I used to work on The Price Is Right. I just got to deal with groups of annoying college kids, nothing cool like the Dodgers.

I would bet that the Dodgers players could be just as annoying as a group of college kids.

I can't decide where would be the best place to have Ethier sign my jersey...the equipment truck send off?

I'm just going to pretend the Dodgers on Price is Right thing isn't happening. Some day years from now it'll end up on YouTube as an embarrassing clip alongside the Dodger disco music videos.

--

Okay, new poll for the SuperBowl: Favorite Football Movie.
http://www.greencine.com/central/node/950

It was already too long or we would've added a few others...

Better physical condition:

Andruw ... or Drew Carey?

Was it true that Bob Barker would hit on the gameshow girls?

Baseball America chat re Dodger prospects is happening now!

Was it true that Bob Barker would hit on the gameshow girls?

I'm pretty sure at least one of his affairs with one of the women is public knowledge.

No word on whether they helped control the human population by having themselves spayed or neutered.

I prefer to remember Bob Barker in his appearance in "Happy Gilmore."

"The Price is Right"? Is this some big Boras PR occasion where they're going to sign Manny on live TV?

Eric Stephen must be stoked!

Although the show really hasn't been the same since Carey started hosting. It started out ok, but it became something else entirely this year. I haven't seen an episode in almost two years.

By the way, if Manny is still with the club, he'd get an exact bid on Barbecue Grills!

...I can't help it, The Price is Right is my favorite game show!

In the old days, you had to wait since literally midnight to get in. Today I think its much easier. The Canter's visit beforehand is natrual, since CBS is right down the street fromthere.

February 7th... am I doing anything then?

February 4th, not 7th. Sorry about that...

Anyone with a BA subscription, give us a lowdown on that Dodger chat today if possible...

Hah funny. I just found out a friend of a friend won a showcase showdown last night. Episode to air next week!

11
I am! Drew Carey is really an awful host, but the game show itself is great so that keeps me coming back every once in a while.

Actually that Manny offer by the Worcester Tornadoes is the equivalent of the $1 bid on TPIR. Even they know Boras is way over the actual price of a Manny Ramirez, so they went with the classic strategy.

My sister was a contestant on the show in like 1985, and I remember watching it on TV (I was 9 and didn't know beforehand how she did) and since this was my first viewing of TPIR I yelled at the screen "what are you doing??!!" when she bid $1 on something.

Do the showcase showdowns still always have the first showcase that has the boring furniture and stuff, and the second showcase with the exciting cars and trips to exotic locales?

17

Pretty much. Sometimes they do them in reverse order. Those furniture showcases always use the same music too, as if it wasn't already obvious it was the cheaper showcase.

Best game shows of all-time (no particular order):

Card Sharks
Deal of the Century
Face the Music
Family Feud
Hollywood Squares
Jeopardy
Jokers Wild
Match Game
Name That Tune
Password (or Super Password)
Press Your Luck
Price is Right
Tic Tac Dough

4 what, Victory didn't make the list?

(in my best Gob Bluth voice) Come on!

I was bummed that I missed the SF Sketchfest's live Match Game update with a bunch of comic actors as panelists (David Cross, Doug Benson, etc; Jimmy Pardo hosting). That sounded like a blast.

20 - American football, silly boy.

Though I feel like good soccer movies would comprise an even shorter list, alas.

29

$ale of the Century I think was the name of the show.

I'd also like to add "Let's Make a Deal" and "Scrabble". The common link? Jay Stewart, who used to announce all three shows.

:)

22 Hotshot--- the other movie Pele was in.

In other TV news, "Big Love" seems to be doing a good job of picking up where it left off.

21
Yeah, when I went, I was bummed at seeing all the other acts had missed during the two weeks.

Does Wild and Crazy Kids count as a game show? Because that was the best. Hard to beat Donnie Jeffcoat!!

Also, Shop Til You Drop and Supermarket Sweep. Go for the meat, stupid!!

No love for Double Dare.

6 I don't know anything about Bob Barker, but when I worked there, there was another member of the cast that the younger (male) crew members had to watch out for.

Oh yeah, Double Dare was great too.

23
Ha! You're right...I must have been thinking about Chevy Chase & Gregory Hines for some reason!

I liked Scrabble and Let's Make a Deal as well.

Bowling For Dollars.

I think I'm kidding...

Bowling For Dollars

Is that that thing that was on the San Francisco channel (channel 2?) in the 80s where they'd show a movie but interrupt it every once in a while to do some thing I can't remember now?

33
Didn't Chick Hearn announce that show for a while?

The Newlywed game was my favorite, if only because it reinforced my bachelor's idea that marriage was pretty much a crapshoot (I subsequently lived with my GF eleven years before tying the knot).

36 Boy, he did!

Best I remember, celebs would bowl for call-in contestants to win money. My memory is very hazy on the subject, though,

Looks like I'm thinking of "Dialing for Dollars", on KTVU, hosted by television personality Pat McCormick.

McCormick...hosted a show in the 1970s called Dialing for Dollars where random Bay Area people were called and asked to guess the "Count and the Amount". The calls were made during commercial breaks while the afternoon movie was being screened.

"Dialing for Dollars" also ran in LA on KTTV and was hosted by Johnny Gilbert.

Excuse me, it was on KCOP.

Twice, on the Dating Game, the son of a guy I worked with was a contestant. A real piece of work (think of a guy who picks his nose and wipes his hand on his pants). And the second time, he won! His first ever date!

The look on the girl's face when they went face to face...

(think of a guy who picks his nose and wipes his hand on his pants)

This doesn't require a lot of imagination on my part.

Dialing for Dollars ran for so long in the Bay Area. They would play the worst movies.

Wheel of Fish

I was hoping that Chevy Chase would replace Bob Barker.

45
Ahhh, Red Snapper. Very tasty!

You guys are all forgetting the obvious choice... Hole in the Wall

There are tons of great Japanese game shows, but they are just completely wrong and messed up.

I'm sorry to do this, but I found it funny, anyway. English (mis)translations of Russian LOLCats.

http://rolcats.wordpress.com/

Mother, if my constitution is unfit for gymnast...The grist mill shall become my pommel horse and daily labor my reward!

49
When I was in Oregon this past summer I watched a lot of "Unbeatable Banzuke" and "Ninja Warrior Challenge".

Very entertaining.

BA chat summary

Kyle Russell could be Adam Dunn with plus defense.
They still think highly of Josh Bell and compare him to Matt Kemp (which strikes me as ludicrous, but they know a lot more than I do).
Lindblom could make an impact in the majors this year.
Delmonico will be catching from here on out and they love his makeup. He's ranked in the top 20.
Austin Gallagher is 11th and Troncoso 12th (the latter underrated IMO).
X Paul is a future 4th outfielder who can't defend well enough to be a regular CF and can't hit enough to be a regular corner OF.
DeJesus is going to have to be moved off SS and is probably our 2B of the future.
They still love Hu's defense but question his bat.
Sleepers to look for this year are Justin Miller and Brent Leach.
Garate will be a LOOGY at best.
Greg Miller has no future as a Dodger.
Baez ranks in the 11-15 range and throws 95 mph from third base.

The best part about the original Double Dare was the slick floor that was impossible to run on when wet. So, pretty much every challenge and obstacle course became a lesson on how not to slip and break your neck.

52 Nice. Thanks!

Will be interesting to follow the Delmonico experiment.

I once made that K Russell with Adam Dunn comparison and was laughed at. It may still be laughable. We'll see.

Lindblom is really fast-tracked, isn't he?

[52[ Kyle Russell projects to have plus defense or plus defense compared to Adam Dunn?

55 - Probably the latter, I'd wager.

Adam Dunn with plus defense? The mind boggles.

I would have guessed the latter but their wording seems to imply the former.

54 Adam Dunn struck out 15.6% of the time as a 18 year old in rookie ball. Russell 32.4% of the time as a 22 year old in rookie ball.

59 - See? Russell's already way ahead of him! ;-)

59 And by way of comparison, Mitch Jones struck out 23.7% of the time as a 23-year-old in High A (I think it's High A -- Tampa).

61 Also this:

In his minor league career, Mitch Jones has struck out 26.5% of the time. He has hit exactly 200 home runs in 3949 PA and K'd 1048 times.

In his major league career, Adam Dunn has struck out 26.4% of the time. He has hit 278 home runs in 4749 PA and K'd 1256 times.

By the way, one reason that players refuse arbitration, any contract amount based on arbitration award is not guaranteed and a player can be released and only be paid a certain amount based on the date of release.

Now, this won't happen with your Ryan Howards or Andre Ethiers but veteran (otherwise FA) players do worry about getting "Todd Walkered."

It is a rare occurence and it would not be a popular move in the clubhouse but it is a tool that front offices know about.

Not sure if this has been mentioned, but Jay Jaffe from BP has an article on ESPN ($) about Manny which includes his '09 PECOTA projections:

2009 Forecast Scenarios:
Manny Ramirez Category HR BA OBP SLG WARP
2009 best case 38 .324 .417 .609 +6.9
2009 mean 30 .295 .391 .538 +4.3
2009 worst case 17 .257 .356 .444 +1.5
2008 final stats 37 .332 .430 .601 +7.8

The four year difference between Russel and Dunn makes the comparison off base. Dunn was in the major leagues when Russel was playing rookie ball. On the plus side all the scouts have said he could be a very good defensive outfielder. Maybe more Russ Branyan then Dunn but with someone who will help in the outfield instead of hinder. Might have some value but I doubt it.

The Kemp/Bell comparison is also ludicrous. I think they meant they look alike because they do but that is it. What makes Kemp, Kemp is his speed and athleticism. Ed Price did the chat and he's new to BA. Other then the fact he gets to talk to scouts I didn't get the impression he knew anymore then Canuck does about our prospects and probably less.

You must mean they look alike facially, not physically, because Bell has a bit of the Pillsbury Dough Boy about him while Matt Kemp looks like, well, Matt Kemp.

Per Tony Jackson:

Stop me if you're tired of reading about this ...

>> This is what the Boomer ir reported to have said, as I didn't personally hear the interview:

``If you weren't Joe's boy, he could care less about you. He ran his tight ship the way he wanted to. Don't get me wrong; he's not a bad manager. I just thought he was a bad individual because of the fact he didn't treat everybody the same. He had his boys, and certain guys could do certain things and he wouldn't let other guys do other things.'' <<

No comment yet from Sheffield or Lofton. :-)

http://insidesocal.com/dodgers/2009/01/stop-me-if-your.html

66
Yeah and that is just based on one photo I've seen of Bell. Now maybe he meant they would put up the same stat line but even that does not seem probable. I just think he was completely off base on that comparison.

Anytime someone hits home runs and strikes out a lot they seem to get compared to Dunn while players like Robb Deer might be the better comparison. Dunn's plate discipline is what sets him apart from all the other Homer/whiff guys.

Plus, Torre made Beimel cut his hair.

Maybe that is why we didn't retain him. ; )

Came home for lunch..just in time to see Hee Sop Choi's home run derby effort on the MLB. Uggh.

As usual, offseason busy time for Boras

>> There's a perception that Ramirez has that two-year, $45 million offer from the Dodgers in his back pocket as a safety net, but is that really a sure thing? Given the downturn in the economy and the languid free-agent market, an American League assistant general manager said Colletti might be "charitable" to simply resurrect his November offer out of a sense of civility. <<

http://tinyurl.com/bbqfkh

70
Choi had the best performance in Dodgers' HR derby history:

2005: Choi - 5 HR (5th out of 8)
1995: Mondesi - 2 HR (t6th out of 8 -- tied for last)
1994: Piazza - 0 HR (8th out of 8)
1993: Piazza - 0 HR (8th out of 8)

Maybe the NL starting LF will break that drought this year in St. Louis.

Actually Gil Hodges and Duke Snider did better on the old TV show.

And how is that not on the MLB Network? I'd rather watch that than 2 hours of Chris Berman yelling "back back back" from 2005.

I thought Manny tries to skip out on the all star game when he can?

Just wanted to post an amusing article about how viable it will be for newspapers to survive if subsciption rates keep dropping.

http://www.alleyinsider.com/2009/1/printing-the-nyt-costs-twice-as-much-as-sending-every-subscriber-a-free-kindle

72
You'd think a grown up man would not be disappointed that his favorite player performed so badly in a silly exhibition. But I was. Piazza was embarrassing.

It has been 15 years since a Dodger All-Star was in the home run hitting contest. Who will be the next one or will we ever have one in our lifetimes?

A player that we don't know about yet is probably best guess.

Kemp or Martin would be other possibilities.

77 Matt Holliday.

77 Manny Ramirez/Adam Dunn.

77.
One of the Matts (Kemp/Holliday).

Andre Ethier.

I don't see why we can't give Manny 2/$50M with a $27.5M option. He'd take it.

Blake DeWitt. Oh, wait, inside the park HR's don't count.

MLB Hot Stove will have a feature on Bo Jackson's arm, including the classic throwing out Harold Reynolds at the plate from deep, deep LF clip.

My favorite random Super Bowl prop this year: Who will tackled by his hair first in the game. Troy Polamalu is plus-450, Larry Fitzgerald is a minus-650 favorite.
That is ridiculous.

84 Oh, I absolutely would watch the inside-the-park-home-run-derby. How about this...

Eight kids from around the U.S. are chosen as fielders. Put an age limit on it -- ten? Twelve? Point being, these are kids. (Pitcher remains a batting practice pitcher.)

Major Leaguers hit long fly balls and then run the bases. He must keep running until he crosses home plate. Kids field and try to tag him out. Major Leaguer gets five outs.

Each time around the basepaths, one presumes, he would get slower and slower, increasing the chances of running out of gas...

...yes, yes, I would watch that.

86
Awesome. If there is no hair tackle, is the bet a push?

87
The only change I would make is to eliminate the need for a tag out. Just make the kids throw it into a general area before the batter/runner crosses home plate for the out. I don't want to see Pete Rose III obliterate a little kid who's trying to tag him.

I don't want to see Pete Rose III obliterate a little kid who's trying to tag him.

That visual made me chuckle.

88.
Good question. Not completely sure but I would think a push..

Another great Super Bowl prop bet this year: Which quarterback will Madden mention by full name first after the opening kickoff? Kurt Warner is minus-190, Ben Roethlisberger is plus-155.

87 And maybe water the infield AKA the `duck call' incident.

89 I can live with that. The kids need to throw the ball AHEAD of the runner. If the ball gets to the "third baseman" in reasonable time to apply what would be a tag, the event judge can call the player out.

87.
I wonder what the over/under would be on how many times Andruw would make it around the horn. I'd put it at 1.5 (sorry, I'm in full dumb wagering mode today). I would take the under.

94 One rather doubts that His Airship would be invited to participate in the event. This would be open to the Rickeys Henderson, the Tims Raines, the Juans Pierre of the world.

His Airship. That is too funny!

95 You know, that makes me think, too.

Let's co-opt the term "Hall of Fame Game" now that it's going bye-bye.

The new Hall of Fame Game will be played on the day after the All-Star Game. The living Hall of Famers suit up and play the game.

I don't want to embarrass anybody, especially the game's heroes. If Willie Mays really feels he can't play, OK, I'll let him off the hook. But I am thinking that it would be a wondeful thing to watch Rickey play on the national stage again.

950 I saw Junior Felix hit an inside the park grand slam at fenway about 20 years ago.

A year, or maybe 2 years later (can't remember) I saw Felix Jose hit an inside the parker in the metrodome.

I always thought it was odd that the only inside the park homeruns I've seen were by guys named felix.

95.
Fair enough.
But for comedy's sake, getting the Andruws, Bengie Molinas, Fred McGriffs, and Javy Lopezes of the world together for this would be fun too.

98 I will alert Felix Hernandez that the clock is ticking.

99 I can get behind that. Can Begie Molina outrun a ten-year-old's throwing arm? I think you're right -- that is a question that needs to be answered.

100 Thanks. I've seen him pitch twice up in Seattle, maybe he'll throw when the M's and Dodgers meet up at the stadium this year so he can get an AB while I'm there.

97 That would be awesome. MLB Network had a shot of Luke Appling hitting a bomb at an old timers game when he was 75. He hit only 43 during his career!

100
Isn't it enough that the guy hit a grand slam last year?

103 Not only that, but think of the arguments. Who do you want to see starting at catcher? Berra? Bench? Fisk?.... ah, man, can't believe we gotta wait four years for Piazza!...

The fan vote would be insane and a ton of fun.

Wow, how do we make this happen?

2009 #1 pick Stephen Strasburg's 23 strikeout performance:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8pVyw2JlloM&feature=related

His stuff/delivery remind me of Peavy, but this guy has an insane fastball.

{tongue in cheek) Let's get moveon(oldtimer).org to push the case!

106

That was a wide strike zone

Speaking of speed and power..there are nine active players who have hit 3 home runs in a game AND have hit for the cycle:
Damion Easley
Travis Hafner
Todd Helton
Gary Matthews
Jose Reyes
Alex Rodriguez
Mark Teixeira
Miguel Tejada
Brad Wilkerson
It's half future HOF'ers and half randomness.

Once again, I barely know anyone in Coachella, but bands I would look forward to seeing:

Patton & Rahzel
Mastodon
Henry Rollins
Morrissey
X
The Cure
Michael Franti & Spearhead

Oh yeah, and Girl Talk.

110 Man, and I used to think I was cool making it to the Date Festival.

I started with the youngest HOFers -- again, I don't know if Yogi Berra can conceivably crouch behind the plate and I don't want to embarrass him. And to keep one team from being older than the other, I tried to alternate as I constructed them.

It's hard to construct teams going up the middle. Ryne Sandberg, sure, but the next youngest 2B is, I think, Joe Morgan. Jeez, they really shoulda elected Grich and Whitaker. SS has Ripken and Smith, if Ripken can play short, but CF has trouble. I stuck Dave Winfield there. Dave might have something to say about that.

Pitching might also be a problem. The two youngest pitchers in the HOF are Eckersley and Sutter. The two youngest players who were SP are Ryan and Palmer. Don't know about that.

Here are your two All-Young-HOFer Starting Lineups:

Carter C
Murray 1B
Sandberg 2B
Boggs 3B
Ripken SS
Rice LF
Winfield CF
Jackson RF
Eckersley P

Fisk C
Carew 1B
Morgan 2B
Brett 3B
Smith SS
Henderson LF
Yount CF
Gwynn RF
Sutter P

114 Could you imagine those rosters playing at the `Field of Dreams' in Iowa?

114 Playing on the Field of Dreams on the day after the All-Star Game. Right now, that's the worst day on the baseball calendar.

HOFers are playing for charity... say, Make a Wish Foundation.

Game is televised on ESPN or ESPN 2 and an 800 number for the charity is on the screen at all times.

And Vin Scully is calling the action.

113.
It sure would be fun to see Ripken and Sandberg turn two. It's one of those things that's mostly placement, footwork and finesse..3 things both of those guys probably are still pretty good with.

115.
Maybe we can get James Earl Jones to be the stadium/field announcer..:)

117 I would kill -- kill! -- to hear James Earl Jones announce, "Now batting... the third baseman... George... Brett (Brett, Brett, Brett, Brett, Brett....)."

115 Let's get Kevin Costner in on this :)

..for promotional purposes, not to, er, play...

120 Costner's publicist is Arnold Robinson. I've worked with him several times. Good guy.

I saw James Earl Jones at Whole Foods a few years ago. He seemed...old.

121 Hey, this could work!

Okay, off to watch Joe Torre...

1. Enders should weigh in on this. I have no idea if Hall of Famers would be interested in playing the game on television, even for a good cause.

2. With minimal searching, I have found the names and contact info for the communications staff for the Hall of Fame. They are revealed at the bottom of this link:

http://www.hofmag.com/content/view/1090/190/

3. I believe that I have now taken this idea to an unsafe level of crazy.

Could James Earl Jones' aged appearance be related to the fact that he's 78 years old?

125
But he was only 76 when I saw him...!

When my parents were 76, they looked so old you would have thought they were dead.

127
But I bet they had spirit...

My dad turns 71 tomorrow, but still looks ten years younger. Still doing well {knock on wood} - so I returned the walker I was going to give him.

I think Queen Latifah was on my plane from Orlando to LA.

128 I bet they were proven veteran leaders.

This Hall of Fame game idea is far, far too good an idea for MLB to actually try to do...remember, this is Major League Baseball, the league that thought it would be a good idea to put Spiderman logos on the bases, we're talking about here!

In actual MLB news, did I miss any discussion about what people think Ubaldo Jimenez's new deal will mean for Billz?

This is for Rolex. More confusion on the maximum Type A/B free agent issue!

Turns out the story is wrong. Brian Cashman said the Yankees could sign up to eight if they want. "I'm not sure of the exact number, but it's one we won't worry about either way," he said

So confusing!

http://tinyurl.com/bck7ms

I daresay the Lakers are better when Andrew Bynum scores and rebounds and blocks shots than when he doesn't do those things.

Don't know how many watched Torre with Larry King and I haven't read the book, but for someone who is has bright and insightful he seems to be very matter of fact about his comments. I do agree that if I were a Dodger player I would feel a little weird this year.

Joe likes money. Not that I blame him: it can buy stuff.

I love the HoF game idea.

I got volunteered to organize the pinewood derby for my neighborhood. It's tomorrow at 8:30. 70 cars and about 150 people coming to a church basement near you. Well, near me.

I was just over at the church meeting the very frightening caretaker who is going to let me in, show me how to work the 100 cup coffee maker, and generally help with stuff.

He was wearing the puffy shirt.

I feel I should be overwhelmed with last minute stuff to do, but I can't quite decide what to freak out about.

The trophies are all out in my car trunk. I am trying to decide if I should bring them in and carry them up the stairs for fear of the car being stolen. I'm leaning towards thinking that's an anxiety too far.

132
In actual MLB news, did I miss any discussion about what people think Ubaldo Jimenez's new deal will mean for Billz?

It hasn't really come up yet, because of the shinier Hamels and Greinke contracts. But it is interesting.

Jimenez is one year behind Billingsley in service time, and it will probably end up being an approximation of the contract the Dodgers could have gotten if they signed him after last season.

Jimenez gets higher than usual 2nd & 3rd year salaries, but the later years the club could save some cash:

2nd year: $750k
3rd year: $1.25m
arb yr 1: $2.8m
arb yr 2: $4.2m
arb yr 3: $5.75m club option ($1m buyout)
FA year1: $8m club option

Here are Jimenez's career stats vs. Billingsley's through 2007:

Wins: UJ-16, CB-19
IP: UJ-288, CB-237
ERA+: UJ-115, CB-130

After his huge 2008, Billingsley is more in line to use Cole Hamels as a comp than the Ubaldo contract. Hamels has roughly one month more service time than Chad, which vaulted him to Super 2 status:

Chad vs. Cole

Wins: CH-38, CB-35
IP: CH-543, CB-438
ERA+: CH-133, CB-132

Hamels' contract:

3rd year: $4.35m (record for Super 2)
arb yr 1: $6.65m
arb yr 2: $9.5m

If the Dodgers sign Bills to a long-term deal, he's much more likely to command at least $4m in 2010. The sooner they sign him, the better.

After sort of assuming the opposite previously, I read a post by Keith Law that basically said these multi-year deals aren't used at all in arbitration hearings, basically because of the issue of how to properly get an average annual value for these deals (i.e. how to value a discount for security). It's a very good point I didn't consider before.

http://meadowparty.com/blog/?p=540

But in terms of establishing a comp for a multi-year deal, I think Bills is closer to Hamels' value than Jimenez.

Ethier's arbitration hearing set for February 17th.

http://www.insidesocal.com/dodgers/2009/01/ethiers-arbitra-1.html

Of course that doesn't matter if they come to an agreement before that date.

Jose Calderon missed a free throw tonight.

http://sports.yahoo.com/olympics/news?slug=ap-birdsnestfuture&prov=ap&type=lgns

Kind of sad that stadium has so quickly been abandoned, at least temporarily.

This is also a little scary: "Maintenance of the structure alone costs about $8.8 million annually, making it difficult to turn a profit, Xinhua said."

Awww, Jose Calderon's FT streak ended at 87 tonight, 10 short of the record.

Should have refreshed first.

Dave Sheinin on Bruce and baseball: http://tinyurl.com/b49lnw

"If you stop by this blog regularly, there's a pretty good chance you're a Bruce Springsteen fan, because for some reason unknown to science, love of baseball and love of Bruce stem from the same gene. And if you love both baseball and words, your chances of also loving Bruce are about 95 percent -- which happens to be the approximate percentage of baseball writers I know who love Bruce. . . . "

Whoa, look what I spotted on NFL Network...

Super Bowl XIV!

Wow... the Steelers really didn't look impressive from what I saw. Bradshaw really has a great arm though... never realized that. Only thing is, that arm threw balls to the other team.

Man what a shame.. what might have been. Is it possible the Raiders are a reason why the Rams left LA?

i.e. if the Raiders stayed put, the Rams would still be at the Coliseum, more people would go to the game, the team would still be good, and we'd be talking about Kurt Warner leading the LA Rams against the Steelers in a rematch of Super Bowl XIV.

What might have been...

No. The Rams and Raiders had no problem selling tickets. Getting new stadiums is the problem and that is a CA wide problem.

The inside the park home run derby is freaking brilliant. It would be so much fun to watch.

Triumph on the kids faces when they get an out. Good natured mocking by the player's peers watching from the sidelines when he gets thrown out. Players run run running!

Hilarious, athletic, heartwarming, wonderful.

145

Oops... I didn't realize (per Wiki) the Rams already were going to move to the Big A well before Rosenbloom's death.

146

Sometimes I re-think the whole issue about taking a stand against greedy owners. So much history was ruined because of trying to save marginal costs.

Years of tradition were tarnished when the Browns moved from Cleveland because there was no new stadium. Ironically, Cleveland built a new stadium anyway, five years later.

149
And the Ravens went and won a Super Bowl and are a model franchise, while the Browns still suck.

Rams left and went from laughing stock to Super Bowl champs.

This game is my first memory of the Superbowl. I miss those old Rams colors/uniforms.

So sad...

Al Saunders turned down Raiders OC position.

Oh, no. Paul Hackett could end up OC.

The first Super Bowl I remember is Super Bowl V. I was told by my brothers to root for the Colts.

141. I was there on October 1st (Birds Nest Stadium in Beijing). My timing was probably a mistake as it was the National Holiday and Beijing was unbelievably crowded. We tried to tour the Birds Nest, but all the tickets were sold out and were going for something like $50 per person on the "black market", I guess China's version of Stub Hub or the Dodgeres Colliseum game last year. Anyways, the stadium looked beautiful all lit up at night. The area surrounding the stadium, was very modern and well landscaped. The swimming pool building was also a beautiful site all lit up at night. Chinese Professional sports aren't that big a deal in China. They love sports, basketball is by far the most popular western sport. Ping pong and badmitton are still the most popular. You see people playing badmitton on the sidewalk or in parks in make-shift courts. I would say their pro basketball league is the biggest deal of all pro sports there, and mostly in the southern (well, south of Beijing) like Shanghai, Yunnan Province and Guangdong. NBA is huge in China. My sister in law in a teacher at a middle school in China, and every year when I go there I talk to the class and this time I brought a small box of NBA basketball cards. They were like gold! They like Kobe and McGrady the best.
vr, Xei

NPUT

138 , terrific analysis Eric Stephen, thanks for running all of that down, although I disagree with this:

"I think Bills is closer to Hamels' value than Jimenez." after seeing both pitch against the Phils in the playoffs these past two seasons...still, it seems like an interesting comp and may be fun to watch over the next 3-4 seasons who pitches better, Billingsley away from Dodger Stadium or Jimenez away from Coors. That Bad Altitude guy might have enjoyed reading this too, before the wrist-slitting that went on over there this week :(

and FYI, the MLB channel which is not to be named is showing the 2002 WS recap, but started with footage of Mr. Bonds hitting a bunch of home runs at Dodger Stadium, Future Dodger Jeff Kent backing him up, and Future Dodger Kenny Lofton providing unparalleled PVLitude!