Ok, I actually took the time to write down this Tim McCarver quote  

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There are so many dumb things said by announcers, that I usually don't have the energy to remember them. But this one was something special.

Felipe Lopez, a position player, is now pitching for the Cardinals b/c they are out of pitchers. With a runner on first, he's forgetting to pitch from the stretch.

"Lopez has never done this before. He's only seen it on TV".

Watch HBO just for the extended "You Don't Know Jack" commercial  

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You HAVE to see Pacino's hair when he's being interviewed. It's unbelievable. I don't think I'm going to be able to watch The Godfather for a long time.

Even Yahoo's TV Listing search is terrible  

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What a joke of a company! I have my cable package loaded into their tv listings website, so I typed in "soccer" to see what channel Real Madrid was on today. Here are the results:

TV SHOWS

1.
The Secret Life of a Soccer Mom (Documentary, Kids, 2007 - 2008)
Reality series will following stay at home moms, devoted to their families and secretly take on a new career. They are then given a choice of returning to their family full time or continue living the career life.
* Original Network: n/a
* Episodes
* Cast
* Reviews
* When is it on?
*
3.5 stars
2.
Past Lies (Drama, 2008 - 2009)
Kim Furst appears to be an ordinary soccer mom living in the suburbs. But one day, a chance visitor from a stranger threatens to reveal her sordid past and drag her back into a world of crime.
* Original Network: n/a
* Cast
* Reviews
* When is it on?
* Rating: not yet rated
3.
Mr. Troop Mom (Comedy, Kids, 2008 - 2009)
Desperate to connect with his 13-year-old daughter Naomi, Eddie Serrano volunteers to chaperone her troop at the Spring Action Classic at Hulkas Rock unaware he'll be the only guy in a world of girls. Treacherous rope courses, cutthroat canoe soccer and slippery slimeball wars are just the start of Eddie's introduction to the great outdoors…
* Original Network: n/a
* Cast
* Reviews
* When is it on?
*
4 stars

Excellent blog post about how a comedy ages  

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A Modern Family rerun led to me searching out Alan's old review of it, which led to him linking to this blog. In short, the guy shows a clip of the Honeymooners and asks his readers if they find it funny. Watch it, then read the comments.

It leaves more questions than answers for me, but it's exactly the kind of stuff I've wondered about before.

http://kenlevine.blogspot.com/2010/02/comedy-test-do-you-find-this-funny.html

He had Mitre, not Mo, warming up in the top of the 9th.

If the yankees scored one run, it would be a tie game going into the bottom of the 9th.

If they scored more than one run, it would be a save situation.

If they scored zero runs, the game would be over.

In all three situations, Mo >>>>>>>>>>> Mitre.

Managers manage to avoid being blamed for losses.

...it wasn't "product placement". Product placement is when everyone at the table is drinking Snapple, and all the bottles conveniently face the camera ever so perfectly to expose the label. Product placement is distracting because you see Carmela Soprano holding her shopping bag in an awkward way to expose the name of the store, or because characters crowbar brand names into conversation unnaturally.

In last week's Modern Family, a plot point developed as the result of a unique product, the Ipad. The character has already been established as a geek/nerd, so it was very natural that he would be an "early adopter" of the product. Furthermore, this whole Apple Fanboy phenomonan is very common in our current society; such a storyline shouldn't be avoided just because it involves a product. We, as viewers, know people who'd wait in line for an Ipad. The character is that type of person. The storyline "fits".

Finally, the "image" of the Ipad wasn't manipulated artificially. The character who craved one is considered the "doofus" of the family, so his desire for one isn't exactly a ringing endorsement of the product. This is not Jack Bauer saving the world using a Sprint phone or the President watching Fox News to get updated on the situation.

Other characters express skepticism about the product, calling it a toy. The only thing the Ipad is shown doing is to create a birthday cake that allows its "candles" to be blown out. Most people would roll their eyes at such a "feature". And while some have expressed a complaint about the show ending with the family oohing and ahhing over the gift, I think that's the perfect anti-feel-good message that this show is known for. The family cared more about the materialism than celebrating the birthday.

I hate product placement because it's so distracting. In order to appreciate a show, I have to forget that it's scripted. I have to believe in the characters, the scene, etc. The second I pause and say "hmm, why is that coke can placed there?" I'm taken out of the fantasy. But an actual story about something so common as Apple Fanboyism...that rings true to me.

Sorry Alan (who I rarely disagree with, but who hated the product placement), but I found nothing wrong with MF.

Game 1 out of 162 does in fact matter  

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I'm growing quite tired of the "don't worry, it's a long season" mentality swimming around the Internet today, after the Yankees opening night loss. While it is in fact only 1/162 of the season, 1/162 matters. And because it was against Boston, it matters twice as much, literally. Instead of being a game up against their toughest competition, they are now a game behind. That's a two game swing.

The Yankees will have to be two games better in 2010 than they would have had to been if they won a winnable game last night. Will those two games matter? Of course there's no way of knowing that now, but it's definitely possible. And because of the weakness of the human mind, we'll look at blown games in September if/when the Yankees should fall short. Because it won't be fresh in our minds, we'll forget about the game played on 4/4. But we shouldn't. That game was important.

Even more importantly, though, is that this game gave us a glimpse into the mind of Joe Girardi, and the image is not pretty. Although CC had only given up one hit through five innings, his control and effectiveness were decreasing. Going into the sixth, he was at about 86 pitches or so. While CC is a horse, he might not yet be in midseason form. Furthermore, the Redsox had their 2, 3 and 4 hitters due up, who would be facing CC for the third time. Each time a hitter faces a pitcher, he gains an advantage because he's becoming more familiar with the "stuff" the pitcher has on that particular night. He also learns how the pitcher wants to approach the at bats. And of course, a fatigued pitcher is less effective than a fresh one.

CC at 86 pitches, facing guys for a third time, is less of a pitcher than CC at 0 pitches facing batters for the first time. CC @ 86/3rd is also most likely < Robertson @ 0/1st.

But Girardi kept CC in to start the 6th. Pulling a pitcher who has only given up one hit would be so against conventional wisdom that I won't fault Girardi too much for leaving him in. But CC should have been on a short leash, and he wasn't. Two batters later, and there are guys on 2nd and 3rd with Youk coming up.

At this point, Girardi blew the game by leaving CC in. Sabs was closing in on 100 pitches, and we had more evidence that he was cooked. But Joe left him in because Ortiz, a lefty was on deck. Youk, the much better hitter, was effectively an afterthought just so Girardi could play the lefty/lefty matchup a batter later. After Youk doubled, Girardi got the lefty matchup that he wanted, but the damage was already done.

Robertson stopped the bleeding very quickly, but wasn't given the opportunity to pitch the 7th. He was pulled, instead for Chan Ho "are you kidding me?" Park.

When Park was signed, it was pointless at best, and a waste of a couple of million, but his damage would be minimized as the last man out of the Pen. Never in my wildest dreams did I think he'd be used in such a high leverage situation.

Robertson had only thrown a couple of pitches, Marte and Joba were available, and even Hughes was avaiable because he doesn't make his first start until April 14th. You have an off day tomm, so Mo is DEFINITELY available. Get through the 7th and 8th, and you have Mo close it out for the win.

Park immediately gives up the lead (which was reaquired the previous half inning) in extraordinary fashion, and is STILL left in the game to give up yet another double.

Marte and Joba proved mediocre last night as well, but at that point the damage was done. Besides, if your best relievers give up the lead, you tip your cap to the other team. What's unacceptable, however, is for your WORST relievers to give up the lead when they don't need to be in the game.

Park was mediocre to terrible for most of his career. He was decent in 2008, for the 2nd half of 2009 and then for 17 innings in spring training. He should not be on the 25 man roster, let alone pitching such high-leverage innings. Meanwhile, Mo never made it into the game.

I am NOT pleased.

YES! Network gets it right...  

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Pitchcounts listed on the top graphic. Always there looming. Love it.