Magnetic Curses

Sorry, I can't back that statement because I can't imagine true fans would want their team to lose. True fans with a long-range outlook do. this is exactly what i said. find your own points, you fascist.

Did Hendry even talk to him? my sources tell me that vasgersian's agent told hendry to "buzz off".

=D> =D> =D> well put. i've been saying this for a while. the best the cubs could do would be to find a czar for a GM, who, in turn, hires a puppet manager to apply organizational philosophy across the board at the ground level.

sutcliffe should realize that vasgersian would never move his family, who are very happy in san diego, half-way across the country to live in a place where it snows and is cold enough to be able to keep your beer on the porch. doesn't he know anything? and he's obviously a surfer--why would he leave sandy beaches for the flatland of the midwest? besides, the trib should have understood that vasgersian wasn't going to leave san diego and was just using some leverage to get more out of the the padres broadcasting dept. guys, he wasn't leaving san diego! can we just forget about vasgersian already! ps- he's too old anyway.

Then Dusty is doing a great job, as this organizations philosophy seems to be completely absent of intelligence. and consistently inconsistent. there is a pattern to everything.

ian scott is supposed to be one of the smartest players in the NFL. if they can't get to the QB, maybe they could work on a cure for cancer or something.

I wouldn't give 3 first rounders for Davis. That's absolutely insane. technically, it would only be 2, this year's first round pick would just be improved. considering our track record with 1st rounders, we're bound to miss on the next two years anyway, why not make this year worth something? especially with a tight-end that gives you so many different options. 2 first rounders for a potentially great player is an easy deal to make. barring injury, vernon davis is a virtual lock to be a perrenial pro-bowler in the NFC. Wow, a little overhype there, no? I heard the same about Bubba Franks. to be fair, bubba franks is a multiple pro-bowler himself.

Sorry, I can't back that statement because I can't imagine true fans would want their team to lose. fans with no foresight, anyway. i, for one, want this team to get better, and the only way to that is for things to get worse. i'd rather have the team finish with 60 wins, have the entire front office purged, hire someone who actually knows how to spend wisely and develop a different organizational philosophy than to middle through the season, finish with 70-80 wins, miss the playoffs, and have everyone who's part of the problem back next year. our current Iago, one mr. gary hughes, needs to be imprisoned and hit with a 500-mile restraining order. the light must be seen by the tribune and it won't be seen with a mediocre team, this team must be exceptionally bad. It pains me to say it, but I agree. I want the team to defy all odds and win 95, but it looks more like 75. Injuries will once again be used as the excuse that gets Dusty, his entire staff, Neifi, Rusch, et al back for another crack at it next year. If they're going to be a bad team and miss the playoffs, I think it makes sense to want them to be bad enough that changes have to be made. i'd be ecstatic if they hit a 30 game win streak and went on to win the series and everyone came back after that. at least i could go to my grave in peace.

dusty will get a job from the conventional minds of the game, minds that believe the world to be flat and the moon to be made of green cheese. minds that believe that you must spend your entire life near the game to know anything about it, minds that haven't figured anything out but how to lose year after year. and we don't need a top manager. i'd settle for billy beane and some puppet manager any day of the week. managers, first and foremost, must apply organizational philosophy in a consistent manner. that is the job of the manager, not to become the mutineer captain of some always-sinking ship.

Sorry, I can't back that statement because I can't imagine true fans would want their team to lose. fans with no foresight, anyway. i, for one, want this team to get better, and the only way to that is for things to get worse. i'd rather have the team finish with 60 wins, have the entire front office purged, hire someone who actually knows how to spend wisely and develop a different organizational philosophy than to middle through the season, finish with 70-80 wins, miss the playoffs, and have everyone who's part of the problem back next year. our current Iago, one mr. gary hughes, needs to be imprisoned and hit with a 500-mile restraining order. the light must be seen by the tribune and it won't be seen with a mediocre team, this team must be exceptionally bad.

is hendry's contract guaranteed? i'd much rather see him go than dusty. dusty isn't really the problem, nor are fundamentals. players don't usually learn how to play baseball in the major leagues, which, actually, is our problem in the first place. we draft toolsy athletes almost without exception as far as position players go--then, allow them to coach themselves in the minors. we also acquire toolsy athletes in free agency. we don't draft or sign ballplayers, we draft or acquire athletes that don't have the mental makeup to do anything consistently. if you ask me, this whole administration needs to be bashed in the head with a shovel, then drowned in the swimming pool and replaced.

but that's not the real issue, the real issue is: why has kerry wood failed to have a 700 strikeout season? i mean honestly, he obviously sucks. The real issue is why haven't any of them won at least 15 games in a season. That's the true measuring stick. Maybe I was a bit harsh earlier, after reading Goony's post, I want Dusty hung up by his balls. I can't believe how badly the abuse of our pitchers looked when written out like that. I know Prior wants to be out, I just wish he'd stop getting flu's and stomach virus's. Prior won 18 in 2003. But you are right on Wood. You do know I was being sarcastic right? No I didn't, but I do think Wood not winning 15 games in a season is a big deal. I know that wins don't mean everything, and I have discussed this in another thread, but if Kerry Wood is so great, you would think he would have had a Cy Young caliber season already. But he hasn't. i know, you're right, kerry should have struck out an average of 23 batters per game and won every game he's pitched in. the truth is, kerry's been a seriously unlucky pitcher, but a very good one, nonetheless. i think it's absolutely the mark of a casual fan to see wood strike out 20 batters in a game and then get called a bust when he can't repeat it in the years following. that was the worst thing he could have ever done, because after that, the edward k's of the world began expecting him to be some sort of ruthian mega-legend.

but that's not the real issue, the real issue is: why has kerry wood failed to have a 700 strikeout season? i mean honestly, he obviously sucks. The real issue is why haven't any of them won at least 15 games in a season. That's the true measuring stick. Maybe I was a bit harsh earlier, after reading Goony's post, I want Dusty hung up by his balls. I can't believe how badly the abuse of our pitchers looked when written out like that. I know Prior wants to be out, I just wish he'd stop getting flu's and stomach virus's. Prior won 18 in 2003. But you are right on Wood. i think he was being facetious.

but that's not the real issue, the real issue is: why has kerry wood failed to have a 700 strikeout season? i mean honestly, he obviously sucks.

i'd would have liked to have gotten lewis, but i would have settled for a big, white milk truck like fasano--someone who can punish opponents like heath miller, shockey, or a healthy kleinsasser. i don't know anything about the guys we signed via FA, but i'd imagine that desmond clark will start for yet another year. it seems that a brass so hellbent on crafting a team in the mold of the 2005 steelers (non- 3-4, tho) or 2000 ravens would realize that those teams would have been rather ordinary without their respective TE's. oh well, i guess having a bunch of skinny, newly transitioned WR's are much better to have with a relatively inexperienced QB than a large, punishing, sure-handed, posession TE.

Or possibly empirically demonstrated fact. It's easy to confuse the two. believing in human nature is like believing that sacrifice bunts are fundamental and important to team victory. "empirically demonstrated fact " is stretching it, considering you're using a statistical term to define something which has not been measured, nor is there even enough belief in among minds in the field to even merit an attempt at measurement. it's a subjective myth. there is no wifebeating gene or greed gene. we become bad because we see bad behaviors being done from the time we are born.

there is no statistical proof that sacrificing players over increases the chances of scoring 1 run, however, there is proof that it decreases the chances of scoring many runs.

sure, the bucks are playing the pistons pretty well too, but i don't care, i'm a bulls fan.

pure communism is what happens when the state fades away, you're right. but marx wasn't exactly calling for it, he theorized that it would be the next logical step in the evolution of society. you see, society is not a finished product, nor is what is often referred to as "human nature". it's extremely short-sighted to assume that humans are somehow finished evolving socially. just as many characteristics have become an inherent part of our cultural structure, negative characteristics, learned negative characteristics--these characteristics can be unlearned over time (racism, sexism, classism, etc), characteristics humanity was by no means born with. marx wasn't convinced change was going to happen overnight, and he wasn't concerned very much with what would happen in a thousand years. in europe, at the time of his writing, masses of people were being systematically exploited and oppressed by big business--this is what he was concerned with. he wanted society to come together and work as a team (a concept we are always pushing over here, albeit only in certain areas) to triumph over economic tyranny. this is not an issue that can be peacefully resolved in one generation--marx knew that, but he wanted to start the ball rolling, unfortunately over the years, many people working independently of marx's ideas but operating under the guise of marxism have been responsible for terrible injustices in the history of humankind. not the fault of marx, socialism, or even an inevitable consequence of a socialist system. socialism is not doomed to failure by the very nature of human beings, "human nature" is a reactionary term used to wage a war of propaganda.

angelo drafting as if no offensive player on the board at the time of each pick has been good enough to even sniff cracking his rotation of the 11 current starters he so smugly claims is under contract for the next half-century. i don't think we're drafting under the assumption that any of these picks will make the team--the 22 starters we have under contract for the next half-century are good enough. we could have gotten devin hester and manning even if we had used our pick on lewis at 26. what an absolute joke of a draft--by the far the worst 4 rounds i can remember as a bears fan in the history of the franchise.

Whatever. Thomas produced a 12.21 per in 71 games last year. He's a sub-par player at this point. You should pick a different champion for your anti-Skiles crusade. I'm not convinced he's the best coach for this team long-term, but getting rid of Thomas didn't hurt the team at all. and thomas played for the worst-coached team in the NBA last year, a team that breeds underperformance. i'm not saying that thomas would be the answer to our prayers as bulls fans--i'm saying that it would be better for the bulls if their coach could get along with anyone. skiles was modestly successful in phoenix as well, that didn't stop him from getting run out on a rail. Didn't Kidd run Byron Scott out of New Jersey, too? You can't just blame it all on Skiles. Kidd, IIRC, has a terrible reputation for dealing with his coaches. kidd's had trouble with coaches, no doubt, but he's the kind of player that you can't deal with the same as you deal with everyone else. if you want his talent, you bite the bullet. auerbach did it in boston with russell; riley, jackson, and daly all did it during their days. in order to be a successful coach in the pros, and a manager at any level, you have to realize that what motivates one may not motivate another, and some require special treatment. if you value your job, or success in any capacity, you will learn the psychology of coaching. not everything's black and white, not every player is a glutton for punishment.

everytime i see the highlights, they're always winning. this team could lose everyone, bring up the AA team, and win 100 games. there's some sort of anti-curse on these guys. they simply don't lose, they have three hitters, three. how much money would the cubs need to spend to catch them? 300 mil?

lee and clark look identical. and btw- i hate worst, he's terribly overrated.

Whatever. Thomas produced a 12.21 per in 71 games last year. He's a sub-par player at this point. You should pick a different champion for your anti-Skiles crusade. I'm not convinced he's the best coach for this team long-term, but getting rid of Thomas didn't hurt the team at all. and thomas played for the worst-coached team in the NBA last year, a team that breeds underperformance. i'm not saying that thomas would be the answer to our prayers as bulls fans--i'm saying that it would be better for the bulls if their coach could get along with anyone. skiles was modestly successful in phoenix as well, that didn't stop him from getting run out on a rail.

At the risk of giving this all-too-predictable slant (SOMEONE was going to posit this spin), Marxism has its own idols as well. After Lenin died, they pickled him up pretty well and put him on public display - I think you can still go see it. Similar deal with Mao and Kim Il-sung - I don't think their actual bodies are on display, but the people do idolize them - it's drummed into their heads from grade school on. And what was one of the first things that got torn down in (was it?) the Kremlin in the fall of Communism - that huge statue of Lenin. (You can see a nice replica of Nikolai's statue across the lake from where I live, however, if so desired.) you live in freemont? lucky dog. i almost moved there once, but decided that northgate was cheaper. i love that statue, btw. anyhow, you need to go back and read my second post in this thread.