RockRaines

QUOTE (whitesoxbrian @ Jan 28, 2009 -> 08:26 PM) Right now, Duke is a 2nd tier team. They have 2 good players (Singler,Henderson), and a bunch of solid or medicore guys. Nolan Smith and Scheyer are free throw shooters, Zoubek is an uncoordinated goof, McClure is a pure defender, Paulus is an energy guy, and Elliot Williams won't be anything more then 2 ppg this year. I disagree, I think they are part of the large top tier of about 10-15 teams that could beat each other at any time. I think the next level is about 20-30 teams that could challenge the top tier given a certain situation. All in all I think about 20 teams in the tourney have a legit chance of winning it all.

QUOTE (DBAHO @ Jan 29, 2009 -> 08:59 AM) Well if you remember at the start of episode 1 of the season, Faraday was in the Orchid Station with Dr. Chang, so he's definitely been on the island before somehow. I was flipping out when Widmore said who he was on the Island. Very, very interesting plot twist there. That was a great reveal. Also I think they somehow Faraday's mom seeing Desmond makes him her constant or something of the sort? I am really wondering where they take this story line.

QUOTE (daa84 @ Jan 28, 2009 -> 09:26 PM) or potentially samardjiza...though he does have a NTC i believe He does, and he doesnt want to leave the Cubs. Marshall and Vitters is still not enough for Peavy.

QUOTE (IlliniKrush @ Jan 29, 2009 -> 07:56 AM) I like Buff less than anyone, but that wasn't his fault. It was Bolland's, end of story. No thanks on Hossa, where in the hell is that money going to come from? That would be an awful decision. I'd rather keep our core together and try to develop or trade for younger players which has been pretty good for us so far.

QUOTE (SoxFanForever @ Jan 21, 2009 -> 08:45 AM) Him and Colt McCoy.

Clearly this is going to be a wide open tourney this year. There is a definite top tier, but the gap is very small between the top tier and the second tier.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jan 28, 2009 -> 07:23 PM) How far are they from that point now? Well, they really only have Vitters at this point.

QUOTE (whitesoxbrian @ Jan 28, 2009 -> 06:54 PM) Sure will be. I can't wait. I'm thinking about making the 4-5 hour trek there. I'll gladly buy you a beer.

Ah yes the ol intentional elbow to the face ejection when you are about to lose in the OSU/UM game. Stay classy Wolverines.

QUOTE (whitesoxbrian @ Jan 28, 2009 -> 05:12 PM) USC so far has the 5th (Barkley), 8th (Burfict), 9th (Kennard), 19th (Hall), 30th (McDonald), 39th (Carroll), 86th (Graf), 99th (Jeffrey), and 100th (Martinez) players all committed, with the 10th (Jenkins), 11th (Kirkpatrick), 12th (Te'O), 62nd (Charles), 63rd (Su'a Filo), and 67th (Patrick) all still are considering USC. It's been awhile since that's happened, IIRC. Obviously, all those guys won't be good, play much and/or start, or stay at USC, but that's a damn good class. To be losing your 3 starting LB's and to be getting the best LB, and having the 2nd and 3rd best LB's considering the school, is nice. They will have a damn good DE combo in Griffen and Kennard (if he pans out), and their whole OL is back. Theres going to be alot of young talent on the field when we meet in the Shoe next season.

QUOTE (hawksfan61 @ Jan 28, 2009 -> 05:58 PM) Carroll is still a douche for pulling what he did. A guy spends four years at your school/program, gives you a year of very good play, and decides he wants to go pro and your response is to act like a baby and s*** all over his news conference? Pete is just upset because he is not used to seeing his QBs leave early, and this puts a big dent in their plans for next year because they have no one on the roster with any real playing experience at the QB position. He can doubt Sanchez's decision all he wants, but he should do it behind closed doors and not in front of the media at the press conference Sanchez called to announce he is going pro. I'm actually of the same opinion that Tressel is and that is if a player is going to get first round money, you should support them and recommend they leave.

Cubs fans: "Vitters, Marshall and Guzman should be more than enough for Peavy" "Towers told Hendry to go out and get certain players for this deal and thats what he has been doing"

QUOTE (SoxFan101 @ Jan 28, 2009 -> 05:26 PM) If the electric company explained the situation to him and showed/told him how to restart the power if it went out, I have no problem with it. It will be interesting to see if any protocol was violated. If they followed all of the accepted procedures then they cannot be found at fault. It may be wrong on a human level because of the outcome, but from a procedural POV, they may have done all they were required to do.

QUOTE (dpd9189 @ Jan 28, 2009 -> 04:24 PM) No disrespect but I think some of you guys are missing the point. The Cubs are in great position to still get Peavy and they may end up robbing the Pads. Peavy has a NTC and will only approve a trade to the Cubs (Peavy's own words), the Padres HAVE to get rid of him because they are slicing the payroll by $30 mil. The key is this is Peavy's no trade clause. The Cubs are holding all the cards in this, not San Diego. That's why it sucks. Its not as much the Cubs trading for Peavy, it's more the Padres having to dump salary and Peavy using his NTC to block them from getting more for him. If he didn't have a NTC, he would've been dealt by now. Its going to wind up being Peavy for Vitters and a couple of guys. Its similar to last year where Santana was using his NTC to block a trade anywhere except the Mets, Yanks or Red Sox. THIS IS WHY YOU DON'T GIVE PLAYERS A NO TRADE CLAUSE. I understand that you are under the impression that Peavy said he wanted to play for the Cubs and only the Cubs, which was not entirely true. He wasnt singing Cubs fan songs or wearing Cubs hats. It is one of a handful of preferred teams for him. The Cubs literally have zero ammo for Peavy unless they include someone like Soto. regardless of their negotiating position the Padres are not going to trade one of the best pitchers in the NL for Vitters and nothing else, its just not going to happen and there would be an absolute uproar across the league.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jan 28, 2009 -> 03:54 PM) In that case, if there was a person at the power company who's job it was to do that, or if the power company was legally required to do that, then they could and should face criminal negligence charges. And I agree that having such a requirement is a reasonable level to take this to. For sure there has to be someone in charge of that. For him to run up a $1000 dollars of unpaid bills he had to go over a year and maybe 2 without paying. Isnt there someone from customer service that investigates this sort of case? What if the man had become senile? He literally wouldnt be able to pay his bill and therefor the gov't should step in and help him out, especially being a Vet. There should have been a better system in place to ensure that a death didnt result from power being shut off. It should have never gotten to this point, but since it did, the company shutting off the power was basically neccesary in their business model. I believe there are caseworkers like this for People's Energy here in Chicago, but im not positive. Bottom line for me is that the guy had an unpaid bill that should have been paid for a long period of time. Since he did not pay, the company had the right to turn it off. Besides that point, I still feel like there has to be a system of safety checks or investigations performed that could have caught this situation before it got this far. There are so many cases where people either lose the ability to function mentally, physically, or of that sort, and the company needs to recognize that the unpaid bills are an indicator of possible other dangers besides poverty.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jan 28, 2009 -> 03:23 PM) So, basically the argument that I think you're trying to make here is that we should, as a society, be willing to accept "Poverty" as a cause of death. And it doesn't have to be living-on-the-streets poverty, just poverty in whatever circumstance one finds oneself. I'm not sure that's a case I agree with. On the other hand, simply having people refuse to pay their bills is an untenable circumstance. Which is why, in particular with seniors, there needs to be some other alternative. Which is I think what I was getting at before...I just don't know why there was no one to step in to keep an eye on a person like this, especially at his age. There should obviously be some sort of person at the power company that researches cases like this and determines that this particular guy needs help, or assistance from the state for his needs. But yes, poverty is a cuase of death. Homelessness, depression, eviction, etc are all parts of life that could end in death. Lets say this guy couldnt afford food and did not try to get help from anyone else for the cost of food and instead tried to just "tough it out". Would it then be the supermarkets fault for not providing him sustinence? There should have been SOMEONE from the power company who investigated this case before shutting him down, but there was probably so many cases lately of people just not paying for utlities that they lumped him in with every other person in the area who refused to pay their bill. Its not neccesarily a human right to be provided with electricity in your home for an extended period of time without paying.

QUOTE (whitesoxbrian @ Jan 28, 2009 -> 03:27 PM) Wouldn't you be mad if you knew that if your QB stayed, you'd be likely playing for the national title next year? I don't recall a time when they had about 6 or 7 recruits in the top 25 coming in and it could end up being 10 or so. Well, they WOULD have to rebuild a great deal of their defense, but in all honestly, in the BCS era how often does USC not compete for the national title? And USC has a top class every year, its not really out of the ordinary to get top players again. And I see USC with 8 out of the top 100 with 5-5star players, thats pretty standard for them isnt it?

QUOTE (Jenks Heat @ Jan 28, 2009 -> 03:08 PM) The thing that always made the Peavy deal a Tribune cub fluff pipe dream in my mind had to do with what was discussed on this site. Like Gavin Floyd last year and Matt Thorton prior to 2006, Pie and Cedano being out of options rendered them useless to another organization. Neither has had the success at the MLB level which warranted their having any real value in a blockbuster. I honestly believe that they were never really serious contendors as they could not offer up an MLB proven player or even a potentially good MLB type player in exchange for Peavy. I think the trade would have had to include one of Soto or Marmol if not both and still may. Trade Soto and sign I-Rod. I've said that since the beginning. If I am the Padres, the first player I ask for is Soto, and if the Cubs refuse, I walk away.

QUOTE (Steff @ Jan 28, 2009 -> 02:32 PM) Nicor and ComEd turned your gas and power off during freezing temperatures? Pretty sure in the city that's illegal. I don't agree with it and if it were up to me I would have left your service on until the weather without those services was no longer life threatening. I honestly dont remember when it was and I agree its very inhumane, but it comes down to having to pay for a service. Where is the cutoff? How many thousands of dollars credit are you going to give people because they are poor, or because its winter or summer. Summertime heat kills older folks too without AC.

QUOTE (Steff @ Jan 28, 2009 -> 02:06 PM) To my knowledge in Illinois Nicor does NOT turn off service in the winter months. Wait until April then turn the service off. I know it's straightforward because you can pay your bills. It's a pair of shoes you can't understand walking in unless it happens to you. It's happened to me. I've had my gas an power turned off, and the company neither showed me any leinancy nor compassion. Becuase what it came down to was that I was using a service for free and I owed them money for this service. If I couldnt afford it, I should have built a fire and lived around that.

QUOTE (Texsox @ Jan 28, 2009 -> 02:08 PM) Are you suggesting that those thousands should be left to die? I can just hear Rock explain that to the guy as he lays dying. Too bad it's cold outside. I guess you will die. It's a pretty straight forward system. You should have paid your bill. I'm suggesting that those people are at fault for their situation. The power company isnt killing those people, their reluctance to pay for services they are using is what is endangering their lives. In your line of reasoning beyond your side comments that dont have any significance in this disucssion, people who cant pay for services that they use should be given a pass if they are a Vet, old, or poor. Do you understand that a line has to be drawn somewhere? I too have to pay to use my utilities, I too think that they charge too much, I too depend on their services to stay alive and stay warm/eat/bathe/live. It is for that reason that I would do anything in my power to make sure I can make payments on those services. $1000 dollars of past due bills is ALOT of unpaid months, epsecially for someone who is living in a perfectly good piece of equity. I am looking at it from business perspective, totally eliminating all emotions from the rationale. He didnt pay his bill for many months, he was notified many times, he still didnt pay. How long was this going to last? We cant give out free passes just based on someone's inability to pay their bill just because we feel sorry for them. And lets try to keep the personal comments aside here in a perfectly good discussion.

QUOTE (Steff @ Jan 28, 2009 -> 02:00 PM) It doesn't matter if it's a home with special needs or not. In this day your 35 year old neighbor with a wife and 2 kids could be struggling to pay the bills and be having a hard time making ends meet. There is NO justification for turning off heat in this weather. There are literally thousands of people in the Chicagoland area that face the same issue. Should the utility companies just give everyone a pass on paying for a service because its cold outside? Its a service you pay for, if you cant pay, you dont get the service. Its fairly straightforward.

Pay your bills, or dont get power. Its pretty simple and goes for everyone regardless of age. If i had that much in overdue bills, should I be crying because its cold or should I smack myself in the face for not paying my bills? BTW, what does him being a Vet have ANYTHING to do with it?

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Jan 27, 2009 -> 07:42 PM) I'm going to make a Buffalo Chicken Dip. First, boil chicken breasts (season if you want to with salt and pepper though it doesn't pick up much flavor in the water). While that's boiling, combine 1 part chunky bleu cheese dressing, 1 part cream cheese, and 1 part heavy whipping cream in a sautee pan and mix them together...that should take about 3 minutes. The chicken should be about done by that time...drain it, and from there, shred the chicken and mix in a sizeable amount of Frank's Red Hot (or whatever other buffalo or hot sauce you want to use). Portion that into a porcelain dish of whatever type, and cover all the chicken with the bleu cheese mix. Bake in a 350 degree oven until the bleu cheese spread on top browns, and then cover with shredded cheddar jack cheese. Let that melt and bring out of the oven to cool for like a second. Eat it with chips - I like Doritos but just regular tortilla chips works too. It's so f***ing badassedly good. And if you have fears about the bleu cheese, you can't even taste it, it's just so delicious. I think I just fell in love with you.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jan 28, 2009 -> 12:40 PM) Also worth noting is the fact that the Sox scored on average a full run more per game in the 2005 postseason than they did in in the regular season IIRC. The offense was clicking for those games, although one or two big explosions can dominate that a bit for a short series of games. And Frankly, our pitching was superior to each team we faced. The Red Sox had Clement and Fatty McFatFat starting for them even.