Soul

A little bit? His story has come apart like the Hindenburg. He should have just admitted he used them and left it at that.

I stayed in Scottsdale one year. It was nice. I wish I could remember the place but I can't. Anyway -- I guess my point is you don't need to stay at the closest place to Mesa. I found parking, getting the ballpark complex, etc. to be relatively easy. I was probably 20 minutes away by freeway. The area around Hohokam is residential, not really very interesting when the Cubs aren't playing (unless it has changed in the last 5 years).

What does this even mean? "Paper lion playoff teams" = wolfspeak for "John Paxson" ? He means we overvalued ourselves when we were making the playoffs, paid our players too much thinking they were going to be stars when they weren't. At least I think that's what he means.

To stay healthy? Personally, I'm not prepared to go past that assuption (taking in to account the previous seasons). The easiest way back for him would probably be a bullpen role for at least one season, but I doubt he's willing to go that route - for now. You don't think he'd pitch out of the BP for year? I'm not so sure.

Playing Devil's Advocate, every year except last year. But I definitely think he will be competent depending on your definition of competent. What do you mean every year except last year? He didn't have a good year in '05? '00?

Based on Angelo's recent comments I think you could have crossed Haynesworth off the list immediately anyway.

This was the most talented team in the NFC in 2006. But time flies in the NFL and Angelo is nuts if he thinks the talent is there now to win. The offense cannot succeed without an influx of talent, and the defense is no longer good enough to win on its own. The wasted draft picks the past few years have caught up to them quickly, and they absolutely must find 2, and maybe 3, immediate upgrades either through the draft or free agency. Though if the Bears had beaten Atlanta and Houston as they should have, they make the playoffs. Those losses can very readily be pinned on poor coaching. In that sense he's right although the goal should be more than just to make the playoffs and see what happens. The other thing to keep in mind is that it isn't as though they are going to not draft any players or that they are fine with what they have. This speech was really more a matter of don't get your hopes up GM speak. That way he's covered if he has another crappy draft. What really covers Angelo is the fact that he's signed up for a few years and the McCaskeys would probably rather not have to deal with the hiring process for another GM any time soon. He needs to have a good draft though. GM's eventually get run out of town if they keep having poor drafts.

So far this offseason has been alot of malarkey.

I'm expecting him to be a competent starter. Is there an overriding reason why that shouldn't be expected?

WUT :banghead:

Yes, and that point is when a teams stop saying "here's a whole bunch of money to throw off on the side with a pitching coach to see if you can get your arm back." You can't tell me you would turn down real money to sit in the Arizona sun and throw pitches, with a bunch of women watching you and "oohing and ahhing." Come now. You say Mark should be realistic. So let's look at what his life is really like right now. It's not too bad. I'd take it. Add to that the fact that he gets paid to be a part of a MLB clubhouse, he gets to watch games from the dugout, he gets to travel the country and add to that all the benefits that a MLB player gets I don't think him trying to play again is a bad thing. Yeah. I want that job. Trouble is I can't convince anyone there might be something in my arm worth paying for :)

We just came up against a hot young goalie that the league really doesn't know yet, that's all. I liken it to facing a hot young pitching prospect who MLB hitters haven't seen yet. We put a ton of shots on net last night. Next time we'll have some good film on this guy. I'll let this one slide. There were also at least 2 places where the only reason we didn't get a goal was a lucky bounce of the puck, or something like that. I'll bet if we played that same game 10 times we win 7 of them.

Yes, and that point is when a teams stop saying "here's a whole bunch of money to throw off on the side with a pitching coach to see if you can get your arm back." You can't tell me you would turn down real money to sit in the Arizona sun and throw pitches, with a bunch of women watching you and "oohing and ahhing." Come now. You say Mark should be realistic. So let's look at what his life is really like right now. It's not too bad. I'd take it.

I think Cincy's rotation has a shot at being significantly better than the rotation listed there, provided Dusty hasn't done too much damage to those young arms.

He's made millions of dollars and his life revolves around baseball. That's not a hole. Alright, then he's chasing his tail. If you were to find yourself no longer able to continue in journalism, wouldn't you try your hand at something else? No, I moved to North Dakota where I can still collect a paycheck and nobody cares that I'm incompetent. After what he went through here, I'm guessing Mark has the same mindset. This is a position I will never understand. He makes a ton of money playing baseball (or trying to). Even if it's league minimum, it's a ton of money. If he spends the next few years trying to pitch and it doesn't work out and he ends up giving in, great. But if all this work let's him pitch even one more season, he probably thinks it's worth it. If so, why would you encourage him to stop? It's not like this is reckless, unhealthy behavior that's negatively impacting his family or friends. What position? I've already stated I don't care either way. If he wants to milk his past accomplishments for all they're worth in a no pressure atmosphere like San Diego, fine. But Prior should be intelligent enough to know he's become a punchline, and I can't imagine him wanting to remain one. Who cares what other people think? Lots of guys have been ridiculed by fans and then come back. I think you're jumping the gun a little bit. There's still a chance right now, so Mark's still exploring the possibility. A year or two down the road, he'll probably have trouble getting a team to give him a chance so he'll get the message and bow out. I really doubt he doesn't realize the situation he's in.

season over. (just thought I'd get it out of the way early)

Yeah, this one isn't turning out how I expected it would given the shots.

We got ripped, no? That kinda sucked when I watched the replays they showed.

I can't believe this is the AP. I searched google news and found no reference to the original AP article at all. This has got to be the Trib. The Fort Mills Times reprinted it though -- guess they don't care much about fact checking. Here's what Google says before any of the results: 8-)

while david terrell might have had his personal issues, his ultimate failing was the he wasn't any good at football. Well yeah. I'd rather avoid the drama though, if it can be avoided. Plus there's not a lot of guys who can survive off the field issues in the age of Goodell.

There's still over 20 games that are already sold out according to the system, so the demand will still be there. Since the 90's a good portion of the initial demand has been people assuming they can sell for profit on the secondary market. It will be interesting to see how that will work this year, and what kind of prices people can get for those tickets. Yeah, the secondary market will say much. As for the initial demand, I think it's still quite strong. We're only 2 days from opening the ticket office, and a ton of games are sold out. It's really chicken feed left at this point.

This is where things get murky. We'll soon have some major PEDs that are almost unequivocally good for you. It would be more accurate to say they are banned because they're illegal. True. Kyle's point is interesting though. What happens if a PED is invented that pumps people up and there really aren't any serious side effects? You could have a situation where it is banned in professional sports, but everyone on the street is popping it like candy.

If they took Vontae Davis over Maclin I think I'd lose my [expletive] mind. Would it be more or less painful than seeing Illinois in the Rose Bowl? Probably more. And I'd only be mad because we don't need a CB in the first round, not because Davis isn't good. Not sure Maclin will be there. Is he a good kid? I don't want another drama queen like David Terrell.

Meh, wound up with a couple tix to the Houston 2-game series in Sept. Picked up a Brewers 9-pack that includes 2 Cub games. That makes 4. Not bad considering yesterday I didn't even want to walk, much less log on to a computer.

Ironic that last time Thomas was here I was upset that he wouldn't grace us with his presence. This time around, I hope he doesn't.