hogan873

Another solid episode of The Following last night. So far they've done a good job keeping the suspense up.

QUOTE (Buehrle>Wood @ Feb 1, 2013 -> 02:24 PM) Considering we have a terrible start catcher, you think we might look for a decent backup. But no... We don't know that Flowers will be terrible. I for one doubt he'll be that bad. His defense is good, he calls a good game, and he has a lot of power. If he can do an okay job at hitting for average, he'll be fine. However, I am concerned about the lack of a decent back-up.

Tyler Flowers hits .250+ with 25+ HRs and 80+ RBIs

QUOTE (Middle Buffalo @ Jan 30, 2013 -> 08:05 PM) **bump** Driving cross country from AZ to Chicago last summer, we side-tracked to the OKC Memorial. I remember exactly where I was when the bombing happened, but I never really followed the story afterward. Not sure why. I wasn't expecting much, but the Memorial is very well done, and worth the trip if it's not too far out of your way. The letters that were taped up to the walls around the Memorial were heartbreaking. Back to books - I'm listening to 11/22/63 now (kills time while at work), and I'm near the end. Do we count listening to books as reading? So far, it has elements of what King does best, and some of what he does worst. I find his longer books a little slow to get going (100 pages) while he introduces characters, then they hit their stride hard and are great until just before the end. For whatever reason, I'm usually not too impressed with his endings on the long stuff. Hope this is different. Read "Gone, Girl" recently and liked it quite a bit. Easy read with some twists that I didn't expect. Absolutely. As a matter of fact, Stephen King wrote an article in EW a while back and talked about listening to books. He agreed that it is "reading" a book. I listen to probably 2 books a month driving to and from work. As far as 11/22/63, I thought it was one of King's best. And I liked the ending.

QUOTE (SouthsideDon48 @ Jan 29, 2013 -> 02:34 PM) Yea. I have no idea how southsider didn't get that from my post. I'm stumped. I understood what you meant because you were talking about uniform changes, and the Marlins changed their uniforms when they moved into their new stadium and changed their name to the Miami Marlins. Actually, I'm sure just about everyone understood what you meant.

QUOTE (fathom @ Jan 25, 2013 -> 11:04 AM) Doubtful, he's a huge fan favorite there. I figured. He's from Pittsburgh, and he's the son of Tom Walker, the guy from Homeland...wait, that doesn't seem right.

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Jan 25, 2013 -> 10:52 AM) Seager? Callaspo? Neil Walker? Walker is intriguing. He'd be a trade candidate, I assume. Would the Pirates be willing to deal him?

QUOTE (fathom @ Jan 25, 2013 -> 09:36 AM) Heard the end of the interview, and it definitely sounded like Hahn was trying to bring in a lefty hitting 3B. I wonder who it could be, if that were the case? Would it have to be via trade, or are there any free agents left out there?

Math in general. Plus, once I got into high school I actually found calculus and geometry to be interesting and useful. Grammar is huge. As someone else pointed out already, the stuff you see on Facebook is horrendous. Oftentimes I will be reading someone's post (and many times it's those folks who love to rant), and I will discount everything they wrote because their grammar is so bad. And I cringe everytime I hear someone say "I seen..." It blows my mind that they do not teach cursive writing anymore. How are kids expected to learn how to sign their names or read the writing of their parents? Overall, as a parent, I've found just about everything I've learned in school to be useful as I spend time every night helping my kids with their homework.

QUOTE (PlaySumFnJurny @ Jan 22, 2013 -> 11:12 AM) I thought it was ok. It was certainly gory for network TV. Here's one "nitpick": Them not turing on the lights for like 5 minutes after they went to the female doctor's neighbors was just ridiculous. It was pretty gory, but I thought the suspense level was pretty high, too. I guess if you compared it to most network shows, it's a much better effort. It plays more like an FX or AMC show. As far as them not turning on the lights, I thought they were thinking the guys were still in there. But, they were certainly making a lot of noise. By the way, I think the creator and writer of the first episode was the same guy who wrote the screenplay for Scream.

QUOTE (fathom @ Jan 21, 2013 -> 10:24 PM) I really enjoyed The Following One of the better pilots in a long time. I hope the rest of the episodes can maintain the suspense.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Jan 21, 2013 -> 10:07 AM) There is really only one problematic backloaded contract anywhere on their books. Also, he's about $20M too high on payroll (no idea where he gets the $119M number, because it looks like complete fantasy), he seems to think that Rios and Dunn doing well only "help" (LOL), rails on the Keppinge acquisition while failing to acknowledge that almost ANYTHING is an upgrade to what the Sox had there already, and seems to think the team overachieved (never mind their pythag says otherwise, and that only a couple hitters and 1 SP overachieved). Other than that, yeah, great article. Some of his points make a lot of sense of course, sarcasm aside. Paulie is on the wrong side of the curve and may not bounce back, Rios is unlikely to repeat his 2012, Flowers won't likely get anywhere close to AJ's 2012 numbers (then again, neither will AJ), Quintana is a regression concern and Sale and Peavy are injury concerns. All true. Yeah, I was confused by that, too. I thought the payroll stood at about $100 million right now.

Same guy predicted a last place finish for the Sox last year. However, he makes a few good points. The backloaded contract hell comment doesn't really make sense, though. If Rios has a decent year, Dunn hits 40+ HRs again, and Konerko is better after the surgery, the Sox have a chance to compete within the division. The pitching looks pretty good right now, especially if Danks returns to form.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Jan 21, 2013 -> 07:37 AM) He has been a special kind of asshole this season. Debs beating him with the sack of soap was awesome Does anyone know why Kev has a broken leg? Is it something real that was written in? Because I cannot remember anything happening to him last season. I think the broken leg must have been written in. I don't remember anything happening last season. I could be wrong, though. Yeah, Frank is about as low as they come now. The whole scene that ended with Debs beating him with the soap was outstanding. Fiona's reaction to Debs' flipping out was very real. The one person who still loved him now hated him, too. Shameless continues to be one of the best shows on TV.

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ Jan 18, 2013 -> 12:54 PM) That's about 6x what he's worth. Maybe 2X or 3X. I would say his plus defense gives him some value. But he has got to start hitting the damn baseball.

QUOTE (Marty34 @ Jan 16, 2013 -> 11:38 AM) What should the fans punishment be for "not showing up"? I'm assuming this is a bit of a sarcastic question. Fans shouldn't be "punished" for not showing up to the games. We've discussed before that it's not just attendance that fuels a team's income. It's a big part of it, though. I think this might be one area where we agree (I think based on some of your previous posts). Many people, especially those with families, have better places to spend their money than at a baseball game. It's just so damn expensive anymore (as is attending a Bulls, Hawks, or Bears game). The Sox did drop prices, and that will help. I suppose eventually if the fans continue to "not show up", they will be "punished" by their team not being able to go out and get those impact players that would make the team better.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jan 15, 2013 -> 01:09 PM) Seriously, you have zero idea what Rick Hahn is actually doing, none at all. I'm not quite sure why you would be acting like you do know. I seriously wonder if you actually believe that because few deals have actually gotten done, that Hahn and his staff have been doing nothing all winter. If this is true, it is actually kind of sad. This is a cute little caricature you have built of Hahn, but it is delusional. Heck it is bordering on meatball Bears fan for over-reaction of the millennium. It's gotten pretty ridiculous. We're to assume, based on the thoughts of some here, that since Hahn has only signed Peavy and Keppinger that he's going to do nothing else before the season starts. It's January 15, and people believe that the offseason is over. Whether or not more moves are made (and I believe there will be), I'm certain that Hahn is not sitting quietly and doing nothing. He knows better than any of us what needs to be done to improve the team. If and when the right deal comes around, a trade will be made. He's not going to trade someone just to make a move. If he can move Floyd, Thornton, and/or an outfielder and acquire a left-handed bat he will, as long as a deal makes sense.

QUOTE (Marty34 @ Jan 15, 2013 -> 11:21 AM) People who rag on the fans for their support are really advocating franchise relocation. I'm not sure what this means. If you're saying those who rag on the fans who don't support the team are the ones advocating relocation, that doesn't make sense at all. If you're saying it's the fans who don't go to the games who are advocating relocation, that's still wrong. There have been enough discussions here about the price to attend Sox game for all to be aware that it's not something everyone can do. And most who can do it can't afford to do it many times. There are plenty of ways to support a team, and attending the game is just one. Merchandise is huge. Plus with agreements with the channels that broadcast games, the teams make money when people tune in.

*looks at calendar, confirms it's still January*

My wife's a CPA, but she uses Turbo Tax. She'll look for just about every write off she can find, plus we overpay. So we always get a nice return. And the return typically goes right towards paying bills. This year, however, we might put a chunk away for vacation. One of these years, though, it's going to be time for a new air conditioner.

QUOTE (juddling @ Jan 12, 2013 -> 08:01 AM) Just a couple episodes (shown back to back next week) of Fringe left. Damn shame John Noble never received any awards for his portrayal of Walter Bishop....... I agree. His portayal as the two Walter Bishops from the different timelines was great. Two totally different characters.

QUOTE (Marty34 @ Jan 11, 2013 -> 11:02 AM) 20 years, 4 post seasons and 1 World Series. Not enough to have a rabid fan base. QUOTE (HickoryHuskers @ Jan 11, 2013 -> 11:03 AM) Well, that's your opinion, but teams with fewer total wins, postseason appearances, and WS wins, have had better attendance in the last 20 years, so by comparison, Sox fans are spoiled. There's a difference between a fan base and the number of fans that attend the games. The Sox have a big fan base, and I would argue that of true baseball fans, their fan base is bigger than most people think. Marty, I will admit that you are very good and finding things to argue about. This thread has been veering back and forth between attendance and wins, and you have been camping out on the sides with few, if any, other supporters. And then you ask for proof/links/documentation to support the posts of others. Yet you have not offered anything to support your posts. We all have opinions, and almost everything we've been discussing here are opinions. None of us know what Hahn has cooking. None of know that Sox ownership is or isn't doing what they can to improve attendance. All we can do is speculate. What's happening is that no one's opinions are being respected because everyone thinks those with opposing views are wrong. As far as the fan base/attendance argument, short of going to the commissioner and demanding the Cubs be moved to another city, there's not a lot the Sox can do to drastically improve attendance. Having a team that wins a bunch of games and makes it to the post season on a regular basis will help, but the boost in attendance would happen AFTER the fans start seeing the product on the field. The Sox have cut prices for 2013, and that's a good step. I'm sure a few more moves will be made to improve the team, but the Sox will not be making a big splash. They just don't have the money. But, I think the team will be good enough to compete in the division. Note I said compete, not necessarily "win". Enough facts have been put out in this thread to show that the Sox have actually put decent teams on the field over the past 10-20 years. The Sox should have done better some years, and they probably should have made the playoffs a few more times, but like last year, sometimes it's the players. Or like in 2011, sometimes it's the manager. Show me a baseball fan who loves everything their team's ownership does, and I'll show you someone who doesn't follow baseball. The Sox ownership has done some good things, and they've done some bad things. Overall, however, I feel that they've done a decent job over the years. To say we need new ownership because the team hasn't made it to the playoffs every year is ridiculous.

QUOTE (Swingandalongonetoleft @ Jan 11, 2013 -> 10:27 AM) I would be sad if the Sox dropped $147 million for 6 years of Greinke. I think the majority of this board would agree with you. Except to replace the word "sad" with "pissed".

QUOTE (knightni @ Jan 10, 2013 -> 08:50 PM) Sox fans are so spoiled. They don't support competitive teams. There are many fan bases that would be thrilled for the winning records that the team has put up in the last 30 years. FYI - Winning percentage in A.L. history: Yankees #1 Red Sox Indians Tigers White Sox #5 The fans are spoiled, but there's also the fact that there's another team in Chicago; a team that has as much of a cult following as an actual fanbase. If this White Sox team (as it has been over the past 20 years) was in a city without another team, their attendance would be better, maybe much better. Another issue has been the cost of going to a game. It's just too damn expensive to go to more than a couple games a year.

I remember acquiring Anderson, as there was a moment when we asked "THAT Brian Andeson?" But no, not that guy.