Balta1701

QUOTE (nitetrain8601 @ Apr 1, 2009 -> 11:34 AM) He had one excellent pitch. He had an average fastball and a terrible changeup that they were trying to develop. A terrible changeup? That thing was unhittable when he had it working.

QUOTE (lostfan @ Apr 1, 2009 -> 09:43 AM) Better than Wise. Wise significantly outslugged Pods though and was 9/9 on steals. Those extra 3 outs I think make up the difference in OBP's completely.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Apr 1, 2009 -> 09:38 AM) I loathed Pods, but he definitely is a better player than Wise, even as a CF. I think the Sox should go for it and give him a short leash. As soon as his first sports hernia injury occurs put him on the DL and then waive him when he comes off. In limited action last year he hit .253 with a .322 OBP and was 12/16 on steals. You know...I'm really not sure...

Wolverine has supposedly leaked on to the internets.

QUOTE (Princess Dye @ Apr 1, 2009 -> 09:04 AM) How's Wise gonna be stealing bases? He got 9 last year in all his chances. And obviously it was not his focus as he wasnt leadoff hitter the whole year so it wasnt his main focus. Quite frankly, we don't have a clue. We're pretty much just stuck hoping for the best.

If Stephen Colbert and Glenn Beck didn't exist, I think we'd have to create them both just to earn this beautiful 7:50 of television. The Colbert Report Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c The 10/31 Project comedycentral.com Colbert Report Full Episodes Political Humor NASA Name Contest

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Apr 1, 2009 -> 07:52 AM) [insert Balta GOP joke reply here] Can I make it a "Volcano monitoring" one? I'm still using those.

QUOTE (lostfan @ Apr 1, 2009 -> 06:36 AM) So the prosecution dropped the ball, basically? I think Norm Coleman's legal team has been consulting with them.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Apr 1, 2009 -> 07:34 AM) How about on imprisoning non-violent drug offenders thanks to mandatory sentencing laws? Violent criminals end up getting released early to make room for mandatory druggies. Prison reform is perhaps the least talked about, most-needed set of changes this country needs. Pay attention to Jim Webb's work on this issue. He'll need help getting something positive done on it.

QUOTE (Y2HH @ Apr 1, 2009 -> 06:24 AM) Anyone who thinks like that is an idiot, plain and simple, therefore they aren't even worth discussing it with. So you're saying there's some 535 people we shouldn't discuss it with?

Simon Johnson had an excellent piece in the Atlantic while I was gone, arguing 2 key points...the immediate path out of this requires nationalizing the worst-off banks, and the financial industry has built itself into a permanently unstable spinning top that goes for a while and comes tumbling down. (This chart shows Wall Street rapidly increasing as a share of the economy over the last 20 years or so as the American public has been convinced to dump more and more funds in to their hands. Bigger version at link)

After checking, there are some 5900 absentee ballots outstanding in that district, many of which aren't due in for another week or so. That's nicely up in the air for a while. Plenty of time for Norm Coleman's legal team to become available.

QUOTE (rangercal @ Mar 31, 2009 -> 07:57 PM) I guess I'm alone with the Harris signing. I was ecstatic at the time. He was a premier DT who was 24 at the time of the signing. His injury just worried me too much. I don't see their medical reports and I don't see him in practice, but that was a bizarre, possibly career-threatening injury and he was signed before he showed any sign that he'd be back to his old form. He might prove the doubters wrong this year, especially if the team coaches better.

QUOTE (whitesoxfan101 @ Mar 31, 2009 -> 07:54 PM) My main concern is that Paxson and VDN might be back next year. If they are both gone, I'll be happy. I'm game for a Pax-related reprieve for now. Good deadline moves this year. Better if he can find a taker for Hinrich. VDN though...eek...

QUOTE (kapkomet @ Mar 31, 2009 -> 07:52 PM) So let's read into that. People would rather spend trillions and trillions (if you put all the packages together) and not give a rat's ass about how much is spent to "stimulate" the economy? And the GOP loses on this issue? There are 2 conclusions that can be drawn here. Either the answer is yes, or no one believes your point of view. 77,344 - Murphy 77,279 - Tedisco Final #'s with all precincts reporting. May still be some absentee ballots out there, no idea how that district works.

QUOTE (lostfan @ Mar 31, 2009 -> 07:48 PM) The Harris extension depends on his health I guess. Where the f*** did that guy go? Based on his performance level at the time, it wasn't a bad deal at all. Urlacher on the other hand, that was just... yeah. Had Urlacher not been declining, I would've been ok with it. I dunno...the Harris Deal was signed last offseason. That was what, 1.5 years after his injury, and he hadn't yet shown that he had recovered from it? It was a rough move. You can argue they had no choice, otherwise he'd be on the FA market right now and he might have had a Haynesworth year...but that deal was iffy at the time given the nature of his injury. The Urlacher extension IIRC wasn't a major cap hit, it was a pretty minor increase, and it was for a guy who was really the face of the franchise. I think that one's hard to argue with because it didn't change things much, ifmy memory is accurate.

QUOTE (whitesoxfan101 @ Mar 31, 2009 -> 07:47 PM) If that's the case, then the idiotic contract extensions I've mentioned were more expensive than I realized, something I'm willing to admit I was possibly off on. The Bears were closer to using up their 2008 cap space than any other team in the league. I think 2007 they were close to that as well. Argue that they're putting their money in the wrong places, argue that they're going cheap this year, but the data doesn't back up a claim of cheapness in the last couple.

QUOTE (kapkomet @ Mar 31, 2009 -> 07:44 PM) So you're saying that the stimulus bill is that popular (at least in this district?). That certainly was the debate that gave the unknown the opening. Tedisco refused for about 2 months to say whether or not he would have voted for the package, then finally came out and said he'd have voted against it, and Murphy used that in his ads constantly.

QUOTE (whitesoxfan101 @ Mar 31, 2009 -> 07:44 PM) The Bears unwillingness to spend money is definitely a RECENT trend, I am not saying they are a cheap franchise, I am just saying they have been lately (basically since after the Super Bowl ended). Their use of their entire cap every year since then argues against you. If it's a recent trend, it's a this-year trend. Frankly though I wouldn't be surprised at all if they were cutting back salary this year if they think their ticket base is weakening.

QUOTE (lostfan @ Mar 31, 2009 -> 07:42 PM) The #1 is an albatross if you don't want it, but they still do have the #20. They certainly do, but #18 is higher than that, Kyle Orton is at least a step above Dan Orlovsky, and who knows exactly what each team can come to play with. If it costs the Bears more than 2 first rounders + Orton to beat whatever the Lions offer, the price is way too steep. If someone's going to give the Broncos a stupid offer for a guy holding out, then you have to let them.

QUOTE (lostfan @ Mar 31, 2009 -> 07:36 PM) And Detroit does have the ammo, I agree with you there. The Bears could have the ammo, depending on what Denver wants. Without knowing their financial situation it's hard to know whether they'd be willing to take the cap hit on the #1 pick. Few teams are. The Bears have a mid first rounder this year and presumably what would be a late first rounder with Cutler next year, along with a QB who can at least be called serviceable as a bridge to someone else should the Broncos draft one. That's not the worst package I could come up with.

With 1 precinct remaining to report, Centrist Democrat Scott Murphy has inched ahead of Republican Jim Tedisco in the race to replace New York's new Junior Senator. The Republican in the race challenged the results in court...before the voting day was finished. The difference is currently less than 100 votes. This election was being viewed as a referendum on the Republican party in a number of ways. The RNC was heavily involved, and a loss could be a death knell for the man at its head. The election put a well known Republican against a poorly known up the middle Democrat in a Republican district (which had been held by a Democrat and which seems to be moving left despite being gerrymandered to be a Republican seat). The stimulus battle was fought quite heavily up there, and it was probably the key to Murphy coming back.

QUOTE (rangercal @ Mar 31, 2009 -> 06:27 PM) maybe you should apply for the job Saying that VDN is doing a crappy job does not imply that I personally could do better. However, I'll bet you i can come up with a list of people who could. Almost as if I already have that list sitting in my talkbulls sig.

and the bulls fall flat in the end again.

Hey, 2k5, remember the good old days, when we were guessing whether this would cost $1 or $3 trillion?