clvlndr

Move over brother, you ain't the only one!

Kids & trains. Deep South or anywhere else, it always seems the same.

^ thanks, Jerry. I kinda figured as much. The Blue & Green lines have upwards of about 28 stops sans the joint Red Line ones, and the busier of those: Shaker Sq, Lee (Blue), the ends of the line, etc, would require 2 or more vending machines to handle the volume. And unlike almost all Red Line stops, they'd sit outdoors exposed to Cleveland's volatile weather, meaning even more maintenance + passenger operational difficulty during snowy frigid days... I can foresee the problems. Our 2 rail systems, though tightly linked, are like as different as fish and foul. So it looks like "Pay Enter, Eastbound -- Pay Leave, Westbound" with all the attendant confusion along with the ever clunky, 1-man (or woman), 1-car operation will rule the day along our light rail lines for the foreseeable future. That said, somehow Baltimore makes POP work and they have at least as many LRT stops (if not more) as we, esp in their surface downtown rail/transit mall. Did RTA ever check out how they do it? Like Blue/Green, Baltimore's Light Rail stops are all outdoor (at least we have indoor Tower City) -- and even though Balto's climate is generally milder, they still have their 'Cleveland moments' during winter, and then some...

Jerry, While I'm looking for the POP system on the Red & Silver lines, I'm wondering why it isn't going to be implemented on the Blue & Green Lines. Won't it be confusing (viz the Red Line) since all the rail lines are so tightly integrated? Wouldn't also it be a great chance to finally get rid of Shaker Rapid's famed (but confusing, to newcomers) "Pay Enter, Eastbound," "Pay Leave, Westbound?"

Jerry, I think it's great RTA's getting more cameras in Rapid stations; even better that it's not coming out of RTA's budget. But is it possible to, perhaps, get a few more bodies (ie, RTA cops) to hang around/show their faces/presence at some of the more important stations after hours; esp those below ground ones like, say, W. 25, W. 65 or West Blvd? And even at some Blue/Green rail stops, like E. 116, Lee Rd (Blue) or Woodhill (wasn't there supposed to be tiny cop substation there in a wooden structure at one time)?... For whatever reason, maybe it's me, but U. Circle, despite it's a bit dogeared, doesn't seem unsafe even after hours. Not sure why, but it doesn't.

A bizarre ending that, for once, went our way -- and it was absolutely the right call... But before we get carried away in the thrill of this storybook ending that will be discussed for decades, consider: it should have never come to this... Once again, we were nearly victimized by our lousy D. Just like in the '85 Dolphins big comeback (from a 21-3 deficit) win, the 2 Denver drives that denied Bernie a taste of a Super Bowl (we celebrate that D as the rough-tough Dawgs, don't we?)... and then there are the "New Browns" collapses, like the playoff loss to the Steelers and then last week... And mind you, today our D was torched by Kyle stinkin' Boller, not Peyton Manning; not Tom Brady; not Dan Marino ... I'm glad we won, but you can just sense our lousy D is, once again, poised to rip our hearts out. Poor Defense is as much a part of Browns lore as Jim Brown, Paul Warfield and Lou "the toe" Groza.

Better for whom? There are a ton of R & D facilities in and around CC in addition to, of course, the hospital and, yet, how impactive is it to the fabric of the town (and I don't mean the obvious prestige and economy)... Putting MM at the Clinic (and let's not call the Clinic University Circle because, really, it's not, it'd be more Midtown/Fairfax) would hurt downtown. All those potential jobs, hotel and infrastructure would have to be rebuilt in Midtown or, more than likely, not at all -- we'd probably have to build more big, cold parking structures for visitors on there in the middle of no-man's land. Just what we need: another big island of activity built away from our main existing activity node so as to stretch/sprawl activity/people away in thier own private autos, right? ... Such a convention center belongs downtown. Our downtown has made great strides and is getting better, esp. in terms of residents. But let's be honest, it's not 'there' yet. It's not a Boston, Philly, SF, DC, Chicago, etc, etc... in terms of vitality, retail entertainment, etc. Concentrating such a large enterprise as MM downtown would generate lots of spin-off $$ and growth for downtown. Just because we're Cleveland, why must we constantly adopt a 'beggars can't be choosy' mentality? Because we're Cleveland, out-of-town enterprises like the MM folks seemingly want to (I won't say for certain, b/c none of us knows for sure) build such projects for their own convenience and to hell with what's best for our region. I say: to hell with them, if they don't want to play ball. Hell, jamiec, if they said: 'hey, let's build MM at the airport for the convenience of our clients', would you be for that too? I'd love, obviously, the vast benefits of an MM for our area, but as I've said, above, this should be a win-win proposition, for MM and for Cleveland, and locating this vast project in the middle of the no-man's land of the east side, away from our existing CBD hotel/retail/restaurant/transit/convention infrastructure is clearly NOT in Cleveland's best interests. Jamiec, we’re not so desperate we must dance to every out/town biz venture's tune because they wave big bucks and prestige as enticements under our noses when our needs are not only not met but undoubtedly damaged in both the short and long run.

I've said before, I prefer Tower City, but if its the CC, so be it. Just so long as MM is downtown, period -- and I'm glad to see the biz & public officials united on this. Nance and the County officials absolutely have to draw a line in the sand on this one. A non-downtow, notably Clinic/UC/Midtown location is not negotiable, and if the MM people insisted on a Clinic location, I'd have one message for them: NO DEAL.

^Applause Mr. Calabrese :clap: ... I've long been a critic of Cleveland's extensive bus/rail duplication. This just makes sense.

Leverage for what? This was pitched as a win-win proposition for MM and Cleveland, not a win for MM and screw Cleveland, which is what isolating this project in the Midtown no-man's land would be. Look, we already have a multi-billion dollar operation in Midtown... it's called the Cleveland Clinic. The idea of MM was to boost our downtown convention business while opening a medial merchandise house, featuring prime downtown convention space, hotels and all the big-city spin-offs in the same city as to tap into the strength of our world-famous research hospitals... ... One of the problems I see again and again with big Cleveland projects is we often lose focus on the bottom line. Can we, for once, do what was proposed to be done to boost our city and not waste time, money and patience catering to one man's or group's personal agenda at the expense of the best interests of the city? Dual-hub. The Inner Belt rebuilding. The new County Administration building project (total mess) ... Won't we ever learn? Isn't a definition of insanity doing the same thing over and over again while expecting a different result?

^I agree. The MMM should ABSOLUTELY be downtown. The downtown office complex desperately needs the spin-off synergy of this project. Like so many other projects in this town, like the now-in-limbo, time/money wasting County Admin project, it is very distressing to hear this unfocused site-selection talk. We know how, in this town, the too-many-chefs-spoil-the-stew mentality that destroys so many promising projects as MMM. Fact is, the initial talk was Tower City. I feel there is far more upside there than any other location. At worst, I'd reluctantly settle for the CC site. But talk of anywhere else, esp outside downtown, spells trouble with the Capital T. We really need to hawk our 'leaders' like DiMora and Hagan who may, in time, feel the need to sell out to the out-of-town interests and put the thing in Midtown, amidst sprawl and decay. These folks don't care about Cleveland other than to turn a buck. It's up to Cleveland to stand up and advocate which location is mutually in OUR best interests... ... and that location is NOT in Midtown close to the Clinic.

It's never appropriate to throw at a batter's head.. EVER.. anyone who has played baseball at even a HS level knows that. The reason why a guy like Pedro Martinez would do so is because he played in the AL and knew they couldn't throw at him. Agreed... We Clevelanders have historical memory our own Ray Chapman who, in 1920, was the only MLB player ever killed in the course of a game; by a Carl Mays "submarine" beanball at the Yankees' Polo Grounds ... The result? MLB was on its way to batting helmets; as for the grieving Indians?... their 1st World Series trophy.

and somehow we have all babbled for 5+ pages......... This thread's just the bastard child of the Pesht one: now 2.5 years, 49 ppg and, yet, nothing still announced; concrete. We UOers are a desperate lot... kinda like Cleve sports fans, no? :-o

I think this is the wrong approach toward analyzing late night service. This is because most people, aside from the few regular 2nd/3rd shift commuters, will not wait for the last trains for fear of getting stuck downtown. These novelty, night-out users will tend to either catch earlier trains out of the aforementioned fear, or simply stay away from the rails, totally, if they feel their entertainment will be squeezed worrying about running for the last trains. Conversely, if these folks know service will run till, say, after 2p (which is what was done during the summers until about 2001), they’d probably will be larger late and more spread over several the later runs.

... I really feel sorry for Kenny. This may have been his last realistic shot at the ring he so badly wants... and deserves. And he consistently busted it more than practically every other Indian this post season. And tragically, he got jobbed twice in successive critical ABs: once by the umps, once by his own 3rd base coach... Kenny, thanks for memories. We've certainly choked away our championship chances, but YOU were the farthest thing from being a choker.

I'm sorry, I'm not with the "it was a great ride" crowd. We had the team and the year that pointed to a World Series trophy. And, we had Boston down 3-1; we had everything going our way and,... simply stopped playing the way that got us there. Our great pitchers stopped pitching. Our hitters stopped hitting --- I mean, we were THE opportunistic, aggressive team until Game 5, scoring more 2 our runs than anyone. Then, simply put, we choked. Unfortunately, we've been cursed by that type of player meltdown in this town for decades. The young White Sox went and did it. Ditto Arizona. The Marlins, twice and once at our expense, of course. Why is it SOOO hard for Cleveland teams? Oh well, better luck next year.... oh yeah, we've heard that one before.

^btw, I agree that the 'best' part of this failure is Ameritrust Tower will be saved. Now, we have to find investors to go in and fix this important building and get tenants into its prime location.

They should have built the damn thing btw W.3rd & W. 9th adjacent to the Waterfront Line and in the County complex near their old site. This was the 1st site talked about. It could have drawn energy from/given to Wolstein's East Bank. If they'd gone ahead and done this, the building would be nearing completion. Instead?... This is a classic example of too many pols getting their fingers in this thing. Now we have potentially wasted $millions as well as years.

TV just went off. I'm sick enough already and there's no way I'm sticking around for any more of this. To watch those slimy Boston fans celebrate the pennant means I don't go into work tomorrow.

We had the Sox right where we wanted but... But our aces are frauds; our DH, clueless all year. Bad managing and poor fielding by our "superstar" center fielder in the pivotal game 5. And it all adds up the latest edition the the Great Cleveland Choke. So what else is new?

I like Chris doing what he's doing, but he's certainly got a right to run... I'd just like to keep the quality pros, like Ronayne, to stay doing what they're doing; the nuts & bolts stuff their trained to do; and love doing it. He's great for UCI. Plus, politics is such a dirty biz; I'm not sure he'd be as successful as w/ UCI and as planning director under Jane.

^Phil Thomas is awesome; we need more clear-vision folks like him. His letter should also be posted on the Jerry Masek thread. :clap:

Tribe killers tonight: - (continued) terrible hitting by Pronk; double play with 2 on, 1 out was a killer. If your DH can't get the ball out of the infield (and not do better than 0-for-12 and 6 SOs in 2 nights, you're going to struggle. Travis was on something of a roll after struggling much of the season; but now, he seems like he's back in his funk again; and at the worst possible time... - 2 horrible Wedge moves: 1) bringing CC back in the 7th for no reason after 106 pitches and facing the top of Boston's order when, all year, our bullpen has been a rock. 2) not ordering the bat out of struggling Gutierrez hands on a 2-0 pitch (he swung at ball 3) and 3-1 (he swung, popped up ball 4 which would have given us men at 1s & 2nd w/ 1 out instead of a man a 1st w/ 2 outs). Eric's been great down the stretch but he went into total Wedgie brainlock in, unfortunately, a critical closeout game against a team well heeled in making comebacks. Frankly, I'm concerned. We let this powerhouse team up off the mat and not they're back in Fenway for 2. Becket was awesome, one can't overlook that. But we had our chances -- you'll only have 1 or 2 against a pitcher of his caliber. We squandered those opportunities, though. And now, we've got to count on hitting Schilling, a man who's won World Series' in 2 diff leagues... We'll see...

I think a lot of Indians fans owe Casey an apology. Many ragged on the guy -- booed him in fact a few years back, when he didn't always hit in key situations (despite the fact, even then got key hits and HRs). On Cleveland.com he was dubbed on of the 3 "Killer B's" along with Boone and Broussard. Casey got yanked from position to position w/o complaint and always acquitted himself well defensively (where would we be if Blake hadn't kept that bases-loaded Game 4 Yankees blast in the infield?). This year, as seen last night, he's gotten CRITICAL hits and has anchored the bottom of the order -- along with Kenny -- so well there's no place for an opposing pitcher to hide. Shapiro/Wedge had to scramble to cobble a left infield when it was realized projected 3b/ss Andy Marte couldn't break out of the minors... So I'm glad for the team and the fans the Indians kept the right "B" and I hope, now, the fans realize how much we have in this man... ... and that beard is smokin'...

^^ Methinks Mr. Manny is still bitter the Tribe didn't pay him which is why he bolted to the BoSox, so every chance he can, he publicly sticks it to us. Problem is, he looked really stupid b/c his team was still trailing 4 after his big turn at bat (and, of course, went on to lose and now trail 3-1). I can't imagine Sox fans are to thrilled w/ such a Me-Before-Team display in a losing cause. No doubt about it, Manny's a great player; perhaps the best pure hitter in MLB, but it's little things like that, that damages his rep.