iamshack

I've always thought you really have to look at the kind of men that become priests. I really have a difficult time believing that these men were all genuinely "called by God." My mother was a nun for 2 years because she wanted to get the hell out of her house and away from her mother. I think a lot of men sought out the priesthood because it offered them a sanctuary away from the problems and difficulties of modern life. The fact that they are required to remain celibate only exacerbated their strange tendencies. 3 BILLION in settlements! Incredible! And their still sitting on so much prime real estate across the world...

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ May 18, 2011 -> 10:02 AM) You have to stop the other guys. Dirk's shot is pretty much unguardable at this point in his career. It is up to him whether he's gonna be good or bad. However, you can still play physical with him and try to do other things to get in his head. Agreed. Most teams with a superstar are actually worse when that player takes a ton of shots (this usually means the other players aren't doing much). The Bulls were usually much more beatable when MJ took a ton of shots, they are the same way with Rose. Again, this is probably symptomatic of the rest of the team doing very little, but if the Bulls can shut down Terry and Marion and Kidd, then Dirk can score 50 every game and it won't matter.

Good effort by Danksy to work through the 6th inning when he clearly didn't have his stuff today. Let's pick up some games on the Indians now!

QUOTE (Art Vandelay @ May 17, 2011 -> 09:16 PM) Ok people, here's my scenario... I had a phone screen interview with Company A on Monday that I thought went very well. The recruiter and I really hit it off, and she is going to get back to me later this week after discussing me to the local hiring manager to let me know if they want me to come in for an in-person interview next week. Here's my problem. I have an in-person interview on Thursday this week with Company B. And I think based on a conversation that I already had with the hiring manager and HR that there is a good chance I will be getting a job offer. I would really like to interview with the Company A too though, but I don't yet know if that will even happen. If it does, it could mean more money and possibly a better position than Company B. What do you do in this situation? Is there really some way I could get Company B to give me time to think it over while I go and interview with Company A? Mind you, I have been out of work since April last year, so I really don't need to be turning down job offers right now but of course, I want to give myself the best opportunity. I also don't think it would be very wise to tell Company B that I also have an interview planned with Company A. Thoughts? I would see how the interview goes with B. If B makes you an offer on the spot, I'd tell them you'd like the weekend to consider it. See if A calls to set up an interview during that time. If so, I'd try and set it up ASAP. Maybe you could get an interview scheduled for Monday morning. You've got to be able to explain that you are very interested in the position, but that you've got another offer on the table. Problem is, that's not something you can say until you at least do the interview. It's bad timing, but I agree, you can't pass up A to wait for B. Best you can do is try to get in a position where B realizes they have to move quickly because they want you, but you may not have that luxury.

Haha, yeah, it is a bit progressive/grungy in some areas for me, but what are you going to do... Thanks guys!

Had my interview in Portland yesterday. Great city. The office is located in the Pearl District, which is pretty similar to some areas of Chicago, perhaps some streets in Lincoln Park. Buildings they are leasing space in are very cool, offices were modern yet mixed into a historical foundation (brick walls, hardwood floors, etc.). I interviewed with 4 people, all separately, which I found to be better than the "everyone tag teams you at once" approach. Then they brought me over to the actual room I would be working in. Very cool...got to meet a few members of their team, which is a diverse mix of people from different backgrounds. People from the marketing side of the industry, meteorologists, and even a former air-traffic controller. Think I did about as well as I could have. Felt like I made a connection with all four people I interviewed with. Most of the questions were fairly easy; I felt like they were putting the ball on the tee for me much of the time, versus trying to trap or trick me. Of course, I refuse to simply say whatever it is I think they want to hear, and go with a more honest approach. Sometimes it works, sometimes I guess it doesn't, but when I was on the other side of the table, I always looked for honesty rather than someone just trying to schmooze me. Said a decision will probably come towards the end of the month. Obviously, things come up and they have other duties other than just hiring employees, so sometimes these timelines don't exactly hold. So who knows. Just feel good knowing I did my best. Explored the city a bit with friends afterwards. Had some great food, visited some great bars, and walked around and saw all the local stores and restaurants, etc. Very cool city. Saw my friend's place as well, which is up on a hill and has an amazing view of the city below and Mt Hood off in the distance, as well as the Willamette River. There are some things I would miss about Vegas, but I really miss the culture in Chicago, and going somewhere like Portland, that offers a bit of that culture, along with a more vibrant base of young professionals would definitely be something I could enjoy. So now I wait...

QUOTE (bmags @ May 15, 2011 -> 11:46 PM) Haha, I was surprised during the game when they said boozer gave bosh bulletin board material, b/c all the comments from the bulls leading up was the most respectful talk i've seen in the playoffs. If we can pull this off, i'll take the time to really celebrate deng. It is really hard to ask someone to play that hard on defense and execute that big on offense. He's killin it. I had so much to say about this game, but it would take me hours. I spit most of it with my roommate. But the #1 thing, the thing i was most worried about but knew to be true. The bulls are a much better team when they need their energy to help push them over the edge. If they are facing a team who has more scoring talent or whatever, and they need to just play at a higher energy level, they ignite. But more than that, that's probably just a part of it. It was so hard before this watching miami to play and imagine really containing their offense. But beside our amazing help d v. iso, I didn't realize how much our bigs would dominate on the glass and offense. You could see in taj and noah and asik and boozer that they were just like "i'm getting guarded by jamaal magloire? ha". It's just one game, but i do really like to see taj, noah, boozer and asik be that confident against their matchups. And f***, it was nuts, but the heat oculdn't take advantage of the KORVER matchup! Our help was so strong that we could leave him on the floor. What a game. Even rose didn't do that bad against wade. Yeah, they definitely seem to play to the level of their competition. Forgotten in all these slobberknockers against the Pacers and Hawks, at least by much of the national media, is how well we played against the elite teams in the league this year. This is going to be a kickass series. BTW, did the font change for anyone else, or did I accidentally hit a button somewhere?

QUOTE (bigruss22 @ May 15, 2011 -> 11:04 PM) I know Im a stickler when it comes to the farm system We've lost out on a few major pieces, Miggy Cabrera, AGon (couldn't really give up Beckham, didn't have the other pieces), and what we have gotten are guys usually past their prime or with big risks associated with them to help drive the price down. Yeah, we've missed out on a few guys, but given that both of those guys are 1b, and PK continues to look pretty darn good himself, I don't beat myself up too much. I still look at having Danks and Floyd, Alexei, CQ, Santos, Contreras, Jenks, Thornton, now perhaps Humber...all for basically nothing...I feel like he has atoned for some of his bigger mistakes by getting those guys. Not a lot of other GM's have made as much from very little as Kenny has.

Have to love our humility. Deng just shut down one of the best players in the NBA (if not one of the best stat sheet fillers of all time), and he has the intelligence to say "I didn't do anything. He just had an off night." And of course Derrick is always very humble. Hard not to love this team.

Seriously, we won three straight series in parks that usually give us hell. I am pretty excited by what we saw these last 10 days. We're 7 games under .500. We can get back there in a 3 weeks or a month. Then we have 3.5 months of baseball to make a race for this division. The worst is over and this thing is turning! Woot!

QUOTE (bigruss22 @ May 15, 2011 -> 09:56 PM) It's all fine and dandy that you're going down swinging, but you're swinging with a mini-bat with the depth of what you've got to trade with. I always enjoy when you join in this discussion, Russ. And I really think that is a legitimate argument, except for the fact that we always seem to get a major piece if we want it. Someone always seems to step up unexpectedly and fill the role of sacrificial lamb, whether it be McCarthy, Hudson, De Los Santos, or whomever. This year it looks to be Petricka?

Look at the photographer in the blue shirt on the floor. One of these things is not like the others, One of these things just doesn't belong, Can you tell which thing is not like the others By the time I finish my song? Did you guess which thing was not like the others? Did you guess which thing just doesn't belong? If you guessed this one is not like the others, Then you're absolutely...right! It's as if he got caught looking through his lense and missed it. Edit: Or maybe he's just really stoked he got the shot. I guess it would be pretty funny if he had his Canon swinging in the air, too.

QUOTE (Chicago White Sox @ May 15, 2011 -> 10:35 PM) I agree with this, but at the same time he supported the decisions to DH Kotsay, start Wise, and have Pierre leadoff despite being terrible. As much as I like KW, I can't give him a free pass for decisions an entire message board can quickly tell are stupid. Something changed with him. Maybe it was his divorce, the Wilder fiasco, or something we don't know about, but he's been making more poor decisions lately than good. I'd like to give him one more chance, but we continue sit here with the same manager trying to play NL style in a bandbox in the AL. His refusal to make any changes is my last straw with him. I think I'm finally ready to try something different. Juan Pierre did not hurt us last year. His defense was enough to justify his position in the lineup last year, IMO. This year, yes, he is hurting us. I think both Jerry and Kenny would have done things differently last year, but chose to give Ozzie a shot at having a bit more say in the team he wanted to put together. JR said something to the effect of "How can we hold Ozzie accountable if we don't allow him to have the players he wants"? Then he went out and gave him a contract extension this offseason. I put last year more on Jerry and Ozzie, to be honest. That being said, Kenny has made some poor moves, and this is a result of his ultra-aggressive nature. I guess maybe it's just my personality though. I remember the Ron Schueler era, and having players become available, and we were never part of the discussion. Then Kenny came and we are ALWAYS part of the discussion. I guess I just like that excitement and the aggressive nature. I'll go down swinging year after year rather than sit around and wait for the prospects to pan out in some perfect storm ala Bill Stoneman. I know a day is coming soon when Kenny will no longer be the GM of this baseball team. And who knows, maybe we'll be a more successful club when that happens. But I know one thing - it probably won't be nearly as exciting to be a White Sox fan in the offseason and around the trade deadline when that occurs.

QUOTE (oldsox @ May 15, 2011 -> 09:26 PM) Pro Kenny people quickly bring up the Danks trade. Okay, I'll admit, that trade was good for the Sox. Maybe Kenny just got lucky. The blind squirrel found an acorn. There have been so many bad moves that he has made that are not even discussed any more -- the Everett deals, the Alomar deals, the Swisher deals? Do we remember the infamous Berry/Barry deal with LA? Even though it didn't hurt the Sox, it was a symbol of incompetence. Letting Maggs go with out a draft pick?? Giving up a draft choice for Dunn? All of the lousy picks he made? The state of the farm system? The fact he won't do anything about Pierre in left? There is one word that I will always associate with Kenny: out-negotiated. If he were a politician, he would be unelectable. If he were an executive in a real business, he would be unhireable. I have no idea how he justifies his expensive mistakes to JR. He makes his counterparts look good, and agents must love him. Of course, there will be moves to be made between now and the trading deadline; I hope he does well. It's really easy for you to throw around all these negatives about what Kenny does, and I'll admit, there was a learning curve for a while there. But honestly, he's made a lot of very good moves that have kept the White Sox competitive for the entire course of his tenure. Yes, I'll admit, we have come up short on division championships and playoff appearances. Yes, perhaps Kenny's most glaring weakness, at least to me, is building a TEAM, and not just the best collection of players on paper. But this is where Ozzie has to come in and accept some blame. Ozzie is the one in the dugout and the clubhouse every day who sees how these guys feed off one another, who the leaders are, which players' strengths should increase the ability of the team to win and which players' weaknesses hurt our chances. He needs to be able to tell Kenny what type of player he needs to put together a winning ballclub and what type of player is simply redundant and adds nothing. Yes, I think Kenny should accept some of the blame on that front, but I think that is part of Ozzie's job description as well. Together, they just don't seem to make the best duo and maybe they don't see eye-to-eye or communicate particularly well. But as for Kenny's ability to bring in quality players in that should, theoretically, give us the best chance to win this division year in and year out, I have a very difficult time being particularly critical of him.

I think had KW had a manager like Joe Maddon or Mike Scoscia who would have been able to intelligently partner with him to put together a plan for winning club, we would be singing a drastically different tune.

QUOTE (buhbuhburrrrlz @ May 15, 2011 -> 08:31 PM) This was just one game No, I agree with Balta. If the Heat don't win game 2, they could be in big trouble. They will be literally worn down by games 5-7 by the Bulls bench.

As fun as this game has been, I have a feeling many of these calls are going to be going the other way in Miami. Will be very interesting to see how closely they call the games there. Huge huge huge are the home games in this series.

QUOTE (Milkman delivers @ May 15, 2011 -> 05:22 PM) I don't recall there being too much complaining about the Danks/McCarthy deal. Perhaps you're the one revising history. A lot of people complained. As they did with the Garcia deal. Point is, people tend to forget the great deals and remember the ones that didn't quite work out.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ May 15, 2011 -> 01:33 PM) I think I'd guess that Ozzie thinks he's the most important, irreplaceable player in his lineup. Exactly.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ May 15, 2011 -> 01:27 PM) He has to know something, because if you gave any of us the power to act on Pierre, we'd at least be treating him like how Ozzie is treating Morel right now; playing him sparingly, yet KW has chosen not to force that issue. What he knows that we don't is what Ozzie thinks of Pierre.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ May 15, 2011 -> 01:43 PM) I'd be darn shocked if either team swept the other. Usually, I'd expect DRose and Lebron to pretty much win 2 games by themselves in a normal series. After seeing the Spurs go down to the Grizzlies, the Lakers get swept by the Mavs, the Celtics go down 4-1, I don't think I'd be shocked by anything. Surprised, sure. But not shocked. I think it's hard to say you can expect Rose to win 2 games by himself against a team with LeBron/Wade/Bosh on it, but you may be right...he is the MVP after all.

QUOTE (beckham15 @ May 15, 2011 -> 01:29 PM) everyone talks about how LA got swept, wouldnt it shock the world if the bulls could sweep the heat? i know i know pipe dreams but hey im just saying I don't think any outcome in this series would be shocking...if the Bulls were to sweep, everyone would point to their defense and the fact that they took all 3 from the Heat in the regular season. If the Heat were to sweep everyone will point to the Bulls relative inexperience and the fact that they could not overcome the Heat's experienced Big 3. I suspect it goes at least 6, probably 7. Who wins will probably be determined by the winner of game 5.

QUOTE (Jordan4life @ May 15, 2011 -> 12:24 PM) Bourjos is basically a faster Jacoby Ellsbury with more power potential. And he's going to be dirt cheap for a while. The Angels would laugh at that proposal. I suppose you're right, J....I didn't realize he slugs for .450 or so...probably because he legs out so many doubles and triples that would normally be singles and doubles. Bad idea.

Not that Juan has been good defensively, but I just worry about an OF of Quentin, Viciedo, Rios. I wonder if there is any chance we could deal Quentin for a defensive stud in the OF....maybe the Angels would be willing to trade us Bourjos for Quentin?

QUOTE (Jordan4life @ May 14, 2011 -> 08:44 PM) Jordan. 7-8 times out of 10. Surprising. So you just think Wade would have a huge advantage over Pippen?