greg775

Rodman is headed back to visit North Korea according to CNN exclusive. You know, Rodman is friends with Kim Jon Un. If I were Dennis I'd hang out and shoot hoops with Jon Un and smoke cigars and drink with him or do whatever they do as pals over there. But if I were Rodman I'd plead with Un really, beg him, to let this visit have some significance other than Dennis visiting with the brutal leader. Beg him to let go those 4 Americans being detained. I mean WTF. Just get real with his pal and tell him to do him a solid. Give him the Americans to bring home. I mean those 4 Americans don't mean s*** to North Korea. It'd be a great goodwill gesture and really there's no excuse for not making Rodman a hero. Please Dennis, do some good over there besides smoking cigars with your buddy. Get him to let you bring some Americans home! Just tell Jon Un it's time he do him a favor for gosh sakes. Why go over there and accomplish nothing like Dennis' last visit? Jon Un has been even more despicable since Dennis' last visit over there. Promise your buddy something; autographs of MJ or anything to get those Americans home!

QUOTE (Tex @ Jun 12, 2017 -> 12:47 PM) Civility is the main thing we are looking for. What Greg writes may at times be frustrating, challenging, baiting, maybe what some people would call trolling, I can't think of a post where we attacked someone personally. I don't know Greg the person, I only know what he writes which creates a screen character. Is it his true thoughts and beliefs? I don't know and don't worry about that. Same with every other poster here. I personally believe the 'Buster is a little better because of Greg and other posters like him stirring the pot. Let me offer an example. Years ago a poster here who I greatly respect and like accused me of not liking him based on the battles we had here on the pages of the 'buster. I was shocked that he thought that, but after thinking about the arguments we had and how we responded to each other, it made sense. That should not have happened and are the types of posts we would like to tone down. I recognize that the hope he has for America is the same as mine, we only differ on the route to that dream. Mine works and his won't. A final thought. I believe the topics we discuss here are important to the future of our country. If we each tried to move people to our point of view that is truly doing something for what we each believe is right. We aren't going to do that by insulting each other. I really want y'all to resist a border wall, especially through a National Park. I'm not going to do that by calling you a racist idiot. I want y'all to support a guest worker program and a path to limited citizenship for the undocumented workers contributing each day to our success. I can't achieve that through insults. I'd like y'all to push for less government borrowing. And I will leave you with this. A now banned poster accused me of always humming this tune as I was sitting around this campfire . . . Kumbaya my Lord, kumbaya Kumbaya my Lord, kumbaya Kumbaya my Lord, kumbaya Oh Lord, kumbaya Someone's singing Lord, kumbaya Someone's singing Lord, kumbaya Someone's singing Lord, kumbaya Oh Lord, kumbayah Someone's laughing, Lord, kumbaya Someone's laughing, Lord, kumbaya Someone's laughing, Lord, kumbaya Oh Lord, kumbaya Someone's crying, Lord, kumbaya Someone's crying, Lord, kumbaya Someone's crying, Lord, kumbaya Oh Lord, kumbaya Someone's praying, Lord, kumbaya Someone's… Nice post. I like good posts.

QUOTE (Wanne @ Jun 12, 2017 -> 10:47 PM) Meh...all this doom and gloom about Quintana. Honestly...look at his starts tho. It's not like he's getting stellar run support by any means. He's given up more than 4 runs twice...in back to back crappy outings against Boston and AZ (and AZ rakes at home...best record in baseball at home). Besides that: 4 runs- 1 time (L) 3 runs- 3 times 2-(L) 1-No decision 2 runs- 1 time (W) 1 run- 2 times Both No decisions 0 runs- 1 time (W) Correct me if I missed something here. So honestly the guy has only had 2 really bad outings this year. Given his track record...durability...and affordability as well as control...you'd be nuts to think teams won't be calling Hahn. Let's not let this 2-8 record you...he hasn't pitched that awful bad. You don't settle. Man, good job of trying to sell him. The guy is 2-8 with an ERA of over 5.00. He's been pathetic and will get us very very little in return. I realize the advanced stats are loving on him, but ... QUOTE (Soha @ Jun 12, 2017 -> 11:31 PM) I don't know why we keep sugar-coating this. Quintana has pitched like garbage this year. He's afraid of throwing strikes, particularly when he gets 2 strikes on the hitter. He nibbles and they aren't chasing anything he throws outside of the zone. Yes he's an awesome asset moving forward, but no playoff bound team in their right mind would want anything to do with him right now. AMEN! He's been awful and no team is giving up much for Q. Sox fans who love trades are gonna have to accept the fact the team is one of the worst in baseball for a reason. Our players suck (and our manager loves to bunt).

QUOTE (Jack Parkman @ Jun 12, 2017 -> 06:34 AM) If I could, I'd rather set someone up with a good vocational specialist, who would help a financially struggling person get a job and if struggling with mental illness, seek outpatient help. Give a man a fish, he'll eat for a day; teach a man to fish and he'll eat for the rest of his life. Nice. The problem for many is time as u said. In a perfect world we could spend 4-6 hours a day helping the homeless. It's a crutch, sure, but people are busy. Also many people understandably don't want to always get involved. Like I said, the homeless person I tried to help get out of the rain was in my estimation beyond help. I was going to take the guy to the hospital after he freaked out or the police station if he didnt stop threatening me. I don't blame the guy for having mental problems, but not many people have the time to spend a good portion of their days helping people. Everybody has their own family problems, etc.

QUOTE (Jack Parkman @ Jun 12, 2017 -> 05:27 AM) I live my life by what I like to call the platinum rule. Treating others like you want to be treated isn't good enough. You treat others BETTER than you want to be treated. Think to yourself "What would make my day if someone did something for me?" Then take it a step further. Go out of your way to do something nice for certain people. See that homeless guy at the corner by Union Station with the I'm hungry sign? Take him out to lunch and have a conversation with him. Attempt to put yourself in his shoes. Imagine for a moment what it would be like if the shoe was on your foot instead of his. How desperate would you be if you had no job, no prospects, no family to take care of you and nowhere warm to sleep in winter and cool to do so in the summer? Awesome. You are a great person. I will say this can be tricky. I've actually picked up a homeless person who was standing in a storm once getting soaked and I won't go into detail but the experience was not positive. Remember, mental illness is possible in some of the homeless individuals. I try to be a good person at all times. I respect your take. I have a friend who at christmas time takes out 5000 dollars in 100s and gives 100 a pop to all homeless he can find. He's a good person.

QUOTE (Jack Parkman @ Jun 12, 2017 -> 05:01 AM) And as a secular humanist I believe the exact opposite, that this is what happens in a highly religious society. Religion is all about oppression, mind control and power. The best thing that ever happened to my mental health was to let go of the idea of god. It punishes good people by destroying their mental health, always worrying about whether they will enter the afterlife, and vindicates evil, by giving them a get out of hell free card, so they think they have carte blanche to be horrible human beings. I don't need a god to look at my fellow human beings and know that they deserve the all of the things that humans need to be healthy, physically and emotionally. That's cool how we disagree completely. In my frame of mine, I feel like if everybody exhibited the qualities of Christ (the father who made us; son who died for us and holy spirit who sustains us; three in one) we would not be so selfish. We would not be cutthroat at all times. We would treat people as we would like to be treated. I respect your take.

QUOTE (Jack Parkman @ Jun 12, 2017 -> 04:06 AM) There is no civility left in America, only hate, blame and excuses. This country is coming apart at the seams, and is weak.We can't continue to push others around and be selfish. I as a stout believer would say this is what happens in a God-less society. But I then would/will duck as all sorts of objects are thrown at me.

QUOTE (maxjusttyped @ Jun 12, 2017 -> 01:39 AM) If the GOP repeals the ACA (which all signs point to them still doing) and Dems don't run on single payer in '18 and beyond they deserve to lose. Very true. If this new plan goes through, the next Democratic nominee may win every state except Kansas which would vote for a Republican if his name was (fill in the blank with name of any despicable human being alive or dead). It's true. Brownback won re-election cause of that R. Single payer will rule in next election cycle.

QUOTE (Jerksticks @ Jun 12, 2017 -> 03:22 AM) i would cook my own s*** brownies and eat them if we got Robles. No you wouldn't, but it's a decent joke.

Sox are lucky Q has good advanced stats. His old day stats reek. 2-7, ERA over 5. Awful. Poor Anderson is striking out too much and never walking.

QUOTE (Lip Man 1 @ Jun 11, 2017 -> 05:43 AM) Sox attendance has been going down every season from the previous one since the end of the 2006 season, except for two years if I remember correctly. Shouldn't be a surprise given the state of the team on the field for the past decade. Also I thought I read somewhere about the parking and that what is charged is not the decision of the Sox nor do they get a share of the parking money generated. I could be wrong about that, perhaps someone can clarify. Sox attendance keeps going down, hmmm. I think baseball has a pace problem. Unless you are a total fanatic like most of us here, I just don't think you care about seeing batters re-do the velcro on their gloves after every pitch and all the stalling that's done in the game. It's very slow paced and these annoying defensive shifts are very un-fan friendly. Also the fact that once you hit the sixth inning you start the lefty/righty matchup game ... there are many reasons baseball blows right now and why the average fan would rather do something else on a summer evening. p.s. It's also very insulting as a fan of the home team when a player, faced with an extreme shift, makes NO attempt to just plop a bunt down or point his body in the direction of the green grass to break the shift. It seems very selfish/ridiculous that a lefty hitter would hit to the right side of the diamond when it would be physically impossible to make an out by dribbling something to the left side where there is ONE lonely fielder standing out by shortstop.

QUOTE (elrockinMT @ Jun 11, 2017 -> 05:27 AM) I seriously think contract extension for Frazier and Robertson would be a good move Interesting. I know Frazier has been kind of Adam Dunn like with his lousy hitting and Ks, but I respect your right to want to sign him. Robertson definitely is a B-plus closer.

QUOTE (Lip Man 1 @ Jun 11, 2017 -> 05:38 AM) Just my opinion but it really doesn't matter for the next two seasons, who they replace the guys who are traded with. That's all part of the process that has been decided already for right or wrong by the powers that be. Any warm body will do. They are going to lose and lose an awful lot, may as well get used to it, make the best if it and get something good out of it (hopefully) at the end. Also on the topic of free agency, under current ownership the Sox have never, are never and will never spend the hundreds of millions of dollars to get the absolute top free agents out there. Plus this past off season's crop of free agents as well as next year's is not considered good overall. Even if you signed a bunch of them there were (are) very, very few difference makers...not worth what they were asking. And the Sox had and still have more holes in the lineup and on the roster than craters on the Moon. Even if they wanted to they couldn't possibly sign enough decent free agents to attempt to fill all the gaping issues. On another topic, the only bad thing tonight was that once again the starting pitcher couldn't go deep into the game (but at least they didn't use Petricka! Good post, Lip. Hey Lip, you are a very very smart person so I'll ask you an honest question. Do you trust our front office to draft the right guys and actually put together a consistent winner after 3-4-5 seasons of this crap? Do you trust that the Sox will acquire good prospects/good future players with this current brain trust?

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ May 31, 2017 -> 05:06 AM) Almost 22,000, a bit disappointing for Sale vs. Q, but a dreaded Tuesday night game. 23. MIN 23,101 24. ARI 22,648 25. CIN 21,681 26. CHW 21,646 27. CLE 21,394 28. MIA 20,970 Averaging in the low 20s is kind of lousy isn't it? Is it the price of a ticket, parking, concessions or the slow pace of baseball in 2017?

QUOTE (elrockinMT @ Jun 11, 2017 -> 02:24 AM) Let's keep Robertson I love u El Rockin. In a mancrush type way. You are the best fan ever. And you and I may be the only 2 people on soxtalk who would rather keep him and acquire more like him in free agency.

Serious question: Is Holmberg any good? I see he's young and a former 2nd round pick. Not some 25th rounder. Any good?

QUOTE (ron883 @ Jun 10, 2017 -> 07:36 PM) There is a difference between having a different viewpoint and having the blatant wilful ignorance and refusal to learn. You display the latter. Most places consider it trolling, but I think people honestly don't know if you just are doing it on purpose or if you actually don't understand it. I won't respond any more on this thread and ruin its purpose, but I have never understood this "refusal to learn" crud people hit me with. I refuse to come over to the popular side, sure. But it's not a refusal to learn. For instance the violence in Chicago issue. Whenever it comes up, the majority freak out and say how safe the city is compared to years ago and cite stats and they think I don't consider their stats. Sure I read your stats, but I have my own eyes and ears and it's pretty f***ing obvious there's a ton of violence in Chicago the last few years. If somebody's gonna tell me how safe it is and all I'm reading in the Sun Times is murder after murder, cmon folks! There's no refusal of mine to learn, there's a refusal to take those facts and deem violence a non problem.

QUOTE (Quinarvy @ Jun 9, 2017 -> 10:32 PM) Hello, For starters I'd like to thank members of the Buster for keeping engagements mostly civil. However the personal mudslinging has quite frankly become too much. You can disagree with people on this board without attempting character assassination or baiting. From now on, argue talking points, not people. Southsider and I disagree a good bit on our political views, but I'm not going to to tell him he's arguing like an out of touch fogey and he's not going to call me an ignorant millennial. Also, the Republican and Democrat threads are going to more strictly enforced on trolling. Those threads serve to provide areas for like-minded people to discuss. You can still post in the Republican thread if you're a liberal and vice versa, but if you go in with the intent to get a rise out of people, you're out of luck. To accommodate the growing number of independents on this board, an Independent thread will be made upon request. As we're a baseball forum, we'll be instituting a three strike policy. One warning, one 10 day suspension from the Buster and then finally banned from the Buster. This goes for all posters, from newbies to mods to admins Wasn't there just one thread where a couple people were going at each other? Wasn't it just two people even close to personal attacts on here of late? I could be mistaken but one thread doesn't seem like a big deal to me. As far as trolling ... I guess those poor saps (like me; there really are only 1-3 people willing to take on the masses) who have a differing view of controversial issues and a different view of Trump are in big trouble in terms of getting suspended. Cause I'm sure 70 percent of my posts are deemed either trolling or met with consternation/anger. It's not easy being a person with a differing viewpoint. The majority tends to want his/her opinion to be the only opinion and many times differing viewpoints or takes on current issues (the violence, ISIS, Maher, Griffin, Rush, Hillary, Bernie, Trump, the white privilege gangs) and people are met with accusations of trolling and/or baiting and that's sad. People can have different views and refuse to succumb to the more popular view. The mods have the right to ban anybody they want, though.

QUOTE (Brian @ Jun 5, 2017 -> 01:10 PM) I watch Maher weekly and enjoy his show even if I don't agree with his methods sometimes. He's well read and informed and has opinions based on those things. He's also unbiased and references respectable facts. He doesn't just yell in a microphone hoping people take him seriously because of his volume. Rush and Maher aren't even close to being the same. When is the last time you've listened to Limbaugh? I've never heard him raise his voice on his show, albeit a small sample size. He just talks merrily for 3 minutes before 10 minutes of commercials. How anybody can listen to any of those shows for more than one segement or two is beyond me. The commercials will wreck anybody's brain. QUOTE (Brian @ Jun 10, 2017 -> 12:09 PM) Maher took his lumps last night from Ice Cube and Michael Dyson. Maher is a genius. To bring on some guests to discuss what he did and discuss the word was perfect (in terms of his saving his career). Unlike poor Kathy, Maher has EASILY survived this now, partly because of last night's show. Good job by Maher. Perfect job of crisis management by Maher and his staff. It's genius to bring on some guests to hammer him yet also says it's a learning tool. Bill Maher has proven he's a very very smart man. His career continues. Kathy's as of "now" is over. She still has a very slight chance of saving it, but not a great one. Remember Kramer on Seinfeld? He's never come back from his gaffe. Griffin actually ought to beg Maher to put her on his show. A show like last night's where she takes her lumps yet acts professional "could" conceivably save her stand up career. She has to get to the point the casino showrooms will take her back for standup.

QUOTE (chitownsportsfan @ Jun 10, 2017 -> 02:39 AM) None of these 5th starters will have much trade value. Holland, Migo, Shields, Pelfrey, all of 'em. Might get a C+ prospect back at best. None of those guys have any projected value to a contender. There's absolutely no reason any of them would take the field in a pennant race. Same goes for Frazier, Melky. Frazier and Melky will only mess up chemistry of a team not help in any way. Too limited of production. Also, Q's value is very very low right now. He's pitching like a guy who is hittable. Robertson will bring something useful, maybe Q as well.

QUOTE (fathom @ Jun 10, 2017 -> 02:35 AM) Starting pitching has been god awful. Gonzalez and Holland have zero trade value Amen Fathom. Absolutely NO trade value.

QUOTE (chitownsportsfan @ Jun 10, 2017 -> 12:59 AM) I'm so f***ing sick of Melky. He's a horrible baseball player, but ... you have to admit that was monumental when he got hit in the face very very HARD with a foul ball, stayed in the game and immediately followed with a base hit. Pretty tough guy.

Oh boy, we're playing Cleveland again. Any chance baseball changes the format some day to where there are fewer games against division foes? It's really bizarre they do it this way. Cleveland should sweep easily considering the Sox are in their freefall after the good start.

John McCain was asking cringworthy questions of Comey making me feel John may have some sort of physical problem. From what I could tell, he in an indignant manner wanted to know why Comey had wrapped up the Hillary investigation and yet had not come to a conclusion in the Trump/Russkie investigation. Comey kept telling him he was fired when the Russkie investigation was going on. And McCain kept lambasting him for unfairly finishing the Hillary investigation and deeming her innocent and not finishing the Trump investigation. Now I can understand getting flustered but this is a little too simple to be THAT flustered. I think he should get a physical exam PRONTO. What do you say?

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Jun 9, 2017 -> 12:08 AM) Or Meghan McCain...or Hannity, etc. Try watching BBC for one month, or Al Jazeera. Meghan McCain must have given up her radio show. It's not on here anymore. Haven't heard much of Hannity lately. His radio show comes on about 2 out here and I'm all done with lunch hour driving by then. QUOTE (illinilaw08 @ Jun 9, 2017 -> 12:13 AM) But you come here and you post Limbaugh's opinions on Trump and then make comments about how maybe Trump is actually doing really, really well. No one is going to take you seriously if you post Limbaugh's opinions. And I just want to make sure that you understand why that is... Fair enough.