YASNY

QUOTE(WilliamTell @ Jan 5, 2006 -> 11:12 PM) Has Bush been blamed for the mining accident yet? I know it is a terrible situation but I assume somehow someway this will get back to Bush being the cause of it. Post #103 http://www.soxtalk.com/forums/index.php?sh...pic=45018&st=90

QUOTE(Balta1701 @ Jan 5, 2006 -> 02:26 PM) Some more talk about the "Baker Plan", and more details. If they were going to pay the old landowners a fair price, demolish the homes, clean up the land, and then sell the land at a fair price (i.e. the government is on the hook only for the price of the cleanup, and if they do a fair job then perhaps they even turn a profit on the back end of the sale, this would be a fair deal. But here, the government is not only funding the cleanup, it's leaving the people who lost their homes still mired in significant amounts of debt, and at the same time selling the land to real estate businesses at a discount beyond what even the government bought it for. You could make this program work right, but at least based on the description in the NY Times, it at least still sounds like it's designed to be a handout to whatever real estate group is friendliest with whoever winds up running the program. Sadly, even if this program was set up to bilk the taxpayers into financing profits for real estate conglomerates, and at the same time it left homeowners on the hook for 40% of the cost of their destroyed houses, that'd still be better than the "SOL" we've given them thus far. If these homeowners had insurance, which many didn't, then they wouldn't take a financial hit. However, is the government supposed to be the nation's insurance company? Free insurance for everybody? Medical? Homeowners? ... If they are getting 60% return on what WAS the value of their property, as opposed to what the current value actually is, they should be thankful.

Do you guys remember all the Patterson vs. Rowand arguments around Chicago? Rowand gets us Thome and Patterson gets the Cubs a minor leaguer. Feel free to throw this in Cubs fans faces when they start talking their inane crap again.

Damn. I should go into politics.

QUOTE(SoxFan1 @ Jan 6, 2006 -> 01:32 AM) My grammar is always right sometimes! As long as you keep the majority of your grammitcal errors to a minimum, you will be incorrectly grammatically proficient.

QUOTE(SoxFan1 @ Jan 6, 2006 -> 02:22 AM) Well, to each his own, you know. To me, like I said numerous times, stats should not be looked at as the main reason to give a guy an MVP award. It is called "Most Valuable Player" so give it to the guy who was truly the most valuable player. Honestly, I probably would have given the award to Steve Smith or Carson Palmer this season. But I don't get what you mean by "on principle alone." The reason it's not called Most outstanding Player is .. well ... who wants to be a MOP?

I'm not an Illini fan. But, I'll tell you, for Illinois to hold that MSU team to 50 points is pretty damn impressive and bodes well for another solid season in Champaign.

QUOTE(Rex Hudler @ Jan 5, 2006 -> 11:32 PM) Ok guys, recovery from Tommy John surgery is 12-18 months. IF Kris had Tommy John this offseason, then he is not throwing full steam now and won't play this year. I'd say best case scenario for someone that had Tommy John right after the season is a July return. If he had TJ surgery recently, I'd say any hope of him becoming a significant contributor to the Sox is almost nonexistant.

QUOTE(SoxFan1 @ Jan 5, 2006 -> 02:29 PM) You don't like my wording? Uhh! That's because it's a precise semi-communicative expression.

I officially declare this a total waste of time.

This gives credence to the Abrue for Contreras rumor mentioned in another thread.

QUOTE(southsider2k5 @ Jan 5, 2006 -> 12:44 PM) It took to post #103 to become Bush's fault. Not too bad. Yet, there was enough staffing for them to find 91 significant and substantial safety violations.

QUOTE(Balta1701 @ Jan 5, 2006 -> 12:42 PM) JTA News. Now there's an example of a paragon of Christianity. :headshake

Whatever. I don't have any affiliation whatsoever with with Leinart or USC. I don't think he did anything out of line at all. We'll just have to agree to disagree.

QUOTE(Palehosefan @ Jan 5, 2006 -> 12:29 PM) It's not really the fact that he believes it, as every athlete should believe their team is better. But it just doesn't need to be said to the media. No reason to disrespect the opposing team with comments like that. Both teams made mistakes, Texas fumbled the ball 4-5 times costing themselves alot of field position. Both teams had the best talent in college football, neither team could stop one another. By stating "I still think we are the better team", it insinuates that the win for Texas was a fluke, instead of pointing out how they beat "the best football team in history", by not with luck, but with their own amount of talent and grit. The same grit that USC showed the past two years. Leinart has come a long way in his comments since their win over Michigan 2 years ago. "It's been an unbelievable year," Leinart said. "I would never had expected this to happen." Considering he went to the UT locker and locker room and congratulated them, I think he showed them plenty of respect. I don't think his comment was disrespectful in the least.

QUOTE(Balta1701 @ Jan 5, 2006 -> 12:23 PM) I'm still absolutely furious. Not as much at our kickoff coverage on the Miracle as I am at Wade Phillips for playing Johnson when Johnson was 1-3 that season while Flutie was like 10-2 or something ridiculout like that. You have to understand. Where I live is half Titans - half Rams due to being cetrally located between the two. So, I see quite a few Titans games. I'm a Bears fan and always will be, but I do tend to pull for the Titans to a certain extent.

QUOTE(Balta1701 @ Jan 5, 2006 -> 12:10 PM) Where did you hear that @? The Pope was declared dead by the 24 hour news networks at least 1 or 2 times in the week running up to his death, so could you give us a source? I've been half-ass listening to Fox News while posting here. I believe the rumors of Sharon's demise are, at this point, somewhat exaggerated.

QUOTE(Balta1701 @ Jan 5, 2006 -> 12:12 PM) Yeah, thank God the Republicans aren't overrun by cronies in major industries who would want to get a slice of that pie. Also thank God that they clearly learned their lessons in Iraq about how cronyism can dismantle a reconstruction project, so surely they'll do a better job th is time. Yeah, I know. But I couldn't resist.

QUOTE(SleepyWhiteSox @ Jan 5, 2006 -> 12:11 PM) Not you in particular. I meant more in general. Besides, you weren't the pretentious moron with the "f***ing hypocritical bastards" and "fascist whiners" comments. Edit: The first of my post was what was more directed to your post that I quoted. To respond to the first part then .... Yes, I see the connection. I still feel that there was major overreaction because they were not denigrating the faith or the religion, per say. The criticism was directed at some of the policies of the institution. The Vatican has certainly left something to be desired throughout history as a representive of Christ.

QUOTE(Balta1701 @ Jan 5, 2006 -> 12:09 PM) I don't know about that...that 1st year he played with the Bills he had a real shot, until Wade Phillips started Rob Johnson against the Colts in game 16 of the season, then saw Johnson tear up the Colts backups, and decided to start Johnson in game 1 of the playoffs against Tennessee. You'll remember that game as the music city miracle. But what I remember of that game is that the Bills offense looked totally off kilter with Johnson in there. Something like a dozen false start penalties killing drives. The Bills dominated that game, except for the work of Jevan Kearse. They should have won it easily, but Johnson sabotaged that team through his suckiness, while Flutie sat on the bench. Tennessee went on to be 1 yard from winning the Super Bowl, and the Bills should have won that game with ease even without that b*tch Frank Wycheck. I still laugh when I think of that game!

I don't know about everyone else, but I can't fault a college kid for believing his football team is better than a team that just barely beat them. Isn't that what he's supposed to believe?

QUOTE(SleepyWhiteSox @ Jan 5, 2006 -> 12:06 PM) The institution of the Catholic Church symbolizes faith to many people. Are you really not seeing the connection? The institution is the concrete form...Catholics obviously are going to hold deep feelings for the Church. Millions mourned the death of the Pope, for example... So when someone refers to leaders of a faith as "f***ing hypocritical bastards," isn't it logical that people are going to find that offensive? I really don't give a s*** if you're a pretentious moron who thinks that way...I was just expecting a little bit more decency and common courtesy. And the counterargument that Catholics who hold respect for the Church are in favor of molestation and rape is f***in' ridiculous... Now, point out to me how I was a pretentious moron or showed a lack of decency or common courtesy.

QUOTE(Controlled Chaos @ Jan 5, 2006 -> 10:39 AM) What do I look like a clown to you?? Be very careful how you answer this question, Tony.

QUOTE(Balta1701 @ Jan 5, 2006 -> 11:48 AM) Well, compared with the alternatives, a federally managed program with strict rules written by the feds about how it's to be pulled off certainly seems to be both less able to be defrauded and vastly more fair than either simply dumping money into contractors in the area or throwing caution to the wind and just not doing anything. I agree. Thank God the republicans control the purse strings at the federal level.

Those numbers are better sign than we've had in any other recent January, unless we didn't have a Christmas season in the years immediately prior to those particular Januarys.