NorthSideSox72

QUOTE(witesoxfan @ Dec 6, 2007 -> 02:21 PM) so, I'm going to expound upon this; do you hate him because he cheated and he broke the record, or just because he cheated? I do just want to clear this up, and I'm not trying to start anything; the only reason I'm really asking is because if you hate Bonds because he cheated, then you also hate Robert Valido, Alex Sanchez, Jorge Piedra, and many others. If you do, that's perfectly fine and I have no beef with it at all. I have an intense dislike for Bonds. Same for other juicers, whomever they are. Same goes for McGuire, Sosa, Guillen, etc. The fact that Bonds is ALSO a compelte asshole to everyone, and that he ALSO broke one of baseball's most coveted records without earning it, happens to add to my dislike. But I do not "like" anyone in sports who achieves their end by cheating. To me, its stealing, and its ultimately stealing my money (being a paying fan).

QUOTE(Gregory Pratt @ Dec 6, 2007 -> 02:02 PM) Nobody ever liked Bonds; his "cheating" makes it worse but it's all image, it's all media. He's very little different compared to DiMaggio and others. Apparently, to YOU its all image, all media. To others of us, its his cheating that is the biggest reason for the dislike. Kind of arrogant to think that everyone other than you is simply brainwashed by the media, no?

QUOTE(Gregory Pratt @ Dec 6, 2007 -> 01:53 PM) honestly, I share a distaste for Bonds but it's tempered and nuance -- that said... would you feel that same way about Joe DiMaggio, who was greedy, a jerk, a wife-beater, an asshole to fans...he was Barry Bonds without "cheating" or a hostile media. The cheating part is, ya know, kind of important.

QUOTE(iamshack @ Dec 6, 2007 -> 01:31 PM) Broken ankles while doing same: Rowand: 0 Hunter: 1 Actually, I believe Rowand fractured or sprained an ankle last year or in 2006 doing just that. Let's revise... Major injuries incurred while chasing fly balls: Rowand: 3 Hunter: 1

QUOTE(The Beast @ Dec 6, 2007 -> 01:35 PM) Ah, more and more speculation. Sorry, I just can't believe some people who sit here and bulls*** all day about some of these trades and pipe dreams. Santana, Figgins and another player for Konerko? Give me a break. Well, it is a message board for fans. Speculation, analysis and the occasional celebrating are what we do. What else would you expect? And in the case of that last post you quoted, he specifically used the word DOUBT, to signify he didn't know for sure. That's better than some of the laughable absolutisms I've seen in this threads. Give him a break.

QUOTE(southsider2k5 @ Dec 6, 2007 -> 01:41 PM) America: With LDS being a relatively small group in the US, with some bad stereotypes that go with it, could you tell us about your faith? Romney: Well why don't you tell me what you want to hear? I guess I shouldn't have expected anything more from the guy that hasn't had a backbone in his history as a pol. I thought it was more like... America: With LDS being a relatively small group in the US, with some bad stereotypes that go with it, could you tell us about your faith? Romney: Faith is good, isn't it?

QUOTE(Balta1701 @ Dec 6, 2007 -> 12:42 PM) So, it appears that the Administration is ready to announce a voluntary agreement with a lot of the banks/mortgage lenders out there to try to do something about the whole mortgage reset issue, and at least according to this Bloomberg piece it seems like something of a bipartisan agreement. Personally though, I think from my understanding of what got us into this mess, the deal winds up not being of much use. The idea is; for a specific group of mortgage-holders, the reset in their loan, which for a lot of people is still coming and which would push the loan to much higher pay rates, is delayed 5 years. While this sounds like a good idea just in that it would give people who can't afford the mortgages they took out a chance to at least delay and spread out the impact, the devil appears to be in the details. Specifically: According to other sources, this breaks down thusly: If you go through all of those, that seems to me to be quite a small group of people who would actaully qualify. Especially given the last one; a great number of these ARM's were taken out on homes that people were buying simply for speculation purposes, expecting the value to go up and thus turn a profit on the transaction. But if the value went down, that prevents it from doing anything. And an awful lot of the loans taken out in the last 2 years are already late as it is. I think I'm fairly torn on this whole government intervention issue here. On one hand, the fact is if the government does nothing, the recession due to this mess is going to be longer and deeper and not spread out at all. On the other hand, the more the government does, the more it rewards people who either took out loans foolishly or rewards the people who sold and then financially buried the risk in these loans, and thus winds up removing the sting that we'd hope would prevent this same thing from happening 8 years down the road once the next "market that will always go up!" is found. 1. I have zero sympathy for speculators caught up in this - they are investors and elected to put their money at risk. Therefore, ANY deal like this should make sure to exempt them from protection. That means any of this sort of aid should only apply to primary residence mortgages, and further, only to people with mortgages on a SINGLE property. 2. As usual, I tend to take a market naturalist position on this. I'd rather do nothing than do what is proposed here. The rate resets SHOULD shake the market up, so that it learns from its mistakes. The bigger concern is going forward, how do you get consumers to know what they are doing. Financial education, as I've said before, should be an absolute requirement for graduating high school (and I don't mean a day balancing a checkbook in Home Ec). 3. Who defines the word "afford" here? Because that could have a huge effect on who this might really help. 4. Here is a government action that could actually help - take the Simple Mortgage Overview document that some states require - a one page check list of sorts, stating the basics of the mortage agreement - and add to it a plain language explanation of how resets work and what the consequences are. Make this a federal requirement for all mortgages. Make them initial each line item on the form, including the ARM description, and then sign the document with a notary. Leave no doubt about what they are getting themselves into. 5. What does this do for people already behind due to the crisis? Or people who are in trouble because they lost a job? Nothing. Its useless to them. 4.

QUOTE(Controlled Chaos @ Dec 6, 2007 -> 01:11 PM) Can anyone with more statistical savy than myself, compare Rowand to Hunter over the past 5 years. I thought I saw something like this on Chicago Tribune Live...and the stats were pretty comparable?? Orbital fractures incurred while chasing fly balls: Rowand: 2 Hunter: 0 What other statistics do you need?

So, Romney gave his much-anticipated speech today about his faith. Everyone was curious how he would address his Mormonism. So how did he do it? He didn't. He gave a flowery speech, well written and delivered, that sounded identical to a speech that any other person might give who considers themselves to be religious conservatives. He could have been Fred Thompson, or Mike Huckabee, or Tom Tancredo. At least, that's what the analysis is coming from various sources I have seen. I have not seen the whole speech - only read exerpts and reviews. I hope to actually see a transcript at some point. He also chose to draw a parallel to another Massachussetts candidate - JFK. Tex would be proud. But I'm not sure that will play well with the religious right. This actually seems like maybe a pretty smart tactic. Just as the public starts realizing he's of a faith that most people know little about, and questions mount about how his beliefs may effect his judgement... he embraces those beliefs in the most generic way possible. He appeals to the religious right with his faith-based speech, but gives only vague platitudes about the LDS and his beliefs, those glossing over the main question. We'll see if it worked.

I understand not protecting Liotta. But Hernandez, who went 9th to Oakland... what a crock. I just cannot see how he should have been left unprotected while Andy Gonzalez is still on the 40. I don't know why, but that decision just really pisses me off.

Jones might have been a really good addition, but, there is a lot of risk there for $18M. He was not good at the plate last year, and he is high on my list of likely candidates for the Mitchell report. I'd rather see Fuku at $10-$12M for 3, or Rowand at $12-$13M for 4. Or maybe Hamilton in a trade. Maybe even DeJesus.

The first December polls are out. Taking a look at them (excluding Zogby), here are some details. Huckabee is really looking strong now in IA and SC, with Romney on his tail. Giuliani just can't get traction anywhere. NH loves its moderates (McCain doing well, like Richardson for the Dems), and has no patience for the religious conservatives (Huckabee, Thompson). Details... Iowa, Strategic Vision poll... Huckabee: 27% Romney: 24% Giuliani: 13% Thompson: 11% McCain: 6% Paul: 5% New Hampshire, ABC/WaPo... Romney: 37% McCain: 20% Giuliani: 16% Huckabee: 9% Paul: 8% Thompson: 4% South Carolina, Rasmussen... Huckabee: 25% Romney: 18% Thompson: 18% Giuliani: 12% McCain: 9% Paul: 4%

And finally, the only December poll in South Carolina shows that Clinton's lead is just 2 points. After her lead being in the 10-20 point range for most of the fall, 2 recent polls (Clemson, Rasmussen) have shown her just +2. There was also a +24 aberrant in there, from ARG, who seem to have somewhat inconsistent results. Results of latest poll: Clinton: 36% Obama: 34% Edwards: 13% I think its interesting that Edwards can't even get more than 13% in SC, even though he is a Carolina boy.

Also, a new NH poll is out (Again, first non-Zogby poll of December). It shows Clinton's lead, once in the high teens in October, as now being just 6 points. Details... Clinton: 35% Obama: 29% Edwards: 17% Richardson: 10%

The first Iowa poll in December (excluding the garbage Zogby polls) has been released. Barack Obama now shows a 7 point lead in Iowa. Not only is that his largest lead yet, its also the largest lead anyone has had in a non-Zogby poll since Clinton's +10 in October. Details... Obama: 32% Clinton: 25% Edwards: 25% Biden: 5% Richardson: 3% Also of note... Edwards pulls even with Clinton, Richardson seems to be stumbling in Iowa lately, and Biden is moving up a bit.

QUOTE(kapkomet @ Dec 6, 2007 -> 10:00 AM) And today... from the AP... Gen-ie-ous, NSS. Heh. Nice. Unfortunately, I didn't have the cash available at that time to put my own money on that move. Wish I had.

QUOTE(santo=dorf @ Dec 6, 2007 -> 09:57 AM) Heroin is a pain killer. The USDA even says that alcohol withdrawl is 4 TIMES WORSE than Heroin withdrawl. How MLB players drink due to habit? I suppose by some definition it happens to have an analgesic effect, but that doesn't make it what I'd classify as a pain killer. If you've seen heroin addicts, you'd know what it can do to your body. Also, I think the idea that any one withdrawal can be "4 TIMES WORSE" than any other is sort of funny. As if such things could be measured to such precision. Besides, I am not talking about withdrawal here. I am talking about the bore effect of having that s*** in your body for a long period of time. Like running nitrous through a car engine. It dramatically shortens the life of the parts it touches, and makes them much more susceptible to breakage.

QUOTE(fathom @ Dec 6, 2007 -> 10:06 AM) And more than anything, they were upset that he wasn't competing. He did seem to lack focus out there, didn't he? I could never quite put my finger on it, though. No killer instinct. No drive to challenge the hitters.

QUOTE(max power @ Dec 6, 2007 -> 01:35 AM) Heroin isn't going to age/deteriorate a person's body that badly. Look at pill poppin' brett farve. He is doin fine and he was poppin' oxycodone like tic tacs. Chemically, street heroin is probably a lot dirtier, but the human body is amazingly resilient. By now, all of the physical aspects are long gone. I bet he has perfectly healthy liver function, and the rest of his body is fine too. You are seriously comparing Heroin to painkillers? I've seen more than a few people strung out on heroin and similar drugs. I've seen what it does to their body when they use it like an addict uses it, which Hamilton was. You'd better believe that took some years of ballplaying, and probably years off life, off of him. Sad but true. Those things you are trying to parallel are just not remotely comparable. And this is coming from someone who actually likes the idea of getting Hamilton - just go in knowing the risk.

QUOTE(JPN366 @ Dec 6, 2007 -> 07:46 AM) The Carter/Quentin trade was moronic to begin with. Explain.

QUOTE(Kalapse @ Dec 5, 2007 -> 08:18 PM) You don't even talk to Luis Gonzalez until after the Mitchell Report is released. That.

QUOTE(mr_genius @ Dec 5, 2007 -> 05:44 PM) There is no way we should start invading African countries. Why does it always have to be the US doing all of this? The US militaries purpose is not to 'right every wrong' that goes on in the world. It just amazes me that people still want to do this Iraq kind of stuff all across the world. I really think it's time for us to take more of a 'hands off' approach. ps. It just shows the level of abuse our country is at when it comes to using our military. Even the peaceful liberals want to blow stuff up, invade countries, and kill people. The main point of contention? Which country to invade. This post isn't directed towards any one poster in particular, just the overall atmosphere in the country as a whole. Stabilization of Sudan with military support would have taken a far smaller force, and gotten much greater international involvement, than the Iraq War. So explain to me how that's worse than Iraq? And obviously the US cannot right every wrong. But I've got to tell you, I think its in its best interests to deal with the really big ones, particularly when there are clear positives that can come from doing so. And I'd call the genocide hundreds of thousands, or possibly millions, pretty darn big.

QUOTE(Dick Allen @ Dec 6, 2007 -> 09:37 AM) The quote in the Sun Times blog about the pitching staff, especially the quote saying the reason Danks sat down the last month was because the White Sox knew what they had and what they think they have is a top of the rotation starter is just delusional if true. Agreed. But it isn't, and he knows that. He was sent down because he was struggling, he was tired, and the club wanted to see Floyd in action.

1. I agree with Rowand44, in that, honestly, does it matter what he says? Especially when he's notorious for not being straight-forward anyway? 2. The only thing in that article that bothers me is his comments about other GM's. Not that it isn't true, because he's probably right. But because for one thing, he talks too much about it himself. And for another, he's going to burn some bridges doing that, which serves no purpose. 3. Try to differentiate between Gonzales' words and Kenny's quotes. This is one of the reasons why I point out what awful beat writers the Sox have in the various papers. MG has a habit of surrounding quotes that are one thing, with conjecture and exaggeration of his own mind, to make it seem like things are being said that are not.

QUOTE(daa84 @ Dec 5, 2007 -> 05:15 PM) will carroll guessed that it was from the cubs....big difference than saying htey thought it was from the cubs But if you look at this post over in TW, it looks more like the big offer was from the Sox.