Balta1701

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Apr 29, 2015 -> 03:41 PM) Yeah, I understand why they would look to trade him, but after the black hole the Greg Olsen trade left for a few years, I'd be worried to get rid of him. This is also supposed to be a very weak year for NFL-ready TEs. A couple projects but bad enough that even I've realized it's supposed to be a weak draft for that spot.

QUOTE (LDF @ Apr 29, 2015 -> 03:40 PM) i really think, i overrated Shark this yr. I think this is the pitcher he's always been, a #3/#2 guy, who doesn't have an ace repertoire but who will get himself into a groove for 10+ starts at some point this season.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Apr 29, 2015 -> 03:33 PM) Obviously, but is he really a 9 figure pitcher? I think the going rate for pitchers like him is right around 9 figures, but then I significantly overestimated Shields's contract last offseason.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Apr 29, 2015 -> 03:25 PM) You're right, the offense could use a few more strikeouts. But you just told me they were very similar players

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Apr 29, 2015 -> 03:18 PM) The guy has a good game and we will ingore the rest. If you don't like Conor, you aren't going to like Davidson. That doesn't translate, they're very dissimilar players. If you'd said "If you don't like Flowers you aren't going to like Davidson", you'd probably have me agreeing.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Apr 29, 2015 -> 03:11 PM) The White Sox have also played 3-4 less games than most of MLB, which is about 15 to 20% less games. The White Sox are 18th in hits/game and 26th in runs/game in MLB. We are outscoring Milwaukee, San Francisco, Philadelphia, and Minnesota.

Well, I looked away to get done entering 527 grades and put Sigur Rós on as background music figuring I'd get distracted by baseball. I'm not mad at myself in the least now.

QUOTE (LDF @ Apr 29, 2015 -> 12:55 PM) i would have let the season ticket holders come in only. And if one of them were to get hurt while leaving the park at 5:00?

Well to be fair...the "the Bloods and Crips are creating riots!" rumor was posted in here as well.

QUOTE (BigHurt3515 @ Apr 28, 2015 -> 03:50 PM) That is exactly what I am worried about. These people will know there is a game going on and is a great way to get even more attention, they won't just ignore it. They'll also have to get past the national guard.

TOMORROW’S ORIOLES-WHITE SOX GAME TO BEGIN AT 2:05 P.M. ET AND BE CLOSED TO THE PUBLIC WEEKEND SERIES WITH RAYS TO MOVE TO TROPICANA FIELD Monday’s and Tuesday’s games rescheduled for single-admission doubleheader on May 28 After consultation with Major League Baseball and city and local officials, tomorrow’s game between the Orioles and the Chicago White Sox will begin at 2:05 p.m. ET and will be closed to the public. The Orioles will also play their three-game series against the Tampa Bay Rays, scheduled for May 1-3, at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Fla. while serving as the home team. All fans with tickets to games on April 29, May 1, May 2, or May 3 at Oriole Park may exchange their tickets for any remaining home game this season on a “dollar for dollar” basis. Additionally, the postponed games between the Orioles and the White Sox on Monday, April 27, and Tuesday, April 28, will be made up as part of a single-admission doubleheader on Thursday, May 28, beginning at 4:05 p.m. Tickets for Monday’s postponed game will be valid for the doubleheader on May 28. Fans unable to attend the doubleheader will have an opportunity to exchange their tickets for any remaining home game this season. Fans with tickets for Tuesday’s postponed game must exchange those tickets to attend the doubleheader on May 28 or exchange them for any remaining home game this season. Exchanges for both games will be completed on a “dollar for dollar” basis. All tickets are subject to availability, and exchanges must be completed by June 30, 2015. Complimentary tickets are non-exchangeable. Ticket exchanges can be performed at the Box Office or submitted in writing along with the original tickets and mailed via certified mail by June 30, 2015 to: Baltimore Orioles Attention: (Date) Postponement 333 West Camden Street Baltimore, MD 21201 Fans with questions regarding the ticket exchange process should contact Orioles Fan Services at 1-888-848-BIRD.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Apr 28, 2015 -> 02:11 PM) I think one thing that is being lost is there are plenty of good cops out there., even in Baltimore. There were guys that certainly didn't deserve having rocks and bricks thrown at them last night. And equally notable there are plenty of good people in Baltimore who are justifiably angry with situations there who did not want things to devolve into a riot or contribute to that riot.

QUOTE (shipps @ Apr 28, 2015 -> 01:36 PM) Of course that is part of it but I still think people are poo pooing the idea that there is a whole lot that goes into moving a baseball game on the fly. I think that's deservable poo-pooing because we've seen them do it before. In 2004 a Marlins series mid-pennant race was relocated to the Cell due to a hurricane, which is quite short notice. In 2008 Hurricane Ike hit Houston and, after some resistance from the owner, the Astros were talked into/forced to allow the games to be relocated to Miller Park and >20,000 tickets were sold within about 18 hours.

QUOTE (shipps @ Apr 28, 2015 -> 01:33 PM) The Cubs thought it was too difficult to have the first part of the season in Milwaukee even with the knowledge and time to prepare months in advance. Say what you will but I think you guys are underestimating the difficulty in working out the logistics of moving a million dollar daily production to another city. Did they think it would be difficult or did they prefer to be able to continue to sell/showcase their own ballpark?

QUOTE (Jake @ Apr 27, 2015 -> 10:45 PM) If I ran the show, I'd keep Thibs under almost all circumstances. That would be the one where I wouldn't There would seem to be something fitting about this Bulls team and this era going out with that distinction.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Apr 28, 2015 -> 11:59 AM) I'm assuming that there aren't union rules authorizing police abuse but instead provide some sort of due process protection for disciplinary action up to and including firing. The rules protecting the officers only matter here if they're preventing police management from making changes that they would otherwise like to make. I'm asking why we're assuming that police management isn't perfectly fine with these "rough rides." Because if they approve or at least turn a blind eye to it because they don't care, then union rules are irrelevant. edit: maybe I'm misunderstanding here. can you lay out what rules (generic reference is fine) were standing in the way of reforming BPD culture? One thing that has shown up in multiple cases is that the Union doesn't just make sure that their people have representation, they're actively opposed to reform. The example you'd be most familiar with recently is the NY City police Union, where the Union waged a public campaign in favor of continuing the targeted police methods of the sort that drove the issue there. Although we haven't had a blowup, we had a very similar situation in Pittsburgh with the police union coming out and criticizing a new police chief publicly just after he arrived to make sure that they made their very public point as well.

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Apr 28, 2015 -> 12:04 PM) You're all over the place here. Why is it bad to call kids throwing rocks/bricks at cops and setting things on fire thugs? Where has anyone, me specifically, said that everyone in baltimore is a thug? Clearly we're all talking about specific people here. Because when I push you to apply the same word to a police department that murdered a guy and has paid out millions of dollars in settlements for police brutality you slither away. Is the Baltimore police department full of thugs?

If only they hadn't appealed.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Apr 28, 2015 -> 11:18 AM) It is part of the problem, sort of. The rules negotiated with the unions. But the departments and their municipalities are equally responsible for allowing those rules. So even that part of the problem is 50/50. I've got to agree with this. It may not apply nationwide but in the cases where we've seen these problems -NY, MO, etc, the police unions protecting the current system has been part of the problem and that is one of several things that has to somehow be overhauled.

QUOTE (LDF @ Apr 28, 2015 -> 11:06 AM) maybe it is me and that i am misreading it. but i see you painting all cops as such, and that is not the case. I think it's fair to do the same characterization of both sides. If 10% of the protestors are actively criminals and are "uncivilized thugs", both terms used in this thread, then the police don't get to brag because their bad number is 5%. Either you use the broad brush to paint both sides or we can drop it and actually focus on how things get to this point so often.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Apr 28, 2015 -> 11:13 AM) On CNN last night they had someone on who said the average age of the looters was 16 or 17. Were they really looting because they all had built up tensions, or where they just taking advantage of the situation? I think the majority of people destroying businesses and starting fires, and throwing rocks and bricks at cops and firefighters weren't present during the peaceful protests. And again this is correct, most of the looters in all these cases are just the ones who take advantage of the deteriorating situation.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Apr 28, 2015 -> 10:30 AM) While I agree that police should be held to a higher standard, I have to disagree strongly with your obvious attempts to somehow make them the same as people rioting and looting. Yes, a cop beating a subject and a dude stealing from a broken into store are both violating the law. But the similarity ends there, for better or worse. As far as I can see, you are ready to indict all police for the acts of a few, while vehemently disagreeing with the characterization of looters as the criminals they are. You're doing it by referring to anger as a motivation or reason. If you want to do that, then why not excuse abusive police officers for their anger? How about neither are OK or justified? As far as I can tell every time I've objected to the characterization of all the protestors, rioters, or African Americans as thugs in this thread I have done so by asking for the same standard and language to be applied to the police. I don't believe either is the case but if the Rioters are uncivilized thugs then so are the people who actually murdered a man. What I object to is that it's ok to call the rioters that and then turn to mush when I demand similar language applied to murderers. And when I am told that it's ok for police to be thugs because after all to are these people I then note that the systemic problem can only be solved by fixing things on the police side. That's the one big difference, that's why the police are supposed to be better. No matter how many community leaders come out and call for peace, when the situation is already primed to explode over years a spark can make it explode.

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Apr 28, 2015 -> 10:18 AM) I love your logic Balta: Police committing criminal acts is the explanation/justification for violent responses ("Well what did you expect would happen?") Black males committing criminals acts is the explanation for police over-policing and using excessive force. Why doesn't the same "well what do you expect" rationale apply? On top of the fact that, yes, big picture here, all the american people see are black kids, mostly male, acting like thugs (oh no, the loaded word!), acting like the stereotypical young black male that people think of when they want to excuse certain police behavior. They're literally making the case for why more police intervention is necessary and why cops shouldn't have to simply talk people down, they should fear for their lives, shoot first and ask questions later. On CNN they had some young black "political activist," Malcolm-X wannabe who said it was terrible that we were calling this a riot. It's an "uprising." They're not looters, they're protestors. He thinks he's making some nuanced point, but in reality he's just adding more gasoline to that fire you're talking about. Because the police are supposed to be better than criminals on the street. That's why they're the police. That's why the "this is so uncivilized" and "these are thugs" rings hollow because you won't apply that same standard to police who beat and kill people and then settle things out of court or get this a covered up because they're the police. As soon as you describe the police as thugs for dozens of cases of abuse of power the. You can do the same.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Apr 28, 2015 -> 10:03 AM) I think the vast majority of the rioters had nothing to do with the peaceful protests. I wouldn't be surprised if the majority of them barely knew why the protests were occurring. Just some punks who decided to take advantage of the situation, and now, despite all the "free" stuff they stole yesterday, will be paying for their actions for years. Unfortunately, the people who were going about this the civil way will be paying for this as well, and there is no doubt these actions like setting buildings on fire, destroying businesses, throwing bricks at police, will hurt the overall cause. Has rioting ever worked? Yes. The LAPD had to significantly reform after 1991. We're watching right now as the Ferguson police department has the DOJ light shined on them and people are resigning/being forced out, and the practice of fining the community as a way of funding the city seems like it's also on the way out with it, and those are just a couple recent ones.