the max

Has anyone seen OLN's coverage yet? I meant to bring this up the other night, but I thought it was pretty subpar. First off, the presentation isn't too bad. Everything is fine as far as graphics go. There isn't a huge box in the corner of the screen, it's easy to see the score, who is on the powerplay, etc. My gripe is with the camera work. They've zoomed in so much that all that is shown is a 12x12 foot square around the skater/puck. Therefore, you can't see what's going on in the background and it's kind of frustrating. The studio guys weren't too bad. I like Bill Clement (although I hope he does color for the playoffs) because he's a good personality that actually knows what he's talking about. His partners in crime are Neil Smith and former NHL-er Keith Jones (played for three teams in eleven seasons in the NHL) and they are tolerable. My gripe is with how the intermission reports are presented; almost as commercials for commercials. They come back from four minutes of commercials for a two minute segment on proper puck blocking technique (how not to get hit in the face) and then go back to four more minutes of commercials. All in all, there's a lot to be improved. But the effort is there.

I have the Red Sox logo tattooed on my calf.

Oh, knowing my luck they'll keep Hal Gill as a franchise defenseman and tell Boynton to hit the bricks.

Anyone who wants to buy extra pieces, the girlfriend has been bringing these things home from work. We have a bag of them. Here's what I have. Reading Railroad (4) PA Railroad (1) St. Charles Place (1) Indiana Ave (1) St. James Place (2) Connecticut Ave (3) Atlantic Ave (1) Marvin Gardens (1) Oriental Ave (2) Pacific Ave (1) North Carolina Ave (1) Park Place (1) I'll send 'em out for a price (plus shipping and handling!) Let's all beat the system!

They'd still need to get someone to bat behind Ortiz, otherwise he's going to be walked close to Bonds levels. Why let Ortiz beat you when there's nobody batting behind him?

If Sakic leaves, I will be shocked. Even with all of the player movement recently, I can't see him in another uniform. Blake will have to take a rather substantial paycut because he's kind of getting on with age. I'd love to see him in a black and gold sweater, but that is dependant on what the Bruins do with their defensive corps.

I always thought that pitching won championships. And based on the way that the White Sox dismantled the Red Sox in the ALDS, I'd say it's pretty true. The only reason I want the Astros to win it all is so that Bagwell and Biggio get their rings. I'm a softie for guys that stay loyal to a team.

VX, for supplies, hit up Winn Dixie. Me and the girlfriend got a good amount of water and other goodies that Publix and Walmart were sold out of.

I partly agree with you, nl5. The only place I disagree is that NBA players are different from guys wearing suits everyday in that they are recognizable to regular people and are representing a company even when they are not working. What Stern and Co. are doing may not seem right, but they're trying to get out from under the PR disasters like the Brawl in Detroit and players getting arrested for drugs, guns, etc. I agree that a company shouldn't have the right to tell someone what to wear outside of work, but it's a different situation with NBA players.

Because Bagwell is a two-player switch, as he can't play defense.

I disagree with Garner. I'm not saying that you should go to Lidge in the 10th or anything, but to have him as the last guy out there? I don't agree with that. What if they never get the lead and lose in 15? Would Garner be OK knowing that he left one of the most dominant closers in baseball this year sitting in the pen?

Uh, Lance Armstrong.

It depends on who you listen to. Some people will swear up and down that the extra rest is to their advantage. I believe that to a certain extent, especially if the NLCS goes seven. Then, they'll have rested pitchers as opposed to whomever comes out of the NL having to exhaust their rotation and bullpen to get to the World Series. Some, on the other hand will say that after the shitkicking they gave Anaheim that they just want to keep playing. It's hard to get back on the roll they were on, these people will say.

Lidge threw the 11th and 12th in the marathon game against the Braves and they didn't have the lead in either of those innings.

That's what I'd do. Buy a suit like Napolean Dynamite or something.

Absolutely not. Dennis Eckersley said it best. As a closer, you have to have the ability to forget. Lidge can't think that everytime out there, the Cardinals are going to do what they did last night. Plus, who else is there? Wheeler? Gallo? Qualls? Sorry, but last night was not something that is going to happen every night for Lidge. And if he's worth a damn, he'll get the job done to prove a point.

What's the difference between a black man and a large pizza? A large pizza can feed a family of four.

If only they'd have signed another defenseman instead of Alex Zhamnov.

I don't think he was pitching around Edmonds, he was obviously rattled. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> No, he was trying to make the perfect pitch as if he was scared of Edmonds. Again, the absolute worst thing that Edmonds can do is tie the game so you deal with him rather than Pujols. Lidge made too many mistakes. I'm sorry, but I don't buy being "rattled" after a bleeder of a single on a two-strike pitch.

Andrew Raycroft is playing out of his mind. Montreal should have at least 5 goals right now due to Boston's lack of defense. On the bright, Brian Leetch scored his 1000th career point on Boston's third goal.

Courtesy of Retrosheet.org

The Pirates. Sid Bream scored the winning run driven in by Francisco Cabrera.

There's no excuse, but there are reasons: 1- Ensberg was guarding the line with two strikes and two outs when a double is essentially meaningless. Think about the odds of Eckstein getting ahead of a 97 mph fastball and managing to sneak it down the line fair. Not very good. Ensberg was out of position. 2- Lidge essentially pitched around Edmonds instead of challenging him. The worst Edmonds can do is tie the game, but Lidge pitched around him with arguably the best player in baseball right now on-deck. 3- Lidge hung the slider instead of coming in on Pujols. He'd thrown the slider to start the AB with a strike. I don't think there's ever a circumstance where I'd throw the same pitch to a hitter as good as Pujols. Lidge should have gone inside with a fastball to try and grab the corner. Again, at worst it's 1-1 and you've established inside with Pujols.

My place is pretty much in the middle of the projected path. Hoorah.

Can you use Best Buy bucks all at once? Or are you only allowed to use one coupon at a time?