Daniel My Brother

The saddest part about this is McGwire's numbers were very good BEFORE he was suspected of using steroids. He set the rookie record for homers when he was just a skinny kid with Popeye forearms. He may have made the Hall legitimately without ever touching steroids, but we'll never know. The man cheated himself as bad as he cheated baseball.

I agree with nboucher. There's no way of knowing how many players used steroids. I don't know how you can keep out every great player who was accused of using. But even if Big Mac makes the Hall, it will be a hollow victory. He is no longer loved or even respected in St. Louis, and that's just unfortunate. We all have to live with the choices we make.

BPB, It certainly looks like a good deal. One thing you might do is take it out on the water and stand on the front casting deck. That looks like a 36" wide jon (at the base), and that casting deck is raised all the way to the top lip of the boat. Might be a little unstable. Plus, that's a lot of plywood added to a boat that already sits pretty low in the water. Just a couple of thoughts. Good luck either way. Dan

I heard the Notre Dame one beats the heck out of the little bass, but is no match for a big time fish.

Another vote for Bang Garlic in the spray can. I don't know if the fish like it, but it smells just like an old spaghetti restaurant that I used to go to. mmmmm....spaghetti.

Muddy Man, As much as I think Pujols deserved MVP, you can't deny what Howard did. He was clutch in the second half of the season and that's when the writers pay attention, and he had the hype machine working as he chased the pre-steroid era home run record. Albert, well, he was just being Albert. The person that really ticked me off was Stephen A. Smith (from Quite Frankly on ESPN) he stated that Albert was a "dime a dozen" latin ballplayer (his actual words) in the mold of Big Papi and Delgado. As far as the American League MVP, I really don't pay much attention to the A.L. so I don't have much of an opinion...but it's always nice when a Yankee loses.

I miss the old days when all a man had to rely on was his superior intelligence, a stealth approach, and a stick of dynamite.

I love seeing tin boat rebuilds, and that's a GREAT one! Congrats on the "like new" boat and thanks for sharing the pictures. No need to paint, looks good as is.

Thanks for the warm welcome guys! Howard did have an awesome season, in fact he single-handedly carried the Phillies into the playoffs...oh, wait... I just wanted one of the Cardinals (Carpenter, LaRussa, Pujols) to win one of the big individual awards, but the way they finished the regular season, it just wasn't happening. Now the post season, that was INCREDIBLE! :)

Guys, I loved reading your baseball threads, and I'm gonna jump in on this one if you don't mind. Pujols batted 397 with runners in scoring position (clutch). Ryan Howard batted 256 with runners in scoring position (not clutch) Howard's RBI total benefited from batting with 72 more batters in scoring position than Pujols. (lucky) Howard batted between Chase Utley (stud) and Pat Burrows (stud) and sometimes Bobby Abreau (stud) Pujols spent much of the season behind Preston Wilson & So Taguci (not studs). Howard had an awesome season, but if he switches places with Pujols, it's no contest. btw. Pujols had a higher slugging percentage (1st in the NL), higher batting average, scored more runs, stole more bases, and played gold glove defense. If you haven't already guessed, I have a man crush on AP. Viva El Birdos! Dan

Hey Illini, I've never had much luck night fishing in cold water. When it gets to be this time of year we get the most bites at mid day when things warm up a bit. A little sunshine, even on a really cold day, and you can find good fish in shallow water. And don't forget about those power plant lakes. Great warm water fishing year round. Dan SE Missouri & So. Illinois

I love electric grape power worms, but I don't think worm colors are all that important. As far as finding the big bass...when you figure that one out, please let me know. Until then, enjoy the little ones.

Rat, DON'T PUNCH THAT BASS! It's not his fault he's so skinny, probably just his metabolism. Congrats on a beautiful fish, and a great outing with Dad. Dan

30.5 inches?!? Wow. Great fish. I hope she fattens up this spring and you stick her again.

Nice fish Illini. I used to live in Quincy, Illinois and we, too, would quit fishing about this time of year. I moved south to Cape Girardeau, MO (on the border of southern most Illinois) and most winters I can get out at least once a month. You might consider a trip to Coffeen Lake (25hp limit), east of St. Louis. It's a power plant lake with water temps in the high 70s, even in the middle of winter. That warm water will help keep you warm. Weekends are crowded with tournament guys, but the weekdays are great. Sorry to go so far off topic. Again, congrats! Dan

That is one FAT fish! Congrats!! Great picture of your boy as well!

Hey Illini, Congrats on the bass, any pics? Central Illinois covers a lot of ground. How central are you? Here's hoping for a mild winter! Dan

1 point for Cart7

Raul, You made me laugh out loud. Thank you, Dan

A lot of people will tell you wrestling is not a team sport, but it definitely is. You've probably noticed that most really good teams usually have a cluster of guys at similar weights that are all very good. Those guys became good because they were able to push each other hard in practice, in the weight room, and at summer tourneys. The only way to improve is to constantly challenge guys who are as good as or better than you are. Beating a weak opponent doesn't teach you anything. Losing a tough match to a better opponent is a great motivator. You'll get better, and as you improve, your team will get better. Also, on meet days, run through the matches in your head over and over again. Imagine every possible scenario from start to finish. If you practice hard, and prepare mentally, you will step on the mat with confidence. Man I miss wrestling! Good luck!

This is all excellent advice. All I would add is that topwater baits are most effective in low light (sunrise/sunset) and on calm water. My personal favorite topwater is the Jitterbug.

A LM bass will eat anything it can get it's mouth around, Frogs, fish, snakes, worms, crawdads, bugs, etc...They don't seem to care what color it is, so I don't worry about color too much either.

Don't be swayed by negative ads and don't overthink the process. Simply decide which issues are important to you and support the candidate who shares your values.

Wow! Very impressive. I'd be thrilled to catch half that fish!

I was a wrestler for a lot of years. Maintaining weight is just plain tough. We used to run and practice in rubber lined, plastic sweatsuits, which I'm sure are probably outlawed by now. We'd spit into coffee cans, workout in the boiler room, take caffeine pills, laxatives, roll ourselves up inside a wrestling mat, anything to sweat off that last half pound. In college we did even worse. We cheated. If I new I was going to be overweight, I'd put my hands together behind my back and my buddies would gather in close to watch the scale, then one of them would push up slightly on my hands. I dropped way too much weight in high school, mostly because I thought I'd be more successful against smaller guys...but it didn't always work like that, and throughout the season I would actually lose muscle. If it's easier to make weight in February than it is in November, you're losing muscle. At NMSU we had trainers test our body fat % and our coach would help us determine the where we should wrestle. It still wasn't easy to make weight, but at least we weren't doing more harm than good. Please find your ideal weight, then get professional advice on maintaing it...and good luck this year!!!