Andy

So, for comparison purposes, what do you think about Dempster? Have you watched him this year? He's got a 0.69 WHIP. He's not making it even remotely interesting.

Oh Lonestar, someday your team will heal. Have faith. It will be okay. Then you can stop making sad excuses. 6 games against the Royals - Say they instead played the White Sox and got swept 6 straight games each of the last two years. 98 and 94 wins respectively still win the division. Yeah, usually good teams beat teams they are better than more than they lose to them over the course of the season. Whereas the Cubs beat STL and Houston last year and lost to just about everybody else. :x

It'd be awesome if he'd just stay the hell out of the National League.

This is pretty close to sig-worthy.

of course they would. and the cubs are also going to have a hard time contending w/o lee. but they're also going to have a hard time contending with a black hole in rf, rusch in the rotation, wood on the shelf, and having a complete lack of plate discipline. but the focus will be on lee's injury. just like st. louis would put the focus on pujols being hurt. so you don't like the way they're addressing the starting pitching? if not, what do you prefer? I don't totally buy that they would put the focus on Pujols being out. Last year the were without Rolen, and Larry Walker wasn't 100% either but you didn't see the Cards start making excuses, they just plugged someone in and kept on going. I know that Pujols is much better than Rolen and that they didn't have to make excuses because they won. But that is the whole thing, they have good management who seems to find the right pieces to plug into their lineup and get the job done. We have Dusty "Dude" Baker, and a GM who constructed a roster that had no contigency plan in place should someone go down. They let Scott Seabol play in 59 games last year for crying out loud, and they still won the division. Exactly. STL's contingency plan wasn't any better than the Cubs' was, but because they had fewer injuries, and because they were fortunate enough to get better production out of their replacements, they won the division.

That's Truffle.

tampa bay? Is good. Not as good as Carolina.

I've said it before, I'll say it again a lot: Our front office kicks ass. There's really no reason why Carolina shouldn't win the South this year and at least get back to the NFC title game with the roster they've assembled.

Especially since that guy went running back to his home state in free agency too. IMO that has a lot more to do with Ned Colletti's love of former Red Sox players (Mueller, Lowe, Nomar, etc) than with Nomar's actual wishes.

Even it out by having an equally overscrutinized and equally ludicrous bias in favor of a guy on the West Coast?

I seem to remember another California guy who would have stayed here had Hendry even given him a second look. So I don't think the fact that he's from CA would have all that much impact on Prior, either.

Everything after the bolded is about Wood. I was confused for a second as well.

Most of the announcers love the Bulls if you ask me. Last year, Kerr ripped the Bulls at every turn and jollied himself to Gilbert Arenas, but this year, Kerr and Bill Walton really seem to like the Bulls (Walton's absurd reasoning about why it's legal for Shaq to elbow Tyson in the head notwithstanding). I think the nation is starting to realize that the Heat are a bunch of overhyped overpaid pansies and the Bulls are a hardworking team that deserves more recognition than they are getting. I also believe Andres Nocioni is having a coming-out party. I'll tell you what nothing makes me smile quite like hearing NO-CI-O-NI rain down from the UC stands. And yes, I'm still EXTREMELY pissed that after buying three tickets for myself and my two friends for Game 6, that finals are going to keep me here while the other two get to go and take another friend.

Ken Hubbs died in the 1963-64 offseason in a plane crash.

WGN is indeed the radio broadcast.

Holy hell. Smush knocks it away from Nash with 7 seconds to go, Kobe grabs it and makes an unreal floater over about 2 pairs of Suns hands to tie it with .7 left.

Sure seemed like it. Crowd just about lost their heads after Kirk's shot, which was remarkably similar to my behavior after the shot. Bulls can very well make the East Finals if they win this series. Nets or Pacers are very beatable.

Panthers board I'm on really likes their fifth-rounder of Jeff King (a tight end who played basketball at VT) and their seventh-rounder of Stanley McClover of Auburn. Carolina selected three Hokies this year. I guess John Fox is a Beamerball fan.

After seeing his stats after today's performance, as a whole he hasn't been good. You're right. But I still take issue with your statement that he hasn't done anything all year to deserve praise. Because he has. So has Glendon Rusch. He pitched well in Pittsburgh and he pitched well for almost 5 innings in STL. Overall, both have not pitched well... Oh yeah, I wasn't exaggerating. If you look back at every game Zambrano has pitched this year, he has melted down (for lack of a better phrase) in at least one inning. Granted, a couple of times he was able to get out of trouble with minimal damage but giving up home runs and then walking the next two batters, arguing with himself or others, and having no general control does not equal a good year thus far. You really don't like Zambrano, do you? That's ridiculous. I love Zambrano's game but he hasn't been on it. He's walking too many batters and not getting groundball outs. Why do you have to question whether I like the guy just because I'm not afraid to criticize him? It's like saying you can't like someone and be objective at the same time. Your initial comments were about as FAR from objective as you can get. They were emotional and hyperbolic. Your clarification comments (Z not pitching up to his standards, Z losing control/being inconsistent) are fair and objective. Can't you see this? No, because my comments were obviously in relation to his previous performances. I wouldn't be nearly as upset if I didn't have a high bar for the guy. He's a much better pitcher than he's shown. I guess we'll just disagree on the definition of the words hyperbolic, exaggeration, fair and objective are. I guess we will have to but I will say that his numbers certainly aren't representative of anyone who's pitched well overall. Serena also brought up a good point about Maddux. Few people were defending him last April with his 3 QS and inflated ERA. For some reason, this is different... Nope, you still don't understand. No one minds the above statement. People had issues with the way you phrased your INITIAL criticism, not that there was criticism itself. Thats' fine. This is a messageboard, we're not all here to agree. You are free to describe him in the most glowing or PC terms if you choose (or not). Fair enough. And if you continue using inaccurate hyperbole I will continue to discuss that said hyperbole. What is or isn't accurate is subjective. I wonder how tall I can make these quote tags

It is now Milwaukee 25, Cubs 2 since Friday.

Don't forget the fact that Pierre has been crappy, Ramirez has been slumping mightily, KoJock has only recently started playing like a major leaguer, and since Ronny moved to the 2 hole we have a black hole in the bottom two parts of the order. Hence, the importance of a good bullpen.

It's not the Brewers it's the pitching. We get it. You're anti-Z this year. I'm pro good pitcher. I'm not going to stand up for the guy blindly. What has he done to earn praise? Look at his numbers (not just this game but before hand). His ERA, WHIP, etc. He still has time to make adjustments but there's been little to get excited about. Haha, you can't be serious. can't be serious that zambrano has not been very good this year? i don't see why that's so hard to fathom Agreed, let up on Blueheart, people. Z had a pretty damn bad game today and I don't see the problem with saying that.

Anyone else care a lot less about this game since the Bulls' win?

Bucs pick Bruce Gradkowski, Steelers got Omar Jacobs, a mini-run on MAC QBs.

I don't know who Nate Salley is but he's a FS from O$U and Carolina selected him in the 4th round.