Jordan4life_2007

Nice to see two severely overrated teams in Duke/UCLA exposed this week.

God damn DePaul is terrible.

QUOTE (Greg Hibbard @ Feb 15, 2009 -> 11:38 AM) It was extremely clear at the midway point of last season that no matter who the division winner was in the AL Central, they would get handily trounced in any (particularly short) playoff series. Surprise, surprise. And before you say "2006 Cardinals," let's discuss how many times the postseason team with the best record in their respective league makes the WS as opposed to the team with the worst, particularly in the AL, particularly in this AL period of dominance (going back to 1992). Here's the answer: 8 of the past 16 WS have featured the best AL record in the WS, and 2 of the past 16 have featured the weakest divisional winner. "As long as we win the division, even if it's with only 79 wins"...that's losertalk...I'm sorry. Again, where is anyone saying that winning the division is the ultimate goal? That's right. Nobody is saying that. You've just decided to pretend somebody is because it gives you a reason to continue to declare the season over 6 weeks before it's even started. I don't give a s*** about past history of teams with the best record, worst record, wildcard records, ect and how they've fared in the playoffs. The first and only order of business at this point for ANY team is to GET TO THE PLAYOFFS! I'm not sitting here on February f***ing 15th and worrying about how we would matchup with the Yankees or Red Sox in the playoffs IF we were fortunate enough to get there. If you want to continue to do so, have a blast.

I remember that game quite well. Down 10-0 before we even got a chance to bat.

Good win today even if it was against a horrible team. Winning on the road in this conference, especially for this team, is always a challenge. Tough final 5 games coming up.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Feb 15, 2009 -> 12:37 PM) Resurrection huh? They should have beat OSu at home, the Buckeyes have zero players with experience in Madison. Wisco is not a very good team however and if they get into the tourney, they better hope all of the games are played in Madison. I wasn't just talking about last night. They've won 4 in a row after it looked like there season was lost. I don't think they're very talented at all. But they do play some pretty physical/nasty defense. I'd rather deal with Buford than have to deal with Mullens/Turner/Buford. Um, I don't think NW fans are the reason they choked. They had no answer for our press.

QUOTE (Greg Hibbard @ Feb 12, 2009 -> 03:37 PM) Yeah, but the major benchmark for success in 2009 should not be winning a s***ty division and putting ourselves in a position to win 1 out of 4 playoff games against much stronger AL teams. You mean winning the division is not the ultimate goal? YOU'RE KIDDING! Last I checked, you had to survive this little 162 game marathon before you're allowed to participate in the postseason. How we matchup with other teams from other divisions in February is as irrelevant as irrelevant can possibly get. Starting in April until the end of September, we have to be better than the Royals, Indians, Tigers and Twins.

QUOTE (SoxFan1 @ Feb 14, 2009 -> 10:36 PM) I completely disagree. Did you watch any of the dunk contest from the after Vince Carter era up to last yr? They were all pathetic. Dwight's dunk off the side of the backboard was awesome, as was Nate dunking OVER Dwight. And Rudy's behind the back (which TNT f***ed up on) was also very impressive. Maybe saying it was one of the worst ever was a little steep. But color me unimpressed for the most part. Lebron could definitely add some serious life to the contest next year if he's not just talking s***.

And the Badger's resurrection continues. Nice win for them over OSU (even better that it helps Illinois). And I'm glad that this year's draft is so weak that B.J. Mullens is a virtual lock to go in the top 15 (maybe top 10). He's nowhere near NBA ready. Evan Turner's draft stock is going up as well. I'll be a happy camper if after this year we won't have to worry about him anymore. He's damn good.

Indeed one of the worst dunk contests ever. So did Lebron say for sure that he would be in it next year?

QUOTE (Brian @ Feb 14, 2009 -> 08:37 PM) That competition was soooooo boring. You could say that about the whole weekend. I remember in the 90's and even the first part of this decade when I would be glued to the television during all-star Saturday.

QUOTE (YASNY @ Feb 14, 2009 -> 02:47 AM) Personally, I like the way this team is set up. I like the idea of the input of young blood on the team. For years, we've been reading the b****ing about this being an old, slow, station-to-station team. Well, it ain't going to change overnight, but it is in the process of changing. We added 4 very good fairly young ballplayers last year and have several possibilities to continue the trend this year. People point to CQ, ARam,Danks and Floyd and ask if we can expect that happen again with these new guys coming in. Probably not, but a lot of things didn't go right last year either and we still nabbed the division. We didn't get Hunter, Rowand or (thank God) Fukudome. Contreras, Crede, Jenks, Linebrink, Konerko, Uribe all spent time on the DL, I believe. Add to that Konerko's 4 months of suckiness, Contreras and Vazquez's inconsistencies on the mound, Swisher having an Erstadtesque season resulting in Dwayne AAAA Wise being in our starting lineup and of course, no TCQ down the stretch. There is a solid core of good young ballplayers and proven veterans on this team, and I see no reason to start the season standing on the ledge. Sure, it can all go in the crapper but it can be a wonderful, fun, magical year too. I'll do as always, go into it with reserved optimism and hope for the best. When in doubt, I can always count on you to be the voice of reason. I will admit there's times that I think we're gonna suck. Then there's times I think we can win 90-95 games. That's the fun part about it. Nobody has a clue on what's going to happen until the games start. I can't wait!

QUOTE (ozzfest @ Feb 14, 2009 -> 11:48 AM) I was thinking about why the White Sox lack of deals this offseason on the trade front, do any of you think it's because other GMs are afraid? After Gavin Floyd, Danks and TCQ, havn't teams learned their lesson? P.S-Great to be on board soxtalk. Welcome to the board. As for your question, it takes two, and sometimes even more than that, to make a trade. I have no doubt in my mind Kenny and co have explored dozens of possible trade scenarios (how many different JD rumors have we had the last 3 months)? Can't make a trade just to make a trade.

Pretty good games for 3 consensus All-Americans today. Hasheem Thabeet: 25 points, 20 rebounds, 9 blocks Blake Griffin: 40 points, 23 rebounds Jodie Meeks: 45 points, 7/12 from 3, 7 rebounds, 3 steals

QUOTE (beautox @ Feb 10, 2009 -> 12:38 AM) The Florida Marlins will win the world series. in a very cicadaesque manner they will win their third wild card and their third world series, 97,03,09 every six years. Going around the diamond. C - John Baker, like most catcher he took some time to develop but a very nice waiver pick up from the A's only to be given back to them, the only to return as part of the Eckstien trade. i wouldn't be surprised to see him post this line next year 280/360/400 with a handful of home runs. Hes a nice culmination of contact and obp looks to be a good #2 hitter. I think he hangs around long enough to become skipworth's back up. 1B - Gabby Sanchez, he strikes me as a right handed Mark Grace, his glove is solid and on most teams they would need more power out of their MI but with Hanley, Uggla and Cantu in the infield they can afford to just have a steady bat at 1B. 290/380/450 2B - Dan Uggla, 260/340/500 SS - Hanley Ramirez, The best player in baseball right now hands down. I think this year he joins the elite 40/40 club 3B - Jorge Cantu, Looks to have found a home i think he sticks down in Miami and puts up a line similar to last year. LF - Jeremy Hermida, Finally stays healthy and puts up numbers similar to his '07 CF - Cameron Maybin, even with his flaws i think he wont be making a trek back down to the minros 260/330/430 RF - Cody Ross, keeping in line with his career #'s or maybe even puts up a career year. Their team reminds me alot of the white sox, lots of power and strike outs and porous defense. Hopefully their rotation stays healthy because they've got a ton of potential Rotation: 1. RHP Ricky Nolasco 2. RHP Josh Johnson 3. RHP Chris Volstad 4. RHP Anibal Sanchez 5. LHP Andrew Miller Bull Pen: RHP Matt Lindstrom RHP Leo Nunez RHP Scott Proctor RHP Logan Kensing LHP Renyel Pinto RHP Jose Ceda LHP Zach Kroenke I like the way you think. I could actually see Florida challenging for the division crown. Nolasco/Johnson was as good as any 1-2 punch in the NL down the stretch last year. Throw in Volstad, and you have a potential dynamite 1-2-3 heading their rotation. This is going to be a really fun team to watch.

QUOTE (whitesoxfan101 @ Feb 14, 2009 -> 12:12 PM) That Illinois/Northwestern game was quite an event to be at, and what a great comeback/ending. Hopefully, that's the road jolt this team needs. If we lay an egg tomorrow, Thursday's win means nothing.

QUOTE (ChiSox_Sonix @ Feb 12, 2009 -> 02:50 PM) The NC. Maybe even the BET too. The Huskies did so well against L'Ville b/c they ran through their press with their 3 guards. They'll also need him on 'D' against the guards of Marquette and 'Nova. With him they are a legit NC contender, without him they're more like an Elite 8 team IMO Fair enough. When you said they can't win without him I wasn't sure if you meant the NC or if you meant they would completely fall apart.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Feb 12, 2009 -> 01:51 PM) Here's the problem I have, the White Sox made the playoffs by the skin of their teeth last year. Will Quentin and Ramirez be able to maintain their performance levels or improve them? Can you reasonably ask Gavin Floyd to be as good or better than he was last year? Can you do the same with Danks? Can Colon hold up? Clayton Richard and/or Jeff Marquez better be a lot better than they were last year. Is Linebrink going to be the guy he was before his injury or the guy who should be pitching for Home Run Derby after he came back? Will Fields, Lillibridge and/or Owens perform better in the major leagues in 2009 than they did in the minor leagues in 2008? Will Dye, Thome, Konerko and Pierzynski be able to hold off father time one more season? Can you reasonably suspect Detroit to be the total trainwreck they were last year? Can you expect Cleveland to be as bad as they were in the first half last year? One or two no answers to the previous questions spell no playoffs IMO. For the Tigers: Can Verlander bounce back from a horrible season in which he lost 17 games and had an ERA close to 5? Can little-known Armando Galarraga, a guy that like Danks/Floyd has had one good year, either repeat or improve in 2009? Can Jeremy Bonderman get back to his 2006 level after two years of bad? Nate Robertson? Dontrelle Willis? Suck and more suck. Can Joel Zumaya pitch more than 20 innings? Can Brandon Lyons,a guy who sucked in the NL, get it done in a tougher league when Zumaya inevitably goes down with another injury? Fernando Rodney? See Bonderman. The rest of their 'pen? Yikes. For the Indians: Can Cliff Lee come anywhere close to repeating his '08 in '09? Which Fausto Carmona will they get? The all-star version in '07 or the hippo s*** version of 2008? Can Anthony Reyes hold it down as a starter after a 2-14, era over 6 as one in 2007? Can Carl Pavano stay healthy (lol@that one)? Jeremy Sowers? Aaron Laffey? Yeah. Can Kerry Wood's fragile arm hold up another year in a much tougher league? Will Victor Martinez ever be the same? Will Travis Hafner continue to suck? What will they get from the unproven Andy Marte at third? For the Twins: Can their starting staff, unproven before last year, be just as good again? Will Liriano make it through the whole season? Can they consistently get the ball to Joe Nathan? Can Denard Span repeat his 2008? Can Carlos Gomez live up to the hype? Can Michael Cuddyer bounce back after an injury-plagued 2008? For the Royals: Not even worth it. So as you can see, EVERY team has MAJOR questions going into the year. Just some have less than others. But as you can see, NOBODY in our division (and I came up with all this off the top of my head. I could go even more in depth if I chose to) is in any better shape going into this season than we are.

QUOTE (ChiSox_Sonix @ Feb 12, 2009 -> 07:43 AM) Connecticut lost Dyson last night in the opening minutes. He did not return. Initially called a severe knee bruise with no structural damage. MRI today. Hopefully he can return quickly b/c UCONN probably can't win without him. Can't win what? The NC? I might agree with that. But they can more than hold it down if he has to miss some time.

You know I'm in. Been doin' the fantasy thing since '01. Head-to-head for me.

QUOTE (whitesoxbrian @ Feb 11, 2009 -> 10:22 PM) I hate him as much as he loves Duke. Like I said- Duke doesn't have the athletes to be considered "elite". This has been the case for a while. Y'all need to start recruitin' more brothas.

QUOTE (BearSox @ Feb 9, 2009 -> 08:31 PM) I know I will get blasted for this and it might be considered blasphemy, but... the White Sox finish 3rd with a record around .500. Why would anybody blast you for this? It's a more than reasonable prediction.

QUOTE (Jimbo's Drinker @ Feb 9, 2009 -> 10:44 PM) Cole played like ass today, you should see him without his creepy mask, totally messes him up. Maybe he didn't do much scoring wise. But he was a beast on the boards and defensively.

QUOTE (Jimbo's Drinker @ Feb 9, 2009 -> 10:39 PM) Maybe, but there is a chance 2/4 teams for final four can come out of these conferences. UCLA and OU are damn good teams. UCLA is overrated as hell. OU is definitely legit.

QUOTE (IlliniKrush @ Feb 9, 2009 -> 10:15 PM) What an ugly ass game Mizzou/Kansas turned out to be. 27 turnovers for Kansas and combined they shot 4-29 from 3. And I thought Big-10 basketball was ugly. Very competitive game, though. Cole Aldrich, a guy I haven't really gotten a chance to see this year, is better than I thought.