Texsox

QUOTE(Steff @ Jan 7, 2005 -> 01:04 PM) The guide also gives advice on how to live unobtrusively in the United States, advising illegals not to beat their wives or go to loud parties because either action may attract the attention of police. Well thank God they were told... :rolly Taking away for a moment that they are here illegally. Aliens are much more likely ro be victims of crimes than to commit one. They are also almost never going to report it. In many ways they are ideal neighbors. No noisy parties, no domestic disturbance calls on them, no complaints about the loud World Series party we will be throwing this October. It is a shame we have diverted serious attention here, as if it was somehow going to stop terrorism. The terrorists came in from Canada. BTW, Candians are allowed longer stays and easier access to the US than Mexicans. If we want to tighten up the borders why not start by restricting Canadians entry and VISA requirements like we do Mexicans. Perhaps because most Canadians speak English and are White??

QUOTE(YASNY @ Jan 7, 2005 -> 12:47 PM) Will you be singing the same tune in July, or will the song be "God Damn Cheap Ass White Sox Didn't Do s*** To Improve The Team"? Of course we want it all we are the loyal and long suffering fans

QUOTE(YASNY @ Jan 7, 2005 -> 12:49 PM) OK... I can usually figure these things out, but WTF is IMHAOIO? Thank you for asking In my humble and often ignored opinion

QUOTE(YASNY @ Jan 7, 2005 -> 12:43 PM) Considering the unadulterated joy expressed here over the signing of AJ, I thought it was time to come back down to earth a bit. That's why I made my post. As for expecting ELo to anchor the staff... maybe that was a little strong. But if you consider the guy won 21 games, finished second in the CY Young voting and was in a walk year on his contract, you'd figure he'd give us more than he did. ELo thought he had his engraved invitation to a contract to die for based on his 2003 season. I guess he's questioning his judgement .... and I'm questioning his effort in '04 ... of the current situation now. We should have gotten 17-18 wins from Loaiza, minimum. He had Wilson Alverez disease and was too lazy to throw his best fastball consistantly. That became apparent to me at the All Star game. he was chucking it at 93-94 mph in Houston and we were seeing 88-89-90 from him in Chicago. The Yankees soon discovered the same thing about him. I think you're analysis was solid. IMHAOIO, the Sox addressed some weaknesses by weakening strong positions. Balance in baseball is usually good. Building a team around a manager seems a little strange, but I'm willing to cheer for a couple games (maybe more)

One of the factors to consider is how interested is he and his family in moving to the US, even temporarily. This could be a "I'll do it if the money is spectacular" situation. For the same money playing in front of friends and family, maintaining your family values, etc, may be more important. How much would it take you to move to South Dakota? Mexico? France? Japan? If that is the case, this may be a hopeless cause.

QUOTE(AnthraxFan93 @ Jan 7, 2005 -> 12:28 PM) Wait a sec..You thought Loiaza after one good year could anchor our staff? And before that year could not win more than 12 games, and at the end of 03 was getting toasted by the Twins? I said that if he won 12-14 games in 04, I would have been happy. WE didn't really take a loss with him. As far as the topic at hand.. I give the Sox a C.. since this team can be really good/ or repeat prior years/ be even worse than before. I was expecting Elo to drop a little to 15 or so wins and Mark to move up to 17 or 18. Others were expecting more from Elo and with good cause. Months of rest for one. Imroved offense for another. I don't think it would have been crazy to believe Elo would be the #1 starter for another season.

QUOTE(mreye @ Jan 7, 2005 -> 12:16 PM) I saw one of the booklets on TV and it also had stuff about how not to get caught once in the US. That sounds like more than survival to me. Yes, there was more. Plus the unofficial guide is Don't complain. Don't commit a crime. Don't report a crime. Don't take a sick day. Avoid government officials. Don't visit a Doctor or Hospital. Don't interact with Gringos. Keep to yourself. Bribe anyone and everyone. I cannot support the stuff beyond how to safely arrive in your destination and what to do if caught if it is go quietly, be polite, be respectful. Evading is wrong and puts US law officers at risk.

QUOTE(NUKE_CLEVELAND @ Jan 7, 2005 -> 12:06 PM) Obviously something was broken if something like this was allowed to happen. Measures needed to be taken and they were and despite all the "they're coming to take me away!" hysteria I think we're better off for it. Nuke, I hear what you are saying but consider this . . . If we are looking for safety and protection from criminals we could go even farther. Take away every gun and lock anyone up who possesses one. Automatic, no appeal. Buy too much fertilizer, go to jail, no questions asked. Complain against America or our government, get locked up. Have strict laws on who can get on an airplane. Some people would be willing to outlaw guns in the interest of national security. They probably don't own one. Some people would be willing to outlaw fertilizer, they don't grow crops. Some people think "America Love it out Leave it". So giving away their right to criticize the government makes sense. But of course these are too extreme. So we start to draw the line. Is probable cause something we want to keep? If you have nothing to hide, you don't mind the government knocking on your door and coming in at 3 am do you? Yes, something went wrong on 9/11. Something goes wrong when a kid is gunned down in Houston in cross fire between two gangs. Something goes wrong when a gay kid is tied to a post and beaten. Something goes wrong when a black man is tied to a bumper and dragged to his death. Something goes wrong when Enron can implode and leave thousands without a job, insurance, or retirement. But we don't always need to erode our freedoms to fix them. Applying what we already have may work. An automatic forfeiture of our freedoms is not the right approach. BTW, kudos on Arizona and being warm this winter.

QUOTE(jasonxctf @ Jan 7, 2005 -> 12:03 PM) on a side note, do you realize how dependent our country has become on cheap labor? If we were actually successful in curbing or eliminating illegal immigration from Mexico, our economy would go in the toilet. Actually most of these workers are making minimum wage or better. As the border becomes tougher to cross, the supply of workers drops, the demand stays high, and wages increase. But even with higher wages, US citizens do not want to be field workers following the harvest and living in sub-standard housing.

QUOTE(NUKE_CLEVELAND @ Jan 7, 2005 -> 12:00 PM) If that's the case then they should be discouraging them from going in the first place. Bush is wanting to set up a guest worker program but until that happens, if it ever does, there are still ways to do that sort of thing without hiking across mountains and paying some asshole an insane amount of money to cross. The point of the booklet was, don't do it, but if you make the difficult decision to do it, here are the dangers and here are some tips to survive. I do not like the blatent disrespect if them doing it this may. There are many good survival manuals that could be translated and made available for the wilderness survival aspect. We are in the middle of trials involving the deaths of 17 people who were being smuggled in a truck trailer. These people paid thousands of dollars to be smuggled into the US. Are they going to be system administrators? school teachers? retail workers? Nope. Field workers, packing shed workers, assembly line bots. How bad must their lives be to view that as an upgrade? How desperate must they be? And we have employers who are willing to risk hiring them. Not because they wortk cheaper, illegal wages are increasing as well, but because our low unemployment rates have made some jobs impossible to fill. Many employers of these workers will pay at least minimum wage both because of a fear of getting caught and adding proof the employer knew the worker was illegal, but they pay better because of competition.

QUOTE(NUKE_CLEVELAND @ Jan 7, 2005 -> 11:56 AM) It's funny you should call this administration weak when you're one of the ones whining about how heavy handed it is all the time. The Patriot Act is far from a "weak" approach to fighting the war on terror. This was designed to put more tools in the toolbox of Law Enforcement to track these people down and if that bothers some people then oh freekin well. The perception that our freedoms are eroded by this act is exactly that. When I see an FBI agent or 3 parked across from my apartment building because I clicked on one of LCR's wacko leftist website links then I'll worry about it. When this act took effect day did not immediately turn to night, storm troopers in brown shirts with armbands that read "W" didn't start appearing in the street kicking in people's doors. Again we are admitting to the world that our way of life in pre-9/11 wasn't working and we needed to curb our freedoms to make it work. We must have had too many freedoms. I wonder, when we are finished, if we will be closer to the freedoms that Iraq had. The freedom to praise the government. The freedom to praise the military. The freedom to allow 24/7 searches without probable cause (hey what do you have to hide?). The freedom to spend 25 years in prison for pointing a laser pointer at a plane. Imagine if Hussein locked up a dissident for 25 years for pointing a laser at an airplane. It would have been justification of how he abuses his people. Sorry, the give up some of your rights because you are innocent, argument is weak and anti-American.

QUOTE(NUKE_CLEVELAND @ Jan 7, 2005 -> 11:48 AM) Fair enough, but does that mean we should not use it in other cases where it can be applied? If we have a tool in the toolbox to deal with something we should use it. To be able to keep the tool, it must be properly maintained and used in the proper manner. If you keep using a tank to go to the corner and pick up lunch (which seems like fun at the drive-thru) eventually it's going to be taken away. When the public sees an obvious miscarriage, there is a problem. Plus, we really cannot allow our government to get out of control. The one nod towards winodj's comments is this could be used to up the Patriot Act scorecard. See we successfully prosecuted someone.

That would be in everyone's benefit. I doubt that mosr people understand that the bulk of illegal immigrants are just here to do some dirty work, send money home, and sneak on back by winter. It's easy to rally against these workers and ignore the bigger potential threat. The legal immigrants/terrorists who are able to obtain research jobs, and other positions that place them into positions to really do some damage. Illegal Juan picking lettuce in Iowa is less of a potential danger than Legal Juan working at Microsoft. I do agree this was a mjor PR mistake by Mexico. I know they are saddened and worried about their people risking their lives to come here and want to help. Their argument is the same as those who want to place condoms in High Schooler's hands. Hey, you know and we know they are going to do it, let's keep them safe. I would prefer that Mexico's economy grew to where this would be unneccesary.

Part of what happened could not be blamed or credited to KW, the injury and not signing Maggs. I can't give credit for KW dodging that bullet. Once again we are going into the season with more than a couple question marks Frank's Health? New Players at catcher, left, and right? 40% new rotation? Zero continue? Catcher - Pitcher chemistry (the most important chemistry IMHAOIO) We are better balanced this year. I just see a huge ? in the 3-4-5 spots in the line-up and that worries me. Maggs - Frank - Lee was very solid with 3 All-Star caliber players.

QUOTE(NUKE_CLEVELAND @ Jan 6, 2005 -> 03:02 PM) Happy Republican. I like what Bush wants to do with SS & tort reform and I also like the fact that the national party is as strong as it has ever been. Too bad the Illinois party is a flaming wreck though. Nuke, you must not have gotten the memo. Starting in 1994 Pat Buchanan mandated that the GOP could not be described as flaming in any context. It was part of a family values, Moral Majority, thing. I kind because I care ™

QUOTE(winodj @ Jan 7, 2005 -> 11:17 AM) Do you know how difficult it is to blind someone with a laser beam from several thousand feet through a refracting windshield? The answer is, pretty damn difficult. Even if one of the pilots would be temporarily physically blinded, there is a second person on board who can take the controls. There are also other guides and controls which can easily be used without sight to stabilize a plane. In 2002, there were over 50 separate incidents in the Las Vegas area of errant lasers "blinding" pilots from casino light shows. Why weren't the special effects directors given the same penalty? Pure and simple, this is a weak administration propping up a weak approach to a war on terror by strongly prosecuting someone with no connection to actual terror. It's the laser pointers we should be afraid of, not the frightening availability of shoulder fired anti-aircraft missiles. Weak. 50?! I'm not going to go so far as to blame Bush and anything much higher than a regional FBI office. But we will see.

QUOTE(JUGGERNAUT @ Jan 7, 2005 -> 11:08 AM) CWS fans seem a need to b**** about everything. Look at the facts please. KW used the bad rep stuff out SF to drive AJ in to a 2.25/1yr deal. I did not know about the arbit eligible situation. With that being the case AJ was in no position to ask for a multi-year deal. He has that bargaining power next year & not this one. All I know is this guy was a major factor in beating us when he was with MIN. Now he's on our side at bargain prices. Not bad for landing one of the best hitting catchers in the league. The only think that bothers me about this is KW's comments seemed to suggest the winning margin was 87-92. Where did he come up with 92 wins? I don't think 92 wins will beat the Twins for the div crown. He's underestimating Santana, Radke, & Silva if he does. 92 was Minny's totol from last year.

QUOTE(mreye @ Jan 7, 2005 -> 10:41 AM) While I like I good debate and think it's counterproductive to agree on absolutely everything, I couldn't agree more, Tex. The built in balances have been, IMHO, our best tool for growing into and staying a Super Power. And I do apreciate that in some areas both parties have been willing to compromise. I would just like to see more. I keep praying for a McCain - Lieberman ticket in 2008. I'd be going door to door for that one. There are probably a couple other GOP_DEM tickets that could be made and embraced. What would really make it interesting is if it was an independant ticket not a DEM inviting a GOP or vice versa

As I was trying to summarize the off season and money gone and money added I realized part of the balancing act is any money saved for mid-season pickups. At first I was thinking screw saving anything for mid season, let's blow this away out of the gate, then I realized we are thin in a couple areas and hoping on Frank healing. Perhaps it does make sense for KW to reserve more than a couple million for mid season stuff depending on who is having a break out year and who is having a :puke year.

QUOTE(Leonard Zelig @ Jan 7, 2005 -> 09:01 AM) I think we need somebody who can play SS & 2B, and Iguchi doesn't. Right now we have no backup SS or 3B(besides Uribe), do we? Isn't Burke theoretically the back up 3B? Now that is also clouded.

QUOTE(YASNY @ Jan 7, 2005 -> 12:41 AM) To whom it may concern, I want to offer an across the board, so to speak, apology. I, in no way, considered the discussion between jackie and I as a battle royale. In my eyes it was a lively discusion between two people with differing opinions. And, may I add, a discussion I was enjoying while in progress. However, I saw that most perceived it as a battle and for that I am truly sorry. To jackie, If you felt you were under attack in any way, shape or form, I offer a personal apology to you as well. That was not my intent. Sincerely, YASNY YASNY, There are some topics that some posters use to continue old stuff and to just hear themselves argue. No bid deal. This was just tossed way higher in the air than it needed to be.

IMHAOIO, next will be the ACLU petitioning an "Activist Judge™" to throw out the case. Of course the GOP Radio Nation will be up in arms that the liberal commies are trying to protect terrorists by weakening the Patriot Act. :headshake And the band plays on, and we are no safer today than 4 years ago, just more fearful and with less rights and freedoms. What I would like to see is for our nation's best interest the DEMs and GOPs drop the partisan b.s. and private agendas.

QUOTE(EvilMonkey @ Jan 7, 2005 -> 10:13 AM) I don't like early voting. I don't like it being made 'easy', just so lazy assholes can take their sweet time to vote. It is a right and responsibility to vote, the polls are open for a long time on the voting day, and it is not like that day just 'sneaks up' on anyone. I dislike it because of any last minute stuff that comes up in campaigns. However, it is not much different than absentee voting, which has to be completed well before hand. It has increased voter turnout in Texas. You can avoid long Election Day lines. Have a more relaxed time. People are busy, voting foesn't sneak up, but other responsibilities do. Spending 2 hours in an election line is not the best use of my time, perhaps for you and your employees it is.

http://www.forums.mlb.com/n/mb/message.asp...g=11934.1&ctx=0 Wow. I dropped by to read their take on AJ and saw this thread. Damn, I was shocked.

Damn Damn Damn I am starting to believe in the 2005 Squad