Favorite Comic Book Covers!

Amazing Spiderman #47, nice composition from Jazzy Johnny Romita. On paper, Kraven is no match for Spiderman, but here, Romita has hyped the book by making Kraven the dominant figure. Pretty cool character design with that Lion's head vest...

Knicks Today

At Clippers, 3:30 pm est. They have to win some games on this trip, why not start today?

Giants UP 20-7 at the Half!!!!!!!

Tiki is going off! Go Giants!

More Yanks

Apparently the deal is done and all sorts of rumors are flying. Nippert, Owings and Medders have been most mentioned but there is late word that the Yanks are sending another player, who that is or what that might mean is unknown. A published report speculated we could know tonight. C'mon, Cashmoney Green, impress us!

UPDATE: Latest rumor is Randy Jackson, 6M and a low minor leaguer for Connor Jackson and Micah Owings. We'll see!

Favorite Comic Book Covers!

Creepy #11 sort of Frank Frazetta's take on King Kong or Mighty Joe Young.

More Yanks

Peter Abraham, whose blog is linked here, believes the Yanks will end up with Micah Owings and two other prospects. The quality of the prospects clearly depends on what the Yanks are willing to spend here. Remember they're really saving 22M or so if they trade Randy (16M in salary + 40% tax). In other words, the incentive is clearly there for them to go highish on the prospects.

Giants Today

Giants at Washingto, 8pm est. The big question is: will the Giants show up? Shockey is out. Okay, you can listen to the game here: http://wfan.com/ and you can get all game info here: http://giants.com/. Go Giants!

Knicks Get Blown Out

They looked gassed and the Suns have some homecourt advantage.

Rangers Lose 7th Straight

Booze Not Accountability!

Is This It?

Reports are starting to collect that all Randy Johnson has netted us is overaged pitching prospects Dustin Nippert and Micah Owings. Gee, more right handed power pitchers. Nippert has had Tommy John surgery and has trouble locating his knuckle curve for strikes. Of course Mike Mussina is the master of the knuckle curve and might be able to help him. Part of his age run up is due to the TJ surgery. He's 6' 7" and pitches downhill.

Micah Owings was a two way player in college and features a plus fastball, signs of a plus slider, and a rudimentary change.

If this is really the take, I'd just as soon have kept Randy Johnson. I have no confirmation on this, and I hope I never get it.

NO UPDATES in the New York Times or Newsday who are typically first to publish.

Knicks GameNight

Play hard!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Favorite Comic Book Covers!

The Sandman #1 by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby. I think Jack was sole artist on the cover here, but I remember how freaking thrilled I was when I saw this on the newstand! Simon and Kirby had created the Sandman back in the `40's and here they seemed poised to revive him, but it didn't last. This unforgettable cover has, though.

More Yanks

So our source is now saying Randy is gumming things up with his extension demands. This doesn't surprise me, Randy always orchestrates these deals he deeply wants and then play hard to settle with once they are in place. This will probably take the entire 72 hours, but I expect it will get done. Disturbingly, the source is also saying that Cashmoney Green may be balking at the extras that would net Connor Jackson. If all we're being offered here is some of Az's overrated pitching prospects, I'd back away from this deal faster than Carmelo Anthony after a cheapshot! Make us proud , Cash!

There are now some radio reports stating that a deal has been agreed on depending on how Randy's renegotiations go... Stay tuned, we should know the totality of it pretty soon.

So now, apparently the Padres are backing away from whatever they agreed to to get the 72 hours negotiating window and are asking the Yanks to help with the money or something. Meanwhile, the Pads have upped their offer and their might even be a 3rd team in it (Angels?).

Stay tuned.

My Greatest 100 (or so) Albums...

GP/Grievous Angel (Warner 1973 and 1974) Gilded Palace of Sin/Burritos Deluxe (A+M 1969 and 1970) by Gram Parsons and the Flying Burrito Brothers, respectively. Essentially, these 4 original albums are have been paired up on two different CD's and I think you should have them all (both) anyway. So this is an entry about Gram Parsons, another tortured genius type who checked out way too soon.

After leaving the Sweethearts of the Rodeo era Birds, GP formed The Flying Burrito Brothers with two former Birds (Chris Hillman and Michael Clarke) and pedal steel guitar ace Sneeky Pete Kleinow and starting making achingly beautiful and gritty country rock albums. Their first two are paired here, feature great original songs like Hot Burrito #2 (I'm Your Toy) and rebranded covers like The Dark End of the Street, and the definitive version of the Stones' Wild Horses. Future Eagle Bernie Leadon joined the Brothers on Deluxe. It's amazing how soulful their and really Gram's country rock hybrid was. Every song on this double is sorta perfect.

After the Brothers split up Gram Parker made two great solo albums (though Emilou Harris played a big part in both) backed up by Elvis Presley's band including legendary guitarist James Burton. These albums carried the Parsons' brand and featured several great duets with Harris. They were the Marvin and Tammi of country rock , and that is no small compliment.

Anyway, this is absolutely crucial music for all of you still in possession of your souls. Check `em out!

Rangers Tonight

at Ottawa, 7:30 pm est. Let's see if they can lose 7 in a row!

Knicks Tonight

At Phoenix, 9pm est. The Knicks start a tough 5 game road trip tonight, and it's important that they keep improving while they're on the road. If they play hard, they'll steal a few.

D-Back Do-Over?

The Daily News reports the Yanks are close on deal that will send Randy Johnson back to the Arizona Diamondbacks. The News speculates that the Yanks will take back two minor league pitchers. I suspect the News is wrong. Why? Cause that would be a salary dump, and I don't see Cashmoney Green settling for a salary dump when at least two teams were bidding for the Unit. Afterall, the Yanks don't have to trade him at all, and he was still slotted for a top 4 spot in their rotation. I think the deal I described yesterday sounded more like what Cash would do. We should know soon.

My Greatest 100 (or so) Albums...

Rocket to Russia (Sire, 1977) Road to Ruin (Sire, 1978) by The Ramones.

Rocket to Russia:
"Cretin Hop" – 1:56
"Rockaway Beach" (Dee Dee Ramone) – 2:06
"Here Today, Gone Tomorrow" (Joey Ramone) – 2:49
"Locket Love" – 2:11
"I Don't Care" (Joey Ramone) – 1:39
"Sheena Is a Punk Rocker" (Joey Ramone) – 2:49
"We're a Happy Family" – 2:31
"Teenage Lobotomy" – 2:01
"Do You Wanna Dance?" (Bobby Freeman) – 1:55
"I Wanna Be Well" – 2:28
"I Can't Give You Anything" – 2:01
"Ramona" – 2:37
"Surfin' Bird" (Carl White / Alfred Frazier / John Harris / Turner Wilson) – 2:37
"Why Is It Always This Way?" – 2:15

Road to Ruin:
"I Just Want to Have Something to Do" (Joey Ramone) – 2:42
"I Wanted Everything" (Dee Dee Ramone) – 3:18
"Don't Come Close" – 2:44
"I Don't Want You" – 2:26
"Needles & Pins" (Sonny Bono / Jack Nitzsche) – 2:21
"I'm Against It" – 2:07
"I Wanna Be Sedated" (Joey Ramone) – 2:29
"Go Mental" – 2:42
"Questioningly" (Dee Dee Ramone) – 3:22
"She's the One" – 2:13
"Bad Brain" – 2:25
"It's a Long Way Back" (Dee Dee Ramone) – 2:20

This was the New York Power Trio that changed the world. All those 16th notes added up to brilliance. They never really made anything less than a great album, but these two blam-blammed me early in High School, and I've never gonna a week since without having "Rockaway Beach" pretty close to my consciousness. It's staggering to me that they, and frankly, some others on this list weren't more commercially successful. They are one of the greatest American Rock bands, and I wish they were still around.

Favorite Comic Book Covers!

Fantastic Four #144 by Rich Buckler. Jack Kirby left Marvel and the FF around 1970 and for awhile aftewards, I believe John Buscema handled them, but then Buckler stepped in and brought his strong Kirby instinct back to the book. The mid-seventies were a time of great adjustment at Marvel, but with Buckler handling the 4, they pretty much remained the World's Greatest Comic Mag throughout his term.

More Yanks

Could the Yanks be getting Connor Jackson and Brandon Medders for Randy Johnson and another piece? Well, that's the rumor I'm hearing. Of course this would look like more Jedi Mind Tricks from Cashmoney Green, depending of course on who the other player is. I'd imagine there is money going to AZ, too. Anyway, we'll see if this happens, but it does "feel" like a Cashmoney Green type of deal.

Barry Zito Signs with SF Giants

Jon Heyman and others are reporting that Barry Zito has signed with the SF Giants for 7/126M! Wow! I don't know how serious the Yanks were about Barry, but I can assure you they were not 7/126 interested! For the Yanks, this could mean more teams chasing Johnson and Pavano.

Get Well Soon, Bobby!

Former Yankee Centerfielder and my boyhood idol, Bobby Murcer, is having brain surgery to remove a tumor today. My prayers are with Bobby and his family today and through his recovery. Get well soon, Bobby!

Knicks WIN in TRIPLE OT!!!!!!!!!!!!

If you think last week was exciting this was even better! Marbury fouled out in the second OT, then Craweford too over, but Curry and Frye were also heroes, Lee got another Double-Double, and they overcame 50-something from Rip Hamilton! Here's the boxscore. What a fricking win!
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=261227018

Knicks Heading to OVERTIME

Ugh. Marbury, Curry, Frye and Craw have been great, but Jeffries forgot to foul and allowed a late 3 to tie it up. Refs have swallowed their whistles on the first two Knick possessions of the overtime.

Knicks UP 1 at the Half

Curry has 21, Marbury has 19 and Craw has 7 assists! There's some foul trouble, and the Knicks showed a lack of poise committing 3 late technicals that ate up their lead, but maybe they can pull one out here.

My Greatest 100 (or so) Albums...

ArgyBargy ( A+M, 1980) and East Side Story (A+M, 1981) by Squeeze. People talk about this group or that group being Beatlesesque. Well, what does that mean? Does it mean that a group sounds like the Beatles, or does it mean that a group features brilliant, poppy songwriting? I think it's the latter, and in that sense Squeeze was Beatlesque. I couldn't decide between these two albums, so I threw both on here. Much later they made and album called Play (Reprise, 1991) that's also awesome. Anyway, ArgyBargy features Pulling Mussels (From the Shell), If I Didn't Love You, and Another Nail for My Heart and a bunch of other great popsongs and really opened a lot of ears.

Their next album, East Side Story, was originally envisioned as a uble album with individual sides produced by Elvis Costello, Nick Lowe, Dave Edmunds and Paul McCartney. That's not what ended up happening, though Elvis Costello did produce a bunch of the songs (and sing on) Tempted, and Dave Edmunds did produce In Quintessence, the other outstanding songs were produced by Roger Bechirian. This was also the album where Jools Holland was replaced by Paul Carrack, and if you went to see them back then, as I did on the English Mugs and Others tour with Elvis Costello, Squeeze would play Paul's Ace hit: How Long (Has This Been Going On?) .

Over the years they had a lot of personel turnover outside of main songwriters Difford and Tillbrook, and eventually those two called it quits. But Squeeze really was one of the best pop bands ever and you should own these records.

Knicks GameNight

Jeffries is back and starting. What does David Lee have to do?

More Yanks

There is widespread speculation that when and if the Yanks complete a Randy Johnson trade, they could enter the Barry Zito sweepstakes. Though we would prefer a shorter deal with Roger Clemens, if Zito really wants to be a Yankee and is willing to give the Yanks a discount like the one Beltran once offered, he'd be a very nice addition. What he really brings is outstanding durability, and that's something the Yanks could really use.

If a Johnson deal gets done, it will be interesting to see what else might get done, especially if prospects come back.

Knicks Tonight

Two franchises that loathe Larry Brown, the Knicks and the Pistons, will get together tonight at the Garden, 7:30 pm est. Jeffries will be back, and will probably be matched up with Prince, who killed the Knicks in Detroit. Let's hope Lee's still starting!

Rest in Peace, Gerald Ford

He served when called upon to do so and made some tough decisions. Rest in Peace, Mr. President.

Rangers LOSE 6th Straight!

Great efforts by Lundqvist and Pock were not rewarded by the rest of the Rangers. They lost 2-0, and you have to wonder if the clock will ever start ticking on Renney and Sather.

Rangers DOWN 1-0 after 2

Lundqvist was screened on the Islander goal. Let's hope we can change the recent 3rd period script.

Rangers GameNight

Sorry this is late. They jumbled the lines and theyare not losing - yet. Islanders, not surprisingly, are carrying the hitting.

Luke Petitgout to the IR

Looks like Luke won't be available should we back into the playoffs, either. He was having a very good season before he went down.

It's also been announced that Gilbride will take over play calling from the demoted Coach Hufnagel on Saturday. What a fricking joke. He should have been demoted for not calling enough runs against the Colts in week one. Too little too late as it will turn out.

Michael Strahan to the IR

Word just came down. Here's hoping he's back to 100% to start the `07 season. It's clear that we still need him. Get well, 92!

More Yanks

With as many as five teams calling (Az, SD, SF, LA, LAA) Cashmoney Green could be on the verge of dealing Randy Johnson. With a market like this I expect to be impressed with the haul. The rumors have us looking for young pitchers for Az or a Linebrink based deal from SD. I don't know what the Giants, Dodgers or Angels are offering, but I do expect all of this interest to amount to something. Depending on what we get this could lead to even more deals.

Rangers Tonight

at the Islanders, 7:30 pm est. They can't possibly lose 6 in a row... can they?

My Greatest 100 (or so) Albums...

Star Time (1991) James Brown. This box set presents a wonderfully comprehensive record of Soul Brother #1's career from 1956-1984. From Please,Please, Please, to Papa's Got a Brand New Bag, to Get on the Goodfoot, Sex Machine and beyond, the hardest working man in showbiz gave it up and turned it loose. This is a must own set for anyone who's got a soul. Get on it.

More Yanks

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2708203 This will be interesting to follow. A Johnson deal might put the Yanks in the Zito market, but hopefully would just create a spot for Roger Clemens.

Merry Christmas, Everyone!

Here's a 4th and constantly emerging Holiday Classic. The ideas aren't as big as they are in the other three I talked about, but the truths in this little flick from the maker of Porky's (yikes) are abundant, as I hope all of your good feelings and futures are today. Merry Christmas, All! And God bless us, every one.

Rest in Peace, Godfather

I've just gotten the sad, sad news that James Brown, the Godfather of Soul, Butane James has passed on. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061225/ap_on_en_mu/obit_brown I can't begin to tell you what JB meant to me. He was a giant in music, and not only the Godfather of soul, but the prime mover of funk. It's late and I don't really know what else to say. I'll definitely write more on him when he joins my list of top 100 or so, but right now, I must say I'm pretty shocked. This may have been the greatest live performer ever, and I was lucky enough to see him several times. God bless him.

Giants Get BLOWN OUT on Tiki Barber Day

Not a lot one can say after his team has been so thoroughly embarrassed at home. The only questions that remain have to do with ownership and what they will or won't tolerate. The coach has not lived up to the promises he made when hired, and there has to be accountability.

Giants DOWN 13-7 at the Half

It only took the Giants four plays to score on their first drive, but it's been all Saints since then. Once again, playcalling and shoddy offensive execution have bitten the Giants in the ass. For all the talent Eli has shown, all the missed passes are getting OLD. He's had a terrible time hooking up with Shockey today, and he hasn't found Burress since the TD pass on the 4th play of the game. The Giants were not able to stop Reggie Bush as the Saints drove 89 yards into the wind and ate up most of the 2nd quarter to take the lead. It's going to be tough to come back, even though we're at home and the Saints don't have a great D. We fail on O too often.

Giants Today

Gotta beat the Saints. This is yet another team you can run on, so we'll probably be clever and pass too much. Strahan is back, and that should give them a lift, but will that lift last for 4 quarters? It's Tiki's last home game, and I really hope they don't let him down. Howie Long just said Eli Manning isn't a leader. Well, Howie, glasses don't make you smart. You can listen to the game here:http://wfan.com/ and you can follow all postgame stuff here:http://giants.com/.

The 3 Greatest Christmas Movies of All Time!

It's a Wonderful Life (Liberty Films, 1946-released 1947) Directed by Frank Capra. Starring Jimmy Stewart, Donna Reed, Lionel Barrymore and Frank Faylen among others. Not much I can tell you about this one. There are times when I wonder if this is in fact the best movie ever made. I've never understood why a flick that considers such dark possibilities and starkly displays a very American type of evil, could be considered Capra-corn. Some people just don't get the things they're meant to. Anyway, this rocks, keep watching it!

A Miracle on 34th Street (20th Century Fox, 1947) Directed by George Seaton. Starring Maureen O'Hara, John Payne, Edmund Gwenn, Natalie Wood and a truly amazing supporting cast. This movie is really, really funny. Not just funny for a holiday flick, but really funny. Seaton cast great comic actors in all of the non-leading rolls, and it worked wonders. How funny is William Frawley in this flick? Everything he does is awesome. Never miss this, and never watch a remake or the colorized original. Santa finds any of those actions totally naughty.

Scrooge (also called A Christmas Carol) (1951) Directed by Brian Desmond-Hearst and Produced by Carol Reed. Starring Alaister Sim as Scrooge. A lot of people get confused about which filmed version of A Christmas Carol to watch. This is the one. Alaister Sim is literally phenomenal as Scrooge. You know the story. Sim's transformation from a miserable shark of a man into the finest man in town is something to behold. Incidentally, I have always thought that Gene Wilder studied this movie before becoming Willie Wonka. Anyway, this is the one you want. Don't watch that 1938 Reginald Owen nonsense. Merry Christmas!

Rangers Blow a 3-0 Lead in the 3rd and Lose 4-3

That's five in a row. They have done nothing to address their poor defense and it's not gonna get any better till they do. I don't know how Renney will survive this five game stretch, but he will, cause Sather needs a fall guy for when the heat's on him.

Knicks Get Blown Out

All those shorthanded minutes seemed to catch up with the Knicks tonight. Marbury was not the player he's been lately and none of our guards made a habit of driving to the rim. They seemed baffled by the 6er zone, and it was just an ugly game from start to finish. Francis came back, but didn't seem to have any chemistry with the other Knicks. They have a few days off after this, and will have Jeffries back when next they play. Here's the boxscore if you care to look http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=261223020

Knicks DOWN 15 at the Half

They look flat. Let's hope they can rally. Two overtime games and game last night - all shorthanded - seem to be taking their toll. Francis isn't with the program yet.

Rangers GameNight

Lundqvist is back. Now play some D for him! Go Rangers!

Knicks GameNight

Francis is back, which now gives us all of 3 guards. Go Knicks!

College Hoops Treat!

#3 Ohio State at #4 Florida just getting underway on CBS. My holiday advice to you is to watch it! All sorts of talent on both teams incuding the amazing OS frosh Greg Oden.

More Yanks

According to this ariticle our new hitting coach Keving Long, spent last week in Miami working with ARod. http://www.azcentral.com/sports/diamondbacks/articles/1223long1223.html
It's been reported elsewhere that ARod is planning to come back ten pounds lighter. Look out AL!

Giants Tomorrow

The Giants are 1 and 5 over their last 6 and I don't really see it getting any better tomorrow. I really want them to win just as I do every week, but I don't think their back seven can cover Reggie Bush and Brees's other targets. He's very accurate and should shred our lameass zone. It's basically that simple, we haven't been able to stop even poor offensive teams since the Bears game, and though we are getting players back, I don't think they'll be ready for Brees.

On O we've been bogging down in the redzone, and it cost us the recent Cowboy and Eagle games. It will be Tiki's final game at the stadium (even if we make the playoffs) and I'm really hoping they pull one out for the greatest back in Giant history, but it will take the kind of game planning we haven't had all year. Go Giants!

Another Great Christmas Album

The Beach Boys' Christmas Album (Capitol, 1964) The Beach Boys. This was the 4th album the Beach Boys put out in 1964 - the year Brian had the breakdown on the plane - and it's really an oustanding Holiday offering. Not only do the Boys cover classics like Frosty, Santa Claus is Coming to Town and White Christmas, but they also create a Wilson/Love classic called Little Saint Knick. It's just one of the great Christmas albums of all time, and comes as Brian is ramping into an amazingly creative but emotionally overwhelming period. At this point in time he was less than a year and a half away from releasing Pet Sounds. I think it may still be available, or it might be rolled into a larger Beac Boy collection called Ultimate Christmas. It should be available a Amazon.

Koong Fu Must See's!

The 8 Diagram Pole Fighter (Shaw Brothers, 1983) Directed by Lau Kar-leung and starring Gordon Liu and Alexand Fu Sheng in his last roll. This is flick is sort of like a Kung Fu King Lear, not in terms of plot but in it's overarching sense of loss. The movie itself begins with battle, where the heroic Yang clan is double crossed and slaughtered, and that tone was tragically reinforced when superstar Alexander Fu Sheng died in a car crash during filming. Fu Sheng was a very good actor and comedien as well as a highly polished martial artist and had he lived, he probably would have competed with Jackie Chan in the video, dvd and American market. This guy was the goods, and he doesn't really do much in this movie, but it amounts to his memorial.

In the movie itself, Gordon Liu survives the battle and becomes an outlaw. He basically bulls his way into a Buddhist Temple and develops his own style of pole fighting by studying the monks at practice. It turns out one of the monks is part of the conspiracy against the Wangs. It all comes to a head when Gordon, to save his sister, must battle a hord of bad guys in a house of coffins. It's an incredible sequence.

Btw, this is also historically significant in terms of cinematography as you can see the look of the later Jet Li/Yuen Wo Ping late era classics developing here. If you can't get it at Amazon, try YesAsia.com!

Favorite Comic Book Covers!

Captain America #110, by Jim Steranko. For my money, Steranko crowds Kirby at the top of the Captain America pile. Here's a very dynamic cover featuring not only Steranko's Cap, but his Bucky and the Hulk as well. I think it's time to say a word about Joe Simon. Joe Simon was Jack Kirby's original comic book partner, and Simon't art was know for sort hyper extended limbs and was slightly less geometric than Kirby's. Anyway, as much as you can see the Kirby in Steranko, the Simon is also there. Enjoy!

Today's Bowl Games

1:00 PM
South Florida at East Carolina

4:30 PM
New Mexico at San Jose State

8:00 PM
Tulsa at Utah

Okay, so far, the bowls I thought would be entertaining have not been particularly so. But give these three a look. The Giants have many needs and maybe some future Giants are playing today. Both New Mexico and Tulsa have some real prospects.

My Greatest 100 (or so) Albums...

Every Picture Tells a Story (Mercury, 1971) Rod Stewart. Before he shocked his original fan base and invited a wicked backlash with D'Ya Think I'm Sexy, Rod Stewart was one of the greatest rock singers in history. 35 years down the line he's still moving cd's on the fumes of that once tremendous voice and feel. Anyway, here, Rod's at his absolute rock peak. This album features only ten songs, but when four of them are Every Picture Tells a Story, Mandolin Wind, Maggie May and Reason to Believe, and the rest include some carefully chosen covers, you've hit the classic rock jackpot, mis amigos. This really is a damn fine disc. Someone like you, might like it.

Here's a little history, the first single from the album was Reason to Believe backed with Maggie May. I'm sure you know they ended up flipping it.

Rangers Tonight

Rangers visit Tampa, 7:30 pm est. They cannot afford another loss right now. Hopefully some of the sick guys will be back. Go Rangers.

Knicks Tonight

At Philly, 7:30 pm est. Andre Miller shredded them with passes last Saturday as a Nugget. He can't pick up where he left off. Go Knicks!

Favorite Comic Book Covers!

Tales of Suspense #97 by Gene Colan! Colan, one of the true giants gave us the definitive Iron Man. He also gave us the definitive Daredevil and SubMariner and has a claim in on Dr. Strange. BTW, Iron Man is about the only superhero I can tolerate who gets his powers from his costume.

More Yanks

http://buccoblog.mlblogs.com/my_weblog/2006/12/too_late_the_tr.html
According to the Bucco Blog: The three-team swap between the Yankees, Braves, and Pirates is now said to be nearly complete as all sides work on minor issues.
The Pirates will end up with LaRoche. I say that gently because there are a couple of versions floating.. one that involves the Angels and two that involves the Braves. However, since the Pirates asked for, and reviewed, LaRoche's medicals, we have to assume this deal is with the Braves.
For now, it seems LaRoche will be a Pirate by Christmas, Gonzalez will be a Yankee, and Cabrera a Brave along with at least a second yet unidentified Pirate. .....Bucco Blog

As I've mentioned this seems inevitable. I'll always question trading a young player with upside for a relief pitcher. Gonzalez seems to be the goods, but, save for Mo's two weird weeks a year, relievers are very volatile and extremely fungible. It will be tough on us fans if Melky's gone, but I'm sure Gonzalez will help, if Joe doesn't burn him out.

On another note, Kei Igawa was at the Knicks game in his Yankee jacket. I wonder if he'll keep wearing it out once he's identifiable.

Knicks Win Again!

Here's some news: The Curry, Lee, Frye front court WORKS! All three young bigs battled foul troubles brought on by weird refs, but still made huge contributions to another big win. Crawford and Marbury were also terrific. Frankly, every available man did something good, and they played good D most of the night. They are making progress, but there's another big test tomorrow in Philly! Gotta make it 4 in a row! Here's the boxscore! http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=261222018

Knicks UP 3 at the Half!

Curry and Lee have had some foul trouble, but Jerome James and Cato June have really contributed off the bench. Go Knicks!

My Greatest 100 (or so) Albums...

A Christmas Gift for You (Philles, 1964) Phil Spector and Artists. Before he took to killing houseguests, Phil Spector was one of the greatest producers in music history. In the early sixties he was mass producing hits like the big three were muscle cars. Here's a sentimental snapshot of artists like The Crystals, The Ronettes, and Darlene love at their very best. Surrounded by Spector's wall of sound, Phil and the artists created hit worthy renditions of a ton of Christmas songs. This, is also included on the "Back to Mono" box set that was issued years ago. I wish I knew where my copy is! It's the time of year I love to play it! Happy Holidays, everyone. Thanks for visiting!

Tonight's Bowl Game

8:00 PM
Rice at Troy

This one could be entertaining. Check it out!

Knicks Tonight

Home against the Bulls at 7:30pm est. This is always a big game with the futures and recent pasts of these teams sort of intermingled. It would be a great win, as undermanned as we currently are. Go Knicks!

Rangers LOSE 3-2

Bad D asked Weekes to be good and he couldn't be. Fairly early in the 3rd, Weekes gave up two goals within a minute or so. The second on a defensive turnover. He gave up the 3rd goal around mid-period on a shot he should have stopped. That is 4 losses in a row. Mostly because the Ranger D sucks, but also because Weekes has had to play too much, and Nylander and Lundqvist have been out with flu.

Rangers UP 2-0 after 2

Jason Ward, who'd playing on the Jagr line, scored the second goal. Keep it up, Weekes!

Rangers UP 1-0 afte 1

Either Rachunek or Isbister was credited for the Ranger goal which came late in the period on their 5th or 6th power play opportunity. The Rangers miss Nylander, without him they are jumbling lines and not getting max results - not that Renney ever does.

My Greatest 100 (or so) Albums...

Blonde on Blonde (Columbia, 1966) Bob Dylan. This album, to me, represents Bob's second peak. It was recorded in Nashville and is the culmination of the groove he started with Highway 61 and continued through Bringing it All Back home. Dylan's songwriting, voice and the Hammond B-3 organ dominate once again. This is another of the greatest double albums ever issued, and it features a number of my favorite Dylan songs: One of Us Must Know (Sooner or Later), I Want You, Stuck Inside of Mobile With the Memphis Blues Again, Just Like a Woman, and Absolutely Sweet Marie, are unbelievable. Nearly ten years after this was made, more Dylan music from this era came out on a collection called The Basement Tapes. It's worth picking up, too!

Like all music I talk about, you can get these and other Dylan diamonds at Amazon!

Rangers GameNight

Lundqvist is still out. Isbister is on the 3rd line, and Immonen has been dumped down to 4th line C. Renney is killing us.

Favorite Comic Book Covers!

X-Men #50 by Jim Steranko. The X-men confront the Mutant Queen, and I actually think that this was the creative germ for the later Phoenix saga. Anyway, it has that trademark Steranko juxtaposition of images and it ads up to another very inviting cover. Why did he ever leave?

Andy is Official!

Andy Pettitte took and passed his physical and has officially returned to the Yanks. Phew. He is a perfect fit for our immediate needs and is no way a drag on our future. Hopefully, he'll give us 200+ good innings and help the kids who are coming up.

Meanwhile, no new news, to my knowledge on the Melky/Gonzales mix.

Good NCAA Hoops Tonight!

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/schedules

Two big ones:

9:00 PM ET
No. 6 Duke at No. 24 Gonzaga


7:00 PM ET
No. 7 Pittsburgh at No. 14 Oklahoma State

All 4 teams have looked great and not so great this year, but the winners in both will have really accomplished something. Gonzaga's been killing me lately, and they have a chance to get their season back on track tonight. Dig em!

Tonight's Bowl Game!

8:00 PM
#19 Brigham Young at Oregon on ESPN. This should actually be a really good game. Check it out!

Rangers Tonight

at Panthers, 7:30 pm est. I wonder if any of the sick guys will be well enough to play. I hope we don't get blown out yet again.

David Lee Tips it in for the WIN in Double OT!!!!!!!

Lee was fantastic, and so were Frye and Curry as an exhausted Knicks team pulled it out with a tenth of a second left in the second overtime! This was an amazing win for this undermanned team! Yeah KNICKS!!!!! Here's the Boxscore. http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=261220018

Igawa Models October Bullpen Wear

Andy presser tomorrow!

Knicks DOWN 11 at the HALF

They have played atrocious D. Really terrible stuff, and the guards are showing very little court vision. The Bobcats are doubling and tripling Curry, and that should mean guys are open! They better do better after the break.

Knicks GameNight

Let's see if we can get Curry re-established, and keep playing D! Go Knicks!

College Football Bowl Game Schedule

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/schedules . Sorry I didn't give a heads up about last night's game, I was dealing with a site issue that has, at least temporarily, changed the look of the site. I hope it will be resolved in the time promised. Anyway, bowl season rocks, and the excitement of the games should not be spoiled by consideration of final rankings. There are several great match-ups coming up, and I'll post reminders of when to look for them. Enjoy!

Recommended Noirs

The Killing (United Artists, 1956) Direceted by Stanley Kubrick, written by Stanley Kubrick and an uncredited Jim Thompson, from the novel Clean Break by Lionel White. Noir great Sterlin Hayden plays Johnny Clay, a brainy and driven ex-con with a perfect plan to rob a racetrack. He and his partner recruit a track teller, a track bartender and a cop with a heavy gambling debt. Eventually the plot will also involve a pro wrestler and a psychopathic killer. The one element Clay couldn't count on was the femme fatale wife of one of his partners, perfectly played by Marie Windsor(she of the killer curves). That's all you get on the set-up.

Kubrick in this one, was really coming into his own and filled this film with his typical irony and cool guy twists. Historically, I don't think enough has been made of Jim Thompson's contributions to the script. He was one of the great crime writers of all time, and his finger prints are all over this flick. Check it out!

This too is available at Amazon.

More on Joe Barbera

Here's a pic that's been floating around that shows a great many but not all of the characters H and B had a hand in making part of our culture. Unreal.

My Greatest 100 (or so) Albums...

London Calling (Epic, 1979) The Clash. This is one of the greatest double albums ever produced. I make the double album distinction because relatively few acts have had enough good material to hold up over what was 4 sides. By late `79 the Clash had that and more, in fact they were still cooking and added the unlisted track Train in Vain just as the album was ready for mass production. Anyway, here they are at their absolute peak, visiting a variety of styles and themes and setting themselves apart from the pure punk powerhouse they had once been. There are so many best songs on here it's pretty much folly to start naming them, but Spanish Bombs, The Right Profile, Wrong `Em Boyo, and all the others express just how diverse their interests were by the time they were making this record. If you don't have it, you sorta suck, but if you do want it, you can get it at discount through the Amazon portals here.

Favorite Comic Book Covers!

Nick Fury, Agent of Shield #12 by Barry Smith. Smith was from that group of outstanding artists who came to the biz in the late `60's and early `70's. Here in his early work, you can see a powerful Kirby/Steranko influence, as he follows them on Nick Fury. A little later, he would be the first artist for the Conan comic books, and his work seemed at that point to have a great Joe Simon/Joe Kubert influence. It was also surprisingly flowery. Although those flourishes became less suprising when he changed his name to Barry Windsor Smith. Anyway, check out his stuff, it rocked!

More Yanks

According to Jon Heyman, the only things holding up the Gonzalez deal are the Braves desire for another player with Gonzalez from the Pirates and the Yanks desire to get an even better medical look at Gonzalez. He also speculates that Bernie will return if the deal gets done.
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2006/writers/jon_heyman/12/20/suppan.scoop/

Knicks Tonight

Home against Charlotte, 7:30 pm est. We get Jerome James back tonight, but it's unclear if QRich will play. The Knicks need to reestablish Curry, and he needs to stay out of foul trouble. He can do this by not getting frustrated, and letting the refs no either through words or overacting, when he's being held. They have to play 4 quarters of the kind of D they played in the second quarter Monday, and they should be alright. Steph needs to develop some chemistry with the big man. Of all our guards, he's tried the least. Once he does that, he could be very useful again.

My Greatest 100 (or so) Albums...

This Year's Model (Columbia, 1978). EC's second album fully realized the anger and isolation that wasn't completely articulated on "My Aim is True." Here, he added the kick-ass Attractions and really separated himself from the pack. Man, this is good stuff. "Lipstick Vogue," "Radio, Radio," "Pump it Up", "This Year's Girl", and all the rest. I'm gonna put this on in the car tomorrow. You should, too! And remember if you don't have it, you can get it through the Amazon buttons here.

What's He Up To?

Things have been quiet lately out of Yankee Central. A little too quiet. Sure, we've heard the Gonzalez, Johson, Minky and now, God forbid, Loretta rumors, but public plays have never been Cashmoney Green's way. That was Tampa's tune, and Cash doesn't know it. So, you have to wonder what he is up to. Let me know your best guess. Do you think any of these rumored deals go through, or do you think something comes out of left field (not Melky!)?

Rangers LOSE 4-3

That's three in a row. They lost tonight, mostly because they took a ton of penalties. Penalties + or - are a longterm function of coaching. That needs to be cleaned up if they want to make the playoffs. It was good to see Jagr score 2 tonight, to almost bring us back. He'd been goal-less for 5.

Rangers DOWN 4-2 after 2

The Islanders scored three fairly quick PP goals to start the second. Dumb penalties and a vulnerable Weekes. The Rangers got a goal late to draw within 2. They are shorthanded...

Rangers TIED 1-1 after 1

Shanny got the goal, Weekes gave it right back.

Rangers GameNight

Lundqvist was a late scratch, Nylander's still out, and I think Shanny may be, too. This could be ugly. They are severely undermanned, though Pock is back and active.

Koong Fu Must See's!

Clan of the White Lotus (Shaw, 1979) Directed by Lo Lieh, and starring the Master Killer, Gordon Liu is actually both a sequel and sort of a remake of the classic "Executioners of Shaolin" and is notable for the second appearance of the incredibly evil and power Pai Mei/Bai Mei, you know, the cat QT brought back for Kill Bill. Lo Lieh, who played the hero in Five Fingers of Death, is the white bearded baddie here. Interestingly, Gordon Liu, the hero in this one, played Pai Mei in Kill Bill. I hope this is not a message about the rolls we'll play as we age. But even as it is, this flick rocks. Gordon has to basically invent a whole new style if he is to have any chance against Pai Mei. And of course, he does. This one if also pretty funny. Check it out!

Favorite Comic Book Covers!

Another Kirby Masterpiece, Fantastic Four #46, Blackbolt surrounded by the heads of the FF and the rest of the major Inhumans. The Inhuman Saga was one of the highpoints of the Kirby/Lee universe. Really cool stuff, and in FF it immediately preceeded the introduction of Galactus and his herald, the Silver Surfer! They were on FIRE! I was always sad the Johnny and Crystal of the Inhumans couldn't get things figured out. Alas.

Rangers Tonight

at home against the Islanders, 7pm est. Ozolinsh is gone, Pock is back and Nedved may be on the way. If they bring back Nedved, I'll puke.

Rest in Peace, Joe Barbera

One of my heroes is gone. Joseph Barbera along with his partner William Hanna created so many worlds and wonders for kids that I won't even begin to list them while I'm sad. But speaking broadly, they went from creating Tom and Jerry to Yogi to the Flinstones to Johnny Quest to Scooby Doo and a million projects in a dozen genres before around and after. He was kind to his crews, and gave as much as one man can over a a career. While I am sad at this news, I am in awe of this man.

Knicks WIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Huge Win!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! What a tremendous, gritty victory!!!!!!!!!! Lots of heroes, but none more than David Lee! Here's the boxscore. http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=261218018

Knicks LEAD by 2 at the Half!

David Lee is having a monster game! Steph and Balkman have also been terrific. They held the Jazz to 10 points in the second quarter! Keep up the intensity! Curry's been in foul trouble and is a non-factor so far. Lee already has a double-double. He and Curry and Marbury need to work on their free throws, though.

Knicks DOWN 14 after 1.

Almost as bad as watching the undermanned, ref-resented Knicks try to play basketball, is listening to Mike Breen's constant holier than thou crap.

My Greatest 100 (or so) Albums...

Raspberries Greatest (Capitol, recently remastered). Cleveland's own Raspberries deserve recognition, dammit! For a few years in the early `70's they were Lake Erie's Beatles, and quite worthy of the mantle with songs like "I Wanna Be With You", "Tonight","Go All the Way" and "Overnight Sensation (Hit Record)". They presaged the Anglo-American power pop of the late Seventies and while showing massive Beatle and Beach Boy influences, they were very influential themselve. And they used to wear matching outfits! I understand they are finally back together and producing their first studio album in 30 years. I hope it's cool and doesn't suck.

More Yanks

The Yanks have officially checked out Kei Igawa and signed him for 5/20M. That brings the total value of his deal to 46M, with tax only attached to some or all of the 20M depending on where future thresholds and payrolls are. Seems like a useful piece.

Last Man Standing

This is the only member in the Giants organization that I am not at least somewhat disgusted with. Thanks for showing up and playing your heart out every week - even when you don't seem to be part of the game plan - Mr. Shockey!

Knicks Tonight

at home, against Utah, 7:30 est pm. The suspensions have come down from Saturday's brawl, and the Knicks will be without Nate (10 games) Jeffries (4 games) and Mardy Collins (6 games). No action has been taken against Thomas who apparently ordered the "hit." Um, go Knicks - or at least don't embarrass me!

Giants LOSE

But you knew that. Why did they lose? Well, they got outplayed, outcoached and outhustled all day long. I don't know how a team comes out flat in yet another "biggest game of the year" but they did. Strahan wanted to play, but the coach wouldn't let him be Willis Reed. This is really fricking disgusting. I wouldn't bring these coaches back even in the Giants back into the playoffs. The progress is not there. The poise is not there. And sadly the effort is not there. NEXT!

Giants DOWN 14-10 at the Half

This is pathetic. The Giant Defense didn't show up and the on O, the Giants keep shooting themselves in the foot with penalties, turnovers and the usual odd play calls. This is not a disciplined team. We get the ball first to start the second half, let's hold onto it and score. Feely hit a season long 47 yarder at the end of the quarter to draw us within 4.

Rangers Tonight

Home against the Devils, 7pm est. Break the trap, win the game! Go Rangers!

Old Kid On the Block?

A George King report in today's Post indicates a Christmas gift may be on the way for Blog Poster Rich. Apparently, there are noises that the Big Unit would like to play closer to home. If Cashmoney Green can make this happen in any Yankee favorable way, it would be quite an achievement.

In other news, the Melky trade talks for Mike Gonzalez have apparently "cooled." We find that very cool.

Giants Today!

Giants vs. Eagles, The Meadowlands, 4pm est. These teams have the same record, though the Giants are ahead by virtue of tiebreakers. This is a game that the Giants should win pretty easily. But they won't. They still insist on making problems for themselves. Additionally, gameplanning has been a challenge for this coaching staff, let's hope they've stumbled on a good one. For their part, the Giants need to be on the lookout for Eagle cheapshots. The Eagles are one of, if not, the dirtiest team(s) in the league, and last year, they handicapped the Giants' playoff chances by injuring Pierce and others. Brian Dawkins is probably the dirtiest player on the team. When last seen during Giants/Eagles I he was trying to legwhip Eli Manning as Eli hit Plax for the game winner.

Anyway, like so many teams we've played, the Eagles can't stop the run. Let's see if for once, our coaches decide to take advantage of it. Should be fun! You can listen to the game here: http://wfan.com/ and keep up with the pre and postgame new here: http://giants.com/ . GO GIANTS!

Ugh

I can't tell you how sick I am of internet monkeys using the term "strawman argument" discover something else you think will make you sound smart and overuse it for awhile. The strawman needs a rest.

Rangers DOWN 5-1 after 1

Don't ask. They didn't show up. I'm watching the Knicks, and Curry is already in foul trouble on two BS calls.

Knicks GameNight

QRich is out. Hopefully that means Lee and JJ are the starting forwards. JJ better be able to handle Melo or it's gonna be a long night.

Rangers GameNight

Keep the Streak Alive!

Why a Melky Trade Could Make Us Hate a Man We Loved

It would most likely mean the return of Bernie "I can't hit righties anymore" Williams. This is becoming an annual thing. Bernie is brought back for another year and told he'd have a limited roll, then Joe, who does worry about things like statistical splits, relying exclusively on guts and handedness, plays him way too much and let's him bat lefty! Don't let the rites of spring follow the wrongs of winter! Retire Bernie! Let us remember you when you were great!

More Yanks

According to the latest Times article, the Igawa deal is just about done and just needs a physical, and the only thing holding up the hard to stomach Melky for Gonzalez deal is the Yankees concern over Gonzalez's elbow.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/17/sports/baseball/17base.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

Favorite Comic Book Covers!

Captain Marvel #29 by Jim Starlin. Starlin came along in the mid-seventies and put superheroes like Mar-vell and Adam Warlock on roids. He shared a lot of Kirby's gift for cosmic realms and his stuff just looked cool. I remember a Giant Size Defenders that featured solo adventures framed by an interstitial story where the Defenders had be captured by aliens and were being pitted against opponents chosen specifically for them. Anyway, Starlin did the the work on the the team sections and the Defenders never looked better. Quality stuff!

Rangers Tonight

At Toronto, 7pm est. Keep the win streak going!

Knicks Tonight

Home against Denver, 7:30 pm est. Eddy Curry took only 6 shots last night and the Knicks got clobbered. Cause - Result. Feed the Big Man, Feed the World.

Ugh

There's a report that the Yanks are offering Melky Cabrera for Pirate lefy reliever Mike Gonzalez. Gonzalez is talented but I wouldn't do this deal. Melky at 22 is our best defensive OF, and was impressive in putting up and OPS plus of 100 at 21. Cano's was 102 as a 23 year old rookie. I'm not assuming a second year jump like Cano showed, but I think Melky has good upside. The new Yankee hitting coach, Kevin Long, is apparently a big time proponent of getting the lower body into a player's swing. That will help Melky who did too much arm swinging as a rook. Anyway, you don't trade a kid like Melky for a non-closer. If you're set on trading him, and willing to bet on the health of Matsui, Damon and Abreu this year, you trade Melky in a deal for a starter - either a pitcher or a positon player, but not a set-up guy. The Yanks have extra-pitching and that's what should be used to get what would now be an extra pitcher.

My Greatest 100 (or so) Albums...

Rubber Soul and Revolver (Capitol, 1965 and 1966) This is where the Beatles stopped issuing collections of singles and became phenomenal album artists. It's also where their weird creative/competitive loop with Brian Wilson really started challenging ideas about pop music and album art. We'll see more of the Beatles as we go on, but their absence so far has clearly left people pondering. Listen to them again.

Knicks Tonight

at Pacers, 7pm est. I won't be around for this one as I have family arriving for the holidays, but, Feed the Big Man and Feed the World!

Rangers WIN! 5-2!

Crazy game where we answered Dallas aggression with lots of stupid penalities from our slow defensemen but we got 2 goals from Cullen, 2 from Rachunek! (still need him gone) and a late empty netter from 210, who's still on the team but lost among the aged bodies on our D. Lundqvist was sensational! Let's hope we get him some help, before he decided not to sign up longterm.

Rest in Peace, Ahmet Ertegun

The Man from Atlantic was one of the greatest music producers of all time and a patron saint of Soul music. Rock steady. You'll never be forgotten.

Rangers UP 2-1 after 2

Lundqvist has been insane, and Cullen scored early in the period to give us a lead King Henrik then protected. We really have to improve our D!

Rangers TIED 1-1 after 1

Lundqvist has been awesome, the Rangers have not, were often penalized in the first. Adam Hall did feed Rachunek for a shorthanded goal, so things aren't out of hand - yet. Rangers need to get their game going!

Rangers GameNight

C'mon, 5 in a row! Do it Rangers!!!!

Favorite Comic Book Covers!

Luke Cage, Hero For Hire (#4 and #14) by Billy Graham. Billy Graham was a great `70's comic book artist who was African American. His art was sort of similar to Frank Brunner's and that's to say it was great. He handled Luke Cage, Hero For Hire, and The Black Panther, back when I was getting comics and apparently passed away some time in the `90's. It was hard to find his work on the net, but here are two really nice example. Hero for Hire was a great concept, that eventually got watered down as Powerman, bringing him in line with the rest of the do-gooders. When he started he needed to get paid, and it was fun! Graham's pencils were fantastic, but eventually Luke fans got stuck with George Tuska. He sucked. Anyway, I hope no comic fan ever forgets how good BG was. He rocked.

My Greatest 100 (or so) Albums...

Okay, Repeat When Necessary (Swansong, 1979) Dave Edmunds, Labour of Luse (Columbia, 1979) Seconds of Pleasure (Columbia, 1980) are all related, so I'm counting them as one. The same musicians appeared on all three, and the jangly pop would not stop. The hang up as you can observe was that Edmunds was signed to Swansong and Lowe to Columbia. They waited that out for a little while, then actually called themselves Rockpile for Columbia.

Dave Edmunds was sort of a rock'n'roll purist while, Nick Lowe was at least a minor pop genius. For awhile they were the best of friends and made these three great record which feature "Girls Talk", "Cruel to be Kind" and the amazing "Heart" (which Rockpile member Billy Bremner actually sang) and scores of others. Anyway, they suddenly had a falling out and were never reunited. Just like that, all that jangly good music was all they left us. So seek it out.

See also: Pure Pop For Now People (Columbia, 1978) Nick Lowe.

As always, you can probably get these and others through the Amazon buttons.

Rangers Tonight

at Dallas, 8:30 pm est. I wonder if Lundqvist is still on the team.

No Diggity

I wake to find Yankee articles stating the Yanks are interested in Joel Pineiro, Chris Reitsma, Doug Mientkiewicz, and Toby Hall. Of all of these Hall is the only one who'd be acceptable, and his agent says he is unlikely to sign with the Yanks. The other three are a study in decline. Both pitchers have been significantly reduced by injury, and "Minky" has negative power at the plate, though he's still a better than average fielder. I'm not sure how we have room for more starters unless Pavano's on his way out. That said, I'd still rather go with Karstens or Rasner than Pineiro or Reitsma at this point in their careers.

Nick Johnson Redux?

Now, I've told you for weeks, the Yanks could be interested in bringing OBP Jesus back to the Bronx. The latest rumor is Nicky and Mike Hinckley for Melky, Eric Duncan and Humberto Shanchez. And frankly, I don't believe it. Cashmoney Green doesn't make a habit of losing at trades, and I don't see him trading Sanchez in a deal like this. Sanchez for Soriano was something the Nats would do straight up last Summer, so there is no reason to believe it would also take Melky and Duncan to get Nick. So, if Melky and Duncan are involved, it's another piece and not Sanchez. He is the gold, the Nats cannot have. We'll see what happens. I still sort of expect Nicky back soon.

Knicks BLOWOUT Hawks

Eddy had another big game, but his numbers are a little low, as he came out early in the 4th quarter. Jared Jeffries was impressive as well. What really worked for the whole team tonight was pressing off made buckets, and the 2-3 zone. Everyone played hard on D, and when they do that they create takeaways. The final will be a little tighter than the actual competitive part of the game was due to 10+ minutes of garbage time.http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=261213018

Rest in Peace, Peter Boyle

A great, great, actor and New York kinda guy. We will all miss you!

Knicks UP 47-41 at the Half

Eddy's only got 8, and is missing some free throws, but, he's playing good D and keyed a run with a blocked shot. He's passing well tonight, too. The guards aren't driving and dishing or getting the ball to Eddy in good positions. They need to pick that up. Jared Jeffries still looks rusty but made some plays on both ends before he had to leave with a cut on his chin.

Knicks GameKnight

There have been reports all day the Jared Jeffries will replace David Lee in the line-up tonight, because he brings good D. Of course, the better mix would be to start Craw and the 1, Q at the 2, JJ at the 3, Lee at the 4 and Curry at the 5. But the Knicks are scared to bench Marbury, even though Lee has been the better player this year.

My Greatest 100 (or so) Albums...

The Best of Sam and Dave (Atlantic, 1969). This is everything you want to hear from the greatest soul duo to ever hit the mic. Sam Moore's classic big soul voice combined with Dave Prater's to creat a signature sound that's never been matched by another duo. It's all right here, "Soul Man", "I Take What I Want", "Soothe me", "Hold On, I'm Coming", and "Wrap Her Up" though literally every other song on this record is as good as these five. Comin' to ya! You can get it over Amazon through my links!

Favorite Comic Book Covers?

Daredevil #103 and Avengers #35, by Don Heck. Now, when I was growing up there were a few artists whose work could really turn me off of a book: guys like Frank Robbins, Bob Brown, and -- Don Heck. I do; however, know some directors and artists who like his work. I don't see how, though since I feel like he slaughtered The Avengers (check out the gross persective on Avengers #35) and several others. Anyway, his work's been on my mind as I've been going through my comics and for my friends who like him, Daredevil #103 is pretty much the best thing I've seen him do.

The Cold Stove

Baseball's Hot Stove has seeming grown cold as a nation (not this one or Japan) waits with baited breath to see if visionary Larry Lucchino and deep thinking Theo Epstein can get Matsuzaka on a Boston bound plane to take a physical and sign a Red Sox contract before the clock strikes 12 tomorrow night. I have no doubt this will get done, and have found a great deal of humor in the whole situation. That said, I wish the rest of baseball would quit sittng around and do something splashy.

Knicks Tonight

Against Atlanta at MSG, 7:30 pm est. Feed the Big Man, Feed the World.

Whither House III

Okay, so now the rogue cop has wrongfully coerced House's pal Wilson into saying House and not he wrote all those prescriptions. This is a hideously unbelieveable chain of events, and the cop is clearly more guilty of abuse than House is. Superstar Doctors have superstar lawyers. That's a simple truth. So do big time hospitals. This has been a tiresome arc and I pray it ends tonight.

Okay, we're more than halfway through House, and so far it has been an implausible series of events that has created a flimsy stage for outstanding acting. We're just past the second act break now, and I find myself not caring about a patient's life or any of the other characters. Instead, I'm left wondering where House's and the Hospital's lawyers are in the face of police abuse. Hugh Laurie should keep winning awards for his work on this show, but man, I could have done without a season of his co-workers and cops trying to manipulate him.

Rangers WIN 3-1

Straka kept his streak alive with an assist to Nylander for the final goal. Jagr couldn't buy a goal tonight, and Weekes had his second good game in a row. Go Rangers!

Rangers UP 2-1 after 2

As Jarko Immonen got his first goal of the season and second point of the night! Let the kids play Renney!

Rangers TIED 1-1 after 1

Ugh! Goal by Cullen, then Umberger, who Sather was too smart to sign when the Rangers had his rights, tied it up seconds later. The Jagr line is dominating and it seems only a matter of time until they score. The D gave up the first goal, and something really needs to be changed there. Prucha is a ponderous but healthy scratch.

Rangers GameNight

C'mon, it's just the Flyers! Win Rangers, Win!

The Pavano Watch Day 5

As the Pavano watch continues, Jason Jennings was just traded to the Astros along with Miguel Asencio from the Rockies for Jason Hirsh, Willy Taveras and Taylor Buchholz. Jason Hirsh is a top prospect thus the cost of the second tier Jennings was steep. This is all good news for those looking to trade Pavano. The watch continues.

Favorite Comic Book Covers!

Mighty Thor #366. This isn't really one of my favorite comic covers, but it gives me a chance to talk about Walt Simonson, who I've mentioned before. Walt hit the scene in the early `70's and got this kid's attention by reviving an old Simon/Kirby DC character called the Manhunter from the Golden Age of Comics. Simonson's art for the feature, which appeared, I think, in the back of Detective comics. It was one of the coolest features I had even seen and my memories of it are great. Anyway, Walt went on to great success with Thor (and the goofy identity games he'd play with him), X-Men, and Superman, but I don't think his art was every again at the level it was on Manhunter. His story telling sure was, but not the actual drawings. See if you can find Manhunter.

My Greatest 100 (or so) Albums...

Monster (Warner Brothers, 1994) REM. I think this is probably their best album, and they've made a lot of great ones. Here, they got away from the boingy stuff they had started with Green (and I don't consider boingy an insult, they made three great boingy albums) and got a little more intense. As the preeminent alternative American band, what they did and do has mattered, this album reaffirmed that one of the things that made them special was their ability to reinvent their sound while maintaining there amazingly high songwriting standards (there's an Irish band who've done the same thing - we'll discuss them soon). This is a great collection of songs, and I think, "Strange Currencies" is my favorite. Check it out, if you haven't in awhile. And if you don't have it, you can get it through the Amazon Banners here.

The Three Stooges Re-Unite!

Just got an e-mail from WFAN saying that Garden honcho James Dolan will be on with Mike and the Dimwit at 5:05 pm est. This should be pretty funny. I wonder if Dolan will have anything to announce. Why else would he be on?

Rangers Tonight

At Philly, 7pm est. They need to keep winning.

Favorite Comic Book Covers!

The Scorpion #1 (Atlas, 1975) by Howard Chaykin. Chaykin was one of those exciting artists who came around in the early `70's, like Barry Smith, Walt Simonson, Bernie Wrightson, Jim Starlin, and a few more, who really renewed the sense of the cinematic that had come and gone from the comics industry over the years. He was also looking for an anti-hero and here was his soldier of fortune. The Scorpion was a really cool book, but he only did two issues. I believe he brought it back under another guise for a different publisher sometime after I was out of comics. Anyway, Chaykin rocked!

Knicks LOSE

Curry had another big night, but they couldn't come all the way back from 30 down, try as they did. Inexplicably, Renaldo Balkman didn't play. I'd have to think the Celts might have scored a little less if he did. JJ was rusty. QRich had a brutal game save for the last few minutes. Marbury has no luck. David Lee had another double-double. http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=261211018

Knicks DOWN 25 at the HALF

They are playing like absolute crap. They have no D, and genius Zeke won't put Balkman in. Jefferies in his first action looks rusty and crappy. Curry's getting doubled and not dealing well. He's so worried about fouls that he can't play D. He needs to clobber one of these Celts in the paint and make an example. This has been an embarrassing non-display by the Knicks who are getting booed out of the Garden as they leave the floor for half time. They only score 36.

Knicks GameNight

Crawdaddy will get another start for Francis and he's aces at getting the ball to Curry and running the O. Let's hope JJ fits right in. He plays D, runs the floor and can feed the Big Man. Feed the Big Man, Feed The World.

More Yanks

The Yanks could make a run at Brad Wilkerson if he is non-tendered at Tuesday's deadline. He's coming off some shoulder issues, but healthy could be part of a righty/lefty platoon at first, and is a viable OF. This is the kind of player the Yanks can afford to take a small gamble on.

Yankee Young Hitters Update

With the addition of Juan Miranda, it's time to once again update the top ten minor league hitters I am most excited about. This is for all of you, but especially King's Dad.

1. Jose Tabata
2. Jesus Montero
3. Gerardo Rodriguez
4. Carlos Urena
5. Eric Duncan
6. Juan Miranda
7. Prylis Cuello
8. Abraham Almonte
9. Zolio Almonte
10. Jose Pirela

Jimmy Paredes and Josue Calzado are out of the top ten for now. One to keep a lookout for once the season starts is Alberto Acosta, he's a teen who's supposed to have Montero-like power.

The Juan Miranda pic is from PinstripesPlus, the pay site I'm always pimping.

My Greatest 100 (or so) Albums...

Songs in the Key of Life (Motown, 1976). Stevie's masterpiece. Stevie had kicked ass through the `70's with Talking Book, Music of my Mind, Innervisions, and Fulfillingness' First Finale, but Songs in the Key of Life topped them all. I'd put side two of disc one which features
"I Wish" (Wonder) – 4:12
"Knocks Me Off My Feet" (Wonder) – 3:36
"Pastime Paradise" (Wonder) – 3:27
"Summer Soft" (Wonder) – 4:14
"Ordinary Pain" (Wonder) – 6:23

up against anything that's ever been recorded. It's that good, and so's the whole collection. If you don't have it, ask for it for Christmas.

BTW, this and every CD I recommend, should be available through the Amazon CD Banner at the top of the Blog.

More Yanks

The Yanks have finalized agreements to bring back last year's coaching staff. Two differences: Mattingly in as bench coach and Kevin Long promoted from AAA hitting instructor to major league hitting instructor. Having Pena and Bowa around last year seemed to help, so it's good to have them back.

Knicks Tonight

Home against the Celtics, 7:30pm est. Jared Jefferies will make his regular season debut! Feed the Big Man, Feed the World.

More Yanks

Cashmoney Green Never Sleeps. The Yanks have apparently given a major league contract to a 23 year old Cuban defector named Juan Miranda. He hits lefty. As you know, we always support the use of the Yanks finances to sign young the young talent that's available outside the draft. Keep em, coming! http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2693552

More: "Juan Miguel MirandaMLB Team: Free Agent in the Dominican RepublicCuban Team: Pinar del Rio Cigar MakersOutfielderMiranda put numbers similar to those of Kendry Morales. He played one more season than Morales in Cuba. His fielding percentage was a decent 981. Cuban National Series StatsSeries AB H AVE 2B 3B HR SLU RBI BB K4 1138 343 301 70 14 57 538 205 197 242"baseballguru.com/archives/entries/00001648.htm

http://yankees.scout.com/ They have lots of stuff from Miranda and Yankee Dominican honcho Victor Mata over at pinstripesplus. Even if you don't subscribe, you can see a picture of Miranda on the front page. He was apparently impressive at Dominican Instructs, and some of the people in the Yankee organization compare him to Carlos Delgado.

My Greatest 100 (or so) Albums...

Squeezing Out Sparks (Arista, 1979). 1979 was my favorite year for new music, and Graham Parker's Squeezing Out Sparks is one of the reasons why. Back in the `70's "singer/songwriters" became a cliche, but really, five of the greatest album artists of the `70's: Elvis Costello, Stevie Wonder, Van Morrison, Al Green, Bruce Springsteen and Graham Parker were just that. Sparks was Parker's poppiest record to that point. His earlier classics, which we will also look at feature much more of a soul feel. This was his first album for Arista, and I don't know whether or not they pressured him to become more commercial, but he sure loaded this one up with what might have been hits: "Local Girls", "Discovering Japan", "Temporary Beauty" and lots more. It's just a must have, so if you don't have it, go get it! Discover Japan and whole lot more.

Rangers Win!

Missed it, but apparently Weekes played well.

Rangers Tonight

Back home against FLA at 7pm est. C'mon Rangers give us two in a row!

Giants WIN 27-13!

Giants, behind 3 TD passes from Eli and over 100 yards rushing from Tiki finally won a game. The win moves them to 7-6, and keeps them in the thick of the wildcard race. Shockey had a good game, Plax was so-so, and Gibril Wilson and Kevin Dockery stepped up and made big plays when we needed them. Now, get Strahan back and beat Philly!

Giants LEAD 17-10 at the Half

Shockey wants it bad! Eli's been up and down and our D is scary!

Giants GameDay

The Giants are at Carolina at 1pm est. This is a must win game, and no matter how dinged up Carlolina is, nothing comes easily when your offensive game planning is willfully inept. The Panthers absolutely humiliated the Giants last year in a home playoff game, let's hope our guys do the humiliating today. You can listen to the game here at http://wfan.com/ and follow all pre and post game news at http://giants.com/ GO GIANTS! We should have the inactives in about an hour.

Pavano Watch Day 2

Apparentlty the Cards are checking his health. I don't know what the Cards can offer, but I bet Cash eventually makes another good deal here. In an aside, the Yanks are checking out Dustin Hermanson to see if they want to bring him in for ST.

Knicks WIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Eddy Curry goes off for 36 points, 9 boards and 3 blocks! Lee had another double-double and Craw and Nate showed why they make things go! Here's the boxscore! http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=261209018 Big win!!!!!!!!

Knicks UP 3 at the Half!

Curry and Crawdaddy looking good!

Knicks GameNight

Must Win!

Favorite Comic Book Covers!

Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos #32 by Dick Ayers. Ayers is one of the really unsung heroes of the Silver Age. His pencils were a little like Kirby's (who he often inked) but they really had their own character, owed to a sketchier line that really worked well in books like Sgt. Fury and several westerns. His name on a comic was a guarantee of quality.

Ohio State Basketball

Superfrosh Greg Oden is for real, and OSU is loaded. They are gonna be a tough out come tourney time, and fun to watch all year long.

Programming note: Don't miss Gonzaga and Washington at 11pm est! Now that's what I call SNL!

Rangers WIN 3-1!!!!!!!!

They were outshot, but Lundy kept them in it. Shanny scored an empty netter in the final minute. And a fight started after the final buzzer invovling Holweg. They needed this.

Rangers UP 2-1

It was Jagr. Lundy gave up a power play goal on a rebound to a guy who wouldn't even have been there if we had good D.

Rangers UP 1-0 after 1

It was Straka.

Rangers Today

Rangers have a day game against the Sens. Don't forget, it's at 3pm est. They haven't had a regulation win in a long time.

Knicks Tonight

at home against Milwaukee. 7:30 pm est. They have to start winning their home games.

yankees.com

Just sent me this! Nicely done.

The Stupidest Man on Earth?

Chris "Mad Dog" Russo just said the Yankees didn't accomplish what he felt should have been their #1 offseason goal: Get ARod off the team. The collosal imbecile thinks it should have been a priority for such baseball reasons as chemistry, karma, and the Jeter factor. The first two are obviously non-factors and I don't know how the Jeter factor is objectively mentioned as he is just coming off of the second best season of his career. Russo's stupidity is not one dimensional. He's stupid about virtually everything. I really believe he may be the Stupidest Man on Earth. BTW, do you realize how hard it must be to seem stupid when you're sharing airtime with Mike Francessa every day? That's what this amazing dunderhead accomplishes. Truly, an amazing failure of human evolution. Keep writing those list books, moron!

Coach Rodriguez Stays Put!

Lost in the sudden excitment of Andy Pettitte's return, Coach Rich Rodriguez has said "No" to the Crimson Tide and will remain coach of West Virginia Football for the foreseeable future. The Boosters, who all own rugs like the one pictured, really stepped up to the plate. With no chance of the Knicks or Rangers spoiling it, it's really a great sports day.

Favorite Comic Book Covers!

Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.E.I.L.D. #6. Steranko's answer to NASA. Very hip. Nick's space suit is gold, but reminiscent of the space suits in Mario Bava's Vampire Planet. And that ain't Krypton blowing up behind him.

The Carl Pavano Watch Begins!

Here's Carl, dressed up like a Yankee and hearing the "Andy is back" news. Now, I believe every FA pitcher that comes off the market enhances Cashmoney Green's ability to deal Pavano. The phone has already been ringing, and the countdown to his trade is on!

Andy's Back!

Andy Pettitte, has signed on with the Yanks for at least one year. Don't know all the details, but this perfectly configures the staff for a transition to Hughes and company! Rock on, Cashmoney Green!

Koong Fu Must See's!

The 5 Fingers of Death AKA King Boxer (Shaw Brothers, 1972)! This flick helped kick off the Kung Fu craze of the early `70's. It features just about everything you could want from a Kung Fu flick: vengeance, multiple bad guys, training sequences, secret techniques, envy - everything! Except a leading man who could really sell the Kung Fu. Don't get me wrong, Lo Lieh was a great actor as he proved over and over again, but the American standard was Bruce Lee, and guys like Lo Lieh and David Chiang couldn't really sell the fights like Lee and the real athletes could. That said, this is still a must see. Suspend your Bruce Lee bias and get into the story. Of course, Lee wouldn't have had to be so good had he mastered the Iron Fist (Marvel clearly got their Iron Fist idea from this one) that Lo Lieh does in this movie. Kill Bill fans will notice that the Ironside theme was first used here to represent the hero's inner rage. It simply rocks, so dig it.

My Greatest 100 (or so) Albums...

Marvin Gaye Anthology (Motown, 1974, updated for CD). Marvin Gaye was a musical giant, and this anthology presents a wonderfully chosen overview of his brilliant career. From his early hits like "Hitchhike" and "Stubborn Kinda Fellow" through his romantic duets with Tammi Terrell and the social commentary of "What's Going On?" all the way to "Let's Get it On" this collection covers it all. Though Marvin didn't have the power of an Otis Redding, Wilson Pickett or even Levi Stubbs and David Ruffin, he had enough grit to match their best work. Marvin was one of a kind and we'll be seeing more of him here.

Randy Shannon Will be the New Coach of Miami

Apparently, Randy Shannon, the current DC of the Miami Hurricanes will be named head coach. Shannon is an outstanding coach and a fine recruiter, but I really wonder whether an inside hire is going to have the leverage to get the University to make the necesssary upgrades that the program needs. This strikes me as just muddling through. I hope Coach Shannon is able to get the needed changes, and I hope very much that he is able to restore the program's faded luster.

Rangers WIN!

Shanny got the only goal of the OT. Lundy was perfect! That they came back and won should not excuse the lackluster play by the D and forwards Cullen, Hall and Ward.

Rangers Head to a SHOOT-OUT!

Let's go Lundy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Rangers GO to OT Again

Shanny tied it on a power play goal after Betts had started the scoring with a shorthanded deflection. They woke up around the mid-point of the 3rd period.

Rangers DOWN 2-0 after Two

The Defense rests -- in the middle of games. This is disgraceful. And Lundqvist looks like he's been out partying with Hickey, Duguay and Greschner. Changes must be made.

My Greatest 100 (or so) Albums...

David Johansen (Blue Sky, 1978) the lead singer of the New York Dolls strikes out on his own and makes a GREAT album. One of the reasons I'm doing 100 or so, rather than just 100, is that I want to hip you to some great music that's been overlooked for one reason or another. We will get to the Dolls later on, but this is just a great rock record. The Dolls were one of the greatest American bands, and their moment came just before Punk. Here, Johansen shows up right in the middle of Punk and matches its intensity, even if his songs are more complex and evince a strong soul influence. Songs like "Cool Metro", "Funky But Chic", and "Frenchette" will move you. Check it out.

Favorite Comic Book Covers!

Cap #106! A Kirby Classic where Cap appears to be battling his alter-ego, Steve Rogers! I wonder what Jung would have thought of this cover. I know you think it rocks!

Rangers DOWN 1-0 after One

Lundqvist gave up a goal on a questionable penalty shot. BTW, the Rangers are seeded 9th right now and out of the playoffs. I wonder how long they'll be allowed to underachieve? And is there anyone in the organization with the proper standards to get this fixed?

Rangers GameNight

Well, it seems that Callahan and Immonen might be playing tonight, but Pock, the buried kid defender won't be. It's almost like Renney is trying to prove that kids won't help - he never puts them in positions to flourish.

Giants and Jets Get Needed Funding for New Stadium!

After a month of terrible Giants news in the middle of the season, word came down today that the other NFL owners have voted to loan the Giants and Jets the funds they need to assure the new state of the art stadium goes up as scheduled. This is very good new for the franchise. Go Giants!

More Andy

Peter Abraham is reporting that the Stros are close to dealing for Jon Garland, and that Brian Cashman may have recently spoken to Andy. If the Astros do acquire Garland, I'd tend to assume Andy's on his way back home.

Rangers Tonight

At home against Pittsburgh, 7pm est. It will be interesting to see how many of the kids play for the Rangers, we know the Pens will be running for lines of kids at us all night long.

Decision Day for Andy?

Andy could decide today to come back to the Yanks, though there has been a lot of speculation that the southpaw has only been using the Yanks to get a better deal out of the Astros. If that's the case, the Yanks could be a late entry in the Barry Zito sweepstakes.

Favorite Comic Book Covers!

Vampirella #1! By Frank Frazetta. They made a movie of Vampy back in `96 starring Talisa Soto. I don't think they captured her. Who would you cast?

Bones

I still like this show. Decent mysteries, good cast chemistry, and more quirkily beautiful Fox actresses. It's well done.

More Yanks

Yanks GM was seen by Peter Abraham returning from a 4 hour dinner with "superagent" Scott Boras. You really have to wonder what Cashmoney Green is up to. Now that the Mets seem to be looking for pitching help via a trade with Oakland, could Boras have been offering the Yanks some sort of Zito discount to keep his client out of Texas? As Rich has mentioned elsewhere, the plot thickens.

btw, over at PinstripesPlus.com they ran a "top teens" feature that I suggested a few weeks ago. That Zach McAllister is #11 on their list of teen Yankee prospects ought to tell you they have a pretty incredible inventory.

Knicks Blown Out

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=261206018
Pathetic, they looked like they were making progress, but just wouldn't play D tonight. Above you'll find the boxscore. Curry had a double double again, but it was far from enough.

Knicks DOWN 66-55 at the Half

Unreal. No D.

Knicks GameNight

Just got back from meetings. Knicks need to beat the Bullets here. Go Knicks!

My Greatest 100 (or so) Albums...

Wilson Pickett's Greatest Hits (Atlantic, 1972). The Wicked Pickett may have been a little wild, but he was a soul music giant, and a bit of a commercial genius. Following key trends, Wilson recorded in Detroit, when Motown was starting("I Found a Love), in Memphis at Stax when Otis Redding was ruling("In the Midnight Hour"), in Muscle Shoals, Alabama when the Allman Brothers were the House Band ("Hey Jude"), and in Philadelphia when Gamble, Huff, and Thom Bell had taken over in the early `70's ("Don't Let the Green Grass Fool You"). He also worked with great musicians at every stop. Check out Steve Cropper's and Duane Allman's contributions to this classic, but most of all, just check it out!

Knicks Tonight

at home against the one time Baltimore Bullets, 7:30 pm est. A tough game for the Knicks, and a test of their home court advantage. They need to keep building. Go Knicks!

Whither House?

This week, they brought Sela Ward back and had House teach a class, using three specific diagnostic exercises. Almost made me miss the David Morse cop character. Actually, the last 15 minutes they got out of the classroom, and basically showed the origin of House's infirmity. They have now justified his demeanor and his addiction.

Andy Redux?

Apparently, the Yanks are deep in negotiations for the return of one of their favorite sons. Word is Hendricks Bros and the Yanks are discussing a one or two year deal for about 15M per pop. Andy't balky elbow has allowed him to pitch 200+ innings the last two years, and from the looks of the market, this really would be a strong move for the Yanks. They need innings to save the bullpen, and to assure that Hughes, Sanchez, Clippard and Chamberlain aren't rushed. This also means Cashmoney Green can start using his Jedi mind tricks on those teams interested in Carl Pavano. This makes a ton of sense for very practical reasons. Make it so!

TCM Today

Over on TCM they are showing a bunch of Fritz Lang movies, then a bunch of Otto Preminger flicks. Lang is one of the great directors of all time. Preminger was a big time director, too. However; Peminger really used to strive to make his films topical and socially relevant in their time. As a result, some have not aged well. His best flick, Laura, is not on today, and that one is classic. After his peak, he chilled and took over the Mr. Freeze role on Batman after George Saunders shrugged off his mortal coil.

College Hoops Tonight!

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/schedules The season is off the a fantastic start. Lots of action tonight, try to catch some.

Links Will Be Back!

Just had a HTML problem, and the links will be back shortly.

KNICKS WIN!

Thanks to a monster night from the frontline, the Knicks won easily over Memphis. Here's the boxscore. Check out what the frontline did...http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=261204018 . And in more good news, Jared Jefferies has been cleared to practice and will be back in a week or so!

Knicks UP 9 at the Half

Keep it Going! Feed the Big Man and Feed the World!

Knicks GameNight!

This is one they should win. Go Knicks!

Favorite Comic Book Covers!

Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. #7 Steranko Meets Dali! Dig these Steranko's while you can, they are the least plentiful. The shadow men and the skull are great touches.

My Greatest 100 (or so) Albums...

Chronicle(Fantasy 1976) Creedence Clearwater Revival. John Fogerty was like a No-Cal version of Brian Wilson in a lot of ways. And no, I don't frame everything in terms of Brian Wilson or his work. But this is just true. Fogerty was the singer, songwriter and rockin' guitarist for one of the greatest bands ever. In the late sixties when a lot of bands were getting psychedelic, Creedence was getting down. You know the songs, "Fortunate Son", "Travellin' Band", "Down On the Corner", "Who'll Stop the Rain?" They were churning out hits like Ichiro on astroturf. As with the Beach Boys, internal conflicts, and record company issues cut them off in their primes, but unlike the Beach Boys, Creedence just couldn't stick together. It was tragic. This album captures them at their hit making height, and no one ever really got higher.

Knicks Tonight

Vs. Memphis at the Garden, 7:30 pm est. The Knicks have not been the same team at home as they've been on the road this season. They have to get it figured out, hopefully, tonight. If Curry scores 20 tonight, it will be the first 7 game streak by a Knick in many years. Feed the Big Man and Feed the World!

Favorite Comic Book Covers!

Amazing Spiderman #41 by Jazzy Johnny Romita. I've always loved the Rhino (and today wondered why the Giants kept him off the field in the deep green zone) and thought he was one of Romita's great character designs, but in honor of Brandon Jacobs, here's the Rhino, comin' atcha!

Rangers LOSE 7-4

There is no system here. They rely on too much mediocrity between the top 4 forwards and Lundqvist. Play the kids, and dump some of these useless vets.

Giants LOSE 23-20

The Giants scored a TD to tie the game with a little more than a minute left. Since they were incapable of stopping Dallas all day long, that was too much time, and the Giants lost their 4th game in a row. This is what we call a collapse. The Giants bogged themselves down all day with penalties (and those are a coaching issue), and it's almost a wonder that this was even close. But Shockey, Tiki, Jacobs and Eli were all very good today, and sure didn't deserve to lose. The D and Special teams just couldn't cover all day. The Giants curiously used a timeout on their final TD drive when they absolutely didn't need to, and that ultimately gave Dallas all the time they needed to complete a deep pass against Pierce and Demps and run a few plays to set up their game winning kick.

This is a game the Giants really could have won had they managed their opportunities better, a couple of red zone drives bogged down and the Giants were forced to settle for field goals because they once again got away from the run game. The only people who could stop Jacobs today were the Giant coaches, and they did. Tiki had a good game, but his hand was obviously bothering him, and we don't need him to be this heroic with a broken thumb, and back-up who's ready for prime time.

Crucial decisions need to be made, and we must pray that the Giant owners make the right ones. We have a super bowl roster and a .500 record. That won't get much done.

Rangers DOWN 5-3 after 2

Pathetic.

Rangers DOWN 4-0 after 1

Unreal.

Giants DOWN 10-7 at the Half.

First the good news, Eli looks good. Now the rest of the news: same old, same old. Giants have killed themselves with penalties, drops, bad play calls, and horrendous zone D. Eli and Shockey hooked up for a nice TD on the Giants first possession, but the D allowed Dallas to come right back and tie it up. The Giants then shot themselves in the foot with penalties and an absolutely crazy run call on 4th and significantly less than a yard. If they don't tighten things up and play and coach smart in the second half, they will lose. Go Giants.

My Greatest 100 (or so) Albums...

Ahhhh, "Moondance" (Warner Bros. 1970) Van Morrison. Van was more than the man, he is one of the great album artists in pop history, and the world's finest purveyor of "Caledonian Soul." We'll see him a lot on this list. This one, full of wonderful imagery kicked off the `70's right. There's something about Irish people and god, and Morrison's mysticism is quite near the surface in songs like "Moondance", "Crazy Love","It Stoned Me", and "Into the Mystic." This is a singularly phenomenal album and all should at the very least own a copy for the home and car. We'll get into the music at a later date.

Rangers Today

Host the Islanders at 5pm est. Another huge game, and it would be nice to get two points for a change. Unless the Giants are really getting killed, I won't see much of it. Nice scheduling MSG. Go Rangers!

Giants Today

Cowboys at Giants, 4:15pm est. This is an unbelievably big game for the Giants. They've been in tailsping since the second quarter of the Bears game, and though it looked like things had turned around going into the 4th quarter of last weeks game, that was not the case. We are perhaps getting Osi, Short and Madison back today. That should give Coach Lewis enough confidence to set release the passrush. Romo's not as good as he's been playing, and now that we have a bunch of film on him, we better have some answers.

We're also supposed to get Sinorice Moss back today, but, I'll believe that when I see it. He would give us a WR who can get separation from defenders, and would perhaps be able to catch some of the bombs Hugnagel can't resist calling. It's important for Eli to overcome the problems he's been having lately, regardless of play calls or receiver effort. Check down to Tiki, Shockey and Shank.

We beat the Cowboys in there house, now it's time to beat them in our's. No excuses. Get it done!

You can listen to the Giants for free here at http://wfan.com/ and you can get all game info at http://giants.com/. BTW, because Jeff Feagles has a sore knee, the Giants yesterday cut Lance Legree and signed former Giant and playoff whiffer, Sean Landetta. I don't know if Landetta will help, but cutting Lance Legree is usually a good start! Go Giants!

GIANTS INACTIVES5 S.Landeta P 15 M.Jennings WR 23 C.Webster CB 48 T.Smith LB 52 C.Claiborne LB 77 L.Petitgout T 92 M.Strahan DE
Giants Lineup ChangesOffense: None.

Defense: 72 Osi Umenyiora will start in place of 97 Mathias Kiwanuka at RE. 97 Mathias Kiwanuka will start in place of 94 William Joseph at LE. 51 Carlos Emmons will start in place of 53 Reggie Torbor at SLB. 54 Brandon Short will start in place of 51 Carlos Emmons at WLB. 25 R.W. McQuarters will start in place of 41 Frank Walker at LCB. 22 Sam Madison will start in place of 25 R.W. McQuarters at RCB

COWBOYS INACTIVES 10 Skyler Green WR33 Nathan Jones CB60 Montavious Stanley DT67 Joe Berger G68 Travis Leffew G71 Cory Procter G72 Stephen Bowen DE77 Pat McQuistan

My Greatest 100 (or so) Albums...

Dig Four Tops Anthology (Motown, 1974). The Four Tops, who started singing together in high school, were one of the grandest acts Motown ever produced. Levi Stubbs who was "more of a stylist, if you will" possessed one of the great voices in Soul and he led Obi Benson, Lawrence Payton and Duke Fakir through hit after hit. Their most famous songs were created by the legendary Holland-Dozier-Holland team, and include "(Reach Out) I'll Be There", "I Can't Help Myself","Bernadette", "Turn to Stone" and scores of others. And you might never realize how good "Climb Ev'ry Mountain" could sound, until you've heard Levi sing it. They were never quite as sophisticated as the Tempations could be, but on pure emotion they were every bit their equals. Shake Me, Wake Me, when you hear this.

Knicks Lose 103-100

I'm disgusted. Here's the boxscore.http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=261202018

Knicks Tonight

Home against the Raptors, 8pm est. We need to get Q going on O again. Gotta keep feeding the bigman and gotta have DLee out there in the 4th quarter! Go Knicks!

Lots of Big Games Tomorrow

12:00 PM Connecticut at #6 Louisville
1:00 PM #16 Wake Forest at #23 Georgia Tech
2:30 PM Army at Navy
3:00 PM Stanford at #21 California
3:00 PM Louisiana Tech at New Mexico State
3:30 PM Air Force at TCU
4:00 PM Fresno State at San Jose State
4:30 PM #2 USC at UCLA
5:00 PM Louisiana-Monroe at Louisiana-Lafayette
6:00 PM #8 Arkansas at #4 Florida
7:00 PM Troy at Florida International
7:45 PM #13 Rutgers at #15 West Virginia
8:00 PM #19 Nebraska at #8 Oklahoma
8:00 PM Colorado State at San Diego State
12:05 AM Oregon State at #24 Hawaii Tickets

The huge games are Wake Forest at GTech, USC and UCLA, Arkansas at Florida. Rutgers at WVU and Nebraska at Oklahoma. Of course there's also Army/Navy to remember a different time. It should be a great day. Snack up!

Rangers LOSE!

Weekes got beat easy by the first shooter. Then Nylander, Shanny and Prucha all missed. I'm gonna need an explanation as to why we didn't have the best hockey player in the world in our top there. Both Nylander and Prucha lost the puck and didn't really make shots. The Rangers need to make so moves on that D.

Rangers and Sabres Going to a Shootout!

Very scary with Weekes in goal! We need to hit our shots!

Knicks LOSE

Knicks played pretty well tonight, and came back several times, before succombing by about 8. They need to fix their perimeter D, but that will come when Jefferies gets back, and when they don't face red hot shooters like Prince. But he was open too much. Here's the boxscore.
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=261201008
Overall there are good signs. We needed more than we got from Q tonight and the kids all need to keep improving. Though Curry once again had 24/5 he needs to gather more boards, work on the pass out, and keep improving his D. Lee should have been out there more, but wasn't. Zeke needs to improve, too.

Rangers TIED 3-3

And heading to overtime. Straka and Nylander scored to give us a lead, but our Defense and Weekes gave it right back. Now we go to OT.

Rangers DOWN 2-1 after 2

Rozsival had the Ranger goal, but they're still looking slow and a little soft against the Sabres.

Knicks DOWN 7 at the Half

Knicks had come back from ten down to take a lead, but then they put the starters back in and allowed a 12-3 run. Let's hope Zeke can figured who should be playing before it's too late. We CAN win this one, and have done some really impressive things already.

More Yanks

Yanks have offered arbitration to second half disaster, Ron Villone. I'd still prefer the sandwich pick, though, to Ron't credit he always to the ball as Joe totally abused his arm.

Rangers DOWN 1-0 after 1

Weekes is in the net and it was a SOFT goal. Ryan Callahan is playing! Nice to see the 21 year old get two shifts. Would be nicer to see Renney rolling 4 lines instead of 3 and an occasional zone. The Sabres are really show how slow our D is. Wow. Something has to be done. I hope Callahan can stick and is allowed to contribute. Maybe he can offset Prucha's Sophomore Slump/

Rangers Game Night

Surprise and beat a good team tonight! Go Rangers!

Knicks Game Night

Drive and dish and feed the big man! Go Knicks!

More Yanks

Former Yanks and current options Roger Clemens and Andy Pettitte were not offered arbitration by the Astros. It's not known yet if the Yanks have offfered arb to Ron Villone. There have been persistent rumors that he'll be an Indian.

Favorite Comic Book Covers!

Here's a Carmine Infantino cover of Detective Comics, featuring Batgirl - created in the TV Series. There had been a Batwoman in the `50's but I'm not sure whatever became of her, or this Batgirl. Infantino was like DC's Romita. Really strong and clean work. He handled Batman and a lot of other work at DC and his work was always good.

Koong Fu Must See's!

Here's a new feature that will alternate with the Noirs and other favorite genres as we keep going. Behold, what is labelled Avengers Handicapped, but is better known as Crippled Avengers, Mortal Combat and Return of the Venoms. I generally know it as Crippled Avengers (Shaw Bros. 1978) dir. Chang Cheh, starring Phillip Kwok, Lo Meng, Lu Feng, Chiang Sheng, and Chen Kuan-tai. This is a Kung Fu epic, the movie starts with three swordsmen busting into Kung Fu Hero Chen's place, killing his wife and chopping off his son's hands, before Chen can kill them and swear revenge on everyone. Now we cut to years later, where Chen has fitted his boy with metal, weaponized hands, and turned him into a killing machine. Anyway, Chen is now a tyrant and a bully. When 3 guys accidentally offend him, he blinds one, mutes and deafens another and chops of the legs of the third man. Hero Chang Cheh finds the crippled men and vows to avenge them. He heads out to Chens compound where he is subdued and has his head pressed in a vice. This makes him funny. The cripples find him and set out to return him to his master, who in turn, teaches them appropriate styles to fit their handicaps, and orders the now deaf/mute former blacksmith, to make some iron feet for the guy who lost his. Thus the Crippled Avengers are born. I will tell you no more, except that it rocks! Chang Cheh was the greatest of all the Shah Bros. directors and had a real feel for epic, sweep and stylized violence. Check it out!

My Greatest 100 (or so) Albums...

Superfly (Curtom, 1972) Curtis Mayfield. This soundtrack album, featuring songs like "Freddie's Dead","Pusherman", and "Superfly" has often been compared with Marvin Gaye's "What's Going On," which we will get to eventually, but to me it's really more like Pet Sounds. Curtis Mayfield had been a founding member of the Impressions. They were sort of Chicago's answer to the Temptations, anyway, by 1972 Curtis had sort of moved beyond his role in the group and was ready to do something amazing. He did. This is like Pet Sounds because it's of a theme (being a movie soundtrack, it had to be) and features a bunch of great songs and two instrumentals. Obviously, it's got a different theme than Pet Sounds, but structurally, it's similar. Unlike Pet Sounds, which was sort of idiotically remaindered by Capitol, Superfly was a huge hit. You could not walk around outside in NYC back in fall of `72 without hearing something from this. That made `72 good. Check it out.

Knicks Tonight

At Detroit, 8pm est. Keep driving and dishing. Go Knicks!

Rangers Tonight

At Buffalo, 8pm est. Buffalo has a chance to sweep the season series tonight. Let's not let them. Go Rangers!