There's a lot of talk about how Reid and/or Pelosi must have some hidden, flawed strategy that is guiding their thinking and their repeated capitulations to GOP/Bush demands. Perhaps the answer is much simpler than that.

Perhaps Pelosi and Reid simply are not terribly clever people. I realize it's counter-intuitive to think that anybody could be outwitted by W, but perhaps that's the best explanation.

I have yet to see any real proof to the contrary.

the unfrozen caveman lawyer would mop the floor with Ugg.

You guys really think a letter calling the Red Sox "douchebags" qualifies as "Editor's Choice"?

Classy move, guys.

Do you think somebody should explain to Shooter why it's inappropriate for a member of the military to ack like a partisan hack, even if he's being criticized by partisan hacks? How the military is supposed to be non-political?

No, why bother.

Nice job. The starting rotation, which had been somewhat inconsistent in the second half of the season, gelled remarkably in the postseason. Beckett suddenly was pitching like he did in his prior World Series and not like the gopher ball artist he was in 2006. Schilling pitched well - not as dominating as in 2001 or 2004, but pretty well nonetheless. Dice-K found enough energy in his tired arm to give two stellar 5+inning starts. And of course Jon Lester's story is miraculous.

I don't know what to say about the 1-sided series. I do know that last year, everybody was writing off the NL altogether and then the Cardinals won. Even though it seems the AL is much stronger, the NL has won 3 of the last 7.

I do think that MLB has to get rid of the "all star game determines home field advantage in the WS" rule. It's really quite silly. It was a stunt to divert attention from the Tie Game a few years back, but it's pretty much run out its usefulness.

The Rockies' brilliant run was pretty much fated to end, and having a week off before the WS killed their energy. As King says, there is going to be some kind of gap when one LCS is a sweep and the other goes seven games.

I don't care so much about the off days, but I do wish that some of the games would be played while the sun was shining. Baseball is a game that should be played in the sun when it's warm, not in the cold dark when it's freezing.

If ratings go up after 11, perhaps the networks should start the games after 11, thereby maximizing their high exposure time.

What's that? This is a fallacious argument? People are tuning in more late because it's the end of the game?

Wouldn't that be true if the games started earlier?

The real problem is not when the games start and it's not, as MLB officials tried to convince a few years back, pitchers and batters taking too much time with adjustments between pitches. The real problem is the length of the commercial breaks. Night games started at approximately the same time back in the 70s but they finished earlier because the commercial breaks were shorter.

Shhhh...we're supposed to pretend this problem is an insoluble fact of life.

Also, baseball should have day games on weekends. There's no reason not to. There wouldn't be any problem with bedtimes and kids watching the games would become real fans. The NFL playoffs are during the day and, curiously enough, the NFL is the most popular league in the US.

Oh - that's it, isn't it? MLB is afraid of taking on the NFL directly on a Sunday afternoon, for fear that the ratings for the World Series would lose to Week 8 of the NFL. That would be humiliating!

Buffalonian: a lot of teams have "pitching prospect" + "centerfielder". Why would the Twins take that for Santana? What if the Red Sox offered, say, Ellsbury + Buchholz? Like King says, it would have to be more than that. Also, the Twins would have to be willing to wave farewell to their fan base for 2008.

In the bigger picture, it's always amusing how, every winter, the typical Yankees fan starts treating the rest of the league like their farm system. Usually this involves completely ludicrous trade possibilities ("We'll trade Robinson Cano for Prince Fielder!") that nobody outside the Five Boroughs thinks are even moderately realistic. I really think the Yankees would be better off following the 90s model, and not the model of the 80s which they have reverted to in recent years. Putting together an expensive all-star team every year is a high-risk strategy for the Yankees, and it hasn't had a lot of success. For every Reggie Jackson the Yankees bring in there are two high-priced failures. Getting rid of ARod is the smartest thing the Yankees have done in years. If you wait a year, you'll definitely get Santana because nobody would be able to match your numbers when he becomes a free agent.

Nulla: if you don't want to read Schilling's blog, don't read it! If you don't want to hear about it, think about us: we certainly don't want to hear about how you don't want to hear about it. That topic is completely uninteresting for everybody.

As to the ARod situation: the Red Sox have won two World Series without him. I don't think he's a good value for the price. But I think the Angels have a far greater need for his bat than the Sox do, so he'll end up there.

will be the first.