NorthSideSox72

QUOTE (Athomeboy_2000 @ May 21, 2008 -> 09:56 PM) Over exaggeration of the decade.... I just posted that (except not from Huffington) a few hours eariler, in this thread.

We are re-organizing the threads regarding Wilder and Regier, and inthe meantime, here is the placeholder thread. More later.

If Clinton is supposedly just winding things down, ready to concede, she certainly isn't talking like it. After her Kentucky victory speech, she gave another where she compares her fight to get MI and FL counted to such monumental efforts as getting blacks and women the right to vote. I really think she is still in denial - she thinks she can still win it.

QUOTE (knightni @ May 21, 2008 -> 04:30 PM) How about Mel Gibson being emotional with his mashed potatoes? Maybe they meant something.

QUOTE (FlaSoxxJim @ May 21, 2008 -> 02:58 PM) Meh. The "swing away" bit was cr@p too, but I know a lot of people thought it was brilliant. All the half-full glasses of water were already scattered around the house, but the film wouldn't have been heavy enough if the family just threw the DEADLY STUFF at the alien, Juaquin had to take the bat from the wall and smash the glasses to get the job done. Did you see a different version of the ending than I did? Because as I recall, he hit the ALIEN with the bat first, it fell, the water got on it, THEN they realized that water did the trick. No wonder you hated the ending!!!

QUOTE (Reddy @ May 21, 2008 -> 02:34 PM) why wont they stay that low? we constantly keep hearing "when this offense starts clicking" "when they come around" blah blah blah. It didnt happen at all last year and we're hearing the same things this year. AJ will level off, CQ will definitely level off. And when they do, if those 4 you mentioned haven't turned it on we're gonna be in trouble. and with Kong's hand and Thome's age... i dont see that happening with all 4. Swish may come around and Cab i think will, but... i dont know, i'm not that sure about our offense turning it on. Note what I actually said. I said nothing of the offense "clicking" as a whole, or that AJ or CQ won't come back to earth. What I pointed out was that this offense is already far better than last year's. And further, look at the lineup, and see how many players are above, at, or below their career norms. There are far more below than above. Only 1 is really above - AJ - and he has hit almost that well at times in his career, when he's used this hitting approach. And yet, you've got Thome, Konerko, O-Cab, Uribe, and Swisher all below. Plus Ramirez as a rookie doing badly so far, will likely adjust. So to me, on balance, there is more postive room than negative room there. That's why I think the idea that this team is like 2007 waiting to happen doesn't really make any sense.

QUOTE (FlaSoxxJim @ May 21, 2008 -> 01:15 PM) Sixth Sense > Unbreakable >>> Signs. Even by M. Knight standards, the ending to Signs was really lame. Totally disagree. I thought the ending was great. Signs > Sixth Sense > Unbreakable >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> His other two films

QUOTE (jackie hayes @ May 21, 2008 -> 12:44 PM) Why not require the firefighters to speak English? Presumably because you need 20x as many, so you can't pick and choose as much as you would in an ideal world. If that's the case, having supervisors who speak Spanish becomes a critical issue in terms of job performance and safety, so I wouldn't really have a problem with this. Let's assume for a second that they really can't get enough English-speaking firefighters. I am not sure I fully buy that, but, let's go with it for now. Since you have so many open slots with money sitting around not being paid out, why not pay for some short classes on basic English? Or heck, even Spanish? And why not have language-specific companies, like the UN does with multi-national troops? Laying off or demoting people is just a stupid way to handle this situation.

QUOTE (LVSoxFan @ May 21, 2008 -> 01:19 PM) OMG somebody said "Darin Erstad." Gulp. Just that name brings back 2007 all over again. Yeesh. I still think this team is 2007 waiting to happen, but I will say: I don't recall any six game winning streaks last year; at least not early. Am I right? We were lucky to sweep a series. Why? I mean, the team is playing entirely different baseball, as far as I can tell. What is your reasoning for thinking this?

QUOTE (Reddy @ May 21, 2008 -> 11:11 AM) but yet the offensive woes are the same. what is the one constant? i'm not gonna beat a dead horse but we all know it. No, the offensive woes are not the same. The batting average is similar - that's true. That .247 average is good for 26th in baseball this year, but the OBP is .332, which is 12th in MLB. In 2007, the average was .246 (very similar), but the OBP was .318, LAST in baseball. Also, this year's team is scoring 4.6 runs per game (14th in MLB), whereas in 2007, they only scored 4.27 runs per game (again, LAST in baseball). And my fave... The 2007 team hit .243 w/RISP, dead last in baseball. This year's team is hitting .284, good for 6th in MLB. This offense is already significantly better than last year, and that's despite the fact that Swisher, Konerko, Thome and O-Cab are all playing far below their career averages. They won't all stay that low. Nothing like the same offense.

QUOTE (Y2HH @ May 21, 2008 -> 10:47 AM) From Pershing to 95th -- no thanks. And I've never been the NY, and I probably wouldn't ride the subway in some of those hoods if I knew any better, either. And those lines wouldn't be for you anyway. It would be for the people who live in those areas, getting to work/school/whatever, primarily.

This team may indeed tank, who knows. But its nothing like the 2007 squad. The starting offense is different in 5 of the 9 positions, the starting pitching is different in 1.5 of 5, the bullpen is vastly different. Its just not the same club.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ May 21, 2008 -> 10:09 AM) Palmeiro won a gold glove at 1b and you've got him @ DH and McGwire @ 1b? Gagne closes and that shouldn't even be close. Could really use a CF upgrade. That gold glove was a joke, he played like 30 games there that year.

QUOTE (Alpha Dog @ May 21, 2008 -> 10:09 AM) Multiculturism and all this bending over and taking it in the ass in the name of 'fairness' and 'diversity' will be the end of our country. If the firefighters cannot speak English, they should have never been hired to begin with. They require these firefighters to pass a physical fitness test, be able to lift a large amount of weight, be free of certain medical problems, pass drug screens, and an assortment of other job-related requirements. I see no reason why English shouldn't be one of them. No one is saying they have to speak English at any other time - just in the line of duty, so that, you know, people don't die.

QUOTE (lostfan @ May 21, 2008 -> 10:00 AM) Yeah, but they're talking about it for real for real this time, meaning like if they got funding, it'd actually happen. Of all the possible CTA extensions I think this one is the most needed. It doesn't make a whole lot of sense that the whole South Side isn't covered by rail. Well, that's not the case. Red Line to 95th, Green Line to 63rd, Orange Line to Midway. The south side is not AS covered as the north side though, so that's a strong argument to make. I wonder if that has more to do with expected ridership than anything else, though. Or did you mean that you think rail should cover the whole south side? Because there are all sorts of neighborhoods all around the city that aren't.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ May 21, 2008 -> 09:58 AM) You're missing the point of my post...the suggestion given was that maybe we ought to keep Alexei up when Richar returns since he's now hitting, and that the odd man out would be Ozuna. That's why I started looking for 3b backups...if you drop Ozuna, you don't have one. oooooohhhhhhhh. Sorry.

Well that's just idiotic. I mean, I understand the rule - that the crew boss needs to speak the same language as the rest of the crew. But since English is far and away the dominant language in this country, the requirement should be for the firefighters COMING IN to speak English. Clearly. And besides, as a temporary fix, wouldn't it be better to divide the fire companies by language capabilities, then to lay people off?

QUOTE (lostfan @ May 21, 2008 -> 10:54 AM) My dad told me the CTA is seriously considering extending the Red Line out to 130th or so. Yeah, that's been one that's been discussed for a while. That, the Silver Line (CTA belt line basically), an extension of the Green or Blue to Oak Brook, a single individual light rail from Oak Brook to the BNSF Metra, and an extension of the Yellow Line to Old Orchard. The CTA has talked about all those, but the only one that I've seen actual plans underway for is that Silver Line.

QUOTE (Alpha Dog @ May 21, 2008 -> 10:42 AM) We could fix roads faster, more exit/entrance ramps, less stop lights. My 36 mile commute takes me over an hour each way. And if I leave 5 minutes late in the morning, I can add 25 minutes to that time. And the construction on I-355 has added 10-15 minutes in the morning, and as of today, both the north/south routes that border the expressway are also under construction. On I-55, how about an exit between Rt. 53 and Weber road? That would cut down the backup at Weber road by at least 20%. I try to be flexible with my hours, but I have to be in at 8am to open. I usually stay until 6-6:30, but even leaving then, traffic sucks. I'd rather see the money invested in non-spoke public transit. Get the Star Line, the Silver Line, the Belt Line trains all going, and get more express buses in the suburbs, point-to-point. Link them all up with existing trains. This will directly help all the people who then have a suburban transit option, but also indirectly help everyone else by reducing traffic. Plus use less gas, and encourage new businesses to avoid sprawl and build near transit options.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ May 20, 2008 -> 05:56 PM) Unfortunately, a bench of Alexei, Danny, Anderson, and Hall might look better with the bats, it also leaves us without any reasonable backup at 3rd base, since Lexi and Danny are both SS/2b players. Maybe Lexi could play 3rd some, no idea, but Danny hasn't played it at all as far as I know. Sticking Uribe at 3rd winds up being your only play when Crede's back acts up. I have to disagree with this. People seem to assume that Ozuna is bad at 3rd because he's bad in the OF and at SS. Except, its just not the case. Ozuna is a competent defensive 3B. Not a starter, but an average defender over there. We saw it in 2005, and we've seen it a few times since. Backup at 3B is, to me, one of the least concerns in terms of backups - Ozuna in the short term and Fields in the long term is a decent stack. Of more concern is the lack of lefty bats on the bench, and Hall's shoulder. If Hall starts to have problems again, with Lucy injured, the catching situation is very thin. Philips would have to be the guy.

QUOTE (mr_genius @ May 20, 2008 -> 07:14 PM) I think GW Bush will be fine with stepping aside and taking a minor (if any) public role during the 2008 election. I see him being more of a fundraiser, less of the face of the party going into the election. I'm sure he'll have speaking engagements to raise money for McCain, but I wouldn't expect him to be the centerpiece of the RNC 2008 general election strategy. If I had to make a prediction, it would be that GW gladly remains out of the spotlight for a while. Agree.

Results as of 9am this morning... KENTUCKY, with 100% reporting... Clinton: 459,105 (65%) Obama: 209,771 (30%) Delegates, approximated: Clinton 37, Obama 14 (net +23 for Clinton) OREGON, with 88% reporting... Obama: 331,138 (58%) Clinton: 236,470 (42%) Delegates, approximated: Obama 30, Clinton 22 (net +8 for Obama)

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ May 20, 2008 -> 07:34 PM) There is about a 1% difference between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama policy-wise, yet that is horrible enough that many of one's supporters have said they won't vote for the other. It seems to be a huge deal in the Democratic race. *raises hand* I'm in that category, and it isn't because of policy differences. Its about tactics, personality and management style, where those two are polar opposites.

QUOTE (Y2HH @ May 20, 2008 -> 04:08 PM) Yes, it does drive up the cost. If these speculators weren't turning profits, ie buying something like an oil contract for less then they sell it for, then they wouldn't be doing it. You don't have to take actual delivery on said contract to inflate its value, eventually whoever does take delivery paid the asking price on that contrat. Im not sure where you got that idea from, but it simply doesn't make sense to say speculators don't drive up prices. If thry aren't driving up prices, please tell me what they're doing? One way or another they affect to final outcome. One could argue that the speculators and the hedgers are, TOGETHER, driving up prices by way of market manipulation. And I'd agree, to a limited extent, that is part of the high prices. But only a small part. It is not, nor can it be, just one or the other. Otherwise, there would be no trades, and no market. They have to meet on a price. That's the nature of the beast.

$129.07?