Chisoxfn

QUOTE (shipps @ Feb 17, 2016 -> 03:25 PM) It amazes me how Cowley could even have a source within that org. LOL Cowley actually had me cracking up the other day. He was on with Bernstein and he was pretty much saying how the Bulls send him hate mail when he writes a negative article about them and threaten lawsuits at times. Pretty hilarious how he has no regard for what people think of him or how he isnt afraid to become and enemy to a team instead of a yes man. I never liked Cowley to much but I respect that part about him. I'll always remember when Cowley said I live in a basement with my mom. LOL.

Per Cowley: http://chicago.suntimes.com/sports/7/71/13...alistic-returns Chicago Bulls have discussed a 3 way trade with the Boston Celtics and a mystery team that would send Pau Gasol out bringing back picks and a rotation big man. Bulls had interesting talks involving a trade with the Boston Celtics/3rd Team as of late Wednesday afternoon but talks have gone silent as the Bulls are asking for too much value in return for Gasol/Taj.

I wonder if we see Snell and/or Doug for McLemore?

So below is the info from as far as I can ever tell, is the most connected and accurate insider on Real GM. -Taj for Patterson includes a 1st round pick coming back, although that has actually been reported. Toronto prefers a lot of other guys over Taj so probably won't happen. -We want to trade for McLemore, not Rudy Gay. -We are all over the place on Pau. We want to trade him one minute, the next minute we want to keep him.

QUOTE (knightni @ Feb 17, 2016 -> 08:50 AM) Shaun King is a black man and Whitlock is being racist against one of his own people. You are confusing the former football player with the writer, who I think is biracial.

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Feb 17, 2016 -> 08:38 AM) Moving Noah to the bench was needed for the sake of offense. He's beyond terrible. They were playing 4-5 with him in the line-up. And frankly in this league, scoring is more important than defense. You're not stopping a team like golden state, so you better be able to put up some points to have a chance. I agree with this shift in style. Noah was also the squads leader, who got replaced for a guy who was soft and played soft. Changes should have been made sooner and it is clear the Bulls have lost the edge that made them one of the better teams in the league.

QUOTE (pettie4sox @ Feb 17, 2016 -> 08:28 AM) Why would the Kings do this? Totally makes sense for the Kings. They get a young, far more useable piece. They want nothing to do with McLemore and Gay isn't pushing them over the top. I presume they also feel that Niko and Doug could provide nice spacing for Cousins.

I will say, when I saw the Bulls were talking about moving Taj to Toronto for a worse player to save money, I couldn't help but laugh. It seems like Gar's new plan is to make us the softest team in the league. It started when we pushed Noah to the bench (for a soft Niko) and this would continue to do so (really taking away our two best defensive players, Noah and Gibson).

I think Gay is one of the more underappreciated NBA players, but his contract reduces a lot of the clubs flexibility. Clearly though, he significantly upgrades a position of need and he isn't near as old as I thought he was. Can the Bulls get more out of McLemore then the Kings? Of all the pieces, I hate the idea of giving up Mirotic, mainly because I feel we are selling him at a low, but I also have often said we need to dump him.

QUOTE (ChiSoxFanMike @ Feb 16, 2016 -> 03:27 PM) Simple question. What is your favorite ballpark food at the Cell or anywhere else? And yes, I'm starving right now so that's why I made this thread. Brat or Italian Sausage with peppers and onions. Cell has one of the best.

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Feb 16, 2016 -> 03:41 PM) The most recent X-files episode was just awful. By awful, I mean like worst episode of the entire 10 season series, awful. Everything about it was just terrible. Mulder was so far out of character it wasn't even funny and the actual story was bland too. I don't know how in a six episode season you can have such a crappy episode. I had thoroughly enjoyed the first 4 episodes too (in fact, I thought they were gaining momentum if anything).

The most recent X-files episode was just awful.

I think if Staley is available, the Bears very well might take him. I don't know that Leno is solid to above average. He did do an admirable job given his draft status though.

QUOTE (LDF @ Feb 16, 2016 -> 10:40 AM) if you don't mind, i will use your post. i did again, this morning. calling at 8:00 am cst. i got in and talked to the rep.... they said quote "it is not their fault that the st of LA charges more for their medical. they the ins companies the nat'l avg and it is my responsibility to pay the difference, even if i was retired". i have been retired since 99. yous guys who tried to help, many thanks. this is why i keep saying sox talk is the best...... I agree the insurance company pays a set amount. It seems like your actual issue might be with your dentist totally screwing you over. Not sure what leverage you have at this point and whether you can have the insurance company stiff the dentist and thus the difference is something you owe to the dentist (thus you have leverage...i.e., dentist needs your payment to make them whole and you could hold that over there head for some form of negotiation). I sure as hell wouldn't ever go to that dentist again. You were quite frankly, robbed. They very well might be taking advantage of you presuming you are older and retired and feel you are an easy target.

QUOTE (ChiSox_Sonix @ Feb 16, 2016 -> 09:54 AM) I took two of the exams but went into the financial/marketing industry instead. For now at least. Public colleges, certainly, but it'd be kind of hard to reel in private institutions. Personally, I would support some sort of system that allowed student loans from the government to be more accessible for everyone. And these loans should have small to no interest. Like 0.9% or something. I pay 3.75%, but i know people paying upwards of 8%. I do disagree with the notion that it should just be free. Everyone knows people who treated high school like a joke. Why would that change at college? Hell, I'm sure everyone knows people who paid to go to college and still treated it like a joke. Some failed out and wasted their own money. But when it's not their money, there's even less incentive. Rather than pushing for free college for everyone, I really think the country needs to invest in trade schools. You don't need a traditional education to become successful and/or make a good wage. The problem is that everyone gets ingrained with the idea that you must do this, this and this in school, and then you can get to the next step where you're continued to be pushed through. School isn't meant for everyone. Everyone isn't meant for school. And that's completely fine. Trades are just as important and can be just as lucrative. I don't know what it's like now, but when I was in school only 10 years ago, there was a stigma attached to non-traditional schooling options. I'm sure the negative projection of those types of places were detrimental to some kids. They totally shouldn't be, but I'd guess that they still are. I work in the insurance space (on the finance side) and deal a lot with the various actuaries. I always tell people, had I known what an actuary actually did prior to college, it very well might have been the path I took.

QUOTE (Rowand44 @ Feb 16, 2016 -> 12:09 PM) It was widely reported that Jimmy turned on Thibs last year. But this IS a Jimmy issue more than anything else as far as the coaches go. There were some leaks out of the Bulls org, that I don't believe. Like I said, unless something came up in the postseason, I had it on pretty good record that Butler was deep in support of Thibs. It was clear after the post-season that there were some things that changed, but I think a lot of that was just the players eventually acquiescing that they were tired of being caught in the middle of two children (Gar & Thibs). The actions of Jimmy after Thibs was let go and some of the comments he has made more recently are further evidence of that, imo. I think Noah, Rose and Jimmy eventually being on board was more to do with the fact that they couldn't change the GM and they knew as "toxic" as things had gotten that something had to be fixed. Unfortunately, Bulls ownership sided with the wrong guy in Gar.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Feb 16, 2016 -> 10:21 AM) Sometimes you don't appreciate things until they are gone. If Butler turned on Thibs, I bet he is having second thoughts. The guy actually said GarPax's guy needs to coach harder. Where did this "Butler" turned on Thibs notion come from? I had it on pretty good record last year (not necessarily the end of the season so maybe something happened in the playoffs that set him off) that Butler absolutely loved Thibs. On the other hand, Bernstein is coming out and indicating Butler does not respect Hoiberg. Taj also had some comments last week, which made it sound like he didn't respect Hoiberg. This is the Taj who has always been perceived as nothing but class (and I know that Taj loved Thibs...knew a guy that coached Taj during summers and Taj would rave about Thibs). It sounded like Butler was pretty anti Hoiberg at the deadline. Is this a Butler issue (if he turned on two coaches, I'd say maybe, but like I said, I had never heard about Jimmy not liking Thibs and it was widely reported that the two had dinner on a few different occasions after Thibs had already been fired (which to me made it pretty clear he respected Thibs). Oh and when Jimmy threw Hoiberg under the bus to coach harder, one of the items he was directly quoted saying was Thibs mantra. http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2016/02/16/ber...m_content=10093

QUOTE (ChiSox_Sonix @ Feb 16, 2016 -> 05:46 AM) Isn't that kind of her fault though? I'm not going to argue that college costs are out of control, because they are. But I personally graduated with about $20K in loans, and I needed 5 years. I spent 2 years at a community college which allowed me to live at home and work 20-30 hours a week. I then transferred to a state school (in NY, which is not a cheap state) for 3 years and worked about 10-15 hours per week, so not a ton. I wanted to go to UConn. I got in. They were my dream school. They had my degree that I wanted (actuarial science) and were only a couple hours from home. For an out of state resident it would have been between 20-25K per year. I chose not go 100K in debt. Again, I'm not defending the ridiculous prices and fees that universities have, but there are ways to mitigate the costs associated with your education and future debt. Are you an actuary?

QUOTE (shipps @ Feb 15, 2016 -> 02:40 PM) Is this usual to have so many B-C type FA's still unsigned when pitchers and catchers officially report? It seems like there are more bigger names out there than usual. I remember things being more set in place by now. This is absolutely more than usual. Been a very unique market.

QUOTE (pettie4sox @ Feb 15, 2016 -> 01:58 PM) The whole college system needs reform. School should not cause people to go into severe debt. When I first graduated, I barely held my head above water with rent, utilities, groceries, and student loans. I had to work overtime just to survive and I didn't have any "disposable" income. I took the money so I am obligated to pay it back. That being said, I have paid a lot of them back already but it took me a few years working to actually get a job that paid me a decent wage. A lot of kids that just graduated from school lived with their f***ing parents working a professional job. That's quite damning if you ask me. A lot of these colleges run their campuses like big business. They are always adding fees upon fees upon fees to the point that college is practically unaffordable to poor people unless they go into a lot of debt. Is it worth the cost of getting a degree if you're going to be drowning in debt? So you say no to college and now try to find work for a decent wage. Yeah... that's not happening either unless you're lucky with connections for a nice union gig. One is sort of trapped in this country that is full of opportunities and such and I use that term sarcastically. I am back in school now but I received a fellowship that pays for everything for me. It pays to be black, smart, and studying a STEM discipline that's for sure. Although I don't pay anything, I see my tuition bills are like 8K a semester. It's a state school that charges that extraordinary amount for tuition. Mind blown! If I didn't get a fellowship, how the hell would I be able to afford to go back to school even working a professional job as long as I did? As for the socialist comment. I feel that word has slight pejorative meaning and it is clearly meant to be a boogie man statement. Maybe the people on the forum don't necessarily mean in that way but socialism in it's purest form is not a doable form of government for the US. I believe democratic socialism isn't all that bad and I'm not some freeloader, non tax payer, hippy boy. Honestly, I see no problem / issues with kids living with there parents after there first professional job. To be frank, it is the financially savy thing to do. I also think having to create something from scratch, builds character and defines you and ensures you appreciate things, but there is a fine line between that and the vast majority starting out in massive debt.

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Feb 15, 2016 -> 01:40 PM) yeah but wasn't that AFTER he was made famous by rape allegations? It was after those allegations, although he was already famous.

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Feb 15, 2016 -> 01:39 PM) Eh, he could hook up with Rubio. I don't think they have to worry about getting the fringe out to vote. Bernie provides the govt take over fear mongering the need. Hillary is....well she's Hillary. Both would be enough to motivate people to vote. Look at Iowa. Big numbers of interested voters. We completely agree on this.

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Feb 15, 2016 -> 01:35 PM) I don't disagree. But the flip-side, making even more of the population dependent on the government, is also not sustainable, whether you tax the piss out of the wealthy or not. You know, given my w-2 predicament, I firmly believe I pay more than a f***ing enough in taxes, however, I have gotten to know quite a few business owners and it f***ing blows my mind all the tax advantages that open up to them vs. me. I realize the whole "create" jobs thing, but s***, how come I pay twice that amount in taxes, etc? Seems illogical. I fully believe our tax code needs to be fixed and to me it isn't really taxing the piss out of the wealthy, but it absolutely means people pay there fair share of taxes and maybe if that gets in balance, and general spend gets in balance, why not doing something that ultimately ensures no matter what happens to you, your kids will have healthcare and the opportunity to get a college degree (without being forever in debt). I can whine about how it isn't fair and how I went to college and had to pay, but I can also look at how much college costs have soared and think about how and what people are graduating with and go, wow, they are starting there actual lives worse off than I did roughly 10 years ago (its absurd how much worse to be frank).

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Feb 15, 2016 -> 01:32 PM) His injury has had no lingering effect. People thought he'd take some time to get back, if he ever did, and he's clearly back without issues. He doesn't seem very concerned about it, and neither do any of the teams that want to sign him. I mean yeah, a long term deal with an opt out is possible, just in case. But realistically if he hurts his foot again, this season or next, you don't think some team out there wouldn't take a chance on him and sign him to a max deal? I bet every team does. And why would the Thunder rebuild without Westbrook? If they lose Durant, they'd have to do everything possible to keep Westbrook and build around him. He's still a top 3 PG in the league. He's still a superstar or close to it. I don't know, who knew what would happen to Rose? I'm going to guess Durant, after missing the time he did, understands the possible implications from an injury and will take a longer term deal (but it could have an opt-out). If the Thunder go down in the playoffs, does he really think he's going to end up passing them or would it make more sense to head to the East and try to take on the cavs (presuming they don't win). All speculatory in nature, but I think the Thunder getting knocked out again, would potentially make KD think twice (I still think its over 50% that he resigns there but it certainly isn't a foregone conclusion).

QUOTE (bmags @ Feb 15, 2016 -> 01:27 PM) Now you are talking, and I've had the same thought. Not sure whether Westbrook would be interested or not, clearly he'd be an outstanding get (and obviously this means you dump Rose). I'm hoping Rose just goes nuts in the 2nd half of the season and than Durant will be like, I'm coming to Chicago to play with the reborn MVP & Buckets. Now time to wake back up, but a lot could happen to change the landscape. If we are moving Rose, we need to target a good PG though. I keep wondering if they will move Mirotic or if they are going to keep him and hope he improves on the 2nd half. Similarly, I wonder what they do with Pau. He has to have some good value and to be frank, we have become a soft team and while Pau is clearly a really good player, we need to get some tenacity in the middle. Outside of Davis, I'd be all over Boogie or Griffin.