Yankee Stadium Opening Day tix prices historic free-fall

(Rovell, CNBC): "While everyone looks to the Super Bowl ticket price to gauge the economic environment, there's a much greater example of the havoc that this environment has caused on ticket prices.

• The greatest example is happening in New York, where prices on the secondary market to go to

• opening day at the New Yankee Stadium are plummeting in
• unprecedented fashion.

The average asking price for tickets to the game has plummeted 65 percent in the last three weeks, according to Michael Hershfield, CEO of LiveStub.com. on January 6th, the average asking price on the company's site was $1,101. Today, it's $534.

• "This drop is almost off the charts," Hershfield told us. "I've seen nothing like this. This is like National Enquirer-type shocking numbers."

• Herschfield said that the appetite for the high end ticket appears to be waning as banks and hedge funds layoff and disintegrate."...via Neil Best Watchdog

(Someone alert the media, especially Ed Randall).

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Does Mike Mussina even have a song and who would care?

(Metallica concert Nassau Coliseum, 1/29/09, Examiner.com):"Fans in the pits relaxed to catch their breath, and couples in the stands held hands tenderly. Hetfield dramatically fell to his knees as he ripped through the song’s passionate, climactic solo, holding the last note until it dissipated into pure feedback.

• Then came the opening notes of Enter Sandman, a song that holds special meaning for this city

• home to relievers Mariano Rivera and Billy Wagner, and

• the 17,000 fans packing Nassau Coliseum erupted in
• deafening cheers,

• almost louder

• than the band itself. "...

Here is the song:

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'Rivera, the man most responsible for making Torre a multi-millionaire,' Bill Madden

(Madden, NY Daily News, 1/31/09): "And later in the book, in what almost seems like piling on of Rivera for that calamitous Game 4 loss to the Red Sox, Torre/Verducci suggests it all turned on Rivera's misguided attempts to pick pinch-runner Dave Roberts off first.

• It was cited that, in an almost identical scenario three weeks earlier, Roberts waited until Rivera's third pitch to steal second before getting driven home with the winning run.

In this instance, Roberts was said to be stiff and chilled from sitting on the bench for nine innings when he was sent in to run for Kevin Millar. But after Rivera threw over to first three times, before throwing his first pitch, "something unintended and important had happened ... Roberts' was now warm and his legs were loose. Rivera had done him a favor."

• Interesting inside baseball stuff, but why would Torre want

• Rivera, the man most responsible for making him a
• multi-millionaire,

• come off looking like a culprit?

If it was a mistake to think Roberts would be running on the first pitch,

• why didn't Torre or Mel Stottlemyre tip Rivera off to that and instruct him not to throw over to first?

And if they knew the three throw-overs had sufficiently warmed Roberts up to steal,

• why didn't they then pitch out?...

Again, it's all interesting reading, but why would Torre want to put his favorite players - players to whom he always preached trust - in any kind of a bad light?

• And why now? When he's still managing?

What kind of a message is he sending to the young, impressionable kids in his Dodger clubhouse, Matt Kemp, James Loney, Russell Martin, Chad Billingsley and Clayton Kershaw?

What kind of message is he sending to the whole organization - an organization that enabled him to remain the highest-paid manager in baseball because

• they believed he was the perfect guy to bring unity of purpose to a dysfunctional clubhouse of warring veterans and young players -

• when he's in New York all this week promoting his book on his Yankee years?

• Promoting himself when they're all out on the Dodger caravan promoting the upcoming season?"...

I guess this stolen base is what Mike Mussina considers 'doing nothing' for the 8 years he was on the Yankees. I don't expect character from baseball players, so nothing surprises me. But Mike should recall who pitched the

• final 2 innings of his 2001 ALDS game 3 in Oakland, score 1-0.

• And perhaps give a gander to 2003 ALCS v Boston, Game 7, Mariano pitched 3 scoreless innings in a tie game for the Win, taking the team

• to the World Series, and was named ALCS MVP. (sm)

P.S. As a poster noted elsewhere on this topic, this kind of garbage is why the Yankees have to pay players so much to play there. And,

• The Yankee fan is as much a target of Torre's poison arrow as any other entity.
• A fan who buys this book for any reason is condoning hateful, sick behavior.(sm)

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4 pitchers leave Dominican World Series team for Dominican WBC team

4 MLB pitchers have left the Dominican World Series bound Licey Tigers: Ervin Santana, Daniel Cabrera, Carlos Marmol, and Ubaldo Jimenez, all of whom are scheduled to pitch for the Dominican World Baseball Classic team. The Licey Tigers find themselves with only 1 pitcher.

• SANTO DOMINGO .- "A few hours after the time allowed by the Mexican Consulate to Tigres del Licey to deposit the passports of the players who would go to the Caribbean Series, the team was
• unable to fill the large gaps left by the stellar pitchers Ervin Santana, Ubaldo Jimenez, Daniel Cabrera and Carlos Marmol.

The situation was further complicated because Jorge Sosa, another prominent member of the rotation starter del Licey, his book is placed at the Consulate of the United States, while the relay is Mañón expired in July....

• Ravelo said that the main cause of the problem is that increasingly shortening the time it ends with the classic Caribbean starting pitchers that should be reported to the training camps of Major League Baseball."...Listin Diario, 1/30/09, by Freddy Tapia, 'At Closing Hours of the Roster, Holes in Licey Pitching', google translation

The World Baseball Classic interferes with both winter and regular season baseball. Pitchers are a scarce and unregulated commodity with some asked to play almost year-round at all points on the globe. When will MLB teams acknowledge unreasonable risks to these players in future contract language?

• "Is Carlos Marmol's Schedule Harmful?" Chicago Sun Times, Full Court Press, 1/26/09

• "As a fan of the Rockies I hope (Ubaldo)Jiminez and Francis do not pitch. I would rather they save their arms for the MLB season."

• Angels one of largest contributors to World Baseball Classic (VORP's listed)

• Concern for new Washington Nationals pitcher Daniel Cabrera

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CNN sells Obama t-shirts emblazoned with opinion--media in the tank, so what?

"The never-ending campaign of President Barack Obama finds a cornerstone in 24-hour television network CNN.

CNN, home of Wolf Blitzer and Larry King Live among other talking heads, now leads the

• Newsfront Cult called Obamamania....

“Apparently CNN, having

• abandoned any effort to appear impartial, is now

• selling T-shirts that commemorate Obama’s newborn presidency,”

reader Fred Dardick wrote in a Canada Free Press (CFP) letter to the editor yesterday.

• CNN T-shirts include slogans such as

• “Obama raises hand, lifts a nation” and “Obama: It’s time to remake America”.

“How is it possible for a major news organization to get away with this?” asks Dardick.

• “This is anti-American to the core as far as I am concerned. CNN may as well be considered an extension of the apparently never ending Obama campaign.”

CFP would answer Dardick’s question in this way:

• Major television networks started moving away from the delivery of the news long before Senator Barack Obama appeared on the scene.

• In those days, the news was quickly morphing into--”Entertainment”.

During the presidential election campaign, television networks were joined by members of the print media, who jumped into the tank with Obama paving the way for the reality: “2008 the Year the Mainstream Media Died”.

• CNN is not only cashing in on the sales of the T-shirts, it provides tangible proof that “The News is Propaganda”. "

Eason Jordan would have expected nothing less. (sm)

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10 dirtiest hotels in America--TripAdvisor

(based on TripAdvisor traveler reviews)

• 1.Hotel Carter, New York City, New York
• 2.Continental Bayside Hotel, Miami Beach, Florida
• 3.New York Inn, New York City, New York
• 4.Eden Roc Motel, Wildwood, New Jersey
• 5.Days Inn Cleveland Airport, Brook Park, Ohio
• 6.Days Inn Airport / Stadium Tampa, Tampa, Florida
• 7.Travelodge Bangor, Bangor, Maine
• 8.Velda Rose Resort Hotel, Hot Springs, Arkansas
• 9.Ramada Plaza Hotel JFK International Airport, Jamaica, New York
• 10.Days Inn & Suites Gatlinburg, Gatlinburg, Tennessee

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NY Times sports columnist hopes Springsteen will be his usual political self

Entertainment Weekly reconsiders: "Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band's half-time performance during the Super Bowl this Sunday has inspired a New York Times sports columnist to muse:

• "Who knows, maybe we’ll get lucky and there will be at least one bold moment... when Springsteen goes rogue and rails against... offensive Wall Street bonuses... Go ahead, Bruce, make those corporate fat cats squirm on their sofas."...concludes Harvey Araton.

Hey, I am usually all for spontaneous, socially-provocative gestures

• in mass-culture settings,

but this strikes me as one of the worst ideas possible.

• Given the history of Super Bowl controversies (hi, Janet and Justin), any serious political comment Springsteen might offer would attract negative criticism from even some of his biggest fans, don't you think? I mean,
• it's not as though Springsteen has been a wallflower about expressing his views on the past few years' social ills. It's just that I think he'll inspire a lot more good will
• for his future political statements if he and his band just play the hell out of a few of their hits, gives the cameras that big Boss smile, and jogs offstage."

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Ban Citifield 'BAILOUT BALLPARK'-Newsday

• Back cover Newsday, 1/30/09

Rieber, Newsday: "The math is simple: no bailout money, no Citi Field. Well, there still would be a field; it just would have to be called something else. The only people who would shed a tear over that are Citigroup executives.

• Many Mets fans already have suggested new names:
• Bailout Ballpark and
• Federally Funded Field are two of the best.

You probably heard the calls for the new park to be named after Jackie Robinson; that would have been an outstanding gesture by the Mets, to turn down the naming-rights cash and honor one of America's pioneers.

• Baseball is a business, though. And the Mets have every right to sell naming rights. If the economy hadn't crashed, those two congressmen from Ohio and Texas wouldn't know Citi Field from the City Light Diner on Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn.

But the economy did crash. And now Citigroup is getting bailout money, wads and wads of it, "...

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Radio host reported subject of nationwide attack ads by MoveOn.org, Alinsky Rule for Radicals #13

• Alinsky's Rules for Radicals, in play. Number 13: Pick the target, freeze it, personalize it, and polarize it. Cut off the support network and isolate the target from sympathy.
• Rush Limbaugh, a private citizen on the radio, has proposed a bipartisan stimulus plan. In response, certain people who always said dissent was patriotic have apparently changed their mind. They've got lots of money to try and intimidate you into shutting up. They're buying tv and radio time to try Alinsky's Rule #13 against Limbaugh. Story lead and photo by Radio Equalizer Blog.

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Al Gore Live Earth biodiesel supplier poisoned river, killed hundreds of fish, frogs, and birds

1. 11/3/07, The Sun, UK, 'Eco Firm Fined for Polluting,'

• "A RECYCLING firm that fuelled the Live Earth concert
• was fined yesterday for polluting a river with
• poisonous chemicals.

• A trainee worker at Bio Tech Oils UK – which turns used cooking oil into diesel – poured four barrels of toxic glycerine down a drain.

• Hundreds of fish, frogs and birds died over a three-mile stretch of a river near Tredegar, South Wales.

The firm admitted emitting a noxious substance and was fined £19,000 by JPs in Abergavenny.

• The award-winning company, which

• supplied all the generator fuel for July’s Live Earth gig at Wembley, now faces going bust."

2. 8/18/2008, "Biodiesel producer goes into administration,"walesonline.co.uk

"BIODIESEL producer Bio Tech Oils has ceased trading with the loss of seven jobs.

The Tredegar-based company which created biodiesel from waste vegetable oil was among the first companies to bring biodiesel to Wales on a commercial basis. The company also supplied fuel for the generators at the Live Earth concert in London.

By using waste vegetable oil as its main raw material, biodiesel is largely renewable, unlike existing fossil fuels. In addition, the use of what is ordinarily a waste product, which would otherwise be need to be disposed of in some other way, means that the use of biodiesel is beneficial to the environment.

The company was forced to go into administration with Tim Ball and Rod Weston of chartered accountants Mazars appointed joint administrators.

Mr Ball, business recovery partner in the Bristol office of Mazars is seeking a buyer for the business.
Mr Ball said: "It is very sad to see an independent company fail in this way and it is very much hoped that a buyer can be found for the benefit of its customer base and, of course, its creditors.

"Any interested parties willing to purchase all or part of the business should contact me as soon as possible. Recent increases in the price of raw materials have not helped the company.""

===========================

"About Live Earth," BBC

"Live Earth was a 24-hour, 7-continent series of concerts which took place on 7/7/07 that brought together more than 100 music artists.

The event was put together by the Alliance for Climate Protection, The Climate Group and other international organisations to encourage individuals, corporations and governments to take action to prevent climate change. Former U.S. Vice President Al Gore is the Chair of the Alliance and Partner of Live Earth. 

Live Earth took place at Giants Stadium in New York; Wembley Stadium in London; Aussie Stadium in Sydney; Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro; Maropeng at the Cradle of Humankind in Johannesburg; Makuhari Messe in Tokyo; the Steps of the Oriental Pearl Tower in Shanghai; and HSH Nordbank Arena in Hamburg.

Find out more about the campaign at liveearth.org. You can get climate change news, opinion and explanation from the BBC. You can have your say about climate change on the BBC News website.
There's more websites on our climate change links page."

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Hearst attacks Boy Scouts instead of Al Gore.

Most of today's problems could have been avoided with an independent press, but we don't have one. Hearst newspapers are barely in business, and whom do they go after with guns blazing--the Boy Scouts, according to Editor & Publisher.

• A major collaborative effort from 5 of its news organizations seeks to expose environmental corruption by...not Archer Daniels Midland and the ethanol racket, but...

• the Boy Scouts.

Bravo, by neglecting real criminals, you continue your road to hell with global elite billionaires at the expense of tapped out US citizens. (Will Hearst III is a member along with Al Gore of Kleiner Perkins, a big carbon trading outfit, reported 11/07).

• Why not report the deadly ethanol scam promoted by Kleiner Perkins, and the failures of Kleiner Perkins ethanol pick, Altra? As of 5/18/06 they had collected $50 million in 'funding' for the deadly 'bio-fuel.'

Hearst should be shouting about crimes against the environment and rape of the American economy via the ethanol racket.

• INSTEAD THEY TARGET AMERICAN CULTURE BY AIMING AT THE BOY SCOUTS. George Soros will be impressed.

AUGUST 7, 2008: "Winners today: Hollywood, Archer Daniels Midland, Poet/Brion Ethanol, LLC, global carbon scams, junk science. Losers: everyone else.

• Federal ethanol requirements which are already proving catastrophic were imposed on the US so as to be non-negotiable. Great job.

• Aug. 7 (Bloomberg) -- "U.S. officials rejected Texas Governor Rick Perry's request to ease the requirement for the use of corn- based ethanol in gasoline, saying he didn't prove that the rules were straining grain supplies enough to cause ``severe economic harm.''...

He wanted to reduce by half this year's requirement to produce 9 billion gallons of the biofuel.

• The decision ensures ethanol producers such as Poet LLC, in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and Archer Daniels Midland Co., in Decatur, Illinois, will continue to have demand for their fuel. It is a blow to refiners and livestock producers who have fought the increased mandates because of higher costs...

Perry said. ``Any government mandate that artificially props up a single industry to the detriment of millions of Americans is bad public policy.''...

• The decision isn't surprising, said Pavel Molchanov, an analyst at Raymond James & Associates in Houston, ``

• particularly in an election year,

• given the importance of corn-growing swing states, such as Iowa and Minnesota.''

``The market was widely expecting the request to be denied,'' he said."... Diversion of food crops to carbon offsets results in world-wide famine, here starving Kenyans. photo from Time.com, 2/2/7/08.

• Pa. Gov. Ed Rendell changes mind about ethanol.

(Aldous Huxley, 1962): ""It seems to me that the nature of the ultimate revolution with which we are now faced is precisely this: That we are in process of developing a whole series of techniques which will enable the controlling oligarchy who have always existed and presumably will always exist to get people to

• love their servitude." -- Aldous Huxley (1962 speech at Berkeley)

(Servitude=passivity). sm

• A NY Times article notes the fraud, 12/26/08:

"In the cold winter when you need 'renewable' energy, don't count on biodiesel, wind turbines/farms, or solar panels:

• (NY Times, Galbraith): "This time of year, wind turbine blades
• ice up,

• biodiesel congeals in tanks and

• solar panels produce less power because there is not as much sun.

And perhaps most irritating to the people who own them, the panels become covered with snow,

• rendering them useless even in bright winter sunshine....

In January 2007, a bus stalled in the middle of the night on Interstate 70 in the Colorado mountains.

• The culprit was a 20 percent biodiesel blend that congealed in the freezing weather,

according to John Jones, the transit director for the bus line, Summit Stage. (Biodiesel is a diesel substitute, typically made from vegetable oil, that is used to displace some fossil fuels.)...

• Winter may pose even bigger safety hazards in the vicinity of
• wind turbines. Some observers say

• the machines can hurl chunks of ice as they rotate."...

Hey, what about solar energy! Oops...

• (NY Times): "Days are shorter and the sun is lower in the sky during the winter, ensuring less power production.

Even in northern California, with mild winters and little snow, solar panels can generate about half as much as in the summer, depending on how much they are tilted....

• Occasionally,...the (wind) turbines will shut down or set off alarms if it is too cold,

• and workers must brave the elements to fix them.

For homeowners, the upkeep of their power sources can also be a bother....

• Experts say that if even one cell in a (solar) panel is covered, the panel will not produce power."...via Lucianne.com, 12/25/08

(Billions of are invested in new 'green' ventures like these. MLB teams are invested in some of them. I understand--none of this matters). sm

• Jan. 16, 2009 Ethanol closes down Minnesota schools:

(Al Gore could not be reached for comment as he was out on his new houseboat).The so-called green movement has succeeded in closing down a Minnesota school district. Mandated biofuel congealed and wrecked the school buses. In the process children's health and safety were imperiled. The state of Minnesota required the buses to use biodiesel which is obviously ineffective and unsafe. MLB teams dazzled by the sheer 'progressiveness' of the green movement, should reconsider their biofuel 'offsets' purchases.

• (Star Tribune, 1/15): "All schools in the Bloomington School District will be closed Friday after state-required biodiesel fuel clogged in school buses Thursday morning and left dozens of students stranded in frigid weather, the district said late Thursday.

Rick Kaufman, the district's spokesman, said elements in the biodiesel fuel that turn into a gel-like substance at temperatures below 10 degrees clogged about a dozen district buses Thursday morning. Some buses weren't able to operate at all and others experienced problems while picking up students, he said....

• The decision to close school today came after district officials consulted with several neighboring districts that were experiencing similar problems. Bloomington staffers tried to get a waiver to bypass the state requirement and use pure diesel fuel,
• but they weren't able to do so in enough time, Kaufman said. They also decided against scheduling a two-hour delay because the temperatures weren't expected to rise enough that the problem would be eliminated."

*In a last ditch effort, the school system tried to reach billionaire global greenie George Soros, but he too was out on a boat. Seen last at a Bon Jovi party in St. Barts.*********

• 12/28/08,

  Ethanol racket seeks US bailout in spite of promotional assistance by MLB

  
• Pa. Gov. Ed Rendell, MLB's Tim Brosnan, Chevy official Ed Peper, 2006 Fan Fest

The ethanol racket seeks US taxpayer bailout on top of existing taxpayer subsidies. Its major companies such as VeraSun are either bankrupt or on the verge

• including Al Gore's trumpeted Altra Biofuels.

Ethanol has already robbed US taxpayers of millions, much of it transferred to 'green' funds, caused global starvation and displacement. Credit also to Hollywood, the US MEDIA, the UN, the Nobel committee, etc.,

• who bullied this scheme and ridiculed non 'believers.'

Even the nation's children were used as sales aids again at taxpayer expense (forced to view Al Gore's movie). An MLB executive cited proof for the existence of man-made global warming as

• children coming home and telling their parents it is so (end of article).

GM went along, produced some ethanol using cars which MLB promoted (as part of its global warming alarmism). MLB was on the front line of the ethanol bully pulpit....

• NO HELP ON THIS FROM HEARST.

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Scenes US children may vainly aspire to

• 'Hope and change' on full display in the Dominican. On the wane in the US as 'competition' has increasingly become a dirty word in elite circles.

• All photos in Boca Chica, the Dominican Republic, 1/28/09 by reuters

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Licey Tigers parade in Santo Domingo

• Champs of the Dominican. Anderson Hernandez MVP.
• photo from Listin Diario

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Yankees considering confidentiality agreements, no bad books--Newsday

(Newsday): "The Yankees are considering including a "non-disparagement clause" in future player and managerial contracts in order to prevent any more tell-all books such as "The Yankee Years," co-written by Joe Torre and Tom Verducci. Speaking on the condition of anonymity, a Yankee official said yesterday that some members of the front office staff already are required to sign a confidentiality agreement in order to protect "proprietary knowledge of our business model."

• The proposed clause is intended to ensure that future books about the Yankees are "
• positive in tone,"

• and "do not breach the sanctity of our clubhouse."

The Yankees are said to feel betrayed by Torre's book, which has been interpreted as critical of some players, most notably Alex Rodriguez, and inaccurate in its recounting of the October 2007 meeting in Tampa at which Torre and the club agreed to part ways after four world championships and 12 consecutive playoff appearances."....

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What East Coast Bias? Chicago gets spotlight on MLB/ESPN telecasts.

• Chicago teams to be shown 4 of 9 games in first 2 months.

First 2 months of ESPN Sunday Night Baseball telecasts:

• April 5 - Atlanta at Philadelphia (ESPN2)

• April 12 - Chicago Cubs at Milwaukee

• April 19 - St. Louis at Chicago Cubs

• April 26 - New York Yankees at Boston

• May 3 - Chicago White Sox at Texas

• May 10 - Tampa Bay at Boston

• May 17 - New York Mets at San Francisco

• May 24 - Milwaukee at Minnesota

• May 31 - Los Angeles Dodgers at Chicago Cubs

'HERE'S TO YOU, CHICAGO, SELIG TURNS HIS HUNGRY EYES TO YOU.'

• via Radio Recordings, Dave Kohl, Radio Daily News

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Hal Steinbrenner with Mike Francesa: Hank knows more about baseball than I do.

Hal Steinbrenner spoke with Mike Francesa Tuesday on WFAN. Early in the interview, Hal said that his brother Hank knows more about baseball than he does. After I heard that, I turned off the radio.

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NY Times hires Goldman Sachs to sell Red Sox

(AP): "The New York Times Co. says it has retained investment firm Goldman Sachs to help explore a sale of its stake in the company that owns the Boston Red Sox. ...

• The company holds a 17.8 percent stake in New England Sports Ventures, which owns the Boston baseball team as well as Fenway Park, a portion of a cable sports network and other properties....

The announcement came Wednesday as the Times Co. reported its earnings plunged 48 percent in the fourth quarter because of lower advertising revenue in a weak economy." via Poynter.org/Romenesko

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Greenwash Guerillas pie NY Times' Thomas Friedman on Earth Day. Will MLB be next?

• April 27, 2008. When the US government, all foreign governments, the criminals infesting the UN, Al Gore, Hollywood, George Soros, the NY Times, the Washington Post, Time, Newsweek, etc., are all against US citizens, sometimes they decide they've had enough. Greenwash Guerrillas, against the farce of man made global warming.
• MLB promotes global warming. An MLB official cites the advice of young school children as proof it exists. (end of MLB.com article 3/11/08). Same MLB official appears on Sierra Club radio, 7/5/08.
• Global warming is a multi-billion dollar fraud from which MLB should remove itself.

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A-rod, Jeter in Bahamas last weekend

• Bottom photo shows Michael Jordan. Photos from NYYFans.com poster said they were all there for a Michael Jordan event.

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Joel Sherman, Ian O'Connor to 1050 ESPN radio NYC

"1050 ESPN New York (WEPN-AM) has added New York Post Baseball Columnist

• Joel Sherman and Ian O’Connor, noted columnist for The Record (Hackensack, NJ),

to the station’s on-air staff"

from Radio Daily News

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Committee to return Fantasy Focus to Sirius XM 175

Noting Fantasy Focus was the best show on XM 175 and now it's gone, a poster at XMFan.com asks for other fan reactions, offers to visit Sirius XM office in NY to plead the case for FF's return. That would of course be Fantasy Focus with Jeff Erickson.

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Rob Dibble cut off by Jody Mac about Radomski points

During the first hour or so today on Sirius XM 175 I hear Rob Dibble trying to make a point about Radomski. He says there are teams in the midwest for example that were not in geographic proximity to Radomski/McNamee yet that doesn't receive any attention. That teams in different areas had to have had different guys they used at that time. He paused to allow Jody Mac to respond to this important point.

• Jody couldn't do it, doesn't have the ability, blew off a rare and important point, responding instead, 'Ahh, east coast Radomski, west coast Balco,' then laughed and changed the subject.

Finally before the break, Dibble said he just wanted to make one more point about Radomski. That he was facing up to 25 years in prison and a fine of $500,000 unless he spilled what he had on players. After doing so, Dibble continued, Radomski ended up with 5 years probation (no jail time) and a nominal cash fine. The point being the guy was heavily motivated to talk. Dibble pauses for Jody's reaction.

• Jody fails to acknowledge Dibble's point, changes the subject to a joke about some trouble Dibble might have been in himself (at some unknown time for some unknown deed, unrelated to baseball), and cackles. Then Jody says loudly, just kidding, just kidding. Dibble left with nothing to do but chuckle as Jody then wraps and goes into the next break.

When Dibble and Kennedy were together, they could have a back and forth conversation about this subject. They provided the only substantial outlet for what should have been universal questions about the so-called Mitchell Report. The rest of baseball media did not ask questions about it. They don't seriously question anything about MLB ownership, ie MLB has no media watchdog.

• (Dibble and Kennedy observed this in discussion previously as noted on this blog 1/11/08), 'The media don't want to upset the Red Sox or MLB."

P.S. Dibs is the new color announcer for the Washington Nationals tv coverage on MASN. via BTF.

• UPDATE: Speculation from XMFan.com website: "Dibble will still be with XM but he will be co-hosting from the washington D.C. XM studios not in los angeles." Kenneth Kraly (poster)

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David Ortiz Golf Classic encore Tues., 1/27, 6PM, NESN

• It was originally shown Sunday night, 1/25, but will air again Tuesday at 6PM on NESN:

"BOSTON, Jan. 23 /PRNewswire/ -- This Sunday January 25th at 11:30 P.M. EST, NESN will be airing a special Red Sox Report...chronicling the inaugural David Ortiz Celebrity Golf Classic, (12/4-12/7)

• with a rebroadcast on Tuesday, January 27th at 6 P.M. EST.

The show will profile the golf tournament and weekend festivities, and will feature exclusive interviews with host David Ortiz, and attendees....

• David Ortiz and his wife, Tiffany Ortiz, proudly hosted the inaugural David Ortiz Celebrity Golf Classic in David's native Dominican Republic at the
• Sanctuary Cap Cana December 4th-7th, 2008. The fund-raising event was a huge success and netted approximately $300,000 for the David Ortiz Children's Fund....

The celebrity list of attendees featured baseball stars who've combined to make 69 All Star Game appearances, as well as basketball and hockey Hall of Famers. Ortiz' friends and teammates including

• Tim Wakefield, Pedro Martinez, Alex Rodriquez, Mariano Rivera, Torii Hunter, Vladimir Guerrero, Ryan Howard, Jimmy Rollins, Carlos Pena, Bobby Orr and many more, supported "Big Papi" with generous donations towards the David Ortiz Children's Fund."...

Top photo shows Ortiz center, Placido Polanco on left; bottom photo Arod and Carlos Pena. Both at the tournament in the Dominican, December 2008, from El Nacional.

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Bob Sheppard, 9/11 tribute at Yankee Stadium with President Bush

• October 30, 2001

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Tom Verducci interview, WFAN with Mike Francesa

Tom Verducci interview on WFAN today with Mike Francesa.

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Hal Steinbrenner joins Mike Francesa Tuesday

Mike Francesa says Hal Steinbrenner will be on with him tomorrow at 1:05PM (WFAN and the YES Network). Mike is broadcasting from Tampa this week for the Super Bowl.

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Welcome back, Andy Pettitte.

• It doesn't matter how hideous the road was that got you here. You are one of the last vestiges of when the team was first, not a TV network or a new stadium, which we were better off without. photo by Newsday, 9/21/08

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Saul Alinsky's Rules for Radicals. How 'baseball' obtains 'groupthink'

From Saul Alinsky's 13 Rules for Radicals: (How to eliminate dissent and get what you want). These rules come in handy for things like trying to sway public opinion to change baseball awards criteria while keeping the main process secret from the masses:

• "Rule 5. "Ridicule is man's most potent weapon. It is almost impossible to counteract ridicule. Also it infuriates the opposition, which then reacts to your advantage."

• Rule 13. Pick the target, freeze it, personalize it, and polarize it.
• In conflict tactics there are certain rules that [should be regarded] as universalities. One is that the
• opposition must be singled out as the target and 'frozen.' ...
• When your 'freeze the target,' you disregard these [rational but distracting] arguments and carry out your attack.... One acts decisively only in the conviction that all the angles are on one side and all the devils on the other." pp.127-134"

Preface to Alinsky's book, "Rules for Radicals": by Saul Alinsky (Author) "

• "WHAT FOLLOWS IS for those who want to change the world from what it is
• to what

• they believe
• it should be..."

P.S. These methods were never successful with Doug Pappas when he was alive. He was the only person of substance who refused to cave to 'groupthink'. (sm)

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Do MLB teams know 'carbon offset' purchases can turn out almost as bad as a Bernie Madoff investment?

An offset traded today returns about 80% less than it did 6 or 8 months ago per the Telegraph. That's slightly better odds than Bernie Madoff gave you. Why are MLB teams instructed to involve themselves with this scam 'greenwash' (which gained foothold in the now practically bankrupt UK)?

• (1/25/09, UK Telegraph): "The (British) Government last week announced that in March it is to sell off 25 million "carbon credits". These European Union Allowances

• permit industry and electricity companies to continue emitting CO2,

ultimately paid for by all of us through our electricity bills. Last summer,

• when these permits were trading at 31 euros each, this sale might have raised more than £500 million pounds.

• Today, however, thanks to the economic meltdown creating a surplus of credits no longer needed,

their value is dropping so fast that Mr Darling will be lucky to get

• £100 million." by Christopher Booker, "Despite the Hot Air, the Antarctic is not Warming Up," UK Telegraph, 1/25/09

• (The money and politics behind the global warming fraud is now desperate, which is why the media is supporting the lie 24/7). sm

From MLB.com, citing its purchase of 'carbon offsets' 4/22/08:

• "Major League Baseball...has stepped up in 2008 as

a powerful leader in the global green movement.... You will just see it emphasized more on this day around the game, sometimes in ways that you won't know,

• such as buying "carbon offsets" --

and sometimes in obvious ways, such as prominent recycling containers or the planting of trees

• or a network morning TV show discussing PNC Park programs as part of its presidential primary coverage."...

Seattle Mariners buy carbon offsets:

• (MLB.com): "the Mariners will purchase high-quality carbon offsets from NativeEnergy, a leading carbon offsets company that helps build and support new renewable energy projects, and

• 58,000 kWh of "green power" credits from the Seattle City Light Green Up program.

• This is part of a much broader overall initative, all posted on the club's Web site. "We know that just buying carbon offsets isn't enough," said Howard Lincoln, the Mariners' chairman and CEO.
• "This is not a one-time event for us."...

Cincinnati Reds buy carbon offsets:

• "Teaming with Duke Energy, the Reds purchased carbon credits to offset the estimated fossil fuel emissions related to game-day operations at Great American Ball Park."

"Tampa Bay Rays buy carbon credits:

• "...the Rays purchased Green Tags, carbon credits for renewable energy, from the Bonneville Environmental Foundation (BEF)

• to offset the CO2 produced by fans traveling to Tropicana Field, and all energy consumed at Tropicana Field on Opening Day. The Rays also are purchasing Green Tags

• to offset the CO2 produced by all Rays employees traveling to and from work throughout the year, and six additional game nights."...

Phillies make biggest carbon offset buy in pro sports to date 5/1/08

• Extract of Red Sox carbon emissions (Includes statement by Robert Redford)

Scams enabled by 'green guilt'

• NRDC/MLB Green Advisory suggesting carbon offsets

2008 All Star game used to burnish interests of carbon offsets dealers

• Creators of carbon credit scheme cashing in on it.

• Lehman Brothers close ties to Al Gore

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Nats fans TV coverage only 20 games in 2009

"The media and coverage woes continue for the Washington Nationals.

• WDCW-TV 50 will show just 20 Nationals games over the air for the upcoming season.

• The games will consist of most or all Sunday telecasts.

This means that many to most of their telecasts will be directly against the TBS national game on Sunday afternoons.

• Thus, the one time a week (at most) that the Nationals are over-the-air,

• baseball fans will likely have a game involving two contenders to choose from.

Not to mention Orioles games in most areas, with many telecasts featuring the Yankees, Red Sox, and Rays." via Radio Daily News

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No skilled persons or white males should be hired--Obama advisor, Robert Reich

• Includes NY Democrat Charles Rangel agreeing with Reich, saying the middle class is too busy working to survive, they'll never know the difference (that they were excluded from the pork jobs).

It's back! The race card, 24/7.

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Not Caroline's 'nanny problem'

With Pinchy. via Lucianne.com

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MLB 'Green Advisor' recommends carbon offset purchases

Each MLB team has an 'NRDC green advisor' slate of instructions from Bud Selig. Among what should be common sense are invitations to buy into the multi-billion dollar scam of 'carbon offsets' which is largely unregulated, unproven and one of the things that brought down Lehman Brothers (all of which I've noted on this blog). All to support the idea of man-made global warming--which does not exist. (Nor did I find a tab telling what a killer ethanol has turned out to be. And that the ethanol racket is going bankrupt).

• Included in the green advisor for the Los Angeles Angels (and all teams) is the category of travel with the subhead 'offsetting emissions'. Its summation advises you can help repair 'global warming.' (Which exists only under enormous pressure by a billionaire- mass media-government against the harried, subservient taxpayer who is already broke):

"Offsetting carbon emissions from travel

Your team may want to consider reducing the net carbon emissions associated with its transportation needs

• by purchasing carbon offsets. When your team
• buys a carbon offset, it is investing in a project – such as new renewable energy projects – that will yield a measurable reduction in future greenhouse gas emissions.

You may also wish to suggest similar programs to the bus, truck, car, and rental companies with which you do business.

However, carbon offsets should not be the first option when attempting to improve the environmental profile of your transportation. Before purchasing offsets, consider implementing other initiatives to promote environmentally superior forms of transportation such as walking, bicycling, public transportation, car pools, and the use of high fuel-efficiency vehicles.

Green-e and the California Climate Action Registry have recently launched certification programs to ensure the environmental quality of carbon offsets.

• We recommend offsets that meet the Green-e Climate Protocol for Renewable Energy and any of the Climate Action Reserve protocols. However, it is still useful to ask providers what type of projects they invest in, how they ensure that these investments deliver additional environmental benefits, and
• whether the projects have negative environmental impacts.

Calculate your carbon emissions

What are Carbon Offsets?

Greenhouse gas offsets are investments in projects that avoid, capture or sequester emissions of greenhouse gasses.

• When your team buys an offset, it is investing in a new project that will cause a quantifiable decrease in greenhouse gas emissions.

• Examples of such projects include renewable energy projects, such as solar and wind power, and the capture of methane at agricultural or waste facilities.

Environmental Benefits It is sometimes not possible to bike to work or ride public transportation every day. And while hybrid cars are more fuel efficient than the average car, they still run partially on gasoline and therefore emit carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. So in the near term, your team will likely continue to have a sizable carbon footprint.

• When you buy offsets, you reduce your net emissions of greenhouse gasses, helping to reduce

• the harmful affects of global warming. "

MLB teams should not be involved in the carbon trading market. It is not a social program. It is political, financial, and unproven. sm

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Hartford Courant drops Red Sox beat, their last ML sports beat

Editor & Publisher: "In a sign of what may become a trend for major newspapers seeking cost cuts, The Hartford Courant has dropped its last major sports beat writer position. Jeff Otterbein, sports editor, said the paper will not send a reporter

• to cover the Boston Red Sox spring training, which begins next month, and
• will not staff a writer for their games.

"I just don't have a beat writer to cover it anymore," he said, noting last year's Sox scribe, Jeff Goldberg, took a buyout.

• "For the first time, we will not cover them home and away."

Goldberg's departure was part of a significant cut last September that reduced the paper's staffing by 25%. For sports, it marked the final cut in a beat coverage approach that had provided staff writers for the Red Sox, New England Patriots, New York Yankees and New York Giants in past years....

• But, in 2007 the cuts began when the paper stopped staffing beat writers for both the Giants and Yankees.

This past football season, the Patriots were not covered by a Courant beat writer for the first time. The Red Sox cutback will mean no major league beats are staffed by the paper....

• He said he may simply use AP stories or try to work with other newspapers, but stressed nothing had been decided....

Otterbein said the cutback in travel alone for a baseball beat is about $60,000, on top of the writer's salary....via Poynter.org/Romenesko

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Bob Grant sitting in for Michael Savage tonight, 6-8P ET

Nice surprise to hear the voice of the great Bob Grant sitting in for Michael Savage on his radio show today, 6-8P Eastern. Savage encore 8-9P. Bob of course most recently with WABC radio in New York.

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Medley of Clear Channel radio layoffs

• 1. Overview, Bloomberg News, 1/20

• 2. KFAN cuts, TwinCities.com

• 3. WDFN, Detroit Free Press

• 4. WNUA-FM, Chicago Tribune

• 5. WFXJ, Florida Times-Union

• 6. WOAI, San Antonio Express-News

• 7. KLSD, San Diego Business Journal

• 8. 105.9 KGBX-FM, KGMY-AM ESPN 1400, 100.5 KSWF-FM, 95.5 KTOZ-FM and 97.3 KXUS-FM, Springfield, Missouri News-Leader

• 9. WHYN-FM, 93.1; WPKX-FM, 97.9; WRNX-FM, 100.9; WHYN-AM, 560 and WNNZ-AM, 640, MassLive.com (Springfield, Mass.)

via Radio Daily News

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First day of WBC camp in Dominican Republic

• (Above): Junior Noboa, Rafael Pérez, Moisés Alou, Nelson Silverio and Stanley Javier, general manager of the Dominican WBC team. El Nacional/Manolito Jiménez

• (Above): Félix Pie, Robinson Canó, Odalís Pérez, Edward Ramírez and Rafael Pérez, some of players present at beginning of camp for the WBC. El Nacional/Manolito Jiménez.
• 

• "Practice: David Ortiz and reliever Rafael Perez, in the foreground, do stretching exercises with the other five players who attended the first day of practice of the Dominican team that will participate in the second edition of the World Baseball Classic." photo from Listin Diario

BOCA CHICA .-(1/20) "The stellar David Ortiz led the small group of eight players who said on the first day of practice of the Dominican team will participate in the World Baseball Classic, an amount not exceeding the technical body and, obviously, did not meet expectations.

• "The Big Papi," Robinson Canó, Moisés Alou, Felix Pie and pitchers Odalis Perez, Eduard Ramirez, Rafael Perez began to train the edge noon. The promising reliever Jose Arredondo was reported, but not just because they practiced doing so in the complex in Anaheim.

The leader Felipe Alou was on the long list of absences because the flight that he would yesterday at 8:30 am coming from Miami was delayed, was expected in the afternoon and will take over the reins today when the whole homeland.

• "I wanted to come on the first day to motivate kids to integrate," said David (Ortiz), who arrived wearing black sportswear and then trained with flannel trousers and white and a sweatshirt....

Arrival of Alex and Pujols

• He said that Alex Rodriguez and Albert Pujols, probably the best two players in the world today, the team will be integrated by the end of the month, while Miguel Tejada and José Reyes called him while he was on the field to inform you that this Thursday will.

With regard to Pedro Martínez confessed that still has not communicated with him and did not ensure their integration into the community because it's free agent and did not think I have the Classic as his main priority.

• "I have not spoken to Peter yet, but I was a veteran player and sometimes when one reaches a certain age takes much longer to get fit," he argued.

"Peter still has not signed with anyone, I think that the priority for him right now is not the Classic, but included in the list of 45 and we have the camp open," he said on the preliminary roster unveiled last night by Major League Baseball...

• During the rally prior to the commencement of the training, Javier told the players that lack of practice was a major enemy in the Dominican Republic was the first edition of the project in 2006." Listin Diario, 1/20/09

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