caulfield12

QUOTE (Marty34 @ Feb 2, 2013 -> 04:05 PM) Olt is the same age as Moustakas and has almost 900 less MLB plate appearances, he's a year older than Hosmer and has 1,000 less plate appearances than him. If Olt is going to have maximum value for the the Rangers he's going to have to hit soon. Otherwise, I believe they have made a mistake holding on to him this long. It's not a bad idea, but we're going to have to give up money (which we've been loath to do) and take a huge risk that Olt's the long-term solution at 3B. About 5 years ago, everyone in baseball wanted Brandon Wood and the Angels wouldn't give him up. It all depends on the scouting. But there's way Keppinger should be in the outfield...or profiles as a legit corner OF bat. This is the kind of trade that might need to wait at least half the season or into the offseason of 2013-14 to pull off...when Thompson, Mitchell or Walker might be ready to take a full-time spot. In the end, trading a huge salary, replacing it with a younger, cost-controlled player with upside and replacing traded veteran internally...that's the only way to successfully turn this roster around and still remain competitive, but there's obviously going to be some growing pains. As long as it's only 1-2 rookies per year, it can be done.

Saw RACE 2, Hindi movie in NEW DELHI. Haha. There are two super hot girls in this film. It's the Bollywood version of mixing Jason Bourne, The Fighter and National Treasure into one derivative flick. The famous Indian comedian actor who was in Mission Impossible: Ghost Proctocol (the one seduced by Paula Patton in Mumbai) was one of the 3 male leads. Weather here about 70 degrees everyday, winter just ending. Will try to wake up for the Super Bowl Monday morning at 530 am. Will update with any other movies from Mumbai and Goa.

QUOTE (Kalapse @ Jan 28, 2013 -> 08:18 PM) This review was written by Richard Roeper. Good catch. I just did a search for "Ebert suntimes.com Movie 43" and I read that he had given it was zero stars and it was at the rogerebert.com website, so I assumed it must have been his article and didn't even read the byline. http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.d...973/0/REVIEWS08

http://news.yahoo.com/why-zero-dark-thirty...-210311562.html Why Black Hawk Down is falling away in the Oscar race.

There's two ways to look at this. That saying they're up hundreds of points or percentage points over last year sounds more rosily optimistic, because that's not such a huge bar to jump over when there was an overall decrease of 50% or whatever. On the other hand, he's not really getting into specifics of what that comparison is based on....which seats, which packages, which price points. Is it just the split season packages? Overall, of course anyone representing sales numbers is going to accentuate the positive, it's human nature. And, looking at it from that lens, things are MUCH better than they were last off-season. The point which is just as important is the almost 100% renewal at the highest price points...which is where they're generating the bulk of their season ticket profits. What exactly is he supposed to say? If he was 100% straightforward, then he would probably be skewered for being too negative and pessimistic and not focusing on the "silver linings" to steal a phrase from an Oscar favorite. What's the point of wanting to see a conspiracy or trying to prove he's outright lying or obfuscating? Just to keep creating "straw man" arguments against a mythical windmill which is JR, KW, Hahn and Boyer?

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Jan 28, 2013 -> 06:28 PM) The last time his average was at least .220 was June 22, the 70th game of the season. Okay, final 3 1/4 months. But I remember not being worried or concerned that he could finish below .200 again (that would have been horrible going into the offseason after the success of the first 2-3 months) until the final 6 weeks or so.

Bloom's taxonomy, lol. Actually, it's always a challenge to get Chinese students to develop their critical thinking and creative skills. So much of the educational system here is based on rote learning. So I constantly go back and refer to the concepts of analysis/synthesis/evaluation...ways to develop those higher level skills and yet make the activity fun and engaging too. Debate is one that I haven't seen specifically, although it kind of dovetails with what a few said here so far. Nobody mentioned drama or what they learned from their volunteering/service-learning class (although this could just as easily go with civic education/government).

QUOTE (WilburWilhelm @ Jan 28, 2013 -> 02:51 PM) Honestly, I think the Sox pitching is good enough to ensure that they finish ahead of Minnesota and Cleveland. Barring substantial injuries, ofcourse. I really am looking forward to the battle with K.C. It looks like they will be a very interesting team to watch at the least. I am just curious. Does anyone have any idea of when a team last had a .200 hitter batting third all season? Has it ever happened? Dunn wasn't in the really low .200's until the final 2 months of the season. Before that, he was consistently in the .220's or .230's, which isn't great, but it's not .195 to .210 either.

QUOTE (SpainSOXfan09 @ Jan 27, 2013 -> 05:50 AM) Ventura spoe to MGon of the Trib and broke down the need to get more contact and less K's. Not sure that will be entirely possible as we need hitters such Becks and Flowers to hit for contact this year. Good article for the metrics experts here I think. Link: http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseb...0,3750273.story Pitching and defense are viewed as two of the White Sox's strengths in the eyes of manager Robin Ventura. But a reduction in one area — strikeouts — could prove just as valuable to the Sox. "We struck out a little too much last year, and it's a point of emphasis (now)," Ventura told a large SoxFest crowd Saturday at the Palmer House Hilton. The Sox struck out a franchise-record 1,203 times, so first base coach and former franchise great Harold Baines was appointed as the new assistant hitting coach to help Jeff Manto address the lack of contact. It's just part of the subtle changes the Sox are making under first-year general manager Rick Hahn and Ventura, who enters his second season with more knowledge about his personnel and potential lineups. The Sox payroll will be close to the $109 million mark they finished last season with. They thought it was so essential to fortify their starting pitching they re-signed Jake Peavy (two years, $29 million) and picked up the $9.5 million option on Gavin Floyd. They continue to hope John Danks ($14.25 million) recovers from left shoulder surgery while prized left-hander Chris Sale and Jose Quintana build on their progress in their second seasons in the rotation. "If Peavy wasn't added back, given the nature of the free agent market right now and the dearth of starting pitchers available, much less the price points that some of these guys are going for on the open market, we were going to be really challenged," Hahn told the crowd. "We did not have internal options to fill that void anywhere close to the level of Jake." Nearly half of the Sox's payroll is invested in pitching, thanks to the recent addition of late-inning reliever Matt Lindstrom ($2.3 million). "We feel, 1 through 12 with our pitching staff, we can match up with anyone in the league right now," Hahn said. But the offense will be under a microscope as the Sox will try to improve offensively with a right-hand dominant lineup and high strikeout totals. Hahn points out the Sox don't play the American League-champion Tigers with their powerful right-handed rotation until July 9. Instead of trying to outbid teams to retain Kevin Youkilis or count on a rebound year from Brent Morel (whom Ventura said has looked healthy after back problems), the Sox committed $12 million over the next three years for Jeff Keppinger to play third base. The addition of Keppinger, 32, who had a .367 on-base percentage and struck out only 31 times in 418 plate appearances with the Rays in 2012, represents a shift from past seasons when the Sox leaned heavily on out-slugging teams — most recently last year with the likes of Adam Dunn (41 homers, 222 strikeouts) and Dayan Viciedo (25, 120). In fact, Ventura hinted again of possible changes in the Sox lineup. "Last year we were a bit unorthodox in what we had for a lineup, and who was going well at the time," Ventura said. "(For instance, in the) two spot, any time a guy was swinging well, we thought, 'Oh, maybe we move him (there).'" Ventura said he kept Dunn in the third hole because he draws walks, usually has a high on-base percentage in front of cleanup hitter Paul Konerko. "It was unorthodox, but that's the way we were built," Ventura said. "It doesn't guarantee (Dunn's) going to be there this year. Adding a guy like Jeff Keppinger, he's more of a contact hitter, (bats above) .300. That's more or less what you would like to see in the three (spot). That's why certain things were addressed. Adam is not the prototype No. 3 hitter, but he was last year for us." mgonzales@tribune.com This is pretty amusing. In the past two offseasons, our two best contact hitters, Pierre and AJ, have been let go or weren't affordable. So you're looking for more contact from Flowers, Viciedo, Dunn, Beckham and DeAza? Hmmmpf. I'm not seeing it. Do we want DeAza to turn into Juan Pierre II and cut down his K's and power? We're putting an awful LOT of pressure and expectation on Keppinger to consider him a .300 hitter coming into the season. He's definitely not a proven, everyday, .300 hitter. You'd love to Viciedo, Beckham and DeAza become much more selective...and Alexei as well, but you sort of have the sense he "is what he is" at this point in his career. Count most as cautiously optimistic on this topic. Maybe if they can get Alexei to buy in and stop pull hooking every ball on the infield to the left side...going back more to his style of hitting in 2008, then it will influence the rest of the line-up, just like Pods and Iguchi in 2005. That has to be what they're counting on with Keppinger's presence in the line-up.

Academy Award winner Halle Berry no longer can cite "Catwoman" as the low point of her career. In "Movie 43," she initiates a game of "Truth or Dare" on a blind date — and that leads to Berry making guacamole by mashing avocados with her bare breasts, and inserting a turkey baster filled with extra-hot sauce into herself. And then things get REALLY ugly. My God, do they get ugly. Apparently Hugh Jackman and Academy Award winner Kate Winslet thought they'd be showing off their carefree, comedic sides by playing a blind date scene in which Jackman's character has a realistic-looking scrotum dangling from his chin — which seems to escape the notice of everyone but Winslet. They were all wrong. Very, very, very wrong. From "National Lampoon's Animal House" to "Stripes" to many of the Judd Apatow R-rated comedies to "Ted," I've long been a fan of rude-crude-lewd films — IF they're also smart and we care about the characters and there's a lit bit of an emotional investment in their fates. But I don't see a redeeming molecule in a movie that has Chloe Grace Moretz getting her first period while teenage boys and grown men react like Neanderthals, or Kristen Bell playing Supergirl, who becomes the butt of jokes about her crotch, not to mention the humiliation endured by Faris, Berry and Watts. The men in this movie are jerks, idiots, dolts and fools. The women have it much worse. Ebert review of Movie 43, suntimes.com

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Jan 25, 2013 -> 08:38 PM) He said "by us". Molina at S-Rod were not signed by us. Also, what Top 10 lists had Miguel Gonzalez on them? I'd be surprised if his name was even on anyone's 25 at this point. I meant 2-3 seasons ago for Gonzalez, well, it doesn't matter, he's been a bust compared to expectations.

QUOTE (Chicago White Sox @ Jan 22, 2013 -> 01:17 PM) What I find both fascinating and uplifting is that we only have three players in the Future Sox top 25 that were signed out of Latin America by us. I know you guys didn't release the top 10 yet, but I'm guessing Sanchez & Rienzo are the only guys who would qualify and throw in Olacio and that's all what we got to show for home-grown Latin American prospects. That's 12% of our top 25 prospects coming from one our primary sources of talent. I can guarantee that percentage is amongst the lowest in baseball and just goes to show how disadvantaged we've been since the Wilder fiasco. The good news is the addition of Paddy, the allocation of more resources, and the overall rule changes will change that. It will likely be three to four years before Paddy's first signing class truly make a serious impact on these type of lists, but hopefully we'll see incremental gains each year, with prospects like Sanchez popping out of nowhere more frequently. Molina and Santos Rodriguez have to be in the discussion, somewhere. Miguel Gonzalez made at least two Top 10 lists. Then you throw in Viciedo and Ramirez. But yeah, the lack of players from Dominican is the sore spot. I think you have to go all the way back to Jesus Pena. Paddy seems to be more concentrating in/on Venezuela in terms of his area of expertise.

If you mashed-up the worst parts of the infamous Howard the Duck, Gigli, Ishtar and every other awful movie I've seen since I started reviewing professionally in 1981, it wouldn't begin to approach the sheer soul-sucking badness of [Movie 43]. Reading the synopsis quotes at Rottentomatoes.com is more fun that watching the movie itself, apparently.

QUOTE (DukeNukeEm @ Jan 21, 2013 -> 12:05 PM) $12/hour is Chinese level wages? Is there another China I dont know about, like a secret borough of New York or a new Atlantis? 1500-2500 RMB per month is pretty standard for factory wages, like Apple/Foxconn in Guangdong Province. Something like $250-400 per month, with no paid overtime and very few or little benefits (they're fighting for unionization, although right now it's limited to foreign enterprises operating within China and not Chinese-owned companies/factories). You can do the math. The average is about $75 USD per week, $15 USD per day, $1.75-2.00 USD per hour. I would imagine the most experienced (yet not over 40, where they become less productive or break down due to arthritis or other health related problems) workers might be making $3-4 USD per hour, but very unusual to be above that level.

QUOTE (Y2HH @ Jan 20, 2013 -> 08:18 PM) This is the exact kind of excuse making I'm taking about. And it's complete and utter bulls***. I don't care how much money McDonald's spends trying to "force me" to eat their food. I still have the choice to not, regardless of what subsidy. The fact is most people are fat because they want to be, because they're lazy. Because people such as yourself convince them it's not their fault...when it f***ing is. There are actual people with medical conditions that prevent them from losing weight, and bulls*** like you just spewed diminishes their reality, because you give otherwise normal people who could be healthy if they choose the excuse to blame McDonalds, or the government. An excuse they dont deserve. Allow me the honor to cut through the bulls***. If they want to know why they're actually fat, all they have to do is look in the mirror. That's why this whole home mortgage debate is interesting. Nobody (well, almost nobody) takes the side of either the government or the bank. However, you're also not going to get any type of agreement on the "greedy" individuals involved having the right to be bailed out the situations they got themselves into...because some are legitimately preyed upon by predatory lenders, and a large majority knew what they were getting into and just got too greedy. In that sense, it's "wussification" that government operates in such a way that those responsible got golden parachutes and almost no repercussions for their criminal acts....whereas all those homeowners are still stuck well underwater. That there's no accountability or responsibility on the side of either the government or the private lending institutions or the ratings agencies....that all three were able to conspire together and the main result is that they're even further encouraged that they will be bailed out in the future, the whole "too big to fail" argument.

QUOTE (MuckFinnesota @ Jan 20, 2013 -> 06:49 PM) Just curious, but what position would the left handed bat that people are seeking play for the Sox? More than likely, from LF (Viciedo, although he could also move to 1B) or it would have to be one of the 3 infield positions. Sanchez isn't going to give you much power, no matter where he ends up playing on the IF. And there aren't a whole lot of LH hitting 3B on the market these days. 2B is the other place one could look, depending on what happens with Beckham, as it's not easy to find a LH power hitting catcher either.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/parent...article4247325/ Essentially, what this whole conversation is getting at is fine line between accountability/responsibility and a government that's too soft/compassionate/caring. I would ask Duke and some of the more conservative members of the forum if they agree that this Chinese Tiger Mom method of parenting is what they would like to see in American parents today? It could be parenting, it could be teaching (if you're too soft or too lenient or too friendly with students, they will run all over you and take advantage....if you're too strict, too demanding, too harsh and you don't show any love or compassion in the way you instruct, then you'll also lose students and make them hate learning just as much)...it could be the way in which government deals with or doesn't deal with social problems, and whether philosophical it should have the mission to do so. Here's a comment I found interesting on this phenomenon. http://www.parenting.com/blogs/parenting-p...er-mom-amy-chua In it (her book), Chua suggests that Asian children are academically, culturally and mentally superior than American children because their mothers are strict, no-nonsense parents who demand—and get—obedience and perfection from their kids, even if they have to use punishment, excoriation and shame to get it. American children, she compares, stay losing because, well, we moms coddle and worry and fret over our children’s “feelings” and let our kids “give up” easily because we American moms are quitters—too lazy to demand better. ... I mean, I’m glad that Chua cheerleads for her people and whatnot, but there are a BILLION people in China. And I can promise you, not all of the kids there are concert-level pianists with 4.2 grade averages who kick ass on standardized tests—even if the cultural norm there is for moms to berate and belittle their children into succeeding. Still, that superior stereotype of the uber smart and talented and perfect Asian (and African, and Caribbean and Indian and insert-your immigrant-of-choice here) child plays big here in America, without any recognition by Chua or anyone else that these kids are the children of immigrants—people who, for whatever reason, found the gumption and wherewithal and mettle to bring their families to this, our vast land of opportunity, to find better lives for themselves—to better their families. And that takes some balls. The same kind of balls that I’m guessing you can find in any community of people—yes, even American ones—hellbent on winning and making sure their children do, too. I see the proof of this up close every year around this time. My husband interviews prospective students for his alma mater, Yale—has for more than 20 years. Kids apply, the college farms them out to alumni for interviews that will determine whether they’re Yale material, and a handful of them wind up on my living room couch, shaking and nervous and praying to sweet baby Jesus/Buddha/Allah/Jehovah/whatever-God-they-pray-to that they can impress my husband—a beautiful, brilliant, successful black man whose parents did NOT have to beat up and yell at and berate and humiliate and threaten their son in order for him to succeed—enough to talk their way into one of the top colleges in the world. And I promise you, those students are not all Asian. They are the children of white blue collar workers whose modest homes butt up against trailer parks in neighborhoods where Wal-Mart is the fancy store. They are the children of Mexicans, whose hardworking parents toil under America’s harsh anti-immigration (read: anti-Mexican) glare, but still insist that their children press on, do their best and succeed—prove wrong everyone lined up against their country and culture and language. They are the children of Ghanaians and Jamaicans and Nigerians and Trinidadians who live in grand houses in expensive neighborhoods, paid for with the salaries afforded doctors and lawyers and entrepreneurs who found success here in the United States when there was none to be had in their own countries. They are the children of African American single moms struggling to make ends meet, and black parents who, too, are Yale and Harvard alums with impressive titles and homes and bank accounts. They are the children of families who parented in all kinds of ways—with too much discipline and not enough, with hugging and with slapping, with encouragement and ridicule, with Helicopter Parent-styled attention and hands-off, Free Range Kids-styled parenting. None of these kids are better than the other. None of them worse. They’re just students who, because of their circumstances or despite it, managed to get what they think they need to be the people they think they want to become. And honestly, I don’t think that’s somehow superior to, say, the kids who skip college altogether and become plumbers and electricians and hairdressers and store clerks and nannies.

Django, Silver Linings, Zero Dark Thirty and Lincoln all show up at roughly the same time.

The problem is that what are Jones or Reed really worth? They're not centerpieces of any trade. Look no further than Sergio Santos. Some will argue Reed's a better closer, but I'm not so sure yet. You're not going to get anything significant back because they're both still relatively unproven, and then you're keeping bigger contracts like Thornton and Crain around still. We went through extended periods last year when Jones was struggling and/or Crain was hurt where we sorely missed a dependable RH reliever who could get through the 7th and 8th innings. Wouldn't it make just as much sense to take a risk with dumping Thornton and using that freed up money on something more useful? Someone mentioned Viciedo and Floyd for Olt to shore up 3B and allow Keppinger to be a jack of all trades. The problem is that creates a hole in the outfield that Trayce Thompson is not yet ready to fill. And then moving DeAza from CF to LF makes his offensive skill set an at best break even proposition but overall probably not likely to deliver above average performance from a corner (compared to CF).

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ Jan 16, 2013 -> 08:04 PM) Well, you have to understand Carson Cistulli. He's kind of obsessed with guys like Saladino, and he spends a lot of time bringing them to light and isn't exactly known for rigorous sabermetric truth (and he doesn't claim to be that kind of guy). I don't think he's saying that Saladino WILL be a good piece, I think he's just pointing out that Saladino would project to be useful, which is probably surprising and thus noteworthy, especially for a guy who likes to think about under-the-radar fringe guys. I guess this would largely be based on his high number of walks and doubles, mixed in with some stolen bases. Sure...maybe. Sanchez has stolen a lot of the press from Tyler, who struggled in transitioning to a higher level of competition, but he does have some decent tools across the board, although none that jump out as a "plus plus" type of attribute. Actually, the name had receded into memory with how much Sanchez jumped, and the initial projections of Sanchez being poised to take 2B from Beckham or possibly SS if Ramirez is traded.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jan 16, 2013 -> 06:53 PM) I don't think that computer programs study the rosters all that well. I mean, the people who actually have to write the articles and interpret the date that's forthcoming. Obviously, a computer can take someone like David Cook or CJ Retherford in AA and project major league totals for them...or Tyler Saladino, but it's pretty much a fruitless activity to give them much validity.

QUOTE (Alpha Dog @ Jan 16, 2013 -> 04:37 PM) They also ran a budget surplus in 2012, unlike Illinois, and most other states. Then why didn't the Republicans elect Rick Perry if he could single-handedly solve all the Federal budget problems much more easily than Mr. Romney?

QUOTE (Alpha Dog @ Jan 16, 2013 -> 04:27 PM) A safety net would be fine. What you have is social dependency. Ah, yes, the dreaded 47%, most of whom are senior citizens who paid into Social Security and Medicare their entire lives....as well as numerous legitimately disabled people. It's amazing that we're still having this debate after Clinton "mended but didn't end" welfare in the 90's. Did WIC, AFDC, food stamps, etc., suddenly stop under "W" only to be miraculously restored by Obama's socialist machine? If you want to talk about "social dependency," then how to you explain the nearly universal happiness levels in countries of northern Europe (Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Norway or even Canada) when those countries all have higher tax rates and universal health care...certainly more "intrusive" government programs than the US???

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Jan 16, 2013 -> 04:19 PM) I mean no one - not anyone on this board, not anyone in the media, not anyone in government, etc. When it's conservative policy that is failing (tea party government cutbacks) everyone jumps up and down and says "see how dumb this is? It doesn't work!" When it's liberal policy, no one says a damn thing but "well we actually need to do MORE." Education, jobs, poverty, etc. etc. It's never the liberal belief of "don't worry, we'll just spend our way out of this and give people s***" that's the problem. It's that the government just doesn't have the funds to be able to provide enough! A third of people in this state are poor. A third! How is that acceptable? Why do the same crooked and corrupt democrats get elected to office on the same platforms? Guess whose income tax is going to go up another 2-4% in the coming years? Guess how they're going to pay for the massive pension problem. And yes, SS, I would gladly move to a different state. The wife and I have already talked about moving even if the commute does suck. Where was the Tea Party from 2001-2008 when the "fiscal cliff/debt ceiling" was really beginning to become a problem? Where were those people speaking out on behalf of not increasing the military/defense budget every year? If you want to talk about a truly HORRIBLE return on investment, look no further than Afghanistan and the Middle East. What do we have to show for all those trillions of dollars spent? Money that wasn't spent on Americans...is the world really a safer place? Lots of policies by governments have failed, but just as many have been foreign as domestic/social programs.

QUOTE (Brian @ Jan 16, 2013 -> 01:55 PM) I thought ZERO DARK THIRTY was really good but somewhat over hyped. The compound assault was extremely well done but the other stuff felt like it was just killing time. It's hard to judge since its actual events but things happened to conveniently. And I didn't know who the lesser people they were chasing were. Expected torture scenes to be tougher as well. The people criticizing those scenes obviously didnt see it. I'd put it behind Argo, Playbook, beasts, and PI in Best pic category. And the whole dramatic conflict regarding her new female CIA GFF...that wasn't close to the reality of what actually happened and why it happened and the time order/sequence/chronology. Interesting one loss in the Golden Globes has taken a lot of the luster off Lincoln. Maybe that was their way of poking the Academy for not even nominating Affleck. Beasts of the Southern Wild, don't feel enough people saw that one...although you could say the same for The Artist or The Hurt Locker in years past.