NorthSideSox72

QUOTE (iamshack @ Sep 25, 2009 -> 12:25 PM) I think we're going to miss Dotel quite a bit when he's gone. Teams always seem to take one or two guys for granted and then the next year, when they've got only two decent bullpen arms, they realize just how valuable those other two "mediocre" arms they let go were. Bullpens are certainly volatile from season to season, but a bullpen is a cumulative creature. A good bullpen lives and breathes by having many solid working parts. You start taking one or two away, and the others start suffering drastically. You lose Dotel, and you start having to pitch others even more, which in turn, fatigues them and affects their performance. I think we have been toeing the line between using Thornton just enough and too much the last few years. You start leaning on him any more, and his performance starts declining. Suddenly you find yourself with no one who can perform. I seem to recall this happening with just about everyone in our pen with the exception of Bobby in 07', and that's because the closer usually gets shielded by this phenomenon because the damage is already done by the time you get to the 8th or 9th. I think a good discussion in this thread would be to look at the bullpen arms already in our system, or starters that may be used as relievers on the big club, and see what we can get from there (since as you said, bullpens are volatile anyway). Here are some names to consider: Jhonny Nunez (very solid minor league numbers, showed some promise up here) Jon Link (disappointing AAA debut, but was solid in August/September: 1.38 ERA, 1.20 WHIP, .178 AvgA, 12 K in 13 IP) Carlos Torres (put up very good AAA numbers, showed some occasional promise with the Sox) Dan Hudson (spectacular minor league season in 2009, future starter probably, maybe a pen arm for now) Fernando Hernandez (not looked at as much of a prospect, but put up very good numbers in AA and AAA) Ehren Wassermann (still has some potential, and has had major league success) Clevelan Santeliz (Nails in AA incl a sub-1 ERA, but with some control issues, org likes him) Of those, I really think that Nunez, Link, Torres and Hudson could be contributors. The other three I'm less sold on, but they might be worth a look.

QUOTE (BigSqwert @ Sep 25, 2009 -> 12:27 PM) The ones living in the proposed Olympic Village site. The ones who will end up with nicer, newer homes, which is what the village will become after the Olympics? And will get them for very little money, and get to own a home a tall? Those ones? I don't know the temporary arrangements of anyone already IN that location, but I know the plan is to use the village as income-assisted housing for poor people. That's one of the nice benefits of this.

QUOTE (BigSqwert @ Sep 25, 2009 -> 12:26 PM) What about all the displaced poor people? What displaced poor people?

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Sep 25, 2009 -> 12:22 PM) I can't believe many of the reasons people don't want them here. If I hear one more person complain about three weeks in 2016 that are going to be too busy, I am going to puke. I have seen reasons both rational and irrational or unfounded. The unfounded ones include the idea that it will cost them a ton of money (when as shown, it is highly unlikely to cost them anything at all), and that the Olympics will not provide any lasting effect (people are in denial of any sort of infrastructure or increased tourism dollars apparently). But there are some real reasons, things that will certainly be the case - construction nightmares for traffic beforehand, traffic and crime during, and the possibility of terror attacks (slim, but real). But IMO, those are far, far outweighed by the benefits.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Sep 25, 2009 -> 11:21 AM) There's one other way to look at it. Yes, the city is a pretty corrupt place under the emperor. But would some random mayor wind up having a more or less corrupt place if the emperor was replaced? Not like it's the best solution...but the power that the emperor has probably also acts to keep things under control...because you don't want him angry at you. This is true too - any mayor who replaces Daley would likely be just as corrupt, but probably not as effective.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Sep 25, 2009 -> 08:36 AM) I just dont know what to think. I dont even know that my daughter would be able to comprehend racism at 3, much less be able to tell me about it or have me suspect it. This is the article I am referring to, btw Yeah, in my experience, 3-year-olds are probably a lot less likely to be bigoted in any way shape or form than adults. They haven't "learned" that ugliness yet - to them, other kids are other kids.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Sep 25, 2009 -> 10:13 AM) although his numbers havent changed too much, I never felt comfortable or confident in him coming in this year, he just always seemed like he was hittable. I didnt feel that way too much last year until later in the year when he tired. Im not too down about it, as we always say bullpens are really volatile from year to year and its time for some new blood He's erratic. When he is on, he is nasty. But you can tell from the first batter if he is on or not, and if he's not, he's very hittable.

QUOTE (southsideirish71 @ Sep 25, 2009 -> 10:33 AM) Don't see how that is practical for this area. I think between the winter weather, the plows getting snow off the ground and whatever de-icing strategy they put in should kill those expensive panels pretty quickly. I would like to see this work on homes, and businesses. We are looking at using Solar in the summer to offset our air conditioning costs in our Data Center. Yeah, I'm a big fan of a distributed solar system where individual homes and businesses are incented (viat tax rebates and what not) to buy panels and contribute to the +/- net grid system.

QUOTE (Athomeboy_2000 @ Sep 25, 2009 -> 10:31 AM) Some sort of solar roofing shingle material is the first logical step to me. Those already exist, as it happens.

QUOTE (BigSqwert @ Sep 25, 2009 -> 10:47 AM) Didn't tax payers get the shaft on that too? I don't even remember, but what does that have to do with the Olympics, which are an entirely different type of venture? I could point at all sorts of projects that either ended up costing the taxpayers money, or in other cases, ended up generating even more revenue than planned. None of them are the Olympics.

QUOTE (BigSqwert @ Sep 25, 2009 -> 10:40 AM) see Soldier Field Huh?

QUOTE (BigSqwert @ Sep 25, 2009 -> 10:38 AM) Problem is a lot of people don't care to go see the Olympics. They don't want to pay a penny for it. And they won't - but they will get some benefits from it.

QUOTE (Soxbadger @ Sep 25, 2009 -> 10:30 AM) Oh s*** $500mil of tax liability. Lets say there are 1mil tax payers in Chicago, that equates to $500 per person. If I wanted to travel to see the Olympics I would have to pay thousands of dollars. I can already see the crippling impact that $500 will have on my life. And that won't even come into play. They'd have to fall well under even the worst projections, AND blow through the insurance, AND not get some after-the-fact private support, AND blow through the governmental guarantee. Only way that happens is if something truly disastrous occurs, like a terrorist attack or a tornado through the olympic village or something.

QUOTE (Athomeboy_2000 @ Sep 25, 2009 -> 09:04 AM) Here's a shock, Chicago 2016 committee lies/over exaggerates the projected tax income. Most people who support the Olympics in Chicago don't even expect the $4.4B net income that even this quesitonable report suggests. I for one, and other too, know from history that it will probably be a more-or-less break even enterprise. That by itself, to me, is enough to make it worthwhile, but more importantly, that doesn't take into account he before and after benefits. So even if the $4.4B comes into play, or we get a worse case than that and make less or no money, its still a win for the city.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Sep 25, 2009 -> 08:22 AM) Wow, Bradleys mom is alleging that Milton is distracted because his 3 year old son is experiencing racism at his preschool. WTF?? Well, if that's true (about his son), that's really sad. If its not, well, then I guess the victim mentality runs in the family.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Sep 25, 2009 -> 08:23 AM) Bulls***. Daley is a classic micromanager. He knows everything. I'm going to have to disagree here. He knows everything that is being done, functionally. He is intentionally unaware of the methodologies employed by the captains. This is by design, and it works in both directions.

QUOTE (lostfan @ Sep 25, 2009 -> 08:16 AM) I'm not sure what it would take for Daley to NOT get re-elected. A federal indictment? not sure even that would do it. I think he'd actually have to be in jail. As long as he's alive, not incarcerated, and still wants the job, its his. I suppose if the city truly started falling apart, that would do it, but that would take a long time to occur.

Ehren has been playing with the USA team in the Baseball World Cup, currently taking place in Europe (Kroeger and Harrell are there too). Wassermann has been the team's closer, and has been doing pretty well. Last night in the 3rd round game against Cuba, he pitched 2.1 innings scoreless for the save.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Sep 25, 2009 -> 07:46 AM) In reality, what you hear on here isn't how the City sees Daley. He wins 80% of the vote in every election. He also crushes everyone in the primaries. Its not even close. Exactly. Chicagoans have this odd cognitive dissonance thing going on about Daley, and I'll admit that includes me. We know the way he runs the city - people are getting palms greased left and right. Daley himself isn't directly aware of it, but design, but he knows its there. However, Daley is ALSO very, very good at finding a way to make the city work. He's been a substantial part of the renaissance the city has undergone since the 80's. So basically, yeah, we know that with Daley in office the city government is corrupt and that 10% of our taxes are just grease. But we're also willing to pay that 10%, and let Daley keep running things, because even in bad times like now, Chicago still works better than most cities*. * = Washington DC has some special advantages that allow certain aspects to run better, because its federally administered.

I just looked at the Box score, that was a nice game for all three Sox reps - Kroeger went 3-4, doubled and scored a run, Harrell pitched 4 innings of shutout ball for the win, then Wassermann with the 2.1 IP Save to close.

QUOTE (danman31 @ Sep 25, 2009 -> 02:58 AM) Wassermann got the save. Pretty sure his future is in the Nationals or Pirates bullpen. I hope so. He's not getting into the Sox pen, barring some major injury problems, and I'd like to see him get another shot somewhere. I think he can still be an effective pen arm.

This has been amazing the last few days, with 3 different plots (of various magnitude in abilities) broken up.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Sep 24, 2009 -> 03:17 PM) Not according to the IOC http://www.nbcchicago.com/news/politics/Su...l-56804857.html Yeah I was going to say, the polls I've seen showed support waning, but still in favor. Haven't seen any that show the city against it.

QUOTE (lostfan @ Sep 24, 2009 -> 02:41 PM) Nobody said anything like that. The below quotes from this very thread say otherwise... QUOTE (DukeNukeEm @ Sep 24, 2009 -> 12:52 PM) This is what happens when you demonize the Govt. QUOTE (BigSqwert @ Sep 24, 2009 -> 12:59 PM) I wouldn't completely rule it out though. QUOTE (DukeNukeEm @ Sep 24, 2009 -> 01:10 PM) Exactly. And when Glenn Beck or Michelle Bachmann give these already unstable people the impression that the census bureau is going to put their family in a concentration camp this is what you get. Violence was inevitable. QUOTE (GoSox05 @ Sep 24, 2009 -> 01:11 PM) "If we look at American history, between 1942 and 1947, the data that was collected by the census bureau was handed over to the FBI and other organizations, at the request of President Roosevelt, and that’s how the Japanese were rounded up and put into the internment camps. I’m not saying that’s what the Administration is planning to do. But I am saying that private, personal information that was given to the census bureau in the 1940s was used against Americans to round them up." - Michele Bachmann QUOTE (DukeNukeEm @ Sep 24, 2009 -> 01:34 PM) Lately the distinction between the two has become a lot more blurred. QUOTE (BigSqwert @ Sep 24, 2009 -> 02:13 PM) You really couldn't see any possible connection? I'm just saying there might have been a link. QUOTE (BigSqwert @ Sep 24, 2009 -> 02:23 PM) At some point isn't there a moral responsibility for those that antagonize people that are easily manipulated? QUOTE (GoSox05 @ Sep 24, 2009 -> 02:36 PM) I don't know why anyone is suprised by this. The far right has a long history in this country of being violent. It's not like it just started. I think what Bachmann said was stupid, but extreme right wing violence was around before her and will be around long after she is retired.

Wow, there is some bizarre s*** being thrown around in this thread. Some small-minded asshole from an area of the country that has a history of having a large amount of anti-government sentiment, NOT as part of the Republican party and WELL BEFORE the recent increase in GOP tea baggers, kills a cencus worker. And people here think that, in any way shape or form, the Republicans are responsible for it? Really?