gatnom

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Apr 25, 2014 -> 08:13 PM) I wonder who is going to be his coach once he's ready to play. Who cares? Also, god forbid Beckman gets credit for getting anything right...

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Apr 25, 2014 -> 03:19 PM) Sounds like they tried to use fake IDs at a bar on Little 5 weekend. Brilliant. I saw that. They would have to be two of the least likely to get away with it, and two of the least likely to need it...

QUOTE (Y2HH @ Apr 24, 2014 -> 01:03 PM) I take things further than this... I charge EVERYTHING I do, doesn't matter what it is, on my Discover or my AmEx Blue Cash -- both cards give me 1% to 5% off on everything I buy -- and I pay off everything in full every month. This way I'm completely protected from fraud on all purchases, and I get a discount on everything I buy. This is actually what I've been doing since I got approved for my first credit card last fall. I never buy anything I don't have the money for and just pay off the bill at the end of the month. QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Apr 24, 2014 -> 01:03 PM) You can. You can do it two ways, depending on what service provider you have. Some of them allow you to make an extra payment online and you can tell them specifically what loan you want it applied to. If you don't have that option, write them a letter and tell them that you'll be sending them X amount in extra payment and that you want it applied to the highest interest rate loan with the lowest balance. Here's an example of a letter: Thanks for the help Jenks.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Apr 24, 2014 -> 09:32 AM) Belisario has strung together 3 straight scoreless outings over 4.2 IP, giving up only 2 hits and no walks during that time. He has knocked five full runs off of his ERA during that time. Really, half of the runs he gave up this year were in the one disaster in Denver (well 5 of 11). Take away that meltdown, and his season looks a lot different. I'm hoping the addition of a healthy Nate Jones will have a bit of a stabilizing effect on the pen.

QUOTE (IlliniKrush @ Apr 18, 2014 -> 01:06 AM) If your company offers any sort of 401K match, make sure you max out on that. Absolute first thing to do. Supposedly, they are in the process of starting that up, but if they're like anybody I've ever worked for before, it's probably not going to happen any time soon.

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Apr 17, 2014 -> 09:31 PM) What are the rates on your loans? That'll determine what you should do with your extra income. I'm paying back some of mine, but not all. I have loans ranging from 2%, essentially free money, and 6.75%. If you were paying back student loans over the last few years instead of investing you lost about 20% or more on returns. Interesting point. I have loans ranging from 3.4% to 6.8%, but due to the way the federal loans seem to aggregated, I'm not sure that they will let me pay off the higher interest loans specifically. I'll have to contact them to see exactly how it works since apparently this isn't a frequently asked question in the FAQ section. Doing some rough math, if they were to use a weighted average for the rates, it would be about 4.87% which would be enough I would think to try to pay them back first. QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Apr 17, 2014 -> 07:12 PM) Keep it simple. At this age, paying off debt will get you much further than anything else. Put somewhere around 5% away, and put it into whatever SP500 fund you have, and forget about it. Is there any fund you would recommend? I've heard of a few, but I'm not sure if any of them are particularly good.

So, do any of you financially savvy people have some investing advice for a guy who is just starting his first real job out of college? Paying back my student loans is my primary priority at the moment, but I'd like to start putting some money aside for retirement etc. sooner rather than later. Any thoughts?

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Apr 17, 2014 -> 04:27 PM) Steve Bernhardt ‏@Steve_Bernhardt 20h Reports of @tylerkolek58 up to 103 mph in last few starts. Could be first HS RHP to go 1-1. #UAAllAmerica Am I the only one who views this as kind of a bad thing?

QUOTE (IlliniKrush @ Apr 15, 2014 -> 11:28 PM) Shield is awesome, my hat is off to Nike to make something original, has something to do with U of I and isn't gimmicky. I think it looks best in one color on another color like in the soccer jersey, but it totally works. And the silver uniforms look awesome as an alternate. All I can think of when I see the shield is a USA Olympics or World Cup type of logo, particularly when it's in full color. It's not bad in and of itself, but as the U of I logo it just seems wrong in my opinion. We agree on the silver uniforms, though.

QUOTE (raBBit @ Apr 3, 2014 -> 11:20 AM) So was David Price. You take the best player available. Not exactly true in baseball. Over/under slot signings wouldn't exist otherwise.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Mar 25, 2014 -> 10:28 AM) That would really surprise me. Why would he not go to Illinois but go to Marquette? That's just silly. Unless he was just scared. Or UCLA.

QUOTE (Brian @ Mar 9, 2014 -> 10:44 AM) Brackets coming tonight. Think I read that if PSU wins, theyre #7 but if they lose...I don't know. If PSU wins, it will be #7 Illinois vs. #10 PSU.

QUOTE (IlliniKrush @ Mar 9, 2014 -> 12:19 AM) EKEY SPLASH What a way to recover in the big ten for the second year in a row. So, how far fetched is the NIT now?

I have to be optimistic in March. Put me in at 84 wins. No idea how.

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Mar 6, 2014 -> 11:00 AM) For the Big Ten teams, it seems to come down to hitting shots (brilliant analysis right?). By that I mean no one really has any dominant post presence, so it's all about jump shooting. There's really not a good transition team either. MSU is the best bet there, but they're not very healthy. Iowa is pretty good in transition.

I can't comment about the rest of my generation, but I know I've personally held a job since I was 16. I've also paid all my own bills since I was 18. The examples of entitled kids these says more about the individuals and their upbringings than it does about the generation, in my opinion.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Mar 5, 2014 -> 08:08 AM) at what point do you guys think you will have a true read on Groce? End of year 3? I think we kind of already have a pretty good read on Groce. A good if not great recruiter who needs more success to truly pull in 5 star talent from the likes of Chicago. He preaches defensive intensity and a pretty unimaginative offense (which is seemingly designed for inefficiency), but as of this point has recruited enough talent to win with his schemes as long as he can find somebody to tie it all together at the PG position. What remains to be seen for me is if his teams continue to underachieve during the regular season but overachieve come tournament time.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Feb 28, 2014 -> 12:02 PM) I hate his knee the most. Which?

QUOTE (Brian @ Feb 26, 2014 -> 06:23 PM) Was afraid of a letdown/trap game. Broke as a joke. Still plenty of time left. How often does Stauskas get the USA chant?

QUOTE (bigruss22 @ Feb 26, 2014 -> 04:25 PM) He still needs to get his pg, he's come incredibly close his first 2 years recruiting but hasn't sealed the deal yet. Still early and I think he can get one for 2015, but it's definitely an uphill battle. My biggest worry with Groce is if he can coach in Big Ten play. He didn't win a lot in MAC at Ohio in conference play, and he's struggled in the first 2 years here. If next season they don't go over .500 in conference play then I will start to worry a bit about his coaching ability. I still think he's been a great hire and is setting us up for sustained success going forward. True, I'm just not going to jump all over him for not having a PG right this second. There's no point in complaining about something that might not even be an issue. As far as coaching ability, we'll learn a lot next year when he basically has a full team. Personally, I'd be ok with disappointing regular seasons if he continues his postseason success.

I don't get why people are punishing Groce for things he hasn't done yet. Right now he hasn't landed a PG. Let's bash him for that when it's all over and he actually hasn't landed one. Ultimately, his career will be determined with whether or not he can win games. Believe it or not, you can actually win with guys like Aaron Jordan, D.J. Williams, Leron Black, Kendrick Nunn, etc.

I'll take whatever tournament we can get. I don't think I'm that crazy for thinking the NIT is within reach, though?

QUOTE (IlliniKrush @ Feb 14, 2014 -> 12:39 AM) http://www.highschoolcubenews.com/news_article/show/349592 Hard for me to believe they would ever completely get over being as offended as they were.

QUOTE (Rowand44 @ Feb 10, 2014 -> 10:18 PM) KU-KSU had a wild final 2 mins of regulation. Getting fired by Illinois might have been the best thing that's ever happened to Bruce Weber.

QUOTE (Harry Chappas @ Feb 6, 2014 -> 11:24 AM) Really sad state of affairs when Illinois is bragging about kind of out-recruiting Northwestern. Even worse when Northwestern really out recruited Illinois...