Balta1701

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Mar 5, 2009 -> 09:56 AM) Would a win give us the 8 seed? The Bulls and Bucks are statistically tied for the 8th spot, although the Bucks have played 2 more games. Whoever wins on Friday moves 1 game ahead. New Jersey is 1/2 game back.

QUOTE (elrockinMT @ Mar 5, 2009 -> 09:46 AM) I just believe that Broadway still can do it as well as Richard. Then he better start proving it soon, because I feel like he's been given a lot of chances already.

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Mar 5, 2009 -> 09:52 AM) I'm referring to Holt. I know he's requested his release but I haven't heard anything else officially happening. If he's asked for his release and a new contract, there's no reason to offer up anything as valuable as a 3rd for him. If there's a cap hit, the Rams would have to take it whether they released him or traded him IIRC, so basically for them it comes down to losing him for nothing or losing him for whatever pick they can get.

QUOTE (T R U @ Mar 5, 2009 -> 09:39 AM) And the only reason he was available was because they had a better QB already on the roster. I don't think I'd call him better, but I would say they had another expensive QB on the roster who's abilities they believed to be very close to or in excess of Brees's. And Brees was hurt. Which, as I said, is the exception that proves the rule, because look how many things had to come together for Brees to actually hit the FA market. Injury, couple of drafts, franchise tag but no trade, big step-up in performance, etc.

QUOTE (Jenks Heat @ Mar 5, 2009 -> 09:34 AM) This thread is getting almost as good as those folks that are Bulls fans that wouldn't trade Deng, Gordon or Tyrus Thomas because they are going to be good one of these days. It is a lot easier to replace Forte and a 2nd round pick than it is to get an above average quarterback. The question comes down to how much do you value Cutler. It's pretty much that simple to my eyes. If you think he's slightly above average...those guys are available. If you think he's top 6-7 in the league, those guys usually aren't, Brees being the exception that proves the rule.

Continuing with the Stewart was absolute money last night theme, the Daily Show hits on the "DJIA as an arbiter of Presidential performance" metric. I'm a big fan of how the DJIA did not like the end of WWII. .cc_box a:hover .cc_home{background:url('http://www.comedycentral.com/comedycentral/video/assets/syndicated-logo-over.png') !important;}.cc_links a{color:#b9b9b9;text-decoration:none;}.cc_show a{color:#707070;text-decoration:none;}.cc_title a{color:#868686;text-decoration:none;}.cc_links a:hover{color:#67bee2;text-decoration:underline;} The Daily Show With Jon StewartM - Th 11p / 10c The Dow Knows All Daily Show Full Episodes Important Things With Demetri Martin Political Humor Joke of the Day

.cc_box a:hover .cc_home{background:url('http://www.comedycentral.com/comedycentral/video/assets/syndicated-logo-over.png') !important;}.cc_links a{color:#b9b9b9;text-decoration:none;}.cc_show a{color:#707070;text-decoration:none;}.cc_title a{color:#868686;text-decoration:none;}.cc_links a:hover{color:#67bee2;text-decoration:underline;} The Daily Show With Jon StewartM - Th 11p / 10c CNBC Gives Financial Advice Daily Show Full Episodes Important Things With Demetri Martin Political Humor Joke of the Day John Stewart was absolute money last night. Seems that Santelli had actually scheduled to do the daily show last night, but last Friday, right before Playboy published their story, Santelli canceled on him. So we get a nice 8 minute analysis of how solid and wonderful CNBC is. Hilarity ensues.

QUOTE (bmags @ Mar 5, 2009 -> 09:07 AM) might that stadium destroy his confidence, though? When he's hitting balls 450 feet, what do you think?

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Mar 5, 2009 -> 08:28 AM) It does reduce the cost by that amount, yes, although the governemnt loses the implied forward returns on the loans, and still has some cost on the lending due to opportunity cost during the time the money was out. Those are marginal though, and yes, this money would now be back with the government. I personally think this is a good development. The other key is...if the good banks were forced to take the money, and they start giving it back, that leaves more money available for the zombie banks that truly do need the help. The other part of the loss the government will take is that every one of these that went out had a built in 33% or so loss, according to the TARP oversight panel, since Paulson under-priced the government relief funds.

Even if they had exactly the same stuff, you take the lefty over the righty any day. Richard has better stuff.

QUOTE (SoxAce @ Mar 4, 2009 -> 10:10 PM) I may be in the minority and I'll say this, I would love to get B-Mac back and I'm sure we can get him back for alot less. I don't know what the Rangers' training/conditioning staff is like over there, but he has not been the same since he got traded. I don't understand how a kid, who was never injured in the minors or in the bigs with us, can just become so injury prone all of a sudden. If Marquez, Broadway, Richard, Poreda, etc.. etc.. don't work out in the forseeable future.. why not take a look at B-Mac. If he doesn't have his changeup, he's not going to be that good. That was his murder pitch. And even when he was here, a number of people were worried about him as an injury risk as he had a very violent delivery for his frame. Gave him a great changeup (really fast, violent delivery with the ball being hard to pick up, and a changeup with a ton of movement on it) but even then, still an injury risk. Plus, he hung around with Anderson. And that's a freaking crime. You can't do that crap.

QUOTE (SouthsideDon48 @ Mar 4, 2009 -> 07:00 PM) I really think there's a lot of potential of there was an expansion team based in Vegas. They can just build it on the outskirts of Vegas, but provide shuttle service to and from the strip. Even possibly sell tickets from designated areas of casinos or something. 2 points Baseball has historically resisted having itself become associated with gambling in the way the NFL has, where everyone's calling their bookie for every game. Given the things like Pete Rose, the 1919 White Sox, I think they might have an instinct against it. 2nd...Vegas is one of those "Ground zero for the housing bust" areas that way, way, way overbuilt on housing and is now going to be experiencing stagnant growth for probably decades, even with the casinos. Hell, the casinos way overbuilt too, they're having to low-ball everyone just to keep people coming in. To finish the CityCenter project, MGM Mirage had to sell off TI to private investors just to get funds. Their stocks are mostly in the toilet.

Well, that's an interesting turnaround.

If you need to ask the answer to this, you don't know me, you incompetent p'tak.

QUOTE (kyyle23 @ Mar 4, 2009 -> 05:40 PM) Nice effort by the Bulls so far, they look pathetic off the tip. Thank Goodness it's only spring training.

QUOTE (nitetrain8601 @ Mar 4, 2009 -> 04:34 PM) Yes. Will the Bears obtain a top 5 quarterback in the next 5 years? WHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA. Will Derrick Rose ever win an MVP award?

"rumor has it" that Sanjay Gupta is out of the game for Surgeon general, for some reason.

The level of awesomeness in this video is quite high. It involved the Brown haired guy who's not Steve Doocy using the phrase "Bacteria on my ball!" .cc_box a:hover .cc_home{background:url('http://www.comedycentral.com/comedycentral/video/assets/syndicated-logo-over.png') !important;}.cc_links a{color:#b9b9b9;text-decoration:none;}.cc_show a{color:#707070;text-decoration:none;}.cc_title a{color:#868686;text-decoration:none;}.cc_links a:hover{color:#67bee2;text-decoration:underline;} The Colbert ReportMon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c Beer Pong Herpes Outbreak Colbert Report Full Episodes Political Humor Rap Battle Joke of the Day

QUOTE (mr_genius @ Mar 4, 2009 -> 02:58 PM) Of course, but there needs to be balance. At which point spending becomes unbalanced seems to be the point of contention. I added a good article to my previous post. Certainly can be. But simply saying that "Volcano monitoring" shouldn't be funded because it sounds funny is the policy game that a number of people, like Senator McCain, have spent the last few days playing. The question can't be "does pollution related to pig gas sound funny", it should be "What do we get out of this study/work" (which, btw, is another reason why scientists would rather go to the NSF for basic research funds rather than using earmarks for funding). And regarding Bayh's article, why does everyone lately seem to think "This is really big!" is an argument against something? Sen. McConnell argued, from what I could tell, that he was going to oppose the stimulus bill because if you stacked up a lot of dollar bills it would go really high. Bayh does a version of this by saying basically The national debt is really really big! in that article as one of his points.

QUOTE (mr_genius @ Mar 4, 2009 -> 02:51 PM) All spending is good spending. This is of course, the reason why "Governing by eliminating spending that sounds funny" isn't always the best way to govern. Because sometimes you need to balance these things versus the amount of money available, etc.

QUOTE (bmags @ Mar 4, 2009 -> 01:44 PM) Do you guys think these players will want to re-sign next year? I mean, for them, does re-signing next year mean that they would be looking at (possibly) further decreasing payer salaries, may they want to see if things recover the next year in a (hopefully) improving financial situation? There's going to be a number of factors at play, with a lot depending on the economy. If Baseball's economics improve along with the country during the year, they may want to hold out to see where the market goes. On the other hand, if baseball at the end of this season is finding itself in the boat the NBA currently is, where people are ditching games even after buying luxury boxes just to avoid spending the money on food and seats simply can't be sold, it's plausible that the market could go down even farther than it already has, where the team could give people an advantage by offering them longer-term security in a declining market.

QUOTE (bmags @ Mar 4, 2009 -> 01:41 PM) I saw you make that comparison earlier, but it's also been stated that it appears it takes this guy some time to get acclimated to each level. It doesn't appear he got that time last year. It's hard for me to give him the time in the beginning of the season in such an important part of the lineup. If we are having an 07 year, than I'm fine, but even then...it's tough. If Nix can continue hot hitting throughout the spring, then it'd be darn hard for me not to give him the shot.

QUOTE (ChesterCopperpot @ Mar 4, 2009 -> 01:33 PM) The Bulls could use some of that. Aaron Gray?

QUOTE (southsideirish71 @ Mar 4, 2009 -> 01:18 PM) Maybe they can do the same for the people who live next to landfills, or sewage treatment plants. Animals and their feces smell. So if you are living next to a farm, its going to stink. Harnessing the gas produced by landfills has been an excellent way to produce significant supplies of cheap, sustainable energy at the same time as reducing air pollution.

QUOTE (Jimbo's Drinker @ Mar 4, 2009 -> 01:03 PM) we will have a ton to enjoy during the regular seasons Fixed that for you.