jackie hayes

Samardzija decides on baseball. So much for all that 2-sport stuff.

One thing I've been wondering -- given that a person will die by hanging, is it any more painful to him being decapitated? I don't see how it would be. Now, it's clearly better that everything's done well, but on the 'cruel & unusual' scale, the cruel bothers me a lot more than the unusual.

I'd call Brown's hit on Bush a WOW, too.

We will never be competitive with Europe, ever. If MLS could evolve into a decent feeder league, that would be a massive improvement. Anything else is a fantasy.

QUOTE(Chisoxfn @ Jan 11, 2007 -> 02:18 PM) So per year he is going to make ~ 20 million more than the rest of the league. Wow. He'll make more than $20 mil more than the rest of the league earned last year. But as for next year, it'll depend on what, if anything, other teams do to sign a star of their own. (Each team is allowed one unlimited salary now.) QUOTE(southsideirish71 @ Jan 11, 2007 -> 02:29 PM) However on the bad side, if the league really wanted to become more competitive it would of sunk this money into some premier players and taken the quality of play up a notch. Watching the MLS flow of a game is almost like watching them run in quicksand. When Chelsea plaid the MLS allstarts they wet down the field, and didnt cut the grass in Bridgview so the weren't run off the field by Chelsea. For this type of money the league could of picked up a few top of the line guys who could of made this league a bit more competitive. Exactly. I'm not going to watch one good player, probably going half-ass, against MLS-level competition. I'm sure the female demo will improve, but no sports fan is today any more interested in MLS than he was yesterday.

QUOTE(Pale Hose Jon @ Jan 11, 2007 -> 10:58 AM) Looks like David Beckham is going to the LA galaxy in a deal that will pay him 250 million dollars. http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id...465&cc=5901 In the first paragraph, "Former England captain David Beckham will leave Real Madrid at the end of the season and sign a five-year deal for MLS team Los Angeles Galaxy..." The fifth paragraph, "Beckham's deal is reported to be one of the biggest in global sport, worth more than $250 million over an undisclosed amount of time." QUOTE(Chisoxfn @ Jan 11, 2007 -> 12:08 PM) So is Beckham's entire contract >>>> entire payroll of MLS soccer? By a wee bit. Salaries. QUOTE(SleepyWhiteSox @ Jan 11, 2007 -> 12:19 PM) Anybody honestly think that? No, not a chance.

Ethan Albright re-ups with Washington. Pretty good for a guy with a zero kick return rating.

QUOTE(maggsmaggs @ Jan 3, 2007 -> 03:29 PM) I Won! In my eyes, we're all winners.

I believe Parcells to be a good coach and Dallas to be basically a good team. Still... There is something unmatchably funny is seeing Dallas get done in by the kicking game, again. I dunno who hexed them, but man, did it work.

You copied-and-pasted that name. You had to. Admit it. It's okay.

It seems to me that each side has some good arguments, and I'd have to read a lot more to have a firm opinion. But there's no reason to be cynical about Roberts's intentions. The figures listed are in fact VERY low for good lawyers. As Roberts points out, many newly-minted lawyers will make more than those numbers. (It's very misleading to say only, "these salaries are lower than what partners at top private firms make".) I doubt anyone would refuse a SC nom over the pay, but it certainly seems plausible to me that it would be a problem in the lower courts.

The article's not gone, you just have to look in the archives. Link.

Brandon McCarthy gets traded. Really. QUOTE(Felix @ Dec 23, 2006 -> 02:47 PM) I refuse to believe this is real. QUOTE(Whitewashed in @ Dec 23, 2006 -> 02:47 PM) http://mlb.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/news/article...6&fext=.jsp ... QUOTE(Felix @ Dec 23, 2006 -> 02:48 PM) I refuse to read that link.

QUOTE(witesoxfan @ Dec 22, 2006 -> 11:47 AM) this could make for a pretty solid dugout You don't say...

QUOTE(Rex Kicka** @ Dec 19, 2006 -> 06:39 PM) Khatami's party lost power because of frustration over the speed of which the government was moderating, and also the corruption involved in Khatami's party. Iran's people are poor. They aren't often thinking about the international risks or benefits of who they elect. I guarantee you that the vast majority of them are voting for people that they think will make survival easier. I think the lack of moderation in China creates a good example that can be applied to Iran. A population will accept a constrictive social policy in exchange for the hope of food in their belly and a roof over their head. Many people confound poverty and international politics. It is very easy for a politician to scapegoat countries that are anyway disliked (US and Israel, for example) for a country's problems -- as a certain president is known to do. So to say people "aren't often thinking about the international risks or benefits of who they elect" is wrong. On top of that, I think it's flat wrong to suggest that no poor country can be thinking about international events. Maybe, maybe in a country as poor as Zimbabwe. But Iran is not as desperately poor as that. Turkey is not much wealthier than Iran; was the opposition to the Pope just an effort to keep food on the table? At the time of Ahmadinejad's election, it was pretty clear that the US had made a major blunder in entering Iraq and was tragically bungling the reconstruction. To say that voters in Iran were considering their stomachs and not the mess next door strikes me as rather simplistic, and I've never seen any evidence suggesting that. Nor did you present any.

QUOTE(bmags @ Dec 19, 2006 -> 05:32 PM) well every bit of information i've read has shown how different the views of the iranian people are from that of the people who've been ruling them. They've consistently tried to elect in more moderate candidates. I've always had this feeling that if it was iran we went after instead of iraq, the rebuilding could have actually had a shot. Khatami WAS more moderate. Ahmadinejad does not reflect Iran at all. He just came along at a propitious time for an anti-US demagogue.

QUOTE(WilliamTell @ Dec 19, 2006 -> 04:42 PM) Just skip all the steps and do a coin flip, that'll make it interesting, haha. If you don't have a policy beforehand, that seems like the fairest thing to do, really.

QUOTE(SoxFan562004 @ Dec 19, 2006 -> 04:40 PM) kind of my reaction. If there's nothing else on, I'll check it out, but not appointment TV for me I'm even further on the spectrum. I just can't watch it. I don't think I've ever finished watching a single game, even when I didn't have cable, so it was basically NBC, ABC, CBS, Fox, PBS, and WB, and nothing else. I'd finish watching something, AFL would come on, and I'd prefer to read a magazine after a few minutes. Or re-read, whatever.

QUOTE(greasywheels121 @ Dec 19, 2006 -> 02:51 PM) I don't think this is a bad thing. The AFL has always seemed interesting, and I think it could be an interesting watch. I was just about to agree with you, but then I remembered how second-rate and dull it is.

QUOTE(bmags @ Dec 18, 2006 -> 11:29 PM) it was mentioned like 2 weeks ago And when it was, Gonzales said Guillen "ruled out using utility player Rob Mackowiak in center next season." I like the "ruled out" version better than the "doesn't foresee" one. Ah, found it. For anyone who's interested, here's a transcript of Guillen's comments. The relevant part:

QUOTE(Balta1701 @ Dec 18, 2006 -> 04:18 PM) Because it would be a terrible idea for him to be with the major league team this year. I'm not disagreeing. But if (if!) he's in the bigs, I don't see much of a point in carrying Terrero.

QUOTE(NorthSideSox72 @ Dec 18, 2006 -> 03:39 PM) Well then let's hope he isn't the one picked for the backup CF role. I am hoping, at this point, we have Terrero for that role, and then either Sweeney or Owens as the backup corner OF (which leaves Mack, Cintron and Hall for the other 3 bench slots). Sweeney is probably more ready, but knowing Ozzie, he'd prefer a speedster like Owens on the bench. If Sweeney's with the major league team, why not just use him as the backup cf?

QUOTE(CWSGuy406 @ Dec 16, 2006 -> 05:50 PM) FWIW, here's an article from BP talking about the trade and some of Sisco's behavior problems: http://www.baseballprospectus.com/unfiltered/?p=104 Hs, Mazatlan cut him too? So if this is just like the Borchard-Thornton trade, which one did we get?

QUOTE(kyyle23 @ Dec 16, 2006 -> 04:49 PM) Isnt Teahen a 3B or 1B(when Sweeney isnt playing 1B)? I cannot recall him playing OF last year Gordon's believed to be ready, so it's expected they'll try Teahen in the of. There were also some trade rumors, iirc.

QUOTE(Milkman delivers @ Dec 16, 2006 -> 04:18 PM) Aardsma is a righty. It seems a few people think he throws with his left hand. He has thrown with his right hand, but Coop'll fix him!