Kalapse

QUOTE(Felix @ Feb 6, 2007 -> 12:58 PM) Yes, how dare he have back to back years with an ERA below 4 and 200+ innings. This is a pretty good deal for the Reds, especially considering Harangs age. All while pitching at the Great American Bandbox. His 128 ERA+ last year was the 9th best in baseball. He also lead the NL with 216 Ks which was good for 2nd best in baseball behind Johan.

QUOTE(Vance Law @ Feb 6, 2007 -> 01:01 PM) yikes, if I heard someone say this:" Thome...blaimed for the lack of 'smallball" I wouldhave to call it, at best, silly talk. No matter how insane it sounds, that sort of talk took place quite a bit last season and it makes me sad.

QUOTE(fathom @ Feb 6, 2007 -> 11:22 AM) Interesting blurb in Fred Mitchell's column today about how a former NBA player, who retired 3 years ago, is going to "come out" on Valetine's Day. Should make for some interesting speculation, just as the rumors that there's currently a gay NBA player on the Nets has. How about his one, what former NBA player retired 3 years ago, just got a divorce, is notorious for loving the nightlife and would have a connection to Chicago, the trib and Fred Mitchell? Oh he also loves white women but what gay guy doesn't?

QUOTE(Vance Law @ Feb 6, 2007 -> 12:47 PM) If by "a near pass" you mean "he's the most complained about and scrutinized player on the team," I agree with you. If by "a near pass" you mean "a near pass" I would say that applies only to Mark Buehrle despite his being, if you had to rank them, the number one reason the Sox didn't make the playoffs. Their great starting pitching got them the World Series in '05. Mediocre starting pitching would have gotten them in the playoffs in '06. Their bad starting pitching kept them out of the playoffs. Buehrle was the worst of the starting pitchers. It depends on who you're talking about, if you're talking about the type of fans that are on this board then yes Pods was really nailed last year but if you're talking about the type of fans who call into White Sox weekly (the majority of Sox fans) then the guy got a serious pass last season compared to guys like Vazquez and even Thome (who was blaimed for the lack of 'smallball). And yes Buehrle did get a pass last year but I'm talking about next season, if Mark f***s up he's going to get killed in the press.

QUOTE(Steve9347 @ Feb 6, 2007 -> 12:44 PM) what has the world come to when Aaron Harang getting 9.125 million per season is a deal? we can soooo kiss Mark Buehrle goodbye. Aaron Harang has been one of the best pitchers in the NL the past 2 seasons, has a great power arm, top of the rotation stuff and is 28 years old. This is a GREAT deal for the Reds. He's certainly better than Garland and will be making about the same amount as Jon over the course of his deal.

QUOTE(southsider2k5 @ Feb 6, 2007 -> 12:23 PM) I don't think that this actually violates the spirit of the anti-trust agreement, and thus should be left alone. I do believe this combined with the see no evil approach to their drug policy will get them attention in Congress, especially when the Mitchell investigations start to turn up some dirt in the form of complicity or even aiding by the ownership higher ups in the steroid scandals. I really think we will see MLBs anti-trust exemption come up for review in the next few years as their dirty laundry gets aired in front of the entire country. That I can absolutely agree with.

QUOTE(southsider2k5 @ Feb 6, 2007 -> 12:11 PM) Actually it does mean that Congress should be invovled because there is no other means to address the problem. The anti-trust agreement means that MLB can do whatever it wants, and pretty much violate most of the usual laws that other groups have to follow, the NFL included. Eew this is starting to feel like politics. I don't really do politics anymore. And you're right about the exemption that does put them in the spotlight for Congress, not really sure why I even put that, regardless I really don't want them to step in on this one, I don't feel it's the place regardless of MLBs numerous f***ups and exempt status.

QUOTE(southsider2k5 @ Feb 6, 2007 -> 12:06 PM) MLB involved the Senate when they asked for an anti-trust exemption a long time ago. That leaves the Congress as their only oversight to make sure MLB is on the up and up. When they keep screwing the fans over, they are going to raise the ire of the Senate, it's inevitable. So where were they when the NFL sold the rights to Sunday Ticket? Just because MLB has an exemption doesn't mean they should be targeted by Congress when something like this happens. And the Antitrust exemption has absolutely nothing to do with why John Kerry got involved in this case.

QUOTE(Jimbo @ Feb 6, 2007 -> 11:00 AM) I dont understand....riddle me dumb and confused. Brian is the Original Soxtalk Threadkiller.

QUOTE(Chisoxfn @ Feb 6, 2007 -> 11:22 AM) Ya, John Kerry is involved. I'm holding out hope that either the senate blocks this or that just the added pressure has MLB back out and do a non exclusive deal (basically how they did in prior years) with the new MLB channel being part of more premium packages (as opposed to basic packages). Still I don't think this is an issue the senate should get involved in. I totally agree on that, this situation sucks and all but once you have the Senate stepping in on cases such as these, they overstep their bounds. Kerry really has no case here, if they want to have an exclusive rights deal then that's their right to do so. And if this is such a hot issue for Kerry and Congress, where were they when any of the other 1000s of exclusive rights deals were going through? Even in the exact same genre, why wouldn't they step in when DirecTV bought the exclusive right to NFL Sunday Ticket? As much as I hate this deal, I don't want Congress involved at all.

QUOTE(VicRattlehead @ Feb 6, 2007 -> 11:43 AM) Kalapse....I take you're talking about his gracious ballerena style of playing LF? That and his lack of strength, unimpressive agility, constant injuries, choppy running style and the deterioration of speed we've seen over the past few years. The guy is just not an athlete.

A few trips to the DL including one sustained injury that keeps him out for about a month which leaves the team with no real 4th OF, Ozzie goes back on his word and starts Mackowiak in CF around 40 times.

QUOTE(easyw @ Feb 6, 2007 -> 07:10 AM) By mid-August, I predict Scott Podsednik will be working the deep fryer at Arby's in Tinley Park. With the scratch his wife is bringing in and his rugged good looks I doubt Pods will ever have real job again. By 2009 you'll see him modeling sports wear in clothes magazines. QUOTE(VicRattlehead @ Feb 6, 2007 -> 11:29 AM) Yes he does. Thats the problem with him...he doesnt but much anymore and he isnt that good of hitter so when he doesnt have his legs working he doesnt get those infield singles from deep in the hole at short or down the 3B line. Scott Podsednik is the least athletic 'speed guy' I've ever seen.

QUOTE(SoxFan101 @ Feb 6, 2007 -> 09:39 AM) To be fair Grossman was 20 for 28, and that one interception had a lot more to do with weather than it did with him. Grossman wasnt what Id call pretty by any means but I spread the blame to a lot more others on the team than just him. He picked up a great portion of his completions and yards in garbage time, he fumbled twice (lost one) and threw 2 picks (he had no business tossing up either of those passes, weather or not they were both terrible). He had a horrible game, he wasn't the only one to be pathetic out there but as the most important player on the field he can't just go 3 quarters being insignificant and then give away the game in the 4th. 3 turnovers is totally unacceptable. As for the 2 interceptions, the one to Moose was just terrible, I don't know what the hell he was doing there and the one he threw to Bob Sanders was especially said considering he had Berrian open but just put too much air under the ball, your QB needs to step up in those situations, not make stupid mistakes resulting in turnovers.

QUOTE(witesoxfan @ Feb 6, 2007 -> 03:19 AM) I believe he was too jonEmac to be apart of the league anymore I changed his sig from jonEmac to Joan Mac for like 5 seasons, it drove him CRAZY. It's the little thing in life. I really do hate that Cub loving drunkard.

QUOTE(knightni @ Feb 6, 2007 -> 12:35 AM) We could have the Braves open soon as we will be doing team switches for 2016. No more Joan Mac?

QUOTE(DrunkBomber @ Feb 5, 2007 -> 11:48 PM) Hes a good coordinator but i think hes greatly overrated. hes just running a basic cover two and doesnt have much of a blitz package. Teams know were gonna try to beat them with our defensive line and we ran into a team who could stop it. Im not that thrilled with either coordinator but dont want to hae to learn new systems with the team being so close. You're not supposed to have to run blitz packages with the cover 2, all the pass rush is supposed to come from the defensive line so the linebackers can play in coverage and you can not blitz defensive backs because of how important they are in the secondary to the cover 2 scheme. If you put Rivera in a defense that allows for a little more creativity than the cover 2 I could see him absolutely thrive, the man knows what he's doing and frankly I think the cover 2 scheme is holding him back. I almost hope he leaves the Bears just so I can see what he's capable of doing with a non-cover 2 defense that he's able to put his signature on.

QUOTE(Jordan4life_2007 @ Feb 5, 2007 -> 10:43 PM) Question for Kalapse and Willie, where was all this pre-superbowl? I'm not saying you guys acted as if Rex was the perfect qb, or even a very good one. But why now are you acting as if Rex is a lost cause and will never get better? I didn't make many football posts this year, I waited 19 games hoping for Rex to show me some improvement. I backed Rex basically his entire career up until this season when he didn't make the strides I thought he should have after his first full season as a starter. Like most have said, it's not really fair to make judgments on a player until after their first full season as a starter. And I never said he was a lost cause just that as of now I don't think he's going to be able to overcome his many shortcomings, most of which he has yet to improve upon.

QUOTE(SoxFan1 @ Feb 5, 2007 -> 10:38 PM) Like I said, 27 games means nothing. Injuries haulted any progress he was making. He can still get better at his pocket presence and in his abilities to get away from the rush. He doesn't need to be fast. Take a few stops outside the pocket, or step up into the pocket. Anything to buy some more time. And why wasn't he doing any of these things after starting 19 games this season? QUOTE(WHarris1 @ Feb 5, 2007 -> 10:39 PM) It's really really hard to avoid a rush when you are not only slow as s*** but you are small as all hell. Peyton Manning is not fast, but he can avoid the rush because he is a GIANT. Too true. When you're 6'5" 230 you're going to have a bit of an advantage.

QUOTE(SoxFan1 @ Feb 5, 2007 -> 10:34 PM) Why not? Peyton Manning certainly did. He was a 100% pocket passer when he came into the NFL. How many plays did he make out of the pocket last night. Especially the throw across his body to Dallas Clark. By the time he was 26 he was escaping the pocket a bit so he could throw on the run and learned how to secure the ball, he also has a huge build so it's easier for him to escape the grasp of defenders.

QUOTE(SoxFan1 @ Feb 5, 2007 -> 10:30 PM) And you don't feel Rex can improve upon those at the age of 26? 27 games in and he hasn't shown any improvement on anything I listed in that post and he'll be 27 the next time he takes the field.

QUOTE(SoxFan1 @ Feb 5, 2007 -> 10:28 PM) How would Angelo sound saying Grossman is a franchise QB after we just lost the Super Bowl, and knowing the media would be all over Rex? And when Benson went down, the idea of running all over the Colts got shot to hell. It was during a press conference following the win over the Saints. You know the game Grossman was pretty good in.

QUOTE(Jordan4life_2007 @ Feb 5, 2007 -> 10:26 PM) Not off the top of my head. I'm sure I could if I looked. Look, I'm not looking for Peyton Manning, Dan Marino or Joe Montana. The most realistic things he can improve on that would make him better is learning how to consistently handle pressure, especially up the middle, and knowing when to attack and when to take what the d gives you. And although he's slow overall, I think he should be better as far as moving around in the pocket. I don't know if he's scared to get hurt again or what. But he needs to get over that. Ok, if he is able to get past these things then yes he will be pretty good however he hasn't improved on any of them especially his pocket presence, he still refuses to step up and by his 27th NFL game I kind of expect to see him show some success in these areas.

QUOTE(SoxFan1 @ Feb 5, 2007 -> 10:21 PM) So what more do you want from him? He will never be Peyton Manning. Get that through your head right now. Height means nothing. Bring up all the stats you want, but that is not the reason he hasn't succeded. Brees is the same height as Grossman, it's been mentioned many times. Frank Tarkenton and Joe Theismann were both 6 feet tall or under. Vick is 6 feet as well. It's not just height, it's mobility Vick is one of the fastest players in the game and has insane escapability and Brees has above average mobility and pocket presence as well as the ability to throw on the run.

It didn't seem like the coaching staff had much faith in him yesterday with the ridiculously conservative stripped down offense they were running for the entire game including that final defeatist drive they had to end the game. Not to mention Jerry Angelo refusing to call Rex a franchise QB despite having called him one many times in the past.