iamshack

QUOTE (Kalapse @ Jan 11, 2012 -> 07:00 PM) I guess it starts now: @BradBiggs Brad Biggs #Bears will interview 4 candidates for GM job: Jason Licht of Patriots, Phil Emery of Chiefs, Jimmy Raye of Chargers & Marc Ross of Giants Jason Licht appears to be Robin Ventura in disguise. Glad to see Jimmy Raye on the list.

QUOTE (bigruss22 @ Jan 11, 2012 -> 02:38 PM) That's why I included "implement a smart organizational plan" because to me that includes some of the above skills. But you can get away with some of the other skills too, you don't have to be a huge public figure, yes you'll have to represent the organization in press conferences, etc. But at the same time you can somewhat hide from the media in a large way if you go to a smaller market (Chicago may not be a good choice at all for that, and Oakland may not be a great choice either). Once again, not saying he shouldn't clean up his grammar, but you don't have to be eloquent in football management to be effective. I don't even care so much about his grammar as his seeming inability to articulate his position on the rather simple idea of what kind of head coach he was leaning towards. That said, I trust he is very good at identifying and evaluating personnel, I was just shocked at how unpolished he seemed.

QUOTE (bigruss22 @ Jan 11, 2012 -> 02:03 PM) You don't have to be a word-genius to be a good GM, if he can evaluate talent and implement a smart organizational plan than he will be successful. There is no doubt that as a player personnel guy, talent evaluation is the most critical skill. Your General Manager is more than just about evaluating talent, however. It's about communicating with other organizations, representing your organization, being the face of your FO. My feeling is that Reggie was probably best in the position he just left.

QUOTE (bigruss22 @ Jan 11, 2012 -> 11:52 AM) Overall this was a s***ty job by Rogers, and that's not surprising from him. I know most articles start with some background as to why the system is the way it is, but he spent like 3/4 of the article bashing the Sox and not talking about who they do have. It should be a mix of discussion as to how the prospects got there, and then about the prospects themselves. This gave little to no insight on Sox prospects. This is due to the fact that he has little to no insight on Sox prospects.

Here's a more in-depth look at the press conference: CSN Bay Area The real fun starts around the 6 minute mark

Oh my goodness, would anyone actually want this guy to be GM of the Bears? And Al Davis' son reminds me of Harry from Dumb and Dumber... Raiders Press Conference

QUOTE (Jordan4life @ Jan 11, 2012 -> 08:30 AM) But I thought only Keith Law made disparaging remarks about the White Sox farm system? No, I think it is more like Keith Law only makes disparaging remarks about the White Sox.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Jan 10, 2012 -> 11:33 PM) In a nutshell, she is married to a foreigner. The husband can't get her pregnant (sterile). So...she thought it was best that her child be "bi-racial" so that other Chinese people would accept more easily that he was the father...didn't want to do adoption or sperm bank/donor/scientific method. Says there's "no feeling" that way. Didn't want to adopt...not interested. Wanted to have a child that was her own. Tricky situation. I understand why she would potentially want someone such as yourself to impregnate her (I guess...)...my question is how did you meet her and what has she wanted with you up until this point?

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Jan 10, 2012 -> 02:27 AM) She is very very cute, 170 cm, 48 kg, to American, model thin (I can't remember which poster here was in SHANGHAI last year, but I'm sure he remembers all the Louis Vuitton high society/fashionable women with black glasses, knee high leather boots, mini-skirts and thighs you can put Michael Jordan's hand all the way around)...like the typical idealized version of Chinese doll (cue David Bowie song). Great in sports, university-educated, amazing karaoke singer and classical dancer, runs a real estate office. The problem is that the more time we spend together...well, it gets more and more complicated. Yeah, she plans to move back to her home province when she has the baby and raise the child with the help of her parents...seems the husband is only in China 3-6 months out of the year. And only one sexual partner her whole life, so don't have to worry about the STD angle (have enough experience with that from my time in Russia, South Korea, Taiwan/HK/China, Indonesia, ESPECIALLY Thailand, Colombia and the Philippines!!!) Ok, so why in the hell are you two friends again?

QUOTE (CaliSoxFanViaSWside @ Jan 10, 2012 -> 06:10 AM) One of the most famous pulp heroes of the 20th century, The Shadow has been featured in comic books, comic strips, television, video games, and at least five motion pictures. Not obscure at all. at least to me but I'm older than Caulfield. "Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men? The Shadow knows!" I'm only 34 but a big fan of the old time radio station on SiriusXM, which often airs old episodes of The Shadow. Great stuff.

Wow, I am glad I didn't notice this discussion when I was at work today...I would have gotten nothing done whatsoever! Great discussion guys, especially Russ...I think you're right on in a lot of your thinking, even though we probably differ a bit in terms of ways to build an effective organization. I agree with a lot of things that people on the "development" side of the fence are saying, but I still maintain that there are blatant inefficiencies in that method which remain unmentioned and unaccounted for. Additionally, there are inefficiencies in the free agent marketplace (due to a tremendous swing towards the develop-from-within philosophy) which can be capitalized upon to the advantage of a team that can sustain an above-average payroll. I guess my questions, which I have consistently asked but not really received input on, with the possible exception of qwerty, are the following: a) Have there been studies published which show the economic impact of "A" rated prospects which bust? b) Have there been studies published, whether using anecdotal evidence or historical salary data, which predict the optimum levels of capital allocation across the different levels of a MLB organization? c) Can a MLB franchise using the development model sustain attendance in the top third of the League when it will consistently lose homegrown players to FA or trade them away? I know some of you will raise the point that by winning with the development model, you thereby draw more and thus become able to sustain higher payrolls. However, I think this is a dangerous unintended consequence of the develop from within model, as homegrown players become fan favorites, forcing teams to spend to keep them or risk fan alienation, i.e. Joe Mauer. I'll be very interested moving forward to seeing how the Twins fanbase reacts with what might be an underperforming team combined with the luster wearing off a new stadium. Anyways, just some of my thoughts in regards to the discussion that I never really see mentioned.

QUOTE (MurcieOne @ Jan 10, 2012 -> 06:12 PM) I wish Al Davis' son ran the Bears. Ok, the ESPN radio guys here in Vegas were ripping the Raiders' FO to shreds this afternoon. If you get a chance, watch the press conference...it was extremely...awkward. Reggie McKenzie cannot possibly be as stupid as he sounds, because my word, he came off as freaking stupid... I'm not so disappointed we didn't land him at this point...

QUOTE (bigruss22 @ Jan 10, 2012 -> 11:41 AM) I would say out of simple observations that yea you won't see many if any direct products from concept car shows sold. But the designs, features, etc will be used heavily later on. All those stylings on the outside of concept cars are pretty much what you will be looking at in buying a car a few years down the road, or at least that's what I feel like I've seen in the past 8 years or so (lived near Detroit for 5 years so car shows were huge and newspapers would have full sections on what was there. I remember many of those stylings now being adapted to standard cars today). Damn you, Russ.

QUOTE (Y2HH @ Jan 10, 2012 -> 11:26 AM) Where 95% of what they show will never be sold. Yeah, I kind of view this the same way as I view the concept cars at the car show...it's a miracle if any of it ever actually reaches the market.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Jan 9, 2012 -> 08:11 PM) Jacksonville could be LA in a few years, that job could easily become a very desirable position. Rams I will give you, but Fisher seems to want the coach job pretty bad so he must see something he likes. The Rams job is nice because you have Bradford and Long and probably can trade the #2 pick...but I'm talking about a GM perspective...

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Jan 9, 2012 -> 06:41 PM) The GMs hands are tied at this point if he sees anything staff-wise that he wants to change. Any GM coming in basically has the job of filling out the personnel on the team and that's it. If you get your first GM gig, you don't want to be able to pick out some of your own coaching staff? Sure...but do I want the Jacksonville or Rams job instead? I dunno...I don't think so.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Jan 9, 2012 -> 05:09 PM) After hearing Brad Biggs on Mully and Hanley this morning, I texted the exact same thing to my buddy. And really, the bears painted themselves into a corner with this exact scenario by declaring Lovie untouchable and also promoting Tice to OC and planning to hire a QB coach/passing game coordinator this week. Basically the Bears have told any incoming GM, "we are giving Lovie this year to win, if he doesnt he is gone". What is the point in putting your name on that mess right now? Just let whatever happens, happen. If the Bears fall off a cliff, then the entire front office through the coaching staff are canned and someone gets to come in to do whatever they want. Or, Ruskell comes in, does a good job patching holes, and the Bears compete and everyone gets extended. Either way, Ted Phillips made a horrible decision and told the world about it when he said Lovie was staying and now the Bears job is not very desirable considering the circumstances and the alternatives. It is a GM job, so it is desirable and will be filled, but probably not in the way we fans think it should be. Really? I just don't believe this whatsoever. If I am an up and coming NFL FO employee, I see a charter organization that is relatively well run financially, has a top 10 qb in the prime of his career, an incredible fanbase, and an aging, but talented defense. Oh, and Matt Forte (as much as I still believe he is overrated). I see a successful, soft-spoken head coach that's allowed his offense to be handled by a gimmicky OC, a run-first conservative OC, and Mike freaking Martz. I don't get the hesitancy to work with Lovie. He seems open to anything that will produce victories on the football field. Maybe I'm wrong though...

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jan 9, 2012 -> 01:03 PM) Exactly. Tebow would have gotten the same treatment had Fox continued throwing the ball or if he didn't have a crowd of people asking about him constantly in every press conference/radio show. I'm not sure it is so much about religion, to be honest...I think a lot of it is more the "winner" that CBS and the SEC and the University of Florida and Urban Meyer created, and he just happens to be a super nice, well-spoken kid who loves Jesus and isn't shy about it. I think the Jesus/Chrisitianity thing took on a life of its' own over the last few months, but what got him drafted in the first round and what got him reps in practice and starts in games was the sheer fact that he is extremely athletically gifted and he's won games/championships at an extremely high rate.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jan 9, 2012 -> 10:03 AM) Things I only say begrudgingly; Props to Ball State University. They're apparently building effectively the nation's largest single geothermal heating and cooling system, that will basically take over running the heating and cooling for all of their building pretty soon. Eliminating multiple coal fired boilers, saving them about $2 million a year. My stepfather has been trying to get a geothermal business up and running for years now. There is literally no reason that large buildings or groups of buildings (such as campuses, military installations, etc) should not install geothermal systems. The payback time is fairly short, the financing is very available, and the technology is rock solid.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jan 9, 2012 -> 09:00 AM) And having Jay Williams nearly kill himself right before the league opened up the rules so much that it could have made him one of the top PG's in the league. Yeah, that is absolutely true...and no one thought the Heat would take Wade going into the 03' draft...most everyone had him going to the Bulls at 7, but instead Riley fell in love with him right before the draft and we got stuck with Hinrich.

I finally watched Bridesmaids last night...hilarious...the dress scene alone was enough to make the movie...I was a little underwhelmed by Melissa McCarthy's performance, however...I guess my expectations were raised a bit too high.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jan 9, 2012 -> 09:03 AM) Bred, that maybe true...but at least IMO, a lot of the people with Pit Bulls who cause trouble haven't trained them to be out of control, they just have failed to train/keep them under control. Ok, well I don't want to turn this into the dog thread, but this could be said about almost any breed not in the toy group of breeds...

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jan 9, 2012 -> 08:00 AM) If you add some sort of qualifier..."He played a hell of a game given that he's a first year starter" or "He played a hell of a game given his skill level" or "He played a hell of a game compared to what he did the last few weeks", I'll agree. He didn't play a hell of a game compared to say, Jay Cutler this season. He did play a hell of a game compared to say, Andy Dalton the day beforehand. Drew Brees...now that was a Hell of a game. I suppose you're correct...for a guy that isn't a particularly skilled passer, he played a hell of a game. He completed 5 passes for 35 yards or greater, I believe.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jan 8, 2012 -> 01:50 PM) And people who didn't control their dogs. More like people who bred and trained their dogs to be out of control...

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jan 9, 2012 -> 07:54 AM) "I thought the cop was a prostitute." nope...