HEY TRACEE! Any news from NATS PARK about a fanfest or anything? Some baseball player when asked what he does in the offseason. 'I look out the window and wait until Spring'!

I guess the terriers will be the referees and umpire and will tear the balls up along with the flags.

During the Ravens/Chiefs game it looked like pushing and maybe a few punches were tolerated by the refs after a down was over. Has the NFL tolerance gotten more relaxed this season?

They couldn't get enough Phillies players to commit to attract the fans the franchise is going after?

Good morning, Tracee! Last comment on the Prisbell chat. I think most of the chatters who come here every day and pepper you with questions or thoughts on Kansas, beverages, peppermint bark, and now and then sports (smile) feel a bit of community with you as our host and fellow participants as our unseen but cordial network of like-minded friends. That's why the tone of Friday's session and the rather argumentative slings shot at the hosts was so disappointing. I don't think the vast majority of us visit FTF every day to be disagreeable, even when we disagree. Granted, I don't know all the questions or comments you get that are negative, though I hope it is very few. But I also hope, in your absence, the sense of civility and fun you cultivate lives on with any host. Best regards :) ~ Pats Fan

My dadis a truck triver whose cat Pickles has been his traveling companion for many years. She has her own bed and litter box in the truck and, when she's home, seems anxious to get back on the road. As you can imagine, she gets a lot of attention out there! But she's not the only one. Cat Fancy did a piece a few years ago on other truckers who travel with cats. Obviously not for everyone, or all cats, but it can be done.

Tracee, one place FTF does not and should not go is politics, but anyone who doesn't like the tenor of your responses, or Prisbell's, or anyone else's should skim yesterday's chat with USNA Prof. Bruce Fleming. He wrote the article in Sunday's Outlook in support of the homophobic, sexist etc. etc. navy videos. Pretty offensive to a lot of people, but then, rather than engaging in a dialogue, he blew off anyone who disagreed in by giving incredibly arrogant and condescending answers. Sort of a primer on how not to conduct a chat. You guys have it all over him in terms of both knowledge and civility. Keep up the good work.

Bill Livingston of the Cleveland Plain Dealer, who shares our "Midwest Ethics," has an excellent column entitled "It's getting harder for college football to ignore its seamy side." While he doesn't have Sally's national audience, he is a well-respected writer. Let's hope they are joined by many more so that something may actually come of it. I'm so fed up with college football that I didn't even watch last night's game. Maybe that in and of itself will lead to some changes.

My husband is from Ohio, where Ohio State can do no wrong. My neighbor is from Oklahoma - ditto. And Randy Shannon gets fired at Miami after graduating the 3d highest percentage of students in the country, behind only Army and Navy. I know you don't have kids (cats don't count for this purpose), but if you did, how on earth would you raise them with decent morals and a sense of fair play, given all this nonsense. Ours are only 2 and 3, but I'm already starting to dread this. Sadly, I think it can only get worse before it gets better.

Anyidea what the over/under was? I have a feeling it was a lot higher than 41.

I've heard a lot of people pointing out that because Seattle won, it vindicates the current NFL playoff seeding system. "See, they belong," is what people say. But does anyone other than a diehard Seattle fan think the game would have even been close if the game was played at New Orleans? Seattle's fans are crazy and willed them to that victory. Without them, it would have been a blowout. The Saints won more than 50% more games than the Seahawks and the SAINTS have to travel? Absurd. The win proved how nuts the system is, not how correct it is!

This was touched upon yesterday but NFL really needs to review the seeding for the postseason. I believe this is the way it should happen. In each conference, the 6 teams are determined as currently done - 4 division winners and two best records of non-division winners. Yes, the Seahawks did deserve a spot in the playoffs as they won the NFC Worst..um..West. Then, the seeding should be set based on record alone. Winning the division would not guarantee a home game. You would have to have one of the best 4 records to guarantee a home game. Yes, this means 1 and 2 seed could come from the same division but if a wild-card team has the second highest record in the conference, don't they deserve it? Had that been done this year, the NFC would be: 1) Falcons, 2) Saints, 3) Bears, 4) Packers, 5) Eagles, 6) Seahawks. AFC would be: 1) Pats, 2) Steelers, 3) Ravens, 4) Jets, 5) Colts, 6) Chiefs

Do you think Oregon or TCU should be number 2 now?

Hi, Tracee. Okay, nothing at all personal against the chap (why did I go all British just now?), but Rex keeps saying stuff like "My reputation as a turnover machine is just a rumor," and "I can play at a pro bowl level," and the like. Is this good? Maybe an athlete needs this type of confidence? Or is he delusional? And have you ever unwitingly "gone all British" like I just did?

I kinda knew that was coming, seeing how I hadn't heard anything about it yet and time was getting closer. But, but, but...I look forward to this every year! I plan around the last Sunday in January so that I am free to go down to the park in the cold (and sometimes snow) to see some players, see my fellow fans, see my ballpark and remember that Spring is Coming. I'm a little heartbroken (and concerned that I might now miss the event due to scheduling).

During one of the 24-7 episodes, Bruce was filmed at Tysons attempting to get Hagan Das ice cream at like 10 in the morning. Am I the only one who finds this hilarious? Thanks.

For a number of reasons, I rooted for Oregon last night. Chief among them is my belief that, in fewer than 5 years, Auburn will have to forfeit the championship and all of its wins. The fact that Cam Newton was allowed to play after the revelations about his father's dealings at MSU came to light is unbelievable (actually, given the NCAA's rulings regarding T. Pryor and OSU, maybe it's not so unbelievable). It strains credulity to believe that if Mr. Newton sought $180,000 from Mississippi State that he would have done so nowhere else. It's not that investigators haven't found anything...it's that they haven't found anything yet. I don't like being pessimistic, but I see no other response here. - RHG

Seeing as how I've been trying to find out about the Fanfest forever (note to Nats PR group: you might want to work on fan outreach just a wee bit). Re. dog football, why reinvent the wheel? Two words: puppy bowl.

With the signing of Werth I thought that maybe, just maybe the Lerners had figured out they actually have to spend money, alot of money to operate a MLB franchise. Now I realize that was a bone begrudgingly purchased meant to silence the "Lerners are cheap" crowd and that there will be no real spending to improve, promote and sustain this team. No caravan means they're even too cheap to keep fans engaged over the winter. So sad. They need to sell the team, end of story.

Yeah. Long ago, before I could have a dog, I was moving from CT to DC and carrying my sweet cat in the car with me. Brand new litter box for the trip, of course, and as I sat stuck on the GW bridge my eyes began to water. You guessed it. Two hours of feeling like I was riding in Kramer's carriage.

I see BB as a whippet but there definitely need to be some terriers in there. Tenacious and tough the terriers would be linebackers (and maybe Wes Welker and similar receiver types). I see the QBs as poodles - ok now after everyone stops laughing - b/c poodles are smarter and tougher than most people realize (and they look pretty while being so). Go Pats - Local Pat's Fan

Will Cam Newton be taking a pay cut or getting a raise in going to the NFL? The conventional wisdom is that he would be getting a pay raise, but there must have been some performance related bonuses that kick in when you quarterback the National championship team, no?

Hi Tracee, and fellow chatters. I thought someone with flaxen hair as yourself would surely know: what the hell's the deal with conditoner?? Does it do ANYTHING? Are we better off just using shampoo and being done with it? And,does "cream rinse" still exist? I have a nagging suspicion that when it comes to these products, we're all being duped and laughed at hysterically by hair care execs Thanks!

So is Les Miles really going to leave SEC land and coach a lame "franchise" in an even lamer league?

I took issue with one of the last questions in yesterdays chat which stated that the Caps should not be equated on the same level as the Ravens. I don't think the Caps would ever want to be equated on the level of the Ravens. The one, fluky Super Bowl win was 10 plus years ago with players inherited from another city which was ripped unjustly from some of the best fans in the nation. The great part about the Caps is that hard-core fans have watched this team mature from a bunch of 19 year olds to early 20-somethings who when they do win, will not be fluky nor from another franchise. While people dislike Lewis, an overated defensive star, for something he may or may have not gotten away with, Ovechkin is disliked by most of the mainstream hockey media simply because he is not from Canada. If the Caps never win a Cup in the next 10 years, by all means compare away to a team that has languished under the domination of a team from Pittsburgh for the past ten years in relative obscurity outside of their town. The "HBO treatment" and national coverage is not something out of the ordinary for an NFL team; however, for a post-lockout NHL team who's games are played on Versus and not ESPN , it is truly extraordinary. I hope the Ravens enjoyed their win over a KC team this past weekend, but lets not get too big for our britches up there in Charm City; your team has been irrelevant for a decade.

I keep seeing people point out how well run the Ravens franchise is. Does it not count against the Ravens that the face of their franchise is a convicted felon and should probably still be in jail because someone was killed because of their "franchise player"?

Ah time to hear the media wax poetic about how great the SEC is for the next nine months, despite the mediocrity of the conference this year. How do you think TCU-Auburn would have played out? --New Delhi Fan

but it also seems that he genuinely likes teaching young players. Maybe it's because he's so likeable, but I, for one, think he is a good fit; it's just that, other than Wall, he has a bunch of D-Leaguers to work with. And hey, Tracee, somehow, I worked a semicolon into this question!

I am not surprised that the NCG last night did not unfold as the much-hyped score-fest. What gets me - and I had no actual interest in Oregon or Auburn - is when there seems to be a predetermined script or set of storylines pushed by the announcers, notwithstanding the ebb and flow of the game. That game was not what I expected, but provided for some big plays, gutsy decisions, and a few surprises. Cam Newton did not play a particularly remarkable game (and, hey, that's OK), but Musberger and Herbstreit made every effort to remind us how he *could* take over the game at any moment. Oregon was confused and bottled up consistently, but there was plenty of chatter about how the *next* play could be the gamebreaker. I know you are a proponent of muting the announcers, but care to comment on the "scripting" of games?

Word on the streets of Bethesda is that you actually did scratch the eyes out of a tiger after someone said something vaguely disparaging about B-Svrl. And after you did this, you said to the person, "Did you see THAT? I did that to a TIGER. Imagine what would happen to YOU if you mess with B-Svrl again. Got it straight, Bub?" Any truth to this? I've heard this on at least 4 occasions.

How much more exciting would last nights game have been if the two teams had actually played, say 2-3 games in the last month to get there? Scheduling and bowl system of college football is pathetic.

True. I'm still upset that I didn't wait by the team bus after the Scorpions-Desert Dog game in Phoenix to meet Derek Norris. Lombardozzi seems like a good guy too. :)

Hi Tracee, It is cold outside and I am drinking a diet cherry Pepsi...does this break any sort of rule? Thanks in G-town.

Sorry, Tracee, but I still can't believe a team with a loss should be ahead of an undefeated team in the final standings, no matter whom they lost to and how close the game was.

Hmmmm.....I remember as a kid taking our family's cat to my grandmother's on a 6 hour car trip. The cat box sloshes all over the place and the cat may get under your feet as you drive. Also, they bolt out of the car it you make a pitstop. I am not a fan of doing this.

Why not? I know this person doesn't have cats so she just wouldn't understand (and kids don't count).

I'm tired of the DC teams playing the role of "stormtrooper" as other teams play the role of Han and Luke. When do we get to start blasting some tie fighter?

Maybe this is just semantics, but Tom Rinaldi was making me heave last night with his references to the "adversity' Cam Newton has been through. I think of adversity as surviving circumstances beyond your control, and since no one besides the NCAA believes that Cam Newton was ignorant of his father's behavior, Cam Newton doesn't qualify as having survived "adversity." More generally, I think Auburn's victory is unfortunate not because I dislike Auburn (I don't) but because it will only encourage the now-completely-craven NCAA to sell its enforcement of its rules to the highest bidder. A sad day for college sports.

Will we be better, worse or the same next year? I say the same or worse. I just don't see how we get better.

1. The play isn't over until the whistle blows. 2. The game isn't over until time runs out. 3.That's a long commerical break. 4. Oregon disproves the "Ugly Uniform Wins Battles" theory. 5. A good big football player usually beats a good small football player. 6. Really long commercial break, isn't it? I'll get a cup of tea. 7. The only way the Redskins should get Cam Newton is if he is an undrafted free agent. He looked confused and flustered under pressure. 8. On the other hand, the Auburn defensive line SHOULD be drafted. 9. Really long commerical break - I just read a chapter of Aristotle's Metaphysics. - The Airless Cubicle.

Believe you'll need 3 asterisks, m'lady... r, s, and e.

Tracee, I guess they're calling for like 2-4 inches of snow, or something. And people are going ape, stocking up on canned goods, panicking about the roads, etc. Are Kansans laughing at us? Also, why do people stock up on bread and milk? I never understood this. I'm sure there are good reasons, but BREAD AND MILK??? Please enlighten me.

Of course I'm interested in the Fanfest but I was also looking forward to the Caravan. The Nats have no interest in catering to fans. They want us to give them our money and be happy with the shabby treatment they show us. You disagree?

I think the tone of some comments and responses are becoming a little grating. As an Ohio State fan, I can tell you that many people in Columbus and throughout Ohio were disappointed with the conduct of the (next season!) suspended players and the NCAA/OSU Compliance Staff punt on allowing players to play in the Sugar Bowl. At the same time, there was a flimsy explanation offered, the players played, and they - supposedly - will return to make good on their bad behavior. Ohio State fans are happy with the win and still disappointed with many aspects process and outcome. They're also moving on. So, the "they're corrupt and we're not - we're above that" rhetoric seems inaccurate, disingenuous, and misplaced. Oh - and I can acknowledge, comprehend, and move on past these flaws. I'm a fan - they're my team.

Heck, I bet *I* can tell you when Sheinin's Magazine article will run: March 27, the Sunday before the season starts. The Magazine used to do that all the time, run a story on the local teams just before each season opened.

I used to go to Blockbuster and stock up on movies. Now we've got Netflix movies waiting for us at home.

No surprise a pats fan would see a poodle as QB.

Yes all us natives buy milk and toilet paper when any snow is forecast, yadda yadda yadda. I sure never have done that but I guess it MUST happen since everyone repeats it ad naseum. By the way, I wonder if that New York representative who made fun of the DC area during last year's huge snowstorm was laughing as NYC failed to deal with massive snow.

Yep, I'm lactose-intolerant, and apparently we're having milktoast for three days.