Discuss the gamez.

Share your best three photos, or more if you feel like it. And yammer on about F-Stops if you wish.

Let's see which teams came to play football and which are giving 110%.

Discuss.

It's quiet out there, but there are a few droppings from the national media, of all places.

Baltimore Orioles Turn to Dan Duquette to Turn Around Moribund Franchise
The NY Times weighs in on DD.

New Baltimore Orioles GM Dan Duquette among group headed to GM meetings in Milwaukee - NY Daily News
".... signing Prince Fielder or the Norfolk, Va.-born Cuddyer would go a long way toward giving the O’s instant credibility with their disillusioned fans." Even the national media are too lazy to see how O's fans really feel. Instant credibility? For real?

Showalter: 'It's all about the pitching' – USATODAY.com
It's a USA Today article, so don't expect any surprises.

In ancient times...

Hundreds of years before the dawn of history....lived a strange race of people... the Druids.

No one knows who they were or what they were doing. But their legacy remains. Hewn into the living rock... of Open Thread.

You know the drill. Also, feel free to caption this picture. 

(Note: Posted this in the open thread already, but decided to give it its own space.)

If this Boston Herald article is to believed, the O’s made an offer to Duquette last night. If this is true, and they want to be ready for the start of business Monday, then an announcement will probably be forthcoming late morning. I suspect Duquette left the room last night with the deal he wanted, and told them he just wanted to "sleep on it." By waiting until 11 or 12, he doesn’t appear desperate. The O’s then call a presser for this afternoon.

Or maybe none of this happens. But I wouldn’t be surprised at all if he’s in place by the end of the day.

The more I read around the interwebz this morning, the more I like the Duquette choice.

There was always an appeal to having a 35-40-year old stathead running the show, but it’s not a shock that Angelos wouldn’t give up complete autonomy. So for a team that’s reeling as much as this one is, what’s the next best model to go after?

Continue reading this post »

Talk about the games, the pick 'em. You know, anything football related—except that fantasy crap.

Here's your quick-hit roundup of the last 24 hours:

LaCava exit would 'sting' - sportsnet.ca
Alex Anthopoulos: "If for whatever reason Tony wasn’t here, it would be a very, very massive loss that would sting incredibly well. … It’s not like you have a player, you’re going to lose him to free agency, you’ve got someone to step in. You don’t replace Tony LaCava. We wouldn’t have anybody to step into the role."

Mining the Baltimore Orioles roster for Buck’s nuggets | Through The Fence Baseball
"The Orioles are now at least competent in five positions. I know that sounds pathetic to a non-Oriole follower, but at least the days of Deivi Cruz and Marty Cordova seem to be behind us."

Orioles Insider: Should Buck Showalter add an ex-Oriole to his 2012 staff? - baltimoresun.com
As of this posting, you could be the first to comment! But only if you haven't used up your page views.

Willie Randolph will not return to O's coaching staff | MLB.com: News
Britt's party-line article about the non-renewal of Willie Randolph.

School of Roch: Leftovers for breakfast
Roch says: Don't expect any GM developments this weekend, the faves are still D-Backs' Jerry Dipoto, Jays' Tony LaCava and Marlins' Dan Jennings. Also, John Stockstill is in Japan scouting Nippon-Ham Fighters pitcher Yu Darvish. I think they should drop the hyphen and become the Nippon Ham Fighters. Wouldn't that be cool? GO HAM FIGHTERS! 

Okay boys, gather around here and listen up. We're shuttin' it down, Open Thread's here to mop up. 

Today's clippings are brought to you by a couple of old farts who used a telegraph to transmit our clippings into the central switching station.

Recaps of last night's debacle from The Sun, the Other Sun, and just for kicks, Reuters.

Orioles introduce Dylan Bundy to Baltimore - baltimoresun.com
Bundy is excited to get back on the mound, blah blah blah. Plus injury updates (Roberts is long-tossing!), and callup speculation (VandenHurk! Accardo!). -zk

Baltimore Orioles revert to losing ways - ESPN
Jerry Crasnick sums it all up quite nicely. Except when he says MacPhail "...impressed the fan base by bringing in Vladimir Guerrero, Derrek Lee and other veterans...." I don't believe anyone was impressed by those moves. Not even the folks who said signing Vlad wouldn't hurt us (I was one of them, and I stand by that assertion). -zk

MLB - Baseball Prospectus on the impact of Orioles' deficient defense - ESPN
"Baseball Prospectus takes a look at the Orioles' deficient defense and analyzes its impact on the team's cadre of young pitching. The good news: It's fixable." Note: This is ESPN Insider, so someone with an account will have to login and explain how the 'good news' part works. -zk

School of Roch: Showalter and Reyes speak after 13-0 loss
Is Buck taking a quiet swipe at Andy? Re: Henderson Alvarez, he says, "You can see why they're excited about him. Another product of what they've been doing internationally, in Venezuela. He had command on both sides of the plate and a lot of great life, the ball running around. He was pretty impressive." Maybe I'm just reading too much into it. -zk

MacPhail likely done as O's GM - Baltimore Sports | Examiner.com
Some guy in the Examiner manages to pen an entire article about a one-sentence speculation: that Showalter may want 63-year-old John Hart, former Rangers GM, to replace MacPhail when Andy bolts. -zk

cOnstructed with financial assistance
The Wayward Oriole reports, via his Grandma, that Ed Smith Stadium may be used to house SarsOta's homeless population. -zk

Former Oriole and car-jumper Joey Gathright left the Yuma Scorpions to play in Pawtucket. Oh, and the Yankees got whipped by the Sox last night. Gee, I bet the Bombers could use a day off. Too bad. -zk

Wieters sits with discomfort in quad | orioles.com: News
"He had a little, we think, it was a cramp, a little quad discomfort, after the last tour of the bases," Showalter said of Wieters. "We knew he wasn't going to catch today or tomorrow [afternoon], one of the two games. So we gave him an extra day. He came in today feeling pretty good, all things considered. So, we will err on the side of caution there." Bear Bryant would have had him doing wind sprints in the desert. Kids today, I swear.  -duck

Orioles Insider: Gonzalez has 'mixed reaction' to trade to Rangers
“It’s kind of a mixed reaction for me right now,” Gonzalez told reporters after cleaning out his locker in the Orioles clubhouse. “I’m excited. I’m going to go out there and I’m going to try to win a championship now, especially right now that I’m feeling good. That bad part is, obviously, I wanted to do more here in Baltimore. … I wish I would have been able to do better for the fans and things like that, but it is what it is.” You know, Mike, so do we. So do we. -duck

Phail-ure to launch: Orioles go nowhere | The Daily Times
"Should the MacPhail era end, I guess the question is, Was it successful?" Hmm. We're almost 30 games out of first place. I'm going with "No." -duck

Last-place Orioles remain stuck in familiar late-season rut - MLB - CBSSports.com Baseball
"Developing young pitching is a process," Showalter says. "Old scouts used to tell you it would be three years before you really know what you have. "I went through this in Texas with C.J. Wilson, and in New York with Andy Pettitte, and I can go on and name you about 20 more names." Any of those 20 names available for next year's rotation? -duck

HG: Can't lay that off in time. A bet like that could break us.
DL: Not only are you an Open Thread, you're a gutless Open Thread as well.
HG: What are the odds?
EN: Four to one.
HG: Take it! Take all of it!

Airdate: June 17, 2011

O's up 5-0 in the fifth.

Yesterday, I mocked the Orioles relentlessly in this space, intimating that there was little chance of them being competitive. They responded with a phenomenal performance with unheralded types such as Jake Fox and Mark Reynolds providing offense, and 3E1N having a spectacular outing.

So like Nuke LaLoosh avoiding sex with Annie, I'm not going to mess with a streak.

Although primarily used as a reliever this year, Andy Sonnanstine has a 2.87 ERA and a WHIP of 1.27. He will probably be masterful today.

Jake Arrieta is 0-1 lifetime versus Tampa Bay, with a 6.35 ERA. He will probably suck today.

Matt Wieters, who will be back in the lineup, is hitting .227 on the road this year. He will probably suck as well today.*

The Orioles are 3-9 in series finales, and 1-4 in series finales on the road. They will probably suck balls a lot today.

Winner of this game takes a 1-game lead in the season series.

Ummm, Go Orioles?

*Please ignore Wieters' career slash line of .340/.395/.505 against the Rays.

Orioles 6, Rays 0

I missed most of this game, so I can't write a proper recap. And nobody else wanted to kill their Saturday night doing it either. If someone wants to come along and tart this up, be my guest. Or you can read the TSN Recap. 

Suffice to say that, just as we have all come to expect, Brad Bergesen dominated the Rays tonight with a complete game shutout, and Mark Reynolds and Jake Fox showed off their usual fireworks with the longball—just as they always do.....Bwahahahaha!

The line on Bergy: 

9 IP, 0 ER, 4H, 1BB, 5K. He threw 103 pitches, 68 for strikes. Tampa Bay was shutout for the first time this year. 

The season series between these teams is now tied at 4-4. Jake Arrieta will face Andy Sonnanstine in the rubber game tomorrow at 1:40 PM EDT.

UPDATE: I still didn't watch this game, but it does seem that some folks started to hit a little. Every starter but Luuuke and JJ got a hit, and Roberts, Markakis, Vladdy, and Aj all had multiple-hit games. So that's nice.

The gods of the diamond deemed that the Orioles need a little more time to think about how pathetic they've been, so their Saturday matinee against the Rays has a late-afternoon start.

Die-hard baseball fans everywhere won't want to miss today's compelling rematch between Brad Bergesen and Wade Davis. These two titans squared off last Sunday in Baltimore and produced a spectacular affair that will be discussed for the ages. Davis lasted for five full innings, giving up 3 earned runs on 5 walks and 4 hits! Not to be outdone, Bergesen went an unholy four and two-thirds innings (!), giving up 5 earned runs on 2 walks and 9 hits! I expect MASN's ratings to reflect a suitable spike today. (Note: snark aside, Wade Davis is actually a pretty good pitcher. On the plus side for the Birds, he uses his right hand to throw the ball.)

To further whet your appetite for spectacular baseball, Jake Fox will be sitting in for Matt Wieters today. According to Roch, "Fox's game-calling has come into question, to put it mildly. You've heard manager Buck Showalter talk about bad 'pitch sequences.' You've seen instances where Fox and the starter haven't been on the same page."

In the four games that Fox has started at catcher this year, the Orioles have given up 32 runs. Woo-hoo!

After last Sunday's loss to complete Tampa Bay's sweep, Nick Markakis said, "It's definitely frustrating. We know what kind of ball clubs we are up against. We're just not getting the job done."; and Brian Roberts added, "It's one of those stretches where we can't seem to get the big hit, we can't seem to get the big out," Roberts said. "We can't seem to do a whole lot right, to tell you the truth."

Well boys, it's a week later. And last night, I didn't see anything to indicate you've figured out how to play like major leaguers just yet.

Ummmmm, go O's?

Continue reading this post »

O's up 4-0 after 5-1/2.

Go O's!

Classic. Really not how I thought we'd kick off the season! At least Buck will be in uniform tonight. Sigh.

TAMPA BAY, FL — (AP)  Buck's mouth has gone off. Again. And this time, he's going to pay for it. 

 

MLB handed down a three-game suspension to Orioles manager Buck Showalter late Thursday night, citing his "inappropriate remarks" about Tampa Bay manager Joe Maddon. 

 

A spokesperson for the Orioles said the ruling will be appealed, and that Showalter will be in uniform and on the field for Baltimore's season opener against the Rays this evening, according to Roch Kubatko's MASN Twitter feed. 

 

The trouble stems from a heated interview with Kubatko on Thursday afternoon in which Showalter took aim at his counterpart's work habits and "style."

 

"There's a right way to approach this game—a tradition that honors it and respects it," he allegedly told Kubatko. "And Roch, you know as well as I do . . . Joe, he kinda likes to flout that tradition . . . He's a style guy, and he likes to act the fool. He kind of comes off as an [expletive] in person. I'm not a style guy, I'm a [expletive] hustle guy. You remember the whole hoodie thing with MLB last year? It's [nonsense] stuff like that." (Showalter was referring to an incident in April of last year in which MLB banned Maddon from wearing a hoodie sweatshirt during games.)

 

Maddon and the Rays front office declined to comment. But in a prepared statement, MLB Commissioner Bud Selig proclaimed, "No one manager is above the game. . . . Buck's a good friend of mine, and I understand what he's trying to do to motivate those kids down there [in Baltimore]. But there's a line he's been tiptoeing around, and this time he crossed it with these foolish remarks. A certain level of professional conduct is expected." 

 

Showalter initially raised eyebrows last week, causing a stir with his disparaging remarks in the April issue of Men's Journal about Red Sox GM Theo Epstein and Yankees infielder Derek Jeter. The story stayed alive for several news cycles, with talk radio lines lighting up and members of the media and all three rival clubs jesting with each other. By handing down such a harsh sentence, Selig appears to be trying to get ahead of the incident before it snowballs into a story that detracts from the opening of the 2011 MLB season. 

 

Reached for comment, Showalter was unapologetic, making further remarks about Maddon ("Who does he think he is with those glasses? Ghandi? He's fooling himself."), Toronto Blue Jays' GM Alex Anthopolous ("a snot-nosed kid"), and ex-Blue Jays manager Cito Gaston ("He's a fatass. And he still sucks."). He concluded by remarking, "It's just the first day of April here. We've got a long season in front of us, and the O's aren't going to put up with crap from anyone this year."

Source: Chicago Sentinel

It's 2-1 Rays after 4. You can excuse us for not putting up a ST gamethread on time when Ryan Drese is pitching. 

Listen on WBAL or MLB Gameday Audio if you are so inclined. 

In Brian Matusz' last outing, he gave up 2 hits and 2 runs in 2-1/3 IP, but was hilariously credited with a hold.  It's a split-squad game for Detroit, and I think they'll be starting Adam Wilk, who blah blah blah snzzzzzzzzz......

Honestly, do you care? April cannot come soon enough. But you can tune into today's game on WBAL if you live in Baltimore, and on MLB Gameday Audio if you are at-large. 

Lineups, per Roch:

In case you need to chat while you recover from your lost hour of sleep.

Gamethread will be up later for Matusz' 1:05pm start against the Tigers at Ed Smith. 

Note: A friend of mine (former writer for the Sun) forwarded this to me today, sent to him by an old Baltimore neighbor of his. Most of the current regulars are probably too young for it to be meaningful. But your parents will enjoy it, as will the old-timers who are on here. I recognize about 1/4 to 1/3 of this stuff, and it makes my heart fond. -zk

Remembering Baltimore...

Catholic school kids were separated at recess, boys on one side and girls on the other. The Farmers' Markets on Pulaski Highway and Ritchie Highway where we got the best BBQ chicken and your family dog.

You could only buy a Volvo from Michaelson Motors on Reisterstown Rd.; the best place to become a Chevrolet owner was at York and Bellona; Johnny's on Harford Rd. was the Walking Man's Friend; Granny Packer was on Blair Road; and "Hey, Hey, Fox Chevrolet" was just as annoying then as the car ads these days.

You rode on streetcars and buses operated by BTC (Baltimore Transit Company) and you remember when their color schemes went from yellow to green to blue. How about the old #26 Red Rockets, which were double cars that ran to Dundalk, Sparrows Point and also Bay Shore Park . We had three roller coasters in town years ago: Carlin's Park, Gwynn Oak Park, and Bay Shore Park. Did you get to ride on any or all of them? Or take a 'high-seas' cruise to Tolchester or Betterton?

You can sing the phone number for Hampden Moving and Storage. You remember Royal Parker yelling at kids jumping on furniture that was not covered in plastic... "what're ya trying to ruin it?"

You think being called 'Hon' by waitresses, cashiers, bank tellers, and complete strangers is perfectly normal. You found yourself cheering for the guys who added 'Hon' to the Welcome to Baltimore sign on the BW Parkway , especially after the Mayor got irked and staked out the sign to catch them.

You watched local TV shows: Duckpins for Dollars, The Collegians, Pinbusters, Buddy Deane Show, Romper Room, and Hutzler's Theatre. You also saw Stu Kerr star as Bozo the Clown and Professor Cool for the kids, then host Dialing for Dollars for the stay-at-home moms, and later fill-in as the weather man (complete with cloud and sun magnets) on the 6 o'clock news.

We had milk home-delivered by Green Spring, Sealtest, and Cloverland, but somehow Cloverland was the only one that claimed to be 'the dairy with cows.' Oh yeah, you can probably sing their jingle, "If you don't own a cow call Cloverland now; It's (North 9-2222)". Also Wilton Farm Dairy in West Baltimore . Don't forget to shake the bottle to mix the cream (which was always on top) in with the milk -- or pour it off carefully to lighten your coffee or tea. Going for a Sunday drive to get ice cream at Knox's, Murray 's, Sanders (The Dam Place ), or at Cloverland Farms on Dulaney Valley Rd. If you didn't have a car, there was always a walk to Arundel or High's. Or you could just stay home and wait for the bells of the Good Humor Man --------- wait a minute!

How about the pretty young Car Hops who served your order at The Varsity, Hobb's on old Route 40 in West Baltimore , and The Thunderbird on Eastern Avenue . Great hamburgers and shakes plus a great hang-out to show off your father's car. Bunny's on Pulaski Highway was home of The Thing -- if you ate it all you got it free. When somebody gave their phone number as MUlberry- 6 or ATwater-4 or TUxedo-9, you knew right where they were from.

You've been on Sunday drives through ' Droodle Park ' and watched the submarine races at Loch Raven or Lake Montebello . Also enjoyed the flowers and sites at Sherwood Gardens in the Springtime. How about Baltimore 's own Ronnie Dove?

We had a functioning light rail system. The city and adjoining counties were linked by streetcars which plied the tracks for 104 years before the buses ultimately won on November 3, 1963. Car drivers, bike riders, and pedestrians had to avoid streetcar tracks long after the streetcars were out of business. It took years to dig up the tracks, though some are still evident on paved-over cobblestone streets. Now we are spending a gazillion dollars trying to re-create the original version of light rail.

You can remember what the harbor looked like before it was THE Inner Harbor . If you ever had oysters at Conneley's you would not forget it.

They got them fresh every day when they were in season. You remember when there was home delivery of the Morning Sun, The Evening Sun, The Sunday Sun, The News-Post, and The Sunday American. The last two were later the News-American. And all long before the City Paper made its debut.

You looked forward to Earl Weaver antics over a bad call.... Okay, over any call. You remember: laughing at bawdy jokes and political comments scrawled in white shoe polish on the front window of Turkey Joe's Bar in Fells Point; eating at Pollack Johnnie's, Lexington Market, Attman's, Bel-Loc Diner, Cimino's, Little Tavern (buy'em by the bag), White Castle, the G & A, AJ's Dog House, Horn & Horn, Oriole Cafeteria, Bickford's,White Coffee Pot, Hot Shoppes, Ameche's, Gino's, Read's, Hooper's, and Silber's Bakery. You've seen the governor and other dignitaries standing in line, in the rain, outside of Haussner's, because they never took reservations.

You remember Friendship Airport (later BWI) and Harbor Field (now Dundalk Marine Terminal). You remember Mister Ray's Hair Weave commercials. How about Harley's late-night radio shows with his theme song "Sailing Down the Chesapeake Bay ".

You remember driving over the old Kent Narrows Drawbridge that snarled weekend traffic coming home from the Ocean. You remember 17-mile traffic backups coming back from Ocean City on holiday weekends.

You had plenty of friends who worked at Sparrows Point, and each had an ugly old 'point car' to drive to work. Everybody else (it seemed) worked for GM on Broening Hwy. , Western Electric, or National Brewery.

You know B&O is not body odor. You remember going to see the fabulous Fire Department Christmas Train Gardens . Fire House 28 on Guilford Ave. had a very big display. You remember when Fort Holabird was alive and thriving. You love to see the Domino Sugar sign reflecting across the harbor. You remember when Social Security moved out of the Candler Building to their new complex in Woodlawn.

You remember seeing the Four Seasons perform at Painters Mill or at Club Venus. You saw the Beatles, the Beach Boys, Dave Clark Five, the Rolling Stones, the Monkees, and Peter, Paul & Mary at the Civic Center . You saw Emerson, Lake , and Palmer at the Lyric. You saw Otis Reading, the Four Tops, and the Temptations at Calvert Hall. You didn't save a single program!

More Park's sausages Mom, please!

You remember the rotating restaurant on top of the Holiday Inn on Light Street . You've had the monster Powerhouse burger at one of four Ameche's Drive-ins, long before there was a McDonald's in sight. You could "Meet'cha at Ameche's" at Loch Raven and Taylor, 5800 Reisterstown Rd., 7700 Wise Av., or Ritchie Hwy. at 5th in Glen Burnie. All gone! A few years later you could also have a 15-cent burger at Gino Marchetti's or drive through the Circle for a Cheesy-Q. They're gone too!

You remember when the Baltimore Civic Center was home to the Baltimore Bullets, the Blast, the Clippers, as well as rock concerts, car shows, horse shows, civil-service exams, circuses, ice shows, and graduations.

Every kitchen had a can of Old Bay and every Frigidaire a case of Natty Boh. You remember when Baltimore rated a Playboy Club, and no, it wasn't on The Block.

You and your Mom shopped at Braeger-Gutman's, Hutzler's, Stewart's, Hochschild Kohn, Robert Hall, The May Company, Hecht's, Peck & Peck, Hamburger's, Epstein's, Woolworth's, S.S. Kresge, McCrory's, Ben Franklin, Dack's 5 &10, E.J. Korvettes, Two Guys, Cook's, Caldor, Hechinger's, and of course... Shockett's on Broadway or Eastern Avenue. Shopping on The Avenue meant Eastern Avenue in Highlandtown, unless of course you were from the other side of town. Then it was 36th St. Shopping on The Boulevard meant Washington Boulevard in Pigtown.

You've cruised Ameche's, the Circle, Champ's, and Topps parking lots on a week-end evening to see the muscle cars. You know that an Arabber is a guy who sells fruit and vegetables from a horse drawn cart.

You remember when the city po-leece cars went from black and white, to blue and white, then to all white with red and blue stripes. You know live crabs are at their very meanest right before steaming, and that if one gets you, he WILL NOT let go! You always knew where to find Blaze Starr. You know where ' Downey Ocean ' is, and remember where the Irish House was, plus the Beach Club and Jackson 's Casino at 9th Street and the Boardwalk.  The Blue Dalia was there a few years later on the south side of the intersection.

You remember a very green if not genetically Irish Hyman Pressman marching in the St. Patrick's Day parades, and Louis L. Goldstein with his immortal "God bless you all real good" wishes. You remember special deli shopping trips to Stone's Bakery, Jack's Corned Beef, Weiss Deli, and Attman's Deli on Lombard St. , right in the heart of the high rise projects. (This was called Jew Town and the sandwiches were tremendous.)

You remember the Gwynn Oak, Carlin's, and Bay Shore amusement parks. You know where to park for the Preakness. You don't think that Assawoman Bay is a strange name.

You are an expert crab picker who always volunteers to teach visitors the only (and best) way to pick a steamed crab. Of course everyone else around you will interrupt the lesson to show your new student their best way, and confusion will reign. This will never change!

You had to be ready to yell out your order at Captain Harvey's or risk jeers from all the longshoremen in line. You had to pull out the BS sign when Robert Irsay declared that he had to move (steal) the Colts from Baltimore because (he claimed) the city would not support a team. We didn't get to be the world's largest outdoor insane asylum for nothing.

The names of Johnny Unitas, Raymond Berry, Bill Pellington, Art Donovan, Tom Matte, Alan Ameche, Gino Marchetti, Jim Mutscheler, Lenny Moore, John Mackey, Big Daddy, Jimmy Orr, Bert Jones, Andy Nelson, Billy Pricer, Lydell Mitchell, John Dutton, Mike Barnes, Joe Ehrman, Fred Cook, and many others are held in reverence to this day! Won't support a team ...... hmmm!

Everybody knows what the 'zink' and 'payment' are, and just how important it is to 'warsh them marble stoops.' You yell out "O" during the Star Spangled Banner. And no matter where you are, you laugh when you see signs saying Maryland Crab Cakes!

You say ' Blare Road ' for Bel Air Road . There was Kirby Scott, Johnny Dark, Jack Edwards on WCAO, Jay Grason and Galen Fromm on WBAL, Lee Case on WCBM, Mike March, Johnny Walker, and the Flying Dutchman on WFBR, and Joe Buccheri on a variety of Classic Rock stations... to name but a few.

You were confused for a few years after they swapped one-way directions on Lombard and Pratt Streets. How about laughing to the Johnny Walker morning show on WFBR, and his risqué shows at the Barge?

You miss the RCA dog. You know the question is not about your college years when someone asks, "Where did you go to school?" You know which bridge they're talking about when someone says, "The bridge traffic is backed up."

You actually admire someone named 'Boog.' AND: You understand most of these, and pass them along to other Balti-morons to enjoy.