Balta1701

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Jul 13, 2010 -> 09:03 AM) Sorry. meant STOPPING the flow INTO THE OCEAN. Capturing works too. Yeah, "Stopping" comes if and when a relief well is successfully used to cement the first well, that's why I noted the difference.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Jul 13, 2010 -> 08:52 AM) Yeah I agree, stopping most or all of the flow would be very good news. I wouldn't say "Stopping", I'd say "Capturing".

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Jul 13, 2010 -> 08:55 AM) Whole Paycheck? LOL Actually it really is great stuff. I remember saying a few years ago, food SOURCE will continue to grow in importance to more people, and will eventually be right up there with calorie and fat counting in people's minds. As it should be. We try to get as much organic as we can, especially for our kid, but we're by no means perfect. And its pricier to do it that way, unfortunately. After sitting around with a bunch of biologists at my old school, my response on organic is that yeah, a lot of those pesticides/preservatives/hormones are just bad, but OTOH, with a good number of them, there's a reason why they started being used; because improperly preserved food can make you sick quite readily as well. There are plenty of horror stories of people eating stuff that wasn't preserved properly and getting sick too. Unfortunately, I don't have a good way of evaluating a good way to do things. The food preparation industry has succeeded in divorcing the food we eat from information on how it got there so effectively that even if I had more, I wouldn't know how to process it.

I'd pick him up if only to hear the ballpark play a delightful version of Nancy Faust's "Anything you Cantu I Cantu better".

QUOTE (Real @ Jul 12, 2010 -> 05:17 PM) Because I doubt Konerko signs for 1 year, and I don't think Jerry would tie up that much money between him and Fielder at the same time I don't know where exactly the salary limit will be next year (hopefully this winning streak will help) but I think it's entirely plausible that JR would be willing to go "Over the JR limit" to hold onto a guy like Fielder who he believes is a long-term, marketable player who will put fans in the seats (a-la the $17 mil a year offer to Torii Hunter). I just don't know how to think about the middle/latter part of a $25 million a year deal to an overweight DH.

QUOTE (Lillian @ Jul 13, 2010 -> 07:49 AM) I've forgotten. In what spot in the order did Beckham hit the best last year? Weren't his best offensive games the ones in which he batted second? Beckham hit .248 in the 2 hole in 2009. 54/247, 9 HR, .782 OPS. He got more at bats there than any place else, but he put up better numbers lower in the order. .326 average, 1.024 OPS in 43 AB's batting 7th, .394 average, .970 OPS in 71 at bats in the 8th spot.

QUOTE (kapkomet @ Jul 12, 2010 -> 09:33 PM) If that's a growth sector, it'll be next on Obama's list to "take care of". There we go, now we're getting Kap on board defending fast food, fewer vegetables, more salt, and greater intake of HFCS as the path to health in this country, since Michelle Obama has the audacity to suggest otherwise.

QUOTE (lostfan @ Jul 12, 2010 -> 10:52 PM) I don't know if that qualifies as "good news" since everything is already f***ed up. If it actually works, yeah, that would be genuine good news.

QUOTE (dasox24 @ Jul 12, 2010 -> 10:25 PM) If yall want to know about some cool bars in Knoxville or Memphis, I can contribute. Otherwise, I've got nothing since the majority of you are Chicago people. Sure. I could go for Knoxville bar recommendations. As long as I'm not beaten up or robbed by a major sports team recruit.

QUOTE (ptatc @ Jul 12, 2010 -> 06:47 PM) So, bean him on Friday I didn't just think that did I? I can't get myself to root for injuries on the Twins. The only ones I can root for injury for right now are tetrahydragestrinone (even though he's been forced into retirement), Rajon Rondo, and now anyone on the Miami Heat roster.

QUOTE (Real @ Jul 12, 2010 -> 10:31 PM) Has anybody seen a kong ASG jersey for sale anywhere? Link

QUOTE (Quinarvy @ Jul 13, 2010 -> 05:48 AM) Bulls would supposedly have edge over Heat and Celtics due to ability to offer money over the max and he loves Chicago. OTOH, both playing time and a ring come in Miami.

Cabrera. And I hope it totally screws with his swing and he slumps the rest of the year.

QUOTE (ZoomSlowik @ Jul 12, 2010 -> 03:28 PM) The Celtics got Garnett that year too. I don't remember anyone talking about him being a defensive genius when he was with the Knicks and Rockets. I just went through the defensive metric stats at basketball-reference.com. Out of the Knicks, the Rockets, and the Celtics, the worst a team with Thibodeau as its defensive coach has ever finished in "Defensive rating" is 6th. Every year he was coaching for a team, that team has been top 6 in defense or better. I vividly remember people talking about Van Gundy and his staff being defensive wizards with the Rockets. Just didn't know Tom's name at the time.

QUOTE (WHarris1 @ Jul 12, 2010 -> 03:15 PM) All I said was one of the best defensive minds in the league, which is a pretty commonly held fact. If Hiring him isn't an instant defensive upgrade, then there's not much reason to hire him.

QUOTE (ZoomSlowik @ Jul 12, 2010 -> 03:10 PM) Is it too early to start saying "Thibs will fix him"? We're getting to that kind of territory before he even coaches his first game for the Bulls... Like it or not, that's what happened to teh Celtics.

Link. They still wouldn't compete with the Heat, but that would be a very deep and versatile roster.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Jul 12, 2010 -> 01:47 PM) That is also banking on the health of the rest of the rotation. Danks has never had any real injury concerns, save some blister problems from a few years back, but Floyd went down for a month last year, the Sox have almost coddled Buehrle at times in recent years, and Freddy Garcia is anything but a clean medical bill. Having a 6th guy - which is what Hudson would be - is still nice to have. On top of that, if the Sox do actually make a big move for a bat and need to trade Hudson, getting a back end of the rotation starter becomes a bit more of a pressing need. I don't trade for a back of the rotation starter and send Hudson down "In case" someone gets hurt. I make that trade after someone else gets hurt.

I think Reddick is a Bull.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Jul 12, 2010 -> 12:50 PM) Attaining LaRoche and a mid to back end of the rotation starter won't cost Viciedo or Hudson. If the other team asks for them, the Sox should find someone else. If we're adding a "Mid to back end of the rotation starter", then there's really no obvious reason not to go with Hudson instead. He's close enough to big league ready that he's got a good shot of being a mid to back end of the rotation starter this year, and there's possible long-term benefits in letting him pitch for the big league squad this year.

QUOTE (Chi Town Sox @ Jul 12, 2010 -> 11:09 AM) They have gotten a little better but are NOT very good, everyone thinks LBJ is good because he has highlight real blocks when it all reality, he is below average on the ball. Wade is a gambler and can look like a defensive stopper at some points and just look like a fool at others. When discussing defense of those 2, there's one key issue that's missing, and it's something we saw in spades in the 2008 olympics. These guys can be very good on the ball defenders, but they don't have the energy to give you both 35 points a night on offense themselves while being the entire focus of the defense/double teams, create another 35 for their teammates indirectly, and then still at the same time give total lockdown effort on defense. In the Olympics, when you took away the need to do all the scoring on their lonesome, suddenly Wade and Lebron became much, much better defenders, because they could use their energy, strength, and athleticism on that side of the court as well. In the NBA with these guys, it's been easier for their teams to find defensive help than it has been for them to find shooters. Lebron had all sorts of defensive help, Wade has had guys like Haslem, but offensive help has been much harder to find, and so they've dumped everything on the offensive side of the court, because that was what their team needed. Look what happened the moment Lebron got even a decent offensive player on his team (Mo Williams), he turned him into a borderline all star. With Wade, Lebron, and Bosh all on this team, not a single guy there will have to face a double team, especially if they can add a shooter like Miller. They'll all be up against single coverage, and they go from having to generate essentially their team's entire offense to having to generate maybe 30, 35% of it each. They're going to be much, much better defenders next year. On top of that, just as it's been easier for Cleveland and Miami to find guys who can play some defense...as veterans get cut this year or even this summer, they're going to sit down with Pat Riley, and he's going to hand them 2 sheets of paper, one of which will tell them their playoff bonus for winning the finals, the other will show them a picture of Miami's diamond ring for the 2010-2011 season, and whoever winds up a cap/release casualty this year will wind up on Miami's roster if they want them.

I'll still disagree but don't have time to fully articulate it now...but you made very good points there.

WaPo piece from over the weekend on a small Kentucky town.

In case anyone was interested, this is what Lebron looks like when you rip off his hands. And this was flying over Cleveland on Saturday.

QUOTE (scenario @ Jul 12, 2010 -> 10:29 AM) Inside the division games remaining... Sox vs Twins (13 ) Sox vs Detroit (10) Twins vs Detroit (6) So at least to my eyes...the Sox basically get to think that they control their own destiny. A solid win over both of those teams and they're taking this division. If the Sox falter, whichever team beats us up harder has a real advantage.