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There's a fine line between having a long swing and having a long follow through. On that HR, Felix's bat was quick and short thru the zone before the long follow thru. No huge drop in his hands just his natural uppercut. I'd like to see Lou reward him with a start tomorrow.

LeBron hasn't done anything this year that Kobe hasn't done in past years. Lebron's season has been an awful lot like Kobe's 02-03. And while the Cavs supporting cast is much worse than the Lakers, remember that the Lakers were #1 west before Gasol. Sure Bynum was having a good year to that point. But is Bynum, Odom, Fisher, Radomonovich any better than Gibson, Hughes, Gooden, Ilgauskas? Kobe's scoring and rebounds were only down because they could be with the Lakers still winning. Notice in March Kobe scored by far the most points he scored in any other month? Notice he had more boards in March than in any other month? Kobe put up 31.5, 7.7, and 5.8 in March. Also see that he shot the ball 60 more times than he did in other months? That's because Bynum was out and Gasol missed about 3 weeks worth of time.

Just looking at Yahoo's game preview for tonight. Here is part of the game notes. Just make up a first name and misspell his last name after spelling it right in the previous sentence.

Kobe has never won the MVP. If it wasn't for that fact, Chris Paul would get my MVP vote. Kobe deserves at least 1 MVP. He should have gotten it after the 05-06 season. It's arguable who's had the better season between Paul and Kobe. It's not arguable who is the better overall player, which is my tie breaker. There's really no one else in the discussion, IMO.

Not necessarily true. Respectfully disagree. Major-league pitchers are better, but they aren't 120 points of batting average better. If Pie tanks completely this season, it'll be because he tanked, not the jump from AAA to the majors. I disagree with you. ML pitchers are miles better. Ever hear of Roosevelt Brown? Julio Zuleta? Trenidad Hubbard? Those are all guys who at completely ripped AAA pitching for multiple years. None of them amounted to anything in the majors. Triple A is full of journeymen who will never be major league pitchers. Though, ML pitching is watered down, most of the league isn't Les Walrond. There is a huge difference in being able to hit an average ML pitcher and being able to hit a AAA pitcher. We all hate Jason Marquis, but he is so much better than your run of the mill AAA pitcher that it's not funny.

I'm a huge Pie fan, but you can't be stupid about it. If he's not the best player, he shouldn't be out there everyday. I think in the not to distant future he will be the best player for CF on the roster. Being that he is the future, though, you have to get him more PT than you would the rest of the bench players, especially guys like Ward and Fontenot.

more details needed. tv size, drinks available at home, snacks, presence of wife, etc. 52" flat screen hd. All sorts of wine, beer and booze. I think there's water and milk somewhere too. Wife's arrival time depends on how busy she is today, probably a bit before gametime (same as me). If she's home by first pitch she will most likely want to make a good dinner. My guess is I'm going to get home before her, and therefore get dog walking duty. I'll dvr the start of the game in case I don't get back in time, then fast forward up to real time. Luckily the pooch spent all weekend wrestling other pooches and will be fine with a shorter-than-usual walk. Been to Vick's old house?

The only problem I have so far with the usage of Pie is doubleswitching him out of the game after 3 innings vs. Matt Morris. I don't mind him sitting recently, because I believe the coaching staff is working hard with him to turn things around and will get him back in the lineup soon.

I look at it as the best Bears player of the past decade, by a wide margin, who is still a very good player and likely to remain very good, is looking for a final extension on his contract that will provide him with his last great financial income from his playing career. That extension will not come close to handicapping the Bears against the cap (they have great leverage in the negotiations because of what's left on his contract), and therefore I don't have a problem with him wanting it. I don't see it as greedy. The guy got divorced after his last contract, likely meaning his first wife took a great deal of that money. He's getting married again (idiot) and only has a few years left in his life where he can reasonably expect to make a high income. Say all you want about having more money than any reasonable person can expect in life, he deserves what he can get. As the Bears, I'd rather take care of this now, than 1 or 2 years from now where he has more incentive to sit out, be a troublemaker or otherwise make things difficult. They can pretty much throw him a bone now and be done with it, or wait for him to demand even more if he has a solid 2008. Agree. Like it or not, there is a market value established for players of his caliber. As long as he's beneath that, he has a gripe. I think now that his back is giving him problems, Urlacher is probably somewhat afraid of what his future holds. I'm sure he feels he's done enough for this franchise to be given that extra security. I can't blame him. Do it now. Keep your best player happy. He's not being unreasonable in his demands.

If he can throw a sinker, slider, changeup and presumably a 4-seamer....then why the hell was he ever put in relief? I always thought he was strictly a 4-seamer/slider guy. Especially since, even if relief is/was his destiny, he's a top prospect that could use the innings to refine his control.

Like the Cubs chances tonight. Zambrano has done a good job vs. Reyes, Wright, and Beltran. Castillo and Delgado are on their last legs. Schneider and Pagan are playing over their heads. Obviously, the key is getting the big 3 Mets hitters out. Not only because they can do the most damage, but because they are also their best baserunning threats. Zambrano is tough to run on, but Soto hasn't thrown all that great so far. Take this one, and I don't care what happens tomorrow.

Jose Reyes wins it for the Raw Dawgs with a 9th inning single off Lidge's glove! David Wright didn't GIDP. Delgado left on deck for the Bashers. Perfect ending.

Gasol was a monster. 38, 16, 8 and 3 blocks! Easily the best trade deadline move in the NBA this year.

Wuertz throws a 30ft toss, about 90.

Looking. At a ball 3 inches outside and about 1 1/2 low.

There are many stats I love about this team. Behind the improved on-base percentage, this is probably my favorite. I like it more when they win in 9 innings, over the 2 times they've blown leads after the 6th and won in 12 and 15.

Back to back 13s on the Pirates. Work will be fun tomorrow.

Who knew Howry batted LH?

So, much for that Jeff gave up a double, single and walk to start the 7th to leave the bases loaded. Juan Mateo could get nobody out and Tenn is down 4-1.

A few comments. -Lee is locked in. I know he leads the world in HRs, but yesterday, he clearly was looking 1st pitch breaking ball from Gorzo and cranked it. IF anyone noticed, he just missed a fastball (fouled it back) to lead off the 2nd AB. That's just being tuned in to what a pitcher is trying to do to you. -I love this team's patience. I was completely expecting the team to go up hacking when Yates couldn't find the zone. The patience of the new additions is the story of the season so far, IMO. Soto, Fukudome, and Johnson are consistently getting great ABs. Cedeno has also really looks patient. DeRosa right now is the perfect mix of patience and agressiveness. -As was pointed out earlier, beating the bad teams is a nice change, especially because most of the NL is bad teams. - If you can sweep 2 series without Zambrano touching the mound, that is an accomplishment.

Completely agree. Balmer's the best player on the board right now and fills a need. I'd kill for an Albert/Balmer 1-2 draft. Unfortunately, I think both will be gone at least a 1/2 dozen picks before the Bears choose in each respective round.

The Bears current recievers should not prevent the Bears from drafting a WR. There is no guarantee that Lloyd, Hass or Rideau even makes the team---even tho I really like Hass. And there is no guarantee that Bradley or Hester (I want them to improve) will standout as a WR. But if a kid like Malcom Kelly drops to the 2nd rd, or a kid like Earl Bennett, Andre Caldwell, or Jordy Nelson is there in the 3rd rd, I could see the Bears taking a WR. Kinda what I was saying. I don't see them taking a WR in the 2nd. What if all their top targets are gone by the 3rd though?

I think there's a good chance the Bears DON'T go after a WR in this draft. Booker and Bradley will probably be the starters. Davis and Lloyd are 2 guys that can play the slot and are familiar w/ the offense (Lloyd at U of I). Still have Hester. And maybe they think Hass or Rideau could compete for some PT. I'd like to see a good WR after the catch like Doucet, Bennett, or Caldwell, but I don't see the Bears reaching for any or going after guys like Kelly or Hardy if one slips.

Lakers went 3-0 against Denver this season and Gasol played in 0 of those games too. Also humorous that Kobe isn't the best player in the series. I mean, he's the best player in the game. But he's definitely not the best player in the series. I'd pick Kobe over any 2 other players in that series. Eh, that may be a stretch, but I'd take him over Melo and AI together, and I'm an Iverson fan.

I think Hill could use the offense more than the defense, but that's just me.