The Beast

QUOTE (kjshoe04 @ Aug 18, 2011 -> 12:24 AM) Really? I've tailgated in my Sebring by myself. The only reason I can think of why they were doing it is because it was the fourth of July and they anticipated lots of people bringing big trucks that wanted to tailgate. So maybe they gave the "large trucks only" reason to curb the amount of people in smaller cars tailgating that day. Either way the parking guy was being a deuche.

Definitely use the church lot as White Sox parking employees are generally dicks about their jobs. For example, my family tried parking a larger Mazda and we were told it was too small to tailgate from even though smaller cars were able to tailgate. A larger car that showed up later was given the same answer, "large cars only." Go to the church, that is probably best, unless you want to get hassled.

I turn to my right and with my left arm, I punch forward and let my right hand quickly punch to the right as the left retreats. And I do overemphasize the call at times but nobody really cares.

Inevitably, the Office. And ER died a bit earlier than I would have thought. Also, the Simpsons needs to die.

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ Aug 8, 2011 -> 09:14 AM) Though I agree the Bears should be on lakefront, plenty of teams don't technically play in the large cities with which they are associated. That's true. I was exaggerating the point that the Bears should remain on the lakefront. Outside of the grass, I don't see much of a problem with Soldier Field. Most people like the old look of the stadium with the new additions inside.

I wasn't able to stay in St. Louis till the end of August, but I have been able to get a solid letter of recommendation from two supervisors, added several contacts on linkedin and my supervisor has assured me she will put in a good word to her contacts for jobs I may apply for in the future. Now I just have to figure out how to get into the White Sox organization considering they only hire interns who have bachelor's degrees and do not post their internships on their website. So I'll be back home trying to get a job that just pays so I can save more money to be able to do something that I actually like to do in sports. Or I'll go into media relations somewhere corporate...maybe even try and hit up DePaul to become a graduate assistant while I go to grad school.

If they moved the team out of Chicago then they aren't really the Chicago Bears now, are they? They might as well become the Arlington Heights Staleys if you move them out of Soldier Field. Personally I don't see anything wrong with the stadium outside of the fact that the Park District and the Bears need to work on turning the grass into the new turf used.

Who the hell was Will Blow-hman screaming at? Morel?

A little known fact of the ball park is that you can bring in a clear bag of fruit and one sealed bottle of water without penalty. I think bottled pop and water is about $4.50 or $5, which is still bull.

QUOTE (since56 @ Jul 30, 2011 -> 07:44 AM) The White Sox have some big names and are currently in the thick of the chase in the A.L. Central. The weather has been great for night games and the team has been playing well. The northsiders suck and are not a factor. A beautiful Friday night in late July against the Red Sox the house should have been packed. I know we have been down this road before, but why not better attendance? The park is beautiful and the experience is a positive one. I have been to more than a few stadiums around the country and the cell is above average. I don't get it. Ticket prices are wayyy too high. Not to mention parking is too expensive and the beer is outrageous for recent graduates. I'd rather tailgate and get tipsy outside so I don't have to pay $7.25 for a beer inside. But some days I can't even tailgate because a parking guy is a dick and sucks at customer service, telling people if they have Honda CRVs they can't pull up where everyone is tailgating in spite of two small cars being close by. I don't buy the Cubs/Sox argument because if they were able to draw 27,000-30,000 a night that should be enough to put the Sox past some of those other clubs.

The two year deal isn't done with Williams yet. After losing Davis and Aromashodu in free agency, would the Bears consider spending some more to bring in Sims-Walker to complement Williams, or are they the same receiver?

Why did the Bears seem so uninterested in maintaining Manning? He seems like a pretty big loss as he really added something to the return game. But I am not sure if he was all that great on defense - they must really like Major Wright if they want to put him in right away.

QUOTE (kapkomet @ Jul 28, 2011 -> 09:39 PM) I hope what you have is really important, because right now when they need you the most is not a good time to leave. I mean, it's an internship, but it sort of sticks that you left when it got (seemingly) more important. Not trying to be an ass, because obviously I don't know your situation. I think you would have learned a lot by sticking around. No decision has been made yet and I don't really want to get into the specifics of the situation. But I would primarily be helping out at training camp & doing less work in the office. If I did stay around, maybe their perceptions would think even more highly of me but it sounds like I am getting contacts and a recommendation regardless.

I had the meeting with my boss and a co-worker that I work under close supervision with today. They appeared to want me to stay till the end of August, extending my time with the team for 18 days. It seems like they need help for training camp but I have something personal going on back home to attend to. Even if I don't stay, they said they would be willing to put me into contact with members of most Chicago teams with the exception of the Blackhawks. So I don't see much of a difference if I stayed or went home but the contacts part of this was important.

QUOTE (Y2HH @ Jul 26, 2011 -> 06:51 PM) All an interview is, to the point, is them trying to sell the company to you, and you trying to sell yourself to the company. An interview, most people seem to forget, is a two way street. They need help, and you need a job. If you are still young, as you seem to be, don't be afraid to try different things...there will be plenty of jobs of various types at various companies in your future. While you still can, experiment and figure out what it is you really love to do...the money will come on it's own. Until then, think of this as an adventure...have fun with it...you have a lifetime ahead of you to worry about the small stuff. I graduated from college in May with a degree in Business. I often wonder if I should have stuck with a writing oriented major even though people gave me plenty of s***, just because I feel I'd be good at PR. I wonder how people oriented you have to be to be in media relations because I can talk to people but I am not extroverted. Maybe that's a small thing I shouldn't worry about and instead I should be focusing on going back to school or I should go work part-time and intern with some place in the city to get involved with communications (not radio or newspapers). But I'll see how this meeting goes since I don't think it is an interview.

I'm meeting with my bosses over the weekend or on Monday to see if I fit in the organization's plan for being extended as a marketing intern. I don't really know if this is an interview or just a discussion so I am not sure how to prepare. What I will say about my internship is that I am not an idea guy, which is something that I perceive sports marketing professionals needing to be. This internship was good exposure in discovering what it is like to work in the sport industry, but I am not sure where I would fit because it seems like every team has more sales positions than marketing positions. And I would rather go work construction than work in sales. So I am a bit concerned about staying with the team since I am not sure what transferable skills I have learned to adapt to different industries, with the exception of research. The question is, do I stay with the team even though I would have to find a place to live (or continue living in the hotel I am in at $32 a night) and be able to have a part-time job to make ends meet in St. Louis? I discovered today that one of the corporate partnerships interns was getting a $750 stipend per month and he had been there since March when I arrived in June, so that is hopefully what I would make. Or do I return to Chicago, get a part-time job and find an unpaid internship that is communications related to see if I like that better? Both have advantages and disadvantages, at least at home I could see my friends and live at home, but I might never get the same entry point to this industry (even if I would gain contacts from this internship with Chicago teams).

Even if the Sox non-tender him, Brandon Allen isn't doing anything too extravagant with the Diamondbacks. .393 OBP, .267 AVG in 22 games last year.

QUOTE (bigruss22 @ Jul 22, 2011 -> 01:47 PM) Be careful about taking projects from work without their consent, there could be legal issues behind that. Keep networking as much as possible, if there are no positions available now then you want to be on the short list for when opportunities do open. And take advantage of any connection your boss may have. If they want to hire you but know they can't then the least they could/should want to do is find you an opportunity elsewhere. My boss said I could take any work I produce with them since it is my research and my ideas. I'll continue networking - thanks for the advice. My boss's brother may be my entry into the MLB, even if it is another internship with the S O X.

Questions I would ask at the end of the interview would be: "How'd I do? Do you think I could do this job?" Read up on a challenge they are facing and ask about how to fix their problem. You are likely making an entry level salary so it would be valuable for someone to come in, try and fail or try and succeed on an organizational problem - sort of a low risk, high reward kind of initiative on your part only to benefit the company. I have a little over three weeks left at my internship with the Rams. There are projects that I have done saved to a flash drive to add to my writing related work to see if that interests employers. I have made a decent amount of contacts while I have been here, mostly in PR/Community Outreach/Marketing but really not that many in sales. I don't know why that is, considering I am able to bond more with people who are more more outgoing than I am, but most of what I hear with sales people is small talk and the people that I really enjoy talking to seem to have more depth to our conversations. Although I have that small time frame left in my internship, I was wondering if going into work an hour early each morning and getting more work done then or staying late after work to accomplish more would impress my employer. I feel as though my work has made a favorable impression on who I am to the organization but there are some instances where I just haven't adjusted to the culture of the organization. Then again it might just be that some people are easier to talk to than others. Long story short, I'd love to stay longer with the Rams but the marketing department is so small that I am not sure they have much of a budget to keep a non-sales employee on as a paid intern, let alone an entry-level employee. Any tips on how to be more of a star intern to make an impact in these final weeks (which include training camp and finishing the women's and health/wellness marketing platforms) would be appreciated. Lastly, my boss' brother works with the Sox, should I try to get in contact with him and see if he knows someone in PR that would allow for an internship there? Should I look into people who have contacts with the Bears for any sort of position (even gameday staff)? I realize that I'd need a part-time job if I move back to Chicago or if I stay in St. Louis. Any advice is appreciated. If I can't get something when I get home I am just going to do a part-time gig and get into grad school for PR so I could do something writing based for Groupon or work in marketing/PR somewhere.

Is there any reason to believe that Dunn would improve next year? I am not a hitting guru by any means but a lot of you guys say that certain hitters swings (like Beckham's) is too long - is that the case for Adam Dunn? Year to year stats indicate he has never had something this bad happen to him ever, but at least there was some consistency with his strikeouts to give KW an idea of what he was getting himself into.

Everyone in the Rams organization is optimistic that they will play sooner than later, but I am not buying it. They are conducting business as usual but I sit there and just read the news thinking, there's no way that everything will start on time. Supposedly July 15th is the deadline for the CBA to be accepted by both sides so that the season can start on time. Free agency is going to have to be faster than lightning...I don't see how they are going to do it.

I would like to give it a go, since she lives 30 minutes away from me when she's home and her school is 2 1/2 hours away. My fall is likely going to be spent finding a full-time gig in my area of interest (which is hard to do since it is is PR) or a part-time job and another part-time internship so I'll probably be able to see her when I can on the weekends. She just is worried that the distance will be too much since she had a rough time with it before. In my experience it hasn't worked but at least I know what I did wrong last time (in being a jealous guy - jealous of my ex's life since my life sucked then) so I won't repeat the same mistakes but I acknowledge it will be tougher with distance than if we were together all of the time.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Jul 9, 2011 -> 05:39 PM) Have you had any physical contact with her yet? It seems she really likes you to invite you to sis' wedding. We need more info to determine whether or not she likes you as a bf candidate. Yes, plenty of it. I have gotten lucky. What else do you need to know?

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Jul 9, 2011 -> 05:29 PM) Castro has a broken right hand. Officially. Seriously? Time to see if that Flowers kid is any good at AAA or if he's just another fringe farm hand (a recurring theme for the White Sox farm system).

Joe - you are a patient man. She would have been ejected from my house far before she got into that pool. I'll try to be as clear as possible here. I met a girl through a friend at school in April and began talking to her online since she goes to a Big Ten school out of state. We talked enough to meet each other, met each other and eventually hung out a few times. She insisted I met her family so I did that and they appear to really like me. And she liked me enough to invite me to be her date at her sister's wedding. It was a fun time and I think her family liked me since I was "the ideal date for her" with regards to the impression I made on everyone and my hilariously bad white boy dance moves. She and I have texted/skyped/talked plenty, but it is extremely tough to talk to her when all we have done each day is work (which isn't too exciting). I am hoping that I can find a way to get her to open up more since I am awful at talking on the phone and do better on skype with her. My main concern is that I will get home from my internship a few days before she goes back for her senior year, have a great time in the few days we are together before she goes and then eventually we just lose the spark. Would you, if you were in my position, continue with someone long distance when she's not too keen on distance relationships (but is warming up to it) or should I let her go and just try online websites again (since bars suck for finding women)? I am willing to continue with her because I want to but my love blinders might be hiding an underlying issue from me that I am just not seeing.