JC

The only reason to page Fontenot is to see if Scott McClain is sitting near by.

Send down Richy and bring up Bobby. Clearly, its Brownlie time! :loco:

I couldn't have said it better myself. God knows I tried to every single day of the offseason...

Barrett's 9 pitch plate appearance was nearly 10% of all pitches thrown by Milton (92).

No but it isn't looking to good when the guys are trying to hit a 7 run home run. Take a walk, a single, gets things started that way. Solo shot after solo shot isn't going to win the game. I have faith and games like this whan nothing and I mean nothing goes right has a way of changing teams if they snap out of it. I have seen it in the past when something happens and the team wakes up from their sleep walking and really gets going. I'll be watching for the light to turn on. I know it will. Sorry, Scott, but this smacks of blind faith arising from desperation. Optimism ought not supplant realism. That being said, you can be sure the Cubs will score 10 runs next inning simply to mock me.

According to the Boston Herald, apparantly unnamed sources inside MLB are reporting that as many as 58 players have tested positive, but their names are being withheld as baseball tries to plan for the impending PR disaster it will cause. The article further suggested that among these 58 were at least 2 high-profile players who are bigger stars than Palmeiro. I couldn't find this on the Boston Herald web site.

Postgame: Reporter: So, what happened today, Dusty? Dusty: Boy, I don't know what to say. I ain't talkin' about no rumors this time. I don't no where that stuff comes from, man. One minute I'm in Washington, the next minute I'm in LA. I mean, who starts this jive? Reporter: Uh, no Dusty. I was talking about the game. You told us a couple days ago you wouldn't talk about rumors anymore. Dusty: Oh, the game? Oh yeah. Well, I ain't hittin', am I? I ain't pitchin' either. Don't ask me. Sarge and Gene handle the hittin' and Larry works the pitchers. You don't expect me to handle everything, do you? Reporter: Well, what do you do if you delegate everything? Dusty: I do alot. Alot, man. I watch over everyone to make sure they are doing their jobs. You can't have 5 fisherman on a four sided boat, know what I'm sayin'? Reporter(s) in unison: No. Dusty: I'll tell you one thing. My guys don't quit. They go out there each day and work their butts off. They give up sometimes, though. In fact, they give up most of the time. I'm tired of this stuff, man. I'm tired of it. Reporter: So, do they quit, or don't they? Dusty: What did I just say? You have to ask them. I know I don't quit. I've never quit anything. In San Fransisco, we played in October 8 straight years. You know, the playoffs. Reporter: No, you didn't. Dusty: You may not have seen it, but we did. And, I did it without rookies. We didn't have any talent in SF. But, we didn't have any personnel problems either. Everyone got along. It was like a big family. Reporter: Didn't Bonds and Kent have a highly publicized fight in the dugout? Dusty: Man, what are you trying to dig up? Everyone has fights once in a while. Striped bass travel in schools, but you don't think they bump into each other once in a while? In the end, its about who gets to the bait first, because the bait is for everyone. Reporter: Then, why does it matter who gets there first? Dusty: Dude, its not my problem. I don't know what else to say. All I know is that my coaches need brought back for continuity of leadership. Reporter: Why should the Cubs bring back your coaches when you have placed fault for the Cub fundamental failures on them? Dusty: Stop stirring stuff up, man. I'm loyal to my guys. I've won with these guys. That is all that matters. You don't get rid of your girlfriend just because you don't like her anymore. Reporter: Sure you do. Dusty: You're just doing the same stuff to me like you did to Barry. The same stuff. Where's Darren?

Bologna. They got rid of all the malcontents...

Can't disagree.

Sorry, but that isn't a bottom line. A bottom line connotes a fact. You are stating your opinion. Conversely, I think people give Pierre too much credit. But, I don't think that is a fact.

Until the Palmeiro incident, I wasn't aware that they had an arbitration process available to the positive testers. I was under the impression that if there was a positive test, it was to be made known. This entire process, while I was encouraged at first, is a farce, from testing to enforcement.

ie Jose Cruz Jr.? I wasn't talking about anyone specific, particularly not an ex-Twin... No, but Cruz fits the bill. He was picked up after being DFA'd by the D-Backs, then 2 weeks later is DFA'd again by the BoSox. Think they found something irregular in the pee cup? He wasn't outright released. He was traded to the Dodgers from Boston, I believe.

ie Jose Cruz Jr.? I wasn't talking about anyone specific, particularly not an ex-Twin...

If a player has been recently released by a team, I wonder if his violation of the policy would still be made public? In the hypothetical instance of a team picking up a DFA'd player, finding out that he tested positive, then releasing him before the results are announced...

Never.

Point proven. Hap-Ki-Do is cooler simply by virtue of the terms used. I'll take Limb Destruction over Yard Stick Snapping any day.

It will not apply to any football team in DI since they do not have an official postseason. The BCS has to be the one do decide a ban, not the NCAA. Also I just read in si.com that Iowa and Wisonson do not schedule teams that have Indian nicknames or mascots. Anyone else know of this? It was news to me! Isn't "Hawkeye" a tribute to the white man turned indian character in Last of the Mohicans?

"The NCAA plans to ban schools using Indian nicknames from hosting postseason events" Nicknames or mascots deemed "hostile or abusive" would not be allowed on team uniforms or other clothing beginning with any NCAA tournament after Feb. 1, said Harrison, the University of Hartford's president These are both from the ESPN article. It seems to clearly state nickname, as well as mascot. EDIT: JC yours must have posted while I was writting. Sorry to repeat the same quote Isn't this a huge loophole? FSU doesn't host the Fiesta Bowl. Illinois doesn't host NCAA tournament games. They get invited. So this policy is essentially meaningless except for the NIT or AA or AAA playoffs. That is just a portion of the article, Bittner. Actually, schools are banned from participating with nicknames or mascots on their unis in any NCAA sanctioned, postseason event. Here is more from the link in the original post:

You must be burning up some bandwidth. Interesting find.

Nicknames, however, are part of the ban, as quoted above from the link in the original post. As far as the Cleveland Indian goes, I deem it as a characiture. Nothing more. As such, I likewise don't deem every Latino priest as a fat, round cleric running around in a brown tunic a la the mascot of the Padres. Similarly, I don't think all Irishmen look like Leprechans, I don't think all pirates have one eye, and I don't think people who fabricate boilers carry around sledgehammers. Common sense isn't suspended just because someone flaunts a mascot out in front of you.

Hendry would get laughed off the phone.

are you talking to me? cuz i point out that they are the ones that are most likely offensive No, I was talking to JC. We're just both geniuses, and we picked the same three. Honestly, I stuck Injun in there to see what kind of responses I would get. To my knowledge, there is no team or mascot named Injuns, although Injun Joe from Bugs Bunny comes to mind. When it comes to St. Johns Red Men, indians never crossed my mind. Perhaps it was just because they played in the same conference as the Orange Men, so I never thought twice about it. But, to be brutally honest, I don't see what the big deal is about Red Men or Redskins. Of course, I immediately think about a bit that Chris Rock did in reference to these teams (not for message board consumption). While I understand that public correctness dictates I should feel badly, I simply don't. Seemingly for each person offended, you can find others who are not. Where does it end, though? Does Indiana change its name? Shouldn't the NCAA move its headquarters out of the City of Indians posthaste?! I mean, how offensive that they dictate these Native American honoring edicts from the city of Indianapolis! Inquiry! Inquiry! What I would like to see is categorizing my list of mascots from most offensive to least offensive, with a point indicating where people think the cutoff should be for team names/mascots. Most Offensive Injun <----------------Cut off for mascots Red Men Redskin Indian Indiana Brave Chief Warrior Illini Seminole Blackhawk Least Offensive

Ever been in a grapevine? My best friend was an all state wrestler in HS. He would always kick my butt when we'd lock horns. While we didn't get in fights as much as it sounds, we got in some meathead fraternity fights and some other scrapes. He would always try to lock someone up. Not a great idea when there are multiple people that can take advantage of you being prone while giving a guy a full nelson.

XZero sounds like he knows what he is talking about to me. He is exactly right as far as Hap-Ki-Do is concerned. It is a discipline that is based primarily in self defense. For instance, one of the advanced stages was also known as "Limb Destruction". Hap-Ki-Do also incorporates weapon usage. I have no idea how prevalent that is in other martial arts. Though I don't know a lot about TKD, I have generally heard it described as more of an artistic discipline. While that may be incorrect, it is how its always been described to me.

Look, I very overtly criticized this signing when it occurred. The guy was 36 years old. His contract paid him about $2.6M the first year, and he has averaged $4M the last two years at 38 and 39, respectively. It was an enormously bad contract from the beginning. Further, I don't buy for a minute this garbage about having to pay premiums for big name free agents. It simply isn't true. The Cubs have managed to get plenty of FAs over the years without having to get gouged. Further, Dusty Baker was supposed to be the bug light drawing these guys in to play for him, because EVERYONE wants to play for Dusty. Don't tell me you haven't heard that overhyped mantra. Hawkins' contract was more palatable due to his age and consistent performance as a set-up man. Despite Hawkins' meltdown, I haven't been overly critical of that signing. However, Rem was different. It was poor identification of what the market was, it was poor evaluation of what Rem had left in the tank, and it was poor utilization, after the signing, of the guy in general. It was a bad contract.