Eric

Glad to see Romine getting a chance. Sad to see him go, but he's been logjammed for too long with the Angels. Good, solid move for both the Angels and Tigers. This helps both teams out.

A couple of us Angels fans here in Las Vegas were thinking of hitting Aces and Ales near Cheyenne & the 95 for opening day. If anyone else is interested, please come on down, it should be a fun time. This is going to be totally informal and there are zero plans to do anything other than consume bar food, watch Angels baseball and enjoy a few adult beverages. So, if you're in the Las Vegas area and are interested, stop by. Edited for cross-street error.

Well, at least there are no "Mama's wearing army boots" references so far, so the need to go through PFP (Posters Fustian Practice) is so far moot.

Just checked in from work to see what's going on and found a rant thread in ST form. What's this about? Is this so that AW.com can take a look at the AA and A-ball ranters to see if they're up to snuff to pinch hit occasionally once the regular season rolls around? Or are these for the potential replacement ranters to show their stuff once a member of the A-Team goes down with injury or due to a family emergency? Really guys, this rant thread may be some of your World Series Game 7-type chance to get seen by the big boys before getting sent back down to the minors for the season. Step it up!

As added appreciation bonus points, if someone could address one or more of these questions to Arte Moreno during his Q&A and record the answer, it would be GREATLY appreciated: During yesterday's broadcast I noticed that the Angels announcers mentioned a local casino as an embedded sponsor of the broadcast (in the same vein as In n Out's "Who's In Who's Out"). While I know in the past the Angels have had some sponsorship with another local indian casino (having their ad placed on the outfield wall), I am unaware of them mentioning that casino during the actual play (as opposed to being an extension of the commercial break). I was under the impression that baseball actively tries to distance itself from any gambling organization, but that no longer appears to be the case. There was always a question of potential impropriety in such a relationship (The Black Sox, Pete Rose, etc). While I know that these situations were completely different and unique, it seems that this distance is no longer the case any more. I have a few questions about this that hopefully someone here can answer. Does MLB itself have to approve all local franchise sponsors? Are the Angels the only organization that is sponsored by a local casino (Minor League teams excepted), or are there other Major League Teams that have casino sponsors? Are casinos themselves not seen in the kind of light as they once were? Have attitudes themselves towards casinos softened over the last few years? I get it that Casinos have advertising dollars to spend and the Angels have advertising space to sell, but it always seemed that there were limits on where those dollars came from, either through potential association issues or morality or whatever you might call it. That no longer seems to be the case. Any ideas as to why this might be?

Fubar is in midseason form! ****in' Fubar!

And in other breaking news, it's hot in Vegas during the Summer, water is wet, and pigs still can't fly. If you weren't aware of this at the end of last year, let alone since December, you can't call yourself an Angels fan. This team is built with a rotation, no matter how hard you try to spin it. The phrase Tanana, Ryan and three days of cryin' comes to mind with this team. Maybe Wilson, Weaver and three days of shiverin'.

What the heck is a Throbbing Gristle? Wait, on second thought, don't answer that.

Jose Mota is really good until he is not. He speaks his mind when he's not uttering cliches. When he's in the booth, he's really there.

For those interested in this show and willing to spend the time, check out the book The King In Yellow by Robert W Chambers. You need to read this book to begin to understand the machinations going on here. I found out about about this book this morning and 27 pages into it, I now understand a scene from last night's episode in a way I never would have otherwise, as well as getting a few more references throughout the series. I plan on going back through the series again after finishing the book to see what I missed the first go around. The book is free on Kindle right now, so I would jump on it before Amazon figures out the trend of people getting it and starts charging a buck or two, or more, for it as hard copies are quickly getting scooped up.

Sorry folks, ain't happening.

Wow, 2 days into ST and my Aces and Ales free beer freeroll is already a no go?? What a shocker!

My heart hopes for the over. However, if I'm betting on the line, I'm taking the under. That said, I would not make the bet because I never, ever bet against the Angels. Even when I know the line is completely off I just won't make the bet. I only bet for the Angels when the line looks too good to pass up. I have friends who sports bet all the time that ask me whether I'm putting money on the game because they know I have a stellar track record when I do bet and they want in on the action. And after all that, I haven't placed a bet on the Angels since 2009 against the Yankees when the line was so out of whack they had the Angels +215.(Pettite v Weaver) I raked in that one big time.

If Mulder makes it out of Spring Training and onto the Angels Opening Day Roster, I'll buy a beer for any Angelswin.com member that shows up at a local Vegas watering hole (probably Aces and Ales) during his first regular season start (good during the first week of April only, no Opening Day Roster DL stints qualify).

I know this thread topic is ripe for being troll "ish", but that's not the intention, far from it. After last year's debacle of an off-season, it seems the Angels are poised to make a repeat of last year. Again, I am as much of an Angels Fan as they come, and want to see them go to the post season as much as anyone, but they have obviously struggled over the last few years and need to right the ship, which it seems their lack of interest in the free-agent market this off-season might indicate. Now that Pitchers and Catchers have reported, based on the way the Angels approached the their off-season this year, they look to be in the re-building phase (and I applaud them for that). My question is, will they look to make panic moves like they did last season, or will they accept their fate of not competing this year or next (yes, it will take at least 2-3 years to rebuild) in favor of making a longer term runs for the 2016-2020 years when they could be the dominant force in baseball, if they play their cards right over the next couple of years? The reason I bring this up is because I remember the years of Autry, where they oscillated back and forth every other year from a "win it now" philosophy to a "build for the future" philosophy, which never ended up well. Will the Angels be able to spend the next 2-3 years building for a 4-6 year run in the late half of this decade? Or will they panic in the face of criticism that they are only a piece or two away and give up their potential for the now?

Barry and my private conversations every once in a while bleed over into his off the cuff comments during his speeches. A couple of years ago I told him that Congress would never work with him and that he should use his Executive Authority more. He pops off that one during the SOTU, sees that it goes over well, then, drunk with power, goldmine's my "The Farm Bill is like Mike Trout..." Dude steals my ideas like he's the new Shia Labeouf or something. (BTW, before anyone gets their panties in a bunch, this is satire)

Both the Angels and the Oakland A's get more action in futures bets in Las Vegas than do Seattle or both Texas teams, therefore, the numbers are moved in their favor reflecting that. If you look at futures odds elsewhere you'll find that the Rangers (14 to 1) are actually favored to win the West next year, with the Angels (16 to 1) being 2nd and the A's (18 to 1) 3rd. Still close enough, granted, but not as favored as the above odds would indicate. Remember, Vegas didn't become Vegas without factoring in where they think most of their action is going to come in and setting the lines to reflect that.

Take a look at the HP I referenced above. Not too pricy and it can run all of your existing windows programs, including Office. Plus, when it's plugged into the keyboard but unplugged from the wall, I can get 6-8 hours on one charge. As a tablet, though, I get 2-4, depending on what I'm running

Which version of ITunes are you trying to install, the 32-bit or the 64-bit. Try the one that matches your windows install. If anything, the 32-bit version should work on both.

I always thought "Boom Boom Boom" by the Infectious Grooves would be an awesome Walk Up Song. The choices above seem too pedestrian, IMO.

I have a few cases of 2002 Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale that I'm saving for when the Angels win the World Series again. The way things are going, it might end up in a 3000 year old tomb as well before that happens.

Like I said to my roomie tonight. The 2013 Angels may have sucked balls, but at least they got to own Christmas.

Josh Hamilton smokes a HR in the bottom of the 9th to tie the game against the Cards! Who knew! It's Angels Christmas Bitch!

So this year DiPoto isn't waiting until the end of Spring Training to go dumpster diving for the pitching, he's starting early! Granted, it's minimal damage, but still, if the Angels are trying to solve their pitching woes by taking a chance on a guy who last threw a pitch in the Bush Administration, they have given up even trying to do anything this season, not that this is a bad thing. As I have been saying for the past SEVERAL off-seasons, the Angels need to enter that dreaded "Re-build". Yeah, I know that's a dirty word 'round these here parts, but the holes the Angels have are far too vast a chasm to cross with a few bandaids anymore.