Yankee4Life

Updated to 1-30 ...I miss talking to MarkB on this website. He hardly comes on here anymore and for someone who was and still is a good friend of his, it's just not the same anymore. ...Got a lot of nerve Dept: Folks planning on attending the Super Bowl next week have the opportunity to park their car right across the street from Cowboys Stadium for the low, low price of 990 dollars. The sad thing is, someone will pay it. ...This week saw the release of the 1927 Total Classics mod, but this time it has a new twist to it. It's the integrated version of that mod with Negro League stars being placed on all of the sixteen teams in major league baseball. It's going to be released again because there was a minor problem with the first version of it, but when it is fixed it will be placed up on the main page for download. I can promise you that when this mod is fixed and ready for download again it will be another great one to play. Thanks to Dennis James and redeck and for Jim825 for creating the installer. ...I still can not shake this cold and fever that I have a hard time getting to sleep because I am sneezing so much. Not tonight though! Tonight's the Pro Bowl and all I got to do is turn it on and watch it for less than a quarter and I am out like a light. Same thing happens to me when the 700 club is on. ...Lazy Rocco Baldelli retired this week at the advanced age of 29. He just could not take the thought of playing another 162 game season again. Here's wishing you the best in your golden years Rocco. ...I just love the Internet, sometimes more times than others. Take this week for example. Some kind soul posted season one of Columbo and I was able to watch all seven of them. ...Ok, the Yankees signed Bartolo Colon. What do you want me to say? I sure as hell am not going to pretend that I like it. In fact, if I open my front door right now and listen very close, I can hear them laughing all the way from Fenway Park. ...Well, look at the bright side. If Roger Clemens wasn't going through all his legal problems the Yankees would have gone after him too. ...Albert Pujols isn't asking for much. Just 50% from everyone's paycheck from the state of Missouri. ...Did you hear that one company is going to be coming out with drinkable marijuana? Charlie Sheen has already ordered a dozen cases.

Mvp Caribe 2010 Continued In a still scoreless game, this Criollos runner breaks up a DP by this hard slide. This error, a line drive that the Criollos first baseman could not handle, lead to a three run seventh inning for the Venados. Alex Cora was called out on this play but as you can see it could have gone either way. Try as he might, the Venados pitcher could not pick off this runner. After a two run double, the 3 - 0 lead that the Venados had is cut to one. The visitors cheer in their dugout as they push across two runs in the ninth to cut the lead to 3 - 2. Game over. A 3 - 2 win for the Venados in front of their hometown fans!

Not too long ago the fine people running the MVP Caribe website released Mvp Caribe 2010, the latest installment of the ever-popular Latin version of Mvp baseball. How big is this mod down there? Consider this for a moment if you will: Hector (HFLR) has been interviewed by one of the most popular newspapers down in Mexico about this mod at a press conference in the Yaquis de Obregón clubhouse with the team president and some players present. Wait, there's more. Hector was also interviewed by a reporter from TV Azteca and during the interview, two players (Adan Munoz of Navojoa and Luis Mendoza of Obregon) are shown playing Caribe 2010. Hector also got a phone call from the Yaquis de Obregón team and they asked him to throw out the first pitch in their playoff game down there against the Hermosillo ballclub. All this because this mod has taken Latin American baseball fans by storm. They can't get enough of it and it shows when the actual teams and players are stopping to take notice of it. To download this mod you need to go to the Caribe website and download it. You can't do that without being a member there. When you download the mod you will also see something that says "MVP Caribe 2010 v1.0 FIX." Download that also because what this is is a roster fix for version 1.0. They also go on to explain in this update that this should not be considered to be version 1.1 because right now they are working on that update. This just goes to show that these guys who made this mod are on top of everything and are paying attention to every single detail contained in that mod. I've been a big fan of the modders over on that site for a very long time and they never cease to amaze me. They are not well known around here as much as the modders are on this site and that's because of the language barrier. But try this mod out. The finished product from these guys is all you need to know. Screenshots Welcome to Mvp Caribe 2010! Overlay of Caribe 2010. Whomever made this did an outstanding job. Safe at second with a stolen base under a cloud of dust. A great view of what the batter sees. The Venados pitcher really had his breaking ball working good today. Singling back through the box. No harm done though because no one scored that inning. Out in front on a change. One of eight strikeouts on the day.

All my screenshots from this thread have been deleted because my FTP account was cleared out when the site was supposedly going down. I don't know what I have to do now. This thread looks like *^#&. I don't know what I am going to have to do. Maybe replay the games and put new screenshots up. Who knows? This is a bunch of mother *&()()%^*(^&() &*(^&*(. Damn. All my God damn work thrown away.

This is the wrong thread to be asking questions about this. Keep those questions in the thread you already started. This is the FAQ thread for Mvp baseball.

Just when you think you've seen it all.....

Updated to 1-23 ...Conference Championship Sunday! I really don't care about the NFC because I am an AFC fan from way back, so I will just shrug my shoulders to whatever team wins this afternoon. Although if I had to pick I would take Green Bay because I like them more than the Bears. But it is clear cut in the AFC, at least for me. I want the New York Jets to beat Pittsburgh. So, there you are. Place your bets! ...I'm not even sure I will be watching any of these games today because I have the trifecta of winter ailments. A cold, a fever and a sore throat. When I get sick I do a job. ...Apple's App store recently reached ten BILLION downloads. Which just goes to show that you can fool some of the people all of the time. ...Look what the Yankees did. They signed Andruw Jones. It hurts too much to laugh right now. ...Tampa Bay is starting to turn into Fenway South after the signings of Manny Ramirez and Johnny Damon. ...Here's wishing new Oakland coach Hue Jackson best of luck on taking over the Raiders. And watching the news conference it was evident that Al Davis looks very frail now, and that's too bad. I have always loved listening to him talk. ...If Jackson can have the success of my all time favorite coach (John Madden) then I will be content. Just look at Madden's record with Oakland and you'll see why. ...I was so bored at home yesterday that I actually watched two minutes of an NBA basketball game before I changed the channel. ...Last week wasn't a total loss though. I picked up the 3 DVD set of The Bronx is Burning for five dollars. ...I admit I am envious Dept: Bristol Palin, eldest daughter of you-know-who recently purchased a brand new home in Arizona for $172,000 and paid cash for it. Her mother said that if she wanted to add on a wing to her house she'll pay for it by writing another book.

Updated to 1-16 ...I really hate to complain about the MLB Network because it is all about my favorite sport, but as I sit here in upstate New York during another one of its long and cold winters, all I see on that damn network is repeats of the same Prime Nine shows and broadcasts of Hot Stove over and over. It really isn't worth watching until Spring Training begins. At least that time they won't repeat themselves that much. ...All week long I have been following the news about the shootings in Tuscon, Arizona and I was happy to learn that Congresswoman Giffords is starting to breathe on her own. Considering what she went through, this is amazing and I wish her nothing but good luck the rest of the way. At the same time I was surprised to see that nut got himself a lawyer to defend him. Twenty-two years old and his life is over. ...Sarah Palin, spokeswoman of the stupid, really made herself look and sound bad this week as she had to stick her nose in this thing as she blamed the media once again. While President Obama was the calming voice of reason in this tragedy, Palin somehow made it all about herself. Sad to see that, but good in a way also. Anything that makes this woman look bad to the public is fine by me. ...Well, I didn't expect that big of a blowout in the Packers-Falcons game and I didn't care for Pittsburgh to win. I rarely want the Steelers to win. On paper, the Bears should beat the Seahawks -but the same was said about New Orleans last week. And by default I am pulling for the Jets today because I don't like looking at Tom Brady any more than I have to. There you go, my picks for today. ...I couldn't believe what I read from the NFL the other day. They actually warned teams about trash talk? They're doing that now?? What the hell? Bad blood and bulletin board material has gone on in the NFL as long as I can remember. If any of you guys can remember the Raiders-Steelers wars in the 70's you'll understand what I mean. Pittsburgh coach Chuck Noll calling the Raiders secondary "part of the criminal element in football" and Oakland responded in kind. This went on for years and no one told them to put a lid on it. Damn, let them be. 100% of this trash talk is just sounding off anyways. It's only meant to psyche themselves up. Get off their backs. ..."Mr. Warmth," Albert Pujols of the Cardinals, is giving the ballclub to the opening of spring training to sign him and if they don't, he'll cut them off and become a free agent. What a guy! ...Yankees sign Soriano. When I read this headline the other day my heart skipped a beat because every time I hear the name "Soriano" I can only think of one person and it's that waste of space playing left field in Wrigley Field. For a brief, brief second there I thought the Yankees got him back for some reason. Hey, it's not that far fetched you know. The Yankees are well known for making stupid moves. (See Randy Johnson, Nick Johnson, Jaret Wright, etc) ...And Tampa Bay signed Kyle Farnsworth. If I didn't hate that team so much I would feel bad for them. ...Derek Jeter wants to get an early start on spring training. Well, that's pretty good. With the way this guy played last year he should have started spring training the day after the World Series ended. ...Is there anything longer to wait for than the car leaving the parking space that you want to pull in? ...I don't know about you, but I am always wary about going to restaurants that I am not familiar with. I am always worried about ordering the wrong thing for the first time, which ruins it for me and makes me never return. ...Did you hear about what McDonalds did to one of their employees? Seems as they fired one of their workers, a mother of three, who took pity on Adrian Peterson of the Minnesota Vikings during a time when he had to use the rest room really bad. Seems as if Peterson was at the McDonalds after closing hours and he convinced the employee to let him in to go to the bathroom. McDonalds fired her for that but because of the negative press they got, they quickly rehired her back. She must have really needed the job because she came back.

Dennis, I was glad to see that others in here understood exactly what I was trying to convey. What in affect has happened here was that someone else has decided that you are not responsible enough as a person to read those two words that were in Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer. Granted, I have not read all of Twain's works but I have read Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer. I want to quote you something at the beginning of Tom Sawyer that Twain wrote to his readers: Most of the adventures recorded in this book really occurred; one or two were experiences of my own, the rest of those boys were schoolmates of mine. Huck Finn is drawn from life; Tom Sawyer also, but not from an individual—he is a combination of the characteristics of three boys whom I knew, and therefore belongs to the composite order of architecture So what we have here is two books born from the memories of Twain as a boy and from his wonderful imagination. This is how things were during this time period and in Missouri at the time. There should be nothing to be ashamed of. And like you said Dennis, it's fiction. Isn't everyone a fan of fiction? But because these books have words in it that certain people don't want you to see, the book gets a cleaning up. Like no one is going to hear those words anyplace else except in that book. Watch TV one night. Tell me how many "N" words you hear. You'll hear it on MTV, in movies, on reality shows. The word isn't exactly hidden. And if you want to hear the word "injun" just watch any old western. Guarantee you you'll hear it. That's another thing. You were telling Dylan what you thought the next set of books are going to be altered. It sure could be the Sherlock Holmes series. But how about this? Remember those westerns I just mentioned? I am waiting for someone to take the audio of that word out of the movie to replace it with something else. Would not shock me at all. I recall reading about those book burnings but after doing some searching on the internet I could not find anything. By burning a book because they don't like it is not going to make that book go away. Like you said, the best way is for parents to sit down with the kid and explain to them what this book is about and what it means. If I was the parent I'd let my kid read that book. I'd have them see for themselves what a strong friendship Huck and Jim had and how Huck wanted to do anything to help Jim be free. I'd tell them while this is a work of fiction, this is how things were before the Civil War and using that word these days is offensive, although I would gather already that anyone would know this. And yeah Dennis, parents can do this easily enough if they put their phone down. But they won't. They'll be afraid they'll miss a text message. I can only remember one time when I was a kid that my parents stopped us from reading something. My sister and I were avid readers. We built up a little library and pretended to check out books just like in the library. When she was nine, she wanted to read West Side Story because the night before it was on TV. Apparently the book version was much more racier than the movie so my mother told her she was too young to read it. Eventually she read it after she was older, but that was it. Didn't bother her any because she was enrolled in a book of the month club for kids that she loved. But that was a different era Dennis. People were more responsible then. Before I go, my guess for the next book they want to censor next is To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. Bob Ewell in that book said the "N" word from the moment he woke up until he went to bed. And a black man was railroaded for a crime he never committed and was shot trying to escape. Hoo boy, that's got to be censored! :(

The problem is that there are too many people around these days with nothing else to do except worry about what the other person MIGHT think about something. And what they think the other person MIGHT do in a situation they act accordingly. How about if something like this happens? A kid has to read Huckleberry Finn for school or maybe he wants to read it on his own. How about if the parent sits down with the kid and lets him know the book he is about to read is 126 years old (printed in 1885) and that is how things were back then. In fact this book goes back even further because it was set at at time before the Civil War. It is just how things were back then. If this ever happened it would not surprise me. Mykal94 is right. Little by little there are people out there telling you what is good for you and what isn't and what is acceptable to read and what isn't. And people keep quiet about it until one day they wake up and see that everything around them is not of their control or liking.

Updated to 1-9 ...The NFL playoffs never cease to amaze, doesn't it? Now who would have picked the 7-9 Seahawks to beat the defending Super Bowl Champions? I didn't. And how many of you picked Seattle? Let's see a show of hands here....thought so! ...I guess this means no more Drew Brees commercials. ...And wasn't it such a shame that Peyton Manning and the Colts got knocked out again? Good for the Jets. That was an impressive little drive they had at the end of the game to win it. Great job! ...God knows what will happen in the Ravens-Chiefs game or the Packers-Eagles game, but I wouldn't be surprised at anything. As long as the Chiefs are knocked out then I'll be happy. I really don't care about the Packers or Eagles but if I had to make a choice I'll go for Green Bay because there is no way I can root for any team from Philadelphia just because of those terrible fans that they breed in that decayed and rat infested city. ...Thank God the NFL allows their stuff to be shown on youtube. You all have to see the stuff that is on there. Broadcasts of old games! And Bud Selig doesn't even allow a highlight to be posted on youtube. ...So Matt Garza went to the Cubs? Oh well. I see that Chicago sent Tampa Bay some horse**** ballplayers and Tampa accepted. If the Yankees were to try to get Garza, Tampa wouldn't have wanted much. Just maybe the top six players in the farm system, that's all. I hope Tampa Bay loses 100 games this year. Serves them right. ...And Andy Pettitte is still making the Yankees squirm by forcing them to wait for his decision to come back or retire. I am sure he is doing this because of the Jeter negotiations and how that all went down. Make up your mind you stupid son of a &^#@&. ...Prayers to a speedy recovery to U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords who was shot by some 22 year old nut yesterday. This guy open fired and killed six people including a 9 year old girl and the Congresswoman is still in critical condition. 22 years old and in a matter of seconds he threw his life away and permanently damaged the lives of many innocent people. ...Before hearing about this shooting, the bit of news that really bothered me this week was learning that a new "cleaned up" version of Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn was going to be released. This politically correct version will take out the word "NXXXXX" and they will replace it with the word "slave" and they will also be removing the word "Injun" and replacing it with the word "Indian." And the same thing will be done to Tom Sawyer. If this form of selected censorship doesn't bother you it should. I have a confession. When I was a kid I read Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer. They were enjoyable books and I also liked seeing the books made into movies. After reading the books I did not have the urge to call black people by that name and since we didn't have any native Indians where I lived, I never used the word "Injun." In other words, I read the book and moved on. You can't do that these days because of people that do this stuff to books. Now I wonder what book is next? ...R.I.P. to ex-Yankee pitcher Ryne Duren. He was 81.

Isn't that something? To be able to meet your favorite player and talk to him and also have your work from Mvp Caribe shown on the main screen at that ballpark! I'm impressed Hector and I couldn't be more happier for you because you deserve it.

Yeah, I heard some nice things about True Grit. Should have went to see that one. Best wishes to you too man!

Updated to 1-2 ...First off, I'd like to say Happy New Year to everyone in here and I hope that this year is a good one and a safe and healthy one for all of you because that is what I want out of this year for myself. ...I didn't make any New Year's resolutions because the way I see it New Year's resolutions are like rules - they are made to be broken. ...I had a big smile on my face when the ball dropped and the calendar turned to January 1st. Why? Because this is the last year of Jorge Posada's contract with the Yankees and they'll be saying bye-bye to him as soon as this season is done. ...I miss baseball as much as anyone else but at least for a few months out of the year I don't have to hear Michael Kay and that alone makes the winter months a bit more tolerable. ...This is our last week of the football picks and it has been fun. I will be pulling for Dylan to win this thing. Somehow he had to take over this thing about halfway into it for unknown reasons and he has done a remarkable job week after week. Dylan, I got to ask you right now. You've been picking so well all season long. Did you ever think to put some money down on these picks? You could win a nice chunk of change. ...Despite what happens this afternoon in Kansas City, this year's Raider team has made a big impression on their fans and just about anyone who follows the NFL. This team is starting to look like the teams from the Gruden years. ...Went to the movies on New Year's Eve and saw Gulliver's Travels. It was so-so. It wasn't the worst movie I saw but at the end of it I said to myself I could have spent my money on a better movie. Even Amanda Peet couldn't make me watch this again. ...Brett Favre is listed as inactive for today's Vikings game, a game which is supposed to be his "final game." That of course will remain to be seen because I don't believe anything that comes out of his mouth. ...Oh well, that means he can sit on the sidelines and send texts. Hey, if Jenn Sterger doesn't want his texts she must have some pretty hot girlfriends that might want them, right? ...Anyone remember those old Jonny Quest cartoons? I loved them! Well I found out something about them the other day. Tim Matheson, the guy who was in Animal House was the voice of Jonny Quest. Now maybe this may not be news for some of you but it was for me. ...And yes, Andy Pettitte is still making the Yankees sweat. That son of a *****.

Hector, the attention and respect that you and your team of modders get down in Latin America is really impressive. All anyone has to do is play the latest Caribe mod and they'll know for themselves why such a big deal is being made about this down there. It is nice that the players down there are just as involved in this game as all the Caribe fans are. Thank you again for this mod.

How do you like that? Well, that's too bad. Thanks for the information.

Updated to 12-26 ...Of course I'd like to start this week's edition of Random Thoughts by wishing everyone here a Merry Christmas and I also hoped you all had a nice, quiet, relaxing day yesterday with your family. I hope you got all that you wanted and that you made someone else feel special too. ...I enjoy Christmas for those reasons, and for the nice meal that always comes with it when we stop off at my parent's home for dinner. I'm also thankful that Christmas day has arrived once again and that all the advertising and Christmas TV specials and Christmas radio songs are nearing its end. ...Just wondering though, I am sure all of you have seen A Christmas Carol on TV in one of its many versions, be it the Bill Murray version or George C. Scott or Alistar Sim or ad finitum. But how many of you actually read the book? Let me put it this way: you won't be wasting your time. ...These advertisers never know how to let up. Want an example? I saw my first after-Christmas advertisement on TV on Thursday, December 23rd. They just can't give us a breather. ...Well, enough of Christmas talk. It sure is nice to see MarkB back here after being gone for over a month. He is a huge part in what this website is. ...After this week there is only one more week of the football picks that we have had going on here. Dylan Bradbury is running it very well and I am very curious to see who is going to win this because I know it sure as hell isn't going to be me. ...Remember that actor that called himself "Sinbad"? What the hell ever happened to him? ...Now as a rule I am not someone to comment on politics (we have enough people in here to do that, especially during the elections) but there was one thing this week that happened that really made me stop and shake my head. Sarah Palin, not the brightest woman you'll ever meet, put down Mrs. Obama's anti-obesity campaign as she accused the first lady of telling parents what their kids should and should not eat. No lady, that's not it at all. Mrs. Obama has a campaign to get kids moving appropriately called "Let's Move" because a lot of kids these days do not go outside and play. When they get out of school they run home and get on their Playstations instead of going outside. I don't see anything wrong with this attempt to get kids to go outside and run around a little bit. It will do them nothing but good. As for Palin, she should stay up in that frozen wasteland called Alaska and guard her daughters so none of them get knocked up again prematurely. ...Ever see a movie called Last Day of Summer? It was an odd movie about a harrassed fast food employee who was going to take care of his boss on the final day of summer until he was distracted by a pretty girl (played by the beautiful Nikki Reed.) It's not a movie I usually watch but it ended up to be pretty good. ...Speaking about pretty girls, you all have seen that Evan Longoria commercial? The one where he chases that fan because "he has his hat"? If I were him the chase would have come to an abrupt halt as soon as I got on that trolley and I shook hands with that gorgeous blond. I'd have bought another hat. but that's just me. ...Wouldn't it be something if Mark Prior turned out to be a big help for the Yankees next year? Ah forget it. What the hell am I talking about? ...Hey Nick Johnson, I got a question for you. Who's going to be dumb enough to sign you this winter now that the Yankees are no longer in the picture? I bet they are really beating down your door. And if in case someone is knocking on your door, answer it carefully so you don't break your wrist again.

Thank you. No, I have not seen that movie yet. I never heard of it until just now.

Well Dylan it looks as if the TSN website was right all along. I am watching the MLB Network right now (12:55 pm) and they are having a special report on the Grienke trade. Good work man.

Updated to 12-19 ...It sure is nice to be back in here again doing another edition of the Random Thoughts thread. I didn't know that there were that many people who followed this and that's pretty nice. But I want to kindly remind you that this is not a private thread exclusively for me. Join in any time you wish to. ...Thank you everyone for the condolences you sent our way. I forwarded them to my wife, because it was her older sister who passed away. She was 49 and even though she was very sick this was unexpected. ...My job during all this was to pay my respects, sit near my wife during the wake and then basically get the hell out of the way when it was all going on and I think I did this admirably. I figure that is the best thing to do in situations like that. ...But it did not stop me from observing what went on during the wake. Because when you are at a wake and you watch what some people do at one while its going on, the time passes more quickly for you. Here's a few things that I noticed: 1. Some people attended this wake like they were dressed to go out to the movies instead of being dressed respectively for a wake. I'm not saying bring out the suit and tie, but don't come in with a dirty pair of jeans on either. One lady actually came in with a matching jogging suit on, a fact that did not escape my sister-in-law's eyes either. 2. One guy came in so fast that if you would have blinked you would have missed him. He came in, rushed up to the casket and said the fasted prayer known to man, got up, turned around and headed for the door like he was double parked or something. 3. I was waiting for this to happen and it ended up happening twice. Two times during the wake someone's cell phone went off and started ringing. And both times when it was really quiet in the room when no one was talking. I should have bet with someone that this would happen but probably no one would have taken my bet since it was as close as a sure thing as you can get. 4. Remember that little seven year old SOB I talked about briefly when I was there for Thanksgiving? Well towards the end of the ceremony someone decided to bring the little terror to the wake. He comes running in the room looking around at all the people and I think he got confused because this time no one made a fuss over him or asked him what he wanted from Santa. To his credit he was not disruptive and was even quieter than a lot of the adults. And that my friends is how I passed four hours away in a funeral parlor. ...Once again, the lack of internet access, no newspaper and not being able to watch any kind of sports on TV prevented me of learning that Cliff Lee signed with Philadelphia until I returned home. Can any of you imagine how frustrating this is? ...And as far as Cliff Lee goes, if he didn't want to sign with the Yankees, oh well. Can't worry about it and besides, what the hell good would it do to dwell on it? ...Right now you would have to favor heavily the Boston Red Sox to win the American League East next year with the acquiring of Adrian Gonzalez via trade and the free agent signing of Carl Crawford. I'd have loved to have Crawford with the Yankees because I don't trust Brett Gardner. ...But the real reason to favor the Sox? The pitching situation. Boston's got it and the Yankees are struggling right now. Only Sabathia is dependable. Pettitte is still not sure if he is going to play in 2011 and is still going through his Brett Favre moment. Phil Hughes is ok until you really need an important game out of him and then he chokes. You don't know what you are going to get from Ivan Nova and then there is A.J. Burnett. He's the pitcher that separates the Red Sox from the Yankees. The Red Sox are fortunate that they don't have to throw this guy out there every fifth day. The Yankees on the other hand are in the unfortunate situation in that they have to send him out there because there is no one else. I can hear everyone blaming Joe Girardi already. ...It's a good thing the Vikings are not going to the post season this year because there is no way they are going to fix that roof in the Metrodome any time soon. And why the hell did they put a roof like that up in the first place? ...I read in the shoutbox where DylanBradbury reported that Kansas City's Zach Greinke went to Milwaukee. Dylan even provided a link for it right here. But I swear to God I don't see this posted anywhere else. Not on ESPN, not on the MLB homepage and not on the Sporting News website. Maybe TSN.CA has the jump on everyone else. Wouldn't surprise me. And look at what Milwaukee gave up for Greinke! Absolutely nothing. This could go down as being the best deal the Brewers ever made. ...Just wanted to say thank you to the New York Yankees for an early Christmas present when they signed Russell Martin to be the starting catcher and effectively taking Jorge Posada's job away from him. Our defense behind the plate has suddenly improved and maybe next year we will throw some runners out. ...I have once again avoided listening to The Twelve Days of Christmas during this holiday season and I am determined to continue avoiding it for the rest of the week. You have no idea how much I hate that song. ...Ok folks, less than a week now and this Christmas stuff is all over with! ...And finally, R.I.P's to Cleveland's Bob Feller, Boston's Walt Dropo and the Chicago Cubs' Phil Cavarretta, all who passed away this week. It was a tough week for baseball.

Yeah, and welcome back to civilization also. What a toilet it is down there! Hey, no big deal that it is being done over there. All I care is that the Raiders win.

I made these picks before I went out of town and it turned out that I didn't need to because I came home before this week's picks were closed. Well, I had to be sure. Here are my picks, in bold and underlined. Just post them out where everyone can see them when you do your posts next week Thu, DEC 16 San Francisco at San Diego Dec, DEC 19 Kansas City at St. Louis Buffalo at Miami Cleveland at Cincinnati Jacksonville at Indianapolis Houston at Tennessee Washington at Dallas Philadelphia at NY Giants Arizona at Carolina Detroit at Tampa Bay New Orleans at Baltimore Atlanta at Seattle NY Jets at Pittsburgh Denver at Oakland Green Bay at New England Dec, DEC 20 Chicago at Minnesota (Bears 41, Vikings 14, total of 55 points)

Doesn't matter to me where the picks are made. In fact I will make mine on both sites until something is decided. There are only a few weeks left anyways.

Thank you. It actually was my wife's sister. It was sudden. She was only 49 years old.

Just an FYI for those of you that read this thread on Sundays. The Random Thoughts thread will return on the 19th of December. Believe me, I would love to do one this Sunday but I will be out of town on a family emergency (a funeral) and the God damn house I will be staying in does not have an internet connection. It's a bull**** situation down there and I hate it each and every time I have to go there. Being on the computer is not my priority this weekend anyways since I'll have other things to do down there like attending the wake, etc. So, be back on the 19th!