rick4404

Here's the scenario ... A major league baseball team is flying on its charter flight from one city to another. All of a sudden, an unthinkable event occurs during the flight, causing the plane to crash, killing all aboard. What happens in that sort of a scenario? Does the big league club call up everyone possible from their minor league affiliates in order to fill the roster and complete the season? Does Major League Baseball step in in some fashion to cancel the rest of that team's games out of respect for the deceased players, coaches, etc.? I assume during the offseason, MLB would conduct an "expansion draft" of sorts in order for the team to replace the players who died.

I have been a fan of the comic strip ever since the late Chic Young drew it. I also remember the old black and white "Blondie and Dagwood" movies starring the late Arthur Lake as Dagwood.

My wife and I will be flying on United Express in a few weeks. Three of the legs of our itinerary will be flying on an Embraer 145 (ERJ-145) commuter jet. Has anyone had any experiences with flying on that style of aircraft? Is it similar to the Canadair 200-700 series regional jets which I have flown on before?

What are your predictions for Major League Baseball this season? Here are my picks:

American League East:

New York Yankees - Playoffs

Boston Red Sox - Playoffs

Toronto Blue Jays

Tampa Bay Rays

Baltimore Orioles

American League Central:

Minnesota Twins - Playoffs

Chicago White Sox

Cleveland Indians

Detroit Tigers

Kansas City Royals

American League West:

Seattle Mariners - Playoffs

Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim

Texas Rangers

Oakland A's

National League East:

Philadelphia Phillies - Playoffs

Florida Marlins

New York Mets

Atlanta Braves

Washington Nationals

National League Central:

Chicago Cubs - Playoffs

St. Louis Cardinals

Cincinnati Reds

Milwaukee Brewers

Pittsburgh Pirates

Houston Astros

National League West:

Los Angeles Dodgers - Playoffs

Colorado Rockies - Playoffs

San Francisco Giants

Arizona Diamondbacks

San Diego Padres

Mine:

AL East Champion: New York Yankees

AL Central Champion: Minnesota Twins

AL West Champion: LA Angels of Anaheim

AL Wild Card Champion: Texas Rangers

NL East Champion: Philadelphia Phillies

NL Central Champion: Chicago Cubs

NL West Champion: LA Dodgers

NL Wild Card Champion: Colorado Rockies

ALCS: Anaheim and Minnesota. Minnesota goes on to the World Series

NLCS: Chicago and Colorado. Colorado goes on to the World Series'

World Series: Colorado vs. Minnesota. Minnesota wins 4 games to 3.

I think David Paterson needs to go. The sooner he resigns the better.

However, who becomes governor of New York for the last few months until January when the newly-elected governor and lieutenant governor are inaugurated and sworn into office?

Would Republican State Sen. Dean Skelos, the acting lieutenant governor, become governor? Skelos is the New York State Senate's minority leader.

With the mid-term elections looming right around the corner, will the Republicans have any shot at winning back a majority in Congress in 2010?

The Democrats hold a 58-40 majority in the U.S. Senate; the two Independents generally vote along with the Democrats. This gives them their precious "filibuster proof" majority. The Republicans would need a net pickup of 11 seats to gain a 51-48 working majority, while maintaining the 40 seats they now have. There are 34 seats in the Senate that are up in 2010. Is this doable for the Republicans in 2010?

Over in the U.S. House of Representatives, of course, all 435 seats are up for grabs. The present makeup of the House has 256 Democrats and 177 Republicans, totaling 433 Members. There are presently two vacant seats in the House. A working majority in the House is 218 seats. Representing one seat more than 50 percent. That means the Republicans would have to pick up 41 seats in order to win a majority in the House, while successfully defending the 177 they already have.

A fairly tall order for the Republicans to re-capture Congress, staring in the face of such a tall hill to climb. Certainly not out of the question, however.

Six months into the job, President Obama's popularity is on the decline. There have been some very embarrassing mis-steps on his part and on the part of members of his administration.

Up to this point, I really have seen none of the changes he promised during the campaign. He and Congress are rushing to shove such things as government-run health care down our throats.

Does anyone out there think that at the rate he's going now, Obama will be a "one-and-done" president? Just like Jimmy Carter and George H.W. Bush were? Served a single term and then were defeated for re-election?

I personally think this is nothing more than media-hyped hysteria. The few cases that have actually been confirmed have been relatively mild. There have been a few deaths, but the regular flu strains are capable of killing people, such as the elderly, people with weakened immune systems, etc.

East

Montreal, Quebec

Buffalo, NY

Long Island, NY

Brooklyn NY

East Rutherford, NJ

Newark, NJ

Charlotte, NC

Indianapolis, IN

Columbus, OH

Louisville, KY

West

Honolulu, HI

Portland, OR

Vancouver, British Columbia

Sacramento, CA

San Jose, CA

Las Vegas, NV

San Antonio, TX

Salt Lake City, UT

In the hig 1970s sitcom "All in the Family," (still running today in reruns) the patriarch of the family was named Archie Bunker, played by the late actor Carroll O'Connor. Archie was a beer drinking, cigar smoking blue collar worker. Does anyone know what brand of cigar he smoked in the scenes where he was seen smoking a stogie?

Ever since I can remember, our family always had a ham dinner with all the trimmings on Easter Sunday. Up here in the Midwest, we're not alone in that ham appears to be the meal of choice for many families on the day of Jesus' resurrection from the grave.

Knowing that a new ballpark usually results in sellout crowds for at least the first season; will it be hard to get tickets to see the Mets and Yankees at home this year?

The Chicago Cubs' last appearance in the World Series was back in 1945. They haven't won a World Series since 1908. Will this finally be the year the Cubs will win the World Series?

The next door neighbors were a retired couple from New York. The chubby man would come next door and shout "Hey Tanners!"

Now that Barack Obama is the President-elect of the United States and Joe Biden is the Vice President-elect of the United States; of course they are going to have to replaced in the United States Senate.

Obama, a Democratic Senator from Illinois and Biden, a Democratic Senator from Delaware will probably resign their Senate seats shortly in order to go about the business of conducting the transition of power from President Bush's administration to an Obama administration.

The Constitution of the United States permits the Governor of the state in which there is a senatorial vacancy to appoint a person to replace a senator who has died, resigned, been expelled (removed from office) etc. before their term would otherwise be up.

Biden was re-elected to another six year Senate term (he ran his Senate re-election campaign in Delaware simultaneously with the Obama-Biden presidential campaign). My understanding is that the governor of Delaware will, once Biden officially resigns his seat, appoint Biden's replacement in the Senate. That person will have to run for the rest of the term if he or she so wishes in 2010. The governor of Delaware is fellow Democrat Ruth Ann Minner. She will need to appoint the replacement by Dec. 31st, otherwise on Jan. 1, 2009; the person who was elected to replace Minner as governor, Democratic state treasurer Jack Markell, will assume the governorship and then of course he would get to make the choice.

The same goes for Obama. He was elected to the U.S. Senate four years ago from Illinois. Therefore, he still has two years left on his Senate term. In that he can't be in two places at once, he'll have to resign his senate seat in short order. The governor of Illinois, fellow Democrat Rod Blagojevich will have to name a replacement for Obama in the Senate. That person will likely serve until the 2010 general election, when Obama's seat would have been up for re-election anyway.

Who do you think will become Obama's and Biden's replacements in the United States Senate?

I did find some snippets of the CBS Major League Baseball/World Series opening theme music on a You Tube posting. Are there any others?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1rzOHb68yqc

Kansas City opened its brand new downtown arena. The Sprint Center does not have either or both an NBA team or an NHL team as its primary tenant or tenants. The operators of the new arena are offering free rent and other incentives to get a team to relocate there, since it doesn't appear that either the NBA or NHL will be looking to expand anytime soon. What do you think?

Who was the actor in this 1995 movie who gave this battle cry?

Bud Selig's current contract as Commissioner of Major League Baseball runs through 2009, after which time he plans to retire.

Who would you like to see become the next MLB commissioner after Selig steps down following the 2009 World Series?

There's any number of people who would do an admirable job. I think one name that comes to mind would be Andy MacPhail. Presently the president of the Baltimore Orioles, MacPhail's baseball bloodlines run deep. Prior to his association with the Orioles, he held similar positions with the Chicago Cubs and Minnesota Twins. He is the son of the legendary Lee MacPhail.

Any other names you'd care to put forward?