Flat-out flatness, the hard line of the horizon. I like the little towns with their handfuls of buildings huddled close to the grain elevators, like medieval towns clustered around their cathedrals.

How can a team be flat when you know what you have on the line? We know what this game means. We know what every game means. We're not going to come out flat on Sept. 21 when we're a game and a half out. They came out, they jumped on us, they never let us up. We scored three. They answered back. They kept their foot on our neck and never let us breathe. That's what the game was today.

The line readings of Portman and Lloyd are often flat, or flat-out wrong.

I didn't pitch well enough to win. That's the flat-out bottom line.

Stocks have been flat, in line with the high levels.

The manager has his eye on the bottom line; the leader has his eye on the horizon.