SI1020

California has a tradition of electing Hollywood types, so I guess it's possible. I hear that Arnolds wife is dead set against him running because of privacy concerns. I wonder if she'd vote for him. She's a liberal Democrat.

He's dreaming. There is something wrong with him, don't know if its physical or mental or a combination. This is a guy who's not going to morph in to a "finesse" pitcher. He loses his heater he loses everything. Right now he's lost it.

The best Frank Sinatra song ever.

Baseball in Florida has been a smashing success.

He just about crushed that ball yesterday. Hope he stays zoned in for the rest of the year. I'm on his side and think he has a lot of life left in his bat.

Too many sports fans are strictly stats driven these days. The game in the NFL is completely different than in the 50's, 60's and 70's. Most passes in todays game are of the "safe" variety. I miss the days of Daryl Lamonica "the mad bomber" of Oakland Raiders fame. His favorite receiver Warren Wells averaged something like 26 yards a catch in the 69 season. The West Coast offense, although very effective ruined the game IMO. Dink, dink, dink all the way down the field. Boring. As far as the all time greatest QB I think it's between Unitas and Montana. Pick one. Did you folks know that Hall of Famers Unitas, Montana, Marino, Kelley, Namath and Blanda are all from SW Pa, in or near Pittsburgh? One of my youthful favorites was Sonny Jurgensen. He had a great arm and always had a beautiful woman on his arm, even though Joe Willie got all the publicity. The Bears have not had a consistently good QB since Sid Luckman. Sad. I can't resist this final comment. Kordell isn't going to make you forget any of the names mentioned in this thread. He's brutal.

The Pirates are voluntarily "contracting" and their fans, the brave souls left are in a total uproar. The Steelers are in their Latrobe training camp. You're going to see more and more empty seats at PNC. It's a terrible situation, an indictment against the latest ML CBA and an even greater indictment against Pirate ownership. JR is a spenthrift compared to this. Wow! Can't believe I said that.

I was underwhelmed by Turner Field. You know that field on the north side is going to get high ratings. I'm interested in seeing how they rate PNC and Camden Yards.

I'm one of MB's biggest fans and have posted as much several times. The fact is he went through a real tough string of 11 starts from April 20 to June 11. In that time span he went 0-9 with a 6.86 ERA. In his last seven starts he's gone 6-0 with a 2.24 ERA, the MB we've all come to know. Hopefully he keeps it up. With continued strong SP coming from 4 guys we can still salvage this season.

I'm hearing that Kendall and Giles want to go to the West Coast. Kendall is from the San Diego area IIRC, and Giles is from El Cajon.

If so many women like to go to strip clubs then how come the only ones you see there are the strippers and those serving drinks? Understand, I wouldn't personally know this, those that go have told me.

He's a great guy and to those of you in the Chicago area who know him please give him my best.

The Pirates made some financially disastrous moves under GM Cam Bonifay (he now works for the Devil Rays). They overpaid for Kendall and that might make him hard to move.

i don't know about kip, as much as i like him, he may take a spot for one our prospect coming up. you make one trade and not lose too much prospect, then you have a surplus for another poss trade. how do you think this will affect the clubhouse? Only heard great things about Giles and I've never heard anything bad about Kendall. Was supposed to be a good guy and a hard worker. SI is the resident Pirate expert, so we'll see what he thinks. Pirates won't give up Kip, he's cheap for the time being. Thanks Jason for reading and considering what I post here. I'm shocked about what's happening in Pittsburgh. It looks like they are voluntarily "contracting" themselves. Owner Kevin McClatchy recently told Pittsburgh Post-Gazette columnist Ron Cook that there would be big changes coming because the team was awash in a sea of red ink. He wasn't kidding. Like I posted previously, in Ramirez the cubs could have a fixture at 3b for the next 10-12 years or they could have a chronic problem child. Ramirez can hit, there is no question about that. Until this year he had a weight problem a la Colon, but he dropped 15-20 lbs in the off season and seems to have kept it off. He is very moody and temperental, he sulks when he is in a slump, and when he gets booed. Philadelphia has the reputation, but Pittsburgh can be a very tough sports crowd. If people think you're not hustling, they cut you no slack. Ramirez got booed a lot in Pittsburgh. Ramirez is a defensive liability and prone to base running blunders. Despite all this, if the cubs can instill a little discipline in this young ball player they could have a very strong presence in the lineup for a long time. The Pirates and manager McClendon coddled Ramirez . The fact that they gave up on him speaks volumes. This franchise is in deep trouble. Steeler training camp is about to start. Watch attendance figures really nosedive now. As for Kendall, he's purely a singles hitter. He calls a great game, handles pitchers well, but has trouble throwing out your grandma. He came back from a horrific injury to his ankle. Remember what happened to Robin Ventura a few years back? Kendalls injury was worse IMO. When it happened I thought he would do well to walk again let alone catch in the National League. He does shy away from contact at the plate now. He has above average speed for a catcher, even now. I'd love to have Giles. A couple of years back, he listed 6 or 8 teams he'd be willing to play for and the Sox were not on the list. Maybe with what is going on now, he'd give the Sox a shot. Sox fans, I guarantee you'd love Brian Giles. I think he's be a great fit for our team and the fans would really take to him. He can hit, his D is very underrated. He is much better suited to LF. He'd make Thomas and Maggs even more formidable. Giles made a catch in LF earlier this year that is one of the most exciting I've seen in 46 years of watching baseball. Again, I'm shocked. Baseball is an endangered species in Pittsburgh.

I can't be original, only add an amen to what jordan said. I've been very critical of Colon. If he wants to make me look bad all I can say is keep it up big guy. If he comes around we could have 4 strong starters for the rest of the season and that would be just great.

My "hip" went out in the 1940's and I wasn't even born yet. I'm the most unhip guy on the planet. I am pretty cool though. Seriously though Sox fans aren't lemmings. They'll show up when they're good and ready. Those tremendous walk up sales a couple of weeks ago before that disastrous road trip show that there is interest. Sox fans just don't want to get played again by management.

Maggs just swung a little bit underneath that one. Damn! Oh excuse me. Darn!

I guess that proves astrolody.

Hawk and DJ just said how much they like a "set" lineup with allowances for giving a days rest here and there to the regulars. Wonder why they said that?

Colon looks like he means business. If he gets on a roll I like our chances. I meant what I side about being disappointed but today is as good a day as any to start being the dominant stud KW traded for.

Carlos frustrates me. I keep hoping he'll become the total ball player, but he makes you wonder sometimes doesn't he? I'll take some heat and remain in his corner for the time being. I have a soft spot in my heart for all "Cubkillas".

Veeck traded away our futures for the current on his shoe string budgets - I'm not that much a fan of us. Art Allyn Jr is my favorite Sox owner - he bought the team from his brother John to keep the Sox from moving in 69. That is enough for me. He really wanted to win. After a near miss in 72, he was very upbeat about the 73 team. Unfortunately that team had more injuries than any Sox team I can ever remember. Two years later he was selling. I liked him too. Veeck was a colorful eccentric, but your criticism of him is right on the mark. The trades after the 59 pennant winner were a disaster.

That's a good point. OJ's team was far more competent than the prosecution and they were veterans. I doubt they get very many cases like this in Eagle County and this DA looks shaky to me so far. A lot of things can happen between now and trial, but right now I think Kobe has a decent shot to walk. I'm also leaning to the opinion that he's guilty, again that is subject to change. What happens at trial remains to be seen.

The rain delay messed him up and he also seemed frustrated because he wasn't getting his low pitches called strikes.