chw42

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ Oct 29, 2013 -> 10:38 AM) With the Abreu signing, Trumbo has no place here, in my opinion. Bourjos though, is an interesting case. According to his stats, he's an elite defender, an above average baserunner, and a league average-ish bat. His slash line wouldn't look sexy, but he's a quiet contributor who has been underutilized by the Angels. Oh, and he has three years of control remaining. I think I'd send Santiago for him straight up. I think our pitching strength is overrated, but I also don't think competing next year is super important, and we have a lot of young pitching depth that needs 2014 to develop in the Majors. Trumbo can play 3B...very poorly. He can also play LF...very poorly. Bourjos is the guy to get.

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ Oct 29, 2013 -> 07:56 AM) I'll play. Eastern conference regular season standings: 1: Bulls 2: Heat (they're going to go into Spurs-mode more this season) 3: Nets (Spurs-mode x10) 4: Pacers 5: Knicks 6: Wizards 7: Bucks 8: Hawks (God, anything past 5 is a crapshoot. I love the deal for Gortat in Washington, the Cavs have NOTHING past Kyrie (seriously), the Bucks were an addition by subtraction team and are strong up-front, the Hawks have a nice starting 5, Philly and Charlotte are hot garbage, Toronto won't be in and is likely already trying to deal Rudy Gay, Orlando has some very nice pieces but are at least a year away. So that's my top 8) First round: (1) Bulls over (8) Hawks (2) Heat over (7) Bucks (3) Nets over (6) Wizards (4) Pacers over (5) Knicks Conference semis: (1) Nets over (4) Pacers (2) Heat over (3) Nets Conference finals: (1) Bulls over (2) Heat Western conference regular season standings: 1: Clippers 2: Thunder 3: Spurs (obviously they'll be in Spurs-mode!) 4: Warriors 5: Rockets 6: Grizzlies 7: T-Wolves 8: Blazers First round: (1) Clippers over (8) Blazers (2) Thunder over (7) T-Wolves (3) Spurs over (6) Grizzlies (5) Rockets over (4) Warriors (This will be known as the series that Dwight feasted on David Lee and ulimately ended Andrew Bogut's career - way to extend him GS!) Conference semis: (1) Clippers over (5) Rockets (this would be loads of fun) (2) Thunder over (1) Clippers (Durant in F-you mode) Conference finals: (2) Thunder over (3) Spurs NBA finals: Bulls over Thunder (series MVP - Poohdini) Individual awards: MVP: Kevin Durant ROY: Victor Oladipo (I agree with J4L here - seems like the clear favorite) DPOY: Larry Sanders 6th man: Jarrett Jack Most improved: Derrick Favors. Kid's going to average 14 boards Coach: Doc Rivers I think you forgot Detroit. I'd say they have a better chance of making the playoffs than Atlanta or Milwaukee.

QUOTE (Jordan4life @ Oct 28, 2013 -> 09:47 PM) Ladies and Gents, the NBA season has just about arrived. May 2014 continue to be as kind to us as every year since 2006 in this new golden age of analytics, advanced defenses, small ball, offensive spacing and 3pt shooting as at the end of the year we will welcome what many are saying is the greatest crop of draft prospects we've ever seen. Eastern conference regular season standings: 1: Heat 2: Bulls 3: Pacers (had the Pacers at 2 until Granger's latest set back) 4: Nets 5: Knicks 6: Wizards 7: Pistons 8: Cavs (would have them 5th with a healthy Bynum. But that never happens) First round: (1) Heat over (8) Cavs (2) Bulls over (7) Pistons (3) Pacers over (6) Wizards (4) Nets over (5) Knicks Conference semis: (4) Nets over (1) Heat (2) Bulls over (3) Pacers Conference finals: (4) Nets over (2) Bulls Western conference regular season standings: 1: Clippers 2: Thunder 3: Rockets 4: Spurs 5: Warriors 6: Grizzlies 7: Mavs 8: Timberwolves First round: (1) Clippers over (8) Timberwolves (2) Thunder over (7) Mavs (3) Rockets over (6) Grizzlies (5) Warriors over (4) Spurs Conference semis: (1) Clippers over (5) Warriors (3) Rockets over (2) Thunder Conference finals: (1) Clippers over (3) Rockets NBA finals: Clippers over Nets (series MVP - Paul) Individual awards: MVP: LeBron ROY: Victor Oladipo DPOY: Dwight 6th man: Harrison Barnes Most improved: Super tough here. But I'll go with 'Brow over Drummond/Favors Coach: Jason Kidd Were you drunk, high, or both when you posted this J4L?

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Oct 29, 2013 -> 07:56 AM) I don't know if conceding game 6 to get to game 7 is the best idea. Red Sox were in game 2 with the same pitching matchup until Breslow happened. I think the Sox win game 6, they will get to Wacha this time. Lackey also pitched in game 4, so he'd kind of be going on short rest (although I think game 4 was his bullpen day anyways). The Red Sox staff know their pitchers better than I do, but going with Peavy in game 7 seems a bit risky.

I think the Cards are going to win game 6 with Wacha going. The Sox would be smart to go with Lackey in game 7 and not game 6.

Won the first game of our double header 24-9, then only won 7-6 in the second. It's probably the lowest scoring game I've been apart of.

QUOTE (Jake @ Oct 28, 2013 -> 10:27 PM) If you really could have also gotten an HTC One for $100 and also gotten credit for your trade in...then you goofed The G2 is a much better phone spec-wise.

QUOTE (Chilihead90 @ Oct 28, 2013 -> 10:22 PM) It appears from all the reviews and comments from the guy at Best Buy, that I walked in looking to buy a BMW or a Mercedes, and I walked out with a brand new Bugatti. First I got to figure out where the rest of my contacts went, and then redownload all my apps. Why do you people not link your contacts with your Google account? I don't know how many Facebook posts I've seen where people say "new phone, text me your number".

QUOTE (Chilihead90 @ Oct 28, 2013 -> 09:27 PM) The joke was because I hate Apple. Anyway, I ended up doing something I never do, like at all....I blindly purchased something I didn't research before hand. I'm know, I'm crazy! Hah. I went with the LG G2. It's listed on the Best Buy website for $200 w/ a contract. The dude at BB got it down to $100 for me somehow, and then gave it to me for $50 if I traded in my current phone. So all-in-all, I got a $700 phone for $50 and a mostly-working Atrix. He asked if my Atrix worked perfectly. I showed him that dead spot. After about 10 minutes of me trying to figure out the problem or reason for the dead spot, he said since his manager was not there that he would pretend it worked fine and give me the deal. So that was pretty legit. LG G2 - http://www.bestbuy.com/site/lg-g2-4g-with-...;contract_desc= I really didn't want a phone this big, but it seems all the new phones are going to have huge screens, and this one is actually small compared to those Galaxy notes and a few others, so I decided to get used to it. Awesome. The G2 is a pretty beastly phone.

QUOTE (Chilihead90 @ Oct 28, 2013 -> 05:15 PM) Ok Soxtalk, help pick my new cell phone. My currently phone is having "dead spot" issues on the screen. I can't hit the "E, S, W, X, or comma" buttons on the on-screen keyboard. When flipped horizontally, I lose the backspace and semi-colon buttons. For some reason this seems to only be an issue when I am typing a message, so maybe downloading a new messaging app will solve this? I have no clue. There is nothing visibly on the screen, I have "cleaned" it several times and I have turned the phone off and on again. So in the event that I can't fix this spot, I'll probably just get a new phone considering this one is a few years old. Now I've never actually chose or purchased a smart phone before, so I am not 100% on what to look for as far as processing speeds and types of processors and what not. I have no idea on the current specs of my phone, other than it's an Android 2.3 or something and there are a fair amount of apps I can't even use on this phone. Anyway, being a cheap college kid with no current income, I have come across these possibilities at Best Buy (their prices were better than AT&Ts website)..... Sony Xperia TL 4G - FREE LG Optimus G 4G (16GB) - FREE Pantech Flex 4G - FREE LG Escape 4G (4GB) - FREE Motorola Atrix HD 4G - FREE Pantech Discover 4G - $50 Samsung Galaxy S3 4G (16GB) - $50 I am eligible for an upgrade with 2-year commitment, blah blah blah. There are a ton of really nice $100 phones, like the HTC One, LG Optimus G Pro, and Moto X, but I don't want to pay nearly $150 after activation and taxes. So what say you? Any other places to get better deals than Best Buy? I just began this search 15 minutes ago, so I haven't looked very hard yet. The best phone out of the free ones is the Optimus G, by far. It's basically a Nexus 4 without the software updates. Followed by the Atrix HD and Xperia TL. Don't even consider the other crap in that list. The Optimus G has better hardware than the S3 (it's like 6 months older than the Optimus G), but the S3 actually has a better dev community that can keep your phone going for a bit longer. If you're not willing to shell out the extra $50, then go with the Optimus G. If you would like more stable and frequent custom ROMs for your phone, get the S3. So If I were to rank those phones, it'd be something like 1a. Optimus G 1b. Galaxy S3 2 Atrix HD 3. Xperia TL Don't even consider the rest. And the fact that AT&T has to stick a 4G to the end of all these phone names is annoying as hell. Just one question though...are you paying your cell phone bill? Because if you are, you'd be much better off just going to prepaid and buying one of these phones unlocked.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Oct 28, 2013 -> 04:32 PM) if you google St Louis Cardinals and look at the description...well...just do it quickly before it is changed Too late now, what did it say?

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Oct 28, 2013 -> 11:13 AM) Don't miss college? Ugh. I'd give my right nut to go back and do it all over again. Hardly any responsibility, hanging out with friends 24/7, being high or drunk 24/7, young co-eds, etc. etc. It depends on what you major in. I was usually drowning in school work.

I do miss having roommates. But then sometimes, I really don't.

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Oct 28, 2013 -> 05:38 AM) @BestFansStLouis is a sight to behold after that game. You know what, none of that racism surprises me considering these are the best fans in baseball we're talking about here.

Wow, Peyton's really sucking. Those ankles must be really bothering him.

All my guys had 10+ points week so far and I still might lose. Ugh.

LOL Cowboys. They really should be 6-2.

QUOTE (IlliniKrush @ Oct 27, 2013 -> 01:16 AM) Huh I'm in no way saying it was the wrong call according to the rule book. That isn't my problem with what happened. My problem is with the rule itself, which is what I said to begin with. All I'm saying is that the umpires should be able to take intent into account. If the defender was purposefully trying to interfere with the base runner, then it definitely should be obstruction. In the example you gave, if Middlebrooks was clearly not making an attempt to get off of the baserunner, then it definitely should be obstruction. In the case of the call today, I feel the call should not have been based on the fact that Middlebrooks was lying in the base path, but whether or not he purposefully attempted to trip Craig on his way home.

QUOTE (IlliniKrush @ Oct 27, 2013 -> 12:12 AM) This makes no sense. So just because you make a play on the ball, but don't actually get it, you should gain the advantage instead of the baserunner that should be able to advance? You're in an advantage/disadvantage situation there. You can't reward a defense for not making a play when the offense has every right to make one of their own. Let's make this play a little bit more drawn out. Middlebrooks jumps up for the ball, misses it, lands on Craig and is lying on top of him. It takes him 5 seconds to get untangled and is thrown out at home. Just because he's "making a play," which wasn't made, oh well, that's the breaks, you can't score? That defies all logic. Anyway, the rule is what it is. You can like it or not like it, but by the the rule book and case book, it was the right call without question. First of all, intent is 100% irrelevant (which, btw, it seems Middlebrooks did try to trip him and maybe thought he'd get away with it). There's no "well where should he have gone/what should he have done?" It doesn't matter, the fact is that he's lying in the base path and obstructed the path of the runner. There's a ton of things in baseball (and other sports for that matter) where intent is irrelevant. If you want an answer to "what should he have done" my answer to you would be he should have caught the ball and it wouldn't have been an issue. Or make a better throw from behind the plate. If you "don't want a game decided by a call" then don't have umpires or rules. The players decided the game based on their actions. Umpires respond based on the actions of players. If you think this is controversial, you have no idea how controversial it would have been if they didn't make the obstruction call there. Making a non-call is the same as making a call there. What, it's the world series, they can only make ball/strike and easy safe/out calls now? Action happened, you rule one way or another. As if they'll just walk up to the press conference and say "well, it was obstruction, but we don't want a game decided like that, so we just let it go." They would have decided that game that way as well. He was clearly in the basepath, it's not like Craig ran way out of his way or tried to do anything to just draw a call. Here's something else. Do you know that if Craig had to simply jump over him, that would have been obstruction as well? You don't even need contact for obstruction. That's obstruction 100 times out of 100. It's really not even a question. Why have it be so absolute? Baseball is so full of judgment calls that something like this should apply as well. As for the bolded part: that is the exact type of play I was talking about. That happened against the Sox on a SB attempt. I think O-Cab (when he was with the Twins), purposefully laid on top of the base runner at 2nd to stop him from advancing to third on a bad throw to CF. That wasn't called obstruction somehow and something like that obviously should be.

QUOTE (BigHurt3515 @ Oct 26, 2013 -> 11:36 PM) Was Middlebrooks in the basepath?? I think his feet were in front of third base, which is how Craig tripped.

The obstruction call in baseball is fairly stupid. If the fielder gets into a bad position from trying to catch a throw (like in the case of Middlebrooks) and he just happens to be in the basepath, it's obstruction. I know it's hard to judge intent, but I really feel obstruction should be a judgment call based on the fielder's intent. I remember a play at second where on an errant throw into CF, the SS would stay on top of the diving runner to prevent him from going to third base. How the hell is that not obstruction?

QUOTE (BigHurt3515 @ Oct 26, 2013 -> 11:15 PM) Yes, he is the one that let the first runner on. Ferrell clearly lost this game for Boston. He didn't pinch hit for him in the 9th when he had Napoli on the bench and then kept him in for the 9th. And not walking Jay. I think Farrell didn't have a lot of relievers left in the bullpen, so he wanted to stick with Workman as long as possible.

QUOTE (buhbuhburrrrlz @ Oct 26, 2013 -> 11:08 PM) why didn't they walk the bases loaded? I wondered that as well. Who would you rather face...a decent hitter in Jay or a guy who hits like a pitcher in Kozma with a force at every base? I think the answer is pretty damn simple there. Pedroia more or less bailed out Farrell, but Salty's throw screwed everything up. FWIW, I thought it was obstruction the moment the play happened and I thought they'd actually call it at third base. The fact the home plate umpire had to call it later was so anti-climactic.

I don't know if Middlebrooks did that on purpose, but there's been far worse attempts of obstruction that haven't been called.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Oct 25, 2013 -> 08:54 AM) The Soxtalk Cy Young has already been awarded, my friend. Only 2Ks? That's nothing compared to the 12 Ks Chillihead got!