fathom

Speaking of Gus, Bill Simmons has had some great comments about Gus lately. Is it safe to say that Gus is the breakout individual of this tournament? Why did James Brown have to sign with CBS?

Congrats to Ohio St. Oden made the big block, but I'm still convinced they're a better offensive team when he's out of the game. It's too bad Lofton didn't get the last shot....could have been one of the all-time "Onions". Very good games tonight, even though I'm getting annoyed with all these fouls in the last 10 secs leading to the deciding points. I want some buzzer beaters.....and GUS JOHNSON TO RETURN.

QUOTE(RockRaines @ Mar 23, 2007 -> 03:08 AM) Hes had 2 touches the whole game. That's why I said Thad's getting outcoached. For as good as he is defensively, Oden has been fouling too much lately. That first call on the push on Lofton was shaky, but there's no reason for him to be making contact on that flex play at all.

QUOTE(ZoomSlowik @ Mar 23, 2007 -> 03:00 AM) The first two games he wasn't that bad, outside of that stretch against Xavier when Matta decided he wanted to go man to man and play Oden on a perimeter player. Plus what do you expect when he's matched up on a much smaller, quicker player? I can't think of too many 7-footers that can keep up with a SF type... If they go small, that's fine. However, if he has to give up some on defense, he should be dominating on the offensive end then. I like Thad a lot, but Pearl is superior to him in terms of game coaching. There's not a better in-game coach than Pearl.

Could Greg Oden be less impressive this tournament so far?

That Kobe guy is pretty good.

QUOTE(Cerbaho-WG @ Mar 22, 2007 -> 09:54 PM) The more and more I think about Pods and Erstad leading off, the more I dream of having two fat guys who can't run at the top of the order, but get on base 37% of the time. Anyone who has a brain in their head knows that the entire offense is premised around hitting three run bombs, so you might as well get the guys on base first before we try hitting baseballs into the concourse. I still remember getting laughed at for suggesting we trade a starting pitcher for Adam Dunn. I can't believe some people actually think it's smart for us to be bunting in the first inning before our 3-4-5 hitters get up.

QUOTE(Jenks Heat @ Mar 22, 2007 -> 09:42 PM) Our catchers have trouble handling non-knuckle ball pitchers and have no chance against knucklers. PB takes away the DP that would have been and run scores. Reed K's This is why Haeger shouldn't be a reliever. Too much of a walk/passed ball risk.

I look for Donovan to be the next Kentucky coach. It would be the perfect time for him to leave, with his studs leaving for the NBA after this season.

I thought Buck is pretty solid at throwing? Also, with all of the LHP in our division, Pods will be playing in about half the games within the division if he's platooning with Pablo.

No way Huggins will leave KSU after the incoming class he has.

Baseball is the only sport where I don't mind bandwagon fans, and it's for one reason: payroll.

QUOTE(GoSox05 @ Mar 22, 2007 -> 04:46 PM) You don't have to do a dnce for every move made, but when we sign Darin Erstad some came out and said the season is over. How can you support or not support a move when you dont know the results yet? Everyone thinks there a GM and have any idea how it works. I know I don't so I try and see what happens. Personally, I didn't mind the Erstad trade.....as long as he wasn't handed a starting CF spot. Many of us knew that he was the prototypical grinder, and that it spelled doom for Anderson. I'm not even close to being a member of the BA Fan Club on here, but it's a shame to see what has happened since we traded away Chris Young with regards to our CF position.

QUOTE(RockRaines @ Mar 22, 2007 -> 04:42 PM) Its easier to take disappointment when you are pessimistic from the start. If thats your thing, thats your thing. If you're trying to say it's easier for someone like me to take a loss, then I'll have to disagree. It's fine though....as much as you probably disagree, in the end, we all still want to see the White Sox win.

QUOTE(SleepyWhiteSox @ Mar 22, 2007 -> 04:25 PM) Well, that's no fun. The hot start was never gonna hold up anyways, and the pitching never did it's part in picking the team up when the offense struggled a bit. The full season of subpar pitching hurt the team way more than the periods the offense struggled, particularly since overall the offense did very well. Anybody else not gonna bother watching this year since we're doomed anyways? Our pitching was pretty damn solid over the first half of the season. It all seemed to go downhill once Buehrle bombed during that Sunday game vs the Cubs. One of the main reasons I got annoyed with Hawk's homerism last year was when he said the team never came together. We had like 5 or 6 hitters during the first half of the season who were absolutely on fire for a consistent period. Not many teams throughout a season can claim that. It's scary to think about how bad Buehrle, Contreras, and Jenks were during the 2nd half of last season. In my opinion, those are the 3 guys on the pitching staff that we need to be above average pitchers in order to push our talent level from 3rd or 4th in the division to 1st or 2nd. QUOTE(SleepyWhiteSox @ Mar 22, 2007 -> 04:25 PM) Anybody else not gonna bother watching this year since we're doomed anyways? You know I like you Sleepy (tough loss BTW last night), but I get annoyed with these "questions". I don't think anyone is claiming that this team doesn't have a chance to contend. QUOTE(RockRaines @ Mar 22, 2007 -> 04:33 PM) Its not worth trying to convince these guys to be positive or to unconditionally love this team. If you root for the Sox, does it mean you have to support every move they make? When the Sox make a move that us "pessimists" like, we're the first ones on here saying it's a good move, etc.

QUOTE(kane0730 @ Mar 22, 2007 -> 04:24 PM) No thanks to Brady Clark. I think they should just wait until the trading deadline and make a play for someone like Andruw Jones. If we weren't going to trade prospects for the superior Soriano last year, no way we'll go after Andruw this year.

QUOTE(Heads22 @ Mar 22, 2007 -> 04:15 PM) Some of the minor leaguers I've talked to sound a little disappointed about the whole situation with Brian. Just a "hunch", but I don't think a lot of the minor leaguers like Ozzie. I know there were a lot of furious people about the Tracey incident, and I've heard similiar rumblings about the Anderson situation to what you have.

QUOTE(SleepyWhiteSox @ Mar 22, 2007 -> 04:15 PM) No way. Pitching killed us last year, plain and simple. We should just cancel the season this year. It's hopeless... Check it out, I had changed my post before you even responded to this. I don't want to get into another debate about just how bad our offense was during the 2nd half of last season.

QUOTE(ScottyDo @ Mar 22, 2007 -> 04:06 PM) Because he's better than Jason Marquis, yet somehow cheaper. No, he's not cheaper. Right now, I believe we are the 4th most talented team in the division overall.

At least Jenks has been consistent this spring.

QUOTE(Kalapse @ Mar 21, 2007 -> 04:57 AM) Man I loved that AJ move, I remember getting into my car on the way to work (probably 3:40pm or so) and hearing George Offman report that AJ had been released by the Giants. I jumped up out of my old Imperial and yelling to my brother on the other side of the front lawn "WILLIAMS BETTER f***ING BRING HIM IN!". Williams bringing AJ in for an interview to see if he was "White Sox material" was just too perfect, of course AJ aced that exam. That was the one move before '05 (Dye right behind that) which I absolutely LOVED at the time and I first started getting optimistic about the 2005 season after that. I still remember the disappointment on the night when tenders had to be given towards your arbitration players, and we signed Ben Davis for a million dollars right around midnight. At that time, we all thought that AJP would be going elsewhere.

QUOTE(Kalapse @ Mar 21, 2007 -> 03:39 AM) Aberration Anomaly It doesn't matter what you call it, you're never seeing that type of production from Darin Erstad ever again and I don't get why it's even mentioned, Hawk has mentioned 2000 during every Erstad AB this Spring even during games that weren't on TV. I remember last year that there were quite a few people suggesting that Erstad's career year was due to steroids. It's funny how now that he's on the Sox, I haven't seen one mention of that.

From what I can recall, most people were thrilled we got El Duque, as we thought that would be the end to the 5th start massacre from the year before.

Mackowiak for Brady Clark rumor in tomorrow's Tribune. It makes a ton of sense.

QUOTE(Tony82087 @ Mar 21, 2007 -> 04:31 AM) I can promise you everyone else on this board is as well(Except Fathom, what an asshole.) I look forward to asking for Eduardo Perez every game we face a lefty.