I'm a Baltimore sports fan. I've lived in the city before and I love the Ravens, and same goes with the O's. I'll take the Reds over the O's any day, but still I'm a fan. With how bad they've been, though, it can sometimes be difficult. And I think they've hit a new low.

Manatee Community College, from Florida, beat the Baltimore Orioles. Let that soak in for a second. A community college's baseball team beat an MLB team. Not a minor league team, not the players' kids, but the actual MLB team. I'm not sure when the last time was that something this embarrassing has happened to a professional sports team.

I guess the good news is that the O's are still 0-0 because it was a charity game. And the better news ... today is opening day in Cincinnati!

And remember that the starting battery for each team played for......the Orioles.

That's right - MCC pitchers did not pitch against the O's.

U of M losing to Appalachian State.

and toledo.

Not possible. Toledo came after Appalachian State. When you added the word "and" in front of Toledo you implied that those events occurred simultaneously. They did not. Remember, the original statement was regarding the LAST tiem a pro sports team was so embarrassed. Since you also imply agreement with the Appalachian State statement and, since that event took place prior to Toledo's win, you also imply agreement with the unspoken statement "Toledo's win over Michigan was not an embarrassment".

How about the statement, "Toledo is an embarassment to Public Universities in the United States." Does that fit the embarassment factor?

why'd it take so long for your response?

There were a lot of big words in there and I had to look them all up.

When you use the term "public universities" in this context "universities" is not a proper noun and neither word requires capitalization. Really, you work at a public university? That's embarassing.

I Capitalize entirely too many Words. What can I say? Is that better or worse Than always forgetting to capitalize the First word in a Sentence?

I have a paranthetical fetish (one for which I can't account) so I can empathize. I'm not sure it's incorrect (I suspect its not) but I probably need to reduce the frequency with which I use them (although I doubt that will happen).

You apparantly have difficulty differentiating between the use of the words "its" and "it's". The word "its" implies possession, while the word "it's" is a contraction of "it is". In your sentence you used both forms for the same usage (the one meaning "it is"). Your confusion must have caused you to use both to make sure that you were correct at least once. This is a common practice for those affiliated with schools of lesser learning.

You apparantly have difficulty differentiating between the use of the words "its" and "it's". The word "its" implies possession, while the word "it's" is a contraction of "it is". In your sentence you used both forms for the same usage (the one meaning "it is"). Your confusion must have caused you to use both to make sure that you were correct at least once. This is a common practice for those affiliated with schools of lesser learning.

As does double posting. Just hit that little "Submit" feller once. And remember that Lewis, of Lewis and Clark, spelled his name several ways in his journal. I prefer to think that, like the aforementioned American hero, I refuse to be bound by social grammatical convention. And "its" doesn't IMPLY possession- that's what it means. It's not used for any other purpose.

I figured that it would take at least 2 posts for you to understand.

Actually, I didn't even notice the double post until just now. Must have been mouse button bounce.