Florida Marlins Move Closer to Getting New Ballpark

After years of trying without success, it appears the Florida Marlins are the closest they have ever been to successfully procuring a ballpark of their own. Reports indicate finalizing the agreement is but a mere formality. The location of the ballpark is probably not the best, in an older somewhat rundown Miami neighborhood on the site of the now near 80 year old Orange Bowl, scheduled for razing this year after the University of Miami abandoned the ArtDeco architecture themed historic structure for where the Marlins currently play, the primarily football oriented Dolphins Stadium approximately 15 miles to the north. The cost of the new facility with a retractable roof to end the regular problem of rain delays will be a minimum of $525 million and likely more. It is planned for an opening in Spring 2011 with a seating capacity of over 37,000. The facility will also be likely used for conventions, concerts, expositions, and other events that will enhanced by being conducted in a climate controlled environment.

With the finalizing of this agreement and completion of construction, all but one MLB club will be in a newer facility or one that has been refurbished or upgraded in the last 20-25 years. The Cubs, Redsox, Royals, and Dodgers are the clubs playing in older facilities that have or are undergoing improvements, upgrades, or modernization. The Oakland Athletics remain as the sole club yet to secure a new ballpark, but plans are underway for a new ballpark of their own 30 miles south of where they currently play along the eastside of the San Francisco Bay to Fremont, a small suburb on the northeast side of San Jose. The Athletics' plan should be finalized sometime this year. That will give all 30 major league baseball clubs new or newer mass revenue creating Taj Mahals of their owns by 2012.

http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/feb/17/marlins-governments-finalizing-515-million-stadium/

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2008 Spring Training Blog

This recently established blog is yet another good source of information on clubs as Spring Training '08 is now underway for most every club for pitchers and catchers with the remaining position players all to be in camp within the next few days or so. The results and scores of Spring Training baseball games are unimportant and largely meaningless; the more important items are how players are looking in all aspects of the game and if there are any surprises - unheralded veterans or rookies making an early splash in a bid to make the big league 25 man roster. Every year there are some players like this, but very few keep it going into the regular season for long.

Upcoming are posts with the full schedule of televised Spring games on satellite as well as the games played at sites outside of Spring Training ballparks.

http://www.springtraining08.com/

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Green Mega Futuristic Development in Las Vegas

This dense high rise urban development, The MGM Mirage CityCenter, is just the kind of new developments that sprawling metropolitan areas in the Mountain Time Zone and elsewhere need to see occur more often. I have not been in Las Vegas in five years, and apparently much has changed as a lot of high rise residential as well as commercial construction has occurred or is underway with plenty more on the horizon. This particular project, between I-15 and Las Vegas Boulevard along the strip adjacent to existing high rise casino hotels, is about the most ambitious in scope and cost ongoing at this time, and full completion is not expected until 2012.

http://www.citycenter.com/



http://www.vegastodayandtomorrow.com/citycenter.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_CityCenter



http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/2007/Feb-13-Tue-2007/news/12548470.html



http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2008/jan/24/market-gets-tougher-citycenter-sell-dubai/#/City_Center_model/

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Yet Another Weather Based Website

http://www.weatherforyou.com

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Website to Bookmark

This website enables one to map the counties in the nation that one has been in. In some cases, the map will look like a long line to reflect counties in while on the highway. In only two states have I been in every county, Wyoming and New Mexico. I have been in most every county in Arizona, Colorado, and Nevada. I have yet to count, but I estimate I have been in 175 - 200 counties across the nation, but some only in the seat of a motor vehicle passing through.

http://www.mob-rule.com/counties/

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Happy Birthday Wishes to My Sister

Happy Birthday wishes go out to my middle younger sister, KVS. Congrats, sister, on yet another big special day for you. I know your clever creative daughter and nieces will do something to make the day particularly wonderful for you. Hopefully your birthday cake will be made of one of your favorite flavors. Best wishes on the coming year be one of happiness, continued success, understanding, wisdom, bliss, and peace.

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Remembering the 51st Wedding Anniversary of My Parents

My parents actually got married twice, on 14 February 1957 in front of Swiss government wedding officials, and then again two days later on 16 February 1957 in the Catholic Church, in France if I recall correctly. I came along then 15 1/2 months later, the first of nine children, three of whom died before birth. I was fortunate to see many photographs of my parents' wedding when I was a youth, but I do not believe I have any of those photographs in my possession at this point. Hopefully at least some of those photos have survived and one or more of my siblings have them. My memories of the photographs of the event show a very happy and excited Dad and Mom going through the ceremony and then celebrating enthusiastically at their wedding reception with many friends and colleagues of theirs at the time. It must have something special for my Dad and Mom to be able to get married on one of the most important days of any year for those in love, Valentines Day.

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Colorado Rockies Spring Training Telecasts Announced

Fourteen of the defending National League Champion Colorado Rockies' spring training games will be televised by five different broadcasters. All but the final game will start at 2pm MDT (1pm MST in Arizona). Three of the telecasts will be on channels only available on satellite in the Rockies region, the Wednesdays of 12 and 19 March against the Whitesox and the finale Friday 28 April evening game against the Diamondbacks starting at 7pm MDT at Chase Field. Games below in red are at Hohokam Park in Tucson, the spring home of the Colorado Rockies.

WED 12 Mar @ Chi WS 2pm Comcast Sports Net - Chicago

SAT 15 Mar @ Tex 2pm FSN Rocky Mtn

SUN 16 Mar SD 2pm FSN Rocky Mtn

MON 17 Mar SF 2pm FSN Rocky Mtn

WED 19 Mar @ Chi WS 2pm Comcast Sports Net - Chicago

FRI 21 Mar CHI C 2pm ESPN / FSN Rocky Mtn

SAT 22 Mar @ Ariz 2pm FSN Rocky Mtn

SUN 23 Mar LA 2pm FSN Rocky Mtn

MON 24 Mar @ Mlw 2pm Fox Sports Wisconsin / FSN Rocky Mtn

TUE 25 Mar CHI WS 2pm FSN Rocky Mtn

WED 26 Mar ARIZ 2pm Fox Sports Arizona / FSN Rocky Mtn

THR 27 Mar @ Anah 2pm FSN Rocky Mtn

FRI 28 Mar v Ariz @ Chase Field 7pm Fox Sports Arizona

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Writers' Strike Ends; New Network Shows Forthcoming

The recent settlement of the writers' strike is a relief for most Americans. Production should begin again soon on most programs as scripts get created and finalized in the coming weeks. A timetable of when to expect new episodes of existing shows is largely finished. Hopefully the long three months of writer inactivity will not take the edge off of many of these shows. The shows I enjoy are in red.

CBS

How I Met Your Mother (back March 17, 9 episodes)
The Big Bang Theory (March 17, 9)
Two and a Half Men (March 17, 9)
CSI: Miami (March 24, 8)
Cold Case (March 30, 5)
Criminal Minds (April 2, 7)
CSI: NY (April 2, 7)
CSI (April 3, 6)
Without a Trace (April 3, 6)
Ghost Whisperer (April 4, 6)
Numb3rs (April 4, 6)
NCIS (April 8, 7)
Moonlight (April 11, 4)
Rules of Engagement (April 14, 6)
Shark (TBA, 4)

NBC

My Name Is Earl (April 3, 9)
30 Rock (April 10, 5)
The Office (April 10, 6)
ER (April 10, 6)
Scrubs (April 10, 5 left)
Law & Order: SVU (April 15, 5)
Law & Order (April 23, 5)
Medium (keeps airing; 6 left plus 7 additional)
Heroes (fall, 22 or more)
Chuck (fall, 13)
Life (fall, 13)

ABC

Boston Legal (early April, 8)
Desperate Housewives (mid-April, 7)
Brothers & Sisters (late April, 5)
Lost (keeps airing; 6 left plus 5 additional)

Ugly Betty (late April, 5)

Grey's Anatomy (late April, 5)
Private Practice (fall, 13)
Pushing Daisies (fall, 13)
Dirty Sexy Money (fall, 13)

Fox

Bones (April 14; 4 left plus 2 additional)
24 (January 2009, 24)

CW

The Game (March, 8)
Gossip Girl (late April, 5)
Smallville (late April, 5)
Supernatural (May, 4)
One Tree Hill (keeps airing, 5 left plus 6 additional)
Everybody Hates Chris (keeps airing, 12 left)
Aliens in America (keeps airing, 8 left)

http://www.usatoday.com/life/television/news/post-strike-tv-plans.htm

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Great Treatment Option for Canine Arthritis

The results from this therapy for dogs appears to be promising. Hopefully at some point in the near future, a similar approach will be available for humans, as many, including yours truly, suffers from painful chronic stiffness that is often probably undiagnosed arthritis in at least some parts of the body that limits activity, movement, and energy. This stem cell therapy seems to do wonders for older dogs beset with stiffness and arthritis which takes away a great deal from their quality of life, as well as from the quality of life for their human companions.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2008-02-12-dog-arthritis_N.htm

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A Rare Natural Phenomena

I have been fortunate to both personally see an albino antelope and an albino deer in the wild at some point in my adult lifetime, both times in Wyoming. When seeing creatures like this, you do a doubletake and are not quite sure you are actually seeing what you truly are. It would be particularly incredible to be able to see other albino creatures, such as a bison, wolf, elk, moose, or coyote. If any of my readers has been able to witness such incredibly rare creatures, please share your experiences with the other readers of this blog.



http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/main.jhtml?xml=/earth/2008/02/11/eastag111.xml

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Recommended Film

After working for just four hours, I got off work at 2pm on a gloomy cold Monday. After reading my newspapers, I seemingly settled in for another quiet night at home spent surfing the 'net, working on my blogs, and watching the Coyotes/Stars game. But, lo and behold, Todd came by around 5:30 wanting me to accompany him to the theatre to watch a movie. He had just gotten back from ten days on a special assignment in Colorado Springs (he is in the WY ANG) and his home life is not getting any better and more peaceful at all. After checking the paper, we decided to go see No Country For Old Men.

This is truly an outstanding film. The performances of the actors was exemplary with a great compelling well written story. Most of the movie was filmed in New Mexico ,and places in Albuquerque are easily identifiable despite the story taking place in Texas.

Tommy Lee Jones is deserving of serious Academy Awards consideration. The film is for adults as it is quite violent with numerous murders and lots of realistic blood. The story in the movie takes place in 1980 and I thought the film did a great job of capturing the life and culture of that time period. Be prepared for a rather onorthodox ending, though.

I hope to go see There Will Be Blood in the next week or so. That film has been highly acclaimed despite its lengthiness. It will have to sensational to be better than what I just witnessed in No Country For Old Men.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No_Country_for_Old_Men_(film)

http://www.nocountryforoldmen.com/

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Roy Scheider, 1932 - 2008

Roy Scheider was an accomplished film and stage actor with over four decades of film credits. His most memorable role was in the film Jaws and Jaws 2 as the beachfront resort police chief Martin Brody. Other noteworthy roles came in The French Connection, Marathon Man, Sorcerer, Blue Thunder, and All That Jazz. Scheider was originally cast to play two other noted lead roles in two memorable films, The Deer Hunter and Rambo: First Blood, but the roles were given instead to Rober DeNiro and Sylvester Stallone, respectively. He leaves behind a wife, son, and two daughters.

http://movies.msn.com/news/article.aspx?news=300073&GT1=7701

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roy_Scheider

http://www.royscheider.net/

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Looking Ahead to Spring Training

Spring Training '08 opens later this week. Actual games start on Tuesday 26 January with a full schedule in place by Friday 29 February. By the start of spring training, most clubs have their starting lineups determined and just need to fill out the last few roster spots. Clubs also take a look at unheralded rookies and minor leaguers to see if there is a gem in the rough they may have overlooked, and at a collection of non-roster camp invitees to see if there is a player ready to get back to where they were or if they can finally put their talent all together.

My early picks for what teams are going to be successful in 2008 are, in the NL, New York, Chicago, Arizona, and San Diego. Other clubs that are going to be close and may yet win out are Atlanta, Philadelphia, Milwaukee, Colorado, and Los Angeles. Dark horses are Washington and Cincinnati. Teams going nowhere are Florida, St Louis, Houston, Milwaukee, and San Francisco. In the AL, my early favorites are Boston, Detroit, Seattle, and Anaheim. Other strong contenders are New York, Toronto, Cleveland, Chicago, and Minnesota. Dark horses are Kansas City and Texas. Teams DOA are Tampa Bay, Baltimore, and Oakland.

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/baseball/2008-02-08-59671063_x.htm

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20080210&content_id=2370055&vkey=spt2008news&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/baseball/spring/08schedule.htm

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Buffalo Bills Inevitably Will End Up on North Side of Lake Ontario

The Buffalo Bills have announced plans to play both regular season and exhibition games in Toronto starting in the upcoming '08 season. This is the beginning of the end of the Buffalo Bills, a charter member of the American Footbal League in 1960. When the Bills were created, Western New York was a whole different kind of place, full of plentiful well - paying manufacturing and distribution jobs that were the foundation of the local and regional Buffalo and western New York economy and community. Over 50 years later, that Buffalo is all but gone. The region is in a steep decline economically, the overall standard of living has decline for many, the area has seen an exodus of its young adults, and there is an ongoing decline in population that has been ongoing for nearly two decades. Ralph Wilson has owned the team since its inception, and with his days numbered as he approaches his 90th birthday, there is a looming ownership change that will likely be the trigger mechanism eventually and inevitably resulting in the Bills becoming the NFL's first Canadian based franchise, likely by 2013 when they are no longer legally obligated to play in their suburban Buffalo Orchard Park, NY, stadium.

This news and forecast is sad and tragic, but I see nothing that will stop it from happening, The Buffalo market clearly is at or past the point of being able to support an NFL club to the extent that it takes to compete with larger and wealthier demographics in virtually all the other NFL cities around the league. The one possible salvation would be to make the Buffalo Bills like the Green Bay Packers; a community owned team with community citizens as stockholders of the organization with an elected community board of directors who manage the budget and make the major personnel decisions. I very much would like to see this happen, but it is not going to. The egos and greed of the National Football League will not allow for the creation of another Packers. These owners want another billionaire magnate to join their club to help create additional wealth and prestige for themselves at almost any cost. And having another club like the Green Bay Packers is not going to do that no matter how much powerfully positive PR that would create.

http://www.tsn.ca/cfl/news_story/?ID=229005&hubname=

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ralph_C._Wilson_Jr.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buffalo_Bills

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Personal Winter Malaise

We are now into the heart of February and it seems as if winter will never end. The days are cold, windy, and often gloomy. Even when the sun does appear, it does not seem like it is anywhere nearly enough. When winter gets to the point where it is closing in three consecutive months with little if any breaks, one's spirits and attitudes significantly flag. Everyday is a struggle not to let depression and gloom completely grab hold of oneself. One gets a better understanding of the mental illness known as Seasonal Affective Disorder, or SAD. I probably have it good this winter, perhaps even more so than last winter, and definitely more than I ever did when I resided in CO or elsewhere. It probably helps to have somethings to look forward to, have a purpose, feel rewarded, or a number of other positive distractions to keep these down feelings at bay. For the most part, snow has been on the ground for 79 straight days, often in the streets and on the sidewalks (as I painfully discovered last month). And there is little to get enthused about in the coming weeks. One must really strive to focus on positive changes and things to rally around. One understands how the phenomena of "cabin fever" occurs. One just feels like they need to be transported to a whole other place where its warm and green and seemingly more friendly...

There are a few things to look forward to but they have yet to full embrace the immediate environment. Hopefully some additional prospects will come to light in the coming days and weeks to help re-energize oneself and cause an awakening of positivity, optimism, and hope.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seasonal_affective_disorder

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cabin_fever

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Some Recent Baseball Articles

As the Hot Stove League wraps up (will the Bedard to Mariners trade ever be finalized ?), some recent articles have been written which bring up some interesting subjects. Fox Sports' Ken Rosenthal speculates on the possibility of both Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez exceeding Pete Rose's hit record. Both players have a great chance. They are both young enough and each could play perhaps another dozen years yet. Like with all players, the key will be to avoid injuries and to play a position that is not so physically demanding or dangerous. That means shifting these guys, if they both stay as Yankees past age 40, to positions at first base and designated hitter for the most part. With a little luck, maybe one if not both of these players may threaten the Rose hit record, but I think neither one will break it.

Tom Verducci of Sports Illustrated suggests seven pitchers are at risk of being injured from having too increased of a workload this upcoming season. Most alarming to fans of the Colorado Rockies such as myself is the inclusion of Ubaldo Jiminez on this list. Hopefully Clint Hurdle, Bob Apodaca, and the clubs training staff will keep a close eye on Jiminez to avoid this potential disaster. Losing Jiminez almost would surely cost the Rockies any chance of winning the NL West and participating in the postseason as their pitching is by no means firmly seasoned and with great experience and depth.

Four key veterans that have years of success in the majors remain unsigned near the dawn of Spring Training and it seems it will stay that way for at least awhile if not for good. I believe it is a sure thing that Clemens, Bonds, and Sosa are done and gone and will not be back ever again. Piazza has a shot as a DH somewhere in the AL if he is willing to take a lot less money. Where he could end up is a big question. The American League has probably nine legitimate postseason contenders (BSN, NYY, TOR, DET, CLE, CHI, MINN, ANAH, SEA) that maybe able to use an extra bat and a veteran player to help out the pitchers and young catchers. But don't look for Philly Mike to get a call unless there is a key injury, underperformance, or a GM is out there that is particularly fond of him.

The American League has dominated the National League for most of this decade and back into the '90s in interleague play, All-Star games, and postseason. But the worm maybe turning. The pitching depth and strength in the Senior Circuit now seems to be clearly ahead of that in the Junior Circuit, and the addition of Johan Santana to the Mets only makes this more certain. We will see how it goes on the field, but on paper the National League looks to have a strong edge when it comes to pitching. That kind of strength will make for some great competitive pennant races in the NL this season as there is no favorites really in any of the three divisions.

At long last it appears the long run of the St Louis Cardinals as contenders is over. All one has to see to affirm this is knowing the Cards are so desperate and without options that they would sign longtime has-been Juan "Gone" Gonzalez to fill an outfield and pinch-hitting role on the club. Gonzales' nickname has a definite new meaning -- he has been gone out of the majors for over two seasons because his skills and abilities are gone. Talk about sorry...

And the Yankees' Phillip Hughes had a close encounter of the large semi-aquatic reptile kind. Folks all over New England and elsewhere are bummed the gator missed out on getting a good lunch.

http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/7760282/Jeter-has-first-crack-at-Rose

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/writers/tom_verducci/02/05/verducci.YAE/index.html

http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/7764824/Forced-retirement-could-make-2013-ballot-crowded

http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/7763458/Johan-Santana-makes-Mets-an-NL-favorite,-but-he

http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/sports/stories.nsf/cardinals/story/5C9E01BF754FC855862573E50069DA42?OpenDocument

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Colorado Rockies List of Non-Roster Spring Training Invitees

The names on the list of non-roster camp invitees for the 2007 National League champion Colorado Rockies for their rapidly approaching Spring Training camp in Tucson are not very exciting. Most of the players are largely unknown except by serious fans. Victor Zambrano (ex-Tampa Bay Devil Rays) has a very, very slim shot for a long relief bullpen slot, and Scott Podsednik (ex-Chicago White Sox) has a chance to make the team as a sixth outfielder-pinch hitter. 22 players have made the invitee list and will be in Tucson next Friday, 15 February, on pitchers and catchers reporting day, to get a jump on in making the attempt to get on the big league roster; or as a second choice, the AAA roster in Colorado Springs where they might continue to improve in hopes of making the big leagues at some point in '08, either with the Rockies or another MLB club via a trade or as a free agent.

http://www.denverpost.com/breakingnews/ci_8175703

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ESPN Announces Opening Day Broadcast Schedule

Opening Day is less than two months away now and ESPN announced their broadcast schedule.

First up is the pre-Opening Sunday Night Game on 30 March at 6pm. The Washington Nationals debut their new stadium in the SE part of the District when they host the Atlanta Braves. On the regular opening day, Monday 31 March, there are five games scheduled for broadcast on ESPN and ESPN2:

Toronto BlueJays @ New York Yankees, 11am ESPN

Milwaukee Brewers @ Chicago Cubs, noon ESPN2

San Francisco Giants @ Los Angeles Dodgers, 2pm ESPN

Anaheim Angels @ Minnesota Twins, 5pm ESPN2

Houston Astros @ San Diego Padres, 8pm ESPN2

ESPN will televise games on Sundays, Mondays, and Wednesdays through the season, but the Monday broadcasts will end before Labor Day and telecasts will then be on the final four Fridays in September

A great new addition to the broadcasting schedule is the addition of TBS as a national telecaster starting this 2008 season. TBS will televise a national Sunday afternoon game of the week starting on Sunday 6 April. There will be a primary national game and an alternate game broadcast into markets where a blackout is necessitated. TBS will also have a slate of national games on the three summer national holiday Mondays: Memorial, Independence, and Labor Days, with two late morning/afternoon games before ESPN takes over with their Monday Night baseball telecast.

And FOX will telecast one of up to four games regionally on all 26 Saturdays with first pitch at 3:55 ET (1:55 MT).

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Baseball's Worst Position Players

Its going to be a long season in San Francisco with three of their four infielders making this list. Hopefully SF managment sees the light and starts playing some promising kids in the infield. Its very unfortunate to see Omar Vizquel here as he has been a standout shortstop for many years. He probably should have retired but he keeps going on to get closer to 3000 hits as he sits at 2598 at the start of '08. Aurillia and Durham are thorough has-beens for a couple of seasons already. Kendall has been washed up since before he left Pittsburgh, and the A's are elated to be rid of him; Millar was a one-time standout for Boston but he has gone into the tank with the Orioles (Richie Sexson of the Mariners is also worthy of being on this list for 1B); and the outfield trio of Pierre, Kotsay, and Teahen are known for their defensive and offensive shortcomings, though Teahen is still young at 26 and could turn it around. Kotsay is another ex-Athletic thankfully shipped out of Oakland to Atlanta, but with improved health, he could revive his career; and Pierre has disappointed and underachieved everywhere he has been as his throwing arm is worse than mine and his batting is enemic. Johnny Damon probably should be on the list in place of Teahen.

Too bad pitchers are not part of this list, but if they were, those starters that could be included would be Woody Williams, Kip Wells, Bronson Arroyo, Javier Vasquez, John Danks, Daniel Cabrera, Jose Contreras, Jarrod Washburn, and Edwin Jackson. Relievers would include Brad Lidge, Todd Jones, and Chad Cordero.

http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/7737168/Position-by-position-look-at-MLB

The list of the best positional players is also out and there can be little debate on whom was chosen for that recognition.

http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/7673598/A-position-by-position-look-at-MLB's-best

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New York Giants Pull Off Super Bowl Stunner

Like millions of other fans around the globe, I am quite surprised to see the New York Giants win this year's Super Bowl and end the undefeated season of the New England Patriots. I believed the Giants would keep it close and probably cover the 12 point spread, but I believed New England's offense would be too much but the Jints played a great game defensively holding the Patriots to just two scores. I thoroughly enjoyed the halftime concert by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers with their five song set. Look for first game of the 2008 NFL regular season on Thursday 4 September to be the new World Champion New York Giants hosting the galacticly evil Dallas Cocaineboys, just seven months and one day from now.

I can't wait for the Redsox to beat out the Yankees to shut up New Yorkers' mouths soon enough as Northeast bragging rights for now will be in the Big Apple until Autumn, although the Knicks and Rangers are not going anywhere while the Celtics and Bruins are destined to do much better this spring.

FYI: The Days of February

Here is an entertaining list of all the celebrations being celebrated on what days during the month of February. 6, 10, and 14 February are days that are strangely timed for February. Those of you who have pooches have a very important mission to complete on 23 February. 12,19, 24, and 29 February look to be the best days to commemorate. I will endeavor to find similar lists for the other eleven months of the year as they occur.

February 1 is Serpent Day

February 2 is Purification Day

February 3 is Cordova Ice Worm Day

February 4 is Create A Vacuum Day

February 5 is Disaster Day and Mardi Gras Day

February 6 is Lame Duck Day

February 7 is Charles Dickens Day

February 8 is Kite Flying Day

February 9 is Toothache Day....Ouch!

February 10 is Umbrella Day, Will it Rain?

February 11 is White Tee-Shirt Day and Don't Cry Over Spilled Milk Day

February 12 is National Plum Pudding Day

February 13 is Get A Different Name Day and Dream Your Sweet Day

February 14 is Ferris Wheel Day and National Heart to Heart Day

February 15 is National Gum Drop Day

February 16 is Do A Grouch A Favor Day...LMBO!

February 17 is Champion Crab Races Day, Run Crab Run!

February 18 is National Battery Day

February 19 is National Chocolate Mint Day

February 20 is Hoodie Hoo Day

February 21 is Card Reading Day

February 22 is Be Humble Day

February 23 is International Dog Biscuit Appreciation Day

February 24 is National Tortilla Chip Day

February 25 is Pistol Patent Day (Samuel Colt)

February 26 is National Pistachio Day

February 27 is International Polar Bear Day

February 28 is Public Sleeping Day

February 29 is National Surf and Turf Day

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Grrrr !!! The Rodents See Six More Weeks of Winter !

These "predictions" and "forecasts", based on the alleged "behavior" and "reactions" by specifically identified rodents across the nation, particularly one in rural Pennsylvania that is quite the celebrity, Punxsutawney Phil, have no scientific basis whatsoever and are often incorrect, or perhaps even more importantly, forgotten and ignored within days and hours after they have been publicized in the media and press. Phil says we got six more weeks of winter ahead for us. Lets hope that we are in for a mild February, March, and April across the nation and particularly across the Front Range Corridor adjacent to the Central Rockies. This rodent better be wrong this year.

Here in Wyoming, there is news of an upstart competitor to the state's longtime recognized expert rodent weather forecaster, "Lander Lil", a prairie dog that is located near the main post office in Lander, Wyoming, about 100 miles west of Casper at the base of the Wind River Mountains. The upstart is another prairie dog from Douglas, Wyoming, a windswept desolate prairie town about an hour east of Casper, and goes by the moniker "Glen P. Doggie". No news at the time of this post about what either of these two local rodents is forecasting for the remainder of the winter here in the wind tunnel of the continent and hemisphere. Hopefully both of these rodents will get munched by a coyote, fox, hawk, or eagle soon. Especially if they say there is another six weeks of winter ahead for us.

http://www.groundhog.org/prediction/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Groundhog_Day

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Groundhog

http://www.groundhogsday.com/groundhogcentral.php

http://www.ag.arizona.edu/~squirrel/groundhogday.htm

http://www.trib.com/articles/2008/02/02/news/casper/e4c6677be4c91591872573e20073fa51.txt
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Pro Football Hall of Fame Selects Six for Enshrinement

Six longtime NFL greats were chosen for enshrinement into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, OH. The ceremony will take place the first weekend of August 2008. Chosen for selection were Emmitt Thomas, Darrell Green, Art Monk, Andre Tippett, Fred Dean, and Gary Zimmerman. Those not chosen were Marshall Goldberg, Paul Tagliabue, Russ Grimm, Ray Guy, Andre Reed, Bob Kuechenberg, Randall McDaniel, Derrick Thomas, Richard Dent, and Denver Broncos LB Randy Gradishar. It is very disappointing to see Gradishar passed over again as this was the last year he was eligible for consideration by the HoF selection committee. He will now have to wait for consideration by the senior committee which is limited to two nominations per year.

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/sports/AP-FBN-Hall-of-Fame.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/feb/02/zimmerman-selected-nfl-hall-fame/
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/feb/02/capsule-look-those-elected-hallfame/

http://www.denverpost.com/ci_8151156

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Colorado Rockies 2008 Television Broadcast Schedule Announced

The Defending National League Champion Colorado Rockies (doesn't that sound awesome !) announced their television broadcast schedule recently. Broadcasts can be seen on four outlets: Fox Sports Rocky Mountain; KTVD-20 in Denver; FOX Sports; and WGN. The one broadcast on WGN will be on Friday 30 May with first pitch at 12:20pm. Many games will also be available on the baseball payperview package on DirecTV and certain cable networks. There are also broadcasts available over the internet through the mlb.com intenet site. Only six of the 162 regular season games are not being telecast: [all times MT]

Wednesday 4 June @ Los Angeles 1pm

Thursday 10 July @ Milwaukee Noon

Wednesday 23 July MILWAUKEE 1pm

Thursday 7 August WASHINGTON 1pm

Thursday 14 August ARIZONA 1pm

Wednesday 3 September SAN FRANCISCO 1pm

All other weekday games will be broadcast on Fox Sports Rocky Mountain.

Sunday games will be broadcast on KTVD-20 from 6 April to 24 August and on FSRM from 31 August to 28 September. At this point Colorado is slated for one appearance on Sunday Night Baseball televised nationally on ESPN:

Sunday 13 July @ New York Mets 6pm (two days before All-Star game)

As for Saturday telecasts, four games are scheduled for national broadcast on FOX:

12 April @ Arizona 1:55pm

24 May NEW YORK 1:55 pm

12 July @ New York 1:55pm

30 August @ San Diego 1:55pm

All other Saturday games are broadcast on Fox Sports Rocky Mountain from 5 April to 23 August and on KTVD-20 from 6 September to 27 September, but changes could result depending on how the season goes.

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Economic Hard Times Coldly Arrive

As I feared, personal economic hard times are back and staring me straight in the face. My employment cut my hours back to about 20 hours per week starting next week due to across the board labor expenses cuts in the business due to inadequate profits for ownership. Obviously I cannot make ends meet on less than $500 per month. The last time my income was in that area I had to live fulltime in my truck for several months from November 2oo4 into the summer of 2005 and parttime into the autumn of 2005. Securing new employment would be ideal, but my efforts the last several months to do just that to get out of the mindless mundane work I have now have been totally unsuccessful. There just is not much interest in employing 50 year men by most corporations and none whatsoever by any governmental entity. Add in the physical limitations I like many in my age group have and that closes the door to many types of work. Its already been a long hard cold winter and it promises to get only more so for the remaining two months if not longer. Hopefully something will come up or I may go down, down, down ...

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What I Do to be "Green"

Sure, I, like many, claim to be green. It is largely easy to be green in attitude, but to be green in action is much harder and requires self-discipline and commitment. My difficult personal economic circumstances do limit much of what I would like to do, such as make monetary contributions to environmentally progressive organizations and advocates. It would also be nice to have a more economical and environmentally sensitive mode of motor vehicle transportation that is more efficient. I would also like to draw much of my energy needs from a renewable source such as wind or solar. And if I had land I could use the whole food waste I personally generate and put it back in the soil to enrich it. I have already done the most green thing any human can do, not father any children. But I do take additional actions. mostly small, regularly to do something more tangible and demonstrative:

1) Recycle all newspapers & magazines.

2) Try to recycle all steel cans, aluminum cans, and eligible plastics for recycling or reuse containers for personal use and storage. I also have three garbage bags full of plastic bags from the grocery store, breads, produce, etc., that needs recycling.

3) Minimize driving to only necessary trips and eliminating wastefulness (i.e., all errands on one trip using thoughtful planning). Lately I am only driving enough to use about 20 gallons of fuel per month.

4) Keep the thermostat at 45 degrees in the apartment in winter and the colder months when I am not home or asleep (that is about 18-19 hours per day on the five days a week I am working) -- overall, I am only using electricity generated from coal burning for heat about 50 - 55 hours per week.

5) Do not waste water. Thriftyness is the hallmark of my existence when its come to household use of water.

6) Only generate enough trash for one to two kitchen trashcan loads per month. Mostly it is in the form of cereal boxes, kleenix, and other food packaging.

7) Keep all unnecessary lights off.

8) Only do laundry about four to six times per year. Recycle outer clothes for wearing instead of assuming they must be laundered after each use or wearing of. I own enough clothes to not have to do laundry except after many weeks. Maybe someday I will be in better economic straits to have laundry equipment of my own again as I once had when I lived in Aurora from '99-'04 and could do laundry more regularly.

9) Do not use air conditioning at home. Deal with the heat by barely wearing any clothes while at home and using fans to circulate air creating a wind "chill" effect on one's bare skin. Do not use the oven or stovetop for cooking in the summer months - rely on the microwave and non-cooked foods for meals.

10) Rely on natural light as much as possible when available for use. Easier said then done in the winter months.

Like everyone, I could do better. Economic constraints limit some of the possible actions I would like to do, but maybe someday I will be in better straits.

http://www.usatoday.com/tech/science/environment/2008-01-30-green-actions_N.htm

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Hall of Fame Exhibition Baseball Game to be No More [UPDATED 2-4-8]

The annual exhibition major league baseball game each summer in Cooperstown, New York, between two major league baseball clubs will end after 2008. This years game between the Cubs and Padres on 16 June will mark the finale of a decades long tradition dating back to 1939 that, until recently, always was played on induction day in late July or early August and featured one club from each league in an exhibition game that topped off the pageantry and festivities in this tiny upstate New York village each summer.

This is extremely disappointing, but perhaps an All-Star game of retired players could be scheduled as an alternative. While it would be preferable to have the game on the same day as inductions, an option would be to schedule the game on the Wednesday after the MLB All-Star game on a day when no MLB games are scheduled. This would allow for greater participation from retired players who currently are employed as coaches, managers, and scouts for both MLB and minor league teams.

UPDATE: a website dedicated to saving the MLB HoF game has been launched:

http://www.savethefamegame.com/

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http://www.tsn.ca/mlb/news_story/?ID=228462&hubname=

http://web.baseballhalloffame.org/visit/hof_game/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baseball_Hall_of_Fame

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Super Bowl 42 Pick

Super Bowl 42 (XLII) kicks off around 4:20pm MST on Sunday 3 February from Phoenix-Glendale, AZ. The New England Patriots are playing to complete an undefeated season against the upstart New York Giants who almost did make the postseason except for a great second half in their fifteenth game against a beatup Bills club in Buffalo in the snow.

I was injured when the Conference championship games were played but my unpublished picks would have been for the Patriots and Packers, so it is an upset and surprise that the Giants made it to the NFL title game this year in my view.

New England is favored by 11 1/2 points in Super Bowl XLII. It should be a close game for probably the first half, but the superior offensive firepower possessed by the Patriots will be a deciding factor, as well as playing in good weather with rested players against the Giants who have gone much farther than could have ever been anticipated but have reached their end of the road.

PATRIOTS 31, GIANTS 20

And then its goodbye to football for six months and hello to baseball in about two to three weeks !

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NFL Hall of Fame Inductees to be Announced Saturday 2 February

The National Football League Hall of Fame Board of Selectors will announce this years's HoF inductees this coming Saturday, 2 February, at 2:30 pm MST in Phoenix. There will be a minimum of four inductees and a maximum of seven. There are 17 finalists under consideration for selection, and all are worthy candidates with outstanding careers in the NFL. Two are from the senior committee, Chicago Cardinals back Marshall Goldberg and Kansas City Chiegs cornerback Emmitt Thomas (I remember watching him play when I was a youth). The Contributer Finalist is former NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue. 14 other players from the modern era, including two players under consideration for the initial time, WR Cris Carter and DB Darrell Green. The other 12 players are:

Fred Dean, DE

Richard Dent, DE

Randy Gradishar, LB

Russ Grimm, OG

Ray Guy, P

Bob Kuechenberg, OG

Randall McDaniel, OG

Art Monk, WR

Andre Reed, WR

Derrick Thomas, LB

Andre Tippett, LB

Gary Zimmerman, OT

Its difficult if not impossible to not consider any of these men for induction. But with a limit of seven, here is whom I would want to see get in this year.

Gradishar: An essential member of the Denver Broncos' Orange Crush Defense in the 1970s and early 1980s. No player for that era of the Broncos is in the Hall in spite of the Broncos onfield defensive excellence of that era. Gradishar was a great in his time.

Zimmerman: Considered one of the best linemen of all time. He was a standout with the Los Angeles Express of the USFL fresh out of college, and was a regular All-Pro with the Minnesota Vikings and Denver Broncos throughout his career.

Monk: Monk held the record for most receptions for a time until surpassed by Jerry Rice. Monk was an important part of the Washington Redskins' success through the 1980s and early 90s, playing on four Super Bowl teams.

Grimm: An offensive line anchor for those successful Washington Redskins teams of the 80s through 1991. Like Monk, an essential part of the Redskins, a regular successful postseason participant throughout his career.

Emmitt Thomas: One of the best cornerbacks of the AFL and NFL era from 1966 to 1978. An important key component of the success of the Kansas City Chiefs.

Green: One of the best, if not best, cornerbacks in the NFL, for a 20 year career with the Washington Redskins. Like Grimm and Monk, an essential key member of the successful run by the Redskins.

Kuechenberg: A fifteen year career with the Miami Dolphins, anchoring an offensive line for a team that was regularly successful during his career, including an undefeated season, and three Super Bowl appearances with two championships.

All this being said, look for Tagliabue, Green, Carter, Guy, Dent, Zimmerman, and Gradishar to be chosen as inductees.

http://www.profootballhof.com/enshrinement/story.jsp?story_id=2640

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Damn Great Idea from the Wood-Meister

I enthusiastically endorse this concept of an outdoors NHL at Mile High Stadium on New Years Eve in the next year or two. I was part of the largest baseball crowd in major league history on opening day 1993 and would welcome the chance to be part of hockey's biggest crowd ever. I would need to buy some electric socks and determine the best way to stay warm on a frigid night in an outdoors stadium. Some day I would like to attend a college football game at a huge venue like Ann Arbor Stadium for the University of Michigan where the capacity is over 110,000 spectators.

http://www.denverpost.com/avalanche/ci_8049565

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Movie Recommendation

This Sunday was the first without football since Labor Day. It was also our nicest day in over two months as the temperature cracked 50 degrees for the first time since the weekend before last Thanksgiving as it got to 54 degrees under partly sunny skies with only very light breezes. Todd came by around 1:30 and we decided to go catch a movie. I caught Charlie Wilson's War at the Dollar Movies. It was a splendid film and well made. I heartily recommend it, but certain scenes are of an adult nature so it probably should not be viewed by those under age 16. Philip Seymour Thomas is outstanding in his role. Tom Hanks does great, but Julia Roberts was less so as it appears time has caught up with her in her abilities, screen presence, and appearance.

Overall the film appeared to be historically accurate for the most part. Its too bad the US screwed things tremendously by not further helping the Afghans after they whipped the Russians and drove them out of Afghanistan in the mid to late '80s.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Cyclone

http://www.consortiumnews.com/2007/122007a.html

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0472062/

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Suharto, 1921 - 2008

Suharto was a despotic tyrannical dictator of Indonesia from 1967 t0 1998. During his reign, Indonesia modernized tremendously but around one million Indonesian individuals that were opposed to Suharto were executed by his police and military forces. He and his "New Order" government maintained power for so long due to his ardent anti-Communist stance which brought him unquestioned support from the West, including the United States and Australia. Suharto was the greatest embezzler in world history with assets taken from the Indonesian treasury estimated to be at least $15 billion and probably over $35 billion. Corruption was the order of the day through his reign and he was only ousted due to the Asian Financial Crisis in the late 90s. Individuals who are Javanese commonly has just one name which explains his seemingly unique odd name.

http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=4196470

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suharto

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A Very Sweet Receiver

My Yamaha receiver is now about 13 years old, so I find myself wondering to see the new stereo receiver technology out there. This Onkyo unit is one of the better ones available at a modest price.

http://slickdeals.net/?permadeal=11457#direct_deal_11457

http://reviews.cnet.com/av-receivers/onkyo-tx-sr805-silver/4505-6466_7-32430614.html

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Goodyear, Here Comes the Reds

It is looking more likely the Cincinnati Reds will relocate their spring training from Sarasota FL to Goodyear AZ for the'09 season. The new facility under construction in Goodyear for the Cleveland Indians is likely to be expanded to have the two Ohio major league teams be able to share it, making SW Maricopa County the place to be for all Ohioans in the March of every year.

This would also keep the Colorado Rockies in Tucson along with the Arizona Diamondbacks. The Chicago Whitesox still want to move north to Glendale to join Los Angeles in the new facility there but they have yet to find a replacement team to fill the void in Tucson if they depart to Glendale. The Reds were thought to be among the best possibilities for that, but with Cincinnati focusing on Goodyear, other candidates will have to emerge. There really is only one at this time, the Baltimore Orioles. The Orioles are looking at Vero Beach for after the Dodgers leave and also Fort Lauderdale, but both sites are still shaky and up in the air. Baltimore would seem to be really a long shot being an east coast team coming all the way across the nation to train in Arizona. Better choices would be the Houston Astros, St Louis Cardinals, and Minnesota Twins. But all three of those clubs would seem to be locked in to conducting their spring training in the Sunshine State for quite some time.

When and if MLB expands down the road, it is a certainty that those two new clubs will conduct their spring training in Arizona. Chandler, Gilbert, Apache Junction, Casa Grande, and north Phoenix would all be in the running to place those teams in their community, along with Tucson.

http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/news/articles/0125swv-reds0125-ON.html

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Sir Edmund Hillary, 1919 - 2008

Edmund Hillary accomplished one of the most achievements in the history of mankind when he and his Sherpa mountaineer Tenzing Norgay successfully scaled Mount Everest in 1953. Hillary was a hero to many, including my father. His accomplishment of being the first man to conquer the world's tallest mountain was comparable to men landing on the moon sixteen years later. Hillary used his success to benefit mankind and was a tireless philanthropist throughout his life. When I was a kid, the sleeping bags our family had were the Edmund Hillary models from Sears.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sir_Edmund_Hillary

http://www.infoplease.com/biography/var/edmundhillary.html

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Bobby Fischer, 1943 - 2008

Bobby Fischer was a boyhood hero of mine due to his unmatched excellence and genius as a chess player, grandmaster, and world champion. His monthslong challenge to Russian Boris Spassky in the summer and autumn of 1972 capitivated me and millions of others. When the newspaper would publish the move by move account of the chess matches, either my father or my brother and I would recreate the matches and try to figure out and understand how Fischer was successful or not. I had his book "Bobby Fischer Teaches Chess" as a youth. He was always considered to be eccentric, and later actions and statements by him served to only alienate him from the world. Being a genius is not easy in a world where the mundane and normal is much easier to fit in with.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bobby_fischer

http://www.infoplease.com/biography/var/bobbyfischer.html

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John Stewart, 1939 - 2008

John Stewart was a successful musician and songwriter whose career stretched from the late 1950s in to the 1980s and beyond. His song "Gold", a duet with Stevie Nicks that reached #5 on the charts in 1979 off the album "Bombs Away Dream Babies", is the song I most remember fondly and truly enjoy hearing whenever I get to do a roadtrip. Stewart was a member of the influential folk group The Kingston Trio during that group's haydays in the early to mid 1960s.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Stewart_%28musician%29

http://www.chillywinds.com/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bombs_Away_Dream_Babies

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Happy Birthday, Sister

Today, Saturday, 26 January, is my sister MKW's birthday. We really do not celebrate birthdays so much as we get older, but I am sure your daughters will have something up their sleeves to make your special day a little brighter. Best wishes on a joyful happy day and many days ahead of sunshine and bliss in the coming year with continued success, prosperity, fun, and peace.

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NHL to Vote on Expanding Regular Season to 84 Games

With this weekend having the NHL All-Star Game, club owners have gathered in Atlanta to consider league business. One of the most important proposals to be voted on concerns expanding the regular season from 82 to 84 games. This is an important critical matter to make scheduling more balanced and realistic. Prior to the '04-'05 lockout, the schedule was unbalanced and unpredictable with, for example, some Eastern Conference teams playing at Western Conference teams only once or twice a decade. Since the resolution of the lockout, the league has weighted the schedule heavily towards divisional games with only ten nonconference games each of the last three seasons for clubs. With an increase to 84 regular season games, a balanced regular schedule could be implimented. This would mean three home/three road games against each of a team's four divisional opponent for a total of 24; two home/two road games against a team's ten nondivisional intraconference opponents for a total of 40; a home and away game against the five teams in one division in the other conference for a total of ten; a home game against five teams in the second nonconference division for a total of five; and a road game against five teams in the third nonconference division for a total of five. This would total to 84 games. For example, Western Conference teams would host all Eastern Conference teams twice every three years and play games on the road at each Eastern Conference team also two of every three years. This new plan could easily go into effect starting in the '08-09 regular season.

Adopting this new 84 game schedule with its balance and logic would give the NHL the second best schedule arrangement of the major four sports instead of the worst which it has now. The NFL scheduling system is easily professional sports' best. The NBA would be strongly encouraged to follow the NHL lead as they also play 82 regular season games with 30 clubs. A compromise would be to keep the 82 game schedule by having teams play nondivisonal intraconference opponents that finished in the same position in the standings the prior season two less times, one on the road and one at home. For example, if Minnesota won the NW, San Jose the Pacific, and Detroit the Central, Minnesota would play at San Jose just once, host Detroit just once, and Detroit would host San Jose but once the following season. A similar plan could also be implimented in the NBA.

Baseball has serious scheduling woes. With the NL having sixteen clubs and the AL fourteen, imbalanced, unfair schedules are the rule. The only solution is expansion to 32 clubs, and eventually 36. With 32, there would have to be four divisions which would eliminate the wild card. With imbalanced divisions such as exists now (NL Central with six clubs, AL West with just four clubs), there is no balanced and logical solution. Even if the AL were to expand and have five teams in the AL West (expandees Portland and Las Vegas, for example, and Texas moving to the AL Central), a schedule imbalance would still occur but there would be some improvement. Lets hope MLB figures this out and begins planning for at least two new expansion clubs in the next few years so the scheduling imbalances and injustices is mitigated to a small extent.

http://www.tsn.ca/blogs/mckenzie/?id=228124

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2008 Academy Awards Nominees Announced

Earlier this week, this year's Academy Awards nominations were announced. This year marks the 80th anniversary of the Academy Awards that honor excellence in all aspects of film. The awards will be announced on Sunday 24 February starting at 6pm and will be broadcast on ABC. A potential snag does exist with the ongoing writers strike which may result in the cancellation of the awards show leaving just an announcement of the winners. Lets hope that does not eventuate. What follows are the nominees for the big six categories as at least 24 total awards are planned for. [ * My early picks]

Best Picture:

Atonement

Juno

Michael Clayton

No Country for Old Men

There Will Be Blood *

Best Actress:

Cate Blanchett, in Elizabeth: The Golden Age

Julie Christie, in Away From Her

Marion Cotillard, in La Vie En Rose

Laura Linney, in The Savages

Ellen Page, in Juno *

Best Actor:

George Clooney, in Michael Clayton

Daniel Day-Lewis, in There Will Be Blood *

Johnny Depp, in Sweeney Todd

Tommy Lee Jones, in In The Valley of Elah

Viggo Mortensen, in Eastern Promises

Best Supporting Actress:

Cate Blanchett, in I'm Not There

Ruby Dee, in American Gangster *

Saorise Ronan, in Atonement

Amy Ryan, in Gone Baby Gone

Tilda Swinton, in Michael Clayton

Best Supporting Actor:

Casey Affleck, in The Assassination of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford

Javier Bardem, in No Country For Old Men

Philip Seymour Hoffman, in Charlie Wilson's War

Hal Holbrook, in Into The Wild *

Tom Wilkinson, in Michael Clayton

Best Director:

Paul Thomas Anderson, for There Will Be Blood *

Joel and Ethan Coen, for No Country For Old Men

Tony Gilroy, for Michael Clayton

Jason Reitman, for Juno

Julian Schnabel, for The Diving Bell And The Butterfly

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Rockies Ownership Surprisingly Stepping Up

The actions by the Monfort brothers, owners of the Colorado Rockies, in the last few weeks are quite heartening. They have signed several key players from the successful National League winning pennant team to long term contracts and indications are that more players are being pursued for the same end. I, like many other fans and friends of mine, have a seriously negative and cynical attitude about the ownership after many years of poor decisionmaking and gross inaction in regard to past situations when making a commitment towards players was not being done. Their recent moves point to a new philosophy, at least on a small level, towards maintaining a competitive, entertaining club that captures the imagination and loyalty of fans and results in greater satisfaction for everybody. Lets hope the reports of imminent signings of Hawpe, Adkins, Fuentes, and a longer term contract for Holliday, are indeed true.

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3210878&campaign=rss&source=MLBHeadlines

http://www.sportingnews.com/yourturn/viewtopic.php?t=341409

http://www.purplerow.com/story/2008/1/21/111348/513

http://www.denverpost.com/rockies/ci_8022077

http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/7703798?CMP=OTC-K9B140813162&ATT=49

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In a More Perfect World...

If we had a more perfect world, things like this could really happen. Baseball is a wonderful sport and I love it and follow it closely, but its business model leaves much to be desired. The huge disparities in broadcast revenues between clubs due to market size is an ever growing problem and an area for serious concern.

The National Football League has gotten it right for years in pooling broadcast revenues for all clubs to share in equally and Baseball needs to get to this point quickly. The disparity in revenues from wealthy clubs in larger population markets like the Yankees, Redsox, Cubs, White Sox, Dodgers, Angels, and Mets compared to small market clubs like the Pirates, Royals, Brewers, Rays, Twins, and Reds is resulting in a differing tier of performance and results on the playing field as these smaller revenue drawing clubs are in a constant struggle to create and maintain a product that is a winner on the field and off. Kansas City has not been a contender for nearing two decades; Pittsburgh has had fifteen straight losing seasons; Milwaukee had its first season of contention since 1992 in 2007; Tampa Bay has yet to win 70 games in a season since it came into existence; Cincinnati has struggled for years; and Minnesota cannot maintain a winning presence on the field as players' salaries get too expensive for them to maintain in their market. The Florida Marlins can all be included in this lower revenue group in spite of winning a championship in '03. In contrast, the seven big money clubs have largely been regular participants in postseason for years and are also generally at the top of the list for largest payrolls. They can more easily afford to make mistakes and have greater flexibility to retool if they do not find success with their most recent roster.

I hope forward thinking, brighter heads and minds can reach an understanding with the next labor agreement to work quickly towards an agreement on fully equally sharing all revenues generated from broadcasting, be it from television, radio, satellite, cable, or internet. The current system of payroll taxes is simply not working and is highly inadequate.

It is always great to see clubs from all size markets be able to compete in the NFL and NHL. I really would like to see the same be true for Baseball as well.

http://joeposnanski.com/JoeBlog/2008/01/24/royals-leading-santana-race/

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End of Open Access to this Blog Nears

Friday 25 January 08 marks the end of free open access to the Colorado Cowboy Professor Blog. With the initialization of the new Mountain Time Zone Perspective Blog which will be dedicated to issues in the news and public policy, the CCP blog will focus on personal matters such what is happening in my life, hobbies and interests (for example the weather, sports, music, and the arts), and other items that are not really in tune with being on a more formal opinion viewpoint blog.

I tried to notify all those whom I would like to be able to access the CCP blog, but I lack email addresses that are handy for nieces and nephews. I welcome them to be able to read the blog, so please have them submit a license request for permission to read the CCP blog to this email address:

mtzperspective@mail.com

When I embark on the autobiography blog soon, it will be under the same access restraints as the CCP blog.

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New Blog is Live

The new blog is up and running.

The email address one can use to mail requests for license to access this blog is:

mtzperspective@mail.com

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Postings to Return Here and Elsewhere

Due to my severe head injury and the complications associated with it, I have not posted here on the blog in more than one week. I anticipate returning to this duty in the next few to several days as I feel better.

A new blog dedicated to news articles and public policy and my opinions on these items will be launched within the next two weeks. A couple of working titles are under consideration. Once this new yet untitled blog goes live, the Colorado Cowboy Professor blog will become a restricted blog discussing other issues and observations that are more personal and private that will only be able to be accessed by a limited number of approved readers, almost exclusively family and friends and those requesting access. A special new email address will be initiated to facilitate processing requests for access and will be announced for about a week to ten days before access becomes restricted. Rules for posting comments will remain the same on both the existing and the new blog as were announced on 9 December 07.

The plan for an autobiographical blog still exists but has yet to be undertaken. Given my head injury and the thoughts that come mind on the fragility of life and the ever shortening number of days I have left to live (be it 30 or 300 or 3000 or 10,000), it is a good idea to get this particular new blog, the third one I will have, going in the coming weeks or so to get as much information, memories, reflections, and observations on it for it to be preserved in cyberspace history for all of time.

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