bigruss

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Apr 1, 2013 -> 09:29 AM) She was also in the Tudors. And naked quite often IIRC. WHY AM I AT WORK.

Agreed that GOT was kind of a catch up episode, but so stoked to have it back that I don't care. This season should be epic, even though they are definitely shortening many of lesser plot points like Davos attempting to murder Melissandre. Also, Margaery is my new crush, holy crap. Also, can Sansa turn 18 already so my crush on her isn't creepy.

Coooold bloooooded!

Game of thrones. Can't. Wait. Anymore.

Grand Rapids is awesome from what I've seen. I'm actually holding a conference there in April, staying at the Amway Grand which is a beautiful hotel. Grand Rapids is a big mix of conservative (most of the rural parts of MI are), but with a pretty large hipster group that is growing from what I saw. They have some great neighborhoods in the downtown area when I drove around, and the downtown area is really nice from what I saw. And, they are pretty much the micro-brew capital of the Midwest, can't really beat that.

QUOTE (iamshack @ Mar 29, 2013 -> 01:32 PM) Van Pelt and Russillo, two of the brighter guys on sports radio, were discussing UCLA with Andy Katz and how these "mid-tier" jobs are really not viewed by many coaches as a lesser job than the first tier jobs...they might make 30% less or so, but they are able to win their league most years, they are comfortable with whom they work, they don't have the huge spotlight on them, and so generally they have a very high quality of life. Who needs all that pressure and scrutiny, and are those jobs really better? Plus with the cost of living, that 30% is almost wiped out.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Mar 29, 2013 -> 11:51 AM) Stevens turns down UCLA, staying at Butler. Oh hey UCLA, did you not learn Illnois' lesson last year?

QUOTE (IlliniKrush @ Mar 29, 2013 -> 12:26 PM) I don't think him playing a lot next year was a guarantee whatsoever. Yea, Langford just didn't have the shooting ability that Groce needs so I think that was a big concern for playing time.

Shaw officially leaving as well. Get some 5th year guys to balance out the roster and stack up on 2014 guys and I won't be upset at all. These guys really didn't play much and may not have played much in the future but we need depth right now.

QUOTE (IlliniKrush @ Mar 29, 2013 -> 09:32 AM) Of the three, this was the most expected one. I hope Langford and Shaw follow, it will help out the ridiculous class imbalance we have right now. They aren't going to get minutes, so it's in their best interest anyway. Ibby may have stayed because of academics, but yea he was going to play the least amount. Langford is an intriguing athlete but just doesn't fit well in Groce's system. Shaw definitely doesn't fit as well. With all the Juco/5th years/2014 recruits that have been rumored, I'm happy that we are getting more flexibility to go after them.

Illinois C Ibby Djimde is transferring according to a source @theRecruitScoop. 1 more schollie free, wouldn't be surprised if Langford and especially Shaw join him in leaving.

QUOTE (whitesoxfan99 @ Mar 29, 2013 -> 09:12 AM) My understanding is that Illinois basically has zero chance at Okafor. However, on Alexander, I've heard that while MSU is still out in front Illinois has made up an incredible amount of ground with him this year and has a decent chance at landing him. IMO, Cliff is waiting to hear on if Lyle goes to Illinois and then would follow. Completely my guess, but I think Cliff wants another big time stud for his likely one and done.

QUOTE (Brian @ Mar 28, 2013 -> 02:51 PM) If Groce gets Okafor or Alexander, he will change Illinois recruiting forever. He will have done what no other reent Illini coach has done and get a top national player from Chicago. Both could be one and done guys though. Especially Cliff, who seems to be warming up to Illinois. I've said it before. I think Nunn has potential to be a nice Illinois player, but hope fans aren't too excited about Tate. I think we have a better shot at Lyle and/or Black than those guys. I really don't think Okafor is coming to UofI at all, and Cliff could but I think he's still a hard MSU lean with us making headway. Honestly, and 4 of those guys (Okafor, Alexander, Black, Lyle) would be just a HUGE recruiting coup for Groce.

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ Mar 28, 2013 -> 10:02 AM) That's kind of a no brainer from every angle (unless you're J4L and your perception of women is completely warped.) But Snookie want fellatio.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Mar 28, 2013 -> 02:22 PM) So I have to have a place to store 20 lbs of oatmeal? and someone to eat that? Glad to know that if I ever buy a horse, I'm set It's an organic store, I figured if you really want to buy organic food that you can fill up your pantry with a list of organic foods from them (not just oatmeal as I originally pointed out anyways).

I'm not totally against government regulation here, or policy or whatever you want to call it. One analogy I'll use is the mandate for higher MPG that the government/EPA set a few years back. IIRC, the policy was that each car company had to achieve certain averages for each auto classification, so sedans had to reach x mpg and trucks had to reach y mpg. Well, most car companies didn't mind that much because most consumers were demanding it anyways. In fact, Ford made it a cornerstone of their turn around and it's a huge marketing tool that they use now. So while there was government regulation, it was really the consumer demanding the product that has really increased the production of higher mpg cars (from compacts to affordable hybrids, and really cool innovations such as CVT).

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Mar 28, 2013 -> 01:47 PM) But that sorta ignores the whole part a few posts back about that 1) not being a solution for many people, to always opt for the more expensive product and 2) not being a realistic driving force for the economy at large Do we demand it, or was a new market segment created after tens of millions of dollars of market research and product development? Yeah, but those wraps are still pretty s***ty food. also this: In a world with marketing, advertising and psychological research like we have, you can't really say that consumers drive the market, at least not anywhere near 100%. I just googled organic oatmeal and found 2lbs of Bob's Red Mill, which is a great brand, for $5, free shipping over $50 so you can buy all your organic grains from this online store for about the same price as in-store Quaker. How much advertising has Chipotle done? I've seen the random billboards around major cities, but they don't do much besides that. And look at the demand that has grown for it, market researchers have put a huge emphasis on food awareness because it sells right now. And I'm not saying McD's wraps are healthy, but they are trying to get products that quite frankly venture pretty far from their normal fare. How many items aren't deep fried and or found on a bun in that restaurant? That pretty much left salads, and not many people view salads positively. So they got creative and at least started with venturing into foods that can offer healthier alternatives. Are they there yet? No, and I can tell you simply by knowing that my generation doesn't talk about craving snack wraps like they do about Chipotle bowls. 100%? Nope, I'll agree with you there it's not close. But young adults are demanding more and more out of companies that they frequent, whether it's healthier or organic food, or if it's a socially aware company, etc.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Mar 28, 2013 -> 01:12 PM) They could make a better version of the convenience product, they do right now overseas, and they choose not to do so. If you don't like it, but the more expensive organic oatmeal. There are options out there, and companies do take notice if consumers choose these other products. Look at the Tostitos marketing campaign a few years back, they advertised less than 5 ingredients or something. Why do Walmart, Target, etc carry greek yogurt, organic produce, etc now? Because consumers demand it. This next generation of young adults/teens are some of the most aware people of what they are eating, I just read an article yesterday about how McDonald's views Subway as a huge competitor with them for young adults, because of the image that Subway portrays vs. McDonald's foods. So what does McDonald's do? They offer more "premium" products, wraps, and go out with a huge marketing campaign of what McDonald's food is made of.

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Mar 28, 2013 -> 12:48 PM) You guys really need to take the blinders off. Illinois an elite job. GMAB. Does it have better potential then Iowa or Wisconsin and is it a better job then those schools, absolutely (I only throw Iowa in the mix because I'm an Iowa fan and wanted to show the fact that I am not blinded and don't see Iowa as the better job). It probably is the 4th or 5th best job in the conference but lets not act like you are selling recruits to play in downtown Chicago here. Yes they have a nice recruiting base, but there isn't really a lot that differentiates Illinois from some of the other big midwest schools near Chicago. If Illinois was in downtown or a 15 minute drive from downtown, that would be another story. Illinois is probably a top 25ish job right now, it's not a top 10 job but it can get closer to a top 10-20 job ifthey make a run in the next few years and the renovation project goes well/goes at all. It'll never be an Indiana/UNC type job, but is in the next tier below.

QUOTE (Chilihead90 @ Mar 27, 2013 -> 08:41 PM) I'm just worried that trades will be crazy and way unfair. If anything, I'd be for allowing trades amongst NON-affiliated NL teams, which would give everyone 10 more teams to trade with, I'm just worried about having to monitor all those trades. If someone is willing to be my assistant-GM who will police the trade market, then I'm down for that. Well we already have your team winning 4 times in a row, so how much more unbalanced can it get? If we're worried about attracting people into a league that's unbalanced, I would just start a new one.

http://www.buzzfeed.com/daves4/undeniable-...y-story-have-th Entertaining.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Mar 26, 2013 -> 11:40 AM) Surprisingly I use it alot with my ipad too. Our office is also now equipped with this instead of projectors so everyone can present on the LCD's Kinda makes me want to work for a smaller company where tech like that can be rolled out much easier and is encouraged.

We're down to what, 5 human players now? Let's open up trading to all teams, way to hard to dump salary or really make any trades with that few people and only 1 computer team you can trade with.

QUOTE (iamshack @ Mar 27, 2013 -> 01:17 PM) The Lumbershack The slabs themselves were pretty reasonable...the shipping was kind of harsh, but it was like 100 pounds of wood...the legs I had fabricated by a guy in Ontario, CA that I found on ebay Looks like a cool site, may have to check that out again down the road when I actually have a somewhat decent sized apartment/condo.

QUOTE (iamshack @ Mar 27, 2013 -> 12:51 PM) Made a few live edge walnut slab coffee tables over the weekend...pretty pleased with how they came out. Nice! Where did you get the walnut pieces from?