caulfield12

FOR LDF This doesn't factor in the new national broadcast rights deal for MLB, which someone in this thread pointed out provides $78 million guaranteed per team (as opposed to the previous $14-15 million)...and then the new regional rights deal, where a realistic number for the White Sox would be somewhere between the Mariners (around $120 million) and Rangers. (Of course, in the last year or so the Dodgers and Astros situations have caused some media skeptics to predict a "bust" in these RSN riches before the Sox can make their own deal. The Cubs are already positioning/posturing/predicting.) That will be a BIT more complicated with JR and Co. controlling 40% of Comcast at the moment. At any rate, we're easily capable of supporting $125 million...but, knowing the fans are going to be skeptical, they're not QUITE willing to go all in again because that approach in 2011 led to four pretty disappointing seasons (other than Abreu/Sale and the 2012 season until mid-September).

2006 should be the goal, not 2005. Attendance-wise, there's always a one year lag to catch up, especially with new season ticket packages after the WS.

Very simple. The payroll is pretty highly leveraged, as it is. You can make the argument for pretty much any team other than the Nationals or Dodgers that they're a couple players away. There are so few teams without at least 1-2 weaknesses, there's a TON of parity right now in the AL. The White Sox can't afford to put themselves in a position where they have to SUBTRACT payroll going into 2016. Samardzija gave them a much higher probability of competing THIS year, but the thinking is, like most seasons, that the adjustments (if necessary) will be made in June/July based on the standings and attendance/revenues. More than anything they can't afford to blow up that 2016 and 2017 optimal window by doing something that doesn't fit with the long-term plan. Right now, you're essentially looking at a 25% chance this year, 50% in 2016-17 and then back down to 25% in 2018 unless you hit gold with Rodon, Anderson, Montas, Hawkins, Danish, Micah Johnson, etc. and another high first-rounder this June. As long as John Danks is on the roster, they're hamstrung financially after all these additions to the point where they have to wait for the first 2-3 months to play out.

RECALL VOTE!!!!

Please have Frank move in with the lesbians OR his daughter/Chuckie in the trailer instead of Fiona's and Lip's house. Will Frank go to jail for causing the explosion (illegal moonshining) or will it be ruled accidental? Will Muslims protest this show now as well?

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ Jan 26, 2015 -> 08:00 AM) I downloaded and watched Birdman. It's very, very, very, very good. It's the type of movie 10 years ago that would never have worked, because the cgi wouldn't have seemed effortless and no one would've given it a chance. Of course, I would have said the same about Pan's Labyrinth, for example. As far as Birdman, it doesn't fly without Norton, Watts and Stone. Not sure this movie can get made with just Michael Keaton's name attached.

QUOTE (Y2HH @ Jan 26, 2015 -> 07:40 AM) Some great points here, Tex. We try to do too much with too little time these days. Instead of hammering home 5 or 6 subjects over a span of 8 hours (for example), we're now trying to teach 12 subjects with the same allotted time, therefore, while the kids will know a little more about everything, they'll also know far less about certain things, such as history, math, and other historically "core" curriculum. The disconnect I see is that we've "arrived" as a nation, and instead of telling our kids what they need to hear, we tell them to chase their dreams and love what they do -- because we can. Now, this is not necessarily a bad thing, as it reflects the much higher standard of living we have now. Unfortunately, this mindset works for a low percentage of the population who have the right parents and happen to be born into the right circumstances to live through the "struggle period" of chasing dreams, while for others, that chase will result in a struggle that will never end. Historically, we taught our kids the skills in life that would allow them to get decent jobs. Even today, carpenters, plumbers, electricians are things we no longer tell our kids to chase, because they'll result in good jobs later in life, instead we teach them to chase their dreams and play baseball, or be a pop star, or "love what they do", which usually results in low paying jobs when those dreams come up short and they have no real fallback skill. Now, I realize many of you will begin spewing anecdotes here to prove you can, in fact, love what you do AND make really good money doing it, but like I said, for MOST that's simply not a reality. For all the hype you hear about how bad things are, overall, we've never lived better or easier lives in this country. Three generations shirtsleeves to shirtsleeves, as the saying goes, and if I'm not mistaken, we're in the second generation of this now, with many of us telling the third generation everything's going to be all-right, and that they'll want for nothing. Until we're gone, that is, and then their lack of fallback skill means blowing every dime the first two generations left for them to get to that point. And then the fourth generation can start with nothing, and repeat the process all over again. "Don't love your job, love the money it pays ... and use that money to do what you love." -Y2HH, Crushing dreams since 1999. Feel like I'm at a Tony Robbins seminar, lol. Not that I would ever spend money on one of those things. Just a preference for the George Clooney/Up In the Air backpack spiel, haha. http://m.mlb.com/cutfour/2015/01/25/107462...-universe-crown Speaking of living the dream, Mike Stanton "helping" out with judging at the Miss Universe pageant Wonder how many digits/twitter handles/fb likes those new contract dollars earned him at the after party?

QUOTE (Brian @ Jan 26, 2015 -> 04:50 AM) That was pretty clear a month ago. The race for Best Actor is interesting now. A month ago I would've thought Keaton but not so sure now. Two "serious" reflections tonight. 1) Johnny Depp seriously needs a challenging role...and no, Into the Woods doesn't quite count as a starring turn. He's essentially become a parody of himself. 2) The Taken series isn't being taken seriously anymore.

Birdman and Eddie Remayne (Theory of Everything/Hawking biopic) win honors at SAG Awards. Only one thing is for sure at this point, both JK Simmons and Julianne Moore will win Oscars for Whiplash and Still Alice.

QUOTE (Joshua Strong @ Jan 25, 2015 -> 09:28 PM) You're right, I forgot about them. I would put them first and the Sox second, but I think the Sox might have more depth in the minors than Washington. The best pitching prospect in the minor leagues, Lucas Giolito, is a Nat. So is A.J. Cole, who will be ready to step into the rotation by 2016. Joe Ross is a fast mover, Erick Fedde a high-end talent coming off Tommy John surgery and Reynaldo Lopez just your typical comes-outta-nowhere-throwing-100-mph right-hander. That's five potential frontline starters, and while graduating even one of them toward the top of a major league rotation would be a win, it speaks to Washington's ability to develop talent. from Jeff Passan yahoosports.com With the White Sox, you have Rodon, Montas (we could equate him to Lopez here) and Danish. Let's, for argument's sake, equate Rodon and Giolito. That still leaves Cole, Ross and another first rounder in Fedde...whereas with the Sox you've got the likes of Beck and Erik Johnson. Advantage Nationals

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Dec 24, 2014 -> 10:16 AM) If we are relying on a rookie who has pitched 20 innings above college ball to make this be a contending team next year we will not be a contending team. They've also referenced Montas and Beck as options who will be looked at early...along with Erik Johnson if he shows signs of rebounding. As for the potential of the Sox, Fangraphs' 77 win prediction (and 84 for the Cubs) better be reversed in reality or we're all going to end up disappointed in the end. Nevertheless, another 7 game improvement would be a big improvement. It's just that the bar has been set a lot higher to "playoff expectations," which is undoubtedly a good thing for the fans.

I think it's more about setting a "team mindset." There have been some seasons where Rios and Ramirez, for example, seemed like they ran a lot more. I'm sure this move is aimed specifically at Eaton and Micah Johnson.

QUOTE (StRoostifer @ Jan 25, 2015 -> 07:44 PM) The 2015 draft hype will get rolling in mid February when the college season begins. I'm looking forward to it myself. Anyone know when the HS season begins? March? I've been out of HS for too long to remember. Depending on your region of the US I'm sure. For soccer (spring sports), in Iowa we always started around the last week of February with tryouts/training/practices. Baseball was MUCH later, in May.

One thing's for sure, it's seemingly easier for JR and Co. to get rid of non-Sox guys/outsiders than someone "inside the family." Hope it works out. Those 80's Cardinals teams with Coleman, McGee, Van Slyke, Pendleton, Lonnie Smith, Tom Herr, Jack Clark and Ozzie were lots of fun to watch in terms of the impact on the other teams with their aggressiveness. Will never forget the episode where he got rolled over by the tarp machine back in the good 'ol days when most of the NL fields were Astroturf.

http://m.mlb.com/news/article/103053582/20...ayo-call-top-10 Has anyone ever watched Dansby Swanson or Funkhouser? Of course, there's always the caveat it's five months out and a million things will change between now and June. he's a leadoff type who should stay at shortstop (and has a better chance to do so than Tim Anderson, Chicago's 2013 first-rounder). Not loving that comment from Callis, but nothing that hasn't been noted as a concern previously. http://www.dcprosportsreport.com/MLBMocks.htm Database of all the released mock drafts. Looks like Cameron could fall into play for the White Sox as well. Sure we'll get a Phil Rogers story there with the White Sox connections. Aiken's getting listed around 4-5 in the first round now, assuming his elbow doesn't blow out this spring.

http://m.whitesox.mlb.com/news/article/107...-coaching-staff #NoVincentVanGo ifwe'djusttradedKW

QUOTE (Alpha Dog @ Jan 24, 2015 -> 11:34 AM) Let's just start with this. I know the story is that HIllary got fired from the Watergate thing. While that fact itself is false, the guy had said both "If I had the power to fire her, I would have fired her" and "ell, let me put it this way. I terminated her, along with some other staff members who were — we no longer needed, and advised her that I would not — could not recommend her for any further positions." So right off the bat she did something wrong. And being an influential lawyer is different from being a good lawyer. Remember, she had connections, like an ex-President, that could go a long way for influencing things. Just perhaps not in a jury box? As for leaving, you are correct, they have to go somewhere. But they hunted for a safe place, found a nice Democratic state and went to work. Obama had at least lived in Illinois longer than 6 months before deciding to run for office. And a point for Hillary for actually voting more than Obama did while in the Senate. I will disagree with you in that I believe she is all hat. How many times did Abraham Lincoln fail, get fired, go bankrupt or lose a race? Shouldn't that career record have disqualified him? You're acting like she is Rick Perry or something.

QUOTE (Joshua Strong @ Jan 23, 2015 -> 11:38 PM) For Jeff Hoffman and another prospect, I would absolutely let Kenny walk. Hoffman would be a huge addition to the farm and you could argue that he has a higher ceiling than Rodon. Also bringing Hoffman into the fold would give the Sox the best collection of pitching in all of baseball (Majors + Minors). Nationals at both the major and minor league level....

Fwiw, Robert Kennedy essentially did the same thing, claiming NY as his home even though he was a Bostonian and winning the same U.S. Senate seat she Clinton would eventually claim. Actually, since she grew up in Illinois, that would have been just as easy to win as NY. And do we hold it against Obama he didn't become a Hawaiian senator? And, for that matter, all the Bushes should have run from Maine. Hilary's qualifications are 5x GW Bush's when he ran.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Jan 23, 2015 -> 09:48 PM) Lol benghazi Newt Gingrich was divorced three times and left one of his wives after a cancer diagnosis. So we shouldn't elect someone president whose spouse cheated or vice-versa? Then Thomas Jefferson and FDR can't be top 5-6 ranked if you follow the logic of this thread.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Jan 23, 2015 -> 09:42 PM) More and more it's low paid adjuncts teaching anyways. The idea that it's those professors living high on the hog driving increasing tuition is just silly. Usually with only 1-2 classes and no benefits/health care...and good luck if you teach English, history, poly sci, philosophy, religion, etc.

QUOTE (Alpha Dog @ Jan 23, 2015 -> 07:13 PM) Professors are the 1%. Does Walker even have a college degree? Somehow I have a feeling if you substituted Wall Street stock broker or real estate broker, for teacher/fire fighter/policeman, you would say they deserve their high salaries despite not actually producing anything. Nevertheless, if all the millionaires of the world got there without a higher education, then I might agree. It used to be the case in the past, but now every upper and middle class parent makes their kid go to college. Did you? If you really believe it's a waste of time and money and professors are terribly overpaid, why bother? Or would you want your child educated by someone with only 2-4 years of higher education rather than 6-9?

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Jan 22, 2015 -> 12:33 PM) there's not much he can do about gitmo with Congress deliberately blocking him. He did end the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. He's been s*** on prosecuting Wall Street. The Obamacare website was crap for a month or two, not six months. When you change from "30 million" to "5%," you hide that a 5% drop equates to 15 million fewer uninsured people in the first year of the program, and sign-ups are only expected to increase. That number would also be substantially higher if the Medicaid expansion hadn't been gutted. The economy craters a heck of a lot more without the ARRA. They screwed up a lot of things (HAMP was particularly horrible when it could have been very helpful), but his administration avoided much of the austerity that swept and crippled a lot of Europe. In that case, it's more of not actively harming the recovery than helping it. edit: I'm not saying that to credit whatever Reddy's saying or say he'll be regarded as one of the greatest down the road, just that you're either seriously downplaying or misrepresenting some of what his administration has accomplished. edit2: also, the EPA's actions on climate change are pretty important The auto bailout was hugely unpopular with the GOP but ended up saving the industry.

QUOTE (Chilihead90 @ Jan 22, 2015 -> 01:04 AM) I picked up what you were putting down. Sweet giant anteater of Santa Anita! Somehow sweet giant anteater of Irvine doesn't work so well...or Banana Slug of Santa Crug(z). Well, that's closer at least.

QUOTE (Reddy @ Jan 21, 2015 -> 11:43 PM) Honest question: How much does it irk a lot of you that Obama's going to be remembered as one of the great presidents? Disclaimer: Still not a fan of many of his positions, especially wiretapping/drones/snowden/etc, but he's gotten all gangsta this year and it's going to look good on him a couple decades down the road when he was the first to start offering free college tuition, the first to try for universal health care, expanding workers' rights, equal pay, etc, etc. Saving and growing the economy after the crash. Getting OBL. Income-based repayment on student loans (big one for me personally). ALL in spite of a congress that stonewalled him every inch of the way. Meanwhile the GOP keeps imploding with their complete inability to respond to the SOTU properly. Dalek-Joni this year, Cruz had to restart his a minute into it, Rubio's drink-gate. Good times. Probably, he will be seen a lot like Truman, in the sense that his "popularity" will rise the further you go into the future, and historians from both sides battle it out to determine his legacy. If the US economy flies along for the next two years like it did at the end of Bill Clinton's second term, and if there's tangible evidence to most Americans that Obamacare's actually working, then he has a shot at rescuing his legacy. Another factor will be if a Democrat is elected President in 2016 with a Congress that will work with him/her and carry on the "middle class realignment" battle. Hilary's well positioned to win that fight, it's basically her wheelhouse. As an native Iowan, I wonder how long it will last that people will ask me if I ever wore bread bags over my shoes? Ernst's ability to seize the moment worked about as well as Bobby Jindal, haha.