caulfield12

QUOTE (Y2HH @ Mar 30, 2012 -> 04:58 PM) A couple is 2. A few is 3-6. Several -- is SEVEN or more. I always thought of several as 2-3, probably 2, but also POSSIBLY 3. Or you're joking? A few DEFINITELY can't be 4-5-6 weeks.

QUOTE (Y2HH @ Mar 30, 2012 -> 04:55 PM) Zimmerman's first reaction to the 911 operator asking was, "I think he's black...", he wasn't even sure. Yea, that sounds like profiling based on race to me. Not necessarily, just that he thought he KNEW that Martin was a minority, and maybe he was already ASSUMING he was black. Or he said that because of the neighborhood he was in, I don't know how diverse that particular neighborhood is, though, in terms of different ethnic minorities. Had he ever reported a white teenager for suspicious behavior in all of his time on the Neighborhood Watch? Or anyone who wasn't black? Imagine if it turned out he was "white," and he had made that comment. Then wouldn't that ALSO be proof of racial profiling? Anything can be twisted around to suit an argument on one side or the other.

Maybe it was just a subconscious act to put his hoodie up when he felt threatened, it probably made him feel safer? Once again, has a black Neighborhood Watch guy killed a white teenager based on something so generic as "suspicious behavior"??? Darrin Jackson often wears a hoodie too, he could just as easily been a victim had he gone to this particular store on this particular day.

QUOTE (fathom @ Mar 30, 2012 -> 11:07 AM) I could see KW being quick to trade Viciedo this year, in all honesty. The only replacements we have are Fukudome, Lilly and Jordan Danks. It's not like we have Roberto Clemente being blocked in AA. Trayce Thompson is about the closest we have to a legit RF prospect, and Mitchell belongs in LF, and he's at LEAST a year away, still. Doesn't make any sense to sell a 23 year old we control for so long at a low valley, he will spike back up. KW's legacy as a GM rests with Viciedo as much as Molina.

QUOTE (BigEdWalsh @ Mar 30, 2012 -> 12:41 PM) I've been at spring training and have seen every game but one. It's been a blast. Maybe seeing these guys day in and day out has clouded my mind but I'm feeling way better about the team than I did before spring training started. I'm not worried about Dunn. He should be pretty much back to his old self. He won't hit for a great average and he will strike out a lot, no doubt. Until late, he was making great contact and not striking out at all. But he'll do the Adam Dunn things we expected last year. At spring training you can get pretty close to the players. I like Adam Dunn. He's a nice guy. He has fun. He seems to love the game. I'm pulling for him more than ever. Gordon Beckham is very serious and seems to be very determined to improve and hit the way he thinks he should. His work ethic is something else. To watch him at 2B day in and day out has been a joy. He makes those occasional outstanding plays that just have you going "Wow!". Often when he's not in there and a ball gets past Saladino or Garcia or whomever, I always think, "Beckham would have had that". I look for him to have a good year. Konerko started out so bad and I was a little worried. But the hits started coming and he has been tearing it up, though still homerless. Not worried though. The homers will come. Escobar was a surprise. He has hit so consistently well and has displayed a little power even. His fielding has been decent. The pitching has been good, even great at times.The guys who matter anyway. Each of the starters have had impressive starts, especially Sale, Humber and Peavy. No worries at all about Sale as a starter. Brian Bruney surprised me. He's been good all spring. He's in great shape and not that it means anything, but he's too a real nice guy. I like him. Young guys who have impressed besides Escobar have been Jordan Danks (well, not exactly young) and Trayce Thompson. Thompson has made much better contact than I expected to see. He's smooth in the field and has a good arm. Seeing him homer yesterday was awesome! As for Ventura as a manager, it's tough to say from seeing spring training games. I'm not worried though. I feel good about him. I like this team. For me, Saladino, Thompson and Hector Santiago this spring. Looking for ANY reasons to be excited about our young players. Heck, might as well be enthralled with Jose Martinez being 4/7.

especially #'s 3, 4 and 5... 1. The team needs to win: No one wants to come out and see a loser and in baseball with so many games, if the team is for some reason out of the race come August the attendance numbers will be abysmal for the last 40 games of the season. 2. The team needs to own its market: Right now it could be argued that the Dodgers are the least relevant pro team in the city. With the Lakers being the Lakers, the Kings and Clippers on the verge of exciting playoff runs, and the Angels signing Pujols, there isn’t a ton of time for the Dodgers in the conversation of casual sports fans. It doesn’t help matters that USC football and UCLA basketball also add to an already cluttered sports landscape. 3. Going to Dodgers games needs to become cool: Not only are there great sports teams to watch nearly every day, there are concerts and theater productions in town almost every night. Fans are that much more conservative with their sports dollars because there are hot concert tours coming through nearly every weekend. The Dodgers need to be what the cool kids are into in order to get fans to pass on these shows in order to go to more baseball games. 4. Recognize the importance of what is happening online: If you were to poll 10- to 16-year olds living in L.A. if they would rather go to one Dodgers game or download the new Angry Birds game, the answer would be resounding in favor of the video game. Kids are online at all times with the proliferation of iPhones and like all MLB teams, the Dodgers especially need to capture these young eyeballs and hearts. It’s not just about providing games and highlights online, the team needs to take a new approach and not only demand its players but compensate them to interact with fans on Twitter and Facebook. Every key player should be tasked with promoting upcoming games and giveaways and all should be encouraged to hand out those oh so precious “retweets.” 5. Use food value as a draw: This is another move that all MLB teams need to embrace but the Dodgers especially since they have such a large stadium. Teams understand the importance of adjusting price for when the Phillies, Yankees, and Red Sox come to town – why not extend that philosophy to the concessions? Give fans a reason for coming out to the park when a less popular team like the Brewers comes through town. Have specially priced concessions to really build some brand loyalty. Yes, teams look at discounting tickets as a way to get people to spend at the concession stand, but if this is a long-term investment for Magic he needs to rebuild the brand first before asking for the fans hard earned money. The good part While Magic does have a lot of obstacles in front of him, he does have some strong assets to work with. The Dodgers have a great promotional calendar built and almost every night provides a promotional item give away (bobbleheads, miniature Cy Young trophies, replica stadiums, t-shirts, sweat bands, etc.) and that builds fan loyalty and gives them a reason to come to the park that particular night. They have a dedicated and capable sales staff that given the chance to pitch a winning team will successfully get a lot of former corporate clients back on board. The investment team has its challenges but it does have lots of assets to capitalize on the upside potential. AP.com/sports

Other than AJ (on his way out), Peavy (likewise), Ohman, Thornton (likewise, probably), Crain, Rios, Dunn and Konerko, this is very much a mid to late 20's team. It's quite possible the only "true" veterans on the team in 2013 will be Rios, Dunn and Konerko, and there's really no guarantee that all 3 will still be around.

QUOTE (Pants Rowland @ Mar 29, 2012 -> 09:48 PM) or any of his Dennis DeYoung/Styx references. Those really make me cringe. Yeah, I would rather he talk about his kidney donation experience than Styx...which inevitably causes DJ to go to "Domo Arigato, Mr. Roboto" every time.

There are no references to golf from either Hawk or Farmer (as well as Notre Dame) the entire season. Hawk also doesn't mention Savannah or Valdosta, GA.

QUOTE (Cali @ Mar 29, 2012 -> 09:52 PM) Yahoo! Sports AL Central Preview... Pretty much on par with everything else anyone has said. This part made me laugh however: Sale >>>>>>>>>> Clayton "5 innings of okay, followed by complete collapse" Richard Not to mention 1-2 balls on simple infield plays thrown down the RF line, interspersed with high pitch counts and busted pickoff attempts at 1B.

Now the current trend seems to be that having TJ surgery actually makes pitchers better after one full year of rehab. The concern with Chris Sale has to be over the shoulder/rotator cuff/labrum. Doctors haven't yet pioneered miracle cures to automatically fix those problems like they have with elbow and knee ligaments.

Colby Lewis, Holland and Matt Harrison announced for the Opening Series. Darvish will be the starter the 9th against the M's (I guess we should look at it as they're avoiding our potent offense for the even more punchless M's) and then Feliz, who we ripped in Spring Training, will be their 5th starter.

I'm pretty sure Brian Daubach was in CF for at least one game the year he was with us. Ozuna coming in as a reliever in the World Series in 2005 would have been a classic, as well. Carlos Lee at 3B was pretty funny, too. I guess no funnier than Viciedo and Josh Fields. Never got to see Mike Morse at SS at the big league level for the Sox. Brooks Kieschnick played a lot of positions on the field and ended up a pitcher after disappointing as a hitter. Maybe Craig Grebeck played 1B or OF a couple of times? Can't remember. Viciedo catching would be pretty hilarious, or Lillibridge.

If we didn't have Fukudome and/or Lillibridge already, there absolutely would be someone arguing that we should sign him. Thank god we don't have to watch that happen, and feel sorry for Aaron, like we did with Harold there towards the end.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Mar 29, 2012 -> 11:01 AM) Your Guide to the Idiotic Racist Backlash Against Trayvon Martin The same type of thing happens everyday when many Americans (doesn't matter your skin color) see an Islamic, Middle Eastern-appearing man boarding an airplane, or maybe even a woman wearing a hijab or burka. The main difference is having a doubtful/worried thought and actually acting upon it. Confronting someone physically and having a "reasonable suspicion" their behavior (the "suspicious person's") or actions could or might be considered dangerous. I'm curious how many incidents in the history of Neighborhood Watch there have been where a minority killed a white person in the same fashion? Is there a single similar example in the history of the U.S.? from politico.com "Arena" discussion Ex-St. Rep. Fran Wendelboe Former member of the New Hampshire House of Representatives ® : Yes, it has absolutely become too politicized. Obama should never have ventured into it, celebrities and so on should stay out of it, and the local police should be allowed to do their job. While even I wondered why Zimmerman was not charged initially, hearing some more recent reports of witnesses I now have my doubts as to it being an outright one -sided murder. There is apparently much more to the story. It is odd that the local police did not release more of their reason for not an initial charge. Just as Trayvon Martin was painted as an innocent cherubic young teen we now discover that he was not the perfect child either. Does that have any impact on what happened that night? I don’t know. That is what a grand jury is supposed to do. I support that this has been taken to a grand jury, but the media should get out of the speculating and second guessing and analyzing and trying to disprove everything Zimmerman has said. ABC and their race special last night was just geared to whip up a frenzy. While I am not saying that there are not race issues still in America, I heard one of the people on that show saying even when he is dressed in a suit he notices white people looking at him with fear and cringing. These kinds of over the top statement just feed to whip up turmoil and could trigger race riots. Look at this week’s recent reports that the local head of the Black Panthers in Detroit has said that if the state sends in a team over management of the city as required by state law, that he will have the city of Detroit burned to the ground. Panther Party leader Malik Shabazz declared he would burn the city down. "This is white on black crime," he said during public comment at the two hour meeting held Monday afternoon. Detroit has been primarily governed by blacks for years….how does this correlate to a white/black issue? (that's a rather simple answer, blacks in Detroit ASSUME a takeover by Lansing means a bunch of white bureaucrats coming in to make decisions for or over them, rather than their local African-American bureaucrats). Reduce... For Obama, the media, celebrities and others to continue to whip this tragic event as a race crime is inappropriate. Yes it needs to be investigated, but I fear that if Zimmerman is not charged-no matter what the true facts, that racial discord will be elevated to powder keg level. Is that in anyone’s best interest? The dress code being discussed is not dress down Friday, it was the issue of someone using an outfit to stir up a political statement. Elected officials are required to meet standards of conduct that I believe Rush clearly violated. If he had taken to the well to talk about memorializing Trayvon or to call for an open investigation, that would have been his absolute right as long as done so without rancor.

Somehow I knew a video like this would show up somewhere in the middle of the Martin case...to justify whites being afraid of "angry black people." http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/highschool-p...-103322121.html Of course, this kind of thing happens everyday in inner-city sports (usually black on black or two minority groups pitted against each other it, it's just that there is no camera there to record the incidents)...from coaching basketball and soccer, I saw a couple of decent fights firsthand, but nothing like this where a girl is down on the ground and gets in 10+ consecutive punches. I really hope if the situation was reversed and it was a white girl in the South doing the same thing to an African-American player that her school likewise wouldn't defend her or back her up in any way.

Cespedes with his first major league homer, looked to be a hanging breaking ball. 4-1, A's win behind a 1 run effort by Colon, Reddick also homered for the A's, along with Mr. Gomes. Ichiro went 4 for 5 last night and 0/4 tonight.

QUOTE (Soxfest @ Mar 28, 2012 -> 10:44 PM) Illinois is not going too pay 2 assistant coaches $180,000 each for very long.................not going to happen odd man out JH! The main concern has to be that Groce and his Ohio University staff hasn't been in on the recruits that Illinois will now have to target for them to be successful in the B10. Those relationships are forged in 8th-10th grade and continue all the way through high school, summer and AAU ball, camps, etc. Who's going to be that "glue" that holds everything together in Chicago if it's not Jerrance Howard?

This should make Illinois fans feel better...from ohiostatealumni.org website Q: Did the chance to be in a recruiting position at Butler help you make your decision to leave N.C. State easier? A: Well, when you have a goal to be a head coach, and it would have to be the right situation because what we have at Ohio State is so special. But I knew, looking forward at my career, that when I left N.C. State I’d be gaining some valuable experience in recruiting. That and the fact that I really knew Thad very well, helped spark my interest. Q: What did you learn about recruiting in that first job? A: Recruiting is something you do every day. Some people think, “Is this a recruiting time of year?” But it really is 365 days a year. It’s something you need to wake up thinking about every day. The beauty of it is that each situation in recruiting is different. It involves reading people, connecting with people. The thing I like about Thad and Ohio State when it comes to recruiting, is that Thad works like an assistant coach when it comes to recruiting and I look at that as a positive thing. He is a grinder. He’ll do whatever he has to do from a recruiting standpoint. I’d like to say that all head coaches are like that, but they’re not. So it makes our job as a staff easier when you have a guy like Thad to sell. He is very genuine, people like him, he treats people well, he’s respectful, and people feel those things. Forget him being at Ohio State or being a good Xs and Os guy, he’s just a good person. So that makes my job easier. Another thing is that when you are talking about the Ohio State University and how reputable this place is academically, how recognized it is worldwide. The tradition that the athletic programs have had here. That’s also a great thing to sell. Sometimes as recruiters you are only as good as your product. And we have a great product, we really do. We’re blessed in that way. In addition to having a great product and how Thad is as a recruiter, I think another part is that you have to live it every day. It has to be a part of every day, because if you aren’t someone else is. It’s very, very competitive. I think people who follow it recognize that, but people who aren’t as familiar with it don’t understand how competitive recruiting is. The thing we do a good job of is finding kids who are a good fit for Ohio State and who can be successful here and be happy here. Kids that will do well playing for Thad. And I think people feel that. We feel that it’s such a great place and Thad is such a great guy to play for that we shouldn’t have to beg anyone to come. It’s our job to show them how we can help them achieve and attain their goals by using Ohio State as a vehicle. We have to paint that picture very vividly for them. Q: How do you approach young people as you attempt to establish a relationship with them? A: I think part of it just comes from my parents. My parents have always cared about other people. Thad is that way. His wife, my wife, they’re that way. That’s the environment we’re around and I think people feel that. I get excited when a kid like a Daequan Cook gets an opportunity to come to a place like Ohio State and continue to grow. I get excited even more when you get to work with them and see the progress they make. We have a plan for each kid. We hold them accountable to that plan to help them reach their goals. . . . A great compliment we received was from one of our players. He said a kid mentioned to one of our recruits that, “the coaches who recruited me are still the same guys who recruited me. They didn’t change.” In other words, we weren’t just giving him a recruiting spiel and then have him come here and be treated differently. And I think that’s important to us. We want to treat our guys right and have them have the best of everything. I think those guys feel that passion we have for their development. Q: This year’s recruiting class has been called by some to be Ohio State’s best-ever recruiting class. How satisfying was it to be able to get this class together and into your program? A: Well, you first have to credit the guys who have played here in our first two years here. The first year with all of the negativity surrounding the program, to put together 20 wins, to go .500 in the Big Ten, to beat Illinois, and to accomplish some of the things they accomplished, put us in position for these kids that we recruited in this class. We wanted them to see that this vision they’ve been talking to us about where they wanted to take Ohio State basketball, well, they could really see it happening. Without all that it would have been difficult to sign a class like the ’06 class. You know, the ’06 class, the unique thing was three of them played together a lot in AAU. Michael (Conley), Greg (Oden), and Daequan (Cook) played together a lot. David (Lighty), from the AAU circuit knew those other three guys very well. All four of them come from winning backgrounds. We take great deal of pride in saying that the four of them, on the same day last year, were playing for the state championship in their respective divisions. That speaks volumes about those kids because we try to recruit kids who are winners. There’s an art to winning. Another thing is that all four kids are great teammates. They’ve already developed a pretty good sense of humility, a sense of work ethic where they understand that things aren’t just going to be given to you, you have to earn it. A lot of people make a big deal about how talented they are, and they are all very talented. But I think most importantly to us was the type of people we were getting. They were winners. They understand the value of doing academic work. To have those qualities in addition to the talent is what made that group so special. And I will say that in three of the four cases, we were recruiting those guys prior to coming to Ohio State, and spent a lot of time developing relationships. Those four guys, the four freshman, we’ve known their people, the people they were close to, their coaches, back to when they were freshmen in high school. The great thing about the first day of practice this year was it was like four or five years in the works. Thad and I were sitting down last night and saying, “Can you actually believe we’re going to get to coach them in a game?” It’s been like a four- or five-year process. The fruits of our labor as a staff have paid off and we feel very fortunate to have a chance to coach them and watch them grow. Q: As Ohio State’s recruiting coordinator you’ve received some positive press for your role in reeling this class in. Are you happy you are getting recognition for your efforts. A: Well, I’m thankful for the recognition. But at the same time I’m not sure how fair it is at times because Thad has a big part in (recruiting success), Ohio State has a big part to do in it, our staff has a big part in it. I mean this is a major deal and a lot of people are involved with these kids, not just me. I appreciate the recognition but I hope people realize it’s a team effort, a collective effort that made it happen.

QUOTE (Milkman delivers @ Mar 28, 2012 -> 06:36 PM) Those exist both ways. Where I live, if you want to walk to the red line, you have to walk through about three blocks of a black area. A white person gets jumped at least once a month due to that, and that's just what I hear about. Can't we all get along? They should be forced to all go together to the local theatre and watch a screening of ATTACK THE BLOCK.

I thought Cowley and Peavy were feuding not so long ago about the internecine warfare in the clubhouse the last 4-6 weeks of the season, and Cowley claiming that Ozzie said Peavy basically quit on him (conveniently omitting the fact that Ozzie quit on the White Sox franchise, its fans and Reinsdorf). There's absolutely ZERO way in h e double hockey sticks that Cowley got any of these quotes from Peavy recently. It's like one of those doctored political ads where they take single words or phrases from past speeches and quotes and change it into something altogether different for dramatic effect. Ridiculous.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/prishe/2012/03.../?partner=yahoo On all the positives financially for the fans and the Dodgers' franchise. One of the points is that all MLB team values theoretically could be inflated another 25-50% by this massive deal alone...as well as the huge bump it will have in terms of generating another $3-5 billion from the soon-to-be-negotiated cable/RSN package. For another example...David Glass will go from spending $96 million on the Royals in 2000 to making $400-500 million in profit on the sale, not to mention the $93 million in profits the franchise has turned since 2006. What recession? JR's cheap, haha. How dare he cut payroll!!!

Dear Sun-Times, please get a server that's remotely in the same ballpark as the Tribune in terms of speed. In China, it takes 10X longer to get a Sun Times article to come up in the browser, and usually it has that "stretched print" effect when you click to go down further to continue reading an article.

Santorum, the anti-pink bowling ball candidate By MAGGIE HABERMAN | 3/28/12 7:44 PM EDT From Ginger Gibson, on the trail at the latest bowling alley with Rick Santorum in Wisconsin: Santorum stopped a college student in Onalaska, WI from using a pink bowling ball. The student was part of a group of college Republicans who had gone to bowl with Santorum. When he went to use the neon pink bowling ball, Santorum and an aide stopped him. A nearby reporter led in, "Friends don't let friends...?" "Friends don't let friends use pink balls," Santorum replied. Got that? politico.com

No, only that Rick Santorum will now spending the rest of the campaign taking pink bowling balls away from adolescent boys.