fondybrewfan

I wonder if I would get $1,200 even though my wife doesn't work?

Youll have to report it on your 2008 return and pay tac according to whatever tax bracket you are in. The whole purpose of this is to get people to spend some money. When I get it will certainly either go towards paying off my car quicker or paying off credit cards, I am skeptical that this is going to have a big effect butat worst maybe it will help some people catch up on some bills.

As long as you made $3,000 last year you should be eligible. I havent read anything saying you cant get anything if you are a claimed as a dependent by your parents

How sure are we that that is actually the case? I havent seen any articles that said we would basically be paying this back in 2009. Maybe well have to report it as income but the word rebate doesn't imply at all that we are going to have to pay the government back.

Prince is large but we wont know if he is fat until he rips his shirt off after hitting the game winning homer in Game 7 of the World Series. Then and only then will this argument be settled

Here is what I understand so far As part of the economic stimulus package congress has just agreed on some sort of tax rebate that will happen later this year If you made over $3,000 last year and made under $75,000 as an individual or $150,000 as a family you are eligible. Each earner would get a $300 tax rebate check plus families with children get an additional $300 up to a maximum total of $1,200. Certainly this could help some people and perhaps put additional funds into the economy (they are hoping people spend rather than save) but where exactly is the government getting money to do this? Link: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080124/ap_on_go_co/economy_stimulus

I dont think the Cubs will get anywhere near 94 wins, but that is just my opinion. Not a whole lot of their guys are young anymore and there were some overachievers. The Cubs are a good team but I dont think they are 94 win good. I would guess around 86-88 just like the Brewers. I also think the Reds are around 82-84 wins, The Astros around 75, the Cards around 70-72 and the Pirates around 76-78.

So what happens if we win like 90 games and still dont make the playoffs? I would be fine retaining him. If he gets the team to the playoffs or gets the team to a level of wins which normally make the playoffs I would be fine with that. I mean he can only manage the Brewers, Washington and Florida are just going to be dreadful next year, if 2 of New York, Philly, or Atlanta some how win 92 games and we don't get to the playoffs you cant really blame that on Ned. I think if all things go right next year we are a 90 win team, and thats about all Ned can do.

Paper Football is awesome and stupid at the same time

My Life is Good Right Now A. My wife who graduates in two weeks has big interview today, I think shell do awesome B. I just got offered 2 FREE tickets to the Packer game C. I up for review at my job in a couple months and I am pretty confident that I will like that review D. The best Brewers season I will have ever known will be starting in only 31 days E. My sister is due in March making me a first time uncle (at least on my side, my wife's side I am an uncle twice over) Could life be any better?

I would do Cappy and Gwynn for Blalock (I think)

IMO the Reds would be idiots if they gave up those guys for Bedard. I dont think they will ever win in pitching just like Philly or Colorado. THey are goin to have to score runs, and lots. They got a lot of good young hitting talent, it would be foolish to trade that away for a pitcher all be it a good one

That looks like a transparent roof. That could be a major issue with glare one would think. I would hope that they figured that in however. It appears they are going into the future rather than the retro look. Looks very very nice

I dont mind the trade all that much. Crap for Crap. Just sucks that we had to trade Doug Davis for this guy. Just imagine if we were looking to trade DD this offseason instead of Johnny. OUr return would have been a heck of a lot more. I also hope Melvin is looking at other options besides Kendall. I just understand how he could be our everyday catcher. If he really does indeed call a good game and that just isnt the usual standaed rhetoric then I would like the trade a little more. Ill also like Kendalls walks coming out of the 8 hole. As long as he glued into the 8 hole. I wish Doug were going after Torrealba but there doesnt seem to be any indication that they are

I like. Any possible way that we can get Soriano would be awesome. I dont necessarily like trading Sheets to an NL opponent though. To me a package of Soriano, Boyer, Francouer, and Johnson for Hall & Sheets is sufficient. No need for another prospect going to the Braves. Defense is instantly better and our offense is so good already would we really be regressing at all if we had a low OBP type? I for one would prefer the huge improvement in OF defense for perhaps at worst a small decline in OBP.

Does anyone have some sweet hunting stories? I was never a hunter but I have always wanted to go. I am not sure I would trust myself with a deadly weapon though and not a fan of getting up a 4 in the morning either. One of the Wisconsin traditions of Deer Hunting season is the usual overplaying of such songs as "The 2nd Week of Deer Camp" and "Da Turdy Point Buck" Dont much like the 30 point buck song but the 2nd week of deer camp is atleast decent. They are both sung by Da Yuppers I believe

I think it would be a huge mistake to fire Melvin if it ever came to that? Who would we possibly find that could be any better than Melvin. I certainly dont believe that if Yost gets fired so will Melvin. I think he has done a very good job. The only problem I have with him is the bullpen construction, but I have faith hell figure something out this coming winter. I honestly wont be suprised if Yost is let go sometime next year, but obviously for him to get fired next year we would have to be underperforming next year, something none of us wants. So in reality we all need to hope Ned still has a job after next year because the means we probably had a successful year including a playoff appearance. One would think that no playoffs next year would lead to his firing.

i dont know is this changes your mind or not but both Money and Kremblas have led their respective teams to the playoffs multiple times. Granted it is the minors but it is still the playoffs. And Yost had a ton of experience in the playoffs with Atlanta before he came here as well. I know he wasnt the head guy, but he knows the experience and how the Braves and Cox handled the pressure. Ill give yost one thing, he is really going for the ejection title. If he learned anything from Cox it was how to get tossed

Yost considering Kremblas, Money By Tom Haudricourt Thursday, Oct 25 2007, 03:19 PM Boston - Manager Ned Yost told me today he is considering both Class AAA Nashville manager Frank Kremblas and Class AA Huntsville manager Don Money for his third base coach opening. The Brewers dismissed third base coach Nick Leyva after the season. Kremblas is considered the favorite by many because he has led Nashville to the playoffs for three consecutive years and has nothing left to prove there. He also managed all of the young players forming the Brewers' nucleus at some point in the minors. But Money also has been a successful manager at Huntsville, falling one victory short of winning the Southern League title this year. He also has managed most of the Brewers' younger players in the system and was a teammate of Yost's on the 1982 Milwaukee club that won the AL pennant. Yost wouldn't say who else he is considering but said he's working with "a short list." He did say that no one is being considered that currently is on a big-league staff. "We'll see who brings the most experience, knowledge of the league and who helps our team the most," said Yost.

My big kick that last year has been Anything by John Grisham Anything by Vince Flynn (Fictional CIA stories, awesome I think) Just finished a couple Dean Koontz books, they are alright but not my favorite Tonight I am going to start he Bourne trilogy. I have never seen the movies and I hope I can enjoy the books despite knowinf that Matt Damon played the lead role in the movie. Puke

About 2/3 down the article Nate offers his solution via free agency, trade, or staying in house regarding getting Ryan Braun out of third base October 17, 2007, 11:05 PM ET Ryan Braun's Defense by Nate Silver I've made several snide remarks about Ryan Braun's third base defense in recent weeks, most recently in my review of the 50 most valuable players in baseball. I don't have anything against Ryan Braun; it would be hard for someone with the last name Silver to root against the Hebrew Hammer. Nor is this based on any sort of personal observation. I'd probably have to see a player at least 10 times in person or 25-30 times on television before I'd be comfortable contributing any kind of scouting take on his defense, and the only teams I see play that often during the season are the two local clubs, and maybe the two that advance to the World Series. But there's no doubt about it: Ryan Braun's defense is bad. These were the trailers in Clay Davenport's Fielding Runs Above Average (FRAA) last season: -22 Kouzmanoff, 3B, SD -20 Braun, 3B, MIL -19 Durham, 2B, SFG -18 Burrell, LF, PHI -18 Harris, INF, <span class="statdef">[url=http://www.baseballprospectus.com/glossary/index.php?search=TB]TB[/url] -17 Willingham, LF, FLA -17 Dunn, LF, CIN -17 Atkins, 3B, COL -16 Fielder, <span class="statdef">[url=http://www.baseballprospectus.com/glossary/index.php?search=1B]1B[/url], MIL -16 Hall, CF, MIL -16 Lugo, SS, BOS -15 Eckstein, SS, STL -15 Sanchez, 2B, PIT </span></span> Braun doesn't actually have the lowest score on this list - he has the second lowest behind Kevin Kouzmanoff. But FRAA is a counting stat rather than a rate stat, and Braun played only about two-thirds of the season, whereas most everybody else had the full year to accumulate their low scores. On a rate basis, Braun was a little worse than Kouzmanoff, and Braun and Kouzmanoff were quite a bit worse than any other regular or quasi-regular in the game. By the way, notice how many of these players are notoriously old, slow, fat, or were playing out of position; these are exactly the people you'd expect to see on a list like this one. We can also look at a second-generation, play-by-play based metric like the Hardball Times' Revised Zone Rating. According to that statistic, there were five regular defensive players who made at least 10% fewer plays than an average player at their position. Ryan Braun is one of them; in fact he rates at the second-worst defender in baseball relative to his position, ahead of only Manny Ramirez. -19.1% Ramirez, LF, BOS -16.4% Braun, 3B, MIL -12.0% Encarnacion, 3B, CIN -13.4% Young, <span class="statdef">[url=http://www.baseballprospectus.com/glossary/index.php?search=1B]1B[/url], WAS -10.7% Sexson, <span class="statdef">[url=http://www.baseballprospectus.com/glossary/index.php?search=1B]1B[/url], SEA -9.5% Fielder, <span class="statdef">[url=http://www.baseballprospectus.com/glossary/index.php?search=1B]1B[/url], MIL -9.3% Bautista, 3B, PIT -9.2% Atkins, 3B, COL</span></span></span> And so we have agreement from two systems, with radically different approaches, that Braun was one of the very worst defensive players in baseball in 2007. I don't have Braun's rating in my favorite third-gen metric, UZR, but here's what Mitchel Lichtman had to say about him: Making a few inferences from Mitchel's statements, this would imply that Braun's UZR falls somewhere between Miguel Cabrera's -28, and 75% of his 2007 VORP, which works out to -43. So here again, Braun ranks as one of the worst four or five defensive players in baseball, challenged only by Pat Burrell's -34, Manny Ramirez' -33, and Raul Ibanez' -30. By consensus view, Braun was probably the very worst defensive player in baseball in 2007; the only real competitors for the title might be Ramirez, and perhaps Burrell. But the question is not so much whether Braun was bad in 2007 - he was awful - but how he's likely to play going forward. Before the season, Braun was regarded anywhere from a somewhat below-average defender at third base to a problematically bad one. Here's what Kevin Goldstein wrote about him last December. This view is largely confirmed by Tom Tango's Fans Scouting Report: Speed 60 Arm Strength 57 First Step 52 Instincts 50 Hands 25 Release 9 Arm Accuracy 0 Braun grades out as roughly average in several categories, including the range-based metrics of speed and first step. Unfortunately, his hands are bad, and his release and throwing accuracy are off-the-charts bad. And double unfortunately, these would tend to be the categories that are most important for a third baseman; speed doesn't matter much at all, for instance. Are these things that Braun can work on? Perhaps: I'd certainly hold out more hope that a coach could improve a player's accuracy and release than his arm strength. But the thing is, once a player reaches the major leagues for a competitive club, there isn't much room for experimentation. What's the upside to that experiment? Braun goes from being a way below-average defender at third base to a somewhat below-average one. And then you have to move him in a couple years anyway once he bulks up and slows down. What's the downside? Braun can't or won't improve, or he takes a long time to do so, costing the Brewers runs in the field each week while the experiment in progress. Even worse, you could trigger a crisis of confidence, or detract from his work on his hitting approach, which requires more improvement than you might think. And all of this for what benefit? National League third basemen hit .280/.348/.456 last year, which is actually a bit better than the .275/.344/.442 it got out of its right fielders, and only slightly worse than the .278/.358/.478 from the left field position. The gap in the defensive spectrum between third base and corner outfield is small as compared with the gap between third base and center field or second base. Braun, in spite have never played the position professionally, is probably much closer to being an adequate defensive corner outfielder than an adequate defensive third baseman. He runs reasonably well, and while his arm is not accurate, it is probably strong enough to deter baserunners from advancing on him Johnny Damon style. And the good news is that there are any number of permutations that would allow the Brewers to improve their defense without really losing any ground at the plate. For example: Move Braun to LF, sign Mike Lowell at 3B, sit on Matt LaPorta for a year Move Bill Hall to 3B, Braun to RF, and Corey Hart to CF; LaPorta gets the opportunity to make the big league club out of spring training. Trade Bill Hall and Claudio Vargas for Joe Crede and Faustino de los Santos, move Hart to CF, Braun to RF. You get the idea … there are a million ways the Brewers can play this without incurring any real transaction costs. If Braun does move to the outfield, does he become one of the most valuable commodities in baseball? We'll have to see what PECOTA does with him, since there's room for concern about his plate discipline numbers too. But the worst case would seem to be that he becomes another version of Jeff Francoeur, and that's a pretty good worst-case scenario. 6f3 RELATED BASEBALL PROSPECTUS CONTENT 2006-12-12 - http://www.baseballprospectus.com/images/bp_10x10_logo_sub.gif Future Shock: Milwaukee Brewers Top Ten Prospects by Kevin Goldstein

I got seats in 204, I was hoping to get floor level, but it appears from your comments that I will be plenty close enough to get permament hearding damage. Sweet.

I just booked 4 tickets to the show at the Bradley Center on 12/16. going with my wife her mom, and one of her moms friends. Anyone ever been to one of these? Is it really as awesome as everyone always says it is? More importantly will I regret going to this instead of sitting home on my butt watching the Packers?

This one really hurts. I am not going to to give up hope because we are going home to finish and the Cubs are going on the road, but man this one sucked. I cant blame Ned on this one, the players screwed this one up. If Counsell can get a bunt down, if Miller takes that pitch, if Cordero doesnt serve up a lemon ball, if McClung doesnt walk the only hitter he was going to face we probably would have. Having a hard time getting excited for the Badger game tonight. A win tommorow and and Cubs lose would be huge and I would feel much better about our chances. And Prince you can start hitting again too.

You darn well better make sure their is an Opt Out Clause in any potential deal. That is key. You also may want to talk to your former team about possibly setting up a 3 way trade. (Sorry if that went a little far)