mstar1

When I was about 5, I found a can of black paint and played connect the dots on the neighborhood dalmatian...

This is insane- I live in a neighborhood where everyone leaves their doors unlocked and keys in the car, children are encouraged to do things like this. That 'love your neighbor' thing certainly doesn't get much mileage in some parts of the country

Its alot of little things that make teamslike the Patriots and Red Sox Champions , I like this piece from Sports Illustrated's Rick Reilly: "In the final hours before the Super Bowl, NFL players have been known to go and get, say, a $40 hooker. Or go to ­Tijuana and get muy smashed. Or try to set the coke-snorting world record. "But before this Super Bowl, wide receiver Deion Branch of the Patriots did something even stranger. "He picked up his cellphone and called every coach in his life who meant something to him. He called Pee Wee coaches. He called his high school receivers coach. He called his junior college offensive coordinator. He called his college head coach. He called 13 coaches in all. "And do you know what he told them? Thank you. "Thank you for caring about me when I could’ve gone south. Thank you for making me run stairs. Thank you for believing I could do this. "He thanked his coach at Louisville for not giving up on him when his grades were lousy. He thanked his high school coach for believing he ­wasn’t too puny. He thanked one coach for being there for him when his infant son was near death. "He got so emotional while thanking them that “I was crying half the time,” says Branch, 25. “It’s hard, but I don’t want them to think I’ve left them behind. I want them to know I’m thinking about them all the time.” "And when he was done calling—about two hours later—he got on the team bus, put on his number 83 and made the ­Patriots thank God they had drafted him. "Branch caught 11 passes—tying the Super Bowl record co-owned by his hero, Jerry Rice—for 133 yards. He was named the MVP of New England’s 24–21 win over the Eagles." (continued in this week's Sports Illustrated)

....and now he's in palookaville. It could make things interestng -everyone is denying, denying, denying the obvious Is it Pedro Astacio you're wondering about? The Red Sox just signed a guy from Japan, this is all I can find on him: 【ニューヨーク２６日共同】米大リーグ入りを目指すデニム¼å‹åˆ©æŠ•æ‰‹ï¼ˆï¼“７）のレッドソックス入りが２６日、確実とだªã£ãŸã€‚代理人のジョー・アーボン氏が「交渉相手はボストム³ï¼ˆãƒ¬ãƒƒãƒ‰ã‚½ãƒƒã‚¯ã‚¹ï¼‰ã«çµžã£ãŸã€‚æ¥é€±åˆã‚ã¾ã§ã«å¥‘ç´„ã‚’ç· çµã §ãã‚Œã°ã¨è€ƒãˆã¦ã„る」と話した。 Looks good to me, though “友利投手” sounds kind of troubling.

Thanks, although I wish I was still out on the grand and glorious road (@#%&* girlfriend had to come back to go to work), I'm back to 2 feet of snow in my yard. ...but pitchers and catchers report in about a week and opening day seem right around the corner. 2004 was quite a ride, I wonder what things the baseball Gods have in store for us through this year............It will be hard (for me) to top last year...

Who's on first

Yes ex-no bananananana's -just a quirk of mine-- --and i have been pleasantly surprised Belle backroading through Mississippi and the deep south for the last week --the music has been even richer than I imagined ---you can feel the history... isnt anyone else curious abouts socks' l.-i.t.e.i.a.w.h.l.?

Speaking of Dirty Water---About 10 years ago I joined about 1200 other guitar players on Bostons Esplanade to play Dirty Water in an attempt to set a world record....(we fell a little short), but it is the theme song of the Red Sox... I smoked a joint with Muddy Waters in between his sets in the early 70's I went to bluesman Robert Johnsons birthplace today in rural Mississippi.

The way the decade is goin' I vote for the uh oh's,

yea that story is worth following through on--- but not me not now- I'm goin' on a roadtrip for a week or so-catch ya when I get back

Big Ben is just a kid, even though he hasn't lost since whenever it was (jr college maybe??) He learned a valuable lesson, ---you can't win 'em all. I know theres no crying in baseball, football must be different He'll be back----it wasn't him, Cowher got outcoached

You have me intrigued simon, so far the only thing I can find is this his obit from The NYTimes, so far everything else seems to be hidden somewhere From the L'abri site

cute cowgirl, i missed it the first time around, I did however see this picture from the Mars Rover I always knew those people at the driveup window were a little off

. I don't know much about him, i was in my own cult those years and wasn't paying close attention all the time to too many things. I do know he was another World Series loser (game 4- 1984, which may be part of the puzzle) but missed that story about the political intrigue and death It sounds like it would be worth digging into, too many times we (well I at least) get caught in the win at all costs part of the game and recognize the heroic stories but don't recognize and remember the more tragic ones. They deserve their time too as part of the history of the game. It is tough at times, recently I remember what I (and the rest of Red Sox fans) felt like after the game 7 ALCS extra inning loss to the Yankees in 2003. I literally couldn't talk for a week and I'm just some guy who turns on the TV every night, I don't know how Tim Wakefield dealt with it after giving up Boones HR. Gorman brought up a good point last night that a lot of players have the tools but not everyone has the constitution for it. I'm gonna see if I hear anything about Show, it sounds like an interesting story and honestly for every Curt Schilling story there are probably just as many of these that get lost

Back to Schiraldi for just a second here Im getting ready to watch Game 7 of 1986 here and before the game they are interviewing Lou Gorman the GM of that team. He claims that at the time Schiraldi was a much better prospect than Roger Clemens, having beaten him out for college MVP a few years before and being drafted ahead of him. The Red Sox had high high hopes for Schiraldi but after the worst loss in Red Sox history (Game 6) then another poor performance in Game 7 he was never able to recapture who he was. Gorman just said that if it werent for that one game Schiraldi would be in the Hall with Clemens someday and probably be revered as a better pitcher... which may be an exaggeration but he knew them as well as anybody... In retrospect the in the interview that I mentioned with Schiraldi he still looked shellshocked and that was 15 years after the fact.... you told me one time that baseball can be a cruel game... 86 was a tough year on pitchers- i.e Donnie Moore

well i might be able to roll it 60'6" lefthanded, or do my Rick "Which way did it go" Ankiel imitation..... darn when my big league chance finally came I was a northpaw

The famous case in these parts (and there aren't all that many that i am aware of ) was Barney and Betty Hill from New Hampshire sometime in the 50's. They lived most of their lives as 'normal joe' type people until a close encounter--It is fairly well documented -- there should be alot if you google them ( I would but I'm in a rush right now) As far as religions go they are not all immediately against it-- There are religions and spiritual groups that hold extraterrestrials as their basis ( as in thats our genesis-which in some ways could make more sense then we were *poofed* out of the dust of the ground --if origins are important to you). Ive heard it from and read it in Native American, Mayan, Toltec, African and a few other cultures religious writings, and of course the New Agers (those of the StarSeed)... ...anyway your right people are seeing something and many cultures have legends of some sort of beings descending from the heavens which aren't all from a 20th century christian perspective. Ive never had any experiences and dont care if i do or dont. Just time on my hands to read and talk to some people that are outside of the mainstream........no none of them are on medication in case you were wondering....

Super Bowl XXXIX Firsts: ... its the only time in my life I've ever heard or ever expect to hear anyone say OH BOY! WE'RE GOING TO JACKSONVILLE!

----I saw an interview with him a few years ago, he's your basic overly paunchy middle aged guy now with a few memories he'd rather forget-- a farmer somewhere I think...He took it hard... I was on a class crew in Tampa when that game was on. It was session 12, I was sneaking between the class and a small TV downstairs and sat stunned and in unbelief (heard enough but refused to believe)...well...for 18 years. Finally they've all been redeemed by the blood of Curt Schilling Schiraldi Now

ONLY 3 Months? If I have 3 days in a row over 90 I'm melting. But if the Rangers want to sign a 49 year old reliever with a fastball that probably approachs a blistering 60MPH plus has a bad shoulder I'll be right down. That ball would be really flying over that right field porch then... ...I'm watching the 86 World Series on a local station as I post...the Buckner game (reliving the agony). Clemens is pitching a whale of a game . He's 24 and looks like a kid

$52,000,000 can keep from wilting pretty good, besides isn't it like playing in a pizza oven in Arlington?

Welcome back Simon-- I think the tough part is some fanatical Sox fans, who must do everything the same during a winning streak may demand he goes into another coma come playoff time next year to ensure another win... ;)--> ....Mienkiwicz and THE BALL just got traded for Ian Bladergroen... Who?

Thats too bad, Delgado would seem like a good fit down there, and probably tighten up that division just that much more. Its hard to know exactly what agents/GM's are thinking when they offer deals, renegotiate, pull back, offer again etc. Its like watching poker sometimes in the offseason....a whole different game behind the game. Delgado is one of those 'intangibles' guys that brings alot to a team even though he isnt that great of a fielder. Aside from hitting for average and power, in my memory He always seems to go deep in the count and have 10 pitch at bats, which these days wears pitchers down...like I said I'd love to have him in Boston...but the rumors seem to favor the Mets(how much money are they spending this offseason??) or Orioles now....

There was talk of changing the area code in Buffalo during those years to 0-4-4, knowing how fanatical the Eagles fans are I just hope there is no bridgejumping if Vinatieri does yet another last play field goal as he did in the last 2 Pats Super Bowls.

I like Delgado, I wouldn't mind having him here at Fenway either. For your sake if you end up with him I hope he is RaffiII and not ARod Jr. ...best thing the Rangers ever did was to dump him ..and I'm glad he didn't end up here. and you have to feel forthis guy, a lifelong RedSox fan who went into a coma when the playoffs started and missed the World Series.