The Critic

QUOTE(YASNY @ Jan 15, 2005 -> 08:30 PM) Frank Thomas Appeciation Year. Not a bad idea. Yep, now would be the time. He'll most likely be gone next year.

Not a fan. I don't see the appeal. I don't find them funny, and their music leaves me cold.

QUOTE(LowerCaseRepublican @ Jan 15, 2005 -> 09:32 PM) 28874 I just found it hilarious that Ashlee had an anarchy sign at her set during the Orange Bowl -- because nothing says overthrowing the elite bourgeoisie and social class structure and government than performing at a corporate sponsored college football game that is nationally televised. Yeah, the anarchy symbol has been co-opted just like the metal horns and bodysurfing. You see all these things at the lamest f***ing shows now - you see bodysurfing at Avril Lavigne shows, metal horns from Celine Dion and the anarchy symbol from Daddy Simpson's even less talented second creation. Disgusting, but not unexpected...

QUOTE(LowerCaseRepublican @ Jan 15, 2005 -> 06:50 PM) Almost only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades. ...and in Weapons of Mass Destruction....Saddam "almost" had them..... As for the Jets - live by the missed field goal, die by the missed field goal. ( I'll take my chances posting this now. )

hmmmm....World's Greatest Newspaper? maybe not.

She REALLY should stop "performing" in concert and just let the ProTools work its magic. If she worked as hard at learning to sing as she does at creating excuses....she might not have to create excuses anymore....

QUOTE(quickman @ Jan 15, 2005 -> 11:45 AM) Does Wills completely check out of baseball life in the winter? Well, he stays VERY busy trying to fit his HEEEYOOOOOOJ melon on the TV screen doing the Comcast high school sports show...

QUOTE(LowerCaseRepublican @ Jan 15, 2005 -> 12:26 PM) I think the gay bomb could backfire, though. I mean, what if they formed couples? Imagine hordes of well-dressed, extremely fit and highly tactically trained in armed tactics couples roaming the countryside willing to die for each other, deeply in love and mocking bad shoes and interior decorating everywhere. Plus, lets say that a gay bomb worked -- what would happen if it went off accidentally and hit US soldiers? Its my understanding that the Army could never find out with the Don't Ask Don't Tell policy in place. And that begs the question:if a gay bomb went off in a US area with the military and nobody found out -- did it really make them gay? Talk about friendly fire! Any truth to the rumor that the smoke from a gay bomb forms a rainbow or a triangle?

About the only bad thing (IMO) about White Sox baseball returning is the return of Dave Wills. I am NOT a fan.

I'm expecting great things from Frank. No pessimism allowed!!! Whenever he rejoins the team, be it Opening Day or mid-June, he WILL provide a shot in the arm for the Sox offense! Number 35 IS the most dominant offensive force ever to wear a White Sox uniform and let's not forget that this is a contract year for him - if he has a bad season, that could be it for him. Motivation? I'd say so.

QUOTE(Jeckle2000 @ Jan 15, 2005 -> 10:02 AM) I'm ordering it. I'm sick of seeing Jeff Jarett with the belt... You do realize pro wrestling isn't really a sport, right? HAHA!!! I was just gonna edit my post to ask why this is in the Sports Bar....

No, I'm not into that fed at all. TNA plays out like wCw Thunder - just a lot of dull stuff and retreads. They had a chance to become something different, but then you get Jeff Jarrett, who I call Triple J for the way he tries to call every shot like HHH does in WWE. And you have guys like Dusty and Dustin Rhodes, and Hall and Nash, and DDP, and all these guys who just remind me of wCw's dying days. I watch Impact! on Fox Sports Net when I remember it's on, and I'm always underwhelmed.

"....in world news, Osama bin Laden and many of his supporters were captured in eastern Afghanistan yesterday afternoon when the U.S. military dropped a gay bomb on the area. bin Laden was taken into custody as part of a huge daisy chain of terrorists. As one witness noted, "the streets were full of ass-f***ing Afghanis". President Bush today apologized to the innocent Afghan people who were struck by the bomb, then struck up the ass a few hundred times, but Bush stated that "sometimes you gotta take one up the pooper for freedom"......now here's Tom with the weather....."

QUOTE(YASNY @ Jan 15, 2005 -> 05:22 AM) Auschwitz. What does that word mean to you? The older folks in here will know exactly what Auschwitz was and what happened there. You guys in high school, how about it? Have you studied it yet? Did you pay attention or were you making eyes at the blonde sitting next to you? Will you know anything about Auschwitz when you graduate? Do classes in American and World History matter or is it case of "Who cares what happened in 1944? It doesn't affect my life." Did Prince Harry think the same thing during his education? Is this Prince Harry's stupidity that's to blame, or his callousness? What about Prince Charles? Does he have any excuse for not making sure his sons (both were involved in selecting the costume) had some clue what that arm band was and what it represented to the English people, to say nothing of the Jews? I think not. Charles is old enough to know what that swastika stands for and considering the fact that he is raising the probable future King of England, how could he fail to teach his sons something about England's history? I'm rambling here. Just some thoughts. Nicely said, YAS. This is a touchy situation, for a few reasons. Personally, I think that we are around so much catastrophe as a people, so much war and death and inhumanity all over the world these days, that sometimes the atrocities of the past tend to hold less weight to some. That's a shame, but I also think it's kind of understandable. And I'm also leaning a bit toward the "sometimes 20-year-olds do stupid things" side of things - I don't think Harry was trying to offend a people as a whole, I think he was trying to shock the people at the party he was attending. However, it's also fair for people to hold him to a higher standard, given his potential standing as King of England. I think the best course of action is to forgive the youthful indiscretion, but also to make damn sure he understands what the symbol on that armband represents and why so many people were offended by it. I think Charles is doing that by ordering the kid to visit Auschwitz.

2 for 1 blows if you want to go alone, or if you want to go with your wife and kid. 1/2 price is better than 2 for 1, but 2 for 1 is better than nothing, I guess....

QUOTE(shakes @ Jan 14, 2005 -> 10:50 AM) Why is Shingo so shaky? I realize he has to prove he isn't a one year wonder, but I don't think it's a real cause for concern unless he actually starts blowing games. Because he doesn't fit the mold of what people think a closer is supposed to be. As long as he spots his fastball and gets strikes with it that are not center-cut, he'll still be effective IMO. He did a nice job of confusing guys last year. They'd be sitting on the frisbee and he'd throw 2 or 3 inside fastballs in a row, get them thinking about the fastball and THEN throw the frisbee. It's all location and deception in pitching anyway, unless you have a 100-mph blur. And even then it's sometimes not enough - case in point, Kyle Farnsworth. When his slider's not working, guys time the heater and slap him around. I too will avoid the Shingo Panic Button until he actually blows a few games.

I thought maybe that speaker was Jessica and Ashlee Simpson's father....

QUOTE(Queen Prawn @ Jan 14, 2005 -> 08:42 AM) My sister works at the Walmart that is kind of across the street (across the street and north about 2-3 blocks). My parents, brother and sister heard the explosion and they live about 3 miles away. My wife and I thought we heard it, too. There was some thunder in the area at the time, so we're not really sure if what we heard was thunder or the explosion. It was about 8:30 or so when I looked at her and said, "That was a loud one, huh?"

I take the bus past Ford City every day. The cops have the inroads blocked and you can't really see much from Cicero Ave. Just crews working on the affected area.

QUOTE(southsider2k5 @ Jan 13, 2005 -> 08:06 AM) Damn I flipped on the game late, and thought it was Philly up by 30, then I looked again and realized it was the Bulls up 30 I can't believe they destroyed Philly that way. First 30 point win for the Bulls since 1998. I don't want to diminish anything the Bulls did last night, cuz they've finally been winning games, but I heard that was like the fifth time this year Philly's lost by 30 or more. I don't know if that means they're that bad, or maybe they just give up when they're down a bunch, but to lose that many BY that many is just awful. Ben Gordon had a pretty good game in that 4th quarter, huh....wow.

QUOTE(southsider2k5 @ Jan 13, 2005 -> 09:18 AM) I have always said that I would like the Darth Vader theme to play everytime I enter the room. That would be better than the Brahms Lullaby that plays when you enter a room now...

His lawyers settled for "billion" because they couldn't spell "2.5 bajuggabajillion" like he wanted to sue for.

QUOTE(Texsox @ Jan 13, 2005 -> 09:35 AM) So a physical sport needs fighting? Are you saying attendance would go down if fighting was eliminated? If it is such an integral part of the game, why are there penalties? Why not set it up like checking. Some forms of checking are allowed and others are not. As long as the two players agree, and they are at center ice for the best fan views, and both players have dropped the gloves, there isn't any penalty? Maybe allow two fights a period. Only if one team is down two or more goals. To sell the game the NHL would have a mission statement like this: The NHL strives to bring the best in combining skating, passing, checking, deft stick work, and fighting. I think the choreographing was lacking here. Hockey doesn't need fighting. Hockey LIKES fighting, because (IMO) too many fans like fighting. Hockey would adjust and survive just fine without the fighting - hell, it might even thrive with the one or two extra actual hockey players each team could replace the goons with. I am completely bored with fighting. I've seen too many games that spin out of control with these "choreographed dances". Fights interfere with what I pay my money to see. As for the boxing comparison, at least with boxing you're not given the pretense of any other type of competition. It's not like boxers stop fighting to shoot pucks at targets.

QUOTE(LowerCaseRepublican @ Jan 12, 2005 -> 01:27 PM) But Critic, they're good role models for kids! Bill Hicks: "When did banality and mediocrity become a good role model for kids? I want people to listen to musicians who played from their f***ing heart! I don't care if they died in a puddle of their own blood and vomit. for the Hicks quote!!! Just watched the DVD the other night - it gets a bit repetitive, since some bits are used in all 3 performances, but that DVD really does reinforce how great he was, AND how crowds really didn't get him at the time. There was a lot of uncomfortable murmuring and silence, especially during the religious stuff.

QUOTE(knightni @ Jan 12, 2005 -> 01:51 PM) Love these jerseys...especially the cap. The powder blue road uni's were AWESOME. But not as good as the late 60's white home uni's with blue piping similar to the Tigers - THAT is my all-time favorite Sox uniform!!!! They only used them for like two years, but they RULED!