CWSGuy406

Detroit pounded Colorado tonight -- good news for the Hawks. Big tilt tomorrow night versus the Blues on Versus (yay for me!). And changing directions here, the NHL really needs to go to a different point system. It's ridiculous how many teams play for the tie in the third period just to get the point. I like the 3-2-1 system -- three points for a regulation win, two points for an OT win and one point for an OT loss. Then again, I'm obviously not the first person to say this and would like to see a well-reasoned opposition to a system like that (or a defense for the current system).

Anyone like The Cool Kids? If so, is there anywhere I can download "88" and "Mikey Rocks"? I can only find "Black Maggs" (excellent and kind-of funny music video, BTW).

QUOTE(RME JICO @ Feb 18, 2008 -> 02:13 AM) So what are they saying in terms of Pythagorean this year? I was saying that PECOTA had us at 72 wins last year and 77 this year. That is +5 wins with over a +100 run differential. +104 runs should equate to about 8-10 wins, not 5. I thought your 100+ run differential was comparing what we *actually* did in 2007 vs what PECOTA has in store for us in 2008. If I was mistaken and you meant a comparison between PECOTA 2007 vs PECOTA 2008, then I don't have an answer to that question.

QUOTE(RME JICO @ Feb 17, 2008 -> 11:04 PM) So our run margin is going to increase by 104 runs, yet we are only going to win 5 more games? You're looking at the wrong thing. Our pythag had us at 67 wins last seasons, so technically the 100+ runs is, in fact, a ten win improvement.

QUOTE(sircaffey @ Feb 17, 2008 -> 05:00 AM) You don't think MSU is overrated at #9? I sure as hell do. They've been playing pretty average of late. Morgan's disappeared. Well, if they're overrated than you're diminishing your own win. It's a cliched chant that's rather pointless -- certainly not unique to IU, mind you, but I always have to chuckle when I hear the chant. I'm sure it'll happen at Marquette sometime in my next two (three?) years at Marquette, and I'll cringe and choose to not participate when that happens.

f*** pecota -- they don't take things like heart, chemistry and grind into account!

The Islanders outshot the Thrashers tonight 49-10. Dipietro effectively had the night off.

QUOTE(whitesoxfan99 @ Feb 17, 2008 -> 04:00 AM) Great effort for IU tonight without White for most of the game. IU fans chanting for their cheating coach though, kind of sad. And the "overrated" chant as well. Intelligence was in Bloomington in abundance tonight, I guess.

Yup -- versus the team that (so far this season) has been easily the best in Serie A in Inter. Good luck with that, Rafa.

QUOTE(KWs OK for Me @ Feb 16, 2008 -> 01:20 AM) The best player in soccer is always hard to measure. However Cesc has played unreal and has shown amazing talent ever since being called up. With the shift in philosophy after the departure of Henry he has really had his chance to shine. However, being partial to my Liverpool boys Gerrard is still the most talented pure midfielder playing in England What a terrible game today. With LFC effectively out of the EPL race, is there any (good) reason why Benitez was fielding such a (relatively) weak squad to start? I know they're banged up a bit but damn -- you kind of deserve that result when you don't start Gerrard, Torres AND Reina.

Awesome -- that just gives the organization another reason to keep the inferior pitcher Masset over Wasserman.

Wow -- what an effort tonight from Marquette. Probably the best game they've played since ND or Wisconsin. And in a complete surprise, Marquette lifted the redshirt off of Trevor Mbakwe, our top freshman coming into the season. This is amazing... he tore his ACL just a little over four months ago. I'm not sure I like the move -- I mean, they get him for about a quarter of the season instead of 30+ senior-season games -- but he's a huge addition to this team. Once he gets back into 'game shape', he immediately becomes our best in-the-paint defender (or that's what I've read and heard). What a night.

I'm gonna be in a Converse commercial tonight at the Marquette game. Woo-hoo! ROCK ON! //cracks open cheap, crappy beer

QUOTE(Reddy @ Feb 15, 2008 -> 07:01 PM) from your perspective Hey man -- why think rationally when you can just pin it on God? That's the easier thing to do, you know? The eternal crutch.

QUOTE(Reddy @ Feb 15, 2008 -> 04:50 PM) question: why would God in schools help keep this from happening? It's an absolutely absurd assertion, really.

Well -- let's rock the UC when the guys wearing the Indianhead get back and see if we can make some noise here. The Hawks are every bit as good as those other teams battling for the 8th spot when healthy. Also... when Williams gets back, it better not be Bolland going back to Rockford. Even though Bourque scored today, I'd sit him or one of the three fourth liners.

QUOTE(SoxFanForever @ Feb 15, 2008 -> 03:11 AM) Dumont has been doing that the whole game. He has been chippy since we took it to them in the first period. It's really a shame Tootoo isn't playing tonight -- I'd've liked to had seen Wizzer pound him again. Also, Barker has been benched for pretty much this whole period. Shows what I know -- I thought he was having a pretty decent game...

What the f*** was Dumont doing there? Just gave DK a shove when the whistle had blown at least two seconds prior. I hate Nashville about as much or more than I hate Colombus.

I love me some David Bolland. I think I can actually buy his jersey, too, as he's not a first round pick. Nah, I won't chance it.

What a f***ing goal. Gosh damn -- this team is completely different with #19 on the ice. What a f***ing player. I can safely assure everyone here that I will not be purchasing his jersey, so he should be (relatively) safe.

QUOTE(iamshack @ Feb 14, 2008 -> 05:08 AM) A few books I have read in the past that I would highly recommend- very highly, actually- are the two recent novels about Afghanistan by Khaled Housseini, the Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns. Both are absolutely brilliant and moving novels about an area of the world that we all could gain something from learning about. Ahh -- the Kite Runner. Fantastic book. SPOILER (not really, but someone may care, so... Highlight to see) The way the rape scene is described is brutal (brutal in that it actually made me cringe). That's not an indictment at all on Housseini -- I almost didn't want to continue reading throuh that scene. That's some good freaking writing.

QUOTE(Rex Hudler @ Feb 14, 2008 -> 05:26 AM) Just for fun, let's play the "name" game. In no particular order and completely off the top of my head.... Sean Miller Scott Drew Tony Bennett Mark Few Jay Wright Tom Crean Randy Wittman Brad Brownell (stretch, but a childhood neighbor) Brian Gregory Mike Brey Dana Altman Kevin Stallings Damn my head hurts after that one.... I almost want to say "take him". Zero NCAA tourney wins without Wade, not a top recruiter and still can't coach against a zone. I probably make him sound more terrible than he really is -- he's done a lot of good for the program -- but there's just some things that irk me about Crean. Sorry for trying to thread-jack.

Will Leitch's new book. It's okay -- I like his style and it's well-written, but it's probably not a book I'll read over and over and over again.

QUOTE(The Critic @ Feb 13, 2008 -> 11:11 PM) Why does it seem like I've been hearing Crawford's name for 10 years? I was surprised to read that he's only 23 - I thought we'd been waiting for him for much longer. First it was Leighton, then it was Anderson, now it's Crawford. That's not to say Crawford will suffer the same fate of the other two, but I'd worry about getting the defense set first before you try and figure out who the next 'franchise' goalie is. The Hawks are just about there and may not need anyone if Hjarmlsson is as good as they were advertising him before the season. Goaltenders are tricky -- outside of the truly elite, it's tough to tell which ones are actually good and which ones are living off the defense that plays in front of them. I'm clinging to the hope that the Emery deal goes through. I don't know if he's much better than Khabibulin, but I do know that any negatives he has are massively outweighed by losing the final year-and-a-half on Khabbi's contract. EDIT: And to add on to Tony's post -- I can't speak about Montoya, but all season long Crawford has had to deal with shuffling of the guys in front of him, guys playing on those 'tryout' type contracts. All told, a .911 S% strikes me as being pretty damn good.

Anyways, I should try to speak from more of a personal perspective -- I know I'm not the only one who feels this way, but I'm not sure whether my opinion is what could be considered the 'majority' opinion. But... I don't get the moral outrage that people seem to think has gone on here; the hyperbolic statements like "this has given baseball a black eye." Please -- I tend to think a black eye would indicate people being 'turned off' by the game, that the steroids stuff would somehow decrease interest in the game when in reality -- or at least to my knowledge -- that hasn't happened. The game is still popular, arguably moreso because of some of the great things that took place during the 1990s. This shouldn't be taken as me condoning steroid use, mind you. Far from it. I just don't feel a whole lot of disdain for the players whose names are mentioned in these lists (there are some exceptions to this). Part of the reason -- I think -- is because I'm not sure I would've acted differently if I was placed in the exact same situation. I think that "don't throw stones while living in a glass house" statement is semi-appropriate here.