Balta1701

QUOTE (Paint it Black @ Oct 27, 2010 -> 04:41 PM) After looking my school has no such thing. Thanks ISU for being completely worthless once again! Do they have a career/job placement office of any sort that you could get in touch with? They may not have a fully electronic one like U of I, but sometimes you can make use of other placement services.

The Ukraine is not weak.

I may as well remind folks...we have a separate board, Talkbulls, which would love to have you visit, and post in game threads if you were so inclined!

Russians will stop them.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Oct 27, 2010 -> 03:00 PM) Occasionally fast turtles can be caught. Perhaps we should try "Nets".

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Oct 27, 2010 -> 02:48 PM) That is exactly what is said about our run since 2006. how is that any different? Well, for one, we were starting with a playoff-caliber team while they were starting at 120 losses. They also have had to deal with a much bigger economic hit to their city. And anyway...I'm not one of the ones saying the Sox haven't accomplished anything since 05, because they've been competitive almost every year.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Oct 27, 2010 -> 02:12 PM) Lightning fast turtles would have been cooler. Not only cooler, but delicious.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Oct 27, 2010 -> 02:21 PM) 0 World Series titles 0 division titles 1 playoff birth. Also the teams value is exactly worthless when it comes to how much payroll a team can, or will, spend. But you can't say they got "Nothing" in return.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Oct 27, 2010 -> 02:05 PM) The big problem is that all of that spending has gotten them nothing. I can't see it keeping up with the crash in the economy there. I don't know if I'd say it's gotten them "Nothing". 7 years ago, that team lost 120 games. They were the legit laughingstock of every team in the MLB except for the one team they beat 10 times. They went out from that point saying they were willing to overpay to get back to a level of respectability, and they had to do so repeatedly (IRod, Ordonez). They got themselves a world series appearance out of it, and are now considered a regular player in the AL Central, even if they've struggled to close the deal. The team's value increased from $240 million in 2004 to $375 million last year, according to Forbes.

Keep encouraging him...

I'm posting this because it's really something I haven't thought much about...the idea of Lebron having to basically be this team's PG and what that could mean for the Heat in terms of not only Lebron's scoring, but in terms of turnovers and the quality of looks that James gets.

QUOTE (Milkman delivers @ Oct 27, 2010 -> 01:12 PM) Since Ras Al Ghul can go from one body to the next, I think it will be him. I believe they even showed Liam Neeson closing his eyes as if to concentrate right before the train he was on crashed. That doesn't mean they won't have two again because, as you said, Scarecrow's brief appearance in the last movie would hint at his return. He just seemed like more of a petty thief in The Dark Knight, though. I dunno, the idea of suddenly bringing in X-men style powers into the Nolan-Batman universe doesn't really seem to fit with the pattern he's laid out. I totally agree with you on the scarecrow though. It seemed like he was at best down to being a small time drug dealer in that movie.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Oct 27, 2010 -> 01:10 PM) I'd be shocked if they add the $45M in payroll you are suggesting. I could be wrong, we'll see in April. Frankly, I don't think there's a payroll number Detroit could put up next year that would surprise me. They could put up $70 million, a $60 million decrease from last year, and I'd think "Yeah, that makes sense". They could sign everyone and I'd think "Yeah, that makes sense". I don't think I'd ever have expected that franchise to race their team salary from $46 million in 2004 to $137 million in 2008, but it happened.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Oct 27, 2010 -> 01:01 PM) People here tend to think that a person's high net worth means that they can, or will, spend a ton of money. First of all, a big part of Illitch's net worth is tied up in corporations - and therefore not highly liquid, or even usable in the way you describe. Second, if you read articles the past year or two, the Tigers have made clear they are losing more and more money on the Tigers and won't be spending tons of money. Being rich doesn't mean you have a ton of money to spend, and even if you do, you may not want to. The question is gonna be how they define tons of money. They could legitimately cull $30 million from their payroll next year and still make winning offers on Crawford, Lee, and enough filler to round out a roster.

I'm so taking your T-Bird away.

Link

You know, despite having the option, I haven't participated in any of these HSA plans, because I thought they seemed like a bureaucratic mess, documenting receipts for specific types of purchases, etc. I don't want to endorse everything written here (and if you read the comments you'll find me one asking for a citation of the most important piece of data mentioned, the administrative costs) but I found it an interesting perspective. It's a blog post so those who don't want to read liberal blog posts should avoid. I've tried googling to find a citation of that key piece of data, but haven't had luck beyond random message board replies.

QUOTE (Rooftop Shots @ Oct 27, 2010 -> 09:28 AM) Haven't done this in quite a while. It's time to pull this on a new group of people! Putting a black kettle strapped around my neck filled up with bars of "DIAL" soap with a sign that says "What am I? and $10.00 bill for the winner. The answer that I reveal at the end of the day if no one guesses is......... I'm a "CROCK-A-DIAL!" What a crock...

Goddamnit, now that's gonna be stuck in my head.

The Post this mornin'. What I think is worth considering is that this report could be either entirely accurate, entirely inaccurate and leaked only as a PR move prior to the strategic review in December, or both. It could be both an argument for staying longer and an argument for packing it in.

QUOTE (daa84 @ Oct 27, 2010 -> 09:22 AM) i did too at first, but frankly...thats a good team that plays the right way. And, while yes pierce is tough to cheer for, but KG (while annoying) and Ray Allen seem genuinely like good guys. Plus its hard not to absolutely love Shaq In terms of "playing the right way", they also still have Mr. cheap shot as their starting PG.

Captain Cheeseburger is having minor knee surgery.

QUOTE (Athomeboy_2000 @ Oct 27, 2010 -> 09:04 AM) One thing I heard was that they might want to get rid of the soft cap and have a hard cap instead. How would this impact the Heat? I was under the impression that the three max contracts took almost 100% of their cap space. If a hard cap is in place, wouldnt they need to trade away one of the players to make room to fill the roster? You'd have to think that if they had a hard cap, the players union would get the value of it increased to the point that those 3 salaries could fit under it. Or the union might completely break and wind up having an actual league-wide decrease in guaranteed dollars on current contracts. (Honestly, deep down I think that a good number of owners actually expect something like a league wide salary reduction to happen. My evidence came from some of those contracts handed out last offseason. There was just no reason for so many different owners to offer up the contracts that we saw go out. I struggle to see how they all could be that dumb)

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Oct 27, 2010 -> 08:47 AM) Its been made clear for the past couple years, Detroit's season ticket holder base has collapsed in an epic way, and they are cutting, cutting, cutting. They aren't spending that kind of money for 2011, I'll bet the farm on that. Well, their commitments right now are about $55 million according to Cot's. They could cut back significantly and still find room for some big signings. Having a couple guys really step up last year (Boesch, Jackson, Scherzer) could make things a lot easier for them. They definitely need pitching help though.

QUOTE (IChaseBlackWood @ Oct 26, 2010 -> 10:41 PM) zuupp guys?!?! Everyone missed you, and this thread is thrilled that you dropped by!