Middle Buffalo

QUOTE (iamshack @ Dec 30, 2011 -> 09:07 AM) Just because you agree to participate in a dangerous line of work doesn't mean your employer is then relieved of all form of responsibility and can just say "he should have known better!" I agree that the NFL should do more for ex-players medically and financially, but when the contract is up to be collectively bargained, the current players never make their post-NFL careers a major issue. It's a side issue that's easily and readily discarded. The retired players have little to no say in the NFL contract. Is that just managements fault, or should the NFLPA demand that retired players be represented and cared for?

I tried everything I could understand that I found on the amazon forum. I reset my Netgear WPN824 v2 router (pressing the little button on back) and password. I managed to knock myself off-line in the process. I can't even remember what I did to reconnect, but I finally did. I tried all of the powering on and off of the kindle fire and router and computer, etc. Nothing worked. I took off the router security, and the kindle fire worked, but I think that kind of defeats the purpose of having network security. I called the amazon 866 number, and that didn't help. The cs representative basically told me my problem was with the router. I knew that I was typing in my password correctly, but in my conversation with the amazon rep, he asked if my password had any special characters or symbols (it didn't, just letters and numbers), but I decided to change my password again. This time only letters. And it worked. He also mentioned that the security settings should be wpa-psk or wpa-psk2 [AES] - not [TKIP]. Again, I don't understand what that means, but I made sure my security was set to wpa-psk2[AES] and made my password all lowercase letters, and it worked. My son just got the xbox connected. I think I may have a future in IT. I'll be hanging around this forum answering questions for the next several hours.

QUOTE (Milkman delivers @ Oct 13, 2011 -> 08:26 AM) According to many of the History Channel specials I've seen, Lee owned slaves, but he was torn at the onset of the war on which side to fight. I can't recall the reason that he might have wanted to fight on the North (perhaps it was his history at West Point?), but there was something. Maybe it was the uniforms?

QUOTE (Cali @ Dec 22, 2011 -> 03:57 PM) Must suck to be an A's fan. Even if you get the 4 best prospects from another team, in a few years once those guys make it to the bigs and produce, they'll be on their way out the door for more prospects... They should have won the Series in 2001 and/or 2002.... Bummer They should bring back Canseco as their "strength" coach.

OK...I did that. Reset the password and I still can't get our xbox, wii, or kindle fire to use the wireless. If I turn off the security (WPA2-PSK) on the router (Netgear WPN824 v2), the kindle works in the open network. But doesn't that defeat the purpose of having wifi security?

I was set up by geeksquad several years ago, but never really had a use for wireless. I have the original ssid, wpa network key, channel, broadcast, router name and password, but I don't know how to connect. I've tried with a wii and kindle fire, and the ssid shows up, but my password doesn't work. Any idea how to reset my password?

QUOTE (southsideirish71 @ Nov 14, 2011 -> 08:20 PM) The Walk Off granny off of Goose. I was at the game. I remember walking out of the stadium and it was rocking. The next time I witnessed the stadium rocking like that was during the 2005 playoffs. I was there, too. We were in the rf bleachers not too far from where the ball landed. We brought my cousin from England to the game, and to that point I don't think he was too impressed with American crowds. He was used to singing and spontaneous cheers, etc. When Robin hit the GS, the crowd erupted and it was loud and sustained. My cousin was grinning from ear to ear. It's probably the best game I've witnessed in person. Sweet box cut for Dan Jiggets in the post-game interview. Nothing makes a fat guy look slimmer than a square head.

Complaint says the NFL concealed information regarding the effects of concussions on players. http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news?slug=ap-n...ncussions-miami Yet, current and former players consistently complain when the NFL enacts rules to protect players. Look at James Harrison and his reaction, the reaction of teammates, and ex-jocks in the media when players are fined for headshots. I say, give them nothing. They all say they know the risks of playing when they are active. They probably just realize now that they'll never be able to make six figure incomes outside of football and want another big payday. Remember, it's a business. We hear it all the time from all sides depending on the issue. Unfortunately for the players, they are just an expendable commodity.

QUOTE (pittshoganerkoff @ Dec 22, 2011 -> 07:22 AM) The FedEx guy throwing the monitor over a fence as a way of "delivery" has taken center-stage of late, but I would imagine many have had more issues with the post office and the USPS in general. I read a thread on Facebook yesterday about experiences with the USPS, and I can see why they're in financial trouble. Well, considering that most people deal with the USPS every single day, the chances of bad experiences vs. bad experiences with other carriers (FedEx, UPS, et al) is greatly increased. Oh, and the financial troubles are greatly exagerrated. http://leftlaborreporter.wordpress.com/201...orker-benefits/ "The manufactured insolvency crisis is the result of the Postal Accountability Enhancement Act (PAEA) passed in 2006, which requires that USPS pre-fund 75 years of retiree health benefits within a ten-year period beginning in 2007. PAEA’s mandate makes USPS unique. No other business or government pre-funds retiree health care over this length of time. In fact, most businesses and governments fund this benefit on a pay-as-you-go basis. As a result of the pre-funding mandate, USPS lost $20 billion between 2007 and 2010. Before the mandate, USPS was debt free; now it is $13 billion in debt all of which was taken on to meet the pre-funding mandate. Without the pre-funding payments, USPS operations would have made profits of nearly $700 million over the last four years." Yep, profit despite the economic meltdown.

E coli strikes again.

QUOTE (PolishPrince34 @ Dec 16, 2011 -> 10:01 AM) Bowden 1. LHP John Danks to Washington Nationals for RHP Brad Peacock and OF Destin Hood 2. 2B Gordon Beckham to San Francisco Giants for RHP Heath Hembree, LHP Eric Surkamp and IF Ehire Adrianza 3. OF Carlos Quentin to Atlanta Braves for RHP Kris Medlen and RHP J.J. Hoover 4. RHP Gavin Floyd to Pittsburgh Pirates for OF Starling Marte and LHP Daniel Moskos 5. C A.J. Pierzynski to Tampa Bay Rays for RHP Jacob Thompson I'd do all but trading Beckham. I'd rather not get rid of Danks, but if they aren't going to be able to afford him, get something for him now. Don't wait 'til the trade deadline hoping to get more from a desparate team. We haven't exactly been fleecing teams at the deadline.

QUOTE (kapzk @ Dec 10, 2011 -> 11:36 PM) Rather than appreciating the greatness of select players, ya lets jump on the boat and declare em cheaters. Yeah, how callous. Thet've certainly earned our trust.

QUOTE (flavum @ Dec 10, 2011 -> 07:18 PM) I'd still like to know if Pujols is on the List of 104. I feel for certain that Pujols cheats. Don't know if my suspicions will ever be proven, but there's something about him that seems unnatural to me.

QUOTE (MexSoxFan#1 @ Dec 8, 2011 -> 11:04 AM) Can't blame 56 for wanting to get paid. Thank you Mark for all the great memories! Totally agree, and I wouldn't have been upset if the Sox had overpaid to keep him. He'll definitely be missed. However, I'll bet the Marlins just paid at least $1 Million per victory over the next four years.

Baseball should have revenue sharing and a hard floor and ceiling cap. The problem is, MLB wants the big market teams to be good because it's better for ratings (generally speaking) if the Red Sox and Yankees are in the playoffs every year. 25K per game should be plenty. The problem is that MLB teams base their payrolls on having capacity crowds. It's just not realistic in most markets (including the Sox and Mets, big market teams that are 2nd in their own towns) that teams will have sellouts nightly. 81 home games are difficult to sell out for all but 3 or 4 teams. The Sox payroll has gone from $17M in 1991 to $66M in 2001 to $128M last season. Is that reflective in any way of the economy? Have fans had a similar rate of salary increase? I'm sure the average price of tickets has at least doubled in that time. The prices of parking and concessions, too.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Dec 6, 2011 -> 11:31 AM) Even besides that we are talking about things like Maple bats, better conditioning, lower mound, smaller strike zone, machine wound ball, etc. Still, many of Santo's contemporaries and players that had overlap on either side of his career managed to put up good power numbers. Prior to the steroid era, the bulk of the great power hitters in history came from the 50's, 60's and 70's. Who knows how the all-time list of hrs would look without PEDs. It might still look like the one I grew up with. Aaron, Ruth, Mays, FRobinson,...

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Dec 6, 2011 -> 11:09 AM) Don't make the mistake of comparing the dead ball era with the steroid era statistically. I won't. I also don't think Ventura took steroids, so his stats aren't inflated, and might actually be adversely affected by pitchers who were juicing and playing in the era of pitching changes and specialists. And, as I said, I'm not making an argument for Ventura to be in the HOF, it's just interesting to compare his stats with Santo's. To me, anyway.

I never saw him play, so I have no idea if Santo belongs or not. I looked up his stats, and they're not overwhelming, but neither are Brooks Robinson's. Robinson was, by the way, a much better fielder according to the stats. I've heard Cubs fans and cheerleaders in the Chicago press talk about how good of a fielder Santo was, but even in his Gold Glove seasons he was making 20+ errors per game. In 23 years, Robinson made 263 errors at 3b (.971 percentage). In 15 seasons, Santo made 317 errors at 3b (.954). That got me thinking. Look at Santo's stats vs. Robin Ventura. Santo 15 Season Avg: 163H - 26 2b - 25 HR - 96 RBI - .277 BA - .464 SLG - .826 OPS - 317 Errors - .954 Fielding Percentage Robin 16 Season Avg: 147H - 26 2b - 23 HR - 92 RBI - .267 BA - .444 SLG - .806 OPS - 220 Errors - .958 Fielding Percentage I'm not really making an argument for Ventura either, but I think Santo might fall more into the Hall of Very Good category. I'd still rather see him in than Clemens, Bonds, or any of the other guys who cheated, though.

QUOTE (VictoryMC98 @ Nov 30, 2011 -> 02:03 PM) Maybe I am missing over the last 3-4 years some good to star quality Jays latin player that came out of their system.. He was on the side that unloaded Rios on some unsuspecting sucker GM. Good enough for me. Let's do it again.

I guess I'm officially old. I have a very difficult time understanding a series of Tweets when I see them. #oldmanpoo

This "fight" is so overrated. In the angle they always show (from the catcher), Ventura looks like he gets pounded. But if you see it from the centerfield angle, Ryan's noogies barely land before Ventura gets out of the headlock and they go to the ground. 5:20 on the video. If you look at Ryan as he's falling, he looks like an old man. And then when you see Ventura after the brawl, he doesn't exactly look like a guy who just got beat up. Mickey Hatcher's the only guy who really took a beating, though, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6w_7C1CDgdg Pretty good article about the fight. http://miscbaseball.wordpress.com/2009/08/...ing-nolan-ryan/ Great comment by Jack McDowell about Ryan. “The whole world stops when that guy pitches, like he’s God or something. He’s been throwing at batters forever, and people are gutless to do anything about it. I was glad Robin went out. Someone had to do it. He’s pulled that stuff wherever he goes. Too bad he doesn’t show up for his team until the next time it’s his turn to pitch. He’ll be home on the ranch. You watch, his team will fall just short again while he shows up on the DL.” I have to add that I like the '93 Sox as much as the '05 Sox. I'll always be hugely disappointed that they didn't win it all. The way that team grew up together from the late 80's into the early 90's was so great to watch as a fan.

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Nov 1, 2011 -> 11:52 AM) Thanks, Knight! So no other fans of Varsity Blues?? I thought that would be somewhere on the list. "I...don't want..your life."

QUOTE (Milkman delivers @ Oct 28, 2011 -> 10:18 AM) I completely disagree. At this point, it's the fashionable thing to not pick Washington. It makes you look more intelligent to a regular schmo. Similar to saying George Harrison is the most talented of the Beatles.

I'm in a similar situation. I can make my payment, but I'd like to get a better rate and lower my payment. Can't refinance without an appraisal, though. And my house won't meet the current regulations. What doesn't make sense to me is that I know that Chase didn't sell my loan, yet they won't refinance me because the house is underwater. If I owe them $300K, and I'm current on my payment, and I'm not looking for relief from the principle owed, why won't they refinance my loan? I'm willing to pay the full amount, I just want to get the lower interest/payment. The really bad thing is that the banks were committing fraud when they loaned money to people in 2007-08 before the meltdown. They knew that there were thousands of houses that were going to be foreclosed, and these foreclosures would drive down housing prices, yet they still accepted the appraisal values on new houses. So, if my house was bought for $350K, but the foreclosures were going to make it worth $280K 9 seconds after I closed on it, they shouldn't have loaned the money. They were greedy, yet we bailed them out.

QUOTE (Soxfest @ Oct 6, 2011 -> 04:44 PM) I heard today from a friend in radio DJ is history and will not be back in 2012 and North or Steve Dahl may take his place with Farmio! Take it with a grain of salt, I am just saying what he told me today! Anyone else heard any rumblings on this? Coming soon - pay to listen to the broadcast on radio.