cabiness42

Atlanta traffic sucks when the weather isn't bad. It makes Chicago traffic seem light.

As some have already mentioned, having a pre-determined location for an event gets more people to the event. Also, having a home team in the Super Bowl means that a fair portion of the fans are not traveling to the game and not staying in hotels and eating at restaurants. As exciting as it was to have Butler in the Final Four a couple years back, the hotels/restaurants in Indy took a hit because of it.

Pete Seeger, 94

To sidetrack this thread for a moment: My uncle was a forensic chemist for the military. He had to testify in a court marshall for an incident in Somalia (may have the country wrong) where some US troops shot some local civilians. The troops claimed they were being charged and fired upon. A dozen eyewitnesses spent hours testifying that the civilians were running away from the troops and were shot in the back. My uncle spent less than an hour testifying about the forensic evidence which proved 100% that every single bullet entered the front of the clothes/body and exited the back. The soldiers were all found not guilty.

vs RHP 8 Eaton 7 De Aza 9 Garcia 3 Abreu DH Dunn 6 Ramirez 5 Gillaspie 4 Beckham 2 Phegley vs LHP 8 Eaton 6 Ramirez 9 Garcia 3 Abreu DH Konerko 7 Viciedo 4 Beckham 5 Gillaspie 2 Phegley

Dunn is the starting DH and Abreu is the starting 1B. Konerko is the backup. There is still time to trade Viciedo or De Aza, but if the Sox can't get good value for them, there's nothing wrong with a LF platoon. The guy I'm most hoping to see gone is Keppinger. Either way, I think Davidson is the starter if he can beat out Gillaspie, and at AAA if he can't.

Even if it's a catcher?

My greatest hope is that Dunn hits 25 HR before the All Star Break and then gets traded for a top catching prospect. Then Marty and Greg can continue to make up reasons why we should have dumped Dunn earlier.

Start a game in London at 11:30 pm local time? I don't see that happening.

I just shovel. We rarely get more than 3-4 inches of snow at a time, and my driveway is only 25 feet long, so it's not worth buying a snowblower.

I'm sure he is looking at those options, but teams aren't just sitting there willing to trade top catching prospects cheaply. Hahn shouldn't be giving up the farm for a catcher. A catcher probably isn't putting the 2014 Sox over the top anyway, so sit tight and wait for a good deal.

I know Goodell has talked about this, but I don't see it happening. The Super Bowl is played from 6:30-10:30 pm ET on a Sunday, because that is the exact window that gets the absolute highest TV ratings, which in turn gets the absolute maximum TV contract from the networks. Having a Super Bowl in London means kickoff is no later than 3pm ET. I don't know much about sports on TV in Europe, but there would have to be an awfully big ratings boost there in order for it to make financial sense to do it.

OK maybe not Texas, but Miami, New Orleans, and Phoenix would fight like hell to keep the SB from going to a permanent location (unless it's their own), and now that Jerry has his palace he would probably join the fight.

Yes, it's about halfway between BAL and DC just off the BAL-WAS Parkway.

If semis don't like being passed on the right, then there is an easy solution--STAY IN THE RIGHT LANE!!!

Sounds good to me, but the economies of Miami, New Orleans, Phoenix and Texas all pretty much depend on having a Super Bowl every 4-6 years. Would be hard to take that away from three of the four.

Mine is back now.

It certainly appears that way.

I obviously don't know the ins and outs of Stanford as well as I do Notre Dame, but I'm going to go out on a limb and say that's not at all true. You probably don't have to meet the same standards as the other students applying for admission, but I have to believe there are plenty of DI-FBS players that Stanford would not touch.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Friday, January 24, 2014 CHICAGO – The Chicago White Sox have agreed to terms on a multiyear contract extension with manager Robin Ventura. Terms of the contract were not released by the club. Ventura, 46, has gone 148-176 in two seasons with the White Sox after being hired as the 39th manager in franchise history on October 6, 2011. He was one of three finalists for American League Manager of the Year in 2012 after guiding the White Sox to an 85-77 record and second-place finish in the Central division. “Jerry, Kenny, Robin and I have had many conversations about our objectives in both the short and long term,” said Rick Hahn, White Sox senior vice president/general manager. “We are in complete agreement with the direction and vision for this organization in 2014 and beyond. I have great confidence that Robin’s leadership and direction will help us reach our goals, and there was never really any question in our minds as to who we wanted in the White Sox dugout now and into the future.” “We have been on the same page since day one, but I’m very happy to have this behind us so we can continue to keep our focus on the playing field,” said Ventura. “I’m excited about the direction of the club and the moves we have made this offseason, but there is still a lot of work to be done so I think we’re all ready to get to spring training and get started.” Ventura spent 16 major-league seasons with the White Sox (1989-98), New York Mets (1999-2001), New York Yankees (2002-03) and Los Angeles Dodgers (2003-2004), hitting .267 (1,885-7,064) with 294 home runs and 1,182 RBI in 2,079 games.

The discussion about thugs, ruffians, and saying stupid things is fascinating and all, but did you know there's some sort of actual football game in 9 days? I hear this Manning guy is pretty good.

Is there not a guy who has been friendzoned to help out with this?

It's been so cold for so long that I just went outside when it was 10 degrees and it felt pleasant.

Three confirmed dead in that Michigan City pileup. The winds must have shifted, because the whiteout is now in St. Joseph county.

New England's defense was 26th in 2013. I'd like to set the bar a bit higher. How about a defense like Seattle's?