Um, I read this at work and while maybe I should have read where the link would take me before I clicked on it, I really don't need my boss to ask me why I am visiting porn sites.

King, if you like curling, you'll love this:

http://www.mousebreaker.com/games/virtualcurling/play.php

Personally, I like the Swedes' chances this year.

Boy, the hype from Lillehammer, I'm still trying to get over that. I was the deciding vote in an argument over whether there were actually Olympics this year, and to answer it, I had to add two years to the date of the last summer Olympics.

But, they're never hyped. The only huge hype I remember from the Winter Games is when someone got clubbed in the knees. My next most vivid memory is some guy called Eddy the Eagle, I think he was a really bad ski jumper, but I'm not sure.

Anyway, my point is that you are not running through the raindrops, but that you probably made an effort to learn about the Winter Games in previous years. And the memories of the never-ending Olympic hype may be from when the Summer and Winter Games took place in the same year.

I think I'd actually enjoy watching Celebrity Boggle. I wonder - how many of them can actually spell? Would it be more riveting than Lingo?

Sorry about the link to the porn site, if that's what it is. I found that image through Google image search, and went straight to the image without looking at the site. I didn't notice the word "nude" in the URL. Strange that that word's in the URL, since she's decidedly not nude in the photo, but the point is, I'll find a work- and family-friendly URL for a a photo of our Nat's winsome mug.

King - C'mon you are a baseball guy - how can you marginalize the role of a dominant relief pitcher who can almost GUARANTEE a win if their team is ahead after 7 or 8 innings? How many otherwise excellent teams have been run asunder by crappy relievers who can't hold a lead? Comparing Bruce Sutter or Goose Gossage with who, Manny Mota?

Seriously, as much as I hated Gossage in the late 70s and early 80s, there is no way that guy shouldn't be in the Hall. If you read interviews with hitters from his era, you see time and again that his name comes up as one who was feared. Even though Bucky Dent's name is in the history books as 1978 Series MVP, they never catch Boston if Gossage doesn't have an unreal season down the stretch (Aug-Sept) where he was virtually unhittable.

And regardless of it's bucolic location, baseball's HOF is the most special of all, as it is the most historically bound sport we have. You won't see Ken Burns making an 8 night documentary on the NBA.

Since King is against relievers being in the Hall on principle, let's ask this: what about a player who was primarily a DH? this debate will come up in a few years with Edgar Martinez (and possibly Frank Thomas, but he played in the field longer than Edgar).

also a related football question: now that Cooperstown is finally recognizing closers, will Canton do the same for kickers/punters and return men?

Amen to Bert not getting inducted yet again. He seems to suffer from the same malaise that affects MVP candidates, namely the "good player on a bad team" disease. I watched him lo those many years pitching for woefully bad Cleveland Indians' teams. Had he been on a good team, he clearly would have 300 wins. Or sportswriters so dense that they don't get this simple fact?

There's a pretty good hockey tournament at these Winter Olympic things. Lots of NHL stars, a wider ice surface that gives skill players room to work, no-touch icing and fast faceoffs to keep the game flowing, and none of that "I don't want to get hurt, so I won't check you" pussy-footing around that makes All-Star Games such a bore.

Oh, wait. That's right. King's a card carrying member of the National Association of American Sports Columnists, Local 1337. Their bylaws specifically state that its members must hate hockey. Violators will be fired and blackballed. Those columnists who actually like hockey must feign indifference until Todd Bertuzzi does something else to embarrass the sport.

That's OK, King. I don't blame you. Nobody wants to see you so broke that Buster has to flip a tin washer with notches on one side to make NFL picks next year.

Hi King.

Among us Red Sox fans, we feel he's been maltreated by the sports writers. Some think there's some inherent racism but I don't agree. I think that since I grew up in Boston and watched him play through the best years of his career, he meant a lot more to me than he did to the rest of the league.

However, his numbers are good and for the time in which he played, his numbers were great.

Just wondering if he makes your HOF as he hasn't yet made the real one.

What is the name of yours by the way? KKHOF? Sounds like someone clearing their throat.

I first heard about the Olympics from that VISA commercial where the coach is trying to calm the skier down. I didn't understand why it was so important that this was "the last one before Turino". Yeah, Visa, that was some good money spent on a tie in.

Would it be possible for you to wake up earlier (or stay up later) so that you're column could be the lead story and not that incessant Ayelet Waldman crap? You seem to have a later deadline than the other regulars.

I have kids and they're up at like five in the morning. Are Buster and his sister (sorry, the name escapes me) the only late sleeping children in the world?

Anyway, it is just a suggestion. More Kaufman leads. No more Mrs. Chabon leads. To whom do we write to start a campaign?