NorthSideSox72

I'd have liked to see more money for rail transit, and tax credits or deductions for R&D related to alt energy as well as usage of them by individuals, and less money on nuke energy. Further, a real need isn't being addressed - that alt energy will need nationwide infrastructure changes in order to share power and make them effective. But this bill does at least look like a good start.

QUOTE (Controlled Chaos @ May 12, 2010 -> 12:33 PM) Whatever...I got his point... I don't need hard data... Yes, let's not let those annoying facts get in the way of an empty point. Saying we should devote resources here to our own significant problems, I get. Saying that having to deal with illegal immigrants is costly and shouldn't have to happen, I get. Saying there is any similarity in violence between here and there makes no sense at all.

QUOTE (justBLAZE @ May 12, 2010 -> 11:05 AM) Pierre LF Pierzynski C Rios CF Konerko 1B Kotsay DH Quentin RF Teahen 3B Beckham 2B Ramirez SS Danks P So yet another change? Weird.

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ May 12, 2010 -> 09:33 AM) I'm not arguing that on a grand scale they're similiar. My point was that while i'm sympathetic to those people, there are people who live in our own backyard that are in a similiar situation (i.e., very real threat of death on a daily basis). In the very general sense, I agree, we have problems of our own to address here. We can't be solving Mexico's.

QUOTE (Controlled Chaos @ May 12, 2010 -> 09:34 AM) Just for reference...more murders in Chicago than soldiers killed in Afghanistan and Iraq this year. Not sure how many murders in Mexico. No, less US SOLDIERS killed in Afghanistan/Iraq than murders in Chicago. Actual murders of civilians in those places are still staggeringly high, with dozens or more killed on many days each week in bombings and such.

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ May 12, 2010 -> 09:31 AM) My opinon comes from Chicago police officers that work the worst parts of the cities and tell me that. And by work, I mean they tred into those territories only when it's absolutely necessary because the gangs there control the streets more than cops do. Does it really make a difference which one is worse when in both situations you can get shot simply by being outside? Go look at the actual numbers. Your claims are absurd on this topic.

QUOTE (Athomeboy_2000 @ May 12, 2010 -> 09:31 AM) Oh, I'm with you. I'd go to every Sox home game if I could. I'm am just saying it's the PERCEPTION that is bad and a lot of "re-branding" needs to go on. The perception has changed a lot, and will continue to change.

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ May 12, 2010 -> 09:27 AM) I don't care how bad it is, parts of Chicago (and other parts of the US) are just as bad. What? You cannot seriously believe that, can you? Juarez has the highest violent crime rate of any city outside a war zone IN THE WORLD. Its multiple times over the murder rates of Chicago, despite being much smaller. That's not even counting the scores of events, as noted earlier in this thread, that basically don't happen in the US. Crime in those border towns is far, far, far worse than anything any US city can throw out there.

QUOTE (Athomeboy_2000 @ May 11, 2010 -> 03:59 PM) Personally, I would prefer the leave the south side when they do decided to get a new home. Yea... I said it. Like it or not, that area has a nasty reputation and it's going to take a LOT of work to fix that. Not sure if you noticed, but the neighborhoods around the park have changed dramatically, just since the park opened less than 20 years ago. And I'd be 20 years from now, they will look further different. They are putting in a MEtra station as well. Neighborhoods in Chicago are not static, contrary to popular belief.

QUOTE (BigSqwert @ May 12, 2010 -> 09:25 AM) You do realize the police down there are part of the cartel or bought off by them, right? Yeah, the idea of comparing crime in any part of Chicago to what is going on in Mexican border towns is ridiculous. They aren't in the same ballpark. Although really, that's a side point, and not key to the discussion of what the US should be doing.

QUOTE (iamshack @ May 12, 2010 -> 09:22 AM) So you're going to start "schedule watching" on May 12th as we are 14-19. Ok. Yes I am. Where we stand w/r/t MIN and the rest of the division, around early June, will be the deciding factor for KW in terms of what changes he may make. And where we stand at that time is directly and strongly effected by the upcoming schedules for both teams.

QUOTE (iamshack @ May 12, 2010 -> 09:12 AM) Well you can say this all year long...the next few series are always important, barring a complete collapse. But until you start winning more than 50% of your games, who or what the Twins do doesn't mean a damn thing. Let's get our own house in order before we start worrying about what our neighbors are up to. Who said we wouldn't? Who said its not important to win games? Those are sort of obvious platitudes, this is a different subject. How many we win depends in part on who we play. Same for MIN. Therefore, this is important. Also, its important now for the reasons I stated - the next month will determine KW's path. In August, that isn't really an issue, typically.

QUOTE (soxfan22 @ May 12, 2010 -> 09:06 AM) Apparently the sox signed Alan Embree to a minor league deal this morning. Probably just a little extra lefty insurance just in case, especially after looking at his numbers last year, but either way it doesn't hurt having him around just in case. Happened a few days ago, there is a thread in PHT discussing it.

QUOTE (iamshack @ May 12, 2010 -> 08:36 AM) Too early to be looking at this stuff IMO. We have to start taking care of our own business before we even concern ourselves with who the Twins are playing. Start winning series'. Disagree - I think its a good thing to look at the near future, since the near future will determine what if anything happens with the team in June-July. Next few series for both teams is important.

Interesting article on the different approaches that New Mexico and Arizona are taking on this subject. As opposed to SB 1070 in AZ, Richardson and the NM legislature are taking a split approach - more security on the border, but for those immigrants (illegal and legal) that are already in the state, pretty much leaving them alone or even trying to let them become part of society. NM and AZ have different situations of course, but still similar. Which method do you prefer? Or something in between?

QUOTE (hawksox13 @ May 12, 2010 -> 07:54 AM) I'll start off by saying that everything needs to start with the Sox beating the Twins today and cutting the division lead down to six games. In looking at the Twins and Sox upcoming schedules the Sox may be able to get within 3 games or so of the Twins within the next three weeks. Here's why: Twins upcoming schedule: @ Yankees for 3 games (21-10) @ Toronto for 2 games (19-16) @ Boston for 2 games (18-16) Milwaukee for 3 games (15-18) Yankees for 3 games (21-10) Texas for 3 games (18-15) Those teams have a combined winning percentage of .548. Keep in mind that six of these games are against the Yankees who have a winning percentage of .677. Sox upcoming schedule: @ K.C. for 3 games (11-22) @ Detroit for 2 games (18-14) Angels for 2 games (15-20) Marlins for 3 games (16-17) @ Cleveland for 3 games (12-18) Those teams have a combined winning percentage of .416. If the Sox win today and cut the division lead down to six games, it's looking like over the next few weeks they may actually be able to get within three games or so of the division lead. That puts the Sox right back in the hunt and hopefully turns them from sellers to buyers. Just yesterday I was thinking that the Sox should start thinking about blowing this thing up, but after looking at the upcoming schedules I think things may tighten up and get a little bit more interesting.....if the Sox can start hitting the ball and playing better baseball overall. This makes me happy. Or less sad at least. Thank you.

Short and Greene both seem like they should be in B-Ham, and I agree that Short is a great interview candidate for FS. We'll look into that. W-S seems to be going closer-by-committee, which works well when you have leads in every friggin game. Infante, Remenowsky and Bellamy sharing dutues.

QUOTE (Jordan4life @ May 11, 2010 -> 03:25 PM) What is up with this "I rip people when they're not online" crap? Am I supposed to check the user list to make certain whatever person I'm "ripping" is on to give them the chance to respond? lol. If telling it like it is, is ripping somebody then so be it. You, along with a host of others (who I don't have to name because they, and everybody else, know who they are), have made this board unbearable at times. I have no problem whatsoever with constructive criticism. Hell, I don't even have a problem with saying so and so sucks. But there's a way to go about it. fathom used to get on my god damned nerves. But even he can be critical without looking like a jackass. Careful with that last line there. I agree with you that the negativity and salty one-liners make the board irritating. But - and this goes to everyone - let's not go down the road of personal attacks. That won't end well.

QUOTE (Greg Hibbard @ May 11, 2010 -> 02:44 PM) Out of the past 28 AL playoff teams going back through '02, two ('05 NYY and '06 Twins) had records as bad as 13-19 through 32 games and made the playoffs. Almost all the rest (except the 08 sox and 09 yanks - who were 15-17) were at or way over .500. Is it really fair to bring up the NL teams? That league has been significantly weaker overall during the past 20 seasons, so a lot more movement seems possible throughout the season. The '06 Twins went on a four game winning streak in games 33 through 36 to bring their record back to 17-19. The '05 Yanks continued their winning streak (they had been 11-19) to ten games to bring their record back to 21-19. This seems to suggest that even if we accept the extremely unlikely scenario that the Sox could make the playoffs as-is, it needs to happen RIGHT NOW or never. As in tonight. Interesting snapshot, but that's what it is - a one time window snapshot. If you went to, say, 40 games, you'll find some other playoff teams below the .500 line. What if the Sox have better records than them? You make the leap of assumption here that because there are only 2 at 32 games which are that bad, that there cannot be any at 40, or 50 games, which may be below where the Sox stand at that time. The Sox are playing crappy baseball and are 8 games out - this is bad, but there is no such thing as an absolute line as to when its time to blow it up. It would be nice to think that, but history says otherwise. Personally, I will echo what someone said earlier - memorial Day Weekend is a good evaluation point. If the Sox are 8+ games out (give or take) at that time, it might be time to cut the vets loose and rebuild in June. If they are say 4 games out and playing better, maybe time to add a bat and a LOOGY. If they are somehow miraculously in a near tie for the lead, then you leave them alone for a while. But its not a hard and fast thing.

So here's an interesting thing to discuss. Apparently that cross that was on federal land in California, that SCOTUS said could stay, was stolen recently by unknown parties. VFW and other groups vow to find or put up a new one just like it, but they are consulting with DOJ on the matter. Pretty s***ty thing to do (taking the cross) no matter your feeling on the ruling. Now here is an environmental parallel. Here we have a situation where an artifact of American culture was stolen by people who want to eradicate it. And people want to have a replacement put back. Will those same people who want it put back (which I'd agree with), also be OK with some of the species reintroductions that have gone on (also on federal land) to put species back in their original territories after being wiped out by unthinking hunters? If they are OK with putting up a replacement cross, how about we also reintroduce mexican wolves to that part of California? I don't know, probably a stretch, but I thought it was an interesting parallel.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ May 11, 2010 -> 03:09 PM) How's about a nice acronym like liberals like? Illegals Love Living Equally Gaudy American Life Styles Fixed and enhanced.

QUOTE (flavum @ May 11, 2010 -> 02:20 PM) Rain is moving out in Minneapolis. Looking forward to seeing the new park with the White Sox in it. Not sure why Garcia is starting in this series considering Danks and Buehrle could be starting on normal rest, and they have another off day on Thursday. Because Garcia seems to be pitching well and has had success against the Twins. Better to give Danks and MB the extra day of rest. Makes sense to me.

Its real simple. Williams is not pitching well. Threets is on the DL. The only lefty at Charlotte right now that is healthy is Whisler, who is sporting a 7.43 ERA and has already given up 3 HR in 16 IP. The organization needs lefty depth, in case Williams continues to struggle, and Charlotte has a spot open for such a person. Embree has had successful years, and is worth a shot. Truly this is nothing to get worked up about.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ May 11, 2010 -> 01:22 PM) As far as I know, both from the sheet here and from Googling, no, AJ has no team option. He is $6.75 this year, and then a free agent this offseason. Jenks doesn't land you anything unless you're paying 80% of his contract right now, and even then, he'll get you a Brian Anderson level prospect. In that case, AJ nets you something, but not as much as I thought. For a team in contention, if they need a catcher, they'd be willing to give up a decent prospect for him, even just a half season of him. I'd bet on that. Jenks, well, it depends a lot on this month. If he looks good for the next month going into June, I think he nets you something as well - and that's better than the nothing you'd get at the end of the year, if you are out of it and looking to rebuild.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ May 11, 2010 -> 01:06 PM) Trading those guys gets you: essentially zero players back in return, and essentially zero salary relief. You can't trade garbage and expect to get something useful in return. I'll say that Teahen and Kotsay get you nothing, Jenks gets you a prospect (and not a team's Top 10 prospect either), but AJP might net more. AJ has an option for 2011, correct?