Balta1701

QUOTE (ZoomSlowik @ Dec 18, 2012 -> 05:37 PM) When has Boozer ever been useful while wearing a Bulls' jersey? s***, they're nearly 17 points/100 possessions worse when he's on the floor this year... I can't find it, but there was a piece I read somewhere a few weeks ago arguing that Boozer may be a chucker but he actually worked pretty well alongside Rose because Rose took away his bad possessions. Anywho.

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ Dec 18, 2012 -> 05:38 PM) I also cannot believe that Balta brought up possible contributions from Rip f***ing Hamilton and Carlos f***ing Boozer as reasons this team would be better than 10/11. Have you watched a game? Rip is glass and Boozer is one of the least valuable players in basketball. Honestly, no, I haven't watched a game this year. I will watch a game when Derrick Rose returns.

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ Dec 18, 2012 -> 05:36 PM) Both Noah and Deng were more efficient players in 10/11 than this year. It's been discussed ad nauseum, but Noah's spike in production has been caused by a doomsday amount of minutes while crushing his percentage from the field. I get what's going on this year to his numbers...but still, you can't tell me that Noah was nearly that effective post-injury in 2011. He just wasn't. He was a beast on the circus trip that year, hurt his hand, and then came back as sort of an average contributor who you felt ok with benching down the stretch because he wasn't going to take over.

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Dec 18, 2012 -> 05:32 PM) I think it's more from the angle that if push comes to shove, yes, you'd much rather rely on your own judgment, flawed or not, to save your life, not be at the mercy of someone else shooting at you or your family with the intent to kill. There's an argument to be made about gun control and all that; but this basic premise of survival, i'm just not sure why people don't understand that. (and yes, I know this is an incredibly rare instance, but again, with life or death on the line, why wouldn't you rather be safe than sorry?) Are you really telling me that if you're Alpha from his story yesterday, that you'd PREFER not having a gun in that situation? You'd PREFER to be in your house with no protection whatsoever except a phone to call the police that may or may not take too long to arrive? Edit: and i'm sure the response is that by having the gun you're statistically inviting a slightly higher risk of something violent happening - but so what? Why would you want to rely on chance in that situation? If you make a mistake, you live with it because you live. If you die, well, you died fighting believing that your life was truly on the line. The key thing here...even if every element of data pushes you the other way, you would make the emotional choice. It's right there. Even if I could show you that having a gun makes you 5, or 10, or 100, or 1000 times more likely to be hurt/killed in that case...you'd rather take the hero/vigilante way out. Nothing can overpower the emotion, the dream of using the gun in a certain circumstance. That's why I keep calling it the vigilante fantasy.

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ Dec 18, 2012 -> 05:31 PM) Jesus Christ, didn't we already go through this player by player and make you look silly like two weeks ago? Noah is playing better (10/11 he was really not that great after the first month when he got hurt), Boozer was useless in those playoffs because of injury, and Hamilton might be a nice contributor if he was ever around. Bench has been downgraded clearly, but the rotation pieces could be better.

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ Dec 18, 2012 -> 05:29 PM) Yeah, it was kind of wacky. The Bulls with a 100% D-Rose in the middle of an insane season and a better supporting cast in 10/11 couldn't do it - they aren't doing it this year. Might have been a better bench, but not sure on the "Better supporting cast" point overall...if somehow people could stay healthy. Which just won't happen, particularly with the coach running Noah and Deng into the ground.

QUOTE (Felix @ Dec 18, 2012 -> 05:27 PM) There certainly are. There are none of them saying the Wolves have a chance at the title however, which is equivalent to what he just posted. If Rose came back like Adrian Peterson is coming back, they could have a chance at the title. That means...100%...and overcoming not having homecourt...and having the rest of his team stay healthy.

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ Dec 18, 2012 -> 05:19 PM) I've paid my dues. Time after time

QUOTE (Lamar Johnson 23 @ Dec 18, 2012 -> 05:11 PM) If the Sox wanna compete with the Angels, Rangers, Blue Jays, Red Sox, Yankees and/or Detroit, they have to spend more $ to improve the team. If they don't, then rebuild! This is rebuilding. It's just rebuilding where we'd like to also have a shot at the wild card in order to keep attendance from collapsing.

QUOTE (chw42 @ Dec 18, 2012 -> 05:00 PM) I always thought Viciedo sucked in RF. You should have. He had very little experience there. He played 95 games in RF in AAA before being called up and playing 19 more games there in the big leagues at the end of 2011. He was markedly better in the OF last year, IMO, and I'd bet that would have translated to RF as well as LF. He got LF because Rios likes RF for whatever reason, but based on makeup you'd put him in RF.

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ Dec 18, 2012 -> 04:56 PM) I think the guy wants to get paid and get laid. And if that is true, then he stays in the NFL for the next decade as a backup QB. Annnnd, I just realized you were talking about Tebow while I was talking about the Sanchize. The Jaguars will come calling for Tebow. Tebow will not go to the CFL, he gets too much money from being famous if he stays in this country.

QUOTE (Baron @ Dec 18, 2012 -> 04:31 PM) I have no problem with starting Flowers at catcher. I just dont want that to be our only option if that fails(veteran backup would be nice). I know there alot on here looking at his upside. His downside could be pretty ugly. To be honest I think he is going to be complete bust. It would be really, really nice if we had a LH hitting backup to pair with him, but that's not AJ. You're not making AJ a backup at this point in his career

QUOTE (Lamar Johnson 23 @ Dec 18, 2012 -> 04:35 PM) How can you say you have no problem starting Flowers, then say you think he'll be a total bust? At some point you need to actually find out if a guy is a total bust or not

QUOTE (Lamar Johnson 23 @ Dec 18, 2012 -> 04:20 PM) Without AJ, the team just isn't as good as they'd be with him...that is the bottom line. The problem is...we really don't quite know that. AJ put up a career year last year, he's unlikely to do that again, and Flowers might well be able to give a similar level of production to AJ's normal year...but there's a downside to both. AJ might finally have age catch up with him, Flowers might get exposed in a full year.

QUOTE (CWSpalehoseCWS @ Dec 18, 2012 -> 04:17 PM) I put De Aza in LF because I thought he said he was more comfortable in LF last year? Wasn't that compared to Center Field though? RF wasn't an option because Rios is more comfortable there. With Wise playing, you could put either one in CF or LF, and De Aza chose LF givenn those 2 options.

QUOTE (Soxbadger @ Dec 18, 2012 -> 04:01 PM) Instagram would likely have potential liability to Tom Cruise (unless Tom Cruise was a member of instagram and the tos of instagram states that by being a member you allow us to do anything with your likeness.) You cant bind someone who doesnt have privity of contract. Thats just basic contract law. But doesn't that fall under whatever statutes cover being outdoors in public places? The statute which, I believe, was settled in the "Girls Gone Wild" supreme court case, where if you have no expectation of privacy in a place and someone takes a photo/video of you, then you don't have control over that image?

QUOTE (chw42 @ Dec 18, 2012 -> 03:48 PM) Alejandro's probably better suited for RF than Viciedo. Why? Viciedo was originally in RF when they moved him to the OF, and his arm sort of fits there, while Alejandro has better range and so would seemingly be a better fit in LF.

QUOTE (Jake @ Dec 18, 2012 -> 03:47 PM) I'm missing the reference, this happened with the Giffords shooting? Yes, here's his story. There was a guy carrying a concealed pistol across the street. He ran towards the shots, got there after the other people around had disarmed the shooter, pointed his gun at the guy now holding the gun and nearly shot. If he'd fired, he'd have shot one of the people who disarmed Loughner.

QUOTE (bmags @ Dec 18, 2012 -> 03:00 PM) http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2012...3.php?ref=fpblg Pretty interesting law from Colorado. This would be a great idea for matching funding from federal gov. Tennessee and Oklahoma are coming forwards today with plans to arm teachers and provide training. There's a guy in Tennessee being quoted who is saying he's surprised/disappointed it hasn't happened already. The governor of Michigan received a bill, passed on Friday I believe (lame duck session rushing through Republican bills) that would have allowed guns in schools in that state, but today he has pledged to veto it because of that portion.

QUOTE (bmags @ Dec 18, 2012 -> 02:42 PM) While you are all going down semantics hell, I think I should nudge people to the idea that it's still ridiculous that a gunman couldn't go on a spree in texas, and when shown one, arguing that that isn't texas. Arizona is very liberal with gun laws, yet saw a spree there with people with CCW. Many were still injured and killed. And had the guy with the nearest gun pulled the trigger, he would have shot the wrong person (by his own statement).

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Dec 18, 2012 -> 02:00 PM) True but it isn't THAT crazy of a contract considering what others are being paid, and new TV money is coming. But you would have to wonder why the Dodgers would trade him. The White Sox won't be a beneficiary of any new local TV money for a long time, their contract runs through 2019 (although the team ownership group is also a part owner of CSN, so the owners will pocket a fairly large sum). They will be in the game for the extra national TV contract revenue, but then so will every team.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Dec 18, 2012 -> 01:55 PM) That's all part of the positive/negative with him. He doesn't hit lefthanders at all. His defense really isn't that good, although it has improved some, and Dodgers Stadium is a pitcher's park but his career splits are far better at home than on the road. You could really make a great case to trade for him and make a great case to stay away. The great case to stay away from him that you didn't note is his contract.

A's to sign SS Nakajima from Japan. RH Reliever Santiago Casilla signs with Giants for 3/$15.

So, I'm definitely going to be interested to see how Dickey plays now that he's in the AL East and whether or not he's a creation of the NL. But, if he gives a similar performance to last year, the money he's being paid now will be a bargain. That's a division winning move if he can repeat that season or close to it.

QUOTE (kitekrazy @ Dec 17, 2012 -> 10:41 PM) I think that is part of the Sox attendance problem. They just don't have that one player that draws people to a stadium. Sale might be close to that, but the Big Hurt was probably the last player the Sox had that brought in the casual fan. The story of the last 20 years for the Chisox is, as far as I can tell...the fans show up much more when you put together a winning ballclub.