Texsox

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Apr 2, 2014 -> 02:53 PM) Or to push their personal social ideology Or to push their personal social ideology agenda.

It was rejected by the voters, but, there are several $50,000,000 stadiums around the state. My district is looking at a multimillion dollar scoreboard paid for by ad revenue. $60,000,000 stadium closed for repairs 18 months after being built. http://espn.go.com/dallas/story/_/id/10528...ium-allen-texas This is why your state's sport's programs are so lame Can you imagine selling out a 18,000 seat stadium for a high school game?

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Apr 2, 2014 -> 11:52 AM) Other than "hey the other side might spend more money than mine," what's the argument in favor of those limits? About 100,000 Americans contribute 90% of the money spent in elections. I worry about their influence.

Mark and AJ, yeah, I hope they do well. Most of the others, not as much.

Our district tournament was Saturday. My girls won by 4 strokes. Beating nine other teams. We also took 1st and 6th place individual. My boys choked. Beyond the worst I thought they could have done. My top boy player, who I expected to shoot between a 43-48 shot a 69. They finished 7th out of the 10 teams.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Apr 1, 2014 -> 12:13 PM) This is where I don't care whether or not I'm a Sox fan. Putting any large amount of money into new stadiums for sports teams is inevitably a giant waste of taxpayer money for states and municipalities. I don't want them doing it for the Sox or anyone else again. The lessons have been learned. Now, I'm fine with little things, or them doing the things only government can do - helping alter traffic/street patterns, zoning permits, help with licensing and other permints, making those processes work for them. No problems there, even though it costs some money (just not very much) to do the little things. Even some creative restructuring of tax and other obligations for a few years to make the transition work OK. Beyond that? Go do it yourself. Well said.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Mar 31, 2014 -> 08:54 AM) Derek Jeter is a first ballot HOFer who has multiple WS rings and was the captain of the Yankees for years. He has conducted himself with nothing but class. The hatred he gets is beyond confusing to me. He is exactly what you would want your sports heroes to be. yep. Perhaps because they have so many dicks on the team people get confused? And I say that with only a small teaspoon of sarcasm.

Wow. Opening day already.

rename it Wrigley Field and we'll draw 5,000,000 to the southside.

Yeah, that can't be good. But of course most news programs are still on day 23 of the missing airliner.

This answers how these scholarships would be different than grad students. Grad students typically are teaching in their field of study.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Mar 31, 2014 -> 06:14 AM) except that scholarships are still not currently taxable They stop being scholarships and become employee benefits. If McDonalds gives an employee $10,000 towards education as part of their employment, the amount over $5,250 is taxable as income. They can't rename it "scholarship" and make it tax free. There are also tax questions about housing. Employer provided housing is taxable as well.

If they are reclassified as employees, and that those scholarships and actually employee compensation, wouldn't that change the tax status? According to the IRS regulations education benefits over $5,250 per employee are taxable. I guess what complicates it is the employee is working for the educational institution. But if, for example, AAA Corp pays for an employee to attend Northwestern and the expenses exceed that threshold, the employee is taxed on the balance. Why should it be different if Northwestern is paying for an employee to attend college? A private corporation can't call it a scholarship and magically make it tax free.

I wonder how the players will cover the tax liabilty as employees? There are also issues with housing, meals, etc.

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Mar 26, 2014 -> 12:37 PM) That's quite the range. Shippers claim the low, their customers claim the higher.

This just in from CNN. Let the fun begin

Players know who has the biggest contracts at their position and want to win that competition as much as they want to win on the field. It's how they are wired. I believe it isn't as much about greed as it is winning.

I was reading a slate article about the missing plane and how the airline is getting some heat for using text messages to inform family members that the airline believes everyone died. Later it is reported that this was after calling and trying to speak directly with everyone. What is considered today as acceptable ways to deliver bad news? In the old days of the 20th century delivering bad news (not just life and death stuff) was always face to face. It was considered rude and a terrible breach of etiquette to tell someone for example that they were fired over the phone, via mail, etc. Always face to face. Now it seems that a phone call is an acceptable substitute. How many people have received bad news via facebook status messages? So when do we use email? mass email? Text? Facebook? Phone? When do we just have to get in front of the person and tell them face to face?

Plus over half the world's population live within 50 miles of an ocean. The shipping industry is tight lipped about the number because it is bad for business but estimates range from 700 to 10,000 shipping containers (80' x 8' steel) fall overboard every year.

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.