Derwood

probably rests somewhere in between fluke and genius, much closer to fluke than genius. i also love your term "on base percentage average", i've never heard of that one. And whoever said that Podsednik is a good leadoff hitter probably needs to re-think what skill sets make a leadoff hitter a good one. Podsednik had a RC of 62. The exact same number as Neifi Perez. I agree that he rests somewhere between a fluke and genius. The Sox played great ball all year, but they did get "career years" out of 6 or 7 players. Also, they had a lot of luck and breaks throughout the year and the playoffs. Finally, let's not forget that the perennial division winners (Twins) had a horrible season and the next best team (Indians) were too inexperienced to win it at the end. Good teams take advantage of everything that happens and the White Sox did that this year. but they won 99 games. I think it's more accurate to call the Cubs division title in '03 a "fluke" as they won just 87 and had bad seasons from St. Louis and Houston help them out. And to say a playoff GM is somewhere between fluke and genius isn't saying anything. That description fits every GM who has ever fielded a playoff team. It's like saying Williams is somewhere between a 1 and a 10

C'mon, it's not like those T-shirts are officially liscensed by the Sox. When I went to DePaul, we had "ND Sucks" t-shirts for homecoming (with a clover leaf crossed out on the other side) but they weren't sold at the bookstore. My explanation of the rivalry is this: South Side inferiority complex thinly disguised as "neighborhood pride". Whether it be the town's love for the Cubs, disparities in income, local media's portayal of north vs south or whatever, South Siders have a chip on their shoulder. And like a petulant child who feels like the older brother is getting all of the attention, they "act up" to get attention. They bully, they behave badly, they gloat and taunt. How many people do you see wearing baseball caps or knit hats with "North Side" embroidered on them? How many Cubs fans will go down to US Cellular to boo the Sox during the World Series? The thing that makes Sox fans the maddest is when they try baiting Cubs fans into this silly rivalry and their attempts are met with complacency and a general lack of interest. The best way to deal with a bully is to ignore them, but every time a Cubs fan (on this board or elsewhere) bitches and moans about Sox fan behavior, it only feeds the fire. I liked the suggestion to go and congratulate all your Sox fan friends before they can gloat. You take away their fun that way.

As opposed to all the success and great fortune the Cubs had pre-2003?

Oh, and Derrick Williams is out for the year. Broken Arm. :x

I don't recall ever hearing Cubs officials reference the other team's failure as a means of soothing fans' frustration. They haven't. But I think there is that feeling about the Chicago teams in the press and in TV coverage. "The two Chicago teams have the longest stretch without titles." Well if the Sox win, the focus of the "longest drout" talk will all be on the Cubs. Of course, the Trib is ambivalent about this at best.

If by rivals you mean the Cardinals, then yes. I don't consider the White Sox as rivals (besides fans vs. fans). When you play one team 17 times a year and the other 6 (which should be 3 ) times a year, there is no contest.

Coach's poll is a typical "what have you done for me lately" reactionary fiasco. Ohio State, with 2 losses, ranked ABOVE the team that beat them last week?

If I wasn't dying to see USC beat UCLA by 3 scores before, I am now. UCLA has got to be the most overrated top-10 team I've seen all year. And yet they keep winning...

Unfortunately, it doesn't work that way. The Baseball Gods would know your ruse, and would still make the Cubs lose all the time.

You're the one who dosn't block his screen name. Are you a glutton for punishment or something?

As I've said in other threads on this subject, a White Sox championship would take away the excuse of "well, the Sox haven't won in decades either"

Weekly guess at the new Top 25: 1. USC 2. Texas 3. VA Tech 4. Georgia 5. Alabama 6. Miami 7. LSU 8. Texas Tech 9. UCLA 10. Notre Dame 11. Boston College 12. Florida State 13. Penn State 14. Ohio State 15. Florida 16. Oregon 17. Auburn 18. Wisconsin 19. West Virginia 20. Michigan State 21. Arizona St. 22. TCU 23. Nebraska 24. California 25. Michigan

If this team loses to Illinois then they deserve the worst bowl ever against someone like Eastern Michigan. I can't possibly see that happening.

That's fine. It's just that I, as a fan, don't define myself by who I hate. I love the Cubs, and I don't like whichever team they are playing at the time. When we play the Sox, I want the Cubs to win every game. Likewise, I'm not a "Packer Hating" Bears fan or a "Pistons hating" Bulls fan. Well, I have the teams I like. Cubs are obviously way atop that list. Then, I have the teams I absolutely hate. The White Sox and Cardinals are atop that list. There are then a number of teams that fall within the middle. The rankings of those depend on many factors, often which will benefit the Cubs...but if they were to make it to the postseason, might be affected by whether I like certain players or not. One day, just for the hell of it, I'll post a thread of all 30 teams and where they rank in my affinity level. I guess we're different types of fans. I don't really hate any other teams. Why waste my energy on a team I'm not a fan of? I take no pleasure in seeing other teams lose when it's not to the Cubs. Okay, perhaps I root against the Yankees every post season, but who doesn't? When the Cubs are out of it (which is always), I usually root for the best "story". I was very satisfied with the D-Backs and Angels WS wins because of that. This year, I think an Astros vs. White Sox series would be the best, simply because it's been 90 years since the Sox won, and Houston has never won.

Yes he is quite large. Sorry bout PSU Truffle. From what I hear it was a hell of a game; not to mention controversial from what I've read on hear. There schedule is pretty easy from here out though, right? Pretty good chance at winning the Big 10? at Illinois vs Wisconsin vs Purdont at Michigan State Apparently Derrick Williams' season may be over too. I don't think PSU recovers from this one - 1-3 the rest of the way, and then either blown out by a good opponent in a bowl game, or upset by a weak opponent. I don't think today's loss was a season breaker by any stretch. They played really tough, and I don't think they have anything to hang their heads about. I see them routing Illinois to build up confidence, and then have the crowd back on their side for the two home games. At worst I think they split the remaining 4, which still puts them at 8-3, which is about 4 games better than any of us expected.

Yes he is quite large. Sorry bout PSU Truffle. From what I hear it was a hell of a game; not to mention controversial from what I've read on hear. There schedule is pretty easy from here out though, right? Pretty good chance at winning the Big 10? The last game at Michigan State is worrisome. The other games (at Illinois, vs. Purdue, vs. Wisconsin) should be won. Yep, it's a 3 way tie for the Big 10 right now, but PSU still plays Wisconsin at home. The only thing that could screw things up is if both Penn State and Iowa win out (or win the same # of conference games) as they don't play eachother this season. As for the replayed PSU pass, A) It WAS incomplete and B) They should have ran to the line and spiked the ball to make sure the replay couldn't happen. That's poor coaching. The spots were definitely bad. But I don't think I ever thought "that is really going to cost us". Penn State went up 4 with 50 or so seconds to go, and just had to keep them out of the end zone. Didn't happen. No one to blame at that point but themselves.

I wasn't livid with the refs. Some bad calls, yeah, but that was PSU's game to win, they blew two field goals, allowed that big kickoff return for the final drive, etc. I think had the game been played here, they would have won. Exciting till the end. Time to go paste the Illini next week.

That's fine. It's just that I, as a fan, don't define myself by who I hate. I love the Cubs, and I don't like whichever team they are playing at the time. When we play the Sox, I want the Cubs to win every game. Likewise, I'm not a "Packer Hating" Bears fan or a "Pistons hating" Bulls fan.

I can separate the fans from the team. I think the city needs a champ, and while I would rather it be any other team than the Sox, I won't begrudge them a good season. It wasn't at the Cubs' expense. As for the argument (often heard here) that "I don't want to take all the crap from the Sox fans who will rub my face in their victory"....listen, you would do the EXACT same thing to them if the Cubs had won it all in 2003. Let's not pretend we wouldn't.

Lou Piniella is the worst announcer ever. Good lord.

not to beat a a dead horse, but that "non-marquee" matchup between UM and PSU has the 3-3 team favored by 3 1/2 over the 6-0 team....

Louisville has more than one team? That's unfair! :lol:

Rich Aurilia "backing up" Ronnie Cedeno. ...after all the good free agents are signed, because once again Hendry sits back and "waits for the dust to settle" before making any mobes That's actually a very inaccurate assessment of Hendry's MO. He always seems to move quickly on players he has targeted and much slower on players that he just has an interest in acquiring. Following the 2002 and 2003 seasons, bullpen was the target area. He moved quickly both times to sign Remlinger in 2002 and Hawkins in 2003. Last season, re-signing Nomar was his target and he did it relatively efficiently. While we may disagree with the targets (and I do again in the case of Furcal and not Giles being the target), Hendry has shown an ability to go hard and rapidly after the players he deems to be the ones needed or desired. I was speaking more to signing Maddux in February and watching all the good OF's go off the board before settling with Burnitz.

Nice try on the Nowitski trade :D I had to try. I'm sure I don't have much you would want (whom I would be willing to give up) I trade you Brad Miller for Peja. Or..... No, Peja is like the only guy on my team who averaged over 20 points last year (maybe Ginobli)

Nice try on the Nowitski trade :D I had to try. I'm sure I don't have much you would want (whom I would be willing to give up)