southsider2k5

QUOTE (greg775 @ Oct 27, 2010 -> 10:22 PM) Have you guys heard the rumor Sandberg is uh ... dumb? Lacking brains? Somebody said he's not just a boring interview but comes across as a not so intelligent person. Just asking. Ozzie quit school in something like 6th or 7th grade and is a raging moron outside of baseball. He is not the only one I am sure.

QUOTE (chw42 @ Oct 28, 2010 -> 11:53 AM) What I don't get is that some people seem to think that even if we pay the guy league minimum and he gets hurt, it's still somehow a bad move. When Nick Johnson's healthy, he's a very good offensive player. So what the hell is there to lose? I really doubt Nick Johnson gets the league minimum.

Oops. There goes my lunch.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Oct 28, 2010 -> 11:08 AM) Labor unions do a whole lot of under the table dealings also. Yeah I was about to say, I would bet money they have secret arms too.

Kazakhstan is more my style when it comes to former Soviet republics.

Hey, I didn't say I had them, just that it would be funny.

Forwarding his posts to his students could provide a good laugh.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Oct 27, 2010 -> 04:50 PM) If he's signed for basically the league minimum plus incentives, and he winds up on the DL, then he's only filling a DL spot. There were all these same kind of posts last year about him not getting paid a lot, and it only took one team to give him $5.5 million. I get the feeling that some stat-driven GM will give him more than incentives.

QUOTE (Fantl916 @ Oct 27, 2010 -> 04:34 PM) I completely disagree. I can see us going cheap and signing him to be a middle of the order lefty DH. A minimum deal with incentives. Is it a good move? No... Might KW do it if he cannot find better options? Definitely... I know he cant stay healthy for the life of him, but he kinda is exactly what this team needs: a high OBP lefty. anywho not that i like him but i disagree wholeheartedly that we won't look at him. we signed Dye coming off injury, traded for Quentin and Peavy, etc. If he isn't healthy, like always, he isn't filling a spot.

Not a chance. The Sox don't go after really injury prone players, especially at the kind of prices that Johnson will get.

QUOTE (since56 @ Oct 27, 2010 -> 03:53 PM) Make the field bigger? One of the major changes from the old Comiskey to the new was the change from a pitcher's park to a hitter's. Everyone had enough of the cavernous old dimensions. They even figured out the predominance of the wind and set the new park at the best angle for tail winds. They played with the dimensions in the old park and it always looked like crap. Stop looking for a quick fix. Just win more ballgames by playing better baseball. The cell needs ground ball pitchers and home run hitters. I like the idea of the bars, but what if U.S. cellular loses the naming rights? It is crazy to think we are almost halfway through the US Cellular contract.

Anna is pretty hot.

You don't say.

Where the hell is that?

Ukraine is really weak at baseball though.

QUOTE (GoSox05 @ Oct 27, 2010 -> 02:33 PM) How many years in the last 75 years have we not been at war? 75 if you don't count 1945.

Soviets is what they used to be, before they were Russians, and after they were Russians.

Quick, stop them before they move to Brooklyn.

Occasionally fast turtles can be caught.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Oct 27, 2010 -> 01:27 PM) But you can't say they got "Nothing" in return. That is exactly what is said about our run since 2006. how is that any different?

QUOTE (Jerksticks @ Oct 27, 2010 -> 01:19 PM) [/b] But you also can't just say it's a natural ebb and flow of team strength. 2 of these East teams spend considerably more money than the other 3 because they have bigger markets for baseball. I don't see Boston ever returning to the days of mediocrity because they sell such a likable and profitable product now. The Rays have become a force through young talent and the Orioles and Blue Jays might be on their way too; but the Yankees and Red Sox will still always be there because of payroll. It's not a natural cycle like most other divisions. Money isn't an insulator from mistakes. Look no further than 8.1 miles north of USCF.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Oct 27, 2010 -> 01:13 PM) I don't know if I'd say it's gotten them "Nothing". 7 years ago, that team lost 120 games. They were the legit laughingstock of every team in the MLB except for the one team they beat 10 times. They went out from that point saying they were willing to overpay to get back to a level of respectability, and they had to do so repeatedly (IRod, Ordonez). They got themselves a world series appearance out of it, and are now considered a regular player in the AL Central, even if they've struggled to close the deal. The team's value increased from $240 million in 2004 to $375 million last year, according to Forbes. 0 World Series titles 0 division titles 1 playoff birth. Also the teams value is exactly worthless when it comes to how much payroll a team can, or will, spend.

QUOTE (Chi Town Sox @ Oct 27, 2010 -> 08:49 AM) Club sandwiches not sea lions Sea Lions taste better!

Lightning fast turtles would have been cooler.

QUOTE (jasonxctf @ Oct 27, 2010 -> 11:54 AM) i'll be the first to admit that I know zero about FlexSpending. But thinking out loud, if this is correct, isn't the reduction of this credit virtually worthless? Say you spend $40 per month (which is a ton) on over the counter medicine that isnt covered. Your after deduction federal tax rate is say 18%, Again this is after the standard deduction, child tax credits, mortgage deduction, property tax deduction, donations, student loan deduction, etc. That all-in-rate that say a program like Turbotax shows you at the end. $40 x .18= $7.20 per month. That math isn't that simple you are actually having to factor how many dollars you would earn that when taxed would equal the $40 that you spend after taxes. That of course changes with tax brackets. For example if you were to take a simple 20% tax rate, you would actually need to earn $50 in wages, pay the $10 (or 20%) in taxes, to equal that $40 of pretax that an HSA could give you.