I love focus groups.  I don’t recall how I got my foot in the door in Chicago but once I did one I was asked back a lot and it was easy cash for simply giving your opinion about a product.  I hadn’t been part of one since moving down here but finally was invited to one for the Atlanta Spirit – the group that owns the Thrashers, Hawks, and Philips Arena.  The topic was about them renovating a part of the arena that is an underutilized bar area.& ...

I am obviously biased since I grew up in an American League city, but after having lived in the last 2 cities which have both had an NL team; my opinion of the Designated Hitter stays the same.  I just don’t think it’s fair to say the National League is the “smarter” league because they have to work their lineup around pitchers batting.  It truly is a fallacy to say it’s harder to manage in the National League.  If anything, managers in the AL have a different strategy since it’s not as simple as simply getting to the bottom of the order to end an inning.