Balta1701

QUOTE (Allsox @ Sep 14, 2010 -> 06:04 PM) at least he gives Liriano hell, unlike the rest of the guys. As far as I can tell he's never faced Liriano before

QUOTE (lostfan @ Sep 14, 2010 -> 06:02 PM) Ever read "The Big Con"? This type of thinking has only been mainstream for about 30 or so years. Pretty easy to debunk most of it with simple charts and graphs but that doesn't really matter. That's the problem...it doesn't matter. The recession actually did somewhat hurt the opinion makers in this country. The media, the wealthy who can afford serious political donations...They lost value of their stock investments. That sort of statement plays right into their beliefs...and there's no counterweight out there actively working to call B.S. on it since the media is a part of it.

QUOTE (lostfan @ Sep 14, 2010 -> 05:59 PM) lol that's so bad that it's almost f***ing funny. I don't know where to start. So a guy with a net worth of 85 million, he might only have 73 million to his name right now (and gradually recovering it since the stock market bottomed out)! Oh but the millions of people who got laid off in the lower tax brackets, yeah they don't have it as bad as those rich people. Get used to that thinking. It underlies basically all of our tax policies and has for years.

QUOTE (Jordan4life @ Sep 14, 2010 -> 05:48 PM) I know a good way to offset all these season-ending injuries...add two more games! Brutal f***ing proposal from day 1. Since we're talking about these season ending injuries after week 1...I assume the only logical conclusion is that the appropriate length of the NFL season is 0 games.

QUOTE (thxfrthmmrs @ Sep 14, 2010 -> 05:48 PM) Would you rather have 6 Mark Teahen on your team or 1 Albert Pujols? Depends on what I'm doing with the other $75 million.

I guess I probably ought to publicly flog myself a bit here and say yeah...I was too harsh. For that I apologize.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Sep 14, 2010 -> 04:42 PM) He was making too much to be merely a 5th starter. And even this year, he is making a good chunk of change just to be a 5th starter At least IMO...a "good 5th starter" is a guy who has an ERA somewhat below 5. Garland's well below that. If he's your 5th starter...then you've got a solid rotation.

QUOTE (nitetrain8601 @ Sep 14, 2010 -> 04:24 PM) What trickery could they have done on 4th down. When you go for it on 4th down, you go with your best engine. Forte was just that on Sunday. Would you have preferred a reverse? A QB sneak? A statue of liberty play? As they say on ESPN...CMONNNNNNNNNNNNN MANNNNNNNNNNNNN! Something other than up the middle with your 5-6 guys trying to push 8-9 of their guys forwards. Think about it...if you're running straight ahead and the other team knows it...at best you're at a 2 man disadvantage; QB and ball carrier...and you've got to get through a tiny zone with nearly 20 large bodies in it. Spread things out. Fake a pass. Bring in an extra WR. Delay the handoff. Run a pitch to the outside. Play fake and throw to a TE. Bring in the 2nd running back and have both of them run the dive play while only 1 gets the ball. Something..anything...other than running straight ahead. Running straight ahead into a wall might be a play that's considered manning up...but it's starting off at a disadvantage in personnel and it's a poor format. It'll work sometimes...but it'll work better if you do something to distract the defense's attention.

I really hate the way people talk about how teams blitz/don't blitz. I never agree with everything he says but Easterbrook was right on today. The Bears have been one of, if not the, most heavy blitzing team the last few years. At least IMO...a big part of the reason everyone thinks that the Bears secondary stinks is that the Bears have been blitzing more and more and more...and as such left their Secondary without help more and more.

What has Manroid done since coming to the Sox that would justify a lineup promotion? Sure the .415 OBP is nice but the power has been lacking.

That's Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's office, leaving a twitter message for one "Lady Gaga."

Guess the Bob Sanders injury and the length of time he'll be out for!

QUOTE (knightni @ Sep 14, 2010 -> 02:58 PM) What about going in the shotgun and doing direct snap to the fullback? Would that be legal? Yes. And that would have been an entirely reasonable thing to do...on one of the first 3 downs.

QUOTE (BigSqwert @ Sep 14, 2010 -> 02:47 PM) Yeah I understand that but for a team with a low OBP as ours it's pretty stupid to give up 195 outs on the base paths, no matter how many steals we have. We're #7 in the AL with a team .332 OBP. That's decidedly middle of the pack; Detroit, Texas, Tampa Bay and Boston are ahead of us and are all under .340, Minnesota's #2 at .344. Your response begs the question...what OBP level is necessary in order to make giving up that many outs ok? (My answer is that none are, and some of ozzie's worst offenses are forcing SB attempts when there's no obvious surprise to them and bunting when a stolen base would actually be ideal).

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Sep 14, 2010 -> 02:46 PM) No idea honestly. Exactly. Overall...I think you might be right that going for it might be the right move...but the Bears did everything possible to make sure that the odds were against them. They left Forte in rather than swapping out backs. No one went in motion. There was no trickery at all; there was every reason to think you just had to stuff a straight ahead run one more time. The only attempt at any trickery was on a poorly set up 2nd down pass. Forte, furthermore, is I believe noted as one of the worst short yardage backs in the league in other statistics; his running style lends to him not getting through piles well. The percentages there are lying because the Bears did nothing to put them in their favor.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Sep 14, 2010 -> 02:43 PM) Something interesting I came accross for the stat heads of Soxtalk talk... Lovie Smith was right to go for it on the 4th down play from the 1 yard line... http://www.advancednflstats.com/2010/09/lovies-blunders.html Do the statistics change at all in cases where you've already been stopped for 3 consecutive plays?

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Sep 14, 2010 -> 02:40 PM) You sir, are a freakin' delight to read. This is what I thought of while reading that sentence: How's it smell? Ok, that was a solid reply.

QUOTE (BigSqwert @ Sep 14, 2010 -> 02:37 PM) 2 + 2 = jello He does have a point BS...simply adding/subtracting isn't going to process that data very well.

QUOTE (ChWRoCk2 @ Sep 14, 2010 -> 02:34 PM) Bills should still be beatable without Grant. As a Bills fan...let me say...Yup.

The Jets have lost Kris Jenkins for the season with a torn ACL.

QUOTE (GoSox05 @ Sep 14, 2010 -> 02:02 PM) I think sanchez is worse than Orton. Sanchez had chances throw over the middle yesterday and went check down instead. It's not that he can't make that throw though...I really think it's that the Jets didn't want him to try. He looked like a guy who was coached to spend 1 second looking downfield at 1 receiver, and if that receiver isn't open, check down. That's what you do if you think you'll have 2 1000 yard runners and the best rushing attack in the game in your backfield; they had the best rushing attack in the game there last year, but Baltimore shut that down, so all of the coaching to check down and avoid turnovers wound up being backwards.

QUOTE (knightni @ Sep 14, 2010 -> 02:00 PM) If he goes to Gatlinburg, he can mosey on over to Pidgeon Forge and visit DollyWorld! Didn't even bother to read the paragraph of my post where I put that in, did ya?

QUOTE (knightni @ Sep 14, 2010 -> 01:55 PM) ...or he could use my friends and family discount at one of the Gatlinburg Holiday Inn resorts. Does that still work?

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ Sep 14, 2010 -> 01:33 PM) Kyle Sanchez? Mark Orton? Sanchez Neckbeard? Do you really think that Sanchez is actually as bad at throwing down the field as Orton? Orton was weak down the field because he didn't have the arm for it, and especially because with the Bears he didn't have the receivers for it. Brandon Marshall helped mask some of that last year.

QUOTE (pittshoganerkoff @ Sep 14, 2010 -> 10:22 AM) I'd like to see some caverns. Plus, any place that has a decent amusement park is a plus. My wife isn't much into outdoors, and any place we stay has to have all the amenities. In terms of the Gatlinburg, Sevierville, and Pigeon Forge area...you're in good shape in terms of lodging overall. They sit right at the entrance of the Great Smoky Mountains national park, which is the most visited national park in America. Tourist season in the park supposedly peaks in July and October (I'm hitting it in October for the fall colorage). So, in terms of all the amenities...it's just a question of how much you want to spend. There are some really nice hotels in the area, and also your standard 1-2 room Comfort inn places, and your discount/run-down places. Just go through the standard lists at hotels.com, Expedia, travelocity, and tripadvisor.com if you want more on those. Something worth thinking about might be that there are some really nice cabins also (example search site); sorta offset from the main strip a little more, sometimes better views, lots of amenities like full kitchen, heat/AC, hot tub, etc. Google Gatlinburg cabins (or pigeon forge/sevierville etc). The Smokies are outdoorsy but might still be something you can get the wife to do. There are a wide variety of hike levels, in addition to simple nature drives and scenic offlooks. If you cross through the Smokies to Asheville, you also hit a Harrahs casino, if you're into that. It gets so many visitors that it definitely caters well to the people who aren't big-time outdoor folks. In terms of theme park/things to see, there's lots of little ones, but you sorta have to start with Dollywood. It's not a big time thrill ride park although there are a couple, but like much of that county, it's designed to be somewhat family friendly...lots of kid-level activities, shows, and the occasional wooden roller coaster. Beyond that, I'm sorta just going to list and let you find out more on your own; there's a large indoor water park, a "Nascar speed park", Ripley's aquarium of the smokies, and the Titanic museum in Pigeon Forge. There are also available smaller thrill parks, i.e. the Smoky Mountain speed park. It's worth noting that they try to keep the whole county set up as a family-friendly tourist trap, to the level that it's actually a dry county; BYOB if you go there. I can't say that TN has caves the quality of the Mammoth Cave system in KY, because frankly, I don't think they do; the geology is a little different down here and so you don't get as expansive of a weathering limestone plateau as you do in Ky. There are caving opportunities however. Depends on where you go, but here's a list. If you want more, you can check out a number of travel planners that you can request; Pigeon Forge, Gatlinburg, and google for others.