Jack Parkman

Last year, the Sox had 7 or 8 players on these lists. To see it go to 5 in a season is discouraging, especially with no graduations. Are the Sox even a top 5 system anymore? It will be interesting to see if they are.

Chemical Engineering. I had the unfortunate timing of graduating into the teeth of the recession in 2011.

I'm looking for work, yet again. I worked at two different software QA firms and wasn't able to stick at either. I've probably had 8 jobs since high school, and I doubt any of them would recommend me for a position. I have had exactly zero positive work experiences. Most I was only there for a few months. One job I had for 5 years, but as soon as the boss had the gumption to let me go, I was let go. I'd bet that if anyone called any of my previous employers, they'd tell them not to hire me. How do I get around this? I'm 32 and have a crappy work history, no experience in my degreed field and nobody to vouch for me to say I'm good at anything.

This is why I think a 3 year opt out is a must for both Harper and Machado. Honestly, because of the labor strife I don't know if it makes sense for the Sox to sign either. There would be no way in hell either would stay past 2021, and with a new CBA they'd get paid a LOT more. The sad thing is I don't think the Sox window even opens until 2021. They're going to lose at least 1/2 a season in what would be their window, and possibly an entire season.

That is the chicken/egg question for the Hawks.

With both Giolito and Moncada, the talent is there. It is just a matter of putting it all together. They both can be really, really good still. Giolito had a 2.5 month stretch where he was good, and dominated a couple good teams including the WS champs and the Rays.

Something I keep coming back to, is Abreu and Nate Jones for Pederson and Urias. I think it is a decent baseball trade that would work for both teams. I think there is enough value there on the Sox side to make it fair. Idk how hard Urias is throwing after his surgery, but if he hasn't lost much off the fastball it could be a decent trade, I think it is fair on both sides.

Paka's obp was for shit last year. That said, its ok to want to see if he could improve it. The answer though, is if he misses ABs it is probably no big loss.

You up for one now? Let me send you a PM.

I'm not as comfortable going to the city anymore tbh. Is there somewhere in the Burbs with a parking lot that we could meet at? IIT is a looong way for me to go. I already have one chess buddy I drive 50 miles to meet, I don't want to make it two. The biggest issue in chess, I know is just hanging pieces. I hung a piece in my last game because there was a square that my knight looked good on, while forgetting that the Knight was protecting another piece. Moved the Knight to go to that square, ended up hanging the piece. I'm at the point in my revival where I can't get away with blundering a piece and being able to win it back anymore.

How can you actually hold coaches and front offices accountable if one position is so important to a team, and the ability to acquire such a player is based on luck ? It is a joke. It is like your boss firing you because you didn't win a 32 person raffle.

I'm getting to the point where I don't want to waste time following sports where one player means so much to a team. Look at what Luck meant to the Colts, and he's slightly above average. Again, I don't think it is an actual team sport at that point. It is a glorified skills competition.

Yeah, but how did NE acquire him? Answer: Dumb luck. He almost didn't make the team out of camp his rookie year, if you haven't heard the story by now.

I don't mean in terms of dropping pieces for nothing , making speculative sacrifices or anything like that. I mean going for solid vs sharp positions. In my mind, I'd rather lose on tactics or win on tactics than duke it out over 50+ moves. In my mind, you aren't actually good until you can start ending up in even/winning endgames from sharp openings.

100% better tactical than positional. I like to attack, so..... I started playing in 1991, played until 2002 and then picked it up again in 2014. You don't learn anything playing safe. WRT the Sicilian, I'll play the Scheveningen or Najdorf, and I despise the Svechnikov and Dragon. I have a ridiculous problem taking my

I don't agree that great players should languish, but there should be the possibility that their career is completely negated by poor team construction. It should take more than dumb luck to win in a sport. In the NFL and NBA it is more about luck than skill in team construction. Being bad in the correct season in football or having the lotto balls bounce your way in the correct year and winning multiple championships because of it is no way to enjoy sports. This is the Bulls excuse for not firing GarPax btw. There really can't be any accountability if you're just unlucky. You can actually hold front offices accountable in MLB and the NHL. You can't really do so in the NFL and NBA because winning is almost entirely about drafting in the right place at the right time.

Rabbit hole as white. I play the Lopez against e5, and the Grand Prix against the Sicilian. I don't run into anthing else all that often when I play e4. I'll occasionally play d4, I'm learning the London System currently, but that doesn't work if the opponent plays d5 and I don't know the QGD all that well. Then you run into Slav/Semi Slav. I don't have the time to learn all of this shit, lol. Vs. e4 I play the Sicilian or Scandinavian, and am learning the Caro-Kann, because it is similar to the Scandinavian structure without as much of the risk with the Queen. vs. d4 I typically play the Nimzo Indian or Benoni stuff.

I don't find that incredible. I find it incredibly boring. No player in a team sport should be so important that his mere presence makes them a lock for the a championship game/series appearance. At that point, the sport ceases to be a team sport and becomes more of an individual sport with a supporting cast. The NFL is a glorified QB skills competition. The NBA is a glorified athleticism and shooting competition. It is completely ceasing to be entertaining whatsoever. I'll stick with baseball and hockey, where there is actual skill in team construction, and there is no player so important that his mere presence takes a team from the outhouse to the penthouse. Connor McDavid is the best player in hockey and the Oilers have only made one playoff appearance in his 3 seasons, and it looks like they'll miss again this season. Mike Trout might be a top ten all time player, if not top 5 and he has only participated in one postseason series in an 8 year career. That is how it should be. Alex Ovechkin is arguably the greatest goal scorer of all time and he just won his first Stanley Cup in a 13 year career last season..

No. I had to be an adult unfortunately. I cancelled my entry and ended up going to work.

I disagree, there have been many teams they've played over the years with more talented skill players. Outside of 2007, they really haven't had talented receivers. How many of those guys have done anything outside of NE? Notable exception is Gronk but he's been hurt a lot. And you can call it dumb luck because they got that guy in the 6th round, and was the beneficiary of one of the worst blown calls in NFL playoff history. If the fumble is called correctly in 2002, you can bet your ass Bledsoe is starting for the Patriots in September of that year.

The NFL is approaching NBA territory in terms of predictability. It defeats the point of entertainment. It isn't entertaining to have the same teams involved in the championship game/series repeatedly.

I like the randomness of Baseball and Hockey vs. Football and Basketball. Something is fundamentally wrong with your sport if one player can be the difference between winning multiple championships and being a bottom of the league team. You actually have to construct a team with Baseball/Hockey. With Football and Basketball it is more about dumb luck and timing. At that point it no longer becomes a team sport, it becomes an individual sport masquerading as a team sport.

To be fair, the in the NBA you have to have laundry+players because if you don't it becomes non-enjoyable. The NFL is approaching that territory. At some point people are going to have laundry+QB because one player is of utmost importance in both sports. The AFC has been represented by Brady, Roethlisberger or Peyton Manning every season from 2003-present with the lone exception of 2012, where Manning was beaten by a miracle and Joe Flacco's arm strength. If that doesn't show one how important the QB is in football, idk what does. It is approaching the point where if the QB you drafted highly hasn't won anything by year 6, you might as well move on and start over at the position.

Idgaf about the Super Bowl anymore until Brady isn't involved, I don't care whether or not he wins or loses, I don't want to watch until someone else represents the AFC.

Of course. I fucking hate Brady. Not over yet, but probably.