"I hopped into town for a sattelite dish
I tied it to the top of my Japanese car
I came home and I pointed it out into the stars
A message came back from the great beyond
There's fifty-seven channels and nothin' on”
-- Bruce Springsteen
I came home and I pointed it out into the stars
A message came back from the great beyond
There's fifty-seven channels and nothin' on”
-- Bruce Springsteen
Planning my nights by the TV Guide: You can’t get away from “Law and Order ". I am firmly convinced that some channel some where is showing one of the many branches of the "Law and Order" shows at every hour of every day of every week. Speaking of that franchise: Did anyone see the final episode of this season’s "Law & Order: Criminal Intent"? I wasn’t a big CI fan at first– but it grew on me – like a fungus. Vincent D’Onofrio as Detective Robert Goren is one of the more mesmerizing characters on television – sometimes he makes me very uncomfortable – but it’s like a train wreck, you can’t help yourself, you just keep looking. Adding Jeff Goldblum (starting Nov 7th) is a good choice. I loved his short-lived “Raines” series… Two of my favorite shows have returned in fine form: “Chuck” on NBC – I’m glad they’ve added more of the subplots with off-beat supporting characters at the “Buy More” … and of course "Friday Night Lights” is already playing on channel 101 on Direct TV – with no commercials (there is a satellite tv god!) This show has excellent writing and acting as always – however, they’ve handled the departures of a couple of the main characters in two different and rather jarring ways. Brian "Smash" Williams(played by Gauis Charles who I believe is doing a Broadway play) is still on the show. It is obvious he is going to be leaving by the 3rd or 4th episode. While Scott Porter as the paralyzed quarterback Jason Street is nowhere to be found and barely mentioned by any of the other characters. Strange - since his storyline was the most compelling of the first season…I’ve tried out several of the new shows this season – and didn’t like any of them, save one – and it’s a good one: “Life On Mars” on ABC. I know, I know - I’m stuck in the ‘70’s (that decade was very, very good to me) no doubt that is part of the appeal. However, any show featuring Harvey Keitel as a hard living New York Policeman and Mike Imperioli with an outrageous mustache is worth watching (and yes kids, I knew plenty of young men with those sideburns and ‘stache at the fraternities at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland).
Back to baseball: As I wrote on the barren Postcards From Elysian Fields – when considering pitching coaches let us keep in mind that Rick Peterson was a geniu
s in Oakland (with Zito, Hudson, Mulder and Haren on his staff) while in New York (with an aging and injured Glavine, Hernandez and Martinez) – not nearly so smart. Managers and coaches are only as good as the players they are given to work with - nobody should dare to put McCarthy, Hurley and Gabbard in the same stratosphere as the staff Peterson worked with in Oakland… By the way, does anyone miss the Monday Morning Manager as much as I do?...I was wrong about the Dodgers – that has not even nicked my self-esteem. I’m really glad I was wrong about the Rays - I’m pulling for them to win it all. I’ve always liked Carlos Pena. I talked to him a couple of times while he was in OKC – nice kid – I’m wishing him all the best...Looking forward to reading Mike Hindman's Prospect Previews on the DMN Blog. He started this week with RHP-
Starters - here is the link to the first entry and here is the link to the second entry... I'm very jealous of Evan Grant - Italy is one of the two trips I am determined to make before my time is up (the other is Poland - it's a "roots" thing).
Old #39 on the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters: (that’s Jason Botts to you) is somewhere none of his former ’08 Rangers teammates are this October: he’s on a playoff team. Jason hit an important 2-run homer in a game that put the Fighters in the second round of the playoffs. Just so you know: Jason has hit .348 since September 1st
Finally: As much as I love baseball, I actually do have a life beyond reading boxscores and worrying about A Ball pitcher’s ERAs. One of the benefits of moving off MLBlogs is that I'm not obligated to only write about baseball – especially in the off-season. I probably won’t be blogging every week, and sometimes I might not even mention baseball!
Back to baseball: As I wrote on the barren Postcards From Elysian Fields – when considering pitching coaches let us keep in mind that Rick Peterson was a geniu
s in Oakland (with Zito, Hudson, Mulder and Haren on his staff) while in New York (with an aging and injured Glavine, Hernandez and Martinez) – not nearly so smart. Managers and coaches are only as good as the players they are given to work with - nobody should dare to put McCarthy, Hurley and Gabbard in the same stratosphere as the staff Peterson worked with in Oakland… By the way, does anyone miss the Monday Morning Manager as much as I do?...I was wrong about the Dodgers – that has not even nicked my self-esteem. I’m really glad I was wrong about the Rays - I’m pulling for them to win it all. I’ve always liked Carlos Pena. I talked to him a couple of times while he was in OKC – nice kid – I’m wishing him all the best...Looking forward to reading Mike Hindman's Prospect Previews on the DMN Blog. He started this week with RHP-
Starters - here is the link to the first entry and here is the link to the second entry... I'm very jealous of Evan Grant - Italy is one of the two trips I am determined to make before my time is up (the other is Poland - it's a "roots" thing).Old #39 on the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters: (that’s Jason Botts to you) is somewhere none of his former ’08 Rangers teammates are this October: he’s on a playoff team. Jason hit an important 2-run homer in a game that put the Fighters in the second round of the playoffs. Just so you know: Jason has hit .348 since September 1st
Finally: As much as I love baseball, I actually do have a life beyond reading boxscores and worrying about A Ball pitcher’s ERAs. One of the benefits of moving off MLBlogs is that I'm not obligated to only write about baseball – especially in the off-season. I probably won’t be blogging every week, and sometimes I might not even mention baseball!
“If you read a lot of books you are considered well read. But if you watch a lot of TV, you're not considered well viewed.” – Lily Tomlin
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