Bar-ry!

Newsflash: Barry Bonds will be in the Giants camp for Spring Training. This is great! No one on the planet knows more about hitting than Barry Lamar Bonds. I've been hoping the Giants would bring Barry back to the fold as a hitting instructor since the day he left the organization. I suppose the suits feel it has been long enough and the media/PR blowback won't be so bad. I know the stories are coming--how this 'roid cheater will corrupt the Youth of America--and I'm prepared to ignore them. We'll see how it shakes out. I'm expecting a deluge of outrage. From the HoF voting, it seems some folks will never get over PEDs. That's their problem, I reckon.

Welcome back, Barry.

--M.C.

Giants Take Series

Hunter Pence had another big day, hitting two home runs and driving in three, and Brett Pill added a late tie-breaking pinch-homer to best the Dodgers in the getaway game, 4-3. It was a little tense in the 9th, but Sergio Romo got Yasiel Puig to ground out with the bases loaded and preserve the victory. Ryan Vogelsong delivered a quality start, and zeroes from Jean Machi in the 7th and Santiago Casilla in the 8th helped it to stand up. After losing narrowly in ten innings on Thursday night, the Giants ran the table and now lead the season series 9-7 with three to play. It is small consolation, but it is consolation nonetheless. The Dodgers will eventually clinch the NL West, but with Arizona's victory today their magic number remains at four. The blue-clads have lost three straight for the second time this month (they got swept in Cincinnati) and are 3-8 since their ridiculous 53-13 stretch. I'm not usually one for schadenfreude, but I think I'll indulge this time.

Pence's spectacular play of late puts him in the club's history books: 19 RBI in 6 games is a Giants record, held by none other than Mel Ott. His five homers in the four-game series puts him in elite company as well, as the last Giants player to homer in four straight games was Barry Bonds, and the last Giants player to hit a homer in all four games in a Dodgers series was Willie Mays. It seems even more obvious now that the Giants should retain Plastic Man's services.

The team travels to New York City tomorrow for the final two road series, three apiece with the Mets and Yankees. Yusmeiro Petit gets an intriguing matchup with Zack Wheeler in the opener.

GO GIANTS!

--M.C.

The Barry & Buster Show

Barry Zito put together another good start, this time on the road against an outstanding lineup. Think about it: Rafael Furcal is the worst hitter they have, and he has a lifetime .751 OPS. Those guys can rake, top to bottom, but Zeets mesmerized 'em and evened up the series. He had his usual big, looping 12-to-6 curve ball as well as a flatter, lower one that seemed to snap right at the end and drop out of the zone. Barry-Z was putting both right in the glove. There were several that Buster set the target for and didn't move a millimeter to catch them. Those pitches set up the fastball and he was hitting his spots with that as well. He even whipped out an occasional 73 mph slow ball (changeup?) that sort of fluttered out in front of the plate and fell away. In all, it was a big performance, especially after the ugly loss in the opener. LA lost to the Rockies again and the Giants are back to a 1-1/2 game lead--the Dodgers have scored one run against them at home in the two games.

Buster Posey launched another moon shot to continue his ridiculous hot streak. He has that relaxed, languid style that almost looks like he's moving in slow motion. What a treat it is to watch that guy! Barry Bonds had that short, compact stroke, and preternatural quickness. The ball would just jump off his bat. Being a pull hitter, even his monster bombs left the yard in a hurry. Buster is the opposite--he hits with power to center and right-center, and his homers have that soaring quality that send the outfielders racing back only to look up and see the futility of further chasing. Half the time Bonds hit one they'd just give it a glance and a shrug. Krukow talks a lot about his "inside-out approach" and it is impressive how he can hit the other way with power by "leading with the knob." This guy is a catcher, fer chrissakes, and you don't get seasons like this very often from such a premium defensive position. We are seeing historic production from our wunderkind, a kind of year guys like Pudge Rodríguez and Carlton Fisk used to rack up. Check out that draft class again. Do you think the Giants made the right pick?

--M.C.

A very happy Hallowe'en

It was all treats for Giants fans this past Hallowe'en. Madison Bumgarner showed no fear and the Giants wore down the American League champs to take a never-to-look-back 3-1 lead in the Series. I recommend re-watching all the games in the Giants post-season run. If you have not bought the DVD set then get them via iTunes. I was far too involved emotionally when watching the live games so it has been very enjoyable to see them again in a more relaxed and detached mode. I looked back at what I posted that evening and I'm stickin' with it. I'm surprised I was so calm and objective about being one win from a World Series title! Andres Torres was superb, rapping out three hits just like the "rejuvenated" Edgar Renteria, scoring one and driving in one. Aubrey Huff's blast was just what we were hoping the ex-DH would do in an AL park. Freddy Sanchez was a glove machine at second base, killing rallies with heads-up baseball. Buster Posey hit a monstrous home run to dead center, and absolutely nailed Josh Hamilton trying to steal a base. That rookie battery was something, eh? Here's a comparison--pitcher A vs. pitcher B:

Year	Age	W	L	W-L%	ERA	G	GS	CG	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	SO	ERA+	WHIP
2010	20	7	6	.538	3.00	18	18	0	111.0	119	40	37	11	26	86	136	1.306

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 12/30/2010.

Year	Age	W	L	W-L%	ERA	G	GS	CG	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	SO	ERA+	WHIP
2007	23	7	5	.583	4.00	24	24	0	146.1	122	70	65	12	65	150	112	1.278

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 12/30/2010.

A is MadBum and B is Lincecum. Note that MadBum is 5 years younger! It sure is nice to have young, studly pitchers, isn't it? There was a time when I thought Ed Halicki would be the next NL Cy Young winner. Ah, youth.

--M.C.


p.s. I've gotten pretty weary of all the HOF debates. I'm sick of PEDs and the pointless arguments about them. I became hoplessly cynical about the Hall after reading Bill James' book (Whatever Happened to the Hall of Fame?) and the whole Marc Ecko asterisk-ball nonsense (here's what I wrote then). It seems obvious that there are some all-time greats who should be enshrined, like Tim Raines, Jeff Bagwell, Bert Blyleven, and (yes, Virginia) Mark McGwire. And a bunch more real good choices like Barry Larkin and Edgar Martinez. At this point, I don't really give a shit. All I care about is the Giants winning another World Series. But if YOU care, read Joe Posnanski. He puts together the HOF arguments better than anyone. It truly depresses me that the supposed "professionals" who cover the game can churn out mountains of crap about how they "feel" about this candidate and that candidate when baseball excellence (like innocence or guilt) has NOTHING TO DO WITH SOMEBODY'S FUCKING FEELINGS! Any BBWAA member who uses the "you just had to be there to know how intimidating so-and-so was or wasn't" argument should have his ballot cancelled. And don't get me started about these idiots who "suspect" someone was a PED-user without out ANY EVIDENCE and thus won't vote for them. Didn't these people go to college and learn how to construct a proper argument? Didn't they take Civics in high school? There, I've just ruined the high the Hallowe'en game put me on! Oh yeah, the Giants won the World Series.

Buster's Bondsian blast

Buster Posey hits his first major league home run in Cincinnati, a moon shot to the upper deck in left-center field. Congratulations, Buster!



UPDATE 1727, Giants-Reds tied 2-2 in the 5th--I'm happy to see that neither Molina nor Rowand made the starting nine tonight. That had to be tough for Ol' Boch, but it deserves a Krukovian "good call."


--M.C.

Bring Barry Back

Barry Bonds just told Duane Kuiper and Mike Krukow that he wants to "teach." He talked about his mastery of hitting, that it was a "gift from God" that he wants to pass on.

The San Francisco Giants should hire Barry Bonds as the Director of Hitting for the entire organization.

Bring Barry Back.


--M.C.

PhoneCo history

The Giants are making a fuss today about the debut of the park, which was called "Pacific Bell Park" or simply "PacBell" back then. April 11, 2000 was a cool and overcast day, and Kevin Elster of the Dodgers hit three home runs. Not only did Elster hit three homers that day, he hit the first homer in the new park in the top of the 3rd inning. Barry Bonds had doubled in a run in the 1st inning, but had to wait until the bottom of the 3rd to hit the first Giants home run. The Giants lost 6-5, but my main memory of that day was leaving. The staircase down from the upper level (we had "View Box" seats) to the O'Doul gate was jammed with fans and hit gridlock almost immediately. I never used that exit again, learning that a dash down the escalator and out to the Plaza was a lot faster. We had "Charter Seats" for the first six seasons (up to 2005, when it was "SBC Park"), but the distance and expense got to be too much and we had to give them up. It was a great run, and we got to see a lot of exciting baseball. These days it is mostly electronic Giants, with satellite TV, internet radio, and blogs, but we manage at least one road trip south for real-live ballgames each summer. We had the chance to see baseball in some other great venues like (old) Yankee Stadium, Fenway Park, Safeco Field, and Petco Park, but nothing compares to our emerald gem by the Bay. We've also seen baseball in Vancouver, Canada (Nat Bailey Stadium) and Oaxaca, México (Estadio Eduardo Vasconcelos), but still we longed for views of Berkeley and the Bridge. I've spent far, far more of my life in Candlestick Park than I care to admit, and that place had its charms. Dollar nights in the bleachers for one, and wide seats with lots of leg room. And easy egress. Otherwise, the Giants built an outstanding place to see a game. Now we just need a "World Series Champion" banner to complete the décor. Go, Tim, lead us to the Promised Land!

Kevin Elster and Barry Bonds were both born in 1964. Elster retired after the 2000 season. Bonds went on to win four more MVPs and set the all-time home run record.

--M.C.

How the West Was Won: 2007

Timothy LeRoy Lincecum made his debut on May 6th, 2007. We all know now that this call-up started his "arb clock" early, thus making him a "Super Two" this off-season. The decision to bring him up, at the time, seemed a no-brainer. He was absolutely obliterating the PCL (31 IP, 12 hits, 1 run, 46 K), and it seemed silly to waste his Bonds-like talent in the minors. Sabes & Co. had probably convinced themselves that the team was "competitive" and thus needed all the help it could get. At 16-13, 1-1/2 games back in 3rd place, perhaps we were. As it turned out, we weren't. The Giants went 8-12 the rest of that month, utterly collapsing in June (9-18) and finishing last (71-91), 19 games back, underperforming their Pythagorean record by 6 games. It was also Ol' Boch's debut as skipper. The team scored only 683 runs (15th) but allowed only 720 (3rd). Interestingly, our 107 ERA+ put us among the top five in the league.

2007 gets even stranger when you look at our competition. The 90-72 Diamondbacks won the West even though they allowed (732--5th) more runs than they scored (712--14th). Their 115 ERA+ was tops, followed buy the Cubs (114) and Rockies (111). The Wild Card Rockies (90-73) needed a 163rd game to edge past the Padres (89-74) for the last playoff spot. Colorado (860/758, 2nd/8th) underperformed by one game. San Diego (741/666, 9th/1st, 107 ERA+, 20 team shutouts) matched their projection, and had to have been disappointed not to win the West for the third straight season. The Rockies finished the season winning 14 of 15 and rode their hot streak all the way to the World Series. The 4th place Dodgers (82-80) matched their projection with 735 (10th) RS and 727 (4th) RA, and an ERA+ of 106. It is always nice to be reminded that outcomes in sports are not entirely predictable, and that improbable things can occur. We fans tend to discount luck and happenstance, as we like to attribute good results to pluck, grit, and clutchness. Failure is seen as a reflection of character, and variations in performance are explained away with a panoply of clichéd sportswriter-isms. If I've learned anything in a lifetime of watching games, it's that random chance is the Great Umpire in the Sky, that "winners" and "losers" are often separated by a hair's breadth, and that separation is mostly unexplainable by rational analysis. The best you can do when building a squad is muster all the talent you can and then find ways to maximize the success opportunities for the unique skills each individual brings. The rest is up to the gods.

Speaking of talent--the great Barry Bonds played his last baseball game in 2007. At 42, he still led all of baseball in OBP and walks and slugged .565! We we were lucky to have seen him in orange and black for all those years. He was cut loose by Magowan & Co. in the off-season ("fired" was Barry's term), and the sporting press, talking heads, hand-wringers, moralists, and casual fans all though it was a fine idea. Lots of chatter about "moving on" and "new directions" and etc. smothered over the obvious fact that the man could still play, and, in fact, should have kept playing. He finished his career 65 hits short of 3000, 4 RBI short of 2000, 12 IBB short of 700, and 24 TB short of 6000. I can't think of any player who was so close to such historic milestones and who could still play at a high level who was denied the opportunity to keep making history. Thanks, Bud, you're a douchebag. Magowan at least had the class to step down after giving Barry the axe, but bungled horribly the transition to the Neukom era by retaining Brian Sabean as GM. Giants fans, if we want to win in 2010 and beyond, we'll have to hope for some damn improbable good luck and some other-worldly talent that will overcome the cluelessness of the front office. Hey, I won't say it's impossible, especially with the emergence of The Franchise. But it won't be easy. But who said being a Giants fan was easy?

How the West Was Won: 2005

Matthew T. Cain made his debut on the 29th of August in 2005. He was only 20 years old and was the youngest player in the league. Barry Bonds only appeared in 14 games that season. Randy Winn, a late-season acquisition, went .359/.391/.680 in 58 games.

The San Diego Padres won the West with an 82-80 record. NL teams averaged 721 RS and 732 RA. The Padres were 13th with 684 RS and 9th in RA with 726. Under the guidance of Bruce Bochy the Pads exceeded their Pythagorean projection (77-85) by five games. Jake Peavy was the pitching stud, and they had a tremendous bullpen (Hoffman, Linebrink, Otsuka, Saenz, Hammond). The only hitting star was 34-year old Brian Giles (.301/.423/.483). They got appropriately smoked in three games by the combined score of 21-11 by the 100-61 Cardinals in the NLDS. The Wild Card Astros (609 RA, 120 ERA+) and the Central champs St. Louis (634 RA, 121 ERA+) had the best pitching.

The second-place D-Backs, 77-85 under Bob Melvin, overperformed by 11 games (66-96). With a lopsided 696 RS (10th) and 856 RA (14th), it is almost impossible to imagine them finishing ahead of the Giants. The third-place 75-87 Giants acccomplished this by being 15th in RS (549) and 11th in RA (745). Felipe Alou deserves some credit (don't you think?) for the Giants overperforming their projection (71-91) for the 3rd year running. And this was without Barry! We all knew that Alou was a placeholder until a younger, hipper manager would get the nod. Most of us were hoping long-time assistant and organization man Ron Wotus would be selected. Alas, Ol' Boch got the call in '07 instead of "Wot."

How the West Was Won: 2001

The 2001 Giants lacked the pitching of the previous year's squad. The staff allowed 748 runs, 9th in the league, posting an ERA+ of 96. The Braves led the way with a 124 ERA+ (643 RA, 1st), the D-Backs just behind at 120 (677 RA, 2nd). The Snakes won the West by two games (92-70), underperforming their 95-67 Pythagorean record. With 818 RS, they were 3rd best, ahead of the Giants who were 5th with 799. The Bay City Boys finished 4 games better than their Pythagorean percentage (86-76), and missed out on the Wild Card by three games to the 93-69 Cardinals. The Giants did draw 3,311,958 fans, best in the league. This guy hit a lot of homers, and you know how fans like that sort of thing.

What could be bad?

The Giants beat their hated rivals with a little bit of Chavez Latrine dink-ball and a 1-2-3 see-you-later Brian Wilson 9th, and also got a visit from The King Himself, who not only energized the fans in the park but had some fun in the KNBR booth as well.

Bonds talked about hitting, of course, and reiterated a point he's made many times before. Barry said that if a hitter "did his job" he should not worry about the results. The job, naturally, is to "hit the ball on the screws." If a fielder "just happened to be standing there" that's the nature of the game. Go back to the dugout and be happy with the execution--hitting the ball hard. Don't let the "negative result mess with all the positive you just created." You have to figure The Greatest Hitter of All Time knows what he's talking about. So much of sport is random chance--the best athletes, especially those in team sports, know that they can only control a small zone of the entire event. Focus on that zone of influence, maximize your chance to do well, and let the chips fall where they may.

I was happy to see a relaxed Bonds, loved the fact that we won the game with him in the stands, and found myself glued to radio when he was bantering with Jon Miller. At one point, Barry talked over the action, then hastily described the play. Miller joked about it, and offered to let Bonds continue the play-calling, to which Barry responded, trying his best to drop an octave, "well you know I don't have as low a voice as you, Jon." The King said all the right things when the mic was in front of him, praising the fans, the club ("these kids have a good thing going"), the organization, talking up the rivalry with LA, deftly side-stepping any contentious points about his forced retirement, and joked about missing the game but "not the pain."

What could be bad?

To Manny or Not To Manny . . .

. . . that is the question.

Or, is one Manny too many?

Seriously. The ManRam talk is heating up. Do we or don't we?

1. If you believe the Giants are "one player away" from competing for the playoffs, then it is hard to argue against taking a shot at Ramirez. He's the premier bat out there and prices for FAs are falling. He's right-handed and has already destroyed the NL West, so his power numbers would hold up in our Park.

2. If you think, like me, the Giants are two years (at least) from being a contender, then it is easy to pass on Ramirez. We had Barry Bonds, the greatest LF ever, if not the greatest player ever, and would not re-sign him even though he would still be one of the best hitters in the game. Ramirez is younger, and currently healthier, but the rationale for cutting ties with Bonds--The Youth Movement--hold with No. 99 as well.

So, me bhoyos, do you want to see Manuel Aristides Onelcida Ramirez in orange and black?

Beat LA!

'Bout fookin' time!!!!!

Barry

Yeah, he pitches today. But that's not who I mean. The other Barry, remember him? John Brattain has another excellent piece about The Greatest Player Of Them All in The Hardball Times. Mr. Brattain has a refreshing, consistently contrarian voice in his work about BLB.

Barry & Leon

Good sportswriting is easy to find these days if you look outside of the "traditional" media and cruise the electronic world. One of my favorites is Edge of Sports, featuring the estimable Dave Zirin. In his latest piece, Boss's Boycott: The Bonds Vanishes, he compares our very own Barry Lamar to none other than LEON TROTSKY. Now Mr. Bonds has been described as The Devil Incarnate by many a "sportswriter," but this is the first time he's been linked with a commie revolutionary. For that alone, Mr. Zirin deserves your ear.

= ?

(Both these images are taken from Wikimedia Commons and are in the public domain.)

Barry & Bobby

Great article by John Brattain at THE HARDBALL TIMES dated 9 April called See Windmill, tilt at windmill . . . rinse, lather, repeat.

LINK

All fans of Barry & Bobby should read it. That's ALL Giants fans, isn't it?

Assorted Notes, Errata and Half-Baked Opinion

Just back from the very fine state of Texas. Thought I'd chime in with an assortment of things.

For some time now, I have had this imaginary conversation running through my head from sometime early to mid-last season:

Peter Macgowan: This team sucks.
Brian Sabean: No shit, sher..... er, I mean....yes, sir, and frankly, I'm rather worried about it.
PM: So what do you propose that I have my GM, whomever that may be, do about it?
BS: Well, I figure we will have to rebuild, but we probably can't do it all at once.
PM: Why not, pray tell?
BS: Because we have some good promising young talent that we don't yet know if we can rely on to be good, everyday full time players, and we are facing a fairly thin free-agent market. We need two years.
PM: OK, don't fuck it up.

So, we will not be competitive this year, nor could we be, really, because, barring some miracle, like Rajai Davis becoming a decent everyday player (and it would be a miracle), there is just no way we could have crafted a team with enough muscle to compete regardless of the money, unless the rumors about how much A-Rod liked SF were actually true (and apparently, they were not).

So that brings us to Joe Creede. I read somewhere that trading away young pitching talent for "a one year rental player" is just too steep a price. I think it depends on what you mean by "young pitching talent." The rumors persist, including in today's Chron (2/24), that the Giants are interested in him. It seems to me that a one-year rental is exactly what we need. If the guy can come back and hit like a Silver Slugger, enjoys his crab cakes, fog and late nights in the Castro, then we have the inside track to sign him. If not, we pursue Eric Chavez or realize Frandsen can play third and pursue someone else at second. Maybe a line-up of a decent Joe Creede, Rowland, Frandsen, Molina, and another good hitter all of a sudden doesn't make 2009 look so gloomy. Or maybe having a little vacation just improves my outlook.

So, here is a bit from today's Bruce Jenkins column, on Sean Casey: "People rave about his clubhouse presence, including forer teammate Aaron Boone, who said, 'He has this way of making everyone around him feel important.' In a sense, he's exactly what the Giants need as they try to forge their new identity." I love it. Chemistry, the sports writer's favorite crutch (and I'm not talking about drugs). This is, of course, a shot at Bonds, the man who carried the team on his back but destroyed clubhouse chemistry. Amazing though, how easy getting along with teammates is when you are winning, and how it doesn't seem to help when you suck (the team's thirty games below .500, but boy howdy, are they having fun!). The Giants need......hitters. Big, powerful hitters who can thrill crowds by sending fastballs into the water and turning games around. Hitters who seem to get on base every damn time they are up, and hitters who wear out opposing outfielders chasing out-of-reach line drives.

Brian Wilson goes to Ireland, trashes rental car! This raises Brian Wilson's standing in my eyes about 1500%. I think any young person with money (he certainly qualifies) should travel. It seems most of these guys sit around playing video games in their free time. What's up with that? Get out, see something and broaden your horizons.

Finally, italicizing is not the same as mixing fonts.

25 on 25

Yeah, this is my 25th post here at RMC. And, the 800-lb gorilla is back, #25 himself, BLB. I can't seem to separate sports (baseball, that is) from reality. I wish I could. Really. I just like watching baseball and arguing about it. You know, 'who's the best player?' or 'would you bunt here?' or 'do bullpen coaches actually work?' and stuff like that. Damn, that's fun! Speculating on trades, pining away for some superstar to join your team, that is part and parcel of fandom. But goddamn real-life keeps butting in. Speaking of real life, did you know that Joe DiMaggio worked for the Mob? Yeah. Kind of puts the steroid "scandal" into perspective, eh? Speaking of that, here's another great bit of reporting on steroids, sports and culture. Peripherally, it is about Bonds, because he is the Poster Boy for the 'New Era.' But it is really about life and the times. Y'know, we live in a pharmacological wonderland--better living through biochemistry! At least we hope so.

http://www.tomdispatch.com/post/122131/robert_lipsyte_america_juiced_on_sports

The homepage for Tom Dispatch is here.
Robert Lipsyte can be found here.
The article is called Shooting Up on Jock Culture and is from 2006, so it doesn't discuss the home run record or the indictment. Warning: definitely NOT a reality-free zone. Next post, I promise, will be back to baseball La-La Land, where we talk about the Giants getting out of last place.

So it goes.

I want to get away from writing about Bonds, but, like the 800-lb. gorilla, he's still in the room. Not the GIANTS room, but THE room, the entire sports-space. He's bigger than the GAME, bigger than SPORTS, even, and he won't go away. Unless the Feds put him away, and make no mistake they want him, and want him bad. Too many idiotic things have been written about Barry, cascades of vitriol and solipsism, and we know who those clowns are. But smart people have been writing intelligent words about Bonds, and their tiny squeaks of reason and insight are drowned out by a cacophony of slime. This latest piece I found today by perusing the always thoughtful and interesting ONLY BASEBALL MATTERS blog:

The Essence of Bonds
BY D.K. Wilson

http://www.chicagosportsreview.com/inthemeantime/contentview.asp?c=204267

The other sites worth reading are Edge of Sports, Cosellout, and The Starting Five. Warning: major time sink. Maybe I can get the BLB Scandal under control, like a rash that breaks out once in a while. In my mind, I mean. The "news" outlets will continue to scream at me with this crap, and I'll have to relax about it so I can get back to the Giants and their dismal prospects for 2008. But The Bonds Thing will keep popping up. In the baseball world, more than any other, people cling harder to their illusions and fantasies about "how it oughta be" and refuse most stubbornly to see "how it really is." Messing with MLB's Mythology is worse than murder.

And I thought that baseball was my escape from reality.

The Proverbial Barry Lamar

Pride goeth before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.

--Proverbs 16: 18 (KJV)


Barry Lamar Bonds makes the national headlines--again. One of the world's greatest athletes, Bonds looms larger than the sport that brought him fame and money. And thus we see his sin, the ancient one of Pride, one of the Seven Deadlys of Yore. Babe Ruth was bigger than baseball, and so was Joe DiMaggio. Bonds' fatal mistake was pulling himself up to the pantheon, shoving a few old codgers aside in the process, and attempting to stand next to George Herman and Joseph Paul. Tsk, tsk, Barry Lamar. You were too good, too cocky, too aloof, too self-absorbed. Mostly you were just too good. Hang your head, boy, and say "aw, shucks," and we'll cut you some slack. But stand pround, be defiant, and we'll cut you down. Welcome to the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave, Barry, where you can "be all you can be."