Bruiser Chong

Kanye is far from mature, but my first impressions of Graduation is a more sophisticated production style from West. Lyrically, he matches up with it on most tracks, although there are some clunkers in there. "Barry Bonds" may be the worst song to ever grace an official Kanye LP. It's low-grade mixtape junk. Ironically, Lil Wayne, who seems to release a new mixtape weekly, is featured on the song. Perhaps the biggest difference between this and his previous two efforts is the absence of the insipid skits. I understand they were designed to reiterate a running theme with each album, but they were irritating after the first couple listens and really broke up the flow of the overall product. It's tough to rationally grade such a hyped release this early, especially since it's still over a week from being "out." For now, this is looking like Kanye's best album and one of the best mainstream hip-hop offerings in some time.

How come idiots like you keep on posting these one sentence replies, while not adding anything one way or the other to the subject? Wow, you can spell! Congrats, you fucking moron. Your positive attitude is a breath of fresh air in these times of religious dominance. I can't see why more people aren't willing to hear out non-religious people like yourself. Is a result of coming off like an irrational, hate-filled dumbass? Probably not. And for the record, I was actually referring to B@RTOK's posts, but if you'd like to put yourself in that boat, be my guest.

We're getting to the point on PTW where there's new blood filtering in by the week. Ted Dibiase and Bam Bam Bigelow are featured/referred to. What a brilliant character the Million Dollar Man was. But holy shit, Virgil may be wearing the gayest outfit I've ever seen.

The Reds are doing a lousy job as spoilers. Oh wait, that's right, I forgot. They're allegedly contenders.

I'm beginning to think that the ones coming out to defend him should just stop. They are doing a better job of making themselves look foolish and condoning his actions than they are in helping his case. You can't say "I know cruelty to animals is wrong" and then say "But it's a black thing man, we don't know fighting and killing dogs is wrong." Stop it, just stop trying to help. You are doing much more harm than good. Much more. But he's speaking some truth there. I hate to be "that guy," but my roommate grew up in what could be defined as "the hood" and said this sort of thing was fairly commonplace. Kids would bring their dogs outside and have them fight. This obviously doesn't excuse what Vick did. He's a grown man who willingly participated in activities he knew to be illegal. I'm just saying Foxx isn't trying to put a positive spin on the situation; he's simply recalling what he saw.

I read that as "outfielder" at first and wondered when and how they were able to put Nomar into the outfield without his body coming apart like one of the Incredible Crash Dummies. Anyway, Al, some Top threes: - Top 3 guilty pleasures (players) - Top 3 overrated - Top 3 underrated - Top 3 worst-run teams - Top 3 worst managers - Top 3 players who should retire - Top 3 best moments as a fan - Top 3 worst moments as a fan That ought to keep you busy.

Scott Williamson? But seriously, who cares? Besides Marvin. The O's are up there with the Pirates on the list of ineptly-run organizations. It's even worse because the resources are there. They just have no idea what to spend it on.

Czech makes a great point. Nothing is ever going to top what we saw between these teams in 2004. Anything we get from now on is going to feel inferior. Last year's playoffs were lousy because the Tigers were so dominant. It wasn't because the teams were terrible. I think it'd do the sport some good to give the national audience a glimpse at some of the overlooked guys on contending teams. I'm not saying to disregard Papi, A-Rod, etc., but we've been there, done that. Not all of the great players in the game set up shop in New York and Boston. And a lot of them play for teams with playoff hopes at this point in the season.

Who else is getting the Best Buy exclusive gift set of Season 3 Tuesday? Bonus materials include a mini Dwight bobblehead, letter of acceptance and a DUNDIE AWARD! And all of it comes in one of those cardboard storage containers regularly seen on the show. Easily worth the extra 10 bucks.

Mariners lose AGAIN. Looks like yet another October with both the Red Sox and Yankees. Super. I'm sure most fans of those teams will disagree, but MLB's postseason desperately needs new blood. The prospect of a Sox/Yanks series in October is too grating to even consider right now.

I didn't even realize the Cubs already played today. Again, for the best. I don't much understand the Trachsel acquisition. I don't think he's much of an improvement over either Marshall or Marquis. And while it was over a decade ago, I remember him being legendarily terrible at Wrigley.

It's not a Cubs' win unless Ryan Dempster takes years off your life before nailing down the save. What a close call. Finally some breathing room between the Cubs and the rest of the division.

Soriano came back too soon.

That's a GUY?

hahaha, yeah, because of their "superior pitching" You do realize they have the third best ERA in the NL and fifth best in the bigs? And they're within mere points of the third and fourth best ERA leaders. Cubs may not have a team full of aces, but their starters have been reliable in the grand scheme of things.

Raul Mondesi. He seemed poised to become one of the game's best sluggers his first several years in LA. Yet he never reached 100 RBI. What's the deal? Was he just not that good?

Uh oh. I fully expect them to make it to the World Series and be five outs away from winning the clinching game, when without warning, Ronnie Woo-Woo snatches a foul ball from the imminent grasp of Alfonso Soriano, sparking a seven-run inning and ultimate series loss.

Ned Yost is a pretty terrible manager. Suppan was into the 7th on around 80 pitches, having given up one run to that point. Tying run comes to the plate and Ned immediately pulls him. The pen promptly gives up four runs.

How come more people aren't utilizing the latest version of Firefox, which has a built-in spell check?

Star Ocean coming through with the gripping analysis.

The Phillies are done. The three contending teams in the Central are far from great, but nevertheless, two games is all that separates them. That alone makes it the tightest race in the NL, so why wouldn't it take precedent over the other games?

He may be Hulk Hogan's son, but he drives like Magnum TA.

I've never liked the last portion of "Hey Jude," which coincidently, seems to be the most well-known part of that song.

He's always come off as a spoiled moron who feels he's entitled to whatever he wants. I don't wish him ill or anything, but this sounds like it was entirely his fault.

I'll never understand how you can make millions of dollars, but can't execute one of the game's most basic actions (the bunt). Thank god the Cubs are done with the west coast. The DBacks continue to defy the odds and win game after game.