greg775

QUOTE (Joxer_Daly @ Feb 19, 2014 -> 12:16 PM) Lots of bedtime reading in here. If Rodman goes back over there to party with their leader, he should be ridiculed/reprimanded/criticized all over our great country. N. Korea is not good.

I was reading in our Catholic diocese newspaper a column on the weird law they were trying to pass that would allow businesses to not serve gays in bars, restaurants, movie theatres etc., on religious grounds. Our bishop, who wrote the column, said the law was getting a bad rap and it only had to do with businesses having the right to refuse service at the actual gay persons' wedding and wedding reception. Like you had the right to refuse to be their provider of flowers. Or you could decline renting them your restaurant for the rehearsal dinner. Now if this is the law, I think I'd still be against it. But the bishop's point was that if a flower provider is all worked up against gay marriage he/she shouldn't have to provide the flowers. As the bishop wrote, it's not like there aren't plenty of flower shops willing to provide. At any rate, somebody is wrong here. The bishop maintains this law is only about actual gay marriage ceremonies and the wedding receptions and refusal of service. He stated the Catholic position on gay relations is that it is not right; he didn't call it a sin, but I think it is classified as a sin. He said that all Catholics should treat gays with respect and allow them the same amenities in life as heteros (except for flowers and food at weddings if there are businesses refusing to provide under religious objections).

QUOTE (Rowand44 @ Feb 23, 2014 -> 04:24 AM) SIU back to .500 in the Valley. The league tiebreakers are kind of funky but if we can somehow win the last 2, we'll prolly be the 3 seed in Arch Madness. Crazy. Is Barry Hinson beloved at SIU? I met him. He seems to be a nice guy. Feisty.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Feb 22, 2014 -> 10:34 PM) American is my least favorite and I travel for a living. Avoid it like the plague. Rock, how do you like flying? The general experience? I would assume your seats are all upgraded since you fly for a living. Do you give a thumbs up to the airlines or not? Are you horrified by the thought of being in the regular cabin vs. first class?

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Feb 22, 2014 -> 10:34 PM) American is my least favorite and I travel for a living. Avoid it like the plague. I did not enjoy my AA experience. I was reading their materials and they are plugging the "New American Airlines" for whatever that is worth. QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Feb 23, 2014 -> 03:43 AM) Why should the airlines feel ashamed because America is getting fat? Would you expect the White Sox to make larger seats and decrease seating capacity because their fanbase can't stop gaining weight? I live too close to O'Hare to even try Southwest, not worth the commute. I always fly American, it goes everywhere I need to and that's where I get miles from my credit card. They have treated me well, no major issues. There is the occasional delay or cancellation, but that goes with the territory given Chicago's weather. I also always fly nonstop when possible. By all accounts though, Asian airlines are about 1000x better than any airlines in America. It just seems to me the airlines don't care, simply do not care that you or your business is paying 300, 400, 500 dollars for flights in the U.S. We are customers and I shouldn't have to have some fat f*** pushing me into the aisle. This has happened OFTEN this winter. They have a responsibility to have people fit in their f***ing seats. Oh wait ... no they don't. If you pay for the luxury of first class you don't have to deal with this. I guess that's their out. I just about asked some asshole if he wanted to make out with me since he was all over me on some recent flight. People can't fit in the seats. QUOTE (Reddy @ Feb 23, 2014 -> 05:05 AM) DELTA - Dont Ever Leave The Airport But seriously AA, Delta and US Air are my top three LEAST favorite airlines. Ugh. Sounds about right.

QUOTE (Reddy @ Feb 22, 2014 -> 08:36 PM) Jetblue is my fav, but United is my primary airline and they're better than most everyone else in my experience. Don't like the sit wherever you want thing with Southwest and they're pretty bare bones other than their pleasant demeanor. Is United so good that travel can be considered pleasant or fun? It just seems to me, the bare bones issues like making your connection, getting to your destination close to on time, not being crunched into oblivion on the actual planes have made flying quite annoying to me. I pay the extra money on Southwest to get in the top 30 of the first boarding group which alleviates some of the SW angst, but its planes are also very cramped. Maybe you are flying first class on United. I just wonder why you like them. I was eavesdropping on some guy talking after we got sent back to the gate and he said he had over 100 hours worth of delays in flying this past month mainly on AA, some weather related, though.

I was flying from Dallas to KC this week and really on a tight schedule (yeah, like it matters to the airlines you need to be someplace when the weather is nice). The dreaded words, "We are going back to the gate for a mechanical problem; I don't know if it will be fixed or we'll need to get another plane" were uttered by the pilot on the intercom. It was American Airlines. We ended up thankfully only being an hour delayed. Plane was full of course. Rebooking would have been a nightmare had the plane been grounded for a winter A/C problem. WTF? It's also a nice touch (NOT) on AA that if you pay 30 bucks you can get a seat in the cabin that is not so cramped. How bout making all seats not so cramped to uh, respect the customer?? My question to you is ... are there any airlines you like/love? And do you think the airlines should be ashamed of themselves that with the country's inhabitants getting bigger (fatter) every year, these seats are as cramped as they are?? I don't know how many times I've had some fat f*** basically push me (in aisle seat) almost out into the aisle cause the guy can't fit in his cramped seat. I do give Southwest Airlines passing grades on overall experience (complaints would be 40 minute connection times are begging you to miss your connection and cramped new planes) and can't give any other airline a passing grade. Any horror stories/comments on the airline industry?

I'd start Paulie or at least base it on, believe it or not, the performances of those 3 guys (Dunn, Paulie, Abreu) in spring training. There's no way the Sox should have Abreu, Dunn and Paulie all on the same team. I still say there's no scientific proof Paulie is going to be horses*** this year. I mean, what if he's healthy? We never get the true story on his health so he may still be banged up for all we know, but what if he's healthy? How do you know he won't have a Jeter-like comeback? There should be some hints in spring training if he's finished or not. If he blasts 5-10 ST homers what will you all say then?? It's stupid the Sox put themselves in this position. Dunn, Abreu and Paulie on the same team is a recipe for disaster. My preference of course would have been to dump Dunn somehow, someway. And before somebody says I'm trolling, I'm not the one who started this thread. Anybody who takes a positive Paulie stance is going to get reamed by the majority of people on this board.

Now some kook in the legislature wants to pass a law forbidding the "use" of surrogate mothers in Kansas. WTF is going on here? The water must be full of drugs.

QUOTE (HickoryHuskers @ Feb 14, 2014 -> 12:47 PM) Based on what I've read about the case, I would lean towards not guilty, but I'm not 100% certain. In any case, the fact that the Italian justice system allows for double jeopardy is ridiculous, and as I said earlier, Italian tourism seems likely to suffer if they don't make this go away. Thanks, Hickory.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Feb 14, 2014 -> 08:31 PM) If he were actually interested in making an intelligent point, there's one that could actually be made. Hillary may be the early front-runner but he's correct in that she has given us no real obvious policy statements as of yet, there's no real "here's what we'll get done if you elect me", or even a "here's a decision I was right about that the rest of you f***ed up". IN 2008 there were both of those. The Democrats were debating what they'd do with health care, and at least 1 candidate got to say "the rest of you totally f***ed up the most important international vote of the last several decades, the Iraq debacle". Being able to say that was definitely a key aspect in how that election turned out, and there was a big policy point to deal with. Thus far, Mrs. Clinton has not laid out a justification for a candidacy and has not spelled out any specific thing that she would focus on getting done. The counter-point of course is that at this point, virtually no legitimate candidate has done so because we're nearly 3 years away from the election day so there's time to do those things. But either way, that is a valid point..."why are we electing this person" is a legitimate question right now. Instead we get borderline misogynist, ad-hominem bullcrap. That type of line is beneath a decent person. I agree with your points on Hillary. Your first paragraph is what I'm trying to say as well as the insinuations about her personality that appeared in that book or that long article that people posted on here.

QUOTE (Reddy @ Feb 14, 2014 -> 07:08 AM) yes it's a joke (the pathetic kind not the funny kind), yes they're a laughingstock, and yes it's officially the worst state in the union. That's what I thought, Reddy. I wonder if I should move out of principle.

QUOTE (Reddy @ Feb 14, 2014 -> 07:10 AM) remind us all what you have against Hillary? I could use a chuckle. By many accounts, she is a mean spirited B word. She has no real ideas of note. She was blah as secretary of state. She seems to me to be very elitist. What does she bring to the table besides "deserving" to be president after all her years of service. Again ... give her an award.

Our state leaders just passed a law saying businesses can turn down gays for service (restaurants, movie theatres, gas stations, wherever) because of religious objections. If you are a business owner and object to gays for religious reasons you can refuse to serve them. Is this godawful state the only one with such a law? Finally, this state's governor turned down all that free money from the government regarding medicare for some reason that angers me to no end. My question to you is: Is Kansas the worst state in the union? Is Kansas a joke? What do you think of my first paragraph?

I just thought of a good way (at least in my mind) of putting Hillary's being a lock to the the next President in perspective. I feel she is being awarded what amounts to a lifetime achievement award with her being named the next President. I question whether she will have the energy to be President. I mean let's just give her a lifetime achievement award or make her honorary Queen of the U.S. But not President. Can't the democrats, who will again win in a landslide, give us a real candidate who can fricking make a difference and help turn around this country? Forgive my pessimism, but I feel like most of our country's inhabitants are starting to think of our beloved USA as Detroit - a bankrupt, decrepit country. Sure at times we feel patriotic, but with the economy still crap and medical care a fricking joke and the hope of people being able to retire comfortably becoming a pipe dream, we need CHANGE and Hillary will not provide it I'm afraid. Repeat: Give her a nice lifetime achievement award but do NOT give her the Oval Office just because "it's her turn" or "she's had a great life" or "she was a good first lady now she should be President."

Is Knox a murderer or not? The case has been decided a few times now. What do you say Soxtalk people? Is she a murderer??

QUOTE (lasttriptotulsa @ Feb 12, 2014 -> 05:51 PM) It's so funny to see you say that contracts over $10 million per are bad contracts, but then also post that we should trade for Buehrle who is set to make $37 million over the next two years. Contradict yourself much? Contraditions aside, name any players out there who are worth say 14 million dollars a year over three, four or five years? How many more of these contracts are we going to see when after one year of the multi year deal teams are clamoring to get rid of said players? And yes, as long as teams are paying out the wazoo, I figure my team might as well get in on the fray. Now would I prefer all teams to stop this nonsense en masse? Of course. As far as Mark, if you've got to pay somebody exorbitant money, it might as well be him because I stand by my statement he's a player and he's a coach. He's a GREAT EXAMPLE for all young pitchers and might teach them a thing or two about avoiding the DL (Sale? Nate?).

Just about every multi year contract in baseball worth over 10 or more million a year is a bad contract. Yet they keep signing 'em up.

QUOTE (Jose Abreu @ Feb 9, 2014 -> 07:28 AM) John or Jordan? Plus Toronto does not need De Aza, they have their OF. We don't need Buehrle either in a lefty-stacked rotation. Jordan. I think we still need Mark for reasons specified last offseason. Veteran presence; a coach on the mound.

I just thought of a great trade. Straight up DeAza for Buehrle. Or Danks for buehrle.

QUOTE (southside hitman @ Feb 6, 2014 -> 05:01 PM) Gillaspie had a nice April but was absolutely awful after that. He hit .241/.297/.400 after the All-Star break and had a .245/.305/.390 slash line over the whole year. He provides average defense at 3B, so no huge value there. His minor league numbers and his opportunities in SF/CHI has shown that he isn't capable of providing league average production at 3B. I don't mind him being on the bench and providing depth, but if Gillaspie is our 2015 3B this team is in serious trouble. Gillaspie is so ordinary (not that there's anything wrong with ordinary; he's still a big leaguer) that I want him gone even though he gave me one of my best nights of the summer. I was in Kauffman when he beat the Royals with a blast in the 13th. And I still don't like him. That's crazy. I don't mind him sticking around as a utility, but we already got utility guys in Becks and Keppinger too. It is possible Davidson could stink and at this time next year I'll despise him as well. I will add this: Gillaspie's defense sucks.

I agree with that quote. People in the past have been irate at me, some calling me a troll, for my unpopular take on a few major issues. ... For instance I love everything about Ozzie Guillen past and present. Of course I disagree with a few of his political and society-issue views but I simply love the guy. Because of my "standing up for him" in threads, I was labeled a troll. Probably 90 percent of the board detests him. One percent loves him. But what is the problem for standing up for a manager you think is/was amazing? I also got leveled for my love of Bobby Jenks, Jermaine Dye, to a certain extent AJP and Pods. Many of my positions have been attacked with again, some insisting I am a troll. My question to you is: Why can't you (if you despise me) accept dissention? My take is that a lot of people want there to be 100 percent consensus on issues. They can't handle the fact some kook out there STILL loves Ozzie Guillen. They want it 100 percent that Oz is a bum or at least a failure. They would rather convince themselves that if somebody loves Ozzie he must be a troll, when in my world, I realize everybody has a right to an opinion.

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Jan 30, 2014 -> 04:40 PM) How exactly? The "employees" have the option to play the game or not play the game. No one is forcing them to do it. They can wait and see if they get drafted. They can go play in other countries. That's pretty "free" to me. And it's not a cartel either. The schools don't own some unique product. You can start a school and a football program if you'd like. There's also not any price fixing. Schools charge different amounts to watch the games. They charge different amounts for networks to broadcast their games. And they don't really market themselves the same way either. I fail to see how that's a cartel situation. I don't think AD departments act like normal businesses, so that's a faulty comparison. They have no shareholders or investors to pay back. They worry about funding their programs and maybe expanding the school a little bit. That's it. I'd also bet that the major schools like OSU, Texas, any SEC, etc. could double their ticket prices and still sell out. But they don't, because there's no need to. Present them with the need and they will. The NCAA made 71 million in 2012. http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/colle...urplus/2128431/ In the grand scheme that's really not a lot. The NCAA also was selling players jerseys with names on the back for profit until Jay Bilas called them on it. Just pay the players. It's only right. Or at least let them market themselves. Why shouldn't RGIII have been able to sell 1 million jerseys to Baylor fans? Why can't Andrew Wiggins do the same at Kansas? And those Kentucky players? They could make a fortune selling autographed jerseys. Self and Calipari make more than 5 million a year; at least let the players sell their own merchandise to make a huge buck.

Does our government ever send people back over there to be thrown in the slammer? Or do we let them stay here?

Are those outdoor hockey games great just because of the setting? Can you even see the puck? Just wondering.