hogan873

Ah, some good discussion here. Being 38 years old, I really started enjoying music more in the 90's. I thought, and pretty much still think, that most of the music in the 80's sucked. So, I became quite a fan of bands like Pearl Jam, Stone Temple Pilots, Alice in Chains, etc. As far as Pearl Jam goes, I voted yes, but I'm not nearly the fan you are wite. I'll admit to not being very familiar with their most recent stuff, and I did not care much for No Code...maybe that's when I stopped listening to them as much. My favorite album of theirs is Vs. So many people, my wife included, claim that Ten is their best album. I think their music is much better on Vs. and there are parts of Vitalogy I think are better. Don't get me wrong, I thoroughly enjoy Ten, but I would put Vs. in the CD player (or on my iPod, since it's 2012) any day. I personally think Vitalogy is an excellent album, and I remember how many people didn't like it when it first came out. Essentially because it didn't sound like Ten or Vs. But, Spin the Black Circle, Tremor Christ, Corduroy, Bugs, Satan's Bed, Aye Davanita, and Better Man are some of my favorite Pearl Jam songs. I also like Yield a lot. Brain of J, in my opinion, is one of their best songs. Okay, no I have to go download a bunch of songs...thanks.

When was this list compiled? He has Frasor as part of the Sox bullpen.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Feb 9, 2012 -> 12:28 AM) The discussion switched back to Kenny so I commented on that. People who think I'm trolling generally want everything to be all rosy on here with nobody disagreeing with them. Why the f*** would a die hard White Sox fan like me troll on a White Sox board? I love the White Sox. There is plenty of disagreeing on this site. But you have a tendency to state the same thing over and over. And that is KW should be out of a job because of Dunn, Peavy, and Rios. You have to be realistic. Dunn looked like a good signing to just about everyone. His collapse could not have been forecasted, not even by Dunn himself. The peavy deal didn't look too bad, either, although there were more people concerned about the deal. But, at the time, the only issue with the guy was an ankle injury...from running the bases. The Rios deal...well that stunk. Even at the time it happened there were plenty of perplexed folks. Taking on his swollen salary and ego, coupled with his tendency to be a shlub...and it worked out about as well as could be expected. In my opinion, if KW should have been fired it would be for his letting Ozzie make an ass of himself and the White Sox time and again. I know you love Ozzie, and I'm sure he's a nice guy who'd be great to have a beer with. But Ozzie started making a lot of bad decisions down the stretch, and it became more and more evident that he was not doing what was asked of him by his boss. And then there's the matter of him quitting. As others have mentioned, KW has made plenty of good deals, too. If you were to make a list of good deals and bad deals, the good list would probably be longer. But we, as most humans, have a tendency to weigh the bad heavier than the good. And I would agree that the bad deal of Rios outweighs the good deals of Danks and Sale. So, if you believe that KW should be gone, fine, go ahead and talk about it. But have a better argument than Rios, Peavy, and Dunn.

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Feb 8, 2012 -> 04:56 PM) I'm not really sure what they were even arguing about? I thought this was a thread about Jake Peavy.

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Feb 7, 2012 -> 06:25 PM) When you have one of the top two payrolls in the division year after year, I think more than two division titles in a decade should be expected. Just because the Sox were arguably the least successful MLB franchise from 1920-2000, doesn't mean KW should be held to lower standards. Agreed. Also worth considering is that fact that the Sox play in the less than stellar AL Central. Yes, Detroit and Minnesota have been good off and on, but as someone mentioned before, the Sox were successful in 2005 due in part to the fact that they beat up on the other AL Central teams. It doesn't do much good for the Sox to play well against the AL East (ha!) if only to curl up in the corner and sob quietly when they play the Twins, Royals, Indians, and Tigers. Many of us (myself included) can and have argued that 2011 was due in large part to a handful of players having terrible seasons. That's not necessarily KW's fault. However, changes could have and should have been made, and they weren't. KW's biggest fault in 2011 in my opinion was letting Ozzie do what he did. Even after publicly saying those performing poorly will sit, Ozzie played them anyway. And KW didn't do anything.

QUOTE (DukeNukeEm @ Feb 7, 2012 -> 09:47 PM) I was at the DePaul game. Ozzie got probably the biggest cheers of the night. Which makes him a great manager.

QUOTE (SI1020 @ Feb 7, 2012 -> 02:49 PM) White Sox W-L records and winning pct. by three selected decades. 1950's 847-693 .550 4 90+ win seasons (1954,55,57 and 59), all in 154 game seasons. 9 winning seasons total, including 1 AL pennant. 1960's 852-760 .5285 3 90+ win seasons (1963-65) 8 winning seasons. 2000's 857-764 .5286 3 90+ in seasons (2000-05-06) 7 winning seasons, 3 AL Central championships, 1 AL pennant, 1 WS title. It's simultaneously easy and hard to forget 2005. I still remember watching that last out and thinking, "No f***ing way." But I also remember, unfortunately, 2006 and 2011.

QUOTE (Andrew @ Feb 7, 2012 -> 08:36 AM) Who cares if he talks to the media now? Marlins fans will pretty soon. All 9 of them.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Feb 7, 2012 -> 07:47 AM) Absolutely not. There is zero sense in which Juan Pierre had a decent season last year. His BA was okay, but his defense was terrible and his speed was waaaaay down. If he had had a decent season, he would have gotten more than a minor league deal.

QUOTE (Brian @ Feb 7, 2012 -> 06:24 AM) I'll DVR "The River" but I hate 2 hour premieres. Too long. It's not a movie. I think it's actually broken into 2 episodes shown back-to-back. I'm looking forward to it. This may be a show that will only be good for one season, though. We'll see what happens with the 8 episodes they have planned.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Feb 6, 2012 -> 10:20 PM) I thought I listed some good reasons in disagreeing with his post. He said I was childlike in my love for Mark. I say I wanted the Sox to pay Mark not for what he's done but future contributions. You don't think he can have a Moyer-like end to his career? year after year of tons of innings?? I think Mark will stick around and be mighty valuable into his 40s (if he wants to). Maybe, just maybe Mark can pitch into his 40s. His pitching style may allow that. But you're missing the most fundamental part of this argument: No team, including the White Sox, was willing to pay him nearly $60 million over four years...except for the spendthrift Marlins. And they heavily backloaded the contract, which will make him untradeable unless they eat a ton of cash. And chances are, the Marlins will be looking to shed payroll in a couple years. You can't pay a guy $15 million a year in the hopes that he'll be great in his late 30s. I hope Mark does well, and he may very well post a 4.00 ERA and win 13 or 14 games and eat 200+ innings. But is that worth locking up $60 million? Not to the Sox, and not to just about any other team. Except for the Marlins...who will regret it.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Feb 5, 2012 -> 11:35 PM) I am not the only Sox fan outraged that Mark is gone. You guys sometimes fail to realize some people actually do agree with me on some of these issues. I don't think anyone is happy that Mark is gone, but you'd be hard-pressed to find many people other than youself that would say the Sox should have outbid the Marlins for him. They overpaid for him, and his contract is so ridiculously backloaded that he'll be difficult to trade without the Marlins eating a lot of money. Peavy may be great this year, but chances are he will not be the guy he used to be. I'll be happy with him eating a bunch of innings and spotting an ERA around 4. However, I think that'll be a stretch. So, a dream of a "1-2 punch" was dissolved when Peavy had surgery that in all likelihood diminished his capacity as a pitcher. There was no reason for the Sox to spend $56+ million on a guy in order to have him be part of a "1-2 punch" that doesn't exist anyway.

QUOTE (JoeCoolMan24 @ Feb 3, 2012 -> 01:15 AM) ^^^ Chicago one is pretty awful. Toronto one looks legit though. I think the inclusion of the Fire ruined it. Maybe the Bears or Bulls should have been more of the focal point.

QUOTE (Milkman delivers @ Feb 1, 2012 -> 10:31 PM) Nearly, haha. Yeah, that's something that would cause me to quit on the spot if I were told to clean it up. A friend of mine did something like that once to a toilet. It was at one of those wing places and he simply didn't make it all the way to the toilet, although it was all in the stall. This is the greatest thread ever. Agreed.

I remember when I was a kid we were driving from Virginia back home to Pennsylvania when I had to go to the bathroom...bad. My dad pulled off the highway (in West Virginia) and found the first spot that would have a bathroom. It was a trucker dive bar/restaurant. We walked in, and if there had been music playing it would have stopped along with the record-scratching sound, and found the bathroom in the back of the place. Let's just say I was lucky I just had to pee. It would not have been safe to sit on the toilet. Dirt, s***, and piss all over the toilet. My dad and I still talk about that bathroom. The worst stall in a bathroom I've seen was in Gillette, Wyoming. I was moving from NC to Alaska, and I was taking my time driving across the country. I stayed in a nice hotel in Gillette (I can't remember what brand it was). I was checking out in the morning I stopped in the lobby bathroom. One stall had vomit all over the toilet, floor, and walls. I walked out and told the front desk staff that there was a slight mess in the bathroom.

Glad to see this thread still hanging in there. I just finished Ender's Game. Pretty good book. For being written over 20 years ago, the futuristic aspect was pretty well done. I know several on here are reading or have read 11/22/63. I'm about 300 pages in, and I cannot put it down. Easily one of King's best since The Stand. I like the references to It when the character spends time in Derry. Makes me want to read that book again.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Feb 1, 2012 -> 07:38 AM) Alexei may have "Earned his money", but he's still on the list of guys that could and should have been better. Dude was a ground ball to the shortstop machine last year. Defensively he was awesome. But you're right about his hitting.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Jan 31, 2012 -> 10:38 PM) If Adam Dunn hit 45-50 home runs would we win the division? That alone wouldn't do it. What I mean is that if Dunn explodes offensively but Rios and Beckham struggle again and Humber doesn't repeat and...well you get the point. However, if the team as it is contstructed now is the team we see on opening day, Dunn popping 40+ HRs will help the Sox be at least competitive. I think offensively anyway, Dunn, Konerko, Rios, and Viciedo have to have good years. I'm talking 90+ HRs between the four of them.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Jan 31, 2012 -> 12:39 PM) Americans are "p*****s" because the hyper-competition seen in kids' sports is correctly recognized as inadequate adults with failed dreams and failed lives living vicariously through their children and that this often comes at the expense of the children themselves. You have to wonder how many kids with true talent end up quitting the game because they were pushed too hard by their parents or coaches. I encourage my kids to play as many sports and be involved in as many activities as they want. And, sure, I want them to succeed. But it's more important that they enjoy it. My son played hockey for a few years and was pretty good. But he decided he didn't want to play anymore. That was fine with me, because it costs a s***load of money, and I didn't want him doing something he didn't enjoy.

QUOTE (CrimsonWeltall @ Jan 31, 2012 -> 12:36 PM) Seriously. Kid sports at 6 or 7 are mostly chaos. Very true. Coaching a 6U baseball team is chaos. Watching a 6U baseball game is like watching paint dry.

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ Jan 31, 2012 -> 12:19 PM) You're right. They shouldn't have to worry about it. They likely aren't worried about it, but I'm sure their parents are... sitting on the bench and never playing is way worse than being cut and trying something else. That's true. But when we're talking about 1st and 2nd graders, no one should be sitting on the bench. Everyone at that age should have an opportunity to play. Once the kids get to jr high it's a different story. Teams will have bench players.

QUOTE (iamshack @ Jan 31, 2012 -> 11:30 AM) It's not like the s***ty kids aren't very aware that they suck...it's just as embarrassing to suck ass and still be on the team as it is to be cut or redeployed into a weaker league. It's an unavoidable fact of life, and sheltering kids from it until 12 years old only makes it more difficult for them to adjust later in life. I agree with your last sentence...for the most part anyway. I've seen my share of bad players, and haven't we all secretly wished the kid was on another team? I don't have experience outside of the league where my son plays, but they don't cut anyone. If someone registers, they get to play. They do, however, hold a draft. So, the better players go first. But each team ends up with those that can't play well, or worse are being pushed into it by their parents.

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ Jan 31, 2012 -> 11:25 AM) So you just limit registration? In many of these areas there are more interested in playing than can conceivably be deployed on a team. Good point. And yes, many leagues limit registration. Right now I think some leagues are hurting for players, and they keep their registration open a lot later. But most have a set TIME for registration, and if someone doesn't sign up in time they're out of luck. Then there's the option of travel ball (speaking about baseball still) where kids can try out. There will certainly be some kids who don't make it. But, again, depending on the number of kids who try out, it might be a matter of only having room for 12 kids per team.

QUOTE (Thunderbolt @ Jan 31, 2012 -> 10:50 AM) And then you start thinking about the team you get to watch come spring... less awesome. I'm still excited about it. I look at it like this: Last year was "All In", and it was one of the most frustrating and depressing seasons I've seen. This year with some fresh blood and a new coaching staff, I'm looking forward to seeing how the young guys do and if the disappointing ones can rebound. I'm not expecting a title run, but if we can start seeing what the future of the Sox looks like, and it looks good, I'm okay with that.

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ Jan 31, 2012 -> 10:41 AM) The title is mis-leading. 7-year-old Anna Kimball kicked off baseball team just because she’s a girl Should be 7-year-old girl Anna Kimball cut from baseball team because she's not as good as other players Well, in the article the coach said she's better than her brother. But, the title was misleading because other players (including boys) were cut. At least according to the coach, the reason she was cut was that the team was going to be in a league that prohibited girls from playing and to make the team more competitive in said league. Still ridiculous.