Pedro

TLB, if you have DirecTV I'd recommend getting the SuperFan package also, for the HD games and Game Mix channels.

I'm going to chime in for Arizona also. We've been going every year since 1995, before we had kids. Now it's a family trip. Our girls like a little baseball, a little Sedona/or western town, a little Phoenix Zoo and a lot of swimming. I've just always had a wonderful time in the area and would definitely miss it. If they move to Florida...cripes I don't want to be that close to Disney World every year. "Can we go to Disney World...Can we go to Disney World...Can we go to Disney World...Can we go to Disney World..."

Okay, so is it 42 or 54 decisive games? Or should we compromise and call it 48? Whatever the case, I just had two beers and a day-old brat, so here's my update: Game 10 - Parra @ Figueroa - I don't even wanna comment on this one, but, of course, I had it in the win column Game 11 - Sheets @ Santana - I'm torn between a should be loss and toss-up, but I'll mark it as one of the D42 Game 12 - Suppan @ Perez - sure seemed like a D42 game to me What does that make us, like 4-0 in decisive game? Comments, corrections?

I'm with RoseBowl on this. When I talked with the Brewers this winter and asked about a date, they said it would be determined based on Fielder's schedule. It just seems to me like this is something Fielder decided he no longer wants to do, for whatever reason. And if there truly is a scheduling conflict, I think most people would have been fine with the date moving; or with having the option of either going to the Braun in-person signing on the 26th or having Fielder sign a bat and it being mailed or picked-up. Myself, I'm now going with the $60 per seat food/drink voucher, since my daughter really wanted to meet Fielder (and already has met and received an autograph from Braun) and that is no longer an option.

I'm doing the random drawing tonight (instead of Monday as I said earlier) for a number reasons...one being that we are losing to Nelson Figueroa and I already need a break from baseball, so I'll be away from here for a few days. And the winner is: jazzytrav. Send me your address and I'll get the tix out to you.

Which says something about both Bush and Dempster (I'd add a Smiley Face if Firefox Beta 3 was working).

FTJ, consider yourself recruited to the 2008 Decisive Game Thread.

Most of the time they're my own season tickets...I have four and sometimes I just use two. Sometimes they're just tickets I get from vendors or elsewhere. I give to clients and friends also, but really enjoy sharing with the diehard fans here.

I think that this situation absolutely requires a really futile and stupid gesture be done on somebody's part. -- Otter, Animal House FTJ, I think I might just be up to the task. I have the schedule, I have the beer, I have the time, and I have not nearly enough baseball smarts to make this happen.

Same old thing. Two Club level tickets to the 4/22 game.

CB1126, agreed, this is just meant to be a fun, simple discussion trying to nail down those elusive and pesky "decisive" games. I'm sure I wasn't giving a lot of thought to each of those selections as much as giving a first-gut reaction (and no, I don't know what the hell a "first-gut reaction" is, but I typed it and it's staying). And my first-gut said Brewers beat Dempster, Bush be damned.

I'm the first to admit, I never know. The whole point -- if there even is one -- was to just capture our thoughts about the outcome entering each individual game, not looking ahead to speculate. Even with bourbon in us, we were able to remember how we felt going in to each game back to last Monday. And yes, I thought we'd beat Dempster. Next time, given the circumstances of the season to that point, maybe not. Here's an example of this highly-sophisticated methodology in action: "Tonight I think the Brewers will beat Nelson Figueroa because, well, it's Nelson Figueroa. Not a 'decisive' game."

This is definitely an undertaking best parceled out in small segments, needs to be hashed out in a bar, and cannot be performed by those who it take it too seriously.

The last two losses had me thinking about the old baseball axiom that says "the best teams will lose at least 60 games and the worst teams will win at least 60 games, so you play the season to decide the other 40 games." Now, I realize there's no way to really break this down, but it made good bar discussion last night as we tried to identify if the Brewers have played any of those "40" games yet that will decide how the season goes. This breezy, off-the-cuff analysis was based on the very scientific and studied criteria of either a) doubtful we're gonna win that game, b) we should win that one, or c) that's a close game that could go either way and is one of the decisive 40. It was basically just looking at the starters, the events during the game (injuries, etc) and the final result. Again, I know baseball doesn't work this way, that you're going to win some you think you'll lose and vice versa...so we just focused on the ones we thought were toss-ups...but, hey it was fun. We spent the better part of 6 minutes on this analysis: Game 1 - Sheets @ Zambrano - this just seemed like it was gonna be a loss Game 2 - Suppan @ Lilly - toss-up game in our minds Game 3 - Bush @ Dempster - thought we would beat Dempster Game 4 - Sanchez @ Villaneuva - should be a win, it's the Giants Game 5 - Correia @ Parra - ditto Game 6 - Zito @ Sheets - ditto Game 7 - Cueto @ Suppan - toss-up game, knowing Cueto was tough, but only 2nd start Game 8 - Fogg @ Bush - thought we would beat Fogg Game 9 - Harang @ Villanueva - didn't think we'd beat Harang So we thought in our two "decisive" games we were 2-0! Yay! And now I feel better about dropping the last two to the Reds.

PM'd you.

Hey, congrats Craig on getting EI. Your wife must have approved!

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news. Yeah, for another $80 or so you can get the MLB package and drop the sports tier. Good luck!

I was able to see the Brewers game yesterday on Fox Sports. That's probably because the MLB Extra Innings package is free for everyone the first week.

Craig... But doesn't DirecTV block out all of the MLB games on Fox networks, YES and NESN except those in your home market?

On Comcast, it's $160 for the season. I assume it would be similar on other cable systems and satellite. I know DirecTV has a SuperFan package over and above Extra Innings, too. DirecTV Superfan is $50 more. But, if you have a HDTV, it's a must, as it is the only way to get all the games in HD (well, at least those that are broadcast in HD, which looks to be a majority this season). SuperFan also includes a GameMix with 8 games on the screen at once and the StrikeZone channel, which flips between games at key junctures.

For those that won something, can you please shoot me a message to my inbox when you receive so I know everything arrived, as I had someone else mail 'em out.

The Big Sleep with Bogart and Bacall. I've seen it numerous times, love it, but still am confused about who killed whom. Apparently, so were the people who worked on the movie.

I don't know why, but the shots of Ted Simmons in the dugout just make me happy.

I prefer this vintage place

Thanks, Bert. The headline gave me pause also. I wondered what I had done.