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Awesome. I loved the large hi-def scoreboards that I've seen in other ballparks. It's about time. My only question is--can it withstand getting hammered with home run balls?

I know you said Macs are out of the question, but have you considered an iPad? New computer users are often confused by the ridiculous amount of menus/options/etc on a desktop computer. An iPad would be extremely easy to figure out, and is sufficient for email and Internet browsing. If you are going to go with a PC, I recommend Dell. I know they have been under fire recently in the news, but I am happy with the Dell laptop that I bought in December. Learning how to use a computer is difficult at first, but my 85-year-old Grandma has learned to use the Internet (on a Windows PC) and even has a Facebook account now. So it can be done.

Playoff odds are down to 1.4%, lowest since June 19th.

I think he's just due for some mental adjustments. He has a great swing.

I agree that we have about a 2% chance at the playoffs, but that doesn't mean that we should sell. This seems like a really bad year to be a seller. Most years, there are still about 20-23 teams in contention at this time, but this year there are far less. Several teams with good talent are completely out of it, including the Mariners, Cubs, Marlins, and Blue Jays. Even the Phillies are treading water. Furthermore, two of the obvious "buy" teams, the LA Dodgers and Texas, can not buy due to ownership issues. Of course there are still a few candidates, but teams value their prospects more than 5 years ago. Should Melvin shop around? Of course, and I'm sure he already is, but I doubt he's going to find a blockbuster. Most likely we'll just play out the year with the current team.

If the Brewers were leading the division, I would put my money down right now for NLCS tickets. If they make it, I'm going no matter what the cost, so it's better not to have to pay a ridiculous sum from a scalper.

Yes--you are absolutely right--in the long run. But do we really care about the long run right now? Wolf can always go back into the rotation later when someone else goes down. The Brewers need to start winning games now to get back in the race. And right now--like the sample says--Wolf is the worst pitcher in the rotation. If we decide that the season is over and we need to worry about 2011--then we probably want to let Wolf figure out his problems as a starter. However, management has stated that we are still trying to make the playoffs, so I would hope that their personnel decisions correspond with their public statements.

All the statistics suggest that Wolf should go to the bullpen. I do not see a good argument why anyone else should be demoted. The other 4 starters have all pitched well recently, it would be unfair for Wolf to be given preference.

This game is taking forever.

I agree that Narveson should be the odd man out. Parra has been pitching better of late, can pitch deeper into games, and has a higher ceiling. As for the bullpen, I think Braddock will be sent back to AAA. The real issue is what to do with Capuano or Narveson. I imagine that one of them will be traded. There is always a market for pitching, as seen by the Cardinals' acquisition of Suppan. Overall, the pitching staff in the best shape since 2008.

Does anyone who was at the Friday night game know what song Trevor Hoffman came in to? It sounded like The Offspring but I can't figure it out.

Sadly, the Zambrano contract is just a drop in the bucket. Their payroll is $145 million. They could have 3 of those contracts and still have more money to spend than the Brewers. Baseball is so unfair right now.

Great crowd tonight. Lucroy got a curtain call and a nice ovation his next time up. Trevor Hoffman was also greeted with a nice cheer. Seemed like most of the "frat boy" type Brewers fans were at Summerfest instead.

I'll be at the game tonight, hoping for 5 in a row! I've only seen one win this year and I'm expecting this to be #2.

They are cutting it really close with the roof closing. The rain is about 10 minutes away.

As with any vitamin, it works best when you get it in natural foods instead of as a supplement or additive. Omega-3 fatty acids are found in all vegetables (especially dark green ones), so if you eat your veggies, you shouldn't have a problem getting enough.

There is no right system when they have 30,000+ people going after 13,000 tickets. I really wish they would use an incentive system to get people to show up on time for games. Anyone who gets their ID scanned before kickoff for 5 or more home games gets an automatic renewal for the next year. Problem solved.

This one caught me off-guard. It looked like the better severe chances were in Illinois, but the thunderstorms here grew stronger than expected. There was some flash flooding in Madison--not nearly as bad as 2006--but still enough to block lots of roads for a little while. As of right now, there were at least 4 tornadoes, and possibly more.

Those Five-Fingers look really nice! I didn't have the guts to get them, I went with the Nike Free instead. I just bought them last week. They weigh less than 1/2 my previous running shoes, but they still have arch and heel support. Today was the first day that I really tested them--I ran just under 8 miles, all on pavement. It is easier to run with them due to the reduced weight. However, I still find myself landing on my heels sometimes, but it is better than with the full tech shoes. I think there is too much heel padding to create a legitimate barefoot experience. My knee pain has subsided somewhat but it still there. No sign of shin splints, which have nagged me for the last 6+ months. However, I did have some lower back stiffness, which I did not experience in the tech shoes. Overall, they are not perfect, but a good transition away from the tech shoes. There is no additional pressure on my legs, despite the greatly reduced padding. I will use them to train for my next half-marathon in January and see how it goes.

She was an experienced sailor and her older brother had already completed the same feat. It's not like she randomly decided one day to get in a boat and go sailing. Also, sailing around the world is such a common occurrence that they hold an official race every year--which is non-stop, as opposed to Abby's attempt that was full of scheduled stops. I do not have the numbers, but it seems like thousands of people have already sailed around the world--she was just trying to be the youngest. The parents sound like they did everything right--encouraged her passions and suggested against attempting the voyage--but could not get in the way of her aspirations in the end. Good for her. What if Shaun White's parents would have stopped him from snowboarding because he might have broke his neck? Just because doing something might be dangerous for 99% of teenagers does not mean that we should stop the 1% from doing extraordinary things. I think she would have finished the voyage 9 times out of 10, but ran into an unusually strong storm. She followed all proper safety protocol after that, which suggests that she was well-trained. Maybe next time she should hire a meteorologist to help avoid storms ;-). I hope she takes a break, re-evaluates her plan, and tries again. When looking at those Washington Post comments, it is interesting that people refer to her as a "child", but if she would have committed a serious crime like murder, we would have likely tried her as an "adult" and possibly sentenced her to life in prison.

What an embarrassing play by the England goalie. If they lose, he may want to consider not going back to England.

*** First interleague home game. And yes, the year was 1997. In my defense, I was 10 years old at the time. I still have the certificate that was given away that night to prove it.

Great topic idea! I've been to a few interesting games over the years... 1) Fernando Vina/Albert Belle brawl--5/30/1996 (this was one of my first baseball games) 2) A random "fan" tackled Astros outfielder Bill Spiers--9/24/1999 3) 5 HR in one inning--5/22/2006 4) The first Interleague game in Brewers history in 1996--a 1-0 win over the Cardinals on a Jeromy Burnitz walkoff 5) Mark McGwire's 64th HR--9/18/1998--mostly memorable for the crowd of 48,000 6) 17-3 win over the Pirates--5/26/2010

When it comes down to making the final decision, the geographical misfits will not sign off. Texas was never going to move to the B10 and Kansas/K-State will never go to the ACC or Big East. The only reason the Pac-10 decision makes sense is because they are taking enough teams to make a "Pac-10 East" division. The new Mountain West will look quite formidable in both football and basketball. It is somewhat unfortunate for Kansas basketball that they will have to play in the Rockies all the time, but that's what the school gets for having poor academic standards.

Now that the dominoes have started to fall, it's just a matter of time before everything falls into place. College sports will most likely be dominated by 6 super-conferences: The ACC, Big East, Big Ten, SEC, Pac-10, and the Mountain West/new Big 12 combination. I do not see schools like Kansas or K-State being added to eastern conferences. Although the Big 10 started this whole thing, it will likely be reacting from here. The Pac-10 will take it's Big 12 teams and the leftovers will merge with the Mountain West to form a new BCS conference. The Big 10 will then need to match the Pac-10 and will likely add Rutgers, Missouri, and Pittsburgh to move to 15 teams. With the Big East in jeopardy, Notre Dame will finally give in and join to bring the Big 10 to 16 teams. The second stage will then occur a year or two later. I think there are 2 possibilities: 1) The Big East restocks by taking Memphis and/or a few A-10 schools like Dayton, Xavier, or Temple 2) The SEC and ACC gobble up the remaining Big East schools, resulting in only five 16-team super-conferences. Scenario #2 has scary implications for Marquette, since they could possibly be bypassed by the SEC/ACC and left to join the A-10/Big East reject conference. Overall, I think it is a very exciting time for college sports. Big 12 fans will be the losers, while every else has much to gain by seeing the power conferences battle it out. I also think a football playoff will be implemented almost immediately after the dust settles. Every conference will have a championship game, so there will be 6 undisputed BCS teams. Throw in the top 2 non-BCS schools and you have a perfect 8-team playoff.