Fotop

QUOTE(Fotop @ Apr 20, 2006 -> 01:50 PM) I'm obviously biased, but I find it hard to believe that anyone would believe they'd be a better player or better set for the NFL playing on team that's not coached by Weis or Carroll. Ok, maybe this wasn't all that clear, but what was meant by the statement is that these guys prepare you for the NFL the best. Their programs have the most exposure, they know the ins and outs of the pros better than anyone else, and have pro style teams that showcase NFL skills to the scouts. Not to go on a tangent, but Meyer's offense at Florida is NOT a pro-style offense. Sure the guys that are the rare talents will make it regardless, but do you think Chris Leak is going to be a top pick? No, because he plays in a gadget offense and doesnt have a standout skill like Vince Young for people to not care about playing in a pro-style offense. Which leads to my next point let me correct something for you, just merely semantics but I think it makes a difference... QUOTE(Palehosefan @ Apr 20, 2006 -> 02:27 PM) If you are a great player, you can make it to the league from any school in the nation. There are a lot of "good" players in college football, but the guys you're talking about that make the big splash in the draft are what i would consider great players or players that have a few great specific skills (speed, size, etc). Again it's merely word-choice, but when I think of a "good" player I see a large pool of D-I players. Let's use a guy like Derek Hagan for example...great college receiver, has good skills yet he plays for ASU. Arguably, he's a better talent than Maurice Stovall, yet who's projected to go higher? Stovall. Now say Hagan was on a team like ND, he would have had more exposure, better stats in a pro-style offense, and he'd have all the resources to build up his stock leading up to the draft (huge pro days, combine training, etc). Basically, great players transcend the obstacles they are faced with when going to less prestigous schools. They bring the attention to themselves with their play where as kids at a school like ND or USC have the attention on them from the get-go and many opportunities to take it advantage of it. Again, look at Stovall, all-world recruit when he came in (Stovall and McKnight were both five stars I believe); yet floundered for three years. Has a good year under Weis, gets lots of attention still since he's on national tv every week, and every forgets about his inconsistencies of the past three years. If he were at a different school, I don't know if he gets all those chances to make an impact in the eyes of scouts. So personally I think as a recruit, you'd be hard pressed to find anything negative about the coaching, facilities, exposure, and systems at the top-tier football schools. Therefore, if a kid doesn't have his heart set on anywhere, and the peripheral stuff doesn't bother him (weather, academics, etc), I just dont see how you turn down a USC, ND, Florida, OSU, etc.

QUOTE(whitesoxfan101 @ Apr 18, 2006 -> 08:48 PM) They aren't going to go ofer in the league again this year, and top 6 for a guy that might be the #1 player in the nation is pretty damn good. Two words: Jimmy Claussen. Benn could be the top WR, but no way is he the #1 prospect in the nation. Claussen is supposedly the second coming, which pretty much means Beano Cook has already given him three heismans and Irish fans everywhere are having shades of Ron Powlus *shudder* (that is, if Claussen committs...but it seems like ND is on the inside track). QUOTE(AddisonStSox @ Apr 18, 2006 -> 09:02 PM) I just read that article. Maryland, Notre Dame, USC, Illinois, Florida "Which one here is not like the other? Which one here just doesn't belong?" Heh, I was pretty much going to say the same thing Addy. If this kid was from Illinois I'd say they'd have a shot, but really is some kid from DC going to play for MD or Illinois when he knows he could be groomed for the pros at the other three schools? I'm obviously biased, but I find it hard to believe that anyone would believe they'd be a better player or better set for the NFL playing on team that's not coached by Weis or Carroll.

No way he skips out on his senior football season. Book it. Its a nice thought because I'd love to see this kid on one of my fav pro teams (sox or bears), but it's not happening...at least not this year. I watched him pitch in person last friday, and he's got quite the fastball. Defintely a project though, since his other pitches need a lot of work.

People in Planes album, As Far as the Eye can See, came out today. I've only listened through it once, but I really enjoyed their EP (the songs from there are all on the album) and I'm liking the rest of the album. Look them up if you're looking for something new.

Walk by Pantera, if we wanted some rock music. In fact I'm surprised no one's mentioned this one yet. If rap is more his cup of tea then I'd suggest maybe Bring Em Out by T.I, Jesus Walks by Kanye West (may be a bit controversial but the beat and such would work well), and hell Trick Daddy's Let's Go combines Crazytrain and rap so let's throw that out there.

True, competition is important and it seems as though these are the only two major satellite service providers. I probably should backtrack a bit, because that was a bit of an oversight on my part to say the consumer would obviously benefit. Although it may seem unlikely that the consumer would see benefits from a merger, it still possible. Regardless, the point you make is vaild. As I said, I haven't really looked into it, and who knows even if a merger between the two would even pass regulatory measures (I have no clue what their market shares/industry concetration is) but I think for satellite radio to be a sustaining force in audio options a merger is probably necessary. As one firm they'd be able to rid themsevles of redundancies, gain value from synergies, and combine talent. On the whole, they'd be more efficient as one firm and the value created would only benefit their shareholders. The sheer size of the new merged firm would position them for the long haul; the amount of listeners for the new firm would be extremely high, thus giving them a solid base to build on. To sustain growth, they would have to innovate and get better to lure in new customers. I doubt shareholders would be all that pleased with a company merely settling for what they currently have and not trying to increase their returns. Granted, I may be speaking from a strictly financial M&A standpoint, but a merger really does make sense here for all parties.

QUOTE(kapkomet @ Feb 23, 2006 -> 10:30 AM) I think at some point, both these companies will have to merge. Pretty much...I mean that's what everyone has being saying since the inception of satellite radio. This pissing contest between XM and Sirius and who signs who is basically a "who's gonna blink first" game. Personally, if I were an investor, I'd be real scared of the size of the contracts being handed out to celebrities to exclusively put them on their station. I haven't looked into either company all that intensively, but just from a Mergers and Acquisitons standpoint I'd try to buy up the company that's going to eventually be bought out. The target firm usually brings good returns once they're bought out. Just from a consumer's standpoint, a merger probably would be in their best interest. Combined power would probably lead to better programming, better service, better equipment, etc. But hey what do I know, I'm just a smarmy finance major.

Jai Eugene has decommitted from Michigan and intends to go to LSU to stay close to his son: Link Tough loss for Michigan, he was rated the #1 CB this year by many publications.

Gotta be Maurice Stovall (WR ND) for obvious reasons . It was wonderful to see him turn into the receiver everyone thought he could be this year. If Stovall had an extra year of Weis, we'd probably be talking about him as a solid first round pick. Sure, he won't burn you with his speed but he's got all the physical tools and great hands. I'd love to see the Bears grab him in the 2nd round, but I doubt he lasts that long.

Sam Young (Offensive Tackle) is going to Notre Dame. A great get for ND, 5star O-Lineman that tops off an already impressive o-line class. O-line is very thin at ND, and this class was defintely needed. Wegner, Webb, Carufel, Olsen, Stewart, and Young should all be quality lineman in the years to come.

QUOTE(Wedge @ Jan 10, 2006 -> 05:07 PM) I've panned Ty Willingham, so at least for me, race isn't the protective agent you make it out to be. But he was the greatest Sunday to Friday coach of all time! As for Herm Edwards, I wouldn't have given the jets a gatorade cooler for him, let alone a 4th round draft pick. RME, I think in your earlier post you failed to understand contracts in the NFL. Player contracts are not guarenteed in the NFL...so if a team thinks a player is playing bad they can just cut him. So if teams are able to cut players when they underperform, players should have the right to holdout if they overperform. It's rather simple, but it makes sense in the balance between owner/player power. As a result, I don't buy the "if you sign a contract you should honor it" argument...owners certainly don't follow that motto so why should the players?

IMO, college sports games >>>> pro sports games. I just find recruiting to be a ton of fun, and I'm actually happy that EA took a risk to put out a college baseball game. It may not sell as well as other games, but I'm glad there's something different out there. Besides, this just holds me over until the next NCAA football comes out.

QUOTE(Gene Honda Civic @ Jan 3, 2006 -> 07:23 PM) hahahaha Hopefully that'll be the last we'll hear of Laura Quinn...what a pointless storyline.

QUOTE(whitesoxfan101 @ Jan 3, 2006 -> 10:37 AM) The defense of the schedule by you ND homers is mind boggling. Just look at it from a neutral perspective please?? Notre Dame plays a good schedule, but it simply doesn't have the depth and difficulty of the schedule a team like Georgia or even Iowa has to deal with. I take some offense to this statement, mainly because the likes of myself and Wedge have been pretty level headed about Notre Dame on this board. We throw comprable schedules at you, and your response is "well you're a homer, you're wrong." Is it really THAT hard to believe that a fan of a team can objectively assess an argument involving said team? I mean I can put up with a lot of the ND hating on this board...but to dismiss what we have to say because of perceived "homerism" is either a cop out or just being plain naive.

So I'm tired, just got back in from the Fiesta Bowl...but I figured I'd drop a response here. Had a great time, and the bowl should get even better when they move into the new stadium next year. A few comments on the game: OSU had a decisive advantage on the talent end, especially in the speed department. I had said all along that if we were to win this game we were going to have to stop Troy Smith. That of course didn't happen. ND did not play well, the defense was exposed, especially the thin secondary w/safeties who can't really cover (something many of us have pointed out all year). That isn't to say ND didn't have their shots, multiple long passes were just off and open deep receivers weren't hit. Officiating wasn't great, but it defintely wasn't the difference. Credit goes out to OSU, they are a great football team and were the better team today. Moving on to the discussion at hand... QUOTE(whitesoxfan101 @ Jan 3, 2006 -> 01:42 AM) S 02 @ Georgia Tech S 09 PENN STATE S 16 MICHIGAN S 23 @ Michigan St. S 30 PURDUE O 07 STANFORD O 21 UCLA O 28 @ Navy (Baltimore) N 04 NORTH CAROLINA N 11 @ Air Force N 18 ARMY N 25 @ Southern Cal Well North Carolina isn't any good, that's a sure win at home....ND has beaten Navy 100 times in a row, home vs. Army is an auto win, at Air Force should definitely be a win, Stanford at home should be no problem, Purdue isn't exactly a powerhouse..... That schedule isn't exactly anywhere near the level an SEC team has to face, or even a Big 10 team for that matter. Let's look at some "tough" big 10/sec schedules shall we? PURDUE FOOTBALL 09/02/06 Indiana St 09/09/06 Miami (Ohio) 09/16/06 Ball State 09/23/06 Minnesota 09/30/06 at Notre Dame 10/07/06 at Iowa 10/14/06 at Northwestern 10/21/06 Wisconsin 10/28/06 Penn State 11/04/06 at Michigan St 11/11/06 at Illinois 11/18/06 Indiana 11/25/06 at Hawaii Man, that's a friggin' gauntlet. :rolly How about this one: LSU 2006 Football Schedule Sept 02 UL-Lafayette Sept 09 Arizona Sept 16 TBA Sept 23 open Sept 30 Mississippi State Oct 07 @Florida Oct 14 Kentucky Oct 21 @Auburn Nov 04 @Tennessee Nov 11 Alabama Nov 18 Ole Miss Nov 26 Arkansas That's a little better...I mean they DO play four real teams (fla, auburn, tenn, alabama). So the point is, how does playing @GT, PSU, UMICH, @SC, not stack up with these schedules? I just don't buy the whole "if you're not in a conference your schedule sucks" argument. I mean it's blantantly obvious that people that hate ND are in the majority here...but really common sense goes a long way. I try to hold my bias in check as much as I can as I try to analyize things, and I think many try to as well but really now this argument is pretty damn weak. Much like the ND is overrated/didn't deserve a BCS bid argument but I think others have already established that as bulls***...hell Auburn and Oregon established this without discussion. I think the moral of the season as a whole is that ND haters need to accept the fact that ND is moving in the right direction (some might argue rapidly), while the ND supporters need to realize there's still a ways before claiming next year's title (mainly finding a secondary and a pass rush).

Well Folks, I'm off to the Fiesta Bowl to support the Irish. Hopefully we'll put on a good showing...as many of the bowls thus far have been rather exciting. Enjoy the massive amount of football in the next 4 days, and Go Irish! EDIT: Aw what the heck, here's my completely biased prediction: ND 31 OSU 28

QUOTE(EvilMonkey @ Dec 29, 2005 -> 05:23 PM) MIAMI -- Florida State University's No. 1 defensive player, linebacker AJ Nicholson, has been suspended by the team. The move comes after an alleged rape incident Wednesday night. No charges have been filed better put a hold on all those bets..lol Maybe he was trying to upstage Miami's 7th Floor Crew...

Michigan lost. You can talk about officiating all you want, but really...it was NEBRASKA. If a team like Michigan, with all the talent they have, can't get in a strong position to win over a down Nebraska team then they're in trouble regardless of bad refs. I don't know what calls everyone is complaining about (I didn't really watch the whole game; I heard it was pretty darn bad though), but the last play of the game was a s***show. No way you can penalize just Nebraska for illegal participation, since Michigan players were on the field as well. However, regardless of the referees, Michigan should have played better; plain and simple. Btw, I REALLY hope they don't fire Lloyd...it'll make ND/Michigan that much easier for Charlie in the coming years.

No Xbox 360 version?

QUOTE(JimH @ Dec 26, 2005 -> 07:04 PM) And the implications for the White Sox are: Pitching is getting even more expensive. Garland's price continues to go up, as does Contreras' for that matter. 5 years and $60 million for Kevin Millwood, that is insane. Insane for the Texas Rangers to stupidly give him that much money, and insane for the game of baseball. Boras does his "job" again, raising the salary bar for everyone else. Javier Vazquez looks more like a bargain acquisition each and every day. I certainly agree. This is ridiculous...but then again it just shows that Texas has learned nothing from Chan Ho Park or even A-Rod for that matter. 12per for Millwood, at 5 years? That's absurd considering he's aging and has injury issues. But it doesn't surprise me, it is after all, Tom Hicks and the Texas Rangers. However, it is a mixed bag for the white sox. On the plus side, the Dodgers still need a starting pitcher and the FA options are running out. On the negative side, as you've said, the price on Contreras goes up...we're probably looking at at least 11million per year on him. It'll be interesting to see what happens on our front now that a large FA pitching chip has fallen...I think weaver is the only decent option left and the Dodgers aren't very high on him as it is.

QUOTE(whitesoxfan101 @ Dec 18, 2005 -> 04:29 PM) This loss for the Colts is like the Illinois loss at Ohio State last year. Kinda hurts, but in the long run, means nothing at all. I don't know how you could say that...I mean that win keeps the Chargers in the playoff hunt. Since they're the only team to beat the Colts this year, in the dome on top of it, don't you think it means SOMETHING? The Colts had a chance to probably knock out their biggest opposition in the AFC today and they blew it. So i guess in the long run, this means plenty seeing as though they may have to play the Chargers again on an even bigger stage.

QUOTE(LowerCaseRepublican @ Dec 14, 2005 -> 11:49 PM) I don't post a whole lot in PHT mainly because of threads like "The Evil Kenny Williams" and the numerous ones in the past. Every move KW made was lambasted & if he didn't make a move he was lambasted. It was like him walking on water and then getting yelled at for not swimming. From our future HOF catcher Miguel Olivo being traded to get our mediocre starter Freddy Garcia...to whining that all KW got was Blum during the midseason trade deadline...to the recent doom and gloom about El Duque getting traded for Vazquez... I am getting so sick of it, I could puke geysers of blood out of my eyes. For f***'s sake, they just won the goddamn World Series. Methinks KW has some idea about what he is doing. He's made excellent moves. While it angers me a little bit that Duque left, I just remembered his forays as a starter earlier last season. If I wanted to see four balls that often, I'd be out renting XXX gay porn. Rowand leaving was bad but you can't make an omlete without breaking a few eggs. With a hurt Frank Thomas being a liability & Kong being a FA, KW had to shore up some much needed power in the lineup. The fact that Thome then went and assisted us in getting Kong (and much needed protection in the lineup) only makes our lineup that much more devastating -- plus how funny is it that we screwed the Angels out of two major power bats? Not to mention the fact that the minors are stocked with outfielders coming out the yin yang so Rowand is replaceable. I think Vazquez will find his form. Look at the job that Cooper has done with players that have the raw, untapped potential & getting them to perform well (Garland, The Count, etc.) So please people...think before posting because I (and I'm sure tons of others) don't appreciate the doom and gloom. Crack open a beer, realize the Sox won the Series, drink and then realize that -- despite the whining, we've got another season ahead of us in a few months because with some of the bile being thrown around here, I almost thought I missed all 162 games of the '06 season. /end.rant. That's a post. Seriously, I feel the same way. Nice work, LCR.

I don't really mean to rehash the specifics, but disregarding the "buT WE DiDnT neEd a StARTeR!@111" defense there's no reason to not like this deal. Besides, with recent Garland developments I'm glad KW has gotten aggresive in finding a replacement...so in that sense we kinda do need a starter. But none of that is either here nor there. We traded two highly expendable, arguably overpaid, major leaguers and a quality prospect for a proven major league starter with quality stuff. Period. Is Chris Young a good prospect? Of course, but name one prospect KW has traded that has come back to bite him in the ass. Right. It's a loss for our farm system, but really prospects like Young DO get traded. Moving on... (This is nothing against, Young...all signs point to him being a quality major leaguer, but I'd rather defer to our front office in regards to prospects) I think the Thome trade and this trade exemplify a quality philosophy for our ballclub. Granted, I have no idea where the payroll is going to, but using practically "selling" prospects to put the other team on the hook for payroll is a quality tactic. Given the percentage of prospect players that pan out, this is a high reward, low risk strategy. KW gets proven, major league players for half price and doesn't have to move any key players off the major league club. With the reduced contract rates, he could always turn around and deal them if they don't work out...and if they do work out, well then we've just added 200+ IP and 40HRs. Now don't get me wrong, I like prospects just as much as the next guy but I like maximizing value more. I think prospect value while they're in the minors is under-utilized...I mean we could have had a ton for Borchard when he was in the minors. When prospects hit the majors, their value gets hurt unless they start producing. It seems as though potential is something that is a bit overvalued in the market, and KW is just selling high and buying low on proven, major league talent with albatross contracts. However, by selling high on prospects he's hedging his risk by reducing his exposure in regards to the financial committments to the players he's getting in return...albatross contracts no more. Hate to boil this down into a financial philosophy discussion but I just got out of my securities final and I think the bigger picture here about financial flexibilty is the key to Kenny's success.

QUOTE(Chisoxfn @ Dec 11, 2005 -> 07:10 PM) I got a question. is there an easy way for me to take songs off my ipod and put them on another computer. I want to move them to my laptop and figure there has to be a way to do it easily (and import them into my laptops library) directly through the Ipod. In the past, I just pulled up the ipod as a drive when i plug it in (i think it's like the f: drive or something). From there, you can open it up and there's a bunch of folders that have your songs in them. Just copy the entire folder to your computer and import it into itunes. Then you've got all your songs.

QUOTE(THEWOOD @ Nov 28, 2005 -> 06:56 PM) What is your definition of "kill them"? I have been out of town and not able to check soxtalk so I quickly skimed over this thread. So forgive me if I mention something that has already been brought up and/or discussed. It seems there is a lot of talk about ND being a great team and individuals having a false sense of what ND is as a team. They simply have a good offense and best an average defense. When you let Navy put up 21 points on you AT HOME that is not impressive. I also saw something about marque players for ND on offense. I will give you Brady Quinn, but who else sticks out at a national level? Also I support ND, I am not "anti-ND". I just dont think they are as good as everyone wants to believe. Not once during a game this year, in which ND was the decided favorite, did I ever think there was a possibility we would lose. That's the difference between this year's team and team's from the davie/willingham eras. And this is what makes ND fans so optimistic, we don't expect everything to fall apart anymore. We actually expect to win and get disappointed about things like "Hey Brady threw 1 pick today, that's horses***" instead of "Man why the hell did we punt on the opponent's 38?" You know why Navy puts up 21 on us? Or why we didn't hang 60 on Pitt? Because of a thing called class. I forgot that in the new age of college football, everyone runs playaction bombs up 35 or fake punts up 28 in the 4th quarter. I mean most of you probably write me off as a pompous ND fan/student, but have you REALLY watched this team in the second half of these games? Teams we're throwing on will against, we run middle for an entire half. We put our second team offense and defense in at the end of the 3rd quarter. Please, don't talk about scoring margins. Also, did you see the entire Irish team and staff stand with the Navy players during their alma mater? On top of that, have you ever seen an ND player resort to the thuggery of other programs? Not that that stuff really matters in determining how "good" a team is, nor is it relevant to the debate, but I think a lot of people fail to understand the quality of men on the field that are so hated by a large amount of people for no specific reason. I understand a lot of you, if not all of you, don't like ND for other reasons, but there's a lot of things about this program that college football "fans" don't see. Just thought I'd point it out a bit. Back to how this ND team stacks up. I've attended every home game in person, and was at Pitt for the game to open the season...so as much as people want to try and nail me on the bias, I know this team inside and out. Also, as many have seen here, I'm the first guy to point out the weaknesses on the team: no pass rush, linebackers at safety aka safeties who cant cover, a thin secondary and a weak kicking game. However, I can say without a shadow of a doubt, that this team is one of the five best teams in this country, with the others being USC, Texas, Auburn, OSU. You can argue a handful of other teams, but it's really splitting hairs...much like talking about schedule strength. Is this being biased, highly optimistic, or overconfident? No. This team is two plays away from being in Pasadena, and I'm not using this as a crutch or an excuse. In fact, if Wooden doesn't hustle to tackle Jarrett and let him score, USC would have one loss right now...I firmly believe that. However, losses are losses, but you can't take away many of the intangible aspects of this team that I wish I could define, that make them so good. And as I've said all year, they'll prove their worth on the field. QUOTE(Wedge @ Nov 28, 2005 -> 06:56 PM) I didn't mean ND deserved a bid at the exclusion of OSU, sorry that wasn't very clear. Out of OSU, ND, and Oregon, I think the choices are clearly ND and OSU. Picking ND over OSU isn't really an issue in my mind. Scary thing about ND: their offense could be even better next year. They've got a 5-star RB coming in via early enrollment that might be even better than Walker. Hell, Travis Thomas, at times has looked better than Walker. But really, Aldridge (the RB recruit you speak of) is going to be a stud. Personally I'm much more excited for Darrin Walls, 5star cornerback prospect. ND hasn't landed a top DB recruit since Bobby Taylor, and we sorely need help there. And the rest of the class ain't too shabby either, probably anywhere from #1-#3 when recruiting is all said and done. It truly is a new era