Thanks Len.

what’s with the Bill Simmons bashing lately? do you guys have a feud we don’t know about?

Sorry to hear about the cat.

And on Simmons - Did even his most die-hard fans actually read that column? Once I figured out that “the Dooze” was his dog I moved on to better things. I actually like his writing, but this kind of self-indulgence is what earns him real enemies among bloggers. His dog? Seriously?

Sorry for your loss, Craig.  That really and truly sucks.

I read the ethicist column, and it is an interesting point, that in having two (or more) clients competing for the same pool of dollars, the interests of both cannot be equally well served.

My problem from an outsider’s perspective is that, like the Beltran case and the Ramirez case, the pool seems artificailly small in definition. Saying Beltran wanted to play in New York and that that conflicted with Williams interests is true only if Beltran would play ONLY in New York. Same with Ramirez. Is he willing to play only in LA? If so with whom is he competing for dollars among Boras’ free agents?

Marshall does acknowledge the lack of consensus among ethicists on this question.

I still don’t like Boras, but more because he never seems to be “off”, like he’s inhumanly programmed to be negotiating all the time. But I do respect his achievements, and while he and his clients may occassionally misread a situation (Varitek) that seems rare on the whole. And even more rare is any indication that a client has felt ill served. That’s the bottom line.

Dead cats remind me of my mom’s parents.  Poor rural people.  I remember when they got indoor plumbing.  Anyway, cats and farms go hand in hand and my grandparents who could not afford to spade cats would drown a litter if they found it.  My grandmother would put the newborn kittens in a grain bag and submerge it in water.  Never saw her do it but heard about it multiple times over the years….