greg775

QUOTE (Soxbadger @ May 8, 2012 -> 10:25 PM) Old Testament? Some of it may have happened, but likely most of it is not real. New Testament, none of it is real, none of it happened. How do you account for the fact so many intelligent people in the world believe the NT happened and base their lives around it?

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ May 8, 2012 -> 09:49 PM) I don't need a punishment/reward system to be a decent human being. What about the Bible? Do you believe those things happened?

QUOTE (Soxbadger @ May 8, 2012 -> 06:17 PM) Yep pretty much. In the grand scheme of things my existence will be as insignificant as a grain of sand on the beach. QUOTE (Steve9347 @ May 8, 2012 -> 09:28 PM) I think everyone can believe what they want. I don't see what's wrong with enjoying our 60-100 years, if lucky, and that being that. Given I don't believe in fairy tales and magic and snakes talking and immaculate conceptions, I'll go with the scientific approach. Do you guys live your lives wildly then? Why not just go crazy if this all means nothing? If you are going to just be done when you die and not cognizant of anything in heaven, then why not be reckless pursuers of debauchery?

What has happened to Humber since the perfect game? It makes no sense. He's been as bad the last 2 games as he was great in the perfecto. This team confuses me.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ May 8, 2012 -> 10:14 PM) And perhaps, from the former manager as well? Perhaps, or the GM. Or the owner. Or stubborn hitters. Who knows? Team dysfunction. The former manager has won seven in a row and counting.

QUOTE (Y2JImmy0 @ May 8, 2012 -> 06:37 PM) HAHA 50-65 wins a season? That's tough to do. But the bottom line is though that if they are going to miss the playoffs they may as well have the worst record in baseball. It does not matter. They could not "build" on their great 10-6 start because they are not that good. They have too many bad players on their team. That's generally what happens. Things were going along swell until our closer blew a couple saves and Sox lost some games in excruciating fashion. Then the Sale thing sure seems to have finished the team off mentally, taking a dominant starter out of the rotation with the alternative pitchers a soft throwing stiff like Axelrod. A lot of people on here sure thought Dunn, Rios and Peavy rejuvenation in April would indeed let the team contend, especially with Detroit mediocre at the time. Sox tend to implode in the most dramatic ways that sends the team spiraling down.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ May 8, 2012 -> 05:12 PM) This is a pretty telling story from Greg Walker. I hesitate to even post it, but even Walker felt like it was time for him to go, and he wasn't being effective anymore. http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseb...0,1884307.story Sounds like he's relieved to be far away from Chicago.

Was just looking at the standings. Do you realize the Sox are just a game better than the Cubs and only have two fewer losses than the Royals? Time to start winning. Season could be ova by mid May.

QUOTE (Y2HH @ May 8, 2012 -> 12:38 AM) Being a heinous piece of trash that would help "create a market" for other heinous pieces of trash to create such a pill has nothing to do with "god". It has everything to do with pieces of trash being a pieces of trash. It s*** like this...that I know a just and loving "god" does not exist. Praise him for all that is great, and claim he works in mysterious ways for all the heinous trash in the world...this being a perfect example of such. IF god exists, and IF he/she/it allows this type of "free will", then f*** him/her/it, too...right along with the people that make these markets, and the others for supporting them. If there was no God, what is the point of all this? Even being here? Are we just going to die and bam, that's that, thanks for playing 60-100 years? I think God is amazed at how low his creations can go ... all the horrible murders throughout history, and bizarre things humans do, but I do think he exists.

QUOTE (Greg Hibbard @ May 8, 2012 -> 06:40 PM) Thanks for the kudos. I should clarify - this team has a chance to make the playoffs simply because of the Tigers' piss-poor start; it has nothing to do with this team being able to win 90 games or even 88 games. It could squeak in at 87 games. If they do make it, I cannot see them advancing. Well, maybe a 1 in 10 chance. Even so, I give them no chance at a world series and too many opportunities would be missed for making key in-season moves for the future. If you ever get time, I'd love to read your opinion of how the Sox can totally rebuild while being able to generate enough interest to not have to move or be contracted after five years, although your last paragraph did give your plan somewhat.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ May 8, 2012 -> 04:53 PM) The Arizona Diamondbacks say hello. If you don't think a decade of horrificness hasn't done anything to harm their fanbase, you are being naive. People who would have been fans had they at least been competitve, moved on to other things. Its happened in Toronto, its happened in Cleveland, and it would most likely happen on the South Side of Chicago. Just win, baby. If the Sox could have built on that great 10-6 start, even with this roster there would have been mega excitement in Chicago this summer. Instead, thanks the the annual meltdowns of our closers and passionless baseball at home, we're back to talking about shredding the roster to nothing, having five-10 years of 50-65 victories max in a total "rebuild," which would probably lead to the Sox moving from Chicago or being contracted.

QUOTE (Greg Hibbard @ May 8, 2012 -> 05:47 PM) I've been mostly quiet until now, because I've favored a wait and see attitude. When they were 10-6, I didn't quite believe they were that good or lucky. Similarly, during this 3-11 stretch, I certainly don't believe they're this bad or unlucky. At this point, I don't think they can compete as-is, at least not particularly effectively, beyond a lucky win of the division and a very early exit in the playoffs. Maybe that was good enough for me in 2000, but I'm certainly not interested in that now. This is an 79-90 win team, just like the last umpteen teams have been, outside of 2007 and 2005. Williams believes that putting yourself in a position to win 80 games and then getting some breaks is good enough. I guess so, if you are getting some off the chart WARs. It struck me last night how fundamentally unsound Williams' "retool" strategy has been, at the core. It has relied on static parts producing at predicted results, paired with high-variance acquisitions to produce at or near the top of their game. It's a brutally flawed strategy, because it undermines some of the fundamentals of player development. In layman's terms, a lot of dudes in baseball just don't particularly pan out, which is why your Gordon Beckhams, your Brent Morels, your Dayan Viciedos are paired with a s***load of other prospects and brought along in tandem. This is why you bottom out at 95-100 wins for a couple of seasons. You trade talent away, hoard draft picks. and 3 years down the line you know who the the 2-3 diamonds are out of the 20 pieces of coal you throw in your pan. They are still cheap, so you can go out and spend money to get the FA you need to pair with your developed talent. You break the bank for two seasons and put together your attack run. You have a 2 year window, then you break it all down again. Why is this so hard for Kenny to realize? 2006-2012 was a series of moves designed to work IF everything fell into place. It's a bulls*** strategy, because it was based on the results of a lucky season. If Williams were a poker player, he'd play A2 suited because THAT was the hand that won him the $2000 tournament, not because it was a sound play to begin with, all things considered. Do I think it was a brilliant season? Yes. Do I commend Williams for his strategy? To a point, yes. We also got no less than 8 career years in 2005, and the playoffs of a lifetime - that still could have brutally swung the other way in the ALCS. Luckily, it didn't. Unluckily, Williams believed his own hype - that he could get career years out of "his guys" like getting water from a well. Ladies and Gents, I give you exhibit A - Scott Linebrink. We need to evaluate Brent Morel and Gordon Beckham and either cast them off as dead weight or give them the tools they need to succeed. We need to understand who Dayan Viciedo and Alejandro De Aza are, and give them the tools they need to succeed or continue to succeed at the major league level. We need to stop f***ing with Chris Sale. We need to fix John Danks. We need to trade everyone who resembles a closer and probably Jake Peavy. Most importantly, we need to stop looking at wins and losses this season, because it is the cancer that prevents us from any sustained long term success. It's one thing to act like the Yankees and go "all in" every year, it's another to half-ass your way to being "competitive" with a lackluster bottom half of the lineup. Great great post, but you said two contradictory things. You say this team has an upside of actually making the playoffs, yet "we need to stop looking at wins and losses this season." If you think we can make the playoffs, then we should look at wins and losses cause making the playoffs is a big deal. I'm a little surprised you gave the Sox a chance at making the playoffs. Your whole post makes sense. i'd just think the conclusion would be no chance in hell of the playoffs with this blah team for the reasons you gave.

QUOTE (fathom @ May 8, 2012 -> 03:42 AM) Means the same as winning 75 games, especially if attendance for a 75 win team is going to be near the bottom like it has been. I know this is something that you and I have already disagreed about. True about the attendance, but with our organization, does "rebuilding" mean winning 50 games a year for a decade and hopefully having enough good No. 1 draft picks compiled (assuming Sox will sign them) and enough Cuban players that we will win and win big? And we trust Kenny and Buddy Bell to be ringleaders of this? The Sox are not traditionally as cheap as some teams like the Pirates, Royals, etc., so why not simply try to "reload?" The Peavy contract is almost gone and if Dunn keeps whacking homers, maybe somebody will take him off our hands. Then the Sox can try to sign some decent free agents, not stiffs. At that point, lets reload with a new GM. Or maybe the Sox investors could sell to Mark Cuban and we could become annual big-time free agent players.

QUOTE (Baron @ May 8, 2012 -> 03:15 AM) and some of you guys want a total rebuild. You think this year is fun. Just wait until we dont have much to look forward to. I've yet to have anybody on this site explain what they mean by a total rebuild. I look at the roster the last couple years and see Dunn, Rios, Peavy, AJ and some of the veteran pitchers we've had and do not know what they want when they say they want the Sox to rebuild or we are in a rebuild. So we trade a batch of players and get guys like Molina, etc. Will that guarantee winning in 5-10 years? I'd prefer we get a GM who knows what he is doing and sign some free agents that can actually hit the ball and pitch the ball to go with the handful of decent players we already have. I guess if we win 50 games a year with no names we can all feel good about "rebuilding"

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ May 8, 2012 -> 02:59 AM) Sorry the Royals are losing another home game again, lol. They seem to ONLY be able to beat the Yankees. QUOTE (caulfield12 @ May 8, 2012 -> 03:02 AM) Would have been out in the 1st game. The ball was carrying really well then. Lillibridge hit one that completely fooled Sanders in CF it carried so well and he had to make a circus recovery. 6/31 for Lillibridge. Everything that CAN go wrong WILL go wrong at this point. You just had to have a feeling the Sale announcement was going to torch any hope of competing this season and the self-induced prophecy is happening right before our eyes. 1.) The only reason I want KC to win is for this area. Otherwise I could give a s*** about the Royals. WHen the Sox play KC I want the Sox to win every game, always have. 2.) I agree on the Sale thing. That will forever be my "turning point" for this season since Sox fans always cite turning points. .

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ May 8, 2012 -> 02:54 AM) Walk the bases loaded, set up the DP possibility. Hope and pray Thornton doesn't walk in the run. If you didn't know it, you would think the last 2 weeks that Ozzie Guillen was managing our bullpen, except he was intentionally mismanaging so as to lose games and get out of town ASAP. Hey, those are fighting words.

Sox losing before a crowd of about 50 fans in Cleveland.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ May 8, 2012 -> 02:51 AM) Hafner had a terrible stretch there for 2-3 years. Nobody thought he would ever come back to be the player he's been the last couple of seasons. Finally threw 2 sliders that AB to Hafner. Yes, but I love grinders and he is one. Thornton gives up a rope. Oh boy, Sox are slumping. Loss after loss after loss.

QUOTE (Soxfest @ May 8, 2012 -> 02:50 AM) Why does this happen over and over. Cause we are hexed from 2005. We get one title and are supposed to be happy with it.

I wish Hafner was on the White Sox.

No way we can expect to get out of this situation unscathed. First and third nobody out. Sox woes continue.

Umpires are a disgrace to baseball again this year. I wish they'd just fire them all and re-hire them, the ones that actually care about baseball.

Geez, sox woulda been better off with a strikeout there. DP.

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ May 7, 2012 -> 10:08 PM) During my wife's pregnancy these last few months I've learned there is a disturbingly large number of women who take their placentas home and eat them like a steak. January Jones, of Mad Men fame, reportedly has done this. W.T.F. Are u serious? Why the f*** would this happen? What woman wants to eat them like a steak? What more can you tell us about this? I feel sick. the pills story has totally overwhelmed me. They found fingernails in the pills?? Hairs??? God is so upset at the world right now.

I have a question. I was thinking the other day: Is there ANYTHING Obama could do to cost him the election? I mean the economy is so bad it is laughable. It's not like he's been some sort of international guru. Yet I ask ... Is the upcoming election the biggest lock in politico history? Seriously? It's an obvious landslide victory. And my other question is: 2.) Now that we have had an African American president, do you think we will forever have an African American president? After Obama who is the next African American candidate on the Democrat side? I'm just thinking in this age of political correctness the so called minority candidate will be a lock to win each and every election. I do believe that we are there as a society. That if it's 1 vs. 1, democrat vs. republican, the minority candidate WILL WIN. I do not mean to come across as a jerk here. I CAN ASSURE YOU I am not racist. I voted for Obama and all that. Pls. answer my 2 questions. Thanks. I guess I have a third question: Does the term "minority" still get used? Haven't Afr. Americans surpassed Caucasians in terms of numbers of people in the U.S?