Middle Buffalo

Thanks. I put it in rice. The Chinese built it, and now they will fix it. Gotta love it.

Dropped my iPod in the sink today. Let's all say a lttle prayer.

I don't mind the Hawkisms too much , but I hate that he speaks in absolutes so often. "He's the best (fill in the blank) that I've seen in all my years...." It hurts his credibility with me. I don't mind a homer, but don't lie to me. And if the team is bad, Hawk doesn't have to tell me that because I understand that he doesn't necessarily want to crap on the product, but I don't want him to tell me that it's a good team.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Feb 29, 2012 -> 02:22 PM) Jeff Passan ‏ @JeffPassan Source: MLB to immediately investigate Rangers' signing of Jairo Beras. MLB was under the impression Beras was 16, ineligible to be signed Beras may be the last of baseball's big bonus babies. The $2.9M cap on int'l FA starts this summer. Sliding scale goes into effect in '13. Fascinating case about to unfold with Rangers giving 17-year-old Jairo Beras a $4.5M bonus. Until recently, was believed to be 16. Ben Badler ‏ @BenBadler Baseball America has evidence going back to 2011 of Jairo Beras using a Dec. 25, 1995 DOB. Story coming soon. Jairo Beras' DOB was listed as 12/25/95, giving teams and MLB the impression he was a July 2, 2012 guy. If he's 17, something has changed. Don't pencil Jairo Beras into the Rangers' farm system just yet. If MLB approves the reported contract, teams will be furious. When do we learn that he's actually 21 and that Leo Nunez is his real name?

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Mar 1, 2012 -> 12:09 AM) I'll agree with you on Life is Beautiful, although I'm not sure I can agree it should have won over Spielberg that year. THE READER was terribly overrated, but just given so much praise largely because of the topic and the presence of Kate Winslet. I liked Saving Private Ryan much more, too. And I couldn't make it through The Reader. Also, Roberto Benini (sp?) was great in Life is Beautiful and deserved the Oscar. He's one of the people that gets brought up as undeserving by many people.

QUOTE (daa84 @ Feb 28, 2012 -> 12:49 PM) http://awfulannouncing.blogspot.com/2008/0...gan-trivia.html I don't see anything wrong with this. It's a pretty typical baseball conversation that every set of announcers has during the season. I don't like Joe Morgan, but the only reason this is on the "awful" list is because it is Joe Morgan.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Feb 28, 2012 -> 06:35 PM) As for Holocaust movies, you've also got on include LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL and THE READER. I loved "Life is Beautiful." I wouldn't count it as one of the movies that won best picture that didn't deserve it.

Good stuff. I figure I can take my time getting to Chicago heading up north (which I'm guessing is the most scenic way), spend 8 days in Chicago, and haul a$$ back to Phoenix going the most direct route. Or I can hit a few sights on the way, and a few on the way back. I haven't really decided. Thanks for the suggestions.

QUOTE (HickoryHuskers @ Feb 29, 2012 -> 05:39 AM) Oh, so you've already made the drive from Phoenix to Chicago. I have, so I know that the most direct route has nothing to see. I'm planning on going up north through Denver. I think I want to see Mt. Rushmore. That's about the most far north I want to go. I'm just looking to see if there's any can't miss stuff on the way. Or, is there anything (Mt. Rushmore, for instance) that isn't worth the time.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Feb 28, 2012 -> 03:56 PM) St. Louis is obviously the first that comes to my mind. Jean shorts are already packed for that portion of the trip.

It's worth a shot while people are giving SF and NY trip advice. I have about 16 days in the summer to make it from Phoenix to Chicago and back. We decided that spending $3K to fly and rent a vehicle for the two weeks might not make much sense, so we are going to drive. Any tips? Must see places along the way. I want to spend 8-10 days in Chicago, so that leaves me 3 days travel on each side. I'd like to hit a few "can't miss" sights along the way. Assume I've seen nothing.

PacBell (or whatever it's called now) is awesome. I sat on the third base side looking out into the bay and saw the steroidal Barry Bonds hit a game winning HR into it. I didn't like him even when he was with the Pirates, but I have to say that it's a pretty solid top sports moment that I witnessed in person. Just walking along the bay to Pier 39 to see the sea lions is pretty cool, too. I was only there a few days for work, so I didn't do much else. ps It's much colder than you might think, so pack some fall type clothes.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Feb 28, 2012 -> 03:20 PM) The issue there is that this movie itself is still pretty terrible with the stereotypes itself. It's like Crash in that regard. "The Help" is as guilty of stereotyping the Southern white characters as it is the black characters. But, they're characters, so of course they're stereotypes. On the whole, it was a bad year for movies. The Help was overrated. Moneyball was a Disney sports picture (that happened to star Brad Pitt). The Artist was probably the biggest risk taker. I liked it, and it may be deserving of best picture, but I will never watch it again. And as far as the Oscars being a "circle jerk." It's no different than sports halls of fame that fans argue about and bemoan the inclusion/exclusion of certain players. In the end, why do we care at all?

QUOTE (Swingandalongonetoleft @ Feb 23, 2012 -> 11:32 AM) Hearing the story of Walker and Guillen's concern about Dunn last spring has me feeling less certain about what shows up this year. Prior to hearing that story, I was of the opinion that he would return to normal. For me, the worst part of the Walker/Guillen story is that Guillen kept trotting Dunn out to the plate. If he was as broken as they "knew" from Spring Training, Dunn should have sat. As a fan, I thought it was the right thing to do to be patient. But if Walker and Guillen identified from the first day of Spring Training that something was very wrong, they never should have stayed with him. 1. Ventura will be fine. Don't know that he's a championship manager, but it will be nice to get away from the Ozzie/Kenny circus. It's actually kind of disappointing that at some point in the past few years, one of the vets didn't come forward and say that they were sick of it and that Ozzie and Kenny should be professional and keep their crap in house. That would have showed some leadership. The players always said it didn't bother them, and the fued itself might not have, but answering questions about it had to. 2. MB will probably be missed more for his presence in the clubhouse as an all-around good guy than for what he has left on the field. I love him, but he's a 12-14 win guy. 3. I can't imagine that Dunn will be as bad as last year. 4. I can't remember the question - closer? I think they'll do fine by committee early. I wasn't ever 100% confident in Santos, though he certainly performed well for stretches. I think he's replaceable, and I doubt he turns into Mariano Rivera. He reminds me a little of Roberto Hernandez - pretty good, but always had me on the edge of my seat (in a bad way). 5. CQ was really good when he was really good, and incredibly frustrating the rest of the time. I wish Kenny traded him when his value was higher. Viciedo will be fine, and if he's not, at least we'll know and can move on. I'm kind of excited about the season. I have low expectations, and that's usually when my teams win.

In other news, Generalissimo Francisco Franco is still dead. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Generalissimo...o_is_still_dead

QUOTE (Milkman delivers @ Feb 12, 2012 -> 03:49 PM) Shouldn't the title say "worst"? That's been bothering me. I was thinking the same thing - had the thought again as I clicked on the link. I chalked it up to Textalk and moved on originally.

Count me among the group that could listen to Eddie Vedder sing just about anything. I even like that Cubs song he sings. Ten is one of those albums that I don't think has a bad song. PJ is great in concert, too. I was at Lollapalooza in '92 at Alpine Valley. A month or so ago I was watching that concert on Youtube - reliving my youth. I saw them there again in '97 or '98.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Feb 7, 2012 -> 09:41 AM) Romney hasn't been in office for 5 years now. That doesn't really refute my point. Obviously, since he's running for president, he hasn't cut all of his political ties. But, really, I just posted the original comment and link to the article because I'm kind of sick of all of our political figures being a little out of touch with most Americans. I'd guess that Mitt has done everything to the letter of the law financially, but that doesn't mean that I have to like the laws.

Politician's seem to have an uncanny ability to be successful in the market. Did or is Mitt doing something illegal? I don't know. Does he have access to info or the ability to influence legislation in such a way that he can personally profit? I'm pretty sure.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Feb 7, 2012 -> 07:30 AM) I'm not sure I understand what you are getting at with this post. Are you just saying that because he makes a 26% return, that must mean he's doing something fishy? Pretty much.

Mitt's kids set for life. http://finance.yahoo.com/news/romney-kids-...-184900265.html Mitt's making a 26% return on his investments and paying 10% in taxes. Maybe he can save our country. I'm sure all his stock plays are legit - no insider info, just good sound research and good timing.

QUOTE (ChiSox_Sonix @ Feb 7, 2012 -> 06:26 AM) Often times, but not always, it's customary to tip 5-10%. Depends on how much work was done with it, how well established it is, how well you know them etc...Your call. That's kind of what I was figuring - 10%. Actually, I split the square with someone (we won $400, so my take was $200), and the other guy is really cheap. I think I'll probably do $20.

I'm not much of a gambler (I only throw a few bucks into an NCAA bracket pool, Super Bowl, etc) , and yesterday, for the first time I can remember, I won - $200 in a pool at a bar where a friend works. The pool paid out 100%, and I'm wondering if I'm obligated to tip the guy who ran the pool. If so, how much?

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Feb 3, 2012 -> 09:51 AM) Yeah, but he gets portrayed as one, which seems to be enough. Sure. But I don't hold him responsible for the media's coverage. When he's healthy and sober, it's a good story for people who struggle with or know someone who struggles with addiciton. It's kind of like the Tim Tebow stuff. Half of the guys on tv talking about Tebow are saying that they're sick of talking about Tebow blah blah blah. Well, then stop talking about it.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Feb 3, 2012 -> 09:42 AM) This would be the downside of having your story told over and over again as a story of redemption. People are all to happy to watch you fall. True, but Hamilton doesn't really come off, to me, as a guy who acts as if he's beaten addicition. Most addicts (regardless of the vice) relapse at some point.