greg775

QUOTE (ron883 @ May 26, 2017 -> 05:21 AM) Did you get this idea from the PC principal south park episodes? No, it was films of the protests at MU in the library where people were harassed while studying. Turns out some of them marched earlier in the night and they still got reamed for not declaring their white privilege. How bout, "Say please." Or hand out Halloween candy to those who agree to declare their "white privilege" in front of the gangs.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ May 26, 2017 -> 01:32 AM) I thought about the Reddy/Rabbit debate in the other thread and I think the basic point remains that, as a white male, you grow up with a much different life in terms of opportunities, access to education, etc., compared to the AVERAGE Hispanic, African-American or Indian American male. So I considered all the markers or indicators, this stems from a conversation I had on a trip to Peru in 2006 with my white/female fellow American teachers. We had a big debate about whether we were all "rich," because we had passports, the resources/ability to reasonably travel anywhere in the world, and the time to do so (opportunity cost). I thought about my own childhood, which was typical suburban "vanilla white" in the Quad Cities. My father never made a salary of over $44,000 working as a technical writer for the Federal Government, Rock Island Arsenal, and my mother still was able to stay at home with me until middle school and even then she only worked part-time at a local cafeteria and Hardee's (she had only a high school diploma, while my father had done everything but his thesis for a Master's), simply because she wanted to socialize and enjoyed being around people. My salary has never been over that same $44,000 mark, the highest was teaching in the KC Missouri School District and because I had two Master's (which I didn't pay for, due to aforementioned educational opportunities to excel academically), which bumped me higher on the pay scale. My pay here in China is similar, after tax about $3000 per month is left over, so my gross salary before taxes is in the mid 40's range. EDIT: 1A) Only child and always had 10+ presents for Christmas. In fact, one time, my parents got really angry because I counted them all and compared them to other kids and they said I was way too spoiled, haha. Despite just being an "average" white kid in an average Midwest city: 1) I never had to work during high school or university, except summers (and only when I wanted to, and wasn't playing/travelling for sports like soccer and baseball)...my parents allowed me to travel with my high school friends pretty much anywhere we wanted to go, within reason. Some summers, I simply sold baseball cards that my father helped me to obtain by trading his classic stamps/coins, for example, I had every Roberto Clemente TOPPS card except for his rookie year in 1955. So I basically just sold the cards of HoF players/rookie cards to subsidize my expenses, even though I had an allowance and made extra money mowing the lawn or trimming the bushes/shrubs. 2) The hardest summer camp work I had to do was being a summer school activities camp counselor and mowing lawns/landscaping (it was so hot and humid, haha!!!) 3) Went to an excellent suburban school where all of us got high 20's/low 30's on the ACT without even having to work hard, it was just expected of us...my two best friends went to NW, I could have gone to NW or ND but wanted to save my parents money (also because I was going to study English and History) and be closer to my g/f who was still in high school. 4) Got two Master's degrees without having to spend any money due to scholarships based on GRE scores and also subsidies (the second one was subsidized through a program similar to Teach for America)...access to excellent and cheap (just property taxes) education. In fact, the house I grew up in (only lived in two houses while growing up, yet another classic marker of privilege) would only sell for about $115,000 today (3 BR, 2 bath, 2 car garage, typical late 60's/early 70's house). In fact, my mom still lives there. 5) Have enough free time to post "frequently" at SoxTalk but still can afford a nanny for my two year old...what would you say, 90%+ of the posters at SoxTalk are white males between 20-50? The mods could clarify their demographics, but it's mostly white males who have enough time in their lives to consume and discuss sports on a daily basis. 6) Was always able to choose "dream" or "cool" jobs because I never had to worry about money, like working for the Augusta GreenJackets (I did get free rent and a stipend and commissions from sales) for two seasons as Director of Stadium Operations and PR and starting a non-profit with an NFL football player (I agreed to work the first year for $1000/month and free rent at LaQuinta despite him earning an NFL salary for the Broncos and Giants...speaking of privilege, read what became of Arthur Marshall, Jr., as it relates to real estate fraud, glad I quit working for him as I could see it coming a mile away, just like Trump's staffers). 7) Was able to take positions like AmeriCorps Promise Fellow (paying $8-10,000) a year for two years because it was what I wanted to do at the time...my father paid off my Toyota Camry lease (kept for himself) and bought me a used Buick so I could pursue volunteer work for 5 years. In fact, my salary as program director of Youth Volunteer Corps of Greater KC (the program still exists today) was only $27,000 per year, but I could still buy a house for $77,000 and make payments around $500 per month because of savings despite the low salary. How many African-American/Indian/Hispanics in their late 20's can easily access credit for car leases and home loans? NOT MANY. 8) My father started putting money into a ROTH IRA for me when I was just 20 or 21...like an idiot, in the late 1990's, I got frustrated with a conservative/value-oriented mutual fund and got into tech, but how many of those same minority kids are accruing compound interest in their 20's??? The answer is about 3-5%, mostly through 401K employer-based plans. 9) Have been able to travel all around the world, 40+ countries, 47 states...my father brought me to every Civil War battlefield, every historic site in Washington, DC, one summer because he was able to take time off his job. He and my mother also shared their love of reading/history with me as a child, which turned me into a lifetime reader (minority kids typically have a single mother working two jobs, which is why their vocabulary attainment is 2-4,000 words at the same time mine was 20,000). Most of those kids never catch up, they're already starting the 100 meters 10 meters behind before they even start KG. 10) Don't have to worry about retirement or my son's educational expenses due to investments/family trust. 11) Was able to spend the period from 2003-2013 basically traveling all around the world...teaching whenever I needed money (well, I taught full-time about 75% of that, and of course had summers/Christmas/Spring Break, etc. off to travel). Most recently, was able to go to India for three weeks and to Kenya/Tanzania for three weeks in 2013, but have spent a ton of time at all the beaches in Hawaii, Bali, Thailand, Philippines, Goa/Kerala, etc. 12) Because I was a privileged white male and American, was able to date pretty much any woman in the world from 2003 until 2013 (despite being 33-43 years old) because I had money/resources and was American...more white privilege. In fact, how many minority Americans can have a 20 year old Russian model for a wife, or how many can be 45 and marry and have a family with a highly-educated and attractive Chinese woman who's fully fluent in English (her alma mater, Wuhan University, is the equivalent of a lower-rung Chinese version of an Ivy League school), has a good full-time job and is a full 14-15 years younger than me? 13) Besides all that, I eat what I want, I have been able to read pretty much every book and watch every movie or t.v. show that I've ever wanted to (my best friend had a similar life, except he pursued listening to music and going to concerts, his sister went to Harvard Law), for most of my life I was single and could do whatever the heck I wanted to, without having to worry about how much money I made (and, saying that, I never borrowed money from my parents after the age of 22, other than my father subsidizing my car when I was doing national service through AmeriCorps...and one time when I was in the Philippines/Cebu in 2008 and went out every night for 39 nights in a row to a bar/club/disco and lost my ATM card abroad, so had emergency money sent via Western Union). 1-2%? I AM WHITE PRIVILEGE. I AM AMERICAN PRIVILEGE. We can wrap this argument in economics instead of race, but the fact remains I was raised in a very average middle class white family...maybe with the exception being my father was very wise/conservative/prudent about saving and investment. He taught me to never buy a new car, always to pay for everything in cash, never to have a balance on a credit card but that they were very useful for traveling/renting cars, how to invest in the stock market (Buffett/Benjamin Graham/Ayn Rand books galore in our house). Once again, how many minority kids are growing up with those exact same opportunities, to spend the whole year traveling and playing baseball, basketball, soccer, volleyball, cross country, ultimate frisbee....instead of working? About the only thing I didn't do was learn how to play a musical instrument, which I am currently correcting that with my son. Oh, and I didn't get my wish to have a Labrador Retriever growing up. I had to wait until my late 20's when I was living on my own and renting a room in a boarding house when I was making the Federal poverty rate of $8,740 as an AmeriCorps member in 1998 (I did get $4,500 "free" for educational expenses too, in all fairness). How many of those kids actually get to live their dreams of doing volunteer work for five years, but still can afford to buy a house and sell it for $20,000 profit when their base salary is only $27,000? I REST MY CASE. Good post. I still am not into the white privilege thing. Don't like the moniker White Privilege. Don't like the bullying tactics to get you to admit it. I'd rather be beaten to a pulp by a gang of thugs telling me to invoke my "white privilege" than say I have it. Of course I've had some opportunities because of my race and my parents helping me. However there are plenty of rich assholes who have never worked a day in their lives. They've had it MUCH easier and better than me and they are white. There are also African Americans whose parents are rich surgeons and they will be set for life and their kids will be set for life. Should they thank privilege of any kind? What good does it do to say we're privileged. There are hard working people of all races. There are lazy people of all races. In a perfect world the hard workers get rewarded privilege be f***ed.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ May 26, 2017 -> 03:41 AM) http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/sports...0522-story.html http://www.wnff.net/index.php?topic=35223.0 Hello, marketing department!!!! Instead of "5 wins" in June (since the Padres have 15 home games), it would be 4 wins in June, since 4 out of 12 games is the same 33% percentage of games played. With the Padres offering $99 for as many games as it takes the Pads to get to 5 home wins (out of 15 in June), 12/15=80%, the White Sox could do the same for $74.44, $79.99 or $80 or however you want to price it to get to 4 home wins. Theoretically, you could go to 12 games for a price of basically about $6.67 per game (if it lasted through 12), not including parking. Of course, if they reeled off 4 in a row to start, it's hard to imagine being "too upset" about spending even $20 per ticket because those were all Sox wins that you just attended, and $20 is still a very fair price for a big league game. It's such a cool, simple idea...and would be fun for the fans like Greg who actually care about winning games more than the rebuild at this point. sounds great but where do you sit? Upper tank?

QUOTE (Soxbadger @ May 25, 2017 -> 08:32 PM) Is this who we want to represent America? Doesn't matter. We elected him and he stays until impeachment.

QUOTE (OmarComing25 @ May 24, 2017 -> 07:57 PM) I think Kershaw is the only active starting pitcher who makes the Hall. Sabathia is borderline but I think he just misses it. Sale would need to be elite into his mid 30s and I don't see it happening. Felix was on track but he's been very mediocre his last few seasons and unless he returns to his previous form (unlikely) I don't see that happening either. If Bumgarner can nab a Cy Young or two I guess he has a shot, but no one else is in the conversation. At least until standards change to reflect the modern era. This is hilarious and makes my point for me. They might as well close the doors of the Hall forever to pitchers. No more players are getting in. These starters aren't even going to sniff 200 wins. And the relievers won't be resilient enough.

QUOTE (Tony @ May 25, 2017 -> 02:52 AM) With that said, I've never understood the crowd of "Throw them out, they are 100% meaningless, dumbest stat in the world." What is it hurting? It's information. but why throw a stat out completely? With all due respect to you, if you are a sabes guy, it's because MANY of the Sabes people are braggarts who want everybody to know they are Sabes people and scoff at the old regular stats. For pitchers that would be W/L, ERA, strikeouts to walks. For hitters it's BA, 2B, 3B, HR, SB, the old "League Leaders" categories that meant something. The old stats are scoffed at by the sabes people. That's the way it is. BA/HR/RBI means very little now because of Sabes.

QUOTE (Soxbadger @ May 25, 2017 -> 02:34 AM) Trump didn't let Spicer meet the Pope, such a scummy move. Spicer is a Catholic, but more important to let Jared and Ivanka meet him. Really shows the type of human Trump is. I didn't read the story yet but this is degrading. If I were Spicer I damn well would have met the Pope and resigned if Trump called me on it. I mean did Spicer have to hide in the corner while everybody else was meeting the Pope?

QUOTE (RockRaines @ May 24, 2017 -> 09:59 PM) My favorite argument is that 20 year olds dont need insurance. Has anyone BEEN to a doctor on a college campus? Its full as f***. Any 22-35 year old (young working adult) that is not obese is probably enjoying an active lifestyle: playing basketball, softball, tennis, s*** maybe baseball and pick up hockey) and guess what, in that span that young working adult is probably going to break something or tear ligaments. And with costs the way they will be, those injuries/surgeries would be enough to put a person on the streets homeless. Fix healthcare, America! We shouldn't all be homeless someday because we are tossed on the street after a broken leg or illness. What's it going to cost to have a baby if there are any complications at all???

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ May 24, 2017 -> 11:39 PM) Yes, Gregster. The current House bill, without any bipartisan elements, is polling 22 points less popular than even Donald Trump. That's amazing. Senate doesn't want to give up their majority in two years (despite numerous Dems compared to Republican seats up for re-election in 2018.) Well they better damn well vote it down. I mean you are talking about crippling 50 million Americans or more? That means 50 million homeless people coming up? Wow.

If Renteria is a bunt guy, get rid of him as soon as the team gets good again. Bunting is proven hazardous to a team's chances of scoring.

QUOTE (Tony @ May 25, 2017 -> 01:30 AM) And your bat-s*** crazy theory is all based on what the Royals announcers said last night on the broadcast, correct? No, they were acting like wins and losses were still important which got my mind rolling because this board despises the W/L stat.

There was no reason to keep Q after we traded Sale. Deal shoulda been struck in the offseason if they were planning on trading him at all. You never take a chance on a guy having a stellar year when you are planning to trade him. Now if we want to keep Q, never mind.

QUOTE (Tony @ May 25, 2017 -> 12:44 AM) At this point, do you even know what argument you are trying to make? Is it really that you believe no starting pitchers will ever make the Baseball Hall of Fame again? Is that what you are really trying to argue? Actually no pitchers at all who are early to mid career. I don't know which guys are eligible right now that might get in cause they are close to 300 wins, but yeah, I don't see anybody ever getting in counting guys early to mid career. Nobody cares about wins any more and that's all they used to care about regarding Hall starters. Closers' careers are short now, so the media won't vote them in for 4-5 dominant seasons alone.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ May 24, 2017 -> 05:57 PM) Maybe. He still was really good. What I don't understand is all the Hawk haters who always slam him for his lack of sabermetric use, but love Stone, who seems to base how good any pitcher is by wins. In Stone's era wins were ALL that mattered. The newspapers ran the standings with probable starters and you looked at wins and losses. QUOTE (Sox-35th @ May 24, 2017 -> 07:01 PM) It's more the way the game is played now. The fact is, wins don't really mean anything. The fact that you can blow a save and still get a win is stupid. And starters only pitch 6-7 innings now anyway. It just doesn't make sense as a stat anymore. Well, they might as well announce that no modern starting pitchers will ever get in the hall again. Cause nobody's gonna win 250 games anymore (which still wasn't enough; you needed 300 by gawd to get in) and if guys are only going six innings they won't have the strikeout totals either to impress. Also if guys are losing 1-2 seasons of a career to tommy john surgery, even more reason for no Hall of Fame. Closers? Doubtful because they only dominate 4-5 years and that's not long enough domination to be worthy of Hall. QUOTE (Quinarvy @ May 24, 2017 -> 08:22 PM) Man, Greg thought this was the ultimate "GOTCHA" thread, didn't he? For a guy who is despised, I talk about things that people pay attention to. They respond to me as much as you despise me. QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ May 24, 2017 -> 11:46 PM) And he hasn't given a single opinion of what he thinks the criteria should be. Just repeating "sabes!" Part of my angst is I still like wins and losses as a stat. The criteria? None. None of these guys are going to make the hall cause they aren't going to stack up to the guys who won 300 games. The voters won't have it. There is no criteria available that is gonna help these pitchers out in regards to the Hall.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ May 24, 2017 -> 08:04 PM) Greg's opinion is a nice look into that headline influence vs actual facts. Fear mongering is a very effective way to control the narrative. Just remember I predicted us attacking N Korea when it occurs.

QUOTE (bmags @ May 24, 2017 -> 09:35 PM) It was passed by the house. I know. Can't Senate reject it?

There's so much outrage today about this new health care plan. Look, it hasn't passed yet. If it's not reviewed closely and rejected by the House then that is as bad as Trump proposing it. Just reject it if it's so bad. Why would it pass into law?

QUOTE (RockRaines @ May 24, 2017 -> 07:23 PM) You being sad has nothing to do with it. Are you saying there is more violence in the world right now than there ever has been? I just want to make sure this is clear. I think once the war begins over the Korea situation, yes, at that point more violence than ever. It figures to be a major war, to go with all the incidents, mass killings.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ May 24, 2017 -> 02:24 PM) Compared to when? More now than ever. Are you not concerned and saddened about this? I can't believe I'm being ripped for being sad about this incident. This country is in deep trouble as is the world. The moment N. Korea has capability of tossing a nuke at US soil, you don't think that will happen? And not waiting for that ... you don't think Trump will start something soon vs. Korea?? These are dangerous times.

QUOTE (TheFutureIsNear @ May 24, 2017 -> 12:06 PM) Doesn't take much imagining to know the Sox still wouldn't be a playoff team It could have been a "possible" playoff team except for the continued piss poor defense. You've got an outfield of Melky, Eaton and Avi. Only Melky blows and sometimes he is serviceable. You've got Frazier, Anderson, Saladino and Jose Abreu. True, Frazier and Saladino suck but "on paper" a career year from Frazier and last year's hitting from Saladino would have been potentially good. We always said we'd need to acquire a catcher via free agency or trade in a contending scenario. Also DH would have needed an upgrade. Then you got Sale and Q, best 1-2 punch in the division with arguably a lock down closer. You have Rodon and Holland would have been an OK No. 5 with everybody saying one of our minor league phenoms will probably be called up in early June. But to win this division? Certainly the Sox could have contended with Sale and Eaton and some tinkering IF some things fell into place. The team would have had to make the usual 1-3 offseason moves and hope they were significant enough to help the team, though.

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ May 24, 2017 -> 04:32 PM) You are correct that this is an issue, but the source is very clear. I'm glad you say it's an issue as you are a great writer. I just am amazed and shocked when people discuss pitchers for the Hall and bring up wins still.

QUOTE (ptatc @ May 24, 2017 -> 03:08 PM) How would you determine that Hernandez is one of the best pitchers of all time? He has 150 wins, not bad in this era, but wins no longer are considered anything to look at. So what do you look at? Somebody said "how dominant a pitcher was in his era." How do you determine dominance? For those who still look at wins, and we're told we shouldn't, he was 19-5 one year, then 13-12, 14-14, 13-9, 12-10 followed by domination of 15-6 and 18-9. Pretty good, there, but again wins are not a factor. So is it ERA only? He's got a 3.18 career ERA, pretty darn good. Is is strikeouts? He's got a zillion of those. I'd guess he should be in the Hall of Fame as he did dominate. But ... he's 31. Let's say he is human the rest of the way and barely tops 200 win total. Like I said many pitchers in the past weren't even considered ONLY because they had 'just' 200 wins and were not near the coveted 300 mark. I'm thinking very very few if any starters will be named to the Hall in the future. And relievers? Most great ones "dominate" for 4-5 years then they are done. Do they get in just cause of huge save totals in a four-year period?

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ May 24, 2017 -> 01:25 PM) Lackey has 180 wins, no way for him. WINS MEAN NOTHING I've been told over and over. So how can you say this? Wins shouldn't be in the discussion. QUOTE (Sox-35th @ May 24, 2017 -> 03:23 PM) The good GMs in baseball know pitching wins mean nothing. They are completely meaningless. And yet wins have been THE major argument for or against a pitcher's going to the Hall. "He had (fill in the blank) 20-win seasons." "He won 25 games one year." My point is no pitchers will be getting in the Hall ever again except relievers because saves still mean something to the Sabes people.

QUOTE (Dam8610 @ May 24, 2017 -> 04:54 AM) Saying that wins "mean nothing" is an extreme position that I'm not sure anyone would take. That said, I think it's completely reasonable to acknowledge that wins are far more a product of overall team performance and run support received by a pitcher than they are a product of pitcher performance. I don't think anyone would argue that a 20 win pitcher with a 4 ERA is better than a 10 win pitcher with a 3 ERA, given equal or nearly equal innings pitched. So how do guys get in the Hall of Fame from now on? What criteria?

QUOTE (Thad Bosley @ May 24, 2017 -> 05:48 AM) Why were you listening to the Royals' game? Was the Sox game not coming in by you? I was in the car. I live in KC area. I watched Sox fifth til eighth and turned it off after the second bunt attempt. Couldnt take it any more.