The Critic

The Blackhawks suck, you say???? Need I remind you that they did not lose A SINGLE GAME this season??????

QUOTE(Punch and Judy Garland @ Apr 28, 2005 -> 07:25 PM) Should you get a speeding ticket for going 68 in a 65 zone on the expressway? You don't make that call in that situation Should you NOT get a speeding ticket for going 50 in a 35 just because someone else never gets caught doing it? If I'm umping I make that call every time if I believe the batter wasn't trying to get out of the way. That's the last I'm going to say about it - it's over, we're going around and around about it, and the Sox are gonna whomp on the Tiggers this weekend anyway, so it doesn't matter....

Where is Magglio Ordonez???

QUOTE(ptatc @ Apr 28, 2005 -> 10:37 AM) I agree with everything you said. But as you also state it's probably unrealistic that anything will change and we will always have moments like yesterdays because there is judgement where there should be consistency. I agree with you as well, and that's why I'm not as upset about the call as I am in Crede's poor decision to whine at the umpire and get tossed. There's nothing to be gained from that other than the venting of a personal gripe, and it ended up causing the Sox to play an outfielder at shortstop ( rather than the 3rd baseman they were playing there.... ) in the 9th inning of a tied game. You gotta pick your battles wisely, is all I'm saying.

QUOTE(tonyho7476 @ Apr 28, 2005 -> 09:06 AM) I've tried this place...garbage...if you like this, you'll love Carm's in Hillside...go try it. Novi's is Grade A dog food. Well, at least it's Grade A....they didn't skimp on the dog food....

QUOTE(ptatc @ Apr 28, 2005 -> 09:57 AM) Then I must assume you have a problem with every pitch between the belt and the armpits called a ball. The umps have selectively lowered the strike zone so it isn't in agreement with the rule book. Do you also agree that any holding in football should always be called even if it' far away from the play? This occurs all the time where if it doesn't effect the play the NFL refs won't call it, otherwise games would be 5 hours long. Any way you look at it, it is the right call but they rarely call it. Wendelstedt used it to get at Ozzie for calling him a liar and knew he could get away with it because it really is the right call. Hopefully the Sox just go get Detriot and not let this send them into a death spiral for the season. Damn right I have a problem with the strike zone. It's a complete joke, and it's half the reason for the overuse of bullpens across baseball. WAY too many unnecessary pitches being thrown for the simple reason that umpires have lost the strike zone. And yeah, if it's a rule, CALL IT. If you're not going to call it, legalize it. I don't care if the play happens in the first 10 seconds ( or first pitch ) or the last 10 seconds ( or last out ). Call it every goddamned time, and eventually the players will either adapt or fail miserably and be gone. I don't care how it affects the game in the short term - the game adapted away from the proper strike zone, it can adapt back. Hardline? yep. Unrealistic? Maybe. Probably, unfortunately.

If Harris and Iguchi are ready to play, they have to play SS and 2B respectively, I think. Put Joe back at 3rd. He did OK for one game, but as a regular? I dunno...

The public obsession with who celebrites date and where celebrities eat has always confused me. Is it fascinating because we think we know them, or what? I honestly don't get it.

QUOTE(jackie hayes @ Apr 28, 2005 -> 06:46 AM) How can it not matter? You can't have rules that only get enforced when the ump feels like it. Suppose the ump is calling the 'usual' strike zone the whole game, then in the last half-inning starts calling the high strikes of the official strike zone. Is that okay because it's in the rule book? Selective enforcement of a rule is no better than not having a rule in the first place. I'm more upset when a call isn't made than when it is. The fact that it's not made on other players is irrelevant to me in this instance. In this case, the umpire was correct and that's all that matters to me. Crede's selfish reaction after the popup is far more troubling to me, because it shows that he let the ump get in his head when he was in the wrong. Still, that play didn't cost them this game. The offense was pathetic yesterday, and the defense was too.

He leaned into it and it should have been called. Doesn't matter to me if it's never called against Biggio or anyone else. It was blatant and obvious. Crede's inability to get over it was what bothered me.

QUOTE(Punch and Judy Garland @ Apr 28, 2005 -> 02:45 AM) I think gammons has forgotten morea botu baseball than most of us will ever know . Just my 2 cents That may be, but the problem is he's forgotten it ALL....

Or maybe he got the hernia from carrying that grudge around....

QUOTE(Yoda @ Apr 26, 2005 -> 03:43 PM) So whatever happened with the holy water that Dusty Baker once talked about with the media? The goat drank it and then pissed in the Bartman ball spaghetti sauce.

It would be fitting for the Tiggers if the knee happens again NEXT year. This is not the extended injury time every other team in MLB was worried about when they passed on Ordonez, but the Tigers took a chance and it bit them in the ass. It happens, oh well....

QUOTE(Nokona @ Apr 26, 2005 -> 07:08 PM) Zambrano probably would eat that baby if you got him excited enough. ...or if the baby before him got a homer off Zambrainless.... I gotta say, I like "Zambrainless" as a nickname as much as I liked "Farnsworthless"! HA! The one nice thing about Tuesday night is that the Cub guys at work won't be able to rag me too hard about the Sox blowing that lead.

QUOTE(winodj @ Apr 26, 2005 -> 01:57 PM) I'm not a big fan, but the tickets were free... and they put on a very good show. Ahhhh, I see - free is about how much I'd be willing to pay for the Reverend...

QUOTE(Kid Gleason @ Apr 26, 2005 -> 02:04 PM) :headshake Sometimes, I think there is so very little help for you. A fan of RnR who doesn't like Rockabilly is wrong in oh so many ways... Doesn't my love of the Blasters and Stray Cats count for ANYTHING??????

QUOTE(LosMediasBlancas @ Apr 26, 2005 -> 01:53 PM) You gotta peel all that stuff off at the door when you get home. I have concert boots, worn only to shows. Concerts at clubs are the best way to kill good shoes. Oh, I don't wear anything "nice" to shows....or almost anywhere else, for that matter!!

QUOTE(winodj @ Apr 26, 2005 -> 01:49 PM) I saw the Reverend Horton Heat and I had to leave because of the smoke cloud. I was kinda hung over and I couldn't even really see the stage because there was sooo much smoke. Great show though. I've been to nonsmoking venues, and I gotta agree - the feeling isn't the same. If I went to see the Reverend Horton Heat, I'd have to leave because of.....well, because of the Reverend Horton Heat!! I just can't get into his music. Too bad, too, cuz he's coming to town soon with the Supersuckers and Murphy's Law, both of whom I like A LOT. ...maybe I'll go and just get an early start home...

QUOTE(RibbieRubarb @ Apr 26, 2005 -> 12:29 PM) It isn't If you click on the virtual tour videos, you'll see it's like the new stadium in Seattle with the retractable roof. Oh, OK. I was just going by that drawing on the front page. I was starting to get nauseous just being on that site, so I couldn't go into it any further...

QUOTE(LosMediasBlancas @ Apr 26, 2005 -> 01:19 PM) I don't smoke, but I hear ya, it ain't a rock-n-roll venue without smoke, booze and a sticky bathroom floor. Even though I hate the way my clothes smell and the fact that my shoe soles are still tacky the next day, I must agree!!!

Since I DO give a s*** about the Wolves.... The Wolves are up 3 games to 1 over the Houston Aeros, and can finish them off tonight in Houston. MEANINGLESS TIDBIT: Every time the Wolves have eliminated the Aeros from playoff competition, Chicago has gone on to win the championship. GO WOLVES!!!!!!!

QUOTE(YASNY @ Apr 26, 2005 -> 08:54 AM) $3.51 I always hated people like you on The Price Is Right..... .............$3.52..................

QUOTE(striker62704 @ Apr 26, 2005 -> 10:16 AM) We love you Frank. But we don't need you. As the saying goes, "If it's not broke, then don't fix it." I understand what you're saying, but I still think they need him. A good start doesn't minimize his importance to the Sox lineup. Great power source, great eye at the plate, great RBI guy. The Sox lineup is FAR more dangerous with him than without him. That hasn't changed.

QUOTE(Kid Gleason @ Apr 26, 2005 -> 10:12 AM) THE PHENOMENAL POWER OF THE HUMAN MIND I cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdgnieg. The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoatnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit a porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Amzanig huh? Yaeh and I awlyas thought slpeling was ipmorantt! What the hell does that say??????