CanOfCorn

QUOTE(SoxHawk1980 @ Jan 3, 2007 -> 08:51 PM) Quite the contrary. I don't believe that people will agree with me in the end. I think that those who spin every move KW makes into something positive for the Sox for the present, future and all times will take whatever happens in 2007 and torture their "logic" into arguing that everything KW did was just right. Personally, I refuse to be down on my favorite team year after year. That's what Cubs fans do and rightfully so. Kenny, as a GM started out slowly, but I think he has become one of the best GMs in the league. Of course, that doesn't mean he's gonna have a few stinker trades that don't work out, but even Beane, Epstein, Cashman and Schuerholtz have. That being said, I'm a little skeptical, but whoever is in the 5-hole in the rotation has Coop and 4 solid, if not unspectacular veteran pitchers who are game- and playoff- tested. I don't expect Floyd, Danks, Masset, Gio, Vasquez, Aardsma AND Sisco to ALL work out, but if we got 3 or 4 to be solid major leaguers, I would call it a wash. And don't forget, there are two sides to every trade, sometimes it's not who you get, but who you trade. Cotts gave us one great year, one not so great year...what if we won the Series this year with Aardsma in the pen and then were competitive with both Aardsma and Vasquez in the pen and Cotts never got back to 2005 form and was out of the league in 2 years? Who wins? We all have gut reactions when a player we like or think has potential gets traded...and as shown on this board, people freak the heck out. But trades are like presidents...you can't judge them until some time has passed... ...except for Dubya.

QUOTE(Dan @ Jan 3, 2007 -> 05:23 PM) its just a username. who cares. party pooper.

Twins in 3rd for sure.

QUOTE(spiderman @ Jan 3, 2007 -> 04:46 PM) The problem with making a change for a LF is that you're also probably looking for a leadoff hitter unless you believe Ryan Sweeney can win the job in CF, and also bat lead-off, a tall order for a rookie OR Alex Cintron, not a guy I'd want batting lead off either. I really think that, for better or worse, Podsednik is going to be our LF by default simply because it's difficult to trade for someone else who can step into that role at the top of the order. OR, we could trade for a CF and move BA to LF. Depending on how good this new CF is defensively. Then you have a new lead-off/CF and we don't get rid of BA.

QUOTE(spiderman @ Jan 3, 2007 -> 04:33 PM) I also heard that - that may have been the 1st time I've heard an actual disagreement between Boers and Bernstein. I thought Bernstein was more on the money, saying that Buerhle will probably end up in the $14 million per year range, but Stone believes there will be a market correction next off-season. I could be wrong, but I thought I had heard that next off-season, the crop of free agents is even better ???? Stone did say that he didn't think the Sox are done, but didn't really say what he thought he would do. Bernstein mentioned SS and CF (I believe that is what he said) - I don't think SS will change - Uribe/Cintron is average, and it's not like there are a plethora of SS available. CF is the one position that I could see a possible upgrade as Williams did say earlier that they are still considering their options, but I really can't see anything more than a stop gap option like a Brady Clark type player coming in. We'll see though.... Or a LF? I mean, Pods is a trading chip...he's not much worse than Pierre, Roberts or Matthews and he's cheaper.

Holy Crap, It's 2007 Shuffle: The Narcotic Suite: 3 Kilos - The Prodigy Let Go - Frou Frou This Song is For the Underground - Krome & Time You Got Me Burnin' - Cloud 9 Work 01 - Front 242 Is it Love? - Chili Hifly Something's Goin' On - Mystic 3 Give the Jew Girl Toys - Sarah Silverman Time of Our Lives [uK Club Mix] - Paul Van Dyk Here It Goes Again - OK Go

Five more: 1. Was a cable puller at the Bulls/Scottie Pippen 1.8 second game and nearly elbowed BJ Armstrong in the mouth trying to catch up to my cameraman during the fight that broke out. 2. Was a grip during the Blackhawks final regular season and final playoff game at Chicago Stadium. 3. During a Bulls-Magic game (this is going to date me), when I was holding the parabolic mic, Shaq nearly stepped on my left hand. He noticed this, looked back and said, "I hope you're a righty." 4. I nearly tripped over James Woods. Yes, he is that short. 5. Played Blackjack in Vegas with Debra Messing. Extras: 6. Tried my damndest to be a video editor for the Sox after meeting two of the guys that worked there during a company function at New Comiskey. 7. Saw 4 roof shots in one year. 8. Had an Ozzie Guillen home run streak where I was at a game where Ozzie hit a home run for four straight years.

QUOTE(tonyho7476 @ Jan 3, 2007 -> 12:43 PM) Southsider? You live in Indiana. Cornholer2k7?

1. I dated a girl in college for a longer period of time than the amount of time I knew my ex-wife (and that includes dating, engaged, married and divorced). 2. I've been to New Mexico more times than Indiana. 3. The waiter at the Billy Goat still recognizes me 4 years after the last time I was there. Yikes. 4. I've been to Mardi Gras twice and Oktoberfest once. 5. The first professional baseball game I attended was a Cubs-Astros doubleheader in 1978. Cubs won 3-2 and 4-2, but I had to come home between the games because Wrigleyville was a terrible neighborhood back then and my dad wanted me home. I was a Cub fan before I knew what that meant until '83 and the Winning Ugly Sox. I never regretted my decision! (Plus, my grandfather is a Sox fan and he took me to my first Sox game)

QUOTE(Balta1701 @ Jan 3, 2007 -> 11:23 AM) Which can have a lot to do with mechanics as well. One thing you should note...between Cooper and Hermy...how does our record of keeping people healthy compare with the rest of the league? Out of the starters, the only 2 who have hit the DL in the past 2 years have been the Cubans, and God only knows how old they are. They've kept Jenks healthy despite the screw in his arm, the only real bullpen injury issues seemed to be Marte and Hermanson...that's very not bad for a pitching staff. With that throwing motion he has, he is going to hurt himself...I mean, come on...anyone who can make their hat fly off has got a little torque going. I think Coop is working with him. And I think he will be better.

QUOTE(RockRaines @ Jan 3, 2007 -> 10:46 AM) They must see something in Floyd that not many other people saw, because they seem high on him. I like what KW has done to keep our team competitive and our payroll down, and with Gio, Danks and Sisco, we possibly could have 3 young dominant lefties in our rotation at the same time, which is kinda sweet. If the White Sox really do see something wrong with Sisco and Floyd, and have rehabbed the careers of Thornton and MacDougal, then there should be some pitching coaches fired around the league and Don Cooper better get a big ol' raise!

QUOTE(hammerhead johnson @ Dec 28, 2006 -> 06:54 PM) I agree. If you're looking for adventure, go to Wisconsin Dells. Stay the f*** away from the mountains. DUDE! Those Ducks are dan-ger-ous!

Don't live in the past. 2k7. If Kenny Williams has moved on, so should you.

QUOTE(southsider2k5 @ Jan 2, 2007 -> 11:49 AM) Vitale kept b****ing about IU not being there, did he ever stop to think that one R. Montgomery Knight didn't want them down there? Have you ever BEEN to Lubbock? I'd rather stay in Bloomington and release a statement.

Two things since I'm just back from vacation and didn't want to read through 9 pages. 1) Getting John Danks hopefully will help us get Jordan out of Texas after 2008. We drafted him but he chose to go to Texas instead. Not sure if we retain his rights or not, but if John likes the org, than maybe we can get Jordan to sign as well. He's a hell of a hitter, although I don't know how good of a fielder he is, since he DH'd a good part of last year as a freshman. 2) Putting McCarthy in Texas isn't going to make it easier for him to succeed. That's one hell of a hitters park.

I am just going to be a devil's advocate FOR Jordan for a second. [Disclaimer: I do not condone his cheating ways at all, but I think there are too many sides to professional athletes story to just say, He's a cheater, end of story.] Many athletes marry young, I believe, and have heard this from other high school and college athletes I have met over the years, because these are women they trust. Or at least THINK they can trust. They knew them before they ever had money (if they, in fact do go on to the pros). So, they knew them when they had nothing, and therefore, aren't golddiggers. Then, once that athlete gets to the pros, between the young ages of 18 and 22, and they have women throwing themselves at them, groupies, so to speak, what do you expect? Shoot, I was a barrel of raging hormones in my college years and early 20's. Again, not to condone it, but after years of that, I expect someone to have a breakdown and give in at least once. And once you get stuck on that slippery slope, I can't imagine it would be easy to stop. To say, "I wouldn't get married until after I was retired" is assuming a lot more maturity than most of these people have. And we are looking at it from outside the situation. Maybe, they had an agreement? Perhaps she was cheating just as much. CAn you see guys bragging in a bar saying, "Dude, I totally banged Jordan's wife." I sure can. I'm just saying, there are many sides to this story. For a time, he was arguably, the most famous, most recognizable person on the planet. If our leaders can't stay away from the 'tang, I don't know how you expect sports stars or actors or anyone with any fame to stay away. And yes, I have seen Jordan cheating first hand at the old Drink on Fulton. And I was disgusted. But I did understand why.

QUOTE(YASNY @ Dec 21, 2006 -> 01:25 PM) He's nothing but an insurance policy. What's the name of that insurance? Oh yeah:

QUOTE(Controlled Chaos @ Dec 21, 2006 -> 11:10 AM) Isn't that what being a fan is all about? Rooting for your team to win. Rooting for them to exceed expectations, as they did in 2005. From reading your posts since you joined I really can't remember one positive post. It's like you live to be f***in complainer. For whatever reason your logic is b**** and moan CONSTANTLY about your team instead of cheer for them to win. You want to be a realist in life, go for it, but part of being a fan is being optimistic. It's rooting for your team even if they're the underdog. That's not to say you can't be critical, but you're for your team to win. Just like a player doesn't go into a game thinking we have no chance. Some of us fans aren't far removed from playing sports...hell I'm sure a lot of fans still play sports and you don't go into it thinking "we suck, we're gonna lose" You call yourself a realist...I say be real and take a look in the mirror and check out what you've been shoveling. Totally agree. Thanks for helping me make my point. I'm certainly not qualified to be a GM...I leave that to the 30 presently doing it. And I think that Kenny has moved up to near the top of the list of best GMs in the game. Maybe not top 5, but pretty close. He doesn't make as many knee-jerk trades anymore and we shouldn't have knee-jerk reactions when a roster move is made. I hope that all of these moves work out and we win another World Series...just so I can see the haters eat their hats. But that's just the optomistic crazed White Sox fanatic in me.

QUOTE(Balta1701 @ Dec 20, 2006 -> 06:51 PM) However, that is still different from the holiday which the U.S. government recognizes on December 25th. The Supreme Court's actual ruling on the matter says that displays are acceptable as long as they are designed in such a way that a "reasonable person" would not interpret the display as an endorsement of a particular religion. Given that this bus driver was almost certainly not endorsing the same religion you advocate, and any reasonable person would conclude similarly unless he began lecturing the students on how his messiah was born wearing that hat 2342 years ago, my legal standing is sound. Because the U.S. government recognizes things like Christmas trees, Santa Claus, flying reindeer, and Tim Allen movies as part of the non-religious tradition of Christmas, unless the driver used the hat to openly advocate for the specific santa-worshipping religion, both he and I have no legal problems whatsoever. Now there's a reason to sue.

I'd give 2k5 a campaign manager.

QUOTE(Buehrle>Wood @ Dec 20, 2006 -> 11:24 PM) Heard a similar question on the radio the other day, thought it be fun to discuss. Baseball divides the city in half every year. It takes football to reunite it. As for basketball, well, we had Jordan. Also lets throw some other cities into the question: New York- Baseball LA- Basketball Houston- ??? Detroit- Hockey? St. Louis- Baseball Boston- Baseball First of all, Chicago is DEFINITELY a football town. Where else can hated rivals in the summer come together and cheer with each other in the winter? Not New York, they are divided in ALL sports. Not LA, unless you consider the Kings (which I don't). As for your other cities. I think you ar dead-on. Not sure about Detroit, but I think it's a coin flip between hockey and basketball. Houston? Football, hands down. Even with the Texans, who, um, aren't that good...there's still high school football and college football. In fact, I would default all of Texas to football.

QUOTE(thedoctor @ Dec 21, 2006 -> 09:45 AM) wilson is declaring tonight at 6 p.m. chicago time. brent is not declaring with wilson because he had a basketball game rescheduled to this evening. not sure when he's announcing, although reports suggest that wisconsin is making a strong late push. Sorry, I thought they were going to declare on the 20th. Let's hope Kelvin Sampson doesn't get his mitts on either of them.

So, has anyone heard about Martez or Brent? Weren't they have supposed to declare yesterday?

See what happens when you eat too much sausage and pretzels and drink too much beer? You become a Cubs fan.

QUOTE(SoxHawk1980 @ Dec 20, 2006 -> 08:30 PM) It is actually much easier and more fulfilling to go through life as a realist. Realistic fans are the best fans. Any fan can have their hope for the best morph into expecting the best. Unfortunately, this is what most fans do. Ah yes, the realist vs. pessimist argument. I was that guy...and then I realized I was a pessimist.