Hello,

First off, great blog and (mostly) sharp, eloquent community here.  Really sweet niche of the internet y'all have carved out.

I'm a lifelong and die-hard Mets fan, 25 years old.  I started really getting into baseball around the beginning of the 1990s, so my most hated enemy (even before the goddamn Brave started their whole million-year reign) was the Pirates.  I don't remember much about the specific players from back then, I just remember hating and being frustrated by everything related to the Pittsburgh Pirates.  As they began to fade, I took some joy in it, and they gradually faded from my mind.  They were a non-entity.  As I said, my Mets-related annoyances shifted mostly to the Mets themselves and to Atlanta.

Over the last 4-5 years, I've developed what started as an interest in the Pirates.  I'm personally curious about how teams that are so down go about rebuilding themselves, what the steps they feel are necessary to go from their current place to becoming a World Series quality team.  It was a bit nauseating to see the Littlefield era, to see a person who really believed those transactions he made would eventually lead to a title. 

I love what Neal Huntington has done.  Most agree that rebuilding requires risks on prospects as a first step, but it takes real balls to follow through and tear down the wreckage completely for such a risk.  No World Series team will feature any of the Pirates traded away as more than supplements (though I suppose if Gorzo really puts it together, he can be a #2 on a top team).  Tremendous respect his way.

The Mets are still my deep love, but I actually find myself actively listening to Pirates games sometimes now too, rooting for them, following them here and on WHYGAVS among other places.  The last few days of listening to NY sports radio have pushed me over the edge.  I don't know why, but the little asides the hosts toss towards Pittsburgh drive me nuts ("They traded more starters away... boy, they are just lost right now."  "MLB should do something about this." "Jesus, the Pirates are just giving players away now.") 

It's not like it's my team or anything, but I hope everything pans out for you guys.  I hope all the prospects you picked up to develop into solid major leaguers, that Milledge and McCutcheon and Alvarez can become a savage-slugging core, that Alderson and Duke put it together to lead a top-notch rotation.  I hope that Huntington can keep getting rid of dead weight as it reveals itself.  I hope that Huntington drafts more wisely than certain previous Pirates GMs, and that the farm system grows strong and stable.  I hope that once a major league core emerges, Nutting will have the good will to open up the purse strings and supplement that core with appropriate free agents whose names don't rhyme with Yeromy Zermitz or .  And if that all happens, then I hope the guys on the field play both well and lucky, and get the hardware that goes with it.  

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As long as its not at the expense of my Mets, but still.  Sorry for the way-too-long post.  Good luck, don't let the haters get you down.  Hope our teams meet in an NLCS before too too long.

p.s. I can get from context what a "yinzer" is, but where does that term come from?

Not a terribly exciting game tonight,but this was my first game seen in Minnesota.  Some highly anecdotal notes and generalizations:

1) The T'Wolves are so nondescript that all the home arena's attempts to get the crowd excited I think are secretly making fun of that shitfest. 

2) Whenever Craig Smith scored, the announcer would scream "THE RHINO!!!!!!!!!!!!"  If you went to Sacramento or Indiana and asked, "Which NBA player is known as 'The Rhino?' where do you think Craig Smith would fall on the list of responses? 

3) There's a feature that I guess they have every gameday called "IS RYAN GOMES RIGHT?" (Might've been Randy Foye, can't remember.)  It's a game where they ask Ryan Gomes a random question, he gives an answer, and the lucky fan has to say whether Ryan is right or wrong.  Tonight, Ryan was asked what the highest mountain in the world is.  He answered 'Mount Everest,' and the fan correctly guessed that Ryan was right.

Riveting theater all.

4) Speaking of which, I haven't been at a basketball game in a while, so this might be the rule, but I felt like this was more an infomercial than a basketball game.  Every timeout, there was some wacky event or feature.  Are they afraid that if they shut the fuck up for twenty seconds, everyone will bolt the building?

5) Brian Cardinal looks like he's 52.  I think he'll have a promising acting career someday, launched when he takes the Woody Harrelson role in a 20-years-later sequel: "White Men Can't Jump 2: Jump of Doom"

6) Shitty crowd.  This might be the elitist New Yorker in me coming out, but at MSG, I remember the people around me screaming at Francis (yes, it was that long ago) for not moving better off the ball and being lazy in his screens.  Here, whoever happened to show up was talking on cellphones, staring like zombies, or sometimes screeching when the HOWL-O-METER came up as Nate shot free throws.

Final note: for all the ripping I've just done on non-basketball activities, there was one winner.  At halftime, they pulled a woman from the crowd, blindfolded her in the middle of the court, and made her crawl around on all fours trying to find Crunch the Wolf to recycle a bottle or something.  She must have been crawling around for a good three minutes with the suddenly alive Target Center screaming and cheering and booing as she frantically tried to find the giant wolf.  Her prize when she eventually grabbed his leg was a year's therapy, I hope.

Knicks won so it's all good.

-tck

Hello,

I'm a die-hard Mets fan, but still like to read this board from time to time.  Lots of fun, particularly well-written, and I bear no ill will towards the Nats.

I just heard a report on WFAN in New York that Jim Bowden is resigning.  I don't know if this is confirmed or not, but if it is, let me be the first to congratulate you.  Hopefully whoever comes in will kick ass, take names, and make the Nats a stable and strong franchise from A-level to MLB.  I know such wouldn't be good for the Mets, but would make the NL East stronger as a whole.

Plus, anything that detracts from the Phillies win total gets a gold star in my book.

Best,

twincitiesknick

Hi,

Now that Lee and Nate will be likely be here as restricted free agencies, I'm getting nervous that some team like the Bobcats, Thunder, or T-Wolves will make a massive offer on one of these two.  Such a move would probably be stupid for them, but such stupidity would be just as bad for the Knicks.

So my question is: how far would you go to keep these?  What is the maximum contract that you'd decide to match?  What is the minmum contract you'd say "Take him, goodbye and good luck?"

-twincitiesknick

...and saw who is up next.  Our foes of old, our ancient nemeses, the team with whom we have had so many epic playoff battles over the last 50-60 years.  The Charlotte Bobcats.

At least for this year's series we have the Roberson - Morrison's Hair matchup, and the Curry v. May Mustard Belt competition to keep an eye on.  Must See TV.

p.s.  Barnesgasm, if you are still suffering from PTSD from your close encounter with Ol' Man Splithoof, the P&T community is here for you.

Hey,

I'm a lifelong Knicks fan who just moved to Minnesota.  I usually listened to the Knicks on the radio when I lived in Brooklyn, but always just by... you know... turning on the radio.  What's the best way to get the Knicks from a distance?  Do I have to pay for something from knicks.com?  Can I stream radio for the games, or are those screened out from being broadcast online?

Thanks,

tck

Here it goes.  If you happen to be watching the television broadcast or listening to the radio broadcast, listen for the announcers describing the value of experience.  This includes such phrases as  "They just know how to win" or "They've been here before" on the Red Sox side or "This is clearly new territory" / "They're still just happy to be here" regarding the Rays.

Every time you hear these, pour yourself a shot of drain cleaner, and drink.