Billy Paultz Reconsidered

I have only two things to say about the all-star game, none of which get into the tedious business of player “snubs”.
1. It’s possible to get carried away with the idea that the squads should be chosen based entirely on first-half-of-2009 performance. I said this on “The Low Post,” Tuesday, but when I was in […]

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The weather, the food, the general sense of bonhomie…. it’s been a delightful Fourth of July weekend. Howevah…..
Ryan Howard should not be going to the all-star game. The National League is going with four first basemen- Howard plus Albert Pujols, Adrian Gonzalez and Prince Fielder. Dumb.
Howard has an .845 OPS. Gonzalez’ is .969 is a […]

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I don’t have anything useful to say about Michael Jackson, but Jeff Pearlman does.
The definitive NBA draft diary. Let’s just say Simmons and I disagree dramatically about Tyreke Evans.
Matt Yglesias has a contrarian, but somewhat sensible, take on Minnesota buying point guards like they’re hamburger buns.
Because lists are good fun, here’s one man’s top 50 players […]

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Just because it’s an obvious idea doesn’t mean it’s not a good one: “Remembering Harry Kalas - Wonderful Stories from Friends Celebrating a Great Life” is a new book I’d recommend even if Friend of BPR Gordie Jones wasn’t involved in the project. It includes remembrances from everyone from Harry’s kids to a frat brother […]

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Here’s a list of the NBA’s all-time top 50 players by Slam magazine. It’s easy to quibble and there are one or two obvious howlers (Dennis Rodman but not Bill Walton or Pete Maravich?) but overall, it’s a better list than I expected. Dissent welcome.
As of Wednesday night, the “aftershow” part of Artie Lange’s hideous/spectacular performance […]

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*Sporting News Today is an e-mail quasi newspaper they deliver to your inbox everyday for free. It’s an interesting experiment, like a new-age version of the beloved National in some ways. It’s worth checking out; lots of information, although not enough in-depth stuff and real writing for my tastes.  
I bring this up because they cover […]

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Today’s Sunday News column, plus a couple additions observations at the bottom:
 The Phillies’ Raul Ibanez has 21 home runs through Friday, among overall offensive numbers that, if the season ended today, would make him a serious candidate for National League MVP.
He’s 37, and has never hit more than 33 homers in a season, and more […]

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Welcome to the latest attempt to revive this blog, which, it’s fair to say, is now on life support, a victim of shocking neglect…. It’s not that I’m in any way “Old Media,” or anti-blog or any of that nonsense. I’m just too dim, unfocused, disorganized, lazy….
It’s been a fun read so far, hasn’t it?
The […]

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You have to start, of course, with The Voice.
A football coach - I think it was his college coach - once famously said of Walter Payton, “What God had in mind there was a football player.”
When He made Harry Kalas, what God had in mind was a broadcaster. Try to hear him in your head […]

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This really is one of the best sports days of the year, the culmination of The Madness plus real Opening Day for baseball.
I say real Opening Day because of what an abomination it is that ESPN messes things up by pushing a game to Sunday. This is the day you call in sick (if you work […]

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