Chisoxfn

QUOTE (JenksIsMyHero @ Aug 24, 2016 -> 11:53 AM) Yeah that's pretty f***ed up. I wonder, after taking into account insurance adjustments, how much those pens really cost. The stated price and the real price are often dramatically different. I want to say when we got ours through our insurance companies pharmacy it was almost $400 bucks for one two pack (and that was probably 4 months ago).

QUOTE (JenksIsMyHero @ Aug 24, 2016 -> 11:53 AM) Yeah that's pretty f***ed up. I wonder, after taking into account insurance adjustments, how much those pens really cost. The stated price and the real price are often dramatically different. As someone who has had to buy some for my 15 month old (hopefully only as a precaution), let me tell you, the first time I payed for the thing, I was in complete and utter shock. Couldn't believe I was paying hundreds of dollars for something that I realistically should have multiple sets of (one at home, one in the cars, etc) and which expire every year. NBC had a special on this yesterday (not as in depth as this article) but ridiculous price gauging.

QUOTE (JenksIsMyHero @ Aug 23, 2016 -> 07:18 AM) I think my wife and I are officially Disney people. We love going there and a big component is planning the trip. We've gone 2 out of the last 3 years with our son who was 2 and then 3. The key is spending 3-5 days at Disney and then going over to a beach town for the remainder of your vacation to relax. Hopefully you had a good time. Too many people read up on the hype/hysteria about how awful Disney is and I just don't get it. Yes, having a screaming 3 year old in the middle of the park sucks. Yes, they are some long ass days. But when your kid freaks out over seeing Mickey or riding Splash Mountain or whatever? Totally worth the hassle. My only rule is when I go to disneyland / world it can't be super hot and I can't go in peak season. As long as I don't have just absurd lines, I think it is a fantastic and fun place to go. It is absolutely a lot of work with the kids but seeing them run around and smile, etc, makes it all worth it. Plus, you get to be a kid again too and there is something nostalgic about the place (maybe partly because I grew up near Disneyland so lots of locals had season passes...before disneyland prices went absurd, so had plenty of fun adventures there with friends and kind of relieve that whenever I do go back). I actually think our first real plane trip will be to Disneyworld and I should have a conference there in the winter (I think February so when most schools are back) which might actually be a perfect time. The only hard part would be the leg of the flight my wife would have to do on her own with the little ones.

QUOTE (shipps @ Aug 19, 2016 -> 10:36 AM) I missed this play somehow. Floyd is going to look terrible whenever anyone gets a body on him though, as expected I guess. But when you don't he is going to blow some QB's the hell up. They say Floyd does an excellent job working through bodies / contact (it is why they say he is going to be so good in the ground game). He definitely has things to learn though, technique wise, and being strong would help, but one of the keys is just how fast his he is. There were some good quotes where people have mentioned how he reminds them of Urlacher out there (not as a player) but just in the sense that its the first time since Brian, where we've had a player at the LB position who could move like he did and make an impact in both the passing and rushing attack. I've seen nothing but extremely positives coming out of camp as it relates to Floyd. That said, it is training camp and he's a rookie, but him and White both seem to have extremely good demeanor and a passion to get better (to go along with great skillsets), which to me is huge.

QUOTE (Hatchetman @ Aug 19, 2016 -> 07:20 AM) Back in the day they had a bunch of secondary drafts. I think that's what those were. Not the main June draft. I don't know the history of why those drafts existed or why they were eliminated. I learned something new. I never knew they had "secondary" drafts. One thing I wish baseball brought back was the old "draft and follow".

QUOTE (GoSox05 @ Aug 19, 2016 -> 07:33 AM) It's early and injuries always come into play as the season moves on, but the Packers defense this year looks really good. First time since they won the Super bowl that I feel like the defense can carry them deep into the playoffs. You mean the roiders?

Nice job by the first team unit. I continue to expect that the Bears are going to give a ton of money to Jimmy G at the end of the year (or at least try to). We shall see how he handles this four regular season games. He has a chance to make a lot of money.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Aug 18, 2016 -> 08:04 PM) Will I be banned if I start calling him, 'Trump the Chump?" Anyhow ... think it'll matter that he's now reading his speeches that are written for him? I say, negatory. If he stuck on point and didn't worry so much about trying to pump up the crowd (who he already has voting for him), he'd at least not get embarrassed. It's sad cause Clinton is so terrible and corrupt.

QUOTE (bmags @ Aug 18, 2016 -> 02:28 PM) I think he got to be starter level in the second half of last year. But defense just had a lot fo guys "doing their jobs" but nobody disrupting. When one level gets to "exceling" then we'll finally get some turnovers. Hopefully Floyd can be one of those disruptors.

QUOTE (shipps @ Aug 18, 2016 -> 02:10 PM) The first half of his first season he showed some promise but he fell off. And has been pretty mediocre to just flat out bad since that time. The awfulness of Emery continues to step on nut sacks. Actually, the second half of last year he made a lot of progress. Hopefully whatever it is, he can get cleaned up and get right early in the season. While he isn't a star, we have little depth in the secondary and he has the potential to be a solid CB (and was for a good chunk of the 2nd half of the season...which is a nice sign considering the first half he was still adjusting to the new defense, etc.). The injury hurts in the sense that he won't get a camp to build upon his second half success and improved knowledge of the D. Hopefully whatever it is, it is relatively minor.

Most importantly...good health.

QUOTE (shipps @ Aug 18, 2016 -> 10:47 AM) Bears, its preseason so not a big deal but for the love of God don't look terrible again tonight. I think this week of practicing against one of the best teams on the planet for the last 15 years will be extremely beneficial for the team in the long-run. Great to get to see the Pats way. Sounds like Alshon & White were two of the best players on either side of the practices and the talk of Floyd has been pretty glowing as well (about the athleticism that he's flashed).

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Aug 18, 2016 -> 10:22 AM) Granted I don't get to see him much, but the impression I have of him as a manager is Ozzie Guillen-esque. Bunting, base stealing ,and loud. He likes to bunt, he likes to run (where it makes sense) and he's a little more old school in that regard, but he also had Madden as a bench coach for years and while he isn't pro-advanced stats, he'll leverage them to some extent, etc (although obviously there was a beef when their GM intervened in the process and started sharing data directly with Pujols and others vs. it coming from the managers). He values defense, but also likes playing a lot of guys (so similar to Ozzie in that way where you get some of those "sunday" lineups). The loud part I don't see at all though. He has total command of the clubhouse and is nothing like Ozzie in that regard. I'd compare him a lot to Ned Yost or Showalter, who I think all fall in that old school manager camp.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Aug 18, 2016 -> 10:18 AM) Moreno just pulled the ultimate loyalty move and fired the GM because his manager didn't like him. Why in the world would Scioscia want to leave that? I don't think Mike is going to have the choice. I think his time has come in Anaheim and he's due for a fresh start. He's going to get a lot of dough though and most likely I presume would take a season off. I think a change in scenery would do him very good and I'd love it if the Sox were to get him, but I don't see it happening.

QUOTE (Hatchetman @ Aug 17, 2016 -> 10:36 AM) A top 20 reliever is worth about 1.5 to 2.0 WAR A top 20 starter is worth about 5 WAR One pitches a whole lot less innings, so in theory, the value of the reliever on a per inning basis is magnified vs. a starter. I would agree a great or elite starter is better then a reliever. But the value of relievers in this day in age is much greater then it was a decade ago or multiple decades ago.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Aug 17, 2016 -> 09:21 AM) This is the exact path that the Sox followed with Chris Sale. Just because he is called up as a reliever today, doesn't mean he is a reliever forever. I've said it quite a few times, but Sale is a poor example. He was a dominate starter in college. Chris Sale pitched in 31 games (started 27 games) in his final two years in college (192.1 innings). Sale's high mark was 103 innings in on season (final season) Zach Burdi pitched in 47 games (zero starts) in his final two years of college (59.1 innings). His high mark was 30 innings in one season (final season). There is a big difference in the sense that one guy was a starter for two years and the other guy has started since high school.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Aug 17, 2016 -> 09:20 AM) Burdi isn't a "ceiling" closer. He has three pitches. He might have three pitches, but I'd be stunned if the Sox use him as anything but a reliever. They've really given no indications of stretching him out. That could change this off-season, but it will be a pretty big thing to do to stretch out a guy who ha been pitching in relief in college and thus doesn't have a track record of throwing all those innings. Nothing wrong with that, but if the Sox think he can be a legit big league closer, I don't see them spinning their wheels trying to turn him into a starter as that will require pretty significant time in the minors and a lot more development, imo. People can use Sale as an example, but Sale was a starter in college who they rested his arm and then stretched him out. Again, it absolutely could be something they work on and they can try to extend him in the pen, etc, just haven't seen much indication that they are going that route.

So JR called Kap on air to debunk what he was saying? If so, that is interesting. JR usually stays far out of this stuff.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Aug 16, 2016 -> 12:44 PM) That's what I don't get. Why do people automatically think Hahn has all the answers? He was trained by KW and JR. He has been part of the decision making process for well over a decade. Saying if they would just listen to him everything would be OK is dreaming. If he flees, which I doubt, it will indicate there is some sort of problem or JR was going to jack him anyway. I've said they all have failed. Don't care about what caused the failures, they have all failed. Only person who can decide otherwise are the people in the building who know more about what decisions were made and who got vetoed or didn't get vetoed in the process. Outside of KW and RH, Jerry is probably the only other guy who knows of everything that came up and potentially did / didn't happen and we don't even know if KW squashed things whether it was Kenny squashing it or JR going to KW and saying no, I'm not ready for it. Reality is the only thing any of us know is this team has failed pretty miserably the past 11 years (some exciting teams shortly after 2005, but the further removed the worse it has gotten), with bigger failures over the most recent 4-5 year stretch.

QUOTE (IowaSoxFan @ Aug 16, 2016 -> 09:21 AM) Be careful, you will get branded a Hahn apologist for stating that KW and Hahn have competing priorities. Haha. All I know is everyone has failed. The results speak for themselves. None of us know the dynamic of a struggle and I have no idea, it could be Kenny who is making the better decisions. None of us know...I do know the results have been poor.

QUOTE (GreatScott82 @ Aug 15, 2016 -> 07:22 PM) Didn't catch that. But does anybody believe the front office is functional? They obviously have no clue how to put together a playoff team, let alone a .500 team. Between that and the crappy farm system--this organization is in a very bad spot. As long as triumvirate of stupidity is here- we are hopeless. Yes - Given how incoherent their strategy has been the past few years, I do believe it is dysfunctional and I think it has a lot to do with the power dynamic between Hahn and Kenny (among other things).

QUOTE (raBBit @ Aug 15, 2016 -> 12:22 PM) I hate Trump as much as the next guy in here so I want to make it clear before I get lumped in with that loon for offering a counterpoint to the obviously biased posters. Tony made the point of Fox being watched more than CNN and that's true but the almost the ENTIRE media is at least slanted to the left other than Fox. That's probably why Fox News is the most watched news station in the country because the people on the right only have one place to go. Here is a liberal outlet ranking all the news outlets on a liberal-conservative spectrum: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix...heir-audiences/. Other than internet outlets, Fox News is the only one on the right. I mean, MSNBC, which is supposed to be a business-oriented network makes a point of profit shaming on the regular. Embarrassing. This doesn't even factor Hollywood's media and other places like ESPN who gave someone with a penis "Woman of the Year." The DNC's lead official just had to step down disgracefully because they were caught in a conspiracy in controlling the media, their content and in turn, the public opinion. They were caught. This just happened. Yet all of the people on the left are laughing at the idea that the media is biased. I don't get it. So despite all the people in this thread laughing at the very idea of this, it should be fresh in your brain regardless of your affiliations. Then come at Trump for some possible corrupt contributions/relationships when their preferred candidate is the most corrupt politician in modern American history. I think CNN is less left aligned then FoxNews is right aligned. My view is CNN is the best place to get news and I don't think that highly out of FoxNews for well news. FoxNews was my go to news station 4 years ago and they have went into the tubes more recently. None of it is perfect but I feel CNN does a pretty good job getting as many different commentators as possible which provide you with many differing views and thus enable any individual to holistically listen to various views and think which ones they prefer. Sure, there are people who lean one way vs. another, but hard to not have that exist to some extent. People can rip at me all you want, but I think CNN's election coverage has been pretty good. I also am smart enough that I can listen to something and come up with my own opinion on it and can also blow off or read through a lot of BS that all of these organizations spin.

Interesting...so that is going to happen afterall.

QUOTE (whitesoxfan99 @ Aug 11, 2016 -> 07:04 PM) It is crazy how far Missy Franklin has fallen. She should have taken the endorsement money when she had the chance in 2012. Unfortunate. Would be a great redemption story if she can get things uncorked and aligned and kick butt in 2020. None of this should have been surprising though, she hasn't been the same swimmer since she hurt her back back in 2014.

QUOTE (shipps @ Aug 12, 2016 -> 06:21 AM) Thats funny. I will say preseason does give the slightest bit of insight on a teams depth, I think. But we knew that would be a glaring weakness for this Bears team anyway. Depth should actually be quite a bit improved, imo. Just think of our LB core, where we have a lot of guys who were starters a year ago (or got significant playing time) who are now on the bench. At the WR spot, we have some new faces and hopefully better help and we certainly upgraded at backup QB. On the oline we still have some depth, but also have some young guys and unknowns. Dline has some depth. Secondary has the most unknown's in general. I always figure first preseason game isn't one to get worked up about. Starters played what, one series (I only watched the 2nd half in between Olympic commercials so didn't see the 1st half). That said, in general, I didn't see much. When Conor shaw was the best thing I saw, that isn't exactly a good thing, haha.