ajgodson

That is frankly just dumb, even for Bud Selig. The Cubs are on the hook for the contract either way, so there's no difference. The only sticking point would be if they were going to eat it and then sign another expensive outfielder. With 5 outfielders already and Matt Murton in the minors, it's pretty obvious that wasn't going to happen. Bud Selig is a moron.

I lived in San Fran for a year so I've pretty much done it all. You'll have a good time pretty much no matter what you do, but it really depends on who you're going with and what you like to do. When I go back I like to: --Catch a game at Telephone Company Park --Visit Muir Woods -- (if you like nature you'll love it...it's a short trip, but if you like 300 foot tall trees that are older than Jesus, it's a must see.) --Get some surfing in -- old habits never die. If you're up to try it, the best beginner spot is in Half-moon Bay, about a half hour south of the city. --Golden gate park -- If you're up for a SF experience, walk the Haight and end up in GG park and make your way to Hippie hill. People just smoke weed out in the open and no one really cares. There's ALWAYS a drum circle. --Chinatown is good because it makes me feel tall and the food is great. --The financial district is lame, even lamer on weekends. --If you've never been, hit the Wharf. Since everyone will ask you about it anyway, you might as well go. --See Alcatraz. Buy tickets in advance or you won't get to see Alcatraz. Get tix from Blue & gold fleet. Be sure your trip goes ON the island, not around it. That's all I got off the top of my head. Let me know if you have ?'s or want more info. AG

Those things are worthless and wildly inconsistent. For fun, I tried 3 on my website. I got: $319 $20,109 $72,825

Take off your bias hats and just listen. Pat Hughes is a gem of a broadcaster who nightly tolerates one of the biggest boobs in front of a microphone. It's like hating Al Michaels because he worked with John Madden. Hughes is a great announcer regardless of whose games he calls. bugsandcranks.com/the-clu...nnouncers/

It's nice to occasionnally see an athlete being something other than a complete prick. It smacks a little bit of disney/corporate self-righteousness, but I can deal with that if it helps kids. I don't think it's great, but I also don't hate it completely. Of course, Deadspin has a take: deadspin.com/sports/the-i...272366.php

I think it's definitely kosher for the staff to submit something...come one come all....

Bugs & Cranks is looking at baseball communities....I for one think that what goes on here at BF.net is pretty awesome. I'd love to see some people send in some BF.net love and see some of the stories on there. Check it out at: bugsandcranks.com/the-clu...minations/ Here?s what to send: 1. URL & Website name 2. Why the site should be considered the best baseball community. 3. A story about something that happened or you learned from the community. E-mail to: community@bugsandcranks.com

My little t-shirt operation should have a "Future Star" tee out later in the season....I'll post a link once they're up. And they won't be $32 http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif

Don't let the social norms determine what you do. Decide if you're going to let her in on the secret. If it's going to be a surprise, enlist a trusted friend to glean her ring size and a few basic facts. Her friend will be happy to help. If you're going to let her in, lay out some ground rules ahead of time. Then, drag the process out for as long as possible. If you're going to drop 8k, it'd better be a hell of an experience. Since I was right out of college and budget-minded, I studied my ass off when making the decision. I studied the 4 C's and figured out what I wanted. A guy I knew in college even made a multiple regression chart of diamond pricing to figure out the best buys. Again, it depends on what type of girl she is and your relationship. Here's what I ended up doing: I bought a certified diamond online--just the stone. It was about $1200 cheaper than the same diamond at the local store. To shave cost, buy just below a threshold...I went in at .74 carats....you might go for a .98 or a 1.48 or something like that. It's a huge cost savings. Seeing a tiny envelope arrive from the UPS man was about as nervous as I've been. Be sure to tell them not to leave it on the doorstep. I got the ring set at a local jewler so I could pick out the ring & setting that I wanted. I also had them inspect it to see if it matched the specs from the online company. It did and they said it was a really nice rock and couldn't believe the price. The downside is that you have to pay to have it set, which jewelers will do for free if you buy from them. I'll trade $1200 for $100 any day. They gave me a nice box, so I had it to pop the happy question. This certainly doesn't work for everyone, just my .02.

B-R.com is awesome. I like thebaseballcube.com, too for the college and minor league stats. Add in Retrosheet and I'm unstoppable!

I'm a young professional and have worked as a corporate recruiter, so I'll give you the scoop from both sides of the fence. As a young person, it won't look that bad to make a jump early in your career. People will normally assume you had a better opportunity and moved on. Undoubtedly, you'll be asked why you moved on so quickly, but if you say you had a better opportunity, people understand. We're all in the same game here. That said, if the new job doesn't work out and you need to go looking with your first two jobs as 6 month gigs, it'll send up big red flags to firms. So....be confident before you make a move, but go get 'em. It sounds like your job is in high demand and there's no reason to hold yourself back. The person responsible for making your career take off is you, an no one else. If you can score a better job, go for it. Sometimes people obsess a little too much over their resumes. Short stays may draw extra questions in an interview, but that sure as hell isn't worth a year of your life. Best of luck in the job search!

Thanks so much to the responder! BF is the greatest community around! (which I will soon prove). Long live BF.net!

I'm finally going to break down and get MLB.tv. Wondering what other people's experiences are with it? I'm a bit concerned about the blackout, seeing as I have a Milwaukee address. I know someone had a workaround for the blackout restrictions that they weren't up for posting, but offered to share privately. I assume it entails using a different billing address and masking the IP, but I'd be really excited to learn the details. If a kind soul could e-mail ajgodson@gmail.com , I'd be forever grateful. That aside, I'd love to hear what people think of the service.

The Draft coverage here is fantastic. It's been listed as one of the "most viewed" and "most discussed" on Ballhype.com the last few days. I've never seen Brewerfan on there, but it seems the whole blogosphere knows that this is the place for draft info.

It's been Deadspinned. It's just a link to the other article, but my bet is it's on the radio somewhere locally within a week. deadspin.com/sports/lefto...266514.php

These aren't national news media stories, but they're good: A comparison of Ryan Howard's '06 and Prince's '07. When will they stop pitching to Prince? homerderby.com/archives/628 A look at behind the concession stand at Miller Park bugsandcranks.com/the-clubhouse/the-other-side/ Note to self: don't eat brats before the 5th inning.

There's a point where it will just stop counting your yards. Long ago, I could get to it with Barry or Thurman Thomas, something like 5,164 yards or something random like that. It'd keep counting your carries, but not the yards so your average would keep going down. My friends and I used to have all sorts of ridiculous competitoin season on there. We'd run the kickoff out of bounds at the 1 every time so we could get the full 99 yards of rushing every time. Classic.

Outta there! The runner has to try to avoid him, which he does by trying to jump over him. The only questionable part is the pitcher's glove hand being really high and sort of flipping him up. Still out.

That's the one....thanks!

This is an odd request, and I hate to clutter up the board, but I defer to the bank of knowledge that is BF.net. I'm looking for the picture/graphic that someone here had of Doug Melvin's moustache. I seem to remember someone having it as their avatar near the beginning of the year, but I'm not good with names, let alone screen names. I am going to write an article about Doug for a website and I'd like permission to use it, but I need to find it first. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

That is quite a dilema, but remember that it's a good problem to have. It's a totally personal choice, mostly depending on what you value in work and your tolerance for risk. But since you asked, here's an opinion. If you're a "hard-charger" and get a lot of satisfaction from achieving things, it sounds like the new company would be a good move. The pay raise, but mostly the career opportunity could be intruiging. That said, you take a risk in going...your co-workers could be jerks, etc. Your current job is a known quantity, which has some value b/c you know what to expect. If you value your "internet surfing time" like I do, you might find that you like your current job and don't need the money or career advancement. I write a lot online and really have to have a time at work to react to those things--that has a lot of value for me. The freedom you have at your job sounds like it's pretty valuable to me, and is something you won't find in a lot of places. If you like your current job and have that kind of freedom, I suggest looking at your long-term goals before making the leap. Don't let a dollar and hour sway your decision. If you're looking for a change anyway, you might seize the opportunity, but if you like your job, think long and hard about the jump.

I have to politely disagree on Pirates:3, I thought it was pretty terrible. It was too long, too repetitive and unexciting. If you have kids they might have enjoyed it, but it was pretty bad in my opinion.

I've used GoDaddy with success. Your $9 pretty much covers it all. They'll ask you if you want secret listing and try to scare you into thinking your identitiy will be stolen, etc. and then charge you money to be listed confidentially. I fell for it the first time and now am stuck with it forever, paying $20 a year instead of $9.

MLB Trade Rumors seconds the Marlins rumor www.mlbtraderumors.com/20....htmlwww.mlbtraderumors.com/2007/04/marlins_interes.html

That's just a stupid amount of money for Jason Schmidt. Going into last year they were talking about him being released because he had "lost it". All of a sudden he's a $15mil/yr guy? That's just insane.