Balta1701

QUOTE (southside_hitman @ Jan 17, 2013 -> 10:49 PM) If Bryan Anderson wins the back-up catcher spot he could platoon with Flowers vs RH/LH starting pitchers. I think Hahn will try to make a big deal maybe even a blockbuster deal before Spring Training. He knows that Sox fans need to be motivated to go to games and to do that the Sox have to field a competitive club. I think anyone expecting a major move is very likely going to be disappointed.

We pulled off thundersnow today.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Jan 17, 2013 -> 03:13 PM) How many of us sat here saying the Briggs extensions would never happen because of Cap room, or the Forte extension would never get done, Urlacher, etc. The Bears find ways to get what they want. There was always cap room for those moves, it's just whether the Bears wanted to spend for those guys. Remember what happened with Briggs...he expected a bigger deal than he got offered, he went out, took his time, and came crawling back to the Bears to take the deal they originally offered because no one else wanted to pay him. There can be room for some things and not for others. The Bears could have gone after several O-Linemen last year, but didn't...instead they got Forte and Marshall as the things they spent money on, in addition to some secondary depth.

QUOTE (SOXOBAMA @ Jan 17, 2013 -> 03:15 PM) As of today, this team will be lucky to win 72 games Why?

QUOTE (bmags @ Jan 17, 2013 -> 03:10 PM) I'm sure it's somewhere in the middle. I find the NFL salary cap incredible confusing. Seems to be a lot of gimmicks. The Gimmicks will only get one so far. The Bears will have some room to add players, but there are teams out there like the Dolphins sitting on $50 million of cap room this year.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Jan 17, 2013 -> 02:47 PM) I am very much looking forward to what happens with this team from the start of free agency through the draft. I don't think I am. I think Bears fans are imagining the team has much more cap freedom than it actually has. That's going to make choosing between Melton and an O-lineman hurt. How do you think it'll go if the Bears sign the #10 O-lineman on the board for $3 million and that's the only o-line addition they make before the draft?

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ Jan 17, 2013 -> 12:12 PM) DirecTV Genie Review I thought this could be applicable given conversations around these here parts recently. TY for sharing that.

QUOTE (TaylorStSox @ Jan 17, 2013 -> 01:54 PM) I hate speculating about a player's value. Typically, us message board experts are completely wrong. Nevertheless, I'd imagine Ramirez doesn't have a whole lot of value on the trade market due to his age and subpar season. He's a classic case of being more valuable to the Sox than to other teams. Ultimately, this team is going to win or lose on their pitching and defense. Trading a player with a history of being good to very good and replacing him with a player who has a history of being bad to very bad doesn't help the team now, or in the future. You're 100% right. And the problem for the Sox this offseason is that they're loaded with guys who are more valuable to them than to other teams.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Jan 17, 2013 -> 10:57 AM) ESPN sits for 10 days on an article like that because they want to get all facts checked before they air it, and then they'd want to air it in an OTL type of setting. They'd only have one person doing that, and they need sit down, televised interviews from each party involved. They need to wait to hear back from people, set appointments, get flights scheduled, etc. Deadspin just calls or emails people. There is far less to do with a written news piece than there is a televised news piece. EDIT: At the very least, they want to get facts checked first. That can take some time. If ESPN had this...the fact that someone else was on it would be motivation for them to get going and get it out there. The thing Deadspin seems to have that no one else had was the identity of the person whose photos were being shown on air. If they could find it, then ESPN should have been able to beat them to the punch on it by doing the same work. Once you have that person's ID, you check their background, see if there's any chance they were in on it by seeing if they've traveled to Hawai'i recently or something like that...and then you have your story.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jan 17, 2013 -> 01:26 PM) $100,000,000? With what was paid for the Dodgers, I bet the Bears are a $2 billion company, at least. The thing that hurts the Bears' value is being locked in to the smallest stadium in the NFL. If an ownership group could buy that team thinking about building their own version of Jerry-World, somewhere in the suburbs, where they could expect their ticket revenue to explode...then you're on the right track.

QUOTE (TaylorStSox @ Jan 17, 2013 -> 12:26 PM) Beckham doesn't have good range. Trading Ramirez to put Beckham at SS is one of the worst ideas of the off season. It would depend a bit on what you got back...you'd have to have some team really overpay for Alexei to make it worth while... But that's sorta been the problem with every proposed trade/every comment about why Hahn hasn't moved someone...we're waiting on teams to overpay.

QUOTE (fathom @ Jan 16, 2013 -> 09:47 PM) Lefty I'm in without even looking at his stats.

QUOTE (Felix @ Jan 16, 2013 -> 09:47 PM) If this is all a cover up for him being gay, Notre Dame should be ashamed of itself If that's the case and he doesn't want to, then the school should have nothing to do with forcing him into anything.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Jan 16, 2013 -> 09:46 PM) I've seen in more than a few places that this is a precursor to him coming out of the closet. Every other explanation has 2 or 3 "wait this part makes no sense" points other than that one.

Ok, I think that last one was in jest, but simmer down.

QUOTE (fathom @ Jan 16, 2013 -> 09:31 PM) My choice for back-up catcher, George Kottaras, was DFA'd by the A's today Left or righty?

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Jan 16, 2013 -> 07:17 PM) Where are they getting the idea Tyler Saladino could be a key figure in 2013? Viciedo with almost exactly the same projection? They need to study the White Sox roster better, so at least they would know about Sanchez and spending more time talking about him, Trayce Thompson, etc. And then there's sure to be a ton of disagreement about whether Quintana can put up another similar season, especially after all the innings he pitched (vis a vis career norms) in 2012. I don't think that computer programs study the rosters all that well.

QUOTE (iamshack @ Jan 16, 2013 -> 07:44 PM) What I'm saying is that he made up those stories because he was embarrassed to admit he had never met her and that she was just an online relationship. People do this sort of thing all the time, especially before the advent of facebook, and the proliferation of sharing photos and the like on the internet. And I look forwards to more stories about how important his faith is in driving him and his quest for truth.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Jan 16, 2013 -> 06:04 PM) The situations in NA communities across the US are complex and are largely the result of generations of the way they were treated by various governments. (a statement that can be applied to almost any minority group in the country).

QUOTE (Soxbadger @ Jan 16, 2013 -> 05:58 PM) I personally think the simplest answer is that Te'o was a victim of a con artist named Ronaiah Tuiasosopo. The reason is that this girl dates back to 2008, and supposedly Ronaiah Tuiasosopo played this con on someone else. I just dont think Te'o is smart enough to run such a long con. And none of the timing makes sense if it was truly just a con for publicity. But it could be him, its just hard to tell when you are investigating cons. Because a good con artist makes the other person believe the con is legit. The problem is, you have no simple explanation for the photos unless the person Deadspin interviewed was in on it (and that could be verified by seeing if she'd traveled to Hawai'i).

QUOTE (Alpha Dog @ Jan 16, 2013 -> 05:49 PM) That big bolded word up there is the key. Sadly it isn't true in most cases, hence the problem. Name for me some legit "safety net", anti-poverty programs of the sort you're talking about that aren't temporary.

QUOTE (Alpha Dog @ Jan 16, 2013 -> 05:45 PM) And it isn't to feed and care for them like pets. The real problem is...a legitimate safety net will do exactly that for some people. It may be only temporary, but that's sort of how even the metaphorical safety net works. When everything falls, it is strong enough to keep you from dying. But...when you're building a bridge, you don't refuse to install a safety net because you realize some jerk might jump off of the bridge since the net is there.

QUOTE (Soxbadger @ Jan 16, 2013 -> 05:43 PM) No those are 2 different things. If this is truly a criminal hoax as the ND statement implies, it is very possible that Ronaiah Tuiasosopo had one of his friends that was a girl play the part of gf. The reason that Im not entirely sure is that Deadspin quotes Te'o's father as saying that Te'o met her" Now there are 3 scenarios there. 1) Father is in on it. 2) Father was being duped by Te'o. 3) Te'o really met a girl, but she was not who she said she was. That wouldnt be the first or last time a girl pretended to be someone else to try and either get fame or fortune. None of these explain how any random person would match the photos which were being shared with the press, put on the person's facebook/twitter pages, and running on the evening news.

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Jan 16, 2013 -> 05:33 PM) Far fewer services for a whopping 4% difference in rates. Again, clearly just spending more/providing more is the problem. A 4% difference in the poverty rate is 12 million people.

QUOTE (daa84 @ Jan 16, 2013 -> 05:40 PM) But Teo said he met her. They went on vacation. He met her in the parking lot. This is all per Teo. So the only possible hoax is the long con that has been suggested in which another girl claimed she was Kekua and then faked her death for some reason (presumably monetary) Even assuming he was duped he must have met someone at some point, someone he clearly spent a lot of time with. Someone who would have had a pic of herself and her superstar boyfriend Some other girl being the person Te'o reportedly met would still leave the problem of how that person matched the photos that were being used of the person, including photos being shared by the press.