Soul

Listening to Mitchell yesterday, he tried to prevent the players being the sole target of ire by stating everyone in MLB shares some measure of blame, but it appears that -- at least so far -- it is the players who are being lambasted. Nobody's going to tell me a guy like LaRussa didn't know about McGwire & Canseco, or Dusty didn't know about Barry.

I can tell you that the media in NY is ripping him to shreds. Local tv news is always the most tame, but they talked about it. Radio guys are shredding him. All the blowhards who blew hard on Bonds are blowing just as hard on Roger. So far. Good. I admittedly haven't heard much because I'm busy at work- but on the way in this morning Peter Gammons, in the portion I heard, is very slow to judgemnent, almost blowing off Clemens' culpability. But, I didn't hear the whole thing either. It would be one thing if Peter was regularly ripping Bonds, but then went soft on Roger. But Peter has been among the more levelheaded in this entire debate. Cuse, Pettite has taken a back seat, but he's being talked about. Mets fans are sending all sorts of "we got cheated in 2000" emails about all the Yankee pitchers on that team that juiced. It's going to hang around awhile. I'm sure they'll be creative as heck as well! When Clemens threw that piece of broken bat at Piazza has got to be used in some way or another. Roid Rage!!!! Oh, it all makes so much sense now!

It's more that these guys are pro athletes and likely not master, or even capable, criminals, and based on what this report is showing as to how a lot of these guys got their supplies, it surprises me that any of them would be able to do it seemingly as airtight as Sammy has done, if he was using. If he was, wouldn't he need to keep using whatever throughout the season at various points? I guess maybe he could just stock up in the DR if that was doable and then have enough for the season. It's more common in the other thread than this one. People there are continually "surprised Sammy was smart enough" for a variety of things. I'm guessing it's because he's an ELL. A lot of people assume "stupid" when they hear an accent and broken English, which has never made sense to me. Especially when it's likely Sammy has a better mastery of two languages than the majority of people on this board. completely, completely, completely agree. people hear that accent and think he must not be very smart. I guess that must be where it comes from. Hard to argue the man has built himself into a multi-millionaire from scratch. Not that it takes a genius to do that, but I think it's pretty clear he knows what he's doing. Hey -- he's smarter than some of these other guys who wrote checks in their own names, that's for sure.

Mercker's on the list. And yes, the term "roid rage" was bandied about with Murph & Stone on the air yesterday. Just thought I'd show up and throw a little gasoline on the fire :lol:

Oh hell yeah. Didn't you know?

Well, in fairness the Petrino thing was breaking at the same time as Fukudome, and ESPN went with Petrino. I completely agree ESPN is screwed up though.

This still sucks man. I'm upset. Now I'm sad.

If he goes on to be good somewhere else I'm gonna scream. And tear up furniture. Maybe even kill a small animal.

I couldn't have said it any better. Great post. ..and what's really becoming frustrating is, when you look at it, you start to realize: Paxson himself experienced no success at all in the NBA without a superstar. He rode the coattails of one his entire career. He, of all people, has little or no right to expect that this "grit" plan will work. He must know -- from firsthand knowledge -- that it ultimately cannot.

The Chandler move turned out to be terrible. The biggest indictment of the Skiles/Pax regime in my mind is that their "we'll build it on grit instead of superstars" plan has clearly peaked at a 2nd round exit. Now they're declining, there is no doubt. The Paxson plan has been proven to be inadequate in today's NBA. Sorry Pax, but you're gonna need a superstar. Yes, even if said superstar doesn't always see eye-to-eye with the coach. You still are going to need one. Time to deal with it, and get moving on Kobe or whomever.

While it may be true that Jacque never "won the fans over," I recall the boos stopping right around the same time Jacque starting playing better. Hmmmm, funny how that works. Jacque was absolutely abysmal when he first got here, and he was horrid again at the beginning of last year. I mean come on, fans are going to boo that. It's terrible baseball.

"On Fukudome's personality and attitude: He's a competitor too. Kind of a throwback guy. No dyed hair, jewelry, image enhancements. Buzz cut, square jaw, intense eyes. Not that those things make you a good or bad player, but fans will be turned on by his serious approach." http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2007/05/mike_plugh_on_k.html i know i'm turned on It's the "intense eyes"

That looks like a pretty solid core to me. I think the Stros stay in it at least for awhile in '08. Not saying they'll win it.

Yeah if he puts up a .900+ OPS Cub fans are going to start showing up draped in Japanese flags.

Someone should email the site admins and let them know. That is indeed embarrassing... Edit: looks like they've switched the picture now.

Only if all the other NBA teams agree to play as horribly as the Sonics. No seriously, I expect them to do what they always do -- pull back into it and then lose in an earlier round of the playoffs.

What next, are you going to talk about his VORP? Are you freaking kidding me Jim? Did you finally realize the Damien Jacksons and Neifi Perez's of the world have a fundamental problem with them. It is indeed very interesting to suddenly hear Jimbo throwing OBP around. This is new.

*pops in* Fukudome choose the Cubs yet? No? *pops out*

iirc, joe staley? Joe Staley's wikipedia page says you're right. Amazing. Not that Staley won't ever be anything, but it's just incredible how the Pats continue to manage things. I hate them, but must acknowledge how well they run their ship.

So when would this thing likely, you know, actually happen? I just want to know how long I've got to sit on pins and needles waiting for the yea/nay.

He's a bench player. If he's starting, it's a weakpoint. I'm not one to say he shouldn't be here at all, but he's really not starter-quality. I do like him though. Guess the grit won me over. 8-) But as a supplemental player.

Neh. You always have to look at the dollars and what makes sense. Get the guy here, but don't hamstring us even further. We're already carrying some contracts that hurt, or are likely to start hurting.

What did the 49ers get in return for that 1st round pick? They must have gotten raped. They're gonna finish in the cellar, and they'll have no top 5 pick to show for it. Wow. And there are the Pats, perfect record and possibly the 2nd overall pick in the draft. Just wow. Wowzilla.

Left-handed. Don't forget left-handed. And don't forget coming off season-ending elbow surgery.

I don't like that the only GM who is talking about it is the Padres. Hendry is silent. Does that mean he considers our chances slim?