Gooch is included since he won last year, he has a right to defend his title.

BTW Final Category for the awards.

Yekla, it's a good name, consider it.

Can anyone recommend a good (preferably free) file recovery program.

I'm specifically looking to recover a bunch of MP3s and MPEGS that were deleted when I removed Kazaa from my computer.

OK, so whats the catch?

will be posted in this thread eventually.

anyone see it on HBO?

I hadn't heard of it, then I saw it, for a little bit I thought it was a real documentary and I thought it was awesome. And then I realize it was a bullshit documentary, and it immediately became shitty.

(job + mood at the "eat of the day")

ResearchAnalystExhausted

can you share with us, the origin of your name?

by Jayson Starks

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FIVE REASONS THE YANKEES STILL WON'T WIN (POSSIBLY) (IN THEORY)

1. THEY'RE OLDER THAN THE NEW YORK PHILHARMONIC

Well, the '60s haven't gotten any more recent since then -- and you can look that up. But the 2005 Yankees, as currently constituted, will include (gulp) 13 players born in the '60s, a total of 19 players who will be 30 or older by Opening Day and (barring a Carlos Beltran signing) an entire starting lineup of guys who will be 30-something by the end of July.

We've never commissioned the National Athletic Trainers Association to do an exhaustive study of this, or anything. But one thing we still feel safe in saying is:

Old guys get hurt more than young guys.

2. CARTILAGE IS GOOD

Yes, friends. Cartilage is, in fact, good. That's one of our mottoes in life.

We bring that up because the amount of cartilage currently found in Johnson's right knee would be approximately ... uh ... zero.

3. THEY DON'T GET TO PLAY THE BREWERS

The journey from the National League over to the American League doesn't look particularly perilous, in theory. No native guides, body armor or special inoculations are required by law before you embark, so it would be easy to conclude it's not that big a deal.

Pavano is coming from one of baseball's most pitcher-friendly ballparks (Florida's Pro Player Stadium), where he pitched in front of one of the best defenses on earth. You might also want to note he has won more than 12 games exactly once in his career.

Wright, meanwhile, is leaving a team (the Braves) that sprinkles all new pitchers with special Cy Young miracle flakes. So no wonder he won nearly as many games last year (15) as he had in the previous five seasons put together, stayed healthy all year and had an ERA (3.28) more than two runs lower than his lifetime American League ERA (5.50).

4. THEY FORGOT TO SIGN CARLOS DELGADO, JEFF KENT AND CARLOS BELTRAN

We all admit that Randy Johnson is one talented human being. But he can't play first base. He can't play second base. He can't catch line drives in the gaps. He can't clone himself. And he can't perform orthopedic surgery in his spare time.

Which is one way of saying that this team did, in fact, have other issues heading into the winter besides its lack of left-handedness on that pitching mound.

5. NO $207-MILLION TEAM HAS EVER WON A WORLD SERIES

These Yankees are definitely the best team 207 million George Steinbrenner bucks can buy, all right. But in the long and glorious history of baseball, not one $207-million baseball team has ever won a single World Series. That's a fact.

OK, so it's also a fact that there has never actually been a $207-million baseball team before this one. But that's beside the point. Sort of.

If the Yankees have proved anything these last few Octobers, it's that there can be such a thing as having too many big-name, big-dollar players on one team.

Mets reach Beltran deal

BY JON HEYMAN
STAFF WRITER

January 9, 2005, 1:08 PM EST


The Mets reached an agreement in principle this afternoon to sign star centerfielder Carlos Beltran for $119 million over seven years, making him their centerpiece player.

The Mets finalized the deal to obtain the five-tool free agent centerfielder this morning. Beltran is expected to take a physical examination on Monday with the actual signing to take place Tuesday. A press conference is also likely Tuesday.

The Mets made Beltran their No. 1 target throughout the winter. The Astros came close to reaching an agreement with Beltran but balked at including a no-trade clause in the agreement. Houston is believed to have offered at least $105M. The Yankees were in contact with agent Scott Boras throughout the day yesterday but around 6 p.m. George Steinbrenner told Yankees president Randy Levine they were not prepared to pay Beltran the $112 million Boras was requesting at the time.

The signing of Beltran caps an extremely successful winter for the Mets. They signed the best free-agent pitcher Pedro Martinez, and looked very likely to sign the best everyday player as well. Beltran hit .267 and had 38 home runs and 42 stolen bases in 2004 and played brilliantly in the postseason to lead the Astros within a game of the World Series.

Going into the week, Mets people were uncertain whether Beltran would sign with them. But they had to feel better about their chances when Boras on Friday sent them a counteroffer to their $112-million bid.

The Mets resumed serious talks after the Astros failed to sign Beltran by their midnight deadline. The Astros and Beltran's agent Scott Boras negotiated right until Houston's deadline, when talks broke off. A few contractual hurdles could not be cleared.

The Mets had been the highest bidder going into the day, but Boras had been hoping the Yankees would get into the mix. The Yankees surprised the Beltran camp by declining to meet his asking price. Yankees president Randy Levine told agent Scott Boras in a 6 p.m. phone call that the Yankees were not ready to go to $16 million per year, or $112 million total. Yankees people stayed by their phone, and it is believed they would have gotten more involved if the price dropped into the $100-million range.

Boras was in contact throughout the day with three teams, the Astros, Mets and Yankees.

A person familiar with the Yankees thinking said that while they liked the player very much, they were concerned about the luxury-tax implications of a $112-million contract, and that the timing wasn't perfect since some big contracts, like Kevin Brown and Bernie Williams, don't come off the books until next year.

George Steinbrenner was in contact with Boras several times throughout the week, and word was that Beltran was very interested in becoming a Yankee. Steinbrenner held a 90-meeting in Tampa Friday to discuss the Beltran situation, and w While his baseball people expressed a concern about Bernie Williams' diminishing skill in centerfield, his "money men'' also had their say.

One person who's talked to Yankees officials said that the Yankees might have considered re-evaluating things if they were able to make a favorable separation settlement with Jason Giambi. However, that could take until close to spring training, and would be an enormous gamble for Beltran to wait it out when he had other $100-million-plus offers on the table.

The Astros bid where few thought they would go to try to beat the large-market teams that vied for Beltran's services. It is believed they bid at least $105 million over seven years.

Astros owner Drayton McLane aggressively pursued Beltran all winter. McLane made it a personal goal to keep Beltran, who excited Astros fans with a monster postseason performance that brought them within one game of their first World Series. Most people never believed Houston would surpass the $100-million mark but it did in the final days, giving itself a fighting chance.