Texsox

And forget any of the swifties and their suporters that destroyed the very meaning of medals by revealing how easy they are handed out.

QUOTE (Quinarvy @ Nov 23, 2012 -> 12:57 PM) If the rape is legitimate, the male body has ways of shutting down erections. Zing-o :lol:

We just picked some fresh basil from the garden and made pesto. Nothing like a little pesto and mayo spread on sourdough bread with turkey.

QUOTE (YASNY @ Nov 23, 2012 -> 11:27 AM) Ok .. granted that I made an off the cuff remark about the Mustang. You can now get off that point, I yeild. Still, I stand by my last post. Life and the individual circumstances that we all experience at times are a real b****. And, you do actually have to face it and deal with. Empathize to your hearts content, but the fact remains that it's not all sunny days and flowery, butterfly filled meadows. And I never disagreed with the points you are making here. I disagree that given enough money a parent doesn't need to be, or should even feel bad about, not being their for his kids. No doubt, money can make it better. But it still doesn't replace 6 and a half months away a year away from his kids if they chose to live in another country or four months a year if they are in the same house.

QUOTE (YASNY @ Nov 23, 2012 -> 11:27 AM) Ok .. granted that I made an off the cuff remark about the Mustang. You can now get off that point, I yeild. Still, I stand by my last post. Life and the individual circumstances that we all experience at times are a real b****. And, you do actually have to face it and deal with. Empathize to your hearts content, but the fact remains that it's not all sunny days and flowery, butterfly filled meadows. And I never disagreed with the points you are making here. I disagree that given enough money a parent doesn't need to be, or should even feel bad about, not being their for his kids. No doubt, money can make it better. But it still doesn't replace 6 and a half months away a year away from his kids if they chose to live in another country or four months a year if they are in the same house.

Sandwiches and basically opening the container and grabbing a piece. I fixed a 15# and there were only four of us so plenty of left over turkey.

QUOTE (Buehrle>Wood @ Nov 23, 2012 -> 11:07 AM) No. An erection is a sign that the rape is not legitimate. That actually is a persistent argument. From what little research I read (Wikipedia) a male erection can be involuntarily induced. That may be good for a page or two and fun to write.

QUOTE (Buehrle>Wood @ Nov 23, 2012 -> 11:07 AM) No. An erection is a sign that the rape is not legitimate. That actually is a persistent argument. From what little research I read (Wikipedia) a male erection can be involuntarily induced.

QUOTE (YASNY @ Nov 23, 2012 -> 10:37 AM) You what Tex? People all have issues. Sometimes a family has to do what it has to do and that's just a fact of life. Life is hard. It takes work. It's not some liberal pie-in-sky utopia that you guys think it should be. It never has been and it never will be. Deal with it. ... Unrolling my eyes, now. Having a dad home at night is pie in the sky utopia? I thought it was Republican family values. Yes it is hard work. I believe it takes being there, you believe you can buy replace being there with a car when they turn 16. Money replacing parenting, wow. That is a strange way of "dealing with it". You are really disagreeing that a parent should want to be there with the kids in a stable home environment and when they can't be,it's a bad thing. And Dick, I keep taking in generalities, trying to keep this not just about mark. However, specific to a player's life, baseball summer is spring training to the end of the season. Basically he's away from his kids March-May and September - October while they are in school. That looks like five months to me, then, unless they travel with him, half of June-August is spent on the road. So unless my math is bad, six and a half months a baseball player is away from his kids. I do feel empathy for all of them. Whether they are earning $400,000 or $14,000,000. I know it is a choice they make, but I believe many miss their kids. I also have empathy for firefighters, oil rib workers, migrant workers, diplomats, and anyone else struggling to be the best parents they can be. But hey, I'm a liberal as YASNY points out and that ignores a fact of life. We can't have empathy for people who make a lot of money and then complain they can't be with their kids. I will continue to have empathy for all families that are trying to raise their kids by being there and cannot. That is regardless of income. I disagree that kids whose dads make a lot of money don't require him to be around as long as he buys them cars and stuff.

For those that may have read Faulkner's Sanctuary, this will probably make more sense but here goes . . . In the novel a hot, young coed (Temple Drake) is forced to have sex with a "gangster" (Red) by another "gangster" (Popeye). Complicating this is Temple, after earlier being raped by Popeye (he's impotent but used a corn cob) she seemingly runs off with him and is loosely being held captive by Popeye at a Memphis whorehouse. She later offers false testimony that leave Popeye free and causes an innocent man to be convicted. A part of my thesis comes from a study of the secondary sources which never paint Red as a victim of a sexual assault. My argument is he did not have a choice in having sex with Drake and therefor should be considered a victim of a sexual assault. I further argue that it was the sexual harassment accusations by Anita Hill during Clarence Thomas' Supreme Court process that changed our attitudes about who can be sexually assaulted which is why this idea has not been studied before. Anyone care to comment? I'm especially looking at what points I should make regarding guys being raped by being forced to basically rape someone else. Weird, I know.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Nov 23, 2012 -> 09:28 AM) I think you are misreading the point. First off, in the case of Buehrle, I don't think his kids are old enough to be really forming deep friendships and their in season home is different from their offseason home anyway. Mark Buehrle didn't move his family to Florida for the entire year. Just the baseball season, and if being with his family full time is needed, he has made plenty of money BEFORE he ever went to the Marlins, to walk away from baseball, be with his family every day, and lead a far more comfortable life than the average person. In fact, he has talked about retiring for a couple of years, but the money seemingly was too hard to pass up. His kids will be in Toronto. A world class city. They can make new friends, and have new experiences. Sometimes broadening their experiences could be a positive. They will see their father just as much as before, and the trip from Missouri to Toronto is 400 miles closer than it was to Miami. His dog on the other hand is out of luck, and as a dog owner, I know that probably hurts Buehrle more than most non pet owners would ever know. Dick, do you have kids? Every friendship is deep to young kids. Plus they lose 100% of their friends when they move. You are a dog owner and understand that, I moved four times as a kid and moved my kids twice so I understand that.

I should be writing "Pill and Hill: How Birth Control Pills and Anita Hill Changed our Opinions of Temple Drake and Red in Faulkner's Sanctuary" Grad school is nice. basically one 20 page paper for each class. No other b.s. kind of work. Yet . . . I'm here instead.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Nov 23, 2012 -> 09:07 AM) I have read multiple articles that talked about how much pitchers were able to add to their fastballs. Come to think of it I was thinking of a pitcher when I mentioned one or two season wonders. They go from awesome to boching saves.

Oops Agreeing with Southsider above and . . . I would add that sports journalism occupies a different niche than news journalism and across the country sports reporters have turned into the guy on the next bar stool in some of their reporting. We accept way more bias and opinion in sports articles than we do in news stories.

I went to a program at out local greyhound track about adopting retired racers and they did seem like great pets for people who do *not* want cuddly dogs. They claim since most of the dogs spent their time away from humans they basically wanted to be left alone. They also seemed to go out of the way to say that some dogs were culled from the adoption process because of anti-social behaviors, etc.

Still it was the sluggers who received the most scrutiny. Also, perhaps in the unfair category I am kind of suspicious of one or two year wonders from that era. Perhaps closers who were lights out for a couple seasons then suddenly sucked.

No other cities? How about the San Antonio A's? Vegas A's? Perhaps a second major league team in Chicago.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Nov 22, 2012 -> 12:13 PM) So why haven't attendance numbers fallen about 80% in the last few years? Because there is only one league. My premise is if there were two leagues and fans had the choice to go to a game where 1. guys were hitting 60+ HRs, with scores of 12-8 or 2. a league with 6-4 games and hitting 40 HRs was an achievement they would pick league 1. My thought is guys like you, me, and most of the posters here would be at the clean league but the kids who only get to a couple games a year would want dad to take them to the other game. The casual fan would go see the guys with the bulging biceps and bad tempers.

IIRC from another contract discussion, the terms of terminating the contract were probably spelled out and any of the speculations in this thread could be true. Usually the team wants the coach to find another job so they can quit paying him so much, so there is little incentive to keep him on the hook while he does nothing. I really hope Ozzie grows up. I also have a suspicion that Ozzie drinks a bit too much for his own good. Maybe some help for that would also help.

QUOTE (lostfan @ Nov 21, 2012 -> 11:19 PM) You know what I think would be awesome, if Obama just nominated Petraeus to head the CIA again and said f*** this scandal, now we know he did something dumb, it's out there, grow up. This is the term when Obama turns on America, and his evil plot to destroy us is revealed! Seriously, I believe the good General has a six figure book deal to get to, of which his (ex)wife will receive half. Then a consulting job, a speaking tour, damn, he's going to be too busy to be the head of the CIA. HeHe, I said head

As much of a critic as I am of steroids in the game I believe this; given a choice of an all steroid league or an all clean league, the steroid league would draw fans at about 5-1 over the clean league. Those offensive numbers are sexy.

Does anyone disagree with this: Bottom line, I believe good parents want to be with their kids, I believe most children want to be with their parents. I have empathy for parents (regardless of what they do for a living) and especially children, when that can't happen. I don't believe you can buy your way out of that. I don't believe money can replace being there as a parent. "Sorry I missed out on most all the important moments in your life, here's a car"! And honestly, I don't believe YASNY believes that a car really replaces anything. Is not being there and then buying kids things really how anyone wants to raise their children? And I agree Mark's situation is better than some truck driver struggling to pay bills who can't pay off his kids later with new cars. He has the resources to fly his family to him on off days. But imagine being the kid who is leaving your new best friend because your dad gets traded. Are you going to swap your best friend for a new bike? Swap your school for a the latest gaming console and be happy? I have empathy for the kids and adults in that position. Not sympathy, empathy. But maybe money can buy happiness. If you were a friend of an athlete who is sitting in your living room and says I'm really bummed, I have to move again. The kids are just getting settled in, they have new friends, are comfortable with the school, and now we have to move. If they stay with me we have to get rid of their dog. What would you say? Just buy them a car when they turn 16 and they will forget about it? It's your choice, you could quit. You are playing baseball for a living, your kids just have to deal with it? I would say with empathy, man that is tough. Have you thought about some ways to help out the kids? Maybe have a couple of their friends come up north this summer? That is also what I think YASNY and NSS would say. Which is why I'm confused they are disagreeing with me here. Anyhow, unless someone quotes me directly, I'm not certain what more I can say. It seems like some of you are saying f*** it. they are rich and don't have feelings like the rest of us. Or because he is blessed to play a game for a living his kids don't need him at home every night. If I am misreading that. I apologize.

I don't believe when you become a professional athlete you stop being human. Leaving your kids for months at a time should be difficult no matter what you do for a living or how much you are compensated. So whether we are discussing soldiers getting paid $, business people getting paid $$, off shore oil workers getting paid $$$, or athletes getting paid $$$$$, I have empathy for anyone who wants to be with his kids and have a choice in where they are living. Do you really think when you are walking out the door saying goodbye to your son, telling him you will see him in a month he really cares how much you make or what you do for a living? Daddy, will you be at my kindergarten graduation? No, I have to be in Cleveland. Daddy will you be able to see me in my first game like the other dads? No, those dads only make a little money, your daddy makes millions, so I will not be there. But you should be happy I make so much money, you can have anything you want, except a dad at graduation and your first game. I teach so many kids whose parents aren't around. Some voluntary, some involuntary. Bottom line, the parents aren't there and it sucks for the kids. I appreciate the point that they make a lot of money, and they get to play a game for a living. They travel first class, and have all the accouterments of luxury. Their financial futures are secure. But they are still human, their kids are still human. To think that somehow your kids won't miss you because you are a baseball player earning millions isn't right. To think you won't miss them because of your bank account balance isn't right. I don't believe there is much comfort in money and applause when it comes to the bonds of a parent and their children.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Nov 20, 2012 -> 09:04 AM) They can always pick a different profession. Buehrle isn't going to re-locate his family to Toronto. If his kids are old enough for school, I'm sure they will be attending in Missouri. The majority of the baseball season falls outside of the school year, and he's only "home" half the time anyway. It is a pain I'm sure, but not nearly as difficult as moving a family permanently. It's really no different than him being in Chicago or Miami. Those weren't permanent residences either. Up until now, Buerhle has made $90 million. If it were that much of an issue, he could always walk away and lead a rather comfortable life. Are you suggesting that baseball players should not care where their kids are living or if they are with them or not? I don't believe athletes should give up being good fathers and mothers simply because they are athletes. Sure it's easy to say someone can just switch careers, but that isn't reality for many people. Good and bad come with every job. Can't I have empathy for fireman who have to be away from their families for 48 hours at a time? Or business people who have to travel? Doctors who have to be on call? Maybe you have a family and don't mind being away, but most people do. In Mark's case he accepted a position with a company in a place of his choosing but now is forced to change. Most people aren't forced to relocated without any influence on the decision.