"Lemme tell you a couple three things."
Hear the Bucs took another pitcher in round 1 of the amateur draft today. Oh well, let's just schedule the T.J. surgery immediately and get it over with.......
As the NPL race keeps evolving with somewhat of a log jam in the middle, the ROCK CAT juggernaut keeps rolling along. John lets the lead over 2nd place get down to about 30 or 40 points, and then he jacks it back up to 150. Then down again, and back and forth we go. What a tease that Raven is.... And the BIG TRAIN has a strangle hold on 2nd place as tight as the one Silvio Dante had on Burt Gervasi. The Train had active Closers this week, as it was The Izzy and Putz show. Isringhausen had 2 Wins and JJ 3 Saves to lead the pitching staff.
The OWLS continue to be steady and they keep the press on. However, it's the end of the Cha Seung Baek regime. Cha Seung, we hardly knew ya...... But JF now embarks on the Adam LaRoche era. In today's first official game as an Owl, Adam went 0 for 4 with 2 K's. Don't worry John, you get used to it after awhile....... And I'm sure this statistic is available out there somewhere, but I'm just too lazy to look it up right now... Any volunteers?? I would think it's a good chance that in the GIDP leaders, LaRoche has to be at the top. It's to the point that you hate to see him come to bat with a man on first and less than two outs....
That team from 69'ERS land made an ex-Pirate pitcher swap on Wednesday. Jason Schmidt and Jeff Suppan trading the roster spot. Piff says..... Go Schmidty.... I'm not sure what the significance of this next fact is, if there is any, but the KIDS have not made a regular "Drop" move since May 9th. I know......... Who cares!! It looks like the ALABAMA'S are tryng something that worked well in 2006. Are young guns Tim Lincecum and Kevin Slowey this years version of Paplebon and Liriano??
Looks like the DAWGS "33 days" needs to be revised to 38. Clemens vs. Maholm. A mis-match on paper if there ever was one. Al wanted T & E to know that he's predicting 5 solid innings for the Rocket and then the Yankee pen blows it for him. I can't repeat here what Tony had to say to that. Keep in mind, this is a family blog!! Rumor has it that Eddie may be at the same social function as Harv this weekend. Yikes... Wear the flak jacket Ed.......
The PITT O's are not playing close to the vest this season. They opt for the next big thing at 3rd base, as Larry picks up his Josh Fields of Dreams. The minor league stats say this kid has both power and speed. And Big O is already reaping the benefit of his new Pirates Closer. Word out is that the Pittsburgh O's may be re-named "Capps Crew." And the training for Altoona Curves Fantasy Camp Day continues........
The verbal barrage between the owners of the H-BOMBS and LOCKHORNS continue on Wednesday evenings with yours truly playing the role of the bald guy "Steve" from the Jerry Springer show.

(Hey, doesn't Steve look like Cal Ripken Jr??)
Harv said that the league will have a better chance of seeing Billy Donovan's family vacationing at Disney World than we will of seeing the Bombers move into 9th place!!!
Big Daddy countered with...... "I hear Harv is replacing Rosie on The View."
But anyway............... Is this DeJa Vu?? As it was in 2005, Big Daddy's plan is to make every move he can think of - and by the All-Star Break if he's at 30, then it's over and it's time to check out Camp Tomlin. Remember at the Owls Nest in '05 when John F brought out the surprise cake for B.D. to celebrate the call -out of move #30 by the Bombers? It's that season all over again.... J-Schom said the pick-up of Homer Bailey was due to the fact that Bailey is John's Golden Retriever's name and his team is playing like a bunch of Homer Simpsons.
The Horns gave Jack Cust his walking papers this week.... What a whirlwind ride it was for Jack.
The Cust era had reached the point where I'm sure Harv wanted to brag about picking him up for the Lockhorns. After all, he came on the scene with 8 HR's, 14 RBI and a Slugging Pct of 1.077 in his first 7 games. Harv was proud to have him. It was like finding out your son got a scholarship to CMU or something. Then, 3 weeks later, it's like Cust flunked out of CMU, started taking night classes at CCAC and fell for a 41 year old divorced waitress with three kids. That quick it turned into bad times for Harv and the Jack Cust era......
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The Sopranos:
THE BLUE COMET

What a tense and compelling hour. I was ready to break out hard stuff. One thing about this show. It's history always has major action (whackings) take place in the penultimate episode of each season. Great filming /cinematography. Especially in the Train shop with the cuts back and forth between Bobby being shot and the model train going around the track and the look of terror in the faces of the figurines on the train display. Poor Bobby Bacala. They did him like he was Sonny Corleone at the toll booth. But he stood tall and took a lot of led. One regular contributor to the Sopranos conversation stated they felt bad - sort of like when Adrianne got it (well almost!).
Now, onto some general observations....
More brilliant filming with Melfi reading the psychology report and the hi-liting of certain words on the paper.
I'm sorry, but Melfi's mentor - Elliott, is a douche-bag.
Loved the cameo by Jets coach Eric Mangini. Wonder how Roger Goodell and the NFL will feel about that one, especially in light of a previous episode in which the Tony character is a notorious gambler on NFL games!
When Melfi and Tony have their verbal battle. The scene closes with them staring at each other and she closes the door on him. Symbolism? Remember in The Godfather, the final scene, when Michael and Kaye were staring and Michael closed the door as Kaye looked at him, effectively shutting her out. Just tossing it out there......
Good to see Artie Bucco and Charmaine again. Probably for the last time. Don't see how they would fit into the last show.
When the 'cousins' from Italy got the wrong guy - didn't you get a chill - knowing this wasn't good for the Jersey crew?
Is Sil possibly kept alive so he can come back for The Sopranos movie in 10 years from now?
A cool scene when T and Sil were shadow boxing in the restaurant. The background music was theme music from Raging Bull.
Was that a Silvio Dante cardboard cut-out in the Safe House??
SOME GOOD LINES:
Phil -- "I took his fat f-ing hand in friendship."
Phil -- "Guys don't get their finger pricked. There's no sword or gun on the table. Either it has meaning, or it doesn't."
QUOTE - REGARDING THE SHOW....
"In regards to this second-to-last episode of The Sopranos, I truly believe A.J. finally surpassed Fredo as the most sniveling and pathetic Mafia-related family member of all time. He was on the cusp in the previous episode, but he officially grabbed the reins this past Sunday at approximately 9:46 PM ET."
- - - Doug Hoerth
WHAT NEXT?
The final episode is called "Made in America." Not sure yet of the relevance. A lot of theories, maybe a lot of red herrings. Is Paulie with NY? Why did they let him off the hook on their hit list?
Tony alone with his AK-47. "Say hello to my little friend." Will he go out in a blaze of glory, kinda like in Scarface?
Is Carlo crooked? He had to call for Pizza as soon as they got to the Safehouse? And he's blood cousin to Bert Gervasi, who Sil choked to death (although I'm sure he doesn't know it was Sil.)
I was still thinking Tony goes Witness Protection. But Al pointed out that for only 1 hour left, that may not be enough time to formulate that story line.
Is the Terrorism angle still out there in some way? AJ's new friend - the girl from the mental hospital - "Rhiannon" was reading the terrorism info on AJ's computer - remember when Tony stared at it? On her IMDB.com page, (actress name - Emily Wickersham), she's listed as being in this final episode.
And concluding this with some Christopher Moltisanti trivia, courtesy of TV Guide.
The very first time that you ever saw Christopher in The Sopranos, he was wearing a baseball cap and driving Tony. Ever recall him wearing a baseball cap again?? Until his final scene, in which he is wearing a baseball cap and driving Tony.
See ya..... Enjoy MADE IN AMERICA!