mountainfish

Why is it that 50% of new members feel the need to bold, color, or italicize their posts? Because they crave attention!

You may be right about the premiership although I think there is more parity top to bottom in the EPL than there is in La Liga and it's only going to get more lopsided with Real and Barca making these moves. ManUnited may be thinking about Ribery but Florentino Perez has already said he was targeting him as well.

And of course now Valencia rejects Chelsea's bid for David Villa so guess who's knocking on the door- Real Madrid.

First Kaka' now Ronaldo for $131 million!! That's alot of money. Now all that needs to happen is for Ibrahimovic to sign with Barca.

I actually don't understand why the NL lets the pitcher hit. It's the only league that does it. The pitcher doesn't hit in college...or in the minors. Heck, from what I remember when my brother played, pitchers didn't hit in high school, either. Those leagues are development leagues. The DH allows the teams to get another guy some at bats. What I don't understand is that the AL claims to be the better league, but it does not challenge its so-called better players to play any part on defense. They provide an outlet to otherwise average players to become super stars by performing extraordinary well at half of their jobs. The beauty of baseball is its strategy. The DH allows AL teams to hide players' weaknesses as to appear more versatile and to adjust to strategies and counter strategies. NL teams don't have that luxury. If they want 5 corner infielder / outfielder's bats in the lineup, they need to play one of them at 2B/SS/CF/C. Teams make such decisions in advance (years even with development) to craft the appropriate roster. The DH doesn't just remove strategy from games, but it also erodes the need to sign, acquire and develop your roster. Totally agree.

I would probably not watch them anymore. I know that's kind of a strong statement since I'm otherwise a diehard Marlins fan but I'm a baseball fan above all and I just really hate the DH rule and what it does to the game.

I agree with penguino. Taking meat away from a cuisine does nothing but limit it. It would be the same by taking non-meat things away. It's just an ignorant statement. Of course taking things away leaves you with fewer absolute choices. Simple math...I get it. But for me, once I gave up meat I began to look at meals from a different pespective- culturally, nutritionally, sensorily-and it exposed me to foods and cuisines that I otherwise wouldn't have known about. The end result being that I found many more new choices, hence, more variety. Again it's a matter of perspective not just quantity. Can you have variety and not be a vegetarian? Sure. I never said you couldn't. But for me once I got away from the routine of meat-starch-vegetable, my meals became much more interesting.

Vegetarian for 17 years and vegan for alot of it. Meals are so much more interesting and varied when meat is not the focus of it. It's just hard breaking the cultural habits that tell us that meat is essential. It's not. Nonsense. I don't cook, but I do enjoy eating. Virtually all of the eclectic dishes of high culture (including the French, arguably the greatest culinary artists of all time) are highly centered upon meat and fish. Most Americans aren't aware of this because they can't always afford eating at fancy restaurants or traveling overseas but arguably the vast majority of the prized dishes are centered upon meat and pescal varieties. There is an art to selecting the perfect cut of meat, preparing the game bird in the perfect way, or netting the delectable species of fish and preparing it in just the right way. I don't think this is debatable. I suppose there is some creativity necessary in trying to make traditional meat dishes with nothing but vegetables, but anyone who lives a vegetarian (or vegan-even worse) lifestyle is missing out on the culinary arts our planet has to offer. I do cook and whether or not "the eclectic dishes of high culture" are centered on meat doesn't really matter to me. Even if you weren't trying to be dismissive of "low culture", which by your implication I would assume you mean non-European, I would argue that culinary preferences are often cultural, often subjective and everchanging, but I would agree not debatable, as that would be like arguing which are better, apples or pears (or if you prefer lamb or pork). My point in response to the question was that perhaps our culture doesn't consider it so, but a meal can still be a meal without meat, and it can be a very satisfying and pleasurable meal with lots of variety. I was not a vegetarian for the first 29 years of my life. I've travelled all over the world (before and after becoming vegetarian) and sampled many different foods that probably most Americans have not had a chance to try and I understand that there are alot of different ways to prepare meat, but there are also thousands of edible plants (fruits,vegetables, grains and herbs) that can be prepared in countless ways. (I'm not talking about meat substitutes either) With the focus away from meat as the center of the meal I have been more inclined to explore and try new, pleasing combinations of foods that I otherwise wouldn't have known about. That's what I mean by more varied. There is just as much if not more art in preparing tasteful dishes from plants as there is from meat. There are myriad combinations of plant-based flavors that can be subtle, bold, artful and emotive. I'm not saying you have to become a vegetarian to enjoy the variety of plant foods but in my experience the meat doesn't make the meal. You don't have to agree with me but don't tell me it's nonsense. I've been living this way for 17 years and I'm pretty happy with it.

Vegetarian for 17 years and vegan for alot of it. Meals are so much more interesting and varied when meat is not the focus of it. It's just hard breaking the cultural habits that tell us that meat is essential. It's not.

Torn labrums are just hard to come back from, a few guys like Gil Meche being the exception. I feel bad for him but I think it's ok to be patient with him. Maybe let him pitch out of the pen and limit him to a few innings here and there. That has salvaged the careers of many injured ex-starters.

I use it all the time and most of the time it works great. I think it's better if you have a fast connection. The video looks pretty good but it depends on the camera of the person your talking to. Generally works great with the built in iSight in Macs. I use the free version and have had no problems with it.

I'm getting the feeling the FO feels this season is a wash. I would have been pissed to see Cody in a Braves Uni. I'm more pissed to see McClouth in a Braves uniform. He kills us.

I would take him if only for his baseball savvy.

Dude, you never panic in baseball. It's not the NFL- no hurry up offense, no Hail Mary's, no 0-16 seasons. The beauty of baseball is it teaches you patience and perseverance. There's no panicking, no hurrying, no crying. There's always hope for tomorrow. Even if your team sucks it will win somedays and lose somedays, but it will win and someday it will win it all (unless you're the Cubs). If you don't understand this you don't understand baseball. This team may not make the playoffs but it might. We have 109 games to go. Relax.

Kaka' to Real Madrid for 56 million euros. Not confirmed but looks likely to happen. That's alot of money to pass up. He'll fit right in there :mischief

De Aza has been confirmed as "The Mystery Man" Nothing as of this morning on the Marlins web site. But the delay in announcing it would make sense. They have to make sure the grounds crew knows to double check that all sprinkler heads are in the full down position. And that Brett understands what "I got it" means. How did I miss the transformation of ADA going from board whipping boy to this?? LOL I like that. And as far as understanding what "I got it" means, that reminds me of the 1962 Mets "Yo la tengo " story, where CF Richie Ashburn learned how to say " I got it " in spanish so Elio Chacon, who didn't speak english, would not keep crashing into him in the outfield. So when he tries it in a game Chacon backs off but left fielder Frank Thomas, who doesn't understand spanish runs into him and the ball drops.

Somewhere near the out-of-town scoreboard they should put the standings for all six divisions, or at the very least, the NL East Yeah, something like that would be cool. Also, not sure if you've ever noticed, but the flags that fly at the top of the Landshark Stadium (see below) are always in order of the standings. (That was at the beginning of the season) Never noticed that. Cool. I believe all ballparks do that. It's one of those unwritten rules. Ours aren't always up to date, but pretty close. Just another reason to love baseball.

Well, if we're talking about their whole careers and body of work and not just what they accomplished w/ the Marlins, here would be my 25 man roster. I've outlined my reasoning for those some might not be familiar with or don't seem obvious. C- Pudge 1B- Conine 2B- Castillo SS- Hanley 3B- Lowell RF- The Hawk CF- Devo (Just feel he was the best all-around CF we've had, a true 5-tool player) LF- Alou SP- Beckett SP- Dempster SP- Willis SP- Johnson SP- Burkett (22 game winner in 93, 2-time AS) CP- Nenn BN- Benito Santiago (19 yr career, 5 time AS, 3 time GG, ROY) BN- Pierre BN- Bobby Bo BN- Sheffield BN- Russ Morman (one of the greatest Minor League hitters to never catch on in the ML's) BP- Hammond BP- Miguel Batista (1 yr in our BP, has turned in a decent career as a starter w/ the Jays) BP- Alejandro Pena (2 WS rings and 15 yr career don't lie) BP- Looper BP- Mantei BP- Harvey I'd love to put Rob Dibble in my BP, but he technically never played a game for us in '96 bc of injuries. You just beat me to it. Totally agree on Devo, the Hawk, Burkett and Benito Santiago (although I didn't list bench players)

Wow. I'm scratching my head at some of these picks but I'll be nice. Anyway here are mine. Based more on each player's career not necessarily how they were with the Fish. C-Ivan Rodriguez 1B-Jeff Conine (tough call over DLee but I had to get Niner in there, the outfield is too stacked.) 2B- Luis Castillo SS-Hanley Ramirez 3B-Emilio Bonifacio...just kidding. Tough call again but I choose Miguel Cabrera over Mike Lowell OF-Gary Sheffield OF-Andre Dawson OF-Devon White (because we need a CF and I chose him over JP because he had a little better career OPS and I think he was a better CF, 3 time AllStar,6-time GG and because he is Jamaican) SP-Kevin Brown SP-Josh Beckett SP-Josh Johnson SP-Alex Fernandez SP-John Burkett RP-Robb Nen RP-Trevor Hoffman RP-Bryan Harvey RP-Ugueth Urbina RP-Armando Benitez RP-LOOGY-Arthur Rhodes ( I know most of these are SU or Closers but there's too many middle relievers too sort through and by definition most are interchangeable) It was hard to leave off Derek Lee, Moises Alou, Mike Piazza, Juan Pierre, Mike Lowell, Dontrelle Willis, Al Leiter, Livan Hernandez, Charlie Hough, Charles Johnson

That's so New Orleans. Love it.

Ok, the last matches in Europe are winding down. Is it too early to talk transfers and signings? No of course not. Already Xabi Alonso on loan to Real Madrid, Diego to Juventus, Marcelo Moreno to Werder. Ancellotti leaving Milan to manage at Chelsea? Fun stuff. Also time to focus on football in the Americas. Brazil Seria A , MLS and the Argentine Clausura are underway and Puma just won the Mexican Clausura Playoff. Good stuff still happening in professional soccer.

I honestly don't think Anibal is the same pitcher after his injury and I'm more in favor of him doing an extended stint in the minors. I like what Sean West has done so far. I suspect he'll hit a rough spot or two but you can't take anything away from him. He's done his job since he got called up. He'll stay as long as he pitches the way he has been. Ricky won't stay down long. He's just there to work on location and to get his confidence up again.

A team with a payroll of $500 million of total studs would still lose at least 50 games a year, more likely 60 games, possibly 70 games and conceivably 80 games. Why is it surprising in the least that any given team can beat any given opponent on any given day? Are people really this stupid? What do you think?

Part of me wants him to have a bit of a 4 run or 5 run 7 inning outing. I think he can use a bit a reality check and then try to put one more or two more good games together. I know what you mean. I hate when they send somebody down to get straightened out and they have one or two good outings, then everyone declares he's fixed and he comes back and sucks again.

There's a beautiful cathedral in Cologne. Are you going to Munich.. lots of good beer halls. I hear Korfu is nice in the Greek Isles.