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QUOTE (RockRaines @ Feb 10, 2014 -> 05:29 PM) People generally are uncomfortable with change or the unknown. It's human nature. Of course it is. Especially in a culture as tight as a locker room. It's not just conceptual though there is a physical presence in this as well. I am fascinated to hear about the locker room dynamics.

QUOTE (bmags @ Feb 10, 2014 -> 05:02 PM) I shower in a gym with total strangers, some of which may be gay, and I pay them to go there and have that privilege. Edit: "them" being the gym, that read very peculiar I realized. This always happens, the group having nothing taken from them except allowing another group equal status acts like they are being forced change. This is true but I think it's a little different when someone is there everyday and you know they are gay. I think it will be fine eventually but I can see someone being uncomfortable with it.

QUOTE (Buehrle>Wood @ Feb 9, 2014 -> 09:15 PM) She looked like she blacked out rag doll style then they let her finish down the ways. Yep, she was out cold. I'm interested in when she returns. Anyone know if she is entered in any of the other snowboard events? I don't think the US medical team would let her continue.

QUOTE (elrockinMT @ Feb 10, 2014 -> 02:55 PM) And he fired Larussa as the manager. But, it seems to me that Hawk had his hand in a good trade for us but I can't remember what it was Tom Seaver for Steve Lyons? Wouldn't have gotten to see Pycho pull his pants down at first base.

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Feb 9, 2014 -> 08:40 PM) A team won their division this year after their #2 receiver publicly dropped the N-word, but a locker room couldn't handle a gay player? Alot of it will be the player comfort in the locker room. I've heard discussions about it and there is some worry. The worry is that it's like having a female in the locker room. A gay male will look at a man in sexual terms like a female would. How comfortable is someone changing and showering in that scenario. Some will be and some won't. It's currently the reason that reporteers aren't aloowed in locker rooms until a certain time.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Feb 9, 2014 -> 07:59 PM) I am not denying anything. Google mlb signing bonus. Click on the angelfire link. They have the bonuses for this decade. I have researched and shown you just some of the stars the Sox passed on to pay inferior players more money. Maybe you can show me the players they would have selected had they allocated more money. I am sure you will not. I suppose if KW wanted a good farm system he would have drafted guys like Ellbury, Pedroia, Wright, Jones, Trout, Cain, but he didn't so we get Fields, Lucy, Ring, Honel, Broadway, for MORE money.My examples are guys that were drafted soon after they White Sox made a dud of a pick and were signed for slot money. Pretty straight forward. Besides, if you look at the guys who were paid way over slot, many didn't work out. The guy thought Jeff Marquez was Jon Garland. He thought Tyler Flowers was a stud. He compared Jon Gilmore to Joe Crede. Traded a pretty valuable trading piece for a bust of a prospect in Nestor Molina who he thought was starring in Winter Ball when he wasn't. The reason the minor league system was bad was certainly not money. Since his background is scouting, it may be that as GM he relied on others to make the evaluations and leaned on thier opinions. It was well known that Wilder tutored him and he really looked up to him. Maybe now that KW is scouting more, they are making better draft decisions.

QUOTE (Bigsoxhurt35 @ Feb 9, 2014 -> 10:19 PM) Just glad KW isn't the GM. Hopefully Hahn continues rebuilding this organization over the next few years and we can be serious contenders year in year out. KW would have done the same thing this year. After the way last year went this was the year to blow it up so to speak. There is no telling if he would have made the same moves, although in his new position he is scouting alot more so he may have, but he would have made these changes and gone young. He has stated many times that he considered doing it in the past but didn't feel the time was right. It was right after last year.

QUOTE (Marty34 @ Feb 9, 2014 -> 04:49 PM) So at best we can say that Kenny executed an awful strategy just about to perfection as the major league club wallowed in mediocrity even though he tried propping it up at the expense of the farm system. I don't think it was an awful strategy. I think it was a good strategy to build on the enthusiasm of Sox fans after the World Series. For the most part the Sox were in contention and kept Sox fans interested. It is one of the most successful runs the Sox have ever had. I think the Sox were 3 or 4 in wins of all teams over that timeframe.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Feb 9, 2014 -> 06:38 PM) That is for the entire draft because they didn't spend $2-3 million on a 3rd round or later pick. They were usually right around slot I have examples of poor selections and proof there were plenty of other better players that they could have signed even cheaper.Please provide me a link of the White Sox saying they were just selecting guys to trade. There is a reason a 35 year employee lost his job in 2007, and your boy KW, didn't think it had to do with bonuses. I know you won't provide any links or proof of your position. You never do. The only thing I expect is some smart ass answer, but the proof is in the pudding. The White Sox minor league system was epically bad. No one wanted that. This is true. I know we disagree but I think the draft was sacrificed at the expense of the MLB.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Feb 9, 2014 -> 03:20 PM) Here is where KW f***ed up. It had nothing to do with trading prospects, it had everything to do with the prospects he drafted: WArR by draft class Year. White Sox Avg. Per team 2001 10.4. 17.0 2002 5.1. 19.0 2003 8.4. 14.2 2004 14.2 12.8 2005. 2.3. 15.5 2006. 2.5. 10.5 2007. 2.0. 5.7 2008. 8.9. 4.3 2009. -0.7. 4.4 2010. 12.1. 1.6 2011. 0.1. 0.4 2012. 0.0. 0.1 2004 although the Sox had 7 picks in the first 89, the WAR is all Gio. 2008 is Beckham and Hudson, 2010 is Sale and Reed. Other than those years, the Sox entire draft has been below average. Also Joe Crede in 2006 was the last home grown hitter to post a 3.0 WAR for the White Sox. Since then, they average team has had 7 of those players. No hitter from the White Sox 2001-7 draft classes has ever posted a 2 WAR season for the Sox. KW's claim that he could have had a top farm system if he wanted is ludicrous, unless he was drafting bad players on purpose. I think some of this is true. He elected to put most of his budget to the MLB team so he took chances on guys he could sign for a low price. So in essence I think he did draft if not bad at least lower talented guys on purpose. He knew he couldn't afford the top tier. This is part of the reason I think the drafts will change as everyone will be limited in budget with slotting so the Sox will not be hurt as much.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Feb 8, 2014 -> 07:11 PM) It surprises me because it just happened all of a sudden. From when I started at age 5 to when I left instructing at 22, barely any helmets at all, then BOOM. EVERYONE has one on, even on tiny little midwestern hills. It's just like football. People are more aware of concussions and are taking precautions. The Midwest hills need them more than the Westerns mountains because here its all ice. There is no soft powder to cushion the blow.

QUOTE (ewokpelts @ Feb 8, 2014 -> 10:53 AM) I know you're trying to be funny but yeah " no s***" he hates rebuilds. If he was gm in 2013, I think we still have peavy and rios. I disagree. Ithink the writing wason the wall that the 2013 team was at the end of a pretty good run. I think KW would have done the same thing. You cannot winwith a bunch of rookies. If you are trying to win you need mostly vets with only one or two rookies. This is what the Sox did for years until the time ran out. Now is the time to take losses and build the core again for a run of success. KW was in charge of the minors beforehe was GM. I don't think he has a problem with them he just knows you can't win with all rookies.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Feb 8, 2014 -> 11:56 AM) No way. I always wear a cage. There's a difference in the chance of getting hit in the face playing hockey vs skill in not falling skiing. I've been doing it at a high level for 20 plus years. Never hit my head. Skill and reflexes do change as you get through middle age.

QUOTE (Tex @ Feb 8, 2014 -> 10:55 AM) The ten places to scatter my ashes, in no particular order 1. Grizzly Lake, Yellowstone National Park 2. Laguna Meadow, Big Bend National Park 3. Pebble Beach, Acadia National Park 4. Phelps Lake, Grand Teton National Park 5. In the water off Laguna Station on an outgoing tide, South Padre Island, TX. 6. Little St. Germain Lake, Vilas County, Wisconsin 7. Near the library at UT-RGV, Edinburg, TX (It should be that long from now) 8. Renwood Golf Course, Round Lake, Il (if it is still a course of course) 9. Lincoln Park Zoo, Chicago (near the monkeys, I want to hear people laugh) 10. Bring me someplace new. Comiskey isn't one of them?

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Feb 7, 2014 -> 02:31 PM) Ug, that sounds bad. When you worked, did you see a lot of head injuries? 80% of people skiing now have helmets on for some reason, even if they are no where near trees. Its so weird to me. A few. Mostly people doingtreeskiing or going ob and getting careless. Some on double blacks that would fall speed and hit their head on ice.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Feb 7, 2014 -> 02:13 PM) Right before I moved into my current occupation I was training quite a bit to be a ski instructor after spending a lot of my life skiing out west. The WORST injury I had skiing moguls was if you get a bit too much air coming off of a turn and jam a straight leg into the side of the next bump instead of where I was trying to land. Boom, jam your hip so bad it was hard to sit on a toilet. No doubt about it. I worked as a ski patrol for a little after college. Where the knee injuries happen is when you hit the edge and instead of keeping the knees in, one goes out.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Feb 7, 2014 -> 09:47 AM) Hips+Lower back. Knees arent as stressed surprisingly. If you do it correctly. Poor form and the knees will go.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Feb 5, 2014 -> 07:24 PM) The whole reason for this is marketing, and baseball's about 20 years behind. One of those recent Harris "popularity" polls had NFL football at 35% and MLB at only 14%, with NBA and NHL also trailing. The NFL and especially NBA have been tremendously successful marketing individual players...and their agents, connecting them to "win win" marketing/sponsorship opportunities. I'm pretty sure other than Mike Trout there are ZERO major league players earning more from product endorsements than their actual playing contract (Boras even famously said sponsorship deals aren't worth it, his players need to concentrate 98% of their time with on-field/physical development/training activity). Absolutely, it's all about marketing to the average fan. That's why I know it's necessary for the game to grow, but that doesn't mean I like it.

QUOTE (Tex @ Feb 5, 2014 -> 08:49 PM) We're shopping for new wedding bands and I am warming up to the idea of not getting gold, it seems so old fashioned. So what are you wearing? My previous ring was a tricolor gold woven pattern. So anything that remotely looks like that makes me puke. I've been searching some sites, bluenile.com etc. Where else should I look? I know it's different but this is the one I wear: http://kinektdesign.com/product-gear-ring.php It's movable and it plays right into my OCD because I was always playing with the old one and lost it.

QUOTE (Willard Decker @ Feb 5, 2014 -> 06:28 PM) One would have to look at statistics from additional seasons to discern if there's a pattern. It's not hard to believe that teams having the best pitchers win consistently, but deciding a pitcher's worth based on a single statistical measure is shortsighted. The K/BB ratio is helpful in analyzing trends, particularly when evaluating power pitchers. But I hesitate to use only a single piece of information to gauge a player's effectiveness. --Captain Decker The best pitchers, yes, a single pitcher with a single stat no. It maybe a good stat to analyze some type of trend and intuitively it makes sense that if you strike out more and walk less you will be successful. However, my original point remains: people focus too much on individual stats and players and not enough on the team and wins.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Feb 5, 2014 -> 05:55 PM) did they at least not f*** up the condom supply? From reports that is an important one.

QUOTE (Willard Decker @ Feb 5, 2014 -> 06:01 PM) My review of 2013 statistics from Baseball Reference shows that of the ten pitchers who finished with the highest K/BB ratio, four (Wainwright, Price, Kershaw and Scherzer) played on teams that reached the postseason. A fifth (Haren) was a member of a team with a winning record during the regular season. That's not bad, sounds like an aberration that one pitcher having that will cause the entire team to go to the post season but it's worth keeping an eye on. Wainwright had 19 wins, Scherzer had 21, Hershaw 16, Price 10 and Haren 10. I'm not really sure it's a real accurate measure of wins. Edit: I'm being slightly facetious if you haven't guessed. My point is that I think too many are worried about individual things and not the teams and this "Face of the MLB" will only increase this

QUOTE (Feeky Magee @ Feb 5, 2014 -> 05:30 PM) young guy polite reply/ The pitcher concentrating on his K/BB ratio will help his team to have a better chance of winning /young guy polite reply Show me how the K/BB is correlated to wins.

QUOTE (HickoryHuskers @ Feb 5, 2014 -> 01:31 PM) I have a neighbor who works for NBC. He turned down some pretty good money by not working this Olympics. I have a number of friends working on the medical staff. The texts are hilarious but at the same time disturbing about the conditions. They obviously very concerned about the health of the athletes from many different aspects.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Feb 5, 2014 -> 04:59 PM) Which is why "retirement" wound up seeming like a good option if health insurance wouldn't have bankrupted them. I agree. I still like the idea of insurance for more people but the down side is still that the current medical system is not ready for it. There still aren't enough medical professionals to handle the patient loads.