Books: Good review of the latest Doonesbury compilation, this one involving BD's losing his leg ... it is a general review of the strip author's career. Also in the book field, a bipartisan measure to temper the Patriot Act (sic) provision on libraries passed ... for now. The President threatened to veto the reauthorization measure if it was included, since of course he is like a little boy who doesn't want to share.
The reform would still allow searches of library and book records, but would just require a higher standard of independent review. As noted in a NYT piece, people have a reason to be concerned, putting aside the basic principle of the thing. You would think the hubby of a former librarian would understand such things.
Sports: The NY teams, for the moment, are back to form. The Yanks just swept two series, the last against a credible Wild Card contender. The Mets won just one game against the As and Mariners, both at best mediocre. The Mets are starting to annoy me because they are playing all too much to form. Fans really do not expect too much ... just credible .500 baseball. They are not playing that now.
This includes today's game when Glavine couldn't get out of the third and a four run inning to get within 6-5 was immediately followed by the giving up the same amount of runs in the bottom of the frame. Oh, and why does Willie Randolph feel the need to conserve Aaron Heilman? Is he hurt or something? He didn't give up a run in 2+, he is taken out, and replaced by mediocre Mike "Hit Me," and the rest is history.
Oh, and the ESPN announcers for tonight's game really pissed me off. A key play in the eighth that ultimately led to the leading run involved fielding a sacrifice bunt. The first baseman of the LA Dodgers did not get out of the way, making it hard for the catcher to throw to the second baseman covering. The play was still made ... a tough one at that ... but the ump missed it. Replays showed this ... his foot was on the bag.
The announcers went on and on about how the second baseman was at fault. The guy did make a mistake, but players do that -- their team mates pick them up. This is how things work in this world -- we do not always make things easy for ourselves, but it is the end result that matters. The end result (should have been) was an out. The ump is paid to accurately make plays that are a bit tough. He was at fault and blew a call that directly led to the winning run.
But, the second baseman was made the goat. He was not -- the ump was for making a bad call, not a very good play, the turning point of the game. And, the announcers deserve my scorn for missing this basic point.