According to this article by CNN, the Rangers have decided to raise all railings at Rangers Ballpark.  Part of the team's statement reads:

Even though all current rail heights in Rangers Ballpark in Arlington currently exceed code, the Rangers intend to raise the height of all rails in front of seating areas to the highest standard in the United States at this time.

 New signs and warnings will also be posted in what the team calls the "interim."  I'm guessing that means until the season is over? 

Didn't see this anywhere else, so: Dangit, Yorvit

I really don't like it when players accuse other players of doing this sort of thing - especially in such a thorough ass-kicking as the Yankees put on our hitters the last three days with their scrub ass pitching staff.  I'd rather we just keep our mouths shut about it and go on with business. 

I didn't have the opportunity to watch much of this series, and I'm glad I didn't, but between this, complaining about umpiring around here for every damn game, and even Wash bitching about our pitching, this recent losing mess the team has been going through feels like a bunch of excuses and bad baseball.  Play better, you guys, and stop whining.

I must say I am surprised.  It was a swearing match between everyone involved, and "beyond a reasonable doubt" is a lofty standard.  That said, screw Barry Bonds.  If I had to guess, I'd guess he took steroids.  If he did, I'd guess he knew what he was taking.  If that's true, then he lied about it under oath.  Wait, what is the obstruction of justice charge stemming from again?  Oh well.  Guilty!

MSNBC Story

Interestingly, a mistrial was declared for all the other charges.  I wasn't sure they could bifurcate mistrials like that, but I'm not a criminal lawyer, and certainly not one in California.

So the Dallas Morning News linked to this terrible article at the Houston Chronicle, which essentially starts off by stating that it is unfair to pin the weather situation last week on Dallas, then he goes on to make points which portray Dallas negatively, but which all have to do with bad weather.  I'm sorry that you had to drive to Bone Daddy's on 635 Wednesday night, bro, but your article sucks.

However, I do think that the weather exposed this city's preparation for the game.  The Super Bowl Host Committee swore up and down, time after time, that they would be prepared for inclement weather, whatever that may be.  Granted, we were hit with a once or twice in a century storm last week, but still....this metroplex was absolutely unprepared for the mess the freezing temperatures caused. 

I think the real saving grace is that by Sunday most of the junk had melted and the weather was sunny and warm for all of the pregame stuff on Fox that day. 

The temporary seat debacle is another issue entirely.  Who is to blame?  Jerry's greed?  Or the NFL for being aware of, and ignoring the risk that they may have to turn fans away.

Lots of disasters this week, but could be worse.  Each team got to and from their indoor practice facilities ok.  The game itself was good, if filled with technical problems and moron singers who don't know words to the national anthem.

What do you guys think about this week?  Any specific stories?  Good/bad/disasterous/whatever?

I'm bored with no news and bored with discussing no real news, so let's get some off topic discussion going.  This is going to be a mishmash, so deal with it.  First, some questions:

1.  Favorite holiday meal/dish?

2.  You travelling anywhere this week/weekend?  Worst Christmas I had was in Chicago a couple of years ago.  Christmas Eve temperature was 2.  I declined midnight church service and watched Charlie Wilson's War at my sister's place instead.  Man it was cold.

3.  Would you ever consider going on that show Survivor?  Man it would be miserable but I would do it in a heartbeat.

4.  Not to hijack the thread, but this is my list for Top 15 Albums of 2010:

‎1. LCD Soundsystem - This is Happening
2. Beach House - Teen Dream
3. Wolf Parade - Expo '86
4. Arcade Fire - The Suburbs
5. The Walkmen - Lisbon
6. Deerhunter - Halcyon Digest
7. Broken Bells - Broken Bells
8. Surfer Blood - Astro Coast
9. The Morning Benders - Big Echo
10. Yeasayer - Odd Blood
11. Charlotte Gainsbourg - IRM
12. Mumford & Sons - Sigh No More
13. Sufjan Stevens - The Age of Adz
14. Local Natives - Gorilla Manor
15. Wavves - King of the Beach

Let's all cheer up and forget the other metaphorical hot girl (Cliff Lee) that blew us off this week for someone who turned out to be poorer (Philies). 

So the reason I say philosophical is because the point of this thread is not to just discuss hot girls, although that is certainly always something that is welcome (and usually comes up).  The point of this is to discuss this interesting post on Reddit.  The interesting part is the response by someone who (claims to) have been a hot girl years before, but who is now 50, and the way her worldview changed dramatically once her looks faded (username Thinks_Like_A_Man).

Here is her first response to the question of "What is it like to be a hot girl," by someone (claiming to be) a hot girl.

I was a former super hot chick, and now older woman. I can tell you a few things of what it is like from the other side.

When I was 25, I too was into running and lifting weights and my body was spectacular and I had six-pack abs and a naturally large chest (36F). Everywhere I went, men of all ages stared at me. It was really annoying that most didn't even try to hide it. The ones that were the worst were the creepy middle aged men who would hit on me, thinking that they could somehow fool me into going out with them.

No matter how grounded you are, you get a skewed perspective of the world. I truly believed that men were genuinely nice to women as a matter of course. I believed that most people were nice and accommodating and liked people. This was because most of my friends were hot as well, and guys were falling all over themselves to help us, so this is all I knew. I simply didn't realize that some men are deeply hostile and only nice to women they want to fuck. I did not realize the weird code in society which equated beauty with importance. Such a thought never occurred to me that the world might be a different place than I had experienced.

I can tell you that men now are neither hostile or overly helpful. In fact, I feel pretty much invisible. And that, by itself, is okay. I can tell you I am equally ignored by females as well. It could be the age, or it could be a combination of old and not attractive. Who knows, except that I am no longer hawt.

There were a lot of privileges you don't realize as well, like making great money, getting preferential treatment, or being dealt with respectfully. It blew my mind to realize that everyone is not entitled to this as a matter of course, but it is reserved for those who are physically desirable.

I think the biggest shock to me was realizing that my entire worldview had been wrong FOR DECADES. That was the most shocking. That the shitty treatment other people whined about was indeed true, and that just because I didn't experience it firsthand did not mean it wasn't a reality. I would think to myself, "Well, if they would just project a more positive attitude, people would respond with positive attention." I was very naive about the depth of the beauty privilege until I experienced both sides. All those bullshit things I believed simply weren't true. No matter how well put together I was, how well groomed, how charming and funny I tried to be, I could not overcome it.

It wasn't losing my attractiveness that was the biggest mindfuck, being ignored or even being treated badly. It was the idea that I really didn't understand how the world worked for so long. It was the idea that I believed you could overcome this enormous force around you everywhere you went -- all day, every day -- by simply being more cheerful and charming.

Mostly, I feel badly about all the people who complained about how poorly they were treated that I simply dismissed.

Anyways, I think it's fairly interesting and although I think the points the user brings up are legitimate, I just can't help but think that the user Thinks_Like_A_Man is actually a dude.  The way things are worded just certainly seems like it's a guy writing them; not that it really changes the discussion much.

I am just tired of the Jason Grilli post up there, so here's a new off topic thread for us to discuss.  Here are some questions for you (and wow, I tried googling random topics of conversation and it's amazing how shitty some of the examples were - like "does chewing gum lose it's flavor on the bedpost overnight"  WTF):

1.  What is the strangest experience you have had in the last month?

2.  Coolest place you have ever traveled to?

3.  Best TV show this fall (we all know it's Human Target, back next week, but I'll ask anyways)?

4.  Does bad social intelligence reflect a lack of actual intelligence?  (This arose out of a debate I had with a friend this morning - he thinks Kanye's inability to ever apply any sort of a filter to anything he does reflects a lack of intelligence.  I disagree - I think Kanye's a smart guy, just is an idiot for refusing to bite his tongue once in awhile.  If you saw him on the Today Show this morning, you also know what I'm talking about.  He was acting like a baby.)

As most of us talk Big XII or Texas colleges football, the two big games played around here last week were Baylor getting its first win at DKR in Austin since Taft was President (or something), chasing Horns130 from this board forever, and a terrible, terrible A&M team handing Tech its second straight slapdown and first consecutive colossally disappointing season.  Talk about last week, or talk about this week; schedule of games below.

Yo people, my friend Ricky is the nicest guy in all of America.  He also has designed some pretty awesome Rangers shirts, including the one I have posted above.  Apparently someone was on Fox and MLB Network last night wearing the shirt, but I didn't see it.  Anyways, I like it much better than the claw and antler shirts, which I find hideous and display a disturbing lack of catchphrases. 

http://www.washyourrangershirt.com/

We are all aware of the complaints that have surfaced in recent days on LSB about how people are being treated by the ushers and security at RBiA this season.  Allow me to add my observations as to how three guys were treated last night by the usher and by a security guard named Leandro Navarro.
 
In the 11th inning, one of the guys yelled at the player hitting "You suck!" So, the usher lady immediately tells them to "stop using inappropriate language."  As they hadn't used any cusswords per se, they were obviously confused as to what she was talking about and start arguing with her.

As I knew from LSB what was going on, I offered to shed some light on the subject and I (quietly) said to them, "They don't allow fans to yell 'suck' to players."  They were a little incredulous, but they didn't use any more inappropriate language at all.  The next inning (the 12th), the three guys were once again standing up, and none of them were saying a word.  Not to each other, not to the players, not to anyone.  In fact, one of them was on his blackberry texting, if I recall.  Out of nowhere, the usher lady tells them that if they don't stop with the inappropriate language, she is going to have to ask them to leave.  At this point, everyone (including me) is involved saying, "They weren't saying anything at all!"  It was utterly ridiculous.
 
The guys got irritated that she was threatening to kick them out when they had literally said nothing, so the usher lady then called security down, and Mr. Navarro is who responded.  He promptly told the three guys to sit down, and one guy asks, "So we can't stand during the half innings?" 

"No, you can't stand while they are playing," Mr. Navarro tells them, so they sit down. 
 
After questioning what the deal is, Mr. Navarro says that there was a complaint (the closest fan behind them was literally about 8 rows back, so there is no way someone complained), and that the "official policy" is that fans are not allowed to stand up while play is taking place on the field.  He then added that if they stood up at all for the rest of the game, he would kick them out.
 
To sum up: it's ok to stand up to do the wave, but not ok to stand up to cheer the team.  Unbelieveable.
 
I at least can understand that they don't want fans yelling "YOU SUCK" or whatever at players.  I can understand that they don't want you taking beer into the non alcoholic sections.  I get it. 

What I cannot understand is not allowing fans to stand up during the 12th inning of a first place vs. second place game.  Un. Believeable. 

EDIT:  Chuck Morgan needs to get his people under control.  Chuck Morgan is the most awesome dude ever and is doing his very best to pass on these issues to those who are in charge of the ushers and security.  The problem with the policy of "whomever complains first is right," is that the people that complain first aren't always right.

So I feel like most people have Christmas Eve off.  I was out last night and even some friends that work for big gargantuan law firms didn't have to come in today, but here I am, at my desk, THE ONLY PERSON HERE.  No client is going to call today!  No opposing counsel is going to call!  The Courts are closed as well!  On top of all that, I don't have any work to do - just a McDonalds Sausage McMuffin with Egg to eat.

So to solve my problem, I typed "awesome time waster" into google image search, and it returned something season appropriate and truly awesome.  Is this the Hoff?

Truly, Merry Christmas, you guys.  I would probably have died many boring deaths without being able to at least read this website.  I love you all.  Except Josey Wales.

This is from his "Stat of the Week" e-mail (I forget how to sign up; TBall told me), so I won't post the whole thing, but really interesting.  A couple of highlights:

Rookies and Runs Created:

2009 Top Rookie Hitters, MLB

Player                                  Runs Created
Chris Coghlan, Marlins             74
Seth Smith, Rockies                 62
Dexter Fowler, Rockies            62
Nolan Reimold, Orioles           60
Andrew McCutchen, Pirates    59
Elvis Andrus, Rangers              59

Link to the Article

---------------------------------------

List:

1. Albert Pujols, Cardinals
2. Alex Rodriguez, Yankees
3. Johan Santana, Mets
4. Manny Ramirez, Dodgers
5. Hanley Ramirez, Marlins
6. Chase Utley, Phillies
7. Roy Halladay, Blue Jays
8. Derek Jeter, Yankees
9. Mariano Rivera, Yankees
10. Chipper Jones, Braves
11. Ryan Howard, Phillies
12. Grady Sizemore, Indians
13. David Wright, Mets
14. Justin Morneau, Twins
15. Jimmy Rollins, Phillies
16. Josh Beckett, Red Sox
17. Mark Teixeira, Yankees
18. Dustin Pedroia, Red Sox
19. Tim Lincecum, Giants
20. Evan Longoria, Rays
21. Lance Berkman, Astros
22. Jose Reyes, Mets
23. Carlos Beltran, Mets
24. Ian Kinsler, Rangers
25. Zack Greinke, Royals
26. Josh Hamilton, Rangers
27. Alfonso Soriano, Cubs
28. Miguel Cabrera, Tigers
29. CC Sabathia, Yankees
30. Ichiro Suzuki, Mariners
31. Brandon Webb, Diamondbacks
32. Ryan Braun, Brewers
33. Dan Haren, Diamondbacks
34. Francisco Rodriguez, Mets
35. Matt Holliday, A's
36. Kevin Youkilis, Red Sox
37. Vladimir Guerrero, Angels
38. Jake Peavy, Padres
39. Joe Mauer, Twins
40. Carlos Quentin, White Sox
41. Jason Bay, Red Sox
42. Chad Billingsley, Dodgers
43. Cliff Lee, Indians
44. Torii Hunter, Angels
45. Victor Martinez, Indians
46. Roy Oswalt, Astros
47. Carlos Delgado, Mets
48. Carlos Zambrano, Cubs
49. Cole Hamels, Phillies
50. Brian McCann, Braves

---------------------------------------

Mark Teixeira at 17?  Pedroia at 18?  Based on one good season?  If so, why is Greinke only 25th?  I have to admit, I'm scratching my head on a few of these, but what do you people think?

Got a message from my friend Colleen from highschool about a week ago seeing if I'd like to go to the Rangers annual charity event for the Rangers Foundation: The Rangers Triple Play. Having wanted to go in the past, I really jumped for the chance. We had no idea what to expect - Colleen had gotten two tickets from Mr. and Mrs. Hicks since they love Colleen. So, the ticket stated that we were at "Table 6," the "Thomas O. and Cinda Hicks Family Foundation" table, and other than that we had no idea what to expect, and who to expect at our table.

On the way in I joked that I was going to sit next to Nolan Ryan, but only because he literally was my childhood idol (I even wore #34 when I played). At any rate, after milling around for awhile and checking out the silent auction items, we were instructed to take our seats. Colleen and I were the first to get to our table, which was extremely front and center, and a woman who I recognized walked up and introduced herself: "I'm Ruth Ryan," she said.

I turned to Colleen and said, "That's Nolan Ryan's wife!" and she sat down one seat away from me, and put her bag down in the empty chair between herself and me. Then I said to Colleen, "Oh my God, Nolan Ryan is going to sit next to me!!!" He came in a few minutes late, but sure enough it was him. And it was awesome. Even crazier was that on the other side of Mrs. Ryan was Tom Hicks, and farther along was his wife. Also at our table were Hicks' daughter and her friend, another couple, and the player we got was Derek Holland. So crazy. So, so crazy.

As a bit of a disclaimer/disappointment: I did not take any pictures of these people. I mean, I was a guest of the Hicks family themselves (via Colleen), and I thought it would be in poor taste to start taking photos, or demanding photos with them. I really did plan on asking Nolan at the end of the program if I could get a quick shot, but him and his wife ducked out about 20 minutes before it ended (probably because he was not left alone by the autograph seekers the entire show), so no dice.

Anyways, on to the program. They played Infielders (featuring Vizquel, Kinsler, Blalock and Young) vs. Outfielders (Hamilton, Jones, Cruz and Murphy) Family Feud (pictured at the top), which I thought was pretty good. My favorite answer was "Name famous 'Mickeys.'" The #1 answer was "Mouse," of course, then they had Rourke, Mantle and the Infielders got to Omar Vizquel's turn, and he said, "Mickey Young." Eric Nadel had him clarify, and he did in fact mean "Michael Young," but thought enough people surveyed would answer "Mickey Young." It was not one of the choices. Anyways, the Outfielders won somehow (Andruw Jones at one point could not even give an answer for "Boardgames you can play as a family." Seriously, Andruw? No answer?) Second, the Rookies came and did some Karaoke:

From left to right we have: Chris Davis, Matt Harrison, Elvis Andrus, Taylor Teagarden and Derek Holland. They had some corny Anchorman-esque knockoff dialogue (Davis was Ron Burgundy), and then they sang a few bars from Afternoon Delight. Pretty amusing stuff, but best of all was Elvis in that weird blonde wig and moustache combo. They didn't let him have any lines, but he danced and shook morraccas(sp?) during the Karaoke (he didn't sing). Third on the list was Battle of the Sexes:

Battle of the Sexes pitted the Byrds, the Kinslers, the Youngs and the Saltalamacchias against each other. I'm still confused why Marlon Byrd had to blind guess whether "Saltalamacchia" contained 12, 13 or 14 letters (Salty's wife had to count up the letters herself). Tess Kinsler seems nice. Mostly because she is so awesomely hot. Seriously. The women ended up beating the guys pretty badly. One more shot of Michael Young vs. Christina Barbosa Young:

Anyways, I totally had a blast. The gameshows were enjoyable, they raised some money for a good cause (I bought a Michael Young autographed baseball; who's signature Nolan promptly made fun of, then later Nolan told Nelson Cruz that he has to do better with his autograph too - pretty funny.) The best part was that I got to sit next to Nolan Effing Ryan for the whole program; to say it was intimidating is a vast understatement, but he was extremely nice, as were everyone at our table. Thanks to Colleen for the seats. Thanks to Tom Hicks for letting me sit at his table, and thanks to Nolan Ryan for sitting next to me all through dinner. I am still sort of speechless all that happened.

According to this article by the DMN, they say that there is a developer trying to build a stadium near the Trinity River by Southside on Lamar, along with a mixed use development:

via www.dallasnews.com

Apparently, the goal is to have over 2,500 apartments, retail and a stadium.  Question for you guys is: what team are they thinking of?  The article doesn't mention anything, so is this all just speculation?  I find it hard to believe that someone would build an urban stadium just in the hope that they could then lure a minor league team to Dallas...  Any ideas?

Artist's rendition of the stadium:

via www.dallasnews.com

I wanted to ask you guys where you all ended up parking?  I had to work until 11:00, so I didn't get there until about 11:45, and by that time, many of the parking lots were full so I ended up parking in the parking lot between Siemens and the Sheraton.  Anyways, at the end of the game, we left right after the final out, walked straight to the car, then we sat, unmoving for over a half hour. 

I'm not sure if cops just weren't directing traffic on our only way out or what, but literally our parking lot did not move for forever.  I am going to take special care to avoid this lot in the future, and I recommend the same to all of you.

Did anyone else have any similar issues?  Here's a photo I took from my iPhone, because I love America.  And Texas:

Anyways, I hope you all had as good of a time as I did - this was pure greatness this year!

I have been guessing 4 years, $12 million per for awhile now...apparently he demanded 5 years, $75 million?!  WTF?  Anyways, check out the article.

Assuming the fourth year vests, Rodriguez will average $12.75 million a season, putting him just ahead of Brad Lidge as the highest-paid reliever in the game not named Mariano Rivera. K-Rod originally wanted five years and $75 million, but four years and $51 million isn't a bad consolation, especially given all of the factors (the economy, a saturated closer market) working against him.

Interesting paragraph:

Rubin told me that a parent corporation can file for bankruptcy without the subsidiary filing. The point of doing this is to make it easier to sell the Cubs without all the rules associated with the bankruptcy court, including timely filings of financial information. Another bankruptcy lawyer friend of mine told me that it would also allow the Cubs employees, and anyone associated with dealing with the Cubs, to better operate on a "business as usual" basis.

If you guys don't know, last.fm is a pretty cool community site that can be compared to Pandora, I guess, where you can listen to music, track events, interact, etc. etc.  Anyways, they released their best of list for this year based solely on popularity on their site, and the interesting thing is how greatly it differs from stuff like The Grammys, which is nothing but a popularity contest anyways.  The downside is the lists are a little irritating to go through one-by-one, so here are the lists transcribed:

Albums

10. Sigur Ros: Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust
9. Jack Johnson: Sleep Through the Static
8. Hot Chip: Made in the Dark
7. Death Cab: Narrow Stairs
6. The Kooks: Konk
5. The Ting Tings: We Started Nothing
4. NIN: Ghosts I-V
3. Portishead: Third
2. MGMT: Oracular Spectacular
1. Coldplay: Viva La Vida

Artists

10. Santogold
9. Does It Offend You, Yeah?
8. Bon Iver
7. Foals
6. The Last Shadow Puppets
5. Katy Perry
4. Fleet Foxes
3. Sara Bareilles
2. Ting Tings
1. MGMT

Tracks

10. Kids (MGMT)
9. Strawberry Swing (Coldplay)
8. 42 (Coldplay)
7. I Kissed a Girl (Katy Perry)
6. Cemetaries of London (Coldplay)
5. Life in Technicolor (Coldplay)
4. Electric Feel (MGMT)
3. Time to Pretend (MGMT)
2. Violet Hill (Coldplay)
1. Viva La Vida (Coldplay)

On our music site, we have show reviews and/or album reviews for almost every single band and album mentioned here, and it's all some pretty good stuff, so I'm pleased as punch with the last.fm community. 

Here is an article from Talking Chop, and since the only thing we at LSB love more than Jake Peavy trade discussion is Scap Loading, I thought you guys would be interested since it seems to be a sort of consensus that the Braves have the ability to get him and it makes sense for them to get him, thereby being the early frontrunners.  Anyways, the article focuses on this statement:

Yesterday Wren reaffirmed his stance that the Braves would not trade their top prospects in an e-mail or letter sent to the Associated Press.

...and what the purpose of saying this was.  Was it to appease fans, wrangle the media, or be a negotiation tactic with San Diego but then points out how this is a departure from Schuerholz:

Regardless of his intention, in sending this letter he has shown part of his hand. This is perhaps the first big indication of Frank Wren's departure from the John Schuerholz style of being the Braves General Manager. Schuerholz would have never revealed his intentions so plainly, he would have never taken anyone off the table, and certainly not prospects. For a guy who has so far operated like an echo of Schuerholz, this is the first original sound Frank Wren has made.

Anyways, interesting on some levels to us scap loading Peavy trade talk freaks.

Not too surprising considering how Tom Hicks' favorite activity is seemingly to throw his coaches/management/front office under the bus (see: JD, Buck, that Liverpool GM, that Liverpool Coach, etc.); but on Norm's show just now, Hicks just blamed JD for making a terrible trade for BMac by giving up Danks and makes JD out to be a jerk and praises Nolan's "experience" and seems to suggest that with Nolan, these types of trades won't ever happen anymore.

-Laughs Sarcastically While Looking in the Air-

Anyways, nothing too new, as I said, nothing surprising, but even I still hold out hope for the extremely slim possibility that one day Hicks will just STFU. 

According to the Dallas News Rangers Blog, Salty is done for the year.

He is headed for a second opinion, but:

The Rangers announced that catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia has a strained right forearm muscle and will not play again this season.

I hope this is enough words.  Aaaaand it's not.  Words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words.