title: Commissioner of Baseball

text: In a letter to Kuhn, Flood demanded that the commissioner declare him a free agent. Kuhn denied Flood's request to enter free agency, citing the propriety of the reserve clause, which was language in contracts that essentially prevented a player from playing with another team even after his contract expired. In response, Flood filed a lawsuit against Kuhn and Major League Baseball on January 16, , alleging that Major League Baseball had violated federal antitrust laws. Even though Flood was making $90,000 (equivalent to $ in ) at the time, he likened the reserve clause to slavery. It was certainly a controversial analogy, even among those who opposed the reserve clause.


title: Commissioner of Baseball

text: The case, "Flood v. Kuhn" (407 U.S. 258) eventually went to the Supreme Court. Flood's attorney, former Supreme Court Justice Arthur Goldberg, asserted that the reserve clause was depressing wages, and it limited players to one team for life. Major League Baseball's counsel countered that Commissioner Kuhn acted under the way he did "for the good of the game".


title: Commissioner of Baseball

text: Ultimately, the Supreme Court, acting on "stare decisis" "to stand by things decided", ruled 5–3 in favor of Major League Baseball, upholding a ruling in the case of "Federal Baseball Club v. National League", (259 U.S. 200.)


title: Commissioner of Baseball

text: Though he had a reputation as an owners' commissioner, Kuhn did not avoid confronting owners when he deemed it necessary. For example, he was a major adversary of Oakland Athletics owner Charles O. Finley. A major embarrassment for baseball resulted from Finley's actions during the 1973 World Series. Finley forced player Mike Andrews to sign a false affidavit saying he was injured after the reserve infielder committed two consecutive errors in the 12th inning of Oakland's Game 2 loss to the New York Mets. Andrews' teammates as well as manager Dick Williams rallied to his defense. Kuhn in return forced Finley to reinstate Andrews. In , when Finley attempted to sell several players to the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees for $3.5 million, Kuhn blocked the deals on the grounds that they would be bad for the game. Some believe that Kuhn's actions were simply a revenge tactic, aimed at Finley, after Finley attempted to force an owners vote to remove Kuhn as commissioner in .


title: Commissioner of Baseball

text: After being in office for over ten years, Kuhn had grown a strong reputation for being particularly hard on players who abused drugs. Kuhn was quick to punish players who used drugs with heavy fines and big suspensions. Kansas City Royals catcher Darrell Porter told the Associated Press that during the winter of – he became paranoid, convinced that Kuhn knew about his drug abuse, was trying to sneak into his house, and planned to ban him from baseball for life. Porter found himself sitting up at night in the dark watching out the front window, waiting for Kuhn to approach, clutching billiard balls, and a shotgun. Ironically, when Porter was named the most valuable player of the 1982 World Series while playing for the Cardinals, Kuhn was on hand to congratulate him.


title: Commissioner of Baseball

text: In , four players from the Kansas City Royals – Willie Wilson, Jerry Martin, Willie Mays Aikens, and Vida Blue – were found guilty of cocaine use. In addition, such established stars as Ferguson Jenkins, Keith Hernandez, Dave Parker, and Dale Berra admitted to having problems with drugs.


title: Commissioner of Baseball

text: Hall of Famers Willie Mays and Mickey Mantle were banned in 1980 and 1983 respectively after they were hired by casinos in Atlantic City, New Jersey, as greeters and autograph signers. These bans were highly controversial at the time since both players were retired and both in no way involved in baseball at the time, and because neither player's duties were related in any way to sports betting let alone betting on baseball. Nevertheless, Kuhn stood firm and opined that a casino was "no place for a baseball hero and Hall of Famer." The bans took place prior to the Hall formalizing its policy against inducting banned persons, and the Hall took no action as a result of Kuhn's decision. Both players were re-instated by Kuhn's successor in 1985.


title: Commissioner of Baseball

text: In , during the Iranian hostage crisis, Kuhn sat at a baseball game with Jeremiah Denton, a Navy admiral and former POW in Vietnam who would be elected U.S. Senator later that year from the state of Alabama. Recalling the event to "The Washington Post", Kuhn believed that "that afternoon ... the idea of a lifetime baseball pass was discussed", and upon their return from Iran, each of the 52 hostages was given one of these unique passes.


title: Commissioner of Baseball

text: Kuhn was both praised and attacked for the firm stand that he levied against offenders. In , some of the owners organized a move to push him out of office. In , Kuhn and his supporters made a last-ditch effort to renew his contract, but they ultimately failed. Kuhn, though, was allowed to stay for the regular season before being replaced by Peter Ueberroth.


title: Commissioner of Baseball

text: Peter Ueberroth was elected to succeed Bowie Kuhn on March 3, 1984, and took office on October 1 of that year. As a condition of his hiring, Ueberroth increased the commissioner's fining ability from US$5,000 to $250,000. His salary was raised to a reported $450,000, nearly twice what Kuhn was paid.


title: Commissioner of Baseball

text: Just as Ueberroth was taking office the Major League Umpires Union was threatening to strike the postseason. Ueberroth managed to arbitrate the disagreement and had the umpires back to work before the League Championship Series were over. The next summer, Ueberroth worked behind the scenes to limit a players' strike to one day before a new labor agreement was worked out with the Players Association (MLBPA).


title: Commissioner of Baseball

text: During the course of his stint as commissioner, Ueberroth reinstated Hall of Famers Willie Mays and Mickey Mantle, who had been banned from working for Major League Baseball by Kuhn because of their associations with gambling casinos. Also, Ueberroth suspended numerous players because of cocaine use, negotiated a $1.1 billion television contract with CBS, and initiated the investigation against Pete Rose's betting habits. In 1985, Ueberroth's first full year in office, the League Championship Series expanded from a best-of-five series to a best-of-seven series. At his urging, the Chicago Cubs chose to install lights at Wrigley Field rather than reimburse the leagues for lost night-game revenues. Ueberroth then found a new source of income in the form of persuading large corporations to pay for the privilege of having their products endorsed by Major League Baseball.


title: Commissioner of Baseball

text: However, Ueberroth, with the assistance of the owners, also facilitated collusion, an illegal violation of the league's collective bargaining agreement with the players, during the 1985, 1986 and 1987 off-seasons. Players entering free-agency were prevented from both signing equitable contracts and joining the teams of their choice during this period, a strategy that union leader Marvin Miller later held was "tantamount to fixing, not just games, but entire pennant races, including all post-season series". The MLBPA filed collusion charges, arguing that Ueberroth and team owners had violated the collective bargaining agreement in the 1985, 1986, and 1987 seasons. The MLBPA won each case, resulting in "second look" free agents, and over $280 million in owner fines. Fay Vincent, who followed Ueberroth's successor in the commissioner's office, laid the crippling labor problems of the early 1990s directly at the feet of Ueberroth and the owners' collusion, holding that the collusion years constituted theft from the players.


title: Commissioner of Baseball

text: Under Ueberroth, Major League Baseball enjoyed increased attendance (record attendance four straight seasons), greater awareness of crowd control and alcohol management within ballparks, a successful and vigilant anti-drug campaign, significant industry-wide improvement in the area of fair employment, and a significantly improved financial picture for the industry through greater advertisement. When Ueberroth took office, 21 of the 26 clubs were losing money; in Ueberroth's last full season--1988—all clubs either broke even or finished in the black. In 1987, for example, baseball as an industry showed a net profit of $21.3  million, its first profitable year since 1973.


title: Commissioner of Baseball

text: Nonetheless, following the announcement of the first of three large awards to the players following the collusion findings, Ueberroth stepped down as commissioner before the start of the 1989 regular season; his contract was to have run through the end of the season. He was succeeded by National League president A. Bartlett Giamatti.


title: Commissioner of Baseball

text: A Yale professor of English literature who became president of the university, A. Bartlett Giamatti had a lifelong interest in baseball (he was a die-hard Boston Red Sox fan). He became President of the National League in . During his stint as National League president, Giamatti placed an emphasis on the need to improve the environment for the fans and players in the ballparks. He also decided to make umpires strictly enforce the balk rule that was previously loosely enforced, and supported "social justice" as the only remedy for the lack of presence of minority managers, coaches, or executives at any level in Major League Baseball.


title: Commissioner of Baseball

text: While still serving as National League president, Giamatti suspended Cincinnati Reds manager Pete Rose for 30 games after Rose shoved umpire Dave Pallone on April 30, 1988. Later that year, Giamatti also suspended Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Jay Howell, who was caught using pine tar during the National League Championship Series.


title: Commissioner of Baseball

text: Giamatti, whose tough dealing with Yale's union favorably impressed Major League Baseball owners, was unanimously elected to succeed Peter Ueberroth as commissioner on September 8, 1988, and assumed office on April 1, 1989. Giamatti was commissioner on August 24, when Pete Rose voluntarily agreed to permanent ineligibility from baseball. As reflected in the agreement with Pete Rose, Giamatti was determined to maintain the integrity of the game during his brief commissionership.


title: Commissioner of Baseball

text: On September 1, 1989, at his vacation home on Martha's Vineyard, Giamatti, a heavy smoker for many years, died suddenly of a massive heart attack at the young age of 51. Giamatti died just eight days after banishing Rose and 154 days into his tenure as MLB commissioner. He became the second baseball commissioner to die in office, the first being Kenesaw Mountain Landis.


title: Commissioner of Baseball

text: Fay Vincent, who had assumed the position of deputy commissioner underneath and at the behest of his longtime friend Giamatti, became acting commissioner following Giamatti's death on September 1, 1989, and was quickly confirmed as the 8th Commissioner of Baseball. He presided over the 1989 World Series, which was interrupted by the Loma Prieta earthquake; the owners' lockout during Spring training of the 1990 season; and the expulsion of George Steinbrenner in his first year. Before accepting the job as Commissioner of Baseball, Vincent consulted with Bart Giamatti's widow, Toni, to make sure she thought it was appropriate for him to do so.


title: Commissioner of Baseball

text: In 1990, National League president Bill White was prepared to suspend umpire Joe West for slamming Philadelphia pitcher Dennis Cook to the field, but Vincent intervened and no discipline was imposed upon West.


title: Commissioner of Baseball

text: During his commissionership, Vincent made it known and very clear (e.g. while being interviewed by Pat O'Brien during CBS' coverage of Game 4 of the 1991 World Series) that if he had the chance, he would get rid of the designated hitter rule.


title: Commissioner of Baseball

text: As deputy commissioner, Vincent was closely associated with Pete Rose's lifetime banishment from baseball for gambling; although the investigation that led to Rose's banishment began during Ueberroth's tenure and the banishment was levied by Giamatti, Vincent led the investigation and was directly involved in the negotiations. Vincent has consistently stated that he does not support Rose's reinstatement.


title: Commissioner of Baseball

text: On October 17, 1989, Vincent sat in a field box behind the left dugout at San Francisco's Candlestick Park. At 5:04 p.m., just prior to Game 3 of the World Series between the San Francisco Giants and Oakland Athletics, the 6.9 Mw Loma Prieta earthquake hit with a maximum Mercalli intensity of IX (Violent). At approximately 5:35 p.m., after coming to the conclusion that the power could not be restored before sunset, Vincent ordered the World Series game 3 to be postponed. According to Vincent, he had already made the decision to postpone Game 3 without telling anybody first. As a result, the umpires filed a formal protest against Vincent's decision. However, the game had to be postponed due to trouble with gas lines as well as the power issue resulting from the earthquake.


title: Commissioner of Baseball

text: The World Series ultimately resumed after a ten-day postponement (and some initial conflict between Vincent and San Francisco mayor Art Agnos, who felt that the World Series ought to have been delayed much longer) on October 27, 1989. While presenting the Commissioner's Trophy to the Athletics, who wound up winning the World Series in a four-game sweep, Vincent controversially summed up the 1989 World Series as a "remarkable World Series in many respects".


title: Commissioner of Baseball

text: In February 1990, owners announced that spring training would not be starting as scheduled. This occurred after MLBPA Executive Director Donald Fehr became afraid that the owners would institute a salary cap. Fehr believed that a salary cap could possibly restrict the number of choices that free agents could make and a pay-for-performance scale would eliminate multi-year contracts. The lockout, which was the seventh work stoppage in baseball since 1972, lasted 32 games and wiped out all of spring training.


title: Commissioner of Baseball

text: Vincent worked with both the owners and the MLBPA and on March 19, 1990, Vincent was able to announce a new Basic Agreement (which raised the minimum major league salary from US$68,000 to $100,000 and established a six-man study committee on revenue sharing). As a consequence of the lockout, Opening Day for the 1990 season was moved back a week to April 9, and the season was extended by three days to accommodate for the normal 162-game schedule.


title: Commissioner of Baseball

text: On July 30, 1990, Vincent banned New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner from baseball for life after Steinbrenner paid Howard Spira, a small-time gambler, $40,000 to dig up "dirt" on his outfielder Dave Winfield after Winfield had sued Steinbrenner for failing to pay his foundation the $300,000 guaranteed in his contract. Steinbrenner was eventually reinstated in 1993 (one year after Vincent left office).


title: Commissioner of Baseball

text: On June 24, 1992, Vincent permanently suspended pitcher Steve Howe for repeated drug offenses. Vincent was incensed when upper Yankee management (Buck Showalter, Gene Michael, and Jack Lawn) agreed to testify on Howe's behalf, and threatened them with expulsion from the game:


title: Commissioner of Baseball

text: Ironically, the three men were unaffected by Vincent's hyperbole, testified for Howe as promised, and remained active in baseball. Three months later, Vincent was removed from his job as commissioner. Later, an arbitrator overturned Vincent's suspension of Howe on November 11, 1992.


title: Commissioner of Baseball

text: In June 1991, Vincent declared that the American League would receive US$42 million of the National League's $190 million in expansion revenue and that the American League would provide players in the National League expansion draft (involving the Colorado Rockies and Florida Marlins, the latter now known as the Miami Marlins). In an attempt to win support in the American League and balance the vote, Vincent decreed that the American League owners were entitled to only 22 percent of the $190 million take. This decision marked the first time in the MLB's expansion history that leagues were required to share expansion revenue or provide players for another league's expansion draft. Vincent said the owners expanded to raise money to pay their collusion debt.


title: Commissioner of Baseball

text: Just prior to leaving office, Vincent had plans to realign the National League. Vincent wanted the Chicago Cubs and St. Louis Cardinals to move from the Eastern Division to the Western Division. Part of the impetus for realignment was the geographically anomalous placement of the Cincinnati Reds and Atlanta Braves in the West and the Cubs and the Cardinals in the east since 1969. National League president Bill White warned Vincent that realigning without league approval would be a gross violation of the National League Constitution enacted in 1876.


title: Commissioner of Baseball

text: Many thought this plan would be beneficial to the league as a whole, especially by building a regional rivalry between the new franchise in Miami and the Atlanta Braves. The Cubs, however, opposed the move, suggesting that fans in the Central Time Zone would be forced to watch more games originating on the West Coast with later broadcast times (had the realignment included the use of a balanced schedule, the Cubs would have actually played more games against teams outside their division).


title: Commissioner of Baseball

text: On July 17, 1992, the Chicago Cubs sued Vincent and asked the U.S. District Court in Chicago for a preliminary injunction to prevent implementation, which was granted two weeks later. After Vincent's attorneys appealed, oral arguments were scheduled for August 30 that year. Ultimately, Vincent resigned before the litigation was scheduled to resume, so as a result, the Cubs dropped their suit against him.


title: Commissioner of Baseball

text: Although Vincent's vision never really came into fruition, Major League Baseball did in fact realign in 1994, albeit in the form of three divisions in each league (east, central and west) and the addition of an expanded playoff format.


title: Commissioner of Baseball

text: His relationship with baseball's owners was always tenuous at best; he resigned in 1992 after the owners gave him an 18–9 no-confidence vote. The owners were still angry at Vincent over his intervention during the 1990 Spring Training lockout, which subsequently cancelled Spring Training that year and pushed the regular season back three days. The owners were also disappointed by dwindling television ratings in light of a US$1.1 billion, four-year deal with CBS (which ultimately cost the network $500 million) beginning in 1990 (Vincent's first full season as commissioner) and upwardly spiraling salaries. (It is also important to note that CBS itself contributed to decreasing ratings thanks to the haphazard scheduling of "Game of the Week" broadcasts during the regular season to the point that fans grew tired of tuning into no baseball on summer Saturdays.) They also accused him of acting in a high-handed manner, especially in the Howe affair.


title: Commissioner of Baseball

text: The leaders in the movement to oust Vincent were members of what "The Sporting News" later dubbed "The Great Lakes Gang":


title: Commissioner of Baseball

text: He was replaced by Milwaukee Brewers owner Bud Selig, whose family continued to maintain ownership over the Brewers. Fay Vincent was never able to complete the five-year term that he had inherited from Bart Giamatti. Vincent would later contend that Major League Baseball made a huge mistake by not appointing his deputy commissioner Steve Greenberg — the son of the Hall of Famer Hank Greenberg — as the commissioner.


title: Commissioner of Baseball

text: Bud Selig served as the Executive Council Chairman from 1992 to 1998, acting as the commissioner, and then was appointed as the official commissioner in 1998. Selig oversaw baseball through the 1994 strike, the introduction of the wild card, interleague play, and the merging of the National and American leagues under the Office of the Commissioner. He was instrumental in organizing the World Baseball Classic in 2006. Selig also introduced revenue sharing. He is credited for the financial turnaround of baseball during his tenure with a 400 percent increase in the revenue of MLB and annual record breaking attendance.


title: Commissioner of Baseball

text: During Selig's term of service, the use of steroids and other performance-enhancing drugs became a public issue. The Mitchell Report, commissioned by Selig, concluded that the MLB commissioners, club officials, the Players Association, and the players all share "to some extent in the responsibility for the steroid era". Following the release of the Mitchell Report, Congressman Cliff Stearns called publicly for Selig to step down as commissioner, citing his "glacial response" to the "growing stain on baseball". Selig pledged on numerous occasions to rid baseball of performance-enhancing drugs, and oversaw and instituted many rule changes and penalties to that end.


title: Commissioner of Baseball

text: During Selig's years of service, new stadiums opened in Atlanta, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Colorado, Detroit, Houston, Miami, Milwaukee, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Pittsburgh, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, Arlington, St. Louis, Washington, D.C., Queens, The Bronx, and Minneapolis. In addition, the venue now known as Angel Stadium in Anaheim, Fenway Park in Boston, and Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City underwent major renovations, and similar work began on Wrigley Field in Chicago.


title: Commissioner of Baseball

text: Selig retired from the position after the season, officially yielding to his successor on January 25, 2015, at which time Selig became the Commissioner Emeritus of Baseball.


title: Commissioner of Baseball

text: Rob Manfred was elected as the 10th commissioner of baseball on August 14, 2014. Manfred, who has worked full-time for Major League Baseball since 1998, was elected on the third ballot after falling one vote short of the 23 vote (3/4 super-majority) threshold on the first two ballots. It was baseball's first contested commissioner election in 46 years as Chicago White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf and Los Angeles Angels owner Arte Moreno led a group in support of Boston Red Sox chairman Tom Werner, who they felt would take a tougher stance against the players in labor negotiations. Manfred took over from Bud Selig on January 25, 2015.


title: Commissioner of Baseball

text: Tensions between commissioners and the baseball team owners who elected them, exacerbated by baseball's chronic labor conflicts with the Major League Baseball Players Association beginning in the 1970s, came to a head in , when baseball owners voted no confidence in Commissioner Fay Vincent by a tally of 18–9. The owners had a number of grievances against Vincent, especially the perception that he had been too favorable to the players during the lockout of . Unlike his replacement Selig, Vincent stated that the owners colluded against the players. Vincent put it this way: "The Union basically doesn’t trust the Ownership because collusion was a $280 million theft by Selig and Chicago White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf of that money from the players. I mean, they rigged the signing of free agents. They got caught. They paid $280 million to the players. And I think that's polluted labor relations in baseball ever since it happened. I think it's the reason union chief Donald Fehr has no trust in Selig."


title: Commissioner of Baseball

text: Vincent resigned on September 7, 1992. Selig, the longtime owner of the Milwaukee Brewers, was appointed chairman of baseball's Executive Council, making him the "de facto" acting commissioner (among the potential candidates for a permanent commissioner discussed in the media were future President George W. Bush, who was the managing partner for the Texas Rangers from 1989 to 1994, and George J. Mitchell, then-Majority Leader of the U.S. Senate). While acting commissioner, Selig presided over Major League Baseball during the 1994 players' strike, which led to the cancellation of the World Series.


title: Commissioner of Baseball

text: Selig continued as acting commissioner until July 8, 1998, when the owners officially appointed him to the commissioner position.


title: Commissioner of Baseball

text: Having been an owner for 30 years, Selig was seen as having closer ties to the MLB team owners than previous commissioners. Selig's administration had many perceived successes, such as expansion and interleague play.


title: Commissioner of Baseball

text: In May , Bud Selig surpassed Bowie Kuhn as the second longest-serving commissioner (including his time as "acting commissioner" from to mid-), behind Kenesaw Mountain Landis, who died in office after 24 years of service.


title: Commissioner of Baseball

text: Beginning in 2006, Selig repeatedly stated his intention to retire at the end of his contract in 2009.


title: Commissioner of Baseball

text: However, on 17 January 2008, it was announced that Selig accepted a 3-year extension through the 2012 season


title: Commissioner of Baseball

text: A prominent issue currently faced by Major League Baseball is the usage of performance-enhancing drugs, including anabolic steroids, by ballplayers in the late 1990s through 2009. Addressing the issue of whether Selig should have taken alternate actions, former commissioner Fay Vincent wrote in the April 24, 2006, issue of "Sports Illustrated" that with most of Barry Bonds' official troubles being off the field, and with the strength of the players' union, there is little Selig can do beyond appointing an investigating committee. Vincent said that Selig is largely "an observer of a forum beyond his reach".


title: Commissioner of Baseball

text: Another challenge facing the Office of the Commissioner is competitive imbalance and struggling attendance in small markets. In 2010, just 2 teams (Boston Red Sox, Philadelphia Phillies) sold out every game and many teams failed to draw 2 million fans. In the Office of the Commissioner's Blue Ribbon Panel on Baseball Economics, it was found that the luxury tax was failing to correct the competitive balance of the league and several steps were needed to correct the current state of revenue-generating and sharing.


title: Dodge Ram van

text: The Dodge B series is a range of full-size vans that were produced by Chrysler Corporation from 1970 to 2003. Through their production, they were sold under several different nameplates. Most examples were sold by the Dodge division, although rebadged versions were sold by the now-defunct Fargo and Plymouth divisions.


title: Dodge Ram van

text: Although Chrysler would make two redesigns of the B-platform van, much of the exterior sheetmetal would remain nearly unchanged over 32 years of production, making it one of the longest-used automotive platforms in American automotive history. For 2003, DaimlerChrysler introduced the Dodge Sprinter (produced by Mercedes-Benz), making the B-platform van the last full-size van designed by Chrysler; Ram Trucks currently markets the Ram ProMaster (a rebadged Fiat Ducato).


title: Dodge Ram van

text: For its entire production run, Chrysler produced the B-platform vans at the now-demolished Pillette Road Truck Assembly plant in Windsor, Ontario, Canada.


title: Dodge Ram van

text: Built on the B platform (later AB), the full-size vans entered production for the 1971 model year. Due to a one-welded-piece "Uniframe" design, the Dodge platform was lighter and stronger and featured a lower cargo floor than the competition, at the expense of noise, vibration, and harshness (NVH). The resulting lower center of gravity improved handling versus the competing products. The B-series van was popular for cab-over motorhome conversion until Chrysler Corporation's egress from that market during their financial difficulties in the late 1970s.


title: Dodge Ram van

text: All generations of the B-series van feature similar construction, with only small variation from era to era. The most pronounced changes were to the front fenders, hood, grille, and bumpers, which tended to follow their full-size truck counterparts in each era. Much of this was a result of the need to meet Federal "crashworthiness" standards. Additionally, the first generation's side door was mounted back several inches, using a fixed panel between the passenger's side front door and the side door, allowing for more access to the side door without interfering with the front passenger's seat. This panel was eliminated in 1978 which was a transitional year for the B-series van. Similar construction for the entire 32 years of production made the Dodge Van very popular with upbuilders, service companies, and other fleets due to the compatibility of installable options from year to year without necessitating a redesign.


title: Dodge Ram van

text: Dodge first pioneered the extended-length 15-passenger van favored by school and church groups and dominated this market until overtaken by Ford in the 1990s. It offered a sliding side door as well as a unique side-swinging tail door with a full-width window.


title: Dodge Ram van

text: The minivan eventually took over the passenger wagon market. With the Sprinter, Chrysler shifted from American-style full-sized vans in favor of more fuel-efficient European-style models.


title: Dodge Ram van

text: The B-series van was available with nearly every engine used in a rear-wheel-drive Chrysler product during its production. Six-cylinder engines included the "slant six" I6 (1971–1987), the LA V6 (1988–1991), and the 3.9 L Magnum V6 (1992–2003). Small-block V8 engines included the LA-series (1971–1991) and (1972–1992), which were redesigned into the Magnum engines for 1992 and 1993, respectively. Available big-block V8 engines were the and (1976–1978). Some later models were available with an optional 5.2-liter engine utilizing compressed natural gas (CNG), with a range of up to on a full tank, and CNG-powered Ram vans were classified as super ultra-low emission vehicles in 1999.


title: Dodge Ram van

text: Dodge was the last major full-size van maker to market a short-wheelbase van and passenger wagon. The rest of the Big Three took their shortest full-size vans off the market early in the 1990s. All American vans are now produced with wheelbases proportional to the body length (i.e. made longer to match van size), rather than a fixed length that does not change with body or roof size extensions (as with the E-series and Ram vans).


title: Dodge Ram van

text: DaimlerChrysler discontinued production of the Ram van and Ram wagon after the 2003 model year, replacing them with the Mercedes-sourced Dodge Sprinter.


title: Dodge Ram van

text: For the first eight model years, the different configurations of B vans were given names. Sportsman passenger vans had side windows and passenger seating not present in the otherwise identical Tradesman models. The same range of gasoline-powered slant-6 and V8 engines was offered in these vans as was offered in the Dodge D Series pickup truck.


title: Dodge Ram van

text: Dodge pioneered the American 15-passenger van genre with the introduction of the Maxiwagon along with the other front engine B series vans that were new for 1971. Ford did not produce a 15-passenger van until 1978, and GM did not introduce theirs until 1990. Little changed on Dodge vans produced between 1971 and 1977, with only a grille change from metal to plastic for the 1974 model year. 1978 was a transition year for B series vans, consisting of the nose from 1977 and earlier vans (with a one-year only Dodge emblem in the grille) but with a completely new dashboard and rear end cap. On the standard length vans, the rear end cap just contained new larger tail lamps, but the extended length Maxivan and Maxiwagon had a completely redesigned rear extension which was longer and had large windows that wrapped around the corners for better visibility. This was unique to the B vans, and this same extension was used until the B vans were discontinued in 2003. On the 1971–1977 models, the rear side doors were set back about two feet towards the rear wheelwells, with a filler panel between them and the front doors. Passenger models had a small window between the front and rear doors. Early 1971 vans had black plastic door push buttons, an inlaid pentastar logo low right front fender, drum brakes and points type ignition. 1972 model year began a phase in of chrome door push buttons, electronic ignition, and front disc brakes. In 1978, the filler panel was removed and the doors were moved forward to be next to the front passenger door, similar to the Ford and Chevrolet vans.


title: Dodge Ram van

text: In the late 1970s, Chrysler marketed the B van in their lineup of "Adult Toys", along with the D-Series-based Dodge Warlock, Dodge Lil' Red Express Truck, and Dodge Macho Power Wagon, plus the Dodge Macho Ramcharger.


title: Dodge Ram van

text: Dodge vans, particularly Tradesman vans from the 1971–1977 model years, were very popular as the basis for many custom vans during the custom van craze that occurred during the mid- to late 1970s and early 1980s. Dodge capitalized on this craze, creating a factory customization package called the "Street Van" package. This was advertised alongside the Lil' Red Express and Warlock trucks as "Adult Toys". The Street Van package consisted of a "Street Van" logo on the passenger and driver's side door in lieu of the Tradesman logos, chrome trim on the grille and windshield, simulated wood grain inlays in the steering wheel horn cover and passenger side glare shield, five-slot chrome wheels or white spoked "off-road" type wheels, chrome front and rear bumpers, chrome trim on the gauges, smaller chrome side-view mirrors, patterns and plans to create custom interiors, and membership in the "Dodge Van Clan". This package was available from the 1976 model year until it was discontinued in the early 1980s. This was not an overly popular option from the factory, and Street Vans are somewhat rare. The chrome metal Street Van emblems found on later Street Vans (emblems through mid-1978 were stickers) in good shape are quite valuable to collectors or restorers.


title: Dodge Ram van

text: The name "Kary van" comes from the cube shape of the cargo section of the van. Dodge used the van body for the front end of its 1973–1978 cube-vans usually with dual rear wheels and heavy-duty 1-Ton suspensions. Many examples of these cube-vans can still be found on the streets today as they were typically owned by companies that kept them in service for some time. Thanks to regular maintenance, some still see service.


title: Dodge Ram van

text: During the last two years of its existence, Fargo offered a rebadged variant of the Tradesman and Sportsman in Canada for 1971 and 1972 only. Plymouth also received a rebadged variant of the Sportsman, called the Voyager for the 1974 model year. While never as popular as the Dodge version, Plymouth marketed the Voyager in this format through 1983, after which the nameplate was transferred to the new minivan that was introduced for 1984 as a rebadged Dodge Caravan.


title: Dodge Ram van

text: In 1979 the van received a redesigned front end, including a new grille with wraparound turn signals. Lower-end models had single round headlights, while Royal Sportsman and other high-end vans received four rectangular headlights. The van would keep this body style and the 1978 dash intact with only grille changes all the way through the 1993 model year. The Sportsman, Tradesman, and Adventurer names were phased out after 1980, replaced with the Ram van moniker, which included the Ram wagon for passenger models. As with the D-series trucks, B100 and B150 models were 1/2-ton rated, B250 models were 3/4-ton, and B350s were one-ton. The body shell and most fixtures would be one of the longest running of any US vehicle, remaining nearly identical from the vans' introduction in 1971 through their discontinuance in 2003, while Ford and GM would go through two or three generations of platform redesigns.


title: Dodge Ram van

text: In 1986 the Ram van was given a new grille to resemble those of the 1986 Ram trucks. In 1994 the entire front end was redesigned with flush headlamps to resemble the all-new Dodge Ram pickups, and new taillights wrapped around the sides of the van. The 1978-style dash was kept.


title: Dodge Ram van

text: In 1994, the entire front end was redesigned with flush headlamps to resemble the all new Dodge Ram pickups, and new taillights wrapped around the sides of the van. The 1978-style dash was kept. In 1998, the van went through the most thorough update since its introduction in 1971. The engine was moved forward in the chassis to improve crash protection, and the front end sheet-metal was redone with a longer nose to accommodate this change. Moving the powertrain forward also resulted in a smaller "dog house" (engine access cover) which increased front interior room and allowed better access when moving between the front seats. The 1978-style dashboard and door panels were finally replaced in the 1998 model year with a modern design using components from contemporary Chrysler products. The side-view mirrors were now of a break-away design and mounted to the sail portion of the front window openings. This change resulted in the elimination of the front door vent windows. The van remained mostly unchanged until it was discontinued after the 2003 model year, ending production that June.


title: Dodge Ram van

text: In 2012, a Dodge Caravan-based cargo van, previously sold as the Dodge Caravan C/V, was renamed the Ram C/V Tradesman. In 2013, a new Mexican-built full-sized van based on the Fiat Ducato was introduced and sold under the name Ram ProMaster, which fills the marketing slot once held by the original Dodge B-Series full-size van. The Ram ProMaster City, a Fiat Doblò-based replacement for the Dodge Grand Caravan C/V Tradesman, was introduced in 2014. The Turkish-sourced Promaster City is said to be a modern descendant of the Dodge A100 compact van in the showroom lineup. Both of these vehicles are FWD.


title: 2006 FIBA World Championship

text: The 2006 FIBA World Championship was the 15th FIBA World Championship, the international basketball world championship for men's national teams. The tournament was hosted by Japan and held from 19 August to 3 September 2006. It was co-organised by the International Basketball Federation (FIBA), Japan Basketball Association (JABBA) and the 2006 Organising Committee.


title: 2006 FIBA World Championship

text: For the first time since 1986, the World Championship was contested by 24 nations, eight more than in 2002. As a result, group rounds were conducted in four cities, with the knockout rounds being hosted by Saitama City.


title: 2006 FIBA World Championship

text: Spain won the tournament by beating Greece 70–47 in the championship final. Spain won all nine games they played. Spain's gold medal in this tournament was the first medal Spain had ever won in a FIBA World Championship. Pau Gasol also became the first Spaniard to win the MVP award. It was the first time a country has won all nine of its games since 1994 when the United States won all nine games and took the gold medal home. The bronze medal was won by the United States, who defeated Argentina, 96–81, in the third place game, after a semi-finals loss to Greece. Up to 2019, including the 2014 tournament, it has been the only tournament where neither Yugoslavia or the USA have reached the final. The 2006 tournament marked the final appearance of Serbia and Montenegro as they broke up into the independent nations of Serbia and Montenegro after a successful independence referendum in Montenegro in May.


title: 2006 FIBA World Championship

text: Seventeen years after the 2006 edition, Japan will once again host the FIBA World Championships, now called the World Cup in 2023 in Okinawa along with the Philippines and Indonesia.


title: 2006 FIBA World Championship

text: Japan qualified as the host country, and Italy, Puerto Rico, Serbia and Montenegro, and Turkey gained FIBA wild-card invitations. Argentina qualified as the champion of the 2004 Olympics. The remaining 18 countries qualified through their continents' qualifying tournaments (six from Europe, four from the Americas, three from each of Asia and Africa and two from Oceania).


title: 2006 FIBA World Championship

text: The draw for the 2006 World Championship was held in Tokyo on 15 January 2006. In the preliminary rounds, Group A played at Sendai, Group B at Hiroshima, Group C at Hamamatsu and Group D at Sapporo. The Medal Rounds were played at Saitama.


title: 2006 FIBA World Championship

text: Since the inaugural competition in 1950 the five competing countries for the title had always been two of Argentina, United States, Soviet Union, Brazil and Yugoslavia, one of which always being either United States or Yugoslavia. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Russia took its place in the finals of 1994 and 1998, and after the breakup of Yugoslavia, FR Yugoslavia took its place in the finals of 1998 and 2002. The 2006 final was the first and only one in which none of these five teams competed.


title: 2006 FIBA World Championship

text: The final was an unexpectedly one-sided affair, with Spain dominating from the beginning and limiting Greece to just 47 points, fewer than the Greeks had scored in any single game in the tournament, and less than half what Greece had scored against the US in the semifinals. Spain won despite having lost power forward Pau Gasol, who was ultimately named the tournament's most valuable player, to injury in a semifinal match against Argentina.


title: Giant Eagle

text: Giant Eagle, Inc. (Western Pennsylvania English: ) and stylized as giant eagle) is an American supermarket chain with stores in Pennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia, Indiana, and Maryland. The company was founded in 1918 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and incorporated on August 31, 1931. "Supermarket News" ranked Giant Eagle 21st on the "Top 75 North American Food Retailers" based on sales of $10 billion. In 2021, it was the 36th-largest privately held company, as determined by Forbes. Based on 2005 revenue, Giant Eagle is the 49th-largest retailer in the United States. As of Summer 2014, the company had approximately $9.9 billion in annual sales. As of Summer 2022, Giant Eagle, Inc. had 490 stores across the portfolio. 216 supermarkets (Giant Eagle, Giant Eagle Express, Market District, Market District Express) and 274 fuel station/convenience stores under the GetGo banner. The company is headquartered in an office park in the Pittsburgh suburb of O'Hara Township.


title: Giant Eagle

text: After World War I, three Pittsburgh-area families—the Goldsteins, Porters, and Chaits—built a grocery chain called Eagle Grocery. In 1928, Eagle, now 125 stores strong, merged with Kroger. The three families agreed to stay out of the grocery business for at least three years.


title: Giant Eagle

text: Meanwhile, the Moravitz and Weizenbaum families built their own successful chain of grocery stores named OK Grocery. In 1931, OK Grocery merged with Eagle Grocery to form Giant Eagle, which was incorporated two years later. Giant Eagle quickly expanded across western Pennsylvania, weathering the Great Depression and World War II.


title: Giant Eagle

text: The chain remained based solely in western Pennsylvania until the 1980s, when it bought Youngstown, Ohio-based wholesaler Tamarkin Company, and its Valu-King stores that were converted to the Giant Eagle name. The Kent and Ravenna stores were the first to be converted at that time; the Youngstown stores then got converted years later. Around the mid- or late 1990s, Giant Eagle later reached Cleveland by acquiring the Rini- Rego Stop-n-Shop stores in the area. Rini- Rego Stop-n-Shop stores were family owned and operated in different areas of Cleveland. The family operators of Rini- Rego Stop-n-Shop formed a holding company named International Seaway Foods as the main umbrella for Rini- Rego Stop-n-Shop. In 1998, Giant Eagle acquired the International Seaway Foods and converted the Rini- Rego Stop-n-Shop Stores into Giant Eagle Stores. Giant Eagle also purchased or opened other Northeast Ohio stores outside the Stop-n-Shop area, such as the former Apples supermarkets in the nearby Akron area.


title: Giant Eagle

text: The company entered the Toledo market, opening two stores in 2001 and 2004, both of which have now closed. Giant Eagle emerged as one of the dominant supermarket chains in Northeast Ohio, competing mainly against the New York-based Tops, from which it purchased 18 stores in October 2006. The purchases came as Tops exited the Northeast Ohio area.


title: Giant Eagle

text: Giant Eagle purchased independently owned County Market stores, giving it a store in Somerset, Pennsylvania, a new store in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, and its first Maryland stores: one in Cumberland, one in Hagerstown, and two in Frederick. The Cumberland store closed in December 2003, and the Hagerstown store closed in August 2005.


title: Giant Eagle

text: Giant Eagle has aggressively expanded its footprint in the Greater Columbus area, capitalizing on the demise of the former Big Bear supermarket chain, and taking Big Bear's traditional place as Columbus's upmarket grocer. Giant Eagle first entered what it calls its "Columbus Region" in late 2000, opening three large newly built stores at Sawmill and Bethel Rd., Lewis Center, and Dublin-Granville Rd., with two more following in 2002 and 2003 at Gahanna and Hilliard-Rome Rd. The Hilliard-Rome Rd. location closed in early 2017. In 2004, Giant Eagle purchased nine former Big Bear stores in Columbus, Newark, and Marietta from parent company Penn Traffic. Giant Eagle has since expanded to several additional locations, acquiring other abandoned Big Bear stores and in newly constructed buildings using the current Giant Eagle prototype. Giant Eagle opened its 20th Columbus-area store at New Albany Road at the Ohio Rt. 161 freeway (New Albany) in August 2007, its 21st area store at Hayden Run and Cosgray Roads (Dublin) in November 2007, its 22nd area store at Stelzer and McCutcheon Roads (Columbus) in July 2008 and its 23rd area store at South Hamilton Road and Winchester Pike (Groveport) in August 2008. A new Giant Eagle opened in Lancaster, in November 2008, and the former Big Bear located at Blacklick Crossing is undergoing an expansion and remodeling.


title: Giant Eagle

text: On September 27, 2018, Giant Eagle announced it would purchase the Ricker's convenience store chain in Indiana, marking the largest acquisition for GetGo since the chain's launch. It is not known if the Ricker's chain will be integrated into the GetGo brand following the closure of the deal. Much as it has done in Pennsylvania alongside Sheetz, GetGo plans to join Ricker's in having Indiana change their laws regarding alcohol sales.


title: Giant Eagle

text: In 1991, Giant Eagle introduced the "Advantage Card", an electronic loyalty card discount system (already popular in many chains), as a sophisticated version of the obsolete stamp programs. The card was later modified to double as a video rental card for Iggle Video. More recently the company has started the Fuelperks! program to entice customers. This program allows customers the opportunity to earn 10 cents off each gallon of gas (20 cents in select markets) with fifty dollars' worth of authorized purchases. In early 2009, Giant Eagle launched the Foodperks! program, mainly geared towards GetGo. This program allows customers who use their fuelperks! at GetGo to also earn foodperks! to save on groceries purchased at Giant Eagle. Every 10 gallons of gas purchased earns a 1% discount. This can be used up to 20% maximum at a time on a purchase of up to $300. Foodperks! are valid for 90 days and fuelperks! are valid for 60 days. If the customer has more than the price of gasoline or more than the 20%, those discounts will stay on their card for the remainder of the 90/60 days, and if they are not used by then, they expire. In February 2013, Giant Eagle announced that they would be discontinuing the foodperks! program that month because it was "a little too complex".


title: Giant Eagle

text: In 2017, Giant Eagle began implementing fuelperks+, an enhancement to the existing fuelperks program that reintroduces the benefits of the previous foodperks benefit which had been discontinued in 2013. Under the new fuelperks+ program, customers earn one perk per dollar spent at Giant Eagle, Market District or GetGo stores. Also, customers can earn five perks for every prescription filled at Giant Eagle or Market District. At GetGo, customers earn two perks per gallon of gas. Once 50 perks is reached, customers can choose between 2% off on groceries (maximum discount 20% off or $10,000) or 10 cents off each gallon of gas (up to 30 free gallons per one vehicle). As in the previous fuelperks! program, if customers have more than the price of gasoline or more than the 20%, those discounts will remain on their Advantage Card for the remainder of the 60 day time period.


title: Giant Eagle

text: In late 2021, Giant Eagle began to roll out another new system, myPerks and myPerks Pro. Customers that are members of either myPerks tier can take advantage of exclusive sale prices, and earn bonus points on certain items and on certain days. Standard myPerks members receive 1 perk for each dollar spent, 2 perks for each gallon of gas, and 2 perks per dollar for Giant Eagle brand items. myPerks Pro members receive 1.5 perks per dollar spent, 3 perks per gallon, and 3 perks per dollar for Giant Eagle brand items. Every 50 perks a customer earns can be used to take 1 dollar off of their order on either groceries or gas. If customers have more than their total bill, the remaining dollar amount will remain on their card. For standard myPerks customers, these perks have a 90 day expiration, while myPerks Pro members have a 365 day expiration. In order to become and stay a myPerks Pro member, customers must earn 2,500 perks within a 6-month period, or make 25 trips to GetGo within a 6-month period. Switching from fuelperks+ to myPerks became an option for all customers in 2022, prompting them to switch on the screens at the registers.


title: Giant Eagle

text: There are 216 Giant Eagle Supermarkets and 202 GetGo locations in the United States: 99 in western Pennsylvania, 122 in central, northeastern and central Ohio, two in Morgantown, West Virginia, two in Frederick, Maryland and one in Carmel, Indiana. Each store carries between 22,000 and 60,000 items, approximately 5,000 of which are branded by Giant Eagle.


title: Giant Eagle

text: Giant Eagle offers more than two dozen departments across its stores. The range of services includes Redbox video terminals, dry cleaning, in-store day care, and pharmacies. Giant Eagle also has banking partnerships with Citizens Bank in Pennsylvania and Huntington Bank in Ohio and West Virginia, both of which have their branches open inside Giant Eagle branches seven days a week except for federal holidays.


title: Giant Eagle

text: The chain has built large prototypes, and it has experimented with many departments unusual to supermarkets. Larger stores feature vast selections of ethnic and organic food, dry cleaning services, Iggle video, drive-thru pharmacies, in-store banking, Eagle's Nest (for daycare purposes while shopping), as well as in-store coffee shops and prepared foods. Prepared foods are also sold at larger GetGo locations that can accommodate a GetGo Kitchen.


title: Giant Eagle

text: Although older Giant Eagle locations tend to be unionized and some are even franchised stores, in recent years the company has started leaning toward non-union company-owned and -operated stores. In areas where a franchised store exists, if a GetGo exists nearby, it's operated by Giant Eagle itself, separate from the franchised supermarket.


title: Giant Eagle

text: Giant Eagle rebranded some of its stores as Market District in an attempt to attract upscale shoppers. The initial two stores opened in June 2006 in the Shadyside neighborhood of Pittsburgh, and Bethel Park, just outside Pittsburgh. The Giant Eagle name appears above the logo on the rebranded stores. There are now 13 stores under this brand. The 14th store is now open in the Cleveland suburb of Westlake, Ohio. That store is a result of Giant Eagle's closing their existing Westlake location in October 2018 for six months to do extensive renovations.


title: Giant Eagle

text: Giant Eagle Express is a concept store. As of May 2016, the only operating store is in Harmar Township, Pennsylvania. An Indiana, Pennsylvania location closed its doors in 2015. The store is larger than a GetGo, but much smaller than a regular Giant Eagle supermarket store. However, the store offers many of the same services as a Giant Eagle, such as a deli and a drive-through pharmacy. Giant Eagle Express also offers a café with prepared sandwiches, Giant Eagle's own Market District coffee, salad bar, and a wireless internet connection. There is also a GetGo gas station.


title: Giant Eagle

text: On June 4, 2013, Giant Eagle announced new Market District Express concept, which is designed to be a hybrid of the flagship Market District format launched in 2006 with the Giant Eagle Express format that was launched in 2007. The first of this brand's stores opened on December 5, 2013, in Peters Township, Pennsylvania. The second Market District Express store opened on August 18, 2016 in Bexley, Ohio. The Bexley location is notable as it features a full restaurant and bar inside, alongside groceries in a 30,000 square foot store that spans two floors.


title: Giant Eagle

text: Giant Eagle began adding pharmacies to their stores in the 1980s, along with other "store-within-a-store" concepts photo, floral, and video rental. Giant Eagle Pharmacy also offers several immunizations throughout the year for pneumonia, influenza, and Shingrix. These are typically walk-in, but vary depending on the pharmacists available.


title: Giant Eagle

text: Until 2021, all Giant Eagle Pharmacy locations were located inside standard Giant Eagle and Market District locations. This changed when a standalone Giant Eagle Pharmacy opened in Columbus's German Village neighborhood after Giant Eagle opted not to renew its lease at the existing Giant Eagle location in the area, allowing for the property to be redeveloped. The location opened in a former Lawson's, and assumed the prescription accounts from the previous location.


title: Giant Eagle

text: Giant Eagle partnered with Arlington Lens Supply in 2010 to sell contact lenses online via their website.


title: Giant Eagle

text: Ricker's is a 56-chain, Indiana-based convenience store and gas station chain purchased by Giant Eagle in 2018.


title: Giant Eagle

text: Giant Eagle has a contract to operate Starbucks kiosks in some of its stores; the workers are employed by Giant Eagle, but become certified baristas after completing the process.


title: Giant Eagle

text: Giant Eagle was the largest shareholder of the Phar-Mor chain during its heyday in the 1980s and 1990s, although it was operated separate from the main Giant Eagle chain. The Shapira family who owns Giant Eagle provided Phar-Mor founder Mickey Monus with the financing necessary to start his chain. After Monus was convicted of embezzlement, Phar-Mor filed for bankruptcy and eventually liquidated. Due to Giant Eagle's stake in Phar-Mor, it was able to acquire Phar-Mor's Youngstown-area assets in bankruptcy court after the chain liquidated.


title: Giant Eagle

text: Giant Eagle once operated Iggle Video locations inside many of its locations to serve as its video rental shop. Like Giant Eagle Pharmacy, Iggle Video (which spelled "eagle" from its phonetic pronunciation in Pittsburghese, even outside of Pittsburgh) never operated in stand-alone locations. Like other video rental chains, Iggle Video offered movie and video game rentals. They also served as the local Ticketmaster outlet in the Pittsburgh region before the advent of the Internet made it possible to buy live event tickets from Ticketmaster online. In the mid- to late 2000s, Giant Eagle phased these stores out in favor of Redbox automated retail machines, with Ticketmaster sales moved to the customer service desk.


title: Giant Eagle

text: In October 2004, Giant Eagle began a long-term experiment with in-store optometry centers dubbed "Giant Eagle Optical". There were four locations in the Pittsburgh area: North Hills (McIntyre Square), South Hills (Donaldson's Crossroads), east (Monroeville), and west (Robinson). The stores accepted most major vision plans and offered a wide variety of designer frames, as well as exclusive Giant Eagle brands. They also participated in the Fuelperks! program and were staffed mostly by ABO-certified opticians. Noting that "some programs don't prove viable across a broad number of stores", Giant Eagle chose to close its Optical locations beginning in August 2009.


title: Giant Eagle

text: In December 2008, Giant Eagle opened the rebranded Valu King supermarket in Eastlake, Ohio. The Valu King name dates back to the 1980s. The rebranded Valu King operated stores in Eastlake, Ravenna, and Brooklyn in Ohio and Johnstown and Erie in Pennsylvania, with the most recent store opened in May 2012.


title: Giant Eagle

text: In 2012, Giant Eagle opened a new low-cost supermarket concept called Good Cents, located in Ross Township, Pennsylvania. The concept is similar to that of a Valu King, but carries a slightly larger product selection. Good Cents eventually replaced all rebranded Valu King as Giant Eagle's low-cost brand.


title: Giant Eagle

text: Good Cents and Valu King both were no frills stores designed to compete with similar stores such as Aldi, Save-A-Lot, and Bottom Dollar Food.


title: Giant Eagle

text: On February 25, 2015 (Wednesday), Giant Eagle announced it would close all the Good Cents stores by the end of March. It was looking for open spots at nearby Giant Eagle locations for displaced employees.


title: Giant Eagle

text: Giant Eagle has about 32,000 employees and many of them are unionized under United Food and Commercial Workers Local 1776ks of Pittsburgh, and UFCW Local 880 of Cleveland. The Maryland and Columbus stores are not unionized, much like some independently owned stores throughout Pennsylvania and the Youngstown, Ohio area. Some employees in the Eagle's Nest and Photo Lab departments are also non-union employees.


title: Giant Eagle

text: Giant Eagle currently uses the slogan "That's Another Giant Eagle Advantage" with its advertising, focusing on the eAdvantage offer of the week. This campaign features store employees and customers, that put their own spin on what Giant Eagle offers. The campaign includes a focus on product selection, quality, customer service, and price leadership.


title: Giant Eagle

text: From 2011 to 2014 the slogan was "That's my Giant Eagle Advantage". From 2009 until 2011, the slogan was "Low prices. Uncompromising quality." In December 2009, a variation being used was "Lower prices. Uncompromising quality." for online advertisements on thepittsburghchannel.com website.


title: Giant Eagle

text: From 2001 until 2009, the slogan "Make every day taste better", was used. It was meant to showcase product quality as compared to the convenience focus used in the previous campaign.


title: Giant Eagle

text: From 1993 until 2001, "it takes a giant to make life simple" was used as the slogan. This was focused on convenience, and spawned the "Fee Fi Fo Fum" commercials. The commercials featured everything from the general store, the produce and deli departments to a spot featuring Jay Bell and Jeff King of the Pittsburgh Pirates. This replaced the previous "A lot you can feel good about... especially the price" motto.


title: Giant Eagle

text: The chain, under pressure from Wal-Mart, has implemented a lower-prices campaign throughout its stores, featured on products that customers buy most. Giant Eagle also sells Topco-produced Valu Time products, which are substantially cheaper than other private-label and name-brand merchandise. These co-exist with the Giant Eagle branded items, which are priced lower than national brands, yet higher than Valu Time. Before these brands existed, Giant Eagle generally used Topco's Food Club label as the generic product.


title: Giant Eagle

text: Giant Eagle has the highest market share of any supermarket chain in the Pittsburgh area, giving it a de facto monopoly in some parts of western Pennsylvania; only stores supplied by United Natural Foods (UNFI) such as Shop 'n Save, FoodLand, and County Market have much of a presence in the area. The construction of new supercenters, including Walmart and others, and no frills supermarkets such as Aldi attracting value-seeking customers have somewhat decreased Giant Eagle's regional market share in first decades of the twenty-first century.


title: Giant Eagle

text: Giant Eagle's market dominance in Greater Pittsburgh has led to accusations of the company buying up either existing supermarket locations or prime real estate for the sole purpose of not allowing a competitor come in. A notable example came in 2016, when the chain purchased property in McCandless, Pennsylvania that had been planned for a Walmart location near an existing Giant Eagle; Walmart later backed out and Giant Eagle made no immediate announcement of plans for the property. The deal came only weeks after Giant Eagle laid off 350 workers from its corporate office. Similar accusations have been made about GetGo not allowing Sheetz or Speedway opening up locations within the Pittsburgh city limits while GetGo has, although both competitor chains have several locations within the immediate suburbs; 7-Eleven's 2021 acquisition of Speedway made the issue partially moot as 7-Eleven has operated multiple locations within the Pittsburgh city limits for decades, though Sheetz remains "locked out" by GetGo. Giant Eagle was also successful in blocking a Walmart location opening at the dilapidated Northern Lights Shopping Center in Economy, Pennsylvania, though Walmart eventually opened a location on the hillside behind the property in 2014 after finding a loophole around Giant Eagle's lease at Northern Lights; Giant Eagle ultimately closed this location on January 2, 2021.


title: Giant Eagle

text: Before Walmart, Giant Eagle's last nationally-significant competitor in the Pittsburgh market was Kroger, which had bought the original Eagle but exited Western Pennsylvania in 1984 due to labor issues with its union as well as the local economy at the time. Many Giant Eagle locations in Pennsylvania and Northeast Ohio occupy former Kroger sites and used the distinctive Kroger prototypes from the 1980s with the sloped glass-roof entrance until most of the stores were remodeled or replaced with newer stores in the early 2000s with Giant Eagle's current prototype. Kroger and Giant Eagle still compete head-to-head in Morgantown, Columbus and Indianapolis.


title: Giant Eagle

text: Despite the perceived monopoly, Giant Eagle holds only a 32% market share in Pittsburgh as of August 2018, just barely edging out Walmart.


title: Central Florida

text: Central Florida is a region of the U.S. state of Florida. Different sources give different definitions for the region, but as its name implies it is usually said to comprise the central part of the state, including the Tampa Bay area and the Greater Orlando area, though in recent times the Tampa Bay area has often been described as its own region, with "Central Florida" becoming more synonymous with the Orlando area (most notably, this is what the local news channels in each respective metro area call their region).


title: Central Florida

text: It is one of Florida's three directional regions, along with North Florida and South Florida. Under the previously mentioned "usual" definition, it includes the following counties: Brevard, Citrus, Hardee, Hernando, Hillsborough, Indian River, Lake, Orange, Osceola, Pasco, Pinellas.


title: Central Florida

text: though Citrus, Hernando, Hillsborough, Pasco, Pinellas, and maybe Manatee are also considered to be the Tampa Bay area.


title: Central Florida

text: Like many vernacular regions, Central Florida's boundaries are not official or consistent, and are defined differently by different sources. A 2007 study of Florida's regions by geographers Ary Lamme and Raymond K. Oldakowski found that Floridians surveyed identified Central Florida as comprising a large swath of peninsular Florida. This area encompassed the interior, including the Orlando metropolitan area, and coastal stretches from the Big Bend south to the Tampa Bay Area in the west and from Volusia County south to Indian River County or St. Lucie County in the east.


title: Central Florida

text: Central Florida is one of Florida's three most common directional regions, the others being North Florida and South Florida. Lamme and Oldakowski note that the directional region is more commonly used in the interior areas rather than on the coast. In fact, while coastal areas often have their own regional vernacular identities such as the Space Coast and the Nature Coast, no vernacular regions were reported on the interior of the state other than Central Florida.


title: Central Florida

text: Enterprise Florida, the state's economic development agency, identifies "Central Florida" as one of eight economic regions used by the agency and other state and outside entities, including the Florida Department of Transportation. This definition covers much of the same area as in Lamme and Oldakowski's survey, with some exceptions. It excludes the Tampa Bay Area and as well as the southern coastal counties (the Treasure Coast, which is included in "Southeast" or "South Florida"). The Central region includes the Orlando metropolitan area (Orange, Lake, Osceola, and Seminole Counties), and Sumter Counties in the interior, and Volusia and Brevard Counties on the coast.


title: Central Florida

text: The central cities of both metropolitan areas (Orlando and Tampa) are in close proximity (), and as a result, their two metropolitan areas blend together in the area of Lakeland to make up a larger contiguous population center often referred to as the I-4 corridor. This is a population concentration that stretches from Tampa Bay on the west coast to Palm Coast and Cape Canaveral on the east coast of the state.


title: Central Florida

text: With the exception of hill terrain in Mount Dora, southern Lake County, Polk County (Lake Wales Ridge) Pasco County, and Hernando County (Brooksville Ridge). Central Florida is mostly flatland with significant amounts of open space and over 1,500 lakes and ponds. There is a mixture of wetlands, Cypress, Oak, Maple and Pine forests, pastures, prairies and coastline.


title: Central Florida

text: Major rivers include the St. Johns River, the Ocklawaha River, the Halifax River, and the Econlockhatchee River. Major lakes include Lake Apopka, Lake Tohopekaliga, East Lake Tohopekaliga, Lake Louisa, Lake Monroe, Lake Jessup, and the Butler Chain of Lakes. There are over of coastline in Central Florida along the Atlantic Coast. Major beaches include Canaveral National Seashore, New Smyrna Beach, Daytona Beach, Cocoa Beach, and Indialantic Beach near Melbourne.


title: Central Florida

text: Hurricanes are a threat to the coastal cities as evidenced by the 2004 hurricane season, which brought three major hurricanes to the Central Florida area: Charley, Jeanne, and Frances.Winters are dry and temperate with the average winter high temperature in Orlando being and the average winter low temperature being . Summers are hot and humid with high temperatures averaging and low temperatures averaging . Peak summer heat generally arrives in early June and continues to early October.


title: Central Florida

text: The combination of high temperatures, high humidity, and opposing sea breezes from both the Gulf and Atlantic coasts, results in significant thunderstorm activity from June to September for the interior counties. Central Florida records more lightning strikes per area than any other region in Florida, and Florida records more lightning strikes than any other state in the US. As a result, Florida, and more specifically, Central Florida, is often referred to as the "Thunderstorm capital of the USA", or "Lightning Alley".


title: Central Florida

text: These severe thunderstorms often make Central Florida prone to many tornadoes. However, they are usually small, short lived, and almost always rated as EF0 or EF1 size storms.


title: Central Florida

text: Central Florida has a subtropical climate. A climate that is typical for the majority of the state, except for South Florida, which has a true tropical climate. Unlike South Florida, where temperatures below 32 degrees practically never occur, Central Florida can see occasional freezing temperatures in the winter. As a result, most of Central Florida cannot accommodate the same tropical plants found in Southern Florida with the exception of coastal areas in the Tampa Bay area, Brevard county, and Indian River county due to maritime influences of the Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic Ocean. However, winters are still considered very mild by United States standards. Central Florida’s typical high temperatures in the winter are around 70°F. The low temperatures are mainly in the upper 40s.


title: Central Florida

text: At the end of the Civil War, aside from the cattle, cotton, and coastal lands, much of Central Florida was wetlands. It took a major drainage project financed by businessman Hamilton Disston in the 1880s to make these wetland areas available for settlement.


title: Central Florida

text: Sanford was incorporated in 1877 as a port city at the Lake Monroe intersection and the St. Johns River. It was envisioned as a transportation center; the city's founder, Henry S. Sanford, nicknamed it "the Gate City of South Florida". It became a hub for shipping agricultural products, which earned the city another nickname, "Celery City".


title: Central Florida

text: Kissimmee, originally named Allendale, after Confederate Major J.H. Allen, who operated the first cargo steamboat on the Kissimmee River, boomed in the 1880s. It was the headquarters of Hamilton Disston's drainage company. The city was an important regional steamship port, owing that status to its location on Lake Tohopekaliga. Expanding the railroads into Central Florida eliminated the need for Kissimmee's steamship industry.


title: Central Florida

text: The Great Freeze of 1894-1895 ruined citrus crops, which had a detrimental ripple effect on the economy.


title: Central Florida

text: The hard-packed sand of Volusia County's beaches lent itself to auto races beginning in 1903 before paved roads were common, leading to the area's reputation for cars and racing. Ormond Beach was a popular spot for those who liked fast cars after the turn of the 20th century because the hard-packed beach was ideal for going fast. The same beach had led to the development of a tourist resort by Henry Flagler. It later attracted Flagler's former business partner John D. Rockefeller, who had a winter home in Ormond.


title: Central Florida

text: During and after World War II, the U.S. Army Air Forces (U.S. Air Force after 1947) and the U.S. Navy established several training facilities and operational bases in the region, mainly for aviation activities, followed by space exploration sites. In the late 1940s, the U.S. military established a missile testing facility on Merritt Island near Cape Canaveral. The land was largely undeveloped and the agreeable climate allowed for year-round operations. When NASA later searched for a long-term base in the 1960s to launch spacecraft, it chose the Merritt Island site next to Cape Canaveral for its access to the testing facility and nearby communities. NASA purchased over of land for the Kennedy Space Center.


title: Central Florida

text: Deltona was developed in 1962 as a planned retirement community. It is now the largest city in Volusia County.


title: Central Florida

text: The construction of the Walt Disney World Resort was a transforming event for greater Orlando. Walt Disney wanted a location with abundant available land that was more accessible for the residents of the eastern United States to visit. Not only was there ample land in Central Florida, but it was inexpensive, and the inland location offered some protection from hurricanes. Plans were announced in 1965, and the theme park opened to the public in 1971.


title: Central Florida

text: Lamme and Oldakowski's survey identifies several demographic, political, and cultural elements that characterize Central Florida and distinguish it from other areas of the state. While people from all parts of the state associated their area as part of the South, people in the southern part of Central Florida did not typically identify their area as part of "Dixie", while people in northern Central Florida did. People from Central Florida usually did not consider their region part of the Bible Belt.


title: Central Florida

text: Politically, while North Florida overwhelmingly was considered conservative and South Florida was considered more liberal, the majority of Central Florida residents (52%) considered their area moderate; 41% considered it conservative, and 7% liberal. Lamme and Oldakowski's survey tracks with Barney Warf and Cynthia Waddell's studies of Florida's political geography during the 2000 Presidential election. Central Florida's economy is very similar to that in South Florida. Compared to the more diversified North Florida economy, tourism is by far the most significant industry in Central and South Florida, along with a much smaller but significant agricultural industry.


title: Central Florida

text: Lamme and Oldakowski's survey also found some cultural indicators that characterize Central Florida. In general, Central Florida was similar to North Florida and differed from South Florida in these measures. In Central and North Florida, American cuisine was the most popular food, in contrast to South Florida where ethnic foods were equally popular. Additionally, while there was little geographical variation for most styles of music, there was regional variation for both country and Latin music. Country was popular in Central and North Florida, and less so in South Florida, while Latin was less popular in Central and North Florida, and more so in South Florida.


title: Central Florida

text: In 2009, the estimated total population of the Central Florida, including the populations of Orange, Seminole, Osceola, Brevard, Volusia, and Lake Counties region was 3.3 million people. If the populations of Polk and Sumter counties were included, the estimated population would be 3.969 million people. Explosive growth has fueled Central Florida for the past thirty years.


title: Central Florida

text: As of 2007 there were 70,000 Asians in Central Florida according to the U.S. Census. There were almost 1,900 Japanese persons, making up 3% of the Asians.


title: Central Florida

text: Agriculture has occupied a large portion of Central Florida's economy, with winter strawberries, citrus, timber, vegetables, and aquaculture all making major contributions.


title: Central Florida

text: The area has economically diversified in the past decade. As a high-tech industrial hub, Metro Orlando has the seventh largest research park in the U.S., Central Florida Research Park, the engineering and business school of the University of Central Florida. It has defense companies such as Lockheed Martin and Siemens.


title: Central Florida

text: Medical research is prominent at Tampa's University of South Florida and Orlando's University of Central Florida, as well as the Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute biomedical research facility. USF in particular is a national leader in cancer and dementia research.


title: Central Florida

text: The Tampa Bay area has become a center of high-tech manufacturing and research, while both Orlando and the Tampa Bay area are centers for the financial industry, especially insurers and back-end operations for large banking companies.


title: Central Florida

text: Active military installations in the region include Patrick Space Force Base and Cape Canaveral Space Force Station located on the Atlantic coast; MacDill Air Force Base, Coast Guard Air Station Clearwater and Coast Guard Sector St. Petersburg on the Gulf Coast; and Naval Support Activity Orlando, the Navy Pinecastle Impact (Bombing) Range, and the Avon Park Air Force Range located inland. These are augmented by major commands that are tenant activities at these installations, such as the headquarters for United States Central Command (USCENTCOM) and the headquarters for United States Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) at MacDill AFB, the Naval Ordnance Test Unit and Coast Guard Station Port Canaveral at Cape Canaveral SFS, and other Active, Reserve, Army National Guard, and Air National Guard activities that are located as either stand-alone facilities or as tenants on the active duty installations.


title: Central Florida

text: Additional former facilities that have since been closed and converted to civilian use include Hillsborough Army Air Field, a World War II training range which is now part of a neighborhood, Busch Gardens Tampa Bay, and the University of South Florida; Naval Air Station Sanford, which closed in 1968 and is the present day Orlando-Sanford International Airport; McCoy Air Force Base, which closed in 1975 and is the present day Orlando International Airport; and Orlando Air Force Base, which was transferred to the Navy in 1968 and renamed Naval Training Center Orlando until its BRAC-directed closure in 1999 and conversion to the present day Baldwin Park neighborhood.


title: Central Florida

text: The other major U.S. Government installations in Central Florida is the Kennedy Space Center, a NASA facility located adjacent to Cape Canaveral SFS, and the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Outpatient Clinic at Baldwin Park (former Orlando AFB Hospital / former Naval Hospital Orlando) and the VA Hospital at Lake Nona.


title: Central Florida

text: Central Florida has four major zoos, the Central Florida Zoo and Botanical Gardens in Sanford, the Brevard Zoo in Melbourne, the Busch Gardens Tampa Bay animal park, and Lowry Park Zoo in Tampa. There are also two theme parks in Orlando featuring animals, albeit to a much lesser extent: Disney's Animal Kingdom and SeaWorld Orlando.


title: Central Florida

text: Central Florida also has a wide variety of natural attractions including the Bok Tower Gardens, Wekiwa Springs State Park, Blue Spring State Park, Rock Springs Run State Reserve, Canaveral National Seashore, and Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge. The region also boasts an extensive network of recreational trails (jogging, biking, equestrian, etc.). While many connections are already in place, construction continues and will link all of the trails and greenways. Major trails include the Cady Way, Cross Seminole and West Orange Trails. Many of the top ranked beaches in the United States are located in Central Florida.


title: Central Florida

text: Port Canaveral, located in Cape Canaveral 45 minutes east of Orlando, is a cruise, cargo, and naval port. It is one of the busiest ports in Florida and is economically tied to Orlando. Locally perceived to be Orlando's seaport, Port Canaveral is the closest port for tourists and Orlando residents alike to cruise on Disney Cruise Lines and Carnival Cruises. Future plans for the port include a rail and natural gas line running directly to Orlando International Airport.


title: Central Florida

text: Another major seaport of the region is Port Tampa Bay, which is one of the busiest in the state and is on the verge of a huge expansion which will allow it to compete on an international level.


title: Central Florida

text: A regional commuter rail network is being developed in Central Florida. The first of these initiatives, SunRail, is a commuter rail line that will run from DeLand south to Kissimmee. The first phase should be complete by 2013 with the full system in place by 2015. Amtrak also serves Central Florida running on CSX Transportation's A line and stops at the Orlando Amtrak station. The Auto Train stops in Sanford, Florida, north of downtown Orlando.


title: Central Florida

text: As of 2022, a high speed rail between Orlando and Miami is currently being developed by Brightline, who plans to extend the rail to Tampa after completion.


title: Central Florida

text: Florida's public primary and secondary schools are administered by the Florida Department of Education.


title: Chris Williams (director)

text: Chris Williams (born December 19, 1968) is an American animator, film director, screenwriter and voice actor who directed the short film "Glago's Guest"; co-directed "Bolt", which was nominated for the Oscar for Best Animated Feature; "Big Hero 6", which won the Oscar for Best Animated Feature; and "Moana", which was nominated for two Oscars for Best Animated Feature and Best Original Song.


title: Chris Williams (director)

text: Williams was born on December 19, 1968, in Missouri and spent the first 25 years of his life in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, where his father was the director of Counselling Services at the University of Waterloo. Williams graduated from the University of Waterloo with a degree in Fine Arts and then enrolled in the animation program at Sheridan College, Oakville, Ontario. Upon graduation from Sheridan, he was recruited by Disney and moved to Los Angeles.


title: Chris Williams (director)

text: Williams previously worked in the story department for "Mulan" (1998), "The Emperor's New Groove" (2000) and "Frozen" (2013), in which he also voiced the character Oaken. In February 2007, it was announced he would direct "American Dog", which was re-titled "Bolt" (2008) and was later joined by Byron Howard, both of them replaced Chris Sanders who was the original director.


title: Chris Williams (director)

text: In July 2010, it was reported by various sources that Williams would direct "King of the Elves" based on the story by Philip K. Dick. However, in 2012, it was revealed that Williams had joined another Walt Disney Animation film, "Big Hero 6", as a co-director inspired by the Marvel Comics of the same name.


title: Chris Williams (director)

text: In November 2018, it was reported that Williams had left Disney and he would write and direct "The Sea Beast" for Netflix. "The Sea Beast" was released on Netflix on July 8, 2022.


title: Neuromuscular-blocking drug

text: Neuromuscular-blocking drugs block neuromuscular transmission at the neuromuscular junction, causing paralysis of the affected skeletal muscles. This is accomplished via their action on the post-synaptic acetylcholine (Nm) receptors.


title: Neuromuscular-blocking drug

text: In clinical use, neuromuscular block is used adjunctively to anesthesia to produce paralysis, firstly to paralyze the vocal cords, and permit intubation of the trachea, and secondly to optimize the surgical field by inhibiting spontaneous ventilation, and causing relaxation of skeletal muscles. Because the appropriate dose of neuromuscular-blocking drug may paralyze muscles required for breathing (i.e., the diaphragm), mechanical ventilation should be available to maintain adequate respiration.


title: Neuromuscular-blocking drug

text: Patients are still aware of pain even after full conduction block has occurred; hence, general anesthetics and/or analgesics must also be given to prevent anesthesia awareness.


title: Neuromuscular-blocking drug

text: Suxamethonium was synthesised by connecting two acetylcholine molecules and has the same number of heavy atoms between methonium heads as decamethonium. Just like acetylcholine, succinylcholine, decamethonium and other polymethylene chains, of the appropriate length and with two methonium, heads have small trimethyl onium heads and flexible links. They all exhibit a depolarizing block.


title: Neuromuscular-blocking drug

text: Pancuronium, vecuronium, rocuronium, rapacuronium, dacuronium, malouètine, duador, dipyrandium, pipecuronium, chandonium (HS-310), HS-342 and other HS- compounds are aminosteroidal agents. They have in common the steroid structural base, which provides a rigid and bulky body. Most of the agents in this category would also be classified as non-depolarizing.


title: Neuromuscular-blocking drug

text: Compounds based on the tetrahydroisoquinoline moiety such as atracurium, mivacurium, and doxacurium would fall in this category. They have a long and flexible chain between the onium heads, except for the double bond of mivacurium. D-tubocurarine and dimethyltubocurarine are also in this category. Most of the agents in this category would be classified as non-depolarizing.


title: Neuromuscular-blocking drug

text: Gallamine is a trisquaternary ether with three ethonium heads attached to a phenyl ring through an ether linkage. Many other different structures have been used for their muscle relaxant effect such as alcuronium (alloferin), anatruxonium, diadonium, fazadinium (AH8165) and tropeinium.


title: Neuromuscular-blocking drug

text: In recent years much research has been devoted to new types of quaternary ammonium muscle relaxants. These are asymmetrical diester isoquinolinium compounds and bis-benzyltropinium compounds that are bistropinium salts of various diacids. These classes have been developed to create muscle relaxants that are faster and shorter acting. Both the asymmetric structure of diester isoquinolinium compounds and the acyloxylated benzyl groups on the bisbenzyltropiniums destabilizes them and can lead to spontaneous breakdown and therefore possibly a shorter duration of action.


title: Neuromuscular-blocking drug

text: A neuromuscular non-depolarizing agent is a form of neuromuscular blocker that does not depolarize the motor end plate.


title: Neuromuscular-blocking drug

text: The quaternary ammonium muscle relaxants belong to this class. Quaternary ammonium muscle relaxants are quaternary ammonium salts used as drugs for muscle relaxation, most commonly in anesthesia. It is necessary to prevent spontaneous movement of muscle during surgical operations. Muscle relaxants inhibit neuron transmission to muscle by blocking the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor. What they have in common, and is necessary for their effect, is the structural presence of quaternary ammonium groups, usually two. Some of them are found in nature and others are synthesized molecules.


title: Neuromuscular-blocking drug

text: Below are some more common agents that act as competitive antagonists against acetylcholine at the site of postsynaptic acetylcholine receptors.


title: Neuromuscular-blocking drug

text: Tubocurarine, found in curare of the South American plant Pareira, "Chondrodendron tomentosum", is the prototypical non-depolarizing neuromuscular blocker. It has a slow onset (>5 min) and a long duration of action (30 mins). Side-effects include hypotension, which is partially explained by its effect of increasing histamine release, a vasodilator, as well as its effect of blocking autonomic ganglia. It is excreted in the urine.


title: Neuromuscular-blocking drug

text: This drug needs to block about 70–80% of the ACh receptors for neuromuscular conduction to fail, and hence for effective blockade to occur. At this stage, end-plate potentials (EPPs) can still be detected, but are too small to reach the threshold potential needed for activation of muscle fiber contraction.


title: Neuromuscular-blocking drug

text: A depolarizing neuromuscular blocking agent is a form of neuromuscular blocker that depolarizes the motor end plate.


title: Neuromuscular-blocking drug

text: Depolarizing blocking agents work by depolarizing the plasma membrane of the muscle fiber, similar to acetylcholine. However, these agents are more resistant to degradation by acetylcholinesterase, the enzyme responsible for degrading acetylcholine, and can thus more persistently depolarize the muscle fibers. This differs from acetylcholine, which is rapidly degraded and only transiently depolarizes the muscle.


title: Neuromuscular-blocking drug

text: There are two phases to the depolarizing block. During phase I ("depolarizing phase"), they cause muscular fasciculations (muscle twitches) while they are depolarizing the muscle fibers. Eventually, after sufficient depolarization has occurred, phase II ("desensitizing phase") sets in and the muscle is no longer responsive to acetylcholine released by the motoneurons. At this point, full neuromuscular block has been achieved.


title: Neuromuscular-blocking drug

text: The prototypical depolarizing blocking drug is succinylcholine (suxamethonium). It is the only such drug used clinically. It has a rapid onset (30 seconds) but very short duration of action (5–10 minutes) because of hydrolysis by various cholinesterases (such as butyrylcholinesterase in the blood). Succinylcholine was originally known as diacetylcholine because structurally it is composed of two acetylcholine molecules joined with a methyl group. Decamethonium is sometimes, but rarely, used in clinical practice.


title: Neuromuscular-blocking drug

text: The "tetanic fade" is the failure of muscles to maintain a fused tetany at sufficiently high frequencies of electrical stimulation.


title: Neuromuscular-blocking drug

text: This discrepancy is diagnostically useful in case of intoxication of an unknown neuromuscular-blocking drug.


title: Neuromuscular-blocking drug

text: Quaternary muscle relaxants bind to the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor and inhibit or interfere with the binding and effect of ACh to the receptor. Each ACh-receptor has two receptive sites and activation of the receptor requires binding to both of them. Each receptor site is located at one of the two α-subunits of the receptor. Each receptive site has two subsites, an anionic site that binds to the cationic ammonium head and a site that binds to the blocking agent by donating a hydrogen bond.


title: Neuromuscular-blocking drug

text: A decrease in binding of acetylcholine leads to a decrease in its effect and neuron transmission to the muscle is less likely to occur. It is generally accepted that non-depolarizing agents block by acting as reversible competitive inhibitors. That is, they bind to the receptor as antagonists and that leaves fewer receptors available for acetylcholine to bind.


title: Neuromuscular-blocking drug

text: Depolarizing agents produce their block by binding to and activating the ACh receptor, at first causing muscle contraction, then paralysis. They bind to the receptor and cause depolarization by opening channels just like acetylcholine does. This causes repetitive excitation that lasts longer than a normal acetylcholine excitation and is most likely explained by the resistance of depolarizing agents to the enzyme acetylcholinesterase. The constant depolarization and triggering of the receptors keeps the endplate resistant to activation by acetylcholine. Therefore, a normal neuron transmission to muscle cannot cause contraction of the muscle because the endplate is depolarized and thereby the muscle paralysed.


title: Neuromuscular-blocking drug

text: Shorter molecules like acetylcholine need two molecules to activate the receptor, one at each receptive site. Decamethonium congeners, which prefer straight line conformations (their lowest energy state), usually span the two receptive sites with one molecule (binding inter-site). Longer congeners must bend when fitting receptive sites.


title: Neuromuscular-blocking drug

text: Conformational study on neuromuscular blocking drugs is relatively new and developing. Traditional SAR studies do not specify environmental factors on molecules. Computer-based conformational searches assume that the molecules are "in vacuo", which is not the case "in vivo". Solvation models take into account the effect of a solvent on the conformation of the molecule. However, no system of solvation can mimic the effect of the complex fluid composition of the body.


title: Neuromuscular-blocking drug

text: The division of muscle relaxants to rigid and non-rigid is at most qualitative. The energy required for conformational changes may give a more precise and quantitative picture. Energy required for reducing onium head distance in the longer muscle relaxant chains may quantify their ability to bend and fit its receptive sites. Using computers it is possible to calculate the lowest energy state conformer and thus most populated and best representing the molecule. This state is referred to as the global minimum. The global minimum for some simple molecules can be discovered quite easily with certainty. Such as for decamethonium the straight line conformer is clearly the lowest energy state. Some molecules, on the other hand, have many rotatable bonds and their global minimum can only be approximated.


title: Neuromuscular-blocking drug

text: Neuromuscular blocking agents need to fit in a space close to 2 nanometres, which resembles the molecular length of decamethonium. Some molecules of decamethonium congeners may bind only to one receptive site. Flexible molecules have a greater chance of fitting receptive sites. However, the most populated conformation may not be the best-fitted one. Very flexible molecules are, in fact, weak neuromuscular inhibitors with flat dose-response curves. On the other hand, stiff or rigid molecules tend to fit well or not at all. If the lowest-energy conformation fits, the compound has high potency because there is a great concentration of molecules close to the lowest-energy conformation. Molecules can be thin but yet rigid. Decamethonium for example needs relatively high energy to change the N-N distance.


title: Neuromuscular-blocking drug

text: In general, molecular rigidity contributes to potency, while size affects whether a muscle relaxant shows a polarizing or a depolarizing effect. Cations must be able to flow through the trans-membrane tube of the ion-channel to depolarize the endplate. Small molecules may be rigid and potent but unable to occupy or block the area between the receptive sites. Large molecules, on the other hand, may bind to both receptive sites and hinder depolarizing cations independent of whether the ion-channel is open or closed below. Having a lipophilic surface pointed towards the synapse enhances this effect by repelling cations. The importance of this effect varies between different muscle relaxants and classifying depolarizing from non-depolarizing blocks is a complex issue. The onium heads are usually kept small and the chains connecting the heads usually keep the N-N distance at 10 N or O atoms. Keeping the distance in mind the structure of the chain can vary (double bonded, cyclohexyl, benzyl, etc.)


title: Neuromuscular-blocking drug

text: Succinylcholine has a 10-atom distance between its N atoms, like decamethonium. Yet it has been reported that it takes two molecules, as with acetylcholine, to open one nicotinic ion channel. The conformational explanation for this is that each acetylcholine moiety of succinylcholine prefers the "gauche" (bent, cis) state. The attraction between the N and O atoms is greater than the onium head repulsion. In this most populated state, the N-N distance is shorter than the optimal distance of ten carbon atoms and too short to occupy both receptive sites. This similarity between succinyl- and acetyl-choline also explains its acetylcholine-like side-effects.


title: Neuromuscular-blocking drug

text: Comparing molecular lengths, the pachycurares dimethyltubocurarine and d-tubocurarine both are very rigid and measure close to 1.8 nm in total length. Pancuronium and vecuronium measure 1.9 nm, whereas pipecuronium is 2.1 nm. The potency of these compounds follows the same rank of order as their length. Likewise, the leptocurares prefer a similar length. Decamethonium, which measures 2 nm, is the most potent in its category, whereas C11 is slightly too long. Gallamine despite having low bulk and rigidity is the most potent in its class, and it measures 1.9 nm. Based on this information one can conclude that the optimum length for neuromuscular blocking agents, depolarizing or not, should be 2 to 2.1 nm.


title: Neuromuscular-blocking drug

text: The CAR for long-chain bisquaternary tetrahydroisoquinolines like atracurium, cisatracurium, mivacurium, and doxacurium is hard to determine because of their bulky onium heads and large number of rotatable bonds and groups. These agents must follow the same receptive topology as others, which means that they do not fit between the receptive sites without bending. Mivacurium for example has a molecular length of 3.6 nm when stretched out, far from the 2 to 2.1 nm optimum. Mivacurium, atracurium, and doxacurium have greater N-N distance and molecular length than d-tubocurarine even when bent. To make them fit, they have flexible connections that give their onium heads a chance to position themselves beneficially. This bent N-N scenario probably does not apply to laudexium and decamethylene bisatropium, which prefer a straight conformation.


title: Neuromuscular-blocking drug

text: It has been concluded that acetylcholine and related compounds must be in the "gauche" (bent) configuration when bound to the nicotinic receptor. Beers and Reich's studies on cholinergic receptors in 1970 showed a relationship affecting whether a compound was muscarinic or nicotinic. They showed that the distance from the centre of the quaternary N atom to the van der Waals extension of the respective O atom (or an equivalent H-bond acceptor) is a determining factor. If the distance is 0.44 nm, the compound shows muscarinic properties—and if the distance is 0.59 nm, nicotinic properties dominate.)