Balta1701

QUOTE(Milkman delivers @ Mar 1, 2006 -> 09:48 AM) And that is the reason I'm going with Cuba. They're already good, and they've probably known their team forever. That's gotta help since they'll be working as a team and the other countries are kind of throwing teams together. Still, supposedly the talent level on the Cuban team has dropped quite a bit in recent years. On the other hand, they did win the Gold in Sydney, so who knows.

QUOTE(SSH2005 @ Mar 1, 2006 -> 09:50 AM) I read an article that said that Soriano has been the worst defensive second baseman in baseball over the past three seasons. I can see why the Nationals want to move him to left field. Soriano's OBP is downright pathetic but he wouldn't be bad as a #5 hitter. But the Nationals knew that Soriano didn't want to move from second base before they traded for him and they did anyways. Bowden is a horrible GM. That was the big reason why Texas had trouble getting anything for Soriano before the trade...even Texas wanted to move him away from 2nd, but Soriano always refused.

Just remember, the argument "I was ordered to do it" failed quite spectacularly at Nuremberg, whether or not the defendants were actually ordered to do it.

Took em long enough, this is the blogosphere for crying out loud, I shouldn't have to wait a week for a reply. Here's their response. So based on my reading, what this guy did in the response was basically remove time as a variable. The 9% decline figure from TAP came from comparing donations over differing numbers of years, which is obviously stupid. So, he recalculated This Excel Chart (which appears in the piece 2k5 linked to in a shorter form) and says "Ok, what percentage of each tribe's total donations over the periods with Abramoff and Without Abramoff went to each party"? When he just uses that dividing line, yes the total contributions each year to Democrats increase, which is probably to be expected in an era of skyrocketing political donations (that was the focus of the piece SS2k5 linked to). However, the total donations to Republicans increase vastly more rapidly than those to Democrats when the tribes were associated with Abramoff. There are only 2 tribes which buck that trend...the Cherokee, which stopped giving to Reps entirely after talking to Abramoff (maybe they didn't like him?) and the Mississippi band of Choctaw indians, which gave 87% of their donations to Reps before Abramoff and 68% of their donations to Reps afterwards. But, before Abramoff, they were only giving $35,000 total donations, after him they gave $1.2 million, so the difference between what was donated to the Republicans over the amount they donated to the Dems increased by over $400,000. Just looking at the raw data presented this way, there certainly is a major jump in campaign donations from all of these groups (which is why that 9% number TAP put out was stupid), but the jump to the Republicans massively outweighed the Jump to the Democrats.

QUOTE(RockRaines @ Mar 1, 2006 -> 09:23 AM) Disagree, he is worthless outside of the ballpark in arlington. He put up good numbers when he was @ Yankee stadium too.

QUOTE(Felix @ Feb 28, 2006 -> 09:10 PM) Wait, you are complaining about Hinrich, but not Iverson? Iverson is better than most of the players on that team, and has been successful on the US team before. He's a leader, and expressed interest in playing again. He'll also be 33 by 08.

QUOTE(Mr. Showtime @ Feb 28, 2006 -> 07:13 PM) The tv contracts wouldn't change, and there's no way in hell the crowds would suffer. For every angry person who wouldn't want to go, there's 100 more that would love to go who never get the chance to. In markets that like Arizona or something where they don't draw now, sure it may dip. I believe MLB took that gamble in 94. It failed miserably. You shouldn't underestimate the ability of fans to hold a grudge for years.

QUOTE(Soxrock200 @ Feb 28, 2006 -> 06:11 PM) Who you choosing in WBC I'm still not even sure who's going to be playing on each team.

QUOTE(AddisonStSox @ Mar 1, 2006 -> 08:35 AM) I could have swore both Derek Lowe and Dave Roberts were there for the ring ceremony when the Sawx won the World Series. Lowe, a Dodger, even wore his Red Sox jersey. Is this any different? Is it up to Aaron? I'm sure the White Sox extended an invitation; it's probably in the hands of both the Phillies and Aaron. I would imagine Aaron would love to come back for the ceremony and reunite with his Stooges, but, I could also just as easily see him decline and start a new chapter of his life in red spikes. Anyone hear anything? Yes, the BoSox brought back Lowe and a couple other guys who had departed after their title and even had them in uniform. A couple of the teams where our guys wound up do have offdays on ring-ceremony day, including the Phillies and the Diamondbacks. Seattle does not. A month ago or so, I emailed Brooks Boyer with this exact question about the ring ceremony, and his reply was "We know the schedules or our ex-players, and we're looking into it."

Knight Ridder Mind you, this isn't some report leaked with no one on record...they actually have a person willing to attach their name to the story.

QUOTE(mr_genius @ Feb 28, 2006 -> 05:44 PM) oh, i thought you meant something else. i've never taken birth control pills so i really don't know what i'm talking about Nope, this is the "Morning after pill" I'm talking about. In only prevents conception, which is why it must be taken within 72 hours of the, um, ya know. But it's approval as an over the counter drug has been hung up in the FDA for years now for absolutely no medical reason, to the point that the states are taking action against the FDA.

QUOTE(ZoomSlowik @ Feb 28, 2006 -> 01:40 PM) The Hawks would definitely take Aldridge. They have numerous SG/SF types on the squad already that they are trying to force into other positions. They have Johnson, Harrington (who I suppose might be on his way out), Childress, Smith, and Williams. On top of that Stoudamire is a 2 guard in a PG's body, which takes up even more potential playing time for those guys. They really need a PG or a big man. They'd be really stupid to take another SF (although they did take Williams over Paul last year, I can't see them doing it again). The Hawks, happily, will have a worse record than the Knicks unless the Knicks hit a winning streak. So the Hawks will have to move up to draft in front of us. We have to hope that either we come up with the #1 or Charlotte comes up with the #1 and we come up with the #2. Both of those should get us the guy we want. Any lower than that, and we'd either have to try to trade up or hope for Oden next year.

QUOTE(whitesoxfan101 @ Feb 28, 2006 -> 04:18 PM) If they don't by the Friday deadline and there is no cap in 2007, there is going to be serious trouble after the 2007 season. The players have said they will never accept another cap if there is no cap in 2007 (ie there is no deal by Friday) and the owners aren't going to do a new deal with no cap. You may see a significant lockout in 2008 if there is no deal by Friday. Let me say this as clearly as I can: There will NOT be a work stoppage in the NFL. No league has EVER had as much to lose in a work stoppage as the NFL has right now. Even a short work stoppage could damage the NFL as much as teh whole 94 strike did baseball, and a protracted one could empty stadiums for years. That league is such a money making machine right now that they'd be better off having snipers at the games trying to take out the players and management than having a work stoppage.

QUOTE(mr_genius @ Feb 28, 2006 -> 05:38 PM) well, i guess that would depend on your definition of an abortion. i don't consider ending early pregnancies to be wrong. in the first couple weeks there isn't a living person being terminated. just my opinion Plan B contraception in no way ends a pregnancy. It prevents conception.

QUOTE(SoxFan101 @ Feb 28, 2006 -> 05:23 PM) you think? a man is guilty because you think so? I don't think I have a clue either way. I don't know him, but I don't know the Venezuelan justice system, nor do I know what the circumstances were. For all we know those guys might have had something to do with the kidnapping of his mother and he might have decided to do something about it. I figure we can just let their legal system figure it out. He probably has enough money to get off unless there's overwhelming proof, or at least he would if he was in this country.

As much as I want to say PK, I have to give this one to Podsednik. The reactions of both me and everyone I saw on video just did it all. A collective "No Way" from every single Sox fan watching.

QUOTE(mr_genius @ Feb 28, 2006 -> 03:25 PM) it was so obvious too, if someone bought yahoo at those prices they shouldn't even be buying stock as an investment (they don't know what they're doing). If they bought in when the stock first reached the level I might consider "Overvalued", and then they held on until a couple weeks ago, they made out jolly well.

QUOTE(mr_genius @ Feb 28, 2006 -> 05:19 PM) well, i guess that means they'll vote to atleast limit the practice of abortion. So, in other words, you're saying they'll get Bush's FDA to finally follow its own reccomendations and make plan B contraception available without a prescription?

QUOTE(SSH2005 @ Feb 28, 2006 -> 02:44 PM) Nah, just comparing salaries. Clayton is an old fart now. I do think that Neifi is a comparable defender to Wilson at SS (Wilson is still a bit better) but he is getting paid $5 million over the next 2 seasons. $20 million over 3 seasons for Wilson is just flat-out ludicrous. Especially since in 2005, the Pirates total payroll was $38 million. Depending on how much else they've increased salary this offseason with Marte, Kearns, etc., that puts him at making roughly 15-16% of the Pirates total salary in 2006. That's a higher percentage than ARod on the Yankees, Manny Ramirez on the BoSox, Konerko or Thome on the White Sox, etc. I think Chavez on the A's gets into that territory, but there aren't that many more like that.

QUOTE(KipWellsFan @ Feb 28, 2006 -> 02:16 PM) Around 300 people died last week? Seems almost impossible. There's already been something like 55+ people killed today. I think that if the WaPo got a number over 1000 from the Baghdad morgue, and saw the mess of bodies with its own eyes, then it's pretty darn difficult to dispute that number no matter what the government says.

QUOTE(kapkomet @ Feb 28, 2006 -> 01:44 PM) Let me give you an example of something. Last March, I made some decisions and did some things at my current place of employment. All of a sudden, I get subpeoned and I have to remember the DETAILS and I mean EXTREME DETAILS of EXACTLY what I did last year at this time. Do you think I will remember that? Probably not. Or for you college kids - you aced an exam in a mid-level college course last year on March 1, 2005. If I handed you the same exact exam, without cracking a book or notes or lectures or anything to refresh your memory, would you still ace it? Probably not. That's the sort of thing that's going on here. I'm not saying that Scooter is an angel. But at the same time, I'd forget some details of what the hell I was doing in a day to day basis. Edit: DAMN! You keep putting this s*** in this thread to keep 'the other people' from commenting. How cute. See? I already forgot where in the hell I was posting at. Good thing I'm not Scooter. I'll move it all later into it's own thread. I really don't mean to do this. So, let me get this straight...you proved that it's possible to forget things to yourself without the use of a memory expert. Anywho...if Libby actually is going to use the defense "I forgot" to explain how he gave false statements not about 1 act, but about specific acts over the course of at least a month, acts which he was asked about at the time during press appearances and later by the grand jury, he's in real, real trouble. Yes, it's possible to forget an exam. But if you learned something at one point, read and discuss that same topic with your superiors several times within the next few weeks, and a month later are giving that same information to 3 different reporters, "I forgot" isn't going to stand up.

QUOTE(kyyle23 @ Feb 28, 2006 -> 01:40 PM) If i had to choose between these bozos, it would be Brooks just because you know he can stay reasonably healthy, but I would rather not make that choice. Well, think about this, last year the Bears decided they didn't want to spend the money on someone like Warner, and wound up with Orton starting most of their games. So if that's what they're thinking about, then signing one of those guys as a backup does make sense. Especially given that there seems to be a good shot at a lot of availble QB's this year: 3 top 10 draft picks, Brees, Kitna, Brooks, Pennington all are floating around. There's maybe a little glut to the market which could push the price down. That said...if I'm the Bears, I make the gamble on Grossman again and spend my money elsewhere, just because of how the team performed last year without Grossman. You fill in the gaps from last year (Tight End, WR, Secondary) with the couple million you have in cap room and a draft pick or two, and if Grossman stays healthy, maybe you can pull off a 14-15 win season if that defense plays like it did for the first 2/3 of last season, and if he can't stay healthy, then maybe Benson and Orton improve a bit and allow you to win 12, make the playoffs again, and then not put Tillman on Steve Smith.

QUOTE(q\/\/3r+y @ Feb 28, 2006 -> 01:44 PM) He is excellent defensively and at a primary position you look for it. The best thing they ever did and will ever do is lock up bay though. Wouldn't be surprised to see them do the same with duke in a couple years. Still, for the Pirates, that's an awful lot of money when they don't have much to move around. $7 million a year for a defensive guy, when their team was 3rd from the bottom in runs scored last year in the NL, ahead of only San Fran (no Barry) and Washington? The Padres had a better offense than them. Think about this...they're paying him a fair chunk more than we're paying Jermaine Dye to hit 30 home runs for us. Is there any chance that they're back-loading this deal with the expectation that they'll pay like $5 million a year for the first 2 years and then trade him before he becomes a FA? That's the only way this even comes close to making sense to me. He'd have gotten quite a bit less in arbitration had it come to that, and they still would have been able to trade him before he hit the FA market to some team in need of defensive help.

QUOTE(sayitaintso @ Feb 28, 2006 -> 01:55 PM) i wouldn't doubt it. He's not terrible, he's just insane. And he's at least a decent friend of Ozzie's.

QUOTE(kyyle23 @ Feb 28, 2006 -> 01:28 PM) I am still wondering why people believe the source from realGM who says he has media credentials and is at the combine. How often do people like that show up on this site and get shooed away? We all know Steff has some inside knowledge, but she doesnt blurt it out on this messageboard unless she is correcting someone who is spreading false info about a particular player or game. I hate to say it, but it's probably because there's at least a logical reason to be very concernend about Grossman's ability to stay healthy. He's shown no ability to do so thus far in his career. I believe each of the last 2 years, the Bears have gambled on Grossman staying healthy without a solid, proven backup, and each year, they have lost that bet. Orton is at least serviceable in that he didn't immediately lose every game he played, but at least at this point in his career, he can't be counted on to win games. If the Bears have any doubts at all about whether or not Grossman can stay healthy, they have reason to consider other options. Which means, when people start saying those things, they're believed.