Jake

Apple will have to be more customizable if they want to keep their market share or start digging into Android's. There will always be people that will buy Apple, but right now they are still living on the reputation of the first gen iPhones. More and more people, myself included, have realized that the new iPhones are just by and by inferior. The nice thing about customizability...it is optional. Your custom can be just a list of apps if you like it that way. Android devices can be every bit as intuitive and simple while killing the current iPhones on hardware. The original iPhone was the most customizable, the most potentially confusing thing ever when it was released; there had never been anything like it. They have gone from the most customizable, most complex to the least customizable, least complex. That isn't "the Apple mindset," that is stagnation. And jailbreaking isn't a real solution for customization. I can do most of what I could do on a jailbroken phone on any maker's version of Android and not be on my own when it comes to getting service or software help. Like chw42 said, they actually have to be innovative. I remember watching a Steve Jobs keynote where he said "Apple isn't always the first to the party" but they always do it best when they get there. Now they are not the first and they do not do it best. They have to innovate or they'll be stuck with people like my parents that just want the simplest, most familiar device possible...and you can't build a business on people that are about to be on Social Security.

QUOTE (Jordan4life @ Jun 10, 2013 -> 06:01 PM) These guys are threats now. You have to respect it. You didn't have to respect 90's bigs in that way outside of like 3 of 'em. Fortunately, you no longer have to respect bigs when they are near the basket

There are some holes in his stats, but who cares? Like Caulfield says, at age 19 in A ball if you are the best at ONE thing, that is huge.

Yeah, there are no more players to buy. The savings at a certain point are kind of irrelevant.

Such bulls***, CSN shouldn't take on the game if they can't broadcast it where people can see it.

QUOTE (pettie4sox @ Jun 10, 2013 -> 03:41 PM) Why is Gillaspie out? One of the guys must have claimed to be a better knuckleball hitter.

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Jun 10, 2013 -> 11:18 AM) Great deal by Tampa. Understand what the Bears are doing. Hurts though, I thought he was going to be really good prior to that injury. I hope the Bears are confident his failures last year weren't as a result of him not having his strength fully built up. He pretty much forced our hand by staying home for OTAs. We're lucky to get the 6th rounder because we were on the verge of releasing him IMO

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ Jun 10, 2013 -> 04:17 PM) No it hasn't! DO YOU KNOW HOW MANY TEBOW UPDATES I'VE MISSED BECAUSE OF THAT MULLET MAN

QUOTE (IlliniKrush @ Jun 10, 2013 -> 04:14 PM) Damn, NHL just lost tons of future die-hard fans because they put TWO games on a channel that is IMPOSSIBLE to find and NO ONE has when those people wanted to watch their first games of the year. Probably not, it is more likely since they already alienated those people by making a huge portion of the other playoff games unwatchable for the same reasons. I think getting games on ESPN would be huge, as then ESPN would be forced to push the hell out of it and make people (maybe, you know, kids that don't have solidified sporting preferences) begin to care more about it. If NBCSN can get viewers from fans of all sports, that can help as well...even though I don't get real energized to watch the cycling and racing BS they're pushing.

iOS7 - implementing things Android users have been enjoying for years while changing the look to make it seem like we did more than we actually did.

QUOTE (IlliniKrush @ Jun 10, 2013 -> 03:56 PM) If the whole series was on there, I'd agree. But, I get why they are doing this, what deal they have here, and that this has been the precedent for years. I think the assumed effect of 2 games on NBCSN is greatly exaggerated. People will watch these games if they want to find them. The ratings will still be through the roof, not absolutely plummet in 2 and 3. It's still hilarious that NOW this is an issue for some people. The past 2 rounds, outside a few games, have been NBCSN. It goes back to my last post, where it's for the sake of tuning into the championship series, that makes it an issue for those types of people. FWIW, I consider myself a pretty big fan of hockey (I was a ST holder for the B-N independent team) and a big fan of the Blackhawks (I know what "Dollar Bill" means and watched [away] games on TV since I was a little boy, etc.) and still have been irritated that they put these games on NBCSN. I am also happy for my dissatisfaction about this to result in the NBCSN being more affordable, more widely distributed, etc. If it turns into a hockey channel, I'm perfectly okay with that so long as it is easier to get. For now, I'm pissed that I get stuck with the fuzzy, SD version of games 2 and 3 despite unloading ungodly amounts of money for my cable package and having bought NHL's streaming services for the regular season when I'm away from home. I might have to HDMI my laptop into the TV and stream it in HD, but that's a whole lot of bulls*** to see something that I sincerely believe should be a big deal for everybody. I like how big hockey is to some Chicagoans, but I think the sport could get huge -- but for most folks it's something that has been taking up space on Sportscenter yet never appears on the TV channels they normally watch.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jun 10, 2013 -> 03:02 PM) If we're "Exceedingly indifferent" about a guy making $3 million as a platoon player/part time starter, then we'll have run out of things to be indifferent about. In the long run, he'll be a guy that produces about $4M per year and it just won't be a determining important factor for the success of our franchise either way, just like most $4M per year deals. It'll be a fair deal.

QUOTE (HickoryHuskers @ Jun 10, 2013 -> 03:26 PM) Just wondering what you do have? You need CSN to see the bulk of Sox/Bulls/Hawks regular season games, and NBCSN is included in the same package as CSN for at least some providers. I bet he can watch the Super Bowl, the World Series, and the NBA Finals in their entirety OTA

The facts of the matter are the NHL doesn't make TV deals for hardcore fans. They need to grow their brand and expand the individual fanbases of certain clubs as well as make more Americans like hockey. Putting the SCF on a channel that a huge portion of the TV-watching cannot get or in many cases does not even know exists just smacks of irrelevance. If hockey wants to be a niche-y sport that does not have widespread viewership (like tennis, which has lots of fans but nothing when compared to NFL/MLB/NBA), they will have to cut some teams. Hockey at its best should be something that every sports fan cares about and right now that just isn't the case. Don't be a snob and just dismiss the people that can't or won't inconvenience/extend themselves for hockey right now. The sport we like suffers. I can't prop up the NHL just by buying sweaters, NHL Gamecenter, etc. They actually need new/reinvigorated fans. Sticking two of the biggest 4-7 games of the season on NBCSN is the worst way to do that.

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ Jun 10, 2013 -> 03:06 PM) Actually, NBC is so nice that they allow you to watch the games for free via an app. I believe that is only true if you are subscribed to a cable/satellite provider that plays nice with NBC. At least, I had to sign in with my cable account to stream on my computer.

I'm just looking for upward trajectory from Hawkins at this point. He's showing all kinds of talent and pop, so now I just want to see his numbers gradually improve in the peripherals. Then we start the process over again whenever he goes to AA

In my basic cable package, we have ESPN, TNT, Big Ten Network -- anything in the basic cable package is available in HD to HD subscribers. My cable in Pontiac, IL (a mere 90ish miles from the UC) DOES offer the NBCSN. However, there is no tier that exists in which they offer it in HD. It costs a ton to get to the tier where you get it in SD. That tier doesn't even include NFLN, NBATV, MLBN, NHLN, which are not offered at all. It should be impossible that fans in the Blackhawks' home market have to buy the most expensive tier of cable to see the games, and can't even see it in HD at that...and any hockey fan knows that watching hockey in SD is a totally different experience than HD and it is true of hockey more than any other sport.

QUOTE (Jordan4life @ Jun 7, 2013 -> 11:36 AM) Too bad baseball sucks ass at marketing it's stars. Not that this guy is a star - yet. The talent influx that's hit baseball the last 4-5 years, Stras, Kershaw, Darvish, Harper, Trout, Machado, McCutchen, etc, has been incredible. These guys should be household or on their way to becoming household names. Outside of hardcore baseball fans and fantasy geeks, these guys are relatively unknown. But....KONGERKO BURLY DA BIG HURT

I think in all due time, this board will be exceedingly indifferent about Jeff Keppinger's contract.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jun 10, 2013 -> 07:10 AM) Come on Rick, get the guy a few hats! Tony_Tsoukalas ‏@Tony_Tsoukalas 9h Guy at Lids in Tuscaloosa said @TimAnderson7 bought up $500 dollars worth of Chi Sox hats. #WhiteSoxNation

QUOTE (kitekrazy @ Jun 9, 2013 -> 06:06 PM) A change in ownership and philosophy is the big difference. It was kind of a "there is no interesting White Sox news today" article but I had fun writing it. Even more fun reading the comments

QUOTE (greg775 @ Jun 9, 2013 -> 03:13 AM) Sox win a baseball game? Wow. I'll take it. More importantly the Chicago Blackhawks won! Speaking of...my latest article: what the White Sox can learn from the Blackhawks

QUOTE (fathom @ Jun 9, 2013 -> 03:10 PM) It's going to be a nice change when the Sox get someone with agility and range at 1B. Rowdy Tellez??

Before everyone jumps down Thornton's throat, please watch the replay and realize that the 37 year old version of Paulie can't catch a cold. He was asleep over there.

Jesus Paulie that's f***ing horrible.