The Critic

I don't think Roger's done yet. He filed for free agency recently. I think he's keeping his options open. I'm pretty sure Clemens filed for FA just to keep any options open in case he decides to un-retire to join his friend and fellow Texan Andy Pettitte for the Houston Astros playoff push next summer. If he hadn't filed, I believe he'd still be somehow tied to the Yankees. This way, he can negotiate with any MLB team if he wants to come back. It's a business move and a formality, but he is going to retire, from everything I've seen and read.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/news/story?id=1655091 I always liked Steve Thomas, but will he help much anymore? I know he played well for Anaheim, but he looked old with the Hawks last year. Maybe that's just what the Organ I zation does to players here???

Cabrera.....Miguel Cabrera....

I got one as a gift, and I am never under ANY circumstances going to sell mine. It's in great shape - I got it from a friend who worked there. I have an old giveaway seat cushion on there, and I cringe whenever my daughter goes to sit on it. I don't chase her off it, though....I just take my grey hairs like a man!

Blind squirrel, nut. Gammons is still a tard.

Inexcusable. For a professional baseball player to be incapable of bunting IF the situation calls for it, is INEXCUSABLE. And it's NOT dumb to take the bat out of a hitter's hands if that hitter is struggling, or if the matchup is wrong, or for any other game-related reason. The biggest complaint about this team is that they play for the long ball. Well, that can be changed if the situation calls for it. Enough coddling of people. Not singling Thomas out here, I'm saying that ANYONE should be able to do a job if called upon, even ( ESPECIALLY ) if that job falls outside of their so-called "skill set". It's not too much to ask of a baseball player to lay down a bunt. They HAVE to play the game the right way, or they should be replaced. I just hope Guillen is given the leverage to enforce his opinions and strategies. And I think that if the players revolt on someone trying to install some fundamentals on them, that says more about the players than it would about Guillen. I'd rather not take Phil Rogers' word for it. I'll wait and see if Guillen can make this team play fundamentally sound baseball. That's all I want to see.

That quote was said in the heat of a labor dispute, and the guy blurted. Everybody says stuff at some point in their lives that they don't take the time to measure and consider. He's human, and he felt that way. At least for me, it's a big "so what"? Fans are more than willing to turn on players when we feel like it, and that's supposedly our right, so why do we as fans get so offended when another human being does the exact same thing? Water under my bridge... Would I have preferred Tom Kelly? Absolutely. Did they approach Tom Kelly? Apparently. Did Tom Kelly decide to remain retired? Reportedly. We move on... I like the hire for the same reasons as others who like it do - the energy, the fresh blood, the anti-Jerry. Will it result in more victories? We'll see. Not without the players to fit the system, in my opinion. It does take time to revamp the team. I realize what the more critical people will say, because I'm usually one of them. But I didn't expect JR to allow KW to acquire the guys he did last year, so I'm willing to wait and see what the front office does this offseason. Even if I wasn't willing to, I'd have to anyway, so there you have it. And WHY NOT have Thomas bunt once in a while? If he gets in one of those pop-up streaks he is prone to, maybe dropping one down to surprise the opposition isn't the worst idea in the world. Do you do it regularly? NO. But every now and again, why the hell not? Who is above playing the team game? I really hope Guillen is what this team needs badly - an excitable leader who can get the best out of his players. Time will tell...

why not just change it to WHarrisAAA and get it over with?

...I don't condone racial profiling... 100% Polack, short and fat with hidden muscles under the mud.

Last Saturday's episode with the aggressively annoying Kelly Ripa was f***ing ABYSMAL. Not a joke to be had. Absolutely TERRIBLE writing, sketches were FAR too long with no payoff whatsoever. Turned it off after a half hour. If they can't find better writers, it's time to pull the plug.

I got it, though, Cali! "THE ROSSMEISTER.....MAKING COPIEEEEEESSSSS.....ROSSARINOOOOOO......ROOOOOSSSSSS......LEARNER'S PERMIT FOR THE ROSSMAAAAAAAANNNNNN....."

How bout "Sox Fan Duff Man"? A play on the old Harry Caray "I'm a sCrUB fan and a Bud Man" routine... Or maybe "Duff Enuff"?

Killa, I'm sure you can relate, but you have NO IDEA how happy that game made me. I had to go to sleep in the 7th inning of that game, b/c I have to wake up every day at 4 for work. sCrUBS are leading 3-zip and I'm dreading the Cubbie Onslaught that awaits me at work ( 4 "diehard" sCrUB fans in my department, so DIEHARD that NONE of them even attended a game at the Urinal during the ENTIRE MAGICAL SEASON ). I listen to talk radio to fall asleep, usually sports talk, but during my Cubbie Media Blackout, I tuned into WLS. ( Side note: That Outer Space/ Conspiracy Theory show in the middle of the night is just plain creepy ) So as I'm drifting off to slumber, I hear the news break on the half-hour. They announce that the game was tied!!!!! I tune over to WGN and the CRYING was unbelievable! I listened to the rest of that EXCELLENT 8th inning and went to sleep knowing that the Marlins would win the NLCS, and that my co-workers would FINALLY have to SHUT THE f*** UP!!!!!!! So once again, to the Marlins for saving me from YEARS of sCrUBBIE TORTURE!!!!!

How'd the Hawks get him then??? Usually the hawks go for the Tony McKegney/Rick Vaive variety of FA - OLD, USED UP and READY FOR THE SCRAP HEAP! I agree, though, that he should take KarpotSUCK's place and NOT a kid's, but we all know better than to expect THAT, don't we?

"...the BALL THINGY..." EXCELLENT!!! Yeah, you might want to bring earplugs to the games, to drown out the "fans". To be fair, though, I have heard a TON of similarly stupid things from people at the UC and Stadium over the years, even from people wearing $200 authentic Blackhawk jerseys! ...never heard THE BALL THINGY said at the UC though... I love that...

Saw a Bartman at the Double Door's annual Halloween concert, but he took an extra step of having a knife stabbed into his head. Decent touch to a lame and predictable "costume". I almost thought about subscribing to Sports Illustrated just to get their Marlins championship DVD and book. I could watch games 6 and 7 of the NLCS EVERY DAY!!!

Too much $$$. He wasn't going to take a paycut, and they weren't gonna pay him 9 mil. They'll try Hee Flops Choi again and pick up a veteran backup as insurance. Maybe Tracy Morgan ( aka Randall Simon ), but he has the stink of a Flash In The Pan to me. Who cares about him or them? I'm just gonna enjoy watching Hee Flops swing helplessly at breaking balls on his way to another robust .220 season!

Let's not go nuts here....the sCrUBBIE fans will NEVER EVER admit that the "Friendly Confines" are outdated, antiquated and obsolete. It's their little Baseball Palace, obstructed view seats and all. They LOVE having to watch TV monitors in the back of the seating areas just to see what the hell happened on the field ( if they even care ). They LOVE the cramped concourse and the endless array of ramps and stairs. Wiggley Feel is the way baseball was MEANT to be viewed and experienced!!! The fact of the matter is, removing the ONLY bad seats in USCF automatically ends the discussion. USCF was ALREADY a better place to watch a baseball game then Chewing Gum Park. There is not ONE bad seat on the lower level, and all the renovations are simply adding exclamation points to the argument against the Urinal.

It's a decent pickup, but nothing to get all that excited about. One-year acquisitions are all we can expect due to the labor war set for September 2004. That makes it difficult for me to go get TOO worked up about anything the Hawks do this year.

The Ramones pretty much influenced every British punk band in 1977, either by love or hate. Seemed like every band that didn't credit the Ramones as an influence wanted to one-up them. Alice Cooper was an influencial performer in the area of shock value and stage presence.

I didn't like anything by any of those artists you named. To be honest, I don't care for 60s music that much at all. Kinda before my time, although some of my friends, as well as "classic rock" stations, made sure that stuff was bludgeoned into my brain. My timeline and preference pretty much begins with 76-77 punk and stays harder-edged.

My elbow is double-jointed, so the PATS just keep on comin'!! :headbang ME

....thefastestlittlesausagefingersintheWest!!!! and Happy Halloween to you as well, FO14!!

...I like MY lyrics better....

Overtime losses. Why do they count them, or what's the deal. A loss is a loss, is it not. No, you get a point for an OT loss, and 2 for an OT win.