Texsox

OMG!

Missing work? Grab a lawn chair outside the Chicago stadium on a night that should have hockey, but now nothing is going on inside. Take a touristy stroll under the El Tracks. You'll see plenty of excitement and feel like you are back at work.

If you said you were quiting in two weeks and couldn't work anymore, would you also have to tell your employer you were having hand surgery? Why should they care about the surgery if you wouldn't be working for them? The area I am not clear on is the fact he was out of the season, which happened to be the end of his contract period. If he was still under contract, I understand the reasoning of keeping the team involved. Since he wasn't going to be under contract I could see reasons why the Sox wouldn't want to be involved in his medical decisions. For example, if the Sox suggested a Doctor and the surgery failed, and the player could determine that the team wasn't going to make an offer anyways, would the Sox be liable in some way of sabotaging the players health? Thinking along the lines of "Hell, he's not going to be playing for us, send him to Wacko Jacko the "knee specialist" in Vienna." By staying out of it, the team seemingly would be protecting themselves. Instead of hand surgery pick other treatments. The courts have ruled that a person private medical records are private. From what a labor law attorney told me (and he has no experience in sports) the employer may test if you are capable of doing the job, but not ask about any surgerys. So as long as you can lift that 50 pound sack, they don't need to know you have a mechanical knee. I think the team was very lucky in this situation. Someone mentioned the team was the victor. Easily. I would think Maggs would be eager to work out for teams and raise his value. As it looks now, I am guessing teams are thinking of him as a DH, not an everyday OF. That cuts his market in half. Too bad Boras, you are really going to have to earn your money, and it isn't going to be the usual windfall.

I knew we'd agree on something someday Thank you.

What was the best under $25 grab bag gift your ever received? I dislike office grab bags. I always get the woman who no one knows anything about.

I see how long I can keep them on the phone. I like talking about the weather, ask them if they are a Sox fan. My favorite were the replacement window salespeople. My neighborhood was about 15 years old so we were ripe for picking. If they wouldn't take a polite no thank you, I would start the jokes "you guys are such a pane --- get it PAIN/Pane!!" LOL LOL "I can see right through that offer!" LOL LOL "The other guys offered window treatments, but I thought it was a SHADY deal!" LOL LOL My goal was to have them hang up on me. My grandfather once answered the door and told a magazine salesperson everyone in the house was blind. He kept looking over the guys shoulder. He also told a vacuum salesperson that carpets caused cancer and he had 6 tons of dirt shoveled into his house to cover the carpet. BTW, call centers are a huge industry down here. Cheap, bi-lingual help has everyone from Ticketmaster to Convergys opening up huge centers in closed K-Marts and upgraded Wal*Marts.

LOL actually this one they cannot. It was my knowledge of Mexico that is really helping.

No the worse were the Juco jocks who beat up on the D1. I know, my Cross Country team finished middle of the pack in a 20 team All comers meet. We scanned to see who we beat and saw NIU, and Iowa. You would have thought we just beat Jim Ryan's records We were so stupid.

Before I moved here I would have cared. Now it's about as interesting as if Milwaukee signed him. Although, if they had him two years ago, they're in the WS.

I hate to sound like an old f*** but, when I was in school, it would have ended there and life goes on. Today, I'd be worried the asshole would bring a gun to school. What is really cool is that in the holiday spirit you gave rather than received Zero - Asshole

I just finished my second interview for a position that I would really like to do. They called almost as soon as I left the interview, and are flying my up to Houston on Thursday to meet with their regional management team. It's a major shift into a new industry, but will allow me to mentor, train, and develop a mix of employees from part time high schoolers to full time career minded individuals. I love developing employees and watching them succeed. I even will probably receive a nice cut in pay, so I know some will respect me her for following a passion and not the dollars For my friends on the board, please pray, send good vibratrions, or cross your fingers. For those who I've pissed off, it will keep me off Soxtalk for long hours So everybody wins.

Before it was against the rules, I imagine there were a ton of players. The only person that would really make me sad to find out about is Frank. I've always considered him the best non-juiced power hitter and the best batter in all of baseball for most of his career. If I found out he even juiced once, I may never watch baseball again. That would bring tears to my eyes. Anyone want to speculate on PK?

Now that's a pyramid scheme Don't count another man's money. Don't presume to understand what motivates him. If Maggs said, it isn't about the money, I just want out of Chicago, a couple people would be b****ing about that. Remember A-Rod wanting out of Texas, for less money, and a few people vilified him for that. And when you receive the $14,000,000 you better buy a damn spell check program for here, it't the least you can do. And whichever state you win the lottery in, you cannot ever move away from that state.

All I am thinking of SS for is a safety net. Imagine if we suddenly allowed ten million seniors to starve to death in the streets? That's what I envision if these dire predictions come true.

As long as we are in their homes, their schools, their shops, and traveling their roads with tanks, guns, airplanes, etc. I doubt the Iraqi people feel free to express their true feelings. They understand power, tyranny, and guns. They see pictures of the prison abuse, they see buildings knocked down, and are asked to trust us, that it will be better. That is a huge leap of faith for a society that has no basis in which to understand this "freedom" They have nothing to compare it to.

I guess players cannot make everyone happy. If you found out your employer was trying to get rid of you, how happy would you be? Would you trust your employer again? Did that play into your feelings about Maggs at all? That was before Maggs rejected all offers and said he wasn't going to negotiate until after the season. Loyalty is a two way street in my world. The team showed a willingness to toss him out. Seems fair to me if he decided to dump them first. Do you think he ever looked at Baines number and wondered why he should ever be loyal? And the joy in all this, the Sox may have dodged a huge bullet if he cannot play right. We already have an everyday DH, and at this point I would rather have Frank and his salary at DH then Maggs at what he would have signed for. We should be thanking Maggs for his decision.

Isn't the major investment that SS makes in US treasury bills? Since we are running some big deficits, it may have added a few years. In a strange contra-intuitive way. IMNSHO, we have asked SS to do too much. A roof, medicine, and some food, is about all one should expect. I see it as almost like public assistance. If you want cable tv, play some golf, and do some travelling, you better be savings some of your paychecks.

I have faith in America.

I just got a man crush as YASNY

You are welcome

I do feel some empathy for private people who are thrust into the limelight through no fault of their own. The Senatorial candidate (Ryan?)'s wife comes to mind. Her private divorce records were made public because her ex-husband ran for office. Sometimes a free and open society has it's drawbacks. But as I wrote earlier I believe sunshine is the best disinfectant.

neither works for me. But I agree, I prefer them seeing mild sex scenes to graphic violence.

I assume those that don't know they don't and disregard the comment. But thank you Steff for pointing that out. I do need to be more carefull when shooting a shotgun.

I am sorry I wasn't articulate enough to make the point a long time ago To recap I was not saying Maggs number should be retired I was not saying Maggs should be signed I am saying I respect a human for wanting to work for someone else I am saying I respect the team for deciding they no longer want a player I am saying Maggs should be given a hell of a lot better treatment than he gets here. I am saying I want players who are competitive enough to negotiate thier best contract. I am saying I want players to shut up and live with the contract once it is signed.

The numbers are irrevelant to my point. I think Sox fans would show a hell of a lot more class by saying "Maggs was a great player while he was here, he played with a lot of heart, and gave 100% to the organization. Too bad he couldn't spend his career here and we wish him the best of luck." That's the high road. Instead [a couple people] whine and b**** and talk about our best player over the last few seasons as a selfish, greedy, SOB. Nice way to treat the guy and nice way to present a positive face to the world. Who wants to follow a team who has a bunch of assholes playing for them? edited to say "a couple people" instead of "we"