TBLfan

It's both actually. The wood is stronger so they thin the taper a lot more than in the past. So it breaks more often than it would with a normal taper probably the same or less than an ash bat. The wood being more dense it breaks cleanly down the grain... which is why it breaks with a sharp point. Ash is softer and tends to either break internally or somewhat hold together when it breaks. Remember back when you were younger and you'd see a batter foul a ball off and tap the bat on the ground? Generally he'd get a new bat because it was broke but held together, on tv you couldn't tell it was broke but if you're swinging it you hear it and sometimes can feel it. EVERY one of those broken bats you see that the barrel flies 30-40+ feet is maple.

It's the wood itself that is the issue. It's not how often it breaks, it's how it breaks. If it starts the wheels for banning them, I'm definitely going to pick up a few maple bats before they disappear.

And here's video of the incident. MLB.com

Bucs are 2-0, Super Bowl here we come! ...Is there a group ticket rate for teams that finish 2-14?

Some Jofa for you: Floating slash guards FTW. 2 new sets, in plastic and one set that should quarantined... in plastic, lead and maybe titanium. Since I had the two new sets, the old set was "disposable" so I gave salvaging them a shot. I decided to give Oxi Clean gel a try... WOW. Before / After and my not-soo-bad elbows: Before / After About 30 mins including 15 mins "set" time and a toothbrush. No smell and it just looks a whole lot better and I only did it once. They could probably use a second application.

Drury also has plastic inserts in the finger tips but only on three fingers on the right hand. The middle, ring and pinkie have a leather tip and plastic insert. Nice gloves.

At least it wasn't your linemate, good linemates are hard to find.

If you want to feel good about your Vapor 8s, grab a pair of those Gretzky Nikes that everyone was drooling on last year.

haha, don't blame you bro. What's even better was they topped it with the caravan challenge in episode 4 of the series. I couldn't stop laughing at Clarkson's Citroen!

One of my best friends in goal at an informal "Lightning"(Richards, Kuba and Meszaros are also there) practice. Via the Lightning FB page:

Nice gloves, I love my pair. Please let me know if you want to move the Perry, thought that would be too stiff for you at length?

I was thinking more of pulling the blades and using a fishing pole case but I likely wouldn't even take the shafts to begin with, it's just too risky... there's soo little hope of replacing them.

That is one of my fears... I wonder if I can find some peeps to road trip to the next MSH skate, hmm.

Just came across some cars I found amusing. Why is this amusing? The name: Honda Hobio Travel Dog ---------------------- Next is the: Honda Wonderfully Openhearted Wagon the best feature being for those that look at their glovebox and think; I wish there was a dog in there

Likely, the customer gave the verbal instructions. Reminds me of "accidentally" coming across a girl's speech in HS, it was written on why she likes to wear "tenna shoes."

Reminds me an email I received with screwed up cake messages:

Both are selling more product and making more money than the competition and because of this both are able to put more money into bettering their product. In this regard, they are similar enough for comparison.

Personally, I'd rather a team put more money into the team itself rather than an owner just stuffing his pockets. Is it fair? No, but is it Bauer's fault that they sell more skates than Tour? More money earned means you have more money to invest back into the company/organization. It's not a coincidence that the two highest earned revenues in baseball are the two teams that have the highest payrolls. ...but this is getting off topic. RIP James Gammon

His business and personal life couldn't be further apart. Sadly, for the most part, he'll be remembered for being the being a loose cannon and general asshole in baseball instead of the extremely generous guy he was outside of the front office. People like to remember the bad, look at what people think of Alex Rodriguez, for example... Many can give 3-4 things off the top of their head to talk trash about him. How many people remember him saving a kid's life? http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2005/04/15/no_error_on_newbury_st_a_rod_saves_boy_from_truck/

It's stuff like this that led me to make the comments about Steinbrenner that I have made in this thread. http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2010/07/15/2010-07-15_woman_reveals_lifelong_secret_that_yankee_owner_george_steinbrenner_donated_13k_.html#ixzz0tkmkjK7N

I like it, looks good. It's something slightly different than the usual where people highlight the bright colors with carbon, instead it dulls down the gold and brightens the navy. /TBL Rivers, on "What not to wear" MSH edition.

He literally did more for my city and the people of the city than anyone ever has, proof exists in Lutz where he has a school named after him.

It's actually pretty incredible to see people's thoughts on Facebook. There hasn't been one thing bad to say about Steinbrenner, it seems as though everyone from Tampa has had George do something for them... and I haven't read a single story repeated, only confirmed. He donated soo much time and money to local schools that he was able to touch an entire city. If only he built the Tampa Yankees stadium on another intersection, they built it on Dale Mabry and MLK, neither of which could ever be renamed. I hope they rename the street behind the practice facility after Steinbrenner, I can't find a single person here that doesn't think he deserves to be remembered in more ways than just the memories of our generation.

Huge blow for the Tampa community. He did soo many things here and didn't do it in the public eye, he didn't do it for press he did it because he cared. Just one example: In 2004, George bought hundreds of tickets for the Lightning playoffs. It wasn't advertised, he made no mention of it... it was all word of mouth. Anyone with a military id could claim up to 4 tickets on his dime.

I always liked those Afinogenov TPS gloves, neat retro-style mods on them.