This is my brother. And this is my brother's new girlfriend and she is NOT a whore!

Poor Andy Laroche. First, the guy gets traded to the Pirates. Now the greener side of the pasture is gone as his brother was traded to the Red Sox.

It's a good deal for the Pirates, as Laroche is expensive and never quite fulfilled the expectations we had for him. I'm not really sure what a .247 hitter is going to do for the Sox line-up, but as a depth guy and a defensive replacement, akin to the Mientkiewicz trade in 2004, he may be just what they need.

The Rays SUCKED for years and had virtually no one on their major league roster that anyone knew before they went to the World Series last year. Same with the Marlins. I'm glad the Pirates are dumping everybody, and I mean everybody, I want to see Wilson, Sanchez, Snell and even maybe some people like Grabow go if possible.

The Pirates actually have a promising future. Alverez, Tabata, and Milledge are all top notch power prospects, and as long as 1 of them turns out great and 1 turns out good, in addition to McCutchen, and the depth of pitching in the organization they might actually have a chance to make a big jump.

Pirates trade Adam Laroche to Boston Red Sox for SS Argenis Diaz and P Hunter Strickland

Solution to hitting slump: GIANT BAT

Speaking of giants

Penguins sign veteran G Brent Johnson to 1-year 525k contract

This is clearly a move made based on the possibility of the NHL expanding the size of the nets next season. I mean look at the guys range. He could cover a soccer net.

In all seriousness, it's a very good move for the Pens, bringing in a solid veteran, at a bargain basement price to compete with the unproven Curry for the back-up job. If Fleury goes down at any point this season, the Johnson signing will prove dividends, if not, no harm no foul. The guy is better than Sabourin and Garon, and cheaper.

I feel like giving kudos to Shero at this point is like congratulating the Sun for rising every morning. It just gets redundant.

I guess we'll wrap this up as an all Pittsburgh post.

The New Pens Stanley Cup DVD SUCKS

This is what a Stanley Cup video should look like.

Not This

It's over produced, over stylized, and completely impersonal. AND IT DOESN'T EVEN HAVE A TITLE!!

One From the Heart, and Against the Odds, both mean something. I guess we'll just refer to this as Pittsburgh Penguins Stanley Cup 2009 Champions. Bullshit. And that's not where the shittyness ends...shittiness...shityness...shitiness, fuck it you get the point.

The dvd menu comes up and looks and sounds like the intro to a video game. No KBL, no John Steigerwald, no early nineties facial hair. Then you press play.

The intro = breathtaking.

Perfect.

I would have been happier if the entire thing would have ended there. Because from that point forward it's choke city. There's no tiger sounds when bodies collide. The narrator is average at best. And the pacing is terrible.

There's nothing but glossy packaging here. The old tapes got into the Pens history, blue jerseys, and the drafting of Lemiuex. We got to see Recchi's mullet, and the tribute to Bob Johnson.

The new one simply move chronologically through the highlights of the year.

If you want to understand my dismay, here's the best metaphor. The old VHS tapes are like local coverage, Fox Sports, Mike Lange, Phil Bourque, Myron Cope. This new DVD has NBC, Mike Emerick, Ed Olczyk, and national coverage written all over them.

And worst of all there's no great lines from it. No "it became known simply as THE save" or "it was the dance of champions". We're a city born with character. We take pride in our uniqueness. And this DVD has too little of that.

I would have survived without all the aspects of the videos that could be construed as nostalgia. I get it production values have improved. But it's the impersonality of the whole thing that sets this apart. It's just another league produced highlight tape. There's no heart in it. Even that I could have accepted if it wasn't for the fact that all the Pens bloggers were saying this one holds up against the old ones. Thepensblog, Pensuniverse, and a host of others all claimed, incorrectly, that this DVD to be just as good as the first two.

I think thepensblog guys were blinded by their press passes, as they got to view the DVD at a special premiere. And maybe I shouldn't fault them for that because I imagine it may have been a lot better in that atmosphere. But I don't know how to explain their attitudes toward subsequent viewings of the tape, or how to explain any other Penguins bloggers views. It was crushing the first time I watched it because I let all of them build it up for me. And while I still got chills during Mike Lange's call, it was a bit bittersweet knowing how good it could have been.

The fact is the Stanley Cup Finals were epic and will stay with me forever. Unfortunately the DVD commemorating them will not.


Keep the Faith

-the legend