dc.

I think the Pro Bowl should be abolished as well. Just name your All-Pros, like you name All-Americans in college, and get on with it. If you want to make it more fun, I'd say play it in Spring or Early summer... May, when we're all DYING for football, have a little game - doesn't even have to be "Pro Bowlers" - and you'll get some more attention.

My misunderstanding then. I was attaching it more to the issue.

And Miami beat up on Wake! 17 or something... Can't believe Clemson... just didn't think they were that good... but nice.

How about back on topic... Gary's days are still numbered, I think... Good article with ESPN on "NEXT" It came out, just 200 words or so, before Yow threw her support behind Gary. But it pretty much said that whoever inherits this program is inheriting greatness. The Terps, in the ACC, with a National Title under their belts, and so much... are poised to attack at any time. And with the recruiting pipeline in this area that's been so underexploited by Gary, there's only growth to follow. Very encouraging. Just think... some of the best prospects of the last 5 years in this area wound up not only all over the ACC, but in Georgetown! And until three years ago, Georgetown was NOT a basketball powerhouse anymore! Unbelievable that we were losing such players and names to GU in the wake of a national title.

Could care less about Burres. He wasn't going to be anything. And we have plenty of depth, especially now with Parrish, in that "long reliever/spot starter" position. In fact, Burres has gotten worse in his time with the O's... ERA up... Hits allowed up... Strikeouts down... And in fact, over the course of last season, he just got worse month by month by month. Nice enough guy, did his time here. But 3 seasons, no progression and 28 years old. Sorry, but three years (2 1/2 even), is enough time. We've waited too long on our Cabrera's and Ponson's and all them... best of luck. Let the next group on in.

Pardon, Coked, but I can't help but ask... I simply don't remember you always being such a strong supporter of the guy getting beaten down by "the man"... I mean, we all agree the situation is fucked up. But what is elitist about saying that at this point it's time to cut losses and just move forward? We all get screwed by crap like this at times - we are all screwed by the government's incompetence. Sometimes it's because they forget to do something and suddenly my tags show up as non-registered and I get towed or ticketed. It happens it sucks. But there are also plenty of times where it's at least partially the fault of the people being affected. I mean, I think of it kind of like when we see road signs... "Left lane closed in 3000 ft." You've got 1/2 a mile to move over and get in line. But everyone always waits - or most people do. And even if you try, you can't always get over when you want. If everything runs perfectly, awesome. But it never will. Even if you do get over, someone else is going to either be incompetent enough or selfish enough to stick it out a bit longer and a bit longer and... and... we all get screwed and pissed when that guy tries to move over last minute. I dunno. I just don't remember you always being so "help the helpless." And now we're all "elitist" for thinking that years upon years of waiting for something like this is just another waste of money?

It's still a waste. It's been delayed for years and years. It's just something the government has screwed up and there's no reason for it. Republicans would have done this too, just to get the popularity with those being most affected. The inefficiency of government is everywhere. My favorite is the whole "California car" thing that Obama is expecting to allow with the EPA. Now, it's not a bad idea... allowing states to set standards for motor vehicle emissions if the EPA won't get it right. But what's stupid is that the Cali (and MD) rule is going to be a whopping THREE mpg more per new car by (are you ready?) 2015. 2015!!! MPG has already increased by nearly double over the past five years... perhaps well more than double... and our "extra strict" and "environmentally awesome" rule is going to be to ask for 3mpg more in almost six years??? I bet the car companies, all by their lonesome, will be WELL past that standard within the next two years. So why waste our time, money, litigation, political power, favors with car companies, etc etc etc on NOTHING?!?!

No no no... they say pretty directly in the article and over and over in everything I've read... that the state wants money for the application. The state was expecting 90-100m in application fees yesterday... and got just 30-40 because (a) of the lack of applications and (B) because two applications were not paying the fee. I mean, maybe this isn't uncommon when it comes to building gambling sites... but when the state is taking 70% of revenue too, they want a bonus 20-30m up front from every investor, just to APPLY to build. The interviews in the article were saying over and over... "I don't know how we can consider them serious investors if they can't even file the application appropriately." Though one applicant did say that they didn't include the fee because their application was dependent on the state changing some things (such as that 70% rev cut)

I didn't mean you can't get HD via the airwaves... I get that too. I just run into a lot of people who think "digital tv" is the same as "hdtv"

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/pol...0,7049352.story First... this pay-to-play shit is ridiculous... as I understand it, companies are supposed to pay fees on applications in the MILLIONS of dollars? How about we apply... if you say yes, we'll give you the 22.5 mil. But thanks to years in delays and a horrid, horrid plan for slots... we got 6 bids (2 incomplete) for 5 locations and 1 bid that was less than 1/5 of what it was expected to be. Sweeeeeeet. So, looks like we still won't have slots. We still won't have income. And now officials have the nerve to blame the slot companies for not providing them with "the expected revenues." Well, shucks. And, our dear Gov O'Malley will have a few 100m more in budget shortfalls, I guess. Yikes. That's not good news. But maybe if he had been pro-slot 4 years ago, you know, when we were being warned about budget shortfalls and he wasn't the governor, maybe we could have avoided all this. Instead, now you look two faced for flipping sides on an issue AND (this is my favorite part) you're still going to be screwed over because we'll still have no slots, you'll still have no revenue and the state will FLOP under your leadership!!! Oh, too much fun.

Ty's defense sucks. Ken Rosenthal was reporting that there's no way we want him playing 3b, more as a 1b and DH kind of guy. But I think that's a load. We definitely want him for his ability to play third. And he better never play 2b for us with Freel as a good alternative when Brian is feeling down.

WBAL announced via ads that they were switching early. I remember it. They were warning people about it. And Spen is right - if your TV is digital, you can still get the signal via the airwaves... a digital, not HD, signal. But I don't know if WBAL went through with it or not.

Freel may not have played SS, but I bet he can. Wigginton not so much. I also don't know that we'll keep 13 pitchers. We're going to have 5 starters obviously, but probably a couple of long relievers with a history as starters... Guthrie Hendrickson Uehara Hill Then we still have Albers, Sarfate, Penn, Burres, Waters... And still the possibility of Looper. So say we get Looper on board... we've got our starting five... And then you've got Albers, Waters, Burres all fighting for the long-reliever spots. All with strong ability to spot start as necessary. If we take 2 there, that makes seven, which still leaves us with 5 spots for MR, Set up and Closer... MR - Sarfate Set up - Ray / Johnson Closer - Sherrill And if we only take one for long relief (Albers), we open up another MR/SU spot for Jamie Walker... but word is he may not make it out of camp anyway.

I'm still waiting for ESPN to add this to Steve Phillips commentary on Baseball Tonight and Sportscenter.

My bet is Hansborogh puts up 40 pts, 20 rebounds and 12 blocks.

Talk about trying to get your name in the paper... No way that case goes anywhere. Just no way. Even with an admission of guilt. No way to place the photo, the contents, etc etc...

No, normal has nothing to do with accepted. It has to do with being common or average. If something is commonly done, it is normal. How can acceptance have anything to do with normal? Blonde, Brown, Black and Red are all common colors of hair in humans. However, I don't like or accept people with blonde hair. So only Brown, Black and Red are normal colors. Blonde hair is common, but abnormal. Most people don't like it.

Man... this has turned into quite the active off-season for the O's after a long silence, huh? Wigginton is an interesting pick-up. He's a notoriously streaky hitter... and if I am remembering correctly, he's notoriously hot early in the season. Plays a solid 3B, which will be nice. It gives us a decent bat and defender to play when Melvin is feeling shaky. He can also play the other three infield spots and OF. Again, nice if we ever want to give Huff a day off in the field. --- Round-up: Three trades that all look good to me (Freel+2 for Hernandez, Olson for Pie, PTBNL for Hill) Extend Markakis Sign a few veteran pitchers, if only as a holdover this year (Hendrickson, Uehara, perhaps Looper to follow) Fill some defensive voids (Izturis, Wigginton, Zaun) Drop some dead weight (Payton, Cabrera, Millar, Cintron) And do it all without jeopardizing our development at all... Wieters should still be around soon, followed closely by some pitching friends. Now... let's ditch Baez (who apparently wants to start) and a few others and sign Ben Sheets and I'll be happy to give us an A+ for an off-season where, a month ago, not signing Teixeira almost ended our organization.

But I was arguing all along against your point of "It might be common, but that doesn't make it normal." And sure it does... just like exceeding the speed limit and rolling through the occasional stop sign...

I wouldn't say that. I was laughing today at people who said "Man, wasn't the student section great tonight!" Hm.... happens every year... because it's the first game in 40 days that school's been in session!!! The critics aren't gone and shouldn't be. Beating mighty Miami hardly ends my tirade. Debbie Yow has given him a heavy vote of support... but so what? Fact is, Ralph and Gary are both pretty damn secure.... in part because of their records... little thanks to their recruiting... but very largely thanks to their ability to keep the biggest donors in the seats game after game, season after season. Gary, Debbie, Ralph... they could all care less about the student section and 70% of the fans... so long as their big money alum are in the right seats and writing checks.

In regards to normality it does. It may not mean anything legally or morally or anything else, but it certainly means something in terms of normality. Almost half of high schoolers have said they have smoked marijuana at least once. Almost half. That's probably more than listen to any one band... more than saw The Dark Knight... more than will go to college... more than play a sport competitively... more than own a car...

http://i40.tinypic.com/whbja8.jpg It's not a punch. First is what looks like it might be a punch, but turns out to be an open-hand shove down... then a shove to the side... none of them are punches... they are all just overexuberant blocks and shoves and hits... and all excessive, but not ejection worthy. And the flag was thrown during the play anyway...

Right right and right. But my point remains... marijuana use or 'trying' is not uncommon and very much IS normal.

Well, I think 'trying' drugs... especially weed... is 'normal' these days. Sad, but true. Not true of me, even, but I bet it's true. Common and normal to try. Now, from what I know of Phelps and his friends... he's probably done more than just try... but that's guessing. Suffice to say, he's not a 14 year old being pressured into it...

True. Forgot Jones. He was one of the few truly big names Gary ever went after. Again, Gary was quoted as much... saying he didn't want to be a used car salesman, just taking talent and passing it on to the bigs. He wanted to coach. It's a fair enough sentiment, but it's also possible to do both... recruit talent, coach talent, and coach raw players... and make it all work together.