SI1020

You're definitely entitled to one good exciting mid life crisis. Don't give up. I almost bit the dust in 2000. I'm very stubborn. The average sixth grade kid would take one look at me and figure I can kick this guy's ass. I worked real hard to get strong again. My bench press is in the 300 pound range. I don't know what happened to you, but don't give in to infirmity. By the way, I couldn't get the frikkin green to work either.

I think Frank is sometimes his own worst enemy, but for all his faults I'd rather have a couple of beers with Frank than spend anytime with that self centered ego maniac who plays (?) right field on the north side. The man is an obnoxious cretin and I think maybe he has altered his personality a little due to the "vitamins" he ingests. Mariotti is a jerk. When I think of all the great sportswriters I grew up reading in Chicago and then read the tripe this blow dried "suit" puts out its enough to make me gag. Mariotti and company have given Sosa one journalistic blow job after another, but they are always ready to pounce on Frank. Unfortunately, he manages to give them plenty of Ammo. Zip it Frank and let your bat do the talking.

Arrivederci and bon voyage.

so what should we do??...become bandwagon fans???...should we be angel fans this year until they lose..then go on to the next winner??? none of us like losing ...we hate it..if you dont think sox fans hate losing then explain the post strike/white flag trade drop in attendance..how many sox fans really tried to shove it to reisndorf for putting other things above winning?? its crazy to say we are losers because the team we follow hasnt had much success..or if we stay fans we must love losing...thats beyond rediculous...one year, hopefully will im still on this earth , the sox will win it all..and that WS will mean more to sox fans then all 27 or whatever they are combined mean to yankee fans...because we will have been rewarded for all our years of loyalty through the long lean times... show me a d-rays fan sitting in the outfield all by himself rooting his team on at the trop and thats a guy ill go sit with and buy him beers all game...thats a true fan..and one thats definately not a loser.. a loser is a guy that changes his alliegences whe things get tough...i imagine a guy like that will also be one that runs out on his family when times get tough...if you have loyalty..youre no loser That's what I was trying to say. Now I'm jealous of you too Baggs.

One of the best posts ever on this site! Very eloquent. I'm jealous.

Good job. You guys are really getting the hang of this "analysis" thing.

That would be a bitter pill for him to swallow. I think his agent led him down the garden path. The economy is in the tank for most baseball free agents this year. Too bad. Too bad? The guy turned down a $10M offer over 2 years at the beginning of the off-season -- so if he "only" ends up with $1M or $2M per year for playing a game, maybe he'll learn not to be greedy. That was meant to be sarcastic. I don't always use my colors.

You're absolutely right. You really could notice a difference when he worked with John Rooney. I lost this thread about 5 or 6 pages ago, just let me say I too really miss the Wimperoo.

On the contrary, I find most White Sox fans combine loyalty with a love and knowledge of the game. It's true that our teams history is difficult but we are not the only ones. The Cubs and Red Sox have long World Series droughts and the Angels never appeared in the Fall Classic until last year. You make choices in life and you see things through or eventually you bail. I decided a long time ago that as long as they were the "Chicago" White Sox they would be my team. I've been angry and frustrated many times since becoming a Sox fan way back when dinosaurs still roamed the earth. It's just not possible for me to root for another team. Life can be very unfair, everyone has to decide how best to deal with it. Now why don't you sit back, relax and enjoy the upcoming baseball season. With everything happening in the world today baseball season should be a welcome diversion, even for us long suffering White Sox fans.

Many cub fans think he invented his 7th inning stretch routine in Wrigley Field. Harry and Jimmy were the best broadcast team the Sox ever had, by far. Letting Harry go to the North Side was a huge and terrible mistake. One of many reasons I am not big on the Sox regime.

You ain't kidding. I rarely go there anymore.

I feel rather dumb here...but what is the Charlie Lau theory? charlie lau theory...biggest proponent ws george brett...his theory on hitting was to be way off the plate and dive into the ball...guys who hit this way usually held the bat parallel to the ground..alot of them actually rested it on their shoulder (remember in little league , "hey get that bat off your shoulder"..lol)...alot of opposite field hitting...his idea of a home run was it was a mistake...he created alot of doubles and triples hitters..good contact hitters..guys hitting the ball into the gap....if you look at george brett's stats they are perfect for the charlie lau theory of hitting...40 doubles . 10 triples about 15 to 20 homers.. if you go to baseball reference .com yopu can look at each teams stats from every year..you can see how all the royals hitters of that era were doubles and triples hitters..cant argue with the success the royals had i nthe mid to late 70's Great explanation of Lau. It works for some but I don't believe in "one size fits all." Some hitters are just not comfortable with that method. I think a good hitting coach has to be flexible and come up with a plan that suits each particular hitter. Same with pitching. Lots of different styles. I won't argue with Lau's success and many guys praised him to the heavens.

That would be a bitter pill for him to swallow. I think his agent led him down the garden path. The economy is in the tank for most baseball free agents this year. Too bad.

This reminds me of the Kordell Stewart thing in Pittsburgh. Some guys are lightning rods and I guess good old Royce is one of them. I will be watching to see how he and Ritchie do in Milwaukee. I suspect they're both gonna stink.

The US could lose a war with Iraq. Unemployment could be at depression level highs. Dennis Kucinich still wouldn't get elected President. Honest, I just can't believe this. DENNIS KUCINICH! I'd vote for my cat before I'd vote for Dennis Kucinich. What a great mayor of Cleveland he was. They went BANKRUPT! All across the Rust Belt states lost congressional seats again. Because of politicians like Dennis Kucinich. Honest, if this is what liberalism and the Democratic party has come to then they are doomed, not matter how bad the Republicans screw up. Carole Mosely Braun?? One thing you can say about Illinois it produces the worst possible politicians on both sides of the aisle. Only Louisiana can top Illinois for corruption and incompetence.

I've been leading towards Edwards, too. A Clinton clone minus about 15 or 20 IQ points.

If he has been quoted accurately then it is indefensible to defend France no matter what your politics are.

I care! and the U.S. cares because France has veto power in the UN Security Council so a war resolution from the UN is not going through! WOOHOO FOR FRANCE! France is not going to use that veto. Because, if they did and we go anyway, then France would appear to the rest of the world as being irrelevent. Which they realistically are anyway. I generally refrain from using profanity on these boards, however, in this case I have to agree with those that say "f*** France!". Damn, piece of s*** country... Just think of all the Americans that are buried on French soil. I hope the next time some Hitleresque SOB inavdes France... We let her rot in her own pompous s***. Amen.

I can't help it that I'm off the wall sometimes but I'm wondering whatever happened to Marilyn Chambers? Anybody know?

LMAO! I'm not going to fight here but that was good. In fairness to the French most historians consider the 100 years war an eventual French victory although they did suffer defeat after defeat, particularly at the hands of Edward III whose crossbow warriors made mincemeat of the French forces. They eventully "won" because the Brits were preoccupied with troubles at home. Oh well, you can't lose them all. The French are the "cubs" of military history.

I hear you and your post depresses the hell out of me. Please, it's nothing against you personally. Aren't you in your twenties? That's what depresses me. The economy really is in the crapper. The unemployment rate isn't as high as it was in the early 80's but it seems like today time professional people are getting whacked big time. I don't want to start or get involved in a political argument here. In any case, keep fighting and don't give up. Like Winston Churchill once said never never never give up. I work for myself now because of my intense disgust for the local economy. I am very slow right now. Luckily for me my wife is better situated and she hasn't seen fit to pitch me out in the street yet. My kids are all on their own so that takes some pressure off too. Don't give up. I'm not and I'm firmly in "age discrimination" territory.

Remember too that Mt. Greenwood is close to Beverly which is about as close to the Northside in terms of ambience as the Southside gets. Gotta figure if a Northsider has to move to the Southside, then Beverly is where he/she is going to go..... especially if they have to live in the city. I know a handful of CPD and CFD that were born and raised Northsiders (Cub fans) who moved to the Beverly neighborhood because it was close to their police/fire station. I left Chi in 85, but get back periodically and try to keep up to date with all the changes since then. I worked with a guy in the late 70's and early 80's. He was raised in the St Margaret of Scotland parish and lived in Mt. Greenwood at the time. Very old time traditional Irish Catholic, loved the Sox hated the Cubs. He was big time for Notre Dame and the old Chicago Cardinals too. Some of the folks in his neighborhood called it their holy trinity of sports teams. I grew up in North Park and Albany Park near Von Steuben and Roosevelt High Schools. Our Lady of Mercy was my church. That's supposed to be cub territority but lots of my classmates rooted for the Sox. Seems to me it was about 50/50. The Sox were perennial pennant contenders then and the cubs were going through the worst period in their history. Thanks for the south side update. By the way I always liked driving down Longwood Drive. They actually have some hills in Chicago!

Lots of Cubs fans in Mt. Greenwood? What happened? I remember that neighborhood as solid for the regular Democratic party machine and solid for the White Sox.

Most, but not all sun belt cities are virtually bereft of the social and cultural amenities you find in the old northern cities. Houston is one of the worst. Take heart though, you're coming back aren't you?

This tendency for networks to hire ex jocks sometimes produces laughable moments such as the one Dibble just provided. I don't think I ever saw anyone throw a baseball harder than a young Rob Dibble. However his intellect was and is quite limited. Sometimes it's downright "nasty".