Chisoxfn

Awesome game. I got in 3 games in my owner mode tonight. Won all 3, but they were close games. Most I've scored is 5 runs and that was an extra inning affair against the Tribe. My stadium is garbage thus far, but this owner mode seems kind of cool. I'm gonna have to get my team in budget though cause I have Chipper riding the bench (McPherson is my starter, lol). Plus I just hate Chipper and drafted him on accident. Hitting is hard in this game, but I was saying the same thing the first week or two last year and then started hitting the piss out of the ball. I love the new pitching mode and how the margin to get a perfect pitch is so much smaller. I did improve Pyrzinski in the game. Absolutely no reason why Ben Davis is rated better. Really smooth game play and I think the transitions when it comes to robbing homers, diving for infield catches and such are a lot better as well. I've yet to hit a homer with a lefty though, but I've only hit one in 3 games (Vladdy). Morneau hit one to the fence and it got robbed. One other cool thing I noticed is that the other team actually calls pitch outs...cause the bastards got me gunned out, haha.

Holy s***. This has to mean Cutino Mobley's fantasy stock would be taking off (yippee). Good move by the Sixers, imo. Assuming him and AI can share the ball enough. Kenny Thomas isn't a bad player for the Kings either, good toughness.

You want a comparison thats relatively current. Ben Gordon is like Bobby Jackson at this stage. Both are awful defenders, but explosive scorers and are a big part of there teams. Of course Jackson is injured with the Kings, but at this point thats who I'd most compare with Gordon. I think Gordon has the ability to be a hell of a ballplayer, but he won't be getting more minutes this season because he wouldn't have the stamina to handle it nor does he play the defense to warrant it. I'm hoping he can become a decent on ball defender because then the Bulls could have him and Hinrich in a lot of split sets most of the time in a year or so. At the same time Skiles rotates his guys so well and I figure the Bulls will have some other good perimeter players to help out as well.

QUOTE(Spiff @ Feb 23, 2005 -> 06:40 PM) But you did compare his speed to Iverson. Go back and look. Among the league's elite at handling the ball? Let's not get carried away. Well he is amongst the league worse in terms of turnovers, imo. Gordon has great dribbling ability when it comes to breaking a guys ankles and blowing past him, but he's got a lot to learn about passing and protecting the basketball. I'm with spiffaroo on this one. On a sidenote, a guy I'd love to see on the Bulls is Chris Mihm. Good god am I becoming a big time Mihm fan.

Cheat, Boz, Kap, Bull still need to register.

QUOTE(Gene Honda Civic @ Feb 23, 2005 -> 02:03 PM) My choice is what I choose to do, and if I'm causin' no harm it shouldn't bother you. Your choice is who you choose to be, and if you're causing no harm, you're alright with me.

The one thing with the Vikings is I think they could still use a star. I just don't think you can replace Moss with a draft pick at WR. It just doesn't usually work out that way, especially with this years WR class. Thats not a knock on Edwards or Williams, but at the same time, they aren't Roy Williams, Larry Fitzgerald or Randy Moss (regardless of Moss sliding, I always thought and knew he'd be a STAR). Long run its a good move for the Vikes, but they are going to have to add a WR somewhere. Stupid stupid for the Raiders. I guess it gives them a hell of an offense, but they still need some WR and obviously some defense. At least its better then them getting Sapp and T. Washington this past offseason because that was freaking retarded. Moss is at least in his prime and will be around a while.

Once I finish sending out some emails for work, I'm so getting my ass over to the store to finally pick up this game.

QUOTE(danman31 @ Feb 23, 2005 -> 01:44 PM) Yeah, everytime I read something DBAH0 says about the NBA it's purely awful. Sorry dibs, you have no idea what you are talking about. I think he is closest to Allen Iverson. Anyone who voted Jordan deserves to be shot for stupidity. I'm so sick of these Jordan comparisons. Give me a break!!! I agree, he isn't and never will be Michael. As far as styles you'd have to compare him to AI simply because he's got a lot of speed and can flat score. AI is superior defensively and is a superior passer as well though.

Freaking horrible move by the Raiders, imo. I don't see why they should give up that much talent. At the same time, I don't like it from the Vikes perspective either, lol.

Cerb

My fantasy team is toast if Shaq goes down.

For those that can't remember, we could do something where we make like a mini keeper draft for those people since I made a mistake. Where they can chose the available players. Sorry I didn't get back to any PM's, was away from a computer over the weekend and last night was too lazy to respond to anything, lol. But ya, we still have time so get on over to yahoo and register

Dane Cook = AWESOME

This is such a BS report. Ya my ass, Gordon seems content as does Deng. I'm sure they'd like more minutes (Gordon especially) but part of the NBA is getting good enough on both ends of the court to get starters minutes. Right now I think Skiles does a good job of keeping everyone in the rotation happy.

QUOTE(aboz56 @ Feb 21, 2005 -> 07:39 PM) And you are then mine on X-Box live. You wish Boz, you wish

QUOTE(DBAH0 @ Feb 21, 2005 -> 07:35 PM) I just wonder with Ozzie around if he's ever going to get that chance to start, because I think Ozzie has pretty much made his mind up that he's going to be pitching out of the pen as a lefty. In a perfect world, I'd like to see him back down at Charlotte starting, working on developing his other pitches, but that probably ain't going to happen. I think last year was tough and one of the problems with having a team thats always in contention is developing players. You can't let a guy like Cotts run out every 5th day and take a shot on him getting shelled because your in it for the playoffs (which is a good thing). I know a lot of teams have in the past (playoff contenders) let guys build confidence for a year or two in the pen. This may be a good plan for Cotts, especially because I think we'll see him put up good numbers this season. Then the Sox could shift him to the rotation in a year or two when another guy is available. Its definately not bad to have depth and I think the Sox have that since I do anticipate at least a few starts missed (you have to).

Funny as it is, its been pouring down here and Fullerton has been getting rained out left and right. They got only part of one game in this weekend against USC (Southern Cal) and were losing in the 8th and for some reason instead of it being a win, the rest of the game will be finished at a later date. Evansville, like I mentioned before, is a quality baseball school.

I'm gonna pick this baby up tomorrow.

Just want to see Boz, badass idea. We need to make an easy place to see all these predictions so at the end of the year we can all look back and see whose close.

Blogs are pretty cool. I have read yours (you've had some good minor league stuff on it) as well as cheats. I haven't been to cheat's lately but I think his, like mine (SoxNet) has been pretty empty for a while since there really hasn't been much to talk about (and in my case I'm lazy). Also read blackbetsy's. I think they are pretty cool, especially the ones that have the statistical details that my non-statistic self can actually understand, haha.

Bmac's fastball has just been getting better ever season (velocity wise) and he has great control of all three of his pitches. I think Rex says it best (because he's seen him pitch the most) in regards to Brandon learning to waste a pitch or two and I think he's even made reference to that. I think the big reason the Sox previous guys failed was because they got themselves into trouble control wise and when your a rookie making your first few starts your gonna be in deep s*** when your constantly behind in the count. Bmcc isn't going to find himself in that case and his changeup should be even better. This past season was the year his changeup really took off and is at least an average pitch already and when mixed with his heater and curve its a real nice thing to have. As far as who is ahead of him, Diaz and Cotts would obviously but same with Hermanson. I don't think Adkins can start nor can Munoz (at the major league level that is). However, later on in the season I think Bmac moves to the top because quite frankly if he's pitching like he can the Sox are better off putting Bmac in the rotation and allowing the Sox to keep Hermy in the bullpen simply because then you don't mess as much with chemistry. Thats soley because I think the Sox are going to have a STELLAR bullpen and I love that fact. The only thing I worry about is if somehow Shingo takes a dump because then the Sox are left without a good closer.

The biggest mistake the Sox are making is not giving Cotts starts in spring training. Neal Cotts has all the ability to be a good starting pitcher and It sucks that he's kind of stuck in a rut. I think he'll be a good reliever, but no doubt in my mind that he'd be a good starting pitcher if given the chance.

Fact or Fiction: A White Sox starting pitcher will win 20 games this season. Fact....I think Buehrle will be a 20 game winner with Garcia coming right behind him and getting quite close Fact or Fiction: Willie Harris will be on the White Sox opening day roster. Fact....Regardless of Iguchi's potential, he's still unproven and because of that the Sox are going to keep Willie as a backup plan. I also am a firm believer that if dealt, Willie will have a good major league career. Fact or Fiction: Orlando "El Duque" Hernandez will toss more than 140 innings this season. Fiction. No chance in hell. Fact or Fiction: Shingo Takatsu will record more than 30 saves this season. Fact. This team has a good bullpen and he's gonna get plenty of save opportunities. He's got a nasty changeup to go with his fastball and since he doesn't depend on his velocity I tend to think he's one of those guys that can be sucessful even as he continues to get older. Fact or Fiction: Scott Podsednik will set a career high in both batting average and OBP this season. Fiction...I think he will have a good season, but he's not going to put up the rookie numbers in hitting. Fact or Fiction: Frank Thomas will play in more than 120 games this season. Fiction...unless we are adding playoff games into the mix. Fact or Fiction: Carl Everett will get more than 350 at-bats this season. Fact. Most definately. Carl is going to be a bigtime contributor and you'll see him have a very good season in a type of 10th man role. Fact or Fiction: A White Sox starter other than Mark Buehrle or Freddy Garcia will throw a complete game shutout this season. Fact. Jon Garland will as will Contreras. El Duque will not throw a complete game and the Sox would be nuts if they let him considering how fragile he is. And finally....Fact or Fiction: The White Sox will win the American League Central in 2005. Fact...they have the bullpen and lineup to do it, assuming the rotation stays healthy and Contreras and Garland can improve and pitch close to there potential, this team has staying power.

QUOTE(TheBigHurt35 @ Feb 18, 2005 -> 01:45 PM) If I were Merck, I'd be looking to bring in a new CEO. Gilmartin was a moron for pulling the drug off of the market in the first place. They could've easily kept it on the market and alerted the doctors and patients of these side effects (which were in only in a very small percentage of patients). And it's not like pulling the drug would've kept them safe from class-action lawsuits. All that could possibly accomplish was a hit to their bottom line and eventual layoffs. Merck handled the whole situation like assholes. They knew of the sideeffects and instead of informing the public they did nothing. They actually deserve the lawsuit, even though I freaking hate 99% of all attorneys because they are freaking bastards (notice I'm leaving it open because I do know a few nice ones).