Cheech Tremendous

It only took till the 14th round in a 20-team league for DC's #1 pitcher and closer to be selected. Ladies and gentlemen, your 2009 Washington Nationals!

I take in quite a bit of ESPN daily, but usually restrict it to the following: ESPNnews during lunch (for an hour or so) ESPN Radio during commute (1/2 hour or so) PTI (1/2 hour) espn.com while I have my coffee (10-15 minutes) All together, I take in about 2-2.5 hours a day of espn, which is certainly more than I would have guessed. However, I don't feel as bombarded by the hype machine as many of the rest of you do. Maybe the problem isn't the corporation, but how you're taking it in. If you're consuming several hours a day of Sportscenter, Primetime, Baseball Tonight, etc., then yes, you're probably getting overloaded on stories. Even when I have games on, I'm usually reading or listening to music at the same time. Really, succumbing to hype is probably a result of just consuming too much television.

Idaho is bizarre. If you stay up near the panhandle it's all rednecks and eastern Washington flameouts. Get down in the southeast corner and it's whacko Mormons. The sweet spot is right around Boise, which happens to be a beautiful city with a surprising amount of culture and nightlife.

We had a unit of Shakespeare every year in English, but I don't know whether or not that was unique to the AP/Honors program. 9th - Romeo & Juliet 10th - Julius Caesar 11th - Othello 12th - Hamlet

Has anyone had a chance to read or peruse The Fielding Bible II? I had it pre-ordered from Amazon but ended up canceling my order when fangraphs.com added UZR data to their free content. I don't know if it's worth it to get the book now.

Scott Olsen, SP

I hate to get into overrated/underrated arguments because so much of it depends on how and where you're getting your news, but Lebron deserves every bit of the hype he gets. He may not be as dynamic as Kobe, as dominating as Shaq, as creative as Magic, or as otherwordly as MJ, but he has every opportunity to exceed them all as a player. Whether or not he accomplishes that is to be seen, but as 24-year-old, his on-the-court accomplishments are unprecedented. The fact that's going to take the Cleveland Fucking Cavs to two Finals appearances in three years indicates that he's something special.

Is there a reason you hate Lebron James other than the fact that he's considered by most to be the best player in the NBA? I get that there is no reason to be a fan of a player from another team, but you almost seem offended by his mere presence in the league. It's as if you want him to fail for no other reason than to say, "Look, he failed." I have a little more understanding for hating Kobe, since he raped a chick and every teammate and coach he's ever had say he's a self-centered dick, but by all accounts Lebron's a good guy.

Buyout fallout: -Sacramento Bee says that Drew Gooden will join the Spurs after he clears waivers today. -Joe Smith has agreed to a contract with the Cavs, according to the Cleveland Plain Dealer. -Also, Stromile Swift to the Suns and Luther Head to the Heat.

I've done beer can chicken before. I did it on the grill, but I sort of misjudged how long it would take and didn't have a proper amount of coals. It turned out well, but it wasn't good enough that I've ever thought about doing it again. Maybe this summer I'll give it another try. As for carving, it just takes some practice. I usually push my knife into the center of the back until I find the bone. From there I move an inch to the left (if you're right handed) and make a cut with an inward sweeping motion. Repeat on the other side. If you brace your knife correctly you should be able to remove the breast in one nice cut. Doesn't hurt to have a nice, sharp chef's knife either.

So, after all this commotion, he ends up with roughly the same contract that he would have had in Boston had he stayed. Brilliant work there, Manny.

The only counties I've been in besides the US are Canada and Mexico. As for states, let me try to recall them all: Washington, Oregon, California, Idaho, Nevada, Hawaii, Texas, Illinois, Utah, Colorado, Montana, Tennessee, Arkansas, Mississippi, DC, New York, Massachusetts, Virginia, and West Virginia. The worst? Probably a three-way tie between Arkansas, Mississippi and Tennessee. My impression of the south is that it's America's asshole. Sorry to offend anyone from that area, it's just a broad impression from the areas I visited in and around Memphis.

You can learn a lot about a person's musical tastes by asking them if they are a Stones or Beatles person. As much as I love the Beatles, I favor the former. Their career has many more peaks and valleys, but when they were on there was hardly anything better. That loose, often sloppy sound that teetered on falling apart is part of the charm. I prefer the rawness to the Beatles' constant perfection. For my money, the four album stretch from Beggar's Banquet to Exile on Main Street is the greatest run in music history. I'd generally consider any of those classics, and might call Exile... my favorite album of all time. Ironically, I prefer the late '70s and early '80s output (Some Girls, Tattoo You, etc.) to the more iconic stuff they did early in the early '60s. That era generally gets forgotten by being in the shadow of the classics put out in their early career, but I respect that they evolved with the times. It's quite amazing that they made a disco album that didn't suck. So, what say you TSM about the Rolling Stones? What is your favorite era? Favorite song? Favorite album? Do you like that they've stuck together or would it have been better to fade away in the 70s or 80s, a la the Beatles?

Marvin didn't get banned. He quit. Also, does anyone actually chat with you?

That's really funny. I'm reasonably sure that Dama's opinion is a by-product of growing up in sports no-man's land, where kids are born and raised to worship at the altar of Oklahoma football. The names and people are interchangeable... it's Boomer Sooner that transcends. Of course, collegiate worship is a completely foreign concept to me, which sheds some light on my confusion on Dama's hatred of covering sports as entertainment.

While watching Casino the other night I came to the realization that I prefer Devo's version of "Satisfaction" to the Stones'. I've never found the latter's to be that impressive.

For the record, that's exactly what happened. Why even bring it up? Do you have an issue with this? I don't want people to think I created a thread to rabble-rouse. Then I apologize. I thought that there was some good discussion going on and I wanted to break it out of the NBA thread. I don't think anyone will think less of you because your name is attached to the first post in the thread. In the future I'll add a post at the start to indicate its a split topic. To sort of take this thread in another direction, which method of promotions do you like the best among the major sports? NFL tends to push the product MLB pushes teams NBA pushes stars The NFL's system is probably the most effective because it is less affected by gaps in stardom or interesting teams. However, they are unique in the sense that they have a short season and can hype the event (Sunday football) whereas the others are dependent on getting you to tune in daily.

For the record, that's exactly what happened. Why even bring it up? Do you have an issue with this?

But that's how you sell the NBA, Dama. There are only ten guys on the court at a time and the cameras come in close enough that we see their faces, their expressions, and their personality. This isn't MLB where the teams are so ingrained with local culture that merely saying Red Sox evokes certain feelings; the NBA must sell the players. The 80s was Magic v. Bird, the 90s was MJ, and the 00s is Shaq and Kobe. That's the way it's always been and the way it always will be. What, exactly, are you looking for in sports coverage? I hear a lot of complaining, but not a lot of solutions. Should they merely stand in front of the TV and report the box score, ignoring the actual star players in the process?

The NBA has always been about selling stars and personality over the product. This is nothing new with Lebron or Kobe. Unlike the NFL, which sells the product, and MLB, which sells teams, the NBA is dependent on transcendent stars and personalities. It's the most personal of the major sports. The leanest years have always been when "teams" won out over players (see: San Antonio, New Jersey, Detroit). Your hate is really misguided.

Dama's insolence towards all things mass media is one of the most puzzling running subplots in the Sports folder. He appears to be legit offended every time he turns on the television, radio or computer and reads a sports news stories. You do realize that ESPN/Yahoo/etc. are in the business of selling sports news, not reporting it, right? I also find a degree of irony in being put off by a potential Lakers/Cavs NBA Finals, seeing as how last year's Celtics/Lakers match-up was probably the most hyped in my lifetime.

You know, it is March. Are we waiting until tourney time to have the Worst Poster tournament, or can we start it anytime? Who's running it this year? I'd do it, but I won't be able to come up with any cool graphics like Czech.

He wrote a novel last year (Downtown Owl). The description of said book made it sound like a novelized version of his typical stories of heavy metal the midwest. I haven't had much of a desire to read it, but I am sure that I'll get around to it eventually. Did he take a break from his writing duties at Esquire? I don't recall him having any articles the past couple of months, but I could very well be having a mental lapse.

It was more of a rhetorical question, but thanks for the sleuthing EHME.

Did Spaceman Ross really say that WWE is getting away from submission wrestling because it reminds people of Chris Benoit? That's retarded.