Am I surprised by how slow he's moving? My basic answer is, yes. I knew he was not going to turn the Earth on its head overnight. But given the vastness of his ambitions ... I would have expected in the first eight months he would be doing lots of things of consequence: more significant personnel moves, more significant documents, more serious public engagements, etc., etc.

For Opening Day last year, almost 22,000 fans arrived at the ballpark within an hour of the first pitch. We advise they arrive a lot earlier on Monday. The later the fans wait to arrive, the more difficult it will be to get to and enter the ballpark.

I am very proud of the players, fans and front-office employees, who donated their time and money toward the hurricane relief efforts.

I had talked to several other guys, but (Jones) was, in my opinion, a better candidate.

Excelsior needs to stand up and admit it has a bullying problem. That is when the problem will be fixed.

Anyone who has followed Benedict knows he can be a bulldog when it comes to matters of faith and morality. But what is surprising is in other areas, the pope is proving to be softer and more willing to listen.

It's better to try, no matter how awkward you feel, than not to try it at all. Would you rather deal with the consequences or the prevention?

It's a reflection of the trends that are going on not only in Winston-Salem but across the country.

They're kind of groping their way forward to understand how they can make the pope as available as possible to his followers while at the same time protecting his health.

As pope, he has to be the pastor of everyone.