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Dorothy J. Melcher, 98, of Marion, passed away Jan. 10, 2013, at St. Luke Hospital in Marion.
Dorothy J. Melcher, 98, of Marion, passed away Jan. 10, 2013, at St. Luke Hospital in Marion. She was born at Mt. Hope, on Sept. 2, 1914, the daughter of Harley and Emma (Wright) Moreland. She was a 1932 graduate of Mt. Hope High School, where she enjoyed playing basketball. After graduation she went to work as a telephone operator and was later transferred to the Florence office, that is where she would meet her future husband. On March 14, 1936, she was united in marriage to Wilbur Melcher. They lived in Florence and later made their home in Marion. Their union was blessed with one son, Gary. In later years, Dorothy went to work in the Marion County Register of Deeds office. She was an active member of Valley United Methodist Church and had served as treasurer. She was an avid Kansas State University fan, especially football, holding season tickets since 1969, she rarely missed a game. She dearly loved her family, and enjoyed spending time with them and supporting them in their many activities. She was preceded in death by her husband Wilbur, and her sisters, Geneva Dickerson, Pauline Allen, and Gladys Pike. She is survived by her son, Gary and wife Debbie Melcher of El Dorado; three grandchildren, Keri and husband Chris Hadley of El Dorado, Jeffrey and wife Kristen Melcher of Lawrence and Michael Melcher of Marysville; and two great-grandchildren, Jenna and Brooke Hadley. Visitation with family will be held from 4 to 6 p.m. Sunday at Zeiner Funeral Home, Marion. Funeral Service will be held at 2 p.m. on Monday at Valley United Methodist Church, Marion. Interment will be held at 10 a.m. Monday at the Mt. Hope Cemetery, Mt. Hope. Memorial Funds established for the Valley UMC or Marion High School Coaches' Scholarship Fund (MHSCSF) in care of Zeiner Funeral Home, 205 Elm, Marion, KS, 66861.


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"A few girls that haven't seen the floor in awhile came in and really gave us some quality minutes. Aryn Eckstrom had a good game with 11 points and six rebounds, Julia followed with 10 points, Devon Flohrs played a well rounded game with six points, eight rebounds and she played solid defense. Emily Hurley scored seven points, had eight rebounds and two assists."
Saints fall to GFW
The St. James Gym witnessed another parents night, which was the last home game of the year for the girls basketball team and four SJA seniors.
The Saints seniors Aryn Eckstrom, Devon Flohrs, Emily Hurley, Michaela Nordby and their teammates fell to the GFW Thunderbirds by a score of 59-53.
In a classy touch, Head Coach Adam Schroeder started all four of his seniors.
While it would have been nice for the seniors to get a win in their last home game, a GFW eighth grade bomber had a different plan.
Not yet in high school Hailey Busse bombed the Saints with six three point shots. GFW had eight threes on the night. The Saints had only one trey on 1-13 three point shooting. Busse had 26 points for the game.
That precision long range bombing, and SJA's inability to match it was the difference in the game.
Busse, a petite long range bomber, is a player the Saints are going to have to account for any time the Saints take on this team in the next four years.
It was another night where the girls had a subpar shooting effort. Overall, the Saints shot 30 percent for the night and 35 percent of their two point attempts and 60 percent from the free throw line.
Emily Hurley led the Saints with 17 points and as she has many times this year made it a double, double with 14 rebounds.
Julia Beckius had 16 points.
In the first minute of the game the Saints got out to a 4-0 lead, but GFW was zeroed in from beyond the arc early in the game and opened up a 15-8 lead at the 12 minute mark. The Saints fell behind by 10 at 10:50 in the first half.
GFW's shooting expanded the Thunderbird's lead to 29-15 with 5:45 to go. The Saints got it under ten to trail 34-25 at the half.
The Thunderbirds kept bombing and the Saints kept missing through the first seven minutes of the second half to trail 51-33.
From that point on it was a much different game. SJA went on a 20-8 run in the last eleven and a half minutes and an 11-2 run in the last four minutes.
The Saints got as close as four points trailing 57-53, but the rally ran out of time as there were only 13 seconds on the clock when SJA got that close.
The big difference was better shooting down the stretch for the Saints. Also, better defense helped the Saints and perhaps GFW tried to sit on their lead a bit too much.
So the Saints outscored the visitors 28-25 in the second half, but the girls fell in too big a hole to come all the way back.
SJA lose to BEA
After a big come back produced a close loss at home, the Saints hit the road to BEA and lost. It wasn't close as the Saints fell 56-22.
There have been nights this year where the Saints have shot poorly and the game against BEA ranks about as bad as it could get. For the game the Saints shot 16 percent.
BEA blew out to a 41-16 halftime lead. SJA managed to score only six points in the second half.
No Saints were in double figures. Julia Beckius and Emily Hurely each had five points. Beckius led the team in rebounds with five of the teams 19 rebounds.
The Saints only had seven offensive rebounds and that combined with poor shooting was a big factor in SJA only having 37 field goal attempts in the game.
Of their 22 points, nine were free throws, where the Saints were 9-18.
GHEC beats SJA
The girls basketball Saints lost another road game Tuesday night by the score of 56-41.
GHEC opened a big lead in the first half. The SJA girls fell behind 15-0 at the start of the game. The Saints narrowed the lead and trailed at half 25-17.
The Saints pulled into a tie in the second half at 32, but GHEC pulled away for the win.
Head Coach Adam Schroeder said part of the problem of sustaining the run in the second half was, " Julia Beckius and Emily Hurley got into foul trouble. That really hurt us."
The positive to that according to the coach was, "A few girls that haven't seen the floor in awhile came in and really gave us some quality minutes.
"Aryn Eckstrom had a good game with 11 points and six rebounds, Julia followed with 10 points, Devon Flohrs played a well rounded game with six points, eight rebounds and she played solid defense.
"Emily Hurley scored seven points, had eight rebounds and two assists.

subset: commoncrawl


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The countdown nears an end, here is the number two story of 2012
Another title
Kirksville's wrestling team cemented its place among Missouri's programs to watch in 2012, capturing their second state wrestling championship in four seasons. In 2009, with a group of promising freshmen comprising much of the lineup, the Tigers walked out of Mizzou Arena with Kirksville's first state title in any sport in more than a decade. The wait for the next one wasn't nearly as long, thanks to that same group of freshmen, who now were seniors seeking their last high school hurrah. The Kirksville wrestling team won't be forgotten by anyone talking about the top programs in the state.
A show of force
The Tigers sent 11 wrestlers (Chris Hooper, Austin Roper, Justin VanHoose, Jesse Griffel, Travis Lang, Logan Summers, Ethan Rentschler, Matt Kelly, Branden Beeler Ivan McVay and Makenna Cook) to Mizzou Arena in Columbia, and by the eve of the final day were sitting in a commanding position atop the standings with six wrestlers still in contention for various medals.
By the time it was over the following day, all six of those wrestlers had won a medal and the Tigers had captured the championship with 152.5 team points, a staggering 41.5 points ahead of second place Oak Grove.
A haul of medals
Chris Hooper finished in fourth place. Ethan Rentschler took fifth place. Makenna Cook, a freshman, won silver.
And then there were the golden boys Austin Roper, at 132 pounds, pinned Savannah's Nathan Hogue in just over a minute. At 182 pounds, Lang pinned Bolivar's Aaron Allen in 3:01. And at 138, VanHoose pinned Monett's Cristobal Renteria in 4:26. For that trio it was their third, third and fourth individual state titles, respectively.
For their team, it was the second championship, its place in history assured.


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Huskers Host Fall Classic at Doris Bair Complex
Lincoln - The Nebraska softball team wraps up its fall exhibition season by hosting the Husker Fall Classic on Saturday and Sunday at the Doris Bair Softball Complex, located on 48th St., just north of Superior.
Joining the Huskers in the three-team field are the Colorado State Rams and the UNO Mavericks. The teams will play round-robin play on both Saturday and Sunday, totaling three games each day. Attendance is free for all games, with action starting at 10 a.m. on both Saturday and Sunday.
Colorado State and UNO open the tournament at 10 a.m. on Saturday, followed by Nebraska and UNO at 12:30 p.m. The Huskers and Rams face off at 3 p.m. to conclude first-day action. On Sunday, Nebraska and Colorado State meet at 10 a.m., before UNO and CSU meet at 12:30 p.m. An in-state showdown between the Huskers and Mavs wraps up the tournament at 3 p.m.
Nebraska is 3-1 this fall, sweeping a doubleheader from South Dakota at Doris Bair and splitting a doubleheader at Creighton.
Saturday Schedule (all games played at Doris Bair Softball Complex)
10 a.m. - Colorado State vs. UNO
12:30 p.m. - Nebraska vs. UNO
3 p.m. - Nebraska vs. Colorado State
Sunday Schedule (all games played at Doris Bair Softball Complex)
10 a.m. - Nebraska vs. Colorado State
12:30 p.m. - Colorado State vs. UNO
3 p.m. - Nebraska vs. UNO


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Sunflower Lover's Bouquet™
Romantic, whimsical, bold and bright: that's our Sunflower Lover's Bouquet. Cheerful yellow sunflowers, hot pink roses, Gypsy dianthus and solidaster come together for a gift that always makes a truly original statement. Delivered fresh to the door for birthdays, anniversaries or "just thinking of you" days.
Add to their gift:


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So we're sitting up in the bleachers watching a free-for-all volleyball game with about 50 kids on each side hitting these HUGE oversized beach balls back and forth. While this is going on the Principal comes over, and Mrs. Grumpy introduces us.
Then Ms. Principal looks out at the game and says "those are the biggest balls I've ever seen."
I said "Why, thank you."
I'll be sleeping on the couch tonight. Possibly longer.


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- Feb 2:
- Boulder County juror discusses experience in hearing insulin rape case
- Jan 30:
- After near-mistrial, Boulder jury convicts Frederick Allen in 2011 insulin-rape case
- Jan 29:
- Jury in Boulder insulin-rape case reaches partial verdict, will return Wednesday
- Jan 28:
- Boulder jury adjourns for the day, will continue deliberations in insulin-rape case Tuesday
- Jan 15:
- Boulder insulin-rape trial opens with defense alleging victim drank too much
- May 10:
- Frederick Allen, diabetic accused in insulin rape, has bond revoked after DUI arrest
- May 9:
- Frederick Allen, diabetic accused in insulin rape, arrested again in Boulder
- Jan 19:
- Frederick Allen, accused of drugging woman with insulin, appears in Boulder court
A 31-year-old diabetic man has been indicted by a Boulder County grand jury on three counts of first-degree sexual assault after prosecutors allege he drugged a woman with his insulin medication after the two met at a Pearl Street bar and then raped her.
Frederick Lawrence Allen, who goes by the name Rick, also was indicted on charges of first-degree assault, two counts of second-degree assault and tampering with evidence.
According to the indictment -- which was handed down Jan. 5, but unsealed Tuesday -- Allen met the victim at the Sundown Saloon on the Pearl Street Mall last February. The two had previously met, but had never really talked to each other. During the encounter last February, Allen and the woman talked until the bar closed, at which point he offered to walk her to her nearby home.
One of the woman's roommates told police she heard someone come back to the apartment, but put earphones and music on so she would not be woken up again.
The roommate noticed the victim's door was locked at 1 p.m. the next day and did not see the victim again until 10 p.m. that night when she checked again and found her door unlocked.
The roommate told investigators the victim's room was a mess and she found the victim naked on the bed with only a bed sheet covering her, according to the indictment. She appeared to have thrown up and was sweaty and having trouble focusing.
The victim was taken to Boulder Community Hospital, where doctors said she had dangerously low blood sugar levels and was suffering from severe hypoglycemia, most likely due to an insulin injection. They also noticed signs of sexual assault as well as abrasions on her limbs.
Allen, a diabetic, told investigators he did not remember if he had his insulin with him that night, but confirmed he normally would have it with him if he was going out to the bars.
He told investigators he had sex with the victim, but that he stopped when she started getting sick, according to the indictment. He then offered to clean her bed sheets, but threw them away in a Dumpster instead.
Investigators found a note in the victim's room saying, "I will wash your sheets for you love, see ya Saturday!!"
Allen claimed he left between 4 and 6 a.m. and called a cab, but police said his phone showed no record of a call to a taxi in that time period.
Court records show Allen has an extensive criminal history, including arrests in Boulder County on charges of burglary, theft and concealing a weapon.
Allen remains in custody at the Boulder County Jail. He is scheduled for a bond hearing on Thursday.
District Attorney Stan Garnett declined to say why Allen's case was taken to the grand jury -- something of a rarity in Boulder County.


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GASEK is a Finnish renewable energy technology company established in 2008. Our main products are the gasification and gas purification units, which produce clean wood gas from wood chips. These modules are used in the CHP power plants, in which the gas is fuel for the engine connected to the generator unit. We manufacture CHPs for our local market and our partners manufacture CHPs for their markets. The typical applications of our power plants are small villages in sparsely populated areas, as well as small and medium size businesses, e.g. farms and greenhouses. Our solution provides a possibility for independent power and heat generation, and our power plants can be linked to national grids. GASEK has extensive experience in developing wood gasification and producing renewable energy. Wood gasification is based on the pyrolysis process, where the gas is extracted from wood biomass at high temperatures and with controlled air intake.
Company Details
- Business Type: Company - Technology Provider
- Country: Finland
- City: REISJÄRVI
- Address: Yritysahontie 5
- Zip: 85900
- Phone: +358 20 7811 670
- Fax: +358 20 7811 671
- Url: http://www.gasek.fi
- Email: firstname.lastname@example.com
Contact Person Details
- First Name: Raisa
- Last Name: Juntunen
- Position: Marketing Communication Manager
- Email: email@example.com


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Sponsored by Tennis (women)
After opening its season with three road matches, the Luther women's tennis team finally had the opportunity to compete on its home courts hosting Upper Iowa University. The Norse grabbed an early advantage in doubles, but were unable to hold the lead as the Peacocks fought back to earn a hard fought 5-4 victory.
Lola White-Baer and Hailey Johnson continued their strong play with an (8-3) win at No. 2 doubles over Nicole Pothen and Vicky Kulbokas. Jenna Myers and Olivia Heitz were also (8-3) winners, defeating Paige Olson and Kelly Jachynowski at No. 3. Upper Iowa tallied its first point of the day when Iris Verweig and Saki Kowabata beat Luther's Maggie Helms and Caroline Treis at No. 1.
The Norse picked up points at the bottom of the singles lineup where Heitz and Lauren Welch played their way to straight set victories. Welch was impressive in her varsity debut, tallying a (6-2, 6-1) win over Alexa Harrington at No. 6 in decisive fashion. Heitz won her match (6-3, 6-3) against Kulbotas in the fifth slot. Meanwhile, Upper Iowa continued to be tough at the top of the lineup where Verweig rolled past White-Baer (6-0, 6-1) at No. 1. Pothen was also a (6-0, 6-1) victor against Treis at No. 3.
The final two singles matches on court were tightly contested, but the Norse were unable to pick up a fifth point. Myers lost (6-4, 6-4) to Olson at No. 4 before Adriana DePaolis dropped a (7-5, 7-5) decision to Kowabata at No. 2 in the last match of the meet.
Questions? Contact David Blanchard, post_to_results, 563-387-1586


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Yoshiyuki Yoshida
Training: Mon, Tue, Thur, and Fri are the MMA sparring and boxing training days, and on Wed and Sat I do mostly physical strength and conditioning workouts.
What ranks and titles have you held? Won National Judo Corporate Team Championship in 2002.
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Two Bailey residents accused of stealing hundreds of pieces of mail from residential mailboxes in Evergreen, Morrison, Conifer and Pine have been linked to "several" Jeffco burglaries, according to a statement from the Jeffco Sheriff's Office.
Michael Pantera, 27, and Sophie Shafer, 18, were arrested on suspicion of felony theft Dec. 22 in the 27000 block of Richmond Hill Road with more than 375 pieces of stolen mail, gift cards, cash, and a batch of homemade cookies that had been sent through the mail.
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photo 1 of 7
Diego Brandao
TRAINING: I've been training hard for this fight – everything, not just Jiu-Jitsu. I'm training a lot of everything and I really want to show to everyone that I'm back stronger THAN EVER!
When and why did you start training for fighting? I started training BJJ at the age of 14 after my daddy died. I loved to watch the early UFC and Pride fights and always looked up to Wanderlei Silva. When I was 16 I started fighting professionally to make money for my family.
What ranks and titles have you held? TUF 14 featherweight winner. I have a black belt in BJJ, I won the No GI NAGA 2x.
Do you have any heroes? My hero is Wanderlei Silva, because he always puts on a good show. I also look up to Mike Tyson because our lives growing up were similar. If he can make it, I can make it.
What does it mean for you to fight in the UFC? This means everything. Over four years ago, I left my family and Brazil to train at Jackson / Winkeljohn MMA and to get to my dream of the UFC.
Did you go to college and if so what degree did you earn? No, fighting is my life
What was your job before you started fighting? I used to mix and pour concrete. There were no machines in Brazil to do this.
Favorite grappling technique: Sweeps
Favorite Striking technique: Overhand
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- News
- Business
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- Technology
OTTAWA — James Reimer made 49 saves Saturday as Toronto Maple Leafs defeated the Ottawa Senators 4-1 to qualify for the NHL playoffs for the first time since 2004.
James van Riemsdyk, with two, Nazem Kadri and Joffrey Lupul scored for Toronto (25-15-5).
Jakob Silfverberg replied for Ottawa (24-15-6). Craig Anderson stopped 18 shots in taking the loss.
The difference for the Leafs? You can look at any number of reasons: Better goaltending, special teams that aren't at the bottom of the league, shortened season, new coach. For Leafs fans, it almost doesn't matter.
The Leafs join the Canadiens in the playoffs. Then the Canucks earned their invite to the playoff dance beating the Red Wings 2-1.
Thanks for sticking with us. Playoff hockey back at ACC. Sounds pretty good to me.—
Joffrey Lupul (@JLupul) April 21, 2013
I have absolute joy for the great fans of #toronto. Congrats to @mapleleafs players, management, Randy Carlyle and his staff. #NHL Playoffs.—
Dallas Eakins (@dallaseakins) April 21, 2013
Finally…. FINALLY the @MapleLeafs will make the NHL playoffs again. First time since 2004. I may paint my chest for game #1. #Leafs—
Arda Ocal (@arda_ocal) April 21, 2013
The #Leafs are playoff bound!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! #TMLtalk http://t.co/B3lcJx2jbK—
Toronto Maple Leafs (@MapleLeafs) April 21, 2013
Toronto Maple Leafs are in the playoffs. If I didn't have a terrible cold, I'd head to Gretzky's bar and celebrate myself into a coma.—
Dave Foley (@DaveSFoley) April 21, 2013
The Leafs will play playoffs games in HD for the first time in franchise history.—
Bruce Arthur (@bruce_arthur) April 21, 2013
Enjoy it while you can, Leafoids.—
Andrew Coyne (@acoyne) April 21, 2013
Per @FriedgeHNIC, the Leafs will have the worst shot differential of any playoff team since the 2002 Montreal Canadiens.—
Bruce Arthur (@bruce_arthur) April 21, 2013
The Leafs had the NHL's longest playoff drought. Blue Jays (MLB's third-longest), Raptors (tied for NBA's third-longest): the stink is yours—
Bruce Arthur (@bruce_arthur) April 21, 2013
How big is it to have #Leafs in playoffs? For bars, CBC, newspapers, websites, it changes revenue projections. Really.—
Rob Granatstein (@robedits) April 21, 2013
And somewhere, deep in the basement of CBC Sports in Toronto, all of the voodoo, animal sacrifice and paddlings have finally paid off.—
Steve Lepore (@stevelepore) April 21, 2013
Leafs are in the NHL playoffs! (Twitter, invented in 2006, has never seen this phrase.)—
David Akin (@davidakin) April 21, 2013
Leafs win puts magic playoff X beside Toronto in NHL standings. Eugene Melnyk hires Mulder & Scully to investigate this paranormal event.—
Adam Proteau (@Proteautype) April 21, 2013
It's been 3,273 days since the Leafs last playoff game, two weeks shy of nine years. Ten or 11 days from now, they'll be back.—
James Mirtle (@mirtle) April 21, 2013
- files from CP


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A look at Augusta's past
Cecil Varner traveled around 25 miles on horseback in a few days' time rounding up cattle for market and loading them at Haverhill. The cattle went to a stockman in Iowa, who had purchased the Varner cattle.
A rattlesnake that had been seen a lot at the golf course had been killed and its rattles were on display.
The Davis orchard near Atlanta reported over 50 trees producing well. One tree had five bushels of fruit and 1,000 bushels were expected to be harvested from the orchard.
A new law had just gone into effect; for the first time in history Native Americans could legally sit in taverns and drink beer and patronize liquor stores.
Winifred Ketch, Augusta High School teacher, had received her masters degree in business administration at the University of Denver in Colo.
AHS band director Max Hendrickson was seeking more band students for the high school band. Enrollment was at 35 students.
The new priest at St. James Catholic Church, Father James Shaughnessy, spoke five languages fluently.
Because of numerous complaints, the Board of Education changed the new shorter lunch period of 45 minutes to 50 minutes instead.
The high school pep rally, which included the long tradition of street painting on Clark St., was the prelude to the opening football game against El Dorado.
The Augusta Junior High cheerleaders were: Susie Raper, Debbie Markley, Nancy Grooms, Darla Williamson, Penny Buell, Robinn Scholfield, Sandy Maddox, and Jennifer Haskins.
There was a strong concern about the AHS football team when Ron Pressnell broke his leg in the game against Goddard. He would be out the remainder of the 1973 season. The loss of Pressnell put the Oriole punting game in limbo.
Mike Todd of Augusta was a starter on the Ottawa University football team for the season. He was a 1973 AHS graduate.
For the first time since he had been coaching in Augusta, Roger Bennett's team gave up their second consecutive 300-yard game, as the Orioles fell to Goddard 35-6.
The Board of Education inspected all the district buildings and found leaking roofs at the junior and senior high schools. The main area for roof damage at the junior high was over the band room. Almost 30 leaks had been found at the high school.
The kids at the local Assembly of God church enjoyed feasting on a 6-ft. banana split put together by the women of the church.
Doug Wilson was the new principal at Augusta High School.
Local historian and author Burl Allison, Jr., was signing copies of his new book, "Augusta, Kansas 1968-1990." The book was released just ahead of the town's 125th anniversary celebration.
The Wellington High School football team pounded the Orioles 42-0. One of Wellington's goals was to contain Augusta running back Jerod Cantu. The Augusta senior finished the game with 12 carries and 17 yards.
The owners of LakePoint, Warner Harrison and Kevin Unrein, had announced the purchase of the former Augusta hospital building. Plans were unknown.
An overnight storm dumped more than 2 inches on Augusta and the area was under a flash flood watch.
Two days later, 4.5 inches fell in a 24 hour period. There were reports of stalled vehicles and some basement flooding around town.


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Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Looks like I picked the wrong week to stop sniffing glue
It's taken all of eight days and eight losses to turn us into a typical hysterical JaysTalk-calling bandwagon jumper, ripping every player and every member of the coaching staff and writing off this season and probably next and threatening to stop following the Jays altogether. It's incredibly unbecoming.
The upside is that the fantastic start that this team had over the first seven weeks (remember when?) has left them in good stead and on the plus side of .500. If they decide to take advantage of a typical Roy Halladay outing and score more than a handful or runs today, maybe we can all put this ugliness behind us and focus on the last four months of the season.
Fingers crossed.
Cito's logical fallacy
Our pal MRB, the philosopher and lifelong Red Sox fan (yes, such a thing exists), would be proud of us as we worked our way through this undergraduate Logic 101 proposition.
Cito's notion is that he doesn't generally want to monkey around with the lineup because maintaining that consistency allows players to relax and feel comfortable. While over periods of time it might seem like shifting hot bats into higher leverage spots in the lineup would be beneficial, Cito's notion is that in the long term, it's best to stay the course, losing one today to win two in the future. Sounds reasonable enough, even to a hysterical ninny like us.
But here's the catch, and the spot where this logic falls apart: It presupposes that Cito chose the best lineup in the first place. If, in fact, Cito began with a lineup that wasn't his strongest, then he's holding onto a flawed model for the sake of consistency.
Players progress and regress from one year to another, so it would be reasonable in the early going of the season to adjust and ammend the lineup based on what we're seeing now versus past performance.
Because Vernon Wells' 2003 season is a distant blip in the rearview mirror.
49 comments:
- Ian H. said...
It's still mind boggling that Cito benched Rios and not Wells last night.
Can you pass the glue? I need to huff something to get me through the day!
- May 27, 2009 at 10:01 AM
- Tao of Stieb said...
The Rios thing was just a day off. Wells is apparently going to DH today as a means of getting him some rest.
Which means we won't get to see a ball go over his head...which is always a relief.
- May 27, 2009 at 10:06 AM
- eyebleaf said...
I think that going into the season, Cito made the right choice in Wells as his cleanup hitter. Not because of 2003, or 2006, but because of last season. He led the team in slugging and OPS.
We're about 50 games into this thing now, and it's not working. If he changes it now, he should buy into his own philosophy and change it for good; for at least the next 50 games.
Who's our other option at #4? Lind? He's batting .264 in May.
I need some glue, too.
- May 27, 2009 at 10:14 AM
If anyone needs counseling, I'm at jayssuicidewatch.com. we all need help so don't feel shy or embarrassed, we all share each other's pian.
- May 27, 2009 at 10:17 AM
- The Ack said...
- May 27, 2009 at 10:20 AM
- Tao of Stieb said...
When I put a spike in my veins, and it makes me feel like I'm a man...
- May 27, 2009 at 10:23 AM
- Ian H. said...
I usually try not to side with the callers on Jays Talk, but I remember there was someone who called in on the weekend who said that V-Dub was giving up on fly balls and basically ho-humming out in CF this year. I hate to say it, but he's right. It seems like Vernon just doesn't have that same hustle anymore.
- May 27, 2009 at 10:33 AM
A+ for you, Tao.
- May 27, 2009 at 10:33 AM
- The Ack said...
Seduced by the bottle and the warmth of a syringe.
....seriously, though, the last line of this post is totally freaking me out.
Any Jays success, whether it was to be this season or the mythical 2010 season, had to be predicated on Vernon Wells being a legit middle of the order hitter with Rios acting as his bro' in arms, correct?
Umm, yeah. Someone else finish that thought for me....
- May 27, 2009 at 10:34 AM
vernon really needs to swap outfield positions with rios. i put the chances of that happening at about 0.001%.
- May 27, 2009 at 10:35 AM
- Tao of Stieb said...
Don't get us wrong: We like Vernon.
But he's a fat bastard.
- May 27, 2009 at 10:54 AM
- eyebleaf said...
Vernon cried himself to sleep last night.
- May 27, 2009 at 11:10 AM
On a big pile of money and Twinkie wrappers.
Hey, Blue Jays stars are just like us! Except for the pile of money.
- May 27, 2009 at 11:15 AM
- Joe said...
That airball last night was painful to watch.
- May 27, 2009 at 11:15 AM
- Tao of Stieb said...
You know the Jays are in trouble if Vernon start to look like the rest of us playing softball.
If he asks for a Courtesy Runner at first, we're fucked.
- May 27, 2009 at 11:26 AM
- eyebleaf said...
I believe in Vernon Wells.
- May 27, 2009 at 11:29 AM
- Tao of Stieb said...
I believe in eyebleaf.
- May 27, 2009 at 11:35 AM
- Darren Priest said...
Until Aaron Hill cowers under an infield fly, he won't look like me playing softball.
Basically, every time Rolen throws anyone out at first, I just stare in disbelief, "Dear God, how is that possible? It didn't roll on the ground even a little!"
- May 27, 2009 at 11:42 AM
- Ian H. said...
BTW Tao, how are your lungs holding up after hauling back that entire carton last night?
- May 27, 2009 at 12:06 PM
- The Ack said...
I believe in Rance Mulliniks. That's right, I said it.
Priesty, don't ever compare yourself to Scott Rolen. That's not a healthy exercise for anyone to partake in. Except for maybe Roy Halladay - he could pull it off.
- May 27, 2009 at 12:11 PM
Vernon's 2003 season is a distant memory? Why not take last season's stats and average them over an entire season. If Vernon's not injured Vernon will be fine. I fully expect 30 home runs and 100 ribbies by the end of the year. Book it and you heard it here first.
- May 27, 2009 at 12:18 PM
- Tao of Stieb said...
Not a carton, but three cigarettes today. For shame.
- May 27, 2009 at 12:27 PM
On the logic - it doesn't presuppose the "best" lineup (I can't speak for Cito, of course, just saying is all ...). It simply accepts that the current outcome is satisfactory (in this case, better than expected) and assumes that a change is as likely to result in a poorer outcome as it is a better outcome. The logical reason for not taking that risk is that there is no need to take it (i.e. not losing, so no need to risk for potential greater payoff) - though I think in this case, this "logic" is combined with the somewhat less common (and not necessarily based on logic) belief that once you change what you have, you can't get it back.
However, "Cito's logic" and "logic" may be quite different things. I think he's just doing things his way, which is a simple way. Being more complex wouldn't necessarily win more games. I think Cito's logic is more like choosing the lineup at the grocery store. 2 lineups, same size. PersonalIy, I just pick one, and I don't switch if there is a small change that looks like the other one would be faster. 2nd guessing takes more effort, probably has little payoff, and is more frustrating when it goes wrong. That said, it is entirely possible that I miss a few chances to leave the store earlier.
Of course, if the dude in front of me pulls out a change purse and starts shuffling pennies around on the counter to pay for his 7 bags of groceries, I get the fuck out of there, because that is gonna make me blow-up.
Despite the overall stellar record, my impression of the Jays is that there are now 8 bags of groceries and only some fucking pennies on the counter, so I would change lineups!!
- May 27, 2009 at 12:39 PM
- Darren Priest said...
Heck, Ack, I wouldn't compare myself to Craig Grebeck. My point was how awesome it is to watch a good fielder make difficult plays look easy. I am in awe.
- May 27, 2009 at 1:05 PM
- Tao of Stieb said...
Although in fairness to you Darren, he's not playing on a crushed rock infield.
Let's see how smooth Scott Rolen looks when a softball suddenly changes direction towards his face!
- May 27, 2009 at 1:19 PM
Rolen is really a great third baseman, that can't be spun. Just like Vernon is a so-so hitter and is becoming a blah fielder,too. I'm glad that they have winners like rolen and doc on the team to balance the losers like Fat Vernon and Clueless Rios. JP needs to add two hitters next year in order for them to do anything, because as currently constructed things don't look too good....
- May 27, 2009 at 1:27 PM
- 精神年齢 said...
- June 29, 2009 at 3:28 AM
今まで同い年や年下としか付き合ったことなくて疲れてしまいました…優しくリードしてくれるような大人の男性に憧れます。 firstname.lastname@example.comよかったらメールしてみてください。
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- 精神年齢 said...
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- July 7, 2009 at 2:12 AM
- 熟女 said...
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- July 16, 2009 at 2:19 AM
最近仕事ばかりで毎日退屈してます。そろそろ恋人欲しいです☆もう夏だし海とか行きたいな♪ firstname.lastname@example.com 連絡待ってるよ☆
- July 17, 2009 at 2:43 AM
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- July 20, 2009 at 12:45 AM
- 家出 said...
- July 22, 2009 at 2:09 AM
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- July 23, 2009 at 2:01 AM
夏フェス一緒に行ってくれる人募集!!夏の思い出一緒につくろぉ☆ email@example.com 連絡してね♪
- July 24, 2009 at 2:16 AM
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- July 27, 2009 at 1:20 AM
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- July 29, 2009 at 4:29 AM
- 逆援助 said...
- July 30, 2009 at 1:52 AM
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ホムペ完成記念!私の事みんなに知ってもらいたくて頑張りましたぁ。色々とご感想をお待ちしているので思った事を意見してください。メアドはほむぺにのせてありますぅ!★ firstname.lastname@example.com
- July 31, 2009 at 1:44 AM
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- August 7, 2009 at 1:38 AM


text:
Date: Sunday, November 18, 2012
Time: 11:00 AM - 4:00 PM
Building: Woldenberg Art Center, Newcomb Art Gallery
Location: uptown campus
October 25 - December 16, 2012
Using portraiture to depict experiences of the country's multicultural populations, the exhibition features more than 60 multi-media works by first generation Americans and emerging new immigrant artists. Included are such internationally renowned artists as Luis Jimenez, Tomie Arai, Faith Ringgold, and the late Elizabeth Catlett.
Sponsored by: Newcomb Art Gallery Exhibit
Admission: Free
Attendance: Open to the public
Open to: Alumni, Faculty, Graduate students, Parents, Prospective undergrads, Staff, Undergraduates, Visitors
Tickets: Not required
For more information contact Teresa Parker-Farris via email to firstname.lastname@example.com or by phone at 504-314-2406
Calendar of Events, Tulane University 504-865-5000 email@example.com


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Huskers Travel to Arkansas for First Road Test
Nebraska at Arkansas
Date: Oct. 26
Time: 11 a.m.
Location: Arkansas Natatorium, Fayetteville, Ark.
The Nebraska swimming and diving team travels to Fayetteville, Ark., on Saturday, Oct. 26, to face the Arkansas Razorbacks in the squad's first road dual of the season. The meet will take place at 11 a.m. at the Arkansas Natatorium.
Saturday's competition will mark the second of the season for the Huskers, who are coming off a 150-150 tie with Iowa State in their season opener. Nebraska is 6-4 all-time against the Razorbacks, including wins in the last two meetings (2005 and 2006).
Saturday's dual will be the fourth regular-season competition for Arkansas, a team that finished 26th at last season's NCAA Championships and sixth in the SEC. Along with a relay invitational victory, the Razorbacks have dual wins against North Texas and LSU this season.
The matchup between the Huskers and Razorbacks will feature two squads coming off program-changing seasons. Both teams set eight school records at their respective conference championship meets in 2013, including the 200 medley and 400 free relays, making both events must-see competitions on Saturday.
Following Saturday's meet, the Huskers will have nearly three weeks to prepare for their second home competition of the season, a double dual with Iowa and South Dakota State. The meet with the Hawkeyes and Jackrabbits will take place at 4 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 15, at the Devaney Natatorium.
Check back in to Huskers.com for any and all updates regarding the Nebraska swimming and diving team, and follow Saturday's meet live at https://twitter.com/HuskerSwim with live tweets from @HuskerSwim.
Last Time Out: Huskers and Cyclones Tie in Season Opener (10/12/13)
The Nebraska swimming and diving team battled the Iowa State Cyclones Saturday in their season opening dual which ended in a rare tie (150-150). This is not the first time Nebraska and Iowa State have tied in competition. The last time came at the Big 12 Relays in 2006 where they both tied for fifth place with scores of 41 each.
"It was our first true test of the year," head coach Pablo Morales said. "We knew coming into this meet it was going to be a tough one. Iowa State came in ready to go. I am very proud of how our girls still battled until the very end. There aren't supposed to be ties in swimming dual meets but I guess we had one anyway."
The Huskers won eight out of the 16 events on Saturday, including the 200-yard medley relay, 1,000-yard freestyle and a sweep in the butterfly events. A number of swimmers contributed to the victory, but junior Natalie Morris stood out, winning both the 100- (57.35) and 200-yard (2:06.21) butterflies.
Senior Bailey Pons had an impressive meet as well, winning the 1,000-yard freestyle in an exciting race that came down to the finish. Pons out-touched Iowa State freshman Karle Clarete by three hundredths of a second and posted a time of 10:13.66. This time is only one second off her career-best 10:12.69.
In the diving well, the Huskers swept both the one- and three-meter dives. Freshman Anna Filipcic had a break-out performance, taking first place in the one meter with a score of 279.30. In the three-meter dive Payton Michaud stood out with an impressive score of 304.80, which is only two points off her career-best dive in the event.
Taryn Collura continued to shine in the sprint freestyle events, winning the 100-yard freestyle with a time of 51.91. She just missed out on her second victory of the day, getting out-touched in the 50 free and taking second place with a time of 23.78.
Erin Oeltjen also added a victory in the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 58.42.
"There are a lot of areas that we will continue to work on, but I'm definitely proud of how our girls stood up and battled today," said Morales.
Last Time Vs. Arkansas: Wheeler, Bailey Lead NU Over Lady Backs (10/28/06)
Seniors Kate Wheeler and Lauren Bailey dominated the field as they combined for five wins to lead Nebraska to a 168-132 win overArkansas on Saturday morning at the Devaney Natatorium.
The win moves Nebraska to 2-2 on the season and was the second in a row against the Lady Backs after a 181-115 victory in Fayettevillelast October. With Saturday's meet, Wheeler and Bailey won 10 races in the two meets between NU and UA.
"We always except a lot out of Kate and Lauren," Head Coach Pablo Morales said. "They are outstanding competitors and they have worked very hard to get to the level that they're at. They just continue to swim great."
Bailey's second and final win of the day clinched the victory forNebraska as she cruised to a first-place finish in the 400-yard individual medley (4:28.11) in the second to last event. The Big 12 Swimmer of the Week for Oct. 22, Bailey also won the 200 free (1:52.92) and now has eight wins in 2006-07.
Wheeler had three of Nebraska's eight event wins, including a season-best best time in the 100 free of 52.46. The Issaquah, Wash., native also won the 500 free (5:02.32) and 1,000 free (10:17.20).
While the veterans led the meet, a pair of newcomers also shined as freshmen Hailey Dean and Kaitlin Arntz each earned their first-career wins. Dean took the 100 breaststroke in a season-best time of 1:06.57 and Arntz won the 200 breaststroke in 2:22.25. Through four dual meets this season, three of the Huskers' seven freshmen have already won their first races at the collegiate level (Mariah Hutchinson won the 100 fly at Missouri State).
Nebraska's final win of the day came in the form of the 800 free relay when Hutchinson, Wheeler, sophomore Jenny Toler and Bailey turned in a season-best time of 7:39.98, more than two seconds ahead of Arkansas' 'A' relay in 7:42.67.


text:
Charlie's Haunt: In this Technicolor short with a supernatural twist, Edgar and Charlie visit a town whose citizens are safety-conscious at work, but accident-prone at home. Once Edgar takes an interest in their plight, the disembodied voices of Charlie and Mortimer begin invading the homes, yards and cars of local citizens. Directed by Robert Florey.
The Edgar Bergen & Charlie McCarthy Show: This Thanksgiving special includes special appearances by Charlie, Mortimer, Diana Lynn, Jim Backus and band leader Ray Noble. Original Coca-Cola commercials are included. Directed by Alan Dinehart.


text:
January 26 ride wills start at Chilled and Grilled and include visit to KMC
Local riders are asking Kern County's motorcycle community to join in a ride that will show support for the victims affected and to honor the heroes that saved many lives that during the shooting at Taft Union High School on Jan.
It's called "The Wildcat Run."
The ride will be on Jan.26.
It all starts at 10:05 a.m. at Chilled and Grilled
Cost is $20 per bike and $5 per passenger.
All the money raised will go towards assisting those directly involved with the tragedy.
Here's the schedule of events:
Signups: 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. at Chilled and Grilled, 621 Center Street.
Kick stands up follows at 10:05 a.m.
Here is the route:
•Taft Union High School – Prayer, photo and send off – (15 min)
• KMC – Kern Medical Center – Deliver Care Package to the Cleveland family. (15-30 min)
•Ethels – (45min – 1hr)
• Trouts – (45min – 1hr)
•BV Inn – (15-30 min)
•Chilled and Grilled – (50/50 Drawing)
Total: 100 Miles
In order to increase the amount donated to help those affected by the tragedy, food and drinks will be the responsibility of the rider and/or passenger. Chilled and Grilled, Ethels, Trouts, and BV Inn all sell food.


text:
NEW YORK - Since the 1983-84 season, head coach Jim Bolster has been at the helm of the Columbia men's swimming and diving program. Under his direction, the Lions have held their position as one the Northeast's most successful programs. In just the past three seasons, Columbia compiled a 21-10 dual-meet record, including this season's 8-2 finish.
The Columbia benchmark for improvement continues to rise and the 2012-13 regular season was no different. The Lions began the season at 1-2 before stringing together seven straight dual-meet victories. In impressive fashion, the captivating winning streak was capped with a monumental win over the Ivy League defending champions No. 22 Princeton.
On Saturday, Feb. 16 Columbia defeated the Tigers 158-139 at Uris Pool for the first time since the 1980-1981 season. With three individual wins by David Jakl and a pair of wins from Dominik Koll, the Lions ended a 32-year winless drought and finished tied for second-place in the Ivy League at 5-2.
Featured Article: Columbia Downs Princeton In Regular Season Finale
The victory came at a perfect time for the Class of 2013, as they were honored in their last meet at Uris Pool. "It's my class's first time beating a team in the top 25, and everyone's first time beating Princeton, including the coaches. It's the last meet our class will ever have together, and it could not have ended any better then that last relay, " said senior captain John Wright.
"We didn't come into the meet expecting anything. We started off swimming our secondary events and immediately were DQ'ed in the relay, so to come back into it and not only compete but to win was amazing. Getting that pool record back was terrific and David Jakl's four pool records in three meets is phenomenal, " said Wright.
While Bolster is very proud of Saturday's win, he wants to make sure the team keeps their eyes on the prize. "It's really how we perform at Ivies that matters the most," said Bolster. "So although the win over Princeton was fantastic and a nice step forward for the program, it has all been geared toward the Ivy League Championships," said Bolster.
The 2013 Ivy League Swimming and Diving Championships are slated for Thursday, March 7 - Saturday, March 9 in Providence, R.I.


text:
Nothing like a $100 million box office to make studio executives realize their mistake.
Author John Green's debut novel "Looking for Alaska" has languished in development since Paramount secured the film rights to it in 2005. Then Green's best-selling novel "Fault in Our Stars" hit the big screen and turned a huge profit and suddenly, "Alaska" is no longer on the shelf.
Green announced Wednesday on Twitter that the project will go to director Sarah Polley -- whose credits include "Away From Her" and "Stories We Tell."
"So excited to announce that the brilliant filmmaker Sarah Polley will be writing and directing a film adaptation of Looking for Alaska," he posted. "I'm a HUGE fan of Sarah's movies, and her ideas about Looking for Alaska are really wonderful, and I am SO VERY EXCITED."
"Alaska" is a coming-of-age story about Miles Halter arriving at a boarding school and falling under the spell of an elusive and troubled girl named Alaska.


text:
More reports of property damage believed to be caused by BB guns have led the Rolla Police Department to increase their patrols in areas being hit.
RPD Chief Mark Kearse said officers are investigating eight unconfirmed reports of property damage along Pine Street, Fourth Street and Kingshighway overnight Wednesday.
On Wednesday during the day, three businesses along Kingshighway reported glass windows that had been possibly shot at by BB guns, causing hundreds or thousands of dollars worth of damage.
Pizza Inn, located at 1051 Kingshighway, reported three plate glass windows had been shot with a BB gun. The estimated cost to replace the windows is $2,400.
At World Wide Foods, located at 1033 Kingshighway, a plate glass window was shot multiple times with a BB gun. The estimated cost to replace the glass is $600.
Also on Wednesday, police officers responded to the 1020 block of Kingshighway for report of destruction of property, in which approximately $3,000 in damage was caused to a local business' windows. It is believed the windows were possibly shot by a BB gun.
"We are investigating it and looking at a few names," Kearse said, adding that he believes these incidents are related to reports of property damage found Tuesday.
On Tuesday, officers took reports of a vehicle's windows being shot out in the 400 block of North Pine Street, 11 windows and two glass doors that were shot in the 700 block of South Highway 63, and a window of a residence in the 400 block of North Pine Street that had been shot.
"We're stepping up patrols and looking at cameras," Kearse said of the department's efforts to deter the activity.
If anyone have information about these or similar cases, they should call the police department at 308-1213.


text:
16 months to address issues Rhode Islanders care about
My take on the news
CHAFEE TO DO A TURN-ABOUT: It's hard to believe, but Governor Chafee is going to start focusing on "the issues that Rhode Islanders care about." That's right. That's what he said during the news conference when he announced that he would not run for re-election in 2014. He said it and we should hold him to it.
It's unfortunate that Chafee held off for so long before deciding to focus on what Rhode Islanders care about. He now has 16 months to concentrate on such things as the economy, jobs, reducing taxes and reducing spending – things he has not focused intently on during the past three years. Let's hope his renewed focus will produce results.
So, why did Chafee decide to forego the opportunity to run again? It's simple. He knows he would lose a primary contest against two strong opponents, Gina Raimondo and Angel Taveras. Such a loss would cause him to lose any luster he has as a candidate for appointment to a second- or third-tier job in the Obama administration once his current term ends. It seems clear that Chafee is desperately trying to make lemonade from the bitter lemons he created during his thus-far ineffective stint as governor.
DMV COMPUTER SYSTEM: The new computer system the Department of Motor Vehicles has been installing for the past six years presents a classic example of inept government trying to oversee private industry. A project initially projected to cost $8.8 million has ballooned to $15.5 million and will, undoubtedly, continue to rise.
After signing the system replacement contract in 2008, the state failed to assign competent state oversight and failed to write specifications for the 300 interfaces the system would require. The software company waited and waited for the specifications, wasting over 23,000 hours of its employees' time. The state eventually paid the company $1.3 million for the wasted hours.
Perhaps the biggest problem has been that no one at DMV wants to take responsibility for the project, to include the current administrator, Anthony Silva. He told the press, "it's not my project." Well, if the project isn't his and he is the guy in charge of the entire DMV, then who the heck owns the project?
Rhode Island taxpayers continue to pay for the project through transaction fees of $1.50 per transaction, even though we are paying for something we neither have nor expect to have in the near future. The new projected date for the system to become active is May of 2014. After six years of inept state project management, most of us are saying, "Yeah, right!"
FIRST STEP TOWARD ECONOMIC RECOVERY FOR R.I.: The first thing Rhode Island needs to do to jump-start an economic recovery is for state government to get out of the way. Onerous state regulations, licensing processes, red tape, excessive oversight, too frequent or unnecessary inspections, and other intrusive state actions have long prevented the business community from energizing our free enterprise system of fair and open competition.
The state Division of Public Utilities and Carriers is now considering whether to issue a license to Rhode Island Fast Ferry to begin service between Quonset and Block Island. Of course, the existing ferry service in Galilee opposes the new competition.
The DPUC needs to get out of the way and approve the new ferry. Competition is good for our economy. The sooner the state realizes this, the sooner we will begin to march down the road toward economic recovery.
R.I. FEDERAL JUDGE FORCED TO REVERSE HIMSELF: Republicans were right to vigorously oppose the appointment of Rhode Island lawyer John J. McConnell to the federal bench. Opponents insisted that McConnell was an anti-business, plaintiffs' lawyer who would consistently rule against the interests of competition and free enterprise. And, true to form, almost immediately upon being appointed a U.S. district judge, McConnell ruled that, instead of pursuing foreclosure, banks and other mortgage lenders must negotiate with homeowners who had failed to make mortgage payments for several months or years. These weren't cases of "robo-signing" or other instances where lenders failed to follow proper paperwork procedures; they were cases where lenders did everything right but the homeowners simply failed to make their mortgage payments. McConnell was, in essence, depriving lenders of their legal due process – a move that was clearly unconstitutional.
It is unfortunate that far too many homeowners bought houses that were too expensive for their income levels and subsequently could not afford their mortgage payments, and it is extremely unfortunate that many homeowners who bought reasonably priced houses ended up losing their jobs and lost the ability to make mortgage payments. It's unfortunate, but it isn't the lenders' fault. When a contract is signed, whether it's for a car, a washing machine, or a house, payments must be made. Otherwise, our entire economic system will fall apart.
Fortunately for our system of free enterprise, the U.S. Court of Appeals overturned McConnell's socialist move and forced him to reverse his earlier ruling.
PUTIN MAY SAVE OBAMA'S DERRIÈRE: Thinking he would have the unqualified support of Congress and the American people, President Obama errantly painted himself into a corner on his promised military response to Syria's use of chemical weapons and his subsequent passing the buck to Congress on the issue. When it became apparent in the past few days that neither the people, including some of his key constituencies, nor Congress support military action, Obama's credibility and the potential for any success during the remainder of his presidency were placed in extreme jeopardy. But, a white knight appears to be coming to Obama's rescue in the form of Russian President Vladimir Putin. Putin appears to be strong-arming Syria's dictator, Bashar al-Assad, into agreeing to place his entire chemical stockpile under international control. Military action can be taken off the table, Congress won't have to vote against Obama, and the president saves face.
Many will accuse Obama of vacillating, of weakness, of indecisiveness, and of attempting to pass the buck once again – to Congress, that is; and that Obama was handed an accidental victory when he had been staring into the jaws of defeat on this issue. Most of this is true. However, the outcome is salutary for everyone and, if Assad does relinquish control of his chemical weapons, our mission will have been accomplished. We will have international control over the largest and least secure stock of chemical weapons in the entire Middle East, keeping them out of the hands of terrorists and others who harbor ill will toward the U.S. and its friends.
AN UGLY WIN: New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, after last Sunday's squeaker win over Buffalo, told the press, "There are going to be some ugly wins." Brady is smart to admit the win was about as ugly as a win can get. Let's hope any hubris is now gone and that practice and hard work will preclude a similar embarrassment in the future.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK: A noted University of Maryland economics professor, Peter Morici, writing in the Providence Journal this week, produced figures showing that 96 percent of all new jobs created in the U.S. this year are part-time positions. Placing a large part of the blame on the Obama administration's anti-business policies, Morici said, "The administration's anti-business regulatory policies and rhetoric are creating a crisis of confidence in the business community as surely as George Bush's neglect cultivated arrogant and tragic risk taking on Wall Street." For our economy, Bush was too "hands off" while Obama is far too "hands on." Surely, we can find a happy median where our economy can prosper without bank failures, stimulus programs, increased taxes and government micro-management.
I thought this was about Chaffee but you switched to Obama ?
"I thought this was about Chaffee but you switched to Obama ?"
It is a stream of unconsciousness essay.
The author is correct in that state government needs to get out of the way. This will not happen, however, until RI's system of taxation is fundamentally overhauled and the pig that is Smith Hill is starved. As long as you feed state (or any) government, it will grow increasingly intrusive, inefficient, and overly regulatory. There is a good reason why New Hampshire has a much lower unemployment rate and much higher median adult education level than RI. There is a reason why NH has gained highly educated workers and RI has lost them. There is a reason why senior executives drive through RI on their way to NH in search of business expansion opportunities. And it has to do with taxes and regulations. NH's are minimal and business friendly, while RI's are onerous and hostile to business. And as long as RI retains it's present system of taxation, which allows for a bloated state beaurocracy and legions on the public payroll with little to do, none of the above will change.
Chafee was smart enough to see the handwriting on the wall. Now that he is finished 'social engineering' the state, he can concentrate on further destruction.


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December 11, 2007
World Series DVDs
Its eight discs include the four World Series games, ALCS Games 5-6-7 and a bonus disc. One fantastic highlight: three audio options -- the radio teams from both the Red Sox and Rockies, in addition to the Fox TV team.
MLB joined the television box set craze in 2004 by releasing (through A&E) a 12-DVD Red Sox collection. A total of nine World Series boxes have been released to date: 1975, 1977, 1979, 1986, 1987, 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2007.
(Disclosure: Earlier this year, A&E asked me to review a couple of the collections. They sent me 1986 and 2004. The 2004 was a mistake; I was supposed to get 1975. I used 2004 as part of the prize in the JoS W-L contest and bought 1975 on my own. I'll be ordering 2007 soon.)
More box sets are on the way. An A&E spokeswoman told me that the 1978 and 1988 World Series will be released next year (for the 30th and 20th anniversaries, respectively). She didn't know if the sets will go back earlier than 1975, but it sounds like every year after that will be available eventually. (I would think that a 1969 Mets box, even if the games are not 100% complete, packaged for the 40th anniversary, would sell quite well.)
After 2004, MLB produced a Yankees Fall Classic box covering 1996-2001. There are five World Series games -- 1996 Game 4, 1998 Game 3, 1999 Game 3, 2000 Game 4, 2001 Game 4 -- yet none of them are series-clinchers. At the time, I thought it was an interesting statement of how MLB viewed the purchasing habits of Red Sox and Yankees fans. Now, with the concept humming along nicely, and the Yankees/Dodgers 1977 World Series available in its entirety, I assume that each (sorta) recent Yankee championships will be getting its own box. MLB has also released collections of Cubs and Cardinals games (including Game 1 of the 1968 World Series) and a Cal Ripken-themed Orioles set.
I love these collections. They are beautifully boxed and reasonably priced for the amount of discs included. Every so often, I have the urge to buy them all. Would I actually sit down and watch every game of the 1979 World Series? Probably not, but the urge to own the box is strong. The chronological flow of the spines appeals to the collector in me, as it probably does to many other fans as well.
Each game disc is packaged in a thin, clear plastic case containing various bits of trivia about the game/series, with the box score on the back cover and the play-by-play on the inside of the case. The menu features the game's line score so viewers can start at any half-inning.
The 1975 box contains all seven games between Cincinnati and Boston. Curt Gowdy, Tony Kubek, Dick Stockton and Ned Martin call the action for NBC. It's a joy and a revelation to watch these games -- minimal replays, laughably crude graphics, no quick-cut close-ups from pitcher to batter to fan to bench to pitcher (a horrible disruption to the game's natural flow and tension) and an astonishing lack of hype, even at the start of Game 7. ... Actually, it's not a total joy; Larry Barnett can burn in hell.
For bonus material, the 1975 set features 30 clips, including a few pre-game interviews, an on-field interview with Fisk after his Game 6-winning home run and Cincinnati's championship rally. Most of the clips are interviews conducted specifically for this set.
The 1986 set includes the Mets' 16-inning, pennant-clinching win over Houston. The bonus disc, in addition to the lockerroom celebration and interviews, has highlights from the NLCS. It's also a bit uncomfortable to watch Bill Buckner stutter and fidget during the first few minutes of his interview. I've also always wondered if the "Congratulations Red Sox" message on the Shea scoreboard was a myth (to my knowledge, no photo exists), but both Knight and Dwight Evans acknowledge looking up with two outs and seeing it.
An Interesting Discovery: 2004 and 2007 have allowed me to watch the 10th inning of Game 6 (and listen to Ray Knight talk about it) as a normal baseball fan. No serious anger or sadness -- more of a mix of wistful disbelief and wonder. Did that really happen?
Re 1986: In the 10th inning of Game 6, 1918 is mentioned only once -- right after Boston secures the second out -- in an on-screen graphic showing how many years have passed since the Cubs, White Sox and Red Sox each won their last title. Vin Scully's only comment is to mention the vast financial differences in the players' shares of 1918 versus 1986. That's it. Nothing about Boston's championship drought or how Red Sox fans are so long-suffering -- and certainly no mention of a curse. The media had not yet invented that. Even in the intro to Game 7, two days later, and during Buckner's first at-bat, there is no direct mention of the error and no replay at all. (There is plenty of curse talk in the voiceover to some bonus clips, however.)
The sets, while wonderfully packaged, are not perfect. First, while I have not had any issues with any of the games I've watched so far, I have read complaints about the sound and video quality of some of the sets.
Second, there is very little pre-game coverage on the 1975 and 1986 sets. All of the discs begin with the broadcast already underway, joining the announcers for the starting lineups or as the home team takes the field. I can't think of any reason why MLB could not include the complete broadcast.
The play-by-play on the 1986 cases is imprecise, with vague descriptions such as "Evans makes an out to left" and "Hernandez makes an out to right". The 1975 and 2004 sets rightly include "flies out", "lines out" and "pops out". I understand this many not matter to most people.
In the 2007 World Series, Fox missed several pitches because it was trying to cram extra commercials in between innings. This is inexcusable and I'll assume that the recent box includes the pitches Fox failed to show us in October.
There is also the issue of completeness. Because of the historical importance (and complete awesomeness!) of Boston's ALCS comeback and its long-awaited championship, including as many games in the 2004 collection made sense. But why did MLB omit the ALDS? The set was already 12 discs -- why not 15?
For the 2007 set, only the final three (must-win) games of the ALCS are included. Why not the entire Red Sox post-season -- or at least Boston's other four victories? The answer is likely cost: more games = more discs = higher price and presumably fewer customers.
But the vast majority of people buying this set (or receiving it as a gift) will be Red Sox fans! And the serious fans among us want the entire thing. MLB is selling individual DVDs of the 2007 World Series games at its website, but not any other post-season games. Why not? If those other Red Sox playoff games were available for separate purchase, obsessed fans could happily own the entire post-season.
I have my issues with many things MLB does, but considering the inability to please everyone with a project like this, MLB has done a fantastic job making these games available at a relatively modest price.
The older boxes are a godsend. Red Sox fans can re-watch the 1975 series (and younger fans can watch the games for the first time); Yankee fans can go back in time to 1977; and Pirate fans can enjoy 1979. And the addition of the enhanced audio on the 2007 set shows that MLB is open to improving the sets as time goes on.
33 comments:
- Andy K said...
great review - thank you
- December 11, 2007 at 10:40 AM
- Devine said...
Yeah, the alternate audio is a clincher.
Does the 2007 set include the "World Series Film" (this time narrated by Matt Damon) as the 2004 set included it (narrated by Denis Leary)? I haven't been able to find out definitively, and am wondering if I'll have to shell out more for it at some point (AND the NESN version as well).
My copy's in the mail...just gotta wait.
- December 11, 2007 at 10:46 AM
- redsock said...
Does the 2007 set include the "World Series Film" (this time narrated by Matt Damon) as the 2004 set included it (narrated by Denis Leary)?
It looks like it does not. I'll try to find out for sure.
- December 11, 2007 at 10:59 AM
- Jeff said...
I'm guessing the issue with the ALDS is one of rights; ESPN (2004) and TBS (2007) might not have allowed the games they broadcast to be included.
- December 11, 2007 at 11:57 AM
- redsock said...
Jeff, you are probably right. Thankfully, I was able to get some fan-made DVDs of the 2004 ALDS.
Still, these are MLB games and MLB should have the right to re-release them. And thus, MLB lost out on potential $$.
Why would TBS own the rights to the playoff games? There should be a clause in their contract about releasing the games in a box and who gets what.
- December 11, 2007 at 1:05 PM
- matt said...
Does the 2007 set include the "World Series Film" (this time narrated by Matt Damon) as the 2004 set included it (narrated by Denis Leary)? I haven't been able to find out definitively, and am wondering if I'll have to shell out more for it at some point (AND the NESN version as well).
I think it does. According to the Amazon product page, the set has 8 discs. Since we know they're only including ALCS games 5, 6, and 7 and the four WS games, it would leave one to think the missing eighth disc would be the World Series Film. Of course, I could be completely wrong.
- December 11, 2007 at 2:15 PM
- redsock said...
Pretty sure the 8th disc is a bonus disc of locker room stuff, trophy presentation, parade and behind-the-scenes WS stuff (like the O-Cab handshake feature in the 2004 video).
- December 11, 2007 at 2:24 PM
- redsock said...
And some of the suit jackets worn by Kubek and Stockton for the 1975 games ... oh my god.
- December 11, 2007 at 3:01 PM
- Devine said...
Certainly that bonus disc is where the World Series Film appeared in the 2004 version, but I'm wondering if MLB got wise to the fact that people (like me) WILL pay over again to have the same thing re-hashed a different way and removed the film from the package set accordingly.
God, I can't wait till (however many years from now) you get to choose your feed on Extra Innings/MLB.TV and have better audio options (remove announcer but leave crowd noise, home/away radio announcers for the video broadcast if you wish, etc.)
- December 11, 2007 at 4:10 PM
- redsock said...
You're right - it is part of the 2004 bonus disc.
The descriptions at both A&E and MLB don't say much. The Amazon description of the bonus disc says:
"Bonus Material: Clubhouse Celebration; 2007 World Series Trophy and MVP Presentation; AL Eastern Division and ALDS Clinching Highlights; Manny Ramirez's ALDS Game 2 Walk-Off Home Run; Team Interviews; 2007 Highlights - Four consecutive home runs versus New York Yankees, Kevin Youkilis Inside-The-Park Homerun, Last Out Clay Buchholz's No-Hitter, David Ortiz Walk-Off Homerun"
I'd be surprised if the WS DVD is part of it.
- December 11, 2007 at 4:23 PM
- Fragile Freddy said...
Does anyone know how to get the Spanish language broadcast of the games? I have a Cuban-born father who would love to have the games in Spanish but he's been shutout so far.
And any chance of sharing with us who you got the 2004 ALDS DVDs? I'd love to have 'em and am perfectly willing to pay for them (assuming they are decent quality). I realize you don't want to get into trouble with MLB though.
- December 11, 2007 at 5:16 PM
- redsock said...
In the months after the 2004 WS, several SoSHers took various recordings that had been made of the games and burned a bunch of DVD-Rs of the entire post-season.
This was well before MLB's box came out. The guys charged what the cost of the discs were. So I got the entire post-season and some NESN locker room and parade stuff for about $35. Then when MLB's set came out, I bought that.
I recently saw a website that sells DVDs of World Series and various playoff games/series. I know the 2004 ALDS was there because the guy running it mentioned that it's not part of the box and you could only get it from him.
I printed out a page from the site so I had the URL, but cannot find it now.
Going to The Google may help, but I will say it was tough to find. I was searching for places (bit torrent and the like) that might have the 2007 Red Sox games that MLB is refusing to sell to us.
(Dear MLB: Make this stuff available already!. We'll gladly pay you for it.)
I know nothing about this guy or his discs, but when I find the URL, I'll share it.
- December 11, 2007 at 5:32 PM
- Amy said...
I remember the 75 and 86 series so clearly (the 75 series was my first season as a Sox fan, having moved to Boston that summer). I remember thinking in 2003/4 that I must have been suffering some long term memory loss because I had no recollection of any "curse" talk in those earlier years. Good to know my recollections were not inaccurate.
As for the "unofficial" copies of the various MLB games, you don't really want my legal advice, do you?
- December 11, 2007 at 7:41 PM
- Jere said...
Joy, does the '75 set include any footage from the ALCS? I never see any footage of that, and I can barely even find photos of it.
- December 11, 2007 at 8:46 PM
- redsock said...
As for the "unofficial" copies of the various MLB games, you don't really want my legal advice, do you?
No, I don't!!
But as long as no money is changing hands, I think it's fine. Same thing with the many concerts I download. It's completely free, shared between fans, and anyone who doesn't play by those rules is an enemy.
Plus there is a big difference between getting a copy of an otherwise unavailable concert and getting a copy of a something that is commercially available.
If MLB does not make the 2007 ALDS available for purchase, I see nothing wrong with getting those games on disc from someone else. If MLB did make them available, I would gladly pay MLB because the quality and durability would likely be better.
Until then, though ....
- December 11, 2007 at 10:48 PM
- redsock said...
There is nothing on the 1975 ALCS or NLCS. There are general interviews on the overall series and some interviews with players about certain moments in the series (very biased towards games 6 and 7), plus the Cincinnati rally after the series, but it is all WS stuff.
I think a 1975 Post-Season Box would be great, with the ALCS and NLCS sweeps too. I would also love to see some of the 1972-73-74 A's footage.
- December 11, 2007 at 10:52 PM
- redsock said...
Somewhere I have most of Don Larsen's perfect WS game on a VHS tape (I think ESPN ran it once).
There are bits anbd pieces of stuff out there and I hope MLB gathers it all together in some logical manner and makes it readily available.
It's just sitting on a shelf somewhere. Why not make some money with it?
- December 11, 2007 at 10:54 PM
- Amy said...
Well, you said you didn't want my advice, so I am not giving it. All I will say is that if you consider the success the recording industry has had against those who download music for "free," you may want to rethink your views of how the law defines fair use for copyright purposes.
At any rate, until MLB acts like the RIAA, there doesn't seem to be much of a chance of testing this one out.
- December 11, 2007 at 10:56 PM
- redsock said...
But don't those cases generally involve someone posting copies of the new now-in-stores album by Band X?
As opposed to last night's Bob Dylan show or a 1987 audience tape of the Long Ryders -- things that will never ever ever be released by a label, but MUST be had by fans of the artist?
- December 11, 2007 at 10:59 PM
- redsock said...
P.S.: Just because I don't want your advice -- and a smiley face should have gone along with that comment -- doesn't mean you can't give it.
- December 11, 2007 at 11:01 PM
- Amy said...
Don't worry---you didn't scare me off from giving advice. I am more than happy to share my opinions on almost anything, especially copyright law---which is one thing I actually know about.
There is no easy answer to the legality of taping the games and sharing copies of those tapes. Obviously, MLB asserts quite clearly that it has an interest in protecting its copyrights in its broadcasts, as it states with every single broadcast. Taping the games to watch at another time is safe, as the Supreme Court said that time shifting is fair use. But making extra copies and distributing them? Well, there is no clearcut answer. Simply because you do not profit is not itself determinative, nor is the fact that the work is or is not commercially available elsewhere. It's a question of balancing a number of factors, and MLB might very well prevail IF they ever wanted to sue.
I am happy to share more on this, but I don't want to hijack the topic here or bore everyone to death. :)
- December 11, 2007 at 11:09 PM
- redsock said...
Actually, in watching some movies recently, I noticed in the copyright disclaimer that making copies of the film -- even without any monetary gain -- was prohibited.
- December 11, 2007 at 11:17 PM
- redsock said...
I am happy to share more on this, but I don't want to hijack the topic here or bore everyone to death.
It's the off-season, it's one thread, and the writer of the blog is the other person in the conversation. How much of a hijack could it be!
- December 11, 2007 at 11:18 PM
- Dave said...
First of all, your review is all the explanation anyone could ever need for why this blog has the name Joy of Sox. Thanks!
As for: "...and certainly no mention of a curse. The media had not yet invented that." I recall, the 'curse' never existed until CHB's 1990 book, "The Curse of the Bambino". Am I wrong?
- December 12, 2007 at 12:49 AM
- Amy said...
Rather than try and describe the whole fair use doctrine myself, let me refer you to this website prepared by Stanford Law School, which accurately describes the doctrine and also provides a list of cases. I think you will see that copying and distributing tapes of games, even for free and even of games not yet being sold by MLB, is not likely to be considered a fair use.
You can find the website here
I am happy to discuss this further, perhaps off site if that is more appropriate?
- December 12, 2007 at 7:56 AM
- redsock said...
In a lawsuit commonly known as the Betamax case, the Supreme Court determined that the home videotaping of a television broadcast was a fair use. This was one of the few occasions when copying a complete work (for example, a complete episode of the "Kojak" television show) was accepted as a fair use. Evidence indicated that most viewers were "time-shifting" (taping in order to watch later) and not "library-building" (collecting the videos in order to build a video library).
What is the potential harm to the copyright holder if, after watching the Kojak tape two days later when you had time, you kept the tape on the shelf because either you thought a soon-to-be visiting friend would want to see it or you might want to see it again in two years (again, on your own time like the initial viewing and not when a re-run is broadcast)?
- December 12, 2007 at 9:16 AM
- Amy said...
What is the potential harm to the copyright holder if, after watching the Kojak tape two days later when you had time, you kept the tape on the shelf because either you thought a soon-to-be visiting friend would want to see it or you might want to see it again in two years (again, on your own time like the initial viewing and not when a re-run is broadcast)?
There may be no real harm from that conduct, but there are a number of ways of responding to your point.
First, one potential harm from "library building" as opposed to "time-shifting" is the potential effect it will have if the copyright owner wants to sell copies of that program. Today many producers are releasing DVDs of current shows as well as older shows. Who would buy one of these if they could have built their own library by keeping tapes? The effect of time shifting is much more limited, although the TV studios had argued that they would lose the re-run market as well as lose revenues from advertisers who could not measure those who taped a show and watched it later.
Secondly, the Supreme Court did not actually reach the question of whether library building was a fair use. The defendants in the case, SONY, framed the issue as one of time-shifting, trying to get the court to rule that there were some legitimate uses of a VCR and that therefore selling the machines was not an act of contributory infringement, just like selling a camera is permissible, even though it may be used at times to infringe someone's copyright. Thus, one could still litigate the question of whether "library building" is a fair use, but I still think it is not an easy case to win, for the reasons described above.
Finally, there is still a big difference between taping and keeping ONE copy and taping and distributing multiple copies to others.
(FYI, there is a specific statutory provision, the Audio Home Recording Act of 1990, that allows for home taping of music, but subject to very specific conditions. For example, downloading music from the internet is not covered by that provision.)
- December 12, 2007 at 10:03 AM
- Luna said...
I'm really excited about the alternative audio, because McCarver/Buck was painful enough the first time. And I'm also totally going to shell out for the NESN dvd as well as the WS boxed set, so it seems pretty clear that major league baseball has got my number.
As for distributing copies, don't you practically have to have MLB's express written consent to even mention that a game of baseball might have been played at some point? Not that casual distribution among friends is likely to be targeted if it isn't massive, but they're pretty aggressive about their property.
- December 12, 2007 at 1:13 PM
- Jere said...
MLB is the worst when it comes to this stuff. I've --er, a friend of mine--has put up plenty of copyrighted stuff on the web, but he puts a ten second clip of a Dwight Evans HR in 1990 off Sportschannel and MLB will get it taken down.
Here's a question for Amy (besides Did you get your tix??). Can you actually get "expressed written consent" from MLB? Or from anybody? Is it like getting a doctor's note? Can I just write them and say, "I'm a blogger who has some of your copyrighted material on tape and I'd like to post it on the web for entertainment purposes, and I promise I'll make NO money off of it, nor will try to take credit for it. Please put me over into your "allowed to use our shit" column. Thanks!"?
(Again, this is for a friend of mine, Manny Ortez.)
- December 12, 2007 at 3:56 PM
- Amy said...
Dear "Manny," I have no professional experience dealing with MLB, but I am sure that, like Disney, they wouldn't be too generous. Disney once sued a day care center for painting copyrighted Disney characters on its walls. And I am sure MLB would tell you that if they let you do it, everyone else will want to also.
Of course, I have to give you the usual disclaimer that I am not providing you with legal advice and not creating an attorney-client relationship. Just giving you a general view of how these companies tend to behave about these things. If you really want permission from MLB, I'd get an actual practicing lawyer to give you some advice, not an academic!
PS No tickets yet. I know, really stupid. We actually drove past Fenway on Saturday, and I said, "Hey, they are selling tickets today." But we never did anything about it. So, yeah, I won't be complaining come April and May when I can't get those tickets
- December 12, 2007 at 4:48 PM
- Jere said...
Still SRO and single seats for April, May, and Sept on the website now. And there will be the full sale in late Jan/early Feb. You've still got time.
Thanks for the answer. It just seems like there must be a way to get the consent since they say you can't use their stuff without it. If you can't get it, the should just say "you can't use our stuff at all. Ever."
- December 12, 2007 at 9:14 PM
- Amy said...
Jere, sure there's away...they want your money! (Now don't get me wrong---I am just the messenger; I am not saying the law here makes sense.)
I will keep my eyes open for tickets. It's hard for me to get to games until June when classes are over, unless I go on a weekend, and those are the hardest tickets to get. Plus I refuse to pay the outrageous prices charged by ticket brokers or Ebay sellers.
- December 12, 2007 at 11:07 PM
- Ben said...
Off-topic for the thread, but I just saw this:
Rumor that Roger Clemens will be on the Mitchell report. Funny!
- December 13, 2007 at 11:31 AM


text:
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PWG Sells Out 3 is only $19.99 and available right now on the Pro Wrestling Guerrilla Merchandise Page.


text:
Historically, lake-area residents begin to get antsy about this time of year because lake levels are low, and they can't get their boats off their lifts and they wonder aloud when the lake levels will be coming back up.
Historically, lake-area residents begin to get antsy about this time of year because lake levels are low, and they can't get their boats off their lifts and they wonder aloud when the lake levels will be coming back up.
Not this year.
As of mid-day Tuesday, the Bagnell Dam Plant had recorded 6.01 inches of rain in April, which surprisingly is on par with a year ago. Heavy rains upstream on the Lake of the Ozarks and on Harry S. Truman lake drainage basin have combined to push lake levels about two feet above what is consider "normal" for this time of year.
Ameren Missouri is licensed by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). One of the license articles is a guide curve, which is a set of target lake levels throughout the year. The guide curve for mid-April is 656.16 feet above sea level, and the elevation was actually 658.23 as of 8 a.m. Wednesday.
Alan Sullivan, Ameren consulting engineer at the Bagnell Plant, said the objective is to raise the lake level to near full pool by Memorial Day weekend.
"We're not concerned about getting the lake up to recreational levels even if it doesn't rain for awhile because there's a lot of water stored at Truman Lake now," he said. "Even if we thought it was going to be dry, we could store the water out of Truman to keep the lake levels where they need to be for Memorial Day."
He said that if the rains subside, plant engineers will allow the levels to fall a little as Truman reduces its discharge so the Lake of the Ozarks meets the guide curve. Truman was at 715 feet above sea level, giving that lake about nine feet of storage.
"We as hydroelectric engineers get a little uncomfortable with the lake being as high as it is," Sullivan said, "because if we get four inches of rain, that would be a significant amount and we would lose storage capacity to allow for potential inflows. This loss of storage in the Lake of the Ozarks, especially in the early spring, really increases the potential for flooding, both on the lake and in the Osage River below."
Last fall, after a long, hot, dry summer, Bagnell Dam was running a minimal daily discharge of about 900 cubic feet per second. A typical day of generation might be 12,000 cubic feet per second, Sullivan explained. As of Tuesday, the discharge was 34,500 cf per second, 24 hours a day.
"For the time being, we will be able to avoid opening the flood gates," he said.
Another few inches of rain could change that. The Osage River will be bank-full for the next week or two as Truman and Bagnell Plant engineers manipulate the flows to maintain adequate reserves and keep water levels at guide-curve levels.
"Truman is beneficial upstream neighbor to us," Sullivan said. "We have good communications with the Water Control people who manage lake levels for the Truman reservoir. We talk to them or email them several times a day. We also continually watch the National Weather Service weather forecasts, including the QPF (Quantitive Precip Forecast) so we can make the best decisions possible for lake management."
Last year
Rainfall in April 2013 is virtually the same as April 2012.
But a year ago, the rain stopped. May rainfall was .88 of an inch, June was 1.48 and July was 1.46. That could happen again this year, and Bagnell Plant officials want to maintain adequate storage in this lake and Truman to offset potential dry months.
The FERC lake level guide curve bottoms out in mid-February at about 654 and remains flat until April. By late May, the lake level rises to 659, one foot shy of full pool.
With warmer and dryer weather predicted for the weekend, boaters should have more than adequate lake levels to prepare their boats for the season.


text:
Pics: Bella Gonzalez Shane Mosley's Girlfriend
Shane Mosley may have lost the fight to Manny Pacquiao, but did he win the war with his girlfriend Bella Gonzalez? Even though Jinkee Pacquiao is a very pretty young lady, she isn't packing the junk in the trunk like Miss Gonzalez.
I think all you need to know about the fight between Pacquiao and Mosley is that once it was over, neither were trending on Twitter, but Bella Gonzalez was.
Her 20 second appearance was more entertaining than the 12 round fight.
I hope Shane's lamp breaking performances are better than his in ring performances or Bella is going to leave Vegas with LL Cool J.


text:
1) Do you know what summer the movie "Dirty Dancing" took place? 2) Which one-hit group sang "Brandy"? 3) Who won the 1963 National League Rookie of the Year Award? (The answers are at the end of this story.)
If you live or work in Hudson County, you may be asked one of those questions at a trivia contest near you.
Trivia is king in bars and restaurants in the county, and that's because it's fun, usually free, and gives you a reason to have a great meal and hoist a few beers with friends and family.
"These events are live trivia nights with a host on a microphone, teams competing against one another, and the prize is generally gift cards or Broadway tickets," said Christine Day, senior manager of Buzztime Entertainment, a national company in Carlsbad, Calif., that has run trivia promotions in Weehawken, Bayonne, and other local towns.
The Houlihan's Restaurant chain is big on the fun, with their restaurants in Bayonne, Secaucus, and Weehawken all having sponsored trivia promotions of some type. Bayonne's program is running strong, twice a month on Wednesdays. Secaucus has video trivia monitors playing on a daily basis.
At a competition recently in Bayonne, the place was packed for a special "Dirty Dancing" themed night, even though the movie came out way back in 1987, before some of the participants were even born.
Two representatives from Trivia AD were there, administering the five rounds of trivia questions for their programs: general knowledge, quotes, true or false, character identity, and the lightning round. Trivia AD also hosts contests in Hoboken and New York.
"It's fun; it's a good way to get out of the house," said Stacey Figueroa of Bayonne, a corporate trainer. "They always have a lot of great topics. They keep it fresh."
"Some people go to the gym," said Wanda Rodriguez of Jersey City, an educator. "I'd rather go to trivia and maybe win prizes."
Nicole Sorbara of Bayonne heard about the contest on Facebook, and came with sister Maria and cousin Josephine, the first time at a trivia event for all three.
"Some people go to the gym. I'd rather go to trivia and maybe win prizes." – Wanda Rodriguez
Deborah Robinson and India Woods, both of Jersey City, and friend Lydonn Jackson of Newark came to the Bayonne Houlihan's just for the trivia.
"We're 'Dirty Dancing' fans forever," said Robinson. "We love the music, we love Patrick Swayze, and we love his dancing."
"We came for the trivia and a couple of drinks," Woods said.
Trivia is an option in town at Houlihan's on Plaza Drive, if you want to take advantage of the video monitors.
"We have computer trivia," said Marcos Tavarez, serving manager at Houlihan's. "We give out tickets to Off Broadway plays. This month it's 'Illuminations.' Next month it'll probably be 'Stomp.'"
During the summer, tickets to baseball games are the big prizes.
"All the [Houlihan's] stores have it," Tavarez said. "We just decided to do contests with the trivia."
Houlihan's contracts with a company called NTN, and they do all the programming, he said. The trivia presented runs the gamut from general, to popular, to sports.
"The customers comment on it," Tavarez said. "It's something to do while you're hanging out."
Weehawken's Houlihan's is like Secaucus in that they offer free video trivia each day. Weehawken has monitors at its bar that are constantly tuned to the fun activity.
"We had for a while now; a few years," said manager on duty Eddie Aguilar. "The interest is still there after all these years."
And even when it's high season for baseball, football, or the Olympics, people still want their contests of knowledge available, according to Aguilar.
"We usually have it on the TVs," he said. "We have customers who come in for that."
And being open from 11 a.m. until closing at 2 a.m., there's a lot of time for trivia.
"We have some regulars that come just for this," Aguilar said. "For happy hours. UBS [Financial] comes with a lot of people."
The Weehawken site has all kinds of trivia games offered, including ones on history, cars, and TV shows. And if other types of trivia are wanted? No problem. They'll add what's requested.
Trivia is so popular in the town that the Women's Club of Weehawken uses it as its annual fundraiser. Just ask Mayor Richard Turner's wife, Eileen.
"We run a couple of fundraisers every year, and a few years ago we were looking for something else to do," Turner said. "We were looking for something that would draw different age groups. Then I saw some publications advertising trivia."
With the support of President Carol Cravitz and Councilwoman Carmela Ehret, who runs the event, it has become quite successful, raising a few thousand dollars each year for the organization. The trivia proceeds fund high school scholarships, books, and food for the needy during the holidays.
"We've been doing this now for a while," Turner said. "It's our fourth year of doing this. We get 100 people to come for our event. It's great. And it's been growing."
The group's trivia choices are diverse, including science, history, TV, and movies. But they also do "Are You Smarter than a Fifth Grader?" and "How Much Do You Know About Weehawken?"
Hoboken, Jersey City, Union City, West New York
Trivia is king in Jersey City and Hoboken, with many bars and restaurants offering the contests. In Hoboken, you can get your fill at Willie McBride's, the Wicked Wolf, the Tilted Kilt, the Village Pourhouse, and other bars. In Jersey City, the Corkscrew Bar is among the venues.
A search did not turn up any venues in Union City, North Bergen, or West New York, but email us at firstname.lastname@example.com if you know of an event.
Answers: 1) 1963 2) The Looking Glass 3) Pete Rose
Joseph Passantino may be reached at email@example.com.


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NEW LONDON, N.C. -- Senior Spencer Anderson fired an opening round 71 (-1) on Friday to pace Duke to a one-over 289 in the ACC Championship at Old North State Club. The Blue Devils are ninth overall heading into Saturday's second round of play.
"We got off to a solid enough start to put a good round together and it is pretty clear when you look at the top of the leaderboard that it was out there for the taking," said head coach Jamie Green. "The golf course is in immaculate shape and the greens are great. If you got the read right and started it on line it was going to go in, it is that kind of set up right now. We just made it harder than it needed to be. The guys were certainly eager and excited to get out there and get things going. In the middle of the round we had a mishit here or missed up and down there and got a little bit tight. These guys have played well so there is no reason for one day to lose a tournament. They know their games and this golf course is all about keeping it in play and giving yourself a look at it."
Georgia Tech holds the first round lead after blistering the course for an 18-under 270. The Yellow Jackets have a six-shot advantage over Virginia (-12, 276). Florida State is third at nine-under (279) and followed by North Carolina (-6, 282), Wake Forest (-3, 285), Maryland (-1, 287), Clemson (-1, 287), Virginia Tech (E, 288), Duke (+1, 289), N.C. State (+3, 291) and Boston College (+17, 305). The 270 team score by Georgia Tech is the second lowest team one-day round total since the current format began in 1980. In 2006, Georgia Tech shot a 267 team score in the second round at the Old North State Club.
Daniel Berger (Florida State), Bo Andrews (Georgia Tech) and Ollie Schniederjans (Georgia Tech) share the opening round lead after posting six-under 66s on Friday. Lee Bedford (Wake Forest), Ben Kohles (Virginia) and Ben Rusch (Virginia) are each one shot back.
Anderson got off to a terrific start with an eagle on the par 5 first hole before suffering bogeys on No. 4 and No. 7 to make the turn at even-par. He added a birdie on the par 4 10th hole and followed up with six straight pars before sliding back to even-par with a bogey on No. 17. Anderson birdied the par 5 18th hole to close the day tied for 18th at one-under.
Juniors Brinson Paolini and Adam Sumrall are tied for 26th after posting even-par 72s on Friday. Both players recorded two birdies, 14 pars and two bogeys in the round. Paolini opened the day with a birdie on No. 1 and capped it off with a birdie on the par 5 18th hole. Sumrall also birdied a pair of par 5s (No. 4 and No. 11) in his round.
Julian Suri, a junior from St. Augustine, Fla., posted a two-over 74 in the opening round and is tied for 34th. He started strong with birdies on the par 5 first and fourth holes before suffering back-to-back bogeys on No. 7 and No. 8. Suri, the ninth-ranked player in the country, moved back into red figures with a birdie on the par 5 11th hole. He went bogey-birdie-bogey on No. 13-15 to slip back to even-par and had a double-bogey on the par 3 17th hole before closing with a par on No. 18.
Sophomore Austin Cody enjoyed the best start of the round among the Blue Devils before running into trouble in the middle portion of the day. The North Charleston, S.C., native birdie the par 5 first hole and added birdie on No. 5 (par 4) and No. 7 (par 3) to get to three-under on the round. He faltered with four straight bogeys beginning a No. 8 and also suffered bogeys on No. 14 and No. 16 to slip to three-over. Cody closed with a birdie on No. 18 to close with a two-over 74.
Duke opens second play on Saturday at 9:10 a.m. and will be paired with Virginia Tech and Clemson. Live scoring for the event is available at www.golfstat.com. Live web streaming will be available for free on Saturday, April 21 (1:30pm to conclusion of play) and Sunday, April 22 (1:30pm to conclusion of play) on the ACC.com.
*** Anderson has now posted a counting team score in all 19 rounds as a member of the lineup ... he had his ninth under-par round of the season on Friday.
*** Anderson was one of 25 players to finish under-par on Friday.
*** Paolini moved into second place in the Duke record books with 17 career even-par rounds ... he is also now seventh at Duke with 48 rounds of even-par or better golf.
*** Paolini has now shot even-par or better in five of his seven ACC Championship rounds at Old North State Club.
*** Sumrall has shot even-par in two of his last three rounds ... he has shot even-par or better in four of the last seven rounds played.
*** Paolini and Sumrall are tied for second with 14 pars apiece.
*** Suri is tied for third in par 5 scoring (-3, 4.25).
*** Duke's one-over 289 matched last seasons ACC Championship opening round and is just the Blue Devils' fourth over-par round at the course in the last four years ... Duke has not had more than one over-par team score at the ACC Championship since 2005 when the Blue Devils claimed the team title.
*** Duke played the par 5s at Old North State Club at 11-under on Friday ... In contrast the Blue Devils were seven-over on both the par 3s and par 4s.