Bruiser Chong

He's died more times than The Ultimate Warrior.

We don't need another expensive vet on the wrong side of 35. Jacque Jones could be decent if they'd just platoon the damn guy. I'm not sure what's so hard to understand, but the guy's been terrible against lefties his whole career and no one's ever thought to just platoon him. I know it'd be tough to admit that you sunk $15 million and three years into a guy who can't play every day, but it's better than letting Jacque hit against lefties. I'm not sure why Restovich wasn't called up this September. I don't expect the guy to be a star, but it's crazy he never sniffed the majors this entire time the Cubs were complaining about a lack of power and signing all the available second basemen. Who knows; he could've platooned with Jones. As far the Cedeno thing goes, they might as well hang on to him and just plug him in at short, since Izturis is like Nomar without any of the power. I'd imagine he'd see a ton of playing time at short being the backup for Izturis. But no way at this point he should be the favorite for the starting second baseman spot next spring. Theriot isn't amazing, but I don't think it's a coincidence the Cubs have scored more runs since he started regularly hitting number two.

I didn't see a thread about it, but it's that time of year again when Apple makes the consumer feel outdated by releasing a new line of iPods. I haven't looked all that deeply into it, but the gist of is: - There's an 80GB model now - The Shuffle is roughly the size of a silver dollar - Nanos now come in 2, 4 and 8 GB models and new colors So yeah, I felt stupid when I bought the iPod Photo a year ago and the Video came out weeks later. I was waiting on the new Nanos, since I want one for the gym, but with Apple doing away with educational discounts for iPods, I'm weary. And for what it's worth, I heard Apple's selling refurbished 5th Gen iPods. The 60 GB model's going for around $230. I might just grab one of those and call it a day.

This is what makes the Cubs' struggles that much more frustrating. They field a decent team this season and they're probably taking the Central. It's going to be more of the same in '07, which is why they really need to bite the bullet and either grab a bat or starting arm. Murton's really come around in the second half and if I'm not mistaken, some of his power numbers (like OPS) are actually better than Carlos Lee's in the second half. I'm not sure I like the idea of the Cubs going out and investing for five years of either Soriano or Lee when they could have a very good left fielder at a low price already on their roster. But this is what happens when your SS, 2B and CF have the power of the average little leaguer. Speaking of second base, Ryan Theriot's really been impressive since he started getting the lion's share of starts at the position. Writing him off in favor of the younger, but unproven Cedeno for next year may be a dumb idea, even for them.

P.S. the Reds have the worst defense on the planet. It's like a little league game out there right now. Five errors through 3 1/3 innings. On top of that, there was a play where Encarnacion could've gotten two errors but was spared of both.

Tigers are up 9-0 and the Royals haven't even batted yet.

Carlos Zambrano with another homer and it wasn't a cheapie.

Hey, Manny Ramirez wants to be traded again. Outside of Bonds, he has to be the most irritating player in baseball.

The free-fall of the White Sox continues. Hawk was sounding like the little black kid from Angels in the Outfield during the ninth, down five. "C'mon, Scotty, get on. You never know what can happen." Jose Contreras is probably done for the year, too.

Least it wasn't a cheapie.

Rich Hill probably won't go more than six and has given up three runs, but he's got eight more K's and just one walk so far. Aside from Zambrano, Hill's been the only bright spot for this team.

With Dusty's contract up and Girardi free, this almost seems too perfect for the Cubs. Redeem yourself, Jimmy.

Never came here, so it's gonna be a first viewing when it arrives from glorious Columbia House. Can't beat $10.50 for a new release like this.

Toby told Michael that Oscar had come out to him earlier in the day after Michael had called him "faggy." It was quickly established that Ryan's no longer a temp and is where Jim used to be. I've gotten way too into this series. Having just finished Season Two on Monday, seeing Jim gone from the Scranton branch almost made me sad, even though it's inevitable he'll be back.

"I slept with a lot of women in the '60s; many outdoors...in the mud...it's possible a guy may have slipped in there." Awesome. That and the Oscar/Michael kiss got the biggest laugh from me. I hope they don't keep Jim at the other branch too long. The new characters seemed like they have potential, but it was just weird having him out of the office. I'm liking the Jim/Pam storyline still. All the subtle aspects thrown out there make it a lot stronger: Pam laughing and turning to Ryan to no reaction, Jim looking over at the empty seat, etc. And I know this is supposed to be a comedy, but that final scene with Pam smiling before looking like she was on the brink of tears because of the gag from Jim packed a pretty powerful dramatic punch.

Go get the BB gift set. Both seasons and a whole lotta extra crap, too. It'll be worth it just to see all of these.

They weren't really winning with Infante; they were winning with Polanco. Infante's a marginal upgrade over Neifi. And Matt Stairs has been with the Tigers for five games, played in four and has a whopping 12 official at-bats. Stop reaching for straws; the Tigers were faltering long before last Friday. If you call Infante's .284 BA and .743 OPS vs. Perez's .193 BA and .507 OPS a marginal upgrade, I don't know what to tell you. Trust me, Tigers fans would have Omar in the lineup over Neifi in a heartbeat. After last night's win, it looks like Detroit's safely in the playoffs. Whether they win the division remains to be seen. The last thing I want to do is defend Neifi, but you're out of your mind if you think Neifi being there has caused the collapse of the Detroit Tigers. Trust me, these guys are still faltering with Omar god damn Infante at second. FWIW, the Tigers are still playing under .500 in the games Infante's appeared in since the Neifi deal. As annoying as it is to see Neifi in the lineup, like with the Cubs, the problems are deeper than just his presence.

The blooper real from the fourth disc had me doubled over. I know a lot of it was just them cracking up, but I always enjoy seeing these sorts of things from hilarious shows. You wonder how they can keep a straight face during all of this comedic gold and then you get something like this that shows that isn't always the case.

They weren't really winning with Infante; they were winning with Polanco. Infante's a marginal upgrade over Neifi. And Matt Stairs has been with the Tigers for five games, played in four and has a whopping 12 official at-bats. Stop reaching for straws; the Tigers were faltering long before last Friday.

After watching the complete second season in six days, I'm finding myself trying to restraint laughter in public when I suddenly think of something from the show. The Office is probably making people think I'm mildly retarded.

I'm a big CK fan, but I didn't care much for the show.

The bulk of the deleted material on this set was obviously cut because of time constraints, because a lot of it is as funny as what was left in.

They obviously didn't use the humidifier in Colorado tonight.

And here I was thinking I'd missed the season premiere. Good news.

I missed the first episode of the season. Someone post the spoilers, please.