thedoctor

QUOTE(Buehrle>Wood @ Oct 17, 2005 -> 11:33 PM) Reminds me of Chester Frazier of the Fighting Illini. His only other offers were from La Salle and The College of Charleston. Despite this, I guess he has been absolutly phenomenal since makng his commitment. it will be interesting to see how frazier develops. there's been a lot of positive buzz about him in the preseason so far and people seem to think he can play some good minutes this year. we'll see. if he does emerge as a contributor, it will no doubt help ease the sting of losing collins. anyway we can find out a way to meld zook and weber? we have one coach who can recruit but can't coach, and another who can coach but can't recruit. put em together... (kidding, i know weber can recruit)

geez, brantley and mariotti admitting they were wrong. the sox going to the world series. dogs and cats living in harmony. the apocalypse?

QUOTE(Chisoxrd5 @ Oct 17, 2005 -> 06:46 PM) True...hopefully Chester Frazier and Trent can bridge the gap for one season until Rose and Gordon decide to choose ILL...which is beginning to look like a big if with Gordon now looking at Duke and Rose being recruited by every whos who in college basketball. It is remarkable to me after watching our team last year run a guard friendly offense that had two players taken in the first round, is unable to recruit a big time guard. It is slightly concerning and dumbfounding... no doubt. for awhile a prescribed to the theory that it would just take time for weber to come in and establish his presence. however, matta's kind of blown that whole theory to hell.

QUOTE(Palehosefan @ Oct 17, 2005 -> 05:01 PM) Ouch, I just heard Sherron Collins chose Kansas over Illinois. Thats a tough loss. disappointing. still, meacham is a nice hedge until the gordon-rose years begin (hopefully, fingers-crossed).

QUOTE(Greg Hibbard @ Oct 17, 2005 -> 06:32 PM) This was a Sox town from 1991-1994, that's for sure. I'm not saying I would want an explosion. It would suck to have to worry about tickets for the game and whatnot. i'd trade that worry for increased payroll flexibility each year.

QUOTE(LVSoxFan @ Oct 17, 2005 -> 06:21 PM) Forget it. And I'll tell you why. We could win three World Series back-to-back and this will still be, and always will be, a Cubs town (I mean within the city limits). I'm sure there've been many threads here about why the Cubs outdraw the Sox every year; no need to rehash that. Of all the theories I've heard, the most sensible one to me was that we both have the same number of hardcore fans, but the amount of "casual" Cub fans absolutely dwarfs the Sox. While I think the Sox winning consistently would definitely boost the attendance somewhat, they are still the Sox and that is not Wrigley Field. The Cubs "experience" is a Chicago legend--the actual game is secondary. With the Sox, we've got the game but unless they rebuild the Cell on Lake Michigan's shores, the "experience" isn't the same. We go to games to watch baseball. Wrigley and the Cubs have made a goldmine off people who go just to... go. But let me tell you a little something about how, even as the Sox-crazy local media has been giving us our due finally, there's a reality here. I live on the North side--between Belmont and Diversey on the lake. All weekend I went to my local to watch the games, because there's a handful of Sox fans that are regulars there. Friday and Saturday night there was a pretty good turnout. Last night, to my amazement, there was maybe 1/2 the people or less. Here we are on the brink of the WORLD SERIES going for the clinch, and barely anybody's out. Granted it was a school night, but the difference between that and the '03 Cubs playoffs was like night and day. During that, every single place up and down Broadway by me was packed with people watching the game. Each and every game. In and around Wrigley those weeks, it was like Mardi Gras. There were news helicopters overhead for almost two weeks it seemed. Granted I'm in the heart of Cubland, but you'd think there were at least some casual fans or bandwagon jumpers out and about! So the Sox win and we go nuts--the champagne flows, we sing songs and high-five each other. After a while, it's time to take a stroll down Broadway. There was nobody. And I mean nobody. No firecrackers, car honking, people screaming--nada. It was like any other Sunday night at 11PM. This morning I ran into an old boss who lives right off Lincoln Ave. in the heart of Lincoln Park--so a bit removed from Wrigleyville. He's by Lincoln & Belden, where there's a stretch of bars usually packed with sports fans, including Barleycorn's and Kelsey's. FYI Barleycorn's was a huge hangout for people watching the Bulls back in the '90s. He said after they won he went out on his roof to listen to the pandemonium and... nothing. No fireworks, screaming, nada. He said on a regular Saturday night there's more noise than there was last night. I was shocked that even there it was a ghost town. And so it was on the North side: a huge, gaping void. No street celebrations, no Sox flags flying, barely any "GO SOX" materials to be seen. Had it been the Cubs, I guarantee you that party would STILL be going. By me, downtown, everywhere except the South side. Point being: last night cemented more than ever for me the reality that we are basically like a team in another city--the other city being the Southside. Sure people in Bridgeport and by Midway were all crazy (and by the Cell, LOL), but it just reinforces the idea that the Sox are very much a Southside allegiance, and have nowhere near the city (and suburban) wide fanbase that the Cubs have. I'm guessing that during the Series starting this weekend, even a four-game sweep will be met with a collective sigh around my 'hood. Sure, there's pockets of us here but again: to the average Chicagoan, they, quite simply, root for the Cubs. Look on the bright side though: when the Cubs almost did it in '03, that glimmer of hope drove their ticket demand through the ceiling. Even as recently as this summer, it is difficult to get Cubs tix for ANY game, much less marquee teams playing them. They are pretty much sold out every game. Do you want that at the Cell? I don't. I like our stepchild status and the fact that although they may have the celebrities, the fawning coverage, the stupid Jimmie Buffett concerts and the hearts of the majority of the city--we're better than them. This takes the sting off the split with them in the Crosstown (which is ultimately a meaningless series anyway): now no Cub fan can talk any smack about us: we're in the Big Dance! BTW I can also tell you that there is unbelievable bitterness among Cub fans that we've gotten this far. Even at the place last night, there was one a-hole who was rooting for the Angels. Because he's was a Cubs fan. So that, combined with Sox-hating (not that some here aren't above the opposite) means that you're not going to see a lot of casual or fence-rider fans now get behind the team for the good of Chicago or whatever. They don't consider us representative of Chicago. They feel it should be them. Check out a Cubs board if you want to see how bitter they are. Jesus! i guess my only quarrel with a lot of that is that it's not correct that chicago has "always" been a cub town. it's cyclical like many other things.

QUOTE(Steff @ Oct 17, 2005 -> 06:17 PM) From rumors, they are not done - beyond the seats. What do you mean by "contract revenues"...?? i will guess he means revenue from the u.s. cellular contract. and what rumors do you speak of?

the opportunity certainly is there. because of what just happened, a whole generation of young fans in the area are going to have their interest piqued in the white sox. if the sox build on this through continued strong play and a solid marketing effort, i think you could sway a whole generation of kids to the sox. and once you go black, you never go back.

QUOTE(Balta1701 @ Oct 17, 2005 -> 05:37 PM) I heard the same thing on ESPN Radio out here yesterday during the NLCS...there was a suggestion BMac might be on the W.S. Roster. El Duque was pitching/warming up in the bullpen last night for what that's wroth. yeah, that's why it surprised me.

gammons just said el duque is unlikely to pitch in the series because of shoulder troubles. w t f is this all about?

i saw this column today on espn's homepage and thought it was pretty interesting. a few months back espn hired former new york times journalist george solomon to be it's ombudsman. an ombudsman is basically and in-house quality control person. anyhow, i just saw the column and it is pretty good. i thought it might be interesting for folks, because i know a lot of people here really don't like espn's coverage of a lot of things. this also might be the guy to air your grievances to if you got em. solomon

QUOTE(southsider2k5 @ Oct 13, 2005 -> 12:41 PM) So he was better off dead, than to ask Reinsdorf for tickets? lol. that almost makes me want to snort some jello.

nice

no shame in losing to byrd, particularly on three days rest. has it not been stated and re-stated that junkballers are sometimes better on short rest? their more tired, their arm speed slows down and voila, a little more bite on the off-speed stuff. i would rather have faced colon on short rest than byrd.

QUOTE(ScottyDo @ Oct 11, 2005 -> 06:34 PM) i'm pretty sure ripping on comiskey and the new soldier field is a sports-writer's staple. they probably teach it in journalism school, or coney island community college, or wherever they go... yep. funny thing is, i know a fair amount of sportswriters, mostly beat guys who cover a lot of games and see a lot of stadiums. most, if not all of them, said they really enjoyed their experiences there and were surprised how nice it was. but, it's hard killing perception, particularly when that perception is reinforced by columns like this (a very good column otherwise, btw).

the further the sox go, expect more of this, not less. frankly, i generally like litke's writing. he lives in chicago, so i'm surprised this story didn't do anything more than rehash a bunch of crap you'd find on a google search.

QUOTE(tonyho7476 @ Oct 10, 2005 -> 08:41 PM) And 24 hours from now, I'll be s***ting my pants again. I get too nervous. they do make products for that.

QUOTE(fathom @ Oct 9, 2005 -> 03:07 PM) I've been a little concerned lately that there doesn't seem to be a lot to suggest that PK is coming back to the Sox next year. If he does leave, I would still rather keep Dye in RF, and try to upgrade at DH and 1B. Oh well, we have plenty of time to worry about these issues. it probably has a lot to do with the thin free agent market and the fact that there are a lot of teams with money to spend out there. if someone throws outlandish money at pk (which is likely, imo) we know we aren't going to match. i am already guessing that the only way pk is back is if he accepts less money because he wants to stay. i do think that's possible, albeit unlikely.

i'm surprised espn let him wear a sox jersey. "but coach, we have this really nice yankee jersey. it's pinstripes, too..."

QUOTE(thedoctor @ Oct 7, 2005 -> 04:39 PM) for the most part i've liked who the bears picked. this week three of those guys (bradley, harris and orton) will start, and another guy (benson) will play significant minutes. so much for that. bradley, key fumble. harris, burned for touchdown. orton, key fumble. benson, the key fumble. :banghead

for the most part i've liked who the bears picked. this week three of those guys (bradley, harris and orton) will start, and another guy (benson) will play significant minutes. whether or not these guys are long-term successes remains to be seen, but there were many years with hatley and wannstedt picking guys where guys got drafted then fell off the face of the earth. jerry angelo has made a fair amount of mistakes as bears general manager, but his drafts have been pretty good. not saying there haven't been some busts in there, but everyone has that.

QUOTE(bighurt2719 @ Oct 6, 2005 -> 04:45 PM) as someone who has worked in broadcasting for over 6 years now, i can assure you that espn doesnt care. if you pay to advertise on espn during the playoffs and pay for it, they are not going to run your commercials on another channel because of a percieved bias. the advertiser paid for baseball playoff placement on the channel the game is on, not baseball playoff placement on another channel that no one who cares about baseball would be watching. just like any other station, they would run an add for the KKK if the KKK paid enough for it. Obviously they are collecting top dollar for the placement of the ad, which whoever is paying for the commercial probably had to bid to get. This is how broadcasters make money- people pay for commercials. Do you expect them to turn down an offer to pay for a ton of advertising? ESPN or no ESPN, no station is stupid enough to turn down a s***load of money, which ESPN is getting from that author or whoever is paying for the commercials. yep.

QUOTE(kyyle23 @ Oct 6, 2005 -> 04:08 PM) His "party in back" has steadily increased during the year the s***'s gotta go somewhere.

espn doesn't affect my enjoyment of white sox baseball one way or another. the only thing i can say has remotely spurred a reaction from me is when brantley looked at the camera and declared "the white sox are not going to the playoffs" earlier in the season. it's been somewhat enjoyable to see that mullet-wearing douche proved wrong.

i was at home with my 3-year-old daughter and jumped off the couch and yelled. she looked at me kind of funny, so i just said "go sox!" she got this huge smile on her face and said "go sox, daddy!" it was great. a moment if you will.