For Paul Rudd, the decision to star in Jay Roach’s new comedy, “Dinner for Schmucks,” was an easy one. “I thought the script was really funny,” he says. “That was it. It was kind of a no-brainer.” Of course Rudd, who’s built an impressive resume of smart comedies, was just as enamored of the man behind the camera. Cliff who? The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier has just gotten quite a bit of company: As many as 6,600 graves at the country’s hallowed Arlington National Cemetery for fallen U.S. service members may be mislabeled, one lawmaker said on Thursday.New claims for unemployment benefits slipped last week, but stayed at a stubbornly high level that underscored the labor market recovery was having trouble gaining traction.J.A. Happ said all the right things, just as the crafty lefty always has.Julian Assange, founder of the website that published more than 91,000 secret U.S. military reports from Afghanistan, says he’s revealing injustices. President Barack Obama says he’s concerned that disclosure of sensitive information may harm military operations.1. Will the Jets regret cutting Faneca?For many job-hopping careerists, smuggling a resignation letter in their bag like a guilty secret, there are few workplace rituals so hard as saying so long.Subletting in NYC typically involves some kind of covert transaction. Try to find a budget traveler who hasn’t enjoyed the risk of Craigslist’s lease-free rentals. But thanks to a bill Gov. David Paterson signed into law last Friday, renting an apartment for less than 30 days isn’t kosher. Fortunately, there’s a saving grace for those in search of short-term living: Jersey City.Could nail mats like the Acushakti be the next Snuggies?
The blueprint for this season’s edition of the Red Sox is a pretty basic one: a carbon copy of last year’s Olde Towne Team that captured 95 wins and pushed a hard-fought ALCS to seven games before falling to the upstart Rays.
The 2008 version of the Sox is largely intact heading into spring training, and it’s a baseball bunch that looks to rely on starting pitching, the bullpen and defense more than ever before.
Familiar names like Josh Beckett, Daisuke Matsuzaka, Jon Lester and Tim Wakefield will make up the bulk of the rotation again this season, but the old reliables will be joined by a pair of low-cost, high-upside signings in Brad Penny and John Smoltz.
Penny is coming off a shoulder injury and a bloated six-plus ERA with the Dodgers last season, and Smoltz is a soon-to-be 42-year-old stud hurler with an impressive postseason cachet coming off major shoulder surgery.
The bullpen, however, has a chance to be the biggest strength of the team with All-Star closer Jonathan Papelbon supported by a number of arms including Hideki Okajima, Justin Masterson, Manny Delcarmen, Javier Lopez, Ramon Ramirez and Takashi Saito.
The ’pen represents a collection of power arms and versatile role players who could signal bed time for opposing teams once they enter the late innings. All told, it’s easily the best and deepest pitching staff GM Theo Epstein has put together in his tenure.
“One thing we factored in this offseason was that we’ve played pretty deep into October the last two seasons, and that’s taken a little bit of a toll on us,” assistant GM Jed Hoyer said. “We thought [pitching depth] was the right thing to focus on this winter.”
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