About the only thing that Chuck LaMar ever did for the Rays was establish a floor of incompetency that the present ownership and management have done yeoman work climbing up from (oops- preposition! Can't even write about LaMar without lapsing into lameness!!) This is the guy who thought that combining the super powers of a washed-up Fred McGriff, a 'roided-up Jose Canseco, a one-season wonder like Greg Vaughn, and a power-threat-above-5,000-feet-only like Vinnie Castilla would be a GOOD idea. Whatever successes the Rays have had lately in player personnel have come mostly from deep selections (like Shields and Sonnanstine) whose overlooked talents were recognized by later, more able leadership; wise trades of broken, spare, or maladjusted parts (see: Young, Zambrano, or Dukes), and wise use of high picks earned by years of managerial buffoonery. The only thing Chuck LaMar "earned" here was a trip outta town; let's hope he hasn't finished crapping up the Phillies, just in case our Rays see them in the Series!!

It's apparent that the difference in this ALCS, versus last year or 2004, is that this year's Red Sox team is the one that's hurt, aging, and/or depleted. Ramirez was a cancer in the clubhouse (and will be again, for anybody unwise enough to overspend for him), but there's no denying his ability, when he felt like playing hard, and Bay's no substitute. Lowell is a huge loss, Wake sucks, and Ortiz is clearly playing hurt. Much as I loves my Rays, they're not this good- they just caught Boston at exactly the right time. But the Sox are smart enough, and financially sound enough, to reload quickly; the next few years in the AL East are gonna be fun.

You're in the tank for Hillary, and don't like Obama no matter what he says, does, or (especially) looks like. So is it just black guys you hate, or all guys?

Hopefully all of the remaining PUMAs like you will put aside your blind loyalty to your candidate, and recognize that the good of the country requires that we all get behind the better candidate. That's clearly Obama in this race. Let's hope that a vast, tamperproof majority of voters realizes that on Nov. 4.

Congratulations to A-Rod on coming clean (at least partially, and only because he's caught and he knows it). My question is, so what? Why should anybody care that an adult athlete chooses to risk his health by using a performance enhancing drug? If he wants to risk his health in order to enhance his performance, thereby entertaining me more, he should be applauded for taking the hit. If I wanted to see a bunch of weak, slow, mediocre ballplayers sucking around, I'd go over to the community center and watch rec ball. For major-league ticket prices, I want to see the best players in the world, playing at their peak performance levels. The "cheaters" chose to offer that to me; thanks, guys! The rest of you hypocrites (admit it, you loved Mac and Sosa in '98!) need to just mind your own business.

This is a story about a marriage between a British woman and a Brazilian man; shouldn't it be in the "foreigners talk about love" section?

"Ms. McFadden, it seems obvious at this point that you're never going to be lead anchor, even for that crappy, third-rate network you work for. Do you ever feel like you're missing something?"

Doing so would infringe on the GOP's patent!

Read some of rockybalboa's other contributions to the culture. Dude, you are one scary SOB.

Wow, when you're getting mocked by flacks from the OMB, that's harsh! Just because it's the same bilge that the Goppers have been peddling for 30 years (cut rich peoples' taxes, screw everybody else), that's no reason to mock...oh, wait, that's EXACTLY a reason to mock.

There's a kind of freedom in being totally screwed...because you know things can't get any worse.

Given that an estimated 15% of the US population is suffering from some form of mental illness (diagnosed or not), I wonder: is the US House of Representatives maybe a little bit too representative? Maybe we should require candidates to disclose their MMPI results along with their financial disclosure forms.

Why is anybody still listening to that Rove guy? He's a professional liar. The only difference between him and a convicted perjuror like Scooter Libby is the conviction (and one day, hopefully, even that won't separate them). Faux is the only employer left out there for prevaricating, out-of-work Rethuglicans. Let 'em rant, and ignore their nonsense.

Gosh, I just can't wait to learn about what Bobby Jingles (or, at least, his ghostwriter) has to say. Waddaya bet it'll be a Pop-Up book (maybe with Satan springing out of his old girlfriend's soul, or something!)

Ari, it's so much worse than you can imagine!! Did you know that rich people pay over 97% of the taxes on polo pony feed in this country? And poor folks, on average, contributed less than 0.0015% of the cost of your old boss's Presidential "library" (you like how I misspelled lieberry there?) It's shocking what these damn indigents get away with! Thanks for exposing them!!

Cramer only seems to have two schticks: crazy-ass ranting and righteous, though totally misplaced, anger. Since Beck seems to be infringing on the crazy-ass routine (although Cramer's back to overblown pimping of dubious investments again, too) he'll try option #2. The guy's dead- as an "investment advisor", a pundit, and even as an entertainer- and appears to be the last to know it. As usual.

So, by "our enemies", is Lieberman referring to the Obama administration, the Democratic Party, or the American people as a whole? He can't be referring to al-Qaeda or affiliated organizations. After all; releasing such documents won't benefit them by spoiling the "surprise" value to them at all, since Lieberman's actual constituency (namely, the Israeli government) has been using such tactics on "terrorists" (such as the Palestinians protesting against their illegal settlements) for decades.