Off-Topic Thread of Apathetic Indifference (August 14 Edition)
by BrianL on Aug 14, 2008 7:38 AM PDT
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PrintIn the news today...
TV Chef Julia Child was a WWII spy.
The Spanish Olympic basketball team is filled with a bunch of idiots.
The US basketball team blew out Greece.
Electronic Art's FIFA 09 will feature music by TOM JONES
Kotaku takes a look at the Madden Curse.
Hell is freezing over: The XBOX 360 is selling out in Japan.
Other potential discussion topics:
- Why my Toyota Celica is better than Robert's Ford Zx2.
- Why I am smarter than Robert for not locking my keys in my awesome Celica.
- Why smart people don't have to pick car locks.
- Why I don't have to call AAA today.
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WOOO I'm so happy we beat Greece!!
We better not get overconfident…..although that’s a given cause we’re Americans. Dammit I’m still pessimistic.
Needs more tags.
And, holy crap, Julia Child was a spy?
I live in georegia but i dont see rusia no where not even sound but they says theres tanks should i be worrie-Yahoo Answers
by Phil Hatzenbuehler on Aug 14, 2008 7:41 AM PDT reply actions
Tags added, refresh.
And yes, Julia Child was part of a WWII spy network. Mind boggling, isn’t it?
Yay! American football!
I live in georegia but i dont see rusia no where not even sound but they says theres tanks should i be worrie-Yahoo Answers
by Phil Hatzenbuehler on Aug 14, 2008 7:52 AM PDT up reply actions
I thought this was old news
I’ve known about it for a long time.
If it wasn't for college football I'd probably have given up on sports.
Maybe you're a spy.
I live in georegia but i dont see rusia no where not even sound but they says theres tanks should i be worrie-Yahoo Answers
by Phil Hatzenbuehler on Aug 14, 2008 1:59 PM PDT up reply actions
HAHAHAHAHAHA
What a fucking joke, from the Spanish basketball team article:
Yet Jose Luis Saez, president of the Spanish Basketball Federation, told CNN on Thursday that people are wrong to suggest the photograph has racist overtones.
“It’s simply ridiculous,” he said. “It was a gesture of affection … and identification with the Chinese people.”
Weren't they saying two days ago that it had nothing to do with Chinese people?
The ♥ Jose Lopez ♥ Watch - 146 H, 16 BB, 44 G Left
by seattlebruin on Aug 14, 2008 8:16 AM PDT up reply actions
These are the same people who denied racism
when the Spanish national football team coach called Thierry Henry a “black monkey” in a televised press conference a few years back. I love Spain, but they have some work to do.
Nice Guys Finish Third - Hopelessly lost, but makin' good time.
Thierry is such a baller name
The ♥ Jose Lopez ♥ Watch - 147 H, 16 BB, 42 G Left
by seattlebruin on Aug 14, 2008 9:34 AM PDT up reply actions
Too bad he's not much of a baller any more.
Nice Guys Finish Third - Hopelessly lost, but makin' good time.
Still a great name
The ♥ Jose Lopez ♥ Watch - 147 H, 16 BB, 42 G Left
by seattlebruin on Aug 14, 2008 9:48 AM PDT up reply actions
He's in my pantheon of players, too
right next to Dennis Bergkamp, Tony Adams, and Ken Griffey. No matter how old or broken down they get/got, they’re still heads and shoulders above anybody else, in my sports-rooting life.
Nice Guys Finish Third - Hopelessly lost, but makin' good time.
My pantheon is
Ichiro, Ken Griffey Jr, Arron Afflalo and Jordan Farmar
The ♥ Jose Lopez ♥ Watch - 147 H, 16 BB, 42 G Left
by seattlebruin on Aug 14, 2008 9:55 AM PDT up reply actions
He's in whatever the opposite of the pantheon is
along with Sylvain Wiltord.
Nice Guys Finish Third - Hopelessly lost, but makin' good time.
When homeless bums threaten to cut my chong head off and send it back to Chinatown after unsuccessfully trying to steal my wallet
It is simply a sign of affection.
What a dumb excuse.
Yeah, what a crappy justification
The spectre of racism never seems to be far away when it comes to Spanish sports. Their football fans are particularly notorious for it. And then there was the whole Lewis Hamilton thing last year.
Out of interest, how many half-Asians are there on LL? If I’m right, there’s at least 5:
- BrianL
- Gomez
- Graham
- Me
- seattlebruin
which is quite impressive. We should form a union.
I'm full Japanese
The ♥ Jose Lopez ♥ Watch - 147 H, 16 BB, 42 G Left
by seattlebruin on Aug 14, 2008 9:26 AM PDT up reply actions
I expected no less!
The ♥ Jose Lopez ♥ Watch - 147 H, 16 BB, 42 G Left
by seattlebruin on Aug 14, 2008 9:33 AM PDT up reply actions
I'm not asian at all.
So if you take the average of seattlebruin and me, then we’re two half-asians.
the other angels fan
The man has a point
BrianL
Gomez
Graham
Alex B
seattlebruin
Eyebrows
wwbaker
The ♥ Jose Lopez ♥ Watch - 147 H, 16 BB, 42 G Left
by seattlebruin on Aug 14, 2008 9:51 AM PDT up reply actions
I'm also not asian. I'll gladly join in if someone would like a lower percentage.
This is currently my signature.
No, mgmt needs you in case this new 'union' of theirs starts making unreasonable demands.
We can get off topic posting at a fraction of the cost from others.
I'm not.
But my step-grandmother and half-aunt are both Chinese. Does that count?
"Hole in one, eh?"
If one of your parents isn't full Asian, no.
The ♥ Jose Lopez ♥ Watch - 147 H, 16 BB, 42 G Left
by seattlebruin on Aug 14, 2008 1:27 PM PDT up reply actions
I know, that's just America, ain't it?
Always discriminating against those damn white people
The ♥ Jose Lopez ♥ Watch - 147 H, 16 BB, 42 G Left
by seattlebruin on Aug 14, 2008 1:36 PM PDT up reply actions
According to ESPN, the rumored claiming teams are
The Bus —> StL
The Guy Who Takes Pride In His Awful Defense —> Tampa
The ♥ Jose Lopez ♥ Watch - 147 H, 16 BB, 42 G Left
He's not awful as a DH.
He’s better than Cliff Floyd at least.
by R.J. Anderson on Aug 14, 2008 8:39 AM PDT up reply actions
The Rays probably have the prospects to make this work for Seattle too
I really like the sound of this David Price kid =)
Wonder who realistically the Rays could/would offer for Ibanez that would be better than the two draft picks though
The ♥ Jose Lopez ♥ Watch - 147 H, 16 BB, 42 G Left
by seattlebruin on Aug 14, 2008 8:42 AM PDT up reply actions
As long as the Rays don't trade us two relievers, I think we could come out ahead.
I live in georegia but i dont see rusia no where not even sound but they says theres tanks should i be worrie-Yahoo Answers
by Phil Hatzenbuehler on Aug 14, 2008 8:43 AM PDT up reply actions
David Price for closer!
The ♥ Jose Lopez ♥ Watch - 147 H, 16 BB, 42 G Left
by seattlebruin on Aug 14, 2008 8:44 AM PDT up reply actions
Well they have to get a deal done soon, right?
The ♥ Jose Lopez ♥ Watch - 147 H, 16 BB, 42 G Left
by seattlebruin on Aug 14, 2008 8:49 AM PDT up reply actions
But the puns
The ♥ Jose Lopez ♥ Watch - 147 H, 16 BB, 42 G Left
by seattlebruin on Aug 14, 2008 12:54 PM PDT up reply actions
The Rays shouldn't get TGWTPIHAD
Rumors are that the Twins put in claims on Rauuuuul and Wash, but were beaten by a team higher on the waiver list for both. Likely means they’re not going to the NL either, since AL gets priority, right?
Free Stephen Awesome Strasburg!
Right,
I know that’s what they said, but if the Twins say they put a claim in on him and someone above them won the claim, that means the STL rumor can’t be correct, doesn’t it?
I’m still pretty confused with this whole waiver system, but I have a feeling by the end of August I’ll be able to write books on it.
Free Stephen Awesome Strasburg!
I can't believe you posted the "Jeff is awesome" tag
on the day that Matthew and Graham rolled out statcorner
The ♥ Jose Lopez ♥ Watch - 147 H, 16 BB, 42 G Left
I just want credit to go where it's due
The ♥ Jose Lopez ♥ Watch - 147 H, 16 BB, 42 G Left
by seattlebruin on Aug 14, 2008 8:54 AM PDT up reply actions
So I'm doing a little research on the 2002 Angels
And I discover the following things:
- Three players are implicated roiders (Glaus, Schoeneweiss, Donnelly)
- Three players (of the ones I’ve covered so far; C, 1B, 2B, SS) had career seasons and never really came close to them again (Spiezio, Kennedy, Fullmer)
- They have a Jose Canseco tie-in, not that it means much, but Benji Gil has to be important somehow.
I’m beginning to think there’s something to this.
Player A
The ♥ Jose Lopez ♥ Watch - 147 H, 16 BB, 42 G Left
by seattlebruin on Aug 14, 2008 8:55 AM PDT up reply actions
For frame of reference, I used to drive a '97 Kia Sportage.
But how are you going to compete with the bench seat up front? The sheer wonder that is the “shotgun bitch” seat has got to be worth at least 40 awesome points.
by Two Rs and Two Ls on Aug 14, 2008 9:01 AM PDT up reply actions
So Netflix sucks some major ass.
My free trial runs out, and all of a sudden they can’t ship out my DVDs.
Also, my ’00 Galant kicks the shit out of all your cars.
Pfft.
My 1990 Honda Accord with a broken blower motor, and failing ignition coil owns all.
I live in georegia but i dont see rusia no where not even sound but they says theres tanks should i be worrie-Yahoo Answers
by Phil Hatzenbuehler on Aug 14, 2008 9:02 AM PDT up reply actions
That looks like the parking lot from The Office in Scranton...are you Dwight?
I fucking hate you Mariners
I have to show up at work sometime today after nearly 2 months off
Hence, I’m killing time on LL to stave it off.
It's been nice having summer off
but I have to go back to work next week as well. I’m working for the power company, and they made me sign a non-disclosure agreement, which is a shame because I was really looking forward to taking what I learned and starting my own power company.
Nice Guys Finish Third - Hopelessly lost, but makin' good time.
by pdb on Aug 14, 2008 9:43 AM PDT up reply actions 1 recs
Can we build the LL bar atop it?
We could even bring the sub-21s if we did this in Meh-hee-coe!
Free Stephen Awesome Strasburg!
I've lost count
of the number of NDAs I’ve signed. Getting in trouble for breaking them is not fun either.
If it wasn't for college football I'd probably have given up on sports.
Never broken one, don't plan on it now
I just think it’s funny that one of the clauses specifically prohibits my forming a power company.
Nice Guys Finish Third - Hopelessly lost, but makin' good time.
Can you form an energy company?
The ♥ Jose Lopez ♥ Watch - 147 H, 16 BB, 42 G Left
by seattlebruin on Aug 14, 2008 1:56 PM PDT up reply actions
Probably.
It’s not specifically prohibited, I mean. But forming companies involves way more than 40 hours a week worth of work, and I’m a fundamentally lazy individual.
Nice Guys Finish Third - Hopelessly lost, but makin' good time.
NDAs are hard.
But non-comps are almost never enforced, because it’s practically impossible. Look around in the news about it, and you see story after story about courts not enforcing non-comps. A company has to get you through the NDA, not the non-comp, if you go to a similar company or start your own.
Anybody else notice the "Formatting Guide" at the bottom of the posts now?
The picture thing needs the ability to edit size. Other than that, it’s OK I guess.
Two of em! What now?
The ♥ Jose Lopez ♥ Watch - 147 H, 16 BB, 42 G Left
by seattlebruin on Aug 14, 2008 9:04 AM PDT up reply actions
Nice, it doesn't fuck it up when there's no url.
Now to find a picture with two ! and see if it messes that up.
I like Stella
I fucking hate you Mariners
Is she hot?
The ♥ Jose Lopez ♥ Watch - 147 H, 16 BB, 42 G Left
by seattlebruin on Aug 14, 2008 9:13 AM PDT up reply actions
After she found her groove.
I fucking hate you Mariners
Whoa.
Move over fiddle cat?
I live in georegia but i dont see rusia no where not even sound but they says theres tanks should i be worrie-Yahoo Answers
by Phil Hatzenbuehler on Aug 14, 2008 9:47 AM PDT reply actions
Thanks for using the subject line though!
The ♥ Jose Lopez ♥ Watch - 147 H, 16 BB, 42 G Left
by seattlebruin on Aug 14, 2008 9:49 AM PDT up reply actions
I always use the subject line.
I live in georegia but i dont see rusia no where not even sound but they says theres tanks should i be worrie-Yahoo Answers
by Phil Hatzenbuehler on Aug 14, 2008 9:50 AM PDT up reply actions
Oh I get it.
So you can hide the comment.
I live in georegia but i dont see rusia no where not even sound but they says theres tanks should i be worrie-Yahoo Answers
by Phil Hatzenbuehler on Aug 14, 2008 9:51 AM PDT up reply actions
I'm wondering what freakish site you were visiting when you found this.
This is currently my signature.
This one:
I live in georegia but i dont see rusia no where not even sound but they says theres tanks should i be worrie-Yahoo Answers
by Phil Hatzenbuehler on Aug 14, 2008 9:52 AM PDT up reply actions
Dear lord
The guy on top looks like Carlos Silva meets Sloth from The Goonies
Free Stephen Awesome Strasburg!
Holy shit.
I’ve been doing some reading about this movie, and Schlitzie (the person in the first gif)…I must see this movie now.
I live in georegia but i dont see rusia no where not even sound but they says theres tanks should i be worrie-Yahoo Answers
by Phil Hatzenbuehler on Aug 14, 2008 11:25 AM PDT up reply actions
I like this one...
Free Stephen Awesome Strasburg!
Needs more pudgy, early 40's dude in makeup for that.
I love you Robert, but come on. Time to put away the Goth.
A-frickin'-men
Goth dudes shouldn’t have jowls, is all I’m saying.
Nice Guys Finish Third - Hopelessly lost, but makin' good time.
That should be used whenever Jeremy Reed fixes his hair.
I fucking hate you Mariners
by kentroyals5 on Aug 14, 2008 10:49 AM PDT up reply actions
This is so... terrifying!! Maybe there is something to eugenics after all.
My nightmares will be so happy for the new material, uh, thanks.
So Kasey Keller might be Seattle's goalkeeper..that'd be cool for him to join his local team in their debut year.
Here is the Link
I fucking hate you Mariners
Sigh
This is the entire problem with the MLS, as it was with NASL back in the 70’s. Take one part local team, one part player that had his peak 8 years ago, and mix well. It’s depressing, and it’s the reason MLS will never be bigger than it is today.
The Sounders should not be pursuing the aging local hero – they need talented players, and players they can build a future around. The MLS honchos should be trying to make MLS one of the better leagues in the world – once that happens, the fans will follow.
Nice Guys Finish Third - Hopelessly lost, but makin' good time.
Something like that
He did OK in the Premier League last season though.
He allowed 60 goals in 38 games
and Fulham escaped relegation by dint of a less-inferior goal difference. That’s obviously not all Keller’s fault, but 60 goals in 38 games ain’t that great.
Nice Guys Finish Third - Hopelessly lost, but makin' good time.
He only played in 13 games towards the end of the season
And was therefore in goal for their slightly miraculous run to save themselves.
I’m not saying he’s a great keeper, just saying that he didn’t seem hopeless when I saw him play last year.
I have nothing against him really
I just wish that the Sounders would look past birth certificates when signing players.
This actually brings up a question – how are the Sounders going to staff their roster? Do any of the current Sounders carry over, or does Sounders FC have to start from scratch? In that case, are all the current Sounders just released from their contracts?
Nice Guys Finish Third - Hopelessly lost, but makin' good time.
Yes. Seba le Toux was the first signing
Eylander may come up as well, though it’s not clear what the Keller signing will do to that.
Which admittedly isn't too old for a keeper
but we all know how this is going to play out. It’ll generate ticket sales in the short term, then in the next couple years, as his skills decline even further, he’ll become the Bloomquist of the Sounders – he’ll have his defenders, but people that understand the game will want his head on a platter because he’s letting in too many soft goals.
Keller was the US national keeper, sure, but he was never an elite-level keeper, so I’d expect his decline to be pretty steep and disappointing, and I’d rather he keep doing that in Germany or wherever he was playing last year so I don’t have to see it.
Nice Guys Finish Third - Hopelessly lost, but makin' good time.
They should just stop dicking around
and sign Willie to a contract. He’ll be a FA soon, no? The timing is perfect.
the other angels fan
I'm going to laugh when Willie gets extended before Felix
The ♥ Jose Lopez ♥ Watch - 147 H, 16 BB, 42 G Left
by seattlebruin on Aug 14, 2008 10:05 AM PDT up reply actions
They really are
and it’s tremendously disappointing. They spend so much time focusing on players who used to be great (Blanco, Beckham, etc) and they overhype kids who aren’t ready for it (Adu) instead of relentlessly developing their talent to compete with the world’s best leagues.
There’s no reason that MLS, with the resources available to its owners and to US Soccer, can’t be one of the top 5 leagues in the world – but MLS decides to “make soccer popular” first, and it shows on the field.
Nice Guys Finish Third - Hopelessly lost, but makin' good time.
They should try to sign Lionel Messi.
by Graham MacAree on Aug 14, 2008 10:02 AM PDT up reply actions
This is what I mean.
Throw big enough money at enough elite players, and they’ll start coming here despite themselves.
Nice Guys Finish Third - Hopelessly lost, but makin' good time.
They can't sign a bunch of great players...deal with the fact they are doing this for PR for a year or two.
It’s not the end of the world that you make it out to be. The first year is about getting the name and brand out there and if it takes a local soccer star (even past his prime) then so be it. Now, if they do this in 5 years or 10 years then we can discuss how stupid they are and how much they are comparable to the Mariners. Right now, it’s not a big deal.
I fucking hate you Mariners
by kentroyals5 on Aug 14, 2008 10:10 AM PDT up reply actions
This is my thing
they WILL do this in 5 years or 10 years. I understand WHY they’re doing it, I just don’t think they need to as much as they think they need to.
Nice Guys Finish Third - Hopelessly lost, but makin' good time.
They need to fill stadiums to do this
And they may not even if they do sign top players. World football just isn’t the super-game here that it is in other countries. The demand as a spectator sport has a very limited ceiling in the States, and that limits the money teams can throw at top young talent or talent in their primes.
The MLS is terrible football.
And it always will be unless they start throwing money at elite overseas players rather than washed up celebrities like Beckham.
by Graham MacAree on Aug 14, 2008 10:16 AM PDT up reply actions
I agree with this...I'm talking about Seattle's mindset specifically.
They are looking to spark even more interest in Seattle. This signing, hate it or not, will do so. It’ll create more buzz for the city and team. That’s all this deal is intended to do.
If Keller is the biggest problem then it’ll be fine. We all know MLS can’t compete. So in the meantime they need to create a base interest, which is what I think this does.
This just seems like a dumb reason (it’s like the 2nd player named to the team, right?) to be up in arms about. Wait until they fuck something up more down the road.
I fucking hate you Mariners
by kentroyals5 on Aug 14, 2008 10:21 AM PDT up reply actions
I don't care about the Sounders and I don't really think I ever will
I’m not in arms, but the strategy behind the signing is stupid. At least goalkeeper is the least valuable position on the field.
by Graham MacAree on Aug 14, 2008 10:23 AM PDT up reply actions
And to be honest, this signing isn't about soccer fans like you.
It’s about the fans that get excited about the ‘local’ guy. And your mention of the goalkeeper being the least valuable position on the pitch is EXACTLY why I’m confused why people are getting their panties all in a bundle here.
Seriously..if you take a position like goalkeeper to do your “PR-signing” then who the hell cares. And it’s not like he’s terrible either.
Wait until they sign Pele to play and THEN bring up this argument about how the Sounders are like the Mariners. It’s too early to be labeling the Sounders a failure after their 2nd signing.
I fucking hate you Mariners
by kentroyals5 on Aug 14, 2008 10:26 AM PDT up reply actions
Why not get fans excited about the local young players then?
by Graham MacAree on Aug 14, 2008 10:28 AM PDT up reply actions
I agree..we can do that later
1st year of ‘professional’ mls soccer in the city and they need to get the initial fans to get in the stadium.
Nothing does that better to an ignorant fan base like name-recognition.
I think we agree here, but as Mariner fans we must acknowledge that the marketing of shitty teams begins with name recognition over talent.
I fucking hate you Mariners
by kentroyals5 on Aug 14, 2008 10:30 AM PDT up reply actions
I think that the team could have been in position to land a much bigger name than Keller is all
And spending $$$ on a keeper as your big name is silly.
by Graham MacAree on Aug 14, 2008 10:31 AM PDT up reply actions
Is this 'for sure' their 'big signing'?
I fucking hate you Mariners
by kentroyals5 on Aug 14, 2008 10:32 AM PDT up reply actions
I have no idea
I’m just reacting to the discussion here. I’m far more interested in the Robinho saga.
by Graham MacAree on Aug 14, 2008 10:39 AM PDT up reply actions
That's what I mean..For an analogy, it's like picking up a really old relief pitcher
And everyone freaks out that our FA budget just took a knock and we can’t afford a Pujols-type free agent.
People are getting too wound up about nothing with this signing. Yes, he is old, yes he is local, but I don’t believe it has any impact on what player may be in the works.
I fucking hate you Mariners
For me it's not Keller, it's the idea behind Keller
It’s not about the money, it’s about the lack of creative thinking about how to fill out a roster.
Nice Guys Finish Third - Hopelessly lost, but makin' good time.
Creative thinking?...there are 9 more spots to fill (Already signed that Sounders guy)
If this was the ‘star’ or took money away from the ability to sign said star..then be angry. But it’s not a terribly important position, and Keller is still pretty good.
It’s not like we are building the franchise around him…He won’t be here very long, at least if he’s not productive.
I fucking hate you Mariners
Also, there's the possibility that people know Keller's name
from all the international play. I didn’t even know he was from around here.
by Two Rs and Two Ls on Aug 14, 2008 10:28 AM PDT up reply actions
The money would have to be absolutely huge though
Elite European players are on over $200,000 per week, with contracts of 3-5 years usually.
They’d have to receive a huge premium over that to up sticks and move to the USA, where they’d be giving up the prestige of European competition and a lucrative endorsement market (unless you’re Beckham and you totally transcend football).
Oh, and don’t forget the transfer fees.
In these crappy economic times
they could lure people by paying them in euros. The league can afford it – not every team can afford it, but enough teams can that if two or three Messi-level guys came over, it would show the rest of the world’s players that the US is a viable competitive destination and not just an end-of-career cashin.
Nice Guys Finish Third - Hopelessly lost, but makin' good time.
Major European teams would have trouble signing "two or three Messi-level guys"
Why would it be any different for an MLS team?
Real Madrid offered around $120m in transfer fee alone for Ronaldo and a deal didn’t happen. Chelsea are offering $140m for Kaka and a deal looks unlikely.
Messi != Ronaldo
Plus, Real and United, though in different leagues, are effectively in competition with each other, for the Champions League and the best transfers, so they’ll make it as hard as possible for one of their best players to go to their main rival. They wouldn’t raise a fuss if, say, Columbus offered that same package, I don’t think.
I don’t think MLS should be going after the Ronaldos of the world, at least not yet – but they should definitely be making more noise around the next tier of great players, ones that wouldn’t take Ronaldo money to pry loose, and then once that level of talent has proven this is a good place to play, then go after one or two of the really big fish.
Nice Guys Finish Third - Hopelessly lost, but makin' good time.
United sold Beckham to Madrid; Barca sold Ronaldinho to Milan
Transfers between the big clubs do happen.
Maybe I’m off-base here and I’m underestimating the spending power of the MLS clubs. I just find it hard to believe that clubs belonging to what is a relatively nascent league could pull off what the commercial powerhouses of the modern game would struggle to do.
I do agree with your second point about MLS targetting a “lower tier” of player (does not include Messi!). Surely MLS would be better off targeting promising South American players? They could easily establish a scouting advantage over the European clubs and gain access to relatively low-cost talent. If a few of these players ended up moving to Europe (the Spanish are always suckers for a good Brazilian/Argie) and achieved success then this would raise the global profile of MLS no end .
They need to target south Americans, yes, but I also think they could do quite well
by targeting Championship players. Toronto signed Dichio, who’s been OK, but there are plenty of guys like that who’d do wonderfully in MLS, and MLS would be in a much better position to offer them competitive wage packages.
David Nugent (who’s not a Championship player anymore, but you get the idea), Paul McKenna, Darren Huckerby (hey, he went to MLS! Perfect), etc.
That seems like a decent middle ground – you avoid the killer wage bills for ‘name’ players pushing 40, still improve the talent level, and you also create assets that you can sell back to Europe in some cases.
A lot of clubs are, Argentina in particular
The Sounders have a good network in Costa Rica. Also, Africa. Before this season started, New England picked up three relatively unknown players from Africa (2 Gambians and 1 I’m not sure what) and they’ve helped them become the most powerful team this year.
As far as players ‘moving up’, being taken from South America to MLS and then on to Europe, the only one I can think of who has done that is Juan Toja (Columbia to FC Dallas to Steua Bucharest).
I heart Messi
I’d take him over Ronaldo, definitely.
WTF is with John Effing Terry being the best-paid footballer in the Premiership, anyway? I want his agent.
Nice Guys Finish Third - Hopelessly lost, but makin' good time.
You guys tend not to like things you're terrible at.
by Graham MacAree on Aug 14, 2008 10:14 AM PDT up reply actions
You know who might make an acceptable cricketer?
There’s a bit of medium-pace bowling potential there.
He'd have to be an offspeed bowler
Those gimpy legs couldn’t get enough momentum to be a fast-spinner
Off-speed = medium-pacer
No such thing as a fast spinner.
Americans like winners
If you build a league that can challenge the elite European leagues and a national team that’s always a threat at the World Cup, enough Americans will like it that the whole “americans don’t like soccer” thing will be completely not an issue.
Nice Guys Finish Third - Hopelessly lost, but makin' good time.
Not the way the MLS is going now, no
which is my problem. But I refuse to be defeated by the “Americans don’t like soccer” way of thinking. Americans don’t like swimming, either, but Michael Phelps has a few new fans these days I’d bet.
Nice Guys Finish Third - Hopelessly lost, but makin' good time.
Americans don't like swimming?
Where would you get that idea? We have a huge college swimming following and it is always one of the three most watched sports of the Olympics.
Americans don't like swimming for three years and 51 weeks. Then they like it for a week.
And I defy anyone who’s not currently in or just out of college to name a single college swimmer.
Nice Guys Finish Third - Hopelessly lost, but makin' good time.
That is a terrible argument.
I love baseball but Strassburg is the only college player I could name.
No worries, he won't sign with Seattle or Washington anyways. No need to learn his name.
I fucking hate you Mariners
by kentroyals5 on Aug 14, 2008 10:23 AM PDT up reply actions
Also, comparing soccer to swimming is a terrible comparison.
No one expect proffesional swimming leagues traveling from town to town representing their city.
I'll pitch in to co-found Major League Swimming
As long as I can own at least one franchise, I’m good
The ♥ Jose Lopez ♥ Watch - 147 H, 16 BB, 42 G Left
by seattlebruin on Aug 14, 2008 10:23 AM PDT up reply actions
I'm holding out for Major League Equestrian, myself.
Nice Guys Finish Third - Hopelessly lost, but makin' good time.
I said I'm in as long as I could own a franchise
I’m OK with Major League Equestrian too.
My franchise will be the North Seattle Fighting Working Poines
The ♥ Jose Lopez ♥ Watch - 147 H, 16 BB, 42 G Left
by seattlebruin on Aug 14, 2008 10:26 AM PDT up reply actions 1 recs
I'll found Major League Skydiving
After all, it’s just as much of a sport as swimming.
by Graham MacAree on Aug 14, 2008 10:24 AM PDT up reply actions
Cue swimmer outrage in 3...2...1...GO
Nice Guys Finish Third - Hopelessly lost, but makin' good time.
It's like Nascar..and cheerleading...
I fucking hate you Mariners
by kentroyals5 on Aug 14, 2008 10:26 AM PDT up reply actions
Or put stripping music on instead.
“She’s! My! Cherry pie!” Bonus points if you can get it to sync up withe the routine.
My sister is a professional cheerleader.
It is a lot harder and more physical than you could imagine. Naturally, some places and universities take it more seriously than others. When they do though, that shit is hardcore.
Lots of things are phsyically difficult.
That doesn’t make them sports.
by Graham MacAree on Aug 14, 2008 10:32 AM PDT up reply actions
Gymnasts are definitely athletes
but they don’t play a sport. Sports have opponents (the clock is not an opponent) and hard-and-fast scoring, at least in my opinion.
Nice Guys Finish Third - Hopelessly lost, but makin' good time.
No
They are just ridiculously strong people who can do insanely difficult things.
But since the other gymnasts aren’t trying to tackle them off the balance beams, there’s no active competition.
by Graham MacAree on Aug 14, 2008 10:35 AM PDT up reply actions
Plus, it's judged
and judging is completely subjective.
Nice Guys Finish Third - Hopelessly lost, but makin' good time.
But they change the way it's scored every Olympics.
Nice Guys Finish Third - Hopelessly lost, but makin' good time.
Nothing is a sport unless it involves active interference by the opposition
by Graham MacAree on Aug 14, 2008 10:34 AM PDT up reply actions
MTG requires no physical dexterity
thus not a sport
The ♥ Jose Lopez ♥ Watch - 147 H, 16 BB, 42 G Left
by seattlebruin on Aug 14, 2008 10:36 AM PDT up reply actions
They both fall short of being sports
by Graham MacAree on Aug 14, 2008 10:38 AM PDT up reply actions
Physical competition with an active defence.
It’s a pretty easy definition.
by Graham MacAree on Aug 14, 2008 10:40 AM PDT up reply actions
I'm not antagonizing him.
Just stating I disagree with him. It isn’t like I am trying to change his mind. I was curious where his distinctions were at.
Then what me and your mom play is a sport
I score on her all the time.
I fucking hate you Mariners
by kentroyals5 on Aug 14, 2008 10:35 AM PDT up reply actions
No.
-Graham
I fucking hate you Mariners
by kentroyals5 on Aug 14, 2008 10:36 AM PDT up reply actions
This sounds an awful lot like
“OMFG MY FRIEND DIED BECAUSE OF XXX!!!”
Who cares if it’s tough. So’s tuning a car to run 212, or sustaining 10Gs around a corner. Doesn’t make it a sport.
I think cheerleading would qualify as a performance sport the same way gymnastics does
The ♥ Jose Lopez ♥ Watch - 147 H, 16 BB, 42 G Left
by seattlebruin on Aug 14, 2008 10:33 AM PDT up reply actions
Good point, but have you tried driving 200 MPH for three or four hours straight,
tactically weaving yourself between other speeding vehicles?
Pretty sure Jr.’s dad would disagree with you.
This is currently my signature.
I didn't say it wasn't difficult or that I could do it
Nice Guys Finish Third - Hopelessly lost, but makin' good time.
If you were to say Poker isn't a sport, I'd agree with you.
And I love Poker.
This is currently my signature.
Poker is about as far from a sport as you can get.
Nice Guys Finish Third - Hopelessly lost, but makin' good time.
What about Major League Gaming
although those guys are craaaaaazy
The ♥ Jose Lopez ♥ Watch - 147 H, 16 BB, 42 G Left
by seattlebruin on Aug 14, 2008 10:33 AM PDT up reply actions
Have you ever tried beating MarioKart 64's world time trial records?
It’s insanely hard.
I’m glad I compete in that sport.
by Graham MacAree on Aug 14, 2008 10:32 AM PDT up reply actions
I love to make cakes and put them in plastic while they cook
/LFOJL
I fucking hate you Mariners
by kentroyals5 on Aug 14, 2008 10:31 AM PDT up reply actions
I don't even see how this applies here
Romanes eunt domus
by Last Fan Of Jose Lopez on Aug 14, 2008 10:57 AM PDT up reply actions
The 'if you love something' it's a sport insinuation.
I don’t know what made me think of it though
I fucking hate you Mariners
by kentroyals5 on Aug 14, 2008 11:01 AM PDT up reply actions
I swam for about 12 years.
I was good enough to make finals, but never good enough to place. If I had taken it more seriously I could have been decent.
I'm pretty decent at the Flail Around To Stay Afloat. Is that an Olympic event?
This is currently my signature.
It's the same theory, though
Americans like winners. Right now, Americans like swimming. In three weeks, 99% of Americans won’t give a damn about swimming.
If MLS could get a bunch of big in-their-prime names, they could leverage that into a really successful league.
Nice Guys Finish Third - Hopelessly lost, but makin' good time.
It would be really funny to see what one elite holding midfielder could do for an MLS franchise.
Michael Essien, say, would be the most valuable player in the league by an insane margin.
by Graham MacAree on Aug 14, 2008 10:25 AM PDT up reply actions
There is the key though, how will we ever be able to attract those players?
It is the chicken and egg problem.
The deepest pockets are usually the ones that have holes in them :(
The ♥ Jose Lopez ♥ Watch - 147 H, 16 BB, 42 G Left
by seattlebruin on Aug 14, 2008 10:27 AM PDT up reply actions
Just get one. The rest will follow.
Do whatever it takes to get one. MLS had the right idea creating the Beckham Rule, where every team can sign one player to a contract of any size without impacting the salary cap, but all that teams did with that was give raises to their best players. Take that exception, sign Essien or someone, and watch what happens.
Nice Guys Finish Third - Hopelessly lost, but makin' good time.
I think that Chelsea should send their reserves over
and call that the Sounders. They’d dominate.
Nice Guys Finish Third - Hopelessly lost, but makin' good time.
Y'all should buy Hargreaves from United.
by Graham MacAree on Aug 14, 2008 10:33 AM PDT up reply actions
it's funny, I don't really even care about the Sounders
I just hate to see the best chance the US has had in 30 years to have a viable league be wasted like this.
Nice Guys Finish Third - Hopelessly lost, but makin' good time.
Such is the relative relationship between the US and soccer
It’s a fringe sport here, whereas it’s THE sport everywhere else.
I don't buy this
I think American Soccer fans are smart enough to know that MLS is just an inferior product and spend more time watching other leagues.
The Spanish papers in Los Angeles have more coverage of other leagues than they do of MLS. You’ll probably never find an MLS game on in a Mexican joint, but you’ll find plenty of games from other leagues on.
If it wasn't for college football I'd probably have given up on sports.
pdb, you're a gooner so you must be a good dude but you are way off base here
The problem with the NASL was that the Cosmos were so damn good and famous that owners thought they could buy right in to that easily… the stars they signed weren’t good enough to top NY, and they didn’t have the fame and drawing power that Pele/Beckenbauer/Chinaglia did. Also, retardedly fast expansion. The MLS has a ton of rules to prevent that from happening again, including the (stupidly small) salary cap. So from a perspective of world fame and noteriety, yeah it could be better, but in terms of league talent and parity it is set up to continually slowly grow. Unless there’s a work stoppage after the 2009 season, in which case everything could be just fucked.
As far as the Sounders, they’ll probably announce Eylander’s signing today as well. He’s damn good, and can be their long term keeper. From what I’ve heard from Hanauer, you shouldn’t have to worry about not having a good young group of players to build around.
Right, Eylander's the future - what'll be important is if
Keller takes an exemption from the Salary cap or the ‘designated international’ or whatever they’re called. If he takes both, then this move is just bad, despite ticket sales (how many will come back in year 2?). If he’s giving them a home-town discount because he wants to end his career at home, and if this doesn’t prevent them from signing a great player to pair with Le Toux, this is a great win-win sort of move. We need to know more.
I agree that the league is in much better shape than I would’ve guessed, and that they’re starting to build their clubs in a much more rational fashion. I also agree that if anyone can build this team the right way, it’s Adrian Hanauer.
My whole problem is that it's growing too slowly
I understand that MLS is trying to avoid the NASL’s mistakes. I just don’t think they’re going to “continually slowly grow” – it seems like they’re happy to avoid insolvency and see what happens from there.
MLS is in a position now where they’re not going to BE insolvent, they’ve got a really robust structure, and I think now it may be time for a few teams to roll the dice with their Beckham exception and go after some top-shelf talent instead of going after the Kellers of the world to put a few more butts in seats.
Nice Guys Finish Third - Hopelessly lost, but makin' good time.
I think that'll be the next stage
Once MLS gets to 18 teams and a normal-ish league size (by 2011, probably) I think they’ll increase the cap and/or add a second designated player to each team. But you’re right, I think it’s a good time to try and accelerate the progress. Throw some cash at a Riquelme or something.
You should check out the CONCACAF Champions League this year – it should be the first real test to see just how MLS teams stack up against the rest of North America. Becoming the clear dominant league in the region, if we can somehow wax all the Mexican sides in serious competition, would be a great first step.
I'm planning on watching
but I’m not planning on being impressed with the MLS. I hope they surprise me, but I’m skeptical.
Nice Guys Finish Third - Hopelessly lost, but makin' good time.
You know what sucks about today?
Knowing that if I was pulling a normal two weeker I would be half done with my hitch today. Instead I came to work a week early so I still have 14 days to go. I also have no idea how much time I will get to take off after that. I need a drink so damn bad right now.
You mentioned on another thread that you had roughneck on your visa.
Are you a driller? I didn’t get that from what you said about the visa designation. I’m just wondering because I’ve worked a ton in the Gulf of Mexico as a commercial diver. Done a bunch of rig support jobs, roughnecks absolutely despise divers, makes for some interesting working conditions sometimes.
Nevermind, found it down further down the string.
Didn’t know they had offshore rigs in Alaska. I’ve heard the currents up there are completely insane, and so is the diving. Which coming from divers means nearly certain death, not in my 20’s anymore, so I’m out of the risking certain death lifestyle.
I didn't care for that Kotaku article
It seemed too intent on proving the Madden Curse wrong to look at it with any sense of objectivity.
Objectivity
and Kotaku don’t go together. Its all about page hits.
If it wasn't for college football I'd probably have given up on sports.
He's got a great point though
That site isn’t very great. They seem to go back and forth on their opinions, and it feels like a cheap attempt to drive traffic
HA HA HA, your Grandpa's an ASS!- Tourette's Guy (R.I.P)
by tootthekazoo on Aug 14, 2008 3:05 PM PDT up reply actions
I don't remember the specific incidents
but they’re known to play up scandals for hits.
I have a problem with games journalism in general though.
If it wasn't for college football I'd probably have given up on sports.
You've got to find out who that is and accidentally smash the bottle. Outside.
This is currently my signature.
Or just get her fired.
You’re IT, you know what things could go wrong that would be called her fault. Get it done.
He's IT, he could MAKE things go wrong and make it look like it were her fault.
Nice Guys Finish Third - Hopelessly lost, but makin' good time.
Complain to HR. Most companies have a policy regarding this.
The last three places I’ve worked at all had anti-perfume, BO, eating smelly food in the office, etc. policies.
Extentions + Time to announce + stupid BS that goes on.
Didn’t everyone have this discussion at the deadline?
We're jaded.
I’m doubtful anything has happened, though.
Goddammit, you beat me to it.
I live in georegia but i dont see rusia no where not even sound but they says theres tanks should i be worrie-Yahoo Answers
by Phil Hatzenbuehler on Aug 14, 2008 10:45 AM PDT up reply actions
Can someone explain this to me?
I’m doing some of that research that I talked about yesterday and I thought about the number of losses the Mariners must have had in 1986 in order to draft Griffey in 1987.
The Mariners were 67-95 in 1986; the Pirates were 64-98.
Was there a draft rule in effect in the ’80s that swapped leagues every year (i.e. World Series play before the “This time it counts” BS?)
by Two Rs and Two Ls on Aug 14, 2008 11:31 AM PDT reply actions
Haha you could've had an outfield of KGJ, Barry, and Bonilla
is that right? I’m trying to remember my old baseball cards.
the other angels fan
This is perfect for LFoJL
so many puns…
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/columns/story?columnist=stark_jayson&page=rumblings
The ♥ Jose Lopez ♥ Watch - 147 H, 16 BB, 42 G Left
Aaron Crow signs with Independent League Team
http://sports.espn.go.com/minorlbb/news/story?id=3535228
The ♥ Jose Lopez ♥ Watch - 147 H, 16 BB, 42 G Left
People on Sickels' blog
saying its a negotiating ploy. Someone linked to the wikipedia article on Matt Harrington I think it was. Excellent cautionary tale for kids.
If it wasn't for college football I'd probably have given up on sports.
I've read in several places that the deal is done,
but that it’s being held up, like most of the other deals, in the annual attempt to keep the market down. Because draft picks are obviously 4-year-old children who have no idea how the system works.
I'm wondering if this is how Pelekoudis felt during the trade deadline.
This is currently my signature.
I remember this guy
I think he was really big online in Germany for a while, with people trying to find out who he is and shopping him into everything.
the other angels fan
Shit, my son only weighs 25 Lbs and I can barely afford to keep up with his appetite.
My guess is its pancakes for breakfast, lunch and dinner for this family.
This is currently my signature.
The parents were probably too fat to get off the couch and stop her
Free Stephen Awesome Strasburg!
Mario.
Sonic hasn’t put out a good game since the Genesis.
I agree, they haven't been able to follow up on Sonic 3 & Knuckles
But I have to admit as much as I love Mario, Sonic holds a closer place in my heart.
JI/Robert '08!
Mario.
And it’s not even close.
I live in georegia but i dont see rusia no where not even sound but they says theres tanks should i be worrie-Yahoo Answers
by Phil Hatzenbuehler on Aug 14, 2008 1:01 PM PDT up reply actions
Wait a sec
Am I not the only Jew here? ;-)
Free Stephen Awesome Strasburg!
Mario
but in the spirit of Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games, there’s no way in HELL that Mario is anything close in speed to Sonic.
High jump? Ok. Pole vault? Fine. Hammer throw? Sure. But any sort of running event is squarely in Sonic’s territory.
by Two Rs and Two Ls on Aug 14, 2008 1:06 PM PDT up reply actions
I haven't played that game yet even though I really want to.
I was wondering if the game designers included the smog of Beijing into the game.
JI/Robert '08!
They didn't, at least not on the Wii
it’s a fun game, though.
Nice Guys Finish Third - Hopelessly lost, but makin' good time.
Sprinting makes me really twitchy.
Also, it’s too easy to clear the top levels of events like high jump and pole vault.
Princess Daisy is a complete mental patient in that game; she became a cult favorite in my apartment.
by Two Rs and Two Ls on Aug 14, 2008 1:19 PM PDT up reply actions
Well it is on Wii and DS
so the LOD fog could be mistaken for Smog!
If it wasn't for college football I'd probably have given up on sports.
Sonic, not close
even though Mario’s games are way better
The ♥ Jose Lopez ♥ Watch - 147 H, 16 BB, 42 G Left
by seattlebruin on Aug 14, 2008 1:07 PM PDT up reply actions
I agree
The reason I ask is because I am playing Sonic 3 and Knuckles on an emulator. And I found out the other night how much easier it is to find ROMs now than like 5 years ago (like atleast 50 times easier now then it was then). Is it because the games are older or what?
JI/Robert '08!
More likely
That emulation (and this Internet thing) is catching on overseas, and countries with looser copyright laws are playing host to servers of games without fear of retribution from game companies.
Free Stephen Awesome Strasburg!
Makes sense
Speaking of which, did you watch Stephen Strasburg pitch for the US last night? It was like watching a Felix outing, only better.
JI/Robert '08!
No
But I’m going to watch the replay online tonight, provided it’s still on NBC. I haven’t seen him pitch yet, I’m very excited for it.
Free Stephen Awesome Strasburg!
Its amazing.
And that’s no exaggeration. The first 3 innings by him are truly amazing too.
JI/Robert '08!
I took it as a social commentary on the ridiculous and arbitrary nature of memes in general.
That said, I am all over a naughty jester meme.
Faux-naive earnestness is the new meme!
“That’s funny, but you do realize the cat isn’t actually saying that. It’s a cat, they can’t talk!”
“Actually, the name is spelled ‘Thomsen’ and <a href=”http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/players/profile?statsId=5772" >here is a handy link to a reference on that."
“That is a wonderful animated .gif of a cat playing a fiddle. Just FYI however, cats cannot actually play musical instruments (boy have I lost countless hours trying to teach ’em easy shit like the recorder!).”
“Uh, OK pal. I don’t have any ‘base’ and in any event your comment was almost unintelligible. Did you use an internet translator? If your first language isn’t English, that’s cool – Welcome! – but you might want to run some of these comments past friends with better English skills!”
by marc w on Aug 14, 2008 1:20 PM PDT up reply actions 2 recs
Go sit with perfume girl for a bit.
It’ll be like using smelling salts.
This is currently my signature.
I went to bed at 11 pm, got up at 4:30 am, and I still have 6 hours before I am off the clock.
Not really sympathizing with you.
General IT.
Translation: I mostly sit at a desk staring at LL.
Do you have to wait until someone in the office is having technical issues?
And otherwise hang out? Sounds like a sweet job, but after taking computer programming classes, I want to be as far away from a computer job as possible.
JI/Robert '08!
If no one is bugging me with tech issues
I usually keep myself busy by cloning computers to be sent to our process plants. That just means I stare at load/install screens for a while. While the process is working, I stare at LL. When the process is finished, I box up the machine and ship it off. Rinse, repeat.
It is dull and tedious
and thankless.
I’m glad to be out of IT.
If it wasn't for college football I'd probably have given up on sports.
It pays well.
The hours are flexible. I’m happy.
It was a good job for the time
but by the end I wanted out so bad.
If it wasn't for college football I'd probably have given up on sports.
Wind instrument/Keyboard specialist at Mills Music.
Unfortunately sales were always slow so I ended up staffing print music most of the time.
Wow, I complain about it so much I thought everyone knew.
I work in Prudhoe Bay Alaska as an assistant to the supervisor of a drilling rig.
I can't even remember the last time I went 14 days without a beer
I do not envy you.
Nice Guys Finish Third - Hopelessly lost, but makin' good time.
I pulled a six weeker this winter.
That shit was BRUTAL. I got home from the airport and all I had in the fridge was like 5 month old skunky ass Moosehead Lager. It tasted like heaven.
I was asking BrianL actually
But your job sounds intense too. Hey, at least you don’t work in a restaraunt kitchen.
JI/Robert '08!
Sorry, I have my screen scrunched up so no one in my office knows I am fucking off right now.
Sometimes makes it hard to see what is a reply to what.
See, what I do is I have a secondary monitor
that’s positioned in such a way that no one else can see it.
All I have is my laptop. I have multiple windows open so I can click around and look busy.
Don’t get wrong, sometimes I am hooked up like a sled dog, but I just got back from lunch. My belly is full and quite frankly I just want to fuck off right now.
I'm dicking around in the open at my office
And don’t care who sees it… I work my ass off for these people and if I feel like taking an LL break because I’m bored and need a little joy in my life, you better believe I’m going to take 5 or 10 minutes.
Free Stephen Awesome Strasburg!
You guys are so lucky to have day time jobs with weekends off
Working in the restaurant business sucks. It makes me appreciate the fact that I am going to college even more.
JI/Robert '08!
I used to work a retail gig at Mills Music.
If I ever see another piano teacher again I will go postal.
I actually prefer my schedule to normal one.
After working two weeks on / two weeks off for 8 years, I will never go back.
Your cost of living must be low. No way I could live off of 80 hours/month.
This is currently my signature.
Not in my world
Now granted I do communications & PR, not IT, but it still has some extremely eerie parallels into my world. We joke about the movie frequently across the company.
Free Stephen Awesome Strasburg!
People who have money
The ♥ Jose Lopez ♥ Watch - 147 H, 16 BB, 42 G Left
by seattlebruin on Aug 14, 2008 1:57 PM PDT up reply actions
Grownups. Don't worry, you'll get there someday, little soldier.
Nice Guys Finish Third - Hopelessly lost, but makin' good time.
And they're not happy.
Haven’t you seen how happy the unemployed people on the street look? I mean, they have such fancy houses.
"Hole in one, eh?"
Your "logic" is interesting.
I have a house, I have a job, and somehow I still manage to be happy. What the hell am I doing wrong, anyway? Oh, to be 18 again.
Nice Guys Finish Third - Hopelessly lost, but makin' good time.
A sore filled with cats would be painful
pus would be slightly less so.
Nice Guys Finish Third - Hopelessly lost, but makin' good time.
And I have been thoroughly owned.
Well played, my good friend.
That was a charitable assessment of what needs work there.
Nice Guys Finish Third - Hopelessly lost, but makin' good time.
Some people can play sports, I can pick on little kids
I’m not proud, but it’s what I got.
Nice Guys Finish Third - Hopelessly lost, but makin' good time.
A wit so sharp, I could shave with it.
Nice Guys Finish Third - Hopelessly lost, but makin' good time.
Sometimes saying nothing is better than saying something.
Nice Guys Finish Third - Hopelessly lost, but makin' good time.
But then again sometimes saying something is better than saying nothing
listen to John Mayer
The ♥ Jose Lopez ♥ Watch - 147 H, 16 BB, 42 G Left
by seattlebruin on Aug 14, 2008 2:24 PM PDT up reply actions
Oh God
I hate it when people characterize him for those terrible pop songs (not to mention when he continues to make them). He’s so much better when he plays jazz and blues… The John Mayer Trio’s “Try” is one of my favorite CDs over the last few years.
Free Stephen Awesome Strasburg!
I would have put (whatever artist used the line that I was saying)
whether it was John Mayer or Flo Rida. Not trying to characterize him in any way.
The ♥ Jose Lopez ♥ Watch - 147 H, 16 BB, 42 G Left
by seattlebruin on Aug 14, 2008 3:33 PM PDT up reply actions
Fair enough
I got into this same chat with one of the girls at my gym over lunch today, so I’m just a little wired up for it… Daughters was playing and I made fun of how it was such an awful song to have on in the gym, and she responded back that John Mayer was an awful musician. I prefer to think of him as a great actor with a terrible agent, though the last time I openly voiced that about someone it was Heath Ledger, the night before he died. I’m hoping that was just a coincidence…
On a slightly related note, I hope George Clooney’s agent makes a lot of money. I consider him a mildly-talented, 2-dimensional actor who always plays the same character, and yet he’s been in a nonstop parade of incredible movies (no thanks to his performances).
Free Stephen Awesome Strasburg!
Incorrect, my scrappy little friend
I’ll just keep throwing pithy aphorisms at you:
Sometimes it’s better to say nothing and be thought an idiot than to say something and remove all doubt.
Nice Guys Finish Third - Hopelessly lost, but makin' good time.
I'll be honest, I'm rooting for Coach on this one
The ♥ Jose Lopez ♥ Watch - 147 H, 16 BB, 42 G Left
by seattlebruin on Aug 14, 2008 2:23 PM PDT up reply actions
But I'm not rooting for you!
The ♥ Jose Lopez ♥ Watch - 147 H, 16 BB, 42 G Left
by seattlebruin on Aug 14, 2008 2:24 PM PDT up reply actions
.
The ♥ Jose Lopez ♥ Watch - 147 H, 16 BB, 42 G Left
by seattlebruin on Aug 14, 2008 2:24 PM PDT up reply actions
My House% just went up
The ♥ Jose Lopez ♥ Watch - 147 H, 16 BB, 42 G Left
by seattlebruin on Aug 14, 2008 2:25 PM PDT up reply actions
Naw, I'm not big on House
Most of my commenter value comes from dead memes and my the Office%
The ♥ Jose Lopez ♥ Watch - 147 H, 16 BB, 42 G Left
by seattlebruin on Aug 14, 2008 2:27 PM PDT up reply actions
....
did I just get owned by Coach?
The ♥ Jose Lopez ♥ Watch - 147 H, 16 BB, 42 G Left
by seattlebruin on Aug 14, 2008 2:29 PM PDT up reply actions
You did indeed.
And I’m quite proud of the young lad.
Nice Guys Finish Third - Hopelessly lost, but makin' good time.
I am also laughing at my own expense right now
The ♥ Jose Lopez ♥ Watch - 147 H, 16 BB, 42 G Left
by seattlebruin on Aug 14, 2008 2:31 PM PDT up reply actions
My Office% and Simpsons% is off the scale.
I live in georegia but i dont see rusia no where not even sound but they says theres tanks should i be worrie-Yahoo Answers
by Phil Hatzenbuehler on Aug 14, 2008 2:30 PM PDT up reply actions
Someone's got to root for the scrappy little commenter.
I’m just padding my LL stats right now.
You really need to see House
but then you also need to watch A Bit Of Fry And Laurie to fully realize how much genius is carried in Hugh Laurie’s brain.
Nice Guys Finish Third - Hopelessly lost, but makin' good time.
In honor of the last season of The Wire coming out on DVD this week,
I will mention that Idris Elba’s American accent on that show is amazingly good. I had no idea he was British.
It's the accent.
Hugh Laurie might be one of the most humble, insecure actors ever.
Coach, you'll be lucky to go to community college.
by Graham MacAree on Aug 14, 2008 3:20 PM PDT up reply actions
TOS
The ♥ Jose Lopez ♥ Watch - 147 H, 16 BB, 42 G Left
by seattlebruin on Aug 14, 2008 3:22 PM PDT up reply actions
The Original Series.
I swear to god, anytime I see “TOS” I think of Star Trek.
God, I’m a nerd.
I live in georegia but i dont see rusia no where not even sound but they says theres tanks should i be worrie-Yahoo Answers
by Phil Hatzenbuehler on Aug 14, 2008 3:23 PM PDT up reply actions
Fine I'll stop
I knew I should have gone with “don’t be mean unless you’re Graham”
The ♥ Jose Lopez ♥ Watch - 147 H, 16 BB, 42 G Left
by seattlebruin on Aug 14, 2008 3:26 PM PDT up reply actions
Oh God
I had mid-90’s AOL flashbacks when I saw that. I used to get in a lot of TOS trouble and they kept trying to shut down my account. What’s so bad about swearing at someone who’s being a fucking idiot in chat room?
Free Stephen Awesome Strasburg!
Ahaha now you having me flash back to AOL chat rooms.
It’s a good thing we don’t chat on the internet anymore, right guys?
::waits for autoupdate replies::
the other angels fan
Chewing gum is such a terrible habit for me
I really should stop, but I know I won’t
The ♥ Jose Lopez ♥ Watch - 147 H, 16 BB, 42 G Left
When I consider the alternative
Which is that I will constantly, subconsciously pick at whatever food is in front of me until it’s gone, chewing gum is a great alternative.
Free Stephen Awesome Strasburg!
Try smoking crack.
it cures the oral fixation and the eating issue all at once.
Nice Guys Finish Third - Hopelessly lost, but makin' good time.
But that would likely cause me to lose my job
Which would take away the income that finances my newfound crack addiction. Seems like a downhill skid.
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I have an unbreakable addiction to constantly eating sunflower seeds at my desk.
I’m like a fucking squirrel.
This is currently my signature.
There are worse things to constantly eat at one's desk
at my last gig, there was that woman who’s always present in every office, the one that has a candy bowl, and she told me once over drinks that half the reason she brought in candy all the time was to watch people make themselves fat because they couldn’t stop eating the candy.
Nice Guys Finish Third - Hopelessly lost, but makin' good time.
Hahaha
I keep a candy bowl on my desk, but it’s mostly so that random people will drop by and say hello. And to get it out of my house, since I buy it and then realize that if I don’t get it away from my desk I will eat a giant bag in 2 days flat.
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Ooh, that seems to be seasonal with me
(which may be even more squirrel like?)
Every spring, around baseball season, I go through piles of ‘em. It grosses people out, because I’ll have a massive goblet of spit-out shells on my desk. But hey, get away from my desk!
I wish it were seasonal with me.
And lately I’ve gotten into the hard stuff. Jalapeño Hos Salsa sunflower seeds from David, and Jim Beam brand whiskey soaked Jalapeño sunflower seeds.
This is currently my signature.
I really, really want sunflower seeds right now, man.
I’m going Tyrone Biggums right now…
He who is without sin, throwth the first rock…and I shalt smoketh it!
They don't have to hold down desk jobs to make the rent, though.
Nice Guys Finish Third - Hopelessly lost, but makin' good time.
Although Marion Berry might, these days.
Nice Guys Finish Third - Hopelessly lost, but makin' good time.
Wrong one
you’re looking for this guy.
Nice Guys Finish Third - Hopelessly lost, but makin' good time.
I still play Doom 2.
I live in georegia but i dont see rusia no where not even sound but they says theres tanks should i be worrie-Yahoo Answers
by Phil Hatzenbuehler on Aug 14, 2008 2:01 PM PDT up reply actions
Best British sketch show since Monty Python.
Nice Guys Finish Third - Hopelessly lost, but makin' good time.
Has anyone seen "That Mitchell and Webb Look"?
BBC sketch-comedy show, from what I understand. I haven’t seen it but have heard great things.
It's pretty good, kinda inconsistent
I’ve only seen two or three episodes, and it kinda goes from hysterical to WTF in the same 5 min period.
Nice Guys Finish Third - Hopelessly lost, but makin' good time.
Yeah, I definitely want to see more of it
it’s hard to form an opinion on the limited sample I’ve seen.
Nice Guys Finish Third - Hopelessly lost, but makin' good time.
If I was the third best in the world at any one thing
I’m not sure I’d get all pissy about it.
Nice Guys Finish Third - Hopelessly lost, but makin' good time.
This reminds me
of when French figure skater Surya Bonaly (sic) won the silver, got pissy that she didn’t win and threw her medal off during the ceremony. She got booed out of the building.
She was awesome
Did backflips in non-professional skating events. They banned them from official competitions because they were too dangerous.
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Hahahahahahhaha
I’d be pissed too if my name was Ara Abrahamian.
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Does anybody have any experience with Apple refurbs?
I’m finally ditching my PC, thanks to Dell and my needing to involve the Better Business Bureau to get a simple problem solved, and I notice that I can get more computer for not that much more money if I buy a refurbed iMac as opposed to a new one.
Are Apple refurbs good to go out of the box, usually? I know they’re fully covered by Apple’s regular warranty, but I’ve had so many problems getting my last two computers up and running that I really want my next one to just work from day 1.
Nice Guys Finish Third - Hopelessly lost, but makin' good time.
Nope.
Far too much work and not enough knowledge and patience in me. I want to open the box and have it work because someone who knows what they’re doing connected tab A to slot B.
Nice Guys Finish Third - Hopelessly lost, but makin' good time.
Apples are terrible
Even the new ones don’t work from day 1.
I may be a little biased, but it’s only because I had a Mac for 4 years and it was no end of trouble. They don’t blue screen, they just freeze/restart with no error message. Every time something breaks you have to take it into a specialist who usually just replaces a piece of the hardware (which is still a much more complex component than it is on a PC, thus more expensive).
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How many Macs have you had?
Was it just this one that gave you trouble, or have you had several? The only reason I ask is because my last THREE PC’s have been horrifyingly messed up, and I’m pretty much done. I’ve heard good things about Apple, and I really, really want to get away from PC’s if I can.
Nice Guys Finish Third - Hopelessly lost, but makin' good time.
We've had Macs forever (still running the same original iMacs at the parents home since I was in 6th grade)
I’ve found that they freeze a little more often than my Windows machines (I have two PCs) but that in terms of major problems, we’ve never had one – they work as well as the day they came out of the box. Very user friendly as well.
The ♥ Jose Lopez ♥ Watch - 147 H, 16 BB, 42 G Left
by seattlebruin on Aug 14, 2008 3:43 PM PDT up reply actions
That's key for me
they work as well as the day they came out of the box
I’ve NEVER had a Windows box that can claim that – even the one I’m using right now, which I have tuned and virus-protected and registry-tweaked and old-software-removed to within an inch of its life.
Nice Guys Finish Third - Hopelessly lost, but makin' good time.
I can tell you that my family has had very good experiences with the five that we've had
(I only described the iMacs because the other three have belonged to my brothers and I haven’t been allowed to use them), but we’ve never had a serious problem besides a disk drive malfunction on one (but that obviously was a HW problem, not a SW problem).
The ♥ Jose Lopez ♥ Watch - 147 H, 16 BB, 42 G Left
by seattlebruin on Aug 14, 2008 3:49 PM PDT up reply actions
I've only had the one
But so many pieces of it were replaced it might have well have been 3 or 4 totally different computers. Here’s the thing about computers: They break. No matter what you buy, it’s going to crap out. With PCs, they’re not very intuitive about it, but they always give you an error message of some sort that you can use to figure out what’s broken. A lot of people hate the BSOD, but it never fails to give me the information I need to research the problem I’m having online and fix the offending hardware/software. Usually it’s 20-45 minutes of effort and $0 cost, a couple of times a year.
With Macs, you don’t get any of that. They’re so concerned with being user friendly and intuitive that they don’t want to give you any “jargon” or error messages that are descriptive of the problem. Instead, they just reboot and hope for the best. When a serious issue happens, this leaves you without any information to do your own troubleshooting, and even if it’s a software problem you have to replace hardware. Also, the hardware that Apple puts into them is so proprietary and secretive that you can’t just swap out a bad video card or stick of RAM like in a PC… More often you have to replace 2, 3, 4 components at once because they’re all tied together.
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If only the BSOD was my problem
The machine I just sent back would have been great if all it got were BSOD – but the list of things wrong with it was as long as my arm. I’m a tech person by career, but I’m also tremendously attracted to a machine that I don’t HAVE to spend a lot of time researching root causes of problems for. I spend $1500-2K on a machine, I don’t think it’s asking too much to have a machine that runs reliably, and my last several Windows boxes (from varying manufacturers) just haven’t. So, I’m shopping for alternatives.
Nice Guys Finish Third - Hopelessly lost, but makin' good time.
Oh, and thanks for the info, by the way...
Nice Guys Finish Third - Hopelessly lost, but makin' good time.
I offer what I can
Hope you found/find it helpful.
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What are you going on about?
Apple doesn’t use proprietary RAM. The motherboards are using fairly standard Intel-style parts, mostly. Apple does customize some stuff, but it’s not like ZOMG WE HAVE NEVER SEEN THIS BEFOAR WTFBBQ
Also, if you MUST see what’s going on under the hood, verbose and single user mode are your friends.
Oh, and Macs come with a full Unix shell, perl, emacs, and all those lovely command line tools, too. Hell, run top if you’d like.
by eponymous_coward on Aug 14, 2008 10:49 PM PDT up reply actions
This must be new (last ~5 years)
My Mac had none of those features…
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Oops...
http://blog.seattletimes.nwsource.com/mariners/2008/08/ibanez_likely_to_stay.html
This is currently my signature.
Assuming Heyman is in EST it looks like his post is 2+ hours after Bakers
Though I’d expect Baker to have better sources…. but I’m not exactly surprised.
Heyman's been pretty wrong before
but I’m not surprised if the FO decided to demand far too much for Washburn.
GodfuckingDAMMIT.
I live in georegia but i dont see rusia no where not even sound but they says theres tanks should i be worrie-Yahoo Answers
by Phil Hatzenbuehler on Aug 14, 2008 2:56 PM PDT up reply actions
No, not really
Just fucking pissed.
I live in georegia but i dont see rusia no where not even sound but they says theres tanks should i be worrie-Yahoo Answers
by Phil Hatzenbuehler on Aug 14, 2008 3:00 PM PDT up reply actions
Holy jebus it's hot
94 right now, headed to 99, and supposed to be 101 tomorrow. I like summer, but this is stupid – this is PORTLAND, not Tucson or Phoenix.
Nice Guys Finish Third - Hopelessly lost, but makin' good time.
Portland usually has a couple 100+ degree days.
And, really, this summer hasn’t been that hot.
I live in georegia but i dont see rusia no where not even sound but they says theres tanks should i be worrie-Yahoo Answers
by Phil Hatzenbuehler on Aug 14, 2008 3:16 PM PDT up reply actions
I know, I've been here for 6 years
and I still don’t like it. I’m usually the last person to complain about heat – if I could have a San Diego-ish 87 for 350 days a year, I’d take it – but once it crosses 95 I really dislike it. I’m really more annoyed at the level of humidity – when it hits 90-odd in Seattle, it’s never quite as humid as it is here. Stupid inland location.
Nice Guys Finish Third - Hopelessly lost, but makin' good time.
I know what you mean about the humidity.
I spend about 10 years living on Puget Sound and it never quite feels as hot there when the temperatures are similar.
I live in georegia but i dont see rusia no where not even sound but they says theres tanks should i be worrie-Yahoo Answers
by Phil Hatzenbuehler on Aug 14, 2008 3:23 PM PDT up reply actions
And it cools off at night there, which it doesn't do here
I’ve noticed here that when the weather says it’s going to be 97, it doesn’t GET to 97 until about 6pm, and doesn’t cool off till about 3AM – I always loved hot days in Seattle, because I knew by 10 or 11 I’d probably still need a hoodie.
Nice Guys Finish Third - Hopelessly lost, but makin' good time.
Yeah, San Diego is pretty nice
The ♥ Jose Lopez ♥ Watch - 147 H, 16 BB, 42 G Left
by seattlebruin on Aug 14, 2008 3:23 PM PDT up reply actions
KJR is saying that the Washburn trade fell through and he's definitely staying.
Didn’t hear the source.
This is currently my signature.
Gotcha covered, over there on the main page.
Nice Guys Finish Third - Hopelessly lost, but makin' good time.
The evolution (degeneration?) of the OTFPOTD
It may be SSS, but here’s some stats I pulled together on CPD (comments per day) for the OTFPOTD since this experiment began a few weeks back. We’re on a hot streak that would make Raul blush this week! Up next: OTFPOTD Part 2?
-Week 1 (7/29-8/1): 367/day
-Week 2 (8/4-8/8): 354/day
-Week 3 (8/11-Now): 478/day
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What are the stats on off-topic comments in baseball-related/front page posts?
That seems like the more important stat, though to be fair, these OTFPOTDs have turned out much better than I thought…
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