The Critic

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jul 9, 2008 -> 06:10 AM) Well this thread stayed relevant long! OK how about a subject change to... Who got the better deal, the Cubs for Harden or the Brewers for Sabathia? Right now it would appear the Cubs made the better overall deal because they only gave up guys they'd kind of given up on already, plus Harden is under contract for 2009. For this season I'd say the Brewers made the better deal because they got the better pitcher, all things considered.

QUOTE (YASNY @ Jul 8, 2008 -> 07:29 AM) Love the avatar. 2 weeks til it hits stores. I'm not even looking for "alternative methods" of obtaining it - I want the CD.

QUOTE (whitesoxfan101 @ Jul 7, 2008 -> 11:38 PM) It's generally believed (and accurately IMO) that the Cubs could use one more starting pitcher and one more reliever. Well, this is where the Juan Pierre trade is biting them in the ass. Sergio Mitre is hurt and out for the year I believe, but the Marlins have two guys they received in that deal that the Cubs wish they still had. Lefty reliever Renyel Pinto has a 2.94 ERA with 44 strikeouts in 49 innings and only 38 hits allowed (he walks too many, but he's still been pretty good overall). On the other side, righty starter Ricky Nolasco is 10-4 with a 3.74 ERA, a decent strikeout rate, and less hits allowed than innings pitched. And both of those guys are only 25 years old. That was a REALLY bad trade by the Cubs, and they could really use those pitchers back right now. At the time of that deal the Cubs still believed they were dealing from a position of strength. They had a lot of young arms in the minors (in Iowa alone they were high on Bobby Brownlie, Rich Hill, Jon Leicester, Todd Wellemeyer and Mitre - none of them over 26 years of age in '05), and subsequently Mitre had been okay but not great in his stints with the big club (4-9 total W-L with an ERA around 4.40). Nolasco had been okay in AA in 2004, but got slapped around in AAA (9.22 ERA in 22 appearances). It was a decent gamble at the time for a veteran basestealer (albeit a guy with a terrible arm and not that patient at the plate - 55 walks being his single-season high), but as all teams experience, sometimes you win the trade, sometimes you lose.

QUOTE (EvilJester99 @ Jul 7, 2008 -> 06:00 AM) I still don't get why Wrigley? You can get so many more people in Soldier Field instead or if they wanted to get nuts they should try the race track here in Joliet. Two reasons off the top of my head: 1. John McDonough and his long history with the Cubs. This connection had to grease the skids towards getting it done. and 2. Whether or not Sox fans buy into it, Wrigley is looked at very romantically by people outside of Chicago. When outsiders think of Chicago baseball, they think of Wrigley Field and the Cubs. The Cubs are more popular than the Bears on a national scale. So for television purposes, Wrigley is a better story and will draw more curiosity viewers than Soldier would.

So I kind of got sucked into watching the second season of The Two Coreys, and much to my surprise I find myself feeling really bad for Corey Haim. He's such a broken guy, and I get the feeling that he just doesn't know how to fix himself. It's got to be hard to be a walking punchline to so many people and still have to work day-to-day just to try to stay somewhat relevant in an occupation that throws people away on a regular basis. Maybe I'm just being duped by the editing or something, but I really do hope that guy can figure it out.

I am loving the new Alice Cooper song, Vengeance Is Mine. His new CD, Along Came A Spider, comes out on July 29th - I can't wait!

Trevor Murdoch released by WWE. He'll only be singing sad songs tonight.

QUOTE (TCQ @ Jul 3, 2008 -> 09:11 AM) Touche i forgot about breakdown it is also one of my favorites as well as i need to know here comes my girl and you got lucky but he cant play everthing hes well known for i thought he did a good job of picking songs. Also, i think you have a personal issue with mr. winwood....point on the doll where he touched you son. No, the only thing I have against Winwood is that he's never recorded a song I like. I guess the only real disappointment I had with Petty's set was the sequence of the songs. There were just too many songs in a row that I didn't have much interest in. It probably would have been more palatable if the songs I liked were sprinkled in between the ones I didn't. As it played out, it was 1/3 I liked, then 1/3 I didn't, then 1/3 I did. So 2/3 good is more than okay in the big picture. Although I am AGAINST any artist playing a cover song in an encore unless that cover song is what you're most famous for. (example would have been Quiet Riot playing Cum On Feel The Noize as an encore). Petty has enough great tunes to avoid Gloria as an encore.

QUOTE (TCQ @ Jul 3, 2008 -> 07:53 AM) ^^^ I was up in the 300's too. I loved it just because tom petty could yodel up there and id love it. I thought winwood was boring too, i didnt know that he had turned into a jam band playing fifteen minute songs, but bring me a higher love was good and tell me that gimme some lovin wasnt awesome. Also what other songs from petty did you want there were some lesser known ones i wanted to hear but the only major song i was dissapointed not to hear was The Waiting. i wrote down the setlist if anyone is interested. You wreck me Listen to her heart I wont back down Even the losers Free fallin Mary janes last dance sweet willy end of the line (great travelling wilburys song) Cant find my way home sung with winwood Gimme some lovin wit Winwood Saving Grace Honey Bee face in the crowd you dont know how it feels learning to fly dont come around here no more refugee ENCORE running down a dream Gloria American Girl O and hey you werent the guy three rows in front of me blowin chronic at all the "narcs" were you? No, I was in row 3 getting beer dumped on me twice during the first song by some wobbly drunk-ass f***head. And no, I didn't find Gimme Some Lovin' entertaining at all. I've never liked that song, and I really didn't want to hear Steve Winwood and the Heartbreakers. Some songs I'd have rather heard, just off the top of my head: The Waiting I Need To Know Here Comes My Girl You Got Lucky OH, and no Breakdown? That was the song that got me into them in the first place along with American Girl.

QUOTE (LosMediasBlancas @ Jul 3, 2008 -> 12:02 AM) WHAAAAAT? You mean Petty didn't do his usual 'greatest hits' show? By the way, I like Petty, but his live show has been the same for 20 years. Each tour he just adds the hit from his latest record. I would have loved a "greatest hits" show. Call me crazy, but I'd have liked to hear the songs that made me like Petty enough to drop 55 bucks on a 300-level seat to his show. I hadn't seen him since 1990, so "deep cuts" were not on my radar.

Just got home from the Tom Petty show. Steve Winwood bores the s*** outta me. No denying his talent, and his band are great musicians, but I just find him horribly dull. The Heartbreakers started strong, had a nice pace going, good song selection, good energy, then they brought Winwood out for a couple MORE of his songs. Traffic and Spencer Davis Group songs are not what I want when Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers are on stage. That really derailed things for me. Then they played a few obscure songs and dragged them out much longer than they should have gone IMO. They didn't seem to catch their stride again until the end of the set. THEN they play their encores - they start with Runnin' Down A Dream, then play a cover of "Gloria". Extremely disappointing to me for them to play a cover when they have such a huge catalog of great songs still unplayed. American Girl ended the show in style. Overall I have to say I was disappointed. Musically they were great, but the song selection left a lot to be desired.

QUOTE (whitesoxbrian @ Jul 2, 2008 -> 12:55 PM) One good thing- the Hawks could have about 18 coming off the shelves next year which gives them plenty of room for Hossa. When I saw that Hossa signed a one-year deal, I thought the Hawks should thank the Wings. This gives the Hawks a year to clear salary if they're serious about going after Hossa long-term. If Hossa should have a bad season, it either drops the likely salary demands or causes everyone to feel better about not getting him.

Finally another member of the Bockwinkel Appreciation Society!!! My hat is off to you, sir - as nukes go, you truly are super!

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ Jul 2, 2008 -> 10:37 AM) I don't see how the Redwings have the cap room? Well, they are losing Hasek's salary and maybe Old Slow Cheap Shot Chelios will finally realize his time has passed and clear out some cash, too.

My guess is Quentin and Dye make it. Middle relievers are often ignored in favor of closers, so I think Linebrink gets jobbed.

I thought XWL stood for eXtreme Wrestling League.

QUOTE (longshot7 @ Jul 1, 2008 -> 03:56 PM) You are crazy. This is exactly how MITB should be used. Winning is winning, no matter how or when you do it. Exactly. To cash in the MITB for a standard match would be crazy. It's like the old 24/7 Hardcore Rules - you wait til the champ finishes a brutal match, you grab a ref and you attack.

QUOTE (Tony82087 @ Jul 1, 2008 -> 05:00 PM) Without looking at a thing, this is what I would do for this year Kane-Towes-Ladd Buff-Lang-Havlat Sharp-Bolland-Skille? Beach-Burish-Eager Keith-Seabs Soup-Wiz Sopel-Barker Huet Crawford The Craig Adams trade looks like a huge mistake. You honestly didn't just call him "Soup Campbell", did you? I'm calling him Glen.

QUOTE (EvilJester99 @ Jul 1, 2008 -> 01:58 PM) One would have to think DT already has a deal in place to ship off Habby right? I hope so, cuz his bargaining position just weakened. Other GMs know they have to deal that contract, so the Hawks may not get as much as they would if Tallon could say "Look, we're dealing our #1 guy here".

QUOTE (SoxFan1 @ Jul 1, 2008 -> 01:53 PM) So can someone fill me in on Huet? His numbers looks really good, but the name doesn't resonate. Also, what kind of return could we expect for Khabby? Canadiens goalie, did pretty well, dealt to Washington to make room for Price. The more-informed hockey geeks will go into more detail. I like the move.

Found this listing online of the contents of the Mr. Perfect DVD set. Looks pretty good! The Rap Is Crap video is on it!! Curt Hennig, better known as Mr. Perfect, competed for the American Wrestling Association, World Wrestling Entertainment and World Championship Wrestling. Born the son of legendary Larry “The Axe” Hennig, it was perhaps inevitable that Curt would want to follow in his father’s footsteps. But Mr. Perfect lived up to his moniker becoming one of the best in-ring technicians of his generation. A former AWA World Heavyweight Champion, he was also the longest-reigning Intercontinental Champion of the 1990s. Loved by fans and friends alike, Mr. Perfect entertained in and out of the ring, earning him the honour of induction into the WWE Hall of Fame. This two-disc set relives his life and career, from his early start as a second-generation star through AWA, WWE, and WCW. Some of his greatest matches and vignettes are included. Who was this man? Here’s a hint… he was absolutely “perfect”. Disc 1 Perfection Twin City Origins Building a Path AWA Mr. Perfect Living up to His Name Intercontinental Champion The Prankster Commentator WCW Return to the WWE A Sudden Tragedy Hall of Fame The Perfect Legacy Lives On Curt Hennig vs. Eddie Gilbert Madison Square Garden (21/11/82) Curt Hennig & Scott Hall vs. Steve Regal & Jimmy Garvin AWA Championship Wrestling (26/11/85) Mr. Perfect Hall of Fame Induction WWE Hall of Fame (31/03/07) “Rap is Crap” Music Video Vignettes # Billiards October 1, 1988 # Golf – Perfect Putt October 1, 1988 # Darts October 8, 1988 # Bowling October 8, 1988 # Chess October 15, 1988 # Basketball October 15, 1988 # Ping Pong October 28, 1989 # Diving November 4, 1989 # Golf – Perfect Drive November 4, 1989 # Horseshoes November 24, 1989 # Baseball with Wade Boggs December 26, 1992 # Football – Perfect Passer with Steve Jordan February 13, 1993 # Basketball with Felton Spencer February 27, 1993 # Hockey with Mike Modano March 13, 1993 Stories # Curt Loved Karaoke # Lifestyles of Mr. Perfect Disc 2 60-Minute Time Limit AWA World Heavyweight Championship Match Curt Hennig vs. Nick Bockwinkel AWA Championship Wrestling (15/11/86) Curt Hennig vs. Terry Taylor Commentary By: Michael Cole & Mick Foley WrestleFest (31/07/88) Mr. Perfect vs. Bret Hart Madison Square Garden (24/04/89) WWE Championship Match Mr. Perfect vs. Hulk Hogan Madison Square Garden (15/01/90) WWE Intercontinental Championship Match with Special Referee Roddy Piper Mr. Perfect vs. The Texas Tornado Madison Square Garden (24/11/90) WWE Intercontinental Championship Match Bret Hart vs. Mr. Perfect SummerSlam (26/08/91) WWE Intercontinental Championship Match Mr. Perfect vs. Shawn Michaels SummerSlam (30/08/93) Curt Hennig vs. Bret Hart Uncensored (15/03/98)

QUOTE (Tony82087 @ Jun 30, 2008 -> 07:41 PM) With the way the cap is headed, 9 million might not be as big of a hit as it looks right now. Still a major number, but maybe not crippling in three-four years. Either way, what the f*** was the lockout for? Fiscal Resp.... Fiscal Respons..... Hell, I can't even type it without laughing! ...until I remember that they f***ed the fans out of a complete season, then I stop laughing immediately.

God damn, Santino is funny.

QUOTE (IlliniKrush @ Jun 30, 2008 -> 06:57 PM) I'd rather not pay 9 mil for Hossa and have that cap hit for that many years. That would be by far worse than not signing him. Especially if Hossa becomes Havlat Version 2.0 and ends up all over the disabled list.

QUOTE (Brian @ Jun 30, 2008 -> 07:36 PM) When Edge came out, I kind of thought this was going to happen. RVD is the only guy to legit use the MITB. the way Punk used it seems like a heel move, but I still popped for it. Cool to see a local boy go through the ranks and be on top...for now. Yeah, it's hard to tell how long "creative" will let Punk hold the strap, but he is over with the fans, and if he moves merchandise, maybe he can have a Cena-style run. I doubt that, but it can be interesting while it lasts. If nothing else, it was an effective, if predictable, way to get the strap back on Raw.