bigruss

QUOTE (Jake @ Jun 15, 2013 -> 03:31 PM) No clue. Seems like an arbitrary thing, to me. You'd think with some of the unexceptional athletes that can make it in baseball, you'd be able to find a woman here or there that could cut it. I mean, you'd think if David Eckstein can be an All-Star caliber player that the top woman baseballers could probably cut it if there was a system in place to train young girls in baseball instead of softball. How many girls do you even hear about playing HS baseball, the size/strength differences start appearing real quick.

QUOTE (GoodAsGould @ Jun 16, 2013 -> 04:17 PM) I'd love Cliff but we got on him later than Izzo and his stock just keeps on rising not feeling very hopeful about it but I think the one guy Illini have a good shot at is Black. The good thing is for next couple of years even without a stud prospect the team is pretty well put together and should be able to win regardless. I think Black is more likely, and while Alexander would be the statement recruit I think Black would contribute more (would definitely stay longer). So pretty much, I'd be stoked for either.

In my last 3 games, I'm 9 for 10 with a few walks and a ton of RBIs. Our top 4 batters are awesome, and when the rest of the line up can throw in some hits we're a pretty good team for our league.

Microsoft is trying to dictate what the market wants, which is highly risky considering the market isn't ready infrastructure wise for what they want yet.

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Jun 12, 2013 -> 04:27 PM) Some do, including Kuchar and Snedeker (http://golfweek.com/news/2013/feb/11/shaft-month-graphite-gains-momentum-irons/). I think the main thing is you can't feel the impact as much, and professionals use that to gauge how we'll they're striking the ball. I've tried a couple of graphite irons and I actually liked not feeling the contact as much. But it could be my s***ty shafts on 15 year old clubs. I just don't think they are normal for pro's, and I think that's telling especially when steel is the cheaper option. QUOTE (iamshack @ Jun 12, 2013 -> 05:28 PM) The thing is, who here has a game like a pro? I agree, I think graphite shafts on irons is a bit ridiculous and for show, but that comment really is a bit foolish. How many pros use blades? Does that mean every weekend hack should use blades too? I think it's important to have a nice set of equipment in any sport. Going from the crap level to the solid quality usually will both improve your results as well as your confidence and enjoyment of the game. But you reach a diminishing level of returns very quickly. Of course, no one in the golf industry wants to tell you this, because they want to take your money every year when that new driver or putter comes out. I'm a pretty decent player about a 12 or so with a horrible short game, so I strike the ball pretty well for someone who might play 5-10 times a year. I've had two sets of irons and the same set of woods for about 15 years now. Once you get a reasonably nice set of equipment, the gains really need to come from practice, not spending more money on clubs. Foolish overall, probably, but I thought it had some reason to it. The thing with golf is that so many people's games are different that obviously there is no gospel to 1 perfect set of clubs. I just think that graphite in irons results in negligible or maybe even negative results compared to steels that the golfer likes. And agreed, at some point most golfers need to realize that they should spend more time practicing and getting lessons compared to buying new clubs.

I shopped all winter and settled on Cobra Amps, I love them so far. I bought them new on Ebay for about $350, which was $150 cheaper than any store price (even though they were always "onsale"). And when it comes to graphite's on irons, I liked this comment from the evaluator at Golfsmith: "What pro do you see using graphite for their irons?"

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Jun 12, 2013 -> 02:22 PM) Grainger's website needs to be more like McMaster's Meh, we typically get very positive feedback on our site. Little known fact, we were like #14 in revenue in E-commerce, must be doing something right with the site

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Jun 12, 2013 -> 02:04 PM) Well congrats weather team, you've successfully fear-mongered me into buying a generator. Just have to hope the power stays on long enough for me to pick it up after work and get it going. Grainger.com

QUOTE (G&T @ Jun 11, 2013 -> 08:11 PM) Why would they care about the down payment? Do you mean earnest money? We lost out on 2 houses before getting an accepted offer. The other 2 were likely cash offers with no contingencies according to our agent. I can't compete with that and I don't want to. There's always another one. Yea, so they were putting down $50k (31%) to my $16k (10%).

They took the other offer, had way more on their down payment than I did.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Jun 11, 2013 -> 03:31 PM) our insiders were pretty sure we are out. My guess is Lou. Yea, I was hoping Illinois could sneak in (makes the most sense as a fit for him), but I can't see Lou or Indiana losing him.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Jun 11, 2013 -> 03:01 PM) Man, I dont know what you are saying here. Double Dash and MKWii were awesome Seriously, I love MKWii. Played hours upon hours of it when I had a roommate with a Wii (of course over 80% of that was DUI Mario Kart).

QUOTE (Y2HH @ Jun 11, 2013 -> 01:29 PM) There are a few things they can take from Waze, but I beg them not to over-clutter the app, and the primary issue I have with Waze is it basically encourages/requires real-time interaction with your device while driving. This bothers me. It's the last thing we need. I definitely get your concerns, but it would be awesome if they would integrate real time traffic as the stuff I've typically seen is mediocre at best (latency in traffic changes is key).

Who got taken to the woodshed more, Microsoft or TaylorSt in this thread?

QUOTE (Y2HH @ Jun 11, 2013 -> 12:26 PM) Google confirms (well, earlier today), that they've purchased Waze, the social mapping app. I really hope this doesn't clutter up Google Maps with a bunch of social media s***. Of the Mapping apps, since Google re-released an up to date app on iOS, it's been untouchable. It's clean, it works, it has navigation features (unlike the version that existed prior to Apple Maps), and I really hope they don't clutter it up with all this Waze bulls***. For those of you who don't know what Waze is, it's essentially a social media based mapping application, which while it has some cool social featuers, such as designating a "speed trap" with a police icon, it tends to be a clusterf*** of shared information. It also encourages active engagement of your maps app while driving, which is another thing I don't like about it. I hope Google bought them just to kill them...I hope they don't integrate 90% of this s***. It would be nice if Google just took their user input data for traffic conditions. Like a real time, user input for traffic. It would be a feature you can turn off an on, etc.

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ Jun 11, 2013 -> 12:25 PM) Russian car cams catch crazy s***. So, never drive in Russia. And if you see a truck turn, expect the mother f***ing worst scenario.

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Jun 5, 2013 -> 09:43 AM) China's economy will collapse before we have to worry about their military. If their economy crashes and they start pulling back their loans to the US, we could be in big trouble. We both need each other to be successful.

QUOTE (iamshack @ Jun 11, 2013 -> 09:57 AM) Yeah, that's the part that makes you crazy...the whole process stressed me out so much I started smoking again and drinking beers first thing when I got home from work...now that it is over I am back to healthy living Are you able to close on July 12th? Personally yes, I don't have anything really holding me back. My current lease is up at the end of August, so that works pretty well.

Ugh this waiting part sucks, there's one other offer on the table right now, the listing agent is going to choose the one that can close by July 12th, hopefully my lender gets back to them with that info.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Jun 10, 2013 -> 01:37 PM) Nobody thought Conor Gillaspie was going to be the cornerstone of the franchise. It's simply that the team has been so miserable to watch for most of this season, he was one of the few pleasant surprises. There was always a pretty high probability he would struggle or be overexposed, especially against LHP. That was a given, and why any sane/rational baseball analyst would conclude platooning him with Keppinger was the best solution to get productivity out of 3B. If Morel was playing, we'd probably be 11-13-15 games under .500 right now. His struggles aren't to be celebrated. It just means one more hole to fill, but he was never likely to be the long-term solution in the first place. We'll just have to wait and see how he rebounds from this slump, what adjustments he makes....it could go either way. Morel at AAA this year: .277/.375/.440/.815

Point of reference, Youk has a .694 OPS. $12 million for a .694 OPS.

QUOTE (ChiSox_Sonix @ Jun 10, 2013 -> 08:35 AM) Disappointed with the GoT finale. Overall, loved the season. They did so many things incredibly well that the minor things don't bother me. I can't wait for the next season to start going through these story lines, with some of their being different from the books as well

I put in an offer for a 3br duplex near Loyola today. Seemed like a real nice area and while its a short sale the bank has already preapproved the price so it should go quickly if they accept my offer.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Jun 6, 2013 -> 03:39 PM) Is that 30 MPG in town or on average? I get about 24 or so in town but I'm around 30-34 on the highway, which is probably my favorite thing about the car considering I was used to driving around a 2000 Jeep Grand Cherokee which got, at best 14 MPG in town and was usually around 10-12 MPG Combined, I probably get around 25-27 in the city, and close to 40 on the highways (closer to 35 if I'm going over 70, which is typical for me). My record mpg is about 45mpg on a highway trip going about 65. Also love the fact that oil changes are every 10k miles.

Bought my first car a few months out of college this past summer, Ford Focus hatchback Titanium. Sticker price was like $27k ish, got a great deal on it though, down to about $22.5k, which was below invoice and then had incentives. So far I love the car, it's a bit small for the seats in the back, but I mostly drive it solo anyways and the mpg is about 30 right now which I love.