Exile on Waveland

FAMU was complaining? Niagara was the team that had the gripe. i thought it was FAMU. Maybe I was wrong Oh, I didn't read any quotes. I didn't mean you were wrong, I meant that if one team had a right to complain, it was definitely Niagara.

FAMU was complaining? Niagara was the team that had the gripe.

While I think Illinois is not very good, I think it's very possible they win two games. They match-up pretty well with Va Tech (a very inconsistent team) as well they would So. Illinois. Nothing from this year's Illini team makes me feel like they can win two games in a row against two solid teams. Heck, they've had trouble winning just one game in a row against a solid team. I saw our game against VT, way back in November. They are obviously beatable, but Illinois' guards better guard Dowdell and their other guard, or else they're going to be in for a long night. The key for Illinois to winning that game will be for Pruitt to stay out of foul trouble. I do have Illinois winning that game (I'll admit, more of a heart pick than a head pick), but it's not going to be an easy game, by any stretch. Trust me when I tell you my bias isn't for Illinois -- my allegiance is easily discernible by looking at my location. However, Va Tech is not a very good shooting or rebounding team. Nor are they terribly big. Illinois will almost certainly ugly this game up, giving them a chance to win. If they move on, they'll likely play another halfcourt, defensive team in SIU. Illinois will again have a size advantage. I'm not saying I expect to watch the Illini in the sweet sixteen, but it certainly wouldn't surprise me. I agree with your assessment of Va Tech. However, we don't shoot the ball well, we turn the ball over too much, and if the game is close down the stretch we will be lucky to hit 50% from the line. Va Tech's guards are better than ours and unless we get the ball into the post all the time (something we still rarely do), our putrid shooting will doom us. If we could score 65 pts a game, we'd go deep into the tournament because of our defense. Too bad the only way to score is by putting the ball in the basket, and we can't do that. I've seen three Indiana-Illinois games this year (one in person), so I know all about the Illini's inability to score -- and their great defense. If they lose, it will certainly be due to the offense, but the defense will keep games against less-than-great teams (Va Tech, SIU) close. I really don't disagree with anything you said, especially Va Tech's guards being superior, they're very good. I'm really bitter with this team now. I wouldn't have minded getting an NIT bid because we would've had every game at home until NYC -- at least then we could say we were a final four team! Back to the game against Va Tech, the problem is I can give you a long list of games we lost against less-than-great teams because we just aren't that good. Of course, that all changes if Richard McBride and Brian Randle play to their capabilities. Oh, certainly. Illinois is very capable of losing to a less-than-great team. All I'm saying is I think they'll have a chance to win their first two games. Nothing more. On Randle, have his injuries bothered him that much? He seemed like such a promising player, but hasn't improved much the past couple years. Just an outsider's take.

While I think Illinois is not very good, I think it's very possible they win two games. They match-up pretty well with Va Tech (a very inconsistent team) as well they would So. Illinois. Nothing from this year's Illini team makes me feel like they can win two games in a row against two solid teams. Heck, they've had trouble winning just one game in a row against a solid team. I saw our game against VT, way back in November. They are obviously beatable, but Illinois' guards better guard Dowdell and their other guard, or else they're going to be in for a long night. The key for Illinois to winning that game will be for Pruitt to stay out of foul trouble. I do have Illinois winning that game (I'll admit, more of a heart pick than a head pick), but it's not going to be an easy game, by any stretch. Trust me when I tell you my bias isn't for Illinois -- my allegiance is easily discernible by looking at my location. However, Va Tech is not a very good shooting or rebounding team. Nor are they terribly big. Illinois will almost certainly ugly this game up, giving them a chance to win. If they move on, they'll likely play another halfcourt, defensive team in SIU. Illinois will again have a size advantage. I'm not saying I expect to watch the Illini in the sweet sixteen, but it certainly wouldn't surprise me. I agree with your assessment of Va Tech. However, we don't shoot the ball well, we turn the ball over too much, and if the game is close down the stretch we will be lucky to hit 50% from the line. Va Tech's guards are better than ours and unless we get the ball into the post all the time (something we still rarely do), our putrid shooting will doom us. If we could score 65 pts a game, we'd go deep into the tournament because of our defense. Too bad the only way to score is by putting the ball in the basket, and we can't do that. I've seen three Indiana-Illinois games this year (one in person), so I know all about the Illini's inability to score -- and their great defense. If they lose, it will certainly be due to the offense, but the defense will keep games against less-than-great teams (Va Tech, SIU) close. I really don't disagree with anything you said, especially Va Tech's guards being superior, they're very good.

you, at least, can call it even. illinois is the big loser on every big-time prospect. there is never any good news for the illini, never. True. Indiana will at least recoup some of the hurt from lost in-state players next year. Illinois doesn't have that reprive in sight. However, if it's truly better to have loved and lost than never loved at all, then I'd offer that actually losing a recruiting battle over in-state players is better than losing a player because your previous coach didn't really make an attempt to recruit in-state.

Both teams are. Notre Dame has some great offensive players and has added some much needed toughness inside. They'll be a tough out. Georgia Tech has an extremely talented, athletic team. I picked them in the sweet sixteen. And, as I've said on here before, Illinois got a good draw. Also, I'm not sure the reason every expert has picked Gonzaga over Indiana. While this is by no means a great Indiana team, they match-up very well with Gonzaga. Unless they play awful, I expect it'll be the Hoosiers, not the Bulldogs, losing to UCLA. Pomeroy's numbers bear that out.

While I think Illinois is not very good, I think it's very possible they win two games. They match-up pretty well with Va Tech (a very inconsistent team) as well they would So. Illinois. Nothing from this year's Illini team makes me feel like they can win two games in a row against two solid teams. Heck, they've had trouble winning just one game in a row against a solid team. I saw our game against VT, way back in November. They are obviously beatable, but Illinois' guards better guard Dowdell and their other guard, or else they're going to be in for a long night. The key for Illinois to winning that game will be for Pruitt to stay out of foul trouble. I do have Illinois winning that game (I'll admit, more of a heart pick than a head pick), but it's not going to be an easy game, by any stretch. Trust me when I tell you my bias isn't for Illinois -- my allegiance is easily discernible by looking at my location. However, Va Tech is not a very good shooting or rebounding team. Nor are they terribly big. Illinois will almost certainly ugly this game up, giving them a chance to win. If they move on, they'll likely play another halfcourt, defensive team in SIU. Illinois will again have a size advantage. I'm not saying I expect to watch the Illini in the sweet sixteen, but it certainly wouldn't surprise me. i agree. i think illinois has a very favorable path to the sweet 16. they don't match up very well with KU. though, they would if two KU players were actually playing for the team they should be playing for. but i guess losing early in the tourney is a great way to attract recruits. Don't get me started on players not playing for the team they should be. Edited: Oh wait, I already did above. Oops.

I always like to see people in my pools picking with their heart I have yet to incorrectly predict any bracket game that ND's been involved in, so I've got that going for me. Really, I'm just so excited. Finally, the Irish are back in the tourney, and for the first time since I've followed the hoops team they're playing their best ball at the end of the season. I think that Gtown Big East semifinal opened a lot of eyes. Here I go again, commenting positively on a team I don't much like. I don't think Notre Dame in the elite eight is picking with blue and gold glasses at all. I expect Notre Dame or Oregon will make it that far -- though I'd lean to Oregon (not that that really amounts to much). Wisconsin is a completely different team without Butch, and, frankly, not terribly impressive. I think the Badgers could be in a world of trouble against UNLV or GA Tech. As for Wintrhop, a team I actually picked over Tennessee last year (damn Chris Lofton!), I'm not sure Notre Dame is who they wanted to see. PS Luke Harangody should be at Indiana.

Ready for the possible UCLA-Indiana second round match-up? Sixteen total titles wouldn't be bad for such an early game. Hell, seven teams in the west have won the title, though.

I filled one in pretty quick last night, and that was the final I had too. Big problem for me is that Georgetown has crazy matchups to get there. Getting through Washington State, UNC, and aTm is not an easy task. Disagree to a point. Georgetown has an extremely easy path to the elite eight. They should easily handle their first two games. Once in the sweet sixteen, Washington State is a weak 3-seed. Wazzou's non-conference SOS was 322 and overall only 107 even after playing in a strong Pac-10 (ESPN's InsideRPI), and their big wins are against Gonzaga, Arizona twice and USC twice. They lost both games against UCLA and Oregon (though all four were competitive). They are not a strong 3-seed. They also don't rebound particularly well, which could spell doom against a big, athletic frontline like the Hoyas. Honestly, I'm not sure it'll even be Wazzou -- and that's from possibly the weakest four-team mini-bracket (Vandy, GW, Wazzou and Oral Roberts). Any of those teams in the sweet sixteen wouldn't surprise me, and I'm even thinking of picking Oral Roberts. Of course, I agree that after that, North Carolina (maybe Texas) and then Ohio State/Memphis/Texas A&M is a tough path, but every path is tough once you make it that far.

While I think Illinois is not very good, I think it's very possible they win two games. They match-up pretty well with Va Tech (a very inconsistent team) as well they would So. Illinois. Nothing from this year's Illini team makes me feel like they can win two games in a row against two solid teams. Heck, they've had trouble winning just one game in a row against a solid team. I saw our game against VT, way back in November. They are obviously beatable, but Illinois' guards better guard Dowdell and their other guard, or else they're going to be in for a long night. The key for Illinois to winning that game will be for Pruitt to stay out of foul trouble. I do have Illinois winning that game (I'll admit, more of a heart pick than a head pick), but it's not going to be an easy game, by any stretch. Trust me when I tell you my bias isn't for Illinois -- my allegiance is easily discernible by looking at my location. However, Va Tech is not a very good shooting or rebounding team. Nor are they terribly big. Illinois will almost certainly ugly this game up, giving them a chance to win. If they move on, they'll likely play another halfcourt, defensive team in SIU. Illinois will again have a size advantage. I'm not saying I expect to watch the Illini in the sweet sixteen, but it certainly wouldn't surprise me.

While I think Illinois is not very good, I think it's very possible they win two games. They match-up pretty well with Va Tech (a very inconsistent team) as well they would So. Illinois.

and I'm confident that Izturis can get close to Theriot in that department :D I guess we can come back and actually find what happened after the year. For sure. Count on me to find some argument(valid, or completely off the wall) to try and prove I was right. :lol: Irregardless if you're wrong? :lol: Irregardless :lol: This is all a mute point though, The Riot will get his playing time and he will be dominate. Ahhh!!!! "Mute point", head exploding... PS I know you're being facetious.

Pretty funny seeing as he hit a would-be World Series winning homerun off of Curt Schilling. Isn't that true of most hitters? Hitters hit pitchers' mistakes. Bad pitchers make more mistakes than good pitchers. If every pitch was thrown where it was supposed to be, there would be little to no offense. Most hitters have hit would-be World Series winning homeruns off of Curt Schilling? One at bat does not a hitter make. Nor does a single playoff run. However, in this myopic view taken by Dan Patrick's guest, wouldn't a homerun off a great pitcher in likely Soriano's most important at bat ever qualify as hitting a good pitcher or hitting in the playoffs? I'm not saying that single homerun says anything about Soriano's talents, but I'd think Patrick's guest would. it's just talking point fodder. some hitters hit some pitchers well and others not. sometimes there is a rhyme or reason to it, sometimes there is not. http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/players/6154/batvspit;_ylt=Arposg5K021XCg9s1BdRO6.FCLcF?year=career&type=Batting just looking at some prominent lefties, Mulder, Pettitte, Dontrelle, and Glavine would disagree with Dan Patrick. Santana, Buehrle and Zito would agree with Dan Patrick. in sum, an absurd comment by Dan Patrick. Yes, I agree it's absolutely absurd. I just find it funny that they didn't take this one "clutch" moment and run with that. Instead, they relied on the 2003 (I think) playoffs when he struck out seemingly every time.

Rhubarb.

Pretty funny seeing as he hit a would-be World Series winning homerun off of Curt Schilling. Isn't that true of most hitters? Hitters hit pitchers' mistakes. Bad pitchers make more mistakes than good pitchers. If every pitch was thrown where it was supposed to be, there would be little to no offense. Most hitters have hit would-be World Series winning homeruns off of Curt Schilling? One at bat does not a hitter make. Nor does a single playoff run. However, in this myopic view taken by Dan Patrick's guest, wouldn't a homerun off a great pitcher in likely Soriano's most important at bat ever qualify as hitting a good pitcher or hitting in the playoffs? I'm not saying that single homerun says anything about Soriano's talents, but I'd think Patrick's guest would.

Pretty funny seeing as he hit a would-be World Series winning homerun off of Curt Schilling.

I think he can save us 30-40 runs a year on defense. He can make 4-5 extra outs per week, which will save us 1-2 runs a week. These will come from partly some balls that he can get to that other people cannot, and partly doing things like turning more double plays effectively when he gets the chance. I think he can build a spaceship out of cardboard and dreams. Damn you. I just spit water on computer screen at work. Sorry bout that. Nah, we need some entertainment here at work. (I'm going to blame some water-induced computer malfunction for the missing "my" in my previous post.) Edited for spelling stupidity.

I think he can save us 30-40 runs a year on defense. He can make 4-5 extra outs per week, which will save us 1-2 runs a week. These will come from partly some balls that he can get to that other people cannot, and partly doing things like turning more double plays effectively when he gets the chance. I think he can build a spaceship out of cardboard and dreams. Damn you. I just spit water on computer screen at work.

Excepting the outfield situation, you could live with Izturis (he is an excellent defensive player) at short if the rest of the infield is Ramirez-Soriano-Lee. Of course, Ramirez can opt out and Soriano is going to be pursued and then overpaid. And, of course, you can't except the terrible outfield situation. The offense is going to be ugly.

4.15 Million. Wow. Not only is he terrible and exactly what the Cubs don't need, he's quite expensive. Haha. Hendry is an idiot. Hopefully there is a prospect coming back... I'm sure the rationale will be Izturis' 2004 season, when he was actually somewhat decently not terrible (.288/.330/.381/.711 with, wait for it, wait for it . . . 25 steals!!! Dude, he's fast!!!).

You don't think the Cubs should care about 80 percent of their fan base? I don't think that most of the casual fans know if Dusty should be fired or not-what they see if he has had 1 very good year, 1 good year, 1 decent year, and a terrible year. Many of them see Prior and Wood as the big parts of the team, and so they are obviously willing to excuse the team when they go down. Right or wrong, the perception of that fan base matters. No, I don't. The Cubs should do what's best for the team and organization. If that means trading Maddux, you trade him. Listening to fan opinion is a horrible, horrible way to run a franchise. Also, yes, I think most all Cubs fans want Dusty fired. The casual fan may not know the exact reasons why he should be fired, they just see the declining results and want him fired. Worse record=poor manager. That's the casual thinking, most definitely.

Wow, this is tough. Only vote I really even had to think about. I went with The Who. While Nirvana's short stint only adds to their legacy (it's better to burn out than fade away), it does leave them as less accomplished.

I personally don't care one iota what the casual fan thinks and neither should the Cubs. I also don't think they do, because, if they did, Dusty would have already been fired to appease the casual (and not-so) casual fan.

I think anti-clutch definitely exists. Players are not robots, they react differently in different situations. It's human nature, some will tighten up and get stressed in clutch situations. However, that doesn't mean the opposite is true. Do some hitters actually focus better in big situations? If so, are they slacking the rest of the time? I don't think anti-clutch proves the existence of clutch, though.