Chisoxfn

QUOTE (Kalapse @ Oct 6, 2016 -> 01:17 PM) Well unfortunately, he will not be coming home. During exploratory surgery they discovered cancer in his liver and spleen, he lived 9 incredible years and the fact that this hurts so bad speaks volumes. Thank you all so much for your well wishes, it legitimately lifted my spirits during this whole process. Duke was the perfect dog and he will not soon be missed. Kal, I'm so sorry for your loss.

QUOTE (shipps @ Oct 6, 2016 -> 08:16 AM) Not comparing the two in terms of talent or what they mean to the team, just that they were both young talents that continued to have extremely major injuries back to back (to back with Rose). Its a similar trend and I dont want to make the same excuses or try to paint a positive outlook/narrative with White as I did with Rose because I refuse to get burned on an unlucky guy again. Russel Westbrook had a couple knee injuries and look at him.

QUOTE (Kalapse @ Oct 5, 2016 -> 04:31 PM) My 9 year old Golden is undergoing life saving surgery tomorrow for tumors that have ruptured on his spleen. This is all incredibly sudden and devastating. I know he's but a dog but he means the world to me, please send good vibes. Wishing you and your golden all the best!!!

QUOTE (iamshack @ Oct 5, 2016 -> 09:05 AM) Yeah, those are a key feature that a lot of builders have added to their floor plans recently. Another feature that has become very popular with builders are those massive sliding door systems that basically allow your living room to become and indoor/outdoor type space. I'm not much of an outdoor kitchen guy, mainly because I still prefer cooking on a weber grill, but I certainly like the idea of having a sink area that I can fill with ice to keep beers cold without having to run back and forth to the house. I spoke with an architect about my vision for the pavilion idea, and it's definitely something he is excited about. I'd like it to have sort of a rustic feel, but at the same time have some space for outdoor workouts - think like some rubber flooring that can double as a play area for the kid. What frightens me is the costs he was throwing out there...you easily get to some big dollars without it being nearly as nice in terms of finishes as you would think. Mine would have those big sliding doors, going out to the outdoor living room and then off to one side you'd have a grill (probably would have to go with a built in weber with counter, although I could opt for keeping with my original weber and more just kind of having a bar area without the grill and then on the other side kind of having non-covered area (nice stone on the ground) and then a fireplace over in that area (so more like a lounge area of sorts) and a flatscreen in the main outdoor area. I only cook outside, so having the big sliders that open up when you have guests over (kids can be inside or outside while your friends / family (adults) are on the other part, but still everything wide-open. Only thing I occasionally think about with those big sliders is how the hell do I keep the animals out (cause I don't want some random critter showing up in my house while everything is open).

QUOTE (Y2JImmy0 @ Oct 5, 2016 -> 10:28 AM) He never had any injury concerns in college either. Just a rough sport. Bears are missing their starting QB, RB, WR2, CB1, NT, #1 Pass Rusher, Starting ILB, C, and #3 Pass Rusher. It's just ridiculous. One more major injury and I would agree, but I think he still gets a bit of the benefit of the doubt.

QUOTE (iamshack @ Oct 4, 2016 -> 07:59 PM) My best friend...the man and his father that I named my son after...two very intelligent, rational, reasonable, good people....actually support Trump. It has more to do with the state of our political system than with the candidate they support. At least that's what I keep telling myself. My mom and dad who were ripping on Trump the whole debate process, now say they'll vote for him cause at least the supreme court. NO THAT IS NOT A GOOD ARGUMENT. And on the flipside, the people I know voting for Hillary, are voting cause well, it can't be Trump. Again, no that is not acceptable. That is not okay for America's presidency to come down to those type of arguments. The government needs to realize how fed up people are with the status quo and start working together and driving real change to ensure that the America of 50 years from now is better then the America today (which is better then the America of 50 years ago).

QUOTE (Tony @ Oct 4, 2016 -> 07:40 PM) Right, but Pence was playing with an awful hand coming into this with Donald as his running mate. Thought Pence was solid, things got even toward the end, but Pence looked good. Pence did a good job. Unfortunately he had to spend a lot of time defending the knucklehead that is running for president and Kaine had to be who he wasn't as part of Hillary's strategy (a total attack dog). Unfortunate that the main candidates are so much worse then the running mates / other potential options. I don't agree with Pence on certain social issues, but I do agree with him on quite a few things and would have been willing to vote for him (not my preferred candidate, but one I'd vote for) if I could. Instead I'll vote for neither and stick to my moral values and I think everyone in America who doesn't like either candidate should vote for either independent (just to stick it to the major two parties and point out how pissed we are) or write-in someone else. Don't vote for someone who is the lesser of two evils; Actually reject the system. I literally have talked to almost no one who likes either candidate, yet, most of them are all voting party line. If you want to change the process, speak up, and don't actually vote for the clowns. Help one of the independents win a state or two and use them as your referendum for telling both candidates they suck. Unfortunately from there, we end up putting it back in the hands of our government to pick, but they might actually recognize the statement made by the American people and pick a candidate who isn't one of them.

So Shack...interesting thread and interesting ideas. My general vote is for the outdoor living (but I'm biased as that is a prerequesite for when my wife and I move to a bigger place...we've been house hunting but very very picky right now as the next play we buy we are buying under the presumption it is our "forever" place, albeit you never know if job changes force a relocate, etc). I think one major pro of outdoor living is that you could combine it with the sports or pool concept and have something that kind of works great for your kids now, but as they get older, they'll likely shift more to leveraging the outdoor living area and given what you mention, it is when they are older, that you probably want them to hang out around the house more (vs. less) and provide that safer spot for them to hang out with friends, etc, where they at least have some supervision, etc. Pools can be really fun, but I'm like Rock, the maintenance, etc, I don't want to deal with it, but I also live in an area where I can walk to multiple nice pools / hot tubs that are part of our local HOA, so I don't see much value in spending all the money for my own home (and it isn't any major requisites from a resale perspective, which I believe differs from where you are, where a lot of people likely have "pool" as a must have when it comes to resale. One thing I have learned is even after talking to a few contractors (to get a rough idea so I have an idea of what it will take if I buy a new house and then add some outdoor living to it when I do the yard), is the ideas I had in my head, cost twice as much as I had presumed (evidently with the housing market hot, contracting costs are up quite a bit out here...not sure if it is the same in Vegas area or not). And when it comes to basketball, it can be pretty easy to find a nice portable on the driveway (presuming it is flat) and then you have the low-cost way to still have a sports court / area for kids to play, plus all the outdoor area (and possible pool) to hang out at and leverage in the backyard (and I presume that would also be something you would be more likely to leverage).

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Oct 5, 2016 -> 07:46 AM) I drive regularly up to 5 or 6 hours and its a godsend. I'm driving to Cincy this weekend and I get to rest my legs for hours at a time and the car does the work. Its amazing. I think if you are on the road for long hours like that, it is a great feature. I know for me, the one thing I kick myself is that I didn't shell out a little bit more for the extra smart driving features (vs. just the typical lane assist that I got). One option I should have added (problem was on the car I bought, they forced the moonroof and navigation system so it made the increase so much more and I'm such a cheap bastard).

QUOTE (shipps @ Oct 5, 2016 -> 06:51 AM) This is going to be a common theme with him throughout his career it seems. I don't know if we can make that statement, yet.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Oct 4, 2016 -> 02:59 PM) The Clintons have several decades of tax returns publicly available, and their effective tax rates are in the 30%'s. Also LOL that "taxes are incredibly steep on the wealthy," get that nonsense out of the dem thread. You're talking about a man who's paid 0% for many years and who's a billionaire. You can look at Romney's tax returns from the 2012 race too. There's doing your due diligence and there's trying to find every single trick and loophole in the book. There's a reason that you can still follow the exact letter of the law but still be found in violation due to very clearly violating the spirit of the law. Romney still paid significant total $'s in taxes, his amount was lower than most Americans more so because a lot of his income at his stage of his life was driven by capital gains than it necessarily being tied to W-2 / 1099 ordinary type income (this is going off memory, but I believe that was the case).

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Oct 4, 2016 -> 08:34 AM) Can you deduct those sorts of paper losses from the payroll tax? No.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Oct 3, 2016 -> 06:39 AM) I understand this, I'm just taking small satisfaction in some of the younger players having good games, and the defense playing well. The Lions may be a shell of themselves but they have had two games this season where they put up 35+. Their offense was ranked like 4th in the league, so the defensive performance is something to give credit for. That said, Stafford played really lousy. Our pass rush was still pretty weak (albeit we did actually get some sacks, but still a ton of plays where he had ample time). Oline made major steps forward (despite more dumb penalties out of them). Howard looks like a legit player. Not good that White is hurt again. Getting an MRI today.

QUOTE (Y2JImmy0 @ Oct 3, 2016 -> 06:08 AM) You must not have ever watched Hoyer after like week 9. He's a much different QB in the 2nd half of seasons for whatever reason. Do you remember how awful he was in the playoffs for Houston? Brian Hoyer is a solid backup QB that played pretty well yesterday I actually didn't think he played that great. Look, Jay is what he is, a mediocre starting QB and Hoyer is a more pedestrian QB (a great back-up and a subpar starter), who does have a winning overall record, despite playing for some very mediocre teams (albeit last year, Texans defense certainly helped him). I just don't care much anymore. By the way, in my posts, I never said Hoyer was better, I just said he does certain things better then Jay. Bottom line, neither are the future of this franchise and unfortunately we didn't draft a QB early (I think we'd be in much better shape had we took Paxton Lynch instead of Floyd, but I think I was about the only pro take a QB in the 1st round guy on this entire site). I said we had to start the rebuild and you had to find a QB and Lynch had a lot of tools (and while it is just one game, he didn't look too bad yesterday for Denver). That said, thus far this season, if you asked me who has played better, I'd say Hoyer, but neither have been very good. We aren't getting much points and we are shooting ourselves in the foot a ton.

QUOTE (Middle Buffalo @ Oct 2, 2016 -> 08:19 PM) House > Houer > Boyer You can thank autocorrect on my phone and I am way too lazy to go retype those names. Do love how so many variations popped up.

Wish you the best of luck Robin. You always handled the job with the utmost class and respect. While I don't think you were the best manager on the planet, I certainly don't think you were near as bad as many people indicated and you were clearly dealt a really bad deck from executive management. Wish you all the best!!! And for those that say Robin was a big part of the problem, I think you are crazy. I could pretty much never say a mgr is the big part of the problem, unless we had a really damn good roster that consistently underperformed. With Robin, I think it was the opposite, we had a really pretty s***ty roster with tons of flaws and got about what we should have realistically expected.

And at halftime I lold at everyone saying Hoyer was the guy. Seven points. If that was jay they'd have been reaming him. We still make too many mistakes. I don't mind letting Hoyer play another week or two.

Hoyer definitely does a better job reading defenses. I don't find him very accurate but he knows how to read a defense and make quicker decisions and avoid the rush much better than jay. Jay is more talented but we know what he is and while he will make more big plays and more things from nothing he will also make mistakes (Hoyer does too just not as frequently as jay)

QUOTE (fathom @ Oct 2, 2016 -> 11:28 AM) Barth is awful I said he was a lousy pick up right when it happened. That said it wasn't like the kick was a gimme. Barth can't hit from deep like Robbie.

Will be interesting to see what happens here. Given all the talk a month back or whenever it was by JR about everyone being on the same page together, this would be a surprise. I wonder if there was so much disagreement that JR finally decided it was time or if KW is kind of resigning (or if this is just a bunch of nothing).

I don't have a major issue with this. I presume we'll see some coaches replaced as well. I'd have prefered a totally fresh start, but Renteria is well respected and has plenty of experience as well as a positive reputation of working with young players. Would love to know what happened with this whole Ventura coming back bit and then not. I don't know why the Sox would have leaked bad info to Nightengale.

If this is true, LOL

QUOTE (flavum @ Sep 27, 2016 -> 01:32 PM) Or he gives the balls to people when he parks the boat near bars/restaurants. Doesn't seem anything other than three guys in their 20's doing something extremely risky, and the worst thing possible happened. I only ask because of the texts that talked about how Jose was frustrated and needed to go out. I presume maybe he did just presign balls to give away where he went, I don't know. But the texts did indicate Jose wasn't in a happy state that night (and needed to blow off steam).

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Sep 27, 2016 -> 02:53 PM) Once Trump wins the election, the rich will move to Canada, the Canadian economy and dollar will prosper, and the salary cap will skyrocket. Problem solved. Change that to Hillary.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Sep 27, 2016 -> 10:52 AM) If that happened (peeling off enough states to keep anyone from hitting 270), the vote gets thrown to the House so whichever party controls the House will just choose their candidate anyway. This year would mean we get President Trump. You're right that it wouldn't work because there just isn't a natural constiuency to build around a spoiler candidate that would fall between the current Democratic and Republican parties. Maine's last two governor races which resulted in a proto-Trump winning are a case study of how third party cannibalization ends up working. California's new-ish "jungle primary" system where the top two vote-getters regardless of party in the primaries make it to the general has had some similar results--you have say five Democrats running in a pretty blue district in their primary and all split the votes pretty evenly while there's only two Republicans. Because the Democrats split their vote so many ways, only Republicans would be on the ballot despite Democrats collectively making up a much larger percentage of the vote. See, this is the wild card...I don't know whether the republicans would still vote Trump (if they were able to maintain control, especially given the Trump backlash). I presume the Dems would pass the torch to Hillary, though. And the reason I ask this is, if the make-up was right, you could have a republican come into the race as a big wild card to throw this to the house so that the house republicans pick someone other than Trump. Again, probably a moot point. I do think if a Romney entered the field as an independent, he'd win at least a few states (and could even impact some of Hillary states) but net net, he probably mainly takes items away from Hillary and probably hands Hillary a state or two she wouldn't have won otherwise (due to the split vote). For it to really work, you'd have to have Romney and Sanders both running as independents (so they both cannibalize each other). If we had those four candidates, I truly believe we would have the house picking who the president is. I can see why Romney would do it, but unless something bad (that is new) comes up on Hillary, I can't see Bernie (or some other dem leaning person) taking a similar path. Would be interesting though and hey, its already been a crazy election so why not add to that craze.