iamshack

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Dec 21, 2009 -> 08:54 PM) I'm unsophisticated and you believe everything KW tells you about White Sox money. The proof is in the pudding. They said they had no money and then in June the trade for Peavy and claim Rios. They obviously had money. If they had all this money laying around that was earmarked for player development, like you throw out as a possibility, I ask have they not learned their lesson? If they could develop some players. they wouldn't have the holes they have. I'm sorry but ballpark improvements would be inaccurate for the White Sox. They don't own the park. They don't pay for improvements. They started their other business. It was money for that. There was no cash call. I know that for a fact. Do some research on the IPO non offering. Its pretty interesting, and its not just JR, its every owner. Many of the same guys who own the White Sox also own the Bulls. Look how they operate. They can't even play with a full roster because the organization, one that Forbes estimates made $51 million in profit last year, refuses to sign a minimum wage guy because it will take them over the luxury threshold and while not turning them unprofitable, it will cut into the profit a couple of million. What's funny is when the White Sox paid $5 million to Tucson so they could move to Phoenix, you guys used that as $5 million that couldn't be used on the payroll. I suggested it came from a different source than payroll and was talked down to. Dick, it's not that I believe everything they say, it's just that I don't think they have any reason to lie to us. I trust, through the behavior of the owner and the GM, that they do everything in their power to win. I am not on some mission or crusade to uncover every unspent dollar that may be in the cushions of their couch. For whatever reason, you are.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Dec 21, 2009 -> 08:31 PM) But wouldn't that go against the every dime that comes in goes out line they like to use, especially when they try to make it seem like its for players? If they have extra millions for player development not being used, I would have to question why. BTW, they don't pay for ballpark improvements. You are being absolutely ridiculous. Do you want us to prove that Noah had two of every species on the Ark, too?

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Dec 21, 2009 -> 07:46 PM) They said they had no money. None. Then they said they extended themselves for Peavy which was BS because you know JR doesn't lose money. Then they claimed Rios who I still believe they really didn't want, at least without any salary relief. KW said fans came to the park. It was the $9 Buerhle tickets he referred to. It was BS. The Sox know how many tickets they have sold. They drew 400k less last year than 2007. It was the worst attendance in 5 years. They were cheap. If the money was available in June, it was available in February. They had some guys playing that had no business being in the major leagues and there were bargains last winter with one year committments. Not the crazy 5 year deal they are now stuck with a guy who scouts say packs it in. Isn't it at least possible in your mind that the Sox were sitting on money when they said they had none and spend some or all of it on Peavy and Rios? I'm a guy who had thousands invested in the team via tickets and basically because of the playoff ticket refund policy was held with thousands of others hostage laast off season. I guarantee if the Sox didn't have that money in hand, they never would have pulled the stunt they pulled. But then again the next time you disagree with any thing KW says, it will probably be the first. You probably agree with him more than any other human being. I bet you JR and Rick Hahn disagree with his moves more than you do. You used to use Forbes as a guide for White Sox payroll. What do you say about their estimated $70 million profit the past 4 seasons? As I said before, I don't have a problem with JR turning a profit, but don't say you aren't making money and moan about lack of funds when you are doing a lot better than most. I refuse to believe that you could be an accountant and still be this unsophisticated about how a professional sports team actually operates. I think you pretend to try and advance your crusade.

QUOTE (Flash Tizzle @ Dec 21, 2009 -> 08:06 PM) Explain what other areas they could have possibly relocated money from to pay for mid season acquisitions. Player development, funds earmarked to pay for ballpark improvements, funds from other investment projects, such as Silver Chalice Ventures, future budgets, etc.,. There are a myriad of other areas they could have taken funds from.

QUOTE (G&T @ Dec 21, 2009 -> 06:59 AM) I don't understand the "word processor" choice. Isn't Word a word processor? Doesn't everyone use it? Or did I just make some old people cry? I think they mean those typewriter thingies that had little liquid crystal screens so you could erase and delete and what not...

QUOTE (G&T @ Dec 20, 2009 -> 04:54 PM) Yes. I feel like I'm an awful degenerate who's wasting his life when I have a hangover even though I have nothing to do. I read that it's part of the brain's reaction to alcohol. You sure that's the booze, and not the fact that you're an attorney? I kid, G&T, I kid...

QUOTE (Rex Kicka** @ Dec 21, 2009 -> 01:15 AM) List your favorite albums and songs from 2009. Royksopp - Junior Yeah, the lyrics are sometimes really stupid, but the music is really just incredible. One of the best electronic records I've heard in a long time. La Roux - s/t Screw Lady Gaga, this band is really the best poppy dance album of the year. And the lead singer looks like a tranny Conan O'Brien who's dead on the inside. That's a total plus! The Raveonettes - In and Out of Control I've always loved this band since they appeared 6 or 7 years ago, and this album is a lot of fun. They've left a lot of the feedback behind and made a much more accessible album this year and they're songs are very after school special. It's like a Garage Band High School Guidance Counselor. Passion Pit - Chunk of Change Because I'm a hipster. Gossip - Music for Men I can't believe I love an album that Rick Rubin produced. But still, its punk meets dance pop + Beth Ditto. Hess Is More - Hits These guys are from Denmark and wacky. I saw their first ever show in the US and they gave me a bell to play, and the asian backup singer wrapped up members of the crowd in packing tape. But the music is really really well put together. Phoenix - Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix I think if you took the best part of the first three albums that Phoenix did and put them together, you'd get this album. For what they do, its just about perfect. In fact, they should break up now - before they ruin it with something less good. No way...I've been a Phoenix fan for about 10 years now and absolutely love their music. Each album has presented a different sort of feel to it, but I have liked them all.

So I apologize if this has been mentioned in the thread (I am being lazy), but I heard this morning that Shanahan is as good as the Redskins coach already. You guys think this is true? And if so, what the hell do we do now?

QUOTE (qwerty @ Dec 21, 2009 -> 12:24 AM) They just don't make movies like they used to... it's that simple. Well, I can see how the critics can love There Will Be Blood and No Country for Old Men, but Children of Men was just completely lame. The only thing I liked about it was Michael Caine and his secret weed factory.

QUOTE (MHizzle85 @ Dec 20, 2009 -> 09:41 PM) I've only heard of 3 people not ever liking "Children of Men" including myself. (Yes, the other 2 are iamshack & KyYle) Everyone I know raves about this film. I watched it with two of my buddies, and we all thought it was dreadful. Not as bad as "The Fountain," but dreadful.

QUOTE (G&T @ Dec 20, 2009 -> 09:25 PM) I'm about to get a dog actually, so thanks for the info. We have used Hartz for 13 years on my dog back home. Never a problem. watcha getting?

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Dec 20, 2009 -> 09:17 PM) So they are crazy if they spend, and cheap if they don't. Got it. Duh.

QUOTE (spiderman @ Dec 20, 2009 -> 09:12 PM) Perhaps the White Sox believed that Pierre was a clearly better option than Crisp or Podsednik and/or combined with speculation on my part that they were asking for more money than the Sox were willing to pay. I think Podsednik wanted more money, and I think they were concerned about the injuries with Crisp.

QUOTE (chw42 @ Dec 20, 2009 -> 08:01 PM) Yeah right. I don't think players want to play in Oakland. Yeah, I actually think he would have come here for less. $3-4 million, and I think he would have signed.

QUOTE (SockMe @ Dec 20, 2009 -> 12:17 AM) I met Fergie Jenkins today....................................... We're happy for you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

QUOTE (JPN366 @ Dec 20, 2009 -> 09:56 PM) That supposed to bug me, jerky? So you think I'm funny, eh? Funny like a clown?

QUOTE (JPN366 @ Dec 20, 2009 -> 09:45 PM) I want everything to be linear or symmetrical. No clutter. YeAh, THat STuFF DriVEs Me cRaZy ToO

QUOTE (Ranger @ Dec 20, 2009 -> 08:09 PM) Shack, I use phrases like that for people that are absolutely confident in themselves that they have better answers than the general manager. Sometimes people don't understand and not all ideas are good ones. And if anybody is able to, with any real-world certainty, provide a different plan with real names and real salaries to fill ALL of the holes the team needed to be filled and within the budget, I'd be happy to listen. I'm not arguing these are exciting moves, but given what they have to work with, I think they've done about as well as can be done so far without going over budget. Mr. Rongey, I am actually siding with you on this one, I like the moves, I think I understand them, and I think they'll work out for the best. I was not a fan of signing Matsui or Johnson. That being the case, I think guys like Kalapse, Voros, OzzieBall and Gatnom have made some great points that we overspent on a few of these guys, not necessarily when viewed individually, but when viewed on the whole. The best point, in my opinion, is whether the impact a full-time player like Matsui might be bigger than that of a part-time player like Kotsay or Vizquel, simply because of the number of opportunities. Voros even went so far as to suggest other players (despite the fact that I have never heard of many of them), and he went through and showed cost savings, etc., etc. So because the guy is confident in his point of view, it's fair to be condescending towards him and then suggest what his reaction would have been in some alternative course of events? Now I understand there are people out there that just complain for the sake of complaining. But you asked Voros to bring it, and he did bring it, rather intelligently and respectfully, in my opinion, and you respond by telling him he would not be a good GM and he doesn't understand how the economics work? What makes you more qualified than he is? What makes any of us more qualified than he is, when not one of us have ever even sniffed a GM job? At the end of the day, we're all just a bunch of guys debating the merits of the offseason, and I think he did it as intelligently as anyone in the thread, if not more. Believe me, I'm not saying we all shouldn't set the loudmouths and blowhards straight, and some people are just so far off their rocker that they deserve to be treated a bit more harshly than others, but simply because someone disagrees with my point of view, or your point of view, does not make them wrong. Neither does it mean they would not make a good GM or mean they don't understand. It means they happen to disagree with us on a point which it has been made fairly clear that reasonable minds may disagree about.

I just find it a bit hypocritical for Delgado to make tens of millions of dollars in this country, probably fairly directly because of a lot of the things he refuses to support about it, and then refusing to stand for God Bless America. That would be like Al Gore being this country's biggest advocate for reducing our carbon footprint, meanwhile living a life of mass consumption and wastefulness, and collecting royalties from a zinc mine on his property until 2003. Oh wait...

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Dec 20, 2009 -> 09:40 AM) You are the first I have heard say this. Massive disappointment seems to be the theme I have been seeing I think maybe I am just a really poor critic when it comes to action films. On another note, did anyone see the movie "Children of Men"? I saw it maybe two years ago and thought it was atrociously terrible. Then I am reading Rolling Stone magazine and Peter Travers calls it the 2nd best movie of the decade. Odd.

Agreed on most counts, Gatnom. I think there is room for reasonable minds to disagree here, and therefore, telling someone they don't understand, or that they wouldn't make a good GM, or how they would have reacted had things been done differently is going a bit far. I hope things work out for the best. Maybe Andruw Jones will turn things around and end up being the bat we are all pining for right now. Maybe Pierre and Teahan have a bit of a renaissance and turn into vital everyday players. Maybe none of this matters because our pitching staff will carry the team all year. But as of right now, there is definitely room for debate that a different approach could have been taken to accomplish more than the moves that were made will. And hey, that's why we're all here to do - to debate the offseason moves - so let's keep it up and enjoy ourselves, because the Bears sure do suck.

I'm going to catalogue all your weaknesses and use them against you all!

QUOTE (bmags @ Dec 20, 2009 -> 06:44 AM) the guy's a liar, terrible writer and an asshole. Figure's he's so popular. Really? How do you mean he is a liar? Like he embellishes, or he just makes everything up completely? And I happen to think he is a good writer, given the audience he is trying to reach and the subject matter...I mean let's face it, he's not writing War and Peace here...

QUOTE (SoxAce @ Dec 20, 2009 -> 05:08 AM) Wow.. talk about a throwback.. I remember this was talked about back in the day a few times actually. SoxFan1 (Slav) loves Tucker Max, kinda got me into it a while back, though I haven't followed up on the stories much anymore. Funny thing is, I always think of your avatar when I read this s*** for some reason... I don't know how I managed to not hear of this before...it's not that it's anything new really...we all have stories like these...but there is something about knowing others are just as morally bankrupt as you that makes you feel better I guess...

So I'm out at the bar several months ago, flirting with some tourist girls here in Las Vegas, and I was being my obnoxious, drunken self, when one of them tells me I remind her of "Tucker Max." I said who? And she goes on to tell me about this asshole guy who gets waaay too drunk and is mean to women and is a total dirtbag, etc., etc. I had never before heard of Tucker Max in my life (I don't watch MTV, where he was apparently featured several years ago), but naturally, I am quite pleased with myself that I am being compared to this character. I managed to look him up after that and see that he has some book out with his stories in it and that there is a movie being made about these stories. And of course, I've seen the beer ad or whatever that's been on promoting the movie, but I never got around to picking the book up. So anyways, I was stuck at the airport on Monday trying to fly back to Vegas, and I was delayed several hours, so I wander into a bookstore to pick up another book (knowing I am going to finish the one I had brought with me thanks to this delay), and I see "I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell." So I pick it up, not really expecting much, but figuring it should be entertaining for the last few hours of the flight and then I can set it on the back of my crapper at home. Well, has anyone else read this book? Not that we all don't have stories like this, and not that this guy isn't a total obnoxious ass, but I can't help but appreciate the way this guy writes his stories. For any of you lawyers or law students out there, you'll especially appreciate some of the legalese he throws in there when describing some of these women and the situations he gets himself into. Never thought I would read the phrase "moral turpitude" after I graduated law school. Anyways, was just curious if anyone else has read the book and what they thought? And if anyone has seen the movie or not...