gatnom

Thanks for the opinions guys. Are there any specific shops to avoid (or go to) as far as looking for clubs or fitting goes? Or, are they all pretty much equally reputable?

Does anybody here have any advice for buying a new set of clubs? Specific clubs to get or avoid? A good place to get them? I just got back into golf this summer, and the only clubs I have are the ones my parents bought for me when I was about 12.

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Aug 11, 2014 -> 10:31 AM) Bears weren't exactly pulling those guys off special teams. They were doing both and the unit still kept some of the standouts from the previous era. Bad penalties, bad execution. Everything I saw out of the unit a year ago was one that was undisciplined and poorly coached. Joey D is the type of coach that could cost the Bears wins. I wanted Tucker gone too but from about the 3rd week on last year I was railing about how awful Joey D was and I presume it will be more of the same this year, but I hope I'm wrong. Having to do both means you can't focus on doing one and you have to deal with playing more per game. Not saying that I want him kept around or anything, but you can't say that it doesn't affect anything.

QUOTE (bmags @ Aug 10, 2014 -> 09:52 AM) So, the special teams. I've read a bit recently that Decamillis' system is complicated and may be reason foe the mistakes. If that's the case, maybe don't use a complicated system on the part of the team with 70% turnover every year. He's awful. It's ok, Green Bay has the Zooker as a special teams coach. There's no way the Bears can be worse.

QUOTE (CaliSoxFanViaSWside @ Aug 5, 2014 -> 02:11 AM) Didn't he have a 0 ERA his Sr. year ? Something along those lines. I just don't remember him being really hyped by the people who make the top prospect lists. I could be totally wrong, though.

QUOTE (Quinarvy @ Aug 4, 2014 -> 10:52 PM) Montas is at the same level and I hear far fewer doubts about him? I'm excited for both. I don't see anybody particularly doubting him per se, just people pointing out that saying Danish is a top 20 prospect is a bit extreme. As far as why Danish isn't higher ranked, I don't think he had too much hype coming out of high school (admittedly, most likely due to the reasons Jake points out), and he doesn't exactly have the loudest peripherals to really overcome the sort of confirmation bias on these lists.

QUOTE (beautox @ Aug 4, 2014 -> 08:15 PM) the fact that he is so young is what makes him even more promising, because hes a 19 year old kid that hasn't hit his physical maturity and he already has elite stuff and could stand to gain a tick possibly two on his fastball. His fastball is currently sitting where Jake Peavy's was in '07 during his CY year, theres a real possibility provided health isn't a factor that Danish gets a cup of coffee at age 20 with the potential to be in the rotation at 21 in '16 Promising, definitely. A top 20 prospect, no. I like him as a prospect, but so much happens between A ball and the majors. If he continues to perform as he's promoted, he will continue to get more love. For example, Nestor Molina had a 2.21 ERA and 10.2 K/9 in 2011 between A and AA. You don't see many people hyping him now. EDIT: added more relevant example.

QUOTE (Stan Bahnsen @ Aug 4, 2014 -> 11:25 AM) Objectively, he's ~#8 among full season qualifiers for the ERA title in all of minor league baseball, and he's the youngest in the Top 20. He is the rarest of birds, in that he is an extreme groundballer while possessing no shortage of swing-and-miss stuff. He is convincing more people daily that he will stick as a starter, as he's getting through 6 innings consistently on low pitch counts with terrific efficiency. This offseason will be key for the young man - if he increases his durability enough to maintain his stuff deeper into games, and possibly gains a tick, the Southern League and the IL won't have a chance. It would have been laughable how low Chris Sale would have ranked due to similar biases had he stuck around the minor leagues for any length of time. Only comparing their rankability, not the pitchers - standard caveat here. It appears that I'll be dragging this group kicking and screaming toward what I see as obvious. Time will tell. In the meantime, I'll take wagers on the bolded. Career WAR vs. Anderson? Don't want to root against Tim, who I'm extremely high on, but he has way more fleas than Tyler. FTFY, there's no shortage of stuff. He wouldn't get nearly the amount of swing-and-miss otherwise. Look at the improvement in his results since Anderson was replaced with Rondon, and Basto was replaced with a human body capable of wearing a glove. He's going to give up a fair number of GB hits, still. Ftr, I don't either. Just said he should be. The fact that he's so young is a big part of the reason he shouldn't be in the top 20. A ball is so far away from the majors. If he continues to miss bats and get results next year at a higher level, you'll start to see some more love for your boy.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Jul 30, 2014 -> 04:38 PM) Which the White Sox almost never do...unless you count $1 million for Rios. Or Linebrink. But 90% of the time, they would rather save the money and forgo the prospects. They did eat the Keppinger contract, though. That's at least on a small scale a willingness to eat some cash.

Thanks everybody for the input. I tend to side a bit more with Jenks in that as long as you're having a good time (and not spending yourself into massive amounts of debt), you're not really wasting your money. I'm currently living on about 25% of my income right now because my parents aren't charging me any rent, so I feel like I have a good enough head on my shoulders not to completely screw myself with spending.

QUOTE (maggsmaggs @ Jul 28, 2014 -> 05:58 PM) Definitely. You really enjoy the Lake? Then Uptown-Lincoln Park, etc. You like the "hipster" scene: Bucktown and Wicker Park. Wanna be close to the Loop but not in the Loop? West Loop. South Loop. I'm pretty flexible because my favorite two past times are getting drunk and striking out with women, and you can do that pretty much anywhere. I'm not much of a fan of the hipster scene personally. I do work in the loop, so those options might be pretty nice. Thanks for the replies, guys.

Any suggestions for neighborhoods to live in Chicago as a 23 year old? I don't have a car, so living near public transportation is a must. I have a pretty general idea of where I think I'd like to be, but I was wondering if anybody here had any suggestions.

QUOTE (iamshack @ Jul 24, 2014 -> 02:36 PM) Yeah, well, if we want it to be the National Morality Football League, then we can just sign up the guys on the straight & narrow. But that's not what they want. They want it to include the best athletes on earth. Sometimes, those guys aren't always the best people. I think, in a business where your employees are public figures, how your employees appear to the public can be viewed as important. I doubt any team (or the NFL itself) actually wants the label that all their employees are criminals or spouse abusers.

QUOTE (Jake @ Jul 20, 2014 -> 01:55 PM) Semien is the classic "gets a cup of coffee in MLB and now everybody thinks he sucks" guy. Marcus has accomplished far more than Micah at this point and the only tool where Micah beats him is speed. Marcus, at present, is clearly a better bet on defense, for power, for plate discipline, and hit tool in general. It isn't so far apart that Micah can't pass him up, but that's how it is. I know this is kind of a roundabout way of saying what you said here, but the long story short is that Micah is just not ready to face MLB pitching yet. His numbers are way down since being promoted to AAA.

QUOTE (farmteam @ Jul 18, 2014 -> 02:45 PM) Liking the Michalczewski love. I know it's just Lo-A but he's been doing real well. I was going to comment on that as well. He has some red flags (29% K%), but has held his own in a league where he is very young. I was surprised to see him ranked so highly, though.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Jul 10, 2014 -> 03:38 PM) I thought Efron and little Franco were pretty funny, but the black kid in the fraternity stole it for me.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Jul 7, 2014 -> 05:22 PM) His plan is to come back ASAP. Theirs WAS to sit out all year. He's making them think. Dude is a beast. I'll take it. As long as part of his rehab assignment is how to not land awkwardly while diving for balls haha.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Jul 7, 2014 -> 05:10 PM) What!!!!!!! Who would even THINK of saying he'd be back this year?????? Do you know what their plan is for him, Rock?

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Jul 7, 2014 -> 05:01 PM) https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/324283889/potato-salad Really?? Damn. He got about $40k since last night.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Jul 6, 2014 -> 10:22 AM) Gotta hope relationships win out over the flash and promise of those factories. Bragg thinks he's a one and done but most experts don't agree. The question is whether he believes Cal or Self can get him there over his relationship with Groce and staff. Hasn't worked out for Illinois thus far, just saying.

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Jul 3, 2014 -> 02:15 PM) No one is really saying this. But there should be an understanding that there is a decent number of people who abuse the system and that instead of saying "whelp, they deserve it!" we should be figuring out ways to stop the abuse. Welfare was meant to be a short-term crutch, not a lifetime entitlement. Not a "well, i'd prefer to do this, not that so gimme gimme gimme." I agree. It just amuses me how nobody ever says this. It's always something along the lines of complaining about "Liberal handouts" or "I know so-and-so is a freeloader and therefore welfare is bad."

Perhaps we should get rid of all welfare because of those who abuse it.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Jul 2, 2014 -> 07:15 PM) Oh yeah. That was settled awhile ago. Yeah. In somewhat related news it sounds like Nile Sykes might be headed to Indiana.

I don't mean to derail the thread, but why does everybody love Reagan so much? Admittedly, I haven't kept up on my history since high school, but I remember disliking a lot of what he did.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Jul 2, 2014 -> 05:20 PM) So polls say Obama is worst president since WWII. This is so bizarre because you know and I know if Obama could run again he would win in a landslide again. Does it make Americans feel better to say this s*** to pollsters when they know damn well King Obama would win in the next election and again four years after that and four years after that? Obama should laugh at the polls cause he gets the last laugh ... every time he runs for office! Do you think he's worst president since WWII? Do u agree with my premise here?? http://news.yahoo.com/u-poll-more-voters-s...-122609810.html Why exactly do you hate Obama, greg? Just curious.