To read more by Jesse Motiff click here

The Brewers should look to steal more bases and use the hit-and-run much more than in past seasons.Manny be MannyWhile Manny Parra will never be confused with Manny Ramirez, the former should start acting more like the latter in order to live up to his potential.No one will argue the talents of Parra. He seems to pitch well until the first sight of trouble and then seems to be overwhelmed by the moment, looking for any excuse to get off the mound.He is entering his third year as a full-time starter for the team, but has only pitched in 332 innings. Parra faces the age-old question of which came first: the chicken or the egg To become successful, he needs to pitch with confidence, but to become confident on the mound; he needs to experience some level of success. No matter how it happens, Manny Parra must fulfill his potential and become a top-notch compliment behind Yovani Gallardo in the rotation.Make the Prince a KingPrince Fielder is already signed for the 2010 season and under team control until after the 2011 season. They could sign him to an average of $20 million a year and still maintain a payroll between $85-90 million.Not only will this give the team a show of confidence for the future, it will also serve as a show of good faith to the fan base that the Brewers are serious about being perennial contenders.Fielder showed in 2009 that when he is taken care of financially, he produces on the field. Prior to the year, he signed a two-year, $18 million contract with the team.

He proceeded to have his finest season as a pro, breaking the club record for walks and RBI.As with any small market team, it will be difficult for the Brewers to compete for the playoffs every year. They are in a unique situation to already have established superstars while bringing in new, potential stars to the team. With such talent, no one should be surprised if Milwaukee once again asserts themselves as a playoff contender in 2010. To read more by Jesse Motiff, click here .. NEW YORK (Reuters) - It took war, the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression and the collapse of some of New York's famed investment banks, but Manhattan apartment prices are finally falling. U.S. Housing Market Lifestyle EconomyAfter months of looking at half-million-dollar apartments the size of a walk-in closet back home in Pennsylvania, Michael Germano noticed prices suddenly became negotiable and brokers no longer scoffed at lower offers."It probably started at the beginning of November, but things over the last three or four weeks have changed even more dramatically," said Germano, 30, a Smith Barney financial adviser."I pulled up one of the major New York brokerage firm's websites and did a search. That same search a couple weeks ago returned about three pages of listings and the other night it returned six pages, and the prices have come down noticeably over a couple of weeks," he said.Manhattan a slender island of 1.6 million people sandwiched between two rivers has long defied real estate downturns in the rest of the United States.

The average Manhattan apartment costs about $1.5 million.Brokers and buyers say the financial crisis most acutely symbolized in New York by the collapse of Lehman Brothers in September has finally shaken up Manhattan."I haven't seen this kind of market since the '70s," said Marilyn Harra Kaye, president of MLBKaye International Realty, a broker in Manhattan for more than 25 years. New York City lost 10 percent of its population in the 1970s when the city's finances almost collapsed.FURTHER DECLINES SEENPrices of existing Manhattan apartments fell nearly 4 percent in the fourth quarter, according to Prudential Douglas Elliman's quarterly report and those prices appear higher than they are in reality because of the months-long lag between when a deal is negotiated and when it closes.Average prices of units that are under contract but have not closed have fallen 20 percent since August 2008. Dottie Herman, chief executive of Prudential Douglas Elliman, sees a possible price decline of 20 percent to 25 percent afflicting the entire Manhattan market in the first quarter.Germano said he recently got a seller to reduce his price by one-third but is still looking for another deal."I don't know that anyone's ever seen anything like this," said broker Ray Schmitz of Coldwell Banker Previews International. "We had a temporary downturn after (the attacks of) 9/11 and then the panic passed and everything was business as usual."(Editing by Mark Egan and Peter Cooney) U.S. Housing Market Lifestyle Economy. If the day comes when Jim Leavitt doesn't want to coach the USF Bulls, he'd fit in so very nicely at the WWE.You think Hulk Hogan's a great bleeder You think Ric Flair's face is a crimson maskThey've got nothing on Jimmy Leavitt.With his team leading lowly Louisville 17-16 at halftime last Saturday and the players seemingly in need of motivation, Leavitt did what only Leavitt does.He threw himself into the helmeted head of walk-on linebacker LaDre Watkins and opened a gash on his own nose and forehead. There was Leavitt, falling backwards and bleeding.No doubt he then hollered and hollered some more at his guys, as Leavitt is known to do."He head-butted Watkins and fell backwards," said Bulls safety Nate Allen.