Jake

QUOTE (Alpha Dog @ Aug 25, 2013 -> 06:27 PM) In some areas there does exist the 'stigma' of 'acting white'. It does exist. Go ahead, call me a racist for pointing that out. I don't claim to know why that exists, but it does. I also witnessed it with some of my friends in high school, although that was many years ago. But they caught hell for hanging with us white kids for 'trying to be white'. Of course. People used to get arrested, whipped, killed, etc. for doing "white" things such as reading and writing. Sometimes cultural things take a while to fade away. I'd have a tough relationship with what I perceived to be white culture in that situation too

QUOTE (fathom @ Aug 25, 2013 -> 08:30 PM) I hate the Cubs more than anyone....and I hope they go on a 10 game win streak and the Sox lose 10 in a row. If we had a top 3 farm system and not a bottom 3 farm system, I might feel different. When it's the Cubs, I feel pretty confident that they'll f*** it up in the long run

I'd like to have a better record than the Cubs....because Cubs fans are stupid and really care about that stuff and thus make me care about it

QUOTE (Alpha Dog @ Aug 25, 2013 -> 12:44 PM) Joe is a f***ing nutbag, like the drunk uncle you try to ignore at family gatherings. Just because he has been sucking off the government teat forever doesn't make him competent to be President. And just because Hillary sucked up her dignity and stayed with Bill doesn't make her fit to be president either. I don't HAVE to have a viable person to replace them to say that they would SUCK at the job. You still never told me just what Hillary's credentials are. Job titles don't do it. And McCain is a demented old man obsessed with being liked by the media, Palin believes her own hype way too much and Rand Paul will never be able to escape the crazy of his dad. Romney had better 'credentials' than Obama, or Joe or Hillary for that matter. Joe Biden says silly things all the time, but that didn't make him a bad legislator or wholly unfit for the presidency. To insinuate that Palin and Biden were equally unfit for office is what is crazy here. A huge part of governance is actually knowing as much about issues as possible and this is especially true for the president, who doesn't have the luxury of specializing on a given committee or two. We know Palin was a complete idiot that never had a fighting chance at knowing even the basics of public policy, had little to no legitimate experience as a politician AND had every other negative personality trait that you dislike about Joe Biden. You probably watched the VP debate this last time and saw those things you don't like about Biden (I saw those things you don't like too) - he can be impulsive, too witty for his own good, etc. What you should also see is that he is a policy expert with unmatched legislative experience as he mopped the floor with the wiz kid Paul Ryan, who just couldn't stand a chance either due to deliberate misinformation, lack of knowledge, or (my guess) both. Biden may not be your or my favorite to be the next President, but he's a lot more qualified than just about anybody that has been considered for those positions recently. QUOTE (greg775 @ Aug 25, 2013 -> 02:25 PM) I'm a Republican but I guess I've changed quite a bit. I did vote for Obama believe it or not this last time. I just couldn't vote in good conscience for the Republican ticket. I also like the idea of Obamacare, though like everything else in America, it's impossible to understand it. I have no fricking idea how it works for me if I get laid off and lose my insurance, no fricking clue. I'm sure I'd have to read 50 pages of legalese to find out. I just truly think Hillary is "bad, bad, bad", to copy a George Bush line. I think my Republican party is pretty much obsolete, except catering to the rich assholes who are ruining American business by laying off so many people chasing every nickle while exploiting their workers. I'd suspect the next Demo candidate will win, I just hope it's not Hillary getting the nomination which she probably will. I think she might ruin our great country single-handedly. I think the bolded is actually impossible. We had who was very likely the worst president in our history in GWB and our country made it. Some bad stuff happened and is happening, some of it is his fault or could have been prevented by a better POTUS, but we made it. If you hate Obama, you can see that our country is not falling apart despite so many years of his leadership. This is, of course, how democracy should work. It should be very difficult for one idiot to ruin the whole thing, POTUS or not. I like to think of McCarthy way back in the day -- the witch hunt was crazy, it hurt the country and the people in it, but we had the means to stop it. Some of the means was just the fact that Congress requires a lot of people to agree with you for things to happen, part of it is Congress slowing things down so that we have time to more calmly evaluate what is going on, and much of the rest is on the people (media included) to intervene, which they eventually did.

QUOTE (DukeNukeEm @ Aug 25, 2013 -> 03:32 PM) See! This is what I was referring to! Just identifying the fact that there is a problem here (and there clearly is) has been relabeled racist. Now if you start making excuses here, start hyping the multi-culti myth of cultural coexistence and how its just white privilege that created all these problems it sounds real good to people who are terrified of looking racist when they try to articulate the cause of all this. Holding people accountable for anything, both individually and as a group is just not something you're willing to do unless you're self loathing whites. You didn't identify a problem, you just offered an explanation (which is that black culture sucks and is not fit for Western civilization - I suppose the next step is shipping black folks to Liberia?) Black folks didn't have to have anything in common, but they do because of white folks. It can't be shocking that there will be differences consistent with demographics when their parents', grandparents', etc. livelihood had been altered in a consistently negative way by white people and their government. It seems to me that Western civilization must be at fault, since it created this "problem"

QUOTE (flavum @ Aug 25, 2013 -> 10:00 AM) Why did I think he threw in the mid-90's? Hm. He did in HS

I used to get annoyed by Greg, but I really don't now. I honestly look forward to hearing what he has to say about things on Soxtalk. Not necessarily because I think they'll be "right" but they will always be....stimulating

QUOTE (SoxAce @ Aug 25, 2013 -> 06:00 AM) Havent been in this s***ty thread in like a year but I'm fuccccked up son! Got like 4 numbers and going to sum chicks house from one of the numbers I got... idk.. s*** is too crazy, feel like I'm f***ing young again and even though I still am, 26 is getting up there. s*** is crazy! Not fuclking "hammered" per say but good drunk. Love you b****jes. See youz tomorrow. fuccccccked up son!

QUOTE (Harry Chappas @ Aug 23, 2013 -> 09:08 AM) Isn't there a rooftop with that has that posted on it in roman numerals or something. Choo is going to be the difference in that rebuild... I watched the 13th inning yesterday and there was a little kid with a Junior Lake t-shirt jersey.....I hope the kid was Steve Lake's son. Nothing, nothing tops the Jason Dellaero jersey I saw at the Cell this summer

Law always liked Hawkins -- which is interesting, because he is very much like Avisail Garcia, who he doesn't like

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Aug 24, 2013 -> 10:44 PM) I think he will get released. People will say his injury was what derailed him, but he fanned a lot at Kanny before he was hurt. If you cant't make contact in A ball, chances are, you aren't going to make contact at higher levels. I know its unfair, but I wonder what the Sox roster would look like had they taken Trout instead of Mitchell. Probably very different. Releasing him would be odd. He's still not that old. I'm not about to place any bets about his future, but there's no reason to let someone else roll the dice with him for nothing QUOTE (danman31 @ Aug 25, 2013 -> 12:08 AM) I can't get over an upper 80s fastball from a RHP. That's what concerns me about him. Pretty limited upside for pitchers like that. QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Aug 25, 2013 -> 12:53 AM) Definitely a concern. However... 1. The gun in Kanny was a bit inconsistent and inaccurate while I was there. I was using the readings from the scout sitting next to me as a result. The gun is literally being used by hand from the radio booth up high. Just something to keep in mind. 2. He's on limited innings, and they may also be telling him to not worry about velocity. I had at least one guy say that specifically, can't remember if it was Tyler or not though. "big sink" a huge factor in me being unalarmed by the number - that tells me he probably has at least a couple more mph in the tank if he wanted to throw a straighter heater Also, he's probably far, far into uncharted territory in terms of innings. He probably won't be totally back to normal until he has a couple months off at the end of the year. I like how we've treaded lightly with him

QUOTE (pettie4sox @ Aug 24, 2013 -> 10:20 PM) Democrats say their crazy s*** but it's not the super crazy s***. I'm no democrat or republican, I tend to shy away from voting for the two major parties come election time. I'm a independent, you know only the voter that really matters. Republicans can be extremely off putting and that's not going to sway independents. Oftentimes Republicans will seem to win independents because there are many people that tell pollsters they are independent when they actually vote as or more consistently Republican than self-identified Republicans. I haven't looked at recent data if self-identified Ds outnumber self-identified Rs as much as they typically do (this usually holds up despite which party is winning elections)

QUOTE (pettie4sox @ Aug 23, 2013 -> 01:07 PM) The last two elections, the Republicans trotted out complete jokers. Yes, the republicans alienated just about every non white you can think of. Look at an RNC event, it's a sea of white people. Hispanics and blacks for the matter could easily identify themselves as conservative, since they are mostly a religious bunch. Republicans have to get these hateful bigoted assholes out of their party and welcome whomever with open hands. I will tell you about an incident that occurred in my life. If you don't know, I'm black. My Dad is an Republican. He ran for office down in my hometown in central Illinois. One day, I went to a republican breakfast social with my dad. When we walked in, everyone pretty much stared us down like we didn't belong there or something. Needless to say, it was super awkward. They were cordial but you could get the sense that they were thinking that this was the white people's club and that some negro trash had just crashed the party. Granted, that was just one example but this type of behavior is probably more common than you would like to believe. Democrats just pander to everyone and that's why they keep winning. I pretty much understand what you mean, but isn't that what we ask of democratic government? QUOTE (DukeNukeEm @ Aug 23, 2013 -> 01:15 PM) His problem with the Civil Rights Act was about government dictating the use of private property, which is a slippery slope. And I know the traditional way of discrediting anyone who isn't head-over-heels for the Federal Government is just to call them "bats*** crazy", but you're going to have to do more than that. You really think after all the damage Obama has done to the USA, the way people feel tricked and misled by him, that they're really going to keep falling for the same s*** from Democrats? And of course there's a lot of people who want to old times back again. All those people losing their homes, out of work, scared of terrorists killing them and scared of their government (WHO YOU HAVE TO BE BATs*** CRAZY NOT TO LOVE RIGHT?) spying on them; they see it as an innovation of modern times and whether that judgment is true or not the one constant over time in this country has been the rampant growth of government. That feeling of betrayal/rampant destruction/etc is far less widespread than you think it is. Obama is far more well-liked than his predecessor, for instance. You are basically describing the way a much larger portion of people felt about GWB QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Aug 23, 2013 -> 01:25 PM) Leaving personalities and names aside, because it is way too early to see who will run and how they will do in the primaries... here are some interesting mechanical dynamics that will be a big part of things in 2016 that we CAN look at now... 1. The SCOTUS decision on the Voting Rights Act, and its effect on voter ID laws... depending on how much suppression the GOP in certain states gets away with, that could take a very real chunk out of the Democrat's chances. In their corner is the fact that most of the places this is going on are not going to go for a Dem Prez candidate anyway, most likely. But it WILL have an effect on House and Senate races, and people keep forgetting that whatever you think of Obama's Presidency, it is clearly Congress (both parties) that has more thoroughly f***ed us over than the President has. So how the following investigations and court cases on voter ID laws go will have some importance. 2. Part of the reason Obama won more thoroughly than many projected in 2013 is their very, very solid and even innovative technology usage was in their ground game strategy. Those tools were huge. Now, any Dem candidate will probably have similar resources at their disposal, which favors them. But, you can bet your ass the GOP will be looking to do something similar, and the gap will close to some extent. So keep an eye on GOP efforts in this arena (statistical analysis, etc.) to see how they may fare. 3. Where will the economy stand in 2016? No other issue will matter more. Ironically, if the economy is going well, it will matter a little less, but will still be key. So watch the UE numbers, markets, housing market, etc. 4. Obamacare will finally be in full, deep effect by that time - and like it or not, the Dems need to live with that mixed (at best) bag around their necks. So it will be key to see how the health care world for the average Joe/Mary looks at that time. 5. The Republicans continue to wrestle with an internal schism - the establishment GOP is being pulled apart from not just one, but two directions: The Tea Partiers (aka "I'm more conservative! No, I'm more conservative!" which is what it has become), and then the Libertarian types. Both groups have only been getting frothier as time goes on, which will make it very difficult for the party to come up with any sort of cohesive set of policy thoughts. This could make things very messy for them going into 2016. 6. Finally, the 2014 midterms - cannot ignore this, it is a referendum on not only ObamaCo, but the current and historically useless Congress. This will set a tone. So, lots to discuss... the individual people running isn't even among my top 6 things worth watching right now. SS has covered my first thing with the bolded, which is that political scientists were right on the money and it would have been a huge surprise if Romney had won that election. What we know about polling and statistics made it fairly obvious that he would probably win and win comfortably. Also, the Obama people have not been eager to share much from their campaign infrastructure with the party or other candidates. They have cited a couple reasons thus far: 1. He wants to use these things as a way to be a potent political voice after he leaves office. 2. They claim that these things are not as simple as a mailing list - they are tailored to BO and specific interests of people and their interest in BO rather than being liberals/Dems in general. The current stance has been that this is not stuff one can simply give to another candidate or group because it was particular to a particular time, place, and person. QUOTE (greg775 @ Aug 23, 2013 -> 01:58 PM) She is the female version of Dole on TV. Just mean and b****y if that's the right word. I predict she'll be the hot early leader, she'll get the magazine covers and the long stories, "It's Hillary Time" but she doesn't stand a chance. UNLESS she just doesn't campaign. The less she opens her mouth, the more she could just win on her name. As a CONCEPT, Hillary, Clinton II, is a great idea. The reality is she flat out doesn't pass the popularity TV test. And cmon now. Don't tell me you don't believe in superficiality regarding candidates. Obama is handsome, knows exactly how to play the camera. They've always said guys like Humphrey, Dole, etc., who looked horrible on TV didn't stand a chance. I don't think Hillary is capable of doing all those campaign speeches again and appearances without exploding. She is a strong woman. I love that. But she also comes across as a big b****. She'll never ever win. Hillary has a very high approval rating (as seen in someone's link posted earlier) and beats all potential Republican challengers in polls right now. She is VERY popular - though that by no means guarantees a win as much can change. There is a huge luck factor in the nominating/electing game.

QUOTE (fathom @ Aug 24, 2013 -> 09:30 PM) Viciedo gets more hits up the middle than he does in the hole. Surprised the league still positions him the way they do. I do see him get played that way on occasion, thought it is usually the 2B playing him up the middle -- I would play the 2B toward 1B and the SS up the middle. With that said, I feel like Dayan's tendencies change more frequently than your average player so it may be difficult to prognosticate as to what his hot spot will be in a given month

It's a stupid and horrible crime, but for some reason him being a vet doesn't affect my feelings on it. Elderly people who weren't shot in battle in WWII getting beaten to death upsets me just as much

but nobody contracted autism!!!

Almost anyone who goes in the late first round is going to have some teams that believe they're really more like third rounders. Heck, even guys that go higher will have that, especially QBs

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Aug 24, 2013 -> 10:51 AM) By the way, the DA in the Australian murder case has declined to seek hate crime charges. The reason given in his statement to the Press? Well, they couldn't prove that the killing was racially motivated. Mostly because the 3 people in custody consist of 1 African American, 1 Caucasian, and 1 half-African/half Caucasian. A good friend of mine lived in Australia for a while and was shocked with the racial issues they have there. He said many folks believe they are very progressive on race issues but that's because they think of the USA's race relations in 1950s/1960s terms. He was shocked with how open many random people would be in making racist statements and the like

QUOTE (BamaDoc @ Aug 23, 2013 -> 10:51 PM) Andy Wilkins at third base? He played there earlier in his career and it was generally reviewed as really, really bad. They were saying that he's just recently gotten to the point where he's an average defender at 1B

Screw it, pitch him again

I've never been a big fan of Choo

Losing the camera app and beats audio make me hesitant to put GE on my One. At some point, when I decide rooting and such is worth it, I'd probably go with MoDaCo switch.

The beauty of young players is that the expectation is non-success. If they are unsuccessful, they are simply meeting expectations. If they do well, they are exceeding. It is difficult for an 18 year old to play below expectations.

20 reasons Jeff Francouer is the best player in baseball history

QUOTE (CaliSoxFanViaSWside @ Aug 22, 2013 -> 01:23 PM) He can play both. He's got good speed maybe faster than AviGar and a great arm and has played some CF. Leury is much, much faster than Avi. Elite of the elite speed