is a superb and I fear overlooked album. From the opening ditty "Love and Kisses" through her cover of John Lennon's "Gimme Some Truth" the album rocks and rings with distinctive pop. From their are literally 13 great songs collected here including "Same Rain," "Baby I Can't Please You," "Strawberry Road," and "I Need Love." I think this album is every bit as good as Tapestry, which we will discuss at some point. Find this one if you haven't heard it.

USC WINS!

Dwayne Jarrett, and Pete Carroll's ultimate D were too much for the Irish this year. There is still a talent imbalance that it will take Charlie a few more recruiting classes to catch up with Pete. If USC beats UCLA next weekend, they will play for the National Title. Notre Dame is still probably headed to a BCS bowl since both of their losses came at the hands of top 3 teams. I hope both USC and ND go on to win the rest of their games this year. It's been a treat watching Brady Quinn, Jeff Samardzija and Tom Zbikowski over the last several year. Best wishes to all who played in tonight's game.

J.D. Drew is Apparently a Red Sox

According to Jon Heyman, J.D. Drew to the Sox is more or less a done deal. Now, I'm not a Yankee fan who's gonna trash this player. He's an outstanding player who gets on base and plays good D. There is nothing that is good about this move for the Yankees - unless - the Red Sox are dumb enough to trade Manny. Manny is a Hall of Fame offensive machine, and won't be remotely replaced by Drew. So we must hope that they do indeed trade him. Hopefully for some Angel crap.

BTW, I use the term "a Red Sox" and will continue to, cause I think it's goofy.

Frye Out 3-6 Weeks

He injured his lower leg when he landed on PJ Brown's foot while trying to block a shot. This is terrible news and terrible timing for Channing, who was really improving and becoming a more physical player. He needed this time, while the team is down, to work on his game. Now he must work on rehab and we all must wish him a speedy return. Get well soon, Channing!

Knicks LOSE 106-95

They actually got the deficit that had been 24 down to 5, before they turned it over and started having to foul. Channing Frye and QRich were hurt in the first half and that really hurt. But as a result Renaldo Balkman played the whole second half and put up a double-double. Lee also had a double-double, but, also turned it over 7 times! Here's the boxscore. It will be hard to be optimistic if the injuries to Frey and Q are serious.
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=261125018

Rangers WIN in OT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Straka is your hero, with huge plays by Lundqvist and Jagr, that made it a game. Straka scored with :02 left in OT, after Lundqvist had turned away a Jordan Staal penalty shot. What a win! 2 points! And lots of work to be done!

Rangers Heading to OT!

Jagr scored a 3rd period goal to get us a point and send the game to OT. Let's go Rangers! Get the other point!

More Yanks

Pinstripe Plus, the best subscription Yankee site on the net is having a free content weekend. Sorry I didn't tell you sooner, but here you go!
http://yankees.scout.com/ Enjoy, read as much as you can! And then elect to join!

Knicks DOWN 56-34 at the Half

They are playing like DOGS. I don't understand why they are so terrible at the Garden, but they are truly awful there. Turnovers and dumb fouls. That's their game tonight.

TJ Surgery for Christian Garcia?

When power pitcher Chris Garcia left the HBL early, many of us thought it might have been his maturity issues cropping up again. Now, we are hearing it's his elbow, and TJ surgery as well as rehab could be in the cards for him. This is awful news for the high ceiling kid and we can only wish him a speedy and complete recovery. If he does get the surgery, his rehab schedule should coincide pretty closely with Mark Melancon's. Hopefully, Melancon's bulldog attitude will rub off on the kid. It would be a tragedy if Garcia couldn't reach his top of the rotation potential.

Rangers GameNight!

Don't take any guff from the Penguins! And somebody - please - put Sidney Crosby on his ass! Go Rangers!

Knicks GameNight

Do it again, Eddy!!!!!! Destroy the Bulls!!!!!!

Rangers Tonight

At the Pens, 7:30 pm est. The Rangers owe these boys a beating. Go Blueshirts!

Knicks Tonight

Home against the Bulls, 7:30. It would behoove us to beat the Bulls every time we play them. They have the right to switch first round picks with us this year, and having a better record than the Bulls will prevent that from happening. Go Knicks!

College Football Today!

12:00 PM #4 Florida at Florida State
12:00 PM South Florida at #7 West Virginia
12:00 PM Syracuse at #15 Rutgers
12:00 PM Virginia at #17 Virginia Tech
12:00 PM South Carolina at #24 Clemson
12:00 PM Cincinnati at Connecticut
12:00 PM Kansas at Missouri
12:00 PM North Carolina at Duke
12:00 PM UAB at UCF
12:30 PM Kentucky at #19 Tennessee
2:00 PM Mississippi State at Mississippi
2:30 PM #13 Oklahoma at Oklahoma State
2:30 PM San Diego State at New Mexico
3:00 PM Southern Methodist at Rice
3:00 PM New Mexico State at Utah State
3:30 PM #8 Louisville at Pittsburgh
3:30 PM #16 Georgia Tech at Georgia CBS
3:30 PM #21 Brigham Young at Utah CSTV
3:30 PM Oregon at Oregon State
3:30 PM Troy at Middle Tennessee State
4:00 PM #12 Boise State at Nevada
5:00 PM Arkansas State at Louisiana-Lafayette
6:00 PM Arizona State at Arizona
7:00 PM TCU at Colorado State
7:00 PM East Carolina at North Carolina State
7:00 PM Florida International at Florida Atlantic
7:00 PM North Texas at Louisiana-Monroe
7:30 PM Marshall at Southern Miss
7:45 PM #20 Wake Forest at Maryland
8:00 PM #6 Notre Dame at #3 USC
9:00 PM San Jose State at Idaho
9:00 PM Memphis at UTEP
11:05 PM Purdue at #25 Hawaii

Rivalry Saturday! Okay, you can't go wrong today, but the two games I won't miss are Boise State at Nevada and Notre Dame at USC. Boise has to beat a very tough Nevada team to finish undefeated. USC has to beat Notre Dame to get a shot at the National Championship. Notre Dame and USC are probably my two favorite programs these days, and I hate seeing either lose. USC still has a shot at the title, so I'm probably leaning their way today, but it remains to be seen if I can actually root one way or the other. I think USC will win. They're just two fast and talenter right now, and that's primarily because Pete has all of his own players, and Charlie's only got one and a half recruiting classes on the the roster. The USC receivers are big, fast and talented. Jarrett, Smith and Turner should wreak havoc in the ND secondary. USC will use running back by committee, but Freshman C.J. Gable has been starting to flash some Bush-like tools and could emerge tonight. The Irish aren't hopeless, thoough. They have the best quarterback in the country, a great WR/TE tandem and a brilliant play-caller in Charlie Weis. The one thing that might turn this game on its ear is turnovers. John David Booty has thrown some picks, and frequent tail back Chauncy Washington has been a bit of a fumbler (these two did in the Trojans at Washinton State). Anyway, it should be a great game, enjoy!

My Greatest 100 (or so) Albums...

The Spinners (1972) was a fantastic record. The Spinners had been sort of lesser lights during the glory days of Motown, but in the early `70's they left Hitsville, USA and moved to Philly, where a smooth soul sound was developing. In Philly, they teamed with producer Thom Bell and made some really important music. Whether or not you know their names, you know the falsetto of Henry Farmbrough, the bass of Perivs Jackson, and the sensational leads of the late Phillipe "Soul" Wynne. Well, this was their breakout album and contains the hits "Could It be I'm Falling in Love", "I'll be Around," and "One of a Kind (Love Affair)." Ultimately, the Spinners were to the `70's what the Temptations had been to the `60's: the very best vocal group in the world. Give it a listen.

Favorite Comic Book Covers!

Dr. Strange #1 by Frank Brunner. Frank was another great artist who worked for Marvel in the `70's. His work was precise and realistic. Dr. Strange almost always had a great artist working on him. Ditko was first, then I think it was Dan Adkins, then Gene "the Dean" Colan, then Brunner, with more excellent artists in between. Brunner also drew some of the Kung Fu comics Marvel made back in the day. A really tremendous artist.

Whither Zaun?

The Yanks are apparently in the running to get Greg Zaun as a back-up catcher. This would actually be a back-up to get excited about. He would not create a hole in our line-up when Po sits. There's apparently competition for his services, but hopefully, Cashmoney Green can get something done here. I hope this wouldn't derail any attempt to land Nick Johnson, as the deal I heard would include taking back Brian Schneider to back-up Po. The more important piece would be getting OBP Jesus back. So, if Zaun would screw that up, pass.

Knicks Pound the Living the Crap out of Celts!

Steve Francis, David Lee and Eddy Curry were all outstanding as the Knicks used a 2-1-2 zone to completely dominate the Celtics in Boston. There were contributions all over, and you had to like what you saw from Frye, Q and Nate, as well.
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=261124002
Here's your boxscore! Tomorrow we play Chicago! I'd love to see another effort like tonight's!

Ted Lilly Redux for Yanks?

Ted Lilly's agent is making it sound like Lilly really wants to return to the Bronx. Fortunately, they don't expect any action there until the winning bid in the Kei Igawa sweepstakes is known. I don't think Lilly is quite what we're looking for. He's been giving 30 starts a year lately, but he doesn't give 200 innings a year. That translates into bullpen stress. Not what the Yanks need. I hope we win the Igawa lotto, because we'd have all the leverage there, and could probably get a 3 year deal, where Lilly requires 4 years. Worst case scenario is we get Lilly and he's a lefty Jarret Wright for 4 years and not two. Be slightly concerned, Yankee fans.

Dig the New Links!

Courtesy of SportsSpyder you can now check Yankees, Giants, Knicks and Rangers news every day at this site! Just check the links on the right of the screen.

Knicks UP 52-47 at the Half

Eddy Curry and David Lee are having great games. Gotta keep it going. Go Knicks!

Knicks GameNight!

Knicks need to start winning. Beat those Celtics!

Recommended Noirs

Behold a real cracker of a caper flick! The Asphalt Jungle (MGM, 1950) like The Maltese Falcon was directed by John Huston and based on a story by the hardboiled W.R. Burnett. It involves a group of disperate and desperate men's attempt at a big time jewlery heist. The action starts when "Doc," a legendary burglar gets out of jail with a foolproof plan for a heist. He gains financial backing and assembles a group of career criminals to pull off the job. That's all you need to know, plotwise. The cast, featuring the great Sterling Hayden, Sam Jaffe, Louie Calhern, a young James Whitmore and a curvy Marilyn Monroe. The cinematography, by Harold Rosson, is fantastically moody and pure noir. You'll notice that many of the things you see in this flick were later borrowed by other movies. That I suppose is the greatest compliment a film can receive. Check it out!

Miami Does the Right Thing

Miami finally fired Larry Coker today, and now maybe they can get their football team back to where it belongs. There's been a lot of talk about Barry Alvarez and the Miami job, but he would be a mistake. The `Canes need a younger coach to restore the vitality to the program. I'm sure they're looking at Greg Schiano, who may or may not be available, but think they should also talk to Chris Peterson of Boise State, Dan Hawkins of Colorado and Steve Kragthorpe of Tulsa. The big young names like Bobby Petrino would only leave their current situations for the right NFL offer.

Good luck to Da U in finding a tough, young coach who loves recruiting!

Rest in Peace, Pat Dobson

Pat was most famous for being a 20 game winner in Baltimore, but for 3 seasons, when I was pre-teen, Dobson was an anchor of the Yankee rotation. He won 19 games for us in `74, but sadly, was gone when we really started winning like Yankees again in `76. My prayers are with his friends and family and I wish him the most peaceful of rests.