Taliesin

Interesting JHB. Your comment that drivers over 70 are more impaired than someone w/ a BAC of 0.08 withstands the evidence. My game at the time so to speak is Human Factors in Traffic Crashes. The 0.08 argument was only about Federal money. Anyone who does this for a living finds that a weak panacea amongst many others including open container. Virginia is one of the only states holding out on that one. MADD is an organization of zealots who have done more harm than good. I have to listen to their prohibition message at every legislative meeting I attend. The majority of alcohol involved fatal crashes consist of drivers w/ extremely high BAC's in the 16 plus range. The usual suspects males between 19-35 year old and the habituals. I'm working on a study now about older drivers. The issue becomes the politics. Are you going to take granny's drivers license away? Is the DMV? Is the AARP? They are very dangerous. More fatal accidents occur and are caused by older drivers than by any other demographic. I've been stuck on a committee studying motorcycle crashes. I keep saying..Ya..there are more motorcyclists out there...that's why there are more deaths. Crickets. Not that complex. Meanwhile we have a commission. 8 million dollars later. This is the conclusion. There are more bikers because of gas prices and the lot and that's why we have more deaths. Ya think? I think in common sense terms. I don't need the stats because I see them in plain English. Meanwhile..old people keep killing the rest of us. I ride bikes, I ride in cars, I'm not rich. I wear a helmet, seatbelt and would call a Taxi and have done none of these things at some point in my life when I was younger and would take the consequences and the guilt forever if I harmed anyone for my actions. Some 37 year old boob w/ coin to spare has zero sympathy from me and should be charged w/ voluntary manslaughter at the least and take the consequences as I would if I was that dumb.

I believe the adage is God protects drunks and fools.

This thread is just hanging out there and annoying me. He signed w/ the Padres for a 1 year deal at 1 million. I am surprised Little Stein didn't sign him for 3 and 40 million. Maybe they will go after Rocco. I heard he once lived in the gang infested hood known as Framingham..or was that Warwick? They like guys who "keep it real." I should know..I grew up in the hood. The Cape is all about the gangsta life. Listening to Vanilla Ice. Now that was one bad mother f***er.

That's the way it's been in town Ever since they tore the juke box down Two bit piece don't buy no more Not so much as it done before And I say row, Jimmy, row Gonna get there? I don't know Seems a common way to go Get down, row, row, row They booed Williams too. Altars of hypocrisy. Cried at the grave...spit on him while he wandered the earth. They are myriad.

Still a "good hitter"...o.k. I'll refrain from spending time at your altar if you don't mind. We see things differently and that's alright. 222 26 94 83 5. That's a down year. Who was that and how much did he command in the offseason? How did Manny do in the playoffs again? When it's the only season that counts? A liability in Fenway at a defensive position in the outfield is negligible. He also plays that wall better than anyone I have seen. I don't have stats to back it up. Just my eyes. JHB do you EVER allow for intangibles? I wouldn't discount your research ...I'm sure you spend eons on it. This isn't chess. There are human factors involved. A certain symmetry ..a yin/yang phenomenon where 1 Jason Bay doesn't equate to 6 Manny's in the world of that lineup. I won't delve into the fact that Bay has been feasting off of inferior pitching and his downturn could be an anomaly or a sign of a quick decline by a shooting star. I'm sure you could refute my argument w/ sabemetric precision. Was there a noticeable down slope in the past regular season. Of course. I'll take his noticeable decline for 20 million and the intangibles his brings to the lineup every at bat vs. ?. What would you say if he returns to the mean next year? I think he will. There are some things that are irreplaceable in life...and this time w/ Manny is one of them. 40 years from now people will remember. We never appreciate anything while it's happening. There are intangibles...and everything doesn't fit into a neat, engineered box.

Yeah...who likes the free flow of ideas, nonsense and comedy without censor. I prefer the Gulag myself. Only my kind are allowed. I often have conversations in the static world where everyone must remain on topic. I'm the leader. We were talking about fruit the other day and this guy went off on a tangent about the free market economy. I warned him to stick w/ the apple stories. Pears were o.k. if he didn't diverge too far from the general concept of tree fruit. He didn't. Started talking about tomatoes. The brown shirts came around. We won't be hearing from him again. Yeah Sox 1...Dodger fans are much more your speed. They are in your comfort zone and that's fine.

WTF is a play call? Sardonic? If you substituted the sard for moro we'd be on the same page. Nothing like a MFY thinking he's being clever. And, yet kinda sad at the same time. Ya might want to test the waters sport before you swim in naked. Please explain in detail your obviously vast knowledge of the game in question. You've heard of Vin Scully? Wow. You must really be special.

You teeter on the edge of being a caricature. How many miles past the Blackstone have you traveled my dear friend. 5 miles. Eyes of the world. Comfort and sin. Barco lounger fat man pseudo intellectual Cliff Clavin w/ the google at the easy disposal The defender of the poor. The downtrodden. The unkempt. The cranky. The black man thanks you. The Mother Theresa in our midst. Someone is going to all ballistic and defend you. Ugh. f*** you SPH. :-) You're FOS. And I love ya for it.

No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation

Let’s see if I can explain this. Probably not. Prior to 04’ I would have been a proponent of a Boys from Brazil cloning campaign to get us a championship. Replete w/ James Mason as the protagonist. Except that was what I thought. 03’ almost did me in. 86’ I was seeing therapists and questioning the universe for the abject hatred it obviously had on my soul. The ridicule, the chuckling. The standing up and declaring yourself a Red Sox fan just to cleanse yourself of the itch, the nagging ache that was just part of every day. Like Winter in New England…those surprised by the ice and the snow…a shock to the system, unpredictable and entirely expected. Came the Spring and hope….a bookend to the slow methodical end or the quick and painful downward slope of the fall. So…I would sell my soul right? For an end to that Faustian dream. To win…at all costs. Year after year. Faust found that wasn’t necessarily the case. I’d rather have watched Fred Lynn and the Rooster and Fisk play until they retired. I want to see this kid Jacoby play for the next 10 years or so. I think he’ll be dynamite. I’d like to see the young pitchers develop or crash and burn. I’m old school and I think this game needs a return to that. Enough w/ the needles and the damage done. Big money and I get that it is a beeznus, but they don’t understand history. You can have both. Or they are doomed to repeat it.

I was just whining about never winning any of these myriad "contests" I enter and got a call a little while ago. Hi...this is Joe with The Boston Red Sox. Seems I won the ultimate fan pack or whatever. Nice Christmas present and it gets me 2 free tickets to a game next year. Makes those fourteen hours of futility in the waiting room seem almost worth it.

I guess..it depends on what your definition of "is" is.

Stay off of SOSH there KILO. Revisionist historians abound. Actual article....I just wish I could find the original Texas Con Man one from McDonough. I remember this whole scene when it went down and I remember this article. You can posit he was misquoted or that the Herald made it up out of whole cloth which wouldn't be the first time but this was what was relayed at the time to us...the public. End of an Era - No return fire from Sox - Brass tried to keep ace By Michael Silverman, Boston Herald December 14, 1996 The Red Sox brass kept a mostly stiff upper lip yesterday, putting the shiniest gloss possible on the news that lifelong Sox Roger Clemens had left the fold. Restraining themselves from returning the type of salvos that Clemens threw at the club, and particularly Dan Duquette, during his press conference in Toronto, the general manager and CEO John Harrington were more subtle. The Sox were officially "disappointed" but far from devastated at losing Clemens, who, over 13 seasons, compiled a 192-111 record, three Cy Youngs, two 20-strikeout games and a share of the team lead with Cy Young for most wins and shutouts (38). "The Red Sox and our fans were fortunate to see Roger Clemens play in his prime and we had hoped to keep him in Boston during the "twilight of his career," said Duquette, who joined Harrington on a conference call yesterday afternoon. "We just want to let the fans know that we worked extremely hard to sign Roger Clemens. . . . We made him a substantial, competitive offer, by far the most money ever offered to a player in the history of the Red Sox franchise. "Unfortunately, we just couldn't get together. We were hoping he could finish his career as a Red Sox and we also wanted him to establish a relationship beyond his playing career. We wanted him to have the status of a Ted Williams, but at the end of the day we couldn't get it done." ...

They pick me to be tested every time," he said. "I don't know why. I don't know if it's because I'm a big guy, or what, but all I know is all they are going to find is a lot of rice and beans - David Ortiz LOL about Big Papi taking steroids. No way. Same w/ Manny. Not bias...it's just kind of obvious. How the mighty have fallen. Rome wasn't built in a day but it sure did crumble fast. Big Stein reminds me of Old Joe Kennedy...incapable of undoing the evil he brought unto his own palace. He watches...and drools unable to speak as the power corrupts absolutely, and the fake Princes and their false kingdom slowly succumb one by one. Tyrants can seem invincible at the time, but in the end they always fall. Think of it. Always -MG

Keep w/ the delusions sweetums. The jealousy of the rest of the entire planet is astounding to me. There is abject hatred outside of the confines of guys hanging around pubs in the New England states who dealt w/ years of being maligned and a futility that would make another hundred years of the Cubbies losing seem quaint. Not my game, but it's where I'm from. They were the Patsies. The doormats. What is it about this culture that we can't recognize excellence when we see it outside of our own myopia and whatever drivel the media force feeds us (you) and when we see it we drag it down. PAYyton..he's just so awesome...doesn't belong in the same sentence as T.B. Yeah..I'm sure BB is worried about stopping the run. Whose run? Sherman would quiver in his Union boots at the sight of the Gortex Svengali at the helm of the ship on this March to ...well not Atlanta but close. Cheaters! Fornicators! The losers like to bring the winners down. Human nature I guess....could be I'm surrounded by bitter Redskins and Eagles fans down here and the odd Cowboy fan who thinks they have a shot.

Taylorism....it never gets old. Yes it does. I've been converted. I'm going to advocate for not playing actual baseball games w/ all of it's antiquated mystery and drama and magic and instead having a computer chip implanted in Hawkings brain that can be downloaded for the masses into metric potentials and revisionist history. What a comforting world it will be then when everything is so comfy and predictable. A Utopian nightmare or dream depending on your perspective. Where's Aldous Huxley when you need him. I'll take the red pill.

Is it coming out of your pocket? Last time I checked we were operating under the premise we live in a capitalist society. Atlas is still shrugging. I'm sure they play baseball in Cuba...they keep jumping on those boats however. You want to leap on the boat the other way? This argument is tiresome. Yes...Virginia...people make money and you can thank the capitalist John Henry for the successes of your baseball team. Worst thing you can do is punish the successful people for their success.

HOSN...I can't believe you are arguing from the position of PWWB. You are clearly wrong and I'll write a 400 page essay as to why when I don't have a life. WARP and VORP are obviously the factors that are most important to those WDWB and live in their mom's BM. Yeah...exactly. The boy has cojones and I don't think he cares if Jesus Christ took over the supposed 1 position. He wants to prove himself for himself. It's academic. They aren't willing to play and the Tigers deal (as I said last night before the pundits) screwed the pooch on this one. I'm fine with it.

I don't follow the minor leagues enough to comment except that my diehard Tigers friend thinks they got screwed. He doesn't like it at all. I think they overpaid. I think Willis is a throw-in and will be nothing but a I should wear my hat straight gangsta type of guy who would have commanded much more 2 years ago. I think he gets ass-raped in the A.L. Miggy has never seen anything but weak N.L. pitching and donuts. He's slimming down on the Oprah diet. We'll see. I think he's a 1B/DH. Florida got the better deal in the long run...but the Tigs could be dangerous in the short-term. I'm more concerned they've thrown a wrench in our deal. The L.A. angels of anaheim via ventura highway take a left hand turn at the boulevard now have a dilemma and some guys to move.

Yankees fans in general put too much value on Cabrera. He’s a nice player but he has a career OPS of .728. Outside of his arm, he’s at best an average center fielder. I think he’s fine with the Yankees hitting eighth or ninth. But it’s not like he’s a budding star How dare they say this about the guaranteed future perennial all-star and Hall of Famer.

It's clear he didn't want to be a Yankee. He doesn't understand the privilege of being a Yankee on a team where the owners are willing to pay $200 million to put a winning product on the field." Steinbrenner is the new voice of Yankees' ownership, taking over public relations now that his father, George Steinbrenner, has stepped away from the spotlight (drooling on his pillow) "We're not going to back down," Steinbrenner said. "It's goodbye." Thinking of Melky the future Hall of Famer like sugarplums dancing in his dreams. He reminds me of an old boyfriend I once had. Who didn't BTW give me 314 million dollars to stay...the bastard. But sang at my window nonetheless. It's like a Gilbert and Sullivan song. Henry the Eighth I am I am. What a joke of a franchise they have become. Loving it.

It'll be interesting in The Bronx again at least w/ Girardi and Hank doing their red-headed step-chlld version of Martin and his daddy after years of moribund sanctimony and dugout nose-picking. If only they could clone Melky than they could command two future HOF's for the price of one. Lot's of smoke and mirrors and red-herrings abound...Crunchy...Crunchy where for art thou. I'm sick of this debacle at this point, but the Dodgers have the talent to move on him...it just comes down to the $$. I think he ends up in N.Y. but that's just a feeling and from years of watching the circus. I'd love him, but not at the asking prices. Minny knows he has to go now or risk nothing in return as does the entire planet.

Pavano was once an untouchable "prospect"....seems we got a pretty good guy for him. What was his name again? Right..the greatest pitcher I ever saw in my life. Carl was last heard from speeding down 95 w/ Alyssa Milano and laughing all the way to the bank. They are legion. Brien Taylor. C.B. will go on and have a great career. Maybe. I'll take Santana and keep him out of the Bronx for a pitching potential and some solid possibilities. Yes, thank you. Sorry, I don't have a 4 page long-winded defensive statistically valid response. Not at the cost of our CF though. He should be the only untouchable. Yeah...I'm w/ 700. And, I do know that pitching wins. Particularly w/ the 2 best pitchers in MLB. Too good to be true.