Harry Chappas

Blowing the 2 goal lead Saturday was rough. Nice win last night but over the weekend the Hawks got 3 points and Nashville 2. If the Hawks coud have gotten all 4 that would have been great. Hossa and Kane need to play up to their potential or this team will struggle to make it into the playoffs.

Lovie has been able to beat the Packers. Two weeks ago the Pack needed to win and Bears really gave them fits. This game could be the biggest sporting event in Chicago sports history. This is bigger than any game a baseball team, hockey team or basketball team plays. This game will dominate national and local news for the week and will go down in lore.

QUOTE (Rowand44 @ Jan 15, 2011 -> 09:53 AM) Confidence picks this week, they're an extra point since it's the 2nd round: Bears: 5 Falcons: 4 Jets: 3 Steelers: 2 Jets at 3???

Edwin Jackson could be our best pitcher. If Joba was worth anything the Yanks wouldn't be spending about what the Sox spending on Konerko for a set-up man.

If Seattle beats the Bears, Seattle has a home game against the Pack if the Pack beats Atlanta. I am sure the NFL is liking how that could work out. In reality if the Pack wins, the NBA fix should be thought of as a Pack/Bears NFC Championship game would be quite the story. The refs can give the Bears the old home court advantage in the name of NFL prosperity. On the other side of the docket all four teams are a good draw.

If you work in Illinois and live in Indiana or Wisconsin what tax do you pay? I am glad that the govenors of both states want companies to just uproot and move to a new state like there was no thought into why they were starting where they are in the first place. I wish Chicago would open a land based casino though and gain the revenue that the citizens are pumping into other municipalities and states.

Hub Arkush basically called the Starks story sorry grapes on the part of Greg Gabriel and then went into how he and the other guy the Bears fired are viewed in NFL circles. Gabriel went to Buffalo and was an RB same as Starks and they had a relationship that Gabriel was hoping to carry into the NFL. Hub pointed out that Gabriel can not get a simple scouting job in the NFL. Now you know the rest ofthe story. Aromashadu has bounced around and it appears the Bears are not high on him so there must be a reason. Not sure the Bears though are running better guys out there.

QUOTE (Chi Town Sox @ Jan 11, 2011 -> 03:50 PM) Starks should have been a Bear http://espn.go.com/blog/nflnation/post/_/i...ft-james-starks Pretty embarrassing considering Lefeavor is no more.

QUOTE (BigSqwert @ Jan 11, 2011 -> 03:51 PM) The guy is a major leader of the GOP. He sets the tone and agenda for many congressmen and congresswomen. The guy is the epitome of a hypocrite yet he is allowed to make millions from the dolts that hang on his every word. He is the political talk radio version of the cubs. Palin is closing in on him though.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jan 11, 2011 -> 01:08 PM) Frankly, yes, I think that in a number of positions, retirement at age 55 is a sound practice. Especially things like police and firefighting, where your body is legitimately being taxed regularly to the point that you're significantly damaging it. 30 years of smoke inhalation and carrying 80 lbs of equipment up stairs is going to put an enormous strain on most bodies. Ditto getting shot at. Ditto having to deal with 8 year olds. In fact, in some of these cases...if they don't retire, they're much less useful to their position than if they stayed on. And if they tried to find other work, they wouldn't be able to...not only because they have no experience at other positions, but because they have the other physical issues to deal with. I agree on the fire and police side of things. I also believe that unions are necessary in certain fields of work, but education is not one of them. I do not hate the teaching profession nor do I despise all teachers, I just feel that it is a profession that has been destroyed by their union. The trumpeting of how underpaid they are is a fallacy. I will end my point with my thought that if the teaching profession was so stressful, why do few people leave it once they have gotten in?

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jan 11, 2011 -> 11:37 AM) You're splitting hairs here, and they're very tiny hairs too. You think they're getting a fair wage...but they're getting too much in benefits. You're saying "Teachers are overpaid but they're overpaid on their benefits". Yes the benefits are where I think it is debatable that they are overpaid. The initial point was the salary of teachers and my thoughts that they were not underpaid. Do you feel the ability to retire at age 55 with an income of 80% of your average last five years salary with an annual increase of 5% is a sound practice? When the private sector ended this practice, the public sector became much more attractive for specialized employees, most notably teachers. On the administrative side of the governement there are much more egregious instances of overspending but there are not as many instances nor is the dollar amount that great. I am not saying that the lady working at the DMV has a sweet ass set-up.

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Jan 11, 2011 -> 10:43 AM) Sharpie makes the All-Star team, as does Kaner. How does Kane make the team?

Let me be clear. I never once said that anyone was overpaid I think they are getting a fair wage. The issue I am having is that they can retire, mostly as teachers, at 55 if not younger and be making 100% of what they were making at 50. My point was also to point out that the salary structure in CPS is nothing to cry poor about and the schools are abysmal unless they are charter or magnet schools. If teachers continue on with their education and become an adminsistrator $100K to $150K is easily attainable. It is not the salaries of the public sector that is the problem it is the benefits. A teacher can pay less than $100/month for top flight health insurance or be given the cost if they elect not to take the coverage, approximately $12,000 a year. Both of my parents benefit from this it is great for them but it is causing the government to go broke. Have you ever heard of a teacher quitting the profession and moving on to something other than teaching?

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jan 10, 2011 -> 04:39 PM) You're simply not going to get very far arguing that teachers and firefighters are vastly overpaid. Where did I ever say they were vastly overpaid? I was pointing out the fact that pensions are literally killing state economics. The fact someone can work for 20 years and retire making 100% of the salary they were making after working for 15 years is not a good system. Look at the link below and tell me that these are not good paying jobs which will allow you to retire at 55 years of age and then let me know what I am missing. Teachers with 20 years of experience can make roughly $80K. That is not grossly overpaid but not bad for 8 months of work which also covers you for therest of your life when you retire.....and I know that CPS is not an ideal workplace but the suburbs are worse as far as the salaries go. The teachers union in the state of Illinois are out of control and have been for years. School districts pick up 95 to 100% of the benefit cost in certain districts....who pays for this, not the district that is negotiating the contract...at least they are not covering all of it. http://www.cps-humanresources.org/Employee...eachers38.6.pdf

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Jan 10, 2011 -> 03:31 PM) I think you just made my case for me. Without the ridiculous pensions, the salary compensation of these folks will look much lower in the long run (full career) than those in the private sector. Teachers in CPS might make $25k or $30k a year to start, which is a good place to start, but most never make more than say $40k or a little more. People with college educations almost always make more than that as their careers progress. You can easily find the salary structure of a Chicago Public School Teacher simply go to cps-humanresources.org. The 52 week teacher, yes one that decides to work year round, 6 hours a day and not take the summers off starts off at well above $40K. It almost hard to find a teacher that makes less than $40K. Teachers are rewarded for going to school and continuing their education with guaranteed raises. Nowhere in the private sector is there such a guarantee. If the education system in America worked, I would be all for it. The systems sucks and we continue to fund the hell out of it. It is also why we in Illinois will never see the federal tax break for this year.... Chicago Firemen can make well over $80K as this is essentially a part-time job. Being hired for this job is akin to winning the lottery, I understand there are risks involved. These are risks that make that job rewarding on many fronts. By they way, these pensions have provided nicely for many relatives of mine.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Jan 10, 2011 -> 11:56 AM) I actually agree with some of your points, but think for a second about part of the long term impact here. If you make the pension system a lot less "special" for teachers, firefighters, cops, etc., you will have a much harder time recruiting for those jobs. You will either get lower quality, or have to increase pay or other benefits (401k match is a good start), or both. That means higher costs of public service and/or lower quality results. I'm actually OK with paying a little more in taxes for those folks to be of higher quality, but many people won't be. A choice has to be made. That was the case 50 years ago when the private sector paid more than the public sector. That is no longer the case. Government jobs are secured positions for the most part. Hiring may be cut back but layoffs are mostly nonexistant. The fact a person can retire at 50 and collect in some cases 100% of their average final 5 years of employment is disgusting...thereby they than can go get another government job because of the connections they have made working for 20 years in government and then get another pension after putting in, this time, 10 years. There is no guarantee you are getting higher quality people.

QUOTE (IamtheHBOMB @ Jan 8, 2011 -> 05:35 PM) It is also worth noting that Byrdak is a southsider. (He went to high school with my older sister.) So, that might be a motivating factor in playing for the Sox. He still lives in the southwest burbs. Sox offerd him a ML deal earlier this winter that they turned down and are hoping for an MLB deal. With the left handed bats in the division a good amount of LOOGY's is not a bad thing.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jan 8, 2011 -> 05:36 PM) I'd say it differently. I'd say that if a political figure going to use gun imagery in a campaign against a person, and then at some point that person gets shot...some people will try to blame her regardless of whether or not she's at fault (and those people should be criticized)...while others will just think she looks like a complete jackass. At this point, I'm not going to go any farther than thinking she looks like a complete jackass...Like a person making a totally inappropriate joke about someone who really got hurt. I think you have to be really careful about how you try to assign blame for words in these cases, because it's so hard to really interpret the thoughts of a person who would do something like this. I think the point is that there are some people that are really unintelligent and listen to the political talk and take it as gospel. Is Palin or Rush to blame, no but the over the top one sided view causes those that are not bright enough to understand that there is an other side to react irrationally.

QUOTE (iamshack @ Jan 8, 2011 -> 05:34 PM) Well, this level execution we're seeing right now is ridiculous. You cannot going to make throws like this every game. Seahawks are a vastly different team at home.

Goooooooooo SeeeeeeeeeeeeeHawwwwwwks.

QUOTE (iamshack @ Jan 8, 2011 -> 04:18 PM) The Saints got away with a ridiculous hold around midfield. I have no clue how the side judge missed it. Otherwise Seattle just can't stop the Saints. Saints aren't doing much to stop Seattle

Can't wait for the day when Ohman is pitching in the 12th inning as nobody is left to be used against the Royals in mid-July This move allows them to move Sale into the rotation or have Thorton close. Nice low risk move.

I find it funny that the Juan Pierre trade is not brought as the cubs got throughly hosed in that deal.

QUOTE (chw42 @ Jan 8, 2011 -> 09:58 AM) Sam Fuld is bad. If anything, the fact that the Rays have guys like Jennings, Zobrist, and Joyce make Upton expendable. They were saying Fuld was a good 4th OF option and a young package for Upton would restock them well along with the cub trade

MLBN during the Hot Stove show basically said it like this. It is a good move for the cubs next year to keep the fans interested but then what? In the long run Garza will not produce enough to make up for the lose of the prospects. They think Fuld makes Upton more expendable. Bowa thinks the cub will try and move 'Z' to the Yanks. Personally I think they have a better shot of moving Garza to the Yanks. I really wonder why the Rangers did not get in on this?