CaliforniaRaisin

That'd be awesome. RynoRules will be mentioned on the Citation Page with a link to this thread.

Yeah, Pauley is always unlocked though they are vigilant on non-scholarship athletes practicing on the courts. I made sure to walk in there during a break every day of my first full week of UCLA, it was great. :)

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/ncaatourney07/news/story?id=2807441

http://us.news2.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/ap/20070321/capt.080b3a94fb7f4e0ab0d4eb8f88c317e3.rangers_cubs_spring_baseball_azrd103.jpg Alfonso Soriano follows through on a single in the 6th inning http://us.news2.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/ap/20070321/capt.c6bac28bedd74b81a0d6f34a714dd943.rangers_cubs_spring_baseball_azrd101.jpg Sammy Sosa beats out a throw to Derrek Lee for a 3rd inning single

All three of you, drop it.

Link Gus Johnson's call of Ron Lewis's 3-pointer in the OSU-Xavier game. Such a great call, one that Simmons also addresses in his last basketball blog column. And my vote goes for Gus. Gus Johnson made the UCLA-Gonzaga game: (go to 1:53). I mean, how does it get better than this (got this from some blog):

And the insane groin tear. :(

He needs to pitch in game situations, but I'd rather he try to fix whatever his problems are before getting into the game situations itself. It's just my preference.

D. Manning at corner? Interesting. I just hope he gets locked in the film room this offseason.

Yes. LOL, I wouldn't! :D Imo, Prior is more likely to return to the big leagues while devoting his whole time to fixing the mechanical and other errors and then working on his arm strength. It will be tougher for him to do this while also keeping a normal pitching schedule - especially against talent that he'd be able to beat with his lesser stuff. If he only makes 10 starts after starting off in extended, I can't imagine he'd make many more while starting the season in the minors. I don't care as much about his clock. If he struggles to make an impact with the big league team this season, the Cubs won't care much about his service time and will probably try to move on.

Yes, yes I have. I can't wait till next season. :D I'm pretty sure Afflalo is going pro after the season but there have been recent hints that he won't go if UCLA doesn't win it all. Even if Arron turns pro, I'll be happy as long as Collison returns for his junior year. Lorenzo Romar said that if Kevin Love - as a HS senior - was on the Bruins this year, UCLA would have gone undefeated. :) It would certainly be my guess that Afflalo turns pro. That's completely a hunch, of course. I'd also guess that would be UCLA's only defection. I know nothing, but surely Collison will return. Not having seen him play, it seems Love will/may be exactly what the doctor ordered for UCLA. I feel the same way about Gordon to IU, though UCLA was better to start with. I don't think Collison is ready but UCLA has no PG behind him next season (Russell Westbrook is a 2 playing 1 right now) so having him back is very important. Having a post presence like Love (and one as good as Love) would be so huge for this perimeter-oriented team.

Yes.

What a horrible trade for the Texans. They need those extra picks.

Yes, yes I have. I can't wait till next season. :D I'm pretty sure Afflalo is going pro after the season but there have been recent hints that he won't go if UCLA doesn't win it all. Even if Arron turns pro, I'll be happy as long as Collison returns for his junior year. Lorenzo Romar said that if Kevin Love - as a HS senior - was on the Bruins this year, UCLA would have gone undefeated. :)

Normally I'd agree with that idea; if he were just a week or two behind schedule. My fear is that he's months away from being ready to pitch for the Cubs. I'd hate to see him DL'd and only able make a few starts this year (like the 9 last year). I want the team to "own" his rights for as long as possible. I think he still has the opportunity to be very good. Seriously, how is this different than sending Sean Marshall to AAA? All things being equal, Marshall may have contended for a rotation spot if he were healthy (this says nothing about their respective pitching ceilings). It seems to me that the Cubs are prepared to treat this situation with kid gloves even if it's not the best thing for the team. Perhaps my view will change if he's markedly better in his Thursday start. Again, if he's just a little behind, then I agree that extended ST is the way to go. If it's going to be a few months, he should be demoted IMO. If Sean Marshall is ready for AAA, the Cubs should send him there. These are two independent situations and should be treated as such. It has nothing to do with their respective ceilings. I think Prior would be best off in extended spring training, exclusively working on fixing his mechanical flaws, before getting into minor league game action. Also, Arizona April weather has to be better for Prior than Iowa April weather. You make a good point, I probably should be advocating that he be sent to A Daytona or AA Tenn where the weather should be considerably nicer and more conducive to pitching (I'm totally serious). I realize that Prior has won 42 ML games but his most recent history says that he'll need a lot of in-season rehabilitation. In the end, his only benefit to the team is pitching and if he's going to miss half the season (or more) it makes little sense to allow him to simultaneously accrue ML time. Of course, I don't know how long Prior's going to miss but he hasn't done anything yet, this ST, to make me confident that he'll be ready to go soon. For the record, I didn't have this view going into 2006. After all, he made 27 starts the previous year. However, in light of the 9 starts last season and the erratic command and decreased velocity this ST, I'm convinced that he'll need considerable time to get himself back to respectable form. He has a chance to prove me wrong on Thursday. I hope he does but without a measurable improvement the Cubs have no logical choice but to send him down. He's not going to fix his mechanical issues in such a situation. If he needs to do that, he needs to be on his own schedule at extended ST - he can get into simulated games and then rehab his way up the minors. There's no point in sending him wherever in the minors if he needs to work on something specific. You just want him in the minors so he won't accrue service time. I think it's in the Cubs' best interest if they did whatever it took to get him back to helping the big league team - not do whatever it takes to keep control of him longer.

Normally I'd agree with that idea; if he were just a week or two behind schedule. My fear is that he's months away from being ready to pitch for the Cubs. I'd hate to see him DL'd and only able make a few starts this year (like the 9 last year). I want the team to "own" his rights for as long as possible. I think he still has the opportunity to be very good. Seriously, how is this different than sending Sean Marshall to AAA? All things being equal, Marshall may have contended for a rotation spot if he were healthy (this says nothing about their respective pitching ceilings). It seems to me that the Cubs are prepared to treat this situation with kid gloves even if it's not the best thing for the team. Perhaps my view will change if he's markedly better in his Thursday start. Again, if he's just a little behind, then I agree that extended ST is the way to go. If it's going to be a few months, he should be demoted IMO. If Sean Marshall is ready for AAA, the Cubs should send him there. These are two independet situations and should be treated as such. It has nothing to do with their respecitve ceilings. I think Prior would be best off in extended spring training, exclusively working on fixing his mechanical flaws, before getting into minor league game action. Also, Arizona April weather has to be better for Prior than Iowa April weather.

At C? No, because Fox can't catch too well. Any worse than Barrrett? Sadly, yeah.

At C? No, because Fox can't catch too well.

I know there are a few on here who'd love to see the Cubs sign Fukudome when he hits free agency. Jim Callis talked about him in the most recent Ask BA:

He'd probably be better off staying in Mesa than going to Des Moines.

See, I can get behind this. That was a horrible trade. But this team isn't destined for a first round exit because it didn't get up for the Grizzlies or Clippers. I think getting homecourt advantage in the first round will be far more important to their playoff performance than how they do against mediocre teams like the Clippers in March.

Count me in the camp that definitely wants to see Mike Brown restructure and come back to the Bears.

Eccentric is one way to put it. I'll enjoy watching Pink Floyd go nuts having to deal with OJ. :) ETA: http://deadspin.com/sports/high-school-basketball/oj-mayo-signing-off-in-style-245625.php

He played 3 games in LF at West Tenn last summer too (all after the Jaxx were eliminated).

Have I mentioned I hate Aaron Gray yet? Cause I do. He's just a big oaf. He is flat-out bad. I watched the Pitt/Gtown game just to laugh at how bad things happened every time he got the ball. Didn't change much against VCU. Supposedly he was very sick during the VCU game. I'm worried about him - 7-footers give UCLA fits (even if Gray isn't as athletic as the Lopez twins or Spencer Hawes).