Star Trek Begins

Perfectly cast.  Well reimagined, a la Chris Nolan's "Batman" movies.

Loved the feel/direction of it, but credit to the writers for giving appropriate nods to the original while making in mainstream enough for everyone.

Also, Eric Bana should only play psychopaths. Between this and "Chopper," he has a knack for it.

Sent From My iPodPhone

Star Trek

Perfectly cast. Also, loved the feel of it, but credit to the writers
for giving appropriate nods to the original while making in mainstream
enough for everyone.

Sent From My iPodPhone

Boras?

Will anyone please point out the obvious here: isn't there a fair likelihood that Scott Boras is somehow involved in the recent (shocking) discovery that Manny Ramirez is using PEDs? Let's look at the situation:

1) Alex Rodriguez, in targeting the largest contract in baseball history, starts using steroids before/around the time he joined the Texas Rangers. His agent? Scott Boras.

2) Manny Ramirez, potentially actually plagued by a nagging knee injury (or not), signs with Scott Boras before the end of his final year with Boston.

3) Red Sox trade Manny to LA, prompting Boras to immediately pump/showcase his pending free agent. Manny promptly has no injury problems (if they were real) and puts up the following (incredible) line for the D's (in 53 games): .396 average, 17HR, 14 Doubles, 53RBI, 36R. Let's compare to his stats in Boston (in 100 games): .299 average, 20HR, 22 Doubles, 68RBI, 66R. Manny slugged .743 in LA vs. .529 in Boston. I point this out because his stats were pretty amazing for a 36 year old in Boston, but unearthly once he moved to LA.

4) Manny gets new contract and Dodgers essentially make him the face of the organization. It's well known that Manny is aware of his place in baseball history and aggressively chasing milestone stats (600HR, 2000RBI).

5) Manny has lights out start to 2009.

6) Manny receives 50 game suspension after testing positive for PED. Boras puts out a statement saying it was a mistake by his doctor. In reality, Manny is using a female fertility drug (known for helping restart testosterone production). Gammons reports that guys in the Red Sox clubhouse refuse to believe Manny uses steroids. My guess is he probably never did until Boras came around.

Why aren't we questioning Boras? His two most high profile (and thus lucrative) clients both get busted on steroids in an era where MLB is trying to make an example of high profile players to win back credibility. A-Rod and Manny are two of the greatest right handed hitters of all-time, do they really need this stuff? I guess we'll never know for sure, but my guess is likely not.

With Boras whispering in their ears (and maybe supplying the connection, perhaps?), it was likely hard for these guys to say no. I'm not abdicating them of responsibility, but let's make sure that all of the cheats are punished.

Update (8:48am): Just for fun, let's look at high profile Boras clients linked to PED abuse.

Rick Ankiel
Adrián Beltré
Johnny Damon
Eric Gagné
Corey Patterson
Manny Ramirez
Alex Rodriguez
Iván Rodríguez
Scott Schoeneweis

If Not Arlen, Then Who?

It’s still early for battle lines to be drawn, but one PA Dem who has made noises about possibly taking Specter on in the primary is former admiral, now Congressman Joe Sestak.  Polling guru and a fav of mine Nate Silver hypothesized the other day that Sestak is actually less moderate than Specter, but Sestak constituents have come roaring back (via TPM):

Sestak is my rep. Nate might be an electoral-poll god, but he is way off on this. He cites silly ratings in his piece that don't reflect reality. There is NO WAY Joe Sestak, had he been a Senator, votes for the Bush tax cuts, or Roberts, or Alito. Sestak voted for Obama's budget; has an excellent labor record, and is superior Democrat in every way to the principle-free Specter. I work in an office in Sestak's district that is 25-5 Democratic, and for years I've been pleading with people to take a hard look at Specter, whom they have consistently given a slide to as some sort of 'moderate.' Someone the other day said, "Yeah, he's a weasel, but he's OUR weasel.' And this person should know better. Very frustrating. Arlen self-preserves with this move, and the Old Boys Club applauds (Biden, Rendell, the execrable Reid, all the way up to Obama). 'Clear the primary field' my ass. I'd love if Sestak took Specter on and kicked his sorry ass.

And, from a not so enthusiastic constituent:

I'd have to agree with the first responder. Sestak is my representative as well. I donated money and worked hard for him in 2006. In 2008 I did neither because on some issues important to me (the war and whether anyone in the white house should be punished for criminal actions) he was a big disappointment. He's very middle of the road on many things. However, if he opposed Specter for the nomination I'd donate and work for him again because he would be a *much* more reliable vote for so many important Democratic issues. There's just no contest.

Arlen Specter thinks he's a middle of the road moderate because he says one thing and then votes the opposite and he believes that somehow balances things out.

Can the Pennsylvania residents of this readership offer any insight of their own?  Nate Silver throws Franco Harris out as a possibility.  Really?