Patrick425

Braun: "During the course of preparing for my successful appeal last year, my attorneys, who were previously familiar with Tony Bosch, used him as a consultant." Cornwall (Braun's lead attorney): "I was not familiar with Tony Bosch prior to Ryan Braun's case. Bosch was introduced to me at the earliest stage of Ryan's case."

Well, this does not sound good as it pretty much contradicts what Braun said in his statement.

Ah, I see. I thought it looked more like "Juan", but I didn't know of any "Juan" that won the MVP.

His lawyer's name was on the list? I'm not doubting your statement...I just don't remember hearing or reading about this before (I do tend to skim articles when reading). Copied this from the Yahoo! article: " Later in the document are multiple mentions of Chris Lyons, one of Braun's attorneys during the 2011-12 offseason when he fought the positive test. When reached by Yahoo! Sports on Tuesday evening, Lyons declined comment." Ok, I probably should have just gone back and re-read the original Yahoo story from yesterday. As I look at that story again, I don't understand what this is: http://l.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/MC4Qahik.AIRsI80h0lAaQ--/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7cT04NTt3PTMxMA--/http://l.yimg.com/j/assets/ipt/braunname2.jpg Does it say "Dear Ryan, Congratulations on the MVP"? Doesn't seem like the article really talks about it or what it says. Would love to see a "deciphered" version of the letter. Also, why is it all crossed out? It's still fairly readable, so what was the purpose of doing that (by whoever did it)?

His lawyer's name was on the list? I'm not doubting your statement...I just don't remember hearing or reading about this before (I do tend to skim articles when reading).

That's a great point actually. How would the player be "outed" and why would a lab that is engaging in illegal activities do that? Neither the lab nor the player wants to get caught.

Was it commonly known a year ago that this guy was a steroid dealer? Edit: Nevermind...went back and read the ESPN story that was in post #1 on this thread. Didn't know that Bosch had ties to Manny Ramirez back in 2009. So, yeah, gotta agree, why would you go anywhere near this guy if you were clean?

Sorry, gotta disagree with you. The reason they get away with it and are "better at PR" is because the evidence on the field is not nearly as clear as it is in baseball. When you have two guys in one season battling to beat a season HR record that has stood for 37 years that's pretty clear evidence. Then when another player comes along 3 years later and obliterates the record again that's pretty clear evidence. When you have a guy like Brady Anderson, who had never hit more than 21 HRs in a season, then all of a sudden hits 50, that's pretty clear evidence. Baseball is very much a numbers game, much more than football is. Yes you may have big guys putting up incredible 40 speeds in football, but the general public does not notice this as much as they noticed all the HRs suddenly being hit in baseball.

Yeah, right after I posted this I talked to a few other people and they basically said what you stated (not a whole lot of "cheap" internet options available), but I could save money on the phone bill. One person I talked to mentioned Ooma, where you basically just pay an initial fee for the equipment and then a very small monthly service fee ($5 or something?). I definitely will be looking into that.

I currently have Time Warner Cable and do not plan on switching (mainly because I enjoy having multiple TVs in the house without having to pay a monthly fee for all of them). However, I also have Internet and phone service through TWC. I feel they are gouging me on both. My internet bill, including an optional $10 for Turbo service (15mps), comes to $55/month. The phone service comes to $44/month (I do not have an interest in getting rid of my LAN line completely). My main concern right now is looking into cheaper internet provider options. Anyone have any suggestions?

Thanks for the info Wizkid. Very helpful! I've actually been looking at and keeping up on tuition costs of various colleges for a long time now. We have been saving in a 529 plan since he was a baby and luckily for my son (in this regards anyways), he an only child, so we've been able to put away a decent amount for him and, barring any big market crashes in the next few years, he should be pretty set financially.

This has been brought to my attention by another person. I've been out of school for over 25 years and, to be honest, I really never gave a ton of thought to how GPA was calculated when I was in HS and College. It's not so much your example that bothers me. 86 and 84 are really not that far apart. It's when 86 and 84 are used to calculate pretty different GPA (see my "example 2" in one of my recent posts). Waukesha uses standardized grading for everything. Which means they grade everything on a four point scale. I don't mind this. In fact, I think it's good to correlate everything to the same scale used for GPA. However, Waukesha, like everyplace else I guess, has hung up over letter grades. So, if a student gets a 3.18 final GPA in a class, they feel the need to convert this to a letter grade and then back to a GPA grade. Why not just keep everyone's GPA for every class? Then take the average (I have no problem giving extra weight to AP classes) and the result is your final total GPA. I don't get this obsession with letter grades. When you go to college web sites and look at their admission policies, it never list the letter grade that they are looking for in a student, it talks about GPA. Really? So they view the student who took the minimal level courses and easy electives the same as the student who took several AP courses and more challenging electives? I really hope that's not the case, because I don't agree with that at all.

When I saw the title of this thread I thought where is Amaro and what player made an official of that town go insane?

Wizkid, looking at the title of my son's classes, it appears you are correct. AP Prep Biology, AP Prep English, Intro to AP Social Studies, Honors Geometry. For whatever reason, people (parents, students) just refer to these classes as AP classes and not there real name of AP prep or Honors. I'm assuming the 18 classes truly listed as AP (and get extra weight) meet the standards you mentioned.

There is not a "total points possible" in a class system in place. There are assignments/tests in each class. There were anywhere from as few as 8 graded assigned/tests in social studies to as many as 37 in geometry in my son's first semester. On top of that some assignments are "formative" and some are "summative". Summative assignments are weighted more (anywhere from 67% to 90%). They compute two separate GPAs for summative and formative and then add them together based on their weights. For example is that a student may have the following summative grades: 3.5 2.5 3 3 3.75 2.25 3.25 Assuming none of these summative grades are weighted more than another (which can also happen), his/her summative grade would be 3.03 (the average of all of them). This would then by multiplied by the summative weight to produce his "summative GPA" and then added to his weighted "formative GPA" to produce his/her total GPA for the class. Not really as complicated as I may be making it sound. Here is really what I'm having trouble wrapping my head around: Example 1: Math grade for Student A: 3.24 Math grade for Student B: 3.01 Example 2: Math grade for Student A: 3.25 Math grade for Student B: 3.24 In example one, in Waukesha, both students get a final GPA for math of 3.33 (even though, in reality, one student achieved a grade .23 points higher than the other) In example two, in Waukesha, Student A gets a final GPA in math of 3.67 and student B gets a 3.33 (even though only .01 separated the students in reality) Again, does this make sense to anyone? Yes, is in 4 AP classes, but they do not earn college credits, nor are they weighted any differently at the Freshmen level. They are labled AP because they are more "advanced" than the "standard" classes that a freshmen is expected to take (example: AP prep English 9 vs. English 9). Teachers make recommendations as to who should take AP classes. There are 18 AP classes at the Soph, Junior, and Senior levels that are weighted more in regards to GPA. Whether or not any of these courses count towards college credit, I'm not sure.

My son is in four AP classes, but they are not weighted any more for freshmen. However, once you get into your sophmore, junior, and senior years there are 18 different AP courses that are given more weight. This is the scale for them: A+ = 5.33 A = 5.0 A‐ = 4.67 B+ = 4.33 B = 4.0 B‐ = 3.67 C+ = 3.33 C = 3.0 C‐ = 2.67 D+ = 1.33 D = 1.0 D‐ = 0.67 F = 0

Ok..I have something that is really bothering me and I'm hoping someone out there in the education field (or has had kids go through HS) explain this to me. Sorry about the length of this! My son is a Freshman in HS in Waukesha. First semester grades and GPAs just came out. I was trying to understand his GPA calculation and then my son explained to me that each grade is given a set GPA to go towards you total GPA. So, for example...generally during the semester any grade between 2.75 and 2.99 is a B. However, if you get total grade of a B in a class for the semester you automatically get a 3.0 (regardless of whether you got a 2.75 or 2.99). In addition the scale is not uniformly applied for each grade. Here is the scale: Normal range in parentheses A+ (3.75-4) = 4.33 A (3.5-3.74) = 4.0 A‐ (3.25-3.49) = 3.67 B+ (3-3.24) = 3.33 B (2.75-2.99) = 3.0 B‐ (2.5-2.74) = 2.67 C+ (2.25-2.49) = 2.33 C (2-2.24) = 2.0 C‐ (1.75-1.99) = 1.67 D+ (1.5-1.74) = 1.33 D (1.25-1.49) = 1.0 D‐ (1-1.24) = 0.67 F (<1) = 0 The scale is set up so that you get "bonus points" for getting a B or better in a class. For example the normal scale for a B+ is 3 to 3.25. However, if you get a B+ as a final grade you get a 3.33. However, you can possibly get penalized for getting less than a B. For example the normal scale for a C+ is 2.25 to 2.49. So, you could get a 2.49 in a class and then get bumped to a 2.33, but another person could get 2.25 and get "bonus points" and the same GPA (2.33). Not sure how this makes any sense. What is really annoying is that my son got B+ in two classes. In one class he got a 3.19 and in another a 3.20. So .06 and .05 away from A- in both classes. Based on the above scale, he received a final GPA of 3.33 in both classes. So, if had just boosted his grades by a combined total of.11 points in both classes (up to an A- in both classes) he could have received a 3.67 in both classes. If you take it to the extreme, someone who gets a 3.24 gets a .09 boost in GPA (3.33 - 3.24)and someone who gets a 3.25 gets a .42 boost (3.67-3.25) in GPA (for that class). What?!? Does this make any sense to anyone? Why don't they just give the students the scores they earned. If you get a 3.21 in a class, then count the 3.21 towards the overall GPA. Why is there this need to make an adjustment up or down? edit: I added the normal GPA ranges for comparison

What else can he say? "I guess I never expected to be this good. I should have never signed that deal. It cost me hundreds of millions of dollars." I think there are players out there that would be whining and moaning about their contract and/or be critical of upper management and moves (or lack of moves) that they are making to improve the team. It wouldn't be the first time a MLB player whined about their contract. Ricky Henderson was probably the most famous example, but there have been others.

Brewtank's me time/baby time post was very good and I'd like to also add this. I've seen couples who still try to live the life they had before having children. So they drag their newborn with them all over the place...sporting events, vacations, parties, even bars. The baby never has a "routine" day or sleep pattern. Please don't do this. Like many posts in this topic have stated, realize that with kids come sacrifice. But...it is all well worth it!

Not sure who Mitch is but Chet would be sweet. Yes..you are correct. I meant Chet, but I think I had Mitch Stetter in my head.

"We sent the MRI to Dr. Steadman. We don't know if it needs to be followed up with a personal visit." Cory, you are a MLB ballplayer, you have a little money. Just get on a plane and go see the guy (I don't know? Maybe the Brewers even need to pay for this?). Why wait to see if the Dr. calls back and says "I need to see you"? I don't mind him getting a second opinion, but why didn't he get it right away? So if the second opinion confirms the first, is it going to be another 5-7 days before the surgery? tick...tock...tick...tock...tick..tock. By the way...is Dr. Steadman's first name Mitch? That would be awesome.

That's a skill I wish I had as well. I think most people are capable of learning it to some degree, but I also believe it comes much easier to some people than others. I have a theory that people that are good at drumming are also good at juggling and that both are more natural skills than learned skills. I know I have seen books in book stores that teach how to juggle and come with a "starter kit". I think my son may have received one for one of his birthdays or as a Christmas gift one year. Edit: Found a link to the book on amazon (notice the hole in the upper left corner of the book?...that's where they attach mesh bag of bean bags. I think the 2nd reader review of the book mentions the free bean bags that come with it). http://www.amazon.com/Juggling-Complete-Klutz-30th-Anniversary/dp/1591744482/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1358807118&sr=1-1&keywords=learn+how+to+juggle

Not sure how you can think he has "great work ethic" and also believe he's "sandbagging injuries/surgeries to avoid spring training". Those two thoughts seem to be in direct conflict with each other.

Really? Is this sarcasm? Sandbag a surgery to skip Spring Training? Is this part of some wild truther movement in regards to Hart? Edit: On a very unrelated note...I just noticed that everyone's "number of posts" counter seems to be stuck on the same number for each post.

So, according to the updated salary page on this site (nice job updating that so quickly!!) the Brewer payroll for 2013 currently stands at $72 million. Assuming they don't make any additional major aquisitions, this is quite a drop from last year's payroll.