rawaction

Opening day lineup for the Cincinnati Reds vs. the Cubs. LF-Freel SS-Lopez CF-Griffey RF-Kearns 1B-Dunn 3B-Encarnacion 2B-Womack/Aurilla C-Larue SP-Arroyo Or maybe they'll move Dunn back to LF and start Hatteberg at 1B.

Let's go Angel. Stake claim to a rotation spot.

That's what I was wondering. If I recall wasn't that a big part of the reason he signed such a reasonable contract? I think in the end the Red Sox will see the bigger benefits of this trade. Pena definitely has some big potential, unfortunately he is going into another situation where there isn't guaranteed playing time. It does appear as though Freel's in line for some additional playing time. Freel should have been the everyday 2B. But apparently, the Reds were talking about Tony Womack being the man. That in itself shows how crappily that organization is run. In fairness to the Reds, Freel has had an absolutely pathetic ST. .103/.186/.154 I like Freel a lot, but even I wouldn't be in a hurry to hand him a job after a dismal start to the baseball year. He consistently puts up much better numbers than that when it counts though, and that's while switching between 4-5 positions.

That's what I was wondering. If I recall wasn't that a big part of the reason he signed such a reasonable contract? I think in the end the Red Sox will see the bigger benefits of this trade. Pena definitely has some big potential, unfortunately he is going into another situation where there isn't guaranteed playing time. It does appear as though Freel's in line for some additional playing time. Freel should have been the everyday 2B. But apparently, the Reds were talking about Tony Womack being the man. That in itself shows how crappily that organization is run.

I could go either with with the Griese signing. I think the clamoring for backup QB help has been way overblown in recent years. I don't think the 2004 team would have done anything of note with some of the available QBs people were talking about, and I don't think the 2005 team would have been any better if they had a different backup. Backup QBs are backups because nobody trust them to start. You are much better off drafting a QB late, developing him along the way and paying him a small percentage of the cap as opposed to overpaying for proven mediocrity just to give you the feeling of stability. Griese would be alright for a backup. But this team's future isn't dependent on its backup QB. Depth is much more important on the rest of the roster, where backups routinely play several snaps a game. This is akin to the Cubs signing middle relievers and utility infielders, except the Bears don't have a glaring hole anywhere (see, Cubs RF).

Barring a collapse in the final 14 games, neither of those guys are likely to be there when the Bulls are using their second first round pick. Carney strikes me as more of a 3, too -- and I think the Bulls are set at SF. Don't the Bulls have 2 firsts? yes, and if the season ended today, the Knicks pick would be no worse than 4th overall (with the 2nd pick at #11). http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/draft2006/index# yeah, but isn't it possible for the Bulls to win one of the top 3 picks in the lottery and still get the #4 from the Knicks? Or for that matter get the top 2. .8% possible, sure. :D Well, there you go! No, I actually was thinking the Bulls were doing worse than they are (thinking they had around the 8th pick).

Barring a collapse in the final 14 games, neither of those guys are likely to be there when the Bulls are using their second first round pick. Carney strikes me as more of a 3, too -- and I think the Bulls are set at SF. Don't the Bulls have 2 firsts? yes, and if the season ended today, the Knicks pick would be no worse than 4th overall (with the 2nd pick at #11). http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/draft2006/index# yeah, but isn't it possible for the Bulls to win one of the top 3 picks in the lottery and still get the #4 from the Knicks? Or for that matter get the top 2.

Barring a collapse in the final 14 games, neither of those guys are likely to be there when the Bulls are using their second first round pick. Carney strikes me as more of a 3, too -- and I think the Bulls are set at SF. Don't the Bulls have 2 firsts?

I'd really prefer Roy or Carney over Brewer. A front court guy is definitely needed moreso than a guard, but the Bulls aren't that deep in the backcourt. Plus, a big guard would give them the flexibility to play a 3-guard lineup (which they can't really do now because of matchup problems), playing Roy/Brewer/Carney at the 3, with any combo of Deng/Aldridge/Chandler at the 4-5.

If Walker is still with the team, I fully expect the competition for 2B to continue into the season. I think Dusty will go back and forth and go with the hot hand until they can find a taker for Walker.

They had nothing on Walton, Smith, Kieschnick.

No you won't.

I can't believe he's 37. Seems like just a handful of years ago.....

Why are pitching starved teams going after Arroyo? Yet, there has been no reported interest in Jerome Williams who is better, young, and cheaper than Arroyo. When Wood, Prior, and Miller get healthy, the Cubs should be able to get a ton for Williams if the Sox can get Pena or Wilson for Arroyo.

My Final 4 is completely intact. Of course, I picked 3 #1 seeds. 2 Sweet 16 in 3 of the brackets and completely right on the Duke bracket (I have no idea what they're called now that they aren't East/West/Midwest/South). 10 of the Sweet 16, 7 of my Elite 8 are still left (damn Michigan St.), and all my Final 4 are in tact. Next year, I swear, I'm picking the highest seed every time. I'd still have 10 of the teams right so far.

Which sucks because I picked 4 of them. IU, Illinois, OSU, and Michigan St.

Big Ten done on the first weekend. Where's MOJ? HE called this. I blame him for bringing his bad karma onto the conference because his Georgia Tech team is sitting at home watching.

I like the trade for the Pirates if it happens. Clement is overpaid, but is from the area and knows the NL Central. I hate the thought of the Cubs against Clement though. The Cubs hitters are aggressive and that plays right into Clement's strengths. They would undoubtedly face each other about 3-4 times this season.

Ratliff at 6'2" did an excellent job on the 6'8" Morrison. IU was really hurt by not being able to put a big body on Mallon. Also, whenever Errek Suhr was on the floor for IU, his man was able to score or create a score. I thought Davis did a poor job by giving him so much time.

In Gonzaga's case it was more aggressive. But not that much more. Mallon and Morrison were hooking with the elbow consistently. They did a good job of not extending their arms though, so it never got called. The tech on Killer completely lost the game for IU. It didn't have to be done. Both teams were heated. The refs determined the outcome of the game by calling the tech on Marco. Marco should have never put himself in that situation, though.

I went 23-9 in Round 1. Sweet 16 teams gone (Kansas, Nevada), and Mich. St. who I had in the Elite 8.

at work, so I got to the bathroom on my floor (3rd floor in 4-floor building), and there's somebody in 1 of the 2 stalls already taking a dump. Not wanting to [expletive] next to someone else in a small bathroom, I take the elevator upstairs to the 4th floor men's restroom. *background info* our staircase is locked (fire hazard) in the building, so you have to take the elevator everywhere. And the 4th floor is being remodled, so I figured I'd be alone up there, as opposed to the 2nd floor which has the most people employed in the building and happens to be the level with the vending machines.* So, I get off the elevator and this white haired lady is glaring at me thru the glass doors and windows of her company's receptionist desk. So, I'm like whatever, and I go do the do. I get out, and remembering that the 3rd floor stairway door is propped open by napkins wedged into the wall (which it has been for about 3 weeks), I take the stairs down. Well, I get back to work and about 15 minutes later, a co-worker comes to me and says, "hey, I was told to tell you not to use the 4th floor bathroom anymore". So, I'm thinking, so that's why the old lady was looking at me funny. I'm assuming it's because of the remodling, so I'm like ok, I didn't know we weren't supposed to be up there (remodling on opposite side of the building). So, I tell another co-worker that I was told I couldn't use the bathroom upstairs and she told me she wasn't aware of any rule saying we couldn't. *Background info* the co-worker I told this to is a white woman, married to a black man and they have 3 bi-racial boys....one of whom was called the "n" word just minutes ago and beat up the kid who said it. While I was in the bathroom, I guess she got a text from her son saying the boy's mother was pissed because her son got a bloody lip. So, she was already riled up* So, she goes upstairs and asked if people were allowed to use the 4th floor restrooms. The white haired lady says, "oh, you have to ask her, and points to her co-worker." The co-worker says, "yes." So, Paula (my co-worker) says, "so what's the problem then?" She says she is completely calm the whole time and only asks that question. And the lady responds, "oh you mean the INCIDENT earlier" (since when is taking a dump an incident?). Then she goes on to say, that I was suspicious looking because I took the stairs down and had the door propped open with napkins. And then she points out that they had been robbed 3 times in the past few months. :shock: *background info* there was a cleaning crew in the building a couple months back that was very shady looking (young guys), and a black guy was caught on camera in their office. If it's the guy I remember, he was about 19-22, light-skinned and had cornrows. I'm 29, dark and balding. And by the way, this was all done after hours when everyone was off of work.* *more background info* It was dress-down Friday and ST. Pat's day, so I'm wearing jeans and my green Notre Dame jersey in the spirit of the day* So, Paula comes and tells me, (I never knew she was going to confront this lady) what happened. So, I get pissed. This white-haired lady assumed that I was gonna rob them, the moment I stepped off the elevator, hence the look. Even after I went to the restroom, she must have retraced my steps and found that the 3rd floor door was propped open. So, I'm debating on whether to confront this woman, but I don't. I'm a pretty calm person, but no matter my demeanor, it still would have been a big black man confronting an aging white woman. So, I didn't want to go to her office and make a scene. But at 5:00, I get off work and I'm waiting in the lobby for my g/f who is picking me up. The white-haired lady comes out of the elevator with another woman and a guy. I couldn't hold my frustration, so I calmly said, "I don't appreciate being treated like a criminal in the place where I work." She says, "Nobody's treating you like a criminal. We don't have a problem with you using the bathroom. But we do have one with you putting napkins in the door to prop them open." So, I explain to her that the napkins had been there for 3 weeks and I didn't do it in anyway whatsoever. And that she had no reason to assume 1. that I did it and 2. that I was gonna rob the place. So, she stormed out and I called her a "racist bitch". *background info* I consider myself a Christian, and despite the things I type, I never verbally swear. My best friend of 19 years has never heard me swear. My girlfriend heard me for the first time yesterday, when I told her what I called the lady. And I don't raise my voice very often. Only twice in a 4 year relationship with my g/f.* So, my g/f seeing how upset I was and not one to back down from a good confrontation, gets out the car and confronts the 3 who were still in the parking lot. The white-haired lady immediately walks away, so my g/f talks to the other girl and guy. The guy pulls out his phone and says, "Hey, I'll call the police if there's gonna be any violence." "We just came up here to pick her up because she was afraid something was gonna happen." So, lets count. 1. Assumed I'm gonna rob them at 3:00 in the afternoon. 2. Assumed I put napkins in the door. 3. Assumed I was gonna get violent and called for protection to escort her out of work, despite the fact that I had never even said a word to this woman in the 9 months I've worked at this place. 4. Assumed that I would risk my job (which I'm sure pays more money than her job) just to mess with her. My g/f goes on to tell them that I have never robbed anyone in my life, and that they had a better chance of her getting violent than they would with me. Still the lady insists her friend felt threatened and still hangs onto the notion that I'm the one that put the napkins in the door, despite me telling her otherwise. 5. Assumed I was a liar. It really pisses me off that I am a soon to be 30-year old, college graduate from a major university with a degree in business, and people still look at me and see a threat.

Never understood why that was a bad thing. You ever try to hit a beach ball with a bat? Sure, you hit it every time, but it doesn't go far. And nothing left the IF in that inning, so maybe he was throwing big plastic inflated balls.

Monmouth 3-20 from the field. That's not the way to win a game.

The bold is my entire point. You can't just simply justify keeping Delmon down because you want to delay his option clock. Especially, when he's likely to outproduce everyone they have on that ML team with the POSSIBLE exception of Huff and Gomes. That's when it crosses over to being cheap and not putting the best possible team on the field. Isn't it really the arbitration clock they were thinking about delaying? The option clock doesn't really matter. that's what I meant.