mothershipconnection

Dallas

I think even if you know exactly who you want, you interview other candidates unless you know that guy wants nothing in the world more than your coaching position. Melvin would look like an idiot if he only interviewed Macha only to find out that he really wanted another job and turned us down. If you interview several candidates and your top candidate goes elsewhere, you save face by saying Randolph was always your man.

Don't laugh, I'm paying $25 a month with no bundle, no contract, no fees on top of that whatsoever. http://www.speedtest.net/result/348333027.png

I just filled up for $1.97 a gallon. Yeah, it's not a drunken typo, that really is a ONE at the beginning of that price. Funny thing is, the gas station 100 yards away was still at $2.35. What kind of moron would go to a gas station a half block away and pay an extra $7 to fill up?

Especially the Pam/Jim/brothers scenes, Yeah, that sucked something fierce, but the rest was gold. I loved Michael crying and saying he'd have no choice but to go back to Jan. Now that I'm thinking about how funny it was, I'm gonna have to fire up the DVR and rewatch.

I hate being forced to wear a costume. I do own a Darth Vader episode 5 lightsaber, so I'm wearing my clothes from work, bringing my lightsaber, and being "a sith on casual friday".

Just because of the normal strong arm/quick glove tranlates well? I would guess that's it. You don't need blazing speed and range to be a mediocre 3B, but you need quick reflexes and a good/accurate arm.

I'd go six years with CC only if the last two years are options based on 180 IP the previous season. I have enough faith in CC that if he's healthy at 33, he'll still be a very good pitcher.

My transcription of snippets of Haudricourt's D-List appearance. "I mean, they'll move fast...I mean, as I wrote this morning, I'm pretty sure they have their man in Ken Macha. I've got all kinds of strong indications that he's the guy and I don't really see a change of heart coming over these next few days." ...(his last line)"I'm sure we're gonna have one [announcement] by the end of the week, one way or another". New contracts for Billy Castro, Ed Sedar, and Mike Maddux? "I think that's a done deal. The Brewers aren't announcing it, but I think that's done, I think those three guys are done. And I really believe Dale Sveum coming back as the bench coach or the 3rd base coach is fairly a done deal too." "I think Macha''s agreed to a kind of pre-arranged staff". On Jason Kendall (and his criticism of Macha in the past) "I gotta believe Doug Melvin looked into that and reconciled it in his mind". No mention of phone calls.

Holliday to L.A. for Pierre+cash and a pitching prospect would seem to make sense. It's one of the few places Pierre may "fit", and as crappy as he is, he's still not Taveras bad.

I don't want a salary floor, because I think that just overpays mediocrity. If they went with a very aggressive redistribution system, I think a floor would be an acceptable policy if it were a reasonable "salary and player acquisition" floor. If it were set up at $50MM and a team were only at $45MM, then they just draft a superior player with signability concerns or use it to compete in the international signing bonus game. But yeah, setting a floor on MLB salary, unless it's really low ($35-40MM), would be a bad idea. A hard cap would kill baseball as we know it. A hard cap means you'll never see a Sabtahia trade again. I don't think it'd be an issue as long as the cap is kept high. I think a $125MM hard cap would be just fine. Rich teams still have a big edge, but some of the ridiculousness of it is curbed. It would at least make teams think twice before signing 7 year free agent deals with injury or declining skills risks.

Why not Kapler? We've desperately clung to 1982 for an eternity, maybe we need to get a head start on trying to cling to the glory of 2008 for a generation.

I think it's supposed to put a non-tacky layer on top of the tar so it won't stick to a tire and be pulled out before it can dry.

I bought my ex's wedding ring on layaway because I got a really good deal that I wouldn't have cash to pay off for 2 months. That way I could lock in the price without having to pay interest on my credit card and just went back when I had the cash and picked it up.

I couldn't disagree more. We need a calm manager. We don't need a manger who is going to throw players under the bus just to make fans feel better. It matters what happens in the locker room, not in the press room. I think the ideal manager in terms of "attitude" would be 60% Yost's "niceness" with 25% Pinella's general ability to go off and 15% of Showalter's ability to be a complete jerk when unhappy. Yost was too easy on players who stunk, but I honestly think that's vastly superior to a guy who completely goes off and makes players hate him when they struggle. You need a manager who is generally level-headed but will go off on those occasions when it's genuinely necessary.

I'll go on record as saying either Macha or Showalter are major steps down from Ned Yost. To be as big a jerk as either of those guys reportedly are, you'd have had to take the talent level of the 2002 Brewers to the playoffs to impress me. All the buzz in Texas was that Showalter's players respected him about as much as SABR members respect Juan Pierre.

I thought this was probably one of the weakest recent episodes. There were a couple of pretty good lines, but just way too much dead time in between, and it didn't really seem to be one of those mediocre episodes that kinda sets up a great episode, but who knows.

Are there any other parents out here that have children in the 2-3.5 y/o range? My son is 3 months short of 3 years old and is obviously right in the middle of the terrible two's. He is learning phrases like "shut up" and "I hate you" at daycare of late and those seem to be getting to my wife and I. He also insists on doing everything by himself and if we try to help with anything like putting his socks/shoes on he throws himself on the floor and screams bloody murder! Honestly, this may sound cold, but about the best procedure for that problem is to physically prompt your child through that response multiple times. That is, if he throws a fit when being assisted through putting on his jacket, you (without delivering eye contact or saying a word) "assist" him in putting on his jacket over and over again until he stops crying and throwing a tantrum. Then, prompt the appropriate response: "I want to do it myself". This way, he learns that he'll never get what he wants by throwing himself on the floor, but will get what he wants by calmly asking for it. If that approach doesn't fit your parenting philosophy, a time out may be just as effective. I know that patience is a virtue but I mine is starting to fray a bit. Do any of you have any tips or tricks on how you were able to break these types of habits? I'm not much of the "I'll give you a treat if you stop doing that" type but I am willing to try almost anything. Bargaining with a child once he has engaged in problem behavior is a recipe for absolute disaster. This teaches him that once he's behaving inappropriately, he will be able to access fun things that he wouldn't have been offered if he were good to begin with. Never allow a child to earn the same desired items and activities they can get when they're good during or shortly after episodes of problem behavior. Think about it, if your boss only offered you a raise to shut you up after you acted like a jerk in a meeting and then called in sick 4 days in a row, you'd have good reason to act like an awful employee. If he only gave you a raise after you'd completed a huge task flawlessly ahead of schedule, you'll probably continue to try to be a model worker. You have to stand your ground, even if that is in a public place when bad behavior can make it that much more frustrating. Absolutely. Never, EVER, state that a consequence will be delivered when it will not. If you do, your verbal consequences and statements will have little to no effect, thus, you'll need to mechanically deliver any consequences for them to be effective. Once your child learns "if daddy says no cartoons, that means no cartoons". you'll be able to lay down rules they'll follow because your rules mean something and aren't hollow words. If you do this effectively, you'll spend way less time yelling and putting your child in time out. On the topic of time out, while it's a very effective procedure, it has to be implemented correctly. Time out means time out from everything, and that includes your attention - physical, eye contact, even reprimands. When time out is warranted, tell the child calmly and dryly "No [problem behavior], time out". Escort them to a designated area where they don't have access to fun things, and make them sit there for a designated period. Research shows that behavior-based (child gets out X minutes after problem behavior ceases) and time-based (time out ends after set time, regardless of behavior during time out) are equally effective. At the end of the time out, calmly state, "your time out is over. [restate rule, such as 'no hitting']". I pretty much go 3-minutes across the board for my clients and adjust accordingly (severe problems require stronger consequences). The hardest part is actually enforcing it if they do not comply, so the key is choosing things you are comfortable with. Yeah, you've gotta follow through, never threaten a consequence you can't deliver. Always remember that ignoring means acting as if the child is not there. If you're making eye contact or acknowledging his presence at all, you aren't ignoring. For those fits in the store because the kid wants something, you have to either give in IMMEDIATELY, or never give in at all. If you give in immediately, you do reinforce problem behavior, but you reinforce a very brief problem behavior that will not last an hour next time when he can't get it. The child will then learn, "either daddy gives in as soon as I cry, or he'll never give in", so he'll only cry for a few seconds and then give up when he didn't get what he wants. There's a valid parallel between problem behavior in children and gambling. If they never pay off, the gambler never gambles and the kid never tantrums. If they pay off randomly, behaviors are strong because the next coin, the next tantrum, could produce the jackpot. Be a broken slot machine and your kid will stop pumping in quarters.

It's hard to imagine this being a big enough upgrade over management options in current games to make up for the lack of being able to play the games.

At this point, prices at or near $4 are just not sustainable in the world economy - it's not just us feeling a crunch right now. Something a quarter on either side of $2.75 probably seems most likely at this point. I don't see $2.25-ish as very likely since sellers know that if they maintain careful control of supply, people will pay $3 without changing their consumption a whole lot. That said, if the economy continues to worsen, prices could continue to fall as those in weaker economies will need to really cut back on their use.

Youkilis had a .959 OPS this year, it would take a lot more than Hart to land him after the two moved in opposite directions this year. If we want to trade Hart, it's likely smartest to wait/hope for him to rebound next year.

Have 'em ship it to your work or family. That's what I've always done for gifts.

Anyone looking back and laughing at the 2 win prediction is like looking back at last year and laughing at someone who predicted the Patriots would only win 12 games. There was nothing at the time that indicated Sabathia would be as dominant as he ended up being, so the predictions were based, as all predictions are, on what he HAD done, not a magical glimpse into the future and what he would do. Last year he won the Cy Young on a 2.76 ERA in the second half, so to accurately predict 1.56 would require magic.

I think our best case scenario for these two is that they're signed by the Dodgers and Blue Jays so we get the best possible picks (without either going to StL or the 1/1billion shot of signing with FL).

Offering Gagne arbitration wouldn't be a good idea. He's not worth much, so you pretty much make him what you consider a reasonable offer and let him walk if he doesn't want it.