Texsox

Decorating. Furniture. Understanding the flow. Learning to entertain small and large gatherings. Landscaping growing in. I think five years is about right in my experience.

I disagree but it may be how you define fan. There are a lot of people who may or may not attend a game based on the buzz surrounding a team. They are not emotionally invested in the team. Sometime they will go to a Sox game, sometimes a Cub game, or may not go at all that year. They make up a significant portion of ticket sales. "Let's go to a baseball game" is their thought process. Later they are called bandwagon jumpers. I believe they are deciding how to spend their entertainment dollars. A movie, weekend in the Dells, nice dinner out, a baseball game, whatever.

Paying the players will help but there will still be the families who want more. The "pay" will need to be the same from each school. So it will be the same pay plus whatever a top recruit may wish to receive illegally. What would stop it is the NBA refusing to sign any players who are caught. Then the risk is too great.

Win or lose I love going to a baseball game. High School to MLB. Winning makes it better no doubt. However, after forty plus years of Sox baseball I just don't expect anything. Apathy has caught up. I believe it was Lipman who mentioned the organization should be happy that fans still care. That is probably the best thought in the thread. Obviously being in Texas I don't get a complete picture of the fan base but from a distance Sox fans have been way more patient than the front office deserves. At least we're stopping at this train wreck and checking the pulses.

I love these. The good, the bad, and the funny.

The ugly side of sports will be on display. It makes me sad to read.

Wow, yesterday one of the captains at the marina was talking about a shark he saw online. His description was really good up until he called it a great white.

Franklin's in Austin is the best in the world. The chef has won a James Beard Award for his BBQ. Expect looooooooooooong lines. Personally, I'd head to Lockhart and double or triple up. Black's is my favorite for the food but Smitty's has a presentation that everyone should experience. https://austin.eater.com/2016/6/16/11954976/lockhart-texas-barbecue-where-to-eat

If you are serious about great Texas brisket an hour drive will get you to two of the best.

Exactly. If you can't win the division win the city.

The question always comes up when teachers go on strike why couldn't it be resolved before school started. Here's an interesting insight from Texas. I signed a contract in May for next year. If I didn't sign, it basically means I'm resigning. Legally I can quit anytime before July 12th without repercussions. Here's the interesting part. I still do not know my wages for the coming school year. Adding to the situation,the Texas assembly a month ago funded additional money for teacher salaries. Most school districts have announced increases of 5% or more. My son and his wife in their district are receiving $5,000 raises. My district still has not made an announcement. It's July 8th. It appears as if they are waiting until we can't legally get out of our contract. Now in fairness we are the highest paid teachers in our area and in my NSHO, appreciate and treated well.

There are a couple of firms out there that pay you to write blog posts. The issue may be the work is per article and to make the best money you need to write fast and on a wide variety of topics. My family was in the transportation industry. Driving a truck is a cool gig if you can handle the solitude and like to travel. I'm not finished, I just need some time to think.

Should we just pin this?

I feel stupid offering any advice because clearly I am struggling to see the IRL person behind your well written, well analysed posts. With the well traveled and varied experiences of the posters here it seems like we could develop a short list of careers that match your talents. Help us out. What would the ideal position look like? For starters I'm thinking that depth, not breadth is your strength. Working on one or two big research, long term, type projects would be better than juggling a dozen tasks. Less face to face interactions and more written communications with colleagues would be advantageous. What else would help? One of my first thoughts is proofreading books.

While this is not really an issue in my sport, it is in other high school sports. Concussions are especially concerning. We have very strict procedures when our athletes are hurt. Yes, even in golf I've been through that process with a player who got hurt.

No, I don't think he's ready. The by product of that is an extra season at a higher performing level. A win for the organization. If he was in most organizations there wouldn't even be a discussion about bringing him up. Most of your argument centers around he's the best in the organization at his position. His readiness, or lack of readiness, should not have anything to do with the players above him. That places the current needs of the team above his development. In the minors his development is the top priority. If that means a dip in production while he experiments, that's ok. Once he starts playing at the MLB level the team winning becomes #1. You want to place the team above the player. With this team, I don't see the need. Keep his development number one.

Many can't fail prospects have failed. I'm going to be optimistic and believe he's going to have a great career. Financially he will eventually become a free agent and sign a huge ass contract with someone else and be set for life. So do I want him playing a season now on a sub .500 team or later on a team that might be good? It seems like such an easy answer I'm surprised it's even being debated.

The revenue sports are the front door displays to the university. It gets the university on a high school kid's radar. It's bragging rights and campus culture. They fund opportunities for the non revenue sports and activities like band. Someone already mentioned the money that visitors and fans contribute. Some athletes use a college as a stepping stone for a career as a pro athlete, most do not. They receive a degree and go on to careers.

I'm a little surprised this.

The ICW through North Carolina has been amazing. I'm loving life on a boat.

I finally used public trans for a game and I may never drive to a game again.

I've always thought there was a good reason each team drafts about 100 players a year. I rarely get excited about prospects. The last time was probably 20 years ago when we had five sure fire Cy Young prospects that all flamed out.

Ozzie? I have never seen a manager, in any sport, quit on his team worse than Ozzie. He managed in a way so that he would be fired and allowed to take a position with a different team. That should never be forgiven. He burned the bridge.

How to be popular with the voters 2019 edition. Be on national TV regularly. Be on ESPN nightly Be a name that has already played in multiple ASG Have glitzy 20th century stats. Be a player that serious fans will vote for. (This is the hardest path and what Sox players usually need.)

I received a great message last night. One of my former players just won the Idaho State Amateur. She's back living there and won a tough one against some really good players. I can't believe five years ago she was a volleyball playing freshman who played golf when that season was over.