Jake

QUOTE (farmteam @ Apr 4, 2015 -> 01:57 AM) Professional schools are somewhat different from Ph.D programs, but for law school an applicant's LSAT score is the most important factor. Not sure about med school. Yeah, my impression is that test scores are rather important for law school in particular and to a lesser extent, med school. Of course, as you climb the ladder of reputation, the differentiating factors get blurrier.

Well, as you've learned, grad programs in most fields tend not to care much about things like test scores as long as they aren't alarmingly bad. There are better indicators of whether you'll be successful, like those other things you mentioned. Anyway, welcome to the club! Also, just get a bunch of credit cards and you don't have to be poor. /green

If it makes you feel better, they aren't really that good on paper

QUOTE (Rowand44 @ Apr 1, 2015 -> 02:50 PM) If it's not the Bulls then Go Warriors, such a blast to watch. I've always enjoyed watching the Clips, but GS is pretty fun too. Not very hateable either.

In the context of an article that is all about how Buehrle doesn't like hazing, I don't see how that "f*** you" comment to the person who hazed him could be considered friendly

QUOTE (Y2JImmy0 @ Mar 27, 2015 -> 03:10 PM) You can afford to take a guy that isn't up soon though with the starting pitching depth that the Sox have. These things have a way of disappearing in a hot hurry

FWIW, both Davidson errors occurred on the same play. Booted it and then threw it away.

Bummer. He had a shot at starting the year in MLB getting starts in the 5th slot

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Mar 25, 2015 -> 12:35 PM) I think it's a lot of nonsense really. We have this expectation that players all have to be great friends, otherwise there are problems. I don't think that's reality. There have been some weird comments that probably should have stayed private instead of on social media. That's about it. Well nobody thought that until the superfriends hooked up together and we all started saying that players buddying up was the future of the NBA. Remember how our douchebag star player ruined our chances to get good players by not being friends with them?

Two thoughts stood out to me after reading. First, what a decision to make. Especially when you hear him say that he didn't hate life in Cuba. It was humble, but it was obviously all he knew and he wasn't unhappy to be there. Then leaving his son behind. So tough of a call. Even deciding whether to bring your parents, fiance, etc. I just can't fathom making those kinds of hard choices. Second, I am worried about the way he is being portrayed. He's too good. If he's not as amazing of a person as he's being portrayed, any character flaw that pops up will become news. Yasiel Puig shows up to a game drunk? Oh well, that's quite a story, hopefully he gets over it. Jose Abreu gets in a fight with a teammate? We've been duped!

I don't really see us busting our ass to make room for Matt Albers. Brantly and Cleto are obvious candidates to get chopped if they aren't making the team, which it seems they won't.

I heard an interview with Eaton where he talked about it being an intense ~three weeks of negotiations and how he felt very stressed by it, struggling to sleep, etc. What that tells me is that Hahn got in there and convinced Eaton and his agent that he needed to sign a deal right now. That's impressive. Once you've got the guy where he feels like he needs to walk away with a deal, you've won. He may have been able to double his money by waiting for the offseason, potentially, or at least he should have been able to walk away from the negotiating table with that in mind. I don't think he had that in mind.

QUOTE (Bruce_Blixton @ Mar 20, 2015 -> 08:26 PM) Hahn has done an amazing job locking in a great core of players so far, Sale, Quintana, Abreu and now Eaton, this has to make a pretty persuasive case for Samardzjia to sign an extension before the end of the year. Also I'd love to see Hahn sign Avi to an extension on the heels of this one. Great time to be a Sox fan right now, I haven't been this optimistic since the offseason before the 2006 season. I would definitely not want to sign Avi to a long-term deal at this point. I like him a lot, but it's really up in the air whether he's going to be a full-time player in the long term

A public university also has a responsibility to foster a safe and effective learning environment for their students. A horde of men shouting about lynching n-words could reasonably interfere with that enough to forfeit whatever free speech rights they might otherwise enjoy. Thinking of what I know about 1st amendment rights in schools, which is superficial, Oklahoma may have solid legs to stand on. Precedent suggests that restrictions on speech are acceptable under certain conditions: 1. Disruption - fairly straightforward. Will the speech act cause significant disruption/distraction that is detrimental to the overall atmosphere? There's certainly a case to be made that this case is highly disruptive, though it is interesting in that it probably would not have been without the distribution of the video. I could see some legal twists and turns over that aspect. 2. Offensiveness - how contrary to generally accepted standards is the speech act? It is currently part of the precedent that schools have some authority and responsibility to teach students moral values in the broad sense. In this sense, speech that is entirely contrary to even the most broadly conceived moral consensus can be restricted. I think this case fits this standard best. 3. Interference with school's goals - does the speech make it more difficult for the school to achieve its mission? A legal precedent involved a school's ability to prevent the display of a banner encouraging drug use, which was deemed too contrary to part of the school's aims (preventing unhealthy and illegal lifestyles). The Oklahoma case is fairly weak on this aspect. The restriction wouldn't have to satisfy all three of those and the SCOTUS could dismantle the existing paradigm as well, potentially. Another circumstantial aspect is the extent to which the speech may be conceived as endorsed by the school. So, for instance, a student having a private phone conversation leaked and getting expelled for what he or she said is different from the student getting expelled for the content of his or her valedictory speech. The Oklahoma incident happened as part of a fraternity event, so you have students acting in their capacities as members of a school-sanctioned organization at a school-sanctioned event. There are definitely some ingredients there for that aspect as well. Alright, time for me to disengage my armchair lawyering.

One odd aspect of this case: the arresting officers are from Virginia's Department of Alcohol Control. Apparently these folks just stand outside bars in college towns like this and try to catch people being turned away at the door. A couple years ago they made headlines for pulling a gun on a girl who had sparkling water that officers thought was beer. http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2015/03/1...artese-johnson/ The victim/suspect is claiming that he was not in possession of a fake ID. He says that he was asked for his home ZIP code by a bar employee, so he provided his mother's current ZIP. This did not match the ZIP on his ID, which does not have the same address as his mother's current address. His ID was an Illinois one, which is where he and mother are from, which is probably what roused suspicion in the first place. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/03/19/m..._n_6906044.html With that said, I don't believe he is 21 and he was standing outside of the bar at 12:30 AM. On the other hand, it is very close to the school. Tough to say exactly what was going on - it always is. What I haven't heard much about is eyewitness testimony. There were certainly people there, you can see all kinds of people walking by in the video. Someone not directly involved must have seen the way things progressed?

Tough to tell what happened, especially at the beginning of the encounter. They were obviously overzealous in the way they were holding him to the ground and such, but I've come to expect that sort of thing and it alone isn't especially newsworthy

If he can get his K rate below 25% in AA this year I'll be tickled s***less

I think you shortchange Sanchez a bit. I would not put him in with Bonifacio and Beckham as you do, calling them "known commodities." This works both for and against Sanchez. If Sanchez is anything like the (younger-than-Johnson) guy he was last year in AAA, which seems to be ruled out as an impossibility by most, he'd be an excellent choice at 2B and would never get pushed off the spot except to (possibly) move to SS. There's intriguing upside with Sanchez and, more importantly, a fair amount of mystery. More nit-picky, I think Johnson having "far more speed" than Sanchez is probably a stretch. Maybe not literally so much as the extent to which it makes for a meaningful difference between these two players. I'm also inclined to believe that Sanchez is such a far superior defender to Johnson that this aspect is not being adequately considered, but I'll admit to seeing very little of Johnson's D. More generally, I'm concerned about Johnson's poor production in AAA and his general up-and-down production that is typically only "up" when his age compares favorably with his competition. I also think that a bad run in MLB is not harmless, but rather that a stretch of really poor play in MLB can really hurt a player's development and confidence. Likewise, even if the bad play doesn't do it, the demotion can do it. Sanchez has nothing to prove in MiLB so I don't see a great reason to protect him from MLB failure at this juncture.

QUOTE (Jose Abreu @ Mar 18, 2015 -> 01:51 PM) This is what I meant, I didn't think we'd need 5 starters until mid to late April. I don't think we normally roll that way, instead using the extra days off to keep guys healthy. Plus, this lets you look at both Penny and Noesi. If Noesi really implodes early, you might have the opportunity to yank him for a known quantity without missing a beat.

Gordon is just pointless. He can play mediocre defense and mediocre offense. I actually think it's up for discussion whether he provides more value than Leury would. Leury wouldn't hit as well, but would play better defense at more positions and be a great pinch runner option.

QUOTE (staxx @ Mar 16, 2015 -> 03:24 PM) If they knew, Im surprised they didn't explore surgery right after the season had ended. I think the idea of getting a guy TJS at first hint of a problem has fallen out of favor. They probably thought it would be smarter to give him rest and rehab over the offseason and see how he looked in ST.

One of these things is not like the others

I don't like the "well the Republicans have the stones to do something like this!" argument. That's why I don't like the Republicans. I don't want the party that most closely aligns with my interests to get caught up in that bulls***. Then nobody would be trying to do things that approximate reasonableness.

I'm relatively optimistic about smartwatches, but it's a very immature market. They have to be priced and marketed like gadgets, not watches. At least, they won't do well to market to the kinds of people that have already purchased watches more expensive than the $300+ typical pricetag on new models of smartwatch. Instead, it's gotta be about the people who aren't afraid to drop that kind of money on a phone or tablet or fitness GPS, etc. They will be most appealing to the people who use their phones the most since their most natural use is mirroring notifications and making quick actions on them. If they are to catch on, it's going to happen when they look a little better, have drastically improved battery life (I think 2 days is a minimum standard for when we can say they are relatively convenient), and are really easy to use. It seems like Apple is indeed interested in getting customers of the non-smart watch market, which is a risky move IMO. In a lot of ways, a smartwatch is simply contrary to the tastes of high-end watch consumers. Things like ruggedness and traditional design mean a lot to them, and those things just don't mesh with smartwatches which are obviously very modern and will be beholden to things like periodic charging. Apple could do well to get the people who have the money and desire for social symbols that high-end watch buyers have, but don't happen to be into watches.

There are a few ways to build a good team in the salary cap NFL. 1. Get a good-to-great QB on his rookie contract and build the team with veterans alongside non-horrible draft classes. The Colts come to mind. 2. Get a good-to-great QB on a market value contract (e.g., huge contract) and build the team with great drafts and selected vet acquisitions. The Packers come to mind. 3. Get a good-to-great QB on his rookie contract, have fabulous drafts, and use your cap space to bring in some vets on short-term deals until you have to pay your young guys. The Seahawks come to mind. The Bears don't have a good-to-great QB, they ARE paying a quarterback like one, and they don't have the young talent that would normally come from strong draft classes that could make up for expensive or ineffective quarterbacking. If you can get rid of the expensive, not-great QB, do it. Then, hopefully, your draft turns into a franchise builder. In the worst case, you can hopefully use your space to load the team with good veterans and get competitive while you look for a good QB (Arizona, kind of).