cwsox

I guess it bears repeating that use of words like "gay" or "f*****" to describe something that one dislikes or hates is highyl offensive to a lot of people, including those who post here who are gay, and trust me, we have posters who are gay. Not that it is anyone's business. But no one should be bashed like that. Those are derogatory terms and I humbly again request people to not use words that are homophobic. The language is so much richer - but even if the vocabulary escapes one, just use words like "f***ed up" as it "sounds like you guys are f***ed up." It will say what you want to say and not be defaming towards people. Please. Please.

Rauch will be a real player, in my opinion, just need to let him develop. He will be worth the wait. And he is untouchable trade wise as far as I am concerned.

I loved Clayton's hustle on the basepaths and his ability to lift his game despite all the pressure. I didn't know about his f***ing activities (I guess I mean that literally) that tore the team apart. However, I can't say I am thrilled to see St. Jose the Only Reason We Win return to regular SS. I remember too many times in 2000 watching him make the spectacular play and then throw away the easy play. That was just too many damned errors. You have no idea how much I wish we could develop a real shortstop and end the debate about poor St. Jose the Martyr - however, we'll probably lose him anyway after this season. And hell yes, I am voting for St. Jose the Immaculate for the all star game - unless he gets tarded before I vote, whcih he won't, so I am indeed voting for St. Jose aka JOS-E6. (Why is there no "e" in the name "Valentin'? Because the scorekeeper used up all the Es gaving to constantly write E6... the name was originally spelled Valentine6. oh I could go for ever.)

I'm a refugee from the total ignorance on the MLB WS board myself - this is the best site by far. I have learned more here than I ever thought possible - and the variety of insights and information from so many quality posters is just refreshing. I know you have a lot of friends here - but let me add a word of welcome and advice: friends don't let friends post at WSI.

there were others? I had no idea! The closest I ever came to meeting another Clayton fan was a hooker in a home made #10 jersey at SoxFest 2002 and a small child with a Go Royce sign at a Sox game last season. Now there are a total of 5 of us who stuck up for Royce - and other than the hooker, we may all be really glad he is gone!

aw s*** yeah that is why one should never trash talk...

I hate to see ND win - I pull for all Big 10 teams - I was going to say more but in the spirit of Big 10 uniity I will not.

have any of us ever gotten over what was lost in 1994? I remember that team so well - the last saturday home game before the lock out, I was in the upper deck (where else) wondering why anyone would want to screw around with baseball - it cost us in so amny ways. I am enjoying reading everyone's memories. I was never a Bo Jackson fan. Never got that appeal. Maybe it was a generational thing. I remember Frank coming up - you could see he was something special right away.

Since Hitler accompished the Holocaust, and the hosts of WSI never have killed 6 million, it is a bit of an overstatement to call those dudes "Hitler." That cheapens the detah of the Jews and trivializes history. However, everyone knows WSI sucks big time in big ways and is run by dictators who are impressed with their own importance. This is where true Sox fans live! The people who created this site have done a wonderful job.

Psycho, when Saddam took power in Iraq no one cared, except the peace and justice community because we knew a looney typrant when we saw one. He was nuts from day one. Then the Shah fell in Iran and Saddam became the US's good buddy pal friend because he was the enemy of the Ayatollah. Only a few of us lifted up our voices and said that befriending Saddam was wrong. The Carter,, Reagan and Bush 1 administrations all kissed Saddam's ass and gave him aid and all kinds of good s*** because he was the "enemy" of Iran. Very short sighted US policy. Psycho, in 1990 Bob Dole was in Baghdad toasting Saddam on behalf of the Bush adminsitration. Rumsfeld had been there. I was sickened by that but the Bush administration sent Dole as their envoy to thank their good friend Saddam. Saddam even told the US amabassador that he was going to go into Kuwait and the response was, who cares. And Saddam did. And Bush 1's very first response was, not our business. And then Margaret Thatcher got on the phone and got after Bush 1 and he reversed course and thus Gulf War 1. Now of course the very same people - the Bushs and the Cheneys and Rumsfelds who sucked Saddam's cock all through the 80s are now all against Saddam and going to war. Why? Nothing was different last week than was different in 1990 pre Kuwait. And you think Bush's will be heros there? Psycho, history has happened in time spans greater than your life span's memory. In 1991 Bush encouraged the Kurds and the Iraqis in the south of Iraq to revolt. They did. And the US did nothing. Not a damn thing. Bush certainly implied US support and when they did what Bush 1 urged, they got gassed by Saddam and the US did nothing. Not a god damned thing. Bush left those people to their fate when he had been the one encouraging them. Saddam has blood on his hands but so does Bush 1 administration, which makes up almost all of the staff of Bush 2. If Saddam was so bad and we wanted to liberate the Iraqi people, why did Bush 1 do nothing after he encouraged them to revolt and they were the victims of Saddam's response? Because it didn't meet other poilitical goals of the Bush's, that is why. There is nothing moral about the Bush 1 or 2 policy. For the record, I was against Guilf war 1, as always, feeling there were better ways. However, once they were in, why didn't they finish the job? If you are f***ing going to go to war, do it f***ing right. But not the Bush people. And they are f***ing up again, creating enemies in the world where people were our friends or at least neutral towards us. If you have forgotten the betrayal of Bush 1 of the Iraqi people, how Bush, Powell, and all the rest of that and this administration abandoned the people of Iraq, rather than look it up in history books, go rent the movie Three Kings. Bush 2 is pushing short term foreign policy golals now that will come back and haunt us, just as the Carter-Reagan-Bush embrace of Saddam has. And if people listened to us in the peace and justice community, instead of deriding us, we could give you a list of the world's tyrants and suggest all kinds of non violent policies that will get rid of those bastrads as well as enhance American security so that we don't stumble from calamity to calamity.

by the way, the Chippewas vibe is big time today. Central Michigan over Duke. And when Illinois plays ND I don't want anyone to win! Regardless of what I want, I am pulling big time for the Illini out of Big 10 loyalty. Come on Illinois pull this sucker out!

As always CK, you get things wrong. I was not "one of [Clayton's] biggest supporters." I was Clayton's only fan. Not one of. Only. And I was also the first to express relief when he was gone. It didn't take any bright light to see that his usefulness to the Sox was in the long gone historical past.

I failed to make the point understandable. Of course we vote for Mags - it is no one else who does so why in hell should I vote for anyone on their team? All the Yankee and Seattle and Boston fans year in and year out vote for their guiys, and evidently so do you vote for their guys. :fyou And I voted for Greg Norton too when he was on the ballot. If the player wears silver and black, the player gets my vote for the All star game since it is the only way we will ever elect our own. But I am not voting for you for Sox fan of the year, not now, not any more.

Some players develop a little later than others. The Big Unit wasn't s*** at Rauch's age. I wish he had developed a little more but again, remember that MB and Colon will be pitching 20 something out of the first 50 something games because of the way the schedule falls. So Rauch would be bench sitting if he made it this spring. Better to let him keping developing by pitching. We'll see him this year and I woudln;t risk losing him for anything, nor be in despair. That is why we got Loaiza, just in this this was so, so I'm glad it has worked out.

You are taking this too seriously. When I was a kid the Cincinnati fans packed the voting which is why they took the vote away from the fans. Bowie Kuhn returned fan voting to be more fan friendly. And when we had fan voting and when we didn't and when we did again it is all about politics. Consider every year the outrage how how "so and so" got elected or why "so and so" was picked. What do I give a f*** that Nomar may be a better than shortstop than whoever is on the ballot for the Sox that year? Is any Boston fan saying, hey, that Ordonez is under recognised and a top player in the league and is surely deserving so I will vote for Mags. Hell no! Is any Yankee fan saying, hey, that Ordonez is under recognised and a top player in the league and is surely deserving so I will vote for Mags. Hell no! Is any KC fan saying, hey, that Ordonez is under recognised and a top player in the league and is surely deserving so I will vote for Mags. Hell no! Is any Seattle fan saying, hey, that Ordonez is under recognised and a top player in the league and is surely deserving so I will vote for Mags. Hell no! That is my point before I list all the Al teams. Why should I vote for their guy when my guy ends up 12th or whatever ever though he deserves it and doesn't even get picked as an alternate? All it is a popularity contest. You know damn well that Nomar can miss April and May and June and still get elected in July because he has the name. You know who has been All Stars through the years. Let's get real. The purist argument is nice in theory. Oh that it would be so every voter out there would be taking the time to review every stat and make an imparitial, objective vote. Clap your hands and Tinkerbell will live! I don't live in Never Never land however where only the purists vote. I cast my every vote for every Sox player and write in where I have to. Support your own, because no one else is supporting us, and everyone else is supporting their own.

You vote for Sox players no matter what! This is not the Hall of Fame, it is a f***ing all star game and you support your own! And aren't we glad he is gone -

Dude, yo, I am 50 and in my entire life of voting for all star teams I have never once voted for any players other than Sox players in the AL. I usually vote for Expos and Padres for the NL team, if I vote that at all. I have never understood why any Sox fan votes for any one for the all star team other than our own. Who gives a f*** about being "fair" and casting votes like you are some really important voice of sports and it makes a difference? It doesn't make a damn bit of difference that you anguished over who is the 3rd best OFer in the AL. f*** you, vote foir the 3 Sox players listed! Do you think MLB is going to stop and look at your ballot and say, hmmm, this guy is right? Hell no. All they do is count votes. We are Chicago, damn it, and if we can't stuff ballots and elect our own then we should be ashamed. The name of the game is how many Sox can we elect and it really pisses me off year after year when Sox fans vote for players from other teams and the Sox player with the best finish comes in 6th.

I am a lifetime Big 10 fan as shoudl eb obvious. I am astounded they did a 5-0 in the 1st round. I didn't expect that, and not because I am anti Big 10, guys, I simply didn't think the conferance had a good basketball season over all as opposed to others. So I am surprised but pleased. Always have to pull for the Big 10 teams since it boosts our conferance and may that may it 10-0. The SEC is always over rated in everything, especially basketball and football.

Don't. Don't trust any of them.

And I hope you grow up some day. Since your views violate the Bill of Rights, may we press for your deportation to Cuba where people who have no tolerance for diasgreement belong? Or perhaps North Korea? Then you can be in with those who attack anyone who disagree. You surely aren't much of an American who supports the Constitution. Sleep well tonight Little Saddam. Maybe someday you can grow up and get at all the people who disagree with you and your views of the country, just like Saddam and his sons have done in theirs.

Now Molto that is my problem exactly with all the pro war zealots here of military age who are posting from their dorm rooms or mom and dad's home but not enlisting in the service or the Guard, or the high school students who have no plans whatsoever to enlist. All they do is whine and b**** about everyone who disagrees with them but they don't put their asses on the line. Why don't they do something about what they believe - or is it they only believe in it for others? Put a little effort into it guys. And for everyone: Do something about what you believe. The government is planning to let out contracts next week for construction companies, engineers, everything. The cost of this war without that rebuilding - which you all pledged to - is in the 100s of billions and we have a $350 billion annual deficit right now with no costs of war or rebuilding factored in. In fact the White House is holding back from Congress its supplemental budget until it can push throuigh the current budget with more business tax cuts with no one paying attention to it because everyone is entralled by tv war. We are poushing towards a trillion dollar annual deficit and no oen cares. I have raised this issue before. Not one person has responded. Not one of all the war hawks who think this is good. Make something happen. How much in additional taxes are you all willing to pay for the current deficit, plus the war? How much are any of you willing to pay out of your own pockets? What sacrifice will you make? What will you do, what will you give, what will you pay, to support what you say you support? How big of a deficit do you think this country can handle without collapsing like the Soviet Union under the fiscal strain? Will you put your money where your mouths are? As far as your comments about anti war protesters, I've yet to see a link to show that the alleged flag burning really happened and is not an urban legend. And for the rest of your attacks on those who demonstrate against the war - you attack without facts or knowledge but prejuidice and bias when you risk nothing and do nothing. Not one of you will demonstrate your love for America by giving blood this weekend, or visiting a VA home, or working in a homeless shelter, or giving up what you spend on alcohol for a month to pay for this war or feed refugees or give shelter to those who have lost all in this war, or live right here and are unemployed. Not one of you. I am not impressed with you guys at all and forgive me for not hearing you when the sounds of your "do" nothingness and "putting your money where your mouth is" nothingness drowns it all out.

in your opinion - not in mine the howls of the wolves are loud and command this day - those who speak to a different way of thiking have been bashed with a cascade of accusations and geeater howling, including some of the most ad hominem attacks possible

i note that and thank you and back to you too

if you were familiar with the story of the Confessing Church in germany and the German church struggle and the ultimate Admiral Canaris plot which included Lutheran pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer, and considered the wealth of opportunties that other nations and the German people themslves might have chosen to remove Hitler without getting to 1939, then we can talk. As ytou ask a purely rhetorical question that starts way doiwn the line of things that could be done with no referance to the antecedents in the 30s, I feel it is not a complete or adequte question, and I am not going to be defined by that question.

you think? Nightmare scenario if it comes to pass -