Was anyboday else as peeved by CBS's cut aways as I was?! Was the Gonzaga/Xavier game the only one plagued by this? I'm a Spokane native, so bias is definitely a factor here, but still--I was watching the Gonzaga game and was mildly annoyed when CBS cut away from live action to show a minute or so of the GW/NCW game during the first half. It's the Tournament, so I get that--we've all got a few bucks on the thing and it's good to know where we stand.

But in the second half it got completely out of control. Gonzaga trailed most of the second half, but they repeatedly got within 2 and threatened to reclaim the lead. In the midst of these rallies, CBS cut away several times--FOR MINUTES (yes plural) AT A TIME! At one point the Bulldogs trailed 61-63 and suddenly I'm watching George Washington and when they finally return to Salt Lake the score is 63-69. Some of this time I actually got to watch the Atlanta Regional teams stand on the sidelines during timeouts. Now THAT was thrilling!

Admitedly the GW game WAS exciting, and who doesn't love OT, but I wasn't watching THAT game. It is impossible to be dropped down into the middle of a contest and, despite the cheerleading that was Greg Gumble's transitional voiceover, suddenly be thrilled at what a great contest it is! All I know is that I was on the edge of my seat waiting to see if Xavier would brick or turn it over and--right in the middle of play--BANG I'm looking at the bizarre, pastel hardwood floor at UNC with no indication that we will ever return to Salt Lake.

If this is absolutely necessary (and I believe it is not--that's why god gave us Sports Center) how difficult would it be to do a split screen and show both contests instead of unilaterally forcing me to miss the game of my choice. I would expect this of Fox (of course they would only preempt the action for extra commercials!) but I don't expect this of CBS. I'll be writing them directly next, and if there's anyone that agrees with me please write to them yourselves.

Thanks!

As for me, I attended my first Portland Beavers AAA game of the season last Thursday night. I was surprised to see the pickets out front in support of the umpire's strike as I hadn't heard ANYTHING about it--and I read the local sports page everyday. Not that I scour it, but I read it.

As a generally union supporting kind of guy I had a brief moment of doubt about crossing the picket-line. But then I thought, "screw it. 1) I'm not here to look at umpires, I'm here to watch some baseball; 2) college umpires are probably just as good as minor leaguers; and 3) It's $2 dollar draft night!"

As an aside: if Portland believes it has a snowball's chance of scoring a major league team it needs to pull it's head out! Attendance was abysmal!!! How they think they can support a MLB team when they won't turn out for their AAA team, I have no idea!

Normally I would, out of hand, dismiss this much cynicicsm; but, dreser, I think you're on to something here. I hadn't given any thought to the distilled ramifications of international perception on this group or n'er do-wells.

Now, how do I wipe this grin off of my face?...

I'm sorry Indee, but I'm afraid that no, the White House doesn't deserve ANY credit for so far failing to dismantle the First Amendment! Expectations as low as yours are part of what has allowed this administration to stifle speech, and coerce the self-censorship of so many journalists.

The Bill of Rights is not to be fucked with, and Bush and Co. have been busy diddling away our Rights from day one. They deserve no credit. Period.

I just want to say how encouraging and uplifting it is to see SO MANY people sharing so much good will. It is heartening in these dark times to see people reaching out to one another.

In defense of Cary, I have to think that he had some notion that readers might take up the slack re: specifics (but a cheat-sheet couldn't hurt).

A special message for g ryan: how blessed you must be to be SO strong, and SO impervious to suffering. I'd recommend a support group for that, but clearly, you're alone among human beings.

Anyway, a great big thank you to all who've written!!!

LW, I wish you peace and clarity, and adventure on the path that will lead you to both!

About 5 years ago I moved into a new house with a rather expansive yard. Nearly every day I would discover fresh steaming shit, smaller than the dog droppings I'd seen, but I assumed it was from a small dog. Problem was I never saw a dog in my yard the whole time I lived there. And everyday, new poop. Because "cats cover their poop" it never crossed my mind that it might be cats.

And then, one morning about 3 months into the new house I looked out the kitchen window to see our neighbor's tabby relieving himself in the middle of the grass. And leaving the site without so much as a scratch to cover his trail.

Nasty, nasty, nasty.

I never completely solved the problem, but I kept a close eye out and everytime I saw hime trying to dump in my lawn I would go out and throw a rock at him (never hit him ;-( It didn't stop completely, but he found some other place to do it more often than not.

Nasty!