The Rake Magazine

Month: June 2007

  • Some Sick Stuff

    One of the few perks of this job, if you can call seeing a movie you have to write about a perk, is getting to see movie screenings before having to wait in line with the rest of the blockbuster fans.

    Tomorrow, while most of humanity is lined up to see if the Silver Surfer does destroy the earth, I’ll be at Michael Moore’s latest: Sicko.

    Before you get all upset about how liberal he and I are, can you just take a minute and read just a little bit about health care in this country, and how for want of $80 to have a tooth pulled, a 12-year-old child from Maryland named Deamonte Driver got a brain infection, ran up a bill that we’ll all be paying of over $250,000, and then died? For want of 80 bucks, which is less than I spent on dinner with my wife last night, a kid died.

    That is sick.

  • Edina's First Outdoor Bar

    Edina gets its first outdoor bar on Friday, July 27 when Via opens at 67th and France. The former Pizzeria Uno has been given a $3 million makeover by Hemisphere Restaurant Partners, who also own the Atlas Grill and Mission American Kitchen in downtown Minneapolis. Executive chef James Foley is moving over from Mission, where he has been replaced by Doug Flicker, formerly chef-owner at Auriga. The contemporary American menu will range from carpaccio-wrapped hushpuppies and a heirloom tomato trio with three different sea salts, to entrees of halibut with golden tomatoes and lavender salsa, and ribeye with smoked cheddar polenta. Dinner entrees will be priced from $15 to the mid $20s.

  • What's the Buzz.Mn and So Many Other Questions?

    Have I ever mentioned how much I love Superior, Wisconsin? There’s something about sweating like a Ukrainian reaper in 85 degree heat, matted with dust, grass clippings and a half dozen ticks, then hauling ass down the hill to Menards for a fresh assortment of shears, brads and fasteners. Superior, where it is always a reliable 56 with a chilling airborne mist off the big lake.

    Okay, not always. Sometimes it’s 5 degrees and gray as a gun barrel with horizontal sleet sealing up your radiator. But it’s still lovable. It is so anti-Galleria up there it’s like another civilization.

    Anyway, much as I love Superior, we’re back home after four days of relaxation and brute labor. The list of questions possibly leading to stories relative to the Star Tribune was growing too long to stay disconnected.

    (Oh, I had one of those strange, synchronous, sado-poetic moments during a cell-phone conversation with a Strib reporter. I came over me as I stood in a half weed-whacked patch of waist-high grass. The reporter was saying he had heard that the cash-strapped Star Tribune company was going to pick up the tab to re-locate publisher Par Ridder from Sunfish Lake to Paul Magers’ old joint on Lake of the Isles, and at the precise moment he said the word “Par” I realized I was crushing a wood tick between my fingernails. Eery, huh?)

    Since I could wait a very long time for various editors and writers to respond to my e-mailed questions or return phone calls, let me just lay out a few of the questions I’m trying to get answered, now that I’m back in beautiful Edina. (If any of the people involved respond with answers to these questions I’ll update this post.)

    1. What exactly is the deal with Buzz.Mn? The story goes that within an hour of Strib management posting an opening for editor of Buzz.Mn, the Strib’s community-neighborhood chat forum, ex-Quirk columnist James Lileks appeared on the site, blogging furiously and announcing that he was in fact the new editor. (The site has now had four editors in less than a year, and the Strib posting did mention a “preferred candidate”, which is inside-newspaperspeak for, “Don’t bother applying”).

    That was about a week ago. So how come to date only one other Strib writer has contributed to Buzz.Mn? The thing is all-Lileks, and as we all know Lileks can produce a stupendous amount of copy. But how come it’s him and him alone? Is there, as one dime-dropper told me, “a de facto boycott” going on? And how did Lileks end up with an editing job officially described as requiring, “the consummate team player”?

    Several people called to point this out and encourage me to rip … somebody. (I’m handling a lot of contract work these days. Kind of like the Italians Paulie Walnuts brought in for the bungled hit on Phil Leotardo.)

    I’ve told just about everyone that I don’t want to get into a “thing” with Lileks, unless he wants to throw down over Iraq vis a vis the “war on terror” or the nauseating suckling he does off the starchy teats of fulminating half-wits like Hugh Hewitt. It isn’t like it’s a personal thing. Really. Well maybe a little. I’m not sure.

    I haven’t paid a lot of attention to Buzz.Mn in the past months. But I and others never had the impression it was supposed to be a one-person rumpus room, yet another variation on “The Bleating Quirk”. Other voices were supposed to be heard. Right? So what gives? Have Nancy Barnes and Scott Gillespie, the Strib’s top editors, parked Lileks there just to goose up traffic with his “Bleat” readers? With the idea they’ll pay more attention to it once they’ve finished the very funky, and exceedingly gamey business of choosing who gets their vaunted “anyone who wants it gets it” buy-out … except for those who don’t? (More on that later.)

    With the announcement of a major new news competitor imminent, Buzz.Mn was supposed to be an incubator for all that citizen journalism and interactive stuff next generation news services will supposedly provide. If Barnes and Gillespie see it that way, how does a site overwhelmed by one voice encourage that model?

    2. Is it true that the Strib will soon begin reducing its weekly news hole by 30 pages, more or less as Par Ridder (now I’m getting flashes of tick imagery) warned back in one of his “Newspaper Business 101” slide shows? Thirty less pages of news is very significant, and I’m told most of the cutting will come out of the weekday editions in order to keep the life rafts fulling inflated around the Sunday version.

    3. Is the fashion beat dead or alive? Is fashion writer Sarah Glassman leaving or staying? When we last spoke with Glassman she had a new job lined up at Mpls/St.Paul magazine. The Strib had told her they were dumping fashion and she could either apply for one of those sexy Bloomington Waste Facilities Commission reporting jobs, or take the buy-out (worth a month’s pay to her) and leave. But then the Strib changed its mind. One rumor — a RUMOR people — is that Macy’s, still a big print advertiser, (although they recently announced they were reallocating 20% of their ad budget to on-line entities), put pressure on the Strib to retain a fashion beat, maybe even specifying Glassman.
    Really?

    3. Since the Strib didn’t get 50 full-time newsroom employees to take the buy-out, and since they’ve dug in their heels and refused immediate, paid separation to four reporters who want it — on the grounds that “too many reporters” applied — can Timberwolves beat writer Steve Aschburner have his job back? He actually WANTS to work there, and as someone who read his stuff — through an astonishingly boring Wolves season — I’ll vouch that he delivers damn good copy.

    Why not let everyone go who wants to go? And why not allow the one person who wants to return return and start over with what’s left? I mean, did anyone in the Strib power suites actually think they were going to be able to coordinate this mess?

    These are questions I amassed while lolling on the Wisconsin Riviera. I stand sun burnt, bitten and ready to provide answers as they come available.

  • Hot Top Chef

    waterhot.JPG
    hot! hot! hot!

    Ok, what’s with the hot tub?

    For the last two seasons, the Top Chef chefs were holed up in spartan lofts…they had to cook Thanksgiving dinner in the ridiculous little kitchens, remember?

    I get that the show’s succeess means that people want to give them things: like the penthouse suite at the Fountainebleu in Miami that is DECKED out with glam…and a hot tub. Fishing for bikini shots, anyone? I think it’s a little cheesey, a little Hell’s Kitchen, not worthy of the goal of the competition.

    OK, just for starters: Hung is clearly the guy we’re supposed to love to hate … and he’s got a connection to Marcel, hmmmm.

    The big Vinnie-NY-Italian-Guy looks like he’ll be the meathead of the bunch.

    The girls are all pretty-pretty, and younger than before, not a Betty or Cynthia amongst them.

    The food looked pretty good, I was seriously hungry for the winning dish and was excited by CJ’s ostrich tartare. And even though Brian ended up in the bottom bunch at the judges table, I think he had guts to choose the snake and eel.

    We’ll see…..

  • A Minor Deal

    It’s not quite moving a deck chair on the Titanic, but the straight (and still unconfirmed) trade of Mike James to Houston for Juwan Howard seems more of an addition-by-subtraction and a bid to install locker room leadership than a significant upgrade in on-court talent.

    First, the upside. Howard is a quality individual, a hard worker who has been given various community awards and citations for his charitable contributions and strength of character. At 6-9, he is a front court player who has averaged more than 16 points and 7 rebounds over the course of his 13-year career. In terms of chemistry, he is a stabilizer, not a disrupter, and has long been friends with Kevin Garnett.

    His contract is slightly more expensive than James’s, but extends out to a player option (that he will almost certainly exercise) in 2008-09, whereas James has his own lucrative player option in 2009-10, so the Wolves save a year of expensive penance for their unfortunate signing. Howard also enables the Wolves to rid themselves of James the player, whose horrendous defense and emotional inability to make the transition from role player to reliable starter was among the more significant of myriad disappointments in the 2006-07 season. Add to that persistent rumors that James was a corrosive component of this team, especially in his willingness to talk the talk about team play but not walk the walk, and it’s easy to understand why Minnesota pulled the trigger on this deal.

    The downside is that Howard will be 35 in February and cannot reasonably be expected to hold down the center position, even in this era of no hand-check small ball. He is a better rebounder than Mark Blount (who isn’t among big men?), shares the ball better in the half court game, and is a better defender. But he is *not* a shot-blocker (his career average is 0.3 per game) and can’t provide the staunch, trunk-oriented ability to hold his ground so necessary in defending bigs in the paint. Instead, he is a decent mid-range jump-shooter (albeit not as good as either KG or Blount) and passable defender of opposing power forwards who is probably incapable at this point in his career of playing the sort of uptempo style that is coming into vogue in the NBA, one the Wolves might be able to play with the right draft pick and deploying KG as the “center.”

    Any more tea-leaf reading on the future will of course have to wait for this month’s draft and other deals that might occur between now and the beginning of training camp this fall. At first blush, it appears that Minnesota is either preparing to draft a point guard or indeed committed to Randy Foye as its point guard. I’m guessing the latter, because Juwan Howard is decidedly not the banger required to take the onus off Kevin Garnett in the paint wars.

    Bottom line, I think this trade was made for chemistry reasons, and to begin to correct the backcourt imbalance on the roster that plagued the team last season. Juwan Howard is not the piece that cements a playoff contender. He is a reliable player on and off the court who will provide an honest night’s effort 82 games per season. The same could not be said of Mike James. The only lingering question, one we obviously can’t answer, is whether or not the Wolves could have received better compensation for James than an aging, smallish, slightly redundant power forward.

  • Knocked Up

    by Peter Schilling

    Judd Apatow seems to be everywhere. He was the executive producer of the critically acclaimed television show Freaks and Geeks and the writer-director of The 40-Year-Old Virgin. He will also lend his imprimatur to the upcoming teen sex comedy Superbad. In the meantime, he has produced another ribald farce in the style of Virgin (sans Steve Carell). In Knocked Up, a lovable stoner and budding internet-porn businessman played by Seth Rogen impregnates the Ashley Judd look-alike Katherine Heigl. She’s a gorgeous television personality; he’s a loser with a heart of gold. When they decide to have the baby together, laughs ensue. That’s the formula anyway, and what made Virgin work so well was Apatow’s fondness for Altman-like conversation and his healthy respect for these flawed, immature characters. (A plethora of dick- and boob-jokes didn’t hurt matters either.) Here, though, Apatow seems to think he’s making serious commentary on parenthood. Clocking in at two hours and ten minutes, it’s a bit long-winded. Still, much of the humor won’t be matched by any other movie this summer — in particular, there’s a hilarious passage about shaving one’s privates.

  • These Are No Typical Performances

    THEATER & PERFORMANCE
    Not Just Another Drag Show

    Dykes Do Drag4web.jpgWe’ve all seen a typical drag show, right? It’s basically just a bunch of guys lip-syncing in evening gowns, with well-tucked packages. And while this can certainly be quite entertaining, it just can’t match Dykes Do Drag. Now in its eighth year, this gender-blending, queer variety show features kings, queens, trannies, and bio performers. With the Gentleman King as host, many of the Twin Cities’ most talented performers will participate this evening (and the next two) in this pop-music performance-art cabaret.

    10:00 p.m. (9:30 doors), Bryant Lake Bowl; 810 West Lake St., Minneapolis; 612-825-3737 ; $14 (students 2-for-1).

    Bend your Mind, 10 Minutes at a Time

    summerShorts4web.jpgSummer is for shorts. And drag shows aren’t all the Bryant Lake Bowl has to offer this evening. Get there a few hours earlier for the Summer Shorts 2007: Bent show — Theatre Limina’s staged-reading series. Each Thursday (for two more weeks), five original 10-minute plays will be staged. See what some of the top playwrights across the country are up to, and help choose the plays that will go on for an encore performance. Readings will be staged by up-and-coming directors, and will feature local talent. Tonight’s pieces include Thomas H. Diggs’s “Five Wishes,” Ellen Lewis’s “If We Kissed,” Lia Romeo’s “Hot Line,” Krist Knight’s “Rime of the Four Albatross,” and Michael Schaefer’s “The Ten Minute Miracle.”

    7:00 p.m., Bryant Lake Bowl; 810 West Lake St., Minneapolis; 612-825-3737 ; $12.

    Desire for the Undesired

    LiveActionSet1.gifUsing theater and dance as the primary voices, Live Action Set explores the act of wanting those things we do not have and wishing we didn’t want the things we wished we had. Confused? Well, that’s usually the case with this artistic collaborative. The work of Live Action Set is never easy to explain; that’s part of its charm — and what makes it so utterly interesting. Tonight through Sunday, Robert Rosen (co-founder of Theatre de la Jeune Lune) will be directing the members of Live Action Set in a physically challenging new work about desire, taboo, and what happens in the layers between realization, repression, and expression. Desiderare: Desire for the Undesired is presented by The Red Eye Theater as part of the New Works 4 Weeks festival. The performers promise that the show will be “provocative, funny, and very, very human.”

    8 p.m., The Red Eye Theater, Minneapolis; 612-870-0309; $12 (Friday and Saturday $15; seniors/student $8).

    VISUAL ART
    Total Chaos: The Art and Aesthetics of Hip-Hop

    image05.jpgHip-hop has had an undeniable impact on the arts. I’m not just talking about spoken-word poetry, street literature, post-black art, urban art, outsider art, and other labels given to hip-hop-related work. The parameters are no longer so clearly defined (as if they ever were). Just as hip-hop has permeated every type of music at this stage, it has done so with all the arts, be it theater, poetry, performance art, dance, visual art, film, or video. Tonight, Cey Adams, Jeff Chang, Roger Cummings, and Rachel Raimist will discuss how hip-hop is expanding in more obscure and impactful ways. Cey Adams has done graphics for countless album covers (Jay-Z, Method Man, DMX), clothing lines (Sean John), movies, and TV shows (Belly, Next Friday, The Chapelle Show). Jeff Chang, author of the books Total Chaos: The Art and Aesthetics of Hip-Hop and Can’t Stop Won’t Stop: A History of the Hip-Hop Generation, has written extensively on race, culture, politics, and the arts for numerous publications. Roger Cummings is the cofounder and artistic director of Juxtaposition Arts, a North Minneapolis urban art center whose mission is to empower youth and community to use the arts to actualize their full potential. Rachel Raimist is a Twin Cities-based filmmaker and director of Nobody Knows My Name, which chronicles the stories of five women in hip-hop.

    7 p.m., Walker Art Center, Cinema, 1750 Hennepin Ave., Minneapolis; 612-375-7600; free.

    Mezzolago

    Celebrate the opening of a brand new gallery on Chicago Avenue. We can never have enough galleries. Hell, if we get enough of them, maybe we can finally stop going to see art in coffee shops. Swing by tonight and check out the new artists and the latest addition to the Minneapolis art scene.

    6:30 p.m., Mezzolago, 5255 Chicago Ave. S., Minneapolis.

    MUSIC
    A Long Time Coming

    BM2005Jul_Maine_HerveOudet_DSC00112_B.JPGAfter a long absense, folk musician Bill Morrisey is finally returning to the Twin Cities this evening. With two Grammy nominations, several 4-star reviews from Rolling Stone Magazine, and many other stellar reviews in national publications, Morrisey doesn’t need much of an leg-up in the hype department. Not just a singer/songwriter, but a novelist, and even a producer, Morrisey serves up some great New England folk blues with poetic and witty lyrics.

    7:30 p.m., Gingko Coffeehouse, 721 N. Snelling Ave., St. Paul; 651-645-2647; $15.

    STYLE
    Party in Your Beachwear

    Just a quick mention of the Splash Bash Summer Fashion Show at Trocaderos this evening. Party like a rock star in your swimwear or underwear. I’ve never been into these things, but who am I to say? The evening begins with a fashion show with Lady Bunny and ends with an underwear party. Woohoo!

    8:30 p.m. (doors 6:30), Trocaderos, 107 Third Ave. N., Minneapolis; 612-465-0440; $10 ($30 VIP pass includes hors d’oeuvres, reserved seating, gift bag, and a consultations with Belladerm Medspa).

  • Threadster Tip-offs

    The ole head’s currently buried in the sands of yet another production week, as we at Rake Media Worldwide put the finishing touches on our July issue. But check this happenin’ event: Uptown’s Cliche boutique is celebrating a three-year anniversary with a fashion show tomorrow night (Thursday). But take heed, my fellow threadsters: This event’s at the Varsity Theater, not the store. I’m inclined to nickname the affair Voltage: Fashion Rewound, as some of these designers are straight from the Voltage runway: Red Shoe Clothing Co., Annie Larson, Laura Fulk, Peloria, and Kjurek Couture.

    Oh, and lookit! (Or pay attention, in any case, since I do not have a link to provide … ) Blu Dot is having a warehouse sale this Saturday! Too bad they don’t make any decent filing cabinets; if they did, I’d gladly be among those lining up. Important note, shoppers: The sale’s open just 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., and the place is bound to be bananas. Brave souls, you can find the sale at 3236 NE California St., Mpls. Should you have any questions, give a ring to Bludot headquarters at 612-782-1844.

    Update!

    From: Medora Danz
    Sent: Wednesday, June 13, 2007 4:55 PM
    To: Christy DeSmith
    Subject: Blu Dot Warehouse Sale

    Hello Christy –

    Thank you for including our warehouse sale info in Hook & Eye. We appreciate the shout out.

    Blu Dot does make a few filing cabinets, all of which are certainly decent. Several of the Series 11 pedestal and lateral file cabinets will be included in the sale at significant (rock bottom) discount. Check them out on our website – perhaps they will prove tempting.

    Sincere Thanks + Best Regards – Medora

    So, maybe I will crowbar myself in after all.

  • Cross Teamsters and Star-Crossed Teams

    BOOKS & AUTHORS by Eeva-Liisa Waaraniemi
    Corruption, Betrayal, and Intrigue

    Crossing-Hoffa-Harper.gifAnyone who delights in the romance and nostalgia of simply walking into a grand 90-year-old neighborhood library should experience St. Anthony Park Library at least once. You might as well go there with dual purpose, however, and tonight’s reading of Crossing Hoffa: A Teamster’s Story by Steven J. Harper seems to fit the bill. (No, I’m not talking about that Stephen J. Harper. Not that anyone knew who the Prime Minister of Canada was anyway.) In his first book, the slightly less high-profile Steven J. Harper–an author and Minneapolis native–shares a true tale more gripping than anything Mr. Prime Minister could cough up. Take the year–1959, the man–Harper’s father, and the problem–union corruption, and you’ve got the beginning of a two-year, life-endangering quest for a cleaner union.

    7 p.m., St. Anthony Park Library, 2245 Como Ave., St. Paul; 651-642-0411; free.

    FILM
    Screw the Star-Crossed Lovers, Give Me Kung Fu

    3757752397.jpegBuilding on Asian cinema’s historical fascination with Westerns, and tossing in the distinguished Film Noir, Tears of the Black Tiger results in a Tarantino-esque medley of genres laying out what is essentially just another sappy love story. But come on, no one went to see Kill Bill for the story line. This stuff is goood. Written and directed by Wisit Sasanatieng, Tears of the Black Tiger is a throwback to the golden years of Thai genre films. Using some of yesterday’s most popular film techniques — iris shots, wipes, and back-projection — Sasanatieng tells a tale of Noir-ish gunslinger out for revenge but compromised by love.

    7 p.m., Room 155 Nicholson Hall, Institute for Advanced Study, Minneapolis; 612-626-5054; free.

    THEATER & PERFORMANCE
    A Union Impossible

    sp copy.jpgMore star-crossed lovers? You betcha! But only if you’re willing to leave work early. I know. I know. Can you stand the sacrifice? All right, raise your glasses. I’d like to make a toast to… well… drinking. Remember the Aquafina commercial in which everybody sang “Drink, Drink, Drink!” as they raised their steins and bottles of Aquafina in a robust toast to boozing it up? You know — the one with the bar wench and the accordian player. (Which one did you remember?) Well, this “Drinking Song,” as it’s actually called, is from Sigmund Romberg’s The Student Prince, an operatic remake of a German play about a prince who must sacrifice love for the well-being of his kingdom. Yup, it’s not a particularly original story — just another Queen Elizabeth, in fact — but let’s face it, we’re all suckers for this shit — especially the heart-wrenching finale. Are you sold yet? This afternoon, at 3 p.m., the Skylark Opera will present their interpretation of The Student Prince, directed by Randy Winkler and starring Mattt Morgan, Tracey Gorman, and Larry Weller. If you really can’t make it out of work early, then be sure to catch it at 8 p.m. on Friday or Saturday.

    3 p.m., E.M. Pearson Theatre, 312 N. Hamline Ave., Concordia University, Saint Paul; 612-870-1099; $20-45.

    Other shows tonight include Get Ready — a story (which I heard was great) of six legendary musicians stepping once again into the light — at the Penumbra Theatre. 7 p.m., 270 N Kent St., St. Paul; 651-224-3180; $15-30. And Mamma Mia at the Orpheum Theater. 7:30 p.m., 910 Hennepin Ave., Minneapolis; 612-373-5600; $20.50-67.50.

    MUSIC by Eeva-Liisa WaarWaaraniemi
    Truth Be Your Call, and Peace Be Your Way

    promo6.jpgLooking to come upon creatures you never knew existed? (Or just another excuse to leave work early?) How about listening to a smooth reggae beat reminiscent of the torrid smell of sun and salt? Beat the traffic — escape your job an hour or two early and head to the Minnesota Zoo. Check out a few animals with unique monikers: the pygmy slow loris, Matschie’s tree kangaroo, the binturong. If you manage to get there by 4 p.m., you can even catch the final dolphin show. Once your walking and animal-ogling urges have been satisfied, relax in the amphitheater with Ziggy Marley and the International Reggae Allstars. The second-oldest son of Bob Marley, Ziggy says his struggle is more spiritual than the physical struggle embodied by his father’s work. “Love is the answer to the problems,” he claims. In fact, his latest album is Love is my Religion.

    7:30 p.m., Minnesota Zoo, 13000 Zoo Blvd., Apple Valley; 952-431-9303; $26.

    MORE MUSIC
    Get Loose, Momma

    0b1eb4a2-7d33-460f-be03-4fe5f6f42a7e.jpgDon’t let yourself be led astray by the name, the style, and the sass — or even the fact that she hopes to release an all-Spanish album sometime soon. Nelly Furtado is not Latina. She is in fact Portuguese. (And no, they don’t speak Spanish in Portugal, smart ass.) Why does this matter? I don’t know. The woman is one hot hip-hop momma. Period. And yes, she is indeed a momma. Her daughter is three. But this doesn’t stop her from sharing the stage with the likes of Justin Timberlake, turning down $500,000 to pose for Playboy, or confessing her attraction to women. No. I’m telling you, this woman is hot — although I must confess my utter disgust and dismay to discover the the theme of this evening’s show is Miami. I mean, really! It just doesn’t get much more cliché than palm trees on a stage.

    7:30 p.m., Xcel Energy Center, 175 W Kellogg Blvd., St. Paul; 651-989-5151; $32.50-42.50.

  • Game One: The Braves At The Dome

    I say it all the time, but baseball’s a beautiful game when it’s played well, and when everything clicks it looks so easy.

    Time and again this season, however, the Twins have demonstrated just how hard the game really is, and how ugly it can be.

    The thing is, though, is that after Tuesday’s win they’ve crept back to .500, and to within five-and-a-half games of the Central lead. Given how brutal the team has looked at times, that seems frankly astonishing.

    The opener of the Atlanta series provided a template of the kind of game the Twins need to play, and the kind of team they can be: Seven different guys scored runs; the first three guys in the batting order (Castillo, Mauer, and Cuddyer) were on base seven times; Bartlett and Punto at the bottom were a combined 4-8; Morneau and Hunter each drove in runs and also scored; Kevin Slowey was pretty much as advertised (and the Twins have won all three of his starts); and the bullpen was stalwart as usual –Guerrier, Neshek, and Nathan all have ERAs under two, and at this point those first two have to be the MVPs of the pitching staff.

    Hell, Neshek might be the team’s MVP thus far. So much for the idea that this guy was going to be a novelty act, or that he was strictly a specialist against right handers. He has been phenomenal, and night after night has been thrown out there in the kind of old-school jams relievers used to have to try to wiggle out of all the time. It’s an added bonus, of course, that he’s just so damn much fun to watch.