He has Simon and Garfunkel the tools to be a top two defenseman

He has assesses Simon and Garfunkel the tools simon and garfunkle informs to be a top two defenseman with the Canucks, and was expected to fill in the gap by the departed Mattias Ohlund but instead looks disinterested on most nights.This is now his third season and I don?t see him leaning towards improvement. With the Canucks paying him $3.25M, that's a lotta coin to be paying for a D man playing this poorly. On the other hand, if you look at it from the glass-half-full perspective, then I guess he is halfway through the five-to-six years it takes for a defenseman to mature But who can wait that long these days? Kyle Wellwood really baffles me. I nicknamed him ?Magic? last year after watching the natural ability he displayed. This guy would make passes with his back to the play right on the tape of his teammate. He had soft hands, was scoring goals, and when it came time for the playoffs, showed everyone he could deliver when the going got tough.He came into training camp trimmed down, producing a quicker skating "Magic". As I watched him I thought, "Here?s a guy who's going to have a breakout year."At the time of this writing, Wellwood has played 15 games and has one point.

If it were not for all the injuries, he would be sitting up in the press box i am a rock simon and garfunkel . Now, because of those injuries, he has centered the third line with what one would call "plumber type players" garfunkel . But since he had 18 goals last year, you would think this wouldn?t slow him down.Coach Vigneault has given him all sorts of opportunities, putting him on the power play and matching him up with some quality players like Mason Raymond, Alex Burrows, and Mikael Samuelsson simon and garfunkel 'song for the asking . Suffice it to say, as the Canucks start to get some of their injured players back, either Wellwood starts producing (28 points in 89 games with the Nucks, not good enough) or he?ll be looking at the waiver wire?again.Tonight he will start on the second line I hope good things happen and the "Magic" re-appears. simon and garfunkel 'song . Report Finds 90 Percent of African-Americans and Latinos are Isolated in theLowest 'Opportunity' Neighborhoods in Massachusetts"The Geography of Opportunity: Building Communities of Opportunity inMassachusetts" Released TodayBOSTON, Jan.

12 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Although the recent economicdownturn has had a dramatic impact on low-income families, people of color andimmigrant populations, a new report shows these groups face geographicallydetermined barriers to success even in strong economic times.Massachusetts legal aid programs, together with the Kirwan Institute for theStudy of Race and Ethnicity at The Ohio State University and the CharlesHamilton Houston Institute for Race and Justice at Harvard Law School, todayannounced findings of the report "The Geography of Opportunity: BuildingCommunities of Opportunity in Massachusetts" at a public launch at the StateHouse featuring representatives of the Patrick administration and thelegislature, the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston and Harvard School of PublicHealth.The report compiles research conducted by the Kirwan Institute on behalf ofMassachusetts legal aid programs and reveals that critical building blocks ofopportunity are out of reach for many Massachusetts residents who are isolated-- most often by race -- in neighborhoods of low opportunity cecilia simon and garfunkel . According to theKirwan Institute, "opportunity" is measured by a number of factors, includingaccess to high quality education, a healthy and safe environment, andsustainable employment, and isolation from opportunity impacts an individual'squality of life, financial stability and social advancement."Since 2003, the Kirwan Institute has conducted opportunity mapping for morethan a dozen regions and states across the country," says John A simon and gartfunkel . Powell,executive director of the Kirwan Institute, who was one of the featuredspeakers at the launch event simon and carfunkel . "While we often find that to varying degreespeople of color are isolated in low-opportunity neighborhoods, we weresurprised to find that Massachusetts has one of the highest rates of this typeof isolation among all of the communities we studied."The Massachusetts Opportunity Mapping Initiative assessed how low-incomegroups and racial, ethnic and immigrant populations are distributed in theCommonwealth's "geography of opportunity." The study used GeographicInformation Systems (GIS) and extensive data sets, including U.S Census datafrom 2000 simon and garfankel . Some key findings of the report include:--Isolation from opportunity along racial lines is very evident inMassachusetts. More than 90 percent of African American and Latinohouseholds in 2000 were isolated in the lowest opportunityneighborhoodsin the Commonwealth, compared to 56 percent of Asian households and 31percent of White, non-Latino households.--Racial isolation into low-opportunity neighborhoods is far morepronounced than class-based segregation into these low-opportunitycommunities.

Ninety-five percent of low-income Latino households, 93percent of low-income African-Americans households and 71 percent oflow-income Asian households were found in low-opportunityneighborhoodsin Massachusetts in 2000, compared to 43 percent of low-income White,non-Latino households.--Non-native U.S simon and garfunkel robinson . residents from Africa and Latin America were far morelikely to be concentrated in low-opportunity neighborhoods inMassachusetts, compared to immigrants from Europe or Asia simon and garfunkal . Seventypercent of African-born and Latin American-born households wereconcentrated in the state's low-opportunity neighborhoods in 2000,compared to 42 percent of European-born households and 46 percent ofAsian-born households.Harvard Law School's Charles Hamilton Houston Institute for Race and Justicewas a co-sponsor of the launch simon . The Institute was founded by ExecutiveDirector Charles Ogletree to continue the unfinished work of Charles HamiltonHouston, a central architect of the civil rights strategy leading to Brown v.Board of Education."The Institute is very pleased to participate in the launch of this importantresearch on the geography of opportunity," says David J Harris, managingdirector of the Houston Institute simon & garfunkel tour . "In the spirit of Charles Hamilton Houston,we are committed to working with the legal aid programs that sponsored theresearch as well as other advocacy organizations in communities across theCommonwealth to reduce this isolation and increase access to opportunity forall residents."The report and launch was coordinated by a committee of Massachusetts legalaid programs. There are 21 federally and state-funded civil legal aid programsthroughout the Commonwealth, which provide legal information, advice andrepresentation to low-income Massachusetts residents with civil legal problemssuch as domestic violence, foreclosure, income maintenance, and more."The findings of this report will be instrumental in targeting our resourcesmore effectively and refining our advocacy on behalf of low-income clients,"says Francisca Fajana, staff attorney for the Massachusetts Law ReformInstitute. "Because legal aid programs reach every neighborhood inMassachusetts, we are uniquely positioned to partner with other communityadvocacy organizations, as well as the state and local governments, to createstrategies for distributing opportunity more evenly."The Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnicity was established in2003 as a center for interdisciplinary research at The Ohio State University.The Kirwan Institute partners with people, communities and institutionsworldwide to think about, talk about and act on race in ways that create andexpand opportunity for all.The full report can be found at For more information onthe Kirwan Institute, visit: , and for moreinformation on the Houston Institute, visit: Contact:Brianne SOURCEMassachusetts Legal Assistance CorporationBrianne Miers of Massachusetts Legal Assistance Corporation, +1-617-391-5621,.

With recent talk that the Mets may not be spending on a top-tier free agent, many Mets fans have begun speculating which second-tier free agents or trade targets may be a fit.With this in mind, I have come up with a four-part offseason plan that would make fantasy baseball players, as well as Jerome-From-Manhattan-type WFAN callers proud.I don't know what Minaya's budget is going to be (and honestly, neither do you), but with contracts like Delgado ($12 mil) and Putz ($5 mil, $1 mil buy out) coming off the books, let's set the bar at $35 mil. . It is rumored that the Mets approached the Diamondbacks with a Castillo for Snyder swap, only to be turned down.But with the emergence of Miguel Montero, Arizona is desperate to move their $4.75 million backup catcher.The Diamondbacks could use a high-OBP hitter to spark the top of their lineup, and current second baseman Ryan Roberts is a nice player, but he doesn't have much upside simon and gurfunkel . It's not the best fit, but if the Mets take on some of Castillo's salary (maybe $3 million) and throw in a guy like Nick Evans, perhaps this can get done.If need be, we can throw in a Dillon Gee-type prospect.Snyder is a hard nosed, defensive-minded catcher who can handle a pitching staff, take a walk, and hit 20 homeruns.He'll be a good "power treat" (as a Metsblog poster mistakenly said) at the bottom of our lineup.He makes a little over $17 mil over the next three years (with a $750K buy out in 2012), a reasonable price for a solid backstop simon & garfunkel . His arrival would give Josh Thole another year or so to marinate in the minors.2010 Salary: $4.75 mil - $6 mil for Castillo + $3 mil in salary = $1.75 mil . Recent reports indicate that the Reds may be looking to move some of their high-priced talents to cut salary.Perhaps if the Mets are willing to take on Harang's contract, they can get Phillips without surrendering too much talent.Maybe a deal centered around Ruben Tejada, Jeurys Familia and some other pretty good prospects will get it done.Harang could benefit from a move to Citi Field, as his peripherals indicate he is better than his 4.52 ERA over the past two seasons, and his 12-31 record is a product of a poor Reds team.He makes $12.5 million this year with a $14.5 mil mutual option for '11 if traded.The 6'7 righty will be 32 next year.Phillips has been something of a disappointment since his 2007 breakout, and his low OBP is concerning.But his power and speed combination is real, and his defense is a big step up from Castillo.His $6.75 million contract ($11 million in '11 and $12 million club option in '12) could be a steal if he ever regains his '07 form.It's a lot of salary to take on, and there is some risk involved, but that is why it might not cost much in terms of prospects.2010 Salary: $12.5 mil + $6.75 mil = $19.25 mil. Stealing Curtis Granderson away from the Tigers won't be easy, especially since so many other teams will be interested.But for whatever reason, the Tigers seem to want to move the speedy outfielder.Would a package that includes Fernando Martinez, Brad Holt and Kirk Nieuwenhuis (who has been compared to Granderson) get it done?I don't know, but that package seems better to me than the one that got Johan Santana.At age 29, Granderson is right around his prime and is signed long term for cheap ($23.75 mil over the next three years, with a $13 mil club option in '13).He is coming off his worst season in the past three, but he managed to hit 30 home runs.Many expect a full bounce-backGranderson plays a good center field, but for now, be moved to left field until Beltran's knees move him to a corner spot.We'd just have to hope we don't get a repeat of what happened when Mike Cameron was moved to right field...Granderson's offensive game is perfect for the spacious Citi-field, where he could hit 23 triples like he did in 2007.Reyes and Granderson at the top would be a great 1-2 punch.Granderson is young enough, good enough, and signed long enough to rationalize trading Fernando Martinez.And really, no one knows what F-mart will turn into.2010 Salary: $5.5 mil.