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QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Nov 14, 2014 -> 10:47 AM) On the other hand, any time the topic of reduced doctors' compensation comes up, plenty of people scream that they'll all just leave the country or stop practicing medicine. The problem isn't that simple. People currently complain about the quality and time it takes to see a physician. If you make it less attractive for people to become physicians, it will make the quality and shortage even worse. the best way IMHO is to go to an HSA system. Hospitals charge up to 60% less when paid in cash. Use insurance only for the catastrophic injuries. Everything else, cash. Much of the cost the hospitals and physicians trump up is due to insurance companies taking 180 days to pay. By the way even though hospitals and physicians may charge 117,000 or whatever, they know they aren't going to get it. They charge that and the insurance company says it will only pay 30,000. They hospital gets 30,000 and ingores the rest. It's mostly just monopoly money.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Nov 14, 2014 -> 02:02 PM) What changed your mind? You used to be pretty gung ho for Salty? The concept of pitch framing makes a lot of sense, and the better framers should be worth a lot more than the poorer ones. I just think there are too many factors that cause some strikes to be balls and some balls to be strikes other than the catcher. The two different formulas I have seen used, most of the top 5 are the same except for order, but below that, there is a wide variance. Flowers is terrible in one and one of the better framers in another. Its only because the stats guys hav3 finally figured out how to somewhat quantifyvpitch framing. Stuff that used to be important but people stopped caring about because it wasnt part of the stats package. The idea of defense first for catching is coming back around.

QUOTE (Chi Town Sox @ Oct 16, 2014 -> 05:27 PM) It feels like its in the middle, no swollen areas. That's a tough one as it's a there is a bunch of small things there. It could be a nerve irritation: is there any pain going up or down. It could be a muscle called the poplitius: is it aggravated with your knee straight and you pull your toes up in the opposite of a gas pedal motion using a towel. There is also ligaments and capsule back there that can get injured with a hyperextension motion of the knee. If these don't help you should see a physician as there are many others as well.

QUOTE (Tex @ Oct 12, 2014 -> 08:58 AM) Any tips on helping high school golfers avoid injuries? I've been working with them on various stretching drills and even swinging a club left handed to balance the stretching. Basically all tips I've picked up through the years. Primary thing is to use the hips with the turn in the swing. Thus its really core work and hips. Exercises like wall squats and lateral hip exercises are the best. The other part is the elbows. Make sure they dont grip too tight. If they do make the grips bigger. This decreases the stress onthe elbows.

QUOTE (StRoostifer @ Oct 10, 2014 -> 08:30 PM) I think we all Sox fans (including us) need to keep in mind that while KW had a hand in some good moves, he also made moves that were bad. Im not going to turn this into a debate where we list KW's good and bad moves but I will say that I respect KW for 2005 and in recent times trying to put together a winner, but KW is also a reason for the rebuild we are enduring now. It must not have been easy for Hahn to step into the roll of GM. People also forget that KW recommended that the team would have been torn down and this re-building started 2 years earlier if JR listened to KW. He wanted to do it earlier but the big brass wanted to try a couple more years before the re-building would start. The decision to always go for it was not KW's alone, although it was his preferred method. Just like the decision to change directions was not KW's alone. The brass decided to change it and it was the logical time for Hahn to take over. They were all in it together before and they are all init together now.

QUOTE (Chi Town Sox @ Sep 24, 2014 -> 03:39 PM) I have this pain behind my knee (more towards the back side of my knee). It is very weird how it comes and goes... If I am sitting for a while and then get up, I can feel it. If I were to bend my leg as far back as possible, I could feel it. Sometimes it feels like it could give out at any moment. Never a ton of pain but soreness, moreso. I can play sports, sometimes I will feel it, sometimes I won't. I tend to sleep on my side with my legs bent so I can definitely feel it in the morning until I work it out but it's not just a morning thing. Is it on the back of the knee by the hamstrings or more toward the middle? It there a swollen area back there when you poke there?

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Oct 2, 2014 -> 11:38 AM) Ignoring everything else, who are the guys (plural) that the Sox signed to minor league contracts and turned them into Cy Young pitchers? I can think of Loaiza, and that was one, isolated incident who never had another season like that again. My problem with giving Cooper a pass and chastizing all of the hitting coaches is that I don't see much of a difference. Who are the pitchers that Cooper has helped recuperate? Please note that, based on your criteria (ie Konerko), I can exclude anyone who has had success before or after Cooper too. I really like Cooper, I felt that Walker should have been let go when he was, I had no problem with Manto being let go, and I still really like Steverson, but what are we basing that off? Don't forget Thornton who was a scrap heap player the Sox got for Joe Borchard. Cooper convinced the GM to get him saying he saw something he could fix. This is where the whole Coop can fix 'em started. Garland and Contreras would probably be there as well considering the Cubs gave up on Garland and traded him for a reliever and Contreras was going bad in NY.

QUOTE (scs787 @ Oct 2, 2014 -> 11:07 AM) Ya, the cover 2, or whatever they're running is just really soft. Opposing teams are consistently finding the soft spot in the zone and exploiting it for big gains. They've gotta start playing their safeties closer to home and forcing teams to beat them over the top. Mostly they just need to tackle the guy after he catches it. They've mostly been short completions and a good run after.

QUOTE (Y2JImmy0 @ Oct 1, 2014 -> 12:36 PM) It's bulls*** though. If Kris Bryant is awesome he will be on the Cubs for 6 years. If they offer the most $$ at the end of those 6 years, he will remain a Chicago Cub. He's not going to go somewhere else 6 years from now because he has a feeling that he was slighted. He was never slighted. Your agent is good at his job, sucks the most $$ out of teams, and refuses to sign contract extensions. Bryant chose that agent and because of it he has to wait. Same thing will happen with Rodon and the White Sox. When Rodon doesn't break camp with the team, Boras will be on record saying that he should be on the White Sox and blah blah. Just wait. It's coming. Sure he was, in the checkbook. By keeping him down they are extending his time before free agency. This Boras knows and will use ity against them come negotiation time. the difference between between Rodon and Bryant is Bryant has proven himself in the minors. Rodon has not. He only pitched a few games. If he leads the minors in wins or ERA or whatever for the entire year next year and the Sox don't call him up, then you have a case. Not mention the innings limit for this year and next. rodon walked 4.7 batters/ 9 innings. In the MLB that may get him in trouble. He has things to work on. I don't see much that Bryant needed to work on.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Oct 1, 2014 -> 01:48 PM) I wish Adam well as well. He doesn't need my well wishes after all that money he's made. It's funny how in sports some guys who steal money from teams, so to speak, are OK with the fans, yet fans want to run other guys (like backup quarterbacks in football) out of town. Matt Cassel was booed at the all star celebrity softball game in KC for gawd sakes a couple years ago and he's the nicest guy around. The truth is Adam Dunn was a great guy who was a horrible White Sox hitter. Aren't you supposed to be a good guy in life? Why do we praise him for that and fans despise other guys who are nice guys? I'm sure Pierre was a nice guy. Dwyane Wise was a nice guy probably. Some other stiffs of the past. And they got ROASTED. Good for Big Adam. It's not my money and he's done well setting his people up for life. It's amazing to me how many people equate the money a player makes with happiness, production and a host of other things. It's not his fault the Sox offered him the money. He took the offer and I have no doubt he tried to the best of his ability. He sucked there is no doubt. But why begrudge him the money. People are supposed to be good guys but unfortunately many are not inside and outside of the world of sports. Tom Cruise has made hundreds of millions and he has gone through 3 good looking wives. He is an adrenaline junkie flies a P 51 and seems to be a good guy in person. However, short of Risky Business he has mostly sucked as an actor in movies. Does anyone begrudge him the money? I just can't figure out why money becomes the factor that is supposed to make it ok.

QUOTE (Y2JImmy0 @ Oct 1, 2014 -> 11:42 AM) Bernstein called out Wittenmeyer and Telander and basically everyone at the Sun-Times for being stupid about the Cubs. Bernstein was 100% correct too. The SunTimes doesn't listen when the Cubs speak. They are like the voice of the meatball fan. Wittenmeyer wrote an article about how Kris Bryant would leave the Cubs in 6 years because he's mad that they are jerking him around. Bernstein was saying that is totally false and that Bryant is on board with the way the Cubs have handled the situation. Bernstein was asking if there were any quotes from Bryant to backup Gordon's claims and of course there aren't any. Wittenmeyer is a goof. not according to wittenmeyer. he said on the radio that he was only reporting what he was told. I have not doubt it was a "don't quote me on this directly." because at this stage of his career why would he. Also who is Bryant's agent? Boras. Boras was quoted as saying that the Cubs were wrong not to bring Bryant up. Boras frequently works behind the scenes this way. Unless bernstein has sources that contradict this, I would believe that Boras leaked it to him just to show his displeasure with the Cubs. I have no doubt that Boras will hold this grudge.

QUOTE (BaconOnAStick @ Sep 30, 2014 -> 02:20 PM) The White Sox would have to black out the games to have lower ratings than the Dodgers. Again, Jerry makes his money off the Sox with low attendance and bad TV numbers... this is not something we need to worry about. In some ways the White Sox have been White-Sox-fan-proofed. Don't you mean white sox ownership as JR is a minority owner (but Chairman of the Board) in the Sox.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Sep 25, 2014 -> 12:01 PM) It is kind of a shame Pods' homer is pretty much overlooked for it being a WS walk off, and coming from a guy who hit 0 during the regular season, but Paulie's was bigger. If Paulie doesn't hit his, the Sox lose that game. If Pods' is caught at the wall, it still is tied. I don't think that was possible. It landed a few seats from me and I was in row 6. But I agree. Pk's HR was the turning point of the game. But the walk off HR was pandemonium in the stands as well.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Sep 24, 2014 -> 05:29 PM) Yes but you don't need a guy in CF with binoculars to give you location. When I played guys6 who could get signs and location would call you different names. First name would be a fastball last name breaking ball and a swipe here or there for location. Some guys didn't want to know. I always wanted the most help I could get. Right. But if no one is on base, it's easy to get the location of the pitch and relay it to the hitter. Like you said it's easy to change signs for the type of pitch but not so much for location.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Sep 24, 2014 -> 05:06 PM) I like Sale a lot but if he is so sure they are stealing signs, he and Flowers can always mix them up. A plunking may be in order as long as it wasn't up too high. It's usually not so much which pitch as it is location. That is difficult to switch up.

QUOTE (Brian @ Sep 19, 2014 -> 05:51 AM) I'm all for selling high on closers, especially with a season coming up where we were expected to be down and rebuild a bit. That's true as we saw this year, they are easy to come by.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Sep 18, 2014 -> 12:45 PM) The suspensions aren't permanent. I fully expect Peterson to play again. Rice may be a different story because that video will never go away and the reason they make so much money is because of the people who are not going to be happy Rice is on the team they root for. You commit crimes and are caught, you are subject to penalties. As the saying goes, playing in the NFL is a privilege, not a right. Expect to be held to a higher standard. And the standard to remain "eligible" isn't very high. Don't beat women. Don't beat kids. It is not that hard to stay out of trouble. Plenty of bad actors never get suspended. The vast majority of players don't get suspended. Olin Kreutz, who is supposed to be a jackass, was on the radio the other day, and he said something that is true. With oractice squads, there are probably around 2000 NFL players. There are about 5 or 6 guys, if that, bringing them all down right now. I agree with everything you say. I'm just wondering if these guys will get a second chance because as with Marshall people can change behaviours. I'm not sure if people change but the behaviours can.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Sep 18, 2014 -> 09:50 AM) If you need a weapon to discipline your children, it means you are a failure as a parent. True. But does that mean you should be banned from earning a living in the NFL? I'm really curious to the answer. We know Marshall turned his life around (so far) after being awful to women when he was younger. Do Rice and Peterson deserve the chance to correct their behaviour and turn their lives around? Is suspending these guys from the NFL the best way to help them reform?

QUOTE (MAX @ Sep 17, 2014 -> 02:52 PM) Having sex isn't a crime. Physically disciplining to the point of drawing blood is. Peterson admitted he did that. It doesn't matter how he phrased it. The problem is that I'm not sure it's a crime everywhere. I read that in the town Peterson lives in Texas and where the incident occurred, it is still legal to paddle a kid in the public school as punishment. This seems outrageous to me but he may not really get punished for this. Hopefully the trial is in Minnesota not Texas.

QUOTE (IlliniKrush @ Sep 17, 2014 -> 11:55 AM) No, and "it working" doesn't prove a thing. Sure it does. Radisson pulled out. Nike pulled product. AB said they were disappointed in the action. Words vs. action.

QUOTE (Kalapse @ Sep 17, 2014 -> 10:10 PM) Do you have any real knowledge of Pedro being a user or are you just throwing it out there for the hell of it whenever his name is brought up? I'm genuinely curious because you're incredibly persistent. No proof. Knowledge as far as rumors and names being thrown around about who was on them at the time within the medical/sports med staff. I don't mean to say that he was definitely on them. There is no proof on many of the players from that time. He is just one like Ordonez that there were rumors and most people assumed he was on them. I have more insight with Ordonez as I was closer to the people in the Sox organization.

QUOTE (StRoostifer @ Sep 16, 2014 -> 12:36 PM) No kidding? I did not know that. While I got ya here. In the thread " its that time of year" in the Sox forums were discussing Aiken and his smaller UCL. Since you know a lot about this kind of stuff what are your thoughts on the kids UCL. The question of drafting him came up if he was available and so did his UCL. Can youmshed some light on this? It would be Much appreciated. I've never seen anyone look at the size of the UCL before. It makes anatomic sense that a smaller one would have less tensile strength. They usually just look at the stanility of the joint and past injuries. It is definitely a comtroversy.

QUOTE (raBBit @ Sep 16, 2014 -> 03:45 PM) In the year 2000 *Conan voice*, Tim Hudson came up short in the Cy Young vote and finished 2nd with a 4.14 ERA. Pedro Martinez had 1.74 ERA and an ERA+ of 291. That ERA+ is the best ever away from some fellow in 1880. I am going way off subject now, but Pedro is at the absolute least a top five pitcher ever. What a killer he was. Naturally? If something looks to good to be true............

Brian Quick or cordarelle Patterson in PPR? Quick is the best option for STL. Patterson may suffer with no AP. They couldn't throw at all last week.

QUOTE (IlliniKrush @ Sep 16, 2014 -> 04:36 PM) No. Yes. And it worked