LouisEly

Got sick of my job, sick of my wife Sick of my future and sick of my life Packed up the car and I got some gas Told everybody they can...

I have a better physique at 42 than I had in my 20's. This is because I know a lot more about weight training, consume whey protein shakes after both weight training and cardio and before I go to bed at night, and know more about what nutrition works with my body and what doesn't. The thing is, back in the day baseball players didn't do weight training. The theory was that weight training made your muscles tight and tight muscles didn't work with baseball. That's false. They used spring training and training camp to get into shape and did very little in the offseason; not the case now. Yes, some people do use PEDs, but the reality is that the comparison used for modern athlete's physiques isn't accurate because weight training, fitness, and nutrition have advanced quite a bit over the last 30 years and is a lot more widespread than it was 30 years ago in baseball. Please provide some proof of the first sentence in your second paragraph other than just accusations. I believe that PED use was more widespread 10-15 years ago in baseball, but not today, certainly not along the lines of what you say as being "a lot" of them.

I think you just answered your own question. My question is what evidence do you have of this other than accusations? The MLB HR rate/AB 2013-2015: 2.77% The MLB HR rate/AB 1955-1960 (pre-1961/62 expansion): 2.64% Now factor in advances in strength training, nutrition, video analysis of pitchers, pitchers throwing harder, ballparks in thinner/higher altitudes (Colorado, Arizona), smaller ballparks (Cincinnati, RF in the new Yankee stadium), lowering the mound, ballparks with retractable roofs (less playing in adverse weather conditions), playing with fewer hangovers because of not going on as many benders the night before...

SRB thinks anyone who hit more than 20 home runs in a season during the last 25 years took PEDs.

I think they do it because they see it on TV and subsequently think it's cool. If they didn't see it on TV they wouldn't do it. Now THIS I agree with, because it was the exact reason I quit playing basketball in middle school and baseball in high school. If you try out for the team, but you're not in the clique with the rest of the players, you're not wanted on the team and they let you know it.

I think you could make the argument that if you yell at a 16-year-old kid at McDonald's because he/she got your order wrong - and don't give the kid a chance to make it right - you are a lousy human being. It's also apples and oranges because you are getting paid to work at McDonald's - unlike HS sports it's your job, it's not for fun, and it's not going to help you develop habits that will support your physical health for decades to come. I'm against the wussification of society too. (Don't get me started on this whole "give everyone a trophy for participating" crap.) But there's also a point where you draw the line, and there is a time and a place for everything. Should kids get yelled at? Yes, by their parents and coaches if they carelessly or deliberately screw up. And I think kids should get spanked if they deliberately misbehave. But it's about the intention - there should be negative consequences if the intention is bad. If a kid loafs it out on the court he/she should get yelled at because the intention is bad. If a kid is selfish and shoots a bad shot trying to rack up points instead of passing to an open teammate then he/she should get yelled at because the intention is bad. But if a kid is working hard and doing the best he/she can but physically can't make the play? No, because the intention is good. It's about the intention. If you read books on people management and motivation they all universally say to reward good intention even if the outcome is bad and punish bad intention even if the outcome is good. You reward and punish not based on outcome but on intention. There is a big difference between a chant started at a team for losing ("start the bus/your Lexus"), and a taunt directed at a specific person. And while most of the big schools (class sizes over 600 kids) usually have good players on the team, not all smaller schools (such as the one I went to that had less than 600 kids total in the four classes) have all good players on the team. Those are the ones I'm primarily talking about.

TV has created an unrealistic expectation of how good kids playing sports should be. People also emulate what they see on TV - because college students are doing something on TV makes it cool... but it doesn't make it appropriate in every setting. And the big picture is this - obesity and a general lack of fitness are huge problems in society, and a big part of that is because it is hard to get kids to play sports. It's hard to get kids to play sports because for many of them it's not fun when they aren't good, and the last thing they need is anything making the game even less fun. The last thing we need is anything that discourages kids from playing sports or causes kids to quit playing sports. There are other much better ways to teach mental toughness. You teach it through setting goals and using positive encouragement and motivation and rewarding them for reaching their goals. Kids feel bad enough when they don't do well - the last thing they need is other people making them feel worse. Do people make fun of kids when they don't do well on a test? Does that teach mental toughness? Of course not. So why is it OK in sports? And chanting "airball" once isn't a big deal; but when it happens every single time it's the cumulative effect that makes the game not fun. There is a time and a place for making fun of people when they don't perform, and I think that line is drawn at the point of playing for fun and playing for pay/performance. College kids are mostly on scholarship, so they are being paid to play, and they all were stars in HS. College is fine. But HS, in my opinion, is not.

I think that's a little different than this: http://coedmagazine.files.wordpress.com/2011/03/barry-bonds-after.jpg http://coedmagazine.files.wordpress.com/2011/03/barry-after.jpg?w=628&h=451 Lots of guys in baseball have big forearms - you need strong forearms to swing a bat with power - but you don't see Piazza with the biceps, neck, and traps that Bonds had.

He didn't lead the league in IBB in 2010 when McGehee was hitting behind him, but he did lead the league in IBB in 2012 with DET when McGehee wasn't hitting behind him.

Well, no, not really - Kotsay, Counsell, and Kottaras got a fair number of ABs and starts against tough RHP. They had guys to platoon. Also, one of those two LH bats was at that time one of if not the most feared LH bat in the game and a guy you were already thinking about when he was in the hole, much less on-deck. He led the league in IBB - and by a wide margin - for a reason.

Cleveland is done with the Manziel experiment (not that it ever had much of a chance to succeed) so they need a QB. As good as Hundley looked in the pre-season, I would think that the Packers could get Joe Thomas from the Browns for Hundley and Bakhtiari plus no more than a 3rd round pick if even that. If you think that's far-fetched, Jared Allen and Vernon Davis were traded this year for 6th round picks. If Hundley has another pre-season like the one he had this year he could easily be traded for Thomas straight up, likely with a pick coming with Thomas back to GB. I think that Wojo has Marquette on the upswing, especially if he can talk Ellenson into staying for a 2nd year.

ESPN Sunday mornings are basically a 3-hour commercial for Draft Kings and Fan Duel. I hate September-December because there are basically no highlight shows on Sunday mornings that recap the baseball/college football/college basketball games from Saturday. Half of SportsCenter is a preview of the NFL games that day.

If you are delivering to a secure-access multi-level apartment building and you have access to the building, will you go up to the actual apartment unit and knock on their door or will you just leave a tag at the mailbox?

If that's the case, then why would UPS (who I see more packages from than FedEx) bring packages to my door but not FedEx? Also, how can that be a hard and fast rule when you have high population density areas (downtown with apartment/condo buildings) and low population density areas (small towns, outer suburbs/exurbs)? They have to know that delivery downtown in larger cities is markedly different than in Delafield or Whitefish Bay. In Madison it was the same thing - UPS would go into the building and put packages by your door, but FedEx wouldn't come into the building. I think FedEx is more stringent on signing for packages than UPS. I suspected that Christmas was part (or all) of the issue - the driver may have just wanted to get his/her deliveries done quicker to be able to go home earlier. Which constitutes laziness and failure to do your job.

When you know that a package you have to sign for is arriving on a certain day, and you know you can work from home that day, and you are home all day, but the FedEx delivery driver makes no effort to knock on your door to get a signature and just leaves a door tag. He/she can get into the building, but instead of taking the elevator up to your floor to get a signature, just puts a tag on your mailbox. (There are no buzzers to individual units.) Then pulls the same crap the next day. (UPS will take the elevator and go right to your door, but FedEx... not so much.) Then FedEx tells you that you have to pick up your package at their main facility... in East St. Louis, IL. ----- Continued from: viewtopic.php?p=968961#p968961 Original Lead: viewtopic.php?f=67&t=2392

The new domestic abuse policy instituted last year has had a big effect on the likes of Chapman and K-Rod and the willingness of GMs to give up value for them in trade. Look at what Kimbrel was traded for (and his salary), and then look at what Chapman and K-Rod were traded for.

I'm guessing that after a few years of minor league ball in the early/mid 80's he didn't have the money for HGH. He's always looked like that - this isn't skinny Tim Raines who after a few years became "Rock" Raines and then mysteriously had a lot of injuries. There can be over a 3-fold difference in testosterone levels between two men and both be considered in "normal" medical range. It's a funny thing; there are guys who can have abnormally high testosterone levels. And if he's been juicing for 30+ years he would probably would have a past along the lines of Lex Luger.

Wondering if anyone can recommend a good Brewers news app. ZenMobi used to make one but I haven't gotten any updates since 10/1 and I can't find it on the app store; I assume it is now defunct. I downloaded one by Conjugo LLC (Milwaukee Baseball), but the news feature is definitely inferior to ZenMobi - seems like few if any Journal-Sentinel articles or other local sources.

The Cardinals have done lots of things well... and not gotten too heavily invested in old free agents. Well, no, this is not true. They have Molina signed through age 34 at $14.5M/year (the contract was 10/$96.5M, so they took a pretty big risk signing him for 10 years at age 25), Peralta is signed through age 35 at $13M/year, Holliday is signed through age 36 at $17M/year (7/$120M deal), Wainwright is signed through age 36 at $19.5M/year, they paid Carlos Beltran $13M/year for ages 35 and 36, they paid Jake Westbrook >$8M/year through age 35, gave Lance Berkman $10M/year for ages 35 and 36, and gave Chris Carpernter eight figures through age 38. They've invested pretty heavily in paying guys through their mid-30's.

Should be ignored. As should any list that has Tyrone Taylor ten spots ahead of Hader and Yadiel Rivera ten spots and Kyle Wren five spots ahead of Houser.

Nationwide Insurance. Go to website, get "free quote" for auto insurance. Says you can save additional by bundling renters insurance. But they won't tell you how much or give you the ability to find out - you have to purchase the auto insurance first. Call Nationwide to find out. No, they can't access your on-line quote, you have to go through the hassle of giving them the information again. Then they give you a quote that is double what the on-line quote was. What the hell?!? They said my insurance is lapsed. Like hell it is, it's paid through January 6th, and I have the policy number in front of me. Well, AAA apparently does not report to the "bureau" (?) so they can't validate my insurance. I have to send them proof, otherwise if I want to buy over the phone I have to pay double what the website said (which, on an annual basis, is almost 20% of the value of my vehicle). Doesn't exactly sound like Nationwide is on my side. (This is the type of BS that residents of St. Louis have to deal with. So are the Cardinals a reward for having to put up with the BS of living here, or is this the penance that St. Louis gets for having a baseball organization, team, and fans that are a bunch of classy jerks?)

What the non-stats crowd is saying (some more tactfully than others) is that metrics don't tell you that: 1) Last year was the first year that Braun played RF ever in his baseball career (possibly impacting the routes he took to go after balls), and B) Braun had back problems last year (which might very well have hindered his ability to go after balls, dive after balls, etc.) Can both of these two things change next year? If the answer is yes, then it's not definitive to say that he is a terrible RF. He might have been last year, but not necessarily moving forward.

Just my $0.02: 1) I think Rogers is more highly valued by MLB GMs than most people on this board. At every level of the minors people doubted him... and he proved them wrong. I'll take 4-5 good years from a 28-year-old. B) I'd take an entire team of 28-year-olds. Any player with a 2-handle in front of his age is young. Average age of the 2015 Royals hitters - 29.2, pitchers 30.0. 2014 Giants - 28.5 and 31.4. 2013 Red Sox - 29.8 and 30.1. 2011 Cardinals - 29.4 and 30.2. Probably not weighted based on PAs/Innings, but for every team the average age of pitchers is >30. Teams full of 26-year-olds don't win anything. 3) I think the rotation of Nelson, Garza, Peralta, Jungmann, and Davies/Pena/Cravy/Thornburg and the bullpen of Jeffress, Smith, Blazek, Knebel, Pena, Thornburg, Barrios, Goforth is going to be a lot better than people think. I think Davis isn't a fluke, Lucroy will return to form, and subsequently the Brewers will win more games than most people think. Definitely more than the Reds, Phillies, and Braves. 4) Speaking of Lucroy, it doesn't matter what position he plays, he doesn't have much trade value until he proves he has recovered from his concussion. He hasn't caught an inning since the concussion, and until he catches a couple hundred innings his trade value is as a first baseman. Extremely unlikely he gets moved this offseason.

The Brewers have much better pitching and, as of this moment, still have Braun, Lucroy, and Davis. The Reds will be worse than Milwaukee.

Well, one thing that isn't cheap in St. Louis is car insurance. My premium tripled from Madison. Yes, tripled. My annual premium is now approximately 10% of the value of my vehicle minus the deductible (which is $1000). So much for buying that new vehicle for a while. Basically every line item is tripled - liability, comprehensive, collision. I have a hard time believing there are that many accidents here to triple the collision rates. Do the high rates cause people to not get car insurance which increases the liability for uninsured/underinsured? Nice that I have to pay for that. There are a lot of vehicle break-ins and a fair amount of thefts, but those happen to vehicles parked on the street to idiots who leave stuff in their vehicle or who are too cheap to pay for parking. I park my vehicle in a secured indoor parking garage; I shouldn't have to pay for those idiots' broken windows and slashed tires/stolen wheels. Why do they not ask where you park your vehicle (street, lot, garage, etc.) and charge accordingly? Why not a higher deductible for things that happen to vehicles parked on the street vs. in a secured garage? That will get people to change their behavior. And if this has anything to do with Ferguson... well, those comments are reserved for the Political Forum.