Chisoxfn

Day I was Born: Come On Eileen - Dexy’s Midnight Runners - No idea if this is a good song or bad one (maybe I'd know based on hearing it). 18th Bday: All for You - Janet Jackson - Ugggh

QUOTE(DBAH0 @ Jan 29, 2007 -> 02:37 PM) They're totally different players though. Gasol gives you that inside scorer that the Bulls desperately need, while Deng is more of a slasher. I totally disagree that Gasol isn't a top 5 center (from your earlier post) in the league though. Look at his competition; Yao Ming - Best in the NBA. So that's 1. Shaq - Chronically injured. So I'd rather Gasol. Brad Miller - Doesn't get enough rebounds, and has been injured lately. Wallace - Doesn't give you much on the offensive end. Dwight Howard - I'd rather Dwight. So that's 2. Eddy Curry - Close, because he's come on this season, but doesn't give you much else besides points. So I'll take Gasol. The guy you draft at #11 obviously isn't going to have the same potential as Deng, but he should be a pretty good starting SF in time nonetheless. And considering the likes of Gasol aren't made available very often, that's why I think the Bulls should bite the bullet and go for it. Well I think you have to consider Gasol both a 4 and a 5 so you also need to compare him to guys like Duncan, Garnett, Amare, Elton Brand, Carlos Boozer, Rasheed, Zach Randolph, etc. Albeit I think Gasol is better than Randolph (because Randolph isn't a true big in the sense that he prefers to shoot jumpers as opposed to play with his back to the basket).

QUOTE(ptatc @ Jan 29, 2007 -> 02:31 PM) actually most pitchers who have taken steriods say it doesn't necessarily increase velocity but it increases your endurance to hold the velocity over a game or to recover more quickly before the next game. This has a lot to do with the fact that strength is not directly correlated to pitch speed. People use the term arm strength and equate pitch speed. however this is not always true. I tend to agree with it. I tihnk from a relievers perspective (based on what I've read and heard via quotes in the media) is that it enables you to recover quicker and be able to throw in more games with your A stuff. That said I could see roids being able to help a bit with velocity but I don't know how much so (I think it would depend on the pitcher). For example....say Jamie Moyer decided to juice....I can't see roids giving him another 5 MPH on his fastball. Now say someone thats 6'5, 170 that throws 92-94 (maybe even hits 95 on rare ocassions) well I could see roids and a proper workout regime upping his velocity to where he consistently throws 94 and ocassionally hits 96.

QUOTE(Iwritecode @ Jan 29, 2007 -> 02:12 PM) From what I'm reading, a second mortgage is literally another loan against a house. Does that mean two different payments as well? Ya. Typically what people do is a cash out REFI where they basically get a new loan on the home. Say when you purchased a home in 2000 and had a 300K loan. Now the home is worth 600K. You basically take out a new loan and pay off the remaining loan. There are limits but in the end lets say you refi with 300K remaining and take out a new 400K loan which means you have 100K in your pocket right than and there and one payment. Now thats say you own a home and instead of getting a new loan, you know your house is worth 500K and you only owe 200K which means you have 300K worth of equity. What you do is take out a equity line of credit for say 100K and now in essence you have 300K in loans but you don't get this 100K you essentially have a line and can borrow it when you want. You may just want the 100K line set up for a rainy day (and in that case you don't have any interest charges since at this point you have not borrowed against it). It is almost like the difference between a loan and a line of credit. And 2nd mortgages are typically done when you initially buy a house. You take a 2nd because often times by going with a 2nd you can avoid certain fees that you would have to pay if you took like a 100% loan all on the first.

QUOTE(Steff @ Jan 29, 2007 -> 02:15 PM) Yea, I know. You told me that. I was pleased all around this year. The fact that i could sit in on everything I wanted to and walk around comfortable was a huge step up from last year. Only say hi when you have at least 45 minutes to spare. Bla, bla, bla, bla.... Sounds like the Sox did a first class job this year. Good to hear and even though last years was a cluster-**** there are still a lot of cool things you get to see/experience at Soxfest that you wouldn't be able to anywhere else.

I think its ridiculous to comment on this considering the Bears have done jack yet. It means nothing until the Bears win one more game. Yes, regardless it would have been a great season but I only consider championship seasons to be truly special. I also can't imagine anything ever topping the 2005 season. From seeing more White Sox games in person than I ever had in my lifetime, to going from the high's of being a guaranteed playoff time to the low's of that late season swoon to the high's of a dominant playoff run and the opportunity to see the Sox play in 3 playoff games and be in the city of Chicago during the two home games (watching them with some of my favorite Sox fans). I could pretty much tell you where I was during most of the post-season run and just seeing clips gives me chills.

QUOTE(Balta1701 @ Jan 29, 2007 -> 02:12 PM) Preston Wilson signs a 1 year, $1 million deal to return to the Cardinals next season. Again, not a bad signing. Wilson isn't good by all means but he's a serviceable bench player at this point in his career. Good god he is/was a serious strikeout machine though. Him and Sosa could have probably put an end to global warming from all the fanning they were doing back in the late 90's early 00's.

See if there are any people interested in helping out a charity (maybe someone that has empty cargo or something).

QUOTE(Texsox @ Jan 29, 2007 -> 01:23 PM) Boo the results, but it was impossible to boo the man or the effort. Koch has more character than we are use to seeing in an athlete. I really disliked seeing his career crater like that. Far more satisfying to have seen a 'roid player crater like that. Ummm....I don't even know what to say to this one, but I'd read that last sentence awfully carefully and think about it.

QUOTE(Texsox @ Jan 29, 2007 -> 01:02 PM) The question becomes do you want to be the Florida Marlins with a couple World Series trophies sandwiching years as the worst team around, or a string of better than .500 seasons and no more World Series trophies? Bottom line to win the world series you have to be in the playoffs and the best way to do that is to consistently field a winning ball club. If a winning ballclub gels they have all the ability to win a world series (because all it takes is the team playing as a unit and getting hot at the right time). I'll take a team that is continuosly in contention for the playoffs because if you are in contention for the playoffs it also means your in contention for the series because once you make the playoffs you are in a spot with 8 other teams and anything can happen. The Marlins were a complete fluke. The first squad they had was absolutely dominant and a very very good team, also a team that was purchased with lots and lots and lots of money (ie high payroll) the 2nd squad was one of very very few small budget teams that have done anything in terms of winning it all in the era of small spending. Yes, small market teams are competing better now than they were 10 years ago, but lets also remind you that the past world series winners only the Marlins are what I'd consider a small market team. The White Sox, Angels, Dbacks, Yankees, Red Sox, & Cards are all teams with a better than average payroll and are not what I'd call small market teams. Heck, if you want to throw in world series losers like the Giants, Astros, Yankees, Cardinals, Tigers are again teams that I'd consider large market or upper payroll teams. So yes, I'd rather be in the position of the Sox continously contending because that to me gives you a far greater chance at winning it all than simply going out every 5 years and trying to find pure magic and have every young player develop and turn into a world series winner (I think the odds of that aren't much greater than winning the lotto).

I don't mind it. I happen to think Contreras has a lot to prove this year, but the guy when on is our ace and while I think Buehrle is also deserving of the opening day nod the end result is that none of our starters really earned it with there performances over the past season but when healthy Contreras was no doubt the best of the bunch (unfortunately he wasn't healthy most of the season and ended up being our most over-rated starter...since the rest of our starters pretty much stank for the most part and yes, Vazquez was by far the clubs most under-rated starter).

QUOTE(witesoxfan @ Jan 29, 2007 -> 12:14 PM) His first year with the Sox, he lost velocity; the second, he lost command. He was most definitely in the 92-95 range that first year with the Sox, and he just kept getting taken deep, constantly. His second year with the Sox, he regained his velocity, and was back in the 94-97 range, but it was straight as an arrow and uncontrollable. He got traded for Wilson Valdez, and he's pretty much been non-existant since that point. That's what I recall of Koch anyways. And pile of crap is so harsh - Koch worked his ass off, and always took blame for his actions. I believe at one point he blew a save and he said he "Billy Koch'd the game" (or something to that extent). Those 97 innings he threw in 2002 with the A's just killed his arm, and took any magic Koch had left with him. I think you can safely say he sucked, but pile of crap? Eh, not to me he wasn't. Ya, Koch stunked with the Sox but there is absolutely no reason anyone should rip him for his character. The performance wasn't there and I have my thoughts as to why it wasn't there, but he worked his butt off his entire career in the majors and always took responsibility for his actions. I will never attack a person's character if they are responsible for there actions and work hard and thats exactly what Billy did. Rip him for production but not his character, imo. Its one thing if you are Mike Caruso and are completely lazy and high and completely uncomitted (although he was very very talented) and yes Kalapse of all the names I could have chosen, I went with Caruso just for you since I hadn't seen his name come up as of late, lol). QUOTE(hi8is @ Jan 29, 2007 -> 12:22 PM) koch was also dealing with some sort of medical problems that didnt get diganosed until after his time with us... "Former Oakland A's pitcher Billy Koch has it. And so do his wife and their three children. And though they can afford top medical care, doctors have no answers. It started in Oakland four years ago. Koch saved 44 games and was the top reliever in the major leagues. His fastball wowed crowds. And then the strangeness began. "He freaked out. He wanted to ignore it … I wanted to too. But when it comes to your kids, you gotta stop ignoring it," said Koch's wife Brandi. She describes their symptoms: "It was the scariest thing I had ever realized in my entire life. There was matter and black specks coming out and off of my skin." Within two years -- at age 29 -- Billy Koch was out of baseball, partly because of the uncontrollable muscle twitching that went on for months at a time and often kept up him up all night. The disease is characterized by slow healing skin lesions that often extrude small, dark filaments, especially after bathing." I remember reading a few things about this and that some people claimed the entire illness is a mental illness. Still it was something that no doubt had an effect on him and his family (I never remember reading a follow-up to see if they were able to get past it).

I'm perfectly happy with XP and don't plan on upgrading until I buy a new PC (which hopefully won't be for a while since my current PC works perfectly fine and I still got a year and a half till I get a new company laptop). That said I wish I had Windows XP Media Center just because it would make things easier when I stream stuff to my 360. But I'll just live without it. XP is a great operating system when compared to the crap that was 98, 95, & ME. Windows 2000 professional was pretty nice though.

QUOTE(Rowand44 @ Jan 29, 2007 -> 11:03 AM) 28 of 33 in Charlotte last season. I wouldn't expect those numbers are the major league level, but I'd compare him a bit to Carlos Lee, who was a surprisingly good base stealer. He's not going to steal or run consistently but the second a pitcher stops paying attention he is more than capable of going and nabbing 2nd. Shines helped him a ton with that last year and I'm really glad Shines will be with the big club this year because I think he's going to bring a unique perspective and attitude to the coaching staff. QUOTE(Heads22 @ Jan 29, 2007 -> 11:21 AM) Our OF defense would be a blooper reel. To be fair, though, I suggested this on a podcast last year before everyone else talked about it, so there. Blooper real? Dye is good in RF, Erstad or Anderson (that is because I don't think Erstad plays CF much unless he proves he is healthy are good in CF) and Fields can't be worse than Pods in LF (especially since Fields could actually be capable of throwing someone out).

Fields has a perfectly good arm and is a good enough athlete to be a more than solid left fielder. Obviously there would be an adjustment period but if Fields starts in LF I think that makes it more likely you have Erstad getting substantial playing time in CF (since I think Ozzie would want Erstad near the top of the order along with Igucih). I know one thing, like last year, we may have absolute crap at the leadoff spot.

QUOTE(DBAH0 @ Jan 28, 2007 -> 08:11 PM) So the Bears are $2.85 to win at my local sportsbet place, $15 if they win b/w 13 and 18 points, $34 if they win b/w 19-24 and $67 if they win b/w 25 and 30. Worth a punt at those odds (because right now I think the Bears are going to win (and it shames me)). Nooooo...I don't need you picking us

QUOTE(RockRaines @ Jan 29, 2007 -> 08:12 AM) I disagree, I think Deng is a better player and will be a better player than all those players you listed to draft. I also think at this point he is more valuable than Gasol. Gasol is only scoring 2 points more a game than Deng, and Deng IMO plays better defense and is extremely good at guarding the other teams best scorer. Also he is only 21 years old, which is the same age that alot of players are coming out of college, and he is already scoring 17 points a game in the NBA. There is no good reason to trade him at this point. Also I do not see Gasol as a top 5 C in the league, I think the trade talks have built him up more than he should be. He will give you 18 and 8 every game, is that really worth trading possible future superstars? I do not believe so. I agree, you don't trade Deng. You find a way to work out a deal involving Nocioni, Tyrus Thomas, PJ Brown (and possibly Chris Duhon as well as a future number 1....as long as the team can find another guard somewhere else, maybe even someone we sign off the street thats a vet).

QUOTE(CWSGuy406 @ Jan 28, 2007 -> 09:39 PM) That would mean that Garland would (most likely) be gone after 2008. If we were forced to keep just one of the two, I'd keep Garland. Why? I think he'd get less money on the open market, and while he might not ever dominate the way Buehrle did, I think he's as good a bet as anyone to stay healthy and average-ish over the life of a five year contract. If there were two guys I'd give long term deals on the Sox it would be those two. I'd even consider Javy if he wasn't asking for a ton simply because all three seem to have proven to me that they can stay healthy and at times be above average major league starters. That said you are obviously running a risk that they don't perform up to the level of there pay grade. I still wouldn't be shocked at a 5yr 60-70 mill deal between the Sox and Buehrle (I think while the market for pitchers is strong, you also have to factor in what Carpenter when his contract was extended and in Buehrle's case he's basically guaranteeing the rest of his life a year in advance and that wouldn't be a bad thing considering he was one of, if not the worse pitchers in all of baseball over the 2nd half of last season. QUOTE(witesoxfan @ Jan 28, 2007 -> 09:53 PM) I'd agree with the reasoning behind it, and I'm not going to argue for my reasoning, because I think it's pretty clear for the reasoning behind keeping either of them long-term. You'd have to figure Garland is going to be more consistent over the life of the contract he receives than Buehrle will be, but I'll take the upside and sidedness of where Buehrle throws from over the consistency and (better) durability of Garland. It's all a matter of opinion, really. (I still wouldn't rule out resigning both, but I'll put the odds at not-good) Technically aside from half a season, Buehrle has been one of the most consistent and durable starters in franchise history. Garland has been consistent but his consistency has almost always been worse than Buehrle (by at least half a run a game to .75 runs per game). Both will throw a lot of innings though and I consider both durable pitchers and I'd like both in my teams rotations (because I think when they are at there best they will win you a game and when they are decent they have a shot to win you the game and at the very least keep you in it while going 6-7 innings).

QUOTE(GreatScott82 @ Jan 28, 2007 -> 08:42 PM) Chuck Garfind from CSN just interviewed Buerhle from Soxfest and they talked and Buerhle said right now he wants to come back to the Sox, and he thinks theres a 100% chance he'll be back. However he said a deal would have to be done before the season or after the season if a deal were to get done. Says his heart and soul is for the White Sox and doesn't want to go anywhere else. Buerhle pretty much is saying all the right things as usual... hopefully KW can get something done soon. Buerhle means a lot to this organization and fan base. Wow...this is the rare time the pure fan in me comes out, but Buehrle is one guy who if we sign him I won't complain if it bites us in the ass just because of how big of a fan of his I am. I'd love to see him perform the first month or two before we gave him a big money deal but he's proven so much in his career and still has a lot of good years ahead of him, imo. I also think having him back makes our rotation a hell of a lot better now and in the future (because we'd know that we wouldn't be filling quite as many holes).

QUOTE(SoxFan101 @ Jan 28, 2007 -> 07:27 AM) I actually almost like this team moreso without him than I do with him. In the playoffs we will absolutely need Ben Wallace. He was playing fantastic last night pre injury just like he played fantastic against the Mavs. The man makes us a different team when we go up against the best (and coincidentally thats when he plays with his full level of intensity/hustle/heart).

QUOTE(Soxbadger @ Jan 28, 2007 -> 11:08 AM) Refs keeping the game at Iowa close. Are you kidding me. You guys got away with a ton of hacks on the bigs down low for Iowa. That said good god is Tucker ridiculous. f***, I'm pissed though, Iowa missed about 10 layups in the game and a few more easy shots. Geeze, we could have beat you guys (albeit you were in control the whole game, despite a few real nice Hawkeye runs) but good god talk about Haluska and Smith having off nights. Oh and Mike Henderson, what a piece of s***. A veteran, a senior, boy you wouldn't know it by the stupid mistakes he makes out on the court. QUOTE(Soxbadger @ Jan 28, 2007 -> 12:10 PM) Hard to foul when you dont play any defense... It was the best thing he could do because Smith was giddy the entire first half pissing away shots he makes all season.

QUOTE(whitesoxfan101 @ Jan 27, 2007 -> 09:40 PM) Bulls win a hard fought game 100-97 over Miami at the UC (I was there). Almost blew a 14 point lead after 1, Heat actually took a 2 point lead with like 3 mins left, but Ben and Kirk were on it all night and made the plays to win it at the end. Man it's fun beating the Heat, but Big Ben screwed up his knee pretty bad late in the game. I haven't heard anything yet since I just got back, but I'd assume it's at least a sprain and they will have to do an MRI to make sure there is no damage. That would be REALLY bad if there is because Ben did play really well tonight, plus if he's hurt, it makes the Bulls seem even more desperate for a big in a trade. During the Bulls game they said sprained knee. They didn't give any prognosis though.

QUOTE(greasywheels121 @ Jan 27, 2007 -> 09:07 PM) Gage reads the Wall Street Journal. http://whitesox.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/news/ar...sp&c_id=cws Just trying to catch up on the Sox before I pass out early so I can wake up super early to go snowboarding tomorrow...YEAAAHAHHHHHH WHOOO HOOOOO

I am thrilled to see Kenny was a man, admitted his mistake in going public and apologized to the Buehrle's. Couldn't make me happier because Mark has been one of the classiest and best pitchers to wear a White Sox jersey in this franchise's history.

QUOTE(Heads22 @ Jan 26, 2007 -> 08:09 PM) The Sox, but if Iowa State were to win a national championship in football or men's basketball, that would surpass the Sox moment. I wasn't brought up as a Sox fan...I figured that out on my own. But the amount of heartbreak and just plan suckitude I've had to go through in just 19 years as a Cyclone fan tips it that way. Don't hold your breath buddy. Your best chance was when ISU had to play Michigan State in a freaking home game for the Spartans. If that game is on an actual neutral court, the Clones are national champs that year. Or if Fizer stays (which means the Bulls wouldn't have wasted a pick on him too, LOL) you had a great shot that following year and probably would have been ranked #1 to start the season. But don't worry, I'm in the same league as you, unless Ferentz can start getting some real good recruits in (Iowa will always be solid to top 10 under Ferentz but I don't know if he'll be able to get us to the national championship game unless we start getting the better recruits...lately we've just been missing out on them).