- Aramark loves money, and money has loved Aramark right back in the past year. Earnings are UP! UP! UP! The CEO, Joseph Neubauer, credits a "robust" operating model. Indeed, it is my understanding that lines at RFK were certainly robust---as were the tempers, especially early in the season.
- Who knew that Marion Barry loves soccer? But he does, especially when the new stadium would be part of a larger development in his ward. [Edit: It appears that the stadium would be privately financed.] Be sure to check in with DCenters for more on this developing situacion.
- Lake Monsters: Unleased! Nats Triple Play attempts to tame the beast.
- Did you know that the Washington Nationals are "legendary"? Iiiiit's true. So says Steve Dilbeck of the L.A. Daily News. My sarcasm meter is in the shop, though; a little help here?
- Quote of the day: "You look at some of the growth patterns for Brevard County, and Viera in particular, and it's going to explode," Brevard County Manatees' executive Tom Winters told our old buddy from the spring, Scott Brown of Florida Today. Explode, I tells ya! Two Panera Bread locations!
- Baseball America released its top ten prospects for the Nats. Obviously, Nats Farm Authority has the straight dope---and, aside from No. 1 tout Ryan Zimmerman, it ain't pure.
- We've got two guys named Jose, and they're both hurting. What are the odds? Capitol Punishment, working backwards from June 26, the date on which Guillen boo-booed his shoulder, reports that the Angry Man played just above the level of your average Lake Monster corner outfielder thereafter. Generally speaking, Oleanders & Morning Glories discusses the virtues of playing through pain---a primary one being the ability to impress the team's beat writer with your toughness.
- Speaking of Guillen, he enthusiastically supports the new drug policy. The MLB.com description of his position ("bring[ing] some old-fashioned values back into vogue") makes it sound like he's running for elective office. Maybe Guillen is a plant by the MLBPA: get him elected to Congress, and watch baseball's antitrust exemption crumble from within. Nah. Donald Fehr, we've been told, is utterly diabolical, but the Curt Flood Act probably went as far as he cares to go on the antitrust issue. Silly, conspiratorial me.
- Buster Olney apparently feels bad for Theo Epstein; the Boy Genius might have to settle for the scrapheap known as the Washington Nationals. (Epstein's overatures to come back to the Red Sox have apparently been "rebuffed.") Hey, forget you, Buster. We've got an alternate jersey to unveil. And while Thom Loverro is licking his lips over the possibility of reviling a young punk GM, we don't need Theo. We're fans of the Washington Nationals: a team on the grow.
- Irony of ironies, Jim Bowden a man pining for a player who at best, manages a comp score of 12.5%, according to Bodes' own offseason priorities, might just land Epstein's old job in Boston---by default. De-fault, de-fault!
- Brick has me beat: he found a 19 year-old young punk. At this rate, I'll have to search for CEOs of lemonade stands.
- Finally, MissChatter provides the best calendar-view summation of Nats Derby to date: "NOV. 17: NATS OWNER? HA!"
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