Texsox

QUOTE (BrianAnderson @ Jul 23, 2015 -> 04:24 PM) I dont have any more time to waste on this argument. Look who you are arguing for! A guy who was traded for a bag of balls and released in the last 12 months! This is my last on this topic and responding to you - however I'm sure you'll respond and try to bait another response - it's what you do. Are you always this angry?

One thing that hasn't been discussed or factored in. It seems that older players elevate or decline based on how the team is doing. Playing s***ty on a s***ty team has me wondering how a change of scenery or a reversal of Sox fortunes would do for him. At some point a player is championship shopping, getting up for the potential of a playoff berth, maybe a championship. When that goes away . . . On the other side, he's not giving it the contract year bounce.

If, and it appears as if it will be here forever, there is a minimum wage law, it needs to be indexed to inflation in some manner. This every few years huge jump does not help anyone. Minimum wage really becomes almost like a union wage scale in some industries. As long as everyone is paying it, to the employer it almost doesn't matter what it is. I'd rather see 2 or 3% raises annually than these jumps. But once we accept that minimum wage laws are here to stay we should be able to work on a better way for them to work.

Finding a balance between smothering the kids and being labeled a helicopter parent and ignoring the kids and never attending is the challenge for some parents.

QUOTE (HickoryHuskers @ Jul 23, 2015 -> 07:27 AM) So basically every fast food place in the state is going to close about 10% of its least profitable stores and put a whole bunch of people out of work. Aren't most of the fast food places owned by franchisees? I'm not certain McDonalds can close a franchise operation.

I grew up a few blocks from a lake. We were always "trespassing" on people's docks. Fishing, swimming, goofing off. We were never asked to leave. I can't imagine that today.

Wow, that was six years ago? And the legal battle continues. Another glimpse of why your best legal defense is $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Jul 22, 2015 -> 12:06 PM) There's no reason to assume that agriculture would just instantly stop if slave-owning plantation owners suddenly had to actually pay their workers instead of owning them as animals. There's still cotton fields in the south. There are. But you only have to look at a list of the richest people in the world currently. See all those middle eastern princes from OPEC nations? When you have the lowest prices on high demand products you become rich. The south was producing a rare double. The highest quality product at the cheapest prices. American cotton was prized for it's quality and it was really cheap. Once slavery was abolished would consumers around the world want to pay the same or more than what they could buy locally? American farms and factories were the China of the day. Low prices. Soon they would be the same or possibly even higher. QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Jul 22, 2015 -> 12:07 PM) I get the point, but in a sense it's meaningless. We're all supporters of child labor given our continued support of mobile technology (or really any cheaply made goods). But it's not like we're going to change anytime soon despite our collective agreement that child labor is a terrible thing. I think it's difficult to judge non-slave owning people back then since we're all doing the same exact thing now. I wasn't judging. It is meaningless if you believe change can happen without knowing why something is going on. There are interests in allowing humans to be exploited for their labor. The companies that make profits, the consumers who gladly save the money. I don't believe we can get away with exploiting workers until we do realize that buying that $4 made by exploited workers t-shirt over a $7 made with a fair wage t-shirt promotes child labor. We also have to connect the dots for the consumer to the point they see how it benefits them. And that is the hardest thing of all. This connects to racism and the battle between the races here. Some people see the challenge as white Americans giving something up for minorities. This is fueled by politicians who see it as an easy way to encourage voters. A much more difficult sell to the white population is that a rising tide raises all ships.

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Jul 22, 2015 -> 11:47 AM) By this logic everyone in the world was a de-facto slave owner because everyone bought southern goods made/sourced by slave labor which then provided the financial resources necessary to continue the practice. I don't believe it was everyone in the world. But looking at the south, if you were a transportation company shipping raw cotton to the mills up north, you were dependent on slaves. If you built the boats that the shipping companies used etc. That was why the end of slavery would destroy the southern economy. It wasn't just slave owning plantation owners that would suffer. The blacksmith that repaired their equipment was doomed. The small farmer who provided produce to the plantation who didn't own slaves needed their biggest customer. This isn't an indictment of them, just a perspective on why change was so difficult. Being the last major country to outlaw slavery was a huge economic benefit to the north and south. The early wealth was also brought about by tobacco. We also found great wealth in the land we took from Mexico. Our success wasn't always pretty, but it is what it is.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Jul 22, 2015 -> 11:08 AM) It's strange that all caucasians can be painted with a broad brush and its ok. I had one guy ask me what it was like having family members who were slave owners in the south. Uh my family was still in Germany dude, but I appreciate the accurate history lesson. So how many Jews did they kill? My wife asked if my grandparents spoke any German at home when I was growing up. I replied that with WW2 it was kind of uncool to speak German. Seriously it should be noted that the economy of the south was dependent on slave labor. Even if you did not personally own slaves you probably provided a product or service to a plantation.

A couple things I've learned teaching in schools with the majority of the schools population being minorities. If you generally disagree with my liberal politics please skip to paragraph three then loop back. In 2015, right now, American is still hugely different based on your appearance. Their parents, their parent's parents, their parent's parent's parents, etc. have all been victims of racism by the ruling classes in American. A few marches and a couple laws does not change that. The only thing that will change that is many years, decades or lifetimes, of not being discriminated against. There isn't a magical switch that can be made and attitudes changed. Some of the stories that are handed down are about racist cops, racist employers, racist landlords, racist banks, etc. And don't kid yourself that isn't still happening. There are a lot of messages out there for minority kids and their parents. You shouldn't feel this way about Y, or you should feel this way about X. It boils down to you should feel like us. We aren't offended by a Confederate battle flag and you shouldn't be either. We feel there are a lot of really good cops and accept a few bad ones will skip by and so should you. Everything would be perfect if you felt and acted just like us. We're happy and you should be too. GOP START HERE --> I believe a lot of the stress is there are two things happening by good people trying to do the right thing. On one end we have the power structure in this country changing. I look at my lifetime. President Obama and I were born two weeks apart. When we were born there were a lot of places we could not have hung out together. Public pools, hotels, restaurants, the same Boy Scout Troop, etc. In my lifetime that has changed and he was elected President, twice. As a "privileged white" that is amazing change in my point of view. And the changes are still on going. As a country we did it while emerging as a stronger nation, unlike other places around the world that had groups battling for change. Those that changed (metaphorically) in powerful ways want some recognition for that change. They want some respect for all that change. That seems fair. America today is far better than the America I was born in. For everyone. From the environment to the workplace. On the other side are the generations raised in a far less equal America. One filled with racism that can't be erased as fast. When you go from a (hypothetical) 30% of equality to 70% of equality, that doesn't mean you can somehow ignore the inequalities that still exist. The gains are still not enough if you believe in "all men are created equal". So how do we celebrate the changes, credit those that have worked for that change, while continuing to remove the inequalities? I don't know. I do know that when we are all outraged at racist cops we have won a small victory. I believe Alpha when he said he hired the person that can make him the most money. So he will hire a gay fat man or a bisexual Hispanic woman (did she tell you or did you ask?) that is a victory. The battle is over when he chooses between Robert or Sonia and he or any person hiring doesn't check off any boxes. We see each other as simply humans. Balta's comments caused me to really think. When I was his age, I felt much of the same way. Now I sit here and think, hey Balta, I've spent 53 years trying to make America better by pushing for an America where everyone can contribute to their maximum capacity. You're acting like it's all crap and we haven't done a damn thing. Then I realize I probably didn't respect too much the contributions that were made in the 1950s and 1960s. All I saw what was left to be done. We've come a long way from sit-ins and forced integration. It's up to the next generation to build on what we accomplished and continue to make America's promise a reality for everyone. Finally, when big issues like this have arrived over the past ten years I think of SS2k5. He and I are at almost opposite ends of the political spectrum. Yet, when he explains his vision for America, it is very similar to mine. We disagree on how to get there, but the goal is the same. Perhaps of we focus on that, we'll arrive at that dream quicker. Now back to a bunch of white people arguing about the plight of minorities in America

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jul 19, 2015 -> 01:00 PM) Such a straight shooter, tells it like it is and then sticks to his guns. You should be proud. No flip flopping at all. I like The Don. No fake military medals. We know he was born here. We know he isn't a closet Muslim. His Mexican workers love him.

The other disconnect I see is many youth programs that require volunteers to be successful struggle to get parents to volunteer.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Jul 20, 2015 -> 03:31 PM) Such a discrepancy between the outrage over "everyone gets a trophy and winning isnt important" and the behavior of the ridiculous amount of helicopter parents that exist today. Parents today are 1000 more involved in their kids lives and often are the main problem. And that's where I think I have a huge advantage over some coaches. All my years in sales taught me to work with people. And the more difficult to work with, the better. The parents want to be involved. So get them involved. Just channel it so the involvement is productive. Keep them informed. Coaches that lack confidence do not want to be challenged by parents so they keep things secret. That opens them up to guessing. I run towards upset parents instead of away. It doesn't happen often but I'll offer to grab a cup of coffee and discuss the issues. Almost always there is a lack of information on one side or the other. My team is composed of kids from a magnet high school on our campus and the students from the main campus. I teach at the main school and have little knowledge of what is going on at the other high school. Sometimes there are conflicts that need to be worked out. Also as a coach and teacher I always recognize that the child and the parent are two different people. I allow each to operate independently. But I have never (and I know it will happen some day) had a parent who I could not work with. By the way at my wife's private school they talked about curling parents. They lead the way sweeping problems out of their kid's way so they can just glide along.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Jul 20, 2015 -> 12:38 AM) Awesome, Tex. As coach do you have the authority to get mad at the kids if they are late or disruptive or do you have to let the little precious kiddies do whatever they want nowadays cause you have no right to bench them or make them run laps, etc? I would assume parents don't take kindly to coaches yelling at their kids. You have to build the trust with the parents first. You have to establish some credibility that you know what you are talking about. Then as long as you are looking out for the player's best interest parents will give you some leeway. High school sports are a little different but parents are parents. I've always sought out parent's input, so that heads off a lot of issues. I have also been able to back my decisions with some reasoning. I will also admit quickly when I goofed up and will make certain the players receive as much attention as I can send their way. As a coach all you really can do is put players in a position to be successful, the rest is up to them. I ended two players seasons early this year. When I was asked why, I explained it was a private matter between the players and myself. It didn't take long for everyone to know that one was because of grades thus reconfirming I was serious about academics. The second was I caught him cheating, again that reinforced a core value of the, well of everyone from the District to myself. Every parent I spoke to later told me if I every caught their child cheating to do the same, and the same with grades. I didn't need to make the kid an example. I treated him with respect. The coaches that have problems are the ones that have not earned any credibility and who yell and humiliate their players. If the coach comes off as a bully and not a teacher, parents will jump in the protect their child, and they should. Kids make errors, even professionals do. Coaches have to teach them how to bounce back, not stand there and yell. And specific to running laps, I really dislike coaches who use cardio exercises as punishment. Athletes should run to get better at their sport. My golf team hikes up a very steep hill with their bags at the end of every practice. Sometimes we will do two or three trips. I see other coaches using it as punishment. We walk and play very physically demanding courses. When we are hiking the hill, I'm right there with them carrying my bag, setting the example, getting their legs ready for 36 holes in one day tournaments. People need to be careful what they use as punishment. I've had students that tell me they hate reading because it was always a punishment by their parents. No TV you have to read a book. You're grounded, go clean your room. What are we teaching kids?

QUOTE (greg775 @ Jul 18, 2015 -> 09:59 PM) Yeah, but when somebody is splitting you open you don't want them saying, "Can you believe this fatass? He needs to get on the treadmill" etc. I don't know. It's better than why don't we f*** this up and put this guy out of his misery he is an organ donor . . . With me they might be saying, hey this tattoo on his ass says "exit only", he has no idea how wrong that tattoo it

I've been coaching kids in various venues for 25 years. Parents are the greatest help and the worst nightmares, sometimes at the same time. Great youth coaches get the parents buy in.

We're redoing our kitchen and man, what a pain. I'm glad my wife is dealing with most of it. The stove upgrade really caught me by surprise. We went from a guess that $700 or $800 would be a good budget to double that in a hurry. I can't believe all the advances and new features.

My first wife worked in radiology and I spent a lot of time around the ER. They had a unique, for internal consumption only, sense of humor. The first one I remember was perhaps the worst. "Pass the Bible, he's studying for the final". But when you are faced with serious cases all day long, grim reaper humor is perhaps one of the healthiest ways to cope. I don't think it ever affected the level of care a person received. They were so well trained and practiced that things kjust sort of kicked in and away they went. While non medical people would find this appalling, is it really much different than any other profession? Salespeople mock their customers at times. We mock each other at jobs. It's a part of many work places cultures. While your colon may be a special place to you, to the rest of the people in the room, you're just another asshole they have to deal with.

QUOTE (CanOfCorn @ Jun 29, 2015 -> 04:40 PM) I would say it HAS moved over to sports in a way. Not by being "ripped in the press and by fans," but with things like LeBron's "The Decision." You would NEVER have had that before this "generation." Is that a result of entertainment technology with billions of bytes of content to fill each moment?

QUOTE (Iwritecode @ Jun 23, 2015 -> 02:57 PM) I think the whole idea of participation awards making kids ok with losing is BS to begin with. I'm almost 40 and we had those awards back when I played. It's not a "new" thing. The thing is, kids aren't stupid. They know what those trophies are. They know that they aren't nearly as good as the first place trophies the other kids are walking around with. Often times we would get ice cream or some other treat after the game even if we lost but it didn't make us want to win any less. Honestly, I think the bigger problem is the kids that are getting pushed by their parents who are trying to re-live their failed sports aspirations through their kids. I have 3 girls and only the youngest had/has any interest in playing any kind of sport. She's not the worst, but she's not the best either. If she wants to continue to try and get better I'll support her but I'm not going to push her thinking she'll be the next Cat Osterman or Jennie Finch. Nicely said. Those trophys are souvenirs. Like a race t-shirt or a golf ball with the course logo. The only people that seem to be confused by this are the people who make a living pointing out problems that don't exist.

I have a couple students wearing Hawks gear around. I assumed they were just liking the fashion. Turns out they are real hockey fans. Pretty cool. They are hoping to get up to Chicago for a game next season now that they are out of school. They also like the Cubs. So the extra credit was balanced by the ScRubs thing.

QUOTE (LDF @ May 29, 2015 -> 05:14 PM) Chickens are not allowed to cross the road > Georgia You can be arrested or fined for harassing Bigfoot > Wash st. so far no one had ever been arrested for violating this laws, which are still in effect, If you are being serious, that is exactly my point. We drop laws like this because no one violates them. We keep laws that are being broken. The original point by Alpha was don't use the Waco crimes as a reason to add more gun laws, the existing laws didn't stop this crime. If we only added laws that would stop crime, we would wind up with laws about Big Foot and chickens crossing the road.

I did it everyday for years while working in Mexico.

Crumble the bacon and mix with the cream cheese. The key is getting the bacon really small. As I said it drastically reduces the bacon flavor, but keeps the jalapeno flavor, which we like.