davecubsfan

Hmm. That would be uber-cool. Wonder if this community would support a tracker of solely legal videos? Might have to look into that. I'll talk to our main sports guy as well as the GM and see what they think. I'd just need to find a video encoder to put them up and send them to an admin here.

If you guys want highlights next season for most all of the home games, let me know. I work for the ABC affiliate in Knoxville and could probably get them to go along with this. I know our sports photog shoots almost every home game that the Smokes play.

Even though we had the God-awful Diamondbacks franchise, we still drew a quarter of a million this year. The Smokies are well supported and were so well supported that we got two all star games in a row once Smokies park opened. The facilities are beautiful and the stadium is five minutes away from Sevierville, roughly ten minutes away from Pigeon Forge, and probably 30 minutes away from Gatlinburg. I am very pleased about the decision but feel bad for all the Jackson folks. I knew this was a done deal in January from a friend of mine, but he told me to keep it hush hush.

To me it only makes sense that if West TN doesn't get the Cubs again, they'll go for the Diamond Backs. Diamondbacks and DiamondJaxx. I haven't heard anything else about the Cubs coming to East Tennessee. From what my friend has told me, it's very close but no announcement yet.

Landon Donovan has so much talent, and he's wasting it in MLS, and hurting the USMNT in the process. ESPN the Mag had a more in depth article about Donovan prior to the World Cup. I can't say that I blame him if he is much happier playing here. Would you leave your friends and family for a better job overseas in a crummier place? It sucks that he won't be the player he can be because of it, but I can't begrudge him for placing his quality of life over the advancement of his career. I will blame him for his repeated comments that he doesn't need to go to Europe to reach the top level of his talent. He may have left for Leverkusen too soon in his life, and experiences like that can definetly affect you, but it does show something about his mentality that he can only be comfortable in a pressure free, comfortable enviroment. He's definetly not the player who should be wearing a captain's armband for the USMNT, and he also shouldn't be counted on at the international level outside of CONCACAF. He will never be better than he is right now, and right now he's a 3rd or 4th option on a good team. Couldn't agree more. Nice post US

Landon Donovan has so much talent, and he's wasting it in MLS, and hurting the USMNT in the process. ESPN the Mag had a more in depth article about Donovan prior to the World Cup. I can't say that I blame him if he is much happier playing here. Would you leave your friends and family for a better job overseas in a crummier place? It sucks that he won't be the player he can be because of it, but I can't begrudge him for placing his quality of life over the advancement of his career. I really think it has nothing to do with his comfort level in America and everything to do with playing against stiff competion in Germany. He was dreadful in both stints with Bayer Leverkusen and never really got used to the style of European football. He was nothing more than an also ran in Europe, but is a king in MLS.

I can tell you in less than an article why he is not the right fit Womanizing, Beckham loving, wrong substitute making, overpaid piece of dung. As for Martin O'Neil, I love him and am glad to see him back in the prem, but he's auditioning right now for the head job at Man U. IMO, he and Roy Keane are going to have a fight to the death for the job once Fergie gets the boot. Roy Keane has turned Sunderland around in much the same way O'Neil is turning around Villa. One more thing. Set your DVR's to watch the beginning of the end for Fergie. Fox Sports regional channels are re-airing Arsenal vs Manchester United. I won't spoil the score here, but suffice to say, it was one of the better matches I've seen all year.

Landon Donovan has so much talent, and he's wasting it in MLS, and hurting the USMNT in the process. Thanks for posting that US. I do love me some LandyCakes PrimoDonovan :) He's become so complacent that I hope his complacency helps him to play his sorry ass right off the 2010 World Cup Team. It's obvious he does like to play in Europe cause he showed it quite well with his scoring prowess in Germany, and he played a fine game against Chelsea in the MLS All Star Game (oh yeah, that's right, he begged out of it and then played the following Monday) Defenders in England (John Terry, Rio Ferdinand, William Gallas, Ashley Cole) would lick their lips in delight as they saw him dribbling towards them. I'd agree completely with ya US on your thoughts on scoring. There's no need to get rid of offsides, or make the goals bigger, or any other silly rules change to "Americanize" the sport. Football is perfect as is IMO. If you get some major talent on the backside of their career into MLS, then you'll get fans. Americans love a winner and they love stars. Soccer wasn't big here before a little team called the Cosmos started playing in NY, but they changed the face of soccer in America. The only rule I'd love to see FIFA add to make the games a bit more competitive at least on the international stage is an additional sub or two before the start of extra time. I think if you got two or four sets of fresh legs on the pitch at the beginning of extra time, you might see less matches go to penalties. Maybe allow teams to change one extra forward or midfielder and one defender. That way each team would have a fresh defender and fresh forward to go into extra time with. Also, I'm not sure if this was announced yet, but Sirius now owns the broadcasting rights to the Champions League. My decision to go with Sirius over XM is one of the better decisions I've made in a while.

First of all, anything as drastic as removing offsides isn't going to happen. The sport is wildly popular all over the world and the rules firmly entrenched, and I don't know of any widespread desire to eradicate offsides. Secondly, and most importantly, eliminating offsides would do the opposite of what you intend. Instead of the cat and mouse game of trying to time runs into open space, you'd have defenses that packed way in, and not doing nearly as much on the offensive side of the ball. So what you'd see would be even more conservative than the play you see with offsides. What about relaxing offsides as opposed to minimizing it? I don't understand the rule all that well, but from what I can tell, I agree with your theory of what would happen if it was eliminated. But what if you just gave a little more leeway to the offensive player? I've seen too many would-be exciting plays stopped by the rule, when all it really was was one player beating another. You shouldn't get punished for that. What about not changing it all and leaving it as is? I really don't think the offensive player needs any more leeway or any more of an advantage. Officials have already bastardized the game to where if a striker is touched in the box, a penalty kick is given. If you got rid of that, you'd see far less diving, clutching, grabbing, etc. The last thing officials need is to have more judgement calls.

I hate to come off as being anti-MLS, because in reality, I do like MLS for what it is, a very minor league football association with no chance of ever becoming one of the world's elite as has been pushed by MLS. I watch the matches when they're on ESPN or Fox. MLS is viewed very differently on the world stage than it is in America. If MLS could somehow get some older Euro folks into it's league in the twilight of their careers (ie Becks, Ronaldo, Zidane, etc), then the rest of the world would begin to pay attention and the league would become more of a success. I also think MLS would be helped immensely if they'd drop the silly playoffs and instead adapt a league cup (like the English Cup) and have the finals of it be the last match of the year. MLS is trying to cater to the typical American Sports fan by having playoffs, and it's obvious that the typical American sports fan still isn't watching, so it hasn't worked. I would love to see promotion and relegation as well with some of the minor US clubs, but that won't ever happen either. One more thing that probably won't happen but would greatly increase the exposure of the league would be to join the Cup de Libertadores (ie the South American version of the Champion's League) That would give MLS exposure they desperately need with most of South America and watching, plus it would be nice to see how the MLS stacked up against Corinthians and some of the others. I can't remember if the Mexican League takes part in the cup or not, so if I left them out it was out of ignorance. The reason I'd like to see all valuable Americans playing overseas is just the experience. I'm part of the crowd that believes that you play up to your competition, so better competition=better players. I'd much rather see the young members of our USMNT face off against Arsenal, Man U, Real Madrid, etc than to face lesser competition. I will say I have a bit of bias when it comes to Landon Donovan. I absolutely detest him.

Dear God no !!!!! That's even worse than giving it an MLS coach as far as I'm concerned. I'm with Dave. SGE is the Dusty Baker of soccer managers...his handling of England this WC cycle alone was a joke. He put an 18 yr old Theo Walcott on the team for no good reason, passed up Jermain Defoe, and it it weren't for terrible finishing against Portugal, that decision would have been exposed for the joke it was, as Owen and Rooney were already out for the tournament. They would have started a World Cup semi against France with Peter Crouch and an 18 yr old striker with like one half of pro experience. He allowed his crush on Beckham to affect the team's performance, especially when it was obvious that Aaron Lennon was the better player. Add to that the unneccesary rushing of Rooney back on the WC roster, questionable subbing decisions and you have a nightmare. If he ever go ahold of the US roster it would be a giant step backwards, Agreed completely. Here's what I think would help the USMNT 1. We get Klinsmann or another international type coach not named Erikkson and not involve the MLS in any of the decisions whether it be coaching, training, etc. I feel that MLS cost us a better finish in Germany because of the very lackluster competition that most of them faced here. We need someone who's been successful on the international front or someone who's been an assistant under someone who's been on the international level. 2. Get Spector, Convey, Beasley, and some of the other Americans playing in Europe right now more involved in the team and in a starting role. Convey has played great at Reading and Spector has done pretty well with Man U and now with West Ham. 3. Get some of these guys not named Landy Cakes over in any European League playing against the finest competition in the world. I wouldn't mind if some of our younger players played in the Coca Cola Championship League, the Scottish Prem, Serie B, Bundesliga 2, and some of the other lower level leagues in Europe. Let Landy Cakes keep playing in the MLS and then sit his worthless ass on the bench during the next World Cup and put someone else in his starting role and in the captain's role. I think it's high time that the MLS quit over valuing it's players and let many of them go to Europe. Clint Dempsey and some others belong in Europe instead of rotting in a league that is only viewed as a great league by those who run it.

Dear God no !!!!! That's even worse than giving it an MLS coach as far as I'm concerned.

I was listening to World Soccer Daily today on Sirius (best sports call in show ever IMO) and he mentioned they were going off the air a bit early today due to Sirius getting the rights to the Champions League. I listened to Real Madrid get beaten by Lyon on the way home from the doc today.

Don't you mean Mobile? Birmingham has been with the White Sox for quite a while. Um, yep I do. At least I got the right state. :D Actually I think you mean Montgomery. Mobile is with San Diego. LOL neither of us were right :)

Don't you mean Mobile? Birmingham has been with the White Sox for quite a while.

Quite a bit of it is in HD as well. I'm pumped about that. Is ESPN2 broadcasting in HD or are you talking about another channel? ESPN2 is broadcasting some of them in HD. I just hope that they don't get Marco Poloboa and Dave O'Brien calling them. I detest those two. I've got em set at home on my DVR. I'll post which ones are in HD later tonight when I get home from work. Tevez looked decent enough today and Mascherano didn't play. I'll take a draw against an O'Neill led Villa. Martin O'Neill is auditioning right now for Man U's head job.

Quite a bit of it is in HD as well. I'm pumped about that.

If they come to East Tenneseee, I'd say attendance will improve dramatically. Since we've had Arizona, attendance has dropped a bit due to not being in contention for the SL title, but we've still drawn at least 250,000 for the last several years.

Poor Chelski, they can't handle the fact that a top class defender just doesn't want to play for them anymore, so they come out in the british press and sensationalize their ex defender to make up for the fact that their season ticket holders are critical (as well they should be) of the move of one of the best defenders in World football for Cashley Cole. Gallas has already called this story a load of bunk and now the French coach has come out to defend Gallas. He has his own axe to grind, however, because Chelski won't release Makalelei to play in qualifiers for Euro 2008. Such are the dramas of the greatest show on earth, the EPL no doubt about the drama. are you excited about the Hammer's big week? Yep, I've got the alarm set for Sunday at 7am. Ive got a six pack of Newcastle and my sirius radio to listen to the game against Villa, and "I'm forever Blowing Bubbles" for the first goal. I honestly hope (but doubt) that the Hammers will be able to keep one or both of them past this season, but it's so nice to see em try and do something. I really think that once these two get adjusted to the Prem, they may price themselves out of West Ham's range due to their performance. If they get priced out, then turn and transfer them to Chelsea, Madrid, Barca, whomever. Maybe a nice profit on the transfer market, re-invest the money in some cheap, young players and they could be in decent shape the next few seasons. Its a win-win. I'd guess they'll both end up at Chelsea if they leave the Hammers :( The loss of Ashton in a England friendly is lessened greatly by the acquisiton of these two.

Poor Chelski, they can't handle the fact that a top class defender just doesn't want to play for them anymore, so they come out in the british press and sensationalize their ex defender to make up for the fact that their season ticket holders are critical (as well they should be) of the move of one of the best defenders in World football for Cashley Cole. Gallas has already called this story a load of bunk and now the French coach has come out to defend Gallas. He has his own axe to grind, however, because Chelski won't release Makalelei to play in qualifiers for Euro 2008. Such are the dramas of the greatest show on earth, the EPL no doubt about the drama. are you excited about the Hammer's big week? Yep, I've got the alarm set for Sunday at 7am. Ive got a six pack of Newcastle and my sirius radio to listen to the game against Villa, and "I'm forever Blowing Bubbles" for the first goal. I honestly hope (but doubt) that the Hammers will be able to keep one or both of them past this season, but it's so nice to see em try and do something. I really think that once these two get adjusted to the Prem, they may price themselves out of West Ham's range due to their performance.

Poor Chelski, they can't handle the fact that a top class defender just doesn't want to play for them anymore, so they come out in the british press and sensationalize their ex defender to make up for the fact that their season ticket holders are critical (as well they should be) of the move of one of the best defenders in World football for Cashley Cole. Gallas has already called this story a load of bunk and now the French coach has come out to defend Gallas. He has his own axe to grind, however, because Chelski won't release Makalelei to play in qualifiers for Euro 2008. Such are the dramas of the greatest show on earth, the EPL

There was an article in Sunday's News Sentinel about the affliiation swap http://www.knoxnews.com/kns/smokies_baseball/article/0,1406,KNS_329_4965426,00.html For those who don't want to read the article, it says that the meetings between teams can begin at the end of the season (today for the Smokes) and must be concluded by September 30th or MLB and the NABPL will pick your affliates for you. It says that's a rarity as most teams get deals done long before that date. I was surprised that the DiamondJaxx hadn't drawn 100,000 this year. The Smokies have been awful and have drawn over 250,000.

Carlton Cole? ;) :lol: A guy just put out a new option file for WE with updated kits, rosters, etc. I played my first game of a new master league with the Hammers and put two in with Tevez. I really couldn't be more pleased with Hammers management and if this is what's gonna happen if the team is bought, then I'm all for it. I simply cannot wait for Saturday for the game against Villa. I'd say it will take a few games for Tevez and Mascherano to get accustomed to the Prem, but once they do, look out.

Guess who's really pleased with this news? :)

Wow, they've been with the Brewers for a long time. I think the last affilliation they had before the Brewers was with the Twins.