pipGofern

Five game series should never be allowed. They're unnatural and run contrary to the spirit of of baseball. In fact, Grandpa Bud should immediately declare any 5th consecutive game against the same opponent violates the integrity of the game and the results of said game are thus null and void.

And yet they held on to Rios and/or Ramirez like they were precious gold. The Pirates GM visited the booth yesterday and said this was the worst trading deadline he's seen in 20 years. Part of it is the second Wild Card giving teams just barely hanging around a chance to sell their fans on a "race" but the other seems to be teams like the Sox or Phillies or Giants were asking astronomical prices for their players because despite having no shot at the playoffs this year, they apparently think a couple off-season moves and they'll be right back on top next season.I blame the Red Sox. Nobody believes in the concept of the gradual rebuild anymore.

"The path of the righteous man is beset on all sides by the inequities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men. Blessed is he who, in the name of charity and good will, shepherds the weak through the valley of the darkness. For he is truly his brother's keeper and the finder of lost children. And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger those who attempt to poison and destroy my brothers. And you will know I am the Lord when I lay my vengeance upon you."

The Bucs have long coveted Stanton. After seeing Miami this past weekend, they actually have a really good core of young talent. Stanton is a perfect central foundation upon which to build so as much as I wish we'd acquire him, Miami would be insane to trade him.According to MLBTradeRumors, the Bucs also tried to pry Trumbo from LA. Our farm has 3-4 stud pitching prospects and I'm glad that instead of pissing them away on some assclown like Bud Norris or washed up bum like Alex Rios, they're only willing to cash them in on a young controllable elite power hitter.

I'm probably the only one but I loved the 90s Flash show. I even bought the super-expensive complete first season box set. Rewatching it recently, the show got off to a rocky start by trying to toe the line between Batman '66 and Burton Bats and trying to force feed us a romantic subplot between Barry and Amanda Pays' character (which the producers eventually realized was a non-starter because they brought in the hottie from the movie "Just One Of The Guys" by season's end) but by the tail end of the season when they started digging into the Rogue's Gallery - Mark Hamill's great second ep as Trickster, Captain Cold, Mirror Master - the show was getting really good. I think it would've picked up steam had there been a second season. I look forward to what Berlanti would do with a new Flash show (although it'll probably be CSI crossed with superheroics) because he's done a tremendous job with Arrow. It doesn't get talked about much here but I thought Arrow's first season was fantastic. The Villain of the Week rut made the first 8-9 episodes pretty unmemorable but once they brought in Slade (the actor playing him is awesome), Roy Harper, and expanded Barrowman's role, everything began to click. I'm really looking forward to season 2 even though for some reason they're bringing in the Sci-Fi Kiss of Death, Summer Glau. I hope when they eventually get around to a Justice League movie they let Stephen Amell cross over in a small supporting role ala Hawkeye in "Avengers." If nothing else, he looks kinda like Chris Evans and is way more physically imposing than Jeremy Renner.

The Cardinals trip to Pittsburgh thus far in one gif:

Baseball really needs to address the piss poor umpiring this winter. AJ Burnett strikes a guy out but the ball ricochets off the batter's foot which is somehow missed by the entire umpire crew and in the resulting confusion the batter ends up at 2nd on a bogus WP. The very next pitch is a close pitch called a ball and AJ throws up his hands leading to the UMP charging the mound in mouth frothing anger. Thankfully, justice prevailed and AJ got out of it.

I guess I'll be the guy who has to flip the intention of a thread in order to pimp his choice (and then is beaten to posting it by 30 seconds by Jaed): Best behind the scene doc about making a movie I ever saw was Lost In La Mancha. It's about Terry Gilliam and Johnny Depp's ill-fated attempt to make a Don Quixote movie. The reason I say it flips the intention of thread is that while it starts as a behind the scenes "making of," the movie ultimately never gets made due to about a billion catastrophes, all of which the doc chronicles in great detail. My second favorite is Overnight. Again, it might not be exactly what you're looking for. It follows Troy Duffy through the process of selling the script and securing production for Boondock Saints. Duffy is such a magnificent asshole that you quickly figure out why he was a one-movie wonder while also getting a glimpse of what kind of Bizzaro World exists out in La-La Land.

I'm a lifelong Bucs fan. I've been guardedly optimistic through the first 100 games but at this point I think the sample size is large enough to relax and admit we have a pretty good team. As for the playoffs, I think this upcoming 5 game series (yes, FIVE game series) against the Cardinals will be the litmus test for how realistic their playoffs chances are. If they hold their own against St. Louis (say a 3-2 split either way), I think they'll maintain pace for the Wild Card while hanging around the division lead. If they get absolutely hammered, though, then we might be worried about yet another second half collapse (although I still think they'll break .500). In any case, at least it's fun to follow baseball in Pittsburgh again even though this city's notorious bandwagon fans have started jumping aboard the wagon leading to 2 hours of asinine sports talk radio on my drive home. Nothing like hearing from people who started watching the team last year call in and be like, "If they don't trade Jameson Taillon and Gregor Polanco for Alex Rios, it's because Nutting is cheap and they don't want to win!!!" I would seriously love for there to be a Rays-Pirates World Series, though. I'm 99.9% convinced if that were to come to pass, Fox would just show a tape of the 2009 Yanks-Phils Series and relegate this year's games to Fox Sports One.

Continuing with the wrestling theme, I'm sure I wasn't the only one who noticed Adam Jones handing Cespedes a replica WWE belt after winning the Home Run Derby. Between Aaron Rodgers carrying around a title belt, the Heat wearing them last year and now this, I have to think sooner or later one of these sports leagues is going get sick of giving WWE free publicity and realize guys would rather have a blinged out belt than some goofy phallic baseball bat trophy. Just commission a Slam Dunk champion or Home Run Derby championship belt already. Trophies are so 2005.

Playing "Enter the Sandman" right after that horrid "Sweet Caroline" made it seem like the greatest run in ever. If only Joe Buck has 1/8 of the passion of Good Ol JR.

In yet another instance of Canada's superior medical system, they already have the toxicology results in (whereas similar deaths here in the US always seem to take a week or two to get the results). Looks like the drug of choice was heroin. http://tv.yahoo.com/blogs/tv-news/cory-monteith-cause-of-death-revealed-210422758.html I quit watching Glee after the abysmal second season but I liked Monteith and hoped he would enjoy a nice career as a sitcom actor (he was far better at comedy than drama). Speaking of Glee, I heard most of the original cast "graduated" but they still kept the cast on in various supporting roles. Was the Finn-Rachel thing even a big part of the show any more?