NorthSideSox72

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Dec 15, 2015 -> 11:38 AM) I don't happen to like Cruz, but he's probably one of, if not the most intelligent people in any fields. Overall though, he's too conservative for me, but he also just has a face that I can't stand. Kind of like Drose in his mask. Yep...I'm awful and I said it. Cruz just doesn't look likeable. The general story I've seen again and again is that Cruz is very smart, but almost universally unlikeable in person.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Dec 14, 2015 -> 10:24 PM) The way I see it if you can afford it you have to send your kid to private schools. For instance I went to Brother Rice two years and Benet Academy two years. Aside from Rice being all boys, what a great place to be. Great great teachers; hard as hell classes. I actually had to take Latin there and learned Latin for gosh sake. If you want to be a doctor ... what better place for Biology, Physics, Algebra, all those classes. One place that might be better? Benet. What a tremendous school. Great teachers; very difficult coursework (until senior year which was easy like most senior year). Both schools stressed COLLEGE and college prep work. Parents have to have their eye on best preparing their kids for college. The best places IMO have to be private schools. Pay that $10,000 a year tuition baby. It's worth it. (Just my take). As far as Vegas talk ... if u are gonna live in Sin City (yes it's Sin City) then at least move to the BEST school district. Give your kids a chance to not fall into oblivion (drug wise and academic wise). 1. It's a lot more than 10k a year for a good private school. 2. While those schools are both excellent, there are public schools just as good. In which case, unless you are particular to the religious aspect (which is fine), why spend that money? 3. Latin is taught in lots of high schools, public and private. I took 2 years of it in a public high school, which also offered something like 6 other languages. And just to add to what Rock was saying, there is a bubble aspect to be careful of. And that goes for even some public schools, by the way. It is key for my wife and I to not just keep our kids spending all their time on the North Shore, but to get out and experience the world and the city, to get involved in other communities, etc. The more people see the rest of the world instead of just their little enclave, the less people are capable of bigotry, in my experience.

QUOTE (pettie4sox @ Dec 15, 2015 -> 10:02 AM) Could this have been his plan all along? I think his run is 100% ego. Mind you, it is probably 80-90% ego (or more) for all of them, but that leap from 90 to 100 is important and tells you why he is doing the things he is doing. No way he does it for someone else.

There are some problems in the model, and the assumptions, as well as the incomplete picture on some revenue streams. But still a good, thought-provoking article. Nice work.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Dec 14, 2015 -> 04:35 PM) PP provides a lot of free or severely discounted health care. Doesn't make them a charity, at least my definition. Which is an interesting discussion itself - what constitutes a charity?

QUOTE (Tex @ Dec 14, 2015 -> 04:16 PM) I'm sorry it came off that way. You are correct, there are a lot of secular charities. And some very large ones. Great examples would be the NRA, Cancer Society, environmental groups, Planned Parenthood, etc. But for general aid to individuals and families, religious groups are #1. I wouldn't call NRA, PP or even some Environmental groups "charities". They are special interest organizations (NRA and, again, some env groups), or non-profit businesses (PP). The environmental groups are an odd bunch though, as some (Sierra Club chiefly) are almost full-on lobbying organizations, where as others (i.e. Nature Conservancy) are more properly non-profit businesses or charities.

Who is going to watch the debate on Tuesday? I skipped the last one, but with Trump going full-idiot since that one I am curious to see which candidates are willing to call him out on it and in what way. I don't really care what he says, but what the others around him say. Also curious to see how Cruz does with his more prime slot.

QUOTE (glangon @ Dec 14, 2015 -> 03:27 PM) Mike Olt played some 1st base last season I keep forgetting he's there. Probably by choice. I just don't think he's around come April.

Andy Wilkins transactions in 2015 alone: March 29: Claimed by TOR off waivers from CHW May 3: Traded from TOR to LAD for cash Sept 6: Claimed by BAL off waivers from LAD Dec 2: Claimed by SEA off waivers from BAL Dec 9: Claimed by MIL off waivers from SEA Dec 12: Claimed by TEX off waivers from MIL On the one hand, lots of teams at least feel like he's a decent AAAA/emergency 1B guy. On the other hand...

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Dec 14, 2015 -> 03:01 PM) Speaking of Andy Wilkins... MLB Trade Rumors ‏@mlbtraderumors 1m1 minute ago Rangers Claim Andy Wilkins From Mariners http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2015/12/rang...s-mariners.html … He's in the running for the most claimed player ever.

QUOTE (Chet Kincaid @ Dec 14, 2015 -> 02:00 PM) True, but I bet there are way more shady characters already in the HOF. Empty argument IMO. That's like telling cops not to go after some criminals because others got away with it previously. You go get the guys you know are bad, as best as you can. It isn't a reason to let more bad ones in.

Magnificent hitter, and true grinder. Also a sleezeball human, incapable of being truthful, even with his reputation on the line. He can stay out. I'd sooner accept the most obvious roiders into the HOF than this guy who bet on baseball while playing and coaching, and then lied about it repeatedly for decades.

QUOTE (BlackSox13 @ Dec 14, 2015 -> 01:50 PM) WTF has become of this thread? Quiet you.

Let's all let the personal stuff go, even if it is defending yourself. Back to baseball talk.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Dec 14, 2015 -> 12:52 PM) Esteban Loiaza, Scott Kazmir, Colin McHugh, Jose Quintana, Bobby Jenks, Sergio Santos, JD Martinez After the fact. The whole concept of risk-reward is the picture BEFORE, not after. And there is no such thing as low-risk, high-reward before hand. It's a fantasy. Either you are high-risk and high-reward, or low-risk and low-reward.

QUOTE (SoxPride18 @ Dec 11, 2015 -> 06:31 PM) CHARLOTTE: 3B Matt Davidson DH Alfredo Simon RP Peter Tago WINSTON SALEM: RP Devon Davis (L) KANNAPOLIS: 2B Jake Jarvis DH Sikes Orvis Some thoughts... You don't have Nick Delmonico on your list - you think they skip him over to re-sign Alfredo Simon? Tago to AAA is interesting I could see that, though it's a pretty big jump. I thought Devon Davis was released. Jarvis had a poor showing in Great Falls. It seems hard to believe, especially since he is still pretty young, that they'd jump him to full season and leave behind guys like Strong and Mendick. And I have a hard time seeing Sikes Orvis getting a full-time DH role when there are positional prospects who need the reps.

QUOTE (SouthsideDon48 @ Dec 14, 2015 -> 12:05 PM) This is actually a pretty good low-risk, high-reward signing. This is much better than the high-risk, low yeild signing of LaRoche. These two things are 100% unrelated. A starting 1B/Dh versus a 3rd or 4th catcher to stash in Charlotte.

This tells me the White Sox do NOT see Kevan Smith or Rob Brantly as likely to be successful major leaguers, even as backups. If they thought both could likely do that well, they wouldn't have gotten Sanchez. Two of the three will be in Charlotte, one will be gone.

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Dec 14, 2015 -> 11:22 AM) So this is an interesting topic with my wife and I expecting #2. We're debating whether to do more daycare or find a nanny. Our son is 3.5. He's been in a daycare with a good curriculum since he was old enough to go. It's a structured daycare with a class schedule, even when they were infants, and it's not cheap. My son's 3 year old room is about $1,300/month. The newborn will be closer to $1,800. Combined that's a decent vacation home. Since I like to save money wherever possible, I've been trying to talk my wife into a nanny. It would probably be cheaper and more convenient, especially when the 3.5 year old starts school and gets into more outdoor activities (all of which start at 3 or 4pm in the afternoon....where do these parents work??) But we really like the structure that our daycare provides, as well as the HUGE social competent. We have 7 kids in our group of friends. 2 stay at home with their mom or in-laws and it's readily apparent. Way behind in language and don't really play well in social groups. They're not dumb kids, they're just behind compared to the others. Nanny's/parents/in-laws have to be REALLY structured and have lesson plans and all that I think to get to the same level. But the question is, how much is that worth? If by 5-6 years old, they've caught up and they're all basically on the same level, that's a lot of money on school that could be spent elsewhere. My wife wants the daycare/teachers again. I say let's talk nanny, or at minimum, maybe part time nanny and 2-3 days a week at daycare. Get the benefit of both. Bolded is the key, for me. Kids who are around grown-ups almost all the time don't adjust as well to school as the ones who are socialized earlier - this has been documented in studies, and I've had teachers mention it too.

My parents are taking the kids, so we're seeing it Friday night, 8pm. At one of those theaters where you can reserve seats - which is huge, as we don't need to sit in a line forever to get good seats. Got decent though not perfect seats, was surprised they were still available. 3D showing, but not IMAX.

Pre-K schooling is very important, and I think it gets underutilized and underappreciated. I say that having under-appreciated it myself before. I'll be honest and say, because my wife and I both worked full time, we just saw Day Care as only that. But we did pick a school we really liked, and looking back I am soooooo glad we invested in a place that was truly a school versus just a day care. It costs a lot - about $1600/month per kid, which over 5 years is like a college education - but it has been amazing what they do. Finding the right pre-K school is key. We did what a lot of Chicago couples do. Lived in the city when married, and for the first kid. Second kid was being discussed, running out of room and had school concerns, so we moved to Northbrook. Property taxes are about 4k/year more than our city condo, but that is far, far less than private school tuition. And the public schools here are excellent.

QUOTE (glangon @ Dec 14, 2015 -> 09:49 AM) He went through the organisations that he did because he was blocked by All-Star MLB talent. Toronto - he had Bautista and Encarnacion ahead of him and was DFA'd to free up roster room. Dodgers - He had Gonzalez ahead of him and was DFA'd to make room for Corey Seager Orioles - DFA'd him after picking up Hoes. Had him for 2 months. Mariners - DFA'd him after picking up Lind. He's available at the moment. I reckon we pick him up on a minor league deal with an invite to Spring training ready to come in when we eventually DFA La Roche. His stats last year was .251 with 18 homers and 79 RBI's in AAA. The White Sox already have two 1B's in Abreu and LaRoche. They also have plenty of guys to DH if needed. And they'll have Danny Hayes in AAA this year, who doesn't have Wilkins' power (yet) but is a better hitter and gets on base more often. Wilkins serves no purpose for the White Sox right now.

QUOTE (BigHurt3515 @ Dec 13, 2015 -> 10:32 PM) Can we have a website softball game? Winner rules all! We did those for 2 or 3 years, a long while ago, but we had a pretty weak showing of people the last time we tried. Could be fun though, if enough people show up.

This is supposed to be a thank you thread for SoxTalk and what it is. No need to bring WSI into it any further. WSI just has a different, more strict way of doing things. That's their thing, and this place is ours. I like ours, but WSI serves its own purpose too. SSS, same thing, they do some things really well (their blog posts are the best around the White Sox community, IMO), and others I like better here (the discussion is much deeper here than either of the other places in my view). That aside, I'll say again I love this place. Should be obvious by being an Admin here and writing at FS, but still feel the need to say it, haha.

QUOTE (Y2JImmy0 @ Dec 12, 2015 -> 09:23 AM) Do you think Brennan will remain in the rotation? The White Sox protected him for Rule 5. Do you think there's any chance that they fast track him as a reliever? I think they start him in 2016 and see if it works. Look at it like the year that guys like Nate Jones or JB Wendelken spent starting. Then they decide if he goes to relief, which is probably likely. QUOTE (Alexeihyeess @ Dec 12, 2015 -> 02:38 PM) I think its funny that you ask "yours?" as if someone is really equipped with the knowledge to even begin a projection like this. What does the asterisk next to some player denote? Which team in the Sox org do you think will have the most success this year? I think its obvious the Barons have the most "prospect talent", but I know that doesn't really mean much for team success. Charlotte had a winning record last year, think they can build on that? How do the Dash look to make the playoffs again in 2016? All the info is out there - I wasn't using any insider stuff to make the depth charts. Though I suppose I may be one of the few geeky enough to attempt it, haha. Asterisk are LHP. I think BHAM will perform best as a team. But I think Kanny may be the most "exciting", if you will.