Well folks, the first annual "Keithies" was such a rousing success, we're truly sorry to see it end. (view the voting results here)

The good news is that with five rollicking segments "in the can" we can now put them all together into one show so the Countdown staff can have the day off on some minor holiday in the future. Whoo hoo!

But you don't have to wait until Arbor Day to enjoy the action, we've got all five Keithie segments right here in The NewsHole for one low, low price of absolutely nothin'.

Please enjoy the 1st Annual...

"Best of the Stuff We Found on the Internets Awards"

Our opening night of nominations is the category of "Things You Missed on the TV's That the Internets Made Famous." How could we possibly choose just five from this great field?

As with category #1, the videos that didn't make the cut were every bit as good as the final five, it's "Everyday Idiots of the World Wide Web."

The extremely popular "Internets Superstar" (non-porn) category.

"The Greatest Animal in All the Internets"

The Grand Finale to our weeklong extravaganza, we tear open the envelopes to find out the winners in... "A Night at the Keithies" with your host... Keithie.

Was Bush Warned? A week after Tillman's death, a month before anyone told Tillman's family, a startling memo from April 2004 surfaces tonight. It's from a Major General, to General John Abizaid, warning him to warn the President: do not refer to how Tillman died, it was "highly possible" he died from "friendly fire." Two days later, in his speech about Tillman, President Bush made no reference to how the Army Ranger was killed. WATCH VIDEO

Giuliani Time : He knew about the mob taint touching his pick for Director of Homeland Security, firefighters are criticising him about 9/11, and he says his wife can sit in cabinet meetings. How it will all impact the presidential campaign of Rudy Giuliani's.

ODDBALL : The reason why pilots practice landing without landing gear, and the boat-jacking victim who decided to go down with the ship. WATCH VIDEO

Fox Noise and Fury: Why is a television network commissioning a poll that asks people if a political party should "let" itself be "taken over" by a "grassroots organization?"  Because the television network is Fox Noise, and the results will make the Democrats look bad. WATCH VIDEO

Boehner's Boner:  The honor was long overdue. Yet even as the Tuskeghee airmen finally received their congressional medals of honor - they were disrespected again. By a House Minority leader who never bought "Hooked on Phonics." WATCH VIDEO

WORST PERSON IN THE WORLD : Mother of the year sends her kids to steal a puppy, Michael Weiner Savage blames America for 9/11, and Glenn Beck continues his sexists attacks on Hillary Clinton.

It's Keithies Night!!  You, the voters, have spoken, the polls are now closed,  and now we can finally reveal the winners of the first annual "Keithie" awards, The Best of the Stuff We Found on the Internets.

BREAKING NEWS

Memo shows suspicions on soldier's death weeks before family was told.

SAN JOSE, Calif. - Just seven days after Pat Tillman's death, a top general warned there were strong indications that he died as a result of "friendly fire" and President Bush might embarrass himself if he said the NFL star-turned-soldier died in an ambush, according to a memo obtained by The Associated Press.

It was not until a month afterward that the Pentagon told the public and grieving family members the truth - that Tillman was mistakenly killed in Afghanistan by his comrades.

The memo reinforces suspicions that the Pentagon was more concerned with sparing officials from embarrassment than with leveling with Tillman's family.
In a memo sent to a four-star general a week after Tillman's April 22, 2004, death, then-Maj. Gen. Stanley McChrystal warned that it was "highly possible" the Army Ranger was killed by friendly fire.

"I felt that it was essential that you received this information as soon as we detected it in order to preclude any unknowing statements by our country's leaders which might cause public embarrassment if the circumstances of Cpl. Tillman's death become public," McChrystal wrote.

Blain Rethmeier, a White House spokesman, said Friday that a review of records turned up no indication that the president had received McChrystal's warning. Bush made no reference to the way Tillman died in a speech delivered two days after the memo was written. But Rethmeier emphasized that Bush often pays tribute to fallen soldiers without mentioning the exact circumstances of their deaths.

© 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Fox Noise Channel is pretending to be a news organization again....

See, what was needed here was a fourth choice:

a) Good Idea
b) Bad Idea
c) Don't Know
d) Holy crap! Are you really this stupid?! I mean, do you really think she was serious about that, or are you trying to pull something here? I think she might have been 'joshing about.' And doesn't the guy who sings "Home
with the Armadillo" already hold the positon of "Ambassador to the World?" What do we do with him? Who exactly is calling again?

More on this tonight. Oh yes... much more.

Sampson and De Liars: First Kyle Sampson this morning threw Attorney General Alberto Gonzales under the bus, then this afternoon, the White House implied he was going to have to crawl his own way back to the sidewalk. After Kyle Sampson eraseed any doubt that Gonzales approved the firings of eight federal prosecutors, thereby disputing the Attorney General's own public statements, the White House is now actively trying to distance itself from him.  Spokeswoman Dana Perino saying this afternoon that it is time, quote: "to let the attorney general speak for himself." WATCH VIDEO

Kill Bill, Volume Two : The President is now the only thing standing in the way of money for the troops and a goal of getting out of Iraq starting next year. Threatening to kill the measure with only the second veto of his presidency. But will he put down the veto pen in favor of funding the sword? WATCH VIDEO

ODDBALL : Haunted house training in Malaysia is scary serious, and high speed bowling for morons. WATCH VIDEO

Spurning Bush :  He once made the joke himself, but are Laura and Barney now truly the President's only supporters? Andrew Sullivan joins Keith to talk about the growing isolation of George W. Bush. WATCH VIDEO

Die Another Day:  Sanjaya survives another vote on American Idol. Princess Maria Milito is here to tell us why this is a good thing. Or a bad thing. We don't remember. WATCH VIDEO

WORST PERSON IN THE WORLD : The NBA player scored an offensive triple-double, the NFL coach who didn't get the "enough with the Hitler comparisons already!" memo, and psychologists call what comedian Rush Limbaugh is doing, "projecting." Sorry big guy, there's no pill for that. WATCH VIDEO

The Keithies! It's our final night of nominations in the First Annual Best of the Stuff We Found On The Internets Awards. Watch the video, then VOTE HERE for the winner.

This is it, the fourth and final installment of our week-long extravaganza -–
the Keithie nominations for "Greatest Animal in all the Internets" -- airs tonight, but you can VOTE NOW HERE.

Voting closes early Friday, and we'll announce the winners in a special presentation Friday night.

So, here it is LAST CALL!

Go Vote Now for the Keithie Awards for...

"Stuff You Missed on the TVs that the Internets Made Famous."

"Everyday Idiots of the World Wide Web"

"Internets Superstar" (non-porn)

and "Greatest Animal of all the Internets"

Oh, and there's this...

E-Mail Shows Rove's Role in Fate of Prosecutors

Almost every Wednesday afternoon, advisers to President Bush gather to
strategize about putting his stamp on the federal courts and the United States Attorneys' offices.

The group meets in the Roosevelt Room and includes aides to the White
House counsel, the chief of staff, the attorney general and Karl Rove, who also sometimes attends himself. Each of them signs off on every nomination.

Not really sure how to feel about this...

from crooks & liars...

At the annual Radio/Television Correspondents' Association Dinner last night, comedians Colin Mochrie and Brad Sherwood of Whose Line Is It Anyway? brought Karl Rove up on stage for a tribute rap song. Not as good as Colbert's roast of President Bush last year, but it's pretty damn funny to see Karl try to get down with his bad self.

 Download (452) |   Download (221) | 

"I'm MC Rove!" 

Apparently Karl likes to collect stamps and tear the heads off small animals. I'm not even gonna go there…

The War Over The War:  The one thing not being debated in the massive, $122 billion funding bill before the Senate, the one element both parties agree on, is giving the money to the president to ensure that U-S troops have the supplies and equipment and resources they need. And yet the president today at once warned the Congress that they must give him the money as soon as possible and in the same breath, promised to veto the very bill that would give him that funding. WATCH VIDEO

The Reality in Iraq: It's one of the most dangerous cities on earth, yet according to Senator John McCain, parts of Baghdad are safe enough to stroll through. Maybe he's the "anonymous blogger" President Bush is using to prove how the surge is working.
WATCH VIDEO

ODDBALL:  Urban indoor downhill skiing, reason #180 why Japanese television is better than ours, and a little swan-on-boat action for you. WATCH VIDEO

The US Attorney Scandal: A clear majority of Americans polled say they want White House aides to testify to congress under oath. So given this administration's response to public opinon about Iraq... we presume Karl Rove and Harriet Miers are totally off the hook. John Dean joins us. WATCH VIDEO

Hair Brain: He can't sing, he can barely dance, and his head looks utterly ridiculous. Yet Tom O'Neil predicts tonight that Sanjaya is not only going to survive on American Idol -- he's going to win.
 
WORST PERSON IN THE WORLD: The President's nomination for Ambassador to Belgium is out of luck, Joe Liebermann is either trying to fool everybody now, or he has been for past year, or both... and you won't believe what Keith found in the University of Idaho women's softball team media guide. WATCH VIDEO

The Keithies! It's our third night of nominations in the First Annual Best of the Stuff We Found On The Internets Awards. Watch the video, then VOTE HERE for the winner.

The third installment of our week-long extravaganza -–
the Keithie nominations for "Internets Superstar (non-porn)" -- airs tonight, but you can VOTE NOW HERE.

Voting closes early Friday, and we'll announce the winners in a special presentation Friday night.

So vote now, watch the nomination special tonight, erase your cookies and vote again, then come back tomorrow and vote for the next Keithie: "Internets Superstar (non-porn)."

Remember to also vote for the Keithie Award for "Stuff That You Missed on the TVs that the Internets Made Famous."

and for "Everyday Idiots of the World Wide Web"

Tom O'Neil is a columnist for the LA Times' entertainment site TheEnvelope.com

Back off, Sanjaya-bashers! American Idol's newest superstar is really a master showman.

 

Who cares if he can't sing? Sanjaya's got another talent and knows how to sell it. Camp is one of the great traditions of showbiz and -- come on! -- it takes a genius to know how to pull it off. As those sassy strippers in the classic Broadway musical "Gypsy" say, "Ya gotta bump it with a trumpet, honey!"

 

You can't just do it a little. You've gotta go screaming (or screeching) over the top. The next time you see a photo of Sanjaya's pony Mohawk, think of Dame Edna's purple hair, or that rat's nest on Tiny Tim's head. Both of those guys have equally ghastly singing chops. (Uh-oh. You didn't know Dame Edna was a guy? Sorry!)

 

But it ain't about the singing. It's about putting on a show! And that spunky, little 17-year-old Liberace wannabe knows what he's doing and is doing it with shrewd surrender and abandon.

 

Frankly, let's be honest -- that's how Taylor Hicks WON last year. Justin Timberlake was right about him. Taylor "couldn't carry a tune in a bucket." Simon Cowell was correct, too, when he slammed Taylor for sounding like a drunk dad at a wedding while singing "Living for the City" the first time on the show.

 

But, then -- presto, change-o -- as soon as America started buying into Taylor's campy wiggle and screech, cheering him on, that unabashed hypocrite and celebrated cad started praising Taylor. Worse, Simon applauded Taylor for singing "Living for the City" the exact same, awful way during one of the finale shows.

 

Hey, where's the Let's-Get-Simon-Cowell-Lynch-Mob when you need it?

 

The real tragedy of Taylor's triumph as top winner last year was that Simon wasn't alone. Everybody cheered on that no-talent. Why? Because that's what we do to drunk dads acting silly at weddings? Yes, as long as they're macho cool.

 

Sanjaya is acting silly, too, but he's a sissy. So the bullies of America are beating up on him. Unfair! Rise up, oh, Sanjaya fans! Let's strike back! Keep voting for him! Dialing and dialing! And keep the faith!

 

Because Sanjaya is exactly what "American Idol" deserves. Early on in the TV season producers played up the worst acts as a way to pump ratings. Now it's their own fault that one deliciously, hilariously lousy act survived and is drumming up legions of fans the same way that camp rockers like Ozzy Osborne fill football stadiums -- because they know how to ENTERTAIN.

 

The lesson here: it's not always about the singing. It's about putting on a show. Taylor Hicks proved that last year without the pizzazz, the humor, the wink to the audience, the gutsy camp that Sanjaya knows instinctively.

 

All of THAT plus the hair!

 

Go, Sanjaya! Gooooo!

Tom O'Neil is a columnist for the LA Times' entertainment site TheEnvelope.com

...at least that's what his MySpace said for a brief time today...

The site was hacked over a breach of netiquette by McCain's web people, who were using a free page template without giving credit (that's almost stealing!), and "hotlinking" images from the designer's site, using his bandwidth (that sorta is stealing!).

The 'hacker' tells his tale here.

You see, John McCain's people commandeered my world-renowned MySpace design template and did a few things wrong:

1. They did not credit me for the template, even though the template explicitly requested credit.
2. They used my own unmodified imagery, specifically for the "Contacting John McCain" table.
3. As if #2 wasn't bad enough, the McCain crew is actually pulling their image directly from my server
   on each page load. So every time someone visits the McCain MySpace
   page, my bandwidth is being used to deliver part of the page! Bad
   McCain!

So...

Numerous people have written me over the last few weeks to tell me that
McCain has been using my code, but up until I realized he was pulling
images from my server, I didn't really care. A lot of celebrities
including Ryan "Van Wilder" Reynolds and the beautiful Nelly Furtado use my code and I'm totally cool with it.

But then I read the article in today's Newsweek
about how politicians are all setting up MySpace pages in order to
"connect" with younger audiences. McCain's MySpace page is listed, as
are the pages from several other candidates. I think the idea of
politicians setting up MySpace pages and pretending to actually use
them is a bit disingenuous, so I figured it was time to play a little
prank on Johnny Mac.

---

Don't forget to Vote!!

---

A President Alone: The war vote in the Senate. Republicans there will no longer block debate, or the vote, because Mr. Bush will veto any legislation demanding withdrawal, anyway. In other words: Mr. President, you do your dirty work for yourself. Plus, the same words in Gonzales-Gate: Mr. Attorney General, you do your dirty work for yourself. The report tonight: that nobody in the Administration is trying to talk Republicans on the hill into defending Alberto Gonzales.  Also, an update on the condition of White House spokesman Tony Snow.

The Blight House: It's scandal du jour, at the movable feast that is the Bush Administration. We'll turn to our special guest... political gourmet Bill Maher.

ODDBALL:  All publicity is good publicity, even if it costs you a million dollar sports car, that and the biggest frog you'll see all week.

Mary Tillman Exclusive: 

The day after the latest story from the Army on the death of Ranger Pat Tillman, the former football star, in friendly fire in Afghanistan, more anger, more heartbreak, from his mother, Mary. Tonight... her extraordinary interview with Keith Olbermann and Dan Patrick.

Flirting With Disaster:   30 years after the worst runway disaster in aviation history -- federal investigators fear another ground collision is terrifyingly possible. NBC's Tom Costello has a special report.

WORST PERSON IN THE WORLD: 

What's worse than stealing candy from a baby? Michael Weiner Savage has no heart, plus Sean Hannity and the hacks at the RNC News Channel.

The Keithies!  It's
our second night of nominations in the First Annual Best of the Stuff We
Found On The Internets Awards. Watch the video, then VOTE HERE for the winners.

The second installment of our week-long extravaganza -–
the Keithie nominations for "Everyday Idiots on the World Wide Web" -- airs tonight, but you can VOTE NOW HERE.

Voting closes early Friday, and we'll announce the winners in a special presentation Friday night.

So vote now, watch the nomination special tonight, erase your cookies and vote again, then come back tomorrow and vote for the next Keithie: "Internets Superstar (non-porn)."

Remember to also vote for the Keithie Award for "Stuff That You Missed on the TVs that the Internets Made Famous."

Special Comment: Tom DeLay's DeLusions

What He Meant to Say: Now that it has been revealed that Alberto Gonzales did not give us the full truth about his involvement in the US Attorney firings, he's back to parse his story a tad. We'll take a look at the new explanations -- and the new contradictions -- in Gonzales' interview with NBC's Pete Williams.

Tom DeLay and the 'Big Lie': Tom Delay compares liberals to Hitler. That upon which he bases that comparison, may be even more shocking. A brief Special Comment by Keith Olbermann.

ODDBALL: Motorcycle bullfighting in Mexico, the ultimate "how to remain a bachelor" pad, and live, uncensored Panda Porn. WATCH VIDEO

Truth, The Second Casualty: When he died in the spring of 2004, Pat Tillman was an all-American hero who gave up safety and millions in the NFL to fight the president's wars after September 11th. That spring, the spring of Abu Ghraib, the spring of Fallujah... the Pentagon and the president could use a hero. And they did. WATCH VIDEO

The Good Fight:  Katie Couric's "some people say" hardline questions about the diagnosis of cancer for Elizabeth Edwards. Some people say the Edwards have now reacted.
 
WORST PERSON IN THE WORLD: Rush Limbaugh continues his attack on Elizabeth Edwards, the dishonorable military recruiter giving the Army a bad name, and the horrible and tragic story of what happened with some of the remains of victims of 9/11.

The Keithies: It's our first night of nominations in the First Annual Best of the Stuff We Found On The Internets Awards. Watch the video, then VOTE HERE for the winners.

The first installment of our week-long extravaganza -–
the Keithie nominations for "Stuff That You Missed on the TVs that the Internets
Made Famous" -- airs tonight, but you can VOTE NOW HERE.

Voting closes early Friday, and we'll announce the winners in a special presentation Friday night.

So vote now, watch the nomination special tonight, vote again, then come back tomorrow and vote for the next Keithie: "Everyday Idiots on the World Wide Web."

Indicted former bug exterminator, Tom Delay has written a new book about his time in government, sharing stories ranging from the 1994 Republican Revolution, to how he personally found Christ, to how the Democrats are like Hitler.

"I believe it was Adolf Hitler who first acknowledged that the big lie
is more effective than the little lie, because the big lie is so
audacious, such an astonishing immorality, that people have a hard time
believing anyone would say it if it wasn't true. You know, the big lie
— like the Holocaust never happened or dark-skinned people are less
intelligent than light-skinned people. Well, by charging this big lie"
— that DeLay violated campaign-finance laws in Texas — "liberals have
finally joined the ranks of scoundrels like Hitler."

Tonight, Keith Olbermann delivers a brief Special Comment in response to that astounding display of idiocy.

Countdown 8pm ET / 5pm PT

In the meantime, are we sure Delay even wrote this book?

So it had all ended in 1994. The baseball strike - and the prospect of having to draft replacement players for our rotisserie league the following spring ("UPS drivers; I see UPS drivers") - got me out of fantasy sports "for good" after a decade.

Just when I thought I was out, to borrow from Mr. Pacino's over-the-top performance, I was invited by friends, old and new, to dive in to modern fantasy baseball. It's been so long that not only did we not have computer-generated "auto picks," but we used to have to enter player statistics manually into a spreadsheet.

We've just completed our National League-only draft and so that this careful research doesn't go to waste, here it is. My ranking of the 200 most fantasy-productive N.L. players for 2007 - obviously a totally subjective thing, and tailored to a league with a specific format, but it might still be useful to you.

 

By means of explanation, we play twelve categories, not the usual ten: batting average, homers, RBI, stolen bases, runs, and total bases; wins, strikeouts, saves, earned run average, "whip" (walks + hits divided by innings pitched), and relievers' holds. Those extra categories tend to slightly deemphasize stolen bases (a home run now counts in five categories) and seriously deemphasizes saves (a hold is now as valuable as a save, thus might Scott Linebrink be more valuable than Trevor Hoffman). We draft 25 rounds: nine active pitchers, just one catcher, a standard array of other positions, including three bench spots that can be filled by anybody).

The best way to rank players, either for a draft or an auction, is to establish a numerical value for each hitter and pitcher, then to split each position into letter grades depending on position scarcity (A, B, C are obvious; D indicates "Do No Harm" - a player or pitcher so seldom used that if you run out of guys who can actually produce for you, you can go for a player who can fill your roster until somebody better comes along). So if you have a bunch of players of different positions all worth $17, go for the 17A's first, 17B's second, etc.

Thus the description of each player translates as follows: Alfonso Soriano's "(40A)" means a $40 value (based on a $260 league), and then (1^st) indicates where he actually was selected in our league today. A few notes are interspersed as you'll see - and yes, we bucked the trend and fulfilled my first four options:

 

001 Alfonso Soriano, of, chicago (40A) (1^st)
002 Albert Pujols, 1B, st. louis (40A) (2^nd)

Honestly, I'm not convinced Pujols is going to do what he has the last few years. I saw him take BP two weeks ago and he looked a little thinner in the upper torso. Another "scout" says that was because he has a belly roll going this year. Soriano should tattoo the ball in Chicago, and frankly, had I had the second choice, I might have gone with Reyes ahead of him, too - but I picked eighth.

003 Jose Reyes, ss, new york (37A) (3^rd)
004 Ryan Howard, 1B, philadelphia (37A) (4^th)
005 Hanley Ramirez, ss, florida (35A) (21^st)

OK, you ask; if I had the eighth choice and I ranked Ramirez fifth, why did he get drafted 21^st? Because I chickened out. He could easily turn into a doppelganger for Reyes, but when Chase Utley went 5^th, David Wright 6^th, and Chris Carpenter an unlikely 7^th, Beltran was sitting there and I liked those 30 steals and 30 homers more than I liked Ramirez's upside. He still has the makings, though.

006 Carlos Beltran, of, new york (35A) (8^th)
007 Miguel Cabrera, 3b, florida (34a) (9^th)

If the Marlins' stadium deal doesn't go through, Cabrera (and Dontrelle Willis) could go elsewhere. This league I'm in is a start-from-scratch-every-year outfit, and N.L.-only. If Cabrera went to the A.L., you get an empty space on your roster.

008 David Wright, 3b, new york (34a) (6^th)
009 Garrett Atkins, 3b, Colorado (34a) (12^th)

Me again, picking Atkins. Take a look at the respective numbers for Atkins and Wright - they're the same guy. In a long-term league there's no comparison, but in a start-from-scratch, there are no ages.

010 Carlos Lee, of, Houston (33a) (28^th)

I know he's had a little trouble with his elbow this spring, but still sitting there at the 28^th pick? I had to take him.

011 Matt Holliday, of, Colorado (32A) (15^th)
012 Lance Berkman, 1b-of, Houston (30A) (10^th)
013 Chris Carpenter, sp, st. louis (30A) (7^th)

Yeah, Cy Young this. I gotta be assured of 20 wins if I take a pitcher in the top ten - and I'm a pitching guy.

014 Jimmy Rollins, ss, Philadelphia (30a) (16^th)
015 Chase Utley, 2b, Philadelphia (30a) (5^th)

Great ballplayer but possibly the victim of what I foresee as a meltdown in Philly. Pat Burrell is hitting behind Ryan Howard this year. Burrell's been wearing a back brace all spring and is no great shakes when he isn't. Thus they pitch around Howard more this year, and while they're doing that, Utley will necessarily steal fewer bases and score fewer runs.

016 Jason Bay, of, Pittsburgh (29A) (11^th)
017 Jeff Francoeur, of, Atlanta (29a) (48^th) 

As Bobby Cox said, hitting nothing but line drives all spring. Could be his breakout year. Damn well hope so; I took him in the fifth round, right behind Scott Rolen and just ahead of Mike Cameron.

018 Prince Fielder, 1b, Milwaukee (29a) (33^rd) 

Unsure if he'll cross 300 in average or weight first, but what a bat. Me again.

019 Derrek Lee, 1B, Chicago (29A) (17^th)
020 Bill Hall, SS (OF), Milwaukee (29A) (35^th) 

Exceptionally valuable if he still qualifies at shortstop in your league as he does in ours.

021 Aramis Ramirez, 3b, Chicago (27a) (18^th)
022 Andruw Jones, of, Atlanta (27a) (14^th)
023 Chris Young, of, Arizona (27A) (108^th) 

Me again, and chickening out (the league cooperating with me). The 30/30 chance is just too good to pass up.

024 Roy Oswalt, sp, Houston (26a) (20^th)
025 Adam Dunn, of, Cincinnati (26a) (42^nd)
026 Juan Pierre, of, Los Angeles (26a) (19^th)
027 Steven Drew, SS, Arizona (26A) (53^rd) 

Imagine J.D. Drew as a shortstop. That's the upside. Downside is - well, I can't think of one.

028 Rickie Weeks, 2B, Milwaukee (25A) (58^th)
029 John Smoltz, sp, Atlanta (25A) (36^th)
030 Carlos Zambrano, sp, Chicago (25A) (23^rd)
031 Troy Tulowitzki, ss, Colorado (25A) (138^th) 

OK, I overvalued him. And I didn't even get to pick him. I just think he and Drew are the next stars at the position.

032 Brandon Webb, sp, Arizona (24A) (31^st)
033 Carlos Delgado, 1b, New York (24A) (12^th)
034 Corey Hart, of, Milwaukee (24a) (122^nd) 

Another guy I like, another guy I tried to wait on and got burned.

035 Trevor Hoffman, cl, San Diego (23A) (29^th)
036 Willy Taveras, of, Colorado (23A) (74^th)
037 Jake Peavy, sp, San Diego (23a) (24^th)
038 Billy Wagner, cl, New York (22A) (25^th)
039 Jeff Kent, 2b, Los Angeles (22A) (61^st) 

The non-destructive second basemen are few and far between this year.

040 Felipe Lopez, ss, Washington (22A) (46^th)
041 Ryan Zimmerman, 3b, Washington (22B) (39^th)
042 Bob Wickman, cl, Atlanta (21A) (86^th)
043 Brian McCann, c, Atlanta (21A) (34^th)
044 Chipper Jones, 3b, Atlanta (21B) (40^th)
045 Brian Fuentes, cl, Colorado (20A) (73^rd)
046 Scott Linebrink, rp, San Diego (20A) (82^nd) 

Doesn't make much sense, right? He had 36 "holds" last year - about ten more than anybody else in the National League - the equivalent of about 50 saves. Ignore if you don't count holds.

047 Derek Lowe, sp, Los Angeles (20A) (68^th)
048 Adrian Gonzalez, 1b, San Diego (20B) (48^th)
049 Mike Jacobs, 1b, Florida (20B) (112^th)
050 Conor Jackson, 1b, Arizona (20B) (85^th)
051 Brad Hawpe, of, Colorado (20B) (56^th)
052 Josh Willingham, of, Florida (20B) (81^st)
053 Ryan Freel, of, Cincinnati (20B) (104^th)
054 Edwin Encarnacion, 3b, Cincinnati (20B) (95^th)
055 Scott Rolen, 3b, St. Louis (20B) (47^th)
056 Chad Cordero, cl, Washington (19A) (76^th)
057 Ben Sheets, sp, Milwaukee (19A) (27^th) 

You want to rely on his health?

058 Adam Laroche, 1b, Pittsburgh (19B) (38^th)
059 Kevin Kouzmanoff, 3B, San Diego (19B) (143^rd)
060 Jose Bautista, 3B, Pittsburgh (19B) (184^th) 

Once again, I'm a little ahead of the crowd - by 124 spots - but the Pirates think this guy finally has his head on straight and his bat speaks for itself.

061 Kelly Johnson, of (2b), Atlanta (19B) (193^rd)
062 Josh Hamilton, of, Cincinnati (19B) (156^th)
063 Tim Hudson, sp, Atlanta (18A) (113^th)
064 Adam Wainwright, sp, St. Louis (18A) (117^th) 

Got Hudson, obviously did not get Wainwright. Hudson's focus seems to be back, and I think Wainwright could be better than Carpenter this year - but it's a big if.

065 Brett Myers, sp, Philadelphia (18A) (37^th)
066 Eric Byrnes, of, Arizona (18B) (78^th)
067 Dustin Hermanson, cl, Cincinnati (18B) (153^rd) 

The ESPN rating has him about 515^th. What has gotten no attention yet, is that Jerry Narron is going to have him close. Most of the bullpens are in flux this year - might as well listen to what the manager says.

068 Barry Zito, sp, San Francisco (17A) (51^st)
069 Chris Young, sp, San Diego (17A) (45^th)
070 Matt Cain, sp, San Francisco (17A) (44^th)
071 Bronson Arroyo, sp, Cincinnati (17A) (75^th)
072 Jason Isringhausen, cl, St. Louis (17B) (80^th)
073 Jeremy Hermida, of, Florida (17B) (116^th) 

He hasn't hit this spring, and now he's hurting.

074 Todd Helton, 1b, Colorado (17B) (55^th)
075 Jacque Jones, of, Chicago (17B) (69^th)
076 Aaron Rowand, of, Philadelphia (17B) (107^th)
077 Pat Burrell, of, Philadelphia (17B) (63^rd)
078 Austin Kearns, of, Washington (17B) (83^rd)
079 Chad Tracy, 3b, Arizona (17C) (84^th)
080 Freddy Sanchez, SS-3b-2b, pitt. (16A) (90^th)

081 Russell Martin, C, Los Angeles (16a) (71^st)
082 Dontrelle Willis, sp, Florida (16A) (64^th)
083 Dave Bush, sp, Milwaukee (16A) (93^rd) 

The Brewer bullpen blew five leads for him last year - the best known dark-horse of 2007.

084 Rafael Soriano, rp, Atlanta (16A) (128^th)
085 Brad Lidge, cl, Houston (16B) (57^th)
086 Chris Burke, 2b-of, Houston (16B) (167^th)
087 Aaron Harang, sp, Cincinnati (15A) (43^rd)
088 Chris Capuano, sp, Milwaukee (15A) (91^st)
089 Greg Maddux, sp, San Diego (15A) (148^th)
090 Aaron Heilman, rp, New York (15A) (89^th)
091 Takashi Saito, cl, Los Angeles (15B) (54^th) 

The buzz on the Dodger bullpen is pretty well-heard. Saito's trick delivery has gotten old and the hitters will solve him, thus causing Grady Little to switch to Jonathan Broxton.

092 Ray Durham, 2b, San Francisco (15B) (88^th)
093 Khalil Greene, ss, San Diego (15B) (127^th)
094 Rafael Furcal, ss, Los Angeles (15B) (22^nd) 

He sprained his knee or his ankle or his entire body or something. 94^th might be a little dismissive of him, but I can't buy 22^nd.

095 Dan Uggla, 2B, Florida (15B) (30^th) 

As the oldest cliché of the playground goes, I'd like to see him do it again.

096 Orlando Hudson, 2b, Arizona (15B) (94^th)
097 Marcus Giles, 2b, San Diego (15B) (70^th)
098 Carlos Quentin, of, Arizona (15C) (79^th) 

His labrum hurts. The three worst words you can hear, especially about a young hitter.

099 Scott Olsen, sp, Florida (14A) (124^th)
100 Anthony Reyes, sp, St. Louis (14A) (99^th)
101 Ian Snell, sp, Pittsburgh (14A) (123^rd)
102 Chuck James, sp, Atlanta (14A) (125^th)
103 Michael Barrett, c, Chicago (14A) (65^th)
104 Dan Wheeler, rp, Houston (14A) (119^th) 

Closed when Lidge blew up last year. Might do so again - somebody to pay attention to, even if you don't have a holds category.

105 Tom Gordon, cl, Philadelphia (14B) (77^th)
106 Edgar Renteria, ss, Atlanta (14B) (60^th)
107 Mike Cameron, of, San Diego (14C) (49^th)
108 Chris Duffy, of, Pittsburgh (14C) (164^th)
109 Player name redacted

He wasn't chosen, he's a free agent in my league, and I ain't giving that away for free.

110 Chris Duncan, of, St. Louis (14C) (170^th)
111 Ken Griffey, of, Cincinnati (14C) (101^st)
112 Randy Winn, of, San Francisco (14C) (181^st)
113 Dave Roberts, of, San Francisco (14C) (111^th)
114 Anibal Sanchez, sp, Florida (13A) (146^th)
115 Russ Ortiz, sp, San Francisco (13A) (213^th)
116 Mike Gonzalez, rp, Atlanta (13A) (103^rd)
117 Jonathan Broxton, rp, Los Angeles (13A) (107^th)
118 Jose Valverde, cl, Arizona (13B) (115^th)
119 Jason Schmidt, sp, Los Angeles (13B) (32^nd) 

He's been absolutely flat all spring. Hasn't thrown a pitch faster than 86 MPH. That's enough to scare me off.

120 Randy Johnson, sp, Arizona (13B) (52^nd)
121 Mike Pelfrey, sp, New York (13B) (188^th)
122 Freddy Garcia, sp, Philadelphia (13B) (105^th)
123 Jason Jennings, sp, Houston (13B) (131^st)
124 Cole Hamels, sp, Philadelphia (13B) (66^th) 

Could be the next great lefthander, but as fond as I was of the Phillies last year, that's how convinced I am they're in for a disaster - managerial firing, recriminations, brawls in the clubhouse, 20 blown leads, the whole biblical punishment thing.

125 Morgan Ensberg, 3b, Houston (13C) (96^th)
125b Chad Billingsley, rp, Los Angeles (12B) (114^th) 

The Dodgers have, with the rare kind of genius that their fans know all too well, chosen to stick him in middle relief, and put Brett Tomko in the rotation. It may be months before they figure this mistake out.

126 Armando Benitez, cl, San Francisco (12B) (110^th)
127 Chris Iannetta, C, Colorado (12B) (133^rd)
128 David Ross, C, Cincinnati (12B) (239^th)
129 Chad Qualls, rp, Houston (12B) (141^st)
130 Omar Vizquel, ss, San Francisco (12B) (129^th)
131 Andre Ethier, of, Los Angeles (12C) (155^th)
132 Wilson Betemit, 3b, Los Angeles (12C) (169^th)
133 Francisco Cordero, cl, Milwaukee (11B) (59^th) 

Again, an uncertain pen. As much talk of Turnbow finishing for them - or both of them perhaps.

134 Brandon Lyon, rp, Arizona (11B) (200^th)
135 Brad Penny, sp, Los Angeles (11B) (100^th)
136 Johnny Estrada, c, Milwaukee (11B) (98^th)
137 Redacted again - not drafted in our league. Ask me in July.
138 Xavier Nady, of-1b, Pittsburgh (11C) (166^th)
139 Tom Glavine, sp, New York (10B) (121^st)
140 Zach Duke, sp, Pittsburgh (10B) (202^nd)
141 Sorry, more redaction theatre.
142 Tim Lincecum, p, San Francisco (10B) (233^rd) 

Same scenario as Billingsley - but for Lincecum you hear people invoke the names "Feller" and "Koufax." Find a spot for him, especially if you're down to drafting surplus pitchers.

143 Rich Hill, sp, Chicago (10B) (93^rd)
144 Randy Wolf, sp, Los Angeles (10B) (172^nd)
145 Paul LoDuca, c, New York (10B) (62^nd)
146 Tom Gorzelanny, sp, Pittsburgh (10B) (175^th)
147 Josh Bard, c, San Diego (10B) (197^th)
148 Ronny Paulino, c, Pittsburgh (10B) (215^th)
149 Bobby Howry, rp, Chicago (10B) (149^th)
150 Matt Capps, rp, Pittsburgh (10B) (178^th)
151 Scott Thorman, 1b, Atlanta (10B) (226^th)
152 Redacted - but here's a hint: one of the myriad of Florida closer possibilities.
153 Pedro Feliz, 3b, San Francisco (10C) (160^th)
154 Jim Edmonds, of, St. Louis (10C) (147^th)
155 Luke Scott, of, Houston (10C) (206^th)
156 Barry Bonds, of, San Francisco (10C) (67^th)
157 Brian Giles, of, San Diego (10C) (72^nd) 

Frankly, I don't get this. His power was already evaporating, then he went into the worst home run park in the league, and was moved to second in the batting order.

158 Shane Victorino, of, Philadelphia (10C) (158^th)
159 Moises Alou, of, New York (10C) (92^nd)
160 Luis Gonzalez, of, Los Angeles (10C) (102^nd)
161 Geoff Jenkins, of, Milwaukee (10C) (134^th)
162 Juan Encarnacion, of, St. L Injured (10D) (136^th)
163 Termel Sledge, of, San Diego (10D) (238^th)
164 Ryan Church, of, Washington (10D) (118^th)
165 Kevin Mench, of, Milwaukee (10D) (191^st)
166 Shawn Green, of, New York (10D) (180^th)
167 Miguel Olivo, C, Florida (9B) (120^th)
168 J.J. Hardy, ss, Milwaukee (9B) (142^nd)
169 Adam Kennedy, 2b, St. Louis (9B) (205^th)
170 Scott Eyre, rp, Chicago (9B) (179^th)
171 John Patterson, sp, Washington (9C) (144^th)
172 Salomon Torres, cl, Pittsburgh (9C) (140^th)
173 John Maine, sp, New York (9C) (149^th)
174 Nomar Garciaparra, 1b, Los Angeles (9C) (41^st)
175 Rich Aurilia, 1b-3b-ss, San Francisco (9C) (173^rd)
176 Lastings Milledge, of, New York (9D) (248^th)
177 Benjie Molina, c, San Francisco (8B) (109^th)
178 Randy Flores, rp, St. Louis (8B) (not drafted)
179 Steve Kline, rp, San Francisco (8B) (not drafted)
180 Jon Rauch, rp, Washington (8B) (186^th)
181 Scott Schoenweis, rp, New York (8B) (not drafted)
182 Mark DeRosa, 2b-3b, Chicago (8C) (185^th)
183 Craig Biggio, 2b, Houston (8C) (152^nd)
184 Ryan Dempster, cl, Chicago (8C) (126^th)
185 Clay Hensley, Sp, San Diego (8C) (174^th)
186 Andy LaRoche, 3b, Los Angeles (8D) (230^th)
187 Wes Helms, 3b, Philadelphia (8D) (194^th)
188 Nook Logan, of, Washington (8D) (not drafted)
189 Ryan Casto, of, Washington (8D) (not drafted)
190 Derrick Turnbow, cl, Milwaukee (7C) (199^th)
191 Redacted again, sorry.
192 Yadier Molina, C, St. Louis (7C) (192^nd)
193 Jose Capellan, rp, Milwaukee (6B) (not drafted)
194 Cla Meredith, rp, San Diego (6B) (208^th)
195 Kip Wells, sp, St. Louis (6C) (212^th)
196 Craig Wilson, 1b, Atlanta (6C) (240^th)
197 Cliff Floyd, of, Chicago (6D) (176^th)
198 Endy Chavez, of, New York (6D) (210^th)
199 Matt Murton, of, Chicago (6D) (159^th)
200 Pedro Martinez, sp, New York injured (5C) (168^th)

 

And that's where we'll leave you, with the footnote that with three "reserve" spots to burn and a glitch in the computer permitting it, one of our more waggish owners chose the next to last spot in the draft - 249^th of 250 - to select Alex Rodriguez, on the off chance that after his promises to "be with Lou in Chicago next year," next year may come sooner than we all think.

 

ALBERTO GONZALES, March 13, 2007

"I knew my chief of staff was involved in the process of determining
who were the weak performers — where were the districts around the
country where we could do better for the people in that district, and
that's what I knew," Gonzales said last week. "But that is in essence
what I knew about the process; was not involved in seeing any memos,
was not involved in any discussions about what was going on. That's
basically what I knew as the attorney general."

NBC NEWS AND NEWS SERVICES, March 23, 2007

WASHINGTON
- Attorney General Alberto Gonzales approved plans to fire several U.S.
attorneys in a November meeting, according to documents released Friday
that contradict earlier claims that he was not closely involved in the
dismissals.

The
Nov. 27 meeting, in which the attorney general and at least five top
Justice Department officials participated, focused on a five-step plan
for carrying out the firings of the prosecutors, Justice Department
officials said late Friday.

There,
Gonzales signed off on the plan, which was crafted by his chief of
staff, Kyle Sampson. Sampson resigned last week amid a political
firestorm surrounding the firings.

War on the Hill : It doesn't sound merely counterintuitive, a commander in chief refusing to accept a bill containing what he himself calls "vital funding" for his troops. Yet that's exactly what President Bush is threatening to do, to use his veto power on the newly passed emergency funding bill from the House of Representatives, because it contains a timetable to begin bringing the troops home by the end of next summer. Plus, the Pentagon does a Friday night trash-dump with the appalling report concerning the death of Pat Tillman. WATCH VIDEO

Rove's Been Under Oath Before: And it didn't go so well. A new motive appears for not putting Karl Rove to testify under oath, he's had uh, past problems with the process. Like once being asked if he knew a certain FBI agent, and answering, "Senator, it depends -- would you define 'know' for me?" WATCH VIDEO
 
ODDBALL: The craziest kite-surfing video you'll see all week, and what do you think happens to a concrete canoe? WATCH VIDEO

What Happens in Vegas... : Can we get Mr. and Mrs. Rudy Giuliani under oath? Never mind why he married a cousin, or why ex-wife number two won't endorse him -- It's about marriage number three -- turns out it was her third as well. She reveals she was hitched one more time than was publicly known. WATCH VIDEO

Food Fright: A string of pet deaths across the country have now been linked to pet food tainted with rat poison. Now investigators scramble to find out how.

WORST PERSON IN THE WORLD:  Keith enters himself into to tonight's running,  QB Michael Vick keeps digging himself deeper, and when Billo gets it wrong, he really gets it wrong. WATCH VIDEO

Cold Case:  Famed magician Harry Houdini died in 1926, and now his descendants want to dig him up, because they think he might have been murdered. WATCH VIDEO

In a typical Friday Night dump - we found out late this evening that the Pentagon investigation into how the army handled Pat Tillman's death is done, and its conclusion is pretty appalling.

NBC has confirmed the Pentagon Inspector General report finds that nine army officers, including as many as four generals - knew that former NFL star Pat Tillman was killed by friendly fire in Afghanistan in April 2004, but neglected to share his cause of death with Tillman's family until weeks after his nationally televised memorial service.

Tillman's family has accused the army of using their son's death to foster patriotisim and rally the country around the war effort, and that's why they witheld the truth.

The Army must now decide whether disciplinary action should be taken against any of the officers involved.

Update: Officials: Nine to be held to account on Tillman

also: C&L has the HBO interview with Tillman's former teammate, Jake Plummer.

Give the man this: when he gets it wrong, he really gets it wrong!

If you don't often get to listen to the Bill O'Reilly radio show, here's a wonderful audio example of what you're missing.

We're told that later in his show, Billo described his outburst as "robust debate."

If you have the stomach for more, THIS VIDEO is an equally telling example of Bill O'Reilly, cartoon character.

The Subpoena Standoff:  Both proverbial guns are now cocked and loaded. The House and the Senate, are now authorized to force the White House to publicly testify on the reasons behind the dismissal of eight U-S attorneys. But the administration is still refusing to budge - sticking to it's offer of interviews, no testimony, no transcripts, or else. We're joined by chairman of the Senate Judiciary committee, Senator Patrick Leahy - the man who is now allowed to issue summons to White House aides including Karl Rove. WATCH VIDEO

Gates of Power: The circumstances are different but the showdowns are similar. Watergate and Gonzales-gate. John Dean compares and contrasts the two White House scandals and tells us how high the stakes are in the looming face off between President Bush and Congress. WATCH VIDEO

ODDBALL: Big fat pasty white beluga whales dancing, and American Idol - behind bars! WATCH VIDEO

Campaigns & Courage: A friend of this program, a gracious guest and today the inspiring example of Elizabeth Edwards. She and her husband announce the return of her cancer and say they will fight on together for her health, and also for the good of our country.

Dial M for Murder: As Hitchcock observed, it is not evil that is so terrifying, it is the banality of evil. The murderer who calls 911, says he's shot his wife, then asks her dead body if she's alive or dead.

WORST PERSON IN THE WORLD: I think that shampoo bottle is looking at me, Glenn Beck's offend-a-thon continues, and Rush Limbaugh, given the choice once again between common decency and ice-pick-in-the-back politics, chooses the latter. What a shock. WATCH VIDEO

Waterworks Gate: Day Two and America still under the influence of Sanjaya-mania -- or at least the influence of the girl who cried for him. Now she's interviewed, and we're crying. Not really.

"What we're told we can get is nothing, nothing, nothing... I know (Bush) is the decider
for the White House -- he's not the decider for the United States
Senate."

The Senate Judiciary Committee has authorized subpoenas of White House political adviser Karl Rove and other top aides involved in the firing of federal prosecutors, and Alberto Gonzales' former top aide Kyle Sampson -- who has resigned amid the furor -- has agreed to testify "on a voluntary basis" next week.

Tonight, Chairman of the Judiciary, Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT) joins Keith Olbermann.

Countdown, 8pm ET/5pm PT