NorthSideSox72

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jul 2, 2008 -> 10:21 AM) That's assuming you only listen to John McCain, and not to all the people who are out there saying that concentrated solar/solar thermal electricity can work if we put the money in to it to build the plants and delivery systems. Or a distributed solar system. Or a combination of those things, wind, hydro and geo.

QUOTE (Reddy @ Jul 2, 2008 -> 01:06 PM) why the f*** not!? where the hell else are the arts supposed to get their money from? private donors? yeah that works only so well. we get it from grants and such which are mostly funded by the government. I think you misunderstood my post. I personally am OK with my local community (town, county, homeowners association) funding art and entertainment. Just not the federal government. I think there is a key difference there. And yes, I think that most of the money will need to come from private funding. I think that's the way it should be with something like art. I will acknowledge, though, that there are some grey areas. Schools for example. I think education should include art, music, drama, etc., for many reasons. But note that most school funding comes from local, state and private funds as well.

QUOTE (Alpha Dog @ Jul 2, 2008 -> 12:25 PM) Can we then stop funding 'art' like the piss christ and other things that may offend a family and children in a public museum? I'm all for stopping government funding of these things. Especially 'art'. Well, I think there is a key difference between federal funding and local funding. I don't want to see any federal dollars spent on art programs either - its not their place. But if some local park district serves a community that wants it, they should be able to go ahead.

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Jul 2, 2008 -> 10:19 AM) I don't know why, but I somehow thought it was Pablo Ozuna. Paul Konerko was originally a catcher though, LOL. That occurred to me as well, but then I remembered the story of Ozuna going out to warm up Bobby Jenks once (the other catchers must not have been ready yet). As I recall, Bobby's first pitch sailed right past Pablo to the backstop, and that was the last of that experiment. And I honestly can't think of anyone else who you'd want back there. You know who would probably make a good catcher in some ways though? Juan Uribe. He's quick with the reflexes, has a cannon arm, and is a strong, heavy guy. Not that I think they'd ever do that, but, I think he'd maybe be suited to it.

QUOTE (Greg Hibbard @ Jul 2, 2008 -> 09:39 AM) There has to be a better plan of attack for this situation with our atrocious RISP batting average. QUOTE (Greg Hibbard @ Jul 2, 2008 -> 09:50 AM) Look, the bottom line is with the existing M.O. our batting average with RISP sucks QUOTE (BFirebird @ Jul 2, 2008 -> 09:54 AM) The Sox are actually 3rd in baseball with RISP behind Minnesota and Cubs. We are hitting .284 http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/stats/aggreg...ng&type=reg

Still depends a bit on the remaining games, but, I'll guess Quentin, Dye and Danks/Floyd depending on their next starts. Linebrink is deserving but won't get it, being a setup guy. Jenks may get in - outside chance. If he does, then none of the starters will.

48-35, +2.5 over Twins +6 over Tiggers 13 games over .500, best mark so far this season Winners of 6 straight, 7 of 8, and 10 of 14 (including sweep by Cubs)

QUOTE (Cknolls @ Jul 2, 2008 -> 08:07 AM) That and the elimination of the Commerce, Labor, Interior, and Education departments. I think it is pretty apparent that public employee unions are destroying: 1.) Chicago, 2.) Cook County, and 3.) Illinois. A single pension system should be enacted for all public employees no matter what form of gov't. you serve. I can see the argument on Labor and Education being heavily reduced. But Commerce and Interior? Those are criticl functions, I think. They are poorly run, but that is a seperate issue.

QUOTE (Athomeboy_2000 @ Jul 1, 2008 -> 05:53 PM) Man i dunno. I like him a LOT, but I dont have a lot of faith in his discipline. He kind of scares me as a bit of a loose cannon. He's a tough talker though, so Obama might need someone like that. I feel conflicted. But my record shows if I had to pick Obama VP, Edwards would be first, Richardson second. Loose cannon? That's nothing I've seen before. My biggest worries with Obama would be his lack of charisma and public speaking ability, and perhaps if something from his past comes up to bite him. And I don't mean stupid little stuff like the whole baseball thing - I mean if it turns out he's a womanizer, which has been suspected for some time. Nothing specific has come up in that area yet, beyond some mildly over the top flirting, but it may indicate an underlying issue. Loose cannon? Edwards is much more of that than Richardson, IMO.

QUOTE (farmteam @ Jul 1, 2008 -> 06:09 PM) They could be fined up to 150,000 per word if they did that. I don't think it would be hard to get that permission from the publisher, given the content. Besides, I don't see anyone suing the Wilmette Park District for changing a word to protect the audience in that scenario. In any case, it shouldn't be an issue. The play is what it is. Also, plays and scripts are changed on the fly all the time, all over, in performances of all kinds, and people don't get sued for it.

Here's a random question... With Mack no longer on the club, who is this team's emergency catcher?

QUOTE (Athomeboy_2000 @ Jul 1, 2008 -> 05:48 PM) Chuck Todd said he is hearing a LOT of rumbling behind that scenes that there is a push for Obama to take a Catholic with foreign policy experience. The foreign policy is obvious, but the catholic part is to reach out to Hispanics and the religious right. The name being heavily floated is Chis Dodd. But I think the Countrywide Financial loan scandal might make that not very attractive to Obama. They want Hispanics, and they want foreign policy experience? And a catholic? Bill Richardson, your table is ready.

Charlotte is losing 2-0 at Durham, in the 2nd inning. Haeger with the start there. Mobile @ B-Ham, 7:05 CT, Poreda (0-2, 5.00 so far after promotion) gets the start Winston-Salem and Salem are scoreless in the 1st. Ely (3-7. 3.94) started. Lexington @ Kanny, scoreless in the 3rd. Rice (5-5, 4.76) starts for Kannapolis. Bristol @ Pulaski, scoreless through 2. Joucer Martinez (1-0, 2.61 in 2 starts) is going for Bristol. Great Falls @ Billings, 8:05 CT, Daniel Hudson (0-0, 0.00 in 7 IP) starts for GF

Dumb. And even if they think its a valid concern, fine... just change that one damn word.

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Jul 1, 2008 -> 03:43 PM) Nope, not even close. Cable news has ruined nearly everything. Bush may be a close second, but the ramifications of shoddy journalism and extremism in the news far outweighs whatever negatives Bush has/will bring to the country. Hmmmm. Interesting question you pose here. Which will end up being worse? Bush's Presidency, or crappy journalism? I could see some good arguments either way. This is almost worthy of a seperate thread and discussion.

QUOTE (beautox @ Jul 1, 2008 -> 02:57 PM) two seasons? we acquired him in '06 and he was above average for us, last year the wheels came off for him and Matt Thornton; Matt has been able to put it back together. MacDougal has more ML experience and success than him, like shack said: someone with his arm, past success and contract has some value. Lastly i said June; and i didnt even say tearing it up hes been ok. MacDougal had one very good season (2006), but even that year, signs of his head problems were there (every year, including that one, he's worse in situations like close-and-late, RISP, Runners On, etc.). He was bad in 2007, pretty bad in ST this year, and bad to start 2008. And now he's bad in AAA. MacDougal probably has a little value still, because of his skills. But he's a head case, and he's really only had one good year. He won't fetch much by himself.

QUOTE (iamshack @ Jul 1, 2008 -> 02:47 PM) He doesn't have a ton of value, but he absolutely has value. A guy at his age, with his stuff, signed to his contract, who has done it before in the big leagues will always have value. Believe me, there are takers for him should Kenny choose to move him. My guess is Kenny believes they can right his mind and get him back to being productive again. And it certainly isn't hurting the team too bad to hold onto him for the time being. FYI, his numbers at Charlotte in 20 games: 0-3 5.48 ERA 1.87 WHIP .290 AvgA 6.3 BB/9 Not exactly tearing it up down there.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jul 1, 2008 -> 12:59 PM) FWIW, there are products out there for exactly what you are describing. The CME trades contracts based on the average housing prices in specific US markets. http://www.cme.com/trading/prd/re/uscre.html There also used to be bankruptcy rate futures - not sure if those are still traded.

QUOTE (lostfan @ Jul 1, 2008 -> 01:49 PM) The FISA thing. I'm not sure how that's stabbing anyone in the back. Its a flip-flop, and showed some weak character on Obama's part. I guess to me, backstabbing is something else. Probably just semantic.

QUOTE (Princess Dye @ Jul 1, 2008 -> 01:44 PM) Quintessential for a catch all: Is Wise even fast anymore? I havent really taken notice. He's never been much of a basestealer at MLB it seems. If he's not, then that eliminates the one of the only two reasons (besides leftiness) to keep him here over BA. I think some folks would argue that Anderson could benefit from playing full time, to get the at bats.

QUOTE (bmags @ Jul 1, 2008 -> 01:06 PM) I do, I've never seen that statement. A big theme for the Obama campaign is that McCain is another Bush. I think the "older" part is just obvious and unstated - I don't see them actually saying anything on THAT part.

QUOTE (bmags @ Jul 1, 2008 -> 01:36 PM) There's a post on dailyKos right now by Markos saying why he didn't give to Obama's campaign before the quarter ended last night, and I agree'd with it 100% and last night when I kept getting emails, I decided not to give any money. he'll get my vote, but if he keeps stabbing us in the back unneccessarily he's not getting any of my beer money. Obama stabbed you in the back? How did he manage that?

QUOTE (TCQ @ Jul 1, 2008 -> 12:41 PM) Fine im done arguing its not a big deal. One thing for me is that im all down with sabermetrics but how can u trust range factor that routinely has a 1st basemen with almost double range factors then those of shortstops, and more so for other positions? RF is not meant to be position-fungible.

QUOTE (TCQ @ Jul 1, 2008 -> 12:00 PM) Not including this year where uribe has played almost half as many games as OC at a less challenging position of 2b (Not by much but it is), two out of the last three years OC had a better fielding percentage, fewer errors, and turned more DP's. Some other people have to agree with me because last year Uribe was the starting ss for the sox and cabrera was for the Angels, and Orlando Cabrera won the gold glove at short for the AL last year..not Uribe. Gross numbers like total errors are useless in measuring defense. And double plays are highly dependant on outside factors, so, also useless. FPct is the only stat you mention that should even be considered, and that should be taken with a grain of salt. Uribe has better range all over, and a much better arm. Overall, Uribe is better, though certainly not by a ton.

QUOTE (TCQ @ Jul 1, 2008 -> 12:10 PM) Plz tell me you dont mean Uribe is the best defensive infielder in the organization. He's certainly the best on the team right now. Not sure about the minors, but no middle infielders down there that come to mind are better either.