HopsGuy

Scott Boras: Mr. Cashman, you must sign my client to this egregiously large contract because, 1) The taxes in your state are ridiculous while in Texas there is no state income tax and B) If you do not sign him he will continue to destroy your team in the post season. Now, where was the glass of blood, errr... I mean tomato juice I was enjoying?

Yeah, Weiner also doesn't like the fact that his kid is constantly referred to as "creepy". Hey dude, you wrote him that way. He's just a good actor! Another thing I noted was when Don arrived at the Ossining house, he called out "Mrs. Truxton?" Truxston Spangler is a character in another AMC series "Rubicon". I was wondering if that was a nod to that show. I'm probably over-thinking it.

Amazing how events conspire. Glenn is caught at the house, so Betty fires Carla. Don takes Megan in Carla's place, decides that's what he's looking for and proposes when they get back. Faye hits the nail on the head when she tells Don that she hopes Megan knows that Don only likes "the beginning". Betty is looking for a fresh start herself, but Henry reminds her that there are no fresh starts, just life continuing on. You can tell he's getting a bit exasperated himself when he tells Betty that no one is ever on her side. Betty realizes that she probably had it better with Don and decides to accidentally be there when Don is to meet with the realtor. The hidden bottle was a nice touch. The scene at the end when they exit the kitchen in different directions really put the nail in the coffin of that relationship. Did you catch the scene at the pool in California when Bobby says that he's a shark and Don then jumps over him? That was funny. Best line: "Who?" by Roger when Don announces his engagement to Miss Corvey (I didn't know her last name, either). Good call on Joan keeping the baby. Peggy picked up the new account with a pretty sharp off-the-top-of-her-head presentation. Ken Cosgrove is NOT Pete Campbell. See ya next summer.

Since you guys are conflating quality with popularity, I'd like to remind you that the #1 television show in America is usually "Two and a Half Men".

Had 1:43 left when I finally remembered the last team in the NFC South. They happen to play 15 minutes from me.

That was great. Circumstances change, people move on. He seems to be happy now and that's all anyone can really ask for. Good stuff!

Someone had the following Earl Weaver quote as their signature line. I think it's fantastic: "You can't sit on a lead and run a few plays into the line and just kill the clock. You've got to throw the ball over the damn plate and give the other man his chance. That's why baseball is the greatest game of them all." More wisdom from they guy Ron Luciano called "Baseball's Yoda": "On my tombstone just write, 'The sorest loser that ever lived.'" "The job of arguing with the umpire belongs to the manager, because it won't hurt the team if he gets thrown out of the game." "The key to winning baseball games is pitching, fundamentals, and three run homers." "The only thing that matters is what happens on the little hump out in the middle of the field." Read further if you're interested

She's a sports blogger?

Trivia: Midge is played by Rosemarie DeWitt. She's the grand-daughter of Jimmy Braddock and was in "Cinderella Man", where Russell Crowe played Braddock. Also, she's married to Ron Livingston who has been in some of my favorite movies/shows of the last few years (Swingers, Office Space, Band of Brothers, etc). Alas, she's not related to Joyce DeWitt, Janet from "Three's Company". Man. that would be awesome.

You know, they had retinal scanning in one of the Bond movies in the '80s. WTF? My laptop has a fingerprint scanner. Of course if it's on for more than a few hours, it stops working. Drat!

Get your memorabilia now!

Alas, Breaking Bad does not return until next July but we'll be getting some online shorts starting in January. Link Considering that season 4 ended with a bit of a cliff-hanger, I doubt we'll get much from shorts unless they are very cryptic (like the stuffed animal teaser throughout season 2). Some guy wrote a couple hundred words comparing Mad Men and Breaking Bad. My guess is that he wasn't paid to do it.

In your mind, to whom are these shares being sold?

It was funny how Betty wanted to continue to talk with Dr. Edna even after she said "I'm a child psychologist." Betty is such a child and you're right that Sally seems to have so much more depth to her than her mother. Don seemed all over the map in this one. Giving Midge some cash so that she can get her fix. That's sort of sympathetic, but not something that is really going to help her. It was more of a pay-off to extract himself from that uncomfortable situation. He wrote that letter, but it was really just a stunt to get the agency some press. He paid for Campbell's share of the partnership obligation, but that was really just to keep the business going for another 6 months. Really, all of his actions were in self interest. Same old Don. There's some chatter about how the final episode is centered around a car trip that Don takes with Sally. I guess that since the firm is going to be sort of status quo after the partners (except for Bert?) all kicked in to keep the ship afloat, the story can turn back to the family. Both This Week In Mad Men Roundtable and the Star-Register Podcast both mentioned that Conrad Hilton was on the board of directors for the American Cancer Society, hinting that maybe Don will get another shot with Hilton Hotels. The season just flew by. I just wish the Bills' season didn't seem so long by comparison.

My ears are burning!

Someone hurt you. Was it Travis Lee? It was Travis Lee, wasn't it? It's okay. It's not your fault. It's not your fault. It's not your fault. It's not your fault.

Thought that was a turban, but it turns out it's a "ginger" wig. I would think it would make for a great Halloween costume, but it will probably be stale in a few weeks. /went as Steve Bartman in '03 //got hugged by another dude wearing the same thing ///that was weird

True. Leppard was a much more successful act, but if I was going to choose a ballad from them I'd go with "Too Late For Love." That album cover is disturbing these days.

The first time I saw that on the intarwebs, nobody knew what a Credit Default Swap was.

Yankees over Twins in the post-season = Dolphins over Bills in the '70s

I know one thing about Hank, Toni Lydman was completely lost without him. He'll be a solid but unspectacular 4 or 5 for NJ. He's mostly stay-at-home but he'll jump into the play when asked.

I was in a bar once and we decided to go through the alphabet and name a "hair band" for every letter. It was pretty easy. I bet you could come up with a ballad for every hair band. Off the top of my head: Aerosmith - "I Don't Want To Miss A Thing" Bon Jovi - "I'll Be There For You" Cinderella - "Don't Know What You Got 'Til It's Gone." Dokken - "Alone Again" Europe - "Carrie" Firehouse - "When I See You Smile" Great White - "The Angel Song" I got stuck on H and tired of thinking about it... but I'm sure it can be done. I saw exactly one true hair band concert. The above-mentioned Firehouse opened for Tesla. Tesla had "Love Song". Jesus, I'm old.

Maybe I'm reading too deeply into this, but Kenny Powers is the latest in a succession of "anti-heroes" we've seen in these cable-series. Rather than have a larger-than-life personality engage in some sort of struggle, it's been a rather flawed person deal with everyday issues (Tony Soprano, Don Draper, Walter White, Nancy Botwin, Hank Moody). The writing on these shows is fantastic, but perhaps we're drawn to the lead character because we sympathize with the struggle? Of course, I could be way off. I've never escaped to Mexico to live above Pedro from "Napoleon Dynamite" and have the Oompa Loompa as my side-kick.

A cursory glance at his splits indicate to me that he was feasting on some bad baseball teams in June/July and had more trouble against the better teams. He got roughed up by the Rays and (suddenly better Buck Showalter) Orioles in September, but also had some nice outings. Pettite is a bit of a wildcard. He hasn't worked all that many innings (129) due to injuries. He got roughed up in his last two starts against the Red Sox, so it will depend on his health and mindset. He's a gamer, though. Girardi must be feeling more confidence in him rather than AJ Burnett. Phil Hughes had a great first half, but struggled somewhat in the second half. He wasn't dominant, but he wasn't getting shelled either. Looks like a decent 3rd pitcher. Mariano is still Mariano based on last night's 4 out save. That guy should be the first 100% first ballot HOFer.

Really? CC's stats for 2010 compare favorably against his career numbers. His WHIP is 1.191 vs 1.228, his ERA is 3.18 vs. 3.57, and his ERA+ is 134 vs. 123. I'd say CC has been just a tad better than himself. He's probably the 3rd best ace still playing. I'd put him behind Halladay & Lee but ahead of Price, Liriano, Lincecum, and the rest. He'll probably in the Cy Young award because sportswriters are bad at math (that's why they're sportswriters).