caulfield12

QUOTE (Chicago White Sox @ Jun 25, 2016 -> 02:46 PM) I can't believe some posters actually believe Greg isn't a troll. Because of his Bachelor Party stories...those are too vivid, lol. And his taste in cheesy movies, as well, nobody could easily fake either of those. Finally, his propensity for being on the wrong side of every sports bet. And being easily influenced by talk radio/media/news. Being afraid of a bogeyman around every corner. I do hope Greg watches the "pseudo-documentary" movie COLLAPSE someday, that will really cause him to go on a posting tear.

QUOTE (Y2HH @ Jun 25, 2016 -> 02:01 PM) Agree. Agree. Disagree. The idea they don't owe anything? Absurd. They worked 30-40 years to earn that money AND paid taxes upon making it, spending it, or giving it away in various ways, such as property tax, sales tax, charitable contributions, etc. To pretend all of that money was just given to them and they "gave nothing back" is purely false. They already paid what they owed...it's not their fault the government squandered it on defense spending or whatever pork projects they had in mind when they got elected. Disagree. Speaking as a 40 year old, no, I don't feel responsible to "passing off a worse country than how we found it", because it's not actually worse. I see more opportunity around today than ever before. People just aren't seizing on it because they want to play the role of starving artist like most young dreamers. It's time we started waking up to the reality that is the world, instead. I wanted to go to an out of state university like most of my friends at the time did...when I visited them I was like, "YES! This is what I want!" The truth is, however, I had no idea what I was talking about at the time, of course, I was just a kid...and "life experiences" were more important to me than setting the stage for my future. Fortunately, (yes, fortunately) I couldn't afford it...and I wasn't about to take out a bunch of student loans because I was taught debt is dumb growing up...so I went to an in state school that was WAY cheaper. Instead of chasing dreams via liberal arts courses and graduating with a worthless degree and tens of thousands of student loan debt, I decided it was time to grow up a bit and be the adult I wanted people to treat me like. I went to DeVry full time while working nights AND weekends and I learned a trade that would be useful to the world. Was my life one huge party back then? No. If I wasn't at school, I was taking the train to work, and if I wasn't at work, I was likely at school or sleeping. Again agree...I'm not fond of the way our government runs. I'm not a fan of our insane defense spending, nor am I a fan of subsidies and corporate welfare. I wish they'd take that money and use it for better purposes, such as research, staffing national parks, and perhaps trade programs as a alternative choice to overpriced college degrees which are often useless. But to blame the older generation as if "we" caused this mess is absurd. I really don't consider myself old yet, by the way. This money, be it in the form of real estate, savings, 401k's or pensions...wasn't handed too us for free. We earned it and paid our taxes/dues along the way. The way I look at money these days is they print enough of it...so it's out there for the taking, and if you look in the right places it's not all that hard to get. Of my immediate friends, I'm the only one with a college education (if you want to call DeVry a true college education)...the others have high school diplomas and both make over 90k a year. How is that possible? They learned a skill the world cares about. Oh, and one of them grew up on welfare to boot, so let's not play the privilege card, either. The three of us grew up in blue collar Bridgeport, and not one of us has a "connected" city job...we all work white collar computer jobs. Oh and as for Social Security, I also treat it as something I'll never receive...I trust our government as far as I can throw it with my future. If I receive a dollar a month when I retire from SS I'll consider it a win. In the mean time, I'm investing for retirement on my own...I don't plan on needing them. I'm actually kind of playing devil's advocate here. My father was born in 1936 and my mother in 1929 and they both experienced the Great Depression and WWII, especially my mom. She's 87 now and would have a tiny government pension (she worked 20 years) if not for getting 60% of my father's. The most he ever made was $44,000 in one year as a GS tech writer at Rock Island Arsenal. Yet somehow he was able to save quite a bit (I didn't realize how much until he passed away and I had to help my mom with investments) and that was with my mom not working except part-time at Hardee's and Bishop's Buffet (just for fun and to socialize with people). He always paid for EVERYTHING in cash, didn't believe in debt of any kind (except mortgage, which was paid back early)...and he also pushed me to study econ and started a retirement fund for me (Nicholas Funds out of Milwaukee) when I was in my early 20's. I majored in English and minored in history and political science but didn't go to law school. My two best friends went to Northwestern, and I felt a bit disappointed but didn't push going there or Notre Dame because I felt it would be a waste of money, since Iowa's English program was one of the best and I also wanted to stay close to my g/f at the time. Now that I understand how the world works and what my father was trying to teach me. I don't regret not going to one of those fancier schools because my whole life, I've worked as a teacher, non profit program director, for the Pittsburgh Pirates' minor league team in the SALLY League and for an NFL football player's charitable foundation. I've never made more than $50,000 one year in my life, but I've still been able to save money (despite traveling to 40 countries and living/working in six)...enough to get married twice, have a 16 month old baby at age 46 and have a pretty fulfilling life, all things considered. (Well, except for the White Sox, haha, minus 2005). But yeah, I never took out a student loan in my life, and that was for my first wife from Russia to help her with her schooling (co-signer). And that was 50% about having a good credit history as much as really needing to take out a loan. I think I must have spent the same amount on 9 years of university (two Master's degrees and certification in American Humanics, which is non profit management) as my Chinese international prep school students spend for ONE year of education in high school, $15-17,500 USD.

Portugal pulls it out in extra time. Not one of the best games to watch...it was really Ronaldo's shot, deflected by goalie and tapped in for easy goal.

Well, he has to throw at least one other pitch with a 10+ mph speed differential. Ideally, it would be an 85 MPH change-up instead of 90...circle K could be tried out, perfected by Mario Soto back in the day.

You're not going to be able to compete with a 5th starter with a 5.17 ERA, Shields as your 4th and quicksand in front of Duke/Jones/Robertson. Not unless you immediately replace Garcia and Shuck with 800+ OPS hitters.

QUOTE (Jose Abreu @ Jun 25, 2016 -> 03:29 PM) If we kept Jennings for the 9th this game is probably tied Hahn's responsibility to fix this bullpen mess. Before you get to Jones, Duke and Robertson, it's just not major league caliber...unless you're a rebuilding team, that is.

The crazy thing is we might have been closer (realistically) to contending last season at the end of July than we will be this year. That one "false" positive hot streak that caused Hahn not to sell off, but not to add, either.

QUOTE (Insp @ Jun 25, 2016 -> 03:21 PM) This thread was going quite nicely before caulfield12 and greg775 showed up to ruin things. Rick Hahn is doing quite a good job with that by himself. But, if it makes you feel better, have at it. Seven solo homers in a game and you still lose? Well, that's something you don't see everyday. We probably passed 5 teams in the AL home run standings already. Blue Jays letting the Sox creep back in, yet again.

He doesn't have much experience at 3B. With NYM, he's expected just to be a bench player...but with Flores wavering, they just might gamble he can play over there.

QUOTE (Condor13 @ Jun 25, 2016 -> 03:17 PM) I think it was in the Shark trade with Oakland? Yep, supposedly Hahn "insisted" on Ynoa being included or the deal wouldn't have been made (with another A's prospect substituted). It's just a shame with his health/injury history that Ynoa can't make a legit go at starting. He'd have to develop a more consistent 3rd pitch, but he has two with the FB and slider.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jun 25, 2016 -> 03:13 PM) "Everyone thought they would" in a bad context? I think there were a number of people, me included, who thought they were on paper the best team in this division before the season started. If Kluber could get into a groove they could really be scary. If anything Kluber has been disappointing. Salazar, Carrasco (when healthy), Tomlin and Bauer have all outperformed expectations, but maybe not their own expectations in CLE. I guess it's fair to say Tomlin's record, but we could say the same for Mat Latos. And this is without Brantley, Gomes not being 100%, Almonte/Byrd suspended for PED's and some pretty big holes in their bullpen (including Shaw's struggles in set-up). Doesn't hurt that they have 5 Top 100 MILB prospects, to boot.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Jun 25, 2016 -> 03:11 PM) Boy this pitcher has nothing. Hope he's not a big time prospect. Well, he once was the mostly highly-touted arm in the Dominican and received the biggest signing bonus (at the time) in history. So basically, the Joe Borchard of pitching prospects.

The last thing they need to worry about is changing Tim Anderson's position to shoehorn Tyler Saladino into the line-up. If they want to give him some playing time, let him play 3B (and DH Frazier) or DH.

Even with that in mind, the European Central Bank is limited in what it can do because these fundamental problems like the stagnation of real incomes don't have easy solutions, Alan Greenspan told CNBC. "There's a certain amount that monetary policy can do, but our problem is fundamentally fiscal," he said, adding that this is true in the United States as well as "every major country in Europe." Part of the problem is that the "developed countries are all aging very rapidly," which is leading to a higher ratio of government spending in the form of entitlements, Greenspan said.

Morneau's not going to win a Comeback Player of the Year award with only 2 to 2 1/2 months of at-bats.

Well, you plan on holding all the members of Congress and presidents personally responsible for paying off those debts? Well, fortunately, something like $13-14 trillion is owed by America to its own citizens, so the situation is not as dire as it would at first seem. That said, what issues do you possibly see the potential for compromise...? Anyone? Whenever a Republican even goes close to the electric fence of immigration reform or raising taxes, he gets burned by the flames. Likewise with Dems who are open to some form of entitlement reforms. If it's not SS, then it has to come from Medicare/Medicaid, and that's going to be nearly impossible to find bipartisan support for as well. The idea of those who have worked 30-40 years to earn that money...not owing anything...well, therein lies the problem with the entire system. Everyone who is under 30 years old in America believes that the money they're now paying in for the Baby Boom generation won't be there for them. And they might be right, in the sense benefits might be either cut back or payroll taxes will have to be increased to balance things out. Nobody desires either option. If those from age 40-80 don't feel somewhat responsible for "passing off a worse country than what they found it," then I'm not sure what to say. The American Dream was always about the next generation having a better life, more opportunities, higher educational attainment, than the generation immediately preceding it. That's no longer the case. It's just like fixing the Chicago White Sox. There are so many directions you can choose to go in, but you get paralyzed by analysis and so you don't even take one step because the task seems so overwhelming. In Hollywood, there'd be a movie like "Dave" where an everyday accountant/CPA would just go through the federal budget line item by line item and eliminate wasteful/frivolous spending, but the Congressmen who receive those pork barrel monies as a result of horse trading for votes won't even give up a single dollar for their districts/states.

I wouldn't say disgraceful. Football is all about strategy, after all....some teams that are outmanned just pack the box, try to trap offsides and play the equivalent of four corners in college basketball. At any rate, watching the game from about the 60 minute mark in the second half, I didn't notice anything terrible. Switzerland controlled by the ball more, had better possessions and probably the better team, and certainly had a lot more "close but no cigar" misses on goal, but that's soccer for you. Same thing obviously happens in ice hockey all the time as well.

The Pirates and Clint Hurdle were the ones who really fixed Volquez when he had been given up for dead...that said, pretty shocking start for him, especially at home. Amazing the career twist and turns both he and Josh Hamilton have taken. The Astros are simply on a tear right now.

The Pirates and Clint Hurdle were the ones who really fixed Volquez...that said, pretty shocking start for him, especially at home. The Astros are simply on a tear right now.

Agreed. They can't wait on Burdi, or expect him to make it up this year...at least counting on him pitching the 7th. Everyone that we draft is not Chris Sale. Rodon has been on a slower track, and we shouldn't rush Burdi because of a current gaping hole in the bullpen. #1 priority has to be the outfield bat that gets Shuck/Garcia off the field ASAP...eventually, that player can DH or play CF and Jackson becomes the 4th outfielder, but there's no way to compete without both of those needs being filled. Jackson's likely at LEAST 3 weeks away...they can't afford to fall to 10 games back and 6th-8th in the WC race. They also can't afford to wait on Justin Morneau...who may or may not be able to make a contribution this season. The obvious problem with all of this is the trade market is still not quite developing, so there's that significant risk of overpaying...like we already might have done with James Shields (contract-wise, not so worried about Tatis and Johnson).

Imagine you're a baby...do you really deserve to have a $19 trillion deficit hanging over your head that you had nothing to do with creating? Obviously, there's no easy or fair way to do this. One area I would recommend (and Warren Buffett agrees) is with the returning the estate tax to where it was in the late 90's (adjusted for inflation over the last 15-20 years) and having the rich pay a higher tax than the current 20% on capital gains. Simplifying the tax code, making it easier on not only individuals but small businesses. Prison reform...too much money is being wasted on ineffective policy with a high recidivism rate. Revisiting the harsh punishment system for drug crimes. Addressing the two core issues (fear of immigrants/Islam/terrorism) and fear of change (globalization/free trade/crippling of unions/outsourcing/loss of blue collar jobs), those are driving movements around the world on the right as well as the left. But two sides of the same coin, just different drivers/motivations/fears. Economics is always going to be a part of it, but culture is just as important, when we start going into the areas of religion and tolerance for other religions (as well as the growing numbers of people not oriented around any religious belief at all). Whether it's the Occupy Wall Street/1% vs. 99%/Us against Wall Street Bankers/Venture Capitalists or the Tea Party, unless the political middle/moderates can come up with solutions that can be universally-agreed upon by both sides, then it will be difficult to make progress and things will continue to be polarized with the status quo (essentially represented by Hillary Clinton) prevailing.

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/26/opinion/...span-abc-region Tony Blair: Brexit's Stunning Coup (and the collapse of the Center) Brexit and Europe's Bitter Old Men http://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/24/opinion/...span-abc-region

http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/16425903...anager-openings

QUOTE (ptatc @ Jun 24, 2016 -> 09:41 PM) Why do the old people need to give money to the young people in all of these scenarios? If the old people started out broke and worked their way up to making more money, why can't young people do the same? I would hardly call all of the benefits that went to soldiers coming back from World War II such as the GI Bill and affordable housing loans financed by the government...typically, were there lots of "broke" people in the 1940's and 1950's? Were the college/university costs nearly as high back at that time, in comparison to the average entry-level salary? One way or the other, if the generation of 18-30 year olds (and under) doesn't succeed, will it really have been all their fault when more than half the people growing up in the past could still make a "good living" in blue collar factory jobs and have enough money to raise a couple of children and, in many situations, for their wives to stay at home with the kids? When people are working longer and harder...and their incomes are not compensating them for their efforts...and they're not only not geting ahead but unable to save money and both parents have to work because that's the only way to survive financially (in order to give the kids that they never see a theoretically better future life/education)...something is inherently wrong with the system. Or we could just enact about half of the perfectly common sense reforms Michael Moore suggests in his latest documentary, things like improving the quality of school lunch food or prison reform (that idea came from Norway...or simply doing away with the self-perpetuating drug crime/for profit prison system, which is clearly broken). http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/23/movies/r...ocumentary.html

Sox win, almost implausibly. On a night they were 1/14 with RISP, Frazier is the HERO HERO HERO....holding out for a hero until the end of time.