NFL Stadium Ratings

With the NFL season soon upon us, away.com provides their stadium rankings.  I'm not sure my list would match theirs, but here is the ordering they came up with:

     1.  Lambeau Field, Green Bay Packers
     2.  CenturyLink Field, Seattle Seahawks
     3.  Raymond James Stadium, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
     4.  Ford Field, Detroit Lions
     5.  Cleveland Browns Stadium, Cleveland Browns
     6.  Gillette Stadium, New England Patriots
     7.  Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia Eagles
     8.  Cowboys Stadium, Dallas Cowboys
     9.  Candlestick Park, San Francisco 49ers
    10. The Mercedes-Benz Superdome, New Orleans Saints

I Wouldn't Want That Phone Bill

AT&T is apparently dropping its attempts to collect a $1M phone bill from Michael Smith of Ipswich, Massachusetts, who says someone hacked into his company's phone system in 2009 and made nearly $900,000 in calls to Somalia. AT&T originally sued Smith for $1.15 million to recover the cost of the calls plus interest, but, on Monday, announced their intent to drop pursuit of this claim.

Moon #5 For Pluto

A team of scientists using the Hubble Space Telescope has now discovered another tiny moon belonging to Pluto. This mini-moon is estimated to be up to 15 miles across, smaller than the one that scientists spotted last year, which is up to 21 miles wide. The dwarf planet's largest moon, Charon, is about 650 miles across. Pluto's known moon count is now five. Until the newly found moon gets a name, though, it will be known as P5.

NFL Arrests More Likely in, say, Jacksonville or Kansas City?

Today, on thebiglead.com, a Jason Lisk post points out a negative correlation between the size of a market and the arrest numbers for their NFL teams.  For instance, the Minnesota Vikings, Cincinnati Bengals, and Denver Broncos claim the three highest totals (in that order).  By contrast, the two New York franchises (Jets and Giants) are at the bottom of the list.  Apparently, the mathematical correlation between metro area population size and number of arrests since 2000 is -0.39. While this number may not be that meaningful to most, he also presents the data in a couple different fashions. For instance, here are the average arrest totals since 2000, based on metropolitan area population size:

• Top ten markets (New York, Chicago, Dallas, Philadelphia, Washington, Houston, Miami, Atlanta, Boston, Bay Area): 14.2 arrests per team
• Middle ten markets (Detroit, Phoenix, Seattle, Minneapolis, San Diego, St. Louis, Tampa Bay, Baltimore, Denver, Pittsburgh): 20.1 arrests per team
• Bottom ten markets (Cincinnati, Cleveland, Kansas City, Charlotte, Indianapolis, Nashville, Jacksonville, New Orleans, Buffalo, Green Bay): 23.2 arrests per team

Similarly, the arrest averages by region were:

• North 22.4
• Southeast 22.4
• Midwest 20.4 
• Pacific 16.0
• Northeast 13.2

He also points out, however, that not all arrests are equal (e.g., the Northeastern teams had more gun related offenses, and drug offenses) and that there are a lot of factors that these statistics may oversimplify. All said, this may not be very meaningful, but it is kind of interesting.

CSI Technology = Cleaner Hotel Rooms?

In response to what it says is travelers' insistence on cleanliness, Best Western recently announced a new housekeeping initiative, which incorporates ultraviolet lights to detect biological matter otherwise unseen by the human eye, and ultraviolet light wands to sanitize unclean items.  Pillows and blankets will be wrapped in single-use covers and possibly the dirtiest object in your room — the TV remote control — designed specifically to allow for disinfection. They have invested anywhere from $500,000 to $1 million in the new program to roll it out in 700 Best Western properties. All North American Best Western hotels are expected to be compliant by year end.

It Really Has Been Hot

Nationwide, more than 4,500 record high daily temperatures have been set in the past 30 days, according to the National Climatic Data Center.  Since June 23, scores of cities have been the hottest they've ever been, on any day ever recorded (e.g., 107 in Colorado Springs, 109 in Nashville and 106 in Atlanta). In Washington, the thermometer has gone past 95 degrees for nine straight days -- the longest such streak since modern record-keeping began.

Thankfully, there may be a little relief to the discomfort and danger on the horizon. A cold front should move across the Upper Midwest and Great Lakes tomorrow, and then into Ohio and the Northeast by Sunday, bringing significantly cooler air with it.