Soul

If I'm not mistaken, and I am not, Stone was the consumate professional and always diplomatic throughout his analyst career, until 2004. suddenly his sarcasm is biting, his tone sharp, and his opinions expressed in manor that does not merely state his opinion, but takes swipes at one organization in particular. the differencec is obvious. It could be one reason why his knowledge is so well-respected, yet nobody is willing to offer him a shot at GM. He definitely likes to hold a grudge----though I do think he got a raw deal from the Cubs. After all, the only thing he did was compliment Oswalt's performance at Wrigley. Why that set the whole organization off I will never know. 2004........the ultimate nightmare season in so many ways.

Definitely cool if you can get it with no blackout dates. I tried MLB.TV once, and nearly every Cub game was blacked out in Milwaukee & Madison. Never got an answer why. My ZIP code was never on any of their "lists" and when I called they were extremely unhelpful. I went away thinking "to hell with this crap." I'll never try it again.

I disagree. From what I saw last yr, I like what Cedeno did. No need to trade for Tejada, when the Cubs already have a solid option. Well, guess what...Tejada won't be the only SS available. Julio Lugo will no doubtably be available. Bill Hall, Felipe Lopez, Guillen (ok, I'm pulling this one from my butt), etc could be available during the season. No need to overpay for Tejada, when very solid option will be available for less then what it will take to get Tejada. No need to make a panic move in spring training. No need to make a panic move, agreed. But Cedeno.......I hope he turns out, but I've seen too many players do well their first 100 ABs only to watch the league figure them out, and their production plummet. We will find out this year. I hope he's for real, just not sure yet.

That is pretty funny. Steinbrenner though......he's never been one to apply the old zipper to himself, either. Ozzy can do this and get away with it just as long as the White Sox keep winning. When the tables turn, he's going to have to keep it zipped or else there will be real trouble for him. An angry winner is confusing to most folks, so they give it a pass thinking it's just "colorful." In Ozzy's case, I don't think it's colorful. He's just a hateful person who happens to be on the winning end right now, IMHO. An angry loser is a sore loser and a turn off. Most people lose patience with those folks very quickly

That's why polls are junk----for any purpose. People are just clicking buttons. Means nothing. Means even less when some pollster is asking questions of someone who is trying to get their kids to the dinner table. Yet those answers are "trusted" as the authority on what "America thinks." Just isn't true.

God, this is so 2004 & 2005. So Hendry-era Cubs.

After reading the entire article... Wowza. What a wacko.

well that pretty much cements the fact that your opinions on anything baseball related won't be listened to or respected by me. OOOooohh, I'm hurt :P

wow, i hadn't realized that he'd retired. If he can regain his health, he could easily pitch at least 5-6 more years, so how can he be a bust. Nolan Ryan wasn't injured, but look at his record at Wood's age. Hopefully, Wood will recover and straighten out his mechanics and end any talk of him being a bust. ....because he never will "regain his health." He's a walking injury, face it. He will always be one pitch away from an extended stint on the DL. Sorry if that's too harsh.

Here we go again :roll: Next on the docket: Woody not ready until July....then August....then never. Ramirez's hammies snap again. Neifi healthy as a horse and starting.

Dalton talking about how he has "opened his eyes" to other dimensions, metaphysics, etc.... http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/5340822 Check out this quote: ...against the CUBS. It's the curse, I'm telling you. God damn you vile Goat! :x

Wood is also rumored to have been the boom box attacker. :lol: I saw that interview and Woody actually said something very subtle about Sosa; something like "no matter what you thought of him or what kind of person he was he always came to play." LOL, that tells me he was a troublemaker. Sosa wouldn't accept a Cubs bench position and, more importantly, the Cubs aren't offering. EDIT: Here is Kerry's exact quote:"The impact he had on the game -- he brought the fans back, him and McGwire," Cubs pitcher Kerry Wood said. "They filled the stadiums. That was fun to be a part of. Like I've always said about Sammy, he always came ready to play. No matter what kind of person he was, or what people wrote about him, or people said about him, he was ready to play for 162 games. I've still yet to see somebody prepare the way he did. He was a superstar." Sosa's work ethic makes Kerry look like a lazy dog. I think Kerry might have suddenly realized that. Sosa became a superstar by taking the field every single day----tired or not, hurt or not. Then there's Kerry: a man who was blessed with amazing talent, sat on his laurels, refused to learn how to pitch, and blew himself up in his mid-20's. Kerry should bow down and kiss Sosa's feet. Sosa's a Hall of Fame candidate and Wood is the biggest pitching bust of a generation. He has no place saying anything *BUT* what he just said. Biggest pitching bust of a generation? I tend to think a 70-54 record with a 3.67ERA and 1286K's in 1109IP aren't 'bust' numbers. Kerry's health has been disappointing, but he's not what I'd call a bust, much less the biggest bust of his generation. And how would being lazy have anything to do with labrum problems? If anything Kerry has impressed me the last few years with at least looking to be in excellent shape reporting to camp. He has been injury prone, but I don't know if any amount of hard-work can make his elbow, shoulder, or back not be problematic. Considering his potential? Yeah, he's easily the biggest pitching bust of our time. When he takes the ball for all of his scheduled starts and wins 20 games in just *ONE* season I will reconsider. Kerry Wood was supposed to be the next Roger Clemens. Anyone who denies that now either wasn't paying attention in '98 or has fallen into denial. I'm not saying you are----I'm just saying let's not suddenly pull back on the expectations of this guy and call him "passable" when he was tagged for true greatness and fell unbelievably short. I can't even tell you if Kerry Wood will pitch a single start this year. He can't either. For a guy who struck out 20 and was universally expected to be the next great pitcher of our generation-----he's a bust on a level I've seldom seen. Maybe never.

They've got the White Sox and Indians both ranked top 5. That means they're saying the AL Central is the best division in baseball. If that's true (and I'll believe the Indians when I see them in October), then that's a hell of a turnaround. 2 years from worst division to best? Who said baseball doesn't have parity? Well----actually I said it :lol: On the Cubs: 17th is about right. I would have picked them somewhere middle of the pack, probably 15th. I don't agree we have had no good offeseason acquisitions though. Hendry clearly strengthened the bullpen, albeit at a high price. But hey----it's media blitz 2006. Don't bother with facts, just come up with a witty one-liner :roll:

800's IIRC. but HomePlate isn't on the DirecTV basic package. it's an upgrade HomePlate is on Channel 878 (with Total ChoicePlus) Yeah. That's why I get it. I went with the "Plus" package.

I hear what you're saying. And I don't disagree that is probably how the popular perception will go. But it's like......'96 to '03 incredible numbers each year, with '98-'02 being absolutely off the charts. That's not really "just a few years." It's nearly a decade of performance. And he wasn't too shabby in some of those years beforehand, too. Sammy will probably be pounded by everyone forever. But not by me. He was great. He made me excited to watch a Cubs game when there was nothing else to root for on this team. And he had a major hand in propelling us to 2 playoff appearances in '98 and '03.

We need any and all help for this dreadful outfield. I'd take Dunn, and any number of others. Of course, at this late date, very few will actually be available.

He was a great wife beater too. Very good timing with those body blows. And the slaps across the face? Wow! Excellent form. Seriously? I knew he was a philanderer, didn't know he was a wife-beater too. Well, his wife divorced him citing domestic abuse, then wrote a book about it. I hate the guy, so I guess you could say I am.......unwilling to give him the benefit of the doubt. He's a phony. Glad he can give a good speech. Lots of people can do that.

Wood is also rumored to have been the boom box attacker. :lol: I saw that interview and Woody actually said something very subtle about Sosa; something like "no matter what you thought of him or what kind of person he was he always came to play." LOL, that tells me he was a troublemaker. Sosa wouldn't accept a Cubs bench position and, more importantly, the Cubs aren't offering. EDIT: Here is Kerry's exact quote:"The impact he had on the game -- he brought the fans back, him and McGwire," Cubs pitcher Kerry Wood said. "They filled the stadiums. That was fun to be a part of. Like I've always said about Sammy, he always came ready to play. No matter what kind of person he was, or what people wrote about him, or people said about him, he was ready to play for 162 games. I've still yet to see somebody prepare the way he did. He was a superstar." Sosa's work ethic makes Kerry look like a lazy dog. I think Kerry might have suddenly realized that. Sosa became a superstar by taking the field every single day----tired or not, hurt or not. Then there's Kerry: a man who was blessed with amazing talent, sat on his laurels, refused to learn how to pitch, and blew himself up in his mid-20's. Kerry should bow down and kiss Sosa's feet. Sosa's a Hall of Fame candidate and Wood is the biggest pitching bust of a generation. He has no place saying anything *BUT* what he just said.

I'd rather he concentrate on pitching.

If you get DirecTV, I think that channel is in the nosebleed section.

He was a great wife beater too. Very good timing with those body blows. And the slaps across the face? Wow! Excellent form.

I don't think a productive Wade Miller is in the cards for '06. He would need time after healing to regain his form. I doubt you will see him in anything more than spot-duty. Wood: from what I heard of his interview, it doesn't look good. He won't even set a date for return. As far as I'm concerned, he's not on the team either. Until he proves otherwise, I wouldn't count on him for anything this year.

Until the Cubs win a World Series, you can't judge their players based on that at all. That makes little sense. What are you trying to say? Players shouldn't be judged on their performance? Or is it just Cub players----because we suck year after year? Sandberg and Jenkins get a pass for failing to win because we have nothing else to fall back on? Bullpucky. No Cub team has gotten the job done. And that's just a fact. The players deserve their share of blame. Bottom line. And if a Cub team ever *DID* win it all, then those players immediately supplant the failures as the face of the franchise.

Sounds like Sammy never had much of a chance with you anyway then. If that's your eternal face of the Cubs, then it's the eternal face of losers. Because none of those guys ever got the job done in terms of a Championship any more than Sosa did. Sosa put at least as much excitement into Wrigley as any of them. Too bad he didn't play in the '60s when the media didn't crawl around with cameras to expose every wart in your life. I, for one, still hold out hope for this God-forsaken franchise to win. WIN. And if that ever did happen, those group of guys would supplant Ernie, Ryno, and Fergie......and yes, Sammy too.

I'd sign him. Put him in Cubbie Blue for one more year. Even if it was mostly on the bench. I'd do it. Come on. Like our current outfield is going to produce anyhow. Worst outfield in the league since Sosa left. That's just a bare bones freaking *FACT*