Since I haven't been around much lately, I'm curious as to everyone's general opinion around here at this point in the preseason. Are you glad Griff and Dunn have been traded? Are the two subjects so unrelated that you consider it a stupid question?

I know we're going to miss the run production, I get that. And it seems as they are attempting to build toward this defense/pitching colossus that to me is obviously a few years off. In the mean time, do you put stock in the inference that their attitude/ethic thing was a distraction and hindrance to the new guys in the clubhouse?

Maybe it seems easy to say now for many of us that thought this to be the case. But, some of the things that have been implied from the clubhouse so far this season seem to confirm that this was the case.

What say you?

SUBQUESTION: Did you get the re-release of Ten yet and what did you think of it? And if you didn't, why not?

I thought I'd post a few and see if anyone else had any to contribute. Hopefully yes, because mine suk.

First up, Ash and I at Gamday Cafe. The time is 6:15am. Very am. Note the standing room only. We traded cameras with the only other patrons at the time to take pictures as proof that we are the biggest loser/idiots any of us know.  Ash says that pretty much everyone with a brain knows to hold the label out on the beer when 'posing'. I never said I have a brain.

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Gameday when the normal people came out. This really was a bunch of fun, I would like to plan on going again next year. It would not have been hard to get a table till about 8 or so.

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The crowds under the awnings were the worst I've ever seen. That's probably because I've never seen a sell-out crowd in person before.

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Tarp on.

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Tarp off. It was about this time that 'than sent a smart-ass message about how snuggly-wuggly the B-Dubs group was. Hardy-har. :))

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Snuck one off during the anthem. Couldn't resist, I thought the flag was awesome!

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About to toss the first pitch of the year. A sharp eye can see a bunch of wussies hiding from non-existent rain under the eves. What's up with that?

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Yeah, the rain droplets didn't help the image quality, I know. Anyone else have some that are better?

 Our own jch24's boy calling the game!:

Damn you tube link! I can't get it to work! Here's the link

Once again, a great outing with the fellow RRs. And once again, I got slobbering drunk. For this reason, I remember only portions of what truly happened and make no representation that the following account is historically accurate....

*The ride into Cinci revealed a city completely choked and fairly reeking of Cubs fans. "Un-holy Pilgrims in a holy land."

*Nothing better than arriving to a couple beers ordered especial for you, hat tip obc.

*Correction. The one thing better than that is not paying for them, hat tip obc.

*Immediately, things had a very real potential for disaster, as Ash arrived sans Lookout cap.

*Long hike across the bridge assures I get my mile walk in this year. Man I feel healthy!

*Good looking chicks everywhere!....wearing Cubs apparel. Damn. Heathen Goddesses. We were strong in the face of such temptation, all of us. Ash too.

*Lack of Red Menace lamented by all.

*Season almost over means almost out of decent beer. The last two bottles of Dortmunder from the Machine Room don't go very far. Why does God hate me?

*Season almost over means almost out of brown mustard. Brown mustard has almost blown it's keg and is giving a drop at a completely random pace. Solution? Open all taps and try to catch erratic drops from all spigots while inebriated, then get yelled at by RR buddies for wasting mustard by not getting to each drop in time. Why does God hate me?

*Never arrive late to the game from the Machine Room to join a group of RR's. They will most certainly NOT be sitting in their assigned seats, causing seat hysteria for the whole section in later innings.

*Slyde seems to have bridled his predisposition to "row ho", but has still not issued an apology for his previous behavior. Despicable.

*Ash practically refused to say Fuck in a preemptive effort to ruin all Eyewitness Reports on the evening. We could barely understand her. What the Fuck's up with that?

*We sat with a couple who may or may not have bought extra tickets from me.

*I fear I will never be forgiven alleged ticket sales to Cubs fans, but hey, Daddy needed a new pair of beers.

*Bar Louie pre-game was a good call, hat tip whoever, chandrathan I think. I wouldn't mind it be a routine meet-up location.

*Bar Louie post-game was a good call, hat tip chandrathan (why not?). Traditional discussion ensued. Who to trade for who, whether or not JD hates us, etc.. The usual. :)

*jch24 and chandrathan are the only ones with interesting employment related stories this time around. Sorry guys. Until celebrity is involved, banking, computering, health care providering, and underground utilitying seem dull, don't they?

*Further adding to our feelings of lameness, jch24 has met many local celebs including boobs. WTF?

We're planning on a WS meet-up again this year. It'd be great to see Caleb join the rowdies again and meet Zach, as well as anyone else local who would like to join in. It's good times aaaaand, you'll be able to see Red Menace go 90 for 90 of correctly answered questions as he defends his RR Title.

Now that I'm good and freaked out about how poorly I construct everything I write on this site, I say a quick prayer for mercy from the syntax gods and wince as I hit submit...

How does a pirate smuggle drugs into pirate prison?
In his booty! Hahahaaaaaa.... heh. Yeah, it wasn't that funny.

Soooooo, where's the pirate edition game thread? This be a national holiday ye Red Reporters! I figured you guys would have had something up by 06:00. Quick! Someone, we need a pirate reporter .gif!

When's game time? We stormin' the plank at the Dugout? Lineup from Highseas Brendanuka: Hopp-Arrrrr! Kepping-Arrrrr! G-arrrriffey B-arrrrandon Phillips Long Dunn Silver Encarrrrrrnacion Vott-yo ho ho Arrrrross Shearrrrrrrn

Damn, oh botherrrrr!

Hopp-Arrrrr!
Kepping-Arrrrr!
G-arrrriffey
B-arrrrandon Phillips
Long Dunn Silver
Encarrrrrrnacion
Vott-yo ho ho
Arrrrross
Shearrrrrrrn

Ok, this is the final round-up for tonight's game, where we get a free shirt to carry around for 3 hours.

If I understand correctly, all tickets will be under the control of people at a pre-game concert drinking $3.50 beers. The plan is for those who show up later  to call one of the revelers on a cell, who will in turn hand them a beer soaked ticket though the gate. The concert is on the "Fan Zone" pavilion? by the HOF, so come around the front and make the call.

I think everyone pretty much has everyone's number at this point, but if you don't or would like to meet up, send an e-mail to Slyde, obc, chandrathan, Ash, Red Menace, or myself and we'll send our digits. Caleb, you got someone's number?

I plan on getting there no later than 5. chandrathan, when you getting there and where are you parking? I want to stash my helmet and jacket in your ride if you don't mind.

As always, don't hesitate to join us even if you don't post often or have debated whether we sound normal enough to meet. What do you have to loose? I'll even buy you a brew. Hopefully Slyde can get jch, the 24 series, to come over and meet the rest of the gaggle.

It's been offered before and it's sincere, if you come out and can't sit with the main set of seats, we have no problem splitting up and sitting with you.

UPDATE: I have been informed the seats are not together, there are four behind each dugout. So keep your stub handy so we can rotate at least once or twice

Inspired by Caleb's diary, I'm about to fall over dead from the excitement or the booze, not sure which.

But the Opening Day counter has been weighing heavily on my mind.  I love that JD put it there for us. We've been looking at it forever. It seemed to be stuck at 90-some days for the longest time, but then started passing pretty quick for me. I want to know what happens when the time's up. JD will obviously remove the script, but what about the in-between? Will it just stop? Will it go into a plus count? Will the world blow up?

I'll be imbibing in Cinci tomorrow and won't get to see it happen, but am I the only one concerned with it?

What will happen?:

What, pray tell, do you see as the best beer to drink at a ballpark?

I think the Yuengling has a serious potential to go well with a dog or pirogi. Mmm, Yuengling. Maybe the best beer ever? Yes, much better than Southpaw, for sure. But perhaps a little too full bodied for the really hot weeks of the year.

Solution, I am beginning to fall in love all over again with Mich Light. They've reformulated back to the old "all malt" recipe along with the retro bottle. It's got that deep, rich taste again which would go down smooth but not be to heavy for those late July games under the sun. Nothing worse than sweating out a loaf of bread over the course of the last 5 innings.

So there you have it. In my perfect world, a park has a 1-2 punch of Yuengling for the cold months, and Mich LT. for the hot months.

Man Mountain?

Hey all, real quick, obc's mom is in the hospital undergoing emergency surgery. Odds are not the best. It looks like he's been popping in here and there from waiting rooms over the weekend, probably trying to keep his mind off stuff. This has been going on for a week now, so he's pretty wore out.

If you feel compelled to leave a comment, do as you will. But I know the gloomy stuff can be laborious and odd in these formats, so I was just hoping we could muster a little karma his way, or a silent thought to the man upstairs if you see it that way. That's all, thanks guys.

Sorry for the two diaries in one day, but this is time critical.
Earlier today, Slyde pointed out an article to me that says this Saturday is the last day to buy 07' season ticket packages. Several of you in the past had talked about going in on a package, like JD and I did last year. So, here is the current possible scenario as it stands, at least for us, possibly.

We each buy one 20 game weekend package seat. The ticketing department will allow us to buy next to each other for this package, so don't worry about that. Each account is able to buy a seat to opening day, yielding a total of 2. Each on eBay would net around $100, I think that's a reasonable guesstimate, for a total of $2000 off the cost of two weekend packages. With me so far?

The package we had last year was great, but I had too many games. After realizing I only saved a buck or so a ticket, I decided I wouldn't do it again unless there were more people to go in on better seats, reducing the amount of games i was locked into, and making the discount deeper (better seats-better discount). So if we do this, it would be ideal to get decent seats, like Field Boxes.

Based on this:
Seats+Cost of OD tix $1224
- Ebay'd OD tix @ $200
---------------
Grand total of $1024
That means each ticket of the 20 games would cost $25 or so.....Around $7 off face value per seat. That's worth it to me.

So far 3 people are in. The prices per person, based on how much we might get for the tix on eBay, and how many join in are as follows:
4 people---$256
5 people---$204
6 people---$171
and so on.
Now, how many games? It's a total of 20 games, so we'd do the math after everyone obligates.

What to do with the extra fractions of game? I suggest we do some sort of lottery to decide who gets to buy the odd games, and they would obviously pay a shad more, while everyone else's money obligation would go down a little.

If you're interested post below. These have to be bought by Sat at midnight. Sorry about the short notice, but I thought we had more time. Update [2007-2-21 11:19:38 by sukr]: OK, we've down-sized to the 20 game/weekend option. With 3 people in so far, the price ain't too shabby and could only go down. This is a great way to get lock in kickass seats cheaper than face, but not too many of them. AND, I might add, guarantee post-season ticket opportunity :)) We're planning on buying these Friday.

So, the 25th of January passed without fanfare from any of us. Like typical birthdays, we forget until we're invited to the party. Where's our party JD?

So as a short look back, we saw an explosion of the the site's numbers, great discussion, bickering, love, couches, bannings, booze, thought provoking argument, the usual. We've had ups, downs, threats of negativity, great times in the threads, gatherings, late-night booze-fueled ramblings, self terminated accounts, everything that makes it a soap opera sometimes. Whenever things have gotten too heavy, it's managed to pull itself out with lighter discussion.

To me it is rather comforting knowing there are other people out there nerdy enough to spend time on the net shifting through massive amounts of crap to find little shreds of info about their favorite team, and contribute to a central community with their thoughts on the matter.

I think JD does a great job of moderating the site, civil order has been rarely in question despite wildly varying takes on the game. I'm lucky as a fan to have this resource. I have a reader, but generally pop this site up as a front line means of information. What makes it great to read as a general fan is the in-depth analysis of what's going on, supplemented by thousands of scenarios, graphs, charts, and historical reference. I guess I'm still impressed after two years over what people take time to post for everyone else's benefit.

So, Happy Belated Birthday to the Red Reporter(s)!

Got the mail today. Thicker than normal magazine. Flip, flip, flip. Hmmm. Now, I know there are those among us more disappointed by the lack of sports content in this issue, but check out this Reds fan! Who knew there were supermodels with tattoos?

Overall review from a guy that is obviously bored, but takes his SISI seriously:
Photography skills a little lacking this year. More than a few shots are blurry enough that they should not have made it past the editors desk. A few bright spots, but there have certainly been better issues from a pure graphical standpoint.

The three page fold out of a nude, reclining, only semi-old Burt Reynolds with a strategicly draped hand was a buzzkill. Unexpected suprises of this variety do not motivate me to buy anything, and I 've put DirecTV on THE LIST as a reprocussion for their lousy marketing.

It seems en vouge to talk about each year as though it were obviously better that the previous, and I've already heard this cooler talk. I will not indulge the conversation this year. A few of the subjects are hotter than previous years, but it's not as crisp this year to me. In a world of declining print sales due to lackluster journalism, I expect a skosh more. I give it a solid B.

For quite some time, I've wondered at a few of the screen names here on the site. Some seem to be acronyms for something, others a self descriptor. So, what does yours mean or how did you arrive on it's usage to represent your board persona?

If you don't want to share, that's fine. I can understand a self-moniker being personal in explanation. But if it's not, I think it would be cool to kick off this coming year of amazingly awesome game threads with a little more background if possible. I know Slyde has a good story for his, but may make you ask him in person at the next gathering.

First name? Mine's Tommy. Include yours if you feel like it's not a breach in security. The only one who's name was easily remembered at our first gathering last year was Ash.

I'll go first;
Many a sleepless weekend was spent playing Half-Life/TFC, etc. under the "sukr" tag. Initially, I had chosen something else (probably lame), but a tournament I was in early on had each contestant consoled with a generic name. I won, considered it to be good luck and kept it.

Well now. I guess I hold on to things and not always in a good way. I still can't let go of it, sorry. There's really no way to tell if it completely ruined our season. Kearns/Lopez didn't end up having stellar years, but still. We had Clayton at short. We had Hollandsworth in the outfield. That's impact of some sort, right? I agree with JQ, if we got a little more reality out of Krivsky about it being a boner, then I think I'd be a little calmer about the subject when it comes up. But I still steam about it. Down the stretch, we could have really used a few more runs and a happier Dunn. We now leak like a sieve and need serious foundation work instead of just needing pitching. How is that not impact?

If anyone can tell me how this is still a shoulder shrugger, then do it. I need the closure. I know it can't be undone, but is there any way to deal with the reality of what it did to us?

Ok Reds fans, Slyde, Mr.s Slyde and I have decided to take in one of the last four games of the season(good mojo) at the same place, at the same time. They're tops in my book, being willing to be seen in public with Laptop Guy. That's class.

Anyone with us?

They live North of Cinci, I live North of Dayton. So we were thinking somewhere along N 75. Sharonville area? We're planning for Sunday (Thursday would actually work a little better but hopefully no game Thursday).

Ash, I owe you a beer. Be there to collect it, or lose it forever. Update [2006-10-22 23:45:37 by sukr]:: It's B-Dubs in West Chester on Thursday night. Say between 7:30 and 8?

Well, everyone's pretty quite around here today. I can't help but feel it has something to do with the fact that last night was a kick in the nuts. (Damn OBC for his prediction, it was a bad omen:p) So we now look at the reality that we really did blow it. Not that we didn't know that already, but it's fresh again and more pronounced.

4 games. 4 little games. That's a little bit stiffer breeze out to left for the Dunner, an EdE start, a pull of Franklin when he's "lights on", and a (insert Jerry happening here).

If the Cards could make it, we obviously could have. I'd hate to be a Mets fan, if they do exist, right now.

So, what do you think was the primary reason we're not in the Fall Classic right now? Obviously, lots of defecation went into this particular soup, but if you had to boil it down to one glaring ingredient....

If they hadn't mailed in the last three weeks of the season, we're there. That's what I'm going with.

I know we've got more important things going on right now, but just as an interesting side-note; Sam Odio, developer of our chosen Wiki hosting, says we've doubled the traffic to the site. HooHa! Good job everyone! Thanks for your work Sam, and remeber who loves you when you start supporting sub-domains, i.e. charge everyone but us :)

My only worry with the Wiki is vandalism as the Red Reporter site grows. If the site sees the same growth rate next year, it could be an issue. Maybe if the Red Reporter were go to it's own Wiki sub-domain in the future, Red Menace could be the official proof-reader that ok's changes. Kinda safegaurd all the hard work that's gone into it.

All apologies to anyone who does not see very many pictures of themslves. I had 50 or so images from the night of just us and did not include the ones containing, anywhere in the picture, an unflattering shot of the back of someones sinuses, someone looking drugged out, etc. So some people kinda got shafted for inclusion, but it's with
good intent. Hopefully others can bridge the gaps.

Here we go:

Exhibit A)
A group of guys that you absolutely want to avoid encountering in a dark alley at all costs.

Exhibit B)
From the HOF, They say all things are cyclical. Count on seeing the giant horsehide ball from the movies making a comeback. Judging by the dates, we're due for a change in baseball design.

Exhibit C)
Has "Bat Tech" come a long way or what?

Exhibit D)
This is what I think I'll call the HOF Mad House Room. Don't take your kids to this room without preparing them, I had nightmares.

Exhibit E)
See what I mean?

Exhibit F)
Name that Pitch. I'm thinkin slyder. Get it? I'm here all week.

Exhibit G)
Name that Pitch. Gotta be a change.

Exhibit H)
We still think we're going to get wet at this point.

Exhibit I)
JD, Caleb and Mrs. Red Reporter arrive. See what I'm talking about with Caleb's hat? I NEED one of those.

Exhibit J)
Notice the look of disbelief on Slyde's face? This is a classic moment.

Exhibit K)
Yeah, it was looking pretty grim at this point.

Exhibit L)
ohiobobcat and the trusty Blackberry. ohiobobcat trivia: He does most of his posting from that thing. Laptop Guy asks: You get many headaches?

*Reds got rained out in the second, double header today

*Slyde spent the entire game evaluating row coolness and switching row loyalties. JD gave him his DVDs at the game, Slyde promplty made a call on his cell, and told the person on the other end, "I have the items". Don't know what that was, but I think he may be in trouble over a gambling debt. Fantasy Leagues, like crack, some people just don't know when they're in over their utility belt.

*Caleb has a kick-ass hat from Billings, MT. A cub fan asked him to take it off, Caleb said no, cub fan said something back, Caleb ended up punching the guy right in the face man, it was great!

*sukr kept trying to explain that it's not a BMX, it's a Schwinn Predator, and that he was "working" on his laptop. Who brings a laptop to a game?

*Officer Dibble is a trooper. No, not a Storm Trooper, Ash. Despite feeling like crap, he still had a 45 mph fastball at the HOF, just like the rest of us.

*Red Hot Mama got kicked out of the HOF trying to replace a cased Bench jersey with a RHM t-shirt. Had Officer Dibble not said a thing, they would have been none the wiser. Call her hotline, I believe she could use some bail moeny.

*ohiobobcat is the worst wing-man ever. sukr's conversation with the female cub fans yielded no prospects for the evening, due in large part to his laughter at the laptop guy references. And the hits just kept on comin'.

*Ash helped Caleb in the cub fan beating. She also tried to pass counterfiet Bonus Points at one point, tsk,tsk,tsk. She and Red Menace, at the prodding of fellow reporters, sang a duet of Fiddler on the Roof's "Do you love me" at the Inn Between.

*Red Mence received a call shortly after Slyde got his DVDs, during which he said, "yeah.....I see....well, you've only got four hours left......No....ok, how do you want to get them to me?" I don't understand it all, but I'm thinking Menace may be a Fantasy Shark. Hustling stat addicts is like taking candy from a baby.

*snohio seems to be in with Slyde on taking over Red Reporter. More on this in coming weeks as the political tide here at Red Reporter changes.

There's room for more RR Nation come Redsfest.  The mental images you might conjur about hardcore DD fans.....falsehoods. A perfectly normal bunch that wished more would have joined.

.....and then, the guy gave us 20 dollars!!!!

O.K., Having been given the nod from two well respected members of our community, I put to you a question. What Trilogy or movie series should be given the illustrious honor of a Red Reporter endorsement on our new Wiki page. (And thank you Menace, this should hopefully keep the flock a little more together during the cold months.) I also hope that in matters of extreme importance such as this, everyone will respect the need to come to the community before speaking for it. Nuff' said.

Now to keep this organiized;

Everyone remember there are only so many poll slots available in a diary. So, only nominate the cream of the crop.

No posting Googled lists of all-time critically acclaimed stuff. Only your favorites, but if you need your memory jogged by the Web, Slyde offers this good link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_movie_trilogies

I think series(movie only) are fair to enter into the equation, (I'm expecting a few Evil Dead nods) unless you unanimously say Trilogy only.

Hopefully there are enough responses that the poll will be made of mulitple noms'. (this will make it far easier on me, and belie the inference of jury tampering)

Off the top of my head:
Godfather (of course)
Indiana Jones
Back to the Future
Matrix

Lineups:

Reds
R. Freel cf
N. Hopper rf
S. Hatteberg 1b
R. Aurilia 3b
A. Dunn lf
D. Ross
R. Clayton ss
B. Phillips 2b
B. Arroyo p

Cubs

J. Pierre cf
R. Cedeno 2b
A. Ramirez 3b
J. Jones rf
M. Murton lf
S. Moore 1b
C. Izturis ss
H. Blanco c
J. Mateo p      

Pretty dead around here today, so probably an empty thread.

Sorry, I'm actually ready already. But, I'm looking forward to trade rumors, stove league, etc.

As far as a step forward this year, I'd go along with that. We now have an owner interested in winning. That is huge. Everything else has been poorly executed aside from a limited number of no-brainer decisions from K Dog.

And in respect to him, I'm 75% certain he does not know what he's doing yet. One great trade this year that could have even mushroom stamped Dan-O, then stupidity. I see the flurry of trading this year as I see people the flail their arms to feel like they're moving faster than they are. Everyone wants to give Kriv credit for trying, "At least he's trying to fix the pen." He screwed himself and us pretty bad, knew it, and had to flail his arms.

I think he may have set us a year back, honestly. Are we now at a stage where we will be forced to conduct business as usuall for the next several years untill we're out from under Griff's contract, i.e. aquiring anyone with a pulse and a new name that's cheap to throw for us. We have no other options. Depleted minors and worthless bench players will not yield a productive pitching staff. Based on what we've got left, we NEED an honest 20m increase in payroll to be year in/out contenders. Even if there were interest in any of our "valuable" starters, do we have confidence Krivs has the competency to get their break-even value, let alone make bonus points on the deal?

How many times over the course of the season did we all say we'd give him the benefit of the doubt because of the Arroyo trade? How many times did we say that maybe a change is what this guy is needing to spark productivity? Krivsky has repeated the same pattern of trading that Danny Boy brought to us, only at circus speed. Hate to feel so down on the guy, but we had a great foundation to build from, and now, that even needs rebuilt.

This isn't a Monday morning type thing, because there were plenty here that knew the direction this was all headed, especially after the third or fourth weirdo pick-ups. And it's not a naysay at the very end, because I've truly felt they had a shot. This is a prayer to God;

   "Please Lord, bestoweth upon our leadership wisdom for the coming years that appear rife with the machinations of rebuilding. Please imbue within your servant, KrivskyCreme, a few basic priciples already knownst to all blessed with a brain:
Thou shalt not live along a seaboard, any of them.
Thou shalt not have dealings with the evildoer known as Leatherpants, lest ye become unclean.
Thou shalt not extendeth the contract of a fellow man known as a "baseball guy" or a "player's manager".

Amen."

To those that had the patience to read the whole rant, thank you.... and I'm sorry.

This is from a Hockey blog, but I think it warrants a little thought.

The Washington Capitals owner actually tracked down Eric McErlain, who seems to be pretty well respected in the Hockey blogs, to hammer something out in order to provide press creds to bloggers.

Now, is it the fact that Hockey has lost so much of it's fan base and needs desperately to re-connect in any way? If so, how long till Baseball hits this low-point?

Or is this just a cool-ass owner who understands that, as a marketing base, die-hard fans want more than what the conventional media outlets are supplying in this grand age of tele-communications? If so, I think Castelini is just too old-school to ever get it.

On the front page of his blog, McErlain quotes other bloggers who balked at the idea for reasons I had not thought of before. But Damn, wouldn't it be cool if JD were our own Marc.

Marc for instance, is obviously the best we've got for his type of journalism. For the web end, it seems as though he's slowed down a bit. It wouldn't suprise me if it has to do with the fact that he has a boss who would prefer to sell papers than appease the e-masses. Papers make him money. That kind of preference ultimately influences employees.

But imagine, no editors or type-fitters, etc., this site would be unstoppable. With JD and Slyde (after quitting his job to follow his dream)working in tandem, we'd have up-dates all day. What the guys ate for breakfast, how they really feel about hitting behind Franklin, stuff like that. Not to mention the connection to the fans the front office would benefit from.

3-1 Dodgers top of the sixth. Jason LaRue hit a home run, so I guess anything's possible. Go Reds! - JD

As in, I want one. JD, wazzup with the shorts...I mean, shirts. There are obviously hoards of drunken Reds fans tonight that, although knowing our offense is ultimately what failed us, need some way to vent. Morron is a likely suspect.

If you are holding off to avoid looking like the RR nerd gaggle on our day, I understand. But in the meantime, I'm about to go get a Hanes Tagless® and a Sharpie®.

And you thought you'd open this diary up and find a diatribe about Reds fans throwing tickets into the streets in disgust. WRONG!

A Bar Mitzva (did I spell that right?) and a case of appendicitis, and suddenly I got nobody going to Saturday's or Sunday's game with me. While Bar Mitzva's come on suddenly and without warning, I have strong suspicions that had we won today, appendix boy would still have wanted to go, loser.

Long story long, I have two tickets for each game un-vouched for. If you're interested and live in a 20 minute radius of Dayton, I'll hand deliver them. If you got absolutely nothing going on this weekend, I'll meet you there, but then you only get one ticket. :)

e-mail me if you want em'. Hate to see waste.

I know everyone i the blogsphere is weighing in on this. When I first read the article I was immediately split. It brings up the same aguments from when we found out some leagues were not recording outs, run limits, etc.:

Life is tough and full of results from bettering/ not bettering yourself, right. Life is not about being bubble-wrapped untill you die. Think of the message we're sending the children!

Winning isn't everything. Life is not about the trophy. Life is about just enjoying yourself. Think of the message we're sending the children!

First of all, the whole think of the children crap is getting out of hand. Don't get me wrong, they're the world's future, blah, blah, blah. I love kids, and maybe I'll feel differently when I have some little sukrs running around. But I honestly don't feel kids this small pick up on subtle messages at this age. I know this because I watched Disney movies and didn't end up a pervert. And I'm a very tolerant person despite being programmed by "offensive" Warner Brothers cartoons.

Ultimately, back to the subject, I say walk the star. Here's why:
I understand that at this stage of the game for these kids, it IS all about fun and should be. There will be stats and standings and leagues for them to start proving themselves, AFTER they've grown a love for the game. But losing is part of the game, right? It's what makes it a game. Other wise it's like ski-ball. No losing, just a matter of "how much you win". Isn't trying to win what makes it fun? The rest of this is just about the parents, Reilly is right about that. And the manager of the other team is probably a Dick. If I'm in that managing situation and KNEW the kid's situation I'm sure I would have made the decision "from the Heart", but unknown, the star get's walked.

O.K., Like last year, it's time for you to lay it on the line. Unfortunately, most of us were wrong. 6 people answered correctly, 3 for under .500 and 3 for Selig. So, I suggest a contest. Vote and put your win/loss prediction below. I'll think of something cool for the winner, say, next years Prospectus. If you can think of a better prize keep it under a $40 food stamp, I'm on wellfare............Just kidding.

Comes to OUR house, telling us what OUR position players are worth. Sheesh! Just because a complete overhaul in the front office makes us small-market hayseeds giddy, doesn't mean we need you guys coming down to tell us what's what. And for the record, there's not enough Italian Beef with extra chese and extra sloppy in the world, to get us to trade Freel for a punk like Walker..........Well, maybe if it was Portillos,.....and you threw in a few dogs. ;)

I found this list at. Given the back-slapping climate fostered by new ownership, I figured I'd allow myself the guilty pleasure of momentarily giving in to the hopes that we'd break the mold and actually build a winner. The mold: Carbon copy historical examples of ownership changes where they "Rah, rah, rah, We're going to buid a winner, we promise!", and then don't. But since we're all buying it right now, I'm licking my lips!:

2006-2007 Potential Free Agent List

RHSP:
Paul Wilson (Team Option)    Wade Miller
Tomo Ohka                         Andy Ashby
Ramon Ortiz                        Jason Johnson (Mutual Option)
Gil Meche                            Joe Mays
Byung-Hyun Kim (Tm. Opt.)  Sidney Ponson
Tony Armas Jr.                    Jose Contreras
Kevin Jarvis                        Greg Maddux
Brian Moehler                      Jason Schmidt
Jeff Suppan                         Rick Helling
Woody Williams                   Brad Radke
Kerry Wood (Mutual Option)  Mike Mussina (Team Option)
Cory Lidle                           Kelvim Escobar
Chan Ho Park                      Jose Contreras
Ryan Franklin                      Orlando Hernandez
Jaret Wright (Team + Player Void options)
Kip Wells                            Jason Marquis
Vicente Padilla                     Adam Eaton
Tim Wakefield (Annual Team Renew Option)

LHSP:

Ted Lilly                               Brian Anderson
Mark Redman                       Shawn Estes
Tom Glavine                        Kevin Appier
Jamie Moyer                        Andy Pettitte
Mark Mulder                         Barry Zito
Doug Davis                          Randy Wolf
Mark Buerhle (Team Option)  David Wells
Wilson Alvarez (Retired)        Darrell May
Eric Milton (Void Option)

LHRP:

Arthur Rhodes                    Bruce Chen
Aaron Fultz                        C.J. Nitkowski
Terry Mulholland                 Alan Embree
Dennys Reyes                    Darrell May
Mike Stanton                      John Wasdin
Gabe White                       Kelly Wunsch
Darren Oliver                    Chris Hammond (Mutual Option--Likely to Retire)
Joey Eischen                      Scott Sauerbeck (Team Option)
Rheal Cormier(Team Option)
Ray King (Team Option)      Justin Speier
Kent Mercker                    Steve Kline
Scott Schoenweis               Damaso Marte (Team Option) (arb.)
J.C. Romero (Team Option)    Ron Villone
Trever Miller (Vesting Option)

RHRP:

Solomon Torres
Jim Brower
David Riske
Roberto Hernandez
Kerry Ligtenberg
Matt Mantei
Joe Borowski
LaTroy Hawkins
Rudy Seanez (Team Option)
Giovanni Carrara
Danny Graves
Steve Karsay
Octavio Dotel
Jason Grimsley
Ramiro Mendoza
Chad Bradford
Doug Brocail
Mike Lincoln
Jose Mesa (Team Option)
Russ Springer
Carlos Almanzar
David Weathers
Mike Timlin
Tanyon Sturtze
Scott Strickland
Terry Adams
Julio Santana (possibly arb.)
Mike DeJean (Mutual Option)
Esteban Yan
Ron Mahay (Team Option)
Chris Reitsma
Guillermo Mota
Dan Kolb

Closer:

Mariano Rivera (Team Option)
Troy Percival
Francisco Cordero (Team Option)
Keith Foulke (Mutual + Player Option)
Dustin Hermanson (Team option)
John Smoltz (Team Option)
Eric Gagne (Team Option + Player Void Option)
Eddie Guardado
Bob Wickman

Manager:

Clint Hurdle
Ned Yost
Bobby Cox
Frank Robinson
Dusty Baker
Jerry Narron (Mutual Option)
Bob Melvin (Team Option)
Eric Wedge
Terry Francona (Team Option)
Felipe Alou (Team Option)

General Manager:

Dan O' Dowd
Allard Baird
Brian Sabean
Jim Hendry
Dan O' Brien
John Schuerholz

Obviously this will shrink , but the name I'm most excited to see on this list is Dan O'Brien.

Well, he made it to the minors. You know just had a bad year. Even I he sucks for good, you can't tell me he wouldn't have been a better investment than Wombat.
.................................... Extra spaces to make this qualify as a bona-fide diary. And why do they have to be diaries, like we're 13 year old girls?