ZoomSlowik

This is seriously dis-heartening. I'm a big Northwestern fan that has met Coach Walker on many occasions. He was a very nice guy that seemed to love coaching. He'll be missed.

I could have sworn that we posted this before and the right answer for mine was Billie Jean... I was right. Billie Jean by Michael Jackson for the US, Let's Dance by David Bowie for the UK.

QUOTE(DBAH0 @ Jun 29, 2006 -> 11:09 PM) Enjoy; http://www.minimalsworld.net/BrazilName/brazilian.shtml Depending on what I enter, I get Slowinho, Josinho, or Zoildo.

QUOTE(tonyho7476 @ Jun 29, 2006 -> 03:21 PM) Too broke? Are you living on the streets in River Forest? That doesn't mean that I have money.

QUOTE(SoxFan1 @ Jun 29, 2006 -> 05:33 PM) FYI, MOST Bulls fans are not happy with the Thomas pick. Just come over to talkbulls.com and hear people like me rant about it. As for the starting pitching, I would consider myself moderately concerned. I have faith that Buehrle and Contreras will be fine, and that Vazquez will not be as bad as he has been this month for the rest of the year. With those last two, their stuff seems to be fine, but their execution, location, and composure hasn't been there recently. That's a bit easier to fix. I'm definitely more concerned about Freddy and Jon. Freddy's stuff just doesn't seem to be there much anymore. I've heard that he's supposedly trying to throw the fastball a little slower to get better control and placement, but that clearly hasn't worked as well. I don't know why you'd futz with something that is working for you like that unless you simply can't throw it that hard anymore. Besides the fastball, he can't seem to control his breaking stuff as well, which hurts. He knows how to pitch and can still be decent, but I don't expect too many more dominant starts. He's still fine for a 3 or 4 pitcher though. Garland's never been impressive with his stuff, so he has to be spot on with his control and have good composure. He's also walking people a little more often this year, and with as few strikeouts as he gets, that's playing with fire. He hasn't shown me anything this year. He seems to be pitching a little better recently, but the numbers just don't show it. If I'm Kenny, I probably trade Freddy or Garland in the off-season and give B-Mac a shot. I'm not sure which to trade yet, that will depend on what kind of package we can get and who appears to be more dependable at the end of the year. I just don't like what I've seen from those guys so far, and I have my doubts that both of them can turn it around.

QUOTE(Buehrle>Wood @ Jun 29, 2006 -> 02:32 PM) No, it's coming out at the same time. Really, didn't see that. Either way, I'm far too broke to buy either right now.

QUOTE(SleepyWhiteSox @ Jun 28, 2006 -> 03:57 PM) gta won't be exclusive. That's true, but I'd imagine that it'd be like on the last generation where it came out on the Playstation 2 like a full year before it came out on the Xbox. That's an awful long wait...

Tyrus Thomas in a Bulls' uniform makes me want to vomit. An undersized PF that can't score isn't what we needed. He's basically a 6'8" Tyson Chandler. He's got way too much Darius Miles in him for my liking, only it's worse because his perimeter skills are weaker.

QUOTE(DBAH0 @ Jun 27, 2006 -> 10:15 PM) I'm gonna wait until next year when the prices is cheaper, and when GTA IV and Metal Gear Solid 4 are both out. Table Tennis by Rockstar looks like a fun game to own though. To the best of my knowledge those are both PS3 only, at least as of right now...

QUOTE(DBAH0 @ Jun 28, 2006 -> 07:15 AM) Question - Who else thinks from here on out to the end of the season, Minnesota will have a better record than Detroit? I really don't think that's going to happen. I'll take the team with the 11-game lead and the much stronger lineup. Before someone gushes about the Twins' rotation, it's been pretty bad outside of Santana and Lirano. Boof Bonser has been the next best starter with a 4.68 ERA. Radke and Silva will probably be a little better, but they're not exactly aces. They look a lot more dangerous than they did a couple of weeks ago, but I don't see them as a threat to either team barring a major collapse. The Sox will still take this division when all is said and done. They're playing almost .660 ball even though three of their starters have been bad most of the year. The Tigers are only two games better even though all of their starters have pitched out of their minds. Mark my words, all of these guys will not finish with ERA's under 4 at the end of the year, and my guess is that at least two of them are over. The only one I can see improving on his performance thus far is Bonderman. That doesn't mean that they'er going to fall apart and only win 88 games, but it does mean that they'll fall well short of their current pace.

QUOTE(THEWOOD @ Jun 27, 2006 -> 06:36 PM) Just need to make sure we actually have people who remember to pick towards the end of the season. Last year there were only 3 or 4 of us picking the last few weeks. I know. That's the real reason that I win, I'm just the most active. I just felt like stoking my ego a bit. Both years I was in the middle of the pack until about week 7, then I shot up the boards. There's also some luck involved, especially early in the year when you don't necessarily know what to expect from all of the teams. QUOTE(jackie hayes @ Jun 27, 2006 -> 08:07 PM) Just curious -- why are some people so adamant about Yahoo? I mean, that's what I've used most, and it seems to work pretty well, but why would you avoid it if it were hosted somewhere else? This is just a guess, but most people on here play fantasy baseball, which isn't free on other sites. The same was once true for football, until ESPN made theirs free and everyone else was forced to follow suit. Because of that, not everyone has a fantasy ID on some of these other sites. That's just my guess though. I will say this, I wasn't a fan of Sports Illustrated's football leagues, and I personally prefer Yahoo's setups for baseball and football to ESPN's.

Giambi really doesn't make any sense. His OBP numbers are better and he has more homers, but that's about it He just must have known that New York fans would freak out if they didn't have any starters. It's also obvious that he didn't count DH's at all, since there are at least 3 of them that are crushing him statistically.

QUOTE(Wedge @ Jun 27, 2006 -> 02:19 PM) I see a lot of really lopsided deals here... can anyone think of some deal that made both teams worse? One could argue David Wells for Mike Sirotka...

QUOTE(CanOfCorn @ Jun 27, 2006 -> 12:54 PM) Dan Shanoff of ESPN's Page 2 had an idea of including all of the Divison I teams. It's kind of a three or four tiered thing. Top 32 teams get a bye through to the final 64. The rest fight it out to get the last 32 spots and then it's the same as usual. He suggests that this will create more George Mason scenarios (although didn't mention them directly) and would get the smaller schools more tv time. I like the idea to a point, but does Chicago State, Quinnipiac and IUPUFW really need to play another game to show that they don't deserve to play in the tournament? Would people actually watch a Robert Morris-Stephen F. Austin showdown? Methinks not. At the rate they're going, that's the only way that Northwestern is going to ever get in the tournament.

QUOTE(Buehrle>Wood @ Jun 27, 2006 -> 01:52 PM) The White Sox were originally pegged to get him while giving up Joe Jackson and 60,000$. But the Red Sox took the 100,000 instead. How dumb. This is clearly the worst deal ever. Damn, that would have worked out a lot better for the Red Sox. Most of the really bad ones were youngsters for older more established veterans, so I have a hard time criticizing the people that made those that much. They clearly had no clue that Brock, Smoltz, Bagwell, and others were going to be as good as they became. It's hard to predict success for young players most of the time. Another one that looks really bad right now is Scott Kazmir for Victor Zambrano. Kazmir was one of those can't miss type young pitchers, and Zambrano is clearly mediocre. That one looked dumb from the start.

QUOTE(SoxFan1 @ Jun 27, 2006 -> 11:42 AM) 3-0, Ze Roberto. It looks like they keep trying to play an offside trap at mid-field. Probably not too smart against a team like Brazil.

If Ghana had Essien this might have been interesting. That first goal was just abysmal defense and a hell of a finish by Ronaldo. Nothing has really mattered that much after that.

There's no way that there are 128 teams good enough to fill a field. Hell, it's already a little too easy if you're a major conference team. You can sleep walk through half the year and still make the tournament because you have one decent win and finish 17-14. Just because there are about 4 mid-majors every year that might have a case doesn't mean they need to expand the field again.

QUOTE(THEWOOD @ Jun 27, 2006 -> 07:22 AM) sign me up also I hope we are doing another college pick em this year If nothing else I'll run it since I'm the 2-time Defending Champ.

The leagues will definitely be Yahoo!, that seems to be the Soxtalk-preferred host. It also helps that I have about 8 or 9 ID's there, only about 6 of which I remember.

QUOTE(Wedge @ Jun 26, 2006 -> 07:56 PM) Vazquez, Garland, Garcia, they've all pitched like s***. The only difference is that Vazquez had a decent start to the season, so his sucktitude is a more recent phenomenon. I think of our pitchers, Vazquez is probably the most frustrating because anybody who watches baseball can tell you he's got the arm, but the second things go wrong he falls apart. As has been mentioned, it's like Contreras prior to the ASB last year and Garland forever, although Vazquez definitely has a better arm that Garland. I know we traded El Duque because he wanted to start, but I guess I question why we traded for another starter if we were sure McCarthy would come through as a starter. That said, I guess it's always possible that Vazquez turns it around Contreras style, but I just don't see it. At least Contreras had done it before in Cuba. Sure Vazquez had 3 nice seasons in Montreal, but it certainly isn't the body of work Contreras had back in Cuba. On the plus side, Vazquez should eat up 200 innings, which isn't a bad thing. I think it can be done. I don't think he'll make as big a change as Contreras, but he's also not as far off from being good. He's come up with some very good starts, he just needs to figure out how to not get shelled in his bad outings again. He had four really bad starts that are really dragging down his numbers. He's got the stuff and he's not walking guys, so it just looks like needs to stop nibbling so much early in the count and work on his pitch selection. I'd rather have guys that have problems with their mental approach than guys that just don't have the stuff. Freddy's stuff just isn't there very often anymore, and Jon has stuff and mental issues.

QUOTE(South Side Fireworks Man @ Jun 26, 2006 -> 07:22 PM) KW probably figured McCarthy couldn't be counted on to pitch 200+ innings yet. But now that we're almost at the halfway point, he should be fresh for the second half. I wouldn't expect him to be lights out, but I'm pretty sure he could maintain an ERA at 5.00 like Vazquez, and possibly lower. I get the sense that Javy has a bad attitude and I don't think he fits in well here. While I always liked Contreras, even when he was struggling, I can't warm up to Vazquez. I don't think he's a "winner". I'm just speculating, but I would bet A.J. doesn't think too highly of him right now. As for Chris Young, whether he was on the 25 man roster or in AAA, at least we would have a solid defensive CF in the organization to back up Anderson. If BA were to go down, we'd be in bad shape. We need another competent CFer. Edit: Another point is when KW made that trade both Contreras and Garland were unsigned and were indicating that they were going to be tough to re-sign. It's highly unlikely that B-Mac starts in the second half now that he's been in the bullpen all year. It's not that easy to suddenly start going longer outings mid-season. Vazquez is also going to post an ERA lower than 5 too, since his ERA hasn't even been that high for 24 hours yet. You're taking a guy's numbers when they're at their lowest point and assuming that he's going to keep pitching like that. Anyways, Garland hasn't been able to keep his ERA under 5.50, and you're not complaining about him. I don't put a whole lot of stock in your "sense", that seems pretty baseless. I can't see why you'd like Contreras but not Vazquez, they're virtually the same. Contreras was just as awful and mentally off when we got him, possibly even more so. I don't really see how the signability affects anything. He still had all year to work things out, and neither of the guys were dealt or bumped out of the rotation because of the deal. Plus he was already in negotiations with both of them, so if that were really a factor he would have waited until they played out before doing anything. Garland was signed in late December, so he still would have had a lot of time before the season, and he could still do the deal at the deadline if he really wanted to.

QUOTE(WCSox @ Jun 26, 2006 -> 07:15 PM) I agree about Vazquez. He has much better stuff than the other two and a year under Coop could make a huge difference. It's almost a toss-up between Garland and Garcia, though. Garland has very pedestrian stuff (good sinker and two-seamer, but his offspeed stuff is weak and he doesn't locate his hook) and has to have good command to be effective. He's young and durable, though, and will eat a ton of innings at the back of the rotation. Garcia doesn't throw 95-96 mph like he used to, but his offspeed stuff (75 mph) still makes that 90-93 mph fastball effective. Like Jon, he gets hit hard when he doesn't locate because his stuff isn't overpowering. Freddy's the better pitcher (by far, IMO), but he's already peaked and is only under contract through next season. It's doubtful that he'll be re-signed uneless it's for a lot less. Further complicating matters are Freddy's relationship with Ozzie and Jon's relationshp with Mark. Despite what KW has said about B-Mac definitely being in the rotation next season, it wouldn't surprise me if he went back on that statement. I get the feeling that he's going to want to see another year out of Freddy and Jon before making a decision. The problem with Freddy is that I haven't seen him hitting 90 much recently. Most of the time he's been around 88, and his breaking stuff hasn't looked too sharp most of the time. Even in his gem against St. Louis his stuff didn't look all that impressive. I think he's the best at surviving without his best stuff, but his stuff is also the least impressive, and he doesn't seem to have his good stuff too often anymore. I'm kind of worried that he's getting close to the end of his effective days. I hope I'm wrong for our sake.

QUOTE(South Side Fireworks Man @ Jun 26, 2006 -> 04:46 PM) I doubt if Freddy would stand around and watch his catcher get drilled twice and not even pitch inside. Freddy can be frustrating too, but he has shown that he can pitch his way out of trouble even when he doesn't have his good stuff. I would trade Vazquez for Vizcaino and Chris Young right now. McCarthy could go to the rotation and pitch at least as well as Vazquez if not better, Vizcaino would pitch as well as McCarthy out of the pen, and we'd have a good defensive back-up CF. Freddy isn't exactly an intimidator either, not that it really matters in this discussion... I really don't think that B-Mac could consistently produce, and apparently neither did Kenny since he made the trade. If he goes through the lineup more than once leaving pitches up like he has been most of this year, he's going to get nailed, most likely more than he has in bullpen. He's never produced in the long term, so he's no more certain to pitch well. Kenny has wanted Vazquez for a while, and he's going to give him at least a year to straighten things out, probably two. He's not going to make a knee-jerk reaction because someone gets off to a slow start. If he did that, everyone but Buerhle and Thome would be elsewhere already. Freddy is a lot more likely to go because of his contract situation, which is fine with me because his stuff seems to have slipped. I've got a lot less faith in him performing like a #2 or #3 starter again. Neither of those guys are even the biggest problem on the staff right now, since Garland has pitched like crap most of the year. There's also no way that Young would be on the major league roster. He's simply not ready yet. He wouldn't be on the bench either because he needs at bats to continue his development.

QUOTE(Tony82087 @ Jun 26, 2006 -> 04:41 PM) If there is one guy that is actaully on KW's "Big Board" its Brandon. He has said countless times that the Sox WILL find a way to get Mac into the rotation next year, which is telling Garland-Garcia-Vazquez to step it in gear,because the weakest link is hitting the road. Mac is not going anywhere. I would think the rankings of most likely to go would be Garcia, Garland, then Vazquez. My reasons: 1) We just got Vazquez, and Kenny has wanted him for some time. He is very similar to Contreras when we got him: great stuff, high salary, and a history of sucess (going back to Cuba for Contreras) despite recent struggles. I just doubt that we give up after one year. 2) Garland just signed an extension this year, and is the youngest of the group. However, he is also the worst in terms of performance thus far, and it isn't really that close. He could be the one to go if we can get more talent for him. 3) Garcia only has one year left on his deal, which makes him more of an unknown in terms of salary. He also seems to have lost some of his stuff and doesn't appear dependable anymore.