illiniguy

A couple years ago, when the extra innings package forced you to watch the home team's broadcast, I remember they pushed Wilson hard as the face of the team (and with a face like that....). He was in some commercial where he was in line at a buffet, but instead of opening up a big tray of eggs or bacon, it was baseballs and they called it something like serving up baseballs. And he was featured prominently in their stadium. If Jack Wilson is going to be the face of your franchise, you are going to suck. and to think they could have had a 3-4 of Aramis and Jason Bay.

Harrington. It was a no brainer to sign the contract with the $3 million bonus.

Seems like once they get there they don't like playing for Lickliter though. It's been a rough start for him there, but I still think you made a good hire. Yeah that's definitely an issue. Outside of Jermain Davis (who for some reason thought he was going to be playing in a fast-paced system) all of the unhappy guys were Alford recruits. They'll be really bad this year and finish in the bottom 3, but I think they'll grow more than they did last year just because they have guys that want to play for him and in the system. Losing Kelly hurt though. The kid could play.

You honestly think the Nationals have enough pitching to keep the lead for another 8 innings? You know our offense is a joke, right?

Seems like once they get there they don't like playing for Lickliter though. It's been a rough start for him there, but I still think you made a good hire.

We are not going to admit what a mistake signing him was. Ever.

Yeah it does, but we still don't have it good. Wrigleys been around, what, almost 90 years. We still have no world series in our park. The Cardinals win one in the first year of their new park with a terrible team.

I'm sure we could get Aaron Hill, just have to take back either Vernon Wells or Alexis Rios. Id take Rios if theyd take one of our outfielders. They won't they are dumping contracts.

I'm sure we could get Aaron Hill, just have to take back either Vernon Wells or Alexis Rios.

While I don't like this move I think Moore has done a great job with the draft. He has stacked them with great young arms, which is why I understand this trade. There were talks of Cortes becoming a middle reliever anyways. Plus Baird traded away Jermaine Dye and got back Neifi Perez. Then he traded Carlos Beltran and got back John Buck and Mark Teahan. He also traded Johnny Damon and got back Angel Berroa. But, he did sign Mike Sweeney to a huge deal. ](*,)

If what I've heard about him from a former college teammate is true, this might be hush money. Wessel? Yep.

If what I've heard about him from a former college teammate is true, this might be hush money.

I loved how even after he was caught the catcher screwed up and didnt run at him. Instead he just threw the ball to second allowing Alf time to get back to first, but he just loafed back.

This doesn't surpise me at all. Well the fact he was engaged to a woman does, but that he called it off doesn't.

Cause Lou doesn't need no stinkin stats.

Your clearly just trying to bait us, but I will bite anyways. Illinois is coming out of a down cycle, and we have still made the tournament 9 out of the last 10 years. There is plenty of reason for Illini fans to feel good about upcoming years with the recruiting we have done. So yes I am excited, and no I am not ready to order the banners yet. To touch on a previous point by Sully.... Weber going out and starting the recruiting process with 8th and 9th graders is brilliant as it keeps Illini fans in a constant state of "just a year away" fantasy land. Not that I'm rooting against you guys.....I'd love for just about any Big Ten team to win it all again. It beats the pants off of what we were doing before, waiting for a kid only to have a powerhouse sweep in and snatch them up at the end.

Dude he saved us for like 3 seasons, but your point remains. Notice how he didn't even bother to ask who our best defender ever was. Anyone else glove in runs? Didn't think so.

I'm generally not a fan of guys who suck until they are 30, then suddenly are one of the better players in baseball.

We keep telling ourselves how bad the Central Division is, but remember this....... CUBS are 24-21 vs. NL Central We have seen the enemy, and they are us...... or words to that effect. Yes, and the enemy has only been the Pirates 6 times so far! 12 already against the Cardinals, 12 against the Astros, 10 against the Brewers. Means we still have quite a few against the likely fading Reds and Pirates. Too bad we didn't catch the Mets already like everyone else and get to beat up their AA team.

We are winning this division. We've played about as bad as we could, while being hurt, and no one has pulled away from us.

I have serious doubts if Pujols could even die.

They do recognize it in their media guide though. However, they do say that they were named "national champions by the Helms Foundation." I see no harm in doing it that way, but agree it shouldnt be included with other championships to bulk up a schools totals.

1999 or 2000. Damon Buford robbed a homer to end a game 2-1 on the day I was there.

Awesome. I went to the first half inning of the Futures game this year. Hopefully I will see all of it this time around. With no 4 hour rain delays.

I'm not denying that. Simply saying that they have dealt with injuries. You seem to be completely ignoring that fact. I'm not saying the Cardinals deserve sympathy for their injuries. Again, simply stating that they've had quite a few, which makes your "the Cubs have only been healthy for two days" argument a moot point. The fact that a "star" player has sucked is a completely different point. In fact, that's what I was saying when I said that this payroll should produce more depth. Funny, your argument was that the Cubs were ravaged by injuries. Now you're changing your tune to "well we've had players who have sucked." Interesting that you'd be using that argument, since it's EXACTLY what I said in my previous post. Lohse was out for over a month. He also got skipped a few times earlier in the season due to soreness. In his place, the Cardinals started Brad Thompson. When Lohse went to the DL, the Cubs were 3 games behind the Cardinals. As of now, they're 3.5 games. I don't think we can pin the Cardinals's success on Kyle Lohse performing better than you expected him to. Again, what happens in the 2nd half isn't really the issue, since we're discussing why the teams are where they are at this moment. You made the simplistic argument that it came down to one team being injured. I simply pointed out that that argument has no merit, as the other team has also suffered greatly from injuries You have to at least admit that us losing our best player for almost two months is a pretty big deal. I wonder what your year would look like without Pujols for a couple of months? Hopefully we find out in 2011.