To bring the fans closer to the All Star players, there was a red carpet procession that took the players over the Roberto Clemente Bridge. Adoring fans lined the bridge to cheer the All Stars as they tossed cards and Baby Ruth candy bars and assorted other souvenirs.

We found a prime spot at the foot of the bridge and caught the players as they disembarked their buses and snaked their way to Fort Duquesne Road to their Chevrolet chariots. A few feet in front of us, Alex Rodriguez and his wife got out of an escorted van and searched for the Chevy.

He came up last in the first round of the derby. He had lots of ground to make up. He barely made it into the second round. But, when all was said and done, it was Ryan Howard’s night.

David Wright ran out of gas. Big Popi ran out of gas. Jermaine Dye didn’t have the legs. Miguel Cabrera choked. Ryan rose to the event and won

We first saw Ryan Howard in Arizona Fall League two years ago, and we knew he was destined for greatness. We knew he’d win rookie of the year. Tuesday night, we knew he’d win the home run derby. He has yet to disappoint.

Note: Allen's on a well-deserved vacation. You've probably already figured out what he's been doing. (Harry Canary, indeed.)

Today's installment has Mike chatting with special guest (well, he's been a couple of times now so maybe he should be referred to as a semi-recurring guest) Derek Slater.  (Derek has major chops. Check out his blog at: http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/cmusings/2006/07/06#a1799.)

Derek and Mike kick around the recent decision regarding CleanFlicks and associated cases that utilized different methods to achieve the same goal: editing out or bypassing violent, sexual or otherwise objectionable content from copyrighted movies. 

Censorship? Violation of artistic integrity? Or is it really a needed check on creators/copyright holders' control over how their work is consumed by paying customers? 

Disclaimer: Neither Derek nor Mike are lawyers.

In the past six days, I have shot enough video to make a major motion picture. The clips are of the MLB Futures Game, the Home Run Derby, the All-Star Game, the AAA All Star Fan Fest and the AAA All-Star game. There are lots of clips to come.

I have to start with the strangest moment at any baseball game in recent memory. At the AAA All Star Game in Toledo, there were these odd between-the-innings creatures—Zooperstars-- that “entertained” (often scared and bewildered) the crowd. The most peculiar one of all was Harry Canary, a large inflatable caricature of Harry Caray.