vandy125

QUOTE(BearSox @ Dec 18, 2007 -> 09:29 PM) It does not look like there will be a new MVP NCAA Baseball game. Big disappointment for me. But MLB 08 The Show looks like it will be better and the Road to the Show feature seems to be much more improved. MLB 2k8 is getting better, but meh. Ever since MVP went down, I have not found a good baseball game and have not been excited about any of the new ones. From what I hear, MLB Power Pros is a good game, but I would need to get a Wii for that one.

QUOTE(Brian @ Dec 17, 2007 -> 09:58 PM) I do the same thing sometimes. I have NCAA 05 and play it a lot still. Is there a website that lists all the songs for each Guitar Hero? Good ole wikipedia: Guitar Hero Soundtracks

QUOTE(southsider2k5 @ Dec 18, 2007 -> 08:14 AM) I don't, not like Ron Paul, but strawpolls are a joke. They are rigged elections where candidates basically shuffle in people to vote for them. Paul's biggest problem is that he doesn't fit his own parties platform very welll, so he is going to miss out on the party base which has the ability to put people into office. If they were so rigged, then why would someone like RP be winning them without having any sort of support? Are you saying that RP supporters are rigging the straw polls? If so, then there must be a lot of them to be able to even do that. The argument can be made that they are actually good predictors of who is willing to show up to vote. There is even a video of a San Francisco straw poll that was cancelled because it was overrun by RP supporters. That one was rigged against him and got caught in the act. Take a look at the big Fred Thompson sign in the background for it. Cancelled Straw Poll Also, a big base of supporters are the disenfranchised supporters. Lots of people like myself have said that RP has cured our apathy. His war stance and his social security stance have attracted a lot of young people. There are hundreds of them using their Christmas break to campaign across Iowa for him. I'm not sure I have heard of that before. I do not think that the normal polls are reaching these types of people. They are hitting the established base. This is not your typical base. The straw polls are a strong indicator of that. His support probably lies somewhere between the two. So, I would say that is not the long-shot that people keep on saying (if you say it enough, it must be true, right). He is a throwback to the small government, non-war stances that the Republican base used to be built on, and is getting back to what was good about the party.

QUOTE(southsider2k5 @ Dec 17, 2007 -> 02:49 PM) Too bad it doesn't mean a thing. Why is that? Yep, I'm a Ron Paul supporter and I really think that the MSM has been completely ignoring him. Why is it that grassroot movements are not being reported? Doesn't grassroots mean that a fairly large group are supporting him? Yesterday, they raised over 6 million dollars. The average donation per person was $50. That is a whole lot of people involved. Take a look at the straw polls. Ron Paul has won 30 of them. That is more than any other Republican candidate. Republican Straw Polls There may be a surprise when the caucus comes around. I'll be one of the many first-time caucus goers who is going to vote for him. This is the first time I have ever registered as Republican or Democrat. I did not even vote in the last election cycle because I was so sick over what was out there. Of course, maybe I'm drinking the Kool-aid (go ahead and flame me if you want). I really want some change and it is refreshing to see a candidate that is not all about money and big corporations. That is what has charged me; I am sick of the spending that this government does. We will see what happens on January 3rd, but I would at least recommend taking a look to see where he stands on the issues if you don't know. Just Google Ron Paul and you can get all kinds of info.

QUOTE(hitlesswonder @ Dec 16, 2007 -> 09:04 PM) You won't even get one of them for Konerko. He had an .841 OPS last season with half his atbats in the Cell. He's 31. He makes $12M a year. How many 1Bs that qualified last year had a better OPS? By my count, 12. And given Konerko's poor defense, baserunning, and contract he's less valuable than a guy like Kotchman ( .840 OPS, great glove, cheap, not hitting in the Cell). Konerko does have trade value to a team that needs a 1B and can handle his salary. But even then there is no way you get Cain or Lincecum. Poor defense? Are you kidding me? Konerko has some of the softest hands at 1B. I can't imagine how many errors Uribe would have had if someone else was there last year. It looks like you are throwing as many things out there as you can to make your point (even if the stuff is not true), and it really takes away from the point you are trying to make.

QUOTE(mr_genius @ Dec 16, 2007 -> 03:27 PM) http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachus...ea_party_event/ Currently up to 4.7 million. I wonder how high it will go.

QUOTE(southsider2k5 @ Dec 4, 2007 -> 12:40 PM) I'll be honest when I say Paul is the ONLY candidate I believe who actually has a chance of reducing the size of our runaway bureaucracy. Which is exactly why I registered as a republican so that I can go to the Iowa caucus. I always stayed away from that before.

Cabrera and Willis to DET for OF Maybin, Andrew Miller, C Mike Rabelo, and 3 other minor leaguers

QUOTE(NorthSideSox72 @ Dec 4, 2007 -> 10:33 AM) Sounds to me like Ron Paul might be your guy. Maybe I have not seen enough of the other candidates, but he looks like the one who really is for a smaller federal government.

QUOTE(Alpha Dog @ Dec 3, 2007 -> 03:26 PM) Vandy, do you know anyone that HAS been polled? Not that I have heard of so far. But, I haven't been asking around at all. I should add that I have been getting a whole bunch of hang up calls lately (the past month), but they have all been while I have been at work. Makes me wonder if they are just polling during the day. If so, that would seem to only catch certain types of people.

QUOTE(Alpha Dog @ Dec 2, 2007 -> 06:48 PM) You would think that right about now the people in Iowa would be sick of doing polls. You would think so, but a imagine a lot of people like myself have not been polled. I always wonder who they are calling for these?

QUOTE(LowerCaseRepublican @ Dec 1, 2007 -> 10:58 AM) Fundamentalists of all religious stripes will utilize their religion to justify violent acts that they want to perpetrate. It does us no favors to pick out only one sect's fundamentalists but rather to look at them as an entire whole -- that all fundamentalism with a perverted thirst for political power to institute their moral code is a danger to a free, open, rational, reason-based pluralistic society that we have in the United States. I think that the key is actually the perverted thirst for political power. That is the common denominator, not the religion. You will find religous and non-religious people finding ways to justify their actions that are actually driven by this perversion (many times the religious view is just a facade). If they truly had a healthy outlook and could remove their own perverted desires from the picture, they would be able to see what actions are completely wrong.

QUOTE(jasonxctf @ Nov 26, 2007 -> 12:44 PM) www.270towin.com its funny. amongst all of the head to head matchups, questions that people ask about candidates. I ask this question about Hillary. Using the Electoral College, I don't see a way in which she loses for 4 reasons. 1) She'll win every state that Kerry won in 2004. 2) She'll win Arkansas (may be close if Huckabee is the top ticket, but he won't be) 3) She'll win Iowa (unless Romney is the nominee, which he wont be) because she actually campaigned there. unlike Guilianni, McCain and really Thompson. 4) She'll win New Mexico with Richardson as a running mate. Thus she can still lose battleground states in Virgina, Florida, Ohio, Arizona, Colorado and Nevada. That puts her exactly at 270. Uh, in a word, no. I have not heard one person say that they would vote for Hillary. She is seen as one of those stuck-up East coast people that you cannot trust. I have actually seen McCain speak here. Thompson is scheduled to speak within the next few weeks. We get em all here.

I'll believe it when I see it. I'm tired of hearing the name Crawford come up all of the time. Nothing ever happens with the DRays.

I'd love to play some of you in chess or checkers. I think I can wait a bit to see some of the results of this move before I determine that the game is lost.

QUOTE(CWSGuy406 @ Nov 19, 2007 -> 12:40 PM) Unfortunately -- and I stress 'unfortunately' -- I'd guess this is the route they go. After all, the Sox have who, exactly, who could replace Cabrera in 2009? It sucks, too, as I'd much rather have the two top 100 picks than Cabera's mid-30s seasons. I don't know. I kind of hope they sign him, and think that they will. Consider this, they are unhappy with how their drafting has been and are making big changes in that area. Do you think that they will put themselves in a position where they need to rely on new people? I would think that KW and Co want to see the scouts establish a better track record with drafts before we start letting everything go for draft picks.

QUOTE(Mplssoxfan @ Nov 11, 2007 -> 08:05 AM) Vandy, if you wish to take a AP level voluntary elective, don't you want it to be as challenging and as rigorous as an actual college class? If I were one of the parents of the rest of the class, I would resent one or two people trying to mess with my child's right to an education. I wouldn't want to take that class and be reading texts meant for ninth graders. It wouldn't make any sense. Also, as Flaxx pointed out, these students probably hear things every day in the hallways that are far worse than the book passages. I actually agree with you. I think that their opinions should go to the board and then left at that (I think you are saying that anyhow). That is what they are elected for, right? I was just trying to get out the point that these may not be as "voluntary" as people say they are. Depending on where you go to school, your options for taking AP classes may be limited, and if you want to get into a really good university, you may need every single one of those classes. It may not really be a choice. From one little story, we do not know the whole situation.

One thing that I have noticed with this discussion is that there is a lot of pointing at this class being an "Elective College-level" class. They do not have to take the class if they do not want to. Is that really true though? With the competition that there is for getting into different colleges, in many cases, you have to take these college-level courses. It is not really an option. So, the question becomes, were there other options to this course?

QUOTE(LowerCaseRepublican @ Nov 10, 2007 -> 06:35 PM) Where is this movie with the flying, talking, laser shooting dinosaur? I must see this film! I don't know about lasers and talking dinosaurs, but they are getting close with Jurassic Park 4 Jurassic Park 4 Link: Now the dinosaurs have weapons

QUOTE(santo=dorf @ Nov 10, 2007 -> 05:41 PM) Iowa drivers in general. ^^^^Agreed

QUOTE(fathom @ Nov 5, 2007 -> 11:03 AM) And none of those guys would I hesitate in trading for someone like Crawford. No doubt. I just have a feeling that this is the throw stuff up and see what sticks thing going on. I would be very surprised (and happy) if there was a way to work out a deal for Crawford.

QUOTE(BearSox @ Nov 3, 2007 -> 01:30 PM) SS is a position that desperately needs upgrading, and we can find easier/cheaper replacements for the OF somewhere else besides Hunter. Furcal only had 19 stolen bases last year because of injury problems and not being asked to steal as much. He can steal 35-45 bases a season, as he did do that in 06. The only reason why Furcal had a bad season last year was because he had several nagging injuries. And, Furcal hasn't shown the same signs of slowing down as Hunter has. Furcal fills two big needs, SS and leadoff hitter. Hunter justs adds more pop to this lineup at a price that he is not worth. Is Furcal worth 13 million? Of course not. But Hunter is definitely not worth 4-5 years at 15 mil a season. I really like the idea of both of them. Call me short-sighted, but I have no problems with both of those contracts. With the way the dollar is right now, what is 15 mil going to look like in 4 or 5 years. My bet is that it will seem pretty reasonable at that time. Right now, we are looking at 15 mil and thinking that is a whole bunch of money, but I doubt that will be the case in 4 or 5 years. If they are able to do both, sounds good to me. What also struck me in your post was the bolded sentence. Aren't the nagging injuries a sign of slowing down? Isn't that what starts to happen when the body starts to break down more often?

QUOTE(Texsox @ Oct 10, 2007 -> 02:59 PM) Someone is made to feel special. Someone is looking for a job. Someone is looking to be a hero. It could be someone inside the administration but not working under orders. Or it could be the liberal media trying to make the President look bad. But I doubt it in this case, too high profile. I would bet that is right. I seriously doubt anyone was under orders, but it may be an issue with too many people getting knowledge of this sort of thing.

Washington Post says leak came from Bush administration: Post Article Someone should get fired for this...

QUOTE(The Bones @ Oct 7, 2007 -> 06:18 PM) anyone see that pushing daisies show on abc? it looked interesting but i forgot to watch it last week. wondering if it was any good? It was pretty interesting, but I really don't know what to think of it yet. I thought that it was pretty fun, and it could be a very good show. But, I am waiting to see where they go with it.