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Spring Training

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Originally Published as Spring Training

The New Orleans Saints marched down the field in overtime and scored the game winning field goal, while Brett Favre and the Vikings offense never was allowed to leave the bench. It would seem that may have been the final straw for some, as the league has announced they will vote on a new Sudden Death Overtime system at the owners meetings in March. A 2/3 vote is required for new rule changes.

A college type system where each team is given a shot in enemy territory is not being considered, rather a modified version of the current OT system of Sudden Death.

 

• It would still be sudden death if the first team goes down and scores a Touchdown
• If the first score is just a field goal, the other team is given a chance with one drive to match that or beat it. 

• Interview: How to Make It in America star Luis Guzman
  Luis Guzman is the secret weapon behind HBO's new comedy series, 'How To Make It in America.' He is its Alec Baldwin--you know, Jack Donaghy on '30 Rock'--or, in an even more apt comparison, he is its Jeremy Piven, who plays Ari Gold in 'Entourage.'

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Want to see bicyclists going through a restaurant -- check out these cyclists on this afternooon's Hub Grub Ride as they stop by The Refinery (formerly Bungalow Bistro) on Florida Avenue as part of a restaurant bicycle tour in Seminole Heights.

Free Nabisco Cookies when you become a Facebook fan of Nabisco. Then on March 1st, go to that page to get a coupon for a package of cookies when you buy one package of Nabisco cookies and a gallon of milk.

There will be a new savings alert every week from Nabisco, so check back to see what else is available. In my house a package of Oreos is gone in a few days. We also love Oreo Cakesters. Needless to say that I’m a fan already. I’ve also set an alert to go back to Nabisco’s Facebook page on March 1st to get my free Nabisco Cookies!

That's what we chanted last night at the Canada vs. Slovakia game and tomorrow we're gonna get it. With the USA's stomping over Finland and Canada's win over Slovakia, the Olympics may have written itself one of the greatest stories the NHL could ask for in a gold medal game: Canada vs. USA rematch

Tomorrow's game has so many great story lines that will culminate in one game that will actually be aired on NBC live. Yes really, it will actually be aired live, so those hockey mad people in California don't have to wait 3 hours for the tape delay of NBC trying to avoid hearing or reading what the score is like they've had to do this past week. NBC is calling this a 'classic rematch' and with it being less than 24 hours away, the anticipation is huge.

Living in Vancouver, I've heard all the chants, from "USA all the way!" to signs saying "It's our game" and lots of trash talking from both sets of fans. I have met USA fans here coming in from Pittsburgh, Portland and New York just to cheer on their team. Team Canada fans have flooded Canada Hockey Place and the streets in their red and white to do the same, so tomorrow's game is a bit of a game about bragging rights for both the players and the fans.

Burke had said that Team USA were 'the underdogs' of the tourney, but coming into the gold medal game, can you really still call them the underdogs? With Ryan Miller shutting the door in net, and the team being able to find scoring from their team, the Americans came farther than most expected.

Team Canada has gone through goalie changes, losing to the Americans and sending the Russians home to get them to tomorrow's game. Expectations are high on Team Canada and their incredibly talented roster tomorrow to win gold. This is the first time Team Canada will play for Olympic gold on home ice, and it may never happen again in my lifetime. From the beginning of this tournament, for many Canadians, it has been gold or nothing. After all, you don't win silver, you lose gold.

In addition, tomorrow's game on NBC will bring something to the NHL that probably has Bettman doing the jumpy claps in his hotel room. Olympic hockey will have two teams in the gold medal match made of up completely of NHL players going head to head representing their country and will be watched by the average sports fan in the USA. I say USA in particular because it's already an assumption that the majority of Canada will watch this game, living and dying by every moment, but the exposure tomorrow that it will have for the NHL to non-hockey fans in the States is what will have Bettman even considering Sochi.

The Olympics are something that the NHL could never achieve, putting together teams stacked with talent competing against each other for country pride. The All-Star game can never achieve what the Olympics does with their East/West game or their N.America/World games because those games lacked passion. Tomorrow's game will not.

So tomorrow, we may not all support the same team, but it will be a great day for hockey. May the best team win.

The joys of life are defined by the sight of some 60 bicyclists pedaling down Central Avenue for a tour of eight local restaurants and a new restaurant owner couple inviting us to literally bike through their new restaurant on Florida Avenue and still another restaurant owner advising a swam of bicyclists to bike around his building on Nebraska Avenue and park our two-wheeled chariots on his porch outside the artsy eatery,

Those are just some of warm memories I took today from the inaugural Hub Grub Bicycle Ride -- the Seminole Heights Bicycle Club tour of eight restaurants in the neighborhood of Seminole Heights, Tampa.

After waiting for some rainy weather to move out of town this morning, we bicyclists gathered in front of the Garden Center in Seminole Heights at 3 PM for a six-mile bike ride around Seminole Heights visiting eight restaurants. I arranged the tour because it combined my three pastimes -- cycling, eating and exploring Seminole Heights.

I want to thank three Tampa police officers -- Jason Brocato, Jason and Kevin on bikes, plus car officer Fran -- who did a wonderful job letting us through intersections to get to our culinary destinations.

The bike club's members really came through -- Mike and Yvon Limerick who produced great maps of the route; Rick Hickman who did a nice job inviting folks on Facebook and Doreen Jesseph who came through with a catchy flyer. Our bike club has no by-laws, no membership fees and no titles, so we rely on people's love for bicycling and volunteer time to create events such as the Hub Grub Ride.

Amazingly, despite cool temps and wet weather in the morning, we drew about 60 bicyclists of all ages riding bicycles of all types to show that people really love bicycling in this city.

Let's get this bike-restaurant tour on the road!

Stop 1: Reservations Gourmet-To-Go
The lovely Elke and her husband Anthony were incredible hosts and got the bike ride off to a roaring start.


Everyone loved the food at Reservations.


Not too many leftovers when a gang of bicyclists descend on your restaurant like a horde of locusts.


There's my pals Mike and Yvon Limerick outside Reservations.


Stop 2: Taco Bus


There's Bridget on the road from the Taco Bus to Starbucks


Stop 3: Starbucks
Thank you Tiffany, manager of Starbucks on Hillsborough Avenue for having us.




Two of the most progessive politicians in the Tampa area, Linda Saul-Sena (L) and Pat Kemp (R), chat at Starbucks.


Stop 4: Front Porch


My two favorite T-shirts of the day -- that's Gordon Ridge (L) and Steve Swiger (R)


Thank you Front Porch for your hospitality.


There's Tanja and Jared, newlywoods whose wedding I was happy to attend.


Stop 5: The Refinery (formerly Bungalow Bistro)
Kudos to Michell and Greg Baker AKA The Cuilinery Sherpas who opened up their restaurant for the ultimate drive-through experience. Indeed, we biked right through their dining room while snacking on a delicious seafood dog. The Bakers bought the Bungalow Bistro from Elizabeth Graham and re-named it The Refinery. Good luck Michelle and Greg!






Tampa City Councilwoman Linda Saul-Sena enjoys visiting The Refinery, with Pat Kamp right behind.


Tanja comes through The Refinery.


Jose stops through and snags a square fish hot dog.


Margaret knew this was cool.


This cracks me up. Here's Elizabeth Graham, who sold her Bungalow Bistro to Michelle and Greg Baker, handing out free samples from her salon next to the Refinery.


Twin trailers at The Refinery.


On the way to The Independent after leaving The Refinery (formerly Bunaglow Bistro)


Stop 6: The Independent.
Thank you Veronica for your hospitality and free samples. Craft beer and bicycles -- is there a better combination?






Stop 7: Cappy's
Too bad Cappy's forgot we were stopping by. We went straight from The Independent to Ella's, skipping Cappy's.

Biking on the way to Ella's



Stop 8: Ella's
We biked down Nebraska Avenue and pulled in front of Ella's when the restaurant owner, Ernie Locke, a solid-built dude with a cool beard instructed us to bike around the buiilding and park our chariots on the wooden porch outside the restaurant. Ernie and his crew brought us a terrific display of snacks and 2-for-1 beers.


I was impressed with Ella's potato pancakes -- which is high praise from a guy who has been known to make a potato latke or two.


Bike helmets can come in all shapes and sizes -- as Daniel proves.


I think women who wear their helmets when they're not biking are cool.




Donny from USF is a frequent commenter on this blog.


There's Melissa, co-owner of Ella's and Ernie's wife, with her son Henry and SHBC member Doug Jesseph.


At Ella's, Beth one of the bicyclists still had her bike map showing the Tour de Seminole Heights restaurants.


Ella's art is amazing -- and it goes well with our bicycles.

Ok, so I went away for a week thinking I would just deal with the piles of boxes of wine when I got back. Now I'm drowning in a problem. This mountain of brown cardboard is starting to look more like a landfill than my office. I've decided that tonight is the night for me to go through what has arrived over the last two weeks so I can catalog, store, and organize them appropriately.

Unfortunately, since I live in Florida I am not lucky enough to have a cellar to store my wine. I have two wine fridges for the "special" bottles and the rest are stacked patiently into my closet to be enjoyed later.

I'm not too disappointed about the whole basement thing. After all, that just gives me an excuse to drink the wine that comes in faster. Someone once told me that nobody should ever outlive their wine collection. This is easier said than done, but I still think the message is important to remember. What's the use of having thousands of nice bottles of wine, if they never have the chance to be enjoyed. That's like having the cure for cancer and never sharing it with the world.

Okay, I'll leave you to think about this while I work on cleaning up this mess!

What are you drinking tonight? Will you be sharing one of wine's miracles with someone else?




(This message brought to you by The Wine Whore)

The earthquake in Chile was a magnitude of 8.8 and will cause tsunamis in Hawaii, New Zealand and Australia, among other places. I didn’t sleep well last night and heard about the earthquake live. I watched a bit of CNN and dreamed about it for the rest of the morning.

When I awoke I again turned to CNN and was glued to the TV. It’s hard to tell what is exactly going on in Chile. Of course there is destruction and loss of life, but it seems that it is not as damaging as it is in Haiti, probably due to the better construction of buildings and roads. I pray that this is true.

Since traveling to the Big Island, my heart belongs to Hawaii. We fell in love with the people, the culture and the beauty of the place. Right now I’m watching CNN about the Tsunami that is currently hitting Kilo and praying that there is no damage and that no one gets hurt.

This isn’t the first time we have been down this road and unfortunately it probably won’t be the last…

Was Watching is worried about the Yankees giving Carl Crawford a contract with too many years next winter. Why? We’ll let them tell you…

Two things about Carl Crawford: One, he’s very “street.” Think Mickey Rivers meets Rickey Henderson – not that there’s anything wrong with that. Two, I dunno why…but…I just have this feeling that he’s one of those players who will be out of the game by the time he’s 35 years old.

Let us get this straight. He is “very street” and there is nothing wrong with that. But it is one of the two reasons that the Yankees shouldn’t give Crawford a 7-year deal.

If you will give us a moment, we would like to address Steve Lombardi of Was Watching…

Mr. Lombardi,

Have you lost your god damned mind?!?

Why is Crawford “street”? We don’t know. You don’t explain your reasoning, so we are left to speculate.

Is Crawford “street” because he has a neck tattoo? Did you know that the tattoo is his astrological sign, Leo? Nothing “street” about being into astrology.

Is Crawford “street” because he doesn’t talk like you? We have no idea where you are from, but we are going to guess that it is not the south. We suggest that you expand your horizons beyond the northeast and visit the south some time. You will find there are a lot of nice people that talk just like Crawford.

Is Crawford “street” because of the way he acts? We have been following Crawford’s career very closely for over 10 years. Ask our readers how often we are critical of or make fun of the Rays and their players (a lot). Ask them how often we have been critical or made fun of Crawford (very rarely). He has been an absolute model citizen. We don’t remember a single incident in which Crawford acted “street.” Whatever that is.

Or is Crawford “street” because he has a neck tattoo that you don’t understand, you are not familiar with people that talk like him, you have no idea how he acts…and because he is black? Do you prefer that African-Americans that play for the Yankees not have tattoos and sound more like you?

We certainly hope this is not the case. And we are going to give you the benefit of the doubt and give you a chance to explain what the hell you are talking about. Because right now? You just sound ignorant.

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© The Professor for Rays Index, 2010. | Permalink | 18 comments | Add to del.icio.us
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Over the last few days, Angie Jackson of Florida has made waves by discussing her abortion on Youtube, her blog, and, yes, even Twitter. The point was not to be graphic, or to taunt the pro-life movement. The point, says Jackson, was to "demystify" abortion for other women......here

The only response I got from the last entry (at least here, my friend Jay had a little snark for me in the land of Facebook) was from another friend who, like me, writes for a living. See comments of the last blog for more info, but it made me think... if we don't do our paid work because we're not able to express ourselves creatively while we're writing an advertorial on back pain or a guide to dog-friendly resorts in the Florida Keys, shouldn't we at least feel free to write whatever the hell we want on our own blogs?


I don't write here when I have nothing to say, which should be almost never; I'm chock-full of opinions. But I can't convince myself to publish crap, and I think most of what I start to write here (and subsequently delete) is crap, so many times I get two sentences in and delete the whole thing. I'd like to call it laziness but I'm more afraid that it's really chicken-hearted fear. Fear that when I'm this happy nothing's funny or eloquent. Fear that I might actually turn in a great blog post that I could have used instead as a column for Hard Candy (Hard Candy is a column I write for a local weekly paper. Blatant Plug: read more on HardCandyOnline.blogspot.com.) Fear that I might actually just plain suck and after a few more of these posts my mom will be the only one reading anymore.


Along those lines, I've thought about some things that seem universal to many writers. I've -I guess discovered is the word? OK, let's run with that- discovered these weird writing commandments over the past seven years. As far as I can tell, here's what Moses would have brought down for us :

10. Writers may or may not do their best work at the eleventh hour, but I've never met one who didn't do most of their work exactly then, so who knows how well we would do otherwise?
9. One drink makes most writers funnier while they're blogging. Several makes them stupid or eloquent, and which way it's going to go *this time* is the greatest crapshoot of the Writer's Universe.
8. No matter a writer thinks before it happens, once a writer starts getting hate mail or comments, the idea that "they're reading you and that's great! It just means you've rattled some cages! You're making people think!" or any other platitude goes pretty much out the window. In its place? Exactly what the hate mailer intended.
7.The prouder a writer is of something they wrote, the more likely it is that their editor/client/audience will hate it or demand a rewrite.
6. The more a writer thinks what they've written is unremarkable or total crap, the more likely it is that everyone will love it or, at a minimum, react incredibly passionately to it.
5. The sweetest and most horrific words a writer can ever hear are "We're going to give you an opinion column."
4. A writer is always astounded when they realize that people actually read what they write. Other than our closest blood relatives, we don't really expect that anyone gives a rat's red ass what we think, and why should they? We don't know what we're writing about an amazingly large percentage of the time.
3. A writer is not just astounded when they realize their boyfriend/girlfriend/husband/wife/lesbian life partner (B/G/H/W/LLP) reads what they write, they immediate start editing as they write, wondering what B/G/H/W/LLP will think of what they've just written.
2. The shittier a writer is at her craft, the more she thinks she's just great at it.
1. Good writers- real writers- almost always feel like frauds. They lie in wait for the moment they walk into a client's office and hear, "You know, your writing is actually pretty terrible. We're letting you go." While waiting for this moment they indulge in a lot of self-flagellating fantasies where they end up living in a wet mildewy box under the interstate in the bad part of town, sipping box wine out of an old MD 20/20 bottle and trying to tie into the street lights for power for their MacBook.

Lori Mason Photography

Checkout “How Entrepreneurship Really Works” from Dave Troy, entrepreneur and founder of Beehive Coworking located outside of Baltimore. In this post Dave summarizes the findings from research by Dr. Saras Sarasvathy on the defining characteristics of entrepreneurs and how rather than being aggressive risk takers they are more often just good problem solvers with a passion. The key message of Dave’’s post is that effectual thinking [...]

Now I've read a few mocks and I've been scared stiff! I still think about the draft that Oakland was fortunate enough to scoop up franchise qb Jamarcus Russell. Mel Kiper Jr who everyone seems to love had for months promised that no way in heck the Lions would go and take Calvin "Megatron" Johnson... I was enamoured with the thought of Calvin, however I also knew that if Kiper was wrong ( which McShay said he would be!) there was a possiblity of the Bucs taking a young pass rusher "freak" athlete with unlimited upside... that upside produced us a career best six sacks in three seasons and was traded for a draft pick around 40 spots higher... the reason I'm so against Jason PP is well actually i have a few

1. We could have selected AD Adrian Peterson however Allen Gruden thought that Earnest Graham was the answer for a broken down Cadillac Williams

2. How would Patrick Willis of looked in pewter? Now say what you want about Ruud, but that was his first year to start. We had Shelton Quarles until that season, and Ruud would have made a perfect strong side backer in our tampa two. Imagine us having Willis Ruud and Geno running wild?

3. I love Aqib Talib, but the draft before him we could've had a defensive back by the name of Darelle Revis.. The Jets are lame and arrogant and without Revis Island their nothing. Fat Rex Ryan if not for having Darelle Revis would look just as bad as a rookie coach as Raheem.... We picked the best qb in the draft I honestly believe it and so should you Jet fans!

4. The following year we drafted Aqib who I love but come round two I remember a guy named Desean Jackson we twice passed on... looks like a pretty solid WR considering we decided that Dexter Jackson would be a more serviceable fit

Please no high risk/reward picks, we're in bad shape.... Eric Berry played for Monte he loves the system please bring him here if we can't have Mccoy/Suh. I understand you need a pass rush to make your DBS look good, we add Eric Berry to T Jack, Talib, and hopefully like a previously stated a Javier Arenas, Pat Robinson, to take over for Ronde our secondary is talented enough to actually off set our crap line

Poll

Jason Pierre Paul better or worse idea than Gaines Adams

• Please No! It will make me want to abandon ship!!!
• Slightly worse but logical choice over any other position if DTS are gone
• Neutral
• I love his motor, can't dwell on past draft failures scoop him we might have a pass rusher for the next 10 years
• He is the best option availabe for us

  218 votes | Results

Automatic SEO on the fly

Think you know everything there is to know abut SEO? Think you’ve got everything SEO-wise covered with your blog?

Yeah, so does everyone else.

But every once in a while, you leave something important out of your title. Or you accidentally stuff too many keywords in a post. Or you overlook one of dozens of optimizations that would give your site a slight edge over the competition.

Wouldn’t it be great to have an automatic reminder? A helpful assistant looking over your shoulder, altering you to the opportunity to make your post even a little bit easer for people to find?

You know it would be. That’s why, if you have a WordPress blog (and later, other systems) and you want people to find the things you write about, you can benefit from signing up for the new SEO service from the same folks that brought you Copyblogger and Thesis. That service is ScribeSEO.

This is not an affiliate link.

My links to ScribeSEO are not affiliate links. That’s not how I make my money. (I’m a lawyer, not a pro blogger.) But this service is so neat, and promises to be so helpful for squeezing that last bit of SEO juice out of every post, that I want to write about it.

It’s simple to sign up: install the plugin, and then select a service plan. You’ll get an API key that you plug right into the Scribe settings page in your WordPress dashboard. And then, you’re ready to optimize.

Okay, but what does Scribe SEO do?

When you write a blog post, ScribeSEO first tells you if there’s something missing – a custom title, keyword selection, or – Heaven forbid! – actual content. Once you pass those initial three checkpoints, you can press the “analyze” button and ScribeSEO checks the post out for keyword density, keyword position, post length, title length, number of links, and so on… and then you how to fix any flaw in your post that would stop it from getting the best possible reaction from the most common search engines.

Easy-peasy.

But I’m not a blogger!

Guess what? Doesn’t matter. I have a non-blog website that runs entirely on WordPress, using that back-end as a content-management system. There are no blog posts – only “pages” of a more-or-less static variety. And ScribeSEO works on them too. Basic info pages? No problem. Landing pages? Just as easy, and even more important to get right. If you’re using WordPress and any theme or plugin that allows for SEO tweaking (such as the free All-In-One SEO plugin, or the Thesis or Headway themes, to name just two) then you you’re ready to roll.

Zealot-friendly license

Here’s good news for you folks who think the GPL applies to any PHP script that runs in or near a computer that’s ever had WordPress installed: the ScribeSEO plugin is released under the GPL. (It’s a service-based pay model.) So breathe easy.

This is STILL not an affiliate link.

Yup, I’m still not making money off this. And you can try out ScribeSEO for yourself without paying a dime – they’ve got a free test drive. (And if you’re both clever and unscrupulous, you can probably figure out how to get multiple test free test drives. But don’t be a jerk.) Try it for yourself – and if you don’t love it, I’ll refund to you every penny I ever make off your purchase. (In case you’re not paying attention… that’s none.)

With news that the Rays and Carl Crawford have decided to postpone contract talks until after the season, speculation has already started on what type of contract CC might command in the open-market…

Opinion as to how much Crawford will earn was varied among a group of nearly 20 agents and club executives polled on Thursday by FOXSports.com. Some of the most common estimates centered on five-year deals worth between $12 million and $16 million per annum…Others believed that Crawford’s annual salary should approach the $18 million that Torii Hunter will receive from the Angels in each of the next three seasons. Hunter, though, has the added value of playing center field and having hit over 20 home runs eight times.

A 29-year old player whose game is based on speed? Our feeling is that most clubs will only want to give Crawford a 5-year deal, but somebody will go as high 7-years to get it done. We still think 7-years, $100 million (~$15M/yr) will be Crawford’s new deal when the smoke settles.

This is why we were surprised the Rays and Crawford were negotiating at all. What can you do if you are the Rays? Maybe the team can stretch and offer 4-years, $48 million ($12M/yr). But even if the Rays do put their best offer on the table, they take the risk of Crawford laughing at best and being genuinely insulted at worst. Which is why there is a good chance the Rays never discussed numbers even if there were “negotiations.”

So now we wait. We wait and see how the Rays perform in the first-half. We wait and see how Desmond Jennings plays in the first-half. We wait and see if the Rays get an offer they can’t refuse prior to the trade-deadline. And if that offer is significantly better than the two draft picks they would receive for CC walking as a free agent, we wait and see if the Rays say “yes” even if they are still in the race.

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#7 7 Reasons Why Curling Is Not A Sport (With Photo Evidence)

(crossposted at Loving the Lightning)

Thursday night the Lightning received another shower of support from their local fan base. Roughly 200 people came out for this season's third Lightning Unplugged event, featuring Kurtis Foster, Steve Downie, and Vincent Lecavalier.

If you suspected that fans had lost hope in recent weeks after the Lightning's losing-steak against the Bruins, Islanders, and Rangers, think again. While changes surge on and off the ice, Lightning fans remain consistent, and crammed into the Tilted Kilt to show their love for the the Tampa Bay Lightning.

The first question went to Foster, introduced as "the league leader in breaking glass." Fans wanted to know how much money Foster had spent on broken glass repair bills, referring to Foster's glass-breaking habit. Foster replied, laughing, that he hadn't had to pay, though he mentioned he had been given a fake bill as a practical joke.  

Over the Olympic break, Foster and Vinny spent time on the beach, Foster traveling south to Miami, and Vinny spending time with Brad Richards. Downie, on the other hand, returned home to Canada. When asked about the cold, he said, "I don't like it."

Regarding not making the Olympics, Vinny replied, "It was tough. I worked out really hard this summer. Production-wise I wasn't where I wanted to be." 

All three, despite their Canadian heritage, agreed that they were happy for teammate Ryan Malone's success with Team USA during the Olympics. Downie said, "I'm happy for him." Foster agreed, though admitting he was rooting for Team Finland. The crowd, avid supporters of Team USA, attributed Canada's loss to leaving Vinny and Marty off the roster. 

Despite Lecavalier's low performance this season, fans still sought advice from the team's captain. One 7-year-old asked for Vinny's advice on becoming  a hockey player: 

"First," Vinny replied, "play as much as you can. Then practice. Practice every day as much as you can."

And Vinny speaks from his own experience. He began skating at the age of 2 1/2, and played in his first league at the age of 4. 

Questions regarding the NHL: Which player do you absolutely hate and say, "I'm gonna fight that guy?" Vinny admitted to particularly disliking Sean Avery (and all three agreed). Foster added that from his time in the western conference, he really hated Alex Burrows. 

The toughest goalie in the league? Foster answered that the Flame's goalie, Miikka Kiprusoff (better known as "Kipper") was a tough match, while Vinny named Canucks goalie Roberto Luongo. Toughest arena to play in? Washington, because of the fans, Chicago, because of the talent, and Montreal, because of the intimdating arena. Foster said (referring to Montreal), "It feels like they're right on top of you."

Which team do they dislike the most? Foster named Washington, Vinny agreed and added Montreal. Downie agreed and included the Maple Leafs, but added, "I don't really think I like any."

There were a couple of questions regarding the team and coaching. One fan asked why line change-ups are so frequent. Downie, the first to speak up, said, "I'm confused too." Vinny, not voicing any dissent, offered explanation for shifting the lines, saying, "Line change-ups are about trying to find the perfect combination. Sometimes you're hot for a few games, and then you go cold. That's when you try to change it up."

The players didn't elaborate on the recent coaching changes. On the subject of the departure of Wes Walz, Vinny said, "You never want to see someone you work with leave." Vinny also noted that he didn't know much about new assistant coach Jim Johnson, though he was confident in his [Johnson's] experience. 

And if they could be coach for a day? Vinny danced around the question, saying "First, nobody's perfect (including the coach and the players). Things happen so quick. You have to stick to the system. You have to keep building the system and growth." Downie said if he had the chance, he would change the power play, and Foster said that if he were coach, he would create more line stability. He would give the players more time to create chemistry on the lines.

Speaking of lines, who would Foster play with if he could choose? Foster's ideal line would be to play with Vinny and Marty. Downie, on the other hand, would be on a line with Konopka, though he laughed that the shifts would only be five seconds long. 

Big personal news for many of the players on the topic of babies. Vinny lit up when asked about his coming baby, saying, "It's gonna be a great moment. I want the baby to come out. I'm excited. Really, really excited." 

There's news besides Vinny--Foster, Malone, and Alex Tanguay are also expecting children at the same time, all within two weeks of one another.

Finally, fans always want to play favorites. Favorite player? Vinny immediately answered, "Marty. We've been together for 8 or 9 years. I love him." Downie named Marty as well, and added, "Stammers is not my favorite. He's more of a boyfriend." Foster didn't give a name, but said, "Coming to a new team, I didn't know what to expect. We have a lot of laughs, and a lot of fun."

Best-dressed player? All three players raised deer-in-the-headlights looks when asked about style. Foster wasn't sure, but noted that Smith's shoes were too high, and Hedman's pants too tight.

The three were confident and ready to get back into the game, saying that they feel refreshed and recharged, and ready to fight for the playoffs. 

Joe Maddon likes silly slogans.

In 2008 it was “9=8.” (it was)

In 2009 it was ” ‘09>’08 ” (it wasn’t)

After declaring that there would be no math this year, where was JoeMa going to go for a silly slogan in 2010? Acronyms of course.

On Thursday he introduced the Rays philosophy…

Our philosophy: Rays F.A.C.T.O.R: Flexibility / Accountability / Consistency / Trust / Organization / Respect..

And then yesterday his new slogan for 2010 was unveiled…

Maddon unveils #Rays season slogan: “What’s Important Now?” Stands for WIN.

We thinks that JoeMa has spending a little too much time with the folks at NORML.

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© The Professor for Rays Index, 2010. | Permalink | 6 comments | Add to del.icio.us
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Michael Sasso has more details on the proposed development of the Fairgrounds…

The developer proposing a massive entertainment complex at the Florida State Fairgrounds envisions a project worth up to $1 billion, with professional baseball and soccer stadiums and up to 2,600 hotel rooms, state and Florida State Fair Authority documents show.

The developer did add that the idea of including a baseball stadium is “not motivating any of this,” suggesting that the development could easily proceed without the stadium.

DEVIL DOGS WEBTOPIA…

• Willy Aybar says his wrist is feeling better. Of course, supposedly it was feeling fine before Wednesday’s workout and then he took batting practice. [Rays Plays]
• Cuban pitcher Juan Yasser Serrano held a private workout for the Rays last week. Serrano, 22, has a fastball in the low-90s, but has been unspectacular while pitching in the Cuban league. In 2008 he was 2-7 with a 6.46 ERA. Serrano has worked out with at least 10 clubs. [MLB Trade Rumors]
• If there is one player in baseball that deserves a celebrity roast it is Manny Ramirez. If there are two players it would be Manny and Pat Burrell. The Fightins took care of the latter. [The Fightins]
• RotoTimes examines the red flags surrounding BJ Upton. [RotoTimes]
• Four spring games will be broadcast on the MLB Network. [Rays Prospects]
• A fun, if unrealistic question: Would you trade Desmond Jennings and Reid Brignac for Zack Greinke? [Royals Review]
• Bradenton Herald writes about Aki Iwamura’s first spring with the Rays. [Bradenton Herald]
• Lance Cormier talks about ‘Bama football, Rafael Soriano and his personal goals for 2010. [Tampa Tribune]

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Post tags: The Hangover

On my Mutt Report blog I write about how a 1o pound Shih Tzu was killed at the new Curtis Hixon dog run It is so small there is no way to separate the big and small dogs. Seminole Heights has a dog run at Frierson and 12th St., just south of Hillsborough, in SE Seminole Heights. It also is too small for dogs to be separated. I wonder if there have been any negative encounters there?

By BOB ANDELMAN
 
Luis Guzman is the secret weapon behind HBO’s new comedy series, “How To Make It in America.” He is its Alec Baldwin—you know, Jack Donaghy on “30 Rock”—or, in an even more apt comparison, he is its Jeremy Piven, who plays Ari Gold in “Entourage.”

Cousin Rene, the somewhat reformed, Dominican gangsta Guzman plays, isn’t in every scene of this new show from “Entourage” creator Mark Wahlberg. But, like Piven, whenever he’s in a scene, he commands your attention. There is no color as bright, no other actor as bold.

Even when he’s quiet in a rare moment, all eyes and ears are on him.

If you haven’t seen the show—or if you caught the first episode and didn’t quite get hooked—go back and pick up the action with episode two, either online or on HBO in Demand.

I’ve seen the first four and its uplifting, compelling TV with people you will root for, from its young male leads, Bryan Greenberg and Victor Rasuk, to a supporting cast of familiar faces such as Lake Bell, who played Alec Baldwin’s young wife in It’s Complicated, Eddie Kaye Thomas, who got busy with Stifler’s mom in the American Pie movies, Martha Plimpton and rapper Kid Cudi.

Not sure you recognize Guzman’s name? Trust me, you know his face. We’ll get into that in a moment.

LUIS GUZMAN AUDIO EXCERPT: "I love the premise of this guy. He's had his heart knocked. He's a really colorful character and I think a lot of people think, 'I've dealt with a guy like that.'" 

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You can LISTEN to this interview with LUIS GUZMAN, star of HOW TO MAKE IT IN AMERICA, by clicking the audio player above!

Copyright 2010 Bob Andelman. Click here for copyright permissions!