Controlled Chaos

canya change my group to swisher sticks

Home Run Inn.

I was looking for some swish pics and saw his journal...here ya go April 8, 2008 What’s up? It’s been pretty crazy these last few weeks, but a good, fun kind of crazy. I hope y’all will forgive me because I’m lagging a bit on my journal. I’m so happy to finally be home in Chicago on the cheering side of town. The truth is I was only here for Sox Fest back in January, then flew home to California, was off to Arizona for Spring Training, then traveled to Louisville twice, Memphis, Cleveland and Detroit. Frequent flyer miles you ask? The first week has been so exciting –we’re off to a great start! Yet it’s a little tough too, because we’re having quick turnarounds—night games followed by day games. But hey, we’re winning and it doesn’t get any better than that. Let me tell you that this team is filled with so much fire and passion! We want to win and we know we can win. We have an old school attitude of playing hard nose baseball, we have faith in each other -- we’re one big family and I couldn’t feel more blessed to be where I am. I also know that I’m one of those guys that doesn’t have the most talent, but I work hard and I take so much pride in my work ethic and we all know that I love to have a good time! Okay…let’s cut to the chase…I’m sporting a blonde goatee…don’t worry folks…. it’s temporary. You know, it’s not easy to bleach dark brown/black hair to blonde without turning that orange color…how do you ladies do it? See, it started with Toby Hall and Bobby Jenks, now it’s my turn…but I just did my goatee and no, I’m not doing my head…no way. We did it for fun but I’m always doing something with my hair. Remember last year, when I grew my hair for nearly a year so it would be long enough to donate to the Pantene Beautiful Lengths program? My hair was made into a real hair wig for a woman dealing with hair loss from cancer treatments. It took only a few minutes for my father to chop it off in front of the crowd at the Oakland Coliseum, but that feeling of knowing I helped someone else in need, will last my lifetime. We officially announced my Swish’s Wishes home run challenge to help kids in need and we’re starting the season at $900 a home run. Unbelievable! That’s $300 from me and a match from my friend Barry Zito, $100 from Pepsi, $100 from the Pat Covelli Foundation and $100 from a private donor. I hope fans, businesses, and other players will help me raise the total of dollars for each home run I hit. You can download a home run challenge form from the donation page and pledge any amount you wish… $1, $5, $25 --whatever you want. I think we can have some fun together while doing something great for kids in need. Well, my dad is here in town and so we are heading out to dinner in Chicago. He played for the Cubs a long time ago but still knows all the great places to eat. Please keep your emails and pictures coming! I love reading them all and I’m doing my best to answer them as quickly as I can. -

no cherry picking reporting here. Surprising Political Endorsements By U.S. Troops American Soldiers Speak Out About Their Presidential Endorsements By MARTHA RADDATZ April 7, 2008— ABC's Martha Raddatz asked American soldiers in Iraq what issues are most important to them when looking at the presidential candidates. Though the military is not supposed to engage in partisan political activity, these soldiers spoke out about their personal endorsements, and their opinions are likely to matter. In 2004, 73 percent of the U.S. military voted for a presidential candidate, and officials believe it may be even higher this time around. PFC Jeremy Slate said he supported Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., because of his stated intention to pull out of Iraq right away. "That would be nice," Slate said, "I'd like to be home, yea." SFC Patricia Keller also expressed support for Obama, citing his representation for change. Spc. Patrick Nicholls from Eggawam, Mass., pointed out that many soldiers on the frontlines frequently think about their families back home. "We think about how our families are doing back home. That's a major concern, like how the economy is doing, also as well as where we're going to be in the future. Because really, truly, what we consider we're doing, we're doing a valuable job, we want to make sure that the efforts we make are appreciated." He suggested he was too engaged in Iraq to keep up with politics back home. "I haven't really been following it too much since we've been over here, ma'am," he told Raddatz. "So, don't really know which issues are too important to me right now. ... I don't know who's running, ma'am." Lt. Leah Wicks said that, tied into concerns about her family's welfare, were concerns about the economy, "where we're going to be in the future." Only moments before speaking with ABC News, the troops had been listening to Vice President Dick Cheney give a rousing speech, but it didn't change their political preference. Spc. Imus Loto said he supported Obama. "It will be something different. But he's out there and he'll probably support us a lot more." By support, Loto meant pulling out troops. "Pull me out, too." he said. Though the military is generally a more conservative group, soldiers like Sgt. Justin Sarbaum are just as eager for a pull-out as the Democratic candidates. Sarbaum said he wondered which presidential candidate would be able to better the U.S. relationship with rogue nations, such as Iran, so that soldiers are not sent off to another war. "Iran is obviously a big issue," Sarbaum said, "Here in Iraq for my third time; starting another war right now is it really necessary?" Sgt. Cory Messingham from Lewisville, Texas, said he wasn't following the race, but he was concerned about candidates' paying attention to the emotional toll that the war has taken on soldiers. "My biggest issue is support for the military, military funding and our deployments, not having long deployments anymore. Because [the] majority of us are doing ...15-month deployments. So, it's tough on the soldiers and tough on the soldiers' families. Those are really my biggest issues." 1st Sgt. David Logan said, "I am leaning toward Hillary. I think that we should have a gradual drawdown." Though the soldiers have been living in Iraq, they listen closely to the candidates on issues far beyond the wars they are fighting. "Education back in the states is one of my main concerns," Spc. Matthew Durkin said. Economy and environment were on Staff Sgt. Derek Dion's mind. "Things like gas prices, and look at the environment and what we're going to leave our children." Spc. Joseph Lindsesdt, who is from Alaska, said he was watching for consistency of the candidates' views. "The steadiness of the candidate, whether they've changed their views, constantly, over time, or with political wind, as I like to put it." To that end, Lindsesdt's pick is Obama. "The fact that he's followed his views, regardless of what they have been [sic] and whether I've agreed with them or not, sometimes. But he's been steady the entire way." When asked if he was concerned about criticism that Obama had less political experience than some of the other candidates, the battle-weary soldier replied, "No, I think being a decent leader doesn't have to do anything with experience much." JUNG HWA SONG contributed to this report. Copyright © 2008 ABC News Internet Ventures ________________________________________________________________ This is also the front page story on Yahoo and plays the video right there. No mention of McCain in the article. Only room for 4 Obama supporters and 1 Hillary, but at least in the video, after hearing from 5 soldiers, 3 Obama and 2 Clinton, she reluctantly acknowledges "There were some McCain backers"...and follows it up with a video of a soldier saying "Why? Well, Republicans paid my paycheck this far might as well keep it going." Can you say..ringing endorsement?? She also points out how "only moments before we talked to them, these troops had been listening to Vice President Cheney give a rousing speech," but Cheney "didn't change their political preference," As well as "These opinions are likely to matter. In 2004, 73 percent of the U.S. military voted for a presidential candidate. Officials believe it may be even higher this time around. Martha Raddatz, ABC News, with U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan." I don't have the numbers, but what she fails to mention is that according to survey's back then...Bush had the military vote in a landslide. I would guess McCain would have an even a better relationship with the military than Bush did.

slickdeals.net keep your eye out there...they are always posting sick deals on laptops...and such

QUOTE (Gregory Pratt @ Apr 9, 2008 -> 08:15 PM) http://slatev.com/player.html?id=1493304187 Watch the video. That was about the lamest possible result I could have imagined after clicking that link.

QUOTE (kyyle23 @ Apr 9, 2008 -> 05:05 PM) both of your kids are absolutely adorable. Chaos, i assume you are prepared for trouble in the teen years like I am? My daughter just lost her two front teeth so she wont let me take her picture. I'm not prepared in the least. In fact, I'm outright scared out of my mind. Cute pics Mike. How did Maddy handle the new one?

Well she isn't that new, she'll be 2 in June. But we get to experience new things all the time. Throwing herself backwards when you're holding her. Kicking the floor in a tantrum. Kicking you in the boys if you're pushing a shopping cart. Good times. I will also take this time to annnounce she will be a big sister...I have no pic as of yet...In fact, I'm not even supposed to say anything, but really I'm just telling you guys

QUOTE (Shadows @ Apr 9, 2008 -> 01:04 AM) okso duide i rememerb when me and flipped ou punk got banned for pretebnding to be these other dudes who started a thread saying jon galrdland is hott, but im not gay, but lie we got cauvht and s*** and then i wasnt allowed bakc buty then they let me back and i said i was sorry and i f***inglove klalapse, and wite, ans willy, and so many fuvijkg peiople ike sox ace anmd dude i dont evebn klnow what am saying right now Is this like the online equivalent of drunk dialing??

Six sounds good to me!! let's do it!!

There were a bunch of Marines in the seats right in front of us. I think they were the guys that did the flag. We offered to buy them a couple beers, but they were all polite and said no thank you. I saw a bunch of them drinking, so me and a couple of buddies just grabbed a beer peep and said give us 60 bucks worth of beer. And we started passing them down to those guys...and said take em if ya want em. For some reason 4.75 was stuck in my head...so I thought they'd get about 12 beers. Only 9 came though...then I saw the $6.50 button. Yikes!! Oh well I do most of my drinking before the game...I usually only have 1 or 2 at the park. It is high, but I think Bear games are like that now too. In fact, I think they're 7 bucks. Someone can correct me on that if I'm wrong....I only went to one game last year.

QUOTE (Texsox @ Apr 9, 2008 -> 10:00 AM) Or maybe he didn't care about the money and thought he was helping you? BTW, Wouldn't 220, 80, 20 be a better split? Let the 3rd place guy get his money back. And I assume you received more than 1 team for your $20 or else I'd rather be the guy holding the pot, he was the real winner. I asked my friend that and he said no, he just wants to hedge his bets. I'm like it's a $70 dollar difference...his a f***in millionaire...are you kidding me?? I really wanted to beat him just for that....but I needed Kansas to score a few more points!! 220,80,20 does sound better...but we just did 70% 25% 5% and we settled on that before we knew how many people would join the tourney. I am the guy holding the pot...I was hoping I wouldn't have to write the big check this year, but alas I do. My score was 83-76 His was 78-71 Real Score was 75-68

QUOTE (Texsox @ Apr 9, 2008 -> 07:53 AM) Yep, and why pot splitting is so common. Second palce should at least cover entry and any expenses. I've never been in any tourney that didn't give 2nd place money. That would suck. For reference to my question, I guess I should stipulate...most times the prize is a 70- 25 -5 kind of thing. Prize money is never more than a few hundred dollars. The most recent example being the NCAA tourney. It was $224 - $80 - $16. $20 buy in. My friends father in law and me were gonna end up tied for 1st if Kansas won...with the tie breaker being the points. He told me to split it...and said his father in law said he would split it too. I told him to get bent. Especially since his father in law is fricken rich. I can't for the life of me think he is playing this stupid tournament for the money.

In the middle...from yesterday. Feel free to make fun of the other two guys all you want. My friend on the left looks like he's wanting to take one in. Not real sure why you would make that face for a picture, but whatever....

QUOTE (kjshoe04 @ Apr 8, 2008 -> 01:31 PM) They really are, I'm kinda mesmerized looking at them Glad I'm not the only one, I was kinda trippin

Let's say you were in a NCAA tourney or fantasy football or Texas hold em. Any kind of game where you're playing for prize money. If you are one of the final two top teams, do you think it's ok to get together and make a deal with the other guy to split the pot for 1st and 2nd place, instead of playing it out and having a winner and a loser. I personally think splitting the pot is lame. My friend says I'm lame for thinking that. He says games for prizes are gambling and the point of gambling is to make money so cut a deal. I say these games are for winning and losing and yes, it is like gambling and the whole meaning behind the word gamble is to take a risk...there's not so much of a risk if you agree to just tie the guy you're playing against and split the pot. He counters that making that deal is winning cause you made more money. What do you guys think?

okies

QUOTE (Texsox @ Apr 6, 2008 -> 09:52 AM) hey CC, you ever find a negative article about your candidate? Or only Obama? Actually, they are all my candidates since one of them will be President. And yes, I have read plenty of negative articles on Clinton and McCain, but the job of posting those has pretty much been filled by a good portion of the posters here. As to jackiehayes remark about starting a new thread, I rarely start new threads. I started this one because the other pastor one was closed. And as for this most recent article, I didn't think it had much to do with the pastor or church except for the ending. It was more a comparison of Obama and King. Juan Williams is a black liberal and isn't as easily dismissed as some extreme right wing writer like Ann Coulter or something. I thought the article was informative and didn't want it to get lost in this thread. Anyway..I'm off to the game. Go Sox.

QUOTE(kyyle23 @ Apr 6, 2008 -> 09:05 AM) I prefer to keep BA as the 4th OF right now. Much better defense off the bench, and if his ST numbers hold true to his development, the potential of a much better bat off the bench as well I prefer BA as well, but there is no way Ozzie does. JO was the starter in spring, if he is healthy, he is coming up and BA going down as much suckage as that is.

Excellent article Obama and King By JUAN WILLIAMS April 4, 2008 Martin Luther King Jr. died at age 39; today, the 40th anniversary of his death, is the first time he has been gone longer than he lived. Figures such as Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton have tried to claim his place on the American stage. But at most they have achieved fame and wealth. What separated King from any would-be successor was his moral authority. He towered above the high walls of racial suspicion by speaking truth to all sides. Now comes Barack Obama, a black man and a plausible national leader, who appeals across racial lines. But to his black and white supporters, Mr. Obama increasingly represents different things. The initial base of support for Mr. Obama's presidential campaign came from young whites – who saw in him the ability to take the nation to a place where, to quote from King's "I Have A Dream" speech, "we shall be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood." Black voters rallied to Mr. Obama after whites in Iowa and New Hampshire showed they were willing to vote for him. Mr. Obama spoke directly to charges that he was not "black enough," that he was not a child of the civil rights movement because he grew up in Hawaii and has an Ivy League education, that he is too young, it is not his time, and even that his campaign is too risky because white racists might kill him. Mr. Obama, his wife Michelle and supporters such as Oprah Winfrey make the case to black voters that he is the fruit of the struggles of King and others. They argue that this generation of black Americans does not have to wait for their turn to reach for the ultimate political power of the presidency. Mr. Obama has carried a message of pride and self-sufficiency to black voters nationwide, who have rewarded him with support reaching 80% and higher. His candidacy has become, as the headline on Ebony magazine put it, a matter of having a black man as president "In Our Lifetime." Among his white supporters, race is coincidental, not central, to his political identity. Mr. Obama is to them the candidate who personifies the promise of equal opportunity for all. But as black support has become central to his victories, this idealistic view has been increasingly at war with the portrayal, crafted by the senator to win black support, of him as the black candidate. The terrible tension between these racially distinct views now surrounds and threatens his campaign. So far, Mr. Obama has been content to let black people have their vision of him while white people hold to a separate, segregated reality. He is a politician and, unlike King, his goal is winning votes, not changing hearts. Still, it is a key break from the King tradition to sell different messages to different audiences based on race, and to fail to challenge racial divisions in the nation. Mr. Obama's major speech on race last month was forced from him only after a political crisis erupted: It became widely known that he'd sat for 20 years in the pews of a church where Rev. Jeremiah Wright lashed out at white people. The minister cursed America as worthy of damnation, made lewd suggestions about the nature of President Clinton's relationship with black voters, and embraced the paranoid idea that the white government was spreading AIDS among black people. Here is where the racial tension at the heart of Mr. Obama's campaign flared into view. He either shared these beliefs or, lacking good judgment, decided it politically expedient for an ambitious young black politician trying to prove his solidarity with all things black, to be associated with these rants. His judgment and leadership on the critical issue of race is in question. While speaking to black people, King never condescended to offer Rev. Wright-style diatribes or conspiracy theories. He did not paint black people as victims. To the contrary, he spoke about black people as American patriots who believed in the democratic ideals of the country, in nonviolence and the Judeo-Christian ethic, even as they overcame slavery, discrimination and disadvantage. King challenged white America to do the same, to live up to their ideals and create racial unity. He challenged white Christians, asking them how they could treat their fellow black Christians as anything but brothers in Christ. When King spoke about the racist past, he gloried in black people beating the odds to win equal rights by arming "ourselves with dignity and self-respect." He expressed regret that some black leaders reveled in grievance, malice and self-indulgent anger in place of a focus on strong families, education and love of God. Even in the days before Congress passed civil rights laws, King spoke to black Americans about the pride that comes from "assuming primary responsibility" for achieving "first class citizenship." Last March in Selma, Ala., Mr. Obama appeared on the verge of breaking away from the merchants of black grievance and victimization. At a commemoration of the 1965 Selma-to-Montgomery march for voting rights, he spoke in a King-like voice. He focused on traditions of black sacrifice, idealism and the need for taking personal responsibility for building strong black families and communities. He said black people should never "deny that its gotten better," even as the movement goes on to improve schools and provide good health care for all Americans. He then challenged black America, by saying that "government alone can't solve all those problems . . . it is not enough just to ask what the government can do for us -- it's important for us to ask what we can do for ourselves." Mr. Obama added that better education for black students begins with black parents visiting their children's teachers, as well as turning off the television so children can focus on homework. He expressed alarm over the lack of appreciation for education in the black community: "I don't know who taught them that reading and writing and conjugating your verbs were something white. We've got to get over that mentality." King, he added later, believed that black America has to first "transform ourselves in order to transform the world." But as his campaign made headway with black voters, Mr. Obama no longer spoke about the responsibility and the power of black America to appeal to the conscience and highest ideals of the nation. He no longer asks black people to let go of the grievance culture to transcend racial arguments and transform the world. He has stopped all mention of government's inability to create strong black families, while the black community accepts a 70% out-of-wedlock birth rate. Half of black and Hispanic children drop out of high school, but he no longer touches on the need for parents to convey a love of learning to their children. There is no mention in his speeches of the history of expensive but ineffective government programs that encourage dependency. He fails to point out the failures of too many poverty programs, given the 25% poverty rate in black America. And he chooses not to confront the poisonous "thug life" culture in rap music that glorifies drug use and crime. Instead the senator, in a full political pander, is busy excusing Rev. Wright's racial attacks as the right of the Rev.-Wright generation of black Americans to define the nation's future by their past. He stretches compassion to the breaking point by equating his white grandmother's private concerns about black men on the street with Rev. Wright's public stirring of racial division. And he wasted time in his Philadelphia speech on race by saying he can't "disown" Rev. Wright any more than he could "disown the black community." No one has asked him to disown Rev. Wright. Only in a later appearance on "The View" television show did he say that he would have left the church if Rev. Wright had not retired and not acknowledged his offensive language. As the nation tries to recall the meaning of Martin Luther King today, Mr. Obama's campaign has become a mirror reflecting where we are on race 40 years after the assassination. Mr. Obama's success has moved forward the story of American race relations; King would have been thrilled with his political triumphs. But when Barack Obama, arguably the best of this generation of black or white leaders, finds it easy to sit in Rev. Wright's pews and nod along with wacky and bitterly divisive racial rhetoric, it does call his judgment into question. And it reveals a continuing crisis in racial leadership. What would Jesus do? There is no question he would have left that church.

QUOTE(SoxFan1 @ Apr 5, 2008 -> 05:17 PM) Uribe pops out to short RF, Polanco with the catch. 2 dead for Hall. so hall and swish got in a fight with the hair dye. Anyone else?? edit: besides bobby. in fact maybe thats where these guys got it

QUOTE(DonkeyKongerko @ Apr 5, 2008 -> 05:12 PM) 5 runs on 3 hits, I love it! and 0 stolen bases

inning ova

6-4-3

s***...lead off single