SoFlaFish

The MLS died in South Florida when they decided to have the Fusion play at Lockhart Stadium instead of the Orange Bowl. They built the stadium too far away from whatever small fan base they could attract. The MLS also failed here because, no matter what Alexis Lalas says, the quality of MLS soccer as compared to the "majors" (EPL, La Liga, Serie A, and Bundesliga) is like comparing the Florida State League to the National League. You have to be a true die hard to tolerate that. While Latin American national teams draw great crowds, you're not going to get those same crowds at a "minor" MSL game.

At Dish, all we do is upgrade our box and they would come an install it along with the extra Dish and any switches/LNBs needed. I'm sure DirecTV is similar. I upgraded the receiver from my original six year old receiver to the new HD receiver, and then the DirecTV folks came out and installed the new 5LNB dish (which was all for free, both the new 5LNB dish and the installation!). I get my local HD channels over the air and not through DirecTV. The reception is 1000x better with an over the air antenna than through the dish.

thanks for the info do you think that is still the problem if I am receiving the other HD channels, like ESPN and Discovery HD, just fine? Yes, that is the problem. I just recently upgraded my dish since I got the HD receiver for DirecTV. My 3LNB dish received ESPN2HD, DiscoveryHD, and HDNet. Once I got the 5LNB dish, I got the other HD channels (TNTHD, HDNet Movies, UHD, ESPNHD, HBOHD, etc.). Plus, make sure you have an additional little adapter (I can't remember the name of it) because come September, DirecTV is launching an additional satellite which will provide up to an additional 99 HD channels. Of course, I'm in Palm Beach County and for some reason DirecTV in their infinite wisdom has determined that we're not in the Marlins "home market" so we only get FSN's statewide HD telecast of the Marlins. (CapeFish, before you try to sell me Dish Network, don't bother, I've had DirecTV for six years now and have never once had a single complaint about billing, service, reception, or anything!)

I kinda wanna go since this will be my last trip to Broward in a long time... Im back down from USF to hang out with some friends for about a week. Like I said, I wanna go, but I don't know what the turnouts have been like because I wasn't able to catch Marlins games from Tampa. If someone could clue me in, a I'd appreciate it. Tuesday night attendance: 15,144 (41.7% full) Wednesday night attendance: 13,805 (38% full) That means there are "still plenty of good seats available" or "sure are alot of people dressed as empty orange seats!"

I own a "Saturday Game Plan": Two tickets in Sec. 127, Row 15, Seats 1 & 2 for me and "Even LittlerSoFlaFish", so that's about $22.00 per game ($22.00 x 15 = $330.00) At each game I feed the little one only once, so we look to spend no more than $20.00 on food for the two of us. ($20.00 x 15 = $300.00) Plus parking ($10.00 x 15 = $150.00). So, on average, I'm looking at around $780.00 out-of-pocket for the 2007 Marlins Regular Season. Of course, that doesn't count the amount I spent on Spring Training. It also doesn't count the fact that I'll be going to see the Fish play the Phillies on September 9 at Citizens Bank Park. I'll be in Philadelphia visiting my sister, and coincidentally the Fish arrive the same weekend I arrive. So Even LittlerSoFlaFish and I snagged two pretty good tickets (Sec. 114, Row 11, Seats 1 & 2 ($38.50 x 2 = $77.00) for the game. Keep an eye out for the "big guy" wearing the Al Leiter home jersey and the "little guy" in a Marlins jersey on that Sunday afternoon behind first base!

Van Morrison's "Into The Mystic"

Bar none, the "best" four minutes in the history of MTV (back in the day when MTV actually played "music") belong to this video: "Separate Ways" by Journey. A solid 100 out of 100 on the Unintentional Comedy Scale! I could have a thread that takes up a whole page if I were to list the 80s favorites on my various playlists. Then again, it is the decade I came of age in so it basically is the soundtrack of my life.

The roof adds $100m to the cost. Yeah land in the SF Bay Area is more expensive, but is it really that much more than downtown Miami (I trust that Marlins2003 and other insiders know the answer to that one better than I do)? I think that $490m is optimistic, and the people at the negotiating table know it. That's why they are quibbling over $30m, because the reality is that there is a fair to good likelihood that the stadium will go over budget and someone (ownership according to the most recent published reports, which I still find hard to believe) will get stuck with the bill. What all of you seem to forget is that the $490M price tag for the stadium down here DOES NOT INCLUDE THE REAL ESTATE/LAND PURCHASE PRICE/VALUE OF LAND. That is because they would be using property that already belongs to the City of Miami or Miami-Dade County. If we were talking about private land or land that needed to be condemned, then the price tag would skyrocket and probably, then, you could compare the prices of the stadium here with the stadium in Fremont equally. Until then, the Fremont price tag probably includes land, while the Marlins price tag does not.

Talk about much ado about nothing...

I like the back to back cliches by dontrell i dont even understand what they mean. :lol "water off of a duck's back" wtf :lol never heard that one before He probably meant "That is water under the bridge" :whistle You guys can't be serious that you've never heard of "water off a duck's back"!?!? Haven't you ever seen a duck? Their feathers are waterproof and water just runs off of them like a finely waxed car. That's where that comes from.

The Palm Beach Post had a note that the radar gun is notoriously inaccurate. Throwin' heat: Matt Lindstrom's father was watching the Marlins' game on TV Wednesdya night in Idaho when his son hit 102 mph on the PNC Park radar gun. "He called me up and said: 'You're a freak. I don't know where you came from,' '' Lindstrom said. Lindstrom wasn't convinced the reading was accurate. A few years ago, the same scoreboard had A.J. Burnett at 106 mph. "It might have been a fluke,'' said Lindstrom, who also hit 98 and 97. "If it was 102, great. If it wasn't, that's fine, too.'' The Miami Herald ran a similar note as well: INFLATION Don't believe the pitch-speed scoreboard readings at PNC Park. A couple of years ago, one of A.J. Burnett's fastballs was clocked at a beyond-belief 104 miles per hour, only to be recalibrated to 99. The mechanism remains out of whack. On Wednesday, a fastball thrown by Marlins reliever Matt Lindstrom registered 102 miles per hour. Though Lindstrom is a hard thrower who has touched 100 in the past, even Lindstrom's father couldn't believe his eyes when he saw the triple-digit readings while watching Wednesday's game from the family home in Idaho. Lindstrom said his father phoned after the game to say it was ''crazy'' -- further proof that father knows best. A stadium employee said Wednesday's readings were inflating pitch speeds by about 2 miles per hour. And he said Thursday's readings were off by about 3 miles per hour.

The Marlins already own 2 Spring Training facilities....adding involvement in a third would be troublesome. Space Coast Stadium in Brevard County is leased to the Washington Nationals & Brevard County Manatees. Roger Dean Stadium in Palm Beach County is a Loria/Cardinals/Palm Beach County partnership and that lease is long term. The Homestead Facility was destroyed by Andrew and the county couldn't force the Indians to serve the lease after it could be rebuilt. Only chance would be to attract the O's from Ft. Lauderdale or the Rockies from Arizona......but that would require balancing the Grapefruit and Cactus Leagues evenly. The Miami Marlins thing can happen, but the Homestead Spring Team is likely a no go. The Marlins do not own Space Coast Stadium, it is owned by Brevard County. If the Marlins have any remaining involvement with the facility, it may be in the form of a lease, which is just subleased over to the other squads. I cannot confirm the lease, though, but I can confirm that Space Coast Stadium is a county owned facility. As for Roger Dean Stadium, Palm Beach County is the owner of the facility (confirmed by two sources, Palm Beach County Property Appraiser, and ME, as Vice-Chair of the Palm Beach County Sports Commission Facilities Committee - we're responsible for attracting and scheduling activities in County owned facilities!). The stadium is "managed" by a limited partnership (Jupiter Stadium, Ltd.) with JS Stadium, Inc. as it's general partner. JS Stadium is a corporation with David Samson and Bill De Witt of the Cardinals as corporate directors. Finally, the Homestead facility will never really succeed in attracting a spring team. One of the main reasons teams are heading west to Arizona (besides the fact that Arizona throws gobs of money for facilities) is travel, and no team will agree to playing in Homestead without having to accommodate the horrible travel schedules to get there (think of driving from Homestead to Fort Lauderdale, or Jupiter, or Port St. Lucie, or Viera after finishing a spring game at around 4:00! Talk about hell on bus wheels. Plus, you'd sooner see Loria pay for the whole downtown stadium out of his own pocket than see a team in Arizona move to Florida for Spring Training.

It's already been reported that the DH will be rotated. From today's Palm Beach Post: DH time: Manager Fredi Gonzalez said third baseman Miguel Cabrera would be the Marlins' DH at least one game this weekend to give his body a break from the artificial surface at Tropicana Field. Left fielder Josh Willingham and right fielder Jeremy Hermida also could serve as the DH.

Why did you feel the need to quote my statement to prove your point? People were saying their 1st ammendment rights were being taken away when in no way they were. Chill out, your's was the last one in the chain so that's where I went with it.

O&A need to show responsibility or the FCC/Congress will team up to regulate satellite radio's content just like they can with terrestial radio. Both use the "public" airwaves and Congress can make that a reality. XM and Sirius do not "use the public" airwaves. Because you have to pay for your service, and it is not being transmitted via radio frequency over the airwaves, but via direct satellite transmission to you satellite receiver, there is a fair argument that XM and Sirius (and for that matter DirecTV, Dish Network, and CATV) should not be subject to the regulation of the public airwaves. XM and Sirius do not go to the FCC for authorization to broadcast on a frequency, or to be assigned a frequency. Therefore, both XM and Sirius constitute a private compact between broadcaster and listener, and I would argue that the FCC has no jurisdiction in that matter. If Congress were stupid enough to step in and regulate a private transmission of that nature, then they're opening a slippery slope of content regulation. Freedom of Speech doesn't mean you are free from reperucussions for what you've said. Can we please get off the "Freedom of Speech" argument here. A private employer can regulate the content of your speech in any form and you have no "freedom of speech" in a private context. Maybe all of you should take some time to actually read the First Amendment: Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances. The KEY term there is "CONGRESS SHALL MAKE NO LAW . . . ABRIDGING THE FREEDOM OF SPEECH . . ." CONGRESS, not "anybody." By extension the First Amendment was carried to apply to the states by virtue of the Fourteenth Amendment: Section 1. All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside. No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws. Okay, so now we're done with our little lesson on Constitutional Law. Good day.

You are thinking of Bop N Wrestle. I agree to this day was the best Rasslin game ever! Eespecially the Commodore Amiga version which had 16 bit graphics back in 1988. Very advanced for it's day. BTW, remember Micro League Baseball back in the C-64 era? First game to have upgradable roster / stats discs pre-internet. Earl Weaver Baseball also had a similar feature. Even though it came out for the Commodore Amiga (not the C64), that game was so ahead of its time. To date, it is perhaps the best baseball game ever created. My cousin, who lived on the block behind mine, had an Amiga and we spent an entire summer creating our own six team major league using the Earl Weaver Commissioner Disk which allowed you to create players, teams, uniforms, stadiums, leagues with schedules, etc. We had our own draft lottery and set up a 30 game schedule where each of our three teams would rotate playing each other. The best and funnest feature of the Commissioner Disk was the ability to create players. One of the "Create-A-Player" feature was to create the pronounciation of their names. To this day because of that computer generated voice, I still chuckle at the thought of players like Dick Schofield and Pete Incaviglia because for some odd reason the computer would mangle their names. I remember creating a team called the "Marlins" in 1989 with aqua as the prominent color (yes, I was ahead of my time!). My cousin and I had the "Senators," "Marlins," "Comanches," "Apaches," "Sun Sox," among others. And they played in places like Griffiths Stadium, Joe Robbie Stadium, the TerraDome . . . . That was a good summer!

I won't subscribe to the notion of Falwell in Hell (if there is even such a place, since thinking of things in those terms creates a very "human" quality to something that is beyond our comprehension, which is what Jesus actually said when describing "heaven"), but if there is a "physical" Heaven (with clouds, harps, angels, etc.), Falwell is probably right now in front of God and God is simply looking down and saying, "What were you thinking?"

had and played both games.....Batman vs. the Joker was good too. Ace of Aces was a classic and one of the first flight simulator games that had missions which were tied together. As for Dr. J v. Bird, we would have tournaments in my neighborhood (literally our own version of the NCAAs) to see who would be the basketball champ. We would draw up the brackets and everything! In my opinion one of the best football simulations for the C64 was "Super Sunday" only because it involved strategy and playcalling more than maneuvering a joystick, and it was the first "football" game on the computer that actually kept stats and provided a boxscore at the end of the game which you could print out (ah, the memories of my old Okidata dot matrix printer). I loved Super Sunday http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v48/mick21772/MVP07%20Reference/superbowlsunday18.gif http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v48/mick21772/MVP07%20Reference/superbowlsunday20.gif http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v48/mick21772/MVP07%20Reference/superbowlsunday24.gif

I am a fan of the O&A Show and I am a subscriber of XM Radio. I understand the severity of what was said on the show and to be honest, at the time, I thought that it was a little harsh. However, as a subscriber of XM Radio I pay a premium to enjoy the opportunity to hear things that the Moral Majority briefcase toting conservatives in this country have deemed inappropriate for me to hear on FM radio. By doing that, I feel as though if I am responsible enough to make my payments on time, I am responsible to change the channel if I deem something to be inappropriate or even more block the channel altogether. For those who don't have XM, compare this situation with a scenario of HBO deciding that they aren't going to show any R rated movies because it offends a group of people or for that matter compare a Pay-per-view movie that the provider bleeps all the curse words or blurs out all the nudity and violence. This suspension/firing(mark my words: they will be fired!) is a step in the wrong direction regardless of whether you agree with what was said or not. For those who would like more information on the topic go to www.Wackback.com I don't think this is a "free speech" issue but an "employment" issue. I'm sure Opie & Anthony signed an agreement to have a show on XM, and I'm sure that agreement had certain terms regarding the content of such a show. Since XM isn't subject to FCC regulations because of the subscription nature of the service, and the fact that they aren't using the public airwaves for their signal, it simply becomes an issue between "employer" and "employee." If the content of their speech violated the terms of their employment, then XM has every right to suspend them. Further, if the content of the speech can be interpreted to incite violent action or other illegal conduct, there is enough precedent out there to then deem their utterance as not being "speech" (if in fact they called for the First Lady and Secretary of State to be raped) Chaplinsky v. New Hampshire, 315 U.S. 568, 62 S.Ct. 766, 86 L.Ed. 1031 (1942). However, is it satire? I'm not so sure. Your HBO analogy is a bit weak on this part. Yes, you may pay for HBO service and for the right to see "R" rated movies on HBO (or as Julia Louis-Dreyfus said on Curb Your Enthusiasm as to why she wanted her show on HBO, "Because you can say f*ck."), if a film somehow "snuck" into the HBO rotation hard-core pornography, HBO has every right to remove that film from the rotation because it may have violated any terms of service between the filmmaker and HBO, regardless of how many subscribers protest or don't protest. You don't watch "Naughty Nurses VI" on HBO, that's why you pay for "Spice." Got it?

The NES/Super NES era was the good old days of video games. Oh puh-leese you youngin! The good ol' days were spent playing Activision games like Barnstormin', River Raid, Pitfall, Freeway, Tennis, Space Shuttle and, of course, Decathalon which involved moving the old Atari joysticks back and forth in order to run. That was especially funny if you stood behind the guy doing that to his joystick as he grunted to beat the 100m mark!!! GOLD, BABY, GOLD!!! Then there is the final "golden era" which would be the old Commodore 64 games Geez, I could still play Hardball, Commando, Sporttime Hockey, Sporttime MISL, Rambo, Beach Head, Super Sunday, Jet, Ace of Aces, Dr. J vs. Bird, Fourth & Inches, Earl Weaver Baseball, Pirates, Summer Games, Winter Games, and Panzers East!

One of the most original sitcoms in a while. Season 1 was probably marginally better than season 2, but thats only because season 1 was so great, and I didn't really like Robin and Ted as a couple for the show. It's much better when Ted and Barney are out together as single men. I hope they don't do the Ross and Rachel (or JD and Elliot) thing with those two. Look, the show is one of my favorites and it is one of the "Season Pass" shows on my TiVo, but I wouldn't say this is one of the most original sitcomes in a while. The acting and writing is good, but this show has now taken "storylines" from Friends in more than one occassion. The whole Robin/Ted thing is just a rehash of Ross/Rachel, down to the he loved her, then she loved him, then they got together, then they broke up....and Barney is Joey is Barney (except that Matt LeBlanc wasn't gay). There really is only one thing that I always get taken aback by on the show if you think long and hard about it. Do you realize Ted is telling his kids, in detail, about all of his hook-ups before he met their mother?!?! I can't see myself ten years from now sitting down my son and daughter and telling them about all of my hook-ups from back in the day before I met my wife (and, boy, the stories I could tell could be a book). I mean, my "wingman" back in the day is my daughter's godfather, and I know they wouldn't be able to look at "Uncle Rick" the same way again (oh, the stories we could tell, like the time we convinced three girls from Toronto that one of our buddies was a "Cuban Rafter/Heart Surgeon" and we were his interpreters . . . . that was a good night , or our "Lost Weekend in Montreal" that ended with French-Canadian girls not knowing the meaning of "sh!tfacted" and then . . . . a US$1,000 bar tab , or the only traditional Spring Break trip of our college years to Daytona where "Uncle Rick" lost 85% of his hearing in one ear and we had to leave a $50.00 tip to the maid of our hotel room because of the "ralphing" by six of us in one room )! But, either way, that is one thing about the show that gnaws at me. Don't get me wrong, I love that show! That would be legen . . . wait for it . . . .

It's a break from regular prices. I already have tickets to see The Police, but I paid $90.00 for upper level seats. The Marlins are offering Club Level for $95.00. I may just buy these and sell my upper level seats.

Some great posts on the subject matter, but you have to admit though some of your fellow Cane fans down there think DA U is Miami's other pro football team. ONE VERY IMPORTANT NOTE: I AM NOT A CANES FAN!!!!! I went to New College of Florida (back when it was New College USF), but we had no athletics whatsoever (unless you count our mighty Ultimate Frisbee team or our "intramural football team" that participated in USF intramurals -- my ribs still ache from the pounding I took at QB). When I was younger and followed college athletics I was a "fan" of FSU. However, not having gone to FSU for undergrad or law school, my "allegiance" to them has waned over the years. Now, I just keep track of the scores here and there, and follow UVm (University of Vermont) basketball and hockey (as a Vermont Law alum). However, that does not minimize my hatred of all things Gator. As I said, my sister is a UM alum, as are both of my uncles, and many of my good friends. But I was the "black sheep" who refused to go to UM (or pay for it, for that matter!), so I disowned "The U". I never liked them, never will, but I will not let my emotions get in the way of facts, and the fact of the matter is that the University of Miami athletic program is "small market" when compared to other universities in this country.

When UM was an independent they would pimp all their games to the highest bidder (nothign wrong with that) and at times would make up to a million in individual games and this is back in the 80s. UM then moved to the Big East and then the ACC for the sole purpose of making more money (nothing wrong with that). The football program has made tons of cash for 25 years but the reason the facilities stink compared to other programs is because UM has diverted the football profits to other purposes rather than reinvesting profits on the football program. You can't think of UM, or any other college football team, in the same terms as a professional franchise. To the University of Miami, football is merely a part of the Athletic Program and the budget, expenses, and revenue of the athletic department are one! Meaning that any income derived from football is to be used for the Athletic Program and not for the football program. As it is for ANY university or college, the major sports (football and basketball - both men's & women's) basically fund the rest of the smaller sports (swimming, golf, fencing, etc.). If each sport were "self-sufficient" you'd only see NCAA football and men's basketball and every other sport would be disbanded. There is no way that men's & women's track & field would be able to pay for their facilities, equipment, travel, etc. if they needed to depend on solely track & field revenue. It is the job of the Athletic Dept. to use football revenue to fund athletics! Also remember that Title IX mandates an equal opportunity for men's and women's athletics, so you can't just have football and men's basketball without two other women's teams. That Big East and ACC money goes to help fund the other athletic teams at UM, just like I'm sure the ACC money helps fund track & field at Wake Forest, women's cross-country at Duke, and any other of the minor sports at the other ACC private schools like BC and UM. To reiterate, you cannot think of the UM football program in the same terms as a professional football franchise. The product of the Miami Dolphins, or Atlanta Falcons, or Denver Broncos is Dolphins, Falcons, Broncos Football. The product of the University of Miami football program is an adjunct of the University of Miami Athletic Department, and the "product" there is the University, not the football team.

FAU is not exactly the same. They would have their on campus facility already built except for one thing.....money. They just don't have the funds. I highly doubt the Hurricanes have that problem. One, their athletic dept (or more specifically, the football program) makes money for the university. They are in a BCS conference, make a ton of money on broadcast rights, sell many season tickets, etc. The school is also a private university which charges high tuition fees....I'm sure they make more than a state school does. Now, you can argue that the Marlins should not get a stadium because they are a private entity, get revenue sharing, broadcast rights, etc.....But I'm just saying that I don't think it is right that people are outraged when government funds are used for one and not the other. Especially, when a ballpark would do more for the city than a football stadium that will be empty for about (and I'm being generous) 345 days a year. You couldn't be further from the truth. Compared to UM, FAU is flush with cash. UM has some of the worst facilities in the ACC because of the fact that it is a private university. It's been one of the major sticking points with recruits who visit UM (at least for football). When the facilities are compared between FSU, UF, and UM, Miami comes out on the short end of the stick because the University cannot afford to upgrade the facilities. Sure tuition is high, but that doesn't go to help fund athletics, you have to remember that UM professors are not "state employees" and neither are the administrative or support staff. The University has to self-support itself via endowments, tuition, and any other fundraising. There is no "Board of Regents" to give UM money, as say FAU, FIU, UF, FSU, and USF. Also, FAU has over 21,500 undergraduate students, compared to UM having 10,000 undergraduate students, so the "pool" of student resource is much less. Add to that an alumni base for UM that isn't necessarily Floridian and doesn't really remain "local" as do the other state schools. That brings into effect the fact that UM does not have the same "booster" clout as UF or FSU, or the other big "state schools" out there (i.e., Alabama, LSU, Georgia, Texas). BCS and ACC money are not enough to fund the entire athletic program. UM doesn't get "a ton of money on broadcast rights" because the University doesn't sell those rights (UM is not Notre Dame), the conference does and UM is one of 12 teams that have to split that pot and then distribute that money across all the athletic programs at the school (football, men's & women's basketball, men's & women's cross-country, men's & women's track, women's golf, rowing, swimming & diving, men's & women's tennis, and volleyball). As for season ticket sales, there really aren't that many and students at UM, at least, don't purchase season tickets because all you need to attend a UM game (of any sport) is your student ID which they scan at the stadium for admission (my sister is a UM alum, and most of my old high school buddies went to UM so when I was in town, I'd sneak into the games with them using a "student discount ticket"). So, as you hopefully see, UM is not "flush" with cash just because they are a private university. In the world of athletics, it's the public universities that are the fat cats, not the private schools. What is UM's attendance per game? In 2006 it was 41,908