"Hype is the awkward and desperate attempt to convince journalists that what you've made is worth the misery of having to review it" -- Fellini

Some thoughts while waiting breathlessly for "The Game of the Century"…


* First of all, don't you have to see the Game of the Century before you know it's the Game of the Century? And wouldn't you at least have to have seen a pretty sizeable chunk of the entire century first? This game will have a looooong way to go before it can even match just the Stanford-USC, Michigan State-Nebraska, and Notre Dame-Michigan games that have been played so far this year.

But the hype machine must grind on. There's advertising to be sold, dollars to be made, and promoting of such a game as #1 Alabama versus # 2 LSU game begins with hyperbole and proceeds upward from there.

It'll do for a Game of the Century—which, by the way, is just 11 years old—until the next one comes along…


* Here's a hearty "Welcome Back" to Jim Thome, once spurned by the Phillies in favor of an up-and-coming young first baseman whom the Phillies found almost impossible to trade, Ryan Howard.

Thome is an all-or-nothing type of slugger with a great reputation for clutch hitting and clubhouse presence. He's also one of manager Charlie Manuel's teacher's pets, and Thome loves the big West Virginian right back.

The aging Thome is not entirely the player he once was, but you could do a lot worse as a sub for The Big Piece (at least part-time) as he recovers from his ruptured Achilles tendon.


* By the way, am I the only one who recalls that, when Howard pushed Thome out of the starting line-up, the former was a guy who hit for a high average as well as destructive power?

Now he's a guy who is openly described in the press (this week by CSN Philly's dubious Casey Feeney) as, "He can’t hit lefty relievers. He can’t hit plus-fastballs. He can’t hit good breaking pitches."

The frustrating part of that mean-spirited assessment of Howard is that it appears to be correct…


* It looks like the always highly anticipated Christmas Day NBA match-ups may never be played.

Good.

Spend some holiday time with your kids.



* Much was made of suddenly-retired manager Tony LaRussa's phone mishap during Game 5 of the World Series, but it won't be the most memorable phone memory I'll have of him. Strangely, the most memorable—and hilarious—also occurred this season.

The phones were out in the St. Louis bullpen at Philadelphia's Citizen's Bank Park. LaRussa, at one point late in the game, strode unexpectedly up the dugout steps and began making strange gestures toward the outfield. The announcers (I believe it was a late-season local Phillies telecast being broadcast nationally by MLB Network) wondered what was going on.

I could see by the overhand throwing motion of LaRussa's left arm that he wanted a lefthanded reliever from the 'pen. But which one?

Then he raised one arm and held his hand horizontally, palm facing downward, about a foot above his head. I turned to my wife, Janet, and said, "He wants a tall lefthander!"

Then LaRussa, mystifying the announcers, held his curving arms at his side in the shape of a pair of parentheses and sort of jiggled them in and out.

I cried, "He wants the tall, FAT lefthander!"

And Arthur Rhodes trotted in from the bullpen.

It cracked me up—and absolute classic! Unless you're Arthur Rhodes…