text:
Will Greg Maddux Bust the Unanimous Barrier?
The BBWAA released the Hall of Fame ballot today and I count 6 players that you can reasonably associate with the Cubs: Rafael Palmeiro, Jacque Jones, Sammy Sosa, Lee Smith, Moises Alou and Greg Maddux. Of course, all but Sammy and maybe Lee Smith are more closesly associated with other organziations. Sammy won't be getting in and neither will Lee Smith with Maddux and Frank Thomas on this ballot, not to mention more interesting carryovers like Craig Biggio, Jack Morris, Mike Piazza, Tim Raines and Jeff Bagwell to name a few.
That being said, I think we all as Cubs fan consider Greg Maddux one of our own and we'll just have to share him with the Atlanta Braves in a joiny custody battle. He'll certainly be fitted with the Braves cap on his plaque, but we can just contine to blame Larry Himes for that historical atrocity.
To the point, if I even have one, is that if there's anything interesting about this ballot, it's whether Greg Maddux will be the first player to be voted in unanimously. There's no reasonable case against him, he checks off every box of a Hall a Fame pitcher. Cy Youngs...check, 4 straight. Exceptional Peak Years...check, see 1992-1998. 300 wins...check. 3000 strikeouts...check. Steroid rumors...nope. Postseason success...okay, I mean it's not Mariano Rivera good, but 11-14 with a 3.27 ERA and a World Series title isn't a reason to not vote for him considering his in-season resume. So the case is airtight and he'll of course get in on the first ballot, but he frankly deserves more. But we all know that one attention-starved voter will make this vote about him and deny Maddux the honor. Tom Seaver stills holds the record at 98.4% of the vote (425 out of 430 ballots) and well, there's no way you can't say Maddux was the better pitcher. But that won't matter when the votes are tallied. All that will matter is if some holier-than-thou, sanctimonious piece of excrement decides that he's the one that will take the burden of being the Hall of Fame bouncer this year. And when and if that happens, it'll just be another check on the list of the "Hall of Fame is Becoming More Irrelevant Each and Every Year."
average-at-best D, not a
average-at-best D, not a strong arm, can't hit contact for shit, one of the slowest men in baseball...but hey, he's got a little bit of pop and he can take a walk.
take that NL central.
from the twitter feed...
from the twitter feed...
" Wendy Thurm @hangingsliders
@JulieDiCaro He's excellent defensively. And at pitch framing"
...and she lives on what planet watching which george kottaras?
I'm only interested in his
I'm only interested in his Catcher's ERA
"average at best" is a rather
"average at best" is a rather generous way to describe his D. many people frame it in a more negative manner.
i've never heard "excellent" used to describe what he does behind the plate...and sure haven't seen it.
the fact he can take a walk (when he's not striking out) and put a ball in the OF or over a fence (when he makes contact) is what got him to the bigs to begin with.
I was jesting about catcher's
I was jesting about catcher's ERA. You know, little TCR inside joke.
if maddux isnt unan..
if maddux isnt unan...something is wrong with baseball.
robust class...maddux, thomas, glavine should get in...maybe mussina and kent...and biggio should have gotten in last year, yet he's still out there.
given that the author
given that the author spearheading that campaign thinks "Last year, there were a good 15 serious candidates for election, most of them obvious choices" maybe Deadspin shouldn't be responsible for a vote...or have much of a place to complain about how others vote.
Does Joe Morgan get a vote?
Does Joe Morgan get a vote? I remember him saying he didn't consider Maddux great because "he couldn't get the big strikeout if he needed one." What an absolute idiot.
Dunno about Biggio -- when he played, I always thought he was good (or very good), but not great. Would having Biggio on your team make it significantly better? I've never been a big fan of "being good for a long time = great".
3060 hits, 4 GG playing 2nd,
3060 hits, 4 GG playing 2nd, played 428 games at C (1991 all-star game as a catcher)
he didn't slug much, and probably should have walked away from the game with 2900-ish hits, but he pulled his weight almost his entire career given his position.
he's got roids allegations hanging over him...even if kinda weak.
I would guess some idiots
I would guess some idiots will also rationalize that Maddux will get in, but it won't be unanimous anyway, so I don't need to vote for him and can then give a vote to someone who might need it to stay on the ballot. Like say this idiot:
who suggests not voting for Maddux to help Jeff Kent.
i sincerely hope he doesn't
i sincerely hope he doesn't have a vote.
the maddux-sacrifice-for-kent doesn't piss me off, even though it's insultingly stupid...it's his list of who he thinks is a HOF'r.
it's very obvious admitted/busted PED users doesn't matter or register as a negative to him...and he's another one of those "alan trammell" guys.
alan trammell was good...when he was healthy...which was about 8-10 seasons for his entire career which basically ended in his early 30s while he hung on for a few more years afterwards.
I just hate the logic: "He
I just hate the logic: "He won't be unanimous, so I don't have to vote for him" which then of course means he won't be unanimous even though he might have been...
On Trammel, his best 7 seasons (his peak) combined for 44.6 WAR. That is EIGHTH all-time for shortstops. The only ones ahead are Honus Wagner, Cal Ripken, Ernie Banks, Arky Vaughan, Lou Boudreau, Robin Yount, and A-Rod.
So when he was healthy, Trammell was GREAT not just "good."
And yes, he had just 8.3 WAR over his last 6 seasons (age 33-38) when he was often injured.
But right now his career WAR of 70.3 ranks TWELFTH all-time for shortstops, behind only Wagner, A-Rod, Ripken, George Davis, Yount, Ozzie, Bobby Wallace, Bill Dahlen, Luke Appling, Vaughan, and Jeter. And some of those compiled portions of their WAR at other positions (e.g. Banks, A-Rod), and many of them hung on too long as well. Bobby Wallace, for example, accumulated just 3.0 WAR over his last 8 seasons.
But even if you retire Trammell after his age 32 season, his career WAR of 62.0 at that point would still rank him 16th all-time at shortstop, dropping him only below Larkin, Cronin, Reese, and Boudreau.
If your personal Hall of Fame has a higher bar than this, fine, you don't have to support Trammell. Everyone has their own standards. But Trammell is clearly one of the top 12-15 shortstops all time no matter how you do the statistics. And basically Trammell IS Barry Larkin. If you think Larkin should be in, Trammell should be too. There is not much difference at all between them.
This is an excellent point on
This is an excellent point on Trammell. What is a head-scratcher for me is how did Jacque Jones even get on the 2014 ballot?
He played exactly 10 seasons,
He played exactly 10 seasons, which is the minimum. .775 OPS. Fits right in with Tony Womack, Brian Jordan, Bill Mueller, Eric Young, etc. in past years. I have to imagine that being on the ballot is a pretty big honor for some of these guys--a recognition that you were essentially a major league starter for a decade. In a game this tough, relatively few can actually say that throughout history.
via the trib via rotowurld...
via the trib via rotowurld...
"Cubs pitching coach Chris Bosio suggested Pedro Strop and Hector Rondon could compete for the closer's job."
"Cubs pitching coach Chris Bosio would like to see Kyle Hendricks in the starting rotation next season."
bosio on hendricks... "Who's to say he couldn't start for us?" Bosio asked. "I saw a 22-year-old starter (Michael Wacha) for the St. Louis Cardinals pitch in the World Series. Why can't we take a kid that's just had a couple years in the minor leagues and put him in our rotation? ... What's to say he couldn't be a fourth or fifth starter? ... I'll be talking to Theo, Jed and Rick about giving this guy ample opportunity to be that guy for us. Maybe we don't have to make a lot of moves. Maybe those young guys we have now can be the answer."
I LOVE this guy! Bring 'em up
I LOVE this guy! Bring 'em up!!!!!!
Wait a minute O&B, Bosio does
Wait a minute O&B, Bosio does sound a little too familiar. Has anyone ever seen you two in the same room??!!
Yes! O & B IS Chris Bosio!!!!
Yes! O & B IS Chris Bosio!!!!
One more F.U. to dumpster
"Chris Cotillo of MLB Daily
"Chris Cotillo of MLB Daily Dish reports that the Twins have agreed to a deal with Ricky Nolasco."
i'm going to be a bit disappointed if the cubs don't land m.tanaka...and the cubs involvement in him is being downplayed.
though surprises can happen, it seems like he's the only one linked to the cubs maybe spending some loot...aside from ad bridges and beer gardens.
also, t.sipp went through waivers and is now a FA. cubs are supposedly looking a cheap lefty pen guy...surprised he wasn't claimed by the cubs or even someone else. he's got good stuff...bad results last season, though.
"Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports
"Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports is reporting Ricky Nolasco's deal with the Twins is for four years and $49 million."
not bad...a bit less than ejax money. 12m/yr with 1m buyout or $13m option for 2018.
largest contract the twins have given to a FA in their history.
"Yankees re-signed SS Brendan
"Yankees re-signed SS Brendan Ryan to a two-year, $5 million contract
well, i guess the market value for a 100% pure D middle IF'r with 0 bat has been set.
.194/.277/.278 - 2012 - 407 PA (3.5 WAR, showing the
flaws awesomeness of WAR, especially in relation to what position you play)
Was just gonna post I guess
Was just gonna post I guess Darwin Barney has supreme status among the shitty standards of today's little-hitting D-only IFers.
Nick [email protected]
Nick [email protected]
The Cubs are going to keep trying to sign Jeff Samardzija long term even amid the trade rumors according to a major league source
That could be three or four
That could be three or four more prospects to bring up!
Surprisingly I didn't see
Surprisingly I didn't see this here on TCR: http://www.csnchicago.com/cubs/ex-cub-mike-harkey-...
And Happy Thanksgiving to all of you!
Tim's commentary on Cubs
Tim's commentary on Cubs George Kottaras acquisition with a Thanksgiving flavor
I think TheoCorp was simply
I think TheoCorp was simply operating on the assumption that Navarro was going to be a starter somewhere. Like Tim, I wish I cared more about the backup catcher, but I don't think it's going to matter much.
...and Tim's traditional take
...and Tim's traditional take on Thanksgiving (I love all the artwork on this!)
Trivia question for
Trivia question for Blackhawks fans out there...
Glenn Hall was the Blackhawks goalie in their 1960-61 Stanley Cup championship season. In fact he played every minute of every game for five consecutive seasons after being acquired from the Detroit Red Wings in 1957 (seven consecutive seasons playing every minute of every game going back to his last two seasons with Detroit), before finally having his 502 consecutive game streak snapped after suffering a back injury in a game in November 1962.
During Hall's consecutive game streak, the Hawks did have a #2 goalie (Al Rollins in 1957-58 & 1958-59 and Denis DeJordy in 1959-60 & 1960-61). However, they played in the minor leagues, and while they could have been recalled if necessary, the #2 goalie was not actually physically present at Hawks games until the 1961-62 season (in case something had happened to Hall prior to or during a game).
But the Hawks did have an emergency back-up goalie present at their games during the years 1957-61, and he would have played in a game if something had happened to Glenn Hall.
Who was he?
Chico Maki
Chico Maki
totally AMAZING Phil!! thanks
totally AMAZING Phil!! thanks for the trivia! wow.
Reasons why Maddux will NOT
Reasons why Maddux will NOT bust the unanimous barrier:
1. Ballot is too crowded with worthy candidates.
2. Perception that he was not elite due to lack of elite stuff.
And most importantly ...
3. He's not Derek Jeter!
reasons he should...besides
reasons he should...besides the obvious...
1 - dominated the steroid era with a 86-90mph fastball/sinker/cutter (and a low 80s changeup that was a big part of his game along with a 80mph slider).
2 - seriously, #1 is enough when you have the stats to back it.
...and no, i wouldn't be surprised if he wasn't unan...there's always a few "that guy..."
355 wins and a 3.16 ERA in a
355 wins and a 3.16 ERA in a career that spanned 1986-2008, and 9th all-time in career wins in an era when breaking 300 is looking like a less and less achievable goal even for great pitchers. Anyone who thinks he does not belong in the Hall of Fame is a fool. There is no justification for not voting for him. Those who refuse to vote for him are merely self-aggrandizing and should actually lose a bit of our respect in the process.
What stuff he achieved these feats with is irrelevant to the voting process, though it certainly made him more interesting to watch as a fan.
It would be really just
It would be really just insane if he didn't win unanimously. I wonder how many games he would have won if he had stayed with the Cubs most of his career.
...and never on the DL...nor
...and never on the DL...nor did he half-ass avoid the DL by sitting on the roster while injured to preserve the streak even if he occasionally, yet rarely, had a start skipped.
Wrigley Field attendance has
Wrigley Field attendance has dipped five seasons in a row; last year's 2.64 million was the lowest tally in 15 years. Such decline, in theory, helps explain how my place on the waiting list finally came up. The Cubs ticket saleswoman laughed ruefully when I expressed surprise at her call.
"Yeah, I hear that a lot," she said. "We're expected to get through about 20,000 spots on the wait list."
the Cubs gonna snag Omar Luis
hope not...i mean, youth is
hope not...i mean, youth is nice, but this guy is years away. he just turned 21 last month and couldn't throw strikes in rookie ball.
chances are pretty high they'll snag someone, though.
danny burawa and tommy kahnle (both RH relief, both yanks) and fred lewis (lhp, best used as a reliever, also a yank) i imagine would be in consideration.
"Chris Cotillo of MLB Daily
"Chris Cotillo of MLB Daily Dish reports that the Orioles, Indians, Cubs and Phillies are interested in free agent reliever Edward Mujica."
Nov 29th and the cubs are finally linked to a FA worth a damn...even if it's a high/mid-level reliever.
what happened to Mujica with
what happened to Mujica with the Cardinals when he was closer to lose that 9th inning assignment? Did they overwork him? Any injury? Just reverted back to his norm?
he failed badly in sept/oct..
he failed badly in sept/oct...became consistently hittable, but it was probably just bad luck.
honestly, without a good infield D covering him and depending on how well his flyball game goes (he can give up some HRs and deep hits) he can easily be a 3.50+ ERA reliever. he's not gonna walk many, though.
he's most likely in line for a $5m a year 2-3 year contract.
That's Howry territory, 3/15.
That's Howry territory, 3/15. Yikes.
One disappointing note:
One disappointing note: Daniel Bard went home at Thanksgiving from Caguas, where his three outing line read 0.1 0 8 7 9 0. "He's come back from this issue before," says one Cubs official, "and he can come back again. We're not giving up on him."
"We're not giving up on him"
"We're not giving up on him"
the cubs have to be the only team around that even values him, much less values him enough to keep him on the 40-man. he's down 3+mph on his velocity and his control has been in the toilet for 2 years now.
Well, the club has to say
Well, the club has to say that. They aren't going to say "we are giving up on him, we plan to release him next week." They are publicly giving him a vote of confidence while almost certainly internally continuing to evaluate him and determining when to pull the plug. Right now, there is no urgency, he's worth a flier I think. His upside is still high and there is no roster crunch. Another one of these issues that we fret a lot about on here but means little in the big picture.
j.lake (who's mostly playing
j.lake (who's mostly playing SS) is hitting .342/.384/.456 in 20 games in the dominican...
79ab, 27h, 3 doubles, 2 HR, 5bb, 20K, 6/2 sb/cs
Very interesting that he's
Very interesting that he's playing a lot of SS. You would think that he or the Cubs would push him for more outfield work. I assume the OF is full of better defenders?
Junior Lake has not played
Junior Lake has not played any games at SS (or 3B or 2B) in the DWL. He has played only OF.
In 21 DWL games so far (including today's game), Lake got the start in CF 11 times, in LF nine times, and in RF once.
Thanks AZ Phil. That makes a
Thanks AZ Phil. That makes a lot more sense to me.
same, MILB has him listed as
same, MILB has him listed as playing SS for some reason.
"Bill Center of the San Diego
"Bill Center of the San Diego Union Tribune believes that the Padres will soon trade Robbie Erlin, Burch Smith or Eric Stults in exchange for a left-handed bat."
Erlin for Schierholtz? Too much or not enough?
sureholds for erlin would be
sureholds for erlin would be a grand level of mismanagement for SD...even b.smith or e.stults would be a stretch. honestly, i don't understand why anyone would want stults at this point. though he's got good control and a mix of pitches, he's throwing far slower than he was with the dodgers...this is a guy that used to throw low 90s that can barely hit 87-88mph now.
sureholds had good power all year, but he had a crappy 2nd half (especially sept/oct) aside from the homers.
Only one year of team control
Only one year of team control for Schierholtz. Should have known better.
i kinda wonder how much those
i kinda wonder how much those 20 HR and 32 doubles are gonna cost the cubs...and if he can replicate it.
it's probably gonna be around $5m...maybe more given how well he can play RF.
MLBTR projects $4.4 million.
Daniel Bard - $1.8625MM
Daniel Bard - $1.8625MM
that's about $1.8625 million too much.
i seriously cannot understand the fear of losing this guy by dropping him off the 40-man and offering him a minor league contract with MLB incentives...not even remotely. he's 2 years, a lot of control issues, some injuries, and 3+mph of velocity separated from his last effective period.
That's nitpicking...
That's nitpicking...
yeah mr 'the glass is totally
yeah mr 'the glass is totally empty.' how about trying 'the glass is not full.' 'at all.'
full/empty glass?
full/empty glass?
daniel bard is the smudge of lip moisture on the glass.
smudge of lip moisture
smudge of lip moisture
more like malware.
more like malware.
i seriously do not see any other team wanting to take this guy on...nor a big risk in losing him by dropping him off the 40-man...especially after his winter ball performance so far (which is bad even for him, or anyone).
i don't think the cubs are stupid enough to actually go the distance and pay him $1.8m...maybe $1m or less with some performance incentives tied to it, though i think that's a bit of a waste given what he's shown (or not shown) in 2+ years now.
it's one thing to look at the guy he once was, but he's had 2 years of what he is...not 1/2 year or a few months.
he's a broken glass, face
he's a broken glass, face down, in an alley in a desert town.
Recent comments
Short rest for MadBum would be 2 days. WC game is Wed., Games 1 & 2 are Friday/Saturday.
A left-handed one...
lester going for #20...cubs haven't had a 20 game winner since d.ellsworth in 1963.
J-Hey not finishing with an offensive onslaught.
If Geoff Blum could be a Playoff hero, there is hope still...
Giants scare me. I think you're wrong about Bumgarner, he would pitch on short rest for Game 2 and then full rest for Game 5. Cueto would go Game 1, then short rest in game 4. Add in some really tough outs in that lineup and I want nothing to do with them. With that rotation they can easily steal a series.
Cards are a tough matchup. The rivalry evens out their comparable lack of talent. And like someone said, they love HRs, which is how to beat the Cubs. The upside is that I would feel really good about Lester twice against STL.
j.buchanan with a nice start...5ip 2h 1bb 3k, 0r/er
zobrist with 2HR and a double through 8
heyward 0-4 :(
Mark Gonzales @MDGonzales
Soler likely to return Sunday, Maddon says
Right now, I'd like to see the Mets first, Giants 2nd.
I believe that since most of the team from last years' NLCS is on the squad this year, they will really amp their game up even more to kick their ass in payback for 2015.
The Giants just do not have the depth in years past, and I think all things equal - and at Wrigley - they could handle them.
I do not want to see the Cards, period. Or their fans, media, or Joe Buck.
I don't want to play Braves in the first round. Any friggin team in the league can win 3 of 5..I hate the first round. Furthermore, I wanted to play the Marlins in 2003 and the Mets over Dodgers last year.
With that said in reverse order:
3. Cardinals: It will be devastating to lose in the first round, but even worse to their main rival. It is increased incentive for the Cardinals, especially after last year. Cards would have nothing to lose, Cubs have everything to lose.
2. Giants: Rotation in the playoffs scare me a bit, but what a lousy team.
1. Mets--because of the losses in the rotation
2. Giants--because they're not the team they were BUT they maybe have bullshit even-year magic?
3. Cardinals--because rivalry and not making the playoffs hurts them more than losing in the NLDS plus getting eliminated by them in the playoffs would make for horrible sports commentary next throughout next season.
Who's asking?
CLE/DET rained out last night already, possible rain-outs in New York (vs. Baltimore), Boston(vs. Toronto) and Philly(vs. Mets) this weekend too.
Not only games involving playoff spots that would need to be played, but any that involve home field advantage.
I got the first one! Second one I'm not even sure what even/odd betting is.
any opponent preference for NLDS?
Mets are down to 1 great pitcher instead of 4. Syndegaard may pitch Sunday which means if Mets win the WC game, he'd be set up for Game 1. There's a chance they clinch a spot by Sunday so he'd pitch the WC and then we'd probably get Colon for Game 1. They've certainly had the hottest bats over the last week and month out of the WC options.
A couple of Cub related puzzles.
Can't teach height and thinness


text:
To All those with Hacked accounts,
I am not going to go into detail with my particular situation. I am sure you are all familiar with how the FIFA hack has worked. Your account gets logged in somewhere else, all of your existing points stolen, potentially charges to your credit card and a very frustrating call to Xbox support in which you are told your account will be locked for 25 days. I am currently 70+ days out from my original complaint and day 42 of the "25" day resolution time and I am here to offer a little advice.
If this just happened to you remember to do a couple of things :
I'm still waiting for resolution since Thanksgiving... Was initially told by first person "probably a couple of weeks" since my account wasn't migrated... Then another rep said 25 days... Then "Maybe another 25 days but certainly not more than 2 months"...
im at 68 days, i was told my accoutn will be back by sunday in an email, if not then im going the bbb route
are you guys telling me your accounts have been inaccessible for this long?!?!
I reported my issue on 11/6 my account was shut off on 12/1 and I have not had access since. Glad my wife got me battlefield to play online for christmas and its just sitting there.
Mine was hacked and migrated to Russia on October 25th. Filed a BBB complaint end of December, but haven't heard anything still. Have got two e-mails (one around the 1 month mark, another around the 2 month mark) apologizing for delays and including a free 1 month code to set up a new account. But I have no interest earning achievements or buying XBLA games on a temp account.
I'm not sure we actually are allowed to share as we had a thread going almost 40 posts and they locked it for some reason. Censorship I think although they are free to lock and delete what they want, When they lock something like that immediately I think of sweeping the problem under the rug.
Need a hand with anything? Feel free to ask
I find amazing that we get no official response from Xbox on this. Just google or bing FIFA hack and aside from the number of reports you get of people being hacked and money/pts stolen, accounts locked for ridiculous amounts of time etc.... you also get links to videos and websites advertising information on how to do these hacks
i just found out that i got that problem today. was playing bf3 and all of the sudden i got disconnect and a message popped up telling me my account was signed in somewhere else, and i looked thru an account of a friends and i saw that "i" was playing fifa12. now i changed everything from my console and email.
Hey there Most Wanted! You can take steps to limit the consoles that you may have saved passwords on by following the steps at the bottom of this guide (forums.xbox.com/.../153143.aspx).If you still feel that your account is compromised, please call phone support (support.xbox.com/contact-us) as soon as you can. Let me know if you have any further concerns, thanks!
Xbox Community Ambassadors TeamJoin the community!
Hilarious that they are still in denial about this hack.
I can understand why the investigation takes so long. It's not incredibly obvious that I was hacked or anything.
its pretty sickening really. back in sept when this happened to me i thought i was the only one....now its happened again and it turns out this is pretty common. EA need to seriously look into this!
Hi im not sure if this is the right section but my friend told me to post here, like everyone else my account was hacked in some sort of way, i logged in to xbox live and a form pulls up asking for information on creating a free gamer profile which makes no since because ive had my gamertag for weeks and always use xbox.com no problem. my gamertag used to be Skyrim. the original Skyrim. now its a brand new acc enquiringcobra2. no friends no gamerscore nothing. i filed a ua when i called for help. its been 5 days and ive just revieved an email stating that there has been no unauthorized activity on this account blah blah blah, so my request was denied. what should i do? i really do not want to lose that gamertag, i was very popular on the games i played and to be honest starting over just isnt worth it. please let me know if you can help. email me at (edited by a moderator), or message me on xbox, cL redruM. ......microsoft you blow
See posting your e-mail in a public forum is just asking for trouble. Call back and get another UAI opened.
EDIT: And if this is a hare brained scheme just to get the Skyrim GT for yourself I'm going to be cross.
Ryder Cup: 10-6 up and you blew it? hahahahahahahahahahahahahaha. Oh wait you serious? Let me laugh even harder BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
So another call made to XBox yesterday. This time the happy rep told me I got the "cream of the crop" and she would follow up and watch my case to make sure it resolved quickly. Again I was told it would be escalated to a team that handles things that are taking longer than it should blah blah blah give it another 7-10 days. Yeah ok I dont think so. Apparently these UA's are researched by a group of blind monkey's. Looks like I will be filing my complaint with the BBB today. I really dont want a playstation but its looking better and better as each day passes. I work in banking so 1. I am used to seeing and dealing with fraud and this is a freaking joke, and 2. Working bankers hours, since my account has been shut down I have am going into my 4th long weekend (my prime time to log some serious online time) and still nothing. It's funny even my wife is getting pissed and she despises battlefield which is all I want to get online to play. My next step after the BBB is going to be to give her the phone when I call lol
BBB case has been submitted lets see what this brings if anything

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Process Development Jobs Still the Most...
LC-MS Gains Favor Due To the...
Wall Street Decline Takes Its Toll...
Quadruple Helices Appear To Have Role...
Life Technologies has established the Global Influenza Network, a partnership including scientists at a number of government public health organizations, veterinary agencies, and research institutes. The aim is to increase the speed and efficiency of influenza monitoring and vaccine development. Members of the network are sharing tools, experience, and data using the Ion Personal Genome Machine semiconductor sequencing platform, according to the company.
"Life Technologies exhibited leadership in infectious disease tracking when our scientists worked alongside federal officials to identify the cause of H1N1 outbreak in 2008," explained Greg Lucier, chairman and CEO of Life Technologies. "We are very proud to now bring together a group of such distinguished organizations to tackle the continued threat of influenza worldwide."
Participating scientists include Steve Glavas, head of the NGS Platform, and Mia Brytting, Ph.D., head of the microbial typing unit at the Swedish Institute for Communicable Disease Control (SMI); Gabriele Vaccari, Ph.D., researcher at the Istituto Superiore di Sanita in Rome; Mary Lea Killian, microbiologist at the U.S. National Veterinary Service Laboratories in Ames, Iowa; and David Wentworth at the J. Craig Venter Institute in Rockville, MD.
Annual seasonal influenza epidemics cause approximately three to five million cases of severe illness and 250,000 to 500,000 deaths, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Pandemics caused by novel influenza strains can result in staggering death tolls; the "Spanish flu" of 1918 is believed to have killed 40 million people, or three percent of the global population, reports the WHO.
Each year, public health agencies around the world collect samples from infected individuals and share data about flu subtypes circulating in their regions. The pooled data are used by the WHO to determine the strains used to design a vaccine that will be effective against that year's epidemic. Costs of sequencing, however, have limited data set to about 20% of the patient samples collected.
"Using next-generation sequencing technology makes whole influenza genome sequencing much easier, and much less expensive than older sequencing techniques, when used appropriately," said Glavas.
Scientists in the Global Influenza Network also believe that by sequencing all patient samples collected ahead of the flu season, they will be able to detect emerging strains earlier and focus resources on areas of the world where these strains are most prevalent in order to better contain new threats. "Now we can easily fully characterize influenza-causing severe outbreaks," said Brytting.
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on December 7, 2012 - 2:22 PM
, updated December 7, 2012 at 3:50 PM
LOCKPORT – A Niagara County Court jury today convicted Matthew A. Davis of causing the death of Antoine M. Bradberry during a robbery in the victim's apartment Aug. 22, 2011.
The jury of nine men and three women took less than two hours to find Davis, 37, guilty of two counts of "felony murder" for causing the death of Bradberry, 41, in a fight that occurred when Davis entered the apartment, allegedly looking for something to steal.
"We're happy, ecstatic," said Janice Bradberry, the victim's mother, one of about 10 friends and relatives who hugged after leaving the courtroom.
Judge Matthew J. Murphy III, who presided over the two-week trial, scheduled sentencing for March 7. Davis could receive 25 years to life in prison.
Davis was not charged with intentionally killing Bradberry, whose autopsy attributed the cause of death to "hypertensive cardiovascular disease." However, the manner of death was left undetermined, although Dr. Dianne Vertes, the chief medical examiner of Erie County, testified that Bradberry's injuries played at least an indirect role.
Police testified that a large amount of blood was spattered around the apartment, Room 208 in the Jefferson Apartments on Rainbow Boulevard in Niagara Falls.
A post-mortem showed Bradberry's injuries included a broken jaw and nose.
Prosecutors argued that the stress of the fight and the damage he sustained caused Bradberry's death, while the defense argued that he was a sick man whose death was predictable.
"It is the unfortunate conclusion it was his time due to his illness," argued Phillip Dabney Jr., co-defense counsel with Michael S. Deal.
Assistant District Attorney Brian D. Seaman, who prosecuted the case along with Deputy District Attorney Doreen M. Hoffmann, said Bradberry's death on that particular day was no coincidence.
"Dr. Vertes told [the jury] that were it not for this violent, prolonged struggle, Antoine Bradberry would not have died that day," Seaman said in his summation.
Prosecutors offered video clips from the Jefferson Apartments' surveillance cameras, showing a man with a white T-shirt over his face heading toward Bradberry's apartment.
The defense claimed that wasn't Davis, but his co-defendant, Teara D. Fatico, said it was.
Fatico, 23, who pleaded guilty to attempted first-degree burglary and was sentenced to 13 years in prison, said she was having a sexual affair with the married Davis.
She testified that Davis was in her bedroom when she received a Facebook message on her smartphone from Bradberry, who asked her to visit him. He had been leaving admiring comments on her Facebook photos.
Fatico said Davis was upset, but directed Fatico to visit Bradberry and find out if he had anything to steal.
Fatico said she called her friend Chastity L. Wilson, a professional stripper, to come along.
Over a period of nearly two hours, the women visited Bradberry, going in and out of the building and allegedly consulting with Davis by text message.
Wilson, 23, refused to testify despite committing to do so when she accepted the same plea deal as Fatico.
Wilson has a motion pending to try to reduce her 13-year sentence.
Deal said, "I think there were significant issues in this trial, especially in regard to the medical evidence."
Both sets of attorneys agreed that the video clips, in combination with the cellphone records of the three defendants, were decisive.
"I think the jury had to take the medical evidence into consideration," Hoffmann said. "I don't think his heart disease was a legal impediment to the charge."
For Janice Bradberry, whose husband died Nov. 1, the outcome was never in doubt.
"I have faith in the DA's office and in Brian and Doreen," she said. "They told the story the way it happened. God gave us the victory."
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text:
Premise Foam in a can is a simple, exciting, unique way to deliver Termite foam that will change the way termites and ants are controlled.
Premise Foam is available in a portable,18-ounce can which delivers five gallons of foam at an expansion ratio of 30:1, without the need for additional products, mixes or equipment. Premise Foam gives pest control professionals the flexibility to attack their customers' termite or ant problems immediately.
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This product is a ready-to-use formulation of imidacloprid intended to kill subterranean termite species of Coptotermes, Heterotermes, Reticulitermes, and Zootermopsis. It can be used for spot treatments for the control of existing infestations of subterranean termite species and other wood-destroying insects. PREMISE Foam is a ready-to-use formulation that rapidly expands to create a high expansion ratio or "dry" foam. When applied into a termite gallery system, or into a termite-infested void, the foam expands to thoroughly cover hidden or difficult to treat areas, and contact insects hidden deep within these galleries or voids.


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Heavy hitters and established star pitchers highlight the Altoona Mirror 2013 all-star teams in baseball and softball.
Catcher Luke Campbell of District 5 Class AA champion Bedford crashed eight home runs in 22 games to go along with a .550 batting average. Campbell, however, wasn't the only Mirror baseball standout to hit safely more than half of the time - in fact, he didn't even lead the area in hitting.
That distinction went to Northern Cambria's Josh Bonatesta, who hit at an amazing .661 clip. Joining him in the first team all-area outfield is Spencer McInroy, who batted .565 for 5-AA runner-up Everett; in fact, their position was so strong that Claysburg-Kimmel's Devin Weyandt, who finished second in the area to Campbell in home runs with six, was relegated to the second team.
Article Photos
Mirror file photo
Kiersten Coho helped the C-K Lady Bulldogs softball team to a strong season this year.
Central shortstop Austin Cunningham sported a better-than-.500 average as well, while Claysburg's Trey Claar and Northern Bedford's Eric Grace were just a couple of hits away from the magic mark.
Bedford, Bellwood-Antis, Central, Everett, Hollidaysburg and Northern Bedford had the most first-team picks with two apiece. Four players that made the first team in 2012 were repeat selections: Grace, Pitt recruit Brett Hileman of Hollidaysburg, Altoona's Ben Wyland and Bishop Guilfoyle's Jextin Pugh, a Binghamton signee.
Pugh and Wyland both made the first team last year as position players.
There were several familiar faces from past all-area teams that worked inside the softball pitching circle, as well. Philipsburg-Osceola's Kate Burge and Bellwood-Antis' Taylor Payne both make the first team for the third year in a row. They are both seniors. Penn Cambria's Kelly Yusko can match them for number of first team appearances if she can duplicate her 2012 and 2013 performances next spring.
Claysburg's Kala Brumbaugh, Hollidaysburg's Hannah Mercer, Central's Ashley Smith, Chestnut Ridge's Bridgit Yothers and Bellwood's Jackie Finn also are on the first team for the second straight season.
Mercer, P-O's Abby Showers and Central's Taylor McKnight batted .571, .526 and .525, respectively, to head up an outstanding crop of area shortstops.
Burge's and Showers' Lady Mounties, who won District 6 Class AA and made it all the way to the PIAA semifinals, had the most softball first-teamers with five. Bellwood was next in line with three, while Central, Ridge, Claysburg and Hollidaysburg produced two apiece.


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More than 25 young golfers from across the region, including three from Incline Village, competed in the Northern California Junior Golf Tour's second annual Coyote Moon Jr. Open in Truckee on July 28-29.
The event was a 36-hole, stroke play tournament and was Junior Golf Scoreboard approved with national ranking points. It featured golfers between the ages of 9 and 18, both male and female.
Recent Incline High grad Jordan Wright claimed the win in the boys' 15-18 age group by seven strokes over Justin Raskin of Auburn. Wright carded a 71 on the par-72 Coyote Moon Golf Club course on Day 1 and followed that up with a 72 on the second day for a winning score of 143. Raskin (150) shot a 75 both days.
"Jordan is an incredible golfer," said Michael Lucas, founder of the Northern California Junior Golf Tour. "He really just took charge of the tournament."
Among the other first-day leaders, Austin Long of El Dorado Hills and Ali Hoffman of Novato carried their success over to the second day to win their respective divisions — boys' 11-14 and girls' 15-18. Hoffman shot a 171 over the two days (84-78) and Long a 153 (74-79).
Mitchell Cornell of Incline Village finished right on Long's heels for second place in the boys' 11-14 age group. He fired a 78 and a 79 to finish four strokes back (157).
Another Incline golfer, Bryan Golombik, finished eighth in the same division, posting a 183 (90-93).
This tournament will move venues next year. The dates will be available at www.ncjgt.com starting in January 2013.


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Wall Street Decline Takes Its Toll...
Developers of DTC Genetic Testing Are...
NSCLC is "Major Battlefield" as Merck,...
Expanding Use of NGS Has Largely...
Two pharma giants are reducing their presences in the Emerald Isle. [© Maksym Yemelyanov - Fotolia.com]
Ireland is world famous for castles and cabbage, for the Blarney Stone and Bono. And in recent years, a sizeable biopharma cluster co-anchored by nine of the industry's 10 largest companies.
Two of those pharma giants are now shrinking their presences in the Emerald Isle. Merck said November 29 it will shut its Swords manufacturing plant, idling all 570 workers over three years as operations shift to Belgium, the Netherlands, and the U.S. Less than a week later on December 4, Pfizer said it will axe 150 of its 670 workers at its Newbridge plant in County Kildare.
In public statements, the companies cited their still-large Irish workforces (3,200 for Pfizer, 2,000 for Merck), while linking their Irish job reductions to overall corporate cost-cutting—like Merck's plan to eliminate 8,500 jobs by the end of 2015. Pfizer, similarly, said its layoffs were a response to growing generic competition following the patent-cliff expiration of exclusivity on blockbusters.
"Ireland remains a key strategic location for Pfizer with many of our leading and newest medicines manufactured here, and the company continues to make investments in the Irish operations," a Pfizer vp, Paul Duffy, told the Irish Independent. In July, for example, Pfizer and Ireland's economic development agency, IDA Ireland, announced company plans to spend $130 million to expand two manufacturing sites, Grange Castle in Dublin, and Ringaskiddy in County Cork.
News of the layoffs comes weeks after Ireland took aim at multinationals by changing its tax code to outlaw Irish-incorporated "ghost" or stateless entities that have no tax residency but collect royalties in offshore tax havens, like Bermuda or the Cayman Islands, from Irish tax-resident subsidiaries that pay royalties for IP. The practice, nicknamed "Double Irish," has been a perfectly legal way for multinationals to cut their global tax bills, given U.S. tax rates reaching 35% for the highest-income corporations.
The change would not end "Double Irish" since multinationals could still register subsidiaries in Ireland, then shift profits to offshore companies that declare residency in a tax haven. Yet Irish officials hope the change will deflect U.S. and European criticism that the Emerald Isle is too business-friendly.
With a corporate tax rate of just 12.5%, Ireland beckons for CEOs, and biopharma's no exception. In July when Perrigo said it would acquire Irish-based Elan for $8.6 billion, Perrigo Chairman and CEO Joseph C. Papa told analysts his company would cut its effective tax rate to 17% (from about 30%) in the first 12–18 months after closing, at an annual after-tax savings of more than $150 million annually. Actavis included reduced taxes along with synergies in the overall $400 million in yearly savings it said it generated by acquiring Dublin-based Warner Chilcott, in a deal completed October 1.
Neither IDA Ireland, nor the trade group Irish BioIndustry Association responded at deadline to GEN queries on the job cuts and the effect ending Double Irish may have on biopharma job creation.
Two months after JobWatch broke the story that Novartis' Vaccines & Diagnostics Division was trimming some 50 jobs from its workforce in Emeryville, CA, the pharma giant has disclosed plans to cut an additional 167 positions now based there—though many if not most of the people affected may yet land new jobs to be created elsewhere.
Layoff date for the 167 positions will be February 28, according to a WARN Act notice Novartis sent to California's Employment Development Department on November 12.
The 167 jobs to be eliminated at Emeryville were among 500 R&D jobs Novartis told the Boston Globe it would eliminate companywide: "It's an attempt to reallocate resources in a more efficient way," Novartis research chief Mark C. Fishman told the newspaper.
However, Novartis also said it will more than make up for the lost California jobs with new positions at its research headquarters in Cambridge, MA—where oncology research is being consolidated from Emeryville.
"175 new positions will be opened in Cambridge to support Oncology research as well as a new respiratory research group," Julie Masow, a Novartis spokeswoman, told GEN on Tuesday. "The impacted Emeryville associates can apply for the open positions in Cambridge."
The company had some 900 jobs at Emeryville in October, when Novartis confirmed plans to lay off some 50 staffers in global legal, IT, HR, finance, procurement, and vaccines research positions.
Share your news of biopharma employment ups, downs, and trends with JobWatch. Please email Alex Philippidis at [email protected] or via Twitter at @AlexWestchester.
Share your news of biopharma employment ups, downs, and trends with JobWatch. Please email Alex Philippidis at [email protected] or via Twitter at @AlexWestchester.
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Systemwide Events Calendar
Hawaii's Native Plants and PollinatorsSeptember 21, 9:30am - 11:30am
Manoa Campus, 3860 Manoa Rd.
Learn some of the fascinating stories and latest research on native Hawaiian plants and their bird and or insect pollinators.
You'll get a chance to see some great photos of pollinators at work and learn about some of the intriguing pollination strategies of native plants.
After the classroom session, you'll get a chance to go out into the garden to see some of the plants and pollinators in action.
Dress appropriately for rainforest weather. Call 988-0456 to register.
Ticket Information
$15, registration required.
Event Sponsor
Lyon Arboretum, Manoa Campus
More Information
Jill Laughlin, 988-0456, firstname.lastname@example.com, http://www.hawaii.edu/lyonarboretum
|Saturday, September 21
|The Wellness Center - Fitness Class Schedule
Maui Campus, Pilina Bldg., Wellness Center
|Pathway to Graduate School
Manoa Campus, Bilger & Kuykendall Halls
|Lighting: How To Use Daylight and Flash
Windward Campus, Hale Alaka'i 102
|Hawaii's Native Plants and Pollinators
Manoa Campus, 3860 Manoa Rd.
|Japanese Flower Arranging - Ikebana Sogetsu
Windward Campus, Hale Kuhina 115
|Writing Retreat
Windward Campus, Hale 'Ākoakoa 107/109
|Adult Learning Strategies
Maui Campus, The Learning Center
|Hawaii Bird Recovery Program Lecture
Manoa Campus, Lyon Arboretum, 3860 Manoa Rd.
|Free Live-Viewing of Warrior Football vs. Nevada
Manoa Campus, Campus Center, 2nd floor
|Peace Day Hawai'i 2013
UH CTAHR Urban Garden Center, 955 Kamehameha Hwy, Pearl City
|The East-West Center Arts Program presents: An Indian Music Fusion
Manoa Campus, Imin Center-Jefferson Hall, East-West Center
|An Indian Music Fusion
Manoa Campus, Imin Center - Jefferson Hall, East-West Center
- Highlighted dates have scheduled events.
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on March 17, 2013 - 10:21 PM
, updated March 18, 2013 at 9:05 AM
WASHINGTON — The losing continues for the Buffalo Sabres. The sell-off awaits. Now you have to wonder if the inevitable implosion of the dressing room is beginning.
Cracks certainly began to show after Sunday's pregame skate when forward Patrick Kaleta – eligible to play for the first time after serving a five-game suspension for an ugly boarding incident with New York Rangers star Brad Richards – was furious to learn he would be a healthy scratch for the game against the Washington Capitals.
Instead of going right back in the lineup, Kaleta was again a spectator for the 5-3 loss in the Verizon Center. Cynics might say several players who were in uniform played a similar role at times, especially when the Sabres were allowing three goals in a 5½-minute span of the second period. They are 1-3-3 in their last seven games and have slipped to 14th place in the Eastern Conference
Kaleta was clearly agitated by the team's 1-2-2 record during his suspension and seemed particularly disturbed by Saturday's overtime loss to Ottawa. The Sabres took a 2-0 first-period lead in that game and then became onlookers the rest of the way. In addition, Ottawa agitator Chris Neil ran around pell-mell drilling Buffalo players before veteran Robyn Regehr finally fought him.
"I'm pissed off. I want to play," Kaleta said. "And especially after watching some things, sitting there watching the game, I want to play. They don't need me right now, I guess. I've been pissed off watching for the past couple weeks. No matter if you're a fan, a player, you guys know what's going on.
"You should be pissed off. You should play with a little piss and vinegar. You shouldn't be happy. We're not in position we want to be in. We have to work harder, come in and do something about it."
Kaleta spoke after taking extra drills with fellow healthy scratch John Scott. No other players were in the locker room to hear the Angola native question if the team wants or needs him at this point. As the media was talking to interim coach Ron Rolston, multiple observers said Kaleta was howling in anger on the ice while finishing his work.
The locker room cauldron bubbled even more after the game when goaltender Ryan Miller was asked about Kaleta.
"He's being dramatic. We're not discussing what Patty says to you guys," Miller said, anger flaring in his eyes. "That's just drama and he needs to just grow up if he's going to say that.
"You know what? He had a stupid play in a game. He sat, he was punished. He has to get over it and move on. We handled it. He doesn't have to go to you guys and say that stuff. There, I'm addressing it right now."
Kaleta said he fully expected to be playing until he arrived at the rink and was told he wouldn't be by interim coach Ron Rolston. What was Rolston's message?
"That's between me and the coach and I have to listen to what he wants," Kaleta said. "Obviously I'm going to be pissed off for today and not be too pleasant. I think about it, let it bother me for a little bit and move on and prepare myself. Hopefully the team will want me back here in the next couple of games."
Rolston initially seemed puzzled when questioned prior to the game about Kaleta's absence, asking reporters "Who are we going to take out?"
Pressed on the issue, Rolston revealed at least a glimpse of the organization's feelings on the Richards hit.
"He understands what just happened and the way he's got to play," Rolston said. "But again, we want to balance the way he plays and not take that away from him either because that's what makes him a valuable hockey player in the league.
"On the other hand, it's a situation where he understands that sitting out five games for him wasn't a good thing and it wasn't a good thing for our team."
The Sabres play again Tuesday in Montreal and certainly could use some of the verve Kaleta brings to the ice.
"Obviously I'm not happy and I shouldn't be," Kaleta said. "I shouldn't be pleasant. I shouldn't be nice. I'm going to ... try to get my energy going in a positive way, try to get ready for the next game or the game after that or whenever the team needs me."
Captain Jason Pominville said he knew Kaleta was angry but that players didn't request Rolston take any more action.
"He's the type of guy who shows heart and character every night," Pominville said. "He's passionate and he wants to be in. I know Ron had a talk with him. We'll talk to Patty, too."
"We don't make lineup decisions. We're plugged in," Miller said. "You guys think we have way more power than we got, man. ... He doesn't need to handle it like that and we'll deal with it internally."
Playing a full 60-minute game could use some internal discussion as well. The Caps snapped a 1-1 tie as Troy Brouwer, Jason Chimera and Marcus Johansson scored in the decisive span of the second period, the second three-goal middle frame the Sabres endured in two days.
Buffalo battled back on goals by Brian Flynn and Cody Hodgson, his second of the game, to make it 4-3 early in the third. Caps goalie Braden Holtby robbed Drew Stafford from the slot with a glove save with less than six minutes left. A few seconds later, the Caps crashed the crease and Mathieu Perreault got the insurance goal with 4:55 to go.
email: email@example.com


text:
i am lucky to have a great dad.
{one that looks like andy from the office, i might add}
he is the type of dad that still calls me kiddo, even though i have 6 "kiddos" of my own now.
he calls a couple times a week to check in on things.
even though we live 20 hours away from each other, i get to see him a lot, so it doesn't quite feel like we are that far from each other.
and to top it all off, he is the best grandpa to my kids.
like seriously. he sets the bar high for all other grandpas.
i love him.
my girls are also lucky to have a great dad.
one that paints their nails, wrestles with them, does their hair, amongst many other things.
i love that they will grow up knowing how much their daddy loves them.
this weekend was the father/daughter dance at our church.
the girls got all decked out:


text:
on December 8, 2012 - 11:20 PM
LOCKPORT – It started as a case of harassing telephone calls to an 800 number in another state – not the type of thing that normally commands a high police priority.
But unfortunately for Che A. Villar of Niagara Falls, law enforcers from Texas to Lockport felt there was something about the case that compelled them to keep working.
The story ended Tuesday, when Niagara County Judge Sara Sheldon Farkas sent Villar, 37, to state prison for 16∑ to 19 years for possession of child pornography.
"It was through good, old-fashioned police work that led to the images that put him in prison," said Assistant District Attorney Elizabeth R. Donatello, who prosecuted the case with Deputy District Attorney Holly E. Sloma.
The sordid tale began in January, when Villar phoned the toll-free customer service number for Oshkosh B'gosh and Carter's, two well-known brands of children's clothing. He made two calls, one of which was recorded by the company.
Villar asked the call center staffers to bring up certain item numbers of little girls clothing that he was viewing at the time on the company's website, Niagara Falls Detective Patricia McCune said.
When asked by police why she didn't simply hang up on Villar, a female call center staffer replied, "That is a fireable offense."
"It was very creepy. I was pretty amazed by what I was hearing," McCune said of her experience listening to the tape.
"I contacted the District Attorney's Office."
Donatello said, "It is very easy to dismiss it as just another misdemeanor, but Patty recognized a sexual predator. In Holly [Sloma], she found somebody willing to assist her with the work necessary."
But before the audio made its way to McCune's desk, the case began in Plano, Texas, where employees of the clothing makers' call center complained to a supervisor about the phone calls, and the supervisor called the local police.
Plano Detective Jon Hoffman tracked down Villar and found through a search of law enforcement databases that Villar was a registered sex offender. He had been rated a Level 1 offender, the least serious classification, following a 2008 conviction for attempted possession of a sexual performance by a child.
In a Feb. 3 telephone interview, Hoffman got Villar to admit that he made the phone calls to Oshkosh B'gosh and Carter's.
"Thank God for Detective Hoffman in Texas," McCune said.
Donatello said in court Tuesday that subsequent investigation eventually showed that Villar had made calls to the 800 numbers for other retailers, including Gap and Gap Kids, Kohl's, J. Crew, Children's Place and Crazy 8, .
"He basically said he can't afford the 900 numbers [for phone sex], so he was calling the 800 numbers to do what he wanted to do," McCune said,
"He would just sit on the phone and dial until he found someone he could talk to about his attraction to kids," Donatello said at Villar's sentencing.
"He has that attraction. He's never denied that," Assistant Public Defender Michael E. Benedict said in court.
Villar had been placed on probation after his 2008 guilty plea for child pornography, so Hoffman contacted Niagara County Probation Officer William Collins, who specializes in monitoring sex offenders.
Villar's probation term had already expired, but Collins passed the information on to McCune.
Sloma said, "Detective McCune needs to be commended for not letting this be just another misdemeanor that came across her desk and recognizing that what she had was a dangerous sexual predator."
McCune said Villar's status as a registered sex offender, his past connection with the viewing of child pornography and the fact that he was pleasuring himself on the phone with customer service workers made her strongly suspect that Villar probably had been viewing child porn again.
A search warrant was obtained for Villar's 20th Street home. It was executed at 6:03 a.m. April 25 by McCune, Detective Capt. Willian Thomson and Officers Mark Martinez and Louis Territo.
Villar's computer was seized – analysis disclosed 400 to 600 images of child pornography – and Villar was interviewed at length by McCune and Detective Daniel Dobrasz.
"The entire interview was him saying he wasn't a bad person," McCune recalled.
"He just does this on the phone and looks at pictures on his computer. He wasn't hurting anyone."
Villar pleaded guilty to three counts of promoting a sexual performance by a child as a sexually motivated felony and one felony count of failure to register as a sex offender because Villar hadn't reported all of his Internet screen names and other identifiers to the state as required. He left out the ones for child porn websites.
The plea deal gave Farkas the ability to sentence Villar to between 10 and 20 years in prison.
By pleading guilty, he avoided a possible federal child porn prosecution that could have brought him a longer sentence.
Farkas gave Villar 1∑ to four years for failure to register the Internet identifiers and five years for each of the three child porn charges.
He will serve those sentences consecutively.
In addition, Farkas imposed 30 years of probationlike post-release supervision, meaning that someone in law enforcement will be on Villar's case until he is 86 years old.
Benedict said Villar "had a troubled upbringing. His family life was not the greatest."
He called his client "introverted" and commented that Villar's use of computer child porn was "a coping mechanism [to] reach a way to deal with his desires."
"If he's doing this, he's a disturbed individual," McCune said.
"We had to make a move. You don't know when he's going to take his fetish out into the community to a child."
"He's not reaching out to try to find live underage victims," Benedict told Farkas.
"He's not going out into the community to act as a predator."
Benedict argued that it would be wrong to punish Villar for something he hadn't done but might potentially do someday.
Donatello said that wasn't what she and Sloma were asking. "He should be punished for what was found on his computer and for not taking responsibility," Donatello said.
She said there have been cases where children from Niagara County were found to have been posed for pornographic photos, although Villar does not seem to have had any of those particular images.
"These are live kids. They aren't nameless, faceless children on the Internet," Donatello said. "Every time an adult male looks at those images, they're victimized all over again."
In court, Villar repeatedly said, "I'm not a monster."
"I don't know how I ended up with [these desires]," he added. "I can't hurt anyone. I never would. … That's not who I am."
"Every picture you've ever viewed of a child bound, gagged or being raped or sodomized, you harmed that child," Farkas told Villar. "Once you make that connection, you become that monster that you so vehemently espouse not being."
"He takes all of his resources, all of his mental ability, to finding excuses and finding ways to continue this behavior," Donatello said. "That's what makes him a criminal, and that's what makes him dangerous."
email: firstname.lastname@example.com


text:
Red Wings re-sign Quincey: 2-years, $7.55m total, $3.775/yr
Posted 18 July 2012 - 07:00 PM
Posted 18 July 2012 - 07:10 PM
Good stuff. Holland re-signs an RFA and people mock it as his 'big splash'. If he let Q go the same people would lament the wasted draft pick we traded for him.
Oh, spare me. In the other Quincey thread I freely admitted we need him.
"If I were to wish for anything, I should not wish for wealth and power, but for the passionate sense of the potential, for the eye which, ever young and ardent, sees the possible. Pleasure disappoints, possibility never. And what wine is so sparkling, what so fragrant, what so intoxicating, as possibility!" - Kierkegaard
Posted 18 July 2012 - 07:11 PM
"Mess up tomorrow, don't mess up now".
- Harry James Benson, CBE.
Posted 18 July 2012 - 08:06 PM
- Hockeymom1960 likes this
Posted 18 July 2012 - 08:22 PM
Posted 18 July 2012 - 08:30 PM
Posted 18 July 2012 - 08:52 PM
Still seems like a bit of an overpayment....but that's why we're seemingly headed for a lockout.
Pavel Datsyuk > x (where x is the name of any active hockey player)
Posted 18 July 2012 - 09:19 PM
"All done? Five bucks." - Pavel Datsyuk after an interview
"Very few cities in the NHL have the history or the following of the Detroit Red Wings." - Steve Yzerman
Be sure and check out my writing on Detroit Sports Nation
Posted 18 July 2012 - 09:28 PM
RIP Bob Probert
RIP Wade Belak
RIP Derek Boogaard
RIP Rick Rypien
Posted 18 July 2012 - 09:35 PM
- thegerkin likes this
- uk_redwing
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Posted 18 July 2012 - 09:46 PM
The saying goes hockey plays have long memories.
Tootoo vs. Quincey at practice?
RIP Bob Probert
RIP Wade Belak
RIP Derek Boogaard
RIP Rick Rypien
Posted 18 July 2012 - 10:40 PM
- ben_usmc likes this
Posted 18 July 2012 - 11:01 PM
Man Stuart was soo bad for 2 years why do people have such a boner for him... Quincey will be a better defenseman this year and people will still think about Stuart as the better option.. Quincey is gonna get hated on here no matter how he plays it seems
What is that based on? Quincey being better is just your opinion as he certainly wasn't very impressive since coming back to the Red Wings. He isn't getting hated on just for the hell of it -- the Red Wings gave up a first rounder for him and he looked a lot like the player the team let go for nothing.
I mentioned in my previous post, but Quincey really only presents more offensive upside than Stuart. Quincey is not as good defensively, nor on the penalty kill for certain and he has a knack for taking bad penalties. Although I think Stuart has gotten less physical over the years, that was still an element of his game too.
Quincey has a chance to prove himself certainly, but I don't think he really instilled a whole lot of confidence going forward from his play last season.
Edited by GoWings1905, 18 July 2012 - 11:02 PM.
- IllinoisRedWingsFan likes this
Posted 19 July 2012 - 12:44 AM
Posted 19 July 2012 - 01:35 AM
Posted 19 July 2012 - 01:39 AM
To be fair, it was not too long ago people complained about Kronwall's defensive game either. I think having Lidstrom around for so many years has seriously spoiled Red Wings fans because he barely ever made a mistake, but defensemen much like forwards make mistakes now and then, and it is usually not a big deal. I'm happy to have Quincey back, it should be interesting to see what he can do with more ice time.
They backed themselves into a corner on this one. This is the type of move nobody cares about when you're 16 million under the Cap, but if he were the last guy signed on a team just under the Cap, everybody hates the contract. But they obviously were going to resign him after moving a 1st on an RFA rental, plus they just don't have anybody else.
Look, I'm giving Quincey a chance, but literally, I've never heard anyone come up with a justification for his game that doesn't assume he learned something from being in the "Detroit system" when he came up. Except he wasn't that great the first time around. He's not an exceptionally good puck mover and he's big but doesn't hit. He's not a PP quarterback, and he certainly wasn't considered as defensively responsible as guys like Kronwall and Stuart, yet he basically has the cap hit of Franzen for 2 years. So...what IS he, exactly?
The brutal truth is that if this guy had started his career anywhere else and put up those numbers, Wings fans would think this was a terrible signing.
"Empty-net goals are for homos" -Al Iafrate
Posted 19 July 2012 - 01:59 AM
I think you are right. Until players reach a certain status, like contribute to a Cup win, nothing will be good enough and even the slightest mistake will be scrutinized. This changes once a player has proven himself on a Cup winning team. The player might still be criticized, but to a lesser degree, and he will always be a better option than the "newbee".
Man Stuart was soo bad for 2 years why do people have such a boner for him... Quincey will be a better defenseman this year and people will still think about Stuart as the better option.. Quincey is gonna get hated on here no matter how he plays it seems
"Empty-net goals are for homos" -Al Iafrate
Posted 19 July 2012 - 03:40 AM
Posted 19 July 2012 - 06:52 AM
Holland is doing what he can. We were so close on Suter too. Quincey may not be "the guy", but without him our D would look even more hollow. Quincey also has some potential to be quite solid. Remember this is the guy that EVERYONE was calling Holland's worst move as a GM, letting him go.
Reasonable contract, only 2 years. Good.
- Z Winged Dangler likes this
Posted 19 July 2012 - 07:50 AM
That's my sincere hope. But with it public that Kenny was pursuing Nash, he's probably pursuing Ryan too, as well as waiting on Doan, it seems that forwards are more of Holland's priority at the moment.
Yeah this is the sense that I get too. I have no idea why he is trying to make such a large splash up front when we have more pressing needs in back. I thought it was Kenny (Scotty?) who said many years ago that Championship teams are built from the Defense forward. I cannot sincerely believe that we feel comfortable enough with our D corps to warrant a big name forward. Baffled...
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text:
Dave Richards: It's time to have some fun
For the past month and a half or so, my weekend entertainment has largely consisted of playing Words with Friends over my iPhone.
Scored a 62-pointer against my daughter.
This is not like me. I usually score higher. Whoops. I mean, I'm usually catching a band, a movie, a drink, a show, a comedian or a cab ride home if I had too much fun at any of the preceding.
When your 21-year-old son goes through open-heart surgery, though, going out goes off the table. I did not feel like living it up the week or so before the surgery; that wouldn't have felt right.
Afterward, when he finally got home and ached and needed help getting meals, keeping his meds straight, and just going up and down stairs, going out was out of the question.
That wouldn't have been right, period.
Lately, he's doing much better. It's just a matter of healing, now. In fact, he's supposed to get up and do things, to move around. I suggested he try moving the vacuum cleaner around, but that didn't go over too well.
Instead, last weekend, Steve and I hit the casino or should I say, the casino hit us. He lasted about two hours, then fortunately tired out before his wallet gave out. But it was nice to bust out -- for both of us.
Today marks one month since the surgery. He's progressing nicely, which means I'm ready, willing and able to report for weekend duty again.
Movies! "Oz the Great and Powerful," here I come. You gave the Scarecrow a heart already, but that's OK. Steve's doing fine with his.
I'm anxious to see how Sam Raimi fares with "The Wizard of Oz" prequel. It's not easy to tackle a classic; ask J.J. Abrams, who will give us a new installment of "Star Wars" in 2015. But I'm confident Raimi will do it justice. He did the "Spider-Man" origin story well. Why not a wizard's?
Music! Missing Ekoostik Hookah was hard, not to mention blues guitarist Sean Chambers, Smackdab and Spiritual Rez, but I'm ready to dive into musical waters again.
Good choices abound. Adam's Ale, with two former members of Waterband (including John Welton) and Cliff Starbuck, a longtime member of Ekoostik Hookah, will bring their uplifting jams to the Crooked I tonight.
Then again, the Bastard Bearded Irishmen, with special guest Randy Baumann, will turn Sherlock's into a jig-rock dancing frenzy tonight. Meanwhile, the Arts & Drafts Festival at Brewerie at Union Station features artists aplenty -- musical and otherwise -- tonight and Saturday.
Tough decisions must be made, but it's nice to have other choices than "what's on TV?"
DAVE RICHARDS can be reached at 870-1703 or by e-mail at email@example.com.


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text:
LEWISTOWN - Both people charged in connection with the abuse of an 11-month old boy were sentenced on Thursday in the Mifflin County Court of Common Pleas.
Robert Grove, 30, was sentenced in the morning, while co-defendant Brittney Marshall, 22, was sentenced in the afternoon. Neither of them admitted to the abuse, or blamed the other as the person who abused the boy.
Despite his desperate plea to the court, Grove was sentenced to serve his 15 to 30 month sentence at a state correctional facility. Grove previously pleaded guilty to endangering the welfare of a child. The remaining charges, including aggravated assault were withdrawn under a plea agreement.
Article Photos
Robert Grove
Brittney Marshall
Marshall previously pleaded guilty to endangering the welfare of a child and she was sentenced to serve 6 to 18 months in the Mifflin County Correctional Facility.
According to court documents, police responded to the emergency room at Lewistown Hospital on July 4, 2012, for an alleged child abuse case. The 11-month-old was subsequently transferred to Geisinger Medical Center in Danville, police said.
According to court documents, police were advised by a doctor at Geisinger that the infant sustained his injuries as the result of abuse. Police were told the infant had skull fractures, and three old healing fractures around his collar bone, shoulder blade and shin, as well as a bite mark caused by an adult. The doctor also told police it appeared the infant had been struck with a rectangular object on some parts of his body.
All told, the doctor documented 41 bruises on the infant, police said.
Grove's defense attorney Matt McClenahen said his client didn't inflict any of the abuse on the child, and yet the co-defendant in this case is going to receive a time served sentence, rather than further incarceration.
McClenahen said Marshall had the opportunity to harm the child, while his client didn't.
McClenahen said Marshall is a violent person and prone to outbursts.
"Strangely enough she attacked (Grove) and bit him last night ... she has a borderline personality disorder," he said.
"Fortunately she doesn't have her children anymore ... I hope she never gets them back," he added.
McClenahen said Mifflin County Children and Youth Services has been trying to help her but she has been undermining their efforts.
McClenahen also tried in vain to have his client's sentence reduced, so Grove could remain in Mifflin County under the supervision of parole and probation department.
"Giving (Grove) prison time, would be like giving (Jerry) Sandusky probation, and (Tim) Curley and (Gary) Schultz prison time," he added.
McClenahen said Marshall was the one who hurt the child, "it's in her nature."
Mifflin County District Attorney Dave Molek said the victim in this case sustained life threatening injuries.
Grove also spoke prior to being sentenced and reiterated that he never harmed the child and that he has two 10-year old boys of his own.
"I didn't do anything wrong, I didn't hurt the child ... I worked out of state, what was I supposed to do?" Grove said.
During Marshall's sentencing hearing she said "one hundred percent I did not do it."
Linda Walck, the paternal grandmother of the boy said Marshall was a "loaded gun" unleashing her rage on the boy and that the child was afraid of Marshall.
"I think she isolated him from us because she didn't want anyone to know what was going on," she said.
Molek said during both sentencing hearings that the plea agreements were reached after looking at the evidence and realizing that determining who committed the abuse, especially the older injuries that had healed, would be difficult if not impossible.
"What I believe and what I could prove are two different things, " he added.
While sentencing Marshall, President Judge Timothy S. Searer said she was "derelict" in her responsibilities as a mother.
"I still say as mother of these children you are the first line of defense," he added.