PhxPhin

it's definitely early however, out here in AZ the d'backs fans were in love with this kid and hated to see him go and are upset to see his start, especially given how incredible rauch has been.......................... a lot of people in FL and DC weren't high on him at all and without seeing him play I had no idea what to expect i do love his speed - i thought he may be a little light hitting for 3rd base, but so far it's working (even if so far isn't that far) however, the speed is game changing - the inside the park home run, forcing reyes to rush the play (he would of been safe even if the throw was on target), bunt singles, scoring the game winning run from 2nd - it's just a great dynamic to have on the team - pitchers and catchers need to think about the steal threat - he gets the attention of teams due to his speed however, the speed will only come into play and continue to stick in minds if he continues to get on base and make contact - that is where he'll have a lot to prove

lock up your co-eds

let's go sharks!

I remember - i was a lot more active under my previous username, then I graduated college that archive was real close to the timing of when I went to my last marlins game in philly - my company gave me all the tickets to their field box - marlins won on a late shot by seabass if I remember correctly

thanks again for the help had a fun time and am now back to reality took the turnpike all the way down from orlando - was a pretty easy drive and the cruiseline did a great job of getting us on the boat really fast on the way back yesterday, we were in our rental around 8am and our flight out was at 5:30pm in orlando - started up 95, made a pit stop in jupiter for some photos and a spring training t-shirt, then ended up swinging back to the turnpike after firming up lunch plans with my little brother really nice complex in jupiter and there were a lot of cardinal fans out there getting preped for the game, despite it being pretty early in the day - wish the marlins were playing that day even though I wouldn't of been able to stick around for any of it

princess is the cruiseline - we had our cruise picked out on timing (wife teaches to it had to fit perfectly into spring break), itinerary and then price and the like flights were insanely expensive into either Miami or FLL (saved over $200 per ticket going into Orlando) - so instead of little brother coming down to hang with us for a day, we'll hang with him and just rent a car to make the drive (rental was only like $35 each leg) - will drop the car off at the airport and then take the free rental shuttle into port everglades is the tollway one of those where you pull a ticket when you get on and settle at the booth when you exit or one of those where just pay periodically along the way? definitely appreciate the help

pretty strong play - i also if this will help take some pressure off the bidding vote making that a little more certain and easing the county stadium vote to the simple majority

ugh ........ other sports does not equal outfield............ must sleep now

I'll be taking the red-eye into Orlando tommorrow night where I'll spending a day with my brother before my wife and I drive down to fort lauderdale to the port for a cruise. Was wondering if anyone familiar with the drive between the two had any suggested routes or if there was any road work that I should be aware of. My little brother is new to Orlando and doesn't get around much, so he's of little help. Many thanks!

not really - derrick hall is talked about a lot out here and is on the radio quite a bit promoting the d'backs and I can guarantee that anyone out here other than marlins fans has no clue what a david samson is

the national unemployment # for the construction industry in Feb of 2008 was over 20%

bah - a lot of young guys on this team - you set the tone early - how you prepare is how you play - a lot of guys fighting for jobs as well, a great opportunity to ride the "safe" guys for the ears of the ones fighting

jimmy buffett has been playing more baseball stadiums recently as well - some as a gimick (wrigley, fenway), some because they provided viable options (phillies park - although he's back in camden this year)

who's to determine who can pay? - what about change in circumstance - say my parents contracted cancer back in NY and I wanted to move back home to be a caretaker - no way I could sell this house as I'm upside down (due to a large crash in home values - my home is worth less now than when it was built in 2001) ...... i'd be pretty much forced to walk away even if I qualified for the plan - it doesn't really help protect from that scenario, which would lead to another foreclosure i don't see how this really helps as even a modified loan is still out of the market - you're getting more favorable terms on a house you cannot sell for the people who are struggling to make payments - it will definitely help keep some of them in their homes, but i question how significant this impact is ........... they obviously have financial constraints, be it student loans, CC debt, car payments, etc ......... once again the loan value remains the same, the terms are just modified ....... so what happens when they lose their jobs, have an unexpected maintenance expense or need to add on debt to get through a life event - it's not like they have savings in the bank to ride out any bad times ...... that house is going back to foreclosure i personally think we need to look at loan reform in both the mortgage & CC markets - make it easier for people to pay down their debts, keeping them out of the never ending cycle

this whitehouse blog is pretty good - i guess full details don't come out until march http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/09/02/18/Help-for-homeowners/ seems to be two pronged If you are not "at risk", but are just having a hard time refinincing to better rates due to value drops you can be eligible under the following - the loan must be secured by fannie/freddie, you're existing loan cannot be over 1.05 LTV ......... me thinks this is going to be a hard one for most to qualify for, although it will be really nice for those that do To qualify for the at risk portion you would need the following: In general, you may qualify for a mortgage modification if (a) you occupy your house as your primary residence; (b) your monthly mortgage payment is greater than 31% of your monthly gross income; and © your loan is not large enough to exceed current Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac loan limits. Final eligibility will be determined by your mortgage lender based on your financial situation and detailed guidelines that will be available on March 4, 2009. Doesn't seem to me that this does a whole lot of good. Even if you put the at risk people in new homes there is nothing to ensure that they will not default in a year (the $5k in 5 year incentive is a joke) If someone is struggling - enters the program and then loses their job & home next year the net result is actually worse ...... still a foreclosed property with an additional layer of tax payer expense the gov't really needs to look at the disease instead of trying to quick treat the symptoms with expensive medicine

that's not what I read on it i thought you had to be at least 80% upside down i also heard that it's only open to people who had their loans with fannie/freddie - which if true seems more like a hedge against further default risk for those gov't important companies, as opposed to real lending relief/reform

i used to be really into scotch, but for the past 5 years or so i'm pretty much exclusively bourbon and other related american styles for my whiskey consumption

i would love a vote them out chant to anyone voting no

when you contact these guys, definitely drill in the shovel ready aspect ..... not only will it create sustainable construction jobs over the next 2-3 years, it will filter into all supporting industries (suppliers, insurance, construction equipment mfg, etc) - then when complete it will provide additional income to our hard working public officers, along with additional income to hundreds of people in stadium support if planned right, it could even spawn development of the community and MLB is showing a committment with their youth academies, etc all star games, WBC events, mixed use promos - all can be done at the stadium and would help maintain miami as an event city

they have some here in phoenix and i've seen them in arenas for other sports as well pretty much in any stadium that has open concourses you can set up a rail and like a bar type area at the top of the seating section where people can stand and look at the game

we hate! penn state!

i like the dimensions - I assume loria will be designing the "batters eye" - will be interesting what he comes up with, seems like right now the trend is to creat landscape like in Philly & Denver

logan had a rough game at the plate, but flashed a little potential with the glove overall an interesting game - phil hughes had a rough outing while tommy hanson continues to look like the real deal logan posted an 0-fer tonight, including coming up in the 9th in a tie game, working the count 3-1 before putting a popup behind the plate and then a high popup to end the inning - everyone got to hear him drop an f'bomb the mets reliever blew the game, which was kind of poetic raynor didn't play west had an interesting night - walked the first guy on 4 pitches, struck out the next guy on 3, walked the next on 4, struck out the next on 3 and then struck out the next on 4 - he only pitched that one inning, he then tried to take a curtain call and tip his hat to the crowd and then waved them off as he got no reaction

3 marlins have been named to the roster for the rising stars game that will take place this friday - went a couple years ago and there were some really good prospects in that class including braun and ellsbury sean west is one of the pitchers named, which comes off a strong start last night (5 innings, 3 hits, 1 run, 3 SO, 1 BB) logan morrison & john raynor also made the cut complete rosters here http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/events/winterleagues/stars/2008/ a lot of guys will not see action - especially when each side is bringing 11 pitchers

wants to go back to AZ - will be interesting as they are jammed up at OF http://www.azcentral.com/members/Blog/DanBickley/36522 Luis Gonzalez has one final wish. He wants a spot on Arizona's bench next season. He wants to finish his career as a member of the Diamondbacks. He'll carry the lineup card to home plate, if necessary. "I'm open to accepting whatever role necessary if the opportunity arises," said Gonzalez, 41. Once the face of the franchise, Gonzalez is two years removed from the Diamondbacks. After one fruitless season in Los Angeles, Gonzalez just finished a decent year with the Marlins, hitting .261 with 26 doubles, 8 home runs and 47 RBI in 341 at bats. He now has 596 doubles in his Major League career.