Patrick

Cavs and LeBron have been dismissed by so many for so long. They play in the leastern conference, they had an easy path to the conference finals, all their players except LeBron "suck". I suspect some will say that Detroit played down to them, or took them for granted, or whatever other rationalization you want to use. But at the end of the day they got it done, and in retrospect, were they outplayed in any of the six conference final games? No. Was Detroit? Yes. I guess the newest rationalization (not mentioned until after their collapse) will be that Detroit (all of a sudden) sucks, so no big accomplishment. Kind of rich, but hey, Detroit also plays in the East so it fits the cliche. Detroit is a talented, deep squad, that can play with anyone in the association. And they got beat, by a team lead by a superduperstar who makes his teammates better. Cavs will be definite underdogs in the Finals. San Antonio is one of the three elite teams (and let's be clear here, there are only three of them: Dallas and Phoenix are the other two--Pistons, Cavs, Bulls can hang with the rest of the west). Cavs will have their hands full with rested and composed San Antonio, who are playing well, but Cavs have beaten them, more than once. So maybe the Cavs win a game or two, and the "East sucks" commentary will continue. Whatever. This seems likely, and if it happens I'll smile and reflect on witnessing a great season for a very good team lead by a truly great player. A player who has lived up to truly insane hype (...has anyone faced, and lived up to, as much hype as LeBron has? I don't think so). Gotta admit, the "okay fine, but they're gonna get trounced in the next round" commentary, while a reasonable view, sounds oddly familiar. We shall see. Go Cavs. Go LeBron!

I don't think Tribe will pull it out tonight. Another bad start for Cliff Lee. But they still have 2 more shots at the Tiger bullpen. Cavs game a bit tough to watch (for everybody) given they don't have any functioning shot clocks.

How long was the similarly motivated OJC list? I smile when I see these threads start, and often wonder how many qualified items actually don't get mentioned. Like a new listener saying "I really like Sidewinder, what other Lee Morgan albums should I consider?" Answer, invariably, essentially all of them. Not that asking/answering this type of question isn't useful--can be useful for setting relative priorities. In that spirit, another vote for Sonny Clark Leapin' and Lopin' (figure this has been an obvious RVG candidate for awhile), and for Art Blakey Three Blind Mice, Vol. 1. I think the latter is still in print (or at least available). Haven't had luck tracking down second volume. Not essential Blakey by any means, but enjoyable.

Nice to see Lofton contributing in some fashion. 17 year career, 40 years old, and is back among league leaders in stolen bases (at least so far). There was a time there in the mid-90's where I'd argue he was as dominant as any offensive player in the AL. Meaning he'd have as much of an impact on the opposing pitcher/team as any of the big boppers. He'd get on one way or another, and you knew he was stealing second (third was also a possibility), just a matter of when. Omar Vizquel who was just emerging from being a bottom-of-the-order glove got a lot of fastballs to hit. So did Baerga. By the time Belle got up, Lofton was in scoring position (...if he hadn't already scored). In his prime, his glove was as good as Junior Griffey's (or Torii Hunter's today). Arm was adequate. He also had the handicap of playing between Manny in right and Belle in left--talk about having a lot of ground to cover! Slowed by leg problems/age since about '99.

Amazing game at the Jake Friday night. Sold out crowd for Tribe/Tigers. Carmona v. Maroth. Detroit had lit up Carmona several times last season during his stint as closer. Carmona pitched okay but not great in Detroit last week, but didn't get it done Friday--5 earned runs in six innings. Tribe battled back from 1-5 to tie it at 5. Tom Mastny who has been reasonable as a setup guy then immediately gives up 4 more to Tigers. Tribe cuts the lead to 2 in the eighth, Tigers extend it back to 4 in the top of the ninth (Fernando Cabrera really struggling in Tribe pen). Then in the bottom of the ninth, Victor Martinez hits a 3-run homer to cut the lead to 1. Peralta doubles, and with two outs in the ninth, Todd Jones pitches around Trot Nixon to pitch to Josh Barfield. Barfield hits a game tying single. Delucci follows with a game winning single. 5 runs off of Todd Jones in the bottom of the ninth. Jones faces 12 batters and throws 46 pitches in one inning (last out of 8th plus 2 outs in ninth). 5 straight Cleveland wins against Detroit (...not counting Cavs/Pistons).

Wow. We [...at least those of us willing and able to watch the Eastern Conference] are witnesses! What an amazing game. Several times (as ss1 gametime posts above suggest) it looked like the Cavs made a fatal mistake, but each time they recovered. Webber's three point play that fouled out Ilgauskus and generated a 3 point lead (huge in this series) with about 1:10 left--I thought that was the end. But LeBron goes to the other end and hits a three with two guys in his face. The LeBron airball and timout bungle... Sheesh. At one point LeBron bricks 3 free throws in a row and I thought that was how the game would end--LeBron and the other brickmasons building a summer home in Detroit--but he returned to hitting them. Amazing! The flagrant 2 on McDyess may have been a bit harsh. Definitely a flagrant follow going at Varajao's neck and putting him on his back as a result, but maybe not a 2. Fortunately, his punishment is only time served (i.e. essentially all of game 5). Not sure that LeBron deserved a T for going over to defend his teammate lying on his back, but that's less of a quibble than McDyess. Webber and Maxiell had to play more. C-Web was solid, Maxiell less so. Was he trying to foul LeBron late in the game, but was too slow? Why was Prince taking cover during the LeBron poster dunks? Cavs will definitely have their hands full on Saturday night. Sheed appears very pissed which may be bad for the opposition (...unless self-destruction ensues). Gooden, Gibson, Pavlovic etc. are going to have to contribute more at home if the Cavs are to close the deal. Would not be surprised to see some hard fouls on LeBron, or a trickier defensive scheme (Saunders is no defensive genius, but then Coach Brown is no offensive genius). Quite amused by all the talking heads explaining how LeBron would much rather pass than go to the rim. Where are these geniuses (eg Wilbon) now?

Like Steve Kerr needs to continue to write big checks to the Michael Jordan Foundation, Damon Jones needs to be sending $$$ to some Shaq-approved charities. I laughed when Doug Collins explained that Coach Brown put Jones in late in the game because he was another good ball-handler...

So don't watch it. ...Maybe there's some Nascar on the Deuce tonight. Cavs/Pistons, while definitely not one for the ages, is gonna be a lot more watchable than Game 5 out west was. Thus far, the games have been exciting and close, if marred by some inconsistent officiating (both ways) and some challenged shooting (both teams). Not all-time classics, but definitely not awful or unwatchable. Maybe some small part of the outcomes in the East has to do with playing halfcourt (wish LeBron and co would run a bit more) and playing defense.

Jerry Reinsdorf used to do this with the White Sox and Chicago. Kept threatening to move to Tampa Bay, and got "New Comiskey" built for the club. Sad thing is MLB has since expanded into TB, but can't get any fans to show up (so the D-Rays are playing at places like DisneyWorld). ...Just dust off the strategy and insert the next best teamless town into your threat to the current metropolis.

Interesting opinions about whether Kobe will actually get traded. I don't think he will, at least not this offseason. Relationship/situation would have to degenerate quite a bit more (see AI), because LAL will not get fair value. [Looking back, I think Philly did well enough in the AI trade.] Among those that say he will definitely get moved is Ric Bucher who was suggesting something like the following with Seattle: sign and trade Rashard Lewis plus the no. 2 pick overall for Kobe (plus maybe throw in some extra contracts). I find this highy implausible, and highway robbery by LAL, but then I'll confess to not being a big KB fan. How well would Kobe play with Ray Allen? Chicago is close to having all the pieces in place for a run, but I think Kobe makes more sense there (what would it take? Ben Gordon, a young bench player, and a pick? more?). Hinrich distributes and shoots from outside, Deng plays inside.

Agreed that every game counts, anything can happen, and losing is not good. Is Dice K better than he pitched? Probably. Over the course of the whole season, are Schilling and Beckett as good as they pitched earlier in the series? Probably not--to believe otherwise is being a tad bit unrealistic/greedy. Were either of those games blowouts? No. So the Tribe was a bit "unlucky" in the Schill and Beck that showed up. Your team took care of business at home against the team with the next best record. Let go of the Dice K start, reflect on the series overall, look at the division standings and SMILE! Life is short, and right now, good. If bad things happen, it will not be instantaneous--there will be plenty of time for hysteria later. Paul Byrd's success this year thus far has been a pleasant surprise. With Lee and Westbrook back and pitching reasonably well, and with the emergence of Carmona, Byrd should be the 5th starter. Byrd was dreadful last year--I was hoping they'd find some club that would take him in a trade. With the help of John Smoltz in the off-season, Byrd has added a split-finger fastball which has improved his success against left-handed batters. He's not Saberhagen, and I expect he will walk a few. But thus far, he has pitched well.

...after all, we all know to make pilgrimages to Salt Lake City to hear jazz.

Is slashing the ancillary division necessarily a bad outcome? Said differently, presumably the Blue Note catalog has some value (however small) to somebody. Wouldn't TF try to maximize their return by selling the unit to somebody rather than throwing it away? They may not get much for it, but at the right price someone should be interested, and presumably the outfit that would pay the most is one that plans to do something productive with it (...like sell re-re-re-re-reissues of Blue Train ).

Yes. You shouldn't be greedy or pissed--life is short and your team is having a great season. So they lost one game to the team with the second best record in the league (and only 3.5 behind beloved Bosox). Tribe couldn't plate some runs in the earlier games. Way too unrealistic (and greedy) to expect to sweep everybody. Show a little grace, and smile that Schilling and Beckett had great starts, and your team is still on a roll. Nothing to worry about in May. And no real "message" was sent with this series--just a good 2 out of 3 for the Red Sox. Now take care of pinstripe business. Byrd gets the win without walking anybody so his wins/walks differential expands to 6 - 3 = 3. Is Dice K's pitch count often this high? Any chance we can switch to completely ignoring the Yankees for awhile, or at least give them the same amount of attention as other last place ballclubs (okay I admit that is a pleasant thought)? Or maybe give the Orioles or Blue Jays the same amount of attention? I know, unlikely.

And ones that are not actors on TNT dramas (for a change).

CNN Headline News actually showed this....so it must be true.

For awhile there, John Hart was such a genius in Cleveland.

It will be interesting to see how well the Cavs do without Larry Hughes. As much of an overpaid underachiever as he is (...why is Michael Redd wearing a Bucks uniform?), he is one of the key reasons why Billups and Hamilton haven't lit it up (but for Hamilton in Game 1). I hope Gibson and Snow are up to the challenge of being pushed around by Chauncey for 48 minutes. Another solid game from rookie second round draft pick Gibson would be nice. Noj, agree with you about the Spurs. I'd be interested in watching someone else, but mainly to get some variety. Boozer and Williams show promise, but it won't happen this year, and who fills the role of Ginobili on that team?

The benefits of bringing together previously isolated pools of liquidity. A recent PBS documentary on coffee included a similar story about growers receiving better price information (via cellphone, or maybe computer) before selling their crop to the first visiting bean buyer.

While most calls were made correctly, I'll confess to smiling during the "Javie sucks" chants. Looked like the Technical button was a little too easy to push, but as others have said, we don't know what was said by the recipients. Sloan must have used some choice vocab to get tossed after just one T. Are Parker/Ginobli/Duncan really that boring? Methodical yes, but boring? Too much of a half-court game?

Schilling was tough Monday night. Cliff Lee struggled through 5. Papelbon did his best Borowski imitation in the 9th--not only was it second and third, no out, but the top of the Tribe order was up to bat. I think Hafner will welcome the arrival of June (he has had a tough month, including 4 K's Monday). Thank you D-Rays. Go Peavy go! Mainstream media ain't feeding me a whole lotta Tribe, unless they're playing Tigers or Bosox. Go Fausto!

Fausto did deliver against Tigers, and the lineup got to Maroth early (4 runs in the first), so a sweep was had in Detroit. Fausto had more trouble keeping the ball down--hopefully not a trend. That ballpark is so large Travis Hafner managed to hit a triple there this weekend (and I see that Jim Thome has hit two there as well). Too bad Wakefield won't be available for Indians BP. In addition to missing Carmona, Bosox also dodge Sabathia. Lee and Sowers have been the weak links so far (Sowers had his first good outing of the season against KC in his last start). Byrd had been solid if not dazzling--still has more wins (5) than walks allowed (3). So given the pitching matchups, realistically Tribe should be unhappy only if they get swept at the Fens. Then return to the Jake and hopefully take care of the Tigers again...

Another close, nerve-wracking, Eastern conference playoff game. Webber started out well (finished with 15) and Prince contributed on the offensive end (13 pts on 6/13 shooting after having gone 1/19 in the first two), but Rip (2/8, 7 pts) and Chauncey (4/14, 13 pts, 3 assists, 5 turnovers) had poor nights. For a moment it looked like Mr Big Shot would do just barely enough to win... again. Flip Murray and McDyess both contributed off the bench (8 pts each). Rasheed was solid. Cavs finally shot well from the field (for the first time in ages), and Coach Brown elected to play rookie Daniel Gibson instead of returning to Larry Hughes (who actually hit his two shots). Gibson was pesky on the defensive end, knocked down a pair of threes, and was the only bench player that scored. I'm not sure I'm a believer in the "small" squad that had LeBron on the court with Gibson, Donyell Marshall, and Damon Jones all waiting outside to shoot threes (Donyell was brutal), but it seems to help free up lanes for LeBron to get to the rim. Flip Murray took advantage at the other end, but I thought Detroit would capitalize more on this. Gooden was decent (12 pts, 6 rebounds), but too much of a crybaby. LeBron hit a couple of outside shots that had absolutely no business going in, got to the rim much more frequently than in the first two games, and was a rebound and a dish away from a triple-double. Hopefully he will place with similar aggressiveness in Game 4 (and those that follow). Entertaining game between two defensively-minded teams.

Thanks everybody. The Canons I'm considering now both have Image Stabilization, and not-too-ultra zoom (4x). I'm definitely steering away from ultra-compact, at least for a first camera, mainly for the tradeoff mentioned by WL. Nice review site, Christiern.

Tribe definitely having a nicer visit to Motor City than the Cavs. Hopefully Fausto will prevail this evening.