Chisoxfn

QUOTE (Y2JImmy0 @ Dec 15, 2015 -> 10:24 AM) This is insulting. I went to public school in Lockport and teach in one now. Everything you mentioned there is just as good if not better in most of the good public schools in the state. A lot of really good teachers can't afford to stay in private schools forever either. If you live in Chicago, then yes, private school is the way to go. But by me, if you live in Lockport, New Lenox, Lemont, Orland Park, Naperville, etc, there is absolutely no reason to pay the extra $$ to go to private school. Go to public school and spend the $$ on college. I've always thought that I'd rather pay extra for property taxes in a good district and send my kids to public school rather than possibly living in an area with not great schools (Plainfield, Bolingbrook) and spending that extra $$ on private school. Good school districts also help solidify real estate / property values.

QUOTE (ChiSoxFanMike @ Dec 15, 2015 -> 10:14 AM) Inciarte? I'd love to get him. Yep...that is it. Name was slipping me. Supposedly Braves are considering moving him for pitching.

Royals would make sense as Frazier would add a bat who wouldn't be expensive ($ value wise). But with 3B not a need, I feel that giving up that cost for a guy who is so good because he plays that position and does it well, just doesn't make sense. As a LF'er, Frazier value, imo, is negated. Why not just find another outfielder or go after the guy the Braves got from the Dbacks (Alicdes or whatever his name is).

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Dec 15, 2015 -> 10:02 AM) The general story I've seen again and again is that Cruz is very smart, but almost universally unlikeable in person. And every time I hear him talk, he comes off as unlikeable. Like I said, I hate to base my opinion on that stuff, but his persona and everything about him just seems like such a snide and unlikeable guy. And I can't get it out of my head. I also don't agree with his politics but I'm probably overly critical of him because I already have that bias.

QUOTE (LDF @ Dec 15, 2015 -> 09:46 AM) and you made a good point. here is another way to look at it. in those trade, even the other team some what believed that they were getting a quality player and that player failed to develop any further. so the point is was it kw superior knowledge in the future or did he get lucky there. second, the state of the system was even then horrible. You know...the guy was GM for 10+ years. Hard for me to say he just got lucky that he never traded away a star. The players the Sox kept tended to be the ones who ended up being better (obviously pitchers).

QUOTE (shysocks @ Dec 15, 2015 -> 09:48 AM) Daniel Hudson is worth mentioning. Wonder if he might have stayed healthy here. No idea but I can't mention Hudson since he really only had such a short lived bout of success. Now you could also say, he could have traded almost any position talent in the Sox org and they would have never amounted to anything (because we haven't had any meaningful position talent develop...within the org or that we dealt elsewhere) in, well, forever.

QUOTE (raBBit @ Dec 15, 2015 -> 09:42 AM) Chris Young too but you're right that that the group of prospects KW traded never really amounted to much as a whole Good point on Young. That said, while he's been a serviceable player. He had those two years where you thought, oh crap, we gave up a star (when the Dbacks made that run) but than he regressed big time. All for Javy, who could never pitch to his talent.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Dec 15, 2015 -> 09:41 AM) Its a very careful balance between parental involvement and detrimental helicopter parents though. You have to make sure you are not the parent who is blaming the teacher for your child's issues in the classroom. Too many parents nowadays fall into that category. At our school, one of the things I like most is how we have pretty regular conversations with the teacher to work with them to ensure consistency (really she is working with us, but same concept and it comes down to all of us being on the same page, whether it is addressing a certain behavior, or just talking through next steps in potty training, etc), which I think is such an important part of a baby / toddler's life. Honestly, every day I get to spend with my kids, gives me not only great joy (and some frustration that gets thrown in), but better appreciation for what my parents had to deal with. Honestly, I start to understand the, you don't know until you actually have kids comment that a lot of parents have (especially when someone who never had kids makes a comment). You just can't simulate the experience and I now know I have no freaking idea what to expect in the future, only advice I can give is based upon my experiences with kids 2.5 and under (unless you grew up a ton around kids or are a teacher of young kids). Having kids, in my opinion, is far harder than I ever imagined and it definitely will test your relationship as both of you adjust to being parents. But as I say, sometimes the best experiences, require the most work.

QUOTE (LDF @ Dec 15, 2015 -> 09:33 AM) you are darn right, if this was kw regime, the trade would have been done. The thing about Kenny is outside of Gio (and maybe I'm forgetting someone else), he really rarely ever gave up a player who ever amounted to much anything. In many cases, you could make a point that when he sold his assets, he sold high. Olivo and Gio probably had the best careers out of that and Kenny did good when he sold Gio the first time (and when he got him back), but obviously failed when he moved him for Swisher. That was probably the worst trade in Kenny's history, which is pretty incredible given how many trades he actually made (and it isn't like Nick Swisher is a bum, yes he turned out not to be a fit and had a lousy year with the Sox but he's had a good career).

QUOTE (CrimsonWeltall @ Dec 15, 2015 -> 07:17 AM) Cruz is a very extreme conservative - he's farther right than any other candidate. He's also infamously unlikable. The Republican establishment hates him because he doesn't cooperate with them, preferring to grandstand and cause problems to build his own hype. But, ultimately, he prefers most of the same positions they do, so they'll back him if he wins. I don't happen to like Cruz, but he's probably one of, if not the most intelligent people in any fields. Overall though, he's too conservative for me, but he also just has a face that I can't stand. Kind of like Drose in his mask. Yep...I'm awful and I said it. Cruz just doesn't look likeable.

QUOTE (iamshack @ Dec 15, 2015 -> 09:12 AM) Special Improvement District/Local Improvement District A SID or LID is placed on a property when the city/county installs streets, fire hydrants, sewer plumbing and street lighting in an undeveloped portion of land that a developer is building on. The costs associated with installing these features is placed upon the home builder/developer. The developer can choose to pay the loan/bond back or they can relay the cost on to the home buyer by one of two ways: if the builder chooses to pay back the funds immediately, they tack the cost onto the price tags of all the homes in the development. If the builder chooses not to add the costs of Special or Local Improvements, the costs get placed onto the buyer by way of SID or LID that is generally a few thousand dollars per home, paid twice a year, amortized over 10-20 years. Do you all have mella roos out their or is that mainly a California thing? I guess it could fall into this to some extent as it pays for all the new development plus the school / infrastructure. Gets the tax rate in new developments in California up from the 1.05% base tax to 1.5% or higher. The bonds are usually paid off over 30-40 years and now they are creating some which don't expire.

QUOTE (Heads22 @ Dec 14, 2015 -> 09:34 PM) Being down early to a horrible opponent is Hoiberg's MO The Bulls would have quite a few more wins if they could make free throws and put teams away. They have had so many bouts where they just fall asleep and play horrendous offense.

QUOTE (iamshack @ Dec 14, 2015 -> 08:45 PM) Hah. Well, I live in an interesting area. Lots of old money. This is where the folks who made Vegas famous once lived. Large lots, lots of privacy, no HOAs, mature trees, grass, etc. Entirely different than anything else in Vegas. You wouldn't even know you were in Vegas, except for that the Strip and the downtown are only 5 minutes away. Additionally, it is located in the middle of the Vegas Valley, and so you're never too far from anything. Really an awesome place to live. And my property taxes are a whopping $1500/yr. The woman I bought this house from is Phyllis McGuire. She is also my neighbor. Google her. Anyways, yeah, for whatever reason, as this is an older area, and there certainly are some shady areas to the north of us, the school district is not good. Everyone in this particular neighborhood/area sends their kids to private schools. The area we would look at is where the new money is. Newer homes, all kinds of crazy development, so every store, restaurant, amenity is nearby. It isn't close to the Strip or Downtown area, but it isn't too far either. Maybe 25 minutes away. Property taxes are much closer to Chicago's. $8-9k year, and then all kinds of other bs as well. HOA's, SIDs and LIDs. Homes are going to be $800k at minimum, with most of them closer to double that. While I am on a pretty good career arc right now, not sure I won't just pay the $10-12k per year for school. What is a SID / LID?

QUOTE (Jose Abreu @ Dec 14, 2015 -> 04:17 PM) NBA ref Bill Kennedy comes out as gay after Rondo directs gay slurs at him during a game What Rondo said and how he said it was classless. A 1 game suspension doesn't seem right.

QUOTE (Chicago White Sox @ Dec 14, 2015 -> 04:16 PM) While some of the logic may be flawed, the underlying principle is what's important. The ownership group must invest in the team now if it's wants to acheive sustainable success. They need to stop blaming the fans for not coming out and supporting a garbage product. Successful organizations (in any line of business) don't blame the consumer for their financial issues, they find a way to invest in their product to generate value. Therefore, spend some money and add an impact free agent or two; go into the red for a few years if need be. Put a quality product on the field for an extended period of time (i.e. more than one year) and the fans & revenue will follow. Half-assing it like we do most years is the worst possible decision we can make. We need a clear direction and if "going for it" isn't a feasible option, then start selling pieces and start from scratch. I agree with everything you said and I think right now, they haven't pigeon holed themselves to one direction vs. the other yet. What they can't do is the status quo or even worse move assets for a half assed contention. Either contend or retool with a longer term plan. That could mean you sign a big name and focus on turning some assets for the future or that just fit better.

QUOTE (Buehrle>Wood @ Dec 14, 2015 -> 04:08 PM) That's where I'm at. I really think it'll be both or neither. Upton the Sox could do and you don't need to do anything else (as it could be part of a longer term plan of get closer this year with an, if everything goes well, we are their but if not, we are just another year of development, etc away from contending more longer term). However, if you go the Frazier route I think the Sox absolutely need to surround that move with another move to ensure a much higher probability of post-season entrance. I say that because you are actually giving up assets to get Frazier (and I'm not counting a sandwich pick at the same level as real, close major league ready assets such as Anderson +) who is only here for 2 years. If you do that and can't contend, that is extremely disappointing.

Interesting premise but inherently flawed premise to assume you make the playoffs all those years. I think you need to look at the upside and potential downside to better argue why economically it makes sense. I also presume an off-season ago you could have ran this same model with Melky / Robertson / LaRoche and projected playoffs too (doesn't mean you are right). I do agree that on paper if you go with Upton and another above average player (Frazier or someone else) than you are talking about potential playoff team. Same could be said if you went after Upton and say Kendrick.

I am so glad Rose got his haircut and ditched the mask. Now to hope it has a positive impact on his performance.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Dec 14, 2015 -> 01:06 PM) I agree. Swallow hard JR, and be prepared to take a bath if it doesn't work. If he isn't willing, then see what you can get for your players. Half assed doesn't work . Somehow it seems half assed / in between is the direction we are headed. To me, start to rebuild with an eye longer term or go at this thing. One or the other. I'm not saying you need to make your mind up immediately, but then need to be very careful that they don't over commit one way and than it is too late to head the other direction (because the market has tried up).

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Dec 14, 2015 -> 12:56 PM) Dan Hayes seems to think the White Sox won't be signing a big bat free agent, and most likely won't be trading for Frazier. Of course they could be playing with him. To be honest, doing that and just hoping for our vets to improve is better than trading top prospects for Frazier (and I don't like the stand pat plan either). IF we are going to make a run at this, we need to go all in and add Frazier plus an Upton. If you sign Upton, fine, that can be part of a longer term plan, but wasting pieces on Frazier without having an aggressive and legit plan to contend for both of his seasons under team control is just absurd in my eyes...absurd.

QUOTE (fathom @ Dec 14, 2015 -> 12:21 PM) Amazing how bad the Dodgers personnel decisions have been going back to last year's trade deadline. Its hard to blame them, since they have a fantastic farm system that should help them, but Andrew and the GM are clearly putting a ton of faith in the develoment of those kids. If they don't pan out, they are done. Trading them for vets would have been the safer move, especially given the payroll they have to work with. That said, I think they are under somewhat of an order to minimize future payroll. They will always spend but I don't think they will have the blank check they did when they first jumped in. The company that owns them, owns them to make money.

Geeze...Dodgers have stood pat (and really got worse with the loss of Greinke) while Dbacks and Giants have aggressively made moves. Tough division. A year ago Pads failed but went aggressive too. Everyone in that division (but Rocks) seems to want it.

The guy is the biggest liar in the history of the game. He waved his hand and continued to lie and even when he "came clean" he was still lying and lying. Unless you open up a wing for cheaters, Rose should never be admitted into the hall of fame and he absolutely should be banned from the game.

QUOTE (iamshack @ Dec 14, 2015 -> 08:38 AM) Thanks Jason, that is very helpful. The cost is indeed ridiculous. It's going to make me think about just moving to a different part of town and taking advantage of the public schools, as much as that will be a difficult decision to make. Yeah - The city we live in has fantastic public schools, so once they are old enough to transition, they will (so in my eyes, this is a temporary cost, of course some of that cost will transition to other things as the kids get older and more expensive, whether sporting activities, gymnastics, etc). This is more of the education/daycare before you can get into public school. I think it isn't until like 5 that you can send your kids to public school (or something like that). We probably will keep our child in the program for an extra year (when public opens) but that will be more because the school is only a few hours that first year so you'd have to pay for a 2nd form of daycare anyway so at that point, we'd rather her just stay in the same school for a little longer. LDF said it more concise, but I am a big believer in socialization and independence/independent play time.

So shack, our close to 2.5 year old started at a montesorri school when she got around 20 months (in what I think most schools call a "Toddler" program). Prior to that she was watched by a combination of my mom and mother/father in-law and once we had our 2nd, we knew it was time to send our little one to school (otherwise too much to ask for our parents). We had already been researching schools and found one in our area that we liked a ton. The difference in cost in our area was very minimal so no matter the school/daycare (full day), you were looking at somewhere between $1000 - 1500 / month. We went to quite a few and than picked the one we ultimately felt most comfortable with (helped that we knew some people who had used the school). Combination of recommendations and our gut feel were helpful and we also did a once a week mommy / daddy & me class at the facility, which firmed our thoughts. The big goal for us was obviously a combination of alleviating the parents, but also it was for our daughter. We wanted her to benefit from the social interactions she didn't get as much of staying at home and also just the overall enrichment in terms of activities (while we would try we couldn't make our house be like a school...just harder and grandparents don't want to be the disciplinarians either so while they were watching, we had to deal with the inconsistent discipline which would be frustrating. Since our daughter as started, the only real downside I can see (other than the cost) is the colds that come with it (But it strengthen's the immune system). She has a ton of fun and is excited every morning for school. She's also became far more independent and self confident. All that said, the cost is absurd and it took me a long time to get comfortable with it (afterall, it was more than my tuition and cost of books for a semester at college when I started college), but at the end of the day, we couldn't be happier with our decision. We love her teacher and the assistant teachers and we've gotten a little parent / kid group together for other activities as well (which was nice since most of our friends haven't had kids yet..at least the ones that live around us). Now our daughter gets the involvement from us (and we are super involved), plus time with her grandparents (goes their when school ends so she can play with her cousin and see her lil brother who gets watched). I'm just not looking forward to when our son starts in a bit and we are doubling down on those payments. The whole sibling 10% off discount isn't super helpful, haha. Oh and one of the reasons we went with the 5 day vs. the 3 day is we read and talked to people and kind of determined that ultimately the more consistent the routine for the young child the better. Given our daughter, I think if we had done a 3 day program, she'd still be adjusting (she was super clingy to her mom and especially me). On the grand scheme of things though, I think the key is parental invovlement and early education. Ultimately as long as they are in a "safe" place and get parental involvement and access to learning, that is huge. It is also important that they are encouraged to do/try to do things on their own (they quickly become little people and as they learn to do things on their own and you see how proud they are and confident, you can't help but smile).