Balta1701

Scoop Jackson is currently doing a chat at ESPN.com. Some incredibly brilliant, talented, and handsome writer got this question through.

QUOTE(hammerhead johnson @ Aug 4, 2005 -> 09:57 AM) They'll still have the best defensive personnel in the NBA. Dumars ain't gonna hire some clown who thinks that championships are won with offense. Isn't Flip Saunders considered an offensive guy? That's everything I've read (offensive in the sense of being good at coaching offense, not in the other sense)

QUOTE(SoxFanForever @ Aug 4, 2005 -> 09:38 AM) Didn't Julius Peppers get busted recently as well? He was suspended in 2002. Via NFL.com.

Hmph, I figured the problem with his change might have been that AJ wasn't calling for it. Anywho...if he can put together a decent slider out there to go along with a 2 seamer, 4 seamer, that nasty curve ball, and a murderous changeup...and he's throwing to a catcher who knows how to mix things up, no one will be able to touch him when he gets to the big leagues.

QUOTE(Milkman delivers @ Aug 4, 2005 -> 08:49 AM) We'd be up more than that because we'd be destroying that division worse that we are destroying the Central. Our record would probably be something like 42-3 against those scrubs. We're already 9-3 against them.

QUOTE(ZoomSlowik @ Aug 3, 2005 -> 09:20 PM) I have a feeling that this trade will either be really good or really bad. At worst, I think it will end up like Malone/Payton in LA where neither lived up to expectations and it resulted in a flawed team. Best case, Walker/Williams know their roles and give them some needed alternate options. I definitely like Posey though, he's a solid all-around player and was an excellent player a few years ago. Miami definitely looks good on paper though. I'll be interested to see how the East goes. Miami and Indianapolis look like real threats to Detroit. Detroit will almost certainly be in a whole heap of trouble without Brown running that defense.

QUOTE(DBAH0 @ Aug 4, 2005 -> 08:12 AM) How could the Bears hire him in the 1st place then? Really bad decision on their part. How many good decisions can you name that the Bears have made in the last 10 years? Drafting Urlacher...signing Ted Washington...um...

QUOTE(winodj @ Aug 3, 2005 -> 08:41 PM) Where you getting that about Air America? People keep saying that, but I'm hearing more commercials than ever on LIB. They're on the verge of being profitable. He's simply wrong about Air America. There's a few markets that they've tried without success, but for the most part, in most cities their market share is either holding steady or growing. For example, in New York, almost all of the talk radio stations saw their ratings decline after the election. Limbaugh went down by about 25%. Air America on the other hand stayed roughly constant. In other words, Air America's share of the listeners compared to Limbaugh actually went up after the election. They're expanding into new markets and doing well. They're back on in LA and getting solid numbers, places like Denver are seeing excellent growth, and they're working on locking up talent for longer. The right-wing blogosphere has been trying lately to push a scandal involving funds diverted by the guy who founded the company and was forced out for improper business dealings, but I don't think it'll be going anywhere just from the looks of it.

I fully understand them filing the lawsuit, and I fully understand them losing it too. It's the job of the ACLU to be offensive like this and to make sure people can provide a legal justification for things like searches of the public, etc, whether or not people agree with them. In this case, there's no reason for a judge to side with them, since searching everyone with a backpack doesn't constitute racial profiling, and it's not an unconstitutional search/seizure to search people when they're trying to make use of a city service. Even given that, it's always a good thing to force a judge to decide exactly where the letter of the law draws the line, just so other states/cities will know how far they can go.

QUOTE(YASNY @ Aug 4, 2005 -> 02:30 AM) But I69 is such a vulger name for a highway across this great land. It should be changed to something decent. :rolly I69 currently runs through a portion of northern Indiana. I went to a concert at Deer Creek music center (when it was still called that) north of Indianapolis a few years ago...when we drove in there were a bunch of signs pointing to the I-69 entrance...when we pulled out of the concert, the signs were all gone.

Bill Romanowski might be the biggest NFL name who was on the juice...he was on the BALCO program. While he was on it, he attacked and severely injured a teammate during a practice - most likely a fit of "roid rage". Earlier this year, 4 Carolina Panthers received perscriptions for the stuff. The NFL probably has the most stringent testing program of any of the 3 major sports (remember when Jim Miller was caught?), but it is by no means perfect. Given how the NFL is based on exerting a lot of force as quickly as possible, I really don't doubt that steroid use of some sort is quite rampant in the NFL. I'm pretty sure that the NFL was the first league that really did pick the stuff up when it first became available for that reason. In terms of the NBA, they have a testing program (i believe it's updated in the new CBA), but the idea with the NBA has always been that because of how the NBA works - running up and down, speed, endurance, technique - steroids might not be as big of a help in the NBA. I consider that to be BS. Why would so many cyclists get caught using the junk if it didn't help with things like endurance or speed? As far as I know though, there has been no major NBA names who have tested positive for the stuff, but there have been suspicions raised about specific people (Alonzo Mourning is one name I've heard pop up over and over again).

QUOTE(Kid Gleason @ Aug 4, 2005 -> 05:54 AM) I don't know. He was a general, and he admitted to the attacks. Our soldiers that are being held were following orders. This guy did the ordering for his guys. This guy made his life out of this. Should he have died? No. But in wars, s*** happens...right? How many innocents have died? I'll feel saddness for the kids in Iraq who have fallen, then I will for a general who was holding out on info and died during the interigation. You're missing 1 key point...the guy admitted to attacks UNDER TORTURE. Statements taken under duress are remarkably inaccurate - that's one big reason why we're not supposed to torture people - it doesn't work. When you're sitting there having a guy beat the sh*t out of you until you admit you did something, at some point, maybe you break and admit you did it whether or not you were actually involved, just so that the guy will stop hitting you for a while.

QUOTE(fathom @ Aug 3, 2005 -> 06:59 PM) I know, I know. I just think that it's better to be more careful with the starter at this point in the season than to push him to the max. I just wish Ozzie trusted Cotts a little more. Ozzie's said a couple times that he always likes to give his starters a chance to earn the win if the ballgame is close. I think that's why Duque isn't out yet. Guy on 1st...now I take him out.

QUOTE(fathom @ Aug 3, 2005 -> 06:57 PM) Duque's still in. When is Ozzie going to actually try and save a pitcher's arm for the stretch run? Hopefully...when we actually clinch the division.

I let El Duque out there but with a very short leash... If he gives up a long ball, worst case is it becomes 5-3. If anyone gets on base, he should come out. We're not facing the "heart" of their order this inning. He might as well get the chance to win it, just in case someone does something next half inning.

QUOTE(fathom @ Aug 3, 2005 -> 06:54 PM) I think KW's activity at the trade deadline trying to acquire someone like Huff pretty much guaranteed that PK isn't in our plans next season. I think the Carlos Lee trade also pretty much guarantees that...KW has to see how many players he got because he dumped Lee's Salary.

QUOTE(fathom @ Aug 3, 2005 -> 06:49 PM) Good job by Duque not allowing a run that inning, and shoving it in my face. Walker's been a pretty damn good reliever this season. He's very tough on righties. If nothing else, we've gotten to their bullpen after 5 innings.

QUOTE(GBlum27 @ Aug 3, 2005 -> 06:34 PM) Oof, Carl with an ugly K, this is so f***ing frustrating. Hey Paulie there are no RISP maybe you can hit the damn ball. Holy god it worked....we really need to stop moving runners over in front of Konerko.

Everett strikes out... at least he didn't move Iguchi to 2nd. Last thing we want is to be 0-9 with RISP.

QUOTE(GBlum27 @ Aug 3, 2005 -> 06:29 PM) 10 in a row retired by El Duque, meanwhile the offense hibernates. If El Duque only gives up 4 runs in 5-7 innings...there is no good reason why we shouldn't win this game except our hitters doing a terrible job. If you can't win when your pitcher gives up 4 and then shuts the opposition completely down, you've let that pitcher down. Not everyone can give up only 1 a night.

If you want to read more coverage of this guy's arrest (he walked into a prison to try to get his sons released - never charged with anything) torture and then death, these two posts will be quite helpful as well.

We're now 0-8 with runners in scoring position. You don't get 8 AB's with RISP in 4 innings if the pitcher is throwing a great game.

7 in a row retired by El Duque. Come on guys...we should be able to win games when our starter gives up 4 against a non #1 pitcher

This story appeared today in the Washington Post. Here are some key excerpts. So read what actually happened there. The U.S. couldn't get answers out of the guy, so someone asked for permission to use more, shall we say, strenuous methods. They tried those, and still couldn't get an answer. So what happens? The guy is handed over to some secret group, who's job it seemingly is to make sure people answer the questions - the Scorpions, whoever they are. The guy ends up dead. How many of them didn't end up dead? And how did a group like that come into existence when supposedly we weren't engaging in torture as an official policy? As a final point...here are the words of Donald Rumsfeld, speaking about Iraqi Prisoners.

QUOTE(Yossarian @ Aug 3, 2005 -> 10:26 AM) Pity the poor Spaniards. They probably didn't even blow up the Maine. I don't think there's any question about it - it was a coal dust blast.