caulfield12

Wasn't the McDonald's case also partially about the fact that they deliberately kept their coffee 10-30 degrees hotter than what was considered "safe" in order to extend the product life cycle and save money...? That at higher temperatures, they'd have to brew fewer fresh cups of coffee...throw out less "cold/stale" coffee and wring more profit out of that particular product?

Still trying to decide which one I liked more, Bad Teacher or Horrible Bosses. I guess I'd have to go with Horrible Bosses simply because the ensemble of talent (Foxx, Spacey, Farrell, Aniston, Sutherland) in that movie. Maybe it's because Justin Timberlake's character was so over the top annoying...and Lucy Punch (the teacher across the hallway) was great for awhile...but her act grew thin too as the movie went on. Finally, there's just no way that any teacher (even in the worst public school in America) could have gotten away with all those things. When I started teaching 2002, you had to get permission from 2-3 different people in the building (instructional coach/at least one Vice Principal) just to show a movie ONCE, in a single period, and you had to write an extensive lesson plan linking it to your curriculum/textbook.

Balta, that fan was severely injured but didn't end up dying. And it wasn't a fall "instigated" by a ballplayer throwing a souvenir into the stands. http://www.cnn.com/2010/SPORT/07/09/fan.falls/index.html

LOL. From Old Comiskey Park, there's nothing people hate more than obstructed view seats. Having higher railings or railings with vertical as well as horizontal bars would block a lot of views in the first 2-3 rows, which is where people will usually choose to sit in any part of the stadium (except for those with fear of heights in the upper decks). It's a tough call. When you think of the literally millions of times a baseball player has tossed a ball into the front rows, isn't this the first time in history a fan has died as a direct result? In over 50 years or so of ballplayers doing this? Needless to say, more youngsters die in injuries suffered playing middle/high school football or baseball than fans falling over railings in just the right set of circumstances (only 20 feet fall, going over the railing at exactly the wrong angle, falling in exactly the wrong place, where there's a narrow enclosed space with lots of concrete and metal stanchions).....yet how many parents forbid their parents from playing these sports? Some, let's say 25%, but not the majority. How many people don't wear their seat belts or drink and drive when they've had "just a couple"? Or talk/text/type on their cellphones while driving? For the good of the "majority" of fans, that's why you don't have netting all over the entire stadium...as well as the expense, too.

Obviously, there have been occasions it has worked out, Jenks/Politte/Santos (so far) and Thornton. But I'd hardly call the Humber we acquired off the scrap heap a "stuff pitcher" (in 2011) any more than JVB from the Pirates. And 89-92 MPH fastball is basically league average these days. He's gotten results so far because of his command and his full repertoire a pitches, particularly the curveball, which has been consistently good, at least until his last start. But yeah...I think at one point we had the most #1 draft picks of any MLB team (including a FEW of our own) on our roster. Ability/talent...but not proven "winning" talent or a roster that was put together with cohesiveness, "complementary" skills and chemistry in mind. As much as it's overstated (because Pods fell off in 2005 when he came back from injury), Podsednik and Iguchi really worked well together at the top of that order. Ever since those teams....we've struggled to find a good leadoff hitter and a #2 hitter as well. Cabrera wasn't bad...but we all know how well that worked out. Alexei should be fine, too. It's just unfortunate now that Pierre's getting on base so much he's completely a shadow of the basestealing threat he was just a year ago. EDIT: And I forgot Contreras and Garcia, in their primes, two of the best "stuff" pitchers in all of baseball, while they lasted.

You can also go back to the Billy Koch failed experiment. KW's fundamental belief in "stuff" (ironic, since Koch had lost his electric stuff due to overuse)...but that period of acquiring all those guys like MacDougal, Aaardsma, Masset and Sisco. All of those guys ended up blowing up in their faces...Masset, you can argue that he just never got enough chances with the Sox, but he's obviously done pretty well with the Reds. Gavin Floyd, Jackson, Peavy (at one point)...all with the "stuff" or arsenal to be "aces" and yet very rarely have we seen that out of them in 2011. Meanwhile, we've gotten much better results out of the Buerhle's, Humber's and Danks'es (until 2011) of the world, all things considered. EDIT: And Javy Vazquez too, Mr. Potential with a great statline and so-so actual results (.500 at best) and falls apart in every "big game" situation.

QUOTE (SouthSideTeacher @ Jul 11, 2011 -> 02:44 AM) Is it wrong that I'm not so much bothered by WHAT he wrote in the dirt as I am that he found the time (and in-game 'focus') to dig around in the dirt like a silly 8-year-old? I'm all for the shaving cream interview pies and practical jokes when the players are earning their paychecks, but I'm simply OVER these (slumping--or just not giving a crap anymore?) guys goofing all all the g**damned time. PS: I'm usually a very nice girl, really. For years I've been criticized for having 'too much hope' and drinking the kool-aid. By now though, this team's broken my heart so many times I feel like I'm becoming a cynical b**** as a result. I'll try to keep the posts more positive in nature from now on. FWIW, Beckham's also the one that started lugging around a 6' tall "Most Interesting Man in the World" cut-out (the bearded dude from the Dos Equis commercials) everywhere they play and started the tradition of posing it behind the "Sox Game MVP" whenever he was being interviewed. At least Beckham was clever enough to joke that it very rarely leaves Konerko's locker these days.

http://www.cantstopthebleeding.com/good-th...-about-baseball http://livefromlawschool.blogspot.com/2008...amilton-do.html I'm pretty sure Sosnick has written a book about this (his experience of becoming a sports agent)...and detailed the Hamilton situation there as well as on a blog online.

One thing is for certain. If they passed a new MLB rule that players/ballboys or ballgirls can never give/toss a baseball into the stands, it would be the wrong decision. We've had literally thousands of gun homicides and school shootings and yet nobody would ever dare to take that freedom away from the American people. Unfortunately, personal responsibility is something we're lacking. Seems we always have to find someone to blame. While the example cited earlier was extreme....well, the pitcher is at fault for the pitch that was too far inside and then Conor Jackson is partially at fault and the ballboys down the LF line and then the architects who designed the corner of that stadium (HOK I think) so that a foul ball would bounce all the way around to Josh Hamilton in that exact position. It's like those Final Destination movies. Wrong place, wrong time. 5-10 years ago, there was a plastic barrier put up so that fans would never fall back behind the scoreboard...but unfortunately, so many fans took license with that the dove over the railings and onto the barrier to fight for foul balls and create a disturbance or even fights. So those irresponsible people who changed the minds of Rangers' management to remove the barrier are also at fault, no? I wonder how the situation would change if it was a rookie outfielder who was unlikely to stick in the majors. Or, if instead of a fireman's son, the man was the CEO of Enron (well, a similar company) or head of the Dr. Pepper Company. Would a rookie feel "less" responsibility being in less of a position to make restitution. Do we expect Josh Hamilton to be even more of a "hero" because that role has been thrust upon him....in a sense, he used (in cynic's eyes) his recovery from addiction and backstory to make himself even more popular and marketable, higher Q ratings, etc. Would it be different if he hadn't become a born-again Christian and never fired his (first) Jewish agent for being a non-believer? Lots of deeper issues to consider here. Can you imagine if something like this happened when Alex Rios tossed a ball at USCF, compared to Konerko or Buehrle?

QUOTE (Swingandalongonetoleft @ Jul 10, 2011 -> 08:36 PM) Too soon, man. Too soon. My point wasn't that we should play the youngsters and trade all the veterans (yet). It was simply that it's very rare that there is a season where 3-4 rookies have ever gotten to play and advance all together with the White Sox. Not that any of them proved to have any staying power, but when rookies/prospects are on the field (especially since it so rarely happens with the Sox), it's always a lot more fun than seeing a veteran flail away, like Rios/Dunn, for example, or Pierre earlier in the season. That's the reason that 2009 was better too.....Beckham's first 3-4 months and the optimism about the acquisition of Rios and Peavy. Right now, the main reason we have to be optimistic is Viciedo, but the chances of him getting to play meaningful games seem to be about 25% at best, unless of course there's an injury. Maybe if Morel was putting up at least a 625 OPS, I'd feel more optimistic about him, too. For the first time in many seasons, you have the feeling that if KW went to Konerko/AJ/Buehrle at the break and asked them if they could win the division with the team they had on paper, they'd all say "games aren't played on paper or on the back of a baseball card" and that SOMETHING needed to be done to change the mix/chemistry.

QUOTE (elrockinMT @ Jul 10, 2011 -> 08:19 PM) Apparently so. I think we have been so centered on the bad we fail to see the life that is starting to show in some of the slow performers But it's really all just rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic. Sure, Pierre, AJ and Beckham have been playing better recently. Same with Chris Sale. But, Quentin hasn't hit a homer since June 8th, Morel is on the verge of being sent back to AAA, we've lost Castro, Rios has basically shown no reasons to have hope for improvement (he's actually regressing on a weekly basis defensively, which was the one area you used to be able to count on him)....and Peavy might never throw a fastball over 90 MPH for the rest of the season (hopefully, just "dead arm" or scar tissue). And Sergio has become very inconsistent/erratic in the last 6 weeks. Of course, that's expected for someone with his level of experience...and he does seem to have righted the ship enough to the point where it's clear he is THE closer and not part of any committee.

FWIW, Ozzie's staying in town for "Ozzie Camp/s" Monday and Tuesday with the Bulls/Sox Academy....$225 a pop, for his priceless instruction on how to play as listlessly and apathetically as any White Sox team in recent memory. 2007 was actually more fun than this season...because there was also a sense that something had to and would change eventually. Plus, there was Fields, Owens with one really good game, Andy Gonzalez at least trying harder than Rios and Ehren Wasserman's fluke season out of the bullpen.

It's pretty bad when the Twins announcers are embarrassed for the White Sox. I heard comments such as.... "The White Sox are just letting the Twins exert their will on them. They're listless and lacking in energy... Do the White Sox even read scouting reports? How many times has Gardenhire played hit and run over the years and yet the Sox seem to have no response to these tactics?" There was a sequence of events today where Alex Rios made about 3 errors and yet none of them would go down in the scorebook as errors. Poor technique, misreading balls off the bat consistently....missing the cutoff men and letting runners advance to 2nd or 3rd (maybe it's because he assumed AJ couldn't throw them out and was trying to protect his SB/CS %) Even Konerko has gotten into the act the last week, in terms of defensive lapses. Passed ball/wild pitch situation in the 9th totally sucked the life out of the comeback when it really should have been 5-4 had we been able to muster one lousy hit with Beckham in scoring position. There's just something "broken" with this current roster that can't be fixed mid-season and can't be quick-patched with a "Camp Cora" or even if the players spent the entire All-Star Break working on these issues (which, of course, the union would never allow). Essentially, we have the same number of losses as the Twins, so I look at the Sox essentially as having three teams in front of them. As Dick Allen pointed out, we have a murderous stretch of games coming up, we'll know soon enough what this team is made of. But you can't imagine them going on any kind of run without Rios, Dunn and Peavy. And Jake's probably another half year away, stuffwise. And maybe we have to deal with the reality he never gets it back...just like the Twins are dealing with Nathan post-surgery. There's just very little to be positive about right now, other than Paul Konerko and Dayan Viciedo. I suppose if you REALLY want to look for the silver linings in rainclouds, you could add Sale and the "improvement" in Gordon Beckham over the last 2-3 weeks. Yet it seems to be defeat to think his upside right now is a 675-700 OPS/"great glove and range" 2B. Better than league average, but meeehhhhhhhhh. And this whole "gay slur" imbroglio is the icing on the cake. He's gone from "future face of the franchise" to someone KW is calling out for bring down the integrity of the White Sox. LOL. With the dysfunctional environment around the team, which starts at the top by the obvious lack of cohesiveness between KW and Ozzie, you have a recipe for disaster.

Farmer blaming the heat for Peavy's struggles. Unfortunately, it has no effect on the Twins when they play in our park, despite being a "cold weather" team now.

This was a "trap" game as soon as the starting pitchers were announced. Not sure how I feel now. I ALMOST would have rather been swept, because KW will use the victory yesterday as the excuse not to make any changes. That and the fact we're only 4 1/2 or 5 GB, depending on what the Tigers do. In the end, 21-25 at home and 8-16 in the AL Central aren't indicators of a competitive team that's just one or two players away.

QUOTE (JoeCoolMan24 @ Jul 10, 2011 -> 02:30 PM) OMG, a mother f***ing check swing "excuse me" slash through the infield. f*** this f***ing Twins team so f***ing much. Pieces of s***. So god damn annoying to watch. I almost hope they win the division just so they can be f***ing ass raped by the Yankees again. f***ing garbage f***ing slap hitters. That's what happens when you have hitters who make contact. Good things usually happen. And have been happening for at least a decade for Minnesota.

"Chicago White Sox, when it comes to fundamentals, are horrendous." Twins' radio. It's over, done. They need to change the manager, period. Rios getting his usual poor read this season. Konerko, had he cut that ball off, would have had Valencia at 2B. And they're going to put Will Ohman in now?

Hope we get to see Hector Santiago again....to see if the last couple of outings were a mirage or a sign of good things to come. Especially if he can repeat his success against the same line-up.

Peavy's had that 95 MPH fastball at least 2 times this season. There's just no other choice but to be patient....and hope that it comes back. What else can do they do? We are 8-2 in his starts, although it feels like the same stat when Danny Wright or James Baldwin had good records but didn't pitch all that well. From everything that you read, it's a gradual process where he's not expected to be 100% again for another 3-6 months at least. And there's just no way that relief outing helped any.

Here we go again. But we're acting like we have no chance to get a run off Swarzak anyway.

So Dunn has 31 K's in his last 62 AB's? Ouch.

No, the Thome deal was a good one. The whole problem was the trade of Chris Young and concomitant failure of Brian Anderson to evolve into the everyday CFer. At that point, Rowand was getting more and more expensive and it was clear that they couldn't afford to keep all their 2005 WS pieces together, it was a rather logical move on one hand because Rowand hasn't earned his contract dollars for years (and he was injured a lot in Philly, too). You would have said at that time it was crazy to block one of your top prospects (if not #1 at the time) with Aaron Rowand (with a huge contract that KW never wanted or intended to give him, twice). It was the putting all their eggs in the Brian Anderson basket that was the total fail there.

“I was riding my bike down Michigan Avenue at 1 a.m. the other night, clearing my head, thinking about every part of this team,’’ (Kenny) Williams said finally. “Thinking of what could fit here or there, this piece and that, what could go right, what could go wrong, every tiny detail, but I didn’t think of this.’’ Williams shook his head. He spoke then about the way the game has changed, about the constant scrutiny, about the way everything is frantically observed and analyzed and how nothing that goes on at a pro sports venue is private. Maybe nothing, anywhere. “I’m disappointed,’’ Williams said. “I know Gordon, the man, and I can’t think less of him because I do know him. And I know he and Getz are friends, but we traded Getz and Josh Fields in the offseason [before the 2010 season] for Mark Teahen. “But I’m just disappointed for this to come on the heels of the Kobe Bryant thing, and [Joakim] Noah, and, yes, a number of years ago, the issue with Ozzie [Guillen]. There just needs to be a greater awareness of when you’re in the public eye. Something between two friends meant as a joke? Well, you’re representing not just yourself, but your team, your sport, your family.’’ Williams thought for a few more moments. “The organization didn’t do it,’’ he said firmly. “He did it. He should apologize for making us less than what we stand for.’’ (My comment: Sure, like the way you treated Frank Thomas and numerous other situations over the years...Get off your high horse.) The Friday evening game against the Twins is about to start. But Beckham is so rattled he asks Scott Reifert, the Sox’ senior vice president of communications, to please find the newspaper writer and ask him if they can speak again in the tunnel outside the clubhouse. The writer takes the elevator down from the press box, and he and Beckham sit on chairs in the hallway. The poor guy looks devastated. “I just want you to know that that’s not me,’’ he said. “I don’t use slurs. I have a lot of gay friends. I didn’t mean it as anything ­— you know, like gay as in . . . happy! Or, you know, an alliteration — ‘Getz is gay.’ ’’ (He should have majored in public relations/spin doctoring) He should be getting ready to take the field soon, but this is more important to him. (And not his season-long slump, haha) “It’s the first time I’ve ever done anything like that with Chris,’’ he said. “And I didn’t even see his reaction. I asked him afterward if he was going to write anything back, and he said no. It was wrong. It was stupid. If I offended anyone, I apologize. I wish I could take it back, but I can’t.’’ You can almost see the gears in Beckham’s mind turning, pondering the odd, frightening implications of doing something thoughtlessly, impishly in public. “I won’t do that again,’’ he said, almost to himself, hoping, of course, that the dirt has been wiped clean. http://www.suntimes.com/sports

Well, too bad Gordon didn't read our thread here on this issue. To me, there's still a distinction between "f-g" and "gay," but it's still a hurtful term even if it's teasing. At least he can always argue that he meant his "friend is happy," which is the original definition. Not sure why KW is noting that Getz was traded or how that's germane to the issue. But it's certainly not the equivalent of calling a black person the N-word during the Civil Rights Era. I don't even imagine the Lesbian/Bi/Gay Community can muster up a protest over this one like the Mariotti fiasco with Ozzie.

Nice to see Mitchell back in the .230's. 1/4, 2 K's. News worse for Thompson fans, 0/5 with 4 K's, .225.