Patrick425

That isn't even true in the real world much less baseball. At every job I've ever held I've had a raise every single year and so has everyone I work with no matter how terrible they are. The difference is bad employees got smaller raises and good ones got bigger ones. really awful employees got fired. Well the difference is that in the real world there is usually some logic to the yearly raises. My wife works for a large multi-national corporation. Different "cost-centers" within the company are allotted pools of money at the end of the year. These pools are determined by formulas that take into account what kind of year the company has had financially. Some years the pools of money are larger than other years, and generally the raises range from anywhere to 1% to 5% for each employee. The average raise ends up basically being a "cost of living" raise. This also is similar to how raises were handed out at a large bank I use to work for over 12 years ago. According to the numbers above Nyjer Morgan is slated to get a 10% bump. For what? What did he do this season to deserve a 10% increase? Axford - 1000%? I also don't buy this "Think of it as making up for being underpaid during the arby years". If I'm an employer, I want to pay you what you are worth to me right now. I don't want to pay you based on your numbers from a year ago because there is this feeling that we need to "make it up to you".

Ok..I guess I should have worded that differently. I understand what arbitration means and somewhat how that process works. I guess I just will never agree with "pre-set" raises regardless of a player's performance. In my mind, you get a raise based on what you have done and the thought that you will continue to do it. If you don't continue to do it, you don't continue to get raises.

I'll never understand the arbitration process. Basically the rule seems to be this - Are you still breathing? Yes? Well, guess what? - you get a raise!

I'd love to go to some of those games! I probably mentioned this last year during the AFL and people will think I'm nuts, but maybe someone out there remembers this. I want to say 4 or 5 years ago (however, sometimes I lose track of the years and maybe it was more like 8 years ago) they actually broadcasted (I guess that's not a word??...I hate the English language sometimes!) some of the AFL games over the internet. The funny thing was that Pat Sejak was the announcer. Really, I didn't dream this and I'm not making it up. I also want to say that it wasn't just a few games. I think they pretty much had one game every day on the internet.

Wow. Enjoy the NBA dude. It's so much fun. No kidding. Really? You're not going to watch the playoffs because you don't like the teams? I too was hoping Baltimore, Oakland, or Washington would advance, but I still love baseball and I'll be watching no matter who is playing. Your loss I guess. You missed a heck of a game on Saturday night! There have been some really fun games to watch this post season.

Same area, kind of originating on Van Buren and Water and then just seemed to go endlessly west down WI Ave (at least from what I can remember from 82'). What I'm saying is that if the Brewers were to win the WS or the NLSC, this probably would not happen on WI Ave. It would happen on Water Street. MU going to the Final 4 is different because it's actually on WI Ave and that's were all the students are. I'm pretty sure when the Packers won the Super Bowl there was not a whole lot happening on WI Ave, it was around the bars on Water Street. Now, if they also had a parade like in 82', then I'm guessing a lot of that would be on WI Ave. Edit: As I reread your post you said this happened during rush hour?? The Final 4 is determined on a weekend (2 games on Saturday and 2 on Sunday). So, not sure how it could be during "rush hour". Trust me, as someone who works downtown, if this did happen during rush hour you would not have a lot of people getting out of there cars and celebrating with you.

It happened in 2003 when I was in school at MU and we made it to the Final 4. Well...that's a little different in that WI avenue cuts right through the Marquette campus.

When the Fonz' statue was installed on the River Walk in Milwaukee a lot of the "Artsy types" in the city rolled their eyes and turned there nose up at it. Yes...it's very cheesy and perhaps not really an "Art piece". However.. I work right about a half a block away from it and pass it all the time. Many times, especially in the Summer months, when I pass it there are people having the picture taken with it. I also have had people stop and ask me if I know where the Fonz' statue is (just had a group ask me today as I was walking to lunch). As the Fonz' himself would say...I think that's pretty cool.

Just got this "Breaking News" email from CNN: The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency says it will release more than 1,000 pages of evidence detailing the involvement of cyclist Lance Armstrong in what the agency calls "the most sophisticated, professionalized and successful doping program that sport has ever seen." Armstrong, who won an unprecedented seven Tour de France titles, announced in August that he would no longer fight doping charges that the agency brought against him. Also, anyone see the 9.79* 30 for 30 about the 1988 Olympic 100 meter event? Just more evidence that PED's were a way of life in professional sports back then.

I'm going to quote my post from 2010. I've come to find out that my brother now has $48,000 worth of dental work coming his way. I don't know exactly how much is to blame on his Mountain Dew habit, but you can bet it's a lot. His teeth have almost literally rotted away. $48,000?!?...is that a typo? It's not supposed to be $4,800?? I never heard of a dental expense to that extent!

Problem with that theory is that you don't get to pick what division you are in.

Well, I think it would happen...just not on Wisconsin Ave. It would now be on Water St. (just like when the Packers won the Super Bowl). Water St. was really the night time destination area in 1982 as it is today. Many of the "popular" bars were located closer to WI ave (Park Ave, Papagalo - spl?). Wisconsin avenue was still viewed as THE street downtown during that period.

This...Ditto...what he said...I could not agree more..and any other affirmation of this argument that I can't think of right now. Especially the part about Brewer fans overrating the young arms.

Yeah, gotta admit, I'm somewhat embarrassed that I haven "fallen" for the 5HE pitch, but it seems to work as advertised for me.

As we know, what Melvin states and what he does are often times two different things. There was also this (from Brewers Blog on JS Online): Are you worried about going with four young guys in the rotation next year if that's the case: That's something we'll take a look at. We'll have to figure that out. So take from that what you will. If they do not add another experienced dependable arm (and please, something more than a Wolf or Suppan), I would be disappointed. Yes, they have several young arms to choose from, but I would hate to take a chance when most other pieces (other than bullpen) seem to be in place. From what I can tell, even with the scheduled raises and arbitration eligible raises, the payroll would currently stand somewhere between $70 and $75 mil if I'm looking at it correctly ($75 mil may actually be on the high end). Assuming they don't make extreme cut's to payroll, it seems like they could still be in the market for someone like Edwin Jackson. Although, I also know that quality FA pitchers market values often increase substantially once the bidding wars begin...so, maybe someone like Jackson will end up being out of their price range, especially considering they need to add a couple of quality arms to the bullpen as well. I'm thinking Jackson should be somewhere between $10 and $15 mil/yr...however, I guess that it could easily escalate to between $15 - $20 mil per year (which would be crazy imho.....J. Werth type crazy).

Had to dig up this old thread again as I continue to hop on and off the bandwagon (did Seinfeld ever clear up which is which?) with Mt. Dew. I've been making every effort lately to avoid drinking the golden nectar. I sit behind a computer most of the day and work at a place where I can grab a Mt. Dew out of the fridge at any time...so it's hard to fight the urge, but I've been holding steady for the most part. Also, my normal M.O. is to down a Dew as I watch TV at night. Lately I've been drinking ice water instead. Not nearly as satisfying, but obviously healthier. I still usually have a Mt. Dew or another soda at lunch and tend to drink it a bit during weekends, but I still have cut down my consumption by 70%-80% over the last couple of weeks. So, we will see how long this stretch of being "on the wagon" (?) lasts. However, as I have done this, I have been downing 5 hour energies. Over the years I have become fairly immune to any caffeine effects of Mt. Dew, but wow, I get an instant boost from 5 hour energy and like the commercial states it seems to last a long time without any noticeable "crash". However, because of A) the high niacin levels and B) the costs, I have tried to limit 5HE to no more than once every 2 days. I know it's not a good habit to develop and I know it shouldn't be a LT solution to boosting energy levels, but I feel it's a chicken and egg situation. I need to work out and get and shape to start getting some natural energy back but at the same time, I don't feel I have the energy to work out on a regular basis. Researching pros/cons of 5HE on the internet, it seems like there are not any "great" dangers, although I've seen where taking too much of it could possibly have a negative impact on kidney functions (but I get the feeling this is if you are downing a bottle every 5 hours). However, I can't believe that taking one 5HE every other day is worse than have 2 or 3 Mt.Dews every day. I know that I have been hitting the treadmill more often and some of that is definitely due to the energy boost I'm getting from 5HE.

I subscribe to Consumer Reports online. In their Used Car ratings they have a "reliable list" and a "Used cars to avoid" list. The Honda Civic (Yrs 02-05) is listed on their reliable list in the small cars for under $10,000 category. The Kia Sodona (02' - 11') is listed under "Used Cars to avoid". Again, this is just based on research and member surveys that they conduct. There are always exceptions. Also, have you priced these cars out on Edmunds.com or Kelly's Blue Book? $7,900 for a 2003 vehicle seems kind of high (even if it is a Honda Civic) unless it is still in outstanding condition. I don't know anything about the model of the car or what type of shape it's in, but when you plug into Edmunds a 2003 Honda Civic LX , 90K Miles, in average condition, you get a Dealer Price of $4,800 and a Private Party price of $3,950. In "Outstanding" condition it comes out to $7,800 (Dealer) and $6,300 (Private Party). Edit: I would always price used cars out on these sites before buying. Bring the print outs to whoever is selling you the car (assuming they are lower than what the car is priced at) and use that as negotiation. Bring multiple condition reports as well (Avg., Clean, Outstanding). That way if you say the car is in Avg. condition and they say it's in Outstanding condition, maybe you can agree on the "Clean" price.

I'd put Jim Slaton ahead of Sheets. Slaton won 117 games and had 69 complete games as a Brewer, much of that time while the team was still basically an expansion team and his ERA of 3.86 was accomplished in the AL East of the 70's that had powerhouse Boston, Yankees and Orioles and the designated hitter. Not only that, as a FA, Slaton chose to return to the Brewers after one year in Detroit. Let's not forget Mike Caldwell.

I hear you Invader. Sometime the Home maintanence/Appliance repairs and replacement costs seem non-stop. Within the last two years we have replaced both our Furnace and our Roof. I'm thankful that we have some equity in our house that we can borrow against to help pay for those big-ticket items. I also fear that our water heater is a ticking time bomb that I can't hold off replacing for too much longer.

I'm not so surprised that it's not getting national attention. After all, we are not the Yankees. I am surprised that it has not received more attention from the local media. There was a small blurb about it in the "Statitudes" section of the game report in the Journal Sentinel this morning. I mentioned it yesterday to a guy I work with (who's a fairly big baseball and Brewer fan) and he knew nothing about it. His initial response was "you mean the batters?"

The Weather Channel acquired Weatherunderground? Wow, I didn't know that. I hope they don't change anything. I really like Weatherunderground. I think a large part of the Weather Channel not really reporting the weather anymore is based on 2 things: A) Many people get their weather from the internet now. B) Most cities have a local network affiliate that also has a channel that is just dedicated to reporting the weather (az AZBrewCrew mentioned). Also, over the last 10 to 15 years most local newscasts (at least in northern states) have put a greater emphasis on reporting the weather. Many boast about how they give a forecast within the first 5 to 10 minutes of the broadcast.

No, don't worry, no winter storms on the way yet (not that I know of anyways). I just saw this story about the Weather Channel starting a new policy of naming Winter storms and I thought it be a good starting point for this year's Winter weather thread: http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/lookout/weather-channel-call-name-winter-storms-gets-mixed-165938080.html Obviously a marketing ploy by the WC...but I think it will be an effective one. I believe the WC and NBC are affiliated somehow, so I can see NBC also using the Weather Channel storm names in it's coverage of Winter storms.

No way they would have stormed the field, or have been allowed to storm the field. That "iconic moment" in Brewer history was not at all unique to the Brewers or Milwaukee. It happened every October in any city where the home team clinched the series on their own field. It was just expected and no one tried to stop it. I use to love watching that and I'm not sure when or why it ended (I'm sure because of safety reasons they cracked down on it). I was actually at that game in 1982. My friends and I were in the left center field bleachers and we jumped that wall as soon as Cooper caught that throw from Robin.

So...if you are not doing "physical harm" to someone, it's ok to annoy others? Yes, they did it over a TV broadcast, but they also did it at an event attended by others who also paid money to see that event. Imagine sitting in front of someone who is doing that all game. If someone behind you were throwing peanut shells at your head all game, my guess is that you would "rain on their parade" and at the very least tell an usher about it. To most reasonable human beings, this is really not any different than that. These people know they are annoying others (if they don't, then they are completely brain dead) and that is why they continue to do it. It's as simple of that (I guess, either way, they are brain dead). They are the equivalent to trolls on a message board (BTW..I'm not in any way suggesting you are a troll...I'm just using an analogy).

I'm not one to continue (or even begin) annoying behavior just because I happen to enjoy it. If I enjoyed going around and kicking people in the shins would it be wrong for people to ask me to stop doing it (and "rain on my parade") because it bothers them?