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So, with HD back on board, can players "Hit for the Cycle" once again?

File this one under "Hate to admit it, but..." I was actually about to comment that NBC didn't order episodes of 'Scrubs' in HD (from ABC Studios, who filmed the series), so you must have been watching SD content that was upscaled to HD by WGN (who do frequently air the TV show by that name). Fortunately, I remembered where I was, and why those letters were capitalized. I can really be such a geek at times.

I'll admit that 3b is the more common move, but I don't think the Brewers will move Hardy to accommodate an unproven player. I think it's more likely that Escobar comes up and starts at 2b/3b in 2009, and retakes the ss position in 2010 (hopefully after Hardy agrees to a contract extension and a move to 3b). It's not unheard of for players to come up at least playing part time at their non-native positions (Furcal and Reyes, for instance, both logged a few hundred innings at 2b), only to shift back once the team adjusted the lineups. Of course, the most prominent case of a SS moving to 2b - even though he did move back later - was Michael Young when the Rangers picked up A-Rod. It is a short-term move, but in the long run one of them is going to end up at a different position or a different team. I can't think of a single time where a recent All-Star at shortstop agreed to move to accommodate a rookie (without an injury replacement).

Since I haven't chimed in yet, Weeks is still hanging on to a top-10 spot among qualified 2b in terms of OBP (tied for 13th in OPS), for what would be the second season in a row. Considering the way this club is built, with the 2b being the de-facto leadoff guy (unless there's a leadoff 3b out there in the off-season), that means there are only a handful of guys outproducing him....and even fewer that would be available in the off-season. The players that would be available have all likely plateaued based on their ages. I don't see an outside option worth the pay increase over Weeks right now. His defense has actually improved quite a bit by the numbers. That said, Alcides Escobar is the wild card. If Escobar is really the can't miss type player that most here think he's going to be, I don't see why he couldn't be just as good at 2b or 3b than at SS; 3b is a pretty easy upgrade over the platoon.

The 'Elite' (120 GB) version of the XBox 360 comes with an HDMI cable; the 'Premium' (20 GB and 60 GB) and 'Arcade' (no hard drive) versions of the 360 do not come bundled with the cable. Older versions of the 360 do not have an HDMI output at all, but any new models of the console you're going to find in the store will at least have the HDMI port.

I can't decide which side I should care less about: - The manager who continues to pitch the kid despite being instructed not to, or - The parents who don't like seeing one kid that much better than their kids. ...I can't even bring myself to care enough to read the story.

You're not going to get a full 720p image out of digital cable (which has a standard definition, 480i image). You might be able to tweak your display features to eliminate the bars on the right and left side of the screen - either by zooming in (cutting off the top and bottom of the picture) or stretching the 4:3 image to your 16:9 screen - but the TV is going to say its displaying 480i when you're watching cable TV (since that's what you're feeding into it). I see the TV has a QAM tuner; have you tried plugging the HDTV directly into the wall (and avoiding the digital cable box)? Chances are, once you've scanned the channels, you'll find some of your local stations being broadcast in HD, even if you don't pay extra for HD cable. Alternatively, you may want to try plugging an antenna into the coax and see what kind of over-the-air (OTA) reception you can get in your area; every network in the country (with a few exceptions) will have to be broadcasting digitally by Feb '09, so chances are pretty good you'll find a few digital sub-channels you didn't even know about...even if you're just using an old pair of "rabbit ears". (Google 'AVS Forum' if you really want details about what stations would be available OTA in your area.) If your XBox 360 has an HDMI port (the black one does, as does the Halo 3 special edition, and just about any 360 bought new in the last year would have one), I'd recommend using that for your HDTV. That would allow you to use the component connection for your digital cable box (leaving the coax jack open for either an antenna or the QAM tuner). If it doesn't have HDMI, then just use the best available connection into your TV for the digital cable (HDMI > Component > S-Video > Composite / RCA > Coaxial), and let us know if that makes any difference. There are a wealth of options for improving what you have access to (I have a powered antenna to improve my OTA reception, for instance), but the goal should be to at least get you started without being on a first-name basis with the staff at Best Buy. (Which reminds me: NEVER buy HDMI cables from the store: monoprice.com is your friend, and you'll never notice the difference in quality between a $10 cable and the $90 cable they try to push on you.)

http://yro.slashdot.org/yro/08/08/20/1259253.shtml Our hackers have Nastia Liukin's back. I have to at least applaud the IOC for allowing an investigation on these documents, rather than burying their head in the sand completely to the benefit of the host country (like they had been doing).

In No Particular Order Ari Gold ("Entourage") Quagmire ("Family Guy") Beavis ("...and Butt-Head") Alex P. Keaton ("Family Ties") Jack Bristow ("Alias")

...and name it Splinter, Bebop, or Rocksteady.

May-Treanor and Walsh repeat their Gold Medal performance. Related note: Kerri Walsh is somewhat attractive.

http://blog.us.playstatio...n-hardware-announcements/ Just to be thorough, Sony has announced another new version of the PS3 will be coming out in November. This version of the PS3 will ship with a 160 GB hard drive, a copy of Uncharted: Drake's Fortune (one of those games I'll eventually get around to), and a voucher for the PSN downloadable game, Pain (which I believe goes for $10 on PSN). Total cost: $499.99. No word yet on backwards compatability (although I wouldn't expect any, to be completely honest).

I don't see the CC for MVP argument; he's going to pitch less than 20 games for the Brewers. As good as he's been, the reason that Milwaukee is in the race is because of how valuable Braun, Fielder, Hart, etc., have been in the other 140+ games. The Brewers were Wild Card contenders without Sabathia, so I can't see that much added value (unless they can somehow pry the Division away from the Cubs). ...don't get me wrong, I'm glad he's pitching for the Brewers, and I think he makes them a much stronger team (especially in the playoffs), but the notion that he's the most valuable guy on the roster (much less the whole NL) just doesn't sit well with me.

I'm a man of my word. Wow! How are they going to make that into an under 4-hour movie? (Sidenote: I totally see what the people critical of a certain TV series were talking about....and that's as spoiler-y as I'll get without being prodded into discussion.) I think I need to see that trailer again, now that I've read the series that inspired it...and actually know who the characters are.

...and now... Girls jumping on Trampolines! http://assets.espn.go.com/i/magazine/new/man_show.jpg (I guess they just really liked the Olympics. I didn't even know it was a competition!)

Switched over from the Packers game just in time to see Kapler's catch! :D (Time to get some offense going.)

Rosenthal is just saying that the Fielder/Parra fracas isn't the reason that the Brewers have been winning lately. Since the shoving match, the Brewers have faced the Reds (2 games), Nationals (4), and Padres (3). Winning 8 out of their last 9 is still an accomplishment, but it's what you have to do against sub-.500 opponents to have a shot at the playoffs.

Just to point it out, Track and Field hasn't even started yet. The U.S. has so many swimming medals because swimming gives away so many medals; that's one of the reasons that I don't buy into Phelps as the greatest Olympian ever (....no matter how good Michael Jordan was for the basketball team in Barcelona, they could only win one medal; ditto for May/Walsh-Treanor in '04 and '08). Given his performance thusfar, Phelps might still be the greatest (setting a record in just about every event), but the way the event is run gives him the opportunity to be that dominant. Of the early events, the only place where the U.S. could rack up a number of medals in a different sport would have been diving.

Incredible performances by both girls. Hard to believe that Shawn Johnson still managed to complete that routine knowing that the Gold Medal was all but out-of-reach. And for Nastia, like Father, like Daughter; it's hard to imagine that she could have been better than she was in the all-around. I just hope I still have that kind of energy when I'm Bella Karoli's age.

Walsh & May-Treanor fend off 4 set points to take the 1st set against Belgium. That might have been the most exciting part of the games thusfar (even more than the swimming relay against France, IMO).

Baseball, by and large, didn't have revenue sharing prior to Selig's tenure. Since he's taken over, revenue sharing has improved with every labor agreement. The subsequent improvement to competitive balance throughout the league is one of the big reasons that league attendance have set records in each of the last 3 seasons. At the same time, the league has been increasingly proactive in pooling its revenue streams. Granted the convergence in mass communication (cable TV, satellite radio, internet) certainly made the process easier, but MLB has been more upfront than any of its competitors on the tech front. There are a number of issues surrounding the game, but the product that is major league baseball is much stronger now than it was pre-Selig.

In a related story, I will be buying 0.000001% of that print run....at some point. I can't commit to reading the book before every big movie that comes out, but since the story seems self-contained, I'd like to give this one a chance. (...and I'm a Marvel Zombie.)

Tough second for the women's gymnastic team. You'd have to think they'd have been better without two of their six team members injured. (Since baseball is never on TV, that's the sport that I actually enjoy watching most during the games...I'll admit it.)

...am I the only one who thinks Synchronized Diving is lame?

David Jaffe