Comments on: The State of Rhode Island sues Curt Schilling

By: hockeyflow33

hockeyflow33 — Sat, 03 Nov 2012 04:16:58 +0000

Well someone asked if it’s common for government to fund businesses and clearly the answer is yes. Someone does care because they asked the question.

By: townballblog

townballblog — Fri, 02 Nov 2012 23:40:05 +0000

Thanks, Craig.

By: stlouis1baseball

stlouis1baseball — Fri, 02 Nov 2012 20:37:50 +0000

Hockey: I appreciate the spirit in which you post.
That in mind…please know you are wasting your time.
Many of my fellow HBT friends (say….about 98%)…
Think the sun rises and sets in Barack Obama’s ass.
They think the Man can do no wrong. I mean that literally…the dude has done a bang up job in their opinions. For this…I sincerely hope they don’t vote.
Me? It isn’t that I voted FOR Mitt Romney. To the contrary…I voted for “change.”

By: Chipmaker

Chipmaker — Fri, 02 Nov 2012 13:12:33 +0000

Hey, Curt Schilling — you didn’t build that.

You did wreck it, though. At least that is A result.

By: kkolchak

kkolchak — Fri, 02 Nov 2012 11:31:35 +0000

Nobody cares.

By: ezthinking

ezthinking — Fri, 02 Nov 2012 08:19:06 +0000

go jerk off into your mitt

By: hockeyflow33

hockeyflow33 — Fri, 02 Nov 2012 06:56:17 +0000

What would be the basis of their claim?

By: hockeyflow33

hockeyflow33 — Fri, 02 Nov 2012 06:55:13 +0000

Obama has given out a ton. I saw this list earlier today:

Bright Source: FAIL! – Bright Source warned Obamaâs Energy Department officials in March 2011 that delays in approving a $1.6 billion U.S. loan guarantee would embarrass the White House and force the solar-energy company to close. Bright Source lost billions of dollars but is getting more money to keep trying. Can you say, âThis isnât working Mr. President?â

Solyndra: FAIL! – Obama gave $500,000,000 (thatâs a HALF BILLION!) in taxpayer money to Solyndra who shut its doors and laid off 1100 workers in August 2011 after billions in losses due to failure to make a solar product that works! Barack Obama was not vetted before being elected President and neither was Solyndra before Mr. Obama threw that taxpayer money down the drain of unproven technology.

LSP Energy: FAIL! – LSPEnergy LP filed bankruptcy protection and a sale of its assets in Feb 2012

Energy Conversion Devices: FAIL! â On February 14, 2012 Energy Conversion Devices, Inc. and its subsidiaries filed for bankruptcy

Abound Solar: FAIL! – Abound Solar received a $400 million loan guarantee from Barack Obama then announced in June, 2012 that it would file for bankruptcy. Many of these failed corporations, such as Abound, donated MILLIONS and continue to donate to Barack Obamaâs campaign. Can you say, âDemocrat Slush Fundâ? Yes this is illegal. But Democrats are being protected from being prosecuted, for now.

SunPower: FAIL! – SunPower stopped producing solar cells in 2011 at near bankruptcy then restructured with the help of, get this, oil giant TOTAL, Inc. who owns 60% stake in SunPower. Irony? The company is still struggling.

Beacon Power: FAIL! â Beacon Power Corp filed for bankruptcy protection in October, 2011 just a year after Obama approved a $43 million Government loan guarantee. They remain barely in business, still struggling to make energy that makes sense or that works at all.

Ecotality: FAIL! – ECOtality, a San Francisco green-tech company that never earned any money and remains on the verge of bankruptcy after receiving roughly $115 million in two loan guarantees from President Obama, who wants to do some more of this kind of Democrat Slush Fund Guarantees after he is elected to a 2nd term.

A123 Solar: FAIL! – A123 Solar received $279 million from taxpayers thanks to President Obamaâs Department of Energy loan guarantees even after the Solyndra bankruptcy and is getting another $500M from Obama after a loss of $400M.

UniSolar: FAIL! – Uni-Solar filed for Ch 11 bankruptcy in June 20, 2012 after laying off hundreds of workers. UniSolar received even more Obama money after showing now progress, no profits and is still failingâ¦ yet they still remain in business with Obamaâs help.

Azure Dynamics: FAIL! – Azure Dynamics filed for bankruptcy in June , 2012 wasting millions in Obama âStimulusâ money and received abatement on taxes owed and and several tax credits. Azure Dynamics LLC filed for bankruptcy protection in Canada and the US. Azure laid off 120 of its 160 employees in Oak Park; Boston; Vancouver, British Columbia; and the UK.

Evergreen Solar: FAIL! – Evergreen Solar received $527 Million in Taxpayer money from Obama and filed bankruptcy in late 2011. Evergreen, which closed its taxpayer-supported Devens factory in March, 2011 cut more than 1800 jobs. Evergreenâs $450 million factory, turned out to be a colossal âwasteâ of taxpayer money.

Ener1: FAIL! Ener1 Inc. received a $118 million U.S. Energy Department grant from President Obama to make electric-car batteries but filed for bankruptcy protection January 2012 after defaulting on bond debt.

By: hockeyflow33

hockeyflow33 — Fri, 02 Nov 2012 06:51:09 +0000

That’s why your shouldn’t rely on commenters for facts. Rhode Island, like many, is an at-will employment state and thus, unless a contract states otherwise, have the right to fire anyone, at any time, for no cause. However, I believe you’re trying to reference the WARN Act which requires 60 day notice for employers with over 100 employees, (I have no idea how many they had). Case law is mixed as to how enforceable this is when a company files for bankruptcy and looks heavily towards when they filed and fired employees.

By: Reflex

Reflex — Fri, 02 Nov 2012 06:25:47 +0000

Multiple sites have commented that it is illegal to lay off employees without a 30 day notice. 38 Studios certainly knew they were going bankrupt more than 30 days before they actually did. Not only did they not notify employees, they convinced many of them to continue working for free while they supposedly secured new funding.

Legally speaking, a month before the money ran out they should have notified them of the impending layoff, continued seeking funding, and on that last day stopped work but let people know they were still trying to find funding if they wished to risk sticking around for a rehire.

By: hockeyflow33

hockeyflow33 — Fri, 02 Nov 2012 06:02:22 +0000

He doesn’t need me defending him but if you ever meet him, he couldn’t be nicer and more gracious. Most business fail and unfortunately, his did as well.

By: hockeyflow33

hockeyflow33 — Fri, 02 Nov 2012 06:00:08 +0000

What about it was illegal?

By: seeingwhatsticks

seeingwhatsticks — Fri, 02 Nov 2012 01:24:09 +0000

I think it’s fairly common for smaller states to try and lure new business to the area, and bigger states to try and prevent a company from leaving. This case is really bizarre though because 38 Studios I believe only had around 50 employees at the time they got the loans so it’s not as if the state was attempting to lure hundreds or thousands of new jobs. Giving this type of deal to what is essentially a startup, with no track record of success, that isn’t going to be creating a large amount of manufacturing jobs is pretty odd. It makes sense to try and help out a large company with blue collar jobs and a long history in the state, or a small but growing company with at least some track record of recent success because in those cases the risk the state takes is worth the potential reward. 38 Studios represented a huge amount of risk with a pretty pedestrian return so I can’t possibly fathom how this deal made sense. If I remember correctly from reading a long Boston Magazine article about this saga, outside investors said that Schilling was very charming and confident when pitching his company but that the presentations were all style and no substance. It sure sounds like Rhode Island politicians fell for the charm and the lure of saying they were in business with the bloody sock hero.

By: seeingwhatsticks

seeingwhatsticks — Fri, 02 Nov 2012 01:16:24 +0000

330k sales for a first offering is actually very good, especially if it had mixed reviews. The problem with 38 Studios is that they tried to make their second offering an MMORPG, as churchoftheperpetuallyoutraged mentioned. MMORPG’s have the potential to generate far more revenue than individual games, but they’re also incredibly expensive to produce and without any kind of track record of success they can be incredibly difficult to sell even if the game itself turns out to be good. For a company like 38 Studios an MMORPG is like trying to shoot the moon, and the reality is they never should have tried it.

By: churchoftheperpetuallyoutraged

churchoftheperpetuallyoutraged — Fri, 02 Nov 2012 00:52:20 +0000

38 Studios, formerly Green Monster Games, was the entertainment and IP development company founded by Major League Baseball pitcher Curt Schilling and named for his jersey number. In February 2012, the company released its only title, Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning, a single-player action role-playing game for several platforms. The game got mixed reviews, some very negative and some very positive, but only sold an estimated 330K copies in its first month; the company defaulted on its first payment just over three months later.

Per wikipedia, so i was corrected that it wasn’t successful even though 330k sales for an independent producer is a lot.

By: sidelineshot

sidelineshot — Fri, 02 Nov 2012 00:47:04 +0000

This guy had lots of people fooled for a long time with his non-stop talking.
Guess everyone found out, as it’s often the case with show-offs like him, that his I.Q. level was just above his shoe size.

By: dcfan4life

dcfan4life — Fri, 02 Nov 2012 00:35:26 +0000

Successful games can cost anywhere from $50,000 to $50 million. What i dont understand is how somewhere around $120 million got put into this company for one game that isnt near completion and they couldn’t even sell the rights to it like other bankrupt gaming companies do. Something just doesnt add up here…

By: sanzarq

sanzarq — Thu, 01 Nov 2012 22:45:02 +0000

Quite by accident, I talked to a former employee of Schilling’s video game company this past summer. Based on what I heard in that conversation, Schilling should be sued. There’s more than one DUNCE in this deal & the one I’m thinking of has a Bloody Sock in his drawer!

By: lmoneyfresh

lmoneyfresh — Thu, 01 Nov 2012 22:27:16 +0000

When it is such a glaring instance of hypocricy, it’s really hard to overlook the fact that a staunch right winger took government money and pissed it away.

By: lmoneyfresh

lmoneyfresh — Thu, 01 Nov 2012 22:25:14 +0000

I’m taking a shot in the dark here, but I would guess that states/governments would only pursue something like this if they thought there was negligence on the behalf of the recipient of the loan money. A failing business is one thing, but blatant misuse of funds is another. Again, I don’t know the details, but that seems to be the issue at hand here.

By: drewsylvania

drewsylvania — Thu, 01 Nov 2012 20:44:42 +0000

He’s also a tea party conservative who’s only out for himself.

By: stairwayto7

stairwayto7 — Thu, 01 Nov 2012 20:44:39 +0000

Could not have happened to a better guy!

By: joecool16280

joecool16280 — Thu, 01 Nov 2012 20:34:36 +0000

or we can just leave the politics out of it and call him what he really is…a blowhard narcissist who needs to mix in some salads and find a tanning bed

By: chill1184

chill1184 — Thu, 01 Nov 2012 20:02:42 +0000

Conservatives dont believe in small government

By: castillo_ken

castillo_ken — Thu, 01 Nov 2012 20:01:17 +0000

A small Government Conservative stealing $ millions and blaming the market for his failure … Where is the small Government when your asking for Millions to fund your pet project. they helped you build it, you screwed it up.

By: castillo_ken

castillo_ken — Thu, 01 Nov 2012 19:58:38 +0000

The company never even started producing one game. Some of the employees they hired moved to R.I. and never got to work one day because the money dissipated.

By: Reflex

Reflex — Thu, 01 Nov 2012 19:54:59 +0000

To be fair, the governor who is behind this was not governor at the time the loan was granted, and publicly opposed it at the time. He’s a pretty moderate guy in general.

By: sophiethegreatdane

sophiethegreatdane — Thu, 01 Nov 2012 19:54:29 +0000

Small govt conservatives are like Big Foot or UFO’s — I’ve heard of them but never actually seen one. “Small government conservatism” is not a particularly effective at helping politicians insulate their mansions with tax dollars from the middle class. Banknotes are crazy comfy and warm.

By: chill1184

chill1184 — Thu, 01 Nov 2012 19:46:06 +0000

I wish there was a way both of them could lose. The state creates a crony capitalism situation and then gets pissed when it fails. Then you got Schilling who squawks the bullshit lie that conservatives squawk that they actually believe in getting the state out of your life. At least liberals are “honest” in wanting the state jackboot in my face.

By: sportsfan69

sportsfan69 — Thu, 01 Nov 2012 19:17:46 +0000

Yeah, Curt is a right wing / tea party conservative, who’s only out for himself. Hypocrite.