Balta1701

Left tackle D'Brickashaw Ferguson and defensive end Vernon Gholston were in the car with Edwards.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Sep 21, 2010 -> 06:17 PM) No, don't you understand? The Bills need Marshawn Lynch because they are ahead of the curve and now a days every great football team has 3 capable running backs. They don't want to trade Lynch even though he's unhappy, the Bills are going nowhere, and they have two others who can more than fill his spot. Bah, I'd be saying the exact same thing if I were in Buffalo and a competent GM. You insist you're happy with the guy and you don't need to trade him up until the moment he's gone. Tipping your hand is silly. Of course...an incompetent GM could also say the same thing...if he actually meant it.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Sep 21, 2010 -> 06:24 PM) I have better prizes that my kids play with... Autographed Bud Selig needles?

QUOTE (greg775 @ Sep 21, 2010 -> 05:56 PM) I think that's a stretch to suggest Thome a veteran got fixed by the Twins' hitting coach. Thome got revitalized cause a.) he's damn good. b.) he had some extra motivation this year provided by the Sox saying he wasn't good enough. Bah, come on Greg, you missed the biggest, most obvious one; he was revitalized because the team didn't over-use him early in the year and wear him down.

Tom Brady's safety blanket Kevin Faulk has a torn ACL and is probably gone for the year. Packers, Patriots...which of you wants Marshawn Lynch? Come on, just give up a draft pick.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Sep 21, 2010 -> 05:36 PM) I figure they'd welcome him leaving on his own. I mean according to this board, he's pretty horses***. Greg...part of the problem is that some people do hate Ozzie and would be thrilled if he left...but not everyone. However...almost everyone is going to wind up second-guessing the manager routinely over the course of 162 games. But...you can't take every single criticism of him personally to the point that every criticism of him is equivalent to saying "Fire this man now!".

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Sep 21, 2010 -> 05:30 PM) And either way, just because Soxtalk doesn't like Ozzie doesn't mean the people in charge hate him. There was hearsay earlier this year that suggested that Williams wanted to fire Ozzie but had that decision vetoed by Reinsdorf. Reinsdorf likes Ozzie. He won't want him to go anywhere else. The one thing that might weigh on all of this talk is that this year seemed to be a much more trying year than usual for Ozzie and the organization because of matters outside of baseball. Between the Oney situation during ST and the plummeting of the other son during the draft (which The Club suggested caused a real problem but didn't elaborate on), some serious personal problems cropped up this year in a way that hasn't happened in previous years. JR will probably vouch for Ozzie...but it could be that both KW and Ozzie could march into JR's office the day after the season ends and say "it's him or me".

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Sep 21, 2010 -> 04:45 PM) I can't believe Obama is nominating a guy to head the Marine Corps who is on TV saying how this could hurt the military in Afghanistan. Do you genuinely believe that it's not possible to make a case that it can and has hurt us in these wars, or do you just believe he should not be speaking out publicly on this matter?

QUOTE (knightni @ Sep 21, 2010 -> 01:10 PM) No, they're saying that the Bulls are out of it. They're saying specifically that the Bulls are out of it unless they include Noah. If new Jersey gives up the kind of package that is talked about there, then it really shouldn't matter if the Bulls would include Noah, the Bulls can't match that package because the Bulls can't offer anything resembling salary relief. If New Jersey had that on the table...I think it would be done soon. The Bulls best bet is still going to be this year's trade deadline, if it gets that far.

I'm sure that everyone will have as much of a problem with the Republicans voting against funding our troops as they did every time a Democrat would do it from 2003-2008.

QUOTE (whitesoxfan99 @ Sep 21, 2010 -> 03:15 PM) Aaron Rowand has had one good season since he left the Sox and is making a ton of money. I'm thrilled he isn't on the Sox. Youre 100% right that I'm glad we didn't sign him to that contract. 2 points though just to kind of defend him a bit...first...he was still a lot better than what we got out of CF until this year...he was never a good fit for San Fran because his power was never likely to translate to that park. His career OPS in AT&T park is .702.

QUOTE (BigSqwert @ Sep 21, 2010 -> 02:18 PM) Balta is the only person on Soxtalk that agreed with Walter Jacobson's opinion piece criticizing Paul Konerko for running the bases with a beer can after clinching it in 2000. Again...there's a difference between doing something like that and doing something like that followed by getting behind the wheel of a car.

QUOTE (Jenks Heat @ Sep 21, 2010 -> 02:10 PM) Shall we talk about beer showers or are those acceptable? Sure. It's not exactly a behavior that directly threatens anyone's life.

Just to note...neither of you have yet given me an example of exactly what I asked for...some additional bit of information the government could get out of you by doing this. I'm not going to challenge NSS's points that there would be some serious "bugs" to work out and it's probably not worth the effort, I simply want to make the point that if you're going to be creeped out by this...there'd be every reason to be creeped out by filing an income tax fomr.

Just wanted to post this somewhere since I wonder if it's the last we'll hear of it. The only thing stopping a team from doctoring balls is the integrity of the manager? Quick, someone put balls for the next Twins series in a bloody humidor.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Sep 21, 2010 -> 01:47 PM) I'm guessing they are doing it to prevent some scofflaws, and to get receipts in quicker to their treasury. But I agree it seems highly intrusive and bad in grand scheme of things. Well, there's one other potential benefit here...the federal goverment in this country has all the resources to tell a good chunk of the non-complicated tax returns exactly how much they owe. The only changes come when claiming changing exemptions for things like tax-writeoffs. For those people...there's no reason why they need to fill out a private tax return, or do things like buy tax software or visit H&R block, etc. There's a money-saver there as well. I see where the "ick" factor comes from and I want to acknowledge it...but I do want to ask a Devil's advocate question...how much more information would a federal government get about a person if their income was sent directly to the government rather than having a tax return prepared by the individual? I'm trying to think of anything that the government would actually learn that it doesn't already have access to. Can someone give me an example?

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Sep 21, 2010 -> 01:07 PM) That's good for an 3.15 ERA, 1.13 WHIP, and a 24:18 K:BB. He's also only had three bad outings out of 10 games. From your long man and last man in the pen, you take that every day and twice on Sunday. He has been highly successful in that role. But I can argue selection bias here...For example, May the 2nd...he came in during the 5th inning with the Sox already down big...and lasted 1.2 innings while giving up 5. If he'd been performing...he'd have lasted longer than 1.2; the games where he's pitched more than 3 innings are games where he didn't melt down in the first 3 innings.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Sep 21, 2010 -> 12:57 PM) im sure guillen was standing at the door telling everyone to get a cab Frankly...I'm not sure that's a terrible idea. Maybe he doesn't need to be baby-sitting them when they go out...but taking steps to make sure that they take a cab, like say...making sure they have the numbers of a cab company, making sure to remind them, or possibly even arranging transportation for a group beforehand...might not be terrible plans.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Sep 21, 2010 -> 10:50 AM) Well, if nothing else, it seems the team has found a long man / spot starter for 2011 in Tony Pena. That was kind of a surprise find. Doesn't exactly mean he's been good, or even really adequate overall, in that role. He's sort of on the roster, he hasn't pitched well enough to be in the "we want to win this game" bullpen rotation, Linebrink can't go as the long man, someone might as well. OPS against him from pitches 26-50 is 50 points higher than in his first 25 pitches, so it's not like he gets stronger as outings go on.

QUOTE (Jenks Heat @ Sep 21, 2010 -> 12:42 PM) Remember when Guillen told his team to go get drunk in KC after Koch blew a save. And remember when Guillen reminded them to take a cab on the way home so that they wouldn't wind up in jail?

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Sep 21, 2010 -> 11:08 AM) Well, if it makes you feel any better, FL and CA were by far the hardest hit in the housing crisis, so I don't think they will be recovering with any real strength for some time. The other important thing to note in the depressed housing market/new housing construction numbers is that we're not just dealing with a generalized excess of housing...we're dealing with huge excesses in housing in certain areas (CA, AZ, NV, FL) punctuated by moderate excesses of housing in other areas...with skyrocketing unemployment being a major way of transferring the housing problem from one area to another.

QUOTE (CrimsonWeltall @ Sep 21, 2010 -> 11:55 AM) Like, it actually got through the ribcage? It sure sounds like it.

QUOTE (knightni @ Sep 21, 2010 -> 11:33 AM) New Jersey's the only team that he's willing to re-sign with if traded. He probably wouldn't re-sign with Chicago if the Bulls give up Noah for him. So, they'd lose Noah, and then Anthony after 2010-11. Bulls wouldn't make that deal unless they had the extension basically worked out beforehand.

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Sep 21, 2010 -> 10:10 AM) Braylon Edwards pulls a Tony LaRussa. That team just feels like it's so close to tearing itself apart at the seams

QUOTE (Jenks Heat @ Sep 21, 2010 -> 10:03 AM) So is this thread now about drinking or getting a DUI just so I know..... In terms of the LaRussa criticism...DUI is the issue.