ChiSox_Sonix

QUOTE (Thunderbolt @ Jul 9, 2009 -> 02:59 PM) Get over it, man. Nick Swisher is good at baseball. He had one bad year, just because it was our team, doesn’t make it logical to make baseless accusations about the guy. With every other team he’s been on he’s gotten along absolutely famously with every member of the team. We have no idea what happened least year outside of Joe Cowley pursing some weird sort of vendetta against the guy. Maybe Ozzie crossed a line, maybe Swisher just reaction poorly to being benched for Dewayne f***ing Wise. All I know is that the Yankees have no regrets over getting Nick Swisher, and the sox have Jeff Marquez and Wilson Betemit. Outside of last year, Nick Swisher was the class clown who kept the clubhouse light, now he’s the anti-Christ that’s an impressive fall from grace. Funny you telling someone to "get over it" after one post on the subject when you've complained about the trade in this thread about 20 separate times... If you want to ignore what many other see so be it. The guy is a career .244 hitter and is unbelievably streaky. Even after his ridiculous hot start this year his average has managed to plummet below 250. If Nady didn't get Swisher would be riding the bench as a 4th OF. Most of my friends are glad to have him since Nady got hurt but they've begun to get annoyed with him recently as well.

Stop walking people!!!

QUOTE (Thunderbolt @ Jul 9, 2009 -> 02:12 PM) Ah, another iteration of this moment in blind Nick Swisher hate. The Yankees never shopped Swish after acquiring him, why? Because he was a good acquisition they gave and we received absolutely nothing of value outside of a AA reliever. They got a high OPB, league-average defensively CF/1B with good pop. We got to start Dewayne Wise. Uh, yay? The Yankees did look to trade him but Nady got hurt so early that put the kabash on that. And Swisher is far from league average in CF. All indications were that Swisher was problems in the clubhouse last year and has a reputation of being selfish. I'm completely fine having gotten rid of him. It's funny you say it is "blind Nick Swisher hate" when there are a lot of reasons to be disgusted with him. You apparently somehow havent seen any of them yet.

Interesting story developing with this strike in South Africa. What would happen if they had to move the World Cup? I'm sure they'd probably send it back to Europe somewhere if they needed to move locations quickly.

I expected that link to send me to The Onion

Wow...

QUOTE (MHizzle85 @ Jul 8, 2009 -> 12:14 PM) Listen, it's logic. You honestly believe he only molested 2 children? Or that if he did more no one else wanted to come forward? You've really got your head up your ass if you believe so. Tell me how my logic is wrong instead of saying that it's not. The way people go and blindly trash on this man's name is sickening & somewhat funny to me. No one has any facts or evidence of anything, yet all you hear is "HE'S A MOLESTOR!!!!!!!!1!!1" You people make me laugh. In what world is that logic? You're own little dreamland? - He had sleepovers with many little boys. - Only two claimed he molested them. Conclusion: They must be liars and he must be innocent b/c obviously he would have molested more than just them. Wow, talk about someone having their head up their ass. Just because you say it is logic, doesn't mean it is. And you were trying to compare him to a shoe collector and serial killer. Hey guess what, serial killers/molestors see hundreds of people a day who they don't kill/molest. (Does that mean they really arent b/c they let so many people "go"?) I don't pretend to know how their mind works or functions. But claiming that since he was around X number of little boys and only 2 claimed molestation it must be a lie is asinine. Who knows what people are thinking when they do things they do. But I have a hard time believing a man who often shares beds with little boys and then shells out tens of millions of dollars of hush money if he doesnt have something to hide. The blind defense of this man is disturbing, and it's people like you who make the rest of us laugh.

QUOTE (MHizzle85 @ Jul 8, 2009 -> 01:01 AM) The fact that these parents were fine with just taking some money in a settlement should raise a flag...if it's my kid, I want that f***er in jail. Period. Also, when stories come out about someone molesting them, more people come out & say so. You mean to tell me that if he had all of these kids in his house, that he only molested 2? Give me a f***in' break. I'm glad you know how that process works all the time. No it's not actually. Not at all. The defense this guy has been getting from people is just sickening to me. Celebrate his music, fine. He was a musical genius. Don't celebrate the person.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Jul 7, 2009 -> 11:30 PM) Simple.... Allen is 24 already, so it's not like he is a "spring chicken," he's more of a late bloomer. We were dealing from a position of strength in our organization (Konerko, Fields, Viciedo, Flowers, Phegley, etc.) and Allen was no longer projected to be an impact bat based on this season's results, apparently. With Poreda, Carrasco, Thornton, Linebrink, Dotel, Jenks and Pena, we arguably now have the best bullpen in baseball, at least from a "potential" standpoint, in terms of a collection of arms. It's the same principle KW operated under when he had the excess starting pitcher in the organization in 2005 and 2006...to deal from a position of strength instead of one of weakness and desperation. Let's wait to see if Pena can outperform Dotel at significantly less money and Dotel (or dreaming, Linebrink) can be leverage for yet another piece... Not too often I completely agree with you but I do here. Allen was a nice prospect who has a chance to have a nice career, but he won't ever be more than an average 1B. That's not a knock at all, as that is a good ceiling, but he was far from untradeable. Between Viciedo/Phegley/Fields/Flowers or a FA, 1B is easy to fill. Pena gives us another good arm for the pen this year and provides insurance in case Linebrink goes down or Dotel gets traded. He's also under our control for a few more years after. I initially did not like the trade, but in order to get quality you need to give up quality in return. And for those who feel we didn't maximize his value, how do you know what his value was considered by teams across the league? At 24 and just starting AAA he was not old by any means, but he wasn't so young that screamed "centerpiece of a blockbuster". And as for packaging him, if you felt his best value was in a package deal doesn't that say something about his value? It's also funny how bothered some people seem to be here. I get it if you feel it was a bad trade, but you don't need to post it 15 times. Relievers aren't cheap either. They are always very valuable commodities in July. I like the move. Sad to see Allen go but I'm fine with the return we got for him, especially if Pena can return to how he pitched a couple years ago. Also, this also gives KW the ability to trade Dotel if a trade to his liking comes along, which I would not be opposed to.

Adu needs to play. It can't be surprising he hasn't progressed much when he doesn't play all the time at Benfica and outside of the Olympics (where I thought he looked good) hasn't had a major role on any team yet. He's 20. I still believe he has enough talent and promise to become a mainstay for the US eventually.

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Jul 7, 2009 -> 04:55 PM) Its a group of us. Probably 4 people in general. 1Myself, 2JPN, 3Alex, 4Ozzie, 5Dan...might be forgetting someone.

QUOTE (TheBigHurt @ Jul 7, 2009 -> 04:25 PM) Pardon me for aiming for better game. Seriously, it's amazing that as cocky as most guys are, they'd settle for anything. For example, any guy who find Paris Hilton "hot" is a sad soul to me. I'm not saying Fox isn't "hot," but too skanky and there's some REAL gorgeous women in Hollywood. Eh, "hot" is overrated anyway. Paris Hilton and Megan Fox should never be in the same conversation. Ever.

QUOTE (Athomeboy_2000 @ Jul 7, 2009 -> 04:09 PM) no way. WAY to skanky. Anne Hathaway... oh yea! I love Anne Hathaway but I still can't see how you could turn down Megan Fox despite her toe thumbs

QUOTE (Soxbadger @ Jul 7, 2009 -> 11:44 AM) The younger US players looked really good against Grenada. Play Honduras next. Nice to see Holden and Rogers get their first goals. In other US soccer news, Oguchi Onyewu signed with AC Milan. Always good for our guys to face better competition.

QUOTE (kapkomet @ Jul 7, 2009 -> 09:53 AM) When people from Europe tell me how much better it is here, then I tend to believe it. And it's more then "anecdotal" when so many people come here for their treatment of serious ailments. If you have a sinus infection, I'm sure that the system is fine to get a script of antibiotics. I had a teacher in college for several history classes. He was Canadian (he said 'zed'!) and did much of his schooling in England. He moved back to Canada after graduation and taught at McGill (a very, very nice university). He said he loved it there. But, when he and his wife started a family he moved to New York and began teaching at a state school. He said the difference in health care systems was the primary motivation for them to leave and come to the States

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Jul 7, 2009 -> 09:02 AM) Which of course works both ways. Some things that work elsewhere would fail here, but some things that are problems overseas might not be an issue here. Right but making the argument of such and such works one place so it must work here is one that comes up way too often. We are not Europe, but they are used all the time for comparison. Denmark, for example, can work a lot of social programs largely because they are a small country with a lot of high earning jobs in a place largely devoid of natural disasters and the top earners pay roughly 60% in tax. A lot of what they can do can not be done here. We're very similar to Europe in some ways, but also so very different in others you (not you) can't just say "well look at so and so, they do it so well" and expect the same situation if applied here. That's all.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jul 6, 2009 -> 07:04 PM) Switching topics, here's another look at global health systems and how much better France and the Netherlands do at health care than us. Good read. Somehow they manage to avoid doing exactly what 2k5 says is unavoidable. What works in Country A does not necessarily mean it would work in Country B. But whatever.

QUOTE (CanOfCorn @ Jul 6, 2009 -> 05:24 PM) Exactly...too much time between now and then. Even Obama, who some thought would be a candidate for president back in 2004 when he gave his speech at the DNC, wasn't the leader coming into the primaries. I hope Sarah Palin does get the nod though, just for the sheer theater of a Palin-Obama race. Yeah I wouldn't be opposed to it too much just b/c it would assure she won't run in 2016. Unless Obama royally f***s up he's in office for 8 years anyways.

If you don't watch Raising the Bar you're missing out. Very good show and a great episode last night IMO

I found out about Derrick Thomas dieing on the radio while I was getting into my car to go home after basketball practice in high school and that hit me pretty hard. I still remember exactly where I was at that moment. I took a few minutes before I drove home. He was my favorite NFL player ever and it shook me. Can't really think of any other celebrity/athlete that bothered me. Steve Irwin dieing sucked a lot because I respected and admired all the work he did so much, but nothing has "hit me" quite like when DT passed away. (as far as celeb deaths that is)

QUOTE (juddling @ Jul 6, 2009 -> 03:05 PM) not that i'm complaining but this smells like a bit of desperation..... PANETTIERE TO GO GAY IN HEROES HAYDEN PANETTIERE is preparing for girl-on-girl love scenes in the next series of HEROES - her character will reportedly enjoy a smooch with her college roommate. The 19-year-old actress plays cheerleader Claire Bennet in the hit U.S. show and TV bosses are considering working a lesbian storyline into the upcoming fourth season. A source tells British newspaper the Daily Star, "It's just girlie fun at first. But it might progress into something more serious. It depends on how viewers respond." I don't watch the show, but I've got a good idea how a lot of male viewers will respond...

QUOTE (whitesoxbrian @ Jul 6, 2009 -> 01:36 AM) MVP: Pods. Runner up: Dye ROY: Beckham. Runner up: Getz (I guess) CY: Buehrle. Runner up: Thornton DUD: Fields. Runner up: Ramirez (only defensively) I think we'll make a run at the division title, maybe a pennant if Pods stays healthy. I'd love to get in. I'll take my chances with our team + Quentin + a top 3 of Buehrle/Danks/Floyd. No team wants to face us with that. I think we need one of Richard/Colon/Poreda to step up as a 5th starter to compete for the rest of the year. Having so many games left in Minnesota scares me too. I believe we'll compete and still be there in September, but we will need to catch a lot of breaks (5th starter coming through, Pods staying healthy, CQ comes back strong, defense picks it up). But, if we get in anything can happen. And as you said with MB/Danks/Gavin going for us 1-2-3 if they get hot we can keep on winning.

QUOTE (Texsox @ Jul 5, 2009 -> 10:26 PM) I think Palin is going to be a strong candidate for the GOP, I don't see anyone really challenging her. Plus, she seems to have rally united the party loyalists behind her. You guys are really over estimating the support she has. I would be shocked if she contends for the GOP nod in 2012.

QUOTE (lostfan @ Jul 6, 2009 -> 10:18 AM) I just find it hilarious, and slightly dismaying, that war drumbeaters are almost always the same people who are concerned with excessive government spending. War is ridiculously expensive, a 3rd war for us would make the stimulus bill look like my tax refund. I'm not advocating a war with North Korea. A war with North Korea would need full Chinese and Russian support or else it would be a catastrophic error in judgement. However, I was just playfully pointing out that money would probably be no problem for the current administration to come up with.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jul 3, 2009 -> 05:00 PM) Quite frankly, there should be penalties for people who don't join in the system. That's the whole point of universality. You can't have people opting out when they're young and then opting in when they're old. It breaks the system. You gotta be kidding me. So someone finds a better system/provider for their needs and as a result are "punished" by the federal government for doing so? GMAFB