Texsox

Finally a few articles pointing out how much crap humans dump in the oceans and how it makes searching difficult.

Which would sell better a blank Baylor jersey or a generic jersey with RGIII? And is it important to look at the roots of college athletics? Why it was started or has that cat been out of the bag so long?

It's been a really weird day. From a family tragedy (my wife's ex passed away) to a weird text message from my ex who seems to think I am part of a Mason plot to keep our daughter from talking to her, to particpating on my first academic panel. I was part of a panel that focused on gender in literature. My paper, "Hill and Pill, the Rehabilitation of Faulkner's Temple Drake". Pretty cool.

My middle school girls and boys both finished third in our first two tournaments. Sizing up the competition, that may be as good as it gets. The top team has the country club kids from our town. We may catch the second place team one of these meets. On the best note, my top 8th grade female is very coach-able. She was already developing into a solid player but had some set up, posture, and swing plane issues. We needed to move her hands closer to her body and stand a little more upright. She stuck with the changes even though she went downhill a little bit. Last week she won her first invitational by three strokes. Her dad called me and said he had promised her clubs when she won her first tournament. They were planning a shopping trip. On the boy's side I had a kid finish in the top 5 in his first ever tournament. It may have been a combination of beginner's luck and poor score keeping. Anyway, it decided that he really needed to practice more with his driver and skip all that short game stuff I've been preaching. He finished last for our team in his second tournament. I must say I an enjoying coaching more than playing at this point. I still take a few swings each practice to demo some stuff. But seeing new players hit a solid shot where they intended is pretty cool.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Mar 14, 2014 -> 12:54 PM) No surprises. With Downs a lock (barring injury), the LOOGY battle is down to Veal and Purcey. Veal is out of options and probably has the inside track. Does any kid dream of being the LOOGY? It may be my favorite position now.

I'll take the over.

Since I missed most of soxtalk spring training I needed a get ready fast and this thread was perfect. Everything in one place. Play Ball! Dunn? I stopped caring about him a couple years ago.

If the passengers brought it down what was the target? Is there any target in the region that would have been 9/11-esque?

For various reasons I hope the people are alive and the jet is being hid somewhere and will be revealed soon. There is something cool about hiding a jet for a week.

Surf Riders Foundation, Boy Scouts of America (local unit, not to national) United Way, our church, and basically every kid that puts an order form in front of me.

You will find everything in Hill Country. Extreme to both ends, but overall it is a lot like Illinois. The further from the bigger cities the more conservative and monocultured it gets. We're planning on moving to the area in the next year or two. We are basically looking west of I35 between Round Rock and San Antonio. From an outdoor perspective the hiking, biking, backpacking, etc is as good as it gets in the area. I believe you would be happiest looking in the Austin area. There is a reason that Austin is growing at a very fast rate, one of the fastest in the country.

That's not the way it is suppose to go. Kids bury their parents. Horrible when it goes any other way.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Feb 27, 2014 -> 10:58 AM) The Sox were going to be getting Scott Williamson from the Red Sox as well. This thread is amazing in retrospect http://www.soxtalk.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=13181

QUOTE (Swingandalongonetoleft @ Feb 24, 2014 -> 08:52 AM) Buehrle and Pierzynski, but I'm not too sure how the Pierzynski thing is going to work now that he's in bahston. Easy choices.

I little perspective on the money. My daughter spent just over $100,000 in four years at U of I. That would be over six years of working full time at $8 per hour.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Feb 27, 2014 -> 10:49 AM) Funny note on Arizona... it only exists as a state because of slavery. As part of various machinations before and during the civil war, the New Mexico territory was split in two (more or less). Arizona was aligned with the Confederates and allowed slavery, New Mexico was Union and did not. The sarcastic part of me looks at that today, with Arizona being so much more fiercely socially conservative than New Mexico, and you wonder if it is just in-born. Your point is interesting. I would like to add that it is only parts of Arizona, which is why people explored splitting the state.

I am following your argument but the weak point still is the comparison between a weapon which can be documented as causing harm to someone and a sexual orientation which would not seem to harm anyone or even have the potential to.

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Feb 27, 2014 -> 09:18 AM) Lol, thanks for proving my point about your irrational fear. Then I am missing your point. People with guns shoot and kill people. Being concerned about someone with a gun seems more rational than being concerned about who someone may be having sex with. Which would you fear more, having a pissed off gay guy in front of you or a pissed off guy with a gun?

Since the objectionable behavior (in Kansas) of being "gay" is sexuality and having sex probably will not happen in the store a better analogy would be if Balta would block a gun owner from the store if they were not carrying a gun. The potentially objectionable behavior (sex, shooting) happens back home. Balta would be a hypocrit imho if he refused service to one and not the other. That doesn't seem to be the case.

I agree with the political realities of the situation. Much like states were brought in based on slave versus free. However, we are also adding federal representation to US citizens who currently do not have any.

Texas was brought into the union with the possibility of splitting into four states, but that was more of a response to slavery issues than anything else. Didn't Arizona start a petition to split into two states last year? While all this is theoritical, what is fact is that this is the longest the US has gone without adding a state. While I consider any of the splitting possibilities far fetched, I do see a 51st state within the next ten year. Probably Washington DC but possibly Puerto Rico.

I was just thinking if Hobby Lobby doesn't refuse service to gay people, should they be allowed to keep their religious based exemption from offering birth control? Isn't that having it both ways? It's easy to take a stance that will cut costs and increase profits, giving you an edge against the competition. It's another thing to take a stance that will hurt sales, lowering profits.

QUOTE (HickoryHuskers @ Feb 26, 2014 -> 07:01 AM) Hobby Lobby is a private, for-profit company. I don't support their right to refuse to serve certain customers or refuse to provide health care plans that cover contraception for religious reasons. On the other hand, if you are an actual religiously-affiliated non-profit organization, such as a church/university/charity, I 100% support your right to do either of those things. If they do not refuse should they lose their exemption from the health care provisions?

The point that needs to be discussed is we are creating highly valued companies with very small work forces. That is a huge shift from huge companies = huge employers. That will produce a shift in how our society works. An optimist may suggest a 30 hour work week could be at hand with people job sharing. The pessimist could argue that huge unemployment will mean a global depression on a scale never seen before. The gulf between have and have nots will be huge.

QUOTE (HickoryHuskers @ Feb 24, 2014 -> 06:49 AM) What do you think Pope Francis would advise a Catholic florist to do if (s)he was asked to provide flowers for a gay wedding? What should Hobby Lobby do?