The Critic

I like the fact that Graffy is an excellent hitter and Jimi is a piece of crap, and they grade out the same... also, there's a lot of negativity in those comments, so I guess I pity you too...

To quote Commie in "Eight Men Out"... "29 is NOT 30, Eddie..." I know it has nothing to do with the topic, I just always loved that line, so I use it whenever it even kinda fits...

Hope he knows how to work the shuffleboard game at the home!! Although he's not really my cup of tea, I have seen him perform once ( the things we do.... ) and he was okay. I think I'd stick my head in the oven before I'd see Elton John perform, though...not for me AT ALL

Hey, Maury invited me too!!! Unfortunately, I have a previous engagement. I think good old MPS wants to get kicked out of his house! ...hmmmm....Maury hasn't invited Heather to the house.....

The only drawback at all is that Frank is like Human Cholesterol on the basepaths! Not that the Sox run all that much anyway, but Valentin runs a lot faster than Frank. But if hitting #2 wakes his bat up, then #2 he will stay!!!

I wasn't really blaming anyone or saying that it was criminal that Hicks never hit it big, or that the others should not have. I was just trying to say that I thought Bill Hicks was the best of that genre of comedy. He wasn't for everyone, and he probably wasn't going to ever be huge, because he did a LOT of material on religion. He did his harshest stuff on the topic of religion. The Bible Belt would have been all over him, and probably would have boycotted the places that he performed at. You really should check him out - he was truly great.

You are not telling me anything that I did not already know. If anyone is unfamiliar with his incredible comedy, go to your favorite file-sharing program and grab a few samples, then run ( do NOT walk ) to your favorite record store and look for his work on Rhino Records. He was truly the unsung hero of the "Angry Comedy Age" in the 80s. Sam Kinison made it, Denis Leary made it, even Dice Clay made it, and Hicks was better than ANY of them!

The Pirates wore 6 possible combinations in the 70s - white, gold, and black pants and jerseys. The all-black and all-gold were hideous, and so were the black pants. The A's had a manager's uniform and cap that was different from the team's. Back on topic, I like the black jerseys more than the grey road tops. I also really like the style everyone's wearing, with the white jersey and the colored undershirt. I wonder if they'll let anyone do a "Big Klu" and go undershirtless in the summer? You just KNOW that these workout fiends are dying to display their GUNS.

You should take a million pictures ( and not just of the ballparks ) and keep as detailed a journal as alcohol consumption will allow Then when you return, try to organize your notes and thoughts and see if there might be a book in there somewhere! People love to read those diary-type books of road stories, especially about baseball. Just a thought...

maybe they do lately, but I'll tell you what, their songs sounded a hell of a lot WORSE when Kornhole and LimpDik performed them! and April Lavine was boring and lifeless onstage. You know it's a bad show when Sum 41 does the best cover versions... Here's something that show lacked.....

So far, NO good... Korn was absolutely HORRIBLE covering "One", and Avril Lavigne was lifeless and dull covering "Fuel", although I don't like that song anyway. The actual story of the band is great - they've been very honest and frank about their past, including the way they abused Jason Newsted for 14 years. And Shannon Elizabeth is outstanding!

win streak

If he can make the big club, that would be a VERY good thing, marketing-wise as well. I'm kind of surprised that the Sox haven't tapped into the Asian market, what with the ballpark being located so close to one of Chicago's bigger Asian communities. The guy sounds like a solid kid, not one of these imbeciles who would throw a ball at a nesting bird...

Absolutely right! You can still have family days and things like that, but you have to have balance. You cannot market yourself as a Chuck E. Cheese and expect 30,000 people to show up every game. The way I see it, more families go to games on the weekends. Why not market the mid-week night games more towards singles and young adults and gear the weekend games more towards families? ...makes sense to me...probably because I said it...

So far, the "feel-good story of the summer" has been Big Dust turning the fortunes around of the heretofore woebegone Lovable Losers on the North Side. BIG dreams and HIGH hopes abound at the Hallowed Ballyard, where everything is roses and chirping birds and blue skies...the beer is cold, the women are hot, and the GOOD TIMES ROLL at Chewing Gum Park!!! Meanwhile, on the "dark side of town", the storm clouds gather over "US SellYourName Field", where the manager's head is perched on the chopping block, the GM is the laughingstock of the major leagues, EACH AND EVERY marquee offensive player is in a HORRENDOUS slump. The starters are underachieving, the bullpen is worse...the defense is shoddy, the offense is sparse, and morons LEFT AND RIGHT run onto the field, attacking everyone in sight, and jeopardizing the health and safety of the patrons for this year's Midsummer Classic. All is dire and morose on the South Side... But when you sit back and just LOOK at the standings....these teams are only 2 and 1/2 games apart in the actual victories-to-losses ratio. Can this POSSIBLY be true??? Can the Charmed Ones REALLY only be 2 and 1/2 games better than the Cursed South Siders??? When it is all said and done, I STILL think the Sox will own a better won-loss record than the Cubs. The Sox hitters ARE too good to be this bad, and the Cubs offense is not as good as they've started out. Koch IS better than he has been, and Joe Borowski is a career minor-leaguer who's having a run of luck. The Sox have to find a bit more consistent starting pitching, and I think the bats will come around. There are 131 games left, and I think we'll see a better Sox team than we have so far.

My problem with Frank is that he seems to have this idea that he's "entitled" to the inside corner and that other players get the calls that he doesn't. This is a negative, counterproductive attitude. Frank doesn't seem to move around in the box much anymore, and he just kinda waits for something bad to happen to him. I just don't see the same confidence or presence from him that there once was. How much of that is the fact that he's never wanted to be a DH? He really seems detached, like he's not paying attention. It's got to be hard to stay focused when your entire workday lasts about 4 minutes total. I'm NOT suggesting that he should be put back at first base - he'd stink out loud over there - but I'm just posing that question. Do you think that NOT playing defense has hurt his approach at the plate?

Pair up Scully and Ed Farmer and we could eliminate insomnia in our lifetime!!!

I've noticed lately that the strike above the belt buckle is once again dead and gone. The heat must be off of the umpires to call it, because they all seem to have reverted to the buckle-to-the-knees strike zone. Leave umpires alone and they will go back to calling whatever they feel like, regardless of that silly little rulebook...

I disagree. Short term pain for long term gain... If a blowout on national television is what it takes to bring down the Inept Empire, then GO Mariners!!!

According to SportsCenter, Cameron is hitting .408 in Chicago the past 2 seasons...HE MUST BE TED WILLIAMS!! I wouldn't want him back as a FA - he is WAY too streaky and inconsistent. ( Or is that the same thing? ) The Sox make him look great, but he is NOT great by any definition.

I'm not trying to start s*** here, but I seem to recall that a LOT of people here ( not everyone, of course ) were VERY happy with all of KW's moves over the winter. Koch, Colon, Daubach and Loaiza - they were all good moves on paper. Not to everyone, obviously, since someone somewhere must've been upset when even Clayton was let go! Hell, even my guy RPS was asking if KW had become a real GM at long last!! Remember THAT, Mike??? Things just haven't worked out....again....as usual. Optimist says - It's still the first week of May Pessimist says - The Sox haven't shown me much yet

Loaiza's getting tagged around more than he has all year. For the record, I don't think he's going to wilt, I just wanted to be the first to make the smart-ass remark!

Can't they EVER stop pimping stuff in the booth during games??? Oh God, I am tired of hearing some Sox staffer or some old-time ballplayer yapping endlessly when we're SUPPOSED to be listening to the "descriptions and accounts of this game"!!! UGH....

What a f***ing JM apologist YOU turned out to be!! That is NOT the song you were singing on Wednesday night!!! You're quite the softie when you're not drunk, cold or drunk AND cold!!!

If I gave even half-a-f*** about college sports, maybe I'd sign. I don't know who he is or what he did, and I don't care.