The hot stove league

Well, my previous post seems pretty obsolete as Lyle Overbay has been traded. Did the Crew get enough for such a high quality and consistent major league first baseman? You've got to give the benefit of the doubt to the Brewers' front office after all the great deals they have done in the last 2 years, but this one doesn't look very good on the surface. Is Prince Fielder able to replace Overbay? Will the Crew take a step backwards on the field this year? Or will Prince live up to the hype? Will Ricky Weeks be able to step it up defensively? What is up with the Danny Kolb for Wes Obermueller trade? Apparenlty it is just to get a few extra days to try to convice Kolb to re-sign with us after we cut him... Hmmm, that sounds like a bad trade to me - the Braves would have cut him anyway.

Lots of things going on with the course-casting project, but nothing ready yet to share... There will soon be a very early beta version available online. Keep checking this report for the link.

Lab Mods - we finished a request for the theater and for 201 today - now it's a waiting game to see if we will be able to contract out, or if we'll do the work in-house. After talking to the rep at SP Controls, I am excited about the new more advanced Pixie unit.

Also, keep your eyes posted for announcements of the spring guest lecturers for the Poetry, Literature Lecture Series and the new Fiction Series. Also, the dates for the book discussion will be posted by the end of the week.