The Police were in town last night. Gale and I took in the show at Quicken Loans Arena. Full Disclosure: When it comes to The Police, I am a total fanboy.

The Venue: For this show, The Q was sold out. This was their first appearance in town in what, 23 years or so? Had to go the eBay route for tickets, because the lowers were just too rich for my blood at $200 a pop.

Things I Noticed: Gordon Sumner is still way too good-looking for his age. It was Stewart Copeland's 55th birthday and he had a helluva good time. Front-row folks had some birthday balloons and signs for him. The crew also had birthday balloons for a time on stage for him. I can't imagine anyone having more fun playing in a band than him. Andy Summers had an "Oh My God, They Killed Kenny" script on his guitar strap. With associated drawings of a live and dead Kenny McCormick. But on the video screens, he looked like his hands could use a visit from Madge and her Palmolive. Yikes.

The Tickets: We were in the first row of Section 220 in the uppers. Lots of room, with empty seats on either side. This was located more behind the stage than at a corner of it, with a video screen helping out. The beauty of this location was when the inevitable bathroom break song, "Wrapped Around Your Finger", started, you could literally zip back out and in before it was over. Of course, it allowed me to sing "Wrapped Around My Fingers", as well.

The Sound: Hey, it's the Q, right? I heard the lyrics and music OK, but some of Sting's stage banter got lost in the mix.

The Stage: The setup consisted of an oval stage with a riser about five stairs high running across the back. Video screens up front, on the sides, and in in the back. The riser wasn't used much. Sting took a stroll back there on "Walking on the Moon". And once in a while, some acknowledgement to the back, but not much. Sting was positioned on the left, Summers on the right, with Copeland's drums in the center and accompanying percussion behind his kit. Once more, I had trouble seeing Copeland's head, because of the associated lighting, speakers, etc. Another favorite drummer blocked!

The Music: The initial reviews for this tour scared me. The reworking of some tunes, I thought, was a major concern. At some early shows, they were so far from playing together, it was like "three guys, three cabs" and they were nowhere near being a cohesive band. But lately, they seemed to be hitting some sort of musical stride. This show is not all about Sting. Copeland attacks his drums with the same ferocity he had in the old days. As I listened to Andy Summers play last night, man, he does not get enough credit for his craft.

Setlist:

Message in a Bottle
Synchronicity II
Walking On The Moon
Voices Inside My Head
When The World Is Running Down
Don't Stand So Close To Me
Driven To Tears
Truth Hits Everybody
Bed's Too Big Without You
Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic
Wrapped Around Your Finger
De Do Do Do De Da Da Da
Invisible Sun
Walking In Your Footsteps
Can't Stand Losing You
Roxanne

Encore I:
King Of Pain
So Lonely

Encore II:
Every Breath You Take

Encore III:
Next To You

Hard to be disappointed, even if you were a diehard fan, with last night's show. Most, if not all, of the hits were sung. I think "Spirits in the Material World" was the only omission, but I believe this was dropped early in the tour.

Meal of Links

Remember those cable channels you used to watch. Here is why they suck. I understand tastes change, time is a factor and you have more choices, but some of these channels are really bad. Check the comments section, as well.

"The Fifth Element" is really good. Watch it next time you see it in the guide.

This year's version of the "Next Food Network Star" was a mess. On a brighter note for the network, Ruhlman will judge the next Iron Chef, with Michael Symon getting a shot.

Exercise Yard

I see nothing wrong with an all-inclusive ticket to the ballpark that includes food AND beer. Stay classy, Atlanta, and "Hooray, Beer!"

Visitor

12 Down: Slugger who rivaled McGwire (4 letters) Answer: Sosa

Sometimes, you need a call to the bullpen for a sub, but Best Friend actually made a call from the bullpen, and was a late day replacement to see Bob Dylan at Scene Pavilion last night. I give Dylan a lot of credit, It would be so easy to roll out the Bob Dylan Songbook from the '60s and take your cash home. But he doesn't compromise and actually reworks some of his older tunes, as well. It's basically reminding everyone, yes, I have written songs in this century.

As far as stage banter, there is none. The only time he spoke was when he introduced the band during the encore. His band wore all gray suits and hats with black shirts and Dylan wore a black suit and white shirt with his hat. He played more keyboard than guitar. One of the biggest ovations was the first time he played the harmonica. After the first note, the people went crazy. It was kinda humorous. But the band was pretty tight and it was some really good music that they played.

The Band:

Bob Dylan - Electric guitar, keyboard, harp
Tony Garnier - Bass
George Recile - Drums
Stu Kimball - Rhythm guitar
Denny Freeman - Lead guitar
Donnie Herron - Violin, electric mandolin, pedal steel, lap steel

Here is the setlist:

Cat's In The Well
Don't Think Twice, It's All Right
Watching The River Flow
It's Alright, Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)
To Ramona
The Levee's Gonna Break (From "Modern Times", his last record)
My Back Pages (A beautiful song)
Honest With Me
Spirit On The Water (From "Modern Times")
Things Have Changed (From "Modern Times")
When The Deal Goes Down (From "Modern Times")
Stuck Inside Of Mobile With The Memphis Blues Again
Nettie Moore (From "Modern Times")
Highway 61 Revisited (By far, the highlight for me)

(Encore)
Thunder On The Mountain (From "Modern Times")
Blowin' In The Wind (An oddly-affecting uptempo version)

Meal of Links

The "Wealthiest Americans Ever". Note that only two men, Bill Gates and Warren Buffett, are photographed in color, which means they are still breathing, I guess. It is an interesting read.

Most folks think Iran or Syria is responsible for most of the insurgency in Iraq. Uh, that would be wrong. It's our good friends, the Saudis. But you never hear that mentioned.

How Sequoyah was almost our 51st state. But it entered as Oklahoma. Which means "Red People" in Choctaw, BTW.

Exercise Yard

HBO had a tripleheader of welterweight boxing matches last evening. Probably the most important fight was the Antonio Margarito-Paul Williams bout which was the feature. The prelims included Arturo Gatti vs. Alfonso Gomez and Kermit Cintron vs. Walter Matthysse. Can't think of many great fighters named Walter, but there you go.

First up, Cintron-Matthysse. BTW, the first two bouts are in Atlantic City with Michael Buffer doing the intros. Cintron has one of the welterweight belts and his nickname is "The Killer". Uh-oh, Walter. In fairness, he throws a big left hook, while Cintron has a big right one. Well, Walter didn't have much of a chance in this one. Cintron knocked him down in Round 1. Within 29 seconds of Round 2, Walter was knocked down twice, with the second one an unbelievable display of devastation. A left pretty much KO'ed Walter on his feet and a big, I mean big, right hand put him down for good. Cintron says he wants to fight Shane Mosley.

Second fight, Gatti-Gomez. Arturo Gatti is the adopted favorite son of Atlantic City and he gets another home match. Gomez, you may remember, is from "The Contender". Gatti has not fought in 356 days and Buddy McGirt is no longer in his corner. Micky Ward is now his trainer. Yikes! This one was not pretty. On paper, Gomez was inferior, but he whipped Gatti for 7 rounds, before putting him down. No question, Gatti has been hit like this before, but he usually had an answer. Tonight...nothing. Gomez with a big Round 4 kind of set up the home crowd for what was happening. It was only a matter of time. In the 7th, Gatti got hit with everything and I may have even seen the kitchen sink flying in there. The ref was giving Gatti way too much credit, given his past, and should have stopped it. Or his corner. Or a fan. Anyone. Bueller? Finally, Commissioner Larry Hazzard strolled into the ring and stopped it. First time in a long time, a man in a suit stopped a fight.

Give Gomez some props. He stepped into the lion's den and showed a nice right hand. Cannot go overboard, because Gatti was so bad, but it was a dominating performance. Sad to see Gatti end his career this way. After the fight, he said he doesn't feel right at 147, and he cannot make weight at 140. Therefore, it's, "Hasta la vista, baby!" and he is retired.

The feature from California was Williams-Margarito. If title-holder "The Tijuana Tornado" Margarito wins, he gets Cotto. BTW, Paul Williams has the nickname, "The Punisher" and Jimmy Lennon, Jr. handles the intros. He must not be "Classy" when he's on HBO. Since, Harold Lederman was in New Jersey, Lamps had to read the rules of the bout. But he didn't say "Jim" at the end. That would have been funny.

This was a pretty good fight, Williams dominated the first six rounds, until Margarito realized he may be in trouble, and, oh yeah, I'm blowing this deal with Cotto. So, Margarito got busy in the second half culminating with a big 11th round. But Williams kept his head about him and just kept working. He won the 12th round, which won him the bout on two of the judge's scorecards, 115-113, while the other judge had it at 116-112. Williams immediately called out Cotto after the fight.

Visitor

None, it's Sunday.

No one alerted me to this, but yesterday was Kevin's birthday. I was only gonna be Downtown for a brief time and have a couple of bourbons, but word on the street was he would show up around 7:30 or so. Then I caught wind of his plan. From Noon to Midnight, since he was 24, he was going to have a beer and a shot every hour. Oh, the folly of youth. So, I participated in at least a couple of those hours. I normally don't do shots, but I had a grape bomb and something I don't even know what. Pretty tasty, but let's not make a career out of it. As it was nearing 10, he headed off to Lakewood and I'm sure toward lots of sleeping today.

Meal of Links

Larry David proclaims "I'm Jesus Christ". His enthusiasm for questioning the questioners at his press conferences has not been curbed.

If you tend to look for buying goods and services at a discount, here's a guide on when to buy. I think I agree with everything except buying gas on Thursdays. I always avoid that day and even with more price volatility lately, I still can't see going on Thursdays, no matter how early.

Weekly World News has found a descendant of Shakespeare. In Alabama, of all places. And, no, it's not Bat Boy.

Exercise Yard

Gary Sheffield opens his mouth again. Lots of fun things come out. Joe Torre is racist, he doesn't take steroids because "steroids are something you shoot in your butt", and that Derek Jeter "ain't all the way black". This should get him some headlines for a while.

Visitor

14 Down: CBS weekend news anchor during the Cronkite era (4 letters) Answer: Mudd

I visited my Doctor today for a checkup. Interestingly enough, it was his last day, as he's moving on. Thank goodness they didn't start partying at lunch or anything. And I didn't get a discount or any selloff of equipment. I sort of feel like Al Bundy when his barber died. You know, you get comfortable after a while with the same person, so now I have to go looking for another doc at the Clinic.

Meal of Links

I have not mentioned Creed Bratton lately. Glad to see he made this list of TV's Top 10 Actors.

This guy really hates the current version of "The Simpsons". He probably likes a dial phone and black and white TV, too.

OK, I assume Jerry Rice at the ESPYs is sponsored by Crown Royal. I mean, let's hope so. I need that gig.

























Exercise Yard

Time to talk about Becks. And look at him.

Visitor

40 Across: Playwright Burrows (3 letters) Answer: Abe

I believe that stuff falling from the sky this morning was rain. Yep, I'm sure of it.

Meal of Links

Michael Chertoff, our Homeland Security chief, cannot make impossibly way out there statements like he has a "gut feeling" we will be attacked soon, as summer is the season Al Qaeda attacks. This is based on no current intelligence reports, and at the very least, it's non-factual, as 60% of these attacks occur in spring and fall. And then CNN repeats this crazy shit. Does anyone do their own reporting anymore?

Patton Oswalt talks about "Ratatouille", his new album and all sorts of stuff.

Keanu Reeves says, "Tell me why again I would want to be in another "Bill and Ted". Of course, he said no and will remain in San Dimas.

Exercise Yard

Looks like good news on two local fan favorites. The Indians amazingly have extended Travis Hafner. He now becomes the Indians all-time highest player at 4 years for $57 million. That will buy a lot of wrestling DVDs. Uh-oh, the Dolans are spending money now, does that mean I have to go to more games? Larry Dolan thinks "we had a pact".

And Darko Milicic has signed with the Memphis Grizzlies in the NBA. That means Anderson Varejao is suddenly running out of options, or at least options that would have made the Cavs an unlikely choice to match an offer.

Visitor

41 Across: Jazzy Anita (4 letters) Answer: O'Day

What used to be a happy day now has turned into this loathsome crawl into the depths of sport. That's right, the Browns season tickets showed up in the mail today. This year the cost is $40 per. It's time to start lining up prospects before they stumble out of the gate...er...begin to play this season. The Browns also released their training camp schedule. Looks like Krispy Kreme is sponsoring the early morning workouts. Keep Coach Crennel away those days.

BTW, the home schedule has the Chiefs and Lions in preseason. Steelers, Bengals, Ravens, Dolphins, Seahawks, Texans, Bills, 49ers during the regular season. Followed by playoffs and Super Bowl, I'm sure.

Meal of Links

Wot? You have not seen "The Flight of the Conchords" on HBO? You can catch up here.

The greatest cartoon ever turns 50 this week. "Kill da wabbit".

Bush performs brain surgery at the Cleveland Clinic. Don't worry, he used a dummy.

Exercise Yard

While the All-Stars play in Frisco, the No Stars stay home. Note Josh Barfield as runner-up at second base. When they traded for him, his lack of walks was a concern. It still is.

Visitor

49 Down: Meir of Israel (5 letters) Answer: Golda

With the White Stripes making what I think is a soon-to-be legendary trip across Canada, Best Friend and I headed up north to take in the show in London, Ontario (Population: 348,000). The concert took place at the relatively new John Labatt Centre.

















The Venue: For this show, the JLC was seated in a "hybrid" format. 5,400 showed up. It was General Admission on the floor with no seating. The lower ring seated about halfway around, while the upper ring was curtained off facing the stage, but open on the sides.

The Secret Show: The Secret Show remained a secret to us. But 300 people showed up at a flour mill in Arva, earlier in the afternoon, to see a set played out there.















Unforeseen Rules: The JLC seemed to be paranoid about these rock-and-roll shows. Because they have too many rules. First of all, you need a wristband to drink which certifies that you are old enough. Hey, the House of Blues does that locally, but they have a system that avoids lines, as they tag you on the way in. JLC only had two "Wristband Centers", both located downstairs, for the entire building. Long lines! Also, you cannot take alcohol inside the seating area. WTF? They limit you to one drink per person at a time. So, if you want to grab one now and one for later to avoid lines, you are SOL. They stop serving alcohol when the main act hits the stage. If you go out to smoke, you can't take alcohol outside into the smoking area. I may have had to pee blue in a cup to leave after the show, but I can't remember.

The Tickets: We were in the second-to-last row in the section closest to the stage, in the uppers. Fittingly, behind the handicapped section.















The Sound: We thought this was an issue, especially in the uppers. Despite it being a good show, the sound was too muddied. Afterward, however, everyone else seemed to think it was the greatest show ever. Londoners can't afford to be discriminatory, it seems. When asked about the shows that come to town, apparently Cher opened the building. Metallica was there once. However, the next big act to come to town...The Moody Blues. I think they are now a traveling archaeological exhibit.

The Stage: A rather neat setup, if you could see it. Unfortunately for me, I only saw Meg White from the neck down as her drums were positioned on the left front. Jack White was all over the place with nonstop energy. The stage floor was red and they had red stairs that led up to a riser at the back. Big red backdrop with lights up front, so their shadows were prominently displayed. A mirrored ball was employed at times and strobes were used for the seizure-prone in the audience. There were no video screens. No question, Jack White is positively the most electrifying personality in music right now. He has an ability to mesmerize a room like no one else, because you never know what the hell he is gonna do. And Meg just kills on those drums, too. To get that sound from only two people still stuns me.

















The Music: As usual, you never know what songs you are going to get. First part lasted 45 minutes and another 30 for the encore. Here is the setlist for London:

Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground
Icky Thump
Starts I'm Slowly Turning Into You then goes into
Canon
I'm Slowly Turning Into You
Hotel Yorba
I'm Finding It Harder To Be A Gentleman
Astro/Jack the Ripper
Death Letter
Cold Cold Night
Apple Blossom
The Union Forever
A Martyr for my Love For You
The Big Three Killed My Baby
I think I smell a rat (riff)
Little Cream Soda
Astro
I think I smell a rat

Encore

Blue Orchid
Party of Special Things To Do
I Just Don't Know What To Do With Myself
You Don't Know What Love Is (You Just Do As You're Told)
Hardest Button To Button
Catch Hell Blues
We're Going To Be Friends
Seven Nation Army
Boll Weevil

As you can tell from that list, they may have a new album out, but they certainly weren't plugging it in London.

Meal of Links

I guess Live Earth didn't go over very well. Hey, I heard Phil Collins say "Fuck" during "Invisible Touch" on an XM cut today, which didn't make it to TV. Was that a highlight? Performances are here.

The Top 10 Most Beautiful Social Networks. I do recommend Threadless. Some of my favorite shirts are from there.

Vanity Fair flips for "The Simpsons". I know it's old and some people don't like it anymore, but I still laugh at it.

Exercise Yard

Did you participate in the Home Run Derby Drinking Game? If so, we'll hold your mail for the 28 Days you'll need to recover.

Visitor

34 Down: Author ___ Stanley Gardner (4 letters) Answer: Erle

How could you not be entertained and yet simultaneously sickened by the Hot Dog Eating Championship yesterday? Joey Chestnut eats 66 dogs to win the title. As Dan LeBatard reminded everyone on ESPN yesterday, Kobayashi ate his own vomit to stay alive in the contest. It grossed me out so much, that at the conclusion, I had to change the channel in fear of seeing a replay. That's why a DVR comes in handy. Even ESPN is refusing to show that highlight anymore.

If that wasn't enough, the announcing was so over the top on television, it almost overshadowed the job that George Shea does with the live audience. I mean to say that Curt Schilling (re:bloody sock) has nothing on Kobayashi is priceless. Now if they could work Gus Johnson into the mix, it would be off the charts.

My favorite sound bites:

"The Houdini of Cuisine-y"

"Bertoletti is dedicating his performance to Nikki Hilton, because Nikki lives in Paris’ shadow and he lives in Chestnut’s shadow." Paul Page even marvelled at how he worked Paris Hilton into a Hot Dog contest.

“If you Google American heroes tomorrow, you would find would find Abraham Lincoln, possibly Neil Armstrong, Taylor Hicks and this man, Joey Chestnut.”

"This will be the greatest moment in American sport."

"Kobayashi just had a reversal. The judges will have to rule on that." No, he was EATING HIS OWN VOMIT.

Meal of Links














I am heading to the Great White North to see the White Stripes this weekend. You may know they are doing free shows in each city, thus far, in Canada. A bowling alley in Saskatoon, a bus in Winnipeg (where they sang "The Wheels on the Bus"), etc. Today, in Toronto, they played 8 songs at a day camp. Maybe, we'll get lucky and see them before the show.

Katharine McPhee shows her Stuff. Maybe she didn't sell many records.

Don't blame Canada. Blame Mr. Rogers. Or Chrissie Hynde, perhaps. She sings that she's special.

Exercise Yard

An interesting piece. If F1 can develop a Lewis Hamilton, why can't NASCAR develop a diverse superstar?

Visitor

20 Across: 1972 Chairman Mao visitor (14 letters) Answer: President Nixon

I was able to bug out a bit early from work yesterday to celebrate what America is all about. Yes, watching my good friend "Maury", joined in progress. What has this show become? Well, yesterday's program was "Help! My Abusive Boyfriend Makes Me Prostitute". Not cook, clean, wash clothes, do the dishes. Nope, that would be boring. But prostitute, hey, we got ourselves a "Maury"!

First of all, Maury's audience seems to filled with high schoolers on a field trip. And the actresses in his enactments are much prettier than his actual guests. I have joined the program late and missed Abusive Guy #1, Milton. But I arrived in time to see Abusive Guy #2, Timothy. On tape, Timothy resembles a creepy Bill Gates sans eyewear. "At the end of the day, I'm a man and she's still a dumb bitch." Nothing like having the audience hate you immediately. Maury, who is especially sassy today, says, "You're not a man, you're a dog." Timothy specializes in profanities, as all I'm hearing is "All y'all!" and a series of bleeps. He has been on the show before, as Maury senses ratings when someone this combative is on the air. Maury promises a big surprise later for Timothy. America can hardly stand the excitement.

Abusive Guy #3, J.B., is next. On tape, J.B. says things like, "I'll choke her ass out." and "If she doesn't do what I say, I lock her in the closet." Apparently, J.B. thinks he is on a "Father of the Year" episode and has prepared his A material. Anyhow, back on stage, Maury asks J.B.'s woman what her phone number is. She replies she has no phone. Not sure if this means cellphone, but the audience starts hissing, conveniently forgetting she lives with J.B. and they probably have a home phone. J.B. convinces his woman to keep her head down. I guess you can't be physically abusive on stage, so each guest, thus far, has employed this tactic. Maury, momentarily dimwitted, doesn't get it. J.B. reminds him, "I'm in control." amongst many "She know how I go." statements. Maury zings J.B. with, "That's not control...that's fear." J.B. replies, "That ain't no fear. Uh-uh, that ain't fear." Maury goes to commercial.

And here's where the show essentially breaks down, as we knew it would, sort of like the last half of "Men At Work". Another former guest, "Q" arrives on the scene. Maury tells the Abusive Guys that "Q" was just like them, until he came on "Maury", got help, and turned his life around. So, "Q" is eminently qualified to dispense advice. He quotes, no, actually yells, MLK. "Q" channels a Chili's commercial and announces he has his baby back. The surprise for Timothy is that "Q" is gonna take him backstage and teach him some life lessons.

Meanwhile, some crazy woman comes on stage, with her sister in tow, of course. She was stabbed multiple times by her Abusive Guy, so again Maury has found a highly-qualified person to talk to the women. Maury, sensing this is going badly, cuts her off and reminds her that she will soon be talking to the women backstage. I'll move ahead and reveal that the woman basically says these are my wounds, this could be you, and worse, "you could end up six feet under". But her story was spoken in a very unintelligent way. Like most of Maury's guests and experts.

Next up, is another former guest, D West. Another guy with an odd name. Anyhow, "D" is gonna talk, well, yell at the remaining Abusive Guys, Milton and J.B. But that's not at all, as we find out after another commercial break.

You see, D West doesn't take Milton and J.B. to the morgue. That would be too obvious and strain the budget. No, "D" takes them to a local funeral home. WTF? There, an unnamed preacher tries to put Milton and J.B. on the right path. Well, going down that path takes one step to get going, so "D" leads the men to the vault in the funeral home. Where, in the voiceover, Maury talks about "the stench of death". D West then takes each man and shows them the "dead bodies" in the room. But under the sheet, lying on a slab, is each Abusive Guy's girlfriend. I see you working, "D". Since it's nearing 5:00, both men have miraculously seen the light, somehow waded through "the stench of death" and promise to stop being Abusive Guys.

Meanwhile, "Q" is starting to reveal what his surprise for Timothy entails. "Q" has some odd training habits, but maybe this stopped him from being an Abusive Guy. "Q" takes Timothy backstage at Maury headquarters. "Q" proceeds to order Timothy to clean a toilet with a toothbrush, saying what he's going through now is like the humiliation his girlfriend feels. "Q" then has some role playing in mind, as he instructs Timothy and his girlfriend to switch places in how they recline at home. The girl immediately goes for the couch, while "T" has to lie on the floor. Setting aside their obvious lack of feng shui in their home, I'm sensing a breakthrough. Next, "Q" wants Timothy to make a sandwich for him and Timothy's girlfriend, right there in Maury's kitchen. "Q" wants lots of mayo on his turkey and swiss. There seems to be a problem, as the girlfriend gets mustard on hers and announces she hates mustard. "Q", again in a fit of genius, throws her sandwich at the wall, demonstrating the humiliation she must suffer when not pleasing her man. After this rather shocking display, Timothy promises the world he has changed and won't be abusive anymore.

Not sure what I learned after watching this "Maury", but these thoughts come to mind:

"Q" loves mayo.

If we just made the sandwiches we want, the world would be a better place.

I didn't know you could tour a local funeral home, and playact while you're there.

I love the "Maury" show.

BTW, Maury celebrates the holiday today with "Born a Boy or Girl? You'll Never Guess". Imagine the fireworks on the next "Maury".

Meal of Links

Silly college students. The PD reports that two Mensas have developed a map for cheap parking for sporting events Downtown. Uh, no mention of FREE PARKING, as on the street, by a meter, hello! I can tell you which streets have meters, even the two-hour ones, yes, you can park in a truck zone legally after 6:00, etc. What a waste of ink.

Keith Olbermann is at it again.

Snopes tells us what happened to the original signers of the Declaration of Independence. Have a safe holiday!

Exercise Yard

I thought Kobayashi was not going to the Hot Dog Eating Championships, but he is. I wonder if he was sandbagging about his arthritic jaw. But there's something about the 4th of July that fires him up, so we'll see how he does. And keep in mind, since the record is 59 in 12 minutes, think how many months it takes you to eat 59 hot dogs.

Visitor

1 Down: "Desert Fox" Rommel (5 letters) Answer: Erwin

Scooter gets off. This is beyond words.

Meal of Links

The Top 50 Horror Movies. No issue with "Hellraiser" at #1. This actually has some sleepers on it that I like a lot. Props to "The Hitcher" at #10, "Jacob's Ladder" at 15 and lots of Cronenberg, including a #5 for "Dead Ringers". That is a must see, if you haven't seen that one in a while. And, of course, "Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer" at #6. That one is so out there (described alternately as "a real fucking wake-up call" and "it will mess you up bad" ), I don't even think they show that late night on Showtime 7 anymore. Roger Ebert gave it 3.5 stars, even though some described it as "evil incarnate". If you stumble upon it, beware.

A brilliantly simple ad from Nike touting Greg Oden's arrival in Portland:


Here are the Top 18 Skylines in the world. Pittsburgh made it.

Exercise Yard

SI rates the current NFL owners. If you're looking for Randy Lerner, he's on page 6 of 9. He's with solid company down there like the Yorks, Mike McCaskey, Al Davis and Georgia Frontiere. Not only that, it says Crennel and Savage are feuding. Yikes!

Visitor

32 Down: Brody of "The Pianist"(5 letters) Answer: Adrien

It was such a nice day today. Too nice to sit inside and eat, so I took my Dad to the patio at Fisher's Cafe in Peninsula. Which was one hoppin' place with all the bike riding and hiking going on. As we were waiting to be buzzed with the pager, lots of foreign people showed up. Some were Euros (I guessed Serbs), Asians, and even Colombians. My Dad started with the old "speak English" rant. I told him these folks looked like tourists, although I'm not sure how they would find Peninsula. Might be the Cuyahoga Valley train. I finally had to tell him, "Hey, I didn't know I was having lunch with Pat Buchanan." Thank God, these folks didn't pressure the wait staff into a table before we were seated outside. He would have caused an international incident on domestic soil, if that's possible. Anyhow, I had eggplant fries and a catfish fillet. Very good. He treated me to an ice cream cone at Country Maid, where I opted for the peppermint stick flavor. Outstanding.

Meal of Links

I'm proud to say I follow all of this advice for good credit. Therefore, my latest credit score was 794. I think that's pretty good.

I hadn't watched "Talk Soup" or its current incarnation, "The Soup", in quite a long time. Until last night's weekly recap show. You know, it still made me laugh out loud. There was some funny stuff, like Oprah and her va-jay-jay again. They also have a half-year special on E! on Monday that might be worth watching. Here is a clip from a month ago:



Well, the "Concert for Diana" was today. I think I saw Dennis Hopper introduce somebody. WTF? Hey, Tom Jones was there. Sort of dancing.

















Exercise Yard

I was really surprised by Mike Hargrove's resignation. Especially since the Mariners have been a big surprise and are actually contending. He said it was pretty much an accumulation of 35 years in the game. I think Jim Leyland left at around the same age, and recall Hargrove never had a break between his managerial jobs. He said he's through managing though. I don't know if there is a smoking gun, because it sure sets him up for a ton of criticism. I recall Dave Cowens quitting at Charlotte in the NBA with a reasonable record and then resurfacing at Golden State and then bailing there, and he hasn't had a head coaching job since, although he assists the Pistons currently.

The Indians should let him sit out the season and bring him back in some sort of community role. For all of his managerial faults, he sure had a home here, and he got us to 2 World Series in three years, when we've only been to 5 in the history of the team.

Visitor

None, it was a sunny Sunday.

Catch-up time, while the Spice Girls raise flags:


I attended some of my niece's T-ball game the other day. Not sure about her future on the diamond, as afterward she stated, "I hate T-Ball." I don't think I can argue that. It may have been the pink glove. Or the fact she pulls her visor way down over her eyes, so she has to tilt her head up to see what's going on. Or it could have been the arms outstretched and then proceeded to turn around in a circle several times to get dizzy, while in the field. Now, I've never seen Josh Barfield do that. I think I'm now hoping for a rock star future for her.

Finally made it to Art's Pub to watch the Tribe last night. Pretty good menu. I opted for the strip steak sammie. The early crowd was rather old as I could have been called "Sonny." When you hear old-timers barking, "The Yankees have won 36 World Series and the Indians have won, what, two?", you know they are old. Of course, the Yankees have not won 36, it's 26. That's why I am there. To criticize. They were also touting the Washington Senators as a ballclub. I heard names like Frank Howard, Roy Sievers, and Eddie Yost. Eddie Yost, for cryin' out loud! Then they tried to say the Senators always had good ballclubs. Uh, no. That's why it was: “First in war, first in peace, and last in the American League.” God, please don't let me be like that when I'm old. "Indians, why that Casey Blake was a helluva ballplayer..."

The NBA Draft was on Thursday. I like the NBA Draft. It moves quicker than the NFL, and the guys and their families always seem so happy they made it. The Cavs didn't have a pick, but they will probably make some moves on the free agent market. BTW, I saw a rating on free agents. If you thought baseball tossed around insane money last winter, how about $10 million for Anderson Varejao? Per season. I know Dan Gilbert has money, but to pay him $10 million and then be slapped with an equal amount on the luxury tax, you are talking essentially $20 million to keep Varejao. No way a smart organization makes that move.

Meal of Links

Summer means an endless wave of lists. This time, TV Guide picks the Top Cult Shows. No "Arrested Development"? Idiots.

The turn of the calendar toward July means only one thing. Fireworks. Here's a guy who gut busted in SoCal for having 2,500 pounds of illegal fireworks. Can I laugh that his middle name is "Stoner"?

Here's a World Clock that tracks tons of stats. Hey, somebody just went to prison. And another. And one more.

Exercise Yard

It really could be the Indians year. Yesterday, they beat the Devil Rays on Ben Francisco's ninth inning homer. That was the third homer in their last at-bat for the win in the last 7 days. They lead the AL with 12 last-inning wins.

These are the types of charmed-life victories that can get you to October.

Visitor

36 Down: "You Are There" host of the '50s (8 letters) Answer: Cronkite

I saw "Live Free and Die Hard" tonight. All I can say is this movie sucked hard. Even with a "Yippee-ki-yay, motherfucker", it blew. I really thought it would be better, but it had some of the most preposterous stunts, and it was not good at all. There was one perplexing scene where Bruce Willis is tucked inside a traffic tunnel with a helicopter hovering near the entrance. Of course, the Worst French Assassin Ever (only failed about 5 times to kill Willis) is hanging from the copter firing shots at Bruce. But Bruce is so far in the tunnel, that the guy must have been firing special gravity-defying, John McClane-seeking bullets. Dreadful.

Apple Guy is Bruce's sidekick and, of course, uses an Apple Computer. PC Guy probably couldn't handle the stunts or was suffering from blue screen. The highlight for me was the villain's henchwoman. A really sexy Asian chick, Maggie Q, who could not only hack your computer, but hack you with kicks and karate chops and the like. Too bad she was offed halfway through. The director Kevin Smith also had a fine turn as a hacker named the Warlock. But the franchise was further weakened by this effort. Wait for cable.

Meal of Links

You can check all the music from last weekend's festival at Glastonbury. These are full sets, too. Lots of rain there. The Who closed it out. I laughed that Bjork's performance had a strobing warning. Uh, it looks like lots of the crowd joined Iggy on stage for "No Fun". I mean lots.

Time picks 25 websites we can't live without. Kind of standard issue, but these are the ones you need.

It pays to be frustrated by the Sudoku. It staves off Alzheimer's.

Exercise Yard

ESPN had a mock NBA Draft today. The Cavs have no pick. And there are also many free agents we can't afford.

Visitor

52 Down: "Damn Yankees" siren (4 letters) Answer: Lola

Last night, the lure of a suite ticket got me to the Indians game. Got the late call, with a promise of a seat in a loge. Called my brother, picked him up, zipped Downtown in record time. Stopped at Alesci's to get the tickets. As we were walking down the alley, I looked at the ticket. It read "Section 316". Then it hit me, we aren't sitting in a loge, we are in the mezzanine. Damn.

But Captain Cheeseburger threw a nice game, Hafner homered, and the Tribe won. As I said after the game, it was free, it was fun, but it sure would have been nice to sit in a loge.

Meal of Links

It's Pearl in her farewell performance "Game on, holmes."

The Trib with its annual look at their favorite magazines. You can pick a new one to look at with what they list.

You have to watch "Shaq's Big Challenge". Shaq tries to get six overweight kids to drop a few pounds. I love Shaq and his sense of humor really comes through in this series. "It's Boot Camp time."

Exercise Yard
























Becks tries his hand at American football. And Reggie Bush tries his hand at futbol. And, somehow, Peyton Manning will still make better commercial.

Visitor

28 Across: "Batman" director Burton (3 letters) Answer: Tim

I gravy-trained a ticket to today's Champ Car race in Cleveland. You know it met my need for speed, as the roar by the shore was a celebration of acceleration. This was the first race I have seen the race in person, after seeing practice/qualifying sessions from time to time. And the weather cooperated nicely. Low 80's and we even had a bit of cloud cover late.

Racing is always interesting to me, because even if you have the best car, you may not win. Today, Sebastien Bourdais had the best car, by far, until his car kept stalling in the latter third of the race. That moved up Will Power, who we wanted to win (partially because of his name). He clearly had the second best car as he and Bourdais had cleared P3 by many seconds throughout the race. But Power ended up with a left flat tire and ceded the lead to Paul Tracy.

Tracy had a horrible start and had two incidents early in the race. After 5 laps, there was no way you thought he could win. Somehow, he kept it together, his pit strategy worked out wonderfully, and he had the proper gas mileage and ended up winning. And I give him credit, he was very humble accepting the trophy, as I'm sure he thought others deserved better.

I had a lot of fun, and I thought it was a really good day.

Meal of Links

How fat would you need to be to stop a bullet? Result: Buy a bulletproof vest.

Dick Cheney is a tool. Oh, he just loves to tinker with the idea of rules not applying to him.

It's never too early to talk about the 2008 election. It looks like it's going to be unconventional. When Michael Bloomberg announces his candidacy, he'll have plenty of advantages. A huge war chest, the ability to stay on the sidelines while everyone else battles, and can keep his own dialogue during that time. Key for a third-party candidate is entry into the debates. He may be able to do it.

Exercise Yard

Last night's boxing was on HBO and, once again, a fight billed as a potential "Fight of the Year" failed to live up to the hype. Champion Ricky Hatton and Jose Luis Castillo at 140 pounds. This was in Las Vegas, but you wouldn't have known it. 11,000 of the 17,000 tickets were actually sold in the UK. That meant, accompanied by Hatton's "personal marching band" as Lamps put it, we got constant trumpet playing and singing of "God Save the Queen", "O Brittania", "Ricky Hatton Wonderland" a la "Winter Wonderland", "Papa's Got a Brand New Pigbag" (yes, that song still has legs!) and others. Of course, he came out to a "No surrender" speech by Winston Churchill, that morphed into "Blue Moon", the theme song for his hometown Manchester City soccer town. He also came out wearing a sombrero, like Floyd Mayweather, and wore a robe that read, "Manchester Mexican". All boxers want the Mexicans on their side, it seems.

As for the fight. Well, if you were a Hatton fan, you probably loved it. He worked hard, threw lots of shots and dominated the fight. He KO'ed Castillo in the fourth with a big body shot to the liver. His percentage of power shots was up, and he was really never in any trouble. The problem was Castillo (far from those epic Corrales bouts) was a worthy opponent in name only. His skills have eroded and even Emanuel Steward noted that "in the first 10 seconds of the bout, I could tell he was an old fighter." Tough to rate Hatton due to the opponent.

Hatton has a dilemma. No doubt he can sell tickets. But if he stays at 140, it's pretty lean for quality opponents. If he moves up to 147, there are a ton of better fighters, and it's a big risk at that weight, a weight at which he didn't look well. So, what's a fighter to do. Call out Mayweather, obviously. "I had more action in four rounds tonight than Mayweather has had in his entire career." That would be a "Nice try." on that one.

Visitor

None, it was a "Boogity, boogity, boogity. Let's go racin', boys!" Sunday.

Well, as I was told earlier this week, "the ex always does it", and that's why I'm not on a cop show.

I had a great time at The Harp last night. Beautiful night and it got kinda chilly after dark. But that wasn't the real story. As I was coming home past Bridge on West 65th, this tree split and fell across the road! I could not have missed this by more than a minute, because there were people still running out to see what happened. It looked like it split maybe 8 feet from the ground and it looked like a good 30% of the tree fell across 65th and the adjoining sidewalk. Didn't appear to have hit a house or any cars passing by, but it was most definitely a major cleanup.

Other than that, it's a slow day except for the news that Thierry Henry left Arsenal for Barcelona. The Gunners have some young talent, so we'll see how well they compete in the EPL next year.

Meal of Links

"Ice Road Truckers" is looking like one of the History Channel's more interesting offerings. Driving 18-wheelers over frozen lakes with the danger of plunging in, sounds good to me.

Has anyone noticed the chart-topping success of...The Traveling Wilburys? Huh?

The World's Ugliest Dog. His name is Elwood, and he looks not like a canine at all. A deserved victor.

Exercise Yard

Behind the numbers of Travis Hafner's mediocre season, thus far. It looks like the most glaring sign is the amount of ground balls he hits. Just not driving the ball.

Visitor

49 Across: Sect nickname since the 1970s (7 letters) Answer: Moonies

I watched a little bit of the New AFI Top 100 Films last night. Kind of in that 83-78 range. This appears to be a more valid list than the previous one. They allowed more recent films to compete. I am more interested in those that moved up a lot or dropped down.

For instance, "The Searchers", a film cited as an influence by many top directors, climbed from 96 to 12. It is a fantastic movie, but I wonder how a movie like that is "rediscovered". I think it should have already been near the top. Good to see "Sullivan's Travels" on the list this time. "Rear Window", which is on the big screen at the Palace this summer, should be higher. I see "Raging Bull" and "The Deer Hunter" both moved up, maybe because Scorsese was available. Unlike Altman with "Nashville", which should have been on the list before, as well.

Speaking of the Palace, in addition to "Rear Window" (48), others from the list that get a screening in August are: "12 Angry Men" (87), "The Maltese Falcon" (31), "The Bridge on the River Kwai" (36) and "Annie Hall" (35). That's a nice assortment.

Meal of Links

Hey, now. It's Jessica Biel at the beach.

Wes Craven sues Pauly Shore. I like the headline.

Sunscreen ratings. I haven't heard of most of the brands rated best. The more familiar names rate poorly.

Exercise Yard

Since everyone is paying attention to Biel, I must remind you that the College World Series is near its conclusion. And that the Beavers beat the Eaters. Yes, Oregon State can defend it's title after beating UC-Irvine.

Visitor

25 Across: "Bad, Bad Leroy Brown" (8 letters) Answer: Jim Croce

The case of the missing pregnant woman goes on. I thought it was weird that many people thought the father of the woman's other child was a suspect. I mean, wouldn't the toddler say, "Daddy put Mommy in the rug." or something like that.

It seems this is kinda like the case of that pregnant woman several years ago, where they cut the baby out of her womb. It's not a common crime, but that would make at least two cases for Ohio.

Meal of Links

We've all heard about the FDA-approved, fat-blocking drug, called Alli. Oh, it sounds wonderful. Maintain your regular diet and lose weight! However, this is actually on their website: "You may feel an urgent need to go to the bathroom. Until you have a sense of any treatment effects, it's probably a smart idea to wear dark pants, and bring a change of clothes with you to work."

Co-Worker: "Hey, new pants. What's up?"
Alli User: "Trouser chili."

And note how side effects are now "treatment effects".

Human bite injuries increase during holidays. McGruff is on the case.

Smashing Pumpkins appear on "Letterman". Twice. In the same week.

Exercise Yard

While lamenting the end of the Roberto Hernandez Era with the Tribe, Sammy Sosa hit his 600th homer. And I bet he learned English again, so he could speak about it after the game. Only four had hit 600 before him: Aaron, Bonds, Ruth and Mays.

Getting back to Hernandez, he's another free-agent signing who didn't last a full season. Off the top of my head, I recall Jason Johnson and Brady Anderson. I'm sure there were more.

Visitor

16 Across: Jessica of "Sin City" (4 letters) Answer: Alba

Best Friend and I attended the Barenaked Ladies concert at PD Pavilion on Sunday. Kind of an interesting crowd. Since it was Father's Day, it appeared that many Moms bought tickets for Dad and the kids. Matched with a really unattractive concert-going type, it was kinda the Full Cleveland treatment. One woman had this shirt on: "Was that an Earthquake or did I just rock your world?" Uh, not really.

Anyhow, the band was very entertaining. Lots of jokes. The one singer sweat a lot and he took abuse for that. "Cleveland Steamer" jokes, including one where it was a little known fact that Stevie Wonder's real name was "Steveland Creamer". They mentioned they sang the anthem at the Tribe game and the drummer threw out the first pitch which led to more jokes. They definitely know how to pace a show and have enough hits to keep everyone into it.

Meal of Links

Finally, "Icky Thump" is out today. Yep, it's really good.

Here is a clip from Jools Holland's BBC2 show:

"Effect and Cause"-The White Stripes



Time for the "What If?" game. All about the late night hosts and where they may end up.

I had a nectarine today. Did you know a medium-sized nectarine has about 70 calories and will give you 15% of the recommended daily dose of Vitamin C. It is also low-fat, sodium and cholesterol-free, and a good source of fiber. I like nectarines.

Exercise Yard

Gale and I attended the Phillies-Indians game last night. I wanted to see Cole Hamels, the young pitcher for the Phils. And I hoped Ryan Howard would homer. Of course, while we won. Hamels probably threw his worst game of the year, as the Tribe won, 10-1. But Howard did homer off of Cliff Lee. Two out of three ain't bad.

Is Mr. McMahon dead? My brother and I were laughing about this earlier today. It seems the mainstream media has missed the story that his limo blew up a week ago. Since no body was found, he was presumed dead. By the WWE, that is. Next week, there is a memorial service. My hunch is he will show up.

In other wrestling news, Sensational Sherri Martel is dead.

Visitor

58 Down: "Fernando" band (4 letters) Answer: ABBA

For Father's Day, I took my my Dad to brunch at the Waterstreet Grill. I love the Build Your Own deal that they offer. Eggs, sausage, home fires, French toast, the Breakfast of Champions. It really hits the spot. And it also provides a fairly eclectic group of patrons to gawk at, because it seems to attract a diverse crowd each time I'm there.

Meal of Links


























Gary Larson may have been right. A professional video game league is born.

How some medical conditions of Iraqi War vets are treated upon their return. And there are more coming.

Funny bus ads. Some of these are really clever.

Exercise Yard

HBO had the boxing card this week. Outside of a brief wire story, I intentionally avoided the post-fight reports on the Miguel Cotto-Zab Judah title fight at Welterweight from last week. Big-time atmosphere in NYC with a record-setting crowd at the Garden. After all, it was the weekend of the Puerto Rican Day Parade. So, Cotto represents Puerto Rico and Judah represents Brooklyn. I am not a Zab fan, by any means, so knowing he did suffer a KO in this fight, I was interested to see how it happened. Lemme say, it was a really good fight.

We had low blows, with Cotto getting a point deducted in the third. Cotto bled from below his lip for most of the fight. We had two accidental headbutts, with cuts above the eyes for both fighters. It was definitely reminiscent of an old-time fight.

The problem Judah had is two-fold. One, with his Dad as trainer, it's gotta be tough for him to sit there and listen to typical corner noise when he can't see and is getting his ass kicked by Cotto. I think another trainer may have thrown in the towel. Second, Cotto was very vulnerable to the left hand. If Zab had thrown more punches, the outcome may have been different. Outside of showing more heart than normal, it was a typical fade near the end performance for Zab. And he was running on empty at the start of the eleventh round.

Cotto, on the other hand, had a tremendous fight. He does not stop throwing punches, switching between conventional and southpaw styles, without missing a beat. Although he left himself open at times, he didn't appear to be seriously hurt. Much like Mayweather last year, Cotto is holding a tremendous hand at the moment.

He has one mandatory fight coming up, but we've seen many fighters throw titles into the trash for the big payday. So, where does he go? He could wait for Oscar, if he goes through with the mandatory. There is Mayweather. And Mosley-Cotto would be entertaining, as well. I would eagerly wait for any of those matchups.

Visitor

My Dad, and a Happy Father's Day to all the Dads out there.

I knew "General Hospital" would come in handy some day. For me, the worst part of the crosswords is any Greek reference. Any mythological references regarding gods and muses, I lean towards being a cipher. But I knew today's clue "Titan who stole fire from the Gods". Prometheus! That's because, many years ago, there was a plot line where they tried to steal the Prometheus Disk. Thank you, Dr. Grant Putnam!

My Dad always tells the corniest jokes, so last night I guess I tried to channel him. There was a comparison of some cool watches. The first one was a watch from Guess, which looked really sharp. The next watch was really beautiful from Ocean7, I said, "Ocean7? Wow, that must be old. They are already up to 13, is this from the '40s?" Hey, it's Father's Day weekend, back off.

Meal of Links

"The Believer" has its music issue out. You can read snippets and purchase online. Subjects include: Beatles vs. Stones, Bob Dylan, Terence Trent D'Arby and Trent Reznor. Check it out.

If Fred Thompson runs for President, that means the "Law & Order" reruns with him might not run. Residual checks of the co-stars would suffer.

Applebee's. Where kids are drinking good in the neighborhood.

Exercise Yard

A really funny Father's Day.

Visitor

21 Across: Spade and others (5 letters) Answer: Kates

I was speechless when I got home today. Yes, I had no speech. Because a check from the county was in my mailbox. See, when I was burgled that time, as part of the plea agreement, I was to be reimbursed. Of course, I didn't think I'd see a cent. But today I received a check for 33% of the total, which is a lot better than zero. Still can't believe it. Journey was right, after all.

Last night, I helped Gale get the last of her boxes out of her old place and into her new place. She had two sisters along to help not only with that, but with the dubious task of yaying or naying the on-the-fence items for the move. A number of items got tagged with a nay and are now waiting for garbage day. It took a while to pack everything into the cars, but unpacking was a done in an instant.

But the highlight had to be Stamper's Grill Pub where, unbeknownst to me, it was Taco Night and no loud band. I like Taco Night. We lost out on Art's Pub, because the grill closed at 10:00. Damn. So, it was Stamper's to the rescue. I must say, really good tacos. Although Cousin Barb ordered an orange soda. I guess you get free refills for the sodie, but at $1.99, that's almost beer territory. Plus, you can't go anywhere in that place without seeing a TV. That came in handy to see the very end of the Tribe game. Gee, that game took a while to play. Must have been all the ejections and the Marlins comedy of errors on defense.

Meal of Links

Part of the conversation last night turned to leg cramps. I get these every once in a while after drinking and lemme tell ya, mine are brutal. Of course, there is nothing like hopping around, swearing in the dark, until I've somehow managed to stretch that calf out. It seems that certain family members are now placing a bar of soap in bed to cure leg cramps! The truly baffling part is that this remedy comes with no real instructions, except don't use Dove. Placement, wrapped or unwrapped soap, brand of soap seem to minor concerns. Hey, if Snopes can't debunk it, it must be worth a try, no?

Bonnaroo is this weekend. Once again, AT&T with the video. And it looks like the Blue Room also has the White Stripes next Tuesday at 11:00 p.m.

Pluto has been having a rough time lately. Another dwarf planet, Elis, is 27% larger than Pluto. Oh, that hurts.

Exercise Yard

In the immortal words of Rasheed Wallace, "Both teams played hard.", thus ending one of the worst NBA finals ever. Gregg Popovich is now a Hall of Fame coach. Tim Duncan is the best power forward ever. And Big Shot Bob now has 7 rings. The Spurs are really good.

But Mike Brown can be so easily criticized, can't he? At least the Cavs had a second half lead in this one. But you have to foul in that possession the Spurs had with 53 seconds to go and a 7-point deficit. You must foul to extend the game, but no. The Cavs let the Spurs run some clock and when Ginobili missed a shot, there were only 30 seconds left. Unbelievable. Then the foul shot parade started, mainly with Ginobili, who hit 6-6 in the last seconds.

It spoiled a decent game from the Cavs, although LeBron shot 10 out of 30 and had 6 turnovers (the Cavs having only 10 as a team). Ouch. Good bench contributions, 23 assists, 10 turnovers is pretty good. The Spurs shot 58% from the line, had only 13 assists and 14 turnovers. Yet, they win. They have better talent and know how to execute, while not panicking down the stretch.

Charley Rosen witnessed the sweep.

Time to stalk Lewis Hamilton at Indy.

Visitor

11 Down: Croissan'wich maker (10 letters) Answer: Burger King

Tonight was Game 3 of Cavs-Spurs at Quicken Loans Arena. And we have fire!
















Going in, I was not very confident of our chances. I thought the refs would play an important role, as they always seem to cut the home team slack in these situations. The absence of the injured Larry Hughes might actually help the Cavs, as he had been a non-contributor the first two games.

The first quarter kind of stunk both ways. The Spurs did not shoot very well and committed many turnovers. It seemed the Cavs started out OK, then hit a wall. But the Cavs had the lead at the end of the first by two and we should be thankful, as they had have not had many leads in the series. I am not confident in Coach Brown though. As soon as Duncan goes to the bench with fouls, get Z in there and pound it into him. Z didn't get back in until the second quarter started.

Interestingly enough, Tony Parker of the Spurs sat a long time in the first quarter, as Bowen and Duncan carried the load. Varejao and James seemed to be the big guns for the Cavs early. In the second quarter, we saw Jim Brown with Jim Tressel, Peyton Manning eating a hot dog, and Ewok Longoria watching the game. The game turned when LeBron got his third foul, quickly followed by the third foul on Tim Duncan. Then we got to see the Tim Duncan Face. The one where his eyes get real big and he claims he didn't foul. But what we learned this quarter was Varejao cannot guard Duncan, Big Shot Bob can still shoot, and Tony Parker is fast, as the Spurs closed out the half with a 10-0 run to regain the lead. For the Cavs we learned that Boobie can be defended by the Spurs and he seemed reluctant to get involved, Coach Brown still does not play his most 5 productive players at any given time, but they did get help from Z, Pavlovic and Gooden. It's just that this is such a strong Spurs team. Their stars can sit for long stretches and the team still plays well.

Third quarter did not result in many points early. As a matter of fact, it was 15-12 in favor of the Spurs for the quarter. The Spurs were stuck on 44 for the longest time. Z is playing a terrific game tonight. He's flashing outside to double-team Parker, hustling for loose balls, and rebounding quite well. It is scary that he and Gooden (who picked up four fouls in the quarter) are the most productive Cavs, by far. The double team is hurting Parker, as they have not run the pick-and-roll with Duncan that much. The Spurs have lost most of their shooting touch in this game, except for the three-ball, which is keeping them in the lead. Up to this point, the Cavs have hit one three-pointer for the game. The crowd was eerily silent at the end of the third quarter, as the Spurs lead by 5.

It's now the 4th quarter, and doesn't that iPhone look great? Boy, the Cavs repeatedly get good open looks tonight, but can't make a shot. Without Gooden and Z tonight, I shudder to think how bad this score might have been. Our offense is chaotic, then results in no basket. The Cavs defense is really good though, but the Spurs seem less chaotic and at least a fair number of their shots are good. Michael Finley hits a three to give the Spurs a 10-point lead at 67-57, but then Pavlovic hits a three for the Cavs and we have hope again. The Spurs stay on 67 for over 4 minutes, but the Cavs can only score 6 during that time for a 67-63 deficit, then proceed to miss and miss and miss some more. But Parker hits a three to give the Spurs a 72-67 lead, but Pavlovic connects with a three right back at them. Crazy finish though. Duncan hits two foul shots and then James hits a basket. Varejao, in there after Gooden fouled out, misses a weird scoop shot and the Cavs foul Ginobili with 10 seconds left. He makes one of two and then LeBron hits a bunny for a 73-72 game. Ginobili then hits two foul shots with 5 seconds left. So, it's Cavs ball, down by three at 75-72. The inbound play goes to LeBron, who is grabbed by Bruce Bowen. No call, Lebron misses the jumper and the Cavs lose by 3.

Observations:

Oh, Boobie. Give the people what they want. He was 1-10.

Z was outstanding. 12 and 18 with 10 offensive rebounds.

Ginobili's foul shots in the last 10 seconds were his only points.

Only 7 bench points for the Cavs, but the 4 guys attempted only 7 shots.

Barry and Bowen were 7-9 on threes for the Spurs.

Well, it wasn't the lowest scoring game in NBA Finals history, but it was close.

Meal of Links

The map of the world according to the USA. Soccer not listed, but hockey is and gets a shoutout.

Steve Perry would not sign off on "Don't Stop Believin'" until he knew how "The Sopranos" ended. In his honor, they need to rerun Journey's "Behind The Music", the best episode of that series.

They stole the President's watch. Seriously, some Albanian ripped him off.

Exercise Yard

How Wieden & Kennedy became the best sports marketers in America. The SportsCenter ads are really genius. I like anything with Mr. Met in it.

Visitor

51 Across: South African Peace Nobelist (4 letters) Answer: Tutu

Since the Cavs were laying another egg last night, I noticed that the Sopranos had five more minutes to go to end its run. It's a show I never watched, but I read a lot, so I figured I'd look at the conclusion. I thought the ending was most excellent. I'm not one of the people screaming about a lack of payoff.

It allowed the viewer the opportunity to imagine what the ending would be, and that way, no one is wrong or right. You could interpret the scene anyway you like. My version is that Tony did not get whacked. It showed that even in alleged good times, eating onion rings with his family, he was fated that whenever someone came into a room, he had to eye them as if this could be his demise. And it could come from anyone. The guy arranging the coffee creamer in a peculiar way, the guy who followed his son in who then went to the bathroom maybe to pick up a gun a la "The Godfather", the two black guys who came in after that, was that his wife or sister coming in (thank God it's not my sister, who might kill me). Utterly fascinating.

Then again, I did not have the investment of 6 seasons/8 years end with a Journey song playing on the jukebox with a fade to black. The best thing that can be said about the conclusion is everyone is talking about it and I'm sure that's what David Chase wanted. Apparently this ending was used in John Sayles' "Limbo" a few years back. Probably gotta seek that movie out.

As mentioned in the Washington Post, I find it odd that all of the main characters in "Seinfeld" ended up in jail, while none of the main characters in "The Sopranos" did. That's a bit of a twist.

Meal of Links

What would have happened if Fox News was present throughout history. Scarily accurate portrait, I'd say.

Ichiro doesn't like our town (last item). Ichiro. Every time I see him I think of the 2001 playoffs. In right field, this drunk next to us yelled "Godzirah" the entire game.

All about the engagement ring.

Exercise Yard

The Cavs are really spitting the bit.

But they'll always have this theme song (courtesy of Tony Soprano):



Visitor

44 Across: TV pundit Rooney (4 letters) Answer: Andy

Well, the Steve Martin angle did not work at the Belmont yesterday, but Rags to Riches won one for the ladies. Yesterday, I said no filly had won the Belmont, but obviously that was at a mile-and-a-half, which last time I checked was the distance they ran yesterday. Difficult to remember that the race was back on ABC...quit changing networks on me!

Spurred by the female influence on the day's racing, I actually watched the movie on Ruffian last night. I thought it was pretty bad. Sam Shepard played the trainer Frank Whiteley, who apparently grunts a lot while staring at the ground. Bringing down the vibe even more was Frank Whaley as the sportswriter William Nack. Why do I think Whaley's best role was when Samuel L. shot him in "Pulp Fiction" during the Big Kahuna Burger scene? At times last night, you wondered if it was the Bill Nack story instead of Ruffian. Dave Johnson acting as the race caller, well, let's just say Trevor Denman comes off much better in his commercial for that product I can't remember. At least they showed some footage of the real Ruffian over the closing credits.

It seems the lawsuit surrounding the movie was more interesting as trainer Whiteley and jockey Jacinto Vasquez did not participate in the filming. An injunction allowed the movie to be shown last night.

Meal of Links

Here is how Swiss Banks work. This is a movie staple from way back when, when the high rollers or ne'er-do-wells somehow manage to have a Swiss Bank account. My bank is NCB. Doesn't have the same ring to it.

I laughed out loud at some of these Celebrity Logo Look-Alikes. Except for that character from "It". Boo, creepy clown from "It". Hooray, beer! Jeezy creezy, that still gives me nightmares.

Where are all the bees going? Everyone's stumped.

Exercise Yard

Last night, it was Showtime's turn for boxing, as HBO had the Cotto-Judah PPV. It was kind of a yawner.

Light heavy champ "Bad" Chad Dawson ("Your circle's gotta go, Chad.") could not even get the main event in his own hometown. WTF? He destroyed Jesus Ruiz in six. Pretty good effort, lame opponent.

In the nightcap, "The Magic Man" Antonio Tarver beat Elvir "The Kosovo Kid" Mariqi in a majority decision. Listening to the broadcast, you would have thought this was an exciting fight. I placed the amount of action at about 2 minutes total out of the 36 minutes I saw. Tarver is calling out everyone after the fight. Even Mariqi was calling out everyone. Showtime seems to be slipping in their choice of bouts, back to 2004-5 level, after a pretty nice run of late.

Visitor

None, as my friend, Lewis Hamilton, won the F1 race in Montreal.

Last night was time for a visit to the Happy Dog. It was a cast of thousands, well, six, as Nick, Gale, Jeff and later on, Kevin and Lisa, signed up for duty. Spot on with the food once again as I had a corned beef sammie with tater tots. I had a good time, as they had a not-so-loud country band playing and we got to hear some Johnny Cash and Neil Young.

But since Kevin arrived, shots were involved. I know sometimes in the Detroit-Shoreway area that's an issue, but these shots were of the liquor variety. Why I haven't been drinking like that since, oh, I don't know, last week. Anyhow, I believe I had three of them, but the best one was a shot that tasted like an apple. I swear it was like a liquid Macintosh and I could get used to drinking that very quickly. I have to file that away for colder weather. Unbelievably tasty.

Meal of Links

How to eliminate stress. I think winning the lottery would do wonders for that.

How to make ice cream in a bag. Can't you just have a pint or two on hand and open one? Seems easier.

More piling on Cavs coach Mike Brown. We need more Boobie!

Exercise Yard

Today is Belmont Stakes Day. The Belmont is the oldest of the Triple Crown races and if the TC is not on the line, it seems to get short shrift from the public. But not from me, because it always poses an interesting handicapping puzzle. You see, the distance is 1.5 miles, and there are not many graded stakes that are run at this distance these days. Some of the entries are bred for this distance, but it's a crapshoot to figure out who not only can get the distance, but also run competitively.

There are only 7 entries this year. With that small of a field (the Derby had 20 horses), you can load up on the exotics and try and make some money.

The favorite today is Curlin, the Preakness winner. If you asked me five weeks ago, I would have thought Curlin would win the Belmont. But Curlin was lightly raced heading into the Derby, and this will be his third race in five weeks. I think he's done.

Rags to Riches is a filly with A.P. Indy (you must give A.P. Indy horses added respect) in the bloodlines. The good news is that in a small field, the Kentucky Oaks winner won't get beaten up and banged around by the other horses. She is also the half-sister to last year's Belmont winner, Jazil. The bad news is no filly has ever won the Belmont, and I'm not sure she can compete at this level.

Hard Spun is also back for his third TC race. He'll be the pacesetter and won't last the distance. You cannot win this race from the front.

My pick? I'm going with the Steve Martin angle: Imawildandcrazyguy. I'll take him at 20-1. He's coming off a pretty good Derby where his closing fractions were the best. It's hard to take a deep closer in this race, but I think he'll certainly be nearer to the front than he was at the Derby.

Visitor

20 Across: First man to appear on the cover of Vogue (4 letters) Answer: Gere

I took my Dad to the warm Tribe game today for an early Father's Day gift, and we sat in the club section. This means you get to eat all of the food up there for free. Not necessarily gratis, but included in the price of your ticket. So, that means not eating anything a while before this gastric feast set before you.

One observation, way too many children, even for the clubs. I was subjected to the little girl next to me spilling lemonade all over my legs, and enduring, of all things, a steroid conversation between her and her father. I love the clubs and all, but wow. He was actually talking about the size of Barry Bonds' cranium to a girl who seemed more concerned with the shape of her chicken sandwich.

Food I consumed:

Beef (with nice cumin and coriander seasoning)
Pork
Chicken Fajita
Hamburger
Cracker Jack (take that Marc's!)
Superman Ice Cream
Popcorn
Water
Diet and regular Dr. Pepper

Stomach troubles ensuing shortly.

The game was a snoozefest, as the Tribe beat the Royals, 8-3. Fausto Carmona had the sinker working big-time today and threw a bunch of changeups that Kansas City could not hit. Fausto looks really good right now. And Tony Pena let a double play ball through the wickets, allowing the Indians to pile on runs in the eighth. Franklin Guiterrez homered early and Casey Blake homered late.

Meal of Links

If you Google much, this is a handy primer. The calculator is always a good tool.

Angelina Jolie at #2 and Jordana Brewster at #7 make the list of hot women loved by lesbians. Sarah Shahi, too. She was the only reason to watch that godawful "Teachers".

Hooray, beer!

Exercise Yard

Why not us? The Cavs start their run at the NBA title this evening. I am anxious to see how they handle this series. As I read a couple of weeks ago, rooting for San Antonio is not a very hip thing to do, if you love hoops. The match up is not the best, but certainly better than Phoenix or Dallas. Tony Parker holds the key. If we defend him, we have a shot. If not, well, we tried.

Uh-oh. The Spurs may have a spiritual edge.















But, LeBron is on our team.

Visitor

18 Across: Lakers forward Lamar (4 letters) Answer: Odom

Things to catch up on...

I received a birthday card from my councilman. I am not sure how I feel about that.

Stanley Cup intros are always electric. Alanis Morissette handles "The Star-Spangled Banner" and gets help from 20,000 backup singers with "O Canada".



Bill Simmons takes on Roger Brown. Item 6.

The deleted scene at the supermarket from "Borat" made me laugh uncontrollably. It pushes the limits of comedy. "Cheese also."



Stewart Copeland thought the Police's performance in Vancouver was lame.

The "40 Most Softsational Soft-Rock Songs". I refuse to believe "Escape" was not Number One. "Oh...it's you."

The London Olympics logo is hated. Now people are having seizures watching an animated clip about it. Not going over very well, I'd say.

Some love for GOB. With video clips. I still remember his line: "I want to be in that Poof!"

The Mindfreak is hooking up with Cameron Diaz. Oh, and he escaped from a concrete box before it fell to the ground.

"Come on Cavs" Gotta make it happen!

The Top 10 moments in the 2006-7 Premiership. No Matty Taylor goal though. That's a problem.

More Creed Thoughts.

LeBron vs. Michael

Cavs-Spurs matchups.