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Can Texas take the heat?

Players deny it, management downplays it, fans are confused by it and the media overblows it. But no matter how you feel about the Texas heat, one thing is for sure -- the Rangers are definitely not the Boys of Summer. In its 25-year history, the franchise has seen pennant-after-pennant slip away and are the only A.L. team not to make the playoffs. And it's not that they haven't had their chances. Texas has arrived at the All-Star break in first or second place nine times, only to see their playoff chances go up in smoke in July and August. But is it the temperature, or the pressure of the pennant drive that really gets to them? Read about the issue, check out the numbers in Stats Class, and tell us what you think.

Fraley: Don't blame this year on the heat
Stats Class: Heat may be hotter in pennant run
Transcript, chat session with Dean Palmer
Get the inside news in the Rangers' clubhouse.
Poll: Can Texas take the heat?
Discuss the issue in chat
Send us your thoughts on the selection process

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Bring Olympics to my town

The Centennial Olympics in Atlanta featured some remarkable athletic performances -- and traffic congestion, security concerns, over-the-top commercialism and extraordinary effort on the part of people in that city to make the Games happen. In a chat session with Zone users, Richard Pelfreyman of the Sydney 2000 organizing group said that changes will be made to the next Olympics to make them more manageable. But despite concerns raised in Atlanta, Zone users by a 2-1 margin said they would want to have the Olympics in their hometown. They also said that among the cites that have currently expressed strong interest in Games, Seattle would make the best host.

Farrey: Olympics too big for one city
Poll results and user comments
The Zone's Olympics coverage
Transcript, chat session with Richard Pelfreyman

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