Tracer Bullet

ugh

http://cache.daylife.com/imageserve/0eEtbHj7nTgQp/x610.jpg he's got a latin temper

Get that [expletive] the [expletive] out of here. You just made me a sad panda. With that rotation and an offense featuring the likes of Sammy Sosa, Moises Alou, Nomar Garciaparra, Aramis Ramirez, Derrek Lee, and up and comers Corey Patterson and Micheal Barrett, the future was nice and bright. It was hard to imagine not winning at least 2 World Series with that bunch. It's hard to imagine not evening making the playoffs with that team Unfortunately, it was Dustiny. That preseason, after we signed Maddux, was probably the most excited I've ever been as a Cubs fan, and also the proudest I've been as a Cubs fan. We had finally done something in the offseason, came 5 outs from the World Series and added Maddux, Lee, Hawkins, Dutchvalue (not to metion a full season of ARam and getting Patterson back). The Sox hadn't won in 87 years, the Cardinals in 22 years, the Red Sox in 86 years, so we still had company (which at least to me was comforting. Now we're just alone). And we had a dominating pitching core that would compare favorably with what the Giants have now and could put a #1 or 2 quality starting pitcher out there every night (I guess Maddux was more of a 3 or 4 at that point but whatever). Since then, Zambrano is the only one left in that dominating rotation as Wood is a setup man, Prior is playing A ball, Clement and Maddux are retired. The Cubs didn't make the World Series or the playoffs that year and had a really annoying season, the Red Sox, White sox and Cardinals all won the World Series in the next 3 seasons (not to mention another long sufferer the giants winning it last season). The Cubs have won 2 division titles since then but have yet to win even a postseason game. Good times. can we let 2003/04 die already, at least in this thread?

this is where we've ended up? Wish I had known and could have just ignored the whole discussion. I blame myself.

wrong with it? compared to all the other "look at me" recruiting games? probably nothing. but i'm not sure it's any better than the hat game. he called a pc after signing day when he'd have even more of the spotlight (b/c being the #1 recruit wasn't enough). i'm not sure he's worse than most, but i don't think it's deserving of praise either. it's still attention seeking behavior - if you don't like the hat game and the several decommitments, why is a post-signing day pc better?

We need to chip in and get this man some eyebrows. maybe his entire body is hairless With alopecia, I'm pretty sure it is. He doesn't even have eyelashes! doesn't have to be - can just be the head/scalp.

I don't understand how this post disproves Harang's idea that that game basically pushed his body over the edge. yeah - pitcher is "abused" over the course of several years and then his manager pitches him in relief on super short rest and then again or slightly less than normal rest. the pitcher gets fatigued, he starts messing with stuff to try to deal with it, and fucks up his arm. that's totally not exactly what Harang claims happened.

many, if not almost all, of those studies don't corroborate a pitcher changing his mechanics, altering his arm angle, etc, due to fatigue and the result being injury?

they asked him about playing football and he conceeded with all the ups and downs he thought about it. but seriously even three plus years away from the game he would probably be a starter with the bears. More realistically, he could go the Chris Weinke route, who after toiling in the Blue Jays farm system for several years went back to Florida State and eventually made it to the NFL for a few years. I think he was like 28 years old in his senior season. or absolutely not realistic at all.

No, he just called a press conference for himself days after everyone else committed. It's still a douche move for an 18 year old Or he had not made a decision, nothing says you have to commit by signing day. They would have had a press conference for him regardless of what day he committed. good point. he didn't have nearly enough time in the 2 years (or more) that he was being recruited. But with an extra 7-10 days, he was finally able to wrap his head around this decision.

We need to chip in and get this man some eyebrows. maybe his entire body is hairless

can you explain this? Harang seems to trace his struggles with fatigue back to that point and his performance corroborates his understanding. You have no established basis for your point, but you're pretty confident in your position, which is directly contrary to Harang and the results of much of the study of pitcher use over the last decade.

Holtz is a fantastic coach/person. Once you overlook all the probation. no, not overlooking anything

He has a lisp yes. But not senile at all.

I'll cut you

cam newton...reggie bush...money...cam newton...reggie bush...money. what is it that ties these things together in my mind?

Holtz is a fantastic coach/person.

can he just sneak into Bears training camp and play WR next year?

why don't we just change extra inning games? it's not like anyone actually likes sitting through 10 scoreless innings to see a run finally scored against the 15th pitcher used in the 7th hour of a game. give the teams like 2-3 extra innings and if they don't have a winner by then, it's a tie.

how do you know when you've failed athletically? when a better player passes you on the depth chart? I mean, I don't lose my academic scholarship if I'm still performing very well but there's another person also performing well. but if i'm a 5-star RB and my school brings in 2 more 5-star RBs and wants to put them on the field before me, I'm suddenly not holding up my end of the bargain? I'm still awesome and would start for most schools, but you've buried me on the bench by bringing in better players at my position and likely killed any chance I have of making it in the NFL. And since 50% of black football players will actually graduate from most schools, you're not educating me either. So you're just making money off me while I'm useful to you and then discarding me when the next hot thing comes along. You really don't see a difference? they're 2 very different things, imo.

This is amazing. we thought you were good. so you suffered a career ending knee injury on the first day of practice? tough break. there's a nice JC you can attend just down the street.

I don't have a problem if someone thinks that Cam is the best QB in the draft. I have a problem if with the idea that you would go into his workout thinking he wasn't, and come out thinking he is. how is this different than Jamarcus Russell throwing from his knees and ass during workouts and suddenly he's this great QB prospect? I didn't say that was right either. sry - that wasn't aimed at you. aimed at analysts. it's just stupid.

I don't have a problem if someone thinks that Cam is the best QB in the draft. I have a problem if with the idea that you would go into his workout thinking he wasn't, and come out thinking he is. how is this different than Jamarcus Russell throwing from his knees and ass during workouts and suddenly he's this great QB prospect?

Would Trooper be considered "very, very high profile"? That kind of emphasis makes me think it'd be somebody very well known, even by casual fans. Charlie Weis, for instance (though it being him would be rather strange). Can't be Weis based on the description - calling boosters at his previous stops for help finding a job. If Weis wanted to find a job, he'd tell his agent to let the NFL teams know he was interested and a handful would have offers to him within 24 hours. He wouldn't be calling ND boosters (ha!). Makes no sense.

Is it just me, or has this little game been handled very lazily by Neyer? I usually really enjoy his writing. But so far, he seems to say "who were the 2-3 best players the last 3 years? ok, it's one of those guys." Why wouldn't you give Castro more than the 2 sentences he gave him? why not go into a touch more detail in the discussion of the young stud catchers? I don't really care who he picks for these, but I thought it would be a more interesting read, I guess.