So.....that PGT, huh?

The Sahara (Arabic: الصحراء الكبرى‎, Aṣ-Ṣaḥrā´ al-Kubrā, "The Great Desert") is the world's largest hot desert and second largest desert, after Antarctica.[1] At over 9,400,000 square kilometres (3,600,000 sq mi), it covers most of Northern Africa, making it almost as large as China or the United States. The Sahara stretches from the Red Sea, including parts of the Mediterranean coasts, to the outskirts of the Atlantic Ocean. To the south, it is delimited by the Sahel, a belt of semi-arid tropical savanna that composes the northern region of central and western Sub-Saharan Africa.

Some of the sand dunes can reach 180 metres (590 ft) in height.[2] The name comes from the Arabic word for desert: (صَحراء ṣaḥrāʾ[sˤɑħrɑːʔ]

Pretty big day for our favorite team.

This day in baseball history....

2012 - The Texas Rangers sign Japanese pitcher, Yu Darvish.

2012 - The Texas Rangers move forward with plans to sign Prince Fielder

2012 - The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim purchase a white flag in preparation for the 2012 AL West race.

On this day in baseball history....not that much happened.

GO RANGERS!!!

Very nice win by the Stars last night....

This day in baseball history....

Ahhh....you can almost smell the turkey and dressing.  

This day in baseball history....

The Rangers have completed their investigation of the Game 7 Ron Washington audio.

Link to story

The employee sent it to a close friend, and then it went on a viral path to the internet.

“It’s unacceptable,” Rangers general manager Jon Daniels said. “It’s a private meeting for the team, and a privilege to be a part of and a privilege to be in the clubhouse and have access to it. Very poor judgment. That’s not what that meeting was for.”

This day in baseball history.....

So, it's already November......

On this date.....pay no attention to what happened one year ago today...........but in other stuff....

1512 - Michelangelo's paintings on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel were first exhibited to the public.


1755 - At least 60,000 people were killed in Lisbon, Portugal by an earthquake, its aftershocks and the ensuing tsunami.

1765 - The British Parliament enacted The Stamp Act in the American colonies. The act was repealed in March of 1766 on the same day that the Parliament passed the Declaratory Acts which asserted that the British government had free and total legislative power of the colonies.

1800 - U.S. President John Adams became the first president to live in the White House when he moved in.

1879 - Thomas Edison executed his first patent application for a high-resistance carbon filament (U.S. Pat. 223,898).

1950 - Two Puerto Rican nationalists tried to assassinate U.S. President Harry Truman. One of the men was killed when they tried to force their way into Blair House in Washington, DC.

1950 - Charles Cooper became the first black man to play in the National Basketball Association (NBA).

1959 - Jacques Plante, of the Montreal Canadiens, became the first goalie in the NHL to wear a mask.

1995 - In Dayton, OH, the Bosnian peace talks opened with the leaders of Bosnia, Serbia and Croatia present.

1998 - Nicaraguan Vice President Enrique Bolanos announced that between 1,000 and 1,500 people were buried in a 32-square mile area below the slopes of the Casita volcano in northern Nicaragua by a mudslide caused by Hurricane Mitch.

1998 - Iridium inaugurated the first handheld, global satellite phone and paging system.

We're well over 1000 comments....time for a new thread....

This day in baseball history...a couple of Rangers related items....

2001  Angels infielder David Eckstein breaks Frank Robinson's rookie record for getting hit by a pitch. The Halos' shortstop is struck by Rangers hurler Aaron Mayette's fifth inning pitch making it the 21st time he has been plunked this season.

and

2001 Ranger infielder Alex Rodriguez becomes the 20th player and first shortstop in major league history to hit 50 home runs season. The milestone blast is given up by Angel hurler Ismael Valdes in the first inning in at Edison Field in an 11-2 Texas win.

Good evening, everyone.  I normally post on Lone Star Ball but I am a huge Stars fan.  Went to my first hockey game ever when I won tickets to a game in the Stars first season in Dallas.  At the time, I didn't know what I was watching but I knew I really liked it.  Baseball will always be number one but hockey is way up on the list of my sports passions.  I just thought I knew baseball before I found Lone Star Ball...I realized I knew next to nothing.  I'm sure the same will happen on DBD...I look forward to joining you guys and learning more about this great sport.

Anyway...news came out today that regarding the Winter Classic.  The Rangers are going to play the Flyers on January 2 in Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia.  This game has quickly become a must-watch in my house.

Link to the CNN/SI story

You guys are animals.  It's not even noon and we're over 1000 comments!!

Should we nominate Dutch for this?

Calling all mustaches!

The esteemed American Mustache Institute is now accepting nominations for the 2011 “Robert Goulet Memorial Mustached American of the Year.”

Whether you sport a Fu Manchu, handlebar or pencil ‘stach, the Institute is looking for contenders who have “best represented or contributed to the Mustached American community during the past year.”

“The ‘Goulet’ is not a best mustache award,” notes the American Mustache Institute. Instead, the Institute awards real, mustachioed Americans who honor the memory of Robert Goulet, “whose voice, trademark mustache, sense of humor, and black leather jackets represented a quadruple-threat of talent the American Mustache Institute is proud to salute.”

Is Boston trying way too hard to lose the wildcard or are they just giving the Angels a sliver of hope?  I mean, that's what the Angels want anyway...right?

At any rate, the other thread was pushing maximum density so here you go. 

No Rangers but we have Monday Night Football and Toronto vs LAAAAAAAAAA.

GO RANGERS!!! GO RANGERS!!! GO RANGERS!!! GO RANGERS!!! GO RANGERS!!! GO RANGERS!!! GO RANGERS!!! GO RANGERS!!! GO RANGERS!!! GO RANGERS!!! GO RANGERS!!! GO RANGERS!!! GO RANGERS!!! GO RANGERS!!!

I wonder if Moe knows about this new thread?

via i2.listal.com

Anyway...the other thread was getting really, really full so....

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On this day in 1814, Francis Scott Key pens a poem which is later set to music and in 1931 becomes America's national anthem, "The Star-Spangled Banner." The poem, originally titled "The Defence of Fort McHenry," was written after Key witnessed the Maryland fort being bombarded by the British during the War of 1812. Key was inspired by the sight of a lone U.S. flag still flying over Fort McHenry at daybreak, as reflected in the now-famous words of the "Star-Spangled Banner": "And the rocket's red glare, the bombs bursting in air, Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there."

Which begs the question....is there any way you could sing the Star-Spangled Banner at a sporting event?

Podcast with Jimmy Traina....CJ being CJ......the more I read and hear from him, the more I like him.

I checked in with Texas Rangers pitcher (and friend of Hot Clicks), C.J. Wilson, Thursday afternoon for a discussion on his stellar season, pending free agency, his new fondness for cryotherapy, in which he gets chilled with liquid nitrogen, his controversial comments about A's fans and much more. (On a side note, I'd recommend listening if you want to win any future giveaway in Hot Clicks.)

September Podcast

Please stay, CJ!!

Enough days off....I could use some baseball.

On this day in history....

1823 - The New York Mirror and Ladies Literary Gazette was founded.  The weekly newspaper later became the daily New York Mirror

1824 - Fifth Avenue was opened in NYC. 

1887 - Barbed wire was patented by Chester A Hodge of Beloit, WI

------On a completely unrelated note...Barb Wire was a dreadful movie.

1907 - Walter Johnson pitched his first professional baseball game for the Washington Senators.

1938 - The yellow baseball was first used in a test by the Brooklyn Dodgers and the St. Louis Cardinals. Players said they had not preference for the yellow ball over the traditional white ball.

FRIDAY!!!  Long weekend!!!  Bring it on....

Random stuff:

In the average lifetime, a person will walk the equivalent of 5 times around the equator.

It would take 11 Empire State Buildings, stacked one on top of the other, to measure the Gulf of Mexico at its deepest point.

The Main Library at Indiana University sinks over an inch every year because when it was built, engineers failed to take into account the weight of all the books that would occupy the building.

Elephants are the only mammals that can't jump.

The other thread was rapidly approaching 900 comments....

I found this little tidbit of information....Joaquin Benoit demoted in the Detroit bullpen

Joaquin Benoit was nearly unhittable for the Rays last season, throwing 60 innings with a 1.34 ERA, .147 opponents’ batting average, and 75/11 K/BB ratio.

That earned him a three-year, $16.5 million deal from the Tigers as a free agent, but after allowing 15 runs in his first 16 appearances Benoit has been demoted from eighth-inning setup man to middle reliever.

NFL Draft
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In another step toward the use of robots, it appears that MLB is considering expanding the use of replay on certain calls.  This is good news.  We all remember the Mark Teixeira "foul ball" a few years back.

Major League Baseball is leaning toward expanding replay for the 2012 season to include trapped balls and fair-or-foul rulings down the lines, a person familiar with the talks tells The Associated Press.

I think that anything done to make sure the correct call is made is a good move.  Kudos, MLB!!!

ROBOTS!!!

Good morning, LSB!!! This spring training cannot end quickly enough...give me real baseball!

I love weather and since the OT threads now feature random facts, today's random facts will center around weather. Many of these make me think about the Kip Dynamite statement, "like anyone could even know that" but they are still fascinating.

The fastest speed a falling raindrop can hit you is 18mph.

The coldest temperature ever recorded was a negative 126.9 degrees fahrenheit in Vostok Station, Antarctica.

A corn field of one acre gives of 4,000 gallons off water per day in evaporation.

For each minute of the day, 1 billion tons of rain falls on the Earth.

At any given time, on average there are about 1800 thunderstorms occurring on earth with 100 lightning strikes per second.

The air located around a lightning bolt is heated to around 30,000 degrees Celsius. This is 5 times hotter than the surface of the sun.

In one day a hurricane can release enough energy to supply all of the nation’s electrical needs for about six months.

A cubic mile of ordinary fog contains less than a gallon of water.

Have a great day.

Go Rangers!!

The other thread was getting pretty full so I figured I would start an evening thread since we have a big Mavs game tonight. 

Let's hope the Mavs can come back from that hideous game last night. 

VH1 Classic is showing Best of Will Farrell.  Just saw the Cowbell skit....that makes me love Christopher Walken even more. 

Let's do this!!

Go Rangers!!! Go Rangers!!! Go Rangers!!! Go Rangers!!! Go Rangers!!! Go Rangers!!! Go Rangers!!! Go Rangers!!! 

You asked for it....here it is the Tuesday Off-Topic thread. 

Happy Fat Tuesday.....until a few years ago, I had no idea that Mobile, AL was the birthplace of Mardi Gras (never really cared, actually but still found it interesting).

Random thought of the day.....Charlie Watts is an underrated drummer.  I was never a big Rolling Stones fan but really like some of their songs...."Miss You" is one of my favorite songs ever and I love listening to the drums on that song.

Ladies and gentlemen....take it away.

Who is Wally Yonamine?

I had the same question before I read this article. Wally Yonamine was known as "Nisei Jackie Robinson".  He was the first American to play in the Japanese baseball league after WWII and was the first American to be inducted into the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame.

Before playing baseball, though, he was the first Japanese-American to play professional football...he played for the 49ers just after WWII. His career was short-lived lasting only one year. It was then Yonamine turned his attention to baseball.

You may not find this as interesting as I did but I think it's a good read from a historical standpoint. 

http://abcnews.go.com/International/wally-yonamine-japanese-american-sports-pioneer-dies-age/story?id=13036475

It's cold.....really, really cold. There's snow and ice on the ground.  My office closed and I'm bored.  What better way to warm up and exercise the mind than an off-topic thread?  OK...OK....there are probably better ways to warm up and exercise the mind but work with me here.

Here's a few topics....

Could you be (or are are you) a member of the polar bear club?

Male singers or female singers. Which do you prefer? Who belts out the tunes better? Who captures melancholy better?

Nacho talk. Are you a cheese only person or do you need beans, meat or anything else on them?  I'll make you all jealous right now. I may have had the best nachos ever just today. We took barbacoa leftovers, put it on some chips and topped it with cheese. Ambrosia for the palate.

Your dream job.

Let's say someone gives you $100 million dollars.  What's the very first thing you buy or do with the money? 

Brewster's Millions...not Richard Pryor's best movie but that's beside the point.  Could you do it? 

Whatever else you guys want to discuss......

Come on, Spring Training!!!!!

Well, well, well....it looks like Chuck Greenberg is starting to get under the skin of the Yankees. This makes me love Chuck even more.....

"Chuck's delusional. He's been in the game for a few minutes and yet he thinks he knows what everyone's thinking,'' Yankees president Randy Levine said. "I think he should let Cliff Lee speak for himself. (Greenberg) could really impress us when he keeps the Rangers off of welfare and keeps them from receiving revenue sharing the next three years.''

Sour grapes?  Are the Yankees still a little lost after their mystique and aura failed them in the ALCS?   Are the Yankees a little upset that their offseason hasn't worked out the way it usually does?  As Josh once said, "cry me a bag of money".  

Link 

Happy New Year, everyone!! 

It's all over but the cryin' for the Cowboys and it may be the last time you see the Boys until August 2012.  Does anyone have hope that the labor issues will be resolved in time to save the 2011 season? 

In other news, reports are the Jason Garrett is about to have the "interim" tag removed from his title.  Is everyone satisfied with that?  I think this has more to do with money, Jerry's unwillingness to give up power and the labor situation than actually believing that Garrett is "the guy".

Did anyone else watch the Winter Classic last night? I loved it.  It's a fantasic showcase for hockey...especially when you have two of the biggest stars in the game playing against each other.  And, so far, each game has actually been good. 

Here's the schedule for today.

Sunday, January 2

Minnesota at Detroit (1:00 PM)

Cincinnati at Baltimore (1:00 PM)

Pittsburgh at Cleveland (1:00 PM)

Tampa Bay at New Orleans (1:00 PM)

Miami at New England (1:00 PM)

Buffalo at N.Y. Jets (1:00 PM)

Oakland at Kansas City (1:00 PM)

Carolina at Atlanta (1:00 PM)

Dallas at Philadelphia (4:15 PM)

Arizona at San Francisco (4:15 PM)

N.Y. Giants at Washington (4:15 PM)

Chicago at Green Bay (4:15 PM)

San Diego at Denver (4:15 PM)

Tennessee at Indianapolis (4:15 PM)

Jacksonville at Houston (4:15 PM)

St. Louis at Seattle (8:20 PM)

Many of you may not know who this man is but he was the man who was primarily responsible for bring the Rangers to Texas.

He is also a driving force for putting Arlington on the map.

He was instrumental in the creation of DFW Airport and bringing Six Flags and the General Motors plant to Arlington. But he may be best remembered as the driving force behind getting the Texas Rangers baseball franchise moved to the area from Washington

http://www.myfoxdfw.com/dpp/news/123010-influential-judge-tom-vandergriff-dies#

Well....that was disappointing.  One more game and the Cowboys will season will finally be done.  Then it's on to Spring Training!!! 

Here's the schedule

Sunday December 26th

Washington Redskins @ Jacksonville Jaguars_1:00 P.M. on FOX

Detroit Lions @ Miami Dolphins _1:00 P.M. on FOX

San Francisco 49ers @ St. Louis Rams_1:00 P.M. on FOX

Tennessee Titans @ Kansas City Chiefs_1:00 P.M. on CBS

New York Jets @ Chicago Bears_1:00 P.M. on CBS

New England Patriots @ Buffalo Bills_1:00 P.M. on CBS

Baltimore Ravens @ Cleveland Browns_1:00 P.M. on CBS

Houston Texans @ Denver Broncos_4:05 P.M. on CBS

San Diego Chargers @ Cincinnati Bengals_4:05 on CBS

Indianapolis Colts @ Oakland Raiders_4:05 on CBS

New York Giants @ Green Bay Packers_4:15 on FOX

Seattle Seahawks @ Tampa Bay Buccaneers_4:15 on FOX

Minnesota Vikings @ Philadelphia Eagles_8:20 on NBC

Monday December 27th

New Orleans Saints @ Atlanta Falcons_8:30 on ESPN