Jays GM sets loose deadline for Halladay trade
TORONTO - J.P. Ricciardi set a loose deadline of next Tuesday for completing a Roy Halladay trade, sending potential suitors a clear message that if they want the ace right-hander they had better ante up soon to get him.
The Toronto Blue Jays general manager also turned up the posturing by saying "at this point it's probably unlikely we'll trade Doc," after both he and Halladay recently pegged the chances for a deal at "50-50."
"If we don't have him traded by the time his last start gets here it's probably not going to get done," Ricciardi said before Tuesday's series opener with the Cleveland Indians.
"As you get closer and closer to the deadline, no-one's really stepped up yet and at that point I think time starts running out on you. And, like I've said, we've got to be highly motivated to move him. We haven't been highly motivated yet."
Ricciardi said some sort of cutoff is necessary in order to give the teams enough time to tie up all the loose ends a deal of such magnitude brings, from physicals for all the players involved to appropriate signoffs from ownership.
Halladay also has a full no-trade clause so his approval will be needed, as well. He has two starts remaining before the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline, Friday at home versus Tampa Bay and July 29 at Seattle.
Ricciardi added that he'd like Halladay to pitch against the Mariners with some type of resolution to the matter, but next Tuesday is not a drop-dead date by any means.
If the Blue Jays and another team are making progress at that point, talks could extend right up to the last minute July 31. However, if no preliminary work is in place by then, talks aren't likely to get started then or afterwards.
The Blue Jays are seeking a high-end package of prospects that includes elite young pitching for the 2003 Cy Young Award winner. They're more likely to get it now rather than if they wait until the off-season.
"History tells you if a guy has more service time for a team, he's probably going to be more valuable to that team at that point," said Ricciardi. "If the off-season comes and someone feels the same way and wants to blow you away, I guess you can get something but history tells you having a guy for a year and a half is more important than having him for a year."
Halladay, who is making US$14.25 million this season and is due $15.75 million in 2010 before his contract expires, has been on the open market for a couple of weeks now.
The Philadelphia Phillies are considered the favourites to land him, with Boston, Milwaukee, San Francisco, the Yankees, Dodgers and Angels all in the mix to varying degrees.
Asked how many teams had expressed serious interest, Ricciardi declined comment, offering only, "there's been enough."
Ricciardi also hinted that if Halladay is moved, the stripping down of the team won't end there. Shorstop Marco Scutaro, catcher Rod Barajas and infielder John McDonald will all be free agents after the season while third baseman Scott Rolen, first baseman Lyle Overbay and closer Scott Downs are all signed through 2010.
"Everything feeds off if we do something with Doc," said Ricciardi. "The first thing we're concentrating on is if we're going to trade Doc, obviously. If we are trading him, then we'd be open to doing other things."
Royalty rates may silence bars
TORONTO - Canadian restaurants, bars and clubs are warning they may have to turn down the music if a proposed royalty increase becomes a reality, but the non-profit organization seeking the raise for performers says it's time they paid up.
The Neighbouring Rights Collective of Canada wants to increase its royalty fee for background music by more than triple the current rate, a move it says will properly compensate performers and engineers.
It also has a proposal before the Copyright Board of Canada that would change how venues pay to play music that customers dance to.
"It's about ascribing the proper values to music," said collective president Ian MacKay, who argues that songwriters and publishers have been getting paid better royalties for decades while performers and producers have been given short shrift.
"It's to compensate the performers for the use of their music. Imagine a dance club without music being played, people want music to dance to and that certainly adds value to the business of running a night club."
But the Canadian Restaurant and Foodservices Association says the proposals would force many business owners to reconsider whether playing music is worth the cost.
In particular, the association is highlighting the implications of higher fees for venues that feature dancing, which could result in annual fee increases between $6,000 and $30,000.
"It's exorbitant in the extreme and it will force many operators to consider dropping music altogether, or at least have them rethink the use of dance music," said association spokesman David Harris.
The proposed tariff is going before the Copyright Board of Canada and Harris said he will "vigorously argue that this proposal is unfair and that it is financially devastating."
But MacKay claims those figures are at the high end of the range and would only apply to mega-clubs, while smaller establishments would have fees in the hundreds, not thousands.
Businesses pay similar fees to the Society of Composers Authors and Music Publishers of Canada, which collects about $1.4 million in royalties every year for background music from around 31,000 businesses, including restaurants, hotels, shopping malls, banks, retail stores, factories and professional offices.
In releasing its reasons for certifying SOCAN's most recent set of tariff rules, the Copyright Board of Canada stated "background music touches practically every aspect of our daily lives, from the tunes we hear in the elevator, to the jazz we listen to over dinner at a restaurant."
An expert who testified as the proposed tariff was being debated said research suggests background music "favourably impacts customers' mood and perception of their environment."
"As a result, they are likely to stay longer in a store, to buy more and to have a positively enhanced perception of merchandise and customer service," said Prof. Richard Michon of the Ted Rogers School of Retail Management at Ryerson University in Toronto.
"The right background music can even foster a stronger sense of customer loyalty."
MacKay said businesses should be budgeting for music just as they budget for other expenditures.
"A restaurant has many suppliers of food, flowers, decor - all these things that go into the dining establishment," he said.
"Well one of the things that definitely goes into the value of a dining establishment is the music they're playing in the background, which sets the mood as much as the decor."
“The Beatles: Rock Band” Announces 15 New Tracks
The debut of The Beatles: Rock Band is still well over a month away, but early glimpses of the video game suggest another wave of Fab Four hysteria can’t be far off. On his current tour, Paul McCartney has already revealed some charming animated footage from the game. And at a recent preview session at MTV in Santa Monica, California, Rolling Stone got an up-close look at the most exciting version of Rock Band yet.
As has been previously reported, the game comes with 45 remastered tracks, and Abbey Road will become available for download at the same time as the title’s September 9th release for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and Wii. Fifteen more tracks — and their venues — have been announced today, including “Can’t Buy Me Love” at the Ed Sullivan Theater, “Paperback Writer” at Budokan and “I’ve Got A Feeling” at the rooftop concert (full list below).
A hands-on test of the game suggests it could sometimes be a challenge to keep up with George Harrison’s guitar on “Day Tripper” and “Here Comes the Sun.” And your luck singing along (and actually hitting the right notes) with John Lennon and McCartney is measured within the game. As previously reported, The Beatles: Rock Band allows for three-part harmony (a vocal training session in the game will help with that) and rocking on the Beatles’ signature instruments: a Höfner bass, Rickenbacker and Gretsch guitars and Ludwig drums.
Fans will also find rare bits of Fab ephemera otherwise unavailable on the albums embedded in the game. According to a spokesman for MTV Games/Harmonix, McCartney personally did some unofficial fact-checking for the game, making small adjustments in the chronology. Before now, the Beatles have been totally unavailable to fans of Rock Band (or rival Guitar Hero), but the delay has led to a Beatles version of the game that pushes the technology further, finally offering a digitized magical mystery tour that is a vivid, multi-layered experience for a new era.
Confirmed songs for The Beatles: Rock Band:
“Twist And Shout” / Cavern Club
“Do You Want To Know A Secret” / Cavern Club
“Can’t Buy Me Love” / Ed Sullivan Theater
“I Wanna Be Your Man” / Ed Sullivan Theater
“Eight Days A Week” / Shea Stadium
“Paperback Writer” / Budokan
“And Your Bird Can Sing” / Budokan
“Yellow Submarine” / Abbey Road Dreamscape
“Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” / Abbey Road Dreamscape
“With a Little Help from My Friends” / Abbey Road Dreamscape
“Within You Without You” / Tomorrow Never Knows / Abbey Road Dreamscape
“Revolution” / Abbey Road Dreamscape
“Birthday” / Abbey Road Dreamscape
“Dig A Pony” / Rooftop Concert
“I’ve Got A Feeling” / Rooftop Concert
“I Saw Her Standing There”
“I Want To Hold Your Hand”
“I Feel Fine”
“Taxman”
“Day Tripper”
“Back In The USSR”
“I Am The Walrus”
“Octopus’s Garden”
“Here Comes The Sun”
“Get Back”
Katherine Heigl’s First Day back at Grey’s Was ‘Cruel and Mean’
Katherine Heigl may be back to work on the set of Grey’s Anatomy, but according to the actress, it hasn’t been a super-happy homecoming.
“Our first day back was Wednesday and it was — I’m going to keep saying this because I hope it embarrasses them — a 17-hour day,” Heigl told David Letterman during a visit to the Late Show on Monday, “which I think is cruel and mean.”
One reason for her lack of pep: her good pal T.R. Knight’s departure from the show.
“It was actually kind of really great to be back,” she said. “All my friends are there and at this point, they’re sort of like family, but it was a little weird because [T.R.]’s not there anymore.”
As open as she is about her feelings about the show, Heigl remained tight-lipped about the fate of her character, who was last seen in an ambiguous scene after undergoing surgery for a brain tumor. “You last saw Izzie, you know, flatlining,” she told Letterman. “So, I won’t give it away but, you know, I’m there so I’m either there as a ghost, on the other side or I survived a disease no one survives.”
“I’m guessing if you’re working 17 hours, that means you’re not dead,” Letterman observed.
Heigl’s reply: “What if, however, Dave, I was in a bed in a coma for 17 hours, they could do that to me.”
Despite the long days shooting the medical drama, Heigl said she hopes Grey’s Anatomy, which returns to ABC on Sept. 24, will stick around for a while.
“We have another two years, I think, at least in the contract,” she said. "Hopefully the show goes, you know, ER time, which would be cool.”