NorthSideSox72

QUOTE(minors @ Aug 3, 2006 -> 01:45 PM) He has got a solid sketch and now a great plan with his deputies being armed all day long this is more action and decision making than I have seen any liberal take. I can't resist... I wouldn't call the armed off-duty edict "action" in any law enforcement sense with this case. If you think its good policy, fine. But it does next to zero for this SPECIFIC case. And the sketch was thanks to a heady citizen. Does Arpaio have anything else in the way of a plan? Mind you, as I've said, I am no Joe-basher. I think his DOC tactics with the jails are great. But from what I have read, he's got no instincts or skills for the patrol units at all.

QUOTE(Balta1701 @ Aug 3, 2006 -> 10:40 AM) With Jim Thome and Paul Konerko both out hurt. Thome played what, 1 game in the last 2 series, and Konerko played like 2-3 depending on how you count innings? And we come out of that 4-2? I think this is a good perspective. We have taken 4 of 6 on the road, missing our 3 and 4 hitters, against some pitchers we've never seen. If we take 2 of 3 from Toronto, finishing a 6-3 road trip all over the continent without our key hitters playing in many of the games... I'll feel pretty good coming home to Chicago.

Excellent. *rubs hands together* OK... Campaign Chief and Economics Advisor: SS2K5 Treasurer and Business Officer: YASNY Pollster and analyst: Rex Field Captain, Operations Manager: Kap Science and Environment Advisor: Balta Military and Defense Advisor: Nuke Domestic Advisor: Tex Attorney and Legal Advisor: SoxBadger Speech Writer (when I don't write them myself): FlaSoxxJim

There are any number of departments that require their officers to carry shield and weapon 24/7... including Chicago PD. Its not an unusual thing at all. To answer a few points added on this topic... yes, you take a chance when you require that officers go everywhere armed. They do drink, and get into all sorts of other situations where you increase risk with an armed presence. But you do also increase visible presence, which in reality is much more important than the slim chance of an armed conflict occurring... yes, it does put cops in a position of feeling like they are on duty 24/7. But in reality, for most cops, they feel that way anyway. Personality type and role, part and parcel.

This thread is done, as is the topic in here. And it better not bleed over to any other threads. Everyone: let it die here.

QUOTE(Chisoxfn @ Aug 1, 2006 -> 04:18 PM) I liked the fact that I could smoke my cigar at the Rhino though (I assume you can do it pretty much anywhere in Vegas). I can't stop laughing at this line.

QUOTE(StrangeSox @ Aug 2, 2006 -> 11:28 AM) The Phillipinnes comes to mind. So does the conquering of the West in this country, though not quite the same. As I alluded to in a thread a few weeks ago. Not exactly the same, but similar.

Who here has read The Sum of All Fears? The first few chapters of the book paint an interesting theoretical picture of this region of the world. In that case, a major trigger event involved a bunch of Palestinians taking a page from Ghandi's book and employing something akin to passive resistance, in an attempt to gain moral high ground. That isn't likely to occur here. But at one point, what happens is a joint effort between the three major religions of the region (Islam, Judaism and Christrianity) agreeing with a huge block of powerful nations to set up, in essence, an international peace park in Jerusalem. The land there would be patrolled and controlled by a large detachment of Swiss soldiers and other UN-supported units from around the world, and would essentially belong to no one. Pie in the sky? Yeah. But to me, given all the other alternatives out there, something along these lines is what we should be shooting for. A non-national peacekeeping force, and a BIG one at that - no half-ass stuff here. An agreement on margin lands like Gaza, the Golan and other areas, which eventually leads to the formation of a Palestinian state. And all the "big kids" on the local AND global block looking over the shoulders of the region. I just don't see how peace is possible there without A ) A neutral Jerusalem, B ) A Palestinian state, and C ) huge involvement from the international community.

QUOTE(whitesoxfan101 @ Aug 2, 2006 -> 11:01 AM) Yeah, with the day off tomorrow and the flight to Canada, I'd be shocked if we don't just give Kong and Thome today off. Hopefully the offense and Freddy step it up, although as long as Freddy is throwing a Greg Maddux velocity fastball, I'm still worried about him. So, the lineup will probably look like... Pods Gooch Pierzynski Dye Crede Uribe Gload Mack Anderson I'm guessing. With Mack or Dye at DH. Maybe Mack and Uribe flipped in that order, though. QUOTE(whitesoxfan101 @ Aug 2, 2006 -> 11:05 AM) I think he can still pitch, his stuff just isn't good enough, which terrifies me. At least with Buehrle, I know his problem has been location and there is hope for him to turn it around, I'm MUCH more iffy on Garcia. I think I saw somewhere that he was back up at 91-92 with has fastball in his last start, instead of 86. Maybe he can get back to 94 again.

QUOTE(YASNY @ Aug 2, 2006 -> 10:47 AM) His brother is not exactly a paragon of society either. Who is is brother? Dmitri?

So, back on topic, I found this in the Herald, and its the best I could find on PK: Black and blue: Paul Konerko had to leave Tuesday’s game after being hit by a pitch from Royals reliever Scott Dohmann in the sixth inning. Konerko suffered a contusion above his left elbow, and he was taken for precautionary X-rays. Like Jim Thome, he’s not expected to play tonight. “Hermie (trainer Herm Schneider) said he didn’t see anything real bad,’’ manager Ozzie Guillen said. “He got hit on the top of his arm, so there’s more muscle there.’’ http://www.dailyherald.com/sports/story.asp?id=213209 Looks like it isn't too bad.

QUOTE(Milkman delivers @ Aug 2, 2006 -> 10:52 AM) He doesn't seem to get that point. I acknowledged that point numerous times. Others do not get that it doesn't necessarily mean he has caused all these issues that are being attributed to him, nor does it acknowledge the huge offensive advantage he gives.

QUOTE(fathom @ Aug 2, 2006 -> 10:41 AM) But how about the argument all year that we've had enough offense from the other 8 players, and we needed a defensive force out there in CF? Trust me, I cringed at Anderson batting for the first few months of the season. However, time and time again, Mackowiak has proven he's not a CF. If Ozzie wanted to get his offense into the game, there's a spot in LF where we're not getting more production that what Mackowiak has given us this year. And FWIW, the first two games I mentioned with Mack saw those plays absolutely impact the final outcome of the game. I of course do agree that Ozzie's particular use of Mack isn't ideal. As I mentioned in another thread, the ideal way to involve Mack is to play him once very 7-10 days in EACH OF position, thus getting him in the lineup every third day or so, but allowing Anderson, Dye and Pods to still get most of the time at their positions. Or something like that. Maybe even more often than that in LF, since Pods is under-producing.

QUOTE(fathom @ Aug 2, 2006 -> 10:24 AM) Off the top of my head: - Cubs game on Barrett's triple - Tigers game where he let IRod tag up on routine fly - Orioles game from Sunday i don't recall what he did Sunday, but I do remember the others - and they were screwups. But did they turn the game? How many times did rallies die on Anderson's bat? Mack is a significant defensive downgrade from Anderson. Duh. But when one considers offense as well in the positive (where Mack is a full 100 points higher in average and is better on the basepaths), and looks at the whole season, I recall only one game where the big negative difference was Mack's play on something Anderson would have made. And he won at least one game I can recall. Therefore, all things considered, I think Mack's impact on the team over/under Anderson is minimal. Which is exactly what you want from your bench.

QUOTE(fathom @ Aug 2, 2006 -> 10:19 AM) Our lack of a back-up CF is absolutely important. It's come back to haunt us about 10 times this season, and we would likely have had 2 or 3 more wins if there was a better defensive option out there. Mackowiak has been excellent at the plate this year...but his defense in CF is absolutely medicore. When you say we have a lot of problems, a lot of them come from our awful outfield defense this season. Our starting pitching has struggled this season, but they've gotten no help from our LF defense and CF back-up. A lot of rallies have started against us do to miscues out there. I just don't agree. I doubt more than 1 game was turned significantly due to Mack's presence in CF, and he has won us at least one game I know of. So I don't see the huge impact. Now Pods, who plays every day, his bad D worries me more than Mack's once every 3-4 days in CF.

So... does anyone actually have an update on PK in this thread? Any idea how the X-Rays went?

QUOTE(Milkman delivers @ Aug 2, 2006 -> 10:05 AM) The depth that KW has provided is really coming in handy the last few days. I just wish we had the decent back-up CFer. That "depth" you thank KW for INCLUDES our back-up outfielder, Mack, who got two hits, stole a base and was generally clutch AGAIN last night. The guy is hitting what, .310 or so? With all the problems we have, I don't get your obsession with that. Its just not that important, and frankly, given what Mack contributes offensively, isn't even a significant drop-off when he plays.

I do REALLY like that we have been stealing, bunting and taking chances on the basepaths lately. And despite some errors (mostly by Juan), we've made some gutsy and difficult plays in the field. The team is starting to get that scrappy edge back. That all said, I sure as heck hope PK's injury and Thome's back spasms turn out to be nothing, and they both return for the Toronto series.

I'd like to point out here that things like "attitude" and "character" in athletes, while subjective in nature, absolutely have an effect on players' careers, even the very talented ones. Plenty of huge talents have self-destructed. This guy seems to have that written all over him. For that reason if no other, I wouldn't go christening him the next Pujols. Guys who act like this kid acts, more often than not, tend to implode at some point in their careers and end up being no more than a flash in the pan. Not always, but often.

I really hope you aren't saying this is some sort of justice, Nuke. Criminal defendents are entitled to, and deserve, the best defense they can get. The fact that Horowitz provided that and made money off of it does not make him evil, and it certainly doesn't mean he deserved to have his wife killed.

QUOTE(NUKE_CLEVELAND @ Aug 1, 2006 -> 12:16 PM) Trouble with that is that there HAS been a large U.N. force which has been in place since 1978. Unfortunately they are incapable of doing anything but sitting there. The U.N. is inept, impotent and corrupt. It is HIGHLY unlikely that they could implement any meaningful solution to the problem here. Better to let Isreal finish its business. While I certainly agree that the UN is fairly inept, this "fact" you point out is misleading. The UN has NOT had a peacekeeping force there in quite some time. The UN staff in place are observers and humanitarian aid staff, not soldiers or police officials. A multinational (or UN) peacekeeping force seems to me the best option available right now. But the commitment in political capital, money and time makes that a difficult proposition. Any force used for that purpose would need to be large in size and funding, and have big time international political backing, to be successful. The U.S. COULD choose to engineer such a group... but alas, we have neither the political will nor the military resources to do it.

QUOTE(Milkman delivers @ Aug 1, 2006 -> 10:11 AM) You just told me all of the things I've been saying for a while now. And 4th OF is sooooooooo a concern because our 4th OF starts every third day (as you said) and he costs us every time. I'm serious when I say he costs us at least one run in every game he starts. That adds up, and I'd be willing to bet it has been the difference in losing or winning some games. In such a tight race, we can't afford to lose so many games. Yes, I understand that the pitching is the problem (another thing I've been harping on for a while), but since the 4th OF is less of a concern, we shouldn't even bother with upgrading it at all? It is still an aspect of the team, and it still hurts us. I just don't think that he costs us a run a game - I think that is a huge exagerration. I think he MAY have cost us a few runs all season. And his bat has more than made up for that. So as far as backup OF's go, you aren't going to get much better. All this is solved if Ozzie just realizes that Anderson is now ready to play every day, and he starts doing that. Putting Mack in there every third game made sense when Anderson was hitting .150. Now he is getting the hang of it, so its time to push Mack back to an occasional backup at each OF position - allowing him to play about every third or fourth day, but only once every 9-12 games at any one position.

QUOTE(Milkman delivers @ Aug 1, 2006 -> 09:45 AM) Like you said, that line makes sense. And I'll say it again. We really could've used a respectable 4th OFer to play CF every few days. I swear, Mackowiak costs us runs every single game he plays CF. That can end up really hurting us in the end. Our 4th OF is sooooooooooo not a concern right now, in comparison to our starting pitching, or inconsistent defense as a team, and the lack of clutch hitting (until the last few games). Besides, most teams would drool over having a 4th OF as good as Mack. Is he a starting quality CF? No, that's why he's the 4th OF. He provides a good bat, and can play almost every position on the field. The only "problem" with Mack isn't his problem at all - it is that Ozzie plays him in CF too often. If he played once every dozen games out there (and spelled Pods and Dye as well) instead of once every three, it would be a non-issue.

I really, really wish they had gone for a story that HASN'T already been done in the Batman franchise. Doing a Joker movie means competing with the original Batman film, and that's just plain stupid. Better to go with a villain not already done.

QUOTE(southsider2k5 @ Aug 1, 2006 -> 07:25 AM) I don't know much about the Herald, but the ST is a wannabe tabloid. Its a piece of garbage which features screaming headlines, gossip columnists, and no substance. Even if you don't like the Trib's sports page, the Chicago Tribune is regarded as one of the top newspapers in the country FWIW. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ You can argue a Cubs slant, and you may be right... but the Trib is a world class paper, and the Sun Times is a piece of trash.