nitetrain8601

QUOTE (Brian @ Nov 2, 2014 -> 07:56 PM) I'm watching but don't get why he does this. For adrenaline? Usually that's what it is. For him specifically, I think it also has to do with his family doing it. They were showing his grandfather actually dying from doing it. It was nationally recorded. For his family, it has to be gut wrenching.

So far he hasn't. The blindfold one to me is the scarier one. You don't know when those Chicago winds are going to blow hard on you. Plus you got thousands of screaming people, cameras all over you and oh yeah, you've never done it.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Oct 29, 2014 -> 09:26 AM) If the actual worth of the franchise has doubled since they bought, they probably got in at a great time, although now I am reading they are looking at $300 million for 20% of the franchise. This will help them finance the rehab, and the rehab will help them pay down their debt. They still aren't at paying players. This. I can of feel that Theo was sold a bunch of bad promises. Ricketts was a fan who was looking to buy a team which also made him more money. Truth is, sports teams generally will lose you dough. I never got the feeling he had enough money to actually do what he needed to.

QUOTE (The Ginger Kid @ Nov 2, 2014 -> 06:35 PM) No amount of bats are going to be worth the price of watching a sham of a bullpen choke up leads late. That's the biggest fix on the table. That and a LF'er. Thing is, getting a LF should help the bats. As far as bullpen, that honestly is year to year. You can be great one year and then suck the next. It's the hardest thing to predict. I would look for guys who had previous success but just had down years(not due to age). Sign them on one or two year deals.

QUOTE (rowand's rowdies @ Nov 2, 2014 -> 07:48 AM) As far as I'm concerned, the White Sox have enough $ to sign any free agent. This would limit the price tag of other additions obviously, but our payroll can take on any contract. Not saying it is smart to do so, but it could be done. Out of that MLBTR list these players would fit on our team nicely. Cost will be up to debate, but purely from a baseball standpoint, and the fact that we could sign anyone $ wise, here's what I see. 1) Max Scherzer - RH Starter with a Cy Young on the resume. Cost will be astronomical, but Sale/Scherzer/Quintana/Rodon for the next several years is quite the rotation in their primes. Playoff worthy with even a little offense. Then it depends on who is hot anyway (ie Giants winning 3 of the last 5 with a similar mentality). 4) Hanley Ramirez - DH option that KW has always loved. Health could be better with no defensive responsibilities, but could also fill in at 3B. Cost will be astronomical, but would fit right in. 5) Pablo Sandoval - Good fit, no way he's leaving SF. 6) Victor Martinez - Great fit, for two years at any price. 3-4 years would be throwing away $ and a possible Dunn 2.0. 8) Russell Martin - Cost will be too high, but he would fit perfectly. 9) Nelson Cruz - Another big masher possibility. Would be a poor man's Hanley offensively at the DH spot with a shorter contract. 10) Yasmany Tomas - We Heart Cubanos 17) Andrew Miller - Bullpen stud. Should be stellar most years of contract. 28) Michael Morse - DH potential fill in short term. Reasonable price. 29) Michael Cuddyer - DH option. 32) Luke Gregerson - Because we didn't learn our Padres lesson with Scott Linestink. 35) Sergio Romo - Coop will fix him. 38) Ryan Vogelsong - RH SP Option with Coop will fix him potential. 40) Nori Aoki - Spark type player who would pair well w Eaton as a 1-2 lead in for Abreu. 41) Billy Butler - Still on 29, has forgot how to hit, but I remember this guy killing us for years. He's not too old to re-figure it out and be a great DH option. 43) Emilio Bonafacio - And I was like....Emilio!!!! 46) Brandon Morrow - Coop? 50) Jung-ho Kang - Potential 2B option like Tomas, but cheaper. HM) Chad Billingsly - Coop? HM) Luke Kochevar - Coop? HM) AJP - Why not? Have we figured out something better since? Those are my thoughts. I'm thinking we do most of our big moves via trade. Honestly depends on if the front office feels we are close and if they want to make the playoffs next year. I could easily see this putting us in the playoffs: Nelson Cruz - Masher to pair up with Abreu from the OF Sergio Romo - Classic Coop can Fix him Billy Butler - High OBP, high average, fences will give him more HR; hit in playoffs again Ryan Vogelsong - Coop can fix him too! I need 3 of the 4 above and if JR wants to go balls in: Hanley Ramirez - Plug him in at 3B or SS(move Alexei to 2B) C - Flowers 1B - Abreu 2B - Semien 3B - Ramirez SS - Ramirez OF - Cruz OF - Eaton OF - Garcia DH - Butler Potential Lineup: Eaton Butler Abreu Cruz H Ramirez A Ramirez Garcia Semien Flowers

QUOTE (Y2JImmy0 @ Oct 30, 2014 -> 02:09 PM) I disagree here. The money was pumped into the offense primarily because it's supposed to be great. If they had a top 5 offense, it could carry a below average D. I agree with the philosophy of playing young players on ST though rather than signing veteran ST lifers to play those spots. The defense is bad and injured. However, if they were playing with leads like it was designed, it wouldn't be as bad as it has been. The offense was supposed to be better and that is why the team is failing currently. The overall problem is a lack of talent in spots though. It goes back to years and years of bad drafting. Angelo/Lovie tandem had some horrible, horrible drafts. Emery has been pretty hit or miss as well. I liked the last 2 drafts a lot on the surface. Long and Jeffery are pro bowlers. Fuller looks like a pro bowler. Sutton, Ferguson, and O'Donnell look like good picks and I was a fan of KaDeem Carey and Brock Vereen coming out. Not to mention, they added guys like Terrance Mitchell, Ahmad Dixon, and Christian Jones from waivers or UDFA. Last year, he got value in Jordan Mills and I think Bostic is fine if he's at the proper position (WLB). He probably has to hit at a higher rate than that but the only way to truly get out of the rut that they are in is by accumulating good drafts. It takes awhile and fans don't want to hear it because it's not a quick fix but it's the truth. Agreed. The defense honestly, hasn't been that bad, but the problem is, when they are able to get off the field, more times than not, it gets followed up by a short 3 and out or Cutler turning over the ball. They don't have the talent to continually get the ball back. They only have talent to maintain a big lead. The offense hasn't done its job. IMO, it's on Trestman for not lighting into his QB, it's on Emery for resigning Jay to such a ridiculous deal, and it's on Jay for always acting like he's not the #1 issue.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Nov 1, 2014 -> 01:55 PM) McD was something like 0-6 when he was sat down. Yes, but he's someone who the opposition still has to guard, and he is still useful at rebounding the ball which the Bulls could not do last night.

QUOTE (Jake @ Oct 31, 2014 -> 09:58 PM) Main thoughts: -Game 2, already, but D Rose has to be healthy -Pau Gasol is not fit for Thibodeau's defense. Lazy, slow. We'll see if he improves unlike Boozer. He does have size which helps his defense when they run right at him. -Taj played very badly down the stretch run. Just hurt? Hopefully. -Having Jimmy back will help on both ends. Since CLE doesn't have a Wade-like guy on O, we don't have the problem of picking who he guards. -Snell had a couple stinkers but overall looked pretty good and might have earned him a place in the rotation, at least when we need a long defender on the wing. -Cavs don't really look that good. We match up well with Love, Kyrie sucks. LBJ is LBJ. Thompson killed us tonight and exposed a general weakness that Pau can't box out but I don't expect him to play that well all the time. Varejao had several lucky buckets as well. -DRose will be healthy when it counts as long as Thibs isn't throwing him out there for 40 minutes which he's already starting to get pissed at(Thibs). -Pau had 6 blocks last night and was benched down the stretch even with Noah having a minutes restriction and Taj sucking. Thibs made a mistake not playing him. - Jimmy will help. - Snell played decent. Expect him to come back to earth. - Mirotic and McDermott should've played more, especially since we were having troubles rebounding. McDermott is an exceptional rebounder. - Irving is a non-factor when Rose is in the game.

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Oct 31, 2014 -> 10:11 PM) Tired of seeing the same crap every year. At some point you gotta call a spade a spade. Dude plays violently and gets hurt frequently. That's a fact. GTFO. He twisted his ankles. You do realize he had that issue heavily in high school and in college which is why Adidas developed those special braces for him, right? And has he suffered many ankle injuries? Not really. Only time I can think is when the Bulls training staff was adamant about taping his ankles and not using the braces. What makes your argument worse is that they are mild sprains(guess what, players get injured throughout the season), and that he has been playing less violent than any year before. Yet, you probably are the type asking why Rose is taking so many jumpshots and complain about that too. Westbrook broke his hand in the 2nd game of the season and is out 4-6 weeks. Last year, he had to dealing with coming back from a torn meniscus. OMG HES INJURY PR0N3!!!!

QUOTE (bmags @ Nov 1, 2014 -> 09:51 AM) My main concern is in two games they have destroyed Bulls on glass. That can't happen, and a lot of it looked like just watching the ball Well Noah is on one leg. He was consistently getting beat for positioning by their bigs. Honestly, I would think it's best that he sits out until February. You have the bigs to get away with that too. Because playoff time, you're going to need him. I'm not upset with yesterday's loss. I feel quite good about it actually. Noah is still injured Butler didn't play at all Rose was injured the entire 2nd half Thibs screwed up by not putting in Gasol on the last play in regulation Taj was terrible Mirotic only played 4 minutes McDermott didn't really have many plays ran for him Snell played heavy minutes with Kirk And we still took them to OT. You could even argue we would've won in regulation had it not been for the refs. Get everyone healthy, especially with the easy part of the schedule and in Jan, make sure everyone is healthy, so that in February, you can get the gears going and start hitting your stride by the time the playoffs come around. Cleveland had to play their stars 40 minutes the past two nights. Blatt is going to burn them out.

Yeah, I honestly think playoff experience for a player is overrated. Get me the best players possible, and we'll go from there.

Honestly, offer him and a bunch of once good to great relievers small deals and see what sticks. Relievers are year to year.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Oct 30, 2014 -> 07:47 AM) The Knicks just fell apart when the Bull second string came in, and the Knicks quit running the offense. I do miss the triangle, but the Knicks didn't really run it after the second quarter or so. Also, I didn't think the Bulls stars looked very sharp tonight, which should scare some people. Rose was rusty, and Noah didn't have a good night. No Butler either. That's actually something that shouldn't scare you. Reason being, it shows that we are not only a 2 man team. Yes, when they face the Cleveland's of the world, everyone will be needed. When they face teams like the Knicks, they should be able to mash them and the bench should be able to play big minutes in the 2nd half. One thing the 2010 team couldn't do is hold onto big leads in the 4th without the stars staying in.

Pretty good PPV so far. Cena's definitely balding.

Welp, I thought I would struggle this week with AJ being scratched, Welker on the bench and me starting Jeremy Hill. It's great to know that 2QBs are all you need in a league like mine though. Peyton Manning - 41 points Ben ROFLSberger - 82 points I could've benched the rest of my offensive starters and still win most likely

QUOTE (winninguglyin83 @ Oct 24, 2014 -> 01:16 PM) Joe Maddon opts out of his contract at Tampa after nine solid years. How about moving Robin to the front office and making a change, Rick Hahn? I would do it. Strikes me as a Kenny move too, but for Hahn, I don't think he will. I think they're going to wait until Robin has no excuses to perform to fire him. That won't be for another 2 years IMO.

QUOTE (iamshack @ Oct 21, 2014 -> 09:59 AM) Steve, so let me get this straight...you've been working for this company for a few years now...I have followed this thread and read that you have been promoted several times in the last 18 months or so, your salary has more than doubled, etc. So at some point, the powers that be identified you as a top talent/successful leader/innovator and tapped you to lead a team to create and implement a separate product than what the core business of the company is, which is this digital marketing arm which you have successfully launched, but are still looking for your first client. Now, these same powers that be are thinking of pulling the plug on this project after like 3 months. Is that basically it in a nutshell? So say they did pull the plug, are they pulling the plug on the entire company or just the digital marketing arm you spearheaded? If the latter, will they pull you back into some other position within the broader company, or will they send you packing? Ultimately, you've got to watch out for Steve and Steve's family. I understand this is sort of your baby, but you've got a real baby on the way. Start looking or let it be known that you might be looking. My feeling is if these folks are bailing on this thing after three months, that this isn't going to be the last time you're going to be put under stress like this. I work for a utility company, and while I can start daydreaming about working for an organization that is a bit more dynamic or organic, there is something to be said for stability. There is something to be said for knowing the check is going to be in the bank every two weeks and it's going to clear. And there is something to be said for being on a career trajectory that is pretty much known, give or take a few variables. I watched a feature on Bill O'Brien, the coach of the Texans last night, and they were talking about how he took the HC position at Penn State after the Paterno/Sandusky mess, stabilized it, but then left for Houston after only two years. He was highly criticized in Pennsylvania for the move. Well, it turns out that Bill O'Brien has a son with a rare genetic disease and Texas Children's Hospital happens to be the largest children's hospital in the country, with many specialists who treat this very same disease his son has. The moral of the story is that jobs are just jobs. You make the best decisions for your career you can, and that may include loyalty to a company or to employees, but ultimately, you've got to watch out for Steve and Steve's family. Do what you think is best for them, and everything else be damned. I've been with my organization for about 7.5 years and in my current position for 3. I always go back and forth as to whether I should apply for better paying jobs(there's been a few which double my salary and I'm qualified for) or should I simply stay and try to work my way up to positions which still wouldn't pay nearly as much as the others, but I know I have tons of control and will be comfortable in the looser environment. I think you put things in a great perspective.

QUOTE (chw42 @ Oct 20, 2014 -> 02:10 PM) At this point, I feel like we'd be better with a game manager than a gunslinger under Trestman's offense. All we do is throw screens and medium range passes anyhow. Cutler's rarely had to show off his arm this year. Cutler likes to change out of plays a lot. He's given a lot of freedom which is why he likes Trestman. Marc is also a wimp so Marc won't say anything to Jay. No one in this town will. Waddle, Silvy, Carm and Jurko all just talked about how they may have hired the wrong coach. Carm seemed like he was ready to bring up Cutler by talking about the turnovers being the other huge problem, but they right away went back to Trestman. Trestman was never a great hire, but he does know offense. The problem is Jay. Until he's gone, this offense will never reach it's full potential, or even 75%.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Oct 20, 2014 -> 01:45 PM) No, in each loss he had at least two turnovers, in each win he had none I think it was INTs then. Because I remember them keep bringing the stat up that he went 4 straight games without an INT.

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Oct 20, 2014 -> 12:58 PM) He's been good in half the games and terrible in the other half. Pretty typical for him. Again, 10 TO's in 7 games. Unacceptable. But I do agree with you that there's a lack of precision. The fact that receivers are running the wrong routes is really bothersome. Maybe preseason or even the first couple games, but we're in week 7. That stuff just can't happen. Didn't he also not have any through the 1st four games? If so, that's even worse. Sexy Rexy could probably do better in this offense.

QUOTE (bmags @ Oct 20, 2014 -> 10:58 AM) I agree. Trestman's offense is just way too complicated. There are way too many sight adjustments to turn a 5 yard play into a 7 yard play and instead it ends up being an INT. I was thinking yesterday, if Mike Martz or Ron Turner had this offensive talent, would they be better or worse than this? I honestly am not sure it would be worse. Jay would get sacked a lot more under Martz, but he also had an offense with Knox and Hester as WR1 and WR2, and Webb as starting LT look pretty damn good through 10 games before Jay broke his finger. I'm just very frustrated at this point. That was an excellent coaching class that we quite possibly swung and missed on. I feel like the bears just drafted Darko. I've always been alone in my support of Martz, so I will simply say, I do think if he or even Ron Turner(who I was never a fan of) was given an opportunity to have these offensive weapons, they would've done wonders. Potential still would not have been met though until they finally got rid of the sod.

QUOTE (chw42 @ Oct 19, 2014 -> 06:25 PM) Never thought that would happen. I thought they were best friends. It's justified. Thing is, Cutler is so coddled in this city, he'll forget about it right away. Silvy will want to call him out tomorrow, Cutler will already walk-in with a bad mood and Waddle will just slurp him off and try to sugarcoat everything. Cutler will be short and vague with all answers too. As I said on on my FB, Cutler has the contract, OLine, Weapons galore and an offensive genius calling the plays. He has no excuses. They need to call him out, especially the media and stop being fearful that he will be in a bad mood and lash out at them.

QUOTE (Y2HH @ Oct 16, 2014 -> 05:24 PM) Keep believing your tinfoil hat anti-Apple circle jerk nonsense if it makes you feel better. Being that they've sold about 25 million of them now, I'm sure this would still be a story if it actually was the "major issue" you claim it is, but the fact that it's blown over in a matter of days should probably tell you something. Oh please. You're so full of it. You find nothing ever wrong with Apple. You're the biggest Apple ballsucker in the world. Steve Jobs probably didn't love Apple as much as you and was definitely more willing to admit faults. So keep making posts about how Apple's latest phone is the greatest even though someone already came out with it about 2 years ago. And keep bashing all products but apple and minimizing their mistakes if you ever admit them.

QUOTE (Y2HH @ Oct 16, 2014 -> 01:11 PM) People shouldn't be bending phones or tablets with their hands, or sitting on their phones, tablets, laptops or desktop computers. My 6+ is still perfect and I wear it in my pocket daily. This story was and still is bulls*** blown out of proportion, just like when we first heard of the iPhone 5's bending because people sat on them, or decided to purposefully bend them with their hands as if that was some sort of legit test. Take better care of your s***, these devices, and computers in general, aren't the same devices we were using 10 years ago, so adapt and treat them as such. The hell it is. It's a major issue. Especially since they were moving their warranty to not cover this either and it was $395 to fix via Apple without the warranty. At the very least, if it's going to bend, let customers know ahead of time and let them make the decision.

Always have been, always will be a Cowboys fan since I watched Bills vs Cowboys II in the SB. Never liked the Bears, but I follow them because that's all sports media cares about around here.