apete6

bitter illini face Not at all. Nobody expected the Illini to win. Im glad we got there, and the future is very bright in Champaign. This is the beginning, certainly not the end. I dont see how anybody could watch that game and say USC wasnt a bunch of arrogant pricks. Did they score 1 td without taunting somebody, and drawing a unsportsman like penalty? I remember two penalties - the flip into the endzone and the one where Booty found the TE in the back of the end zone. You weren't paying close attention. There were roughly 10(maybe more, it was by far the most I'd ever seen) unsportsmanlike/personal foul penalties called in the game.(Not all on USC, there were probably 3 of them that were offsetting. Um, 1 of only about 5 players on Illinois' roster who would have a chance at starting for USC, Arrelious Benn, also got an unsportsmanlike flag for taunting the USC band...when Illinois was already down by 4 TDs. At least USC was winning when they got their taunting flags.

Eh, it's an interesting idea but I don't know if I'd really care if there was no ultimate championship to root for. Yay, you won the Big 10. Here's your trophy, go home. Then everyone would be arguing ad infinitum: the Big 10 sucks anyway! Who cares if you won it, you'd never beat the other conference champs! And yada yada. I don't see it solving much, just creates a whole bunch of hypothetical arguments that would never cease. Perhaps not "Go Home" but rather, "please play in our prestigious bowl game for a chance to win this cool trophy and claim to be that Bowl's champion for that year". (I liked how the Rose bowl was the reward for the Pac10 and Big 10 Champs. Tradition feels good sometimes.) Oh, and are you really using the "it would cause too much hypothetical arguing ad infinitum" argument against this concept? Really? Hehe, I see your point but I thought what we were trying to do was to come up with a way to eliminate the hypotheticals, not another way of just continuing with them. The Rose Bowl as it was? It was great, as long as the winner wasn't involved in the National Championship argument for that year. For example, the final year Michigan won it, there were co-national champs, nothing was solved, and it left everyone with a horrible taste in their mouths. That's why you just eliminate the concept of naming a National Champ. People can argue about who was the best team of a given year forever. They do anyway and this way there won't be any convoluted BCS or playoff system to muck it up. Every argument can be ended with "I guess we'll never know." What a fun way to pass the time between the last pitch of the world series and spring training. Yet people don't argue hypotheticals about the Super Bowl champ, even when it winds up being the 6 seed as it was 2 years ago with Pittsburgh. That's what a playoff gives you. Sure you can say the Pats and Colts were better that year, but the argument ends with "well they shouldn't have blown it in the playoffs then." Big difference. At least for me anyway. Wow, great quote! I was thinking about a way to justify a playoff if the only undefeated team happens to lose and that was it. =D> =D>

Put money on it. DePaul is only getting 1.5 :shock: Nova is a stone cold lead pipe lock to cover.

Being the White Sox GM should be the easiest thing ever, just do the exact opposite of what your idiot fans want and you should be fine. They think that Aaron Rowand>Jim Thome and that Joe Crede is a superstar. They loved the Darin Erstad signing and wanted to go after David Eckstein. Hell, they also think that Harold Baines should be in the HOF along with Ozzie Guillen. They thought that Albert Belle was the reason they sucked those 2 years (ya, the 100 HR and 250 RBI really dragged the team down). I really thought that all Sox fans would like this move, what with Swisher's long hair and unkept beard. He looks like he's from Alsip.

I'd disband the conference and fold: Pac 10 (10 schools) Big 12 (12 schools) SEC (12 schools) ACC (9 schools)+: Pitt WVU Syracuse Big 10 (11 schools)+: ND To division I-b: UConn Cinc. Rutgers Louisville South Florida This is the worst idea ever. Syracuse has been terrible for like 4 years and in that time, all of these other teams have been pounding them, but Syracuse gets the ACC and the rest of the Big East goes to hell? I just can't explain how bad of an idea that is. But, hey, Syracuse had Jim Brown once, so they must be a great program. :roll:

Fixed. Gus Johnson is the absolute man. I want him to announce every moment of my life.

Sorry, Dude, I had to. I have no allegiance to either team, but it was there.

I think its Matt Vasgersian

Lou's Order Soriano DeRosa Lee Ramirez Fukudome Soto Pie Theriot My Order Soriano Lee Fukudome Ramirez DeRosa Soto Pie Theriot/Cedeno With Roberts (awesomeness) Roberts Lee Soriano Ramirez Fukudome DeRosa (SS) Soto Pie I think Aramis is probably our most important hitter. Maybe not best (Lee? Soriano?), but he is patient enough to be able to protect anyone in the lineup and I think that will be very valuable if he bats after Soriano. If Soriano can bat 3rd AND still get all fastballs, he could be fantastic.

Didn't Eckstein turn down like $24 million from the Mets? Apparently all that grit clouded the business side of his mind.

This is really one of the saddest moments of my Cubs fan life. Mark Prior was by far my favorite Cub ever. Just something about the way his career started and how he lived up to the hype. I got an authentic Prior #22 home jersey for my birthday on August 29, 2002 when he had 4 career wins. Then 2003 happened and he was the best pitcher in baseball for most of that season (got screwed in the Cy Young voting) and that was my senior year at DePaul, so I was at a ton of games and have never been so excited to watch 1 guy play--except MAYBE 1996 Jordan. When he blew game 6, it was almost like seeing a ghost. It was a guy who built himself up to being almost infallible and then he just lost it. But I still thought it was the first of many postseason appearances for Prior and the Cubs. 2004 was rough, but he came on at the end of the season and had the 16K game versus the Reds that seemingly steered the Cubs back toward the postseason---but they obviously lost the game and blew the season. Then in 2005, he was absolutely on fire until he got hit in the elbow with that line drive. That happened to be the day that I bought my condo and I just kind of had a bad feeling that some sort of symbolism was happening. I was moving on in my life and Priors career was over. The sad thing is that it may be true. He hasn't really done anything good since that line drive destroyed his elbow. As for now, bottom line is that you can't really blame the Cubs for non-tendering him. It would have only been a 2008 contract--a year in which no one REALLY knows if he's going to pitch. He was going to walk away from the Cubs after next year anyway. It would have been 100x sadder to see him leave if he came back for the 2nd half of next year and was awesome. He just doesn't want to play for the organization. Is that a slap in the face to the fans? Maybe, but if he thinks he was mistreated by the front office and/or the medical staff, that's his right as a professional. It doesn't mean it's fair to the fans or that we should like it, but there's nothing we can do about it. Mark Prior doesn't like being a Chicago Cub and it sucks. He did some great things for the franchise, but doesn't have a future here. I will always be heartbroken by that decision. I don't think I can ever root for the guy again and will probably BOO the crap out of him if he ever pitches at Wrigley again, but not out of hate, just out of anger. Anger caused by the front office, the situation in general, Garrett Atkins (who hit the line drive, I think), and Prior himself. Just a sad end to what looked like a possible hall of fame career. Typical Cubs saga.

I think it's clear Hendry has no idea how to haggle. Why would you say that? That's significantly less than Baltimore was asking for at the beginning of negotiations. Ya, IIRC, they were asking for Hill & Marshall (or at least Steve Phillips said so)

Good call, Keith Law also mentioned Abreu as a comparable offensive player in his insider comments. I like it!

Rich Hill: 223K, 69BB, 3.50 ERA :shock: :shock: Bedard this...

Any updates on the Orioles front? Will getting Kuroda hurt the Dodgers chances of trading for Bedard?

That's a pretty good representation of the team's history. Sweet uniforms, though, and I agree that the socks/stirrups are awesome.

Zambrano, Lilly, Burnett, Hill, Dempster/Gallagher/Prior/Marshall :shock: Yes please. If Jimbo gets Fuku, Roberts, and Burnett while giving up only Marquis, DeRosa, Cedeno, Murton and Gallagher, then I really don't think anyone can question him until the draft unless he gives up Prior for nothing.

I'm guessing Soriano Roberts Lee Fukudome Ramirez (4/5 could flip flop) Soto Pie Theriot It'd be great if we pulled a TLR and bat Theriot 9th and the pitcher 8th. Agree with both of you. I think that's exactly the lineup we'll use, but I agree that having Roberts lead off makes more sense. I'd like to see: Roberts Lee Soriano Ramirez Fukudome Soto Pie Theriot I know Lee 2nd isn't ideal, but if you take Soriano out of the leadoff spot for Roberts, then you don't really have a prototypical 2 spot guy. You could put Derosa 2nd, move everyone down one if he plays SS. We have a winner! I totally agree with you on the order. Pie doesn't bat 8th, Theriot is the same hitter anywhere, Soriano protected by Ramirez, Lee is patient enough to take walks in front of Soriano and Ramirez. =D>

LOL @ Geoff Jenkins Now we just stick it to SD and give them Pie for Greene. \:D/ \:D/ Kosuke>>>nice weather.

Are you being serious? Yes, very. Turn it on if you can....they have said it like 3 times now. =D> If this isn't true, Bruce Levine and JWCUB better rent an unrecognizable vehicle and start driving away from the following lynch mob of NSBBers that will likely form in the greater Chicagoland region. If it is true, give this man a few months of premium or something for breaking the news. \:D/

That lineup makes me salivate. That would be the worst defensive middle infield in history.

I would really think about batting Soto 8th for the simple fact that it would be nice to have someone with some power in the 8 hole. I'm not a fan at all of batting Pie 8th because a lot of pitchers tend to pitch around the 8th place hitter by throwing borderline pitches or pitches just out of the strike zone. Pie seems to be just the type of hitter to fall for the "bait" and starting counts out 0-2 when they should be 2-0. I'd go like this (assuming Soriano won't move and Lou will fail to realize that DLee would be an awesome 2 hitter). Soriano LF Kusuke RF Lee 1B Ramirez 3B DeRosa 2B Pie CF Theriot/Cedeno SS Soto C Ideally, this would be my lineup (with Roberts and moving Soriano and Lee around) Roberts 2B Lee 1B Soriano LF--he'll see more fastballs between Lee and ARAM Ramirez 3B Kosuke RF DeRosa SS--even if he plays a terrible SS, can he be worse than Therior or Cedeno? Pie CF--less pressure, might see some pitches in front of Soto Soto C--batting 8th will hurt his numbers, but better than Pie or DeRosa here

Is that netting or glass? It's apparently going to be made out of the material they use for sails in yachts. They said a retractable roof would essentially ruin the view of the Bay and downtown Tampa. That and it would probably cost them another $200 million or so. The sails won't block 100% of rain delays, but should be sufficient for everything except the heaviest storms. A lot of the fans are complaining about the lack of A/C in the proposed stadium, but the team is planning on putting many cooling/misting fans in and will "try their best" to not play many night games in the summer. I know the Rangers play Sunday night games in July and August, even if they're not on Sunday Night Baseball. I guess there's also some sort of ventilation system that "assures" that the temperatures would be cooler in the seats than Atlanta and on par with KC ans St. Louis, whatever that means. I spend a lot of time in the Tampa area for work and this could be a good thing, but St. Pete still has a negative reputation with a lot of the area fans, especially in higher income growing areas such as New Tampa (northwest of Tampa) and Brandon (eastern suburbs, about 30 miles from St. Pete). It's pretty much all BS in my opinion. People in Chicago drive about twice as much as anyone in Tampa would be willing to drive for any sport except the Buccaneers. All in all, I think the stadium will be a good thing for the team, but only if they are able to compete one of these years in the AL East. If they continue to suck, the new stadium won't do much for them, much like Pittsburgh, who has the best stadium but can't get attendance because their team sucks. Only difference is that Tampa has a high transient population and will be able to get good attendance for all Boston and NY games and better than average for teams such as Toronto, Baltimore, and other northern cities that have a high% of retirees in the area.

Especially when it was a revenge game for Kansas AND Sherron Collins made his return today and "fatty" Wes Green didn't play because he missed the team bus before last nights shootaround. Wainwright wasn't expected to win this game, but if he keeps losing, it could be the end of his unimpressive tenure. Thankfully.

Not even an option for Pizza Pie... ...or Pu-Tang Pie. Weak.