Left Coast Sports Babe

A little change from the usual sports and politics.

Airlines are losing money with higher fuel costs, costs that are exacerbated by ground delays.

So what’s their latest idea to make more money?  Charging for a second piece of checked luggage.

In the nothing can go “wrong, wrong, wrong..” department, let’s see.

First, some people won’t have heard about the additional charge, and will complain when they get to the airport.  And some travellers might not have the money.

Second, let’s see, you pay for a second bag, your first bag can be no more than 50 pounds.  Wonder how many pounds the average bag will increase by…?

Third, you still get two carryons.  Wonder how many pounds the average carryon will increase by?  You thought the battle for the overhead bins was bad before…

Leading us to, that fun situation as the plane fills up, and the overhead bins are crammed.  Partly because people bring a lot of stuff, partly because some jerks who sit in back like to put their stuff in the forward bins.  So add more bags to the mix, and there will be a lot more of those situations where you hear a perky voice saying “If you cannot find room in the bins, please bring your suitcase forward and we will check it for you on this flight.”

But wait, what happens if you have already checked one bag?  Do you get a freebie? And if they charge, how?  Credit card…if you have one?  Exact change?  Hah, the airlines can barely deal on board with making change for the boxes of salt, sugar and fat they sell now.  Since if you are getting on the plane late enough that the bins are full, the flight is probably pretty close to departure time.   But if you get a freebie, what about the other people who have paid to check THEIR second bag?   Which might be smaller than the bag you can’t cram into the overhead bin.

It’s anyone’s guess how many additional minutes of delays this will cause this summer.

Over-under on the first airport second bag airport incident?  I vote for mid June.

Charles Barkley announced today he has paid his debts, and that he plans to stop gambling.

Said Pete Rose “I wouldn’t bet on it.”

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The San Francisco Giants lost their sixth game in a row today. Another devastating one run loss, where once again, the one big hit eluded them.  But hey, at this point in the season if they were looking for help, where could they possibly find a big slugger available?

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Big Brown has a chance to be the first Triple Crown winner since 1978.  

Curiously enough, that was the year Julio Franco signed his first professional contract.

(this is no joke.)

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But back to jokes. Sort of.  John McCain says he is a Republican who will do something about global warming.

And give the man his due, with his support of the Iraq war, and what it has done to gas prices, a lot of Americans have decided they can no longer afford to drive their cars.

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And Hillary Clinton continues to twist the numbers to try to explain why she thinks she has  the highest vote total.  At this point Barack Obama is impressed enough he is planning to ask her to see what she can do with his bowling score.