Pins And Needles

Roy Acuff sold more than 25 million records during his country music career of more than 50 years. Here are some of his best-known hits: Great Speckled Bird, 1938. Wabash Cannonball, 1938. Earned a gold record. Wreck on the Highway, 1942. Fireball Mail, 1942. Night Train to Memphis, 1943. Low and Lonely, 1943. Pins and Needles, 1943. The Prodigal Son, 1944. I'll Forgive You, But I Can't Forget, 1944. Jole Blon, 1947. Waltz of the Wind, 1948.

Phillies lefthander Rheal Cormier found himself in Larry Bowa's office yesterday. Lefthander Billy Wagner found himself on a plane to Philadelphia. Cormier spoke after Tuesday's 5-2 loss to Florida at Pro Player Stadium about the bad energy that flows through the clubhouse and dugout: "I've seen it a lot of times. Just in general. It's a lot of stuff that takes place, and it's not positive. . . . It's pins and needles in here. It makes it very tough. " The meeting between Cormier and Bowa lasted a couple of minutes.

GM Pat Gillick, on the Dodgers' questionable lineups down the stretch against the Rockies: "I thought LA would put up some resistance at home. They didn't. " GM Pat Gillick, on his declaration that the Phillies wouldn't be a contender until 2008 after his trade-deadline purge in July 2006: "You're going to call me a liar for one game? If we lose that one game [Sunday], we might not be sitting here right now. " SS Jimmy Rollins, on the effect of his "Team to Beat" proclamation in January: "I think that made everybody step up a little bit more.

WHO'S THE smartest person in the world? It's whoever can figure out the mysterious ways of network TV execs, specifically those who call the shots at CBS. Although its freshman sitcom "Mike & Molly" was the nation's 19th-most-watched program last week, according to the Nielsen ratings, as of the middle of this week, the Eye hadn't yet announced whether the series about a plus-sized couple would be renewed for the 2011-12 season. "What you learn after the fourth week is that you're not in control," philosophized Billy Gardell, who plays Chicago cop Mike Biggs in the show that co-stars Melissa McCarthy as the fourth-grade teacher he meets, and ultimately falls in love with, at an Overeaters Anonymous meeting.

Something about the lone man sprawled on a sheet of cardboard set him apart from the rest of the people camped in the Suburban Station concourse. Police Officers James Dietz and Timothy Quigley knew he wasn't one of the regulars. "He seemed a little slow," said Dietz. "We realized there was something different about him. He didn't belong, like he was from somewhere else. " Like Sheffield Lake, Ohio, near Cleveland, which he'd fled on a bus two weeks earlier after an argument with his 80-year-old father.

Baseball Cliche No. 1: Don't get too high when you win, or too low when you lose. So after the Phillies won dramatically for the second time in three nights, this time overcoming the Montreal Expos, 7-6, on Von Hayes's home run leading off the bottom of the ninth, manager Nick Leyva attempted to put some perspective on the whole situation. "We didn't play that well, to tell the truth," Leyva said. "The thing that really disappointed me was that we didn't throw strikes. I stopped counting the walks after a while.

76ers Notes It wouldn't be surprising if the 76ers had two players at next month's NBA All-Star Rookie Challenge: second-year point guard Jrue Holiday and rookie guard Evan Turner . The NBA's young-gun event, which features a team of rookies against a team of sophomores, showcases the league's best young talent. Holiday, the Sixers' starting point guard, has all but secured a spot - he didn't play in the game last season as a rookie - with averages of 14.7 points and 6.6 assists a game.

Judging boxing matches can be like interpreting modern art - not everyone sees the same thing. Emanuel Steward, who heads Detroit's famed Kronk Boxing Team, has been around the sport long enough to realize that some judges make peculiar observations. Still, Steward was incensed that his fighter, junior welterweight prospect Donald Stokes, had to settle for a majority decision over Mexican veteran Primo Ramos last night at the Blue Horizon. "That's one of the worst scores I've ever heard," Steward said of the 95-95 scorecard turned in by Alfreta Armstrong.

Her name is Asia the Invincible. Her weapon of choice, flying needles. Asia deploys them in delicate embroideries and the martial arts, riveting her enemies and then tangling them up in silken threads. In more ways than one, her movie is a stitch. The East Is Red, a giddily entertaining, foot-flying kung fu fantasy from Hong Kong, is really Swordsman III, a sequel to the fabulously popular action series. In the last installment, Asia, the omnipotent Ming Dynasty antihero, metamorphosed into a woman (Brigitte Lin)

A 13-year-old girl who was unintentionally shot in the chest early Sunday was attending a supervised girls' sleepover, according to her mother. Linda Moye said that her daughter was one of four girls in their North Philadelphia neighborhood who rotated houses for teen sleepovers. It had been earlier reported that the shooting occurred at a house party, raising the question of why the girls were out so late. After this weekend's shooting Moye said that she wishes that she'd never let her daughter attend.

THOUGH DAVE Gavrilov's sport of choice is the one played by your Philadelphia Eagles, the best way to describe his situation is to mention the names of two Phillies. Gavrilov, a 6-foot, 180-pound senior at George Washington High, is always Roy Halladay. He's never Jonathan Papelbon. You see, this version of the Eagles employs two quarterbacks. Gavrilov, who plays no defense, is the starter and Al Augustine, also a first-string safety, is the closer. This is Year No. 2 of the arrangement and if Gavrilov finds it frustrating to share QBing responsibilities, well, perhaps he has a future in poker.

A 5-YEAR-OLD BOY may have been abducted from a West Philadelphia day camp yesterday, police said last night. The boy, Kariym Muhammad, is about 3 feet tall and last reported seen in Malcolm X Park near 52nd and Pine streets wearing a gray polo shirt, dark denim jeans and black sneakers. He disappeared from a camp run by his grandmother between 5:30 and 6 p.m., said Lt. John Walker, of the Southwest Detective Division. Kariym's grandmother Patricia Thompson - who attended a police news conference last night at the Southwest Division at 55th and Pine streets - stepped away from the group to take five other children to their nearby drop-off points, Walker said.

WHO'S THE smartest person in the world? It's whoever can figure out the mysterious ways of network TV execs, specifically those who call the shots at CBS. Although its freshman sitcom "Mike & Molly" was the nation's 19th-most-watched program last week, according to the Nielsen ratings, as of the middle of this week, the Eye hadn't yet announced whether the series about a plus-sized couple would be renewed for the 2011-12 season. "What you learn after the fourth week is that you're not in control," philosophized Billy Gardell, who plays Chicago cop Mike Biggs in the show that co-stars Melissa McCarthy as the fourth-grade teacher he meets, and ultimately falls in love with, at an Overeaters Anonymous meeting.

76ers Notes It wouldn't be surprising if the 76ers had two players at next month's NBA All-Star Rookie Challenge: second-year point guard Jrue Holiday and rookie guard Evan Turner . The NBA's young-gun event, which features a team of rookies against a team of sophomores, showcases the league's best young talent. Holiday, the Sixers' starting point guard, has all but secured a spot - he didn't play in the game last season as a rookie - with averages of 14.7 points and 6.6 assists a game.

Christopher Dock's Ryan Seiz will be keeping an eye on Major League Baseball's first-year player draft, but he won't be on pins and needles when it comes to being a possible late-round selection. That's because Seiz, a hard-hitting catcher for the Pioneers, thinks he can be among the players selected in the top three rounds after three or four seasons at Louisville. "I need to get a lot bigger, work on my fielding, and become a better hitter," said the 6-foot-3, 200-pound senior.

A 13-year-old girl who was unintentionally shot in the chest early Sunday was attending a supervised girls' sleepover, according to her mother. Linda Moye said that her daughter was one of four girls in their North Philadelphia neighborhood who rotated houses for teen sleepovers. It had been earlier reported that the shooting occurred at a house party, raising the question of why the girls were out so late. After this weekend's shooting Moye said that she wishes that she'd never let her daughter attend.

Although most of the public thinks of comic books as "kids' stuff," there are few titles being published for small children. Indeed, the average superhero comic is either too violent, sophisticated or boring for those 10 and younger. There are far more "Mature Readers" titles like "The Boys: Herogasm" (see below) than books like "Scooby Doo. " The convenient excuse is that with so many other entertainment options available to them, kids have left comics. In reality, comics have left kids - young boys and girls will happily read comics that are aimed at them and that engage them.

GM Pat Gillick, on the Dodgers' questionable lineups down the stretch against the Rockies: "I thought LA would put up some resistance at home. They didn't. " GM Pat Gillick, on his declaration that the Phillies wouldn't be a contender until 2008 after his trade-deadline purge in July 2006: "You're going to call me a liar for one game? If we lose that one game [Sunday], we might not be sitting here right now. " SS Jimmy Rollins, on the effect of his "Team to Beat" proclamation in January: "I think that made everybody step up a little bit more.

As Temple held its collective breath last night wondering if it would be issued an at-large bid to the NCAA women's basketball tournament, TV made sure the Owls would not run short of oxygen. Coach Dawn Staley's players saw their team's name flashed minutes into the tournament-selection TV show and responded with a long and loud cheer. There was a reason Temple appeared so quickly. The Owls (24-7) received an eighth seed in the Greensboro Regional and were placed in the same group as top-ranked Duke, the overall No. 1 seed.