To quote Bill Russell, after winning the NBA Championship as a player-coach in LA as a member of the Celtics as the Cs boarded their plane back to Boston:
"'As the sun sets, we say farewell to Los Angeles, basketball capital of the world.' And we all laughed."
Now that none of the Red Sox projected top five outfielders from the preseason are available to play tonight, tomorrow and maybe throughout June, I say the Phillies are the closest to contending. They are only five games back and they stil have Halladay (beast), Lee (beast) and Hamels (mini beast), with Papelbon (psychotic beast) to close games, plus Howard (you guessed it ... beast) coming back and maybe the ghost of Chase Utley.
The Red Sox are 21-21 with an outfield of a guy who couldn't make his Division II team and played in an independent league, a guy the Cubs, who have lost seven straight, didn't want, and a guy whose name looks like a bowl of Alpha Bits. Cue up "Sweet Caroline"!
I saw over the weekend where George Strait turned 60. Six-oh. Now, he is a man. And he's 60? Would never have guessed. I hope my eyes didn't fail me and I saw that correctly. And I type this with a cover of Johnny Cash's "Ring of Fire" blaring on my iTunes (the great Social Distortion version of the Man in Black's classic).
By the way, 5, have you seen what the ghost of Kevin Millwood is doing in Seattle? Seattle? Isn't that where players in witness protection go to play?
Speaking of Brady (want me to get in an irregardless as well? I'll leave out Yeah Yeah's contribution. But I digress), I think it was Justin Tuck who talked about how much the Giants hated Brady before the first Super Bowl. And they took shot after shot at him during that game and he didn't complain, didn't stand there and berate his linemen or whine, just took it and got back to the huddle, and how much he earned their respect that day.
As big a disappointment as Pujols has been, where does Tim Lincecum fit into that equation? Also, big Prince said a hefty contract and he's been ... OK.
Braves grades - Overall A-minus.
Fredi? B-plus. Because I still ain't sold.
Pitching? B-plus. Minor and Jurrjens, and let's not overlook the uneasiness engendered now by O'Flaherty and Venters. Fixable, yes, but until then... Beachy and Hudson have been dominant, and Hanson is still pretty good. Kimbrel may be the best closer in the game going, with Mo on the shelf.
Hitting? B. Bourn and Prado at the top of the lineup have been stellar, and Tyler Pastornicky has learnt very quickly. Chipper, when he's healthy, is still a beast. Freeman's been consistent and Heyward has been red hot or lukewarm. Uggla is all or nothing. Strikeout or bomb, it seems. Would really love to see him and Chipper swap places in the lineup. But yes, Greg Walker has been a sincere upgrade over Larry Parrish.
Josh Hamilton is a man. And he's not even 40.
NASCAR had its all-star race Saturday night? Really?
And you should really try Aunt Jimmie Kate's pecan pie. Especially after she remembers to include the pecans (my grandmother used to make great oatmeal cookies. She'd always remember to include the oatmeal in the second batch she made).
Big Papi. Underrated. 04 isn't 04 without Big Papi. And he was the first Red Sox player since Double X, Jimmy Foxx, to hit 50 bombs in one year. Plus, right now, he is killing lefty pitching. Killing it.
Ray Allen. Probably properly rated. Injuries and age are starting to slow him down more than it has The Truth and The Ticket. But he's got the purest shooting stroke in white and green since Jerry Sichting.
Mark Wahlberg. A little - just a little - overrated. Not many memorable movie roles, other than Boogie Nights. Besides, my cousins have a picture of Donnie, not Mark, eating cereal at their kitchen table from about 35-40 years ago. The Wahlbergs lived around the corner from my cousins in Dorchester.
5, we've exorcised the mustachioed demon that is BVG from our memories with back to back semifinals appearances. 2006 (and yes, I'm starting a sentence with a number. Tell Shirtless not to have a conniption) did not happen. The entire year has been thrown into the great void.
I once had an idea for movie and was thinking of a script. It was really based on the actors to be in it. Mike Madsen. James Spader. James Woods. Maybe Christian Slater or Edward Norton. You know, guys who just seemed so good at playing bodily exit ramps. And write a screenplay that had each one, in character, trying to out-bodily exit ramp the other throughout. And then at the end, Kevin Spacey gets up and walks out and Chazz Palmentieri realizes he made the whole thing up.
A-Fraud? Really. Do you even have to ask me where I stand on this?
Face punch candidates (in honor of Paul Johnson's great quote, "if you don't like what they say, punch em in the face." I hate he gave up Copenhagen.)
Ulf Samuelsson (this one's for you, Driver 8)
Bill Laimbeer (like I'm the only one who wants to do this?)
The ref in the 72 gold medal men's basketball game.
The (blank) who tried to set the flag on fire in center field before Rick Monday swooped in. Maybe one of the most underrated moments in sports history.
Bucky Dent.
5, I was thinking about other great debut albums and forgot completely about Walton High's own Robinson Brothers and The Black Crowes. Saw them at the Om-uh-ni (thank you, Stardust, The American Dream), the night they got fired as the opening act on ZZ Top's tour. It really was a bad set, but that's not why they got the boot, and the only redeeming quality was bringing out Lenny Kravitz for a cover of "Come Together."
But I saw them a couple of months later at the acoustically perfect Johnny Mercer Theater in Savannah and they kicked backside. I told the friends I saw the Crowes with in Atlanta that they had to go see them again. Eventually, they followed me advice and they said every show they've seen since has been righteous, particularly one in Athens that lasted only 45 minutes before the fire marshal shut it down. But it was 45 minutes of absolute, unadulterated backside-kicking rock n roll.
I submit that you could be anywhere in the world, with another fella who might be a complete stranger between the ages of 30 and late 40s, and if you went, "Give it up for ... Randy ... Watson!" he would immediately reply ..."that boy good!"
Though I'm not that big a Pearl Jam fan, "10" was pretty strong for a first effort out of the box. Nirvana had done "Bleach" before "Nevermind" hit, so that's out.
I also will offer up the Allman Brothers' first album. Especially when you finish up with "Dreams" and "Whippin' Post." Yowzah. Or should I say ... bazinga!
Had to speak to the local Rotary Club today (yes, they were out of programs and settled for me) and had to recount the story of how my current boss tracked me down while I was playing golf with my former boss.
5-at-10: Peyton, OKC, Last-place eye-poppers
To quote Bill Russell, after winning the NBA Championship as a player-coach in LA as a member of the Celtics as the Cs boarded their plane back to Boston:
"'As the sun sets, we say farewell to Los Angeles, basketball capital of the world.' And we all laughed."
Now that none of the Red Sox projected top five outfielders from the preseason are available to play tonight, tomorrow and maybe throughout June, I say the Phillies are the closest to contending. They are only five games back and they stil have Halladay (beast), Lee (beast) and Hamels (mini beast), with Papelbon (psychotic beast) to close games, plus Howard (you guessed it ... beast) coming back and maybe the ghost of Chase Utley.
The Red Sox are 21-21 with an outfield of a guy who couldn't make his Division II team and played in an independent league, a guy the Cubs, who have lost seven straight, didn't want, and a guy whose name looks like a bowl of Alpha Bits. Cue up "Sweet Caroline"!
5-at-10: LeBron, baseball at the first turn and SEC strength
I saw over the weekend where George Strait turned 60. Six-oh. Now, he is a man. And he's 60? Would never have guessed. I hope my eyes didn't fail me and I saw that correctly. And I type this with a cover of Johnny Cash's "Ring of Fire" blaring on my iTunes (the great Social Distortion version of the Man in Black's classic).
5-at-10: LeBron, baseball at the first turn and SEC strength
By the way, 5, have you seen what the ghost of Kevin Millwood is doing in Seattle? Seattle? Isn't that where players in witness protection go to play?
Speaking of Brady (want me to get in an irregardless as well? I'll leave out Yeah Yeah's contribution. But I digress), I think it was Justin Tuck who talked about how much the Giants hated Brady before the first Super Bowl. And they took shot after shot at him during that game and he didn't complain, didn't stand there and berate his linemen or whine, just took it and got back to the huddle, and how much he earned their respect that day.
5-at-10: LeBron, baseball at the first turn and SEC strength
As big a disappointment as Pujols has been, where does Tim Lincecum fit into that equation? Also, big Prince said a hefty contract and he's been ... OK.
Braves grades - Overall A-minus. Fredi? B-plus. Because I still ain't sold. Pitching? B-plus. Minor and Jurrjens, and let's not overlook the uneasiness engendered now by O'Flaherty and Venters. Fixable, yes, but until then... Beachy and Hudson have been dominant, and Hanson is still pretty good. Kimbrel may be the best closer in the game going, with Mo on the shelf. Hitting? B. Bourn and Prado at the top of the lineup have been stellar, and Tyler Pastornicky has learnt very quickly. Chipper, when he's healthy, is still a beast. Freeman's been consistent and Heyward has been red hot or lukewarm. Uggla is all or nothing. Strikeout or bomb, it seems. Would really love to see him and Chipper swap places in the lineup. But yes, Greg Walker has been a sincere upgrade over Larry Parrish.
Josh Hamilton is a man. And he's not even 40.
NASCAR had its all-star race Saturday night? Really?
And you should really try Aunt Jimmie Kate's pecan pie. Especially after she remembers to include the pecans (my grandmother used to make great oatmeal cookies. She'd always remember to include the oatmeal in the second batch she made).
5 at 10: Friday mailbag
Big Papi. Underrated. 04 isn't 04 without Big Papi. And he was the first Red Sox player since Double X, Jimmy Foxx, to hit 50 bombs in one year. Plus, right now, he is killing lefty pitching. Killing it.
Ray Allen. Probably properly rated. Injuries and age are starting to slow him down more than it has The Truth and The Ticket. But he's got the purest shooting stroke in white and green since Jerry Sichting.
Mark Wahlberg. A little - just a little - overrated. Not many memorable movie roles, other than Boogie Nights. Besides, my cousins have a picture of Donnie, not Mark, eating cereal at their kitchen table from about 35-40 years ago. The Wahlbergs lived around the corner from my cousins in Dorchester.
5 at 10: Friday mailbag
Of course, 5, when it comes to the over/under rating on Kristen Wiig at Casa del 5 at 10, isn't the most important opinion that of Mrs. 5?
5 at 10: Friday mailbag
5, we've exorcised the mustachioed demon that is BVG from our memories with back to back semifinals appearances. 2006 (and yes, I'm starting a sentence with a number. Tell Shirtless not to have a conniption) did not happen. The entire year has been thrown into the great void.
5 at 10: Friday mailbag
I once had an idea for movie and was thinking of a script. It was really based on the actors to be in it. Mike Madsen. James Spader. James Woods. Maybe Christian Slater or Edward Norton. You know, guys who just seemed so good at playing bodily exit ramps. And write a screenplay that had each one, in character, trying to out-bodily exit ramp the other throughout. And then at the end, Kevin Spacey gets up and walks out and Chazz Palmentieri realizes he made the whole thing up.
5 at 10: Friday mailbag
Bruce? Underrated.
J-Lo? Overrated.
A-Fraud? Really. Do you even have to ask me where I stand on this?
Face punch candidates (in honor of Paul Johnson's great quote, "if you don't like what they say, punch em in the face." I hate he gave up Copenhagen.)
Ulf Samuelsson (this one's for you, Driver 8)
Bill Laimbeer (like I'm the only one who wants to do this?)
The ref in the 72 gold medal men's basketball game.
The (blank) who tried to set the flag on fire in center field before Rick Monday swooped in. Maybe one of the most underrated moments in sports history.
Bucky Dent.
5, I was thinking about other great debut albums and forgot completely about Walton High's own Robinson Brothers and The Black Crowes. Saw them at the Om-uh-ni (thank you, Stardust, The American Dream), the night they got fired as the opening act on ZZ Top's tour. It really was a bad set, but that's not why they got the boot, and the only redeeming quality was bringing out Lenny Kravitz for a cover of "Come Together."
But I saw them a couple of months later at the acoustically perfect Johnny Mercer Theater in Savannah and they kicked backside. I told the friends I saw the Crowes with in Atlanta that they had to go see them again. Eventually, they followed me advice and they said every show they've seen since has been righteous, particularly one in Athens that lasted only 45 minutes before the fire marshal shut it down. But it was 45 minutes of absolute, unadulterated backside-kicking rock n roll.
5 at 10: NBA changes, Braves' Minor problem and College football house cleaning
I submit that you could be anywhere in the world, with another fella who might be a complete stranger between the ages of 30 and late 40s, and if you went, "Give it up for ... Randy ... Watson!" he would immediately reply ..."that boy good!"
Though I'm not that big a Pearl Jam fan, "10" was pretty strong for a first effort out of the box. Nirvana had done "Bleach" before "Nevermind" hit, so that's out.
I also will offer up the Allman Brothers' first album. Especially when you finish up with "Dreams" and "Whippin' Post." Yowzah. Or should I say ... bazinga!
Had to speak to the local Rotary Club today (yes, they were out of programs and settled for me) and had to recount the story of how my current boss tracked me down while I was playing golf with my former boss.