Balta1701

Since the thread opens with excerpts...Here's an excerpt responding to his TV program. I'd talk more...but have only like 10 minutes before I have to be upstairs, and this is IMO a very complicated issue, much moreso than the simplistic explanations of Stossel.

QUOTE(FGarcia34 @ Jan 22, 2006 -> 09:13 PM) From the Philly Inquirer: Officials from around the majors say that the pitching-rich Chicago White Sox would deal righthander Jose Contreras, who pitched brilliantly for that team in the second half of 2005. There are indications that the White Sox like Bobby Abreu but would have trouble taking on his salary as their payroll has climbed about $20 million and is closing in on $95 million. Screw Payroll, lets add a gold glove outfielder and a hell of a player. He's a hell of a player...but I still say that the gold glove doesn't mean that much when Jeter's winning them...and that's a ton of money to give up. A metric f***ton of money even. I would have trouble disliking having Abreu...but given that we still need to sign #56 to a 20 year deal...

QUOTE(Tony82087 @ Jan 22, 2006 -> 06:10 PM) That is a great, fun movie. Im not really sure how historicily accruate, but who cares? Two snipers going back and forth, awesome flick. The basic plotline is actually very accurate. They embellished a little with the relationship stuff I think, and included the normal Hollywood "Communism doesn't work and here's why" stuff...but the story itself is actually very true. During Stalingrad, the Russians made one of their snipers a propaganda toy, the guy killed over 300 Russians or something, and the Germans sent the top instructor from their sniper academy to kill him. The duel dragged on for weeks...eventually at one spot, the guy accompanying the Russian sniper lifts his head and is shot immediately by the German...revealing the German sniper's position. The Russian wins at that point.

On the Kobe/Jordan thing...not only was Mike playing in a different Era...but I don't know if Mike had to put up with this bad of a supporting cast at any point after his first couple seasons in the league. For his best years...he actually had people to feed, so even on games where he'd go off for 55-60...he'd still pass the ball because it was just a more high percentage shot.

QUOTE(greg775 @ Jan 22, 2006 -> 08:24 PM) Do we have any options besides Anderson? I hope he starts and is great I just wondered who is his backup. It begs the question. is this guy going to be great this year or will he have similar or worse numbers than Jeremy Reed had his first full season in Seattle? Reed didn't hit for average and didn't knock in runs, and never got on base, other than that, he was an all-star. My other question: Do you think Jenks will shine this year or could he be lousy? If Bobby Jenks remains healthy and listens to his catchers...he may not be the best closer in the league, but he will be a damn good one. If you have a 99 MPH + heater and a solid curve ball to go with it, and maybe an occasional change or slider...if you can throw the pitches for strikes, and you listen to your smart catchers...it will be physically impossible for him to be a complete failure. He could do a ton of things wrong and that third digit on the speedometer would save his ass in a lot of cases. If he does a lot of stupid things, like walking people or shaking off AJ, or his arm gives out, then he could get himself in trouble. But if he acts like a big league player , like he did last year...his arm will make it hard for anyone to beat him without a lot of luck.

QUOTE(Rex Kickass @ Jan 22, 2006 -> 01:24 PM) That's not how the Senate works. It's not that CT would elect a Republican Senator, its that the Republican Governor would appoint a Republican Senator who would finish Lieberman's term. So CT would NOT be getting what it votes for, by definition. Well, he would be replacing Liebermann...

QUOTE(nitetrain8601 @ Jan 22, 2006 -> 08:00 PM) Oh yeah, Dick Jauron is going to be the next coach of the Buffalo Bills. As a Bills fan...let me be the first on this page to say... GOD BLEEP BLEEP BLEEP ING BLEEP BLEEP BLEEP SON OF A BLEEP BLEEP ITY BLEEP OF ALL THE MORONIC BLEEP BLEEP BLEEP BLEEP WITH A PILE OF STINKING, WET, FRESH BAT BLEEP BLEEP BLEEP BLEEP BLEEP. Well...Belichek was a total failure in 1 city before he got to New England...so I can always think very very wishfully...but BLEEP BLEEP.

Xie Xie Nimen dou! (Thanks everyone!)

The NYT has taken a look at the ABC Show "Welcome to the Neighborhood" which was supposed to air last fall...a reality show where a bunch of non-traditional families and people move into a predominantly white, Conservative neighborhood. That show was canceled about 10 days before it was supposed to air, with ABC/Disney eating the production costs. Today, the NYT is alleging that ABC canceled the show because Disney was worried about evangelical groups boycotting "The Chronicles of Narnia" because the gay couple in the show appeared normal, healthy, and well, American. In fact...the show actually convinced a man to begin to accept his estranged, homosexual son. It's worth reading the whole article...lots of details that would just be too insanely long to excerpt.

Moore replies.

QUOTE(YASNY @ Jan 21, 2006 -> 09:35 AM) Easter is not a celebration of his death. It's a celebration of his resurrection. That's what was so 'twisted'. Sorry man, gimme a break...been a while since I've set foot in a church. I probably burn when you throw holy water on me.

QUOTE(Reddy @ Jan 21, 2006 -> 10:24 AM) do you not realize that MOST dems dont like hillary? edit: and as soon as you can substantiate your claim about a liberal media then i'll give it to you. until then i'll sit back, watch fox, and laugh at the absurdity of it all.

QUOTE(EvilMonkey @ Jan 21, 2006 -> 09:30 AM) So I guess Jeffords was a sellout also, eh? Of course he was a sellout...he switched parties almost entirely because of the fact that Daschle offered him a plum spot at the head of a committee. He was fine with sticking around as a "Republican but not really", until it got to the point where he could get maximum reward for switching - i.e. a nearly divided Congress.

Did anyone ask him if they're planning on bringing back any of the players who were traded away for the ring ceremony if their team isn't playing that day? That's what the BoSox did with a couple guys last year. If no one knows this...what's his email? I'll ask.

QUOTE(crazyman26 @ Jan 21, 2006 -> 12:04 PM) It will be interesting to see if he stay healthy enough to start 140-145 games this year, something he didnt do last year. I do think Josh Fields will replace him as the starting 3rd baseman next year though. It will be interesting if they try to send Crede to the minors next year, taking the risk he wont clear waivers since he will be 28, try to trade him, dont take the salary arb. making him a free agent, or just use him as a utility infielder next year? I think Joe managed to get through the back problem well enough and keep playing (although August was pretty bad)...the main reason he missed time last year though was that freak injury when he was plunked on the hand, and you can'tr eally blame himf or that. Joe Crede will not be going to the minors next year...and I for 1 will be surprised if Fields is ready to come up and start in 07, I think he may well need at least a decent portion of 07 in AAA before his swing and defense are where we'd like them.

Pods will start in center... When B.A. Needs a day off.

Congrats sir! The Fiancee on this end has her heart set on 7/7/07...it looks very likely we'll get it done as of now.

Jesus Christ. You know, sometimes I just thank God that we have a good liberal like Chris Matthews, who you know used to work for Carter, out there selling our party's point of view on MSNBC. And also...Thank God that girl turned up dead in Scarborough's office...otherwise he wouldn't be out there to help build MSNBC's liberal side either.

Senate Majority Leader and alleged insider trader Bill Frist: Samuel Alito is the "Worst Nightmare" of Democrats.

Jesus only wants straight people rolling eggs to celebrate his death!

Brian sings 2 different lines in that episode. He sings the first part, through "with tears in your eyes", in front of the "Bachelorette" camera where he's in an interview. Later in the episode...he visits Brooke @ her place after sending her an answering machine in the mail. He pulls out a guitar, strums a few cords and just sings "Brooke I'm so in love with you" before the answering machine nails him in the head. I didn't recognize the 2nd tune.

QUOTE(Jordan4life_2006 @ Jan 20, 2006 -> 06:21 PM) That's true to an extent. But even with Kobe and Rudy, their longest winning streak of the year was 3 games. And they only did that once. They totally fell apart the last 6 weeks when their schedule got tough. I don't care if he cares. I think it was a dumb move. It wasn't about money. He pulls the same s*** every 2-3 years. The guy is a walking soap opera. In two years, he'll get bored and want to go somewhere else. Eventually Brown will just be too damn old, and the soap opera will have to end. Living in LA, I watched the Lakers a fair amount last year, and they were actually not terrible the first half of the season, much like this year. When Kobe Bryant has teammates that he moves the ball to with success, that team works. But if they lose Kobe, even for a short period, they have nothing. In recent NBA history, it's very rare for players to go full seasons without Nagging injuries if they're not in Detroit. Shaq, Wade, AI, Kobe, KG, Duncan...they all find themselves hurting. When and if Kobe really takes a hit that slows him down, that team will totally crumble, just like last year.

QUOTE(kyyle23 @ Jan 20, 2006 -> 06:09 PM) You know, im not worried about Uribe's hitting as much as I am worried about what he does when Pods is on base. Uribe is a free swinger, always has been. Can he bunt? Can he hit behind the runner? Is he patient enough to take a pitch and wait for Pods to steal a base? These are the things I am worried about, not so much his hitting. Iguchi already proved he is up to the task on those things, we will see what Uribe is doing during ST. I think we saw Uribe do a couple of those things last year. He can hit behind runners pretty well - for example, last year for a good portion of the year he was leading the league in sac flies, etc. What we need is for Ozzie to say "Our #2 hitter MUST take pitches" and take out his whips to force our #2 hitter to take those pitches. When Uribe lays off pitches...he gets ahead of the count sometimes, and then when he does swing while ahead in the count, the balls travel far. He hasn't been patient enough thus far in his career, especially early last year. Hopefully, having Scotty on base will be enough to force him to be patient. He holds back on his swing just a little bit and he turns into a monster.

QUOTE(kyyle23 @ Jan 20, 2006 -> 06:38 PM) http://www.boston.com/sports/baseball/reds..._loves_it_here/ Trading away Marte already? Is Theo actually VAFan in disguise? Actually that deal would make a lot of sense...Marte simply isn't as good as the BoSox fans have advertised (he's not Wade Boggs, at least not yet), and they have both Lowell and Youkilis in front of him, so if they can get a quality player for this year by trading him, that may be a smart move. They have enough money that they can sacrifice prospects to try to win every year and just assume that more people will come along with time. I think it makes sense for Cleveland too, because not only will Boone not be there forever at that price, but Marte will probably put up better numbers than Boone did last year. If I'm Cleveland I try to get a little bit more out of Boston if I can since they're obviously desperate for a CF, but that makes sense as a deal from both sides.

QUOTE(Rex Hudler @ Jan 20, 2006 -> 06:28 PM) I know here in the Birmingham area, home sales have slowed considerably in the past few months. I know these aren't the busiest times of the year, but I think it is a sign that an adjustment in the market is coming. How soon and how bad it will be is the million dollar question. I've had a feeling for a while that a correction was due, especially out here. The question is whether the correction will be a slow-down in the increase in housing prices or a decline. I get the feeling that given the "Interest-only" and 40 year mortgages that have appeared in this low-interest housing market...if there's a small decline in prices, it will rapidly be magnified into a big decline due to people on interest-only plans trying to sell to recoup dollars as things drop. But then again, I've had that feeling for a while and it hasn't happened yet...so who knows.