Andy

I like Spider-Man better because he actually has powers, he has a hotter girlfriend than any chick Batman's ever gotten, and he doesn't have a 'dark side' like Batman. But I would rather BE Batman. After all...he's got money.

hahahahaha Why don't we just schedule 81 night games? Let's make Dusty happy. All he does is piss and moan about the day/night differential.

YES! A Bill Simmons wrestling joke! I love these! This is a wonderful idea.

1) Combined? Yes. You have two average to below-average offenses and if they both made it you would probably see the worst total offensive output ever in the Series. 2) It would be among them. I have a hard time believing anything will top Marlins/Indians in that department, though. 3) If the Cards win this series, Astros fans officially fall into the Cubs/Indians camp of tortured fans (albeit in a lower spot since they've been around a shorter time).

Becasue he took four steps before he started running, after a gigantic home run? Are you serious? I hope Oswalt does it. Simply because I want to see Albert go out to the mound and snap that punk in half. :lol: :lol: I think Oswalt is a twerp..., a talented twerp, but one nonetheless. It takes a lot to piss off Michael Barrett...if you've done that, you're a grade A jerk, IMO.

-Cubs in 2004, I was at the Mets game where the collapse began Good point Truffle, I forgot about the Cubs' 04 collapse. I can't believe I blocked that out...that one was probably more damaging than the 03 collapse because I have no doubt that that team would have at the very least gone to the World Series had they made the playoffs, whereas the 03 team was more of a surprise and I was happy they made it as far as they did. And Adam, I have always followed ND (I had no choice really, all my mom's family and all my dad's family are ND fans with maybe one or two exceptions) but I am only 18. I wasn't old enough at the time of the ND-BC 93 game to understand the significance of it (although I firmly remember my mom visibly crying as BC nailed the game-winning field goal). And since then, ND has been too painfully mediocre for there to be any scarring losses...although the 1/1/01 Fiesta Bowl was no fun. Being a Bulls fan there haven't been any painful losses in my memory, just painful teams, and the Carolina Panthers are the same way. (Losing fifteen games in a row when you have second-half leads or ties in twelve of them come to mind.) The Super Bowl loss to NE was not scarring because I was thrilled that no one could ever doubt that that Panthers team was for real anymore after that game. That was a longer response than I expected to post, but there you go.

I understand what you are saying but have you ever noticed how players sign discounts and waive no-trade clauses just to play in st louis? It's a good point but STL is far from exclusive in that way. Todd Walker took a discount and also a reduced role to play in Chicago. Randy Johnson was only too happy to waive his no-trade to play in New York. Heck, Barry Bonds took less money to stay in SF, although that may just be because he believes Willie Mays is the Lord Jesus Christ. STL is not the only city baseballers flock to. But I definitely can see why players like playing there. A great Cardinals player is treated as well as any great player in the majors, and usually better, by his hometown fans.

I normally agree with what you say, but come on. ND is not a top 5 team. IMO VT, Texas, USC (obviously), Georgia, Bama, LSU, Auburn, PSU, UCLA could all give ND a run for their money. Also FSU or Miami could very well beat them. They are 100% better than last year, but they are not there yet. I try not to look ahead till next year either. They will be great, but ND (much like the Cubs. Bears) always find a way to let me down. Tennessee will be tough this year, and I actually feel BYU will be a tough game. ND played their butts of on Saturday, but they can't play to that caliber week in and week out. If they could MSU would have never beat them, and they would have killed UM. They are a great team, with a lot of talent that Ty didn't know what to do with. However they are not top 5. Top 10, thats another story. I don't direct this at you, but I really wish some ND fans would come back to earth. It is real easy to get excited, and I am guilty of that as well. However we are just setting ourselves up for failure. Perhaps I have become a cynical due to how my teams have treated me in the past. However we must remember that this is a rebuilding year. I said Charlie will get his first NC in 2008. I still stand by this. I may get excited and say next year, and I have even mentioned it this year, but realistically they will need at least three years. I think expectations have gotten too high. When the season started I said they would win 7. If they still wind up only winning 7, I will not be disappointed. While this team can win out, I do not assume they will. Tennessee will be a tough game. BYU can be a tough game, depending which BYU shows up. The rest ND should win, but these two games worry me. With that being said ND will play in the Orange Bowl this year :D Also it is good to see all the ND-haters come out of the woodwork to complain about an "irrelevant" team. I really enjoy defending them, especially against scUM fans. :wink: It's true, when I get carried away I tend to say hyperbolic stuff like 'top-5 team'. Maybe not yet. I don't feel abashed at all though in thinking the Irish could win it all in 2006. If Weis can pile up this amount of improvement in one year, what happens next year when just about every player comes back except for Hoyte and four offensive linemen? (I don't count Dropsy Stovall.) And who's to say that Charlie's O-line recruits plus the backups won't be able to adequately pick up the slack? Maybe I haven't caught enough crap from my teams (the only truly painful moments of my life in sports so far are ND-BC 02 and the Cubs collapse in 03), but I really believe in this team and more importantly in Charlie Weis. And I agree...I love defending ND against scUM fans! And I also agree that ND will play in the Orange, against either Va Tech, Texas or perhaps even Alabama, any of which would be fantastic games.

I love the irrational ND-haters. Under Ty this team would have been 2-4 because they would have absolutely gotten blown out at UM and they would have found a way to blow the Purdue game. The reason that Henne 'had his head up his butt' was because that was a glimpse of a defense that will be much, much better in the future once they plug in some top recruits. ND is going to win out this season, and they can beat anyone they would be matched up with in a BCS game. Texas or VTech would be tough games but ND has proven they can beat anybody after Saturday's game. Also I wouldn't be surprised if the Irish ran the table in 2006. The PSU/UM game sounded like a good game but it also sounded like UM got the usual aid from the refs that they always get at home. I wonder how many games' outcomes have been changed over the years at the Big House due to the refs' jobbing the opponents. ND IS that good. If you wanted to rank teams solely on how they looked on the field, not on past rep, than ND would probably be a top-5 team right now. I know you can't put them there with two losses because it would give them a chance to win the title...which they shouldn't have considering two losses. But I don't think it's irrational to think ND is playing top-five caliber football at this point. ND-haters are always fun to make fun of. It's too bad that for so many years they were right, but the Irish are soon to return to their rightful place at the top.

When we see Astros fans in St Louis for those series, then we'll talk. But easily, Cubs vs Cards. I don't see why this is even an argument, because IMO Cubs/Cards is the best rivalry in the NL period.

The proof is in the stats and not pipedreams. He is a lousy bunter and a very mediocre base stealer. Whether he was never taught or doesn't want to learn, does it really matter. He's gone and someone else will be in CF. Wins for a starting pitcher is the primary way to judge the effectiveness of a starter. Anyone who tries to say different or use 'quality starts' is denying the recognized standard for starting pitching. But then some yahoos are satisfied with 14 wins at $12 million. :lmao: Must be opposites day, because wins are the worst way to judge the effectiveness of a starting pitcher as he only controls half the equation if that much. It's an archaic and idiotic way to judge a pitcher's performance. Mark Prior in May 2003 against the Battling Buckos: 8 2/3 IP, one unearned run (ND) Remlinger came in that game, got one out, then the Cubs scored five runs in the top of the tenth, won 6-1, and Remlinger got the win. That is the end of my seminar on how important wins are in measuring the effectiveness of a pitcher.

I'd go but only so I could one day tell my kids that I went to a World Series game. And I'd wear Cubs stuff and laugh at how miserable the attempts to make fun of you by Sox fans were. (And they would be, should you choose to do that.)

I agree with Adam. Holtz didn't say the FG kicker comment after the ND game because it did not come down to a field goal kicker. Also, do you really not expect Lou to be an ND homer? I mean, come on. At least he has a reason, unlike Berman's love affair with the Boston Red Sox. He didn't have to. He could've complained about the OT system since it gives the offense the ball in scoring position. That's what it boils down to! Instead, he manages to praise an ND team that got absolutely shredded all day. And the next week he decides to deride the OT system. Okay, Lou. Actually, they got shredded till about thee fourths of the way through the third quarter, then scored one TD the rest of the regulation period while ND piled up 28 points in less than a quarter and a half. I'm pretty sure the coming back from down 31-10 and 38-17 is what Lou was praising. And that was praiseworthy, whether you choose to believe it or not.

I agree with Adam. Holtz didn't say the FG kicker comment after the ND game because it did not come down to a field goal kicker. Also, do you really not expect Lou to be an ND homer? I mean, come on. At least he has a reason, unlike Berman's love affair with the Boston Red Sox.

fixed :wink:

It should be noted that I said right after Berkman hit his jack that "if this is destined to be a great series, then the Cardinals will dump a three-spot in the ninth and send this to St. Louis". I said that to a Cards fan on another board. Welllll...I guess this is destined to be a great series. What a job by the Cardinals. Innings like that is why they are in the playoffs. You've got to respect the hell out of the Cards for doing all that, with 2 outs, against the current best closer in the game, Brad Lidge. Simply amazing performance.

I'm rooting for the Cardinals, mainly because they have the best chance to beat the Sox and I do NOT want to hear about a White Sox title all winter.

All this proves is that we should have been in the playoffs and not watching them at home. Yeah, it's something to playfully diss the fans of these teams about but it is not something to make us feel better.

No. Well, yes, but the team hasn't come close to playing a good full 4 quarters since week 1 against Ohio. And MSU has? They blew a 21 point lead to ND and needed OT for the win and just this week had OSU beaten with 5 minutes left until they blew it after recovering Troy Smiths fumble. This will be a serious shootout. NU has a very good chance of winning this game. State's loss in Columbus was a huge letdown. Has NW played OSU yet, or will they? If they play that could be a great one and believe it or not it could be for the Big 10 title.

He doesn't know anyone's names. He refers to everybody as 'the pitcher' or 'the batter' or 'the 3rd baseman'. Also he mistakenly said he still managed Tampa during one broadcast. He's miserable. Please put Brenly with Buck and McCarver in the Series instead of Lou. (Wow I never thought I'd be begging for more Brenly...)

So your statement is that the 03' Cubs, mid-90s Yanks, 03' Fish, and 04' Red Sox succesful playoff runs did not rely on or have anything to do with very good pitching and nearly error-free defense. I am sorry, but if that is your point, than I completely disagree. No, I'm not saying that they didn't do any of those things. I specifically mentioned before that quote that I was talking about Guillen's out-wasting antics on offense. Smartball is stupid, and I hate that it's receiving praise for relying on an unreal pitching staff to have success. For all the BS about smart ball, the Sox have SEVEN fifteen home run hitters this season. Is that small ball?

I'll be at the ND/BYU game. It's going to be really boring, quiet and probably overall sad after the events of last week.

My current away message says: Congratulations on the White Sox winning the 2005 AL pennant. Now don't say a word to me about it or I'll punch you in the face.

06- Indians. Keep with the AL trend. EDIT: So their WS-victory streak isn't as long as the two Soxes and the White Sox haven't won it all yet, but details... His point was that the three longest WS droughts possibly ending in reverse order. But it's not going to happen. I don't believe in destiny at least where sports are concerned, and I don't think the Cubs will win it all next year, and unless we have a great offseason this year we won't win it in 07 either, making the drought a century. I love this team and I'd never stop being a Cub fan... but... it's just hard sometimes. Like now.

May said ND would start 0-6. Of course he would say that it wasn't the best game of the year. He's got to cover his own stupid ass. I was there. It was the best college football game at the very least since ND/Miami 1988. In doubt the entire time, great plays made by great players everywhere. Leinart didn't look solid but he made the one great throw that he had to make on a 4th and nine...on which the stadium was louder than I have ever heard it, including when Shane Walton picked the game winner against UM three yrs ago, which I also saw. What you saw was two great teams out on the field, including four of the ten best players in the country in Brady Quinn, Jeff Samardzija, Matt Leinart and Reggie Bush. Bush won himself a Heisman on Saturday running for 160 yards and 3 touchdowns. The Leinart fumble call was the correct call but it the refs screwed it up. They were focusing on where to spot the ball and let the clock run down letting the ND students think the Irish had won. The first priority in that situation is making sure the clock is correct first. That was mismanagement on the refs' part. You want a prediction? This will be the last game Notre Dame loses until the fall of 2007. The replay showed the refs signaling to stop the clock as soon as the ball went out of bounds. The person who runs the clock made the mistake, the refs did it correctly on the field. One thing that is really starting to upset me is people saying ND got screwed by the non-call on the last play of the game. This game was too good and both teams played too well to have it negated by people blaming the result on a missed call. Did you watch gameday at all. I thought that was awesome. It doesn't compare to being in the stadium, of course but it was cool to see. I have never heard the stadium that loud-ever. I don't remember the exact quote, but it was something along the lines of ND did nothing to impress him, they still are just an average team who hasn't beat a team with a winning record (guess Michigan doesn't count), and they should not be considered amongst the top programs in the nation. He also said that the game was not that good, and ND lost, just like he said they would. Holtz and Davis were just laughing the whole time May talked. I really don't hate many people, but Mark May is one of them. Holtz also asked him if he had ever been whipped by a 5'10" 150 lb. old man. I was there on Gameday. I watched everything and the place exploded when Kirk picked us. Lee got soundly booed -- him, Mark May and former ESPN employee Trev Alberts must be buddies who just sit around trashing the Irish. The stadium has never been that loud. I've been to eighteen Notre Dame home games, twelve wins, all six home games of the Return to Glory season, a bunch of great comeback wins, an overtime win, and it has never once been as loud as it was Saturday. I may not even have my voice all the way back by the time I go to the BYU game this Saturday (which will probably be just as boring, not to mention cold, as the 2002 Rutgers game in terms of the all-around sense of disappointment that will probably be around the campus). I lost all respect for Mark May when he made the argument that ND wasn't worth anything because Pitt lost to Ohio. Then when ND was 2-0 going into the MSU game, he predicted they'd be 3-2 after five, after already being wrong about ND being 0-6. May is an idiot, plain and simple. You've gotta love those anti-ND fans who can never accept when we're actually good. Credit ESPN with hiring guys like Digger Phelps and Lou Holtz to offset the ND hatred that literally oozes from some of the on-air employees there.