Jon

There are good tickets available for this one on tickets.com, including pairs.

Not sure what is going on. The rain is over and I don't believe it rained hard at all, but they're really taking their time before they take the tarp off.

It doesn't seem like it will delay the game more than half an hour in the worst case scenario, though. And most of it will miss to the west.

In most cases I'd agree with you, but in gymnastics being smaller, lighter, and more flexible allows you to do more difficult routines a little easier than some of the older more muscular athletes can. You can still be pretty small but gain some useful lean muscle that doesn't develop quickly at a younger age. Plus, I'd imagine that an extra two years of experience can make a huge difference.

Personally, with everything else being equal, I'd probably rather not know that I was beaten by someone that young. And the lower the age, the worse I'd feel. Take issue with the judging, but losing to someone who should not have qualified because of a disadvantage (age) wouldn't be something I'd want to make a big deal of.

Don't worry, Raisin. I'm sure installing properly calibrated Pitchf/x systems in every ballpark is at the top of MiLB's list...

I think that is a popular Japanese show, though I haven't seen those commercials. American stations seem to be stealing those ideas at a quicker rate now. Nice run, Jones!

If I were to describe Orton based on this half alone, I'd say he makes good decisions and has a good arm. My main concern would be that it seems to take him a little too long to make those decisions. Thankfully, the offensive line has been very good in pass protection today. Can we clone Idonije?

Did Lou really just say that he and Mark O'Neal went out to check on Z because of a cracked molar?

The women's soccer team had absolutely no business winning, but that was a very exciting match.

They won't rest until every American leaves with a bloody head.

Bocanegra could have controlled that one, taken a quick nap, and still had time to tap it in.

Colvin had a .383 BABIP before today to go along with his 16.9 LD% in August. By month, his next highest BABIP was .292 back in May. His LD% is August is only his third highest.

Holy crap. Lewis just got destroyed. What a terrible, reckless, violent challenge. At least he got red carded to make it 10 v. 10. But my goodness...

What did Dempsey do to deserve a yellow on that?

A quick comparison of how records are being broken in the 100m vs. the Boston Marathon: http://paul.kedrosky.com/archives/2008/08/20/is_100m_sprint.html

http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/article/working-title-on-location-and-effectiveness-of-the-curveball/ Enjoy, though I haven't finished it yet.

Remember when Raisin posted a few things from AZ Phil and got everyone thinking about Pawelek just a little bit? It would seem like the cubs would move on, but it might not be a bad idea to put him in a different environment first.

QB Kevin Newsome decommitted from Michigan.

That's an insult to other arbitrary tie-breakers.

We'll see if he can maintain those rates through the end. He was getting a ton of grounders through the first 6 weeks or so of the season, but until very recently, his GB% was dropping pretty steadily since then. His FB% is relatively consistent, but his LD% is significantly higher than the first 6 weeks or so, as well. Not that those rates early on were sustainable, of course. I don't think any decisions can be made now. If he can avoid tiring out in September and October, then I think Hendry will probably try hard to re-sign him. That made sense in May and June. But we're nearly done with 80% of the season. If he tires down the stretch, that doesn't tell us much other than an arm that hadn't thrown 100 innings in 5 years struggled as he approached 200. If he stumbles a bit, he's still going to finish with fantastic numbers. Dempster is an obvious candidate to be a rich Yankee next year. He looked great pitching in Yankee Stadium and has a chance to shine in October this year. The one thing weighing against him, however, is that the Yankees have had a lot of issues with NL pitchers. Brown, Johnson, Pavano, Wright and Leiter were all guys whose success in the NL was a big reason they became Yankees, and all of them were disappointments to a certain extent. I meant maintain the season rates he has now. His actual GB and LD percentages have been getting worse since the start of the season up until pretty recently. I'm just hoping he can level those off. http://www.fangraphs.com/graphs/517_P_daily_full_9_20080817.png Of course, he compensated by striking more guys out.

I'd love for the Bears to limit Hester's time at WR with Orton in there. Not that they will, of course.

The alternate channels were not in HD on DirecTV last year, so if you wanted to record it in HD, you had to wait for the replay on the main channel. I don't think that will be the case this year, but I'm not positive. The games being filmed in HD and broadcast in HD are two separate things, though.

We'll see if he can maintain those rates through the end. He was getting a ton of grounders through the first 6 weeks or so of the season, but until very recently, his GB% was dropping pretty steadily since then. His FB% is relatively consistent, but his LD% is significantly higher than the first 6 weeks or so, as well. Not that those rates early on were sustainable, of course. I don't think any decisions can be made now. If he can avoid tiring out in September and October, then I think Hendry will probably try hard to re-sign him.

I don't know what's going on, but it's definitely something. Weird stuff in the vault.