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Moonbase Alpha?

Published

on May 21, 2008

. 0 Comments

One of the Presidential candidates wants to cancel the new Moon program altogether (Obama, in case you haven’t heard), but Congress seems to remain onboard with the idea. As a matter of fact, they’ve even settled on a name for the first base:

The name of Apollo astronaut Neil Armstrong is etched into U.S. history books as the first human to walk on the moon, and it may be set for an encore.

A new bill, the NASA Authorization Act of 2008 (H.R. 6063), that cleared the House Science and Technology space and aeronautics subcommittee on Monday carries an interesting caveat. If passed into law, NASA apparently MUST name its first lunar outpost after Armstrong – the first human to set foot on another world during the Apollo 11 mission on July 24, 1969.

Senator Kennedy Hospitalized

Published

Keith

on May 17, 2008

in Politics

. 1 Comment

CNN is reporting that Senator Ted Kennedy has been hospitalized with “stroke-like” symptoms. After going to the emergency room in Cape Cod, he was air-lifted to Massachusetts General Hospital. Let us say prayers for his quick recovery.

It is done

Published

Keith

on May 15, 2008

in Cubs

. 1 Comment

Ok, so the Cubs ignored my advice (I’m sure you’re all as shocked as I am), and signed Jim Edmonds… he even started in CF in today’s 4-0 win against his former team the Padres.

Did I want the Cubs to sign him? No. Do I think he has anything left in the tank? No. But if he does produce, and helps the Cubs win, I’m all for it. If he doesn’t produce, it didn’t cost them much at all, so I guess it was a good move.

So now the question is, will be the next Gary Gaetti circa 1998, or the next Phil Nevin circa 2006? We shall see.

The hits just keep on coming…

Published

Keith

on May 13, 2008

in Cubs and Sports

. 1 Comment

The Cubs ownership saga continues. Now it is beginning to look like the new owner… whomever that ends up being… will also be the proud owner of Wrigley Field. Today the Tribune Company rejected the ISFA’s proposal to buy the park:

Tribune Co. on Tuesday rejected the latest proposal from the Illinois Sports Facilities Authority to acquire Wrigley Field, saying that the new undisclosed offer was not workable from a team standpoint.

“Any transaction transferring ownership of Wrigley Field to the public must satisfy the interests of Tribune, the Cubs and the public. While we appreciate the creativity of the latest ISFA proposal, it does not work from Tribune’s or the Cubs’ perspective,” said Crane Kenney, Cubs Chairman.

Here’s why this is bad news. One of the things that made the ISFA’s proposal appealing from a fan’s prospective is that the ISFA would be focused exclusively on running the ballpark… therefore they could devote money and manpower to fixing up the ballpark that no team owner, including the massive Tribune Company could.

Whoever ends up buying the Cubs/Wrigley Field will probably pay somewhere close to $1 billion for the whole package… there isn’t one ownership group out there that could then turn around and sink an additional $400 million into fixing up the ballpark. In other words, if the Cubs and Wrigley Field have the owner, you can simply forget about any sort of renovation project.

Here’s the other bad news… apparently the Cubs will soon be the proud owner of center fielder Jim Edmonds:

Edmonds, who turns 38 on June 27, hit .178 with a .265 on-base percentage for the Padres, and the general consensus seems to be that he’s well past his prime. The longtime Cardinals star hit 29 home runs in 2005 but fought leg injuries the last two seasons before being traded to the Padres last winter after San Diego failed to sign Kosuke Fukudome.

General manager Jim Hendry could not comment, but sources in the Cubs organization insist he will jump at the chance to sign Edmonds if he’s available.

I hate Jim Edmonds with the fire of a thousand suns. His batting average was actually lower than Felix Pie and he has no upside. I realize that the Cubs are looking for a left handed bat with some power, but does it have to be Jim Edmonds?