Texsox

What we are seeing is a redefinition of how people become fans of a team. Prior to the 1990s being an out of town fan was very difficult. Almost no news, very few games you could see live or even on TV. Basically only box scores. You were, or became, a fan of your local team out of convenience as much as anything like family tradition. Today, we live in a different world and becoming a fan of a team is evolving. In out instant gratification society, switching teams is really simple. Change the channel, switch a couple book marks, and you are instantly a fan of a new team. Its a generational thing. I have a couple players on my golf team whose sports allegiances switch from city to city. Spurs, Patriots, whom ever is winning . . . Bears suck? Yeah, they do. Let me pick some team that's winning like you did and we'll debate some more.

Obama follows the sports team in his home town -- boring no story. Obama leaves one out, story. Especially anyone who understands the two teams one city rivalries.

QUOTE (greg775 @ May 22, 2015 -> 11:22 PM) CNN said tonight the bikers may be targeting police vehicles to blow them up. My gawd. Throw all these bastards into prison and throw away the key! Barbaric. Hope these bastard bikers are ready to do the time when they do that crime.

QUOTE (Alpha Dog @ May 22, 2015 -> 10:54 PM) Tex, most of the laws that various anti groups propose are not just for 'establishing the penalties', they are for making more difficult for the average gun owner to be a gun owner. The logic in Moms Demand Whatever screaming that stronger background checks would have stopped this is absurd. Most, if not all, of those bikers are already prohibited persons in regards to firearm ownership, so they can't legally pwn guns. Making it harder for someone like ME to get a gun won't do a thing to stop someone like biker gangs from getting guns. To claim it would would just be wrong. So are you suggesting that because it would not have stopped this, it is a bad law? It's not going going to stop outlaws, no law does. Laws against murder backed with capital punishment didn't stop this. I'm not seeing your point. BTW, many of the people arrested had no criminal history, in fact an AP search revealed that 115 of those arrested had never been arrested in Texas. Almost all of the arrested lived in Texas, so it probably can't be blamed on outside agitators coming to the Lone Star State.. There are a lot of people riding with those gangs that do not commit any crimes. Four of those killed also had no convictions. You've been watching too many movies and reality shows. http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/latest-...-biker-31213850

You never would have lasted as a Sox fan in the 60s through the turn of the century.

QUOTE (Alpha Dog @ May 22, 2015 -> 03:03 PM) Interesting watching all the anti gun groups falling all over themselves trying to find a way to tie this to the NRA. You think background checks, waiting periods and smaller magazine limits would have made a difference? remember, these guys SELL illegal guns. Which they don't get from straw buyers down at Gander Mountain. Do you think a law against murder would have made a difference? How about if Texas executed more people than all other states combined make a difference? Clearly no law or punishment would have made a difference. Unless perhaps, the situation would have been worse with larger magazines, more people armed, etc. Does anyone really think laws are designed to stop people from doing something? Laws are designed to establish the penalties for violating that law. The logic of not having a law simply because it will not stop someone would mean we would reject every law.

QUOTE (Harry Chappas @ May 22, 2015 -> 02:30 PM) I am seeing this as well and while I have put no effort into discovering, is there an untold racial component to this story? Here are white people rioting and killing people and the coverage is much different.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ May 22, 2015 -> 02:27 PM) You'd describe this shootout as a "Legal operation"? I'm guessing what the earlier poster was suggesting. David Koresh's attempted arrest and media event was a law enforcement operation.

This was a somewhat frequent meeting of the biker groups. Most were already aligned with the Bandidos. Only after a couple gangs, not associated with the Bandidos showed up were there problems. I've been in that shopping center and it is surprising that only bikers were shot and killed. And, to be fair, until the investigation is finished we don't know if any innocent people were killed. Not everyone was fighting, many were ducking for cover, and far fewer were shooting. One of the Texas newspapers guessed that charges will be dropped for almost all of the people arrested. The cops arrested everyone, the courts set the bail at $1,000,000 each. So even guys hiding or helping people to safety were arrested if they were wearing colors.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ May 21, 2015 -> 12:09 PM) Huh? The attempted arrest of the Branch Davidians / David Koresh

9 dead, 170+ arrested, franchisee loses their Twin Peaks franchise, stores around them closed for days causing people to lose pay, cops wary(er) of bikers out to hurt them, all the alphabet agencies involved . . .

^^ I've been criticized in the past for my point of view, but at some point to be a fan of any team, you have to enjoy the games, win or lose. By this I mean if you only have fun watching the game when your team wins, you will be really unhappy for a lot of time. You'll be watching 70-90 games a year that you will hate, will make you really unhappy, mad, etc. Why? Like above, it's a young team that will struggle, will have a few streaks, and maybe win something. The process may get frustrating, maddening, but over all patience and a love for the process, really helps make the summer. Already for the 2000s the Sox have lost 1200+ games. Do you really want to be throwing s*** at your TV mad for thousands of games in your life time?

QUOTE (knightni @ May 20, 2015 -> 09:54 AM) I was going to try to offer assistance but I see that you have someone. What were your school colors, by the way? Red and White

BTW, Sir Dan Bradman is the greatest cricketer (cricketier?) of all time.

I need someone to make a derivative work from the Texas Rangers letter T logo. Basically a shadow T for my high school. My embroidery company balked at an exact copy.

It's one of those terms that would not be allowed in critical debates or anything scientific. Superstar is purely subjective based on the person using the term. Personally, I would only use it for hall of fame caliber players who have performed at that level for many seasons. I wouldn't necessarily add a criteria that they transcend their sport because of the popularity of certain sports. Don Bradman is certainly a superstar by any definition of the word, yet no one that reads this will know who he is without doing an internet search. And because I recognize that the word is subjective, I would also agree with how anyone uses the term. What I do try to teach my students if you are having a debate that uses that word, stop and define how the word is being used. Historically this is why we had so many MBIAA/MBINAA threads. It really comes down to the definition being used.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ May 18, 2015 -> 10:29 AM) To me the question is easy. Would the Sox have had a 9-3 run if Ventura had been fired? Which if course highlights why these decisions are so difficult.

My daughter wants to backpack Iceland this summer. She thinks it would make a great father's day gift

We are finally settling into our summer greens. Here in San Antonio courses have a couple options, allowing the greens to go dormant or seed "winter grass". Either way the transition periods are rough. Uneven greens with some areas growing at different rates. Keeping my team's confidence level high while playing in those conditions is difficult. It also masks good and poor putting.

QUOTE (The Ginger Kid @ May 12, 2015 -> 02:45 PM) I'm a 6 handicap and last weekend I shot 79 on my local course (par 71). I hit 11 greens in reg. The scratch I played with shot 66. He also hit 11 greens in reg. He never 3-putted (like I did 3x) but he also wasn't throwing darts every hole. When he did he took advantage of it. When he didn't he made pars. That fat f***er almost always gets up and down. And to me that's the biggest key to lower scoring. We all miss greens. Almost half of his GIR went for birdies, that's great putting. 1.55 putts per GIR is tour level play. That is fun to watch. By my calculations that was 24 putts for his round. Again, tour level performance.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ May 12, 2015 -> 02:07 PM)

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ May 12, 2015 -> 02:02 PM) The good news is they both have guns so as long as no bystanders are hit this will just take care of itself eventually and as taxpayers we just have to pay for all the police responses. Tex circles the bait, swims away, comes back, smells it a second time, and opens his mouth Soon they will both lose that right and the world will be safe once again.

Keeping accurate stats really helps to drop those last few strokes. Is it penalties? Pitching, chipping, lag putts. Most players spend a lot of time trying to build a perfect swing when they really already have a swing that will take them to the next level. I am always pushing my players to figure out how to score. For my better players we use 100 yards as our red zone. Down in two is the goal. Chipping, pitching, putting is make the shot. For my less skilled players we tighten as small as 50' for beginners. I use a number of drills that all encourage getting the ball to the hole or just past it.

Same guy who claimed last year that Zimmerman threatened to kill him. Seems like bad blood between these two.

QUOTE (iamshack @ May 12, 2015 -> 11:50 AM) Yeah, I have the AP2's...have been entirely pleased with them (I'm a high single digit capper). I'm playing to a mid teen right now and want to get back to my mid single digits. But without much practice time it is more difficult.