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Monday Morning Manager…the strangest week ever
Let's review since we last met….
* The Rangers sign Eddie Guardado.
* Ben Sheets needs surgery, scuttling a two-year deal with the Rangers.
* Jason Jennings re-signs with the Rangers.
* Alex Rodriguez reportedly tested positive for steroids and suddenly the national spotlight is thrust back on the 2003 Rangers, a team that most would prefer to forget.
* The Rangers sign Brendan Donnelly.
* The Rangers – with no announcement, no fanfare, no nothing – sign Andruw Jones. One day Jones is unemployed, the next day he is the No. 2 CF on the Rangers depth chart. Oh well.
Shrug. Let's just say that Bill Nance, proprietor of the Elysian Fields Bar & Grill, is two thumbs down on the last one. But you're right, nobody asked him….
1. What is your reaction to the Alex Rodriguez news and do you believe that he was doing something wrong.
2. How big of a setback is that for the Rangers to lose Sheets after he agreed to a two-year deal?
3. What is your take on the signing of Andruw Jones?
4. Do you expect Jones to be the Rangers Opening Day center fielder. Yes or no.
5. Is the Rangers bullpen better off this week with the additions of Guardado and Donnelly.
42 Comments
1. My reaction is that we have another beat-down story, and I'm weary of the discussion.
2. It's disappointing, but I never really expected him to contribute anything this season.
3. Utter disbelief.
4. Heck no.
5. Sure.
I'm having to come out of my hole of depression after hearing all this Ben Sheets news. I'm still hopeful we can sign him to a cheaper deal and let him do his rehab with us and be available around August and pitch for us again next season.
1. It was pretty big news. Nothing really surprises me anymore when it comes to steroids, but A-Rod was one of those guys that I just didn't expect. I'm interested to see the others on the list. The thing that baffles me is why keep the evidence? If you are the players union and you are trying to protect your guys then why leave the evidence behind? A-Rod needs to come out clean and recognize that as bad as it sounds just like Roger/Barry/Mark, he won't be in the hall of fame.
2. Let's not talk about it. It's huge and depressing and I don't know what else to say about it. He was going to be the ace of this squad and now we are going to have to rely on Millwood and Padilla and the young guys.
3. Great under the radar signing. Nothing is wrong with a heated competition in the spring. If all perform then you have trade bait for a pitcher. I love that he picked us over the Yankees. He's had 2 bad years. It will be interesting to see if Rudy can get him back to where he was.
4. Yes. I have the feeling that Hamilton is moving to Right Field and that will open up Center for Jones. Byrd can play all outfield positions. I don't know what that means for Nelson Cruz but I expect Andruw Jones to make a comeback and do enough to get the nod as the starter.
5. Terrific low risk signings for the Rangers bullpen. It gives the Rangers options and depth going into the season. The Rangers bullpen doesn't look half bad now that Eddie and Donnely are in the mix.
1. I find interesting that there were names attached to supposedly anonymous tests, and that Sports Illustrated's "source" didn't give them any of the other players names from those 2003 tests (or maybe SI just chose to only write about ARod). I think it's "wrong" for teenagers in High School and College Athletes to use PED's/steroids. And again: I think it's wrong that SI and its source are only revealing ARod's name – there were other players who tested positive – why aren't we reading about them? I think it's wrong that baseball owners and the MLBPA stuck their heads in the stand and ignored the issue until the media and US government pressured them into finally doing something – which most agree is at best a weak and watered down plan.
2. My definition of a setback is when a player already on the roster and in the rotation you were counting on is injured or has a down year. While a healthy Ben Sheets might've been a good addition to the Rangers rotation, he wasn't part of the plan of building from within that we've been watching since last season – so it's not a setback in my opinion. Just a nice idea that didn't work out.
3. Low risk – high reward possibilities.
4. No. I think Josh Hamilton will the opening day CF and Nelson Cruz will be in RF – however, as the lone dissenter among Ranger fans – I think by May 15th – Andruw Jones will be in CF, Josh Hamilton in RF and Nelson Cruz on the waiver wire. I still think Nelson's performance at the end of last season was an outlier – and that he'll return to being the Nelson Cruz of the .230 Batting Average (in 440 AB's) before last season.
5. Again low risk – high rewards – but still just a possibility. Guaradado was good in specific situations last season, as long as he's not over used – yes, he's still a decent reliever. Brendan Donnelly – who knows?
1. Steroids = Bad. So I do think he was doing something wrong. However, I think it is a horrible injustice to all of the players who could potentially be implicated by the tests run by MLB in 2003. If they were supposed to be anonymous why were the records not destroyed after the statistics were gathered by the League? The MLB and MLBPA need to just go ahead and list every player who has the possibility of being linked to this so they can clear the air.
2. Not a setback at all. If they had signed him it would have been a huge setback. If he had injured himself in Spring Training or during the regular season it would be a huge setback. This is a no harm no foul situation. It would have been awesome to have a healthy Sheets at the front of our rotation, but you were right, something seemed fishy for there to be no competition for him. That being said go sign him to a 3 year deal, with little guaranteed money and big incentives.
3. Meh. This is another reclamation project for the Rangers. Upside is big, downside is minimal. If he can get back to being a gold glove center fielder, then he would be worth a great deal more to this team (who doesn't really have an above average defensive center fielder, or one they want out there everyday, at least) than his contract dictates. If he shows up in Spring Ball and plays terribly, they release him and his small contract.
4. No.
5. Is it better after adding Eddie? Yes. After adding Donnelly? Who knows. I think Eddie should be fine this season. According to him his arm feels good, which is nice considering he might be Everyday Eddie again this season. Donnelly is a wild card. If he has come back from TJ surgery and is effective then I think it is a good signing, if not then you get rid of him after a few weeks (by April 27). Low risk on both players, and with a bullpen as thin as ours already is, they need all the arms they can get.
The steroids news is another black day for baseball. Sad indeed. I read about all the Rangers' signings over the weekend. They've been a very busy team!
1. If he tested positive, then yes he was doing something wrong. Although, since the incident happened so long ago, I have a hard time getting worked up about it.
2. You can't lose what you never had. I think I'd feel worse if Sheets had signed and THEN we lost him to injury.
3. Completely confused. We already have a packed outfield. I don't understand this signing at all.
4. No. I think Hamilton will start in CF and move to right later in the season. I'd be fine with Byrd in CF.
5. I don't know if it's necessarily better, but it's certainly a little deeper, which is always a good thing.
1. Steroids have been in the majors since the 60's and there was no testing until 2004. Everyone turned a blind eye when Juan and Pudge showed up to camp with 30lbs extra muscle. I was more suprised to hear only 103 failed the first round of testing…I'm sure there was plenty of lead time to give players a chance to cycle. Steroids are a fact in all professional sports. With no testing, I don't blame any of the athletes for cheating. So no, I was not suprised that he was doing something probably more than half the athletes were doing at the time.
2. I felt if Sheets sighed with us this year, he would have sat most of this year out anyway. Now with the surgery, we can at least get the same use out of him at a much lower price.
3. It's a no lose situation. If rebounds from last year, then we have an all-star center fielder. If not, then there will be a big star to go catch in OK City.
4. No
5. Much deeper at least. Glad to see Eddie back.
1. We can't uninvade Iraq. I'm tired of sanctimonious sports writers such as TC who seem to continually rag on baseball while overlooking the drug usage and felonies by NFLers. Could we please focus on the present and equal treatment of all under whatever laws applly in the present?!?
2. Disappointint for Sheets, but hardly a setback to the Rangers who never had him on the roster.
3. Well, everybody has been saying we need more pitching–oh wati, he's and outfielder isn't he. Hmmmm.
4. In one word–"yaneverknow".
5. Guardado should help again.
1. While anabolic steroids have been around since the 1930's there is no evidence that baseball players used them until recently. Mind you I said anabolic steroids not androstene which are two entirely different things. I don't know wh was using and who wasn't but I don't like it. I don't like it at all. Baseball is going to have to make up it's mind how theey treat these allegations. One thing is sure Litke (james Litke of the AP) has it right today when he says the lying is worse than the using. He points out Andy Pettite and Roger Clemens are example of how to do it right and how to do it wrong respectively. I hate Evan Grant's "Ingector's Row" comment this week…I really looked up to some of those guys.
2. I think we need Sheets. We didn't need him injured though. I applaud Daniels and Ryan for trying.
3. Jones will be our centerfielder…we will trade two outfielders prior to the end of spring training. If Byrd has a huge spring he'll be the first to go. If Golson or Boggs hit they will join him…and don't rule out a David Murphy trade…he was injured and is somewhat questionable even though I like the heck out of him
4. Yes
5. Eddie, Eddie, Eddie
1. I just don't see something from 6 years ago being that big of a deal. Especially since it was only one guy named out of 104 alleged positives. Sounds like SI has sunk to tabloid reporting. I thought he would be a help to this team when he was coming in but his actions over those three years definitely proved to me he was just all about himself all the time. So, as unfair as the SI story propbably is, A-Rod set himself up for it and the circus is just getting started.
2. Like several others, I don't hink it can't really be a setback if no gain was ever realized. The fact that there was no buzz or real pursuit over this guy spoke volumes. The team ought to try and sign him anyway and have him go through rehab and see what happens.
3. Cheap insurance that may pay off huge.
4. No way.
5. Guardado was a no-brainer. Donnelly always pitched well against us so if he is healthy this is another great move. Given the way the Sheets deal died you have to assume the same level of medical eval was done on Donnelly.
1. John Hart put all these guys (Palmeiro, Canseco, I-Rod, A-Rod, etc) together in an environment that promoted statistics and fame over morals and ethics. He was the same at Cleveland. If anything, I'd say this is more an indictment of Hart's Switzerian methods than of A-Rod succombing to the environment in which he found himself.
2. That has not yet been determined… if he comes back and signs a deal that has him pitching for a couple of years for Texas, we're fine. It does hurt that he can't pitch this year, though.
3. Great, great, great. A stroke of genius by JD. If he proves himself healthy and, with Rudy's tutillage, he'll likely have 20-30 HRs by the trade deadline. He could be turned for a haul similar to what the Angels got for Tex this past year. Downside? There ain't no downside. Young players (Borbon) are being told they have to force their way onto the ML roster. What's bad about that? And, if Andruw is done, he's gone. Thanks for the attempt.
4. Not no – hell no.
5. Both have proven they can pitch in pressure situations. The youngsters in our bullpen will have solid role models to emulate.
1. I still find it interesting that A-Rod's name comes up when everybody else's results were anonymous. I don't know either way I will wait for all of the facts to come in before forming my opinion. If A-Rod had been using it is hard for me to tell his body hasn't changed much from day one. He really isn't much bigger now than he was as a rookie. I am not an A-Rod apologist I think he is a rat because of the way he whined himself out of Texas. I hope it is not true because he is probably going to break Bonds Homerun record some day soon. I would much rather A-Rod have that record than Bonds. Since he is a former Rangers Great.
2. At least we did sign him and then this happened in spring training. I still would sign him to a 2 year deal and have him healthy for next season. But this opens up an opportunity for a young picther to show what they can do. So for that I am excited to see what happens.
3. Wow. That is all I can say if this works out and Rudy can help him get his swing back. This might be the Free Agent signing of the year. I hope Andruw can at least be the player he was his last year with Atlanta 27 homeruns and 90 something RBI's I would take that in a heart beat with our lineup. I have always liked Andruw Jones. When healthy he is a hall-of-famer caliber player. Defense and hitting very good in his prime and maybe teamming up with Rudy will get him back to that level. I always have faith in Rudy. If he can't turn Jones around then nobody can.
4. If he starts hitting immediately from day one in spring training he should be the starting center fielder and move Josh to right field I like that. But we will have to see. I do think Andruw will make this team but I don't know if he will be starting in center field on opening day. I hope for hte Rangers sake he does play that well. That is a nice problem to have to many guys that can hit.
5. Bringing back Eddie was a good ove he pitched very well for the Rangers last season in a setup and closer role. So i like him back in the mix. Brendan Donnelly has been good in the past an hopefully a year after surgery he is ready to go again and can be the guy he was a few years ago he was nasty. So I don't think the additon of these 2 guys will hurt it can only help.
1. He's admitted to using banned substance as I write this, so yeah. I think it's an era tainted by banned and unheard of PED's and that it was and probably still is way more pervasive than those of us who love the game want to admit. I'm not absolving Alex of anything, but there were a lot more guys, and I'm sure many pitchers doing it as well. I still think the guy is the most talented ballplayer of my lifetime.
2. It would've been a bigger setback if they'd actually signed him. I'm totally fine with giving at least 3/5 of the rotations spots to young pitchers.
3. Maybe Rudy can fix his swing, but I don't think he's a CFer anymore. I don't think he's been a premium defender for several seasons now. Weight and bad knees have taken their toll.
4. No. CF will be manned by Josh Hamilton until Julio Borbon forces his way up in July/August.
5. Yes. I like Donnelly. I think he's got a better shot to make the team than Turnbow. I'd like to see a repeat performance out of Eddie. His shoulder and age are question marks, but I was all for bringing him back.
1) He cheated and i don't believe he has stopped. HGH isn't being tested for he probably has just changed to that.
2) Big if Sheets had been healthy then he helps the staff and the team.
3) Jones can be the RH DH all day long until he hits .204. Atlanta didn't just let him walk because of the money. He may be rejuvenated by playing DH. I will take Atlanta's assessment over ours anyday. I don't want anything interfering with Cruz's development. The guy performed at the end of last year and appears to have taken that next step. Don't mess it up.
4.) No DH, unless Jones has lost about 45 pounds he can't play CF out there.
5). If Donnelly is healthy he will help and i like Eddie.
Now on to the other issues: Hicks "betrayed" by A-Rod? Laughable to me. If A-Rod had of been the only Ranger player using then maybe i buy it that A-Rod "betrayed" him. As of this point, we are at ground zero and had a lot of Ranger players at the time using steroids. Canseco, Gonzalez, Pudge, Palmeiro and A-Rod. While it wasn't against Baseball's rules, it was and is against federal and state law to obtain a them illegally. Obviously there is no integrity in baseball. I personally want the names of the other 104 players that tested positive. I also want blood testing for HGH and stiffer suspensions. A-Rod is going to suffer for his bad choice and probably cost himself the hall of fame. Where is the sense of right and wrong? Integrity? Well it isn't against the rules so i will gain an advantage so i can make more money. These things just weren't done in the 50's and 60's we had a moral compass a sense of what was right and wrong. It wasn't if you won or lost but how you played the game. Sadly it seems that we are in a society, not just baseball, that functions on Stokely Carmichaels , Black Panther Mantra, "By any means necessary." At least Peter Edward Rose played to win. These guys just play for personal glory. I hope the Yankees never win. Why only release A-Rod's info? Just over two years ago, people were condemning Jose Canseco as a liar, and how he breached the clubhouse. Now Canseco may have done it for the money, but it darn sure reads now as non-fiction….
Last but not least, as a person who has attended interview and interrogation as a part of my job i will tell you this. In the school they teach you that one of the ways that you can tell if a person is being "deceptive", lying in my book, is that they will look down and to the left with their eyes when being questioned about a matter. If you watch A-Rod during this interview where he "reportedly" came clean. It is ridiculous how often he looks down to his left with his eyes. This is based on statistical data and is something that the police use as an indicator of deception. Another is the polygraph test. So maybe we can get him on the polygraph and see just how forthcoming he has been. I hit more homeruns than when i was on steroids, come on. I am sorry for my Texas years. Ha ha, ha. At least he is getting some good advice and trying to put this behind him. Since Hicks was so betrayed, how about suing A-Rod under his personal services clause and trying to get back $75 million dollars. Lets get it on…..
Anyone who is a Texas Ranger fan should be outraged by the crazy "confession" by Alex Rodriguez. First, d'god unless you know whether or not he is right/left brain dominate and you have established his behavioral norms, you cannot detect deception. But, Rodriguez was being deceptive by telling part of the truth. It's an old trick used by kids when they get into trouble. They give up as little info as they can get away with and they hope that makes the problem go away. His "confession" was very well planned and orchestrated most likely by the baseball antichrist.
What I don't like is him assigning all of this to the "Texas years". So in the 6 years at Seattle he never even heard of anyone using anything? He was naive? Playing stupid is another tool of deception. We do seem to be at ground zero but does anyone believe it's only the Rangers? He threw us under the bus and that really gets under my skin. It's all of baseball. Canseco, Clemens, Pettite, Giambi, and now A-Roid have all been implicated or admitted and they all played for the Yankees. That doesn't make the Yankees ground zero. It's all of MLB.
When he comes to Arlington this year, we need to show what we think by everyone getting up and walking to the concourse. Then, every time he touches a ball there should be a chorus of boos until the next pitch is thrown. The sad thing is, many are going to forgive him because he admitted what he did. However, he may have admitted, but he assigned responsibility elsewhere. He said that no one is to blame but himself, but that was after blaming everything including $252 million dollars. I'm left to ponder this one last question after watching Tom Hicks on the news. Why did he feel the need to "ask" Alex if he used performance enhancing substances? Mr. Hicks, you didn't make the money you have because you're that stupid. Obviously, you believe we are. The truth is right there for everyone to see. You simply have to listen to every spoken word.
Slippy, the facts are in….what say you now?
I meant walking to the concourse during every A-Rod at bat. (We still love to watch the game!) I would suggest standing and turning our backs, but that would present a safety issue for those in the foul ball zone. We fans really need to make a strong statement that we are tired of this. Can you imagine the news video of thousands of fans walking out during each A-Rod at bat? We could start a trend in ballparks throughout the nation. If there are any other "reasonable" suggestions of what we can do, count me in. For those wondering about the other 103, A-Rod has placed himself in the position to be the poster child. He has gained more than anyone else. Whatever I do would be to honor the Jim Sundbergs, Toby Harrahs, Buddy Bells, Steve Buecheles, Mark McLemores, etc. in MLB who played the game with fire, desire, and achieved to the best of their natural abilities.
Hefe, the sad thing about all of this is that none of these guys really needed performance enhancers. Okay, maybe Bret Boone did, but Ruben Sierra was a 5 tool stud before he "beefed" up. Palmeiro had a "sweet" swing. Juan Gonzalez was a stud. Pudge's bat was only a plus to his natural game changing defense. Canseco was still a 30-30 guy on his natural ability and Mcgwire was a prototypical power hitting first baseman, Barry Bonds, A-Rod, and so on and so on. We loved them without the juice. That is what is so sad about the needless destruction of the integrity of the MLB. Fire Bud Selig! Kinda makes me love our current group of Rangers all the more. I hope none of them lets us down. Blalock and Young are really the only two that could show up on the other 103 and break our hearts. Let's hope not.
In a comment I made earlier (pre-confession) on the A-Rod mess, I said that he put himself in this position. I'll stick by that. The whole "trying to live up" to the contract bit is at best a sophmoric attempt to disavow any real personal responsibility and to work the sympathy angle. People have seen enough of his style to see through that. What is sad though is this is never going to end, it will be talked about or mentioned by the opposition broadcast teams in every game he plays from now 'til he is done. Then we'll have the perennial "Should he be in the HOF/Asterisk?" drivel for at least 5 years.
Meanwhile, A-Rod enjoys the fruits of the contracts that pay him (gross) at a rate over 4 times the average annual US per capita Gross Domstic Product (GDP, 2007) per game.
What kind of message does that really send to the young players of tomorrow about PED's?
As for public displays of dispproval…
Everyone in the stadium should stop making any noise during his AB's. No talking, no music, no anything. Just a roaring silence. Even the NYY bandwagoneers will likely shut up just trying to figure out what is going on.
However, if I were an opposing manager…
Intentionally walk him every time he comes to the plate, regardless of the game situation. Kind of hard for him to pad those stats with no bat in his hands…
Ok I'm about to get on my soap-box and chase a rabbit-trail. It hacks me off when everybody just assumes that Juan Gonzalez did steroids. He never "blew up" like sosa, mcgwire, or bonds. His head never get bigger. He was at his biggest in 93 or 94 at the age of 23/24. There is absolutely nothing unusual about that as guys grow until the age of 25 all the time. And it's just as possible for a person to get big without steroids as it is for somebody like palmeiro to take steroids and have a stomach. Plus Gonzalez is a vegetarian for crying out loud. I'm sure many will claim that "steroids shortened his career" but many forget that Gonzalez almost never got signed as a 16 year old because he had a bad back then. Basically I'm sick of the general hate shown toward arguably the greatest player in franchise history. It's rather pitiful. Sure he was moody and misunderstood at times but nobody is perfect. Give the guy a break he had a terrible life growing up and basically watched his brother die from drug over-doses. Why would a guy like that do roids? He also built a pharmacy in Puerto Rico where he currently pays for anyone who can't afford it to have prescriptions filled. He's not the huge jerk that the local media constantly makes him out to be. Even the Rangers seem to refuse to acknowledge what he did for the franchise. All those banners hanging at the ballpark of current and former players…You're telling me Marlon Byrd is deserving of a banner, and Juan Gonzalez isn't? Seriously?
Even our lovely owner Tom Hicks felt the need to "call out" Gonzalez for taking steroids even though he has absolutely no proof. He also proceeded to claim that Gonzalez's 2 year 24 million deal for the 02 & 03 seasons was his "worst signing ever." Really Tom, ever heard of a guy named Chan-Ho Park? Let's see 24 million over 2 years to arguably the best player in franchise history or 65 million over 5 years for the Hoe. Hicks just took the low-rode because he knew Gonzalez would be an easy scape-goat. It's not like Gonzalez was going to give a statement regarding Hick's comments. Hicks knew it. Granted, Gonzalez was hurt for about half of those 2 years, but to hear Hicks talk, Gonzalez did absolutely nothing. In 03 Gonzalez finished with 24 HR 70 RBI and a .294 AVG in 82 games before getting hurt. He was easily on his way to another 40 HR 100 RBI season. If nothing else you owe the guy for what he did for the franchise. What Hicks did would be similar to the owner of the Astros coming out and saying that "Re-signing Jeff Bagwell was the dumbest thing I ever did." Bagwell made $18 million in 2005 and played in only 39 games and frankly was terrible. He did not even play in 2006 and he made over $19 million. Yet, you don't see that happening because Bagwell is loved and respected by his fans and owner. Something Tom Hicks obviously knows nothing about. All this does is show just how low Tom Hicks will go. The fact is without Gonzalez, the Rangers would have never made the playoffs ever. Like him or not, he deserves a little respect.
Ok, I'll get off my soap-box now.
I agree Juan Gonzalez was one of the Rangers best ever.
1. What is your reaction to the Alex Rodriguez news and do you believe that he was doing something wrong.
His wrong is playing for the Yankees. May the "Curse of the A-Rod" live on.
2. How big of a setback is that for the Rangers to lose Sheets after he agreed to a two-year deal?
3. What is your take on the signing of Andruw Jones?
Let us hope the Rangers have the same luck as with Sosa and Bradley. I would have gone for Adam Dunn.
4. Do you expect Jones to be the Rangers Opening Day center fielder. Yes or no.
5. Is the Rangers bullpen better off this week with the additions of Guardado and Donnelly.
Yes – now sign Jamey Wright.
gdawg, are you forgetting Gonzo's luggage going into Canada that neither he nor his "assistant" claimed? That wasn't his veggie shake in there. It was illegal substances. And, Juan Gonzalez did get huge. Take a look at all of his baseball cards. I don't remember anyone commenting on him being a gym rat at the time. Having a bad back is all the more motive to take something that might help a little. I will agree with you, Juan has always been misunderstood and the language barrier has been a big contributor to that.
You can't discount what any of these guys do in their communities. But, because he built a pharmacy, youth ballpark, or whatever, does that mean he is exempt from the things he was implicated in? I guess that means that it's okay to rob a bank or steal as long as you give part of the loot to a worthy cause. That may be an extreme example, but in my book, sin is sin. There is no scoreboard there. And, once again, he was going to be a great player without performance enhancers. And, I'm afraid you are right, without the enhanced Senor Octubre, our Rangers probably still don't have pennants to fly. All the more sad for us long suffering fans.
ssarltx, I love that idea. A deafening silence and we don't even have to leave our seats. I'm in!
I'm left to wonder, would the south winds at Arlington Stadium have turned 20-25 homeruns a year from Jeff Burroughs into fly outs if Jeff had been juicing? Maybe we could've had our pennant sooner and the late Joe Lovitto would've become all we wanted him to be. Sorry, more sarcasm from a very frustrated fan.
I'm as big a fan of Juan's as there is, but to think he didn't juice is very naive. Honestly, I believe PED's should be legalized and regulated. This levels the playing field, makes it safer for the athletes, while not allowing only the cheaters to prosper. There are plenty of medical reports that show steroids cycled properly are not as dangerous as the public is led to believe. It appears the steroids were readily available in most clubhouses as Alex pointed out, not just a problem in Arlington. Be completely honest, if there were no testing for steroids, steroids were readily available, and it was evident that steroids have helped many a career, that you wouldn't do steroinds as well. As they say, if you're not cheating, you're not trying.
ghoang, if they are legalized, where does that leave the guys who choose not to use anything beyond their natural abilities? I wish I could give you an example of one, but in this era, we just don't know. But, if they are legalized, don't we create an environment in which if you want to play MLB, you have to juice to keep up with everyone else? I don't like that at all. I think of guys like Bud Harrelson and Fred Patek. Great role player shortstops who could not even break a major league roster today if they were in their prime. The different types of players give the game its unique personality. I say let's try and keep the game chemical free.
There were 750 players (30 teams X 25 players per team) in 2003. 104 of those 750 tested positive, that means 13 % of the league was using performance enhancers. Assuming that was spread among the 30 teams that means each team had 3.5 players on each team if we shared it equally. That is a pretty huge number. Now granted it wasn't against baseballs rules at the time. So no harm, no foul right????? It is our own fault for glamorizing and putting these people up on a pedestal. The sad truth is that people with money have a different set of rules than we do. While A-Rod is gonna suffer publicly and probably won't make the hall of fame. He can comfort himself with that 500 + million that he is going to have made over the life of his career. Baseball both the union and the league need to release the other 103 and start testing for HGH and anything else. It is ridiculous that MLB doesn't protect its records and statistics. It is what made the game great. Bonds cheated and now has Aaron's home run record, soon A-Rod will have it, what does it mean? Nothing. We are going to be looking at a hall of fame that doesn't have the all-time hits leader, and hr leader inside. I choose to believe that A-Rod has just moved onto HGH. He hit 54 home runs in 2007 and won his second MVP. What was he on then? Those numbers are pretty similar to some in Texas where he said he was using Steroids.
A-Rod's argument that he didn't get much bigger has no weight. He was reportedly using a steroid that didn't bulk him up. In other words he could conceal the fact that he was using it. He should just admit that hey i am a competitor and was looking for an advantage. I am sorry now and me and Sylvester Stalone are now taking HGH which is not being tested for. When they tell me they are going to test for that, then all i have to say is get a warrant. You are violating my search and seizure rights and right to privacy. If he really wants to come clean then lets go have a serum blood test, a urine test, a sample of the hair, then and only then will i believe he is clean. The hardest part for him is the fact that people know. He has cultivated an image well that just is that an image that just isn't the truth. A-Fraud get it?
sullivanian, thanks for your response. I agree with you that if he did use steroids than it was wrong. I'm not saying that building a pharmacy and what-not makes up for that. But according to what I have read and researched regarding the Toronto incident in 2001, The Indians and MLB looked into the matter and nothing was ever proven. Gonzalez claimed the bag was his assistants (Presinal), while Presinal claimed the bag was Gonzalez's. Presinal, however, refuted that the bag contained steroids. According to Angel Presinal, the bag contained Soladek, (a painkiller) Dolo-neurobion, (a vitamin B complex used in fighting the flu,) and Clenbuterol, (a stimulant similar to ephedrine, which is believed within the bodybuilding community to promote muscle tone and weight loss.) According to what I have read, these were legal at the time, but are now illegal in baseball. Presinal claimed these were available over the counter in the Dominican, and they are in fact available without a prescription in Puerto Rico. According to what I have read it was never proven that the bag did indeed contain steroids. And I realize that Gonzalez was bigger in 92-94 (he was in his early twenties) then in the rest of his career but he was not Sosa, McGwire, or Bonds big. He's a naturally big guy, and he also never had any jumps or drop-offs in his statistics. And actually I have read before that he worked out quite a bit. I guess I'm just old-fashioned in that I would like people to be perceived as innocent until proven guilty.
Hicks should sue for the $75 million that he paid that would be a way to get A-Fraud's attention. Baseball should initiate full body physical, blood serum, hair any and everything they can to the players. The integrity of the game is at stake. No integrity=No game. Soon and very soon a time is coming when people are going to start doing other things than worshipping athletes. I love sports, but i have grown tired of cheaters. I know Baseball isn't the only sport that does this Football just manages itself better. Steroids is probably more of an issue in football than in Baseball, but you just don't hear that much about it. Baseball should at this point test all 104 that are still in the game for HGH that is the popular one now…..
Call and ask one of Gonzalez's 10 ex-wives, i am sure one of them will tell you if he used steroids. The bottom line is in the good ole U.S. of A. you are innocent until proven guilty. Nevertheless, i will tell you their are a lot of guilty people walking the streets to day, because of several factors. Principally because they have money… See O.J. Simpson who was guilty as hell of double homicide but nevertheless walked on that charge. So just because someone wasn't convicted of something doesn't mean that well they aren't. Money talks and bull caca walks…as my papi likes to say…. Everthing is up for negotiation, trade especially if you have the cash. I didn't use to believe that but after 15 years as a police officer i believe it, i have seen it and well it is the way of the world. This A-Rod thing is just something that is gonna make that SI writer's career. Nothing will be done to A-Rod other than he probably doesn't make the hof. He probably doesn't care maybe he McGwire, Canseco, Bonds and Rose can open a restaurant called Cheaters and Bettors. He can write a book called how i made more in one day than you did in 30 years at SI. Or maybe he should just buy SI and fire that woman. He should definitely sue for releasing his medical records. But alas he won't because he wants it to go away, but it won't.
If you listen to the media the world is ending we are in a great depression and all are about to lose our jobs and starve to death. Then on the other hand their are sports figures that make $25 Million @ year are able to inject themselves with drugs that help them to perform. Maybe we will be able to eat these athletes once the caca hits the fan. Would it be safe to eat or i would i get manroid like madcow?????
And if hicks is so appalled by steroid use, why did he sign Donnelly, didn't he test positive. Why acquire Hamilton? I am ten times more appalled by illicit drugs i.e. Cocaine. Where was his apathy when he signed Steve Howe? Rocker? The Texas Ranger players weren't the only ones using steroids, but who is overseeing watching. Have some freaking integrity. If you now something is going on and turn a blind eye because it isn't against the rules, but is against the law then you are just as guilty. I do not believe for one second that Baseball didn't know, that Hicks didn't know. Alex put butts in seats and if he would have brought a title here, it wouldn't matter. So save it, Hicks and these other owners didn't get rich by being naive, they are smart. Hicks knew what was going on and if you believe that he didn't then well that is more of a problem than if he did. He has always prided himself on being an involved owner and i just don't believe that he didn't know. We are in a day and age when well you just can't believe what people say. The fact that A-Rod said he didn't know what he was taking is a "lie" he knew exactly what he was doing. He is an adult. I had a lot of pressure on me, bull… Your contract is guaranteed. If you broke both legs and never played another inning you would have gotten every dime. So it is hicks fault for giving you that $25 million a year. Well since you feel so guilty how about sending that 75 million for the three years plus the 21 million for the other three million back to us that is 96 million? Sounds like financial flexibility hickie.
I have enjoyed the chance to vent on this frustrating subject and I do respect everyone's opinion. But, could we please drop the "innocent until proven guilty" blanket? That factor only applies to civil or criminal litigation which none of us are engaged in. This is the court of public opinion where anything reasonable flies. These guys were innocent until they injected or ingested. When you work in a high profile job and you live in a glass house like these well paid ballplayers are, it's part of the program. It's not unlike d'god's profession in that they are held to a somewhat higher standard. And at the very least, if it quacks like a duck, walks like a duck, and hangs out with other ducks……..well, you know the rest. With all of the creativity that flows on this blog, I would love to hear some other ideas of civil disobedience in the ballpark. So far, ssarltx has the best idea in my opinion. A very peaceful display of our dissatisfaction with the status quo. Maybe all those watching on T.V. could flush their toilets during every A-Rod at bat.
I agree with d'god about Hicks suing A-Rod. That would be a hoot, but I don't think Mr. Hicks has the cahoneys to do it and MLB probably has something in place that would prevent such a thing. But it was a good idea and fun to think about.
Sullivanian, my point on the legalization of steroids is that it levels the playing field for all and is not just an advantage for cheaters. Anyone who even breaks into the majors has more talent than I can ever imagine. Great players will be great no matter whether they cheat or not. Simply taking steroids does not make you a great player. This is why you have never heard of most of the guys who have actually been punished for taking steroids. As for the tests performed in 2003, 104 players failed which to me means 104 players were not smart enough to take things that cannot be detected or are not smart enough to cycle off before getting tested. I'm pretty sure the percentage of cheaters is much higher, at least 50%. This is backed by those that have admitted to using.
ghoang, to me, that's like saying we have a lot of people stealing flat screen t.v.'s and it's not fair to those who don't have them. So, to level the playing field, we are going to allow all t.v. watchers to steal their t.v.'s.
I'll respectfully disagree with you and say that taking performance enhancers makes a great player greater.
So, if they are legalized, at what level should one start using in order to get on that level playing field? Little league, high school, college, A, AA, AAA?
In my opinion, legalization of performance ehancers is a "give up". There is right and there is wrong. Any achievement should be based on one's "natural" ability coupled with hard work. We've all see the guys who have the tools but don't want to put in the commitment it takes to succeed. Why give those guys an extra option by doping. It's just not right. We will respectfully disagree on that point.
Maybe A-Rod turned because he knew how much better he was than the other superstars based on his natural talent. Then, when they were matching his numbers by enhancing themselves, maybe he felt the need to participate to stay ahead of them. Personally, I think he's just a rat and a sorry egotistical individual but I don't mind playing the devil's advocate for just once.
In criminal court you are innocent til proven guilty their must be probable cause for your arrest. In civil court it is based on a "PREPONDERANCE OF THE EVIDENCE." Both of these are moot because A-ROD "CONFESSED" after being confronted with the evidence. It is my opinion that he got some good legal advice from Boras who advised him to go public and put it "behind" him. I like A-Rod as a human being and there were 103 others that were also doing it. That doesn't excuse it, but i would like to see the other names. I have a sneaky suspicion that a couple of other current Rangers may be on it. The bottom line is A-Rod made a conscious decision to do this and even though he didn't hurt anyone but himself he is going to suffer severely for what he has done. Buy hey, if Kobe can recover from the alleged sexual assault then A-Rod has a chance to rebound. I choose to believe that A-Rod and others have moved on to HGH which isn't being tested for. Baseball needs to get serious about testing for everything. They need to tell these players you have 3 months to get clean then we are going to test you. If you test positive, you are suspended without pay. Then if it happens again, you are suspended for life without pay. Now if this happened to A-Rod he wouldn't be hurt he is a gazillion aire. But at this point all we have is public disgrace which means something to that guy and others or they wouldn't be hiding it in the first place.
D'god, I hate to get into this with you, but in both civil and criminal courts, one is innocent until proven guilty. You are referring to the "burden of proof" required by the accuser. I'm not sure where you were going with that. My previous statement was addressing responses to accusations against more players than A-Rod i.e. Juan Gonzalez who hasn't confessed. But anyway, let's talk baseball. I'm looking at a possible lineup of:
C. Davis -1b
Kinsler -2b
D. Murphy -LF
J. Hamilton -CF
N. Cruz -RF
If Andruw Jones lights it up in Spring Training, who does he push? I argued that moving Young to 3rd was better than moving him to 2nd and Kinsler to 3rd. If Jones is successful, (mind you, a good problem to have….maybe), we could see three position changes in the OF i.e. Hamilton to RF, Cruz or Murphy traded and the other to LF, Jones to CF. At best, Andruw Jones is just passing through so I don't see it as very prudent to cause the Rangers to have to trade someone or shuffle the entire outfield for a short term solution. And, if he is a 5th outfielder, I don't think he would be happy with that. And then there is Marlon Byrd. Someone has some tough decisions to make and they had better be right. Besides, Murphy is the new "Rusty Greer" type and I like him in left and I want to see a full season of Nelson Cruz unless he reverts back to his old ways then I'll be satisfied if he's gone by the All Star break. I guess Andruw is a cheap insurance policy since we don't have anyone ready in the minors.
I don't think Andruw will push anybody unless it's out of the way for the buffet line, but IF he's a starter I think he pushes Murphy. The lineup is overly lefthanded. I like Murphy, but the Greer comp is a little much. Murphy needs to be more selective if he's going to play everyday. Greer was an on base all the time. That's why he was a good 3 hole. Not only could he hit well, but he was on base for the power guys behind him.
You are right sullivanian, but again it is a moot point. Because he "confesssed" and there isn't going to be trial. I wish baseball would just put the rest of the 103 names out there and say testing for everyone including the test for HGH. There needs to be some peer pressure to not use. Sadly their is too much money or at least in the past there was. If A-Rod is hitting 25 to 30 HR's a year and is clean is he making 25 Million a year? Probably not. As a police officer for 15 years let me get cynical here with a dose of my reality. It is my experience when people get caught for committing any offense they are apologetic and remorseful. They do this to garner sympathy in hopes of avoiding a sentence or getting probation. So A-Rod took the road of many criminals and make no mistake about the fact that he possessed and purchased steroids which is a federal and state crime. So he is a criminal, he didn't get the stuff for free. Now having said all that, the fact that he just got outed and won't make the hall of fame is punisment enough for me. Once he is done he will be ostracized as Clemens is. So who now is the #1 boy for the game Texiera? Hamilton?
Jones is gonna DH if he hits in Spring Training. If you believe TR then if he has anything left he is gonna play center field and Hamilton is gonna play right. I personally believe Hamilton's future is in right field and don't have a problem with him playing over there occasionally to get some rest, but, I don't like this one iota, if it is permanent, because afterall Cruz is the player we had to have in order to give away Cordero, remember? Cruz did well in his fall stay with us, i for one think it looks like he took the next step. To do anything to interfere with him playing everyday is COUNTERPRODUCTIVE! Give him a chance. Unless Jones has lost 45 pounds he can't roam our center field. I would rather see Murphy, Byrd, Borbon or Gholson out there. The bottom line is our offense isn't going to be the problem. This team is going to go as far as its pitching staff carries it. Remember we needed two starters and two relievers. There quotes not mine. We may have gotten the two relievers if Turnbow or Donnelly are healthy. But we didn't get those two starters. But hey maybe we hit on a couple of pitchers from within. Feldman, McCarthy and Nippert for two spots with the other in the bullpen isn't bad. Besides McCarthy is further along than Danks was, ha ha ha ha. What a joke.
1. He took a banned substance. I don't care what "the culture" was. Avoid peer pressure maybe? Thats what they tell you when you're a kid. Make better decisions Alex.
2. Huge. I was so pumped about that. Hopefully they can still reach an agreement. That was the worst blue balls ever.
3. Don't really care. He's fat and broken down. If he can regain anything good. If not, head to Kansas City.
4. If he isn't fat.
5. Absolutely.


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The Tucumcari Rattlers culminated their week of basketball with a homecoming win against the Estancia Bears on Friday.
Contributing to the final score of 52-41, Nathan McDonald led the Rattlers with 15 points.
To kick off the game, the Rattlers started fast scoring 14 unanswered points.
Defensively, the Rattlers held the Bears scoreless until 1:53 remaining in the first period.
In the second period the Rattlers continued to dominate, outscoring the Bears 14-6 and taking a 32-14 lead into the intermission.
Clawing back in the third period the Bears were able to outscore the Rattlers 17-9.
The final period had each team exchanging basket after basket until the Rattlers ended the homecoming festivities with a win.
Drew White scored 12 points and was the second leading scorer for the Rattlers.
Estancia was led by David Ortiz with 10 points, followed by his brother Daniel Ortiz with 7 points.
The homecoming victory comes in the wake of Tuesday's defeat by Santa Rosa in the "Lion Den," with a final score of 70-45.
In varsity action the Rattlers held a 16-13 lead at the end of the first period. The second period stayed close as the Lions hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer to go down 24-26 at intermission.
The second half had the Rattlers come out cold and the Lions coming out hotter than a firecracker on the fourth of July, outscoring the Rattlers 46-19 in the final two periods. Jeremy Lopez had 12 points and Nathan McDonald added 11 points for the Rattlers in the defeat.
The Lions' Joey Urban led all scorers with 23 points and Daniel Zamora hit for 17 points, handing the Rattlers their second district loss of the season.
In the junior varsity game the Rattlers were defeated 66-51.
The Rattlers were down 36-31 at intermission but were outscored 19-6 in the third period.
There inability to recover led to defeat by the Lions.
D.J. Martinez led the Rattlers with 12 points followed by Gabriel Anaya with 10 points. Brian Munis led the Lion attack with 15 points and Luke Sena added 14 points.
Next up for the Rattler boys are the Red Devils in Springer today and the Demons in Dexter on Tuesday for non-district games.

subset: commoncrawl


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A 30-9 halftime lead, including a 24-point run, helped Paw Paw hold on for the win.
Chloe Salman led Paw Paw with 15 points, followed by Jessica Beebe, 14.
Tara Gloystein led Vicksburg with 13 points.
Vicksburg grabbed an early 9-8 lead before Paw Paw's long streak.
"We had an early lead and then they shut us out," said Vicksburg coach Mary Marchese, whose team fell to 2-1 overall. "We didn't score the entire second quarter. It was just a lot of mistakes.
"Too many mental errors and we just couldn't make a shot."
Paw Paw coach Gary Mitchell enjoyed his team's big first half.
"This was our best half of the year," said Mitchell, whose team improved to 3-0. "We had 17 steals in the first half, 23 for the game. We're small, but we're fast, and the pressure right from the start helped us to get that lead.
"We got a little tentative in the second half. We took some not so good shots and they came back, but we held our composure at the end. I told the girls at halftime that we have to watch them...they are a good team that will come back."
Vicksburg had a rally of its own in the second half, outscoring Paw Paw 31-19 to climb back in.
"It was a tale of two halves," Marchese said. "We had an incredible comeback with a valiant effort and came within six points twice in the fourth quarter.
"We continued to move in the right direction, but I think we ran out of time in the end. We were just finally beginning to build momentum in the fourth quarter and a tempo that we could control."


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I've been doing a weightlifting program for about 2 years, from which I'd taken a 4 month hiatus over the summer. When my husband and I returned to the gym in the fall, we realized that we'd both lost a noticeable amount of muscle and we kind of felt like we were starting from scratch, which was very disillusioning. Due to his health issues, we've only been doing weights once a week, and I was kind of worried that I'd never get back to where I was pre-summer.
Enter Baptiste Power Vinyasa Yoga (in a heated 90 degree room).
After 1.5 months of doing these yoga classes 5x/week (75 minutes per class), my back musculature is better than it EVER was at my best (after a year and a half of weightlifting).
My husband saw me doing some assisted chin-ups yesterday and was so shocked at how great the muscles in my back looked that he took a video on his iphone to show me. Last week, I even spotted the vague presence of visible abs, which I've never had in my life.
All yoga is not the same. Some forms are more gentle and restorative. And other types push you to your limit in a way that most people don't associate with yoga.
Just had to put another yoga plug out there because I'm really floored to be seeing these kind of results from yoga, which I'd always thought of as something that mainly focused on flexibility and balance.


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Oswego, NY -- Patricia Oughterson who has been principal at Oswego High School for just one year, will resign effective Friday.
Superintendent William Crist said the school board will accept her resignation at the regular meeting Aug. 24. There also will be discussion that evening concerning a successor "so a qualified individual will be in place for the start of the school year."
Crist said Oughterson is leaving because "she has some recent personal circumstances that require her attention."
"On behalf of the Oswego community and Board of Education, I thank Mrs. Oughterson for her service to our district, albeit a short period as it were. She demonstrated a passion for improving the lives of children in our community through programs for students and a genuine and professional drive for student achievement. I personally thank her for the leadership she demonstrated and certainly wish her well in any future endeavors in both her personal and professional life."
Oughterson, of Oswego, was the second female principal in the high school's history. Ruth Raby was principal from 1964-65.
Oughterson previously worked as assistant principal at Santa Fe High School in Santa Fe, N.M., and as high school principal in Espanola, N.M. She also has held several other positions related to research data, accountability, testing and human resources.
She has a bachelor's degree in English from the State University College at Oswego and a master's degree in education from the University of New Mexico. She did her student teaching at Oswego High School in 1979.


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Staten Island's North Shore got the overwhelming nod.
The neighborhood most frequently mentioned was Port Richmond, for go-to ices at Ralph's and pizza at Denino's, both on Port Richmond Avenue. "You certainly cannot go wrong ending your day at Denino's and dessert at Ralph's," wrote tomko44.
Snug Harbor Cultural Center and Botanical Garden in Livingston followed next in popularity, with Historic Richmond Town on the East Shore right behind.
"Walk along the promenade to Postcards (the September 11 memorial on the St. George esplanade), and then on to Snug Harbor," posted jcp73. "The Healing Garden, the Tuscan Garden, the (Carl Grillo) greenhouse, and all of the buildings shouldn't be missed."
MORE: Check out our series on Staten Island Gems
Beyond these well-known venues, readers also cited the Tibetan Museum on Lighthouse Hill, and the boardwalk at South Beach as must-see places, along with the Staten Island Zoo in West Brighton, Alice Austen House in Rosebank, and the historic Conference House in Tottenville.
Don't overlook Midland Beach, wrote babydots. "LaRocca's for wheat pizza, and some ices, then a walk on the boardwalk into Gateway (Miller Field) to look at the gardens or watch a game."
"We had a houseguest visit us from Italy, who happened to be a musician," writergal posted. "The first place he wanted to see was Mandolin Brothers (on Forest Avenue in West Brighton, home to a world-renowned selection of guitars and string instruments), to check out the banjos and guitars. He said he had read about the place on the Internet, and was impressed that George Harrison (of Beatles fame) had visited."
An old saloon on Richmond Terrace in New Brighton received a few shout-outs. "Liedy's Shore Inn on a Saturday night," wrote ellenloeb. "I take friends from Manhattan there," added amazonbarbie. "I usually tell them, 'You know where the beautiful people go ... this ain't it.' But I'd rather go where the real people go."
"Sandy Ground Historical Society is also a great place, not mentioned yet," posted 2funnySI.
"I'd also suggest a Yankee game, then a visit to Philips candy store on Barrett Avenue (in Port Richmond) for an egg cream," wrote sluggO.
Other salutes included the Carousel for All Children in Willowbrook; St. George Theatre; trails throughout the Island's Greenbelt; Mount Manresa, the Jesuit retreat center in Fort Wadsworth; Royal Crown bakery and cafe, and Lee's Tavern in Dongan Hills.
The few negative comments included this one from smg1062: "Ferry terminal -- to show them how human cattle behave while boarding a boat."


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The Detroit Red Wings will rely on Janik, a stay-at-home defenseman, to move the puck out of the zone quickly, kill penalties and provide a physical presence.
"He can help us defensively, especially on the (penalty kill), being in shooting lanes,'' Nicklas Lidstrom said. "We need guys who can play steady defense.''
The Red Wings, riding a three-game winning streak, have allowed only eight goals in their past five games and have killed 31 of their past 32 shorthanded situations.
Janik (6-foot-1, 215) has been the top defenseman this season for the Grand Rapids Griffins. His lone game as a Red Wing was a 2-0 win against Boston on Nov. 3.
On Thursday night, he'll face one of his former teams, Tampa Bay, at Joe Louis Arena. Janik played in 136 of his 162 career NHL games with the Lightning from 2006-07 to '07-08.
"It's nice to come up here when you're feeling good about yourself and your game,'' Janik said. "I just try to play steady, take care of defense first and move the puck out. That's what I'll try to do here.''
Center Kris Newbury, recalled from Grand Rapids on Monday to replace Darren Helm, said of Janik: "He's real steady, good defensively. He's one of our leaders down there. He's a big guy in front, so he's very strong. He's very strong on the puck as well. He likes to block shots, clears the puck when he can.''
Janik hopes to maximize his opportunity while Ericsson is out. Ericsson limped around Wednesday on his swollen left knee, which he can't bend. He is projected to be out at least two weeks, but that might be overly optimistic.
"Doctors said it's hard to say a time on these things,'' Ericsson said.
He feels fortunate the injury isn't more serious, after a check from Phoenix's Shane Doan resulted in an inadvertent but nasty-looking knee-on-knee collision. There is no damage to the ligaments.
Ericsson said the hit was clean. He was impressed that Doan contacted him through a trainer to see how he is doing.
"I appreciate those kind of things,'' Ericsson said. "Even though it wasn't a dirty hit, he was still worried. I kind of respect him more as a player right now. He's concerned about me after what happened.''
Injured trio on ice
Center Valtteri Filppula skated with the team for the first time since he broke his right wrist on Oct. 29. He's not cleared for contact drills but believes he'll be ready to play shortly after Christmas.
"First time shooting the puck, it felt surprisingly good,'' Filppula said. "Just wrist shots. Trying to get the strength back, get the motion all the way back.''
Defenseman Niklas Kronwall (sprained left MCL) and forward Johan Franzen (torn left ACL) skated briefly after practice, the first time either has been on the ice since getting hurt. Kronwall is due back in early to mid-January, Franzen after the Olympic break in early March.
"It was a step in the right direction, just got to keep focusing on getting the knee stronger,'' Kronwall said. "I can still feel it's a little weak and a little loose, just not there yet to compete in practice.''
Franzen saw some injured teammates on the ice and couldn't resist.
"I don't know if I'm supposed to be skating around out there,'' Franzen said. "It felt good, so I wanted to get out there. Skated around with the puck a little bit. I wanted to smell the ice and feel my stick.''
Babcock isn't focused on when the injured players will return.
"If we're waiting for them, we're not making the playoffs,'' Babcock said. "So our attitude is just find a way to win every night. I think guys have done a real good job with that, played really hard, given us a chance. That's all you can ask for. We're hanging in there.''
Helm questionable for Lightning
Helm didn't practice Wednesday, due to the strained tendon in his left wrist that idled him on Monday. He is questionable for Thursday.
"I felt a lot better than I did on Monday, (but) there's no point in pushing it and making it worse,'' Helm said. "I'll probably get on the ice (Thursday), and if it feels good I'll play, if not then get some more rest.''
He said he's not worried that the injury will linger.
Howard to start
Jimmy Howard, 9-4 in his last 13 games, will start Thursday, despite Chris Osgood's 17-0-0 lifetime record against the Lightning.
"Howard's playing really well. He's given us a chance every single night,'' Babcock said. "This business is all about you're rewarded for your effort and how you're playing.''


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Archive for Annecy
art brutPosted in pictures, Travel with tags Annecy, Burgundy, France, sunrise, TGV, train on December 24, 2013 by xi'an
Path storage in the particle filterPosted in Books, Kids, Statistics, Travel, University life with tags Annecy, parallel processing, particle filter, PhD students, Rao-Blackwellisation, Statisfaction, train on July 24, 2013 by xi'an
In the train to Annecy, I read the recently arXived paper by my former PhD student Pierre Jacob (now at NUS), along with Lawrence Murray (Perth), and Sylvain Rubenthaler (Nice), where they obtain precise degeneracy rates of the regular particle filter applied to hidden Markov models with a compact observation space, precise enough to consider storing the entire paths at a linear occupancy rate. Interestingly, the distance to the most common ancestor is of order N log N, if N is the number of particles. And the number of nodes is O(N log N) as well. This means indeed that the whole paths can be stored, which offers a lot of potential in terms of Rao-Blackwellisation and parallelisation. I was first bemused by a silly misunderstanding about the purpose of the algorithm: it is directed at inference at the current time index, not over the whole past and not over the parameters of the model for, else how could we consider the algorithm has converged when it degenerates to a single path at some finite horizon the past? Pierre has also written a further comment of the paper on Statistfaction.
9th IMACS seminar on Monte Carlo Methods, AnnecyPosted in Mountains, pictures, R, Running, Statistics, Travel, University life with tags Alps, Annecy, IMACS, Lac d'Annecy, Leuven, MCQMC, Monte Carlo methods, quasi-Monte Carlo methods, R, Savoie, trail running on July 18, 2013 by xi'an
As astute 'Og's readers may have gathered (!), I am now in Annecy, Savoie, for the 9th IMACS seminar on Monte Carlo Methods. Where I was kindly invited to give a talk on ABC. IMACS stands for "International Association for Mathematics and Computers in Simulation" and the conference gathers themes and sensibilities I am not familiar with. And very few statisticians. For instance, I attended a stochastic particle session that had nothing to do with my understanding of particle systems (except for Pierre Del Moral's mean field talk). The overall focus seems to stand much more around SDEs and quasi-Monte Carlo methods. Both items for which I have a genuine interest but little background, so I cannot report much on the talks I have attended beyond reporting their title. I for instance discovered the multilevel Monte Carlo techniques for SDEs, which sounds like a control variate methodology to reduce the variance w/o reducing the discretisation step. (Another instance is that the proceedings will be published in Mathematics and Computers in Simulation or Monte Carlo Methods and Applications. Two journals I have never published in.) Although I have yet a few months before attending my first MCQMC conference, I presume this is somehow a similar spirit and mix of communities.
At another level, attending a conference in Annecy is a blessing: the city is beautiful, the lake pristine and tantalising in the hot weather, and the surrounding mountains (we are actually quite close to Chamonix!) induce me to go running on both mornings and evenings.


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CANNES, France -- The Associated Press is all over the Cannes Film Festival -- from its glitzy premieres to the celeb parties and quirky moments in between. Here's what reporters have seen and heard:
AWARD-WINNING DIRECTOR LAMBASTS SEXISM IN CINEMA: Jane Campion, the only female director in Cannes Film Festival history to win the Palme d'Or, threw a punch at the male-dominated film industry during Cannes' inaugural jury press conference.
"There is inherent sexism in the industry. ... It does feel very undemocratic," said Campion, this year's jury president, sitting alongside jury members Wednesday including director Sofia Coppola and actors Gael Garcia Bernal and Willem Dafoe.
"Excuse me, gentlemen. It's not that I resent the male filmmakers ... but there are some things that women are doing that we don't get to know about ... a more feminine vision," she said, adding that only 7 percent of 1,800 entries submitted to the Cannes Film Festival were directed by women.
But the "Piano" director from New Zealand, who's known for her good humor, dispelled the tensions at one point.
"My big problem is: What to wear? That's everyone's problem at the Cannes Film Festival. There's a very high bar."
Campion won the Palme d'Or, the festival's top honor, in 1993 for "The Piano."
-- By Thomas Adamson
BLAKE LIVELY FOR THE WINNING LOOK: Blake Lively stunned crowds at the Cannes opening of "Grace of Monaco" in Gucci Premiere, wearing a beautifully constructed shoulder-less, two-tone bordeaux silk chiffon bustier dress.
The daring slit down the "Gossip Girl" star's floor-length fluttery pleated skirt exposed a toned left leg and drew attention away from the fact that the gown's color slightly clashed with the bright red carpet. Lively is at Cannes as a L'Oreal ambassador and as the better half of actor Ryan Reynolds, whose film "Captives" is competing for the Palme d'Or.
-- By Thomas Adamson
KIDMAN'S SUCCESS HAS COME WITH PERSONAL LOWS: Nicole Kidman has never had to make the choice that Grace Kelly did, quitting acting to begin another life as Princess of Monaco. But she's rarely found equilibrium in her career and personal life.
"When I won the Oscar, I went home and I didn't have (love) in my life," said Kidman, who won best actress for "The Hours" in 2003, two years after she and Tom Cruise were divorced. "That was the most intensely lonely experience in my life."
Kidman stars as Kelly in "Grace of Monaco," which premiered Wednesday as the opener of the Cannes Film Festival. In it, she plays Kelly following her marriage to Prince Rainier of Monaco (Tim Roth) as she adjusts to royal life and severs ties with Hollywood.
"Strangely for me, the greatest highs have coincided with the greatest lows," Kidman said. "So (during) my professional highs a lot of times I've had personal lows and they've collided. That's always aggravated me that it's gone that way. I'm hoping one day I can have a professional high and a personal high."
Kidman said she drew from her own life to empathize with Kelly, although their husbands are very different.
"I am married to a prince," said Kidman, who wed Keith Urban in 2006. "A country prince."
-- By AP Film Writer Jake Coyle
MONACO ROYALS LEAVE RIVIERA AS 'GRACE' ARRIVES: After lambasting "Grace of Monaco" for inaccurately portraying his late mother Princess Grace, Prince Albert is putting distance between himself and the red carpet premiere of the movie at the Cannes Film Festival.
Albert and Princess Charlene are dodging the storm by leaving Monaco, just a stone's throw from Cannes, and going on an official visit to the French Auvergne region town of Carlades, about 560 kilometers (nearly 350 miles) away. It's an old fiefdom of the Monegasque royal family.
Earlier this month, the Prince's Palace issued yet another communique opposing the Nicole Kidman film -- saying that it "cannot under any circumstances be classified as a biopic."
"The trailer appears to be a farce and confirms the totally fictional nature of this film," Palace officials said.
Perhaps the royal couple will lose no sleep over skipping the opening. "Grace of Monaco" was met with some of the worst reviews for a Cannes opener after screening for the press early Wednesday.
-- By Thomas Adamson
RAZING THE CANNES FESTIVAL "BUNKER"?: The eyes of Italian film icon Marcello Mastroianni stare out cooly behind sunglasses on the huge poster across the Cannes Film Festival's sprawling 1970s-style building. But if the event's outgoing president had his wish, it would be plastered on a different structure.
Gilles Jacob has stirred controversy by calling the red-carpeted, white retro complex -- which has been hosting the festival for four dazzling decades -- anything but "cool."
Speaking to local media this week, Jacob called the 1979 behemoth "ill-adapted" and too dated for the needs of the world's most glamorous film festival, and suggested that the "bunker" be razed.
He proposed a more modern building to secure the prestige of the festival, which has hosted more than 67 years of cinema's most famous stars.
"We're therefore asking for a Grand Palace to be built ... that's befitting of the world's No. 1 cultural event," Jacob said.
Not everyone agrees with his assessment. Cannes' mayor, David Lisnard, has defended the festival hall, saying it's fit for its purpose and will stay put. The city has the final say on its fate.
-- By Thomas Adamson
TARANTINO WILL BID CANNES ADIEU: Quentin Tarantino will close out the Cannes Film Festival with a tribute to Sergio Leone.
Tarantino will present a restored version of Leone's "A Fistful of Dollars" (1964) at the May 24 closing ceremony. It will screen as part of a 50th anniversary celebration of the Spaghetti Western, a favorite genre of Tarantino's.
Usually, the Palme d'Or winner is screened at the Cannes closing ceremony, but this year's schedule has been tweaked because of European elections. The Palme d'Or winner will be shown May 25 instead.
Tarantino won the Palme d'Or for "Pulp Fiction" in 1994.
-- By AP Film Writer Jake Coyle


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BIRMINGHAM, Alabama -- When Michael Wilson sets out to do something, he tends to go all out.
The Glen Iris Elementary School principal's latest project is an outdoor classroom for his students. But not just any outdoor classroom; this one, when completed, will have a butterfly garden, a pizza garden, fruit trees, rain barrels, a water feature, raised beds, turtles, birds and possibly even rabbits.
In all, the project will be worth about $200,000, and the school hasn't raised anywhere near that amount.
But Wilson isn't worried. He just keeps reminding himself that when you need help, you ask for it. And he's asking businesses, corporations, individuals and neighborhood leaders.
"Our kids deserve the best," he said. "They don't deserve half; they don't deserve mediocre. They deserve the best, so that's what we want to give them."
Wilson has raised $5,000 so far, with commitments for an additional $10,000 to $15,000. He said the school will do a series of fundraisers for the garden but is looking for corporate sponsors, partnerships and donations.
When Wilson decided to do an outdoor classroom at the school, he asked the students what they wanted. The girls overwhelmingly said flower and butterfly gardens, and the boys said they wanted water, trees and a pizza garden, where they can grow basil, garlic and other pizza toppings.
Wilson decided to incorporate all those ideas, as well as a creek and a pond, into the garden. Each grade will take care of different sections.
"We want to create an area that, while engaging for students, is aesthetically pleasing and enhances the campus and the community," Wilson said. Science classes at the school already learn all about plants, gardening and soil. Students even grow plants as part of a project, but they have to be grown indoors and kept under growth lights. Doing the assignments in an outdoor classroom would allow students not only to plant and garden, but to take soil pH readings, chart temperatures and monitor plant growth during the different seasons.
"We can tie it into all the core standards across the board," said Sally Heusser, a second-grade teacher at Glen Iris. "When you have a hands-on lesson, it teaches students responsibility and curbs behavior problems. They don't have time to get into trouble, as opposed to in the classroom."
Wilson said the garden would go beyond just science and math.
"Why can't students have a nice place just to go outside and sit under a tree and read?" he said.
Valencia Maiden, a fifth-grade teacher at Glen Iris, said students enjoy handson lessons more than learning from a book.
"It's almost like you can see a light bulb go off when they can do it," she said. "They are excited about learning."
Research has shown that students who engage in hands-on activities in an outdoor environment are not only more excited about learning, but retain the information longer.
"It will be great for science subjects. We can learn about nature and plants and animals that help the environment," said Lawrence Fencher, a fifth-grader at the school. "I want to see animals in the garden, like rabbits and doves and creatures that can adapt to a garden environment."
For more information or to make a contribution to the outdoor classroom, contact Wilson at 231-7440 or email him at email@example.com.


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BOSTON -- In another one-run game that the Boston Red Sox lost due to their lack of offense, a pair of base-running mistakes could've been costly.
In the second inning, A.J. Pierzynski hit a ball off the Green Monster and tried stretching it into a double, but was thrown out with ease at second base. He never slid.
"Trying to get into scoring position," Pierzynski said.
Stephen Drew worked a good at-bat two batters later and earned a walk. While Mike Napoli waited at third base, Mookie Betts stepped up with a chance at his first career RBI.
Drew faked a steal on the first pitch to Betts, then turned around and darted back to first. It was too late and he was thrown out.
Manager John Farrell said he put Drew in motion intentionally, hoping the Chicago Cubs would reveal their defensive alignment in the process.
"To see what their (first-and-third) coverage was," Farrell said. "And a little bit too aggressive. He ends up kind of in no man's land."
The Red Sox lost, 2-1.
Follow MassLive.com Red Sox beat writer @JMastrodonato on Twitter. He can be reached by email at firstname.lastname@example.com.


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Staten Island Advance High School All Stars, Spring 2012
Sunday, June 17, 2012 4:30 AM
Liam Vogt, St. Joseph by-the-Sea The two-time All Star displayed his versatility outdoors, juggling track and baseball. And the day before a playoff game, the senior won the CHSAA Intersectional long jump title in 22-8 â a week removed from copping double gold in the NYCHSAA Sectionals LJ and TJ. The Penn Relays long jump competitor was seeded with an indoor best of 22-7-3/4, which was good for first place in the CHSAA city champs.


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HUNTSVILLE, Alabama -- Sydney Newton has been cancer free for 15 months.
While it would be easy for the 7-year-old to get on with her life, she's busy trying to help other children with cancer get on with theirs.
Sydney is a straight-A student at Johnson Elementary School in Limestone County where her mother, Cynthia, is a teacher. Her father, Jamie Newton, is a contractor with NASA.
The family wanted to do something to repay all the kindness they felt after Sydney was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer, rhabdomyosarcoma, when she was 5.
"People helped us that didn't even know us," said Jamie Newton. "We wanted to give back to the community and pay it forward.
So they founded Sydney's Coins for Courage in hope of raising money to support the Beads of Courage project which helps young cancer victims cope with their disease.
"Beads of Courage was founded by a nurse, Jean Baruch, who noticed how kids reacted to chemo," said Jamie. "She saw their emotions and how they fought the treatment. She came up with the idea of giving beads out which gives them courage to make it through the process."
Each bead color represents a milestone. For example, a red bead is given when a child has a blood transfusion. The children collect beads until completing treatment. The beads are not limited to cancer. They are for any child with a life-threatening condition, said Jamie.
The Newton family helped get specially designed beads on two NASA space shuttle flights to the International Space Station and they are now part of a traveling exhibit that visits hospitals across the U.S. to encourage other sick children.
September is Children's Cancer Awareness Month, so the Newton family decided to ask residents of the Tennessee Valley to donate their spare change -- pennies, nickels, dimes and quarters -- to help with the cause.
"These are tough times and people don't have $20 to give," said Jamie. "But most people can give some spare change and that's all we are asking."
All proceeds will go to help raise money for the beads to give to children at the more than 100 participating hospitals which have the Beads of Courage program.
"Most of the major (fundraising) goals is to raise money for a cure (for cancer)," said Jamie. "We wanted to do something for children going through it now."
They have almost reached their goal of $2,500 with $2,000 raised by donations on the Internet. The rest will be picked up from jars placed at the following locations:
U.G. White General Mercantile, Pimentos, Preston's Western Wear, Kid's World, Nationwide Insurance/Kilgro & Associates, Suzanne's Bakery, Dan Tera Salon & Day Spa, and Railroad Bazaar in Athens; Railroad Bazaar in Huntsville, and Dan Tera II Salon & Day Spa in Madison.
For more information or to donate to Sydney Newton's Coins for Courage fundraiser, which ends Sept. 30, visit www.crowdrise.com/sydneycoinsforcourage. To learn more about Sydney's journey with cancer, visit www.caringbridge.org/visit/sydneynewton.


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Quality fan-filmed video footage of Canadian metal innovators VOIVOD performing a brand new song, "Mechanical Mind", on October 8 at Magasin 4 in Brussels, Belgium can be seen below.
"Mechanical Mind" was released on October 9 (one day earlier internationally) as a digital single and a limited-edition seven-inch single-sided vinyl with a skull etching by VOIVOD drummer Michel "Away" Langevin on the B-side. The track comes off VOIVOD's new album, "Target Earth", which will be released on January 22, 2013 (one day earlier internationally) via VOIVOD's own company, Iron Gang Factory, and Century Media.
"Target Earth" was recorded in January at Pierre Rémillard's (OBLIVEON, CRYPTOPSY, KRISIUN, MISERY INDEX) Wild Studio in a small town called St-Zénon in Quebec, Canada. The follow-up to 2009's "Infini" will contain the band's first music to be written with new guitarist Daniel "Chewy" Mongrain (MARTYR) following the passing of original axeman Denis "Piggy" D'Amour in 2005.
VOIVOD debuted the "Target Earth" title track during their April 12 concert at the Roadburn festival at the 013 venue in Tilburg, Holland.
VOIVOD 2012 is:
Denis "Snake" Bélanger - Vocals
Daniel "Chewy" Mongrain - Guitar
Jean-Yves "Blacky" Thériault - Bass
Michel "Away" Langevin - Drums
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GRANDVILLE -- Two people had to be extracted from a vehicle today after the driver tried to avoid a piece of furniture on I-196 and slid off the road and into a tree, according to the Grandville Police Department.
The vehicle was traveling westbound on I-196, west of 44th Street, when the driver saw the furniture in the roadway and swerved losing control of the vehicle. The accident occurred at 2:05 p.m. The victims, ages 24 and 20, were taken to a local hospital. Neither their names nor the details of their injuries were provided.
The driver was airlifted by AeroMed, which landed on the freeway. The westbound freeway lanes were closed for approximately two hours. The passenger was transported by Life Ambulance.
The police were assisted by the Grandville Fire Department, Georgetown Fire, Michigan State Police, and the Kent County Sheriff's Department.
E-mail Monica Scott: firstname.lastname@example.com


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Two months ago, Mayor Karen Dunigan said she would hate to see the Sharp Park Pool close but that keeping it open "sends the wrong message" as the city lays off firefighters and police officers. She was absolutely right. Fortunately, the community is making sure the pool will be in business this summer.
Community members chipped in nearly $60,000 to pay the bills for the pool this summer. It will be open for more than two months, providing swim lessons and a cool destination on warm days.
Kudos to groups like the Weatherwax Foundation and 100+ Women Who Care, which together contributed more than half of those funds.
The city is likely to be short on cash for a while, so it's not too early to start planning how to save the pool's season in 2012 and beyond. If enough people care — and we are sure they do — this pool should never close.


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By Walter Hellman
Staffing is so low in Hillsboro schools that there are not enough classes to provide a full school day for many students. There are standard academic classes with sizes of 40 or more. Financial shortages are resulting in some of the worst learning conditions in memory.
These shortages were recently exemplified by the front-page news of a Hillsboro High School teacher personally raising funds to allow an auto-shop teacher to remain at Hilhi ("Hillsboro High auto shop running on fumes," A1 Dec. 2). The simple fact is that the Hillsboro School District is not even close to being able to adequately staff and supply its schools. The result is a lower quality of education for our students at a time when education is more important than ever.
In the midst of these shortages, the Hillsboro district has a chance to go to the voters and possibly raise millions of dollars per year for five years with a special local-option levy. This levy vote could be held late this spring and could significantly replace lost staffing and supplies.
Without so much as forming an exploratory committee to gauge what kind of support might come from parents, businesses, residents, teachers, students and others, school board members dismissed trying for the levy at its recent work session ("Hillsboro school levy sees limited support," Community News Dec. 24).
Here are some questions for those board members who quickly spoke against the levy:
Shouldn't you create a committee with appropriate community input to accurately gauge the possibility of helping the students before making your personal judgment?
With Intel's largest construction project in state history going on in Hillsboro and our economy being one of the healthiest in the state, why wouldn't we be a good place to try to obtain the levy?
Beaverton's recent levy went down by a narrow margin, 51 to 49 percent. Are you never going to try for a levy in Hillsboro unless Beaverton passes one first?
The statement was made that our last levy failed badly in 2004. Should that loss nearly eight years ago forever stop us from trying to help our kids with a levy?
With shoppers fighting each other to buy $180 sneakers, new massage spas opening with full-page ads in the paper and brand new cars everywhere, is it really right for school board members to hold that we shouldn't be asking the public for money to relieve the severe shortages in our schools?
Board member Carolyn Ortman stated, "I don't want to put anything before our voters that gives them a chance to say 'no' again." How about giving the voters a chance to say "yes"?
In spite of the abysmal conditions in the schools, Superintendent Mike Scott spoke against the levy, saying that no particular need had been identified to the voters. Why has no particular need been identified? Aren't there many? Whose has the responsibility for this identification if not the school board and the superintendent?
For school board members to be so prematurely dismissive of desperately needed help for our schools and students represents a disservice to the school system it serves. To wait 18 months to once again consider the idea, as Scott suggested, is far too long given the conditions of the schools.
I believe that there are many people and groups that would work very hard for this levy. The school board should quickly and as one of its highest priorities solicit input from the community regarding a local-option levy for this spring's ballot. To not do this exploration of a potential lifeline for the schools would be dismissive of the very school system it is supposed to be supporting.
Walter Hellman taught at Hillsboro School District for 29 years before retiring in June.


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Syracuse Opera delivers the tried-and-true and a newcomer this season. Bizet's "The Pearl Fishers" will have a Syracuse premiere in spring 2011.
Gilbert & Sullivan's "The Mikado," Oct. 22 and 24.
The mischief of Gilbert and Sullivan fills this tale of secret identities, arranged marriages, unrequited loves and fake executions. Set in Japan. Sung in English.
Mozart's "Don Giovanni," Feb. 11 and 13, 2011.
Lothario Don Giovanni's escapades involve intrigue, impersonation, bravado, jealousy and a fiery ending. Set in Spain, in and around Don Giovanni's villa. Sung in Italian with projected English translation.
Bizet's "The Pearl Fishers," April 8 and 10, 2011.
The friendship of Zurga, leader of the pearl fishers, and Nadir is unintentionally torn asunder by a virgin priestess, Leila. She also shares a past with both men. Set in Ceylon in ancient times. Sung in French with projected English translation. A Syracuse premiere.
Curtain is at 8 p.m. Fridays and 2 p.m. Sundays at Crouse-Hinds Concert Theater, John H. Mulroy Civic Center, 411 Montgomery St., Syracuse. Prices: from $45 to $420 for three operas for new season subscribers. Single tickets range from $18 to $108.
Tickets are on sale now, but seats will be assigned after March. To purchase, call 476-7372 or 424-8200 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday and noon to 5 p.m. Saturday. Or visit the box office, 411 Montgomery St.
—Melinda Johnson, Arts editor


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The Wisconsin football team's offense puts the "big" in Big Ten.
Wisconsins bulk will challenge FSUs defense
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January 27th, 2013
Highlights from Leyland at TigerFest
Jim Leyland spent a good amount of time at TigerFest trying to caution about expectations — it's OK for fans to have them, he said more than once, but the team has to be cautious about allowing those expectations to affect them.
"Expectations are high, and they should be," Leyland said. "We just have to make sure we don't get caught up in that."
In fact, he called it his second-biggest concern behind figuring out what he's going to do to close out games.
"Don't put any extra pressure on yourself because they expect us to win," Leyland said. "Well, we expect to win, too, but it's not that easy. Just don't get caught up in all the hoopla. Just come ready to do your job each and every day, play the game the way it's supposed to be played."
That, of course, led to another discussion on his philosophy, and some of the carryover from his reaction to fan criticism last year. Even after a deep playoff run seemingly vindicated him from the hot seat he seemingly spent all summer keeping warm, Leyland still seemed to remember some of the critiques. He brought up the topic of lineups when somebody asked him whether Torii Hunter will hit second, and about team speed and better, more aggressive baserunning.
"I get a kick out of everybody referring to me as old, old school," Leyland said. "If you think old school is doing things right, then I'm old school. I'm proud of that. That's not old school to me. If you do things right, that has nothing to do with old school. You do things right. You respect the game. You respect the fans. You keep them entertained. You do things the right way. It has nothing to do with being old, even though I am old. That's just the way it is."
Other notes from Leyland's talk with reporters early Saturday afternoon:
- He didn't call the closer's job a competition, saying again that he might tinker with Bruce Rondon and others sharing opportunities.
"I'm not afraid to tinker with it. I'm not afraid to mix and match," Leyland said. "You just have to be careful, because this is a real sensitive subject. We have guys that can close a game, but I'm not sure other than potentially Rondon whether we have guys that can potentially close every game. In other words, Cokey can save a game, Benoit can save a game, Dotel can save a game, but I'm not sure if any of those guys can hold up day after day, physically or mentally, and I think that you have to be careful with that. So if I have to mix and match, I'll mix and match. I'm not afraid."
- Leyland indicated he might bring Victor Martinez back gradually in Spring Training to give him time to adjust to not seeing live pitching for more than a year.
- Hitting on the discussion above, Leyland indicated that he probably won't have that much more aggressive of a baserunning team, mainly because of the talent he had. In his explanation, he sounded a little like legendary Miami Dolphins coach Don Shula and his ability to adapt to the talent he has. "Everybody thinks they need to be more aggressive," Leyland said. "Well, we're aggressive by hitting doubles and homers. If we had the 1959 Chicago White Sox, I'd run, I'd squeeze, I'd bunt, I'd do all those things. But we don't have that type of team. And to me, smart managers take the talent that they have, and the manager adjusts to the player. You don't ask a player to adjust to the manager. The manager adjusts to the type of team you have. I mean, that's what smart managers do, I think."
- Leyland on his team's potential to manufacture offense more often: "I think on the days when you run into a real nasty pitcher and you're probably not hit a two- or three-run homer, then we might be able to manufacture a little bit more with this team than we have in the past. But we're still not a big basestealing, hit-and-run team. We're not that, because we're going to end up opening bases for guys that we don't want to open up bases for. They're going to end up walking them."


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Undergraduate Fall Open House Sept. 20
Aug. 20, 2014 - High school students and their parents are invited to spend a few hours on campus and learn more about Quinnipiac during the Fall Open House Saturday, Sept. 20, 2014.
Plan to arrive on the Mount Carmel Campus between 9 and 10 a.m. to get the most from your day, starting with an overview of Quinnipiac followed by a campus tour.
You'll have a chance to meet and talk with members of the faculty in the College of Arts and Sciences and the schools of business and engineering, communications, education, nursing and health sciences. You can also meet staff from our various student and academic services areas, including the library, the Learning Center, the Office of International Education, Campus Technology, Student Government, the Department of Residential Life, the Office of Multicultural and Global Affairs, Athletics and Recreation and Student Affairs.
You'll attend a 30-minute presentation about the University presented by a member of the admissions staff, followed by a campus tour. Starting at noon, there are several workshops, demonstrations and information sessions on a variety of majors and topics.
Those interested in our physical therapy, occupational therapy, physician assistant, nursing and diagnostic imaging programs will want to visit the North Haven Campus for faculty presentations on those programs and to see the state-of-the-art facilities. We'll provide a convenient 'grab and go' lunch. You'll receive the full schedule and directions when you register in the morning.
We encourage families to visit the York Hill Campus, home of the TD Bank Sports Center, the Rocky Top Student Center and several upperclassmen residence halls. Shuttle buses will be provided; families may also stop by the campus on their own. The program ends by 3 p.m.
Register online
Additional Open Houses are planned for Saturday, Oct. 18, and Saturday, Nov. 15.


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Report on Giving
You're a Big Deal at IC
Your generosity, your commitment, your investment in the lives of our students, in a word: WOW.
And the best part is . . . there are others out there just like you. People who know the value of an IC experience, the greatness of the education found on our campus.
So take a few minutes. Click through the links in the following pages and find your name. Find your friends' names. Your coworkers, your family members, your old professors.
You're keeping some good company -- and you're all aces in our book.
Leadership Gifts
Transformative moments don't happen just for the students at Ithaca College. The 2014–2015 academic year was a big one for IC's leadership giving community, too. 870 of us contributed $5.2 million to IC.
And we stepped out this summer with a brand new name: the Blue & Gold Society.This coming year is one of change. But one thing remains steadfast: our dedication to IC's students. Our investment, opinions, and enthusiasm transform thousands of lives every single year.
This past fiscal year was no different.In 2014–2015, the IC leadership giving community provided tremendous support for unique and challenging educational opportunities—and for the creation of an enriching environment in which those lessons become lived experiences.
By dint of our dedication and investment, the President's Associates continued to strengthen the foundation from which the college and its students—and the new Blue & Gold Society—can soar.Thank you for all you've done this year for Ithaca College. See the power of your philanthropy here (and here and here).
Hats off to Seniors
There's a lot going on during a student's senior year at IC, and the members of the class of 2015 listed below added one more thing to their to-do list: make a gift to Ithaca College.
We thank our most recent alumni for their generosity, and are proud of the example they've set for future classes.
Leaving a Legacy
The W. Grant Egbert Founder's Society, now called the Founder's Circle, is a select group of Ithaca College donors who have included a gift to IC in their will or other estate plans. The Founder's Circle is a part of the Blue & Gold Society, a community of the college's leading philanthropists.
When W. Grant Egbert founded the Ithaca Conservatory of Music in 1892, he had a vision to create an institution that offered a superior quality of instruction. In 1992, the year of Ithaca's centennial, the Founder's Society was established to honor those who make a continuing commitment to Egbert's vision through planned giving. Donors who make planned gifts play a vital role in ensuring that Ithaca offers unparalleled educational opportunities well beyond their lifetimes.
We'd like to offer a sincere thank you to the following individuals who have remembered Ithaca College in their will or other estate plans.
Foundational Support
Philanthropic support from corporations, foundations, and other organizations is crucial to fostering and sustaining the unique educational experience at Ithaca College.
Working closely with IC's Office of Sponsored Research, we focus on institutional priorities such as curricular and programmatic initiatives, faculty research, capital improvements, scholarships, equipment, and endowments.
The Office of Corporate and Foundation Relations assists faculty and other staff with locating funding sources, preparing and submitting grant proposals, and stewarding relationships, including follow-up grant reporting.
We want to sincerely thank the many corporate, foundation, and organizational donors listed here for their support of Ithaca College during fiscal year 2015.
Making a Match
Matching gifts make a difference, doubling or even tripling one person's contribution to the IC experience.
Here, you'll find the names of companies who contributed to the college last year by matching an employee's gift. Matching gifts are a simple way to increase the effect of philanthropy and make life at Ithaca College even better.
We extend our thanks to these organizations and their employees for going the extra mile to help IC students get the best education possible.