Texsox

I f***ing hate my job right now.

QUOTE (kwolf68 @ Jun 30, 2009 -> 01:07 PM) If you can't love Mark, then who the heck CAN you love? Ain't that the truth . . .

It would be really nice if every GM could wait and be 100% certain before making an offer. So too would be the player. That would result in always buying high. Every contract is a gamble. The guy plays worse than expected, he wins. He plays better than expected, the team wins. This seems like a pretty decent gamble on both parts.

QUOTE (rangercal @ Jun 30, 2009 -> 12:39 PM) He does not like the Cold Weather being from Cuba. Heard him say something about his slow start having to do with the weather last year in an interview. Hell, I'm from Chicago and I do not like the cold weather. No one likes playing baseball in 40 degrees. But GMs pay, and pay big, for guys that can be consistent, and overcome challenges.

QUOTE (Athomeboy_2000 @ Jun 30, 2009 -> 11:10 AM) HoustonPress.com I heard you can see a munchkin hanging from a tree . . .

QUOTE (knightni @ Jun 30, 2009 -> 11:13 AM) I believe if their death would make it into the front page section of a paper, then they are a celebrity and eligible. That was about the definition we used, but not just the front page. Hell Farrah might not have been front page news. Basically if the death warranted a news story (different than obit), and you could not be famous for going to die. (Death row inmates etc.)

QUOTE (CanOfCorn @ Jun 30, 2009 -> 10:01 AM) Steve Jobs is not a celebrity...he is a well-known public figure. It seems that "well known public figure" = celebrity

QUOTE (vandy125 @ Jun 30, 2009 -> 09:00 AM) They work for their policy holders and do not shoot for a profit. Great point. But as always that is balanced by their general avoidance of any risk. Many have very strict guidelines on who they enroll.

I just finished The Big Rich, a very good read on the Big Four Texas Oilmen, Richardson, Cullen, Hunt, and Murchison. Very interesting, especially their early attempts in politics. While a small, almost side note in finishing, the Bush family's ascension, and resulting higher energy prices, should have been predicted. Now onto Endurance, a story of Shackleton's arctic adventure.

Keep up on the small maintenance. Saving pennies costs dollars in the long run. Check your mortgage and add a little to your payment each month. Congratulations

QUOTE (Nixon @ Jun 30, 2009 -> 08:01 AM) It's kind of funny that people would hesitate to call a guy who is famous for making his company tons of money a celebrity. Would anyone hesitate to call Paris Hilton a celeb? I think he is more a celebrity for leading the company that has designed some amazing products.

Gotta love *both* managers for playing up the Cubs-Sox thing in a season where both teams are (ahem) struggling. It's like they were given a script and told to act it out, cliche for cliche.

QUOTE (lostfan @ Jun 26, 2009 -> 01:56 PM) You don't really have to watch the whole thing, fast forward to about 4:00 in. Is this for real? I guess it is. I don't want to be black anymore. I give up. You're black?! Seriously, I know the feeling, when I see some boneheaded southern white christian conspiracy buff getting any attention.

QUOTE (EvilJester99 @ Jun 29, 2009 -> 06:06 PM) He isn't really a celeb but I would say Steve Jobs.... He would have easily passed our celeb test.

I once threatened to kick my wife off our bowling team for saying it's only a game and we're there to have fun. I replied if we're playing for fun, why in f***ing hell was anyone keeping score!! The other guy agreed.

QUOTE (MHizzle85 @ Jun 29, 2009 -> 03:40 PM) This lady Debbie Rowe is the mother of the 2 older children, a surrogate gave birth to the youngest. I'm guessing it was a revenge baby, someone had it in for him . . .

QUOTE (Soxbadger @ Jun 29, 2009 -> 01:58 PM) We live in America, where for better or for worse, you are innocent until proven guilty. Which also doesn't mean he didn't do it, it just means the government was not successful in prosecuting him. Basically innocent until proven guilty merely means we would rather allow some guilty people to not be prosecuted over the chance of an innocent person being prosecuted. Also, the public often times has more, not less, information, and more time, to make a decision. Earlier, someone said the parents of his later victims should also be held responsible. I agree wholeheartedly.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jun 29, 2009 -> 02:25 PM) He gets the maximum possible sentence... So much for getting off easy. Basically a life sentence.

QUOTE (FlaSoxxJim @ Jun 29, 2009 -> 09:42 AM) That's pretty well thought out with the 100 points - age component. Our pools never had anything as logical as that and usually the person who loaded up their list with 90 year old celebrities did the best. We've tried a double and triple point score for real longshot picks but then it got into what really is and isn't a longshot. A young person with known alcohol and drug issues is a pretty good dead pool pick. Been a few years since I've participated in a pool — more out of never getting around to putting a list together in time than anything because I don't finf them particularly morbid or in bad taste. Thank you, I worked out the scoring, which was much easier than working out a definition of "celebrity". A "Tex Rule" was added after I added Guinevere Garcia to my list. Basically the old definition was someone had to be famous enough to have an article in the Sun Times or Trib announcing his/her death. Through the years there were some strange picks.

QUOTE (knightni @ Jun 28, 2009 -> 07:34 PM) Can you believe that there are "Death Pool" sites out there where people make money guessing on who's going to die? Some guy actually guessed Michael Jackson on his list. We had a pool at an old office I worked at. Rules were simple; $25 per person, winner take all. 10 Celebs on your list, 100 points less their age. It ran from Jan 1 to Dec 1. Some definition of "celebrity". We'd have close to $1000 in the pool. Amazing how many people started reading People, Enquirer, etc starting in October

QUOTE (SHIPPS @ Jun 27, 2009 -> 10:16 PM) Thanks for all your input guys. Lucky you, sounds like a hell of a party . . .

QUOTE (BearSox @ Jun 27, 2009 -> 10:47 AM) lol, what? The e-mails came from his personal e-mail account. Either someone hacked into his account or he left the computer on and someone jumped on. And the newspaper got it from an annoynmos source over 2 months ago. Michael Savage's theory of the DHS or NSA accessing his e-mails isn't that crazy. Why wouldn't Obama want to eliminate his opponents one by one. I'm not saying that's the case, but the conspiracy theorist inside me kinda believes it. Or she left her computer on. Or she told a friend who jumped on her computer and forwarded them. Lewinski was discovered by her telling a co-worker.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jun 26, 2009 -> 08:26 PM) Before it really started, sure. Because no one else would report it when he was really in the race. They just left it alone in the tabloids. That is kinda their point. The counter to this is how much money should the legit press spend chasing down Enquirer stories? I would be a bit concerned if, for example, the NY Times reprinted, or used as a source, an Enquirer article.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jun 27, 2009 -> 08:31 PM) The issue is...just making the bills different sizes is going to be a cheaper option in almost every case. I question that conclusion. What will the cost be to reconfigure all the ATM and vending machines that currently accept paper currency? It may be cheaper than reconfiguring for color, but I am not certain.

QUOTE (BearSox @ Jun 28, 2009 -> 07:19 PM) Okay, how many blind people do you see go shopping by themselves on a regular basis? The fact that they can't tell the difference between a 1 and a 5 is the least of their problems. One man that I can think of. Has a cool dog with small saddlebags to hold a few items. He has his money folded differently for each denomination. Of course someone has to help him at home with that. He also uses the ATM, knowing it dispenses $20s. He works across the street at the University. He once claimed he wanted to skydive, but it would scare the s*** out of his dog.