jackie hayes

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jun 3, 2008 -> 09:19 AM) The way NBA free agency works it that only the teams with a lot of free money can sign players, and the only reason they have a lot of money is that they traded all of their good players and suck enormously. A top 5 NBA player isn't going to a team like that. Remember when the Bulls tried it and all of the top free agents laughed at them? At worst the Heat will get a bunch of players in a sign and trade deal. If it is forced by Wade, it is a totally different story versus the team doing it on their own. Not necessarily. If you have good young players, you can be in a position to sign someone to a big contract (like Orlando did in the last offseason). The Bulls could be in that situation. (Of course, that depends on what they do with Gordon, Hinrich, etc.) There's been a lot of talk about teams positioning themselves for that class, so I don't think it's a given that none of those players will make a switch. The problem with a sign-and-trade is that the team loses its leverage. At that point, the player's basically announced that he isn't willing to play for his old team, so the Bulls could reasonably say that they won't trade Deng in a deal. I'd agree that a top 5 player won't go to a team that "sucks enormously", but the flipside is that he won't stay with a team that sucks enormously. Miami has a very good chance of sucking enormously for years to come. That's why I think Miami has to at least consider trading him while they can still get a good return.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jun 3, 2008 -> 09:06 AM) If you can get a D-wade and still keep your #1 pick, I don't care who on this roster you trade away, you do it. I still don't see how Miami could make a deal even with a Deng in it. That would be a death knell for that franchise. You might as well back up the truck and trade away everyone. You're right, but would it be any better if he walks in a couple years?

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jun 3, 2008 -> 07:24 AM) This can't be serious. Why would the Heat do this? I can't imagine they'd actually do the Wade + #2 for the #1. But if I'm the Heat, I at least think about Wade + #2 for #1 + future 1st round picks (2, say) + Deng + others, IF I'm fairly certain I won't be able to hold onto Wade for more than the next two years. They'll almost certainly have a fairly high pick next year, too, and Rose + Deng + 2009 lottery pick + other 1st rounders is not a bad nucleus for a team that can't avoid a pretty significant makeover. I'm not sure I'd do it, but I'd think about it. There's a big pr hit, of course, but they didn't seem to be drawing well this season, anyway. I remember one Heat-Cavs game where they had an astonishing number of empty seats. It shocked me that they couldn't get people to go to a game like that, if just to watch the Wade-LeBron show.

Screw health, you make the trade if it's there and you wait for him to get healthy. Wade is a superstar talent. If he's available you make the move. The tough choice comes with the other pieces of the trade. Include Gordon, Noc, future #1s, sure. Including Deng would give me pause. I'd still probably say yes, but that would take some of the joy out of a move like this. As amazing as it seems that the Heat might be willing to move Wade, they have to be very worried about their ability to hold onto him in a couple years. That team is such a mess, and you can't imagine he's eager to stick around until and if the team's rebuilding is complete. If they can get more for him now than they could in a sign-and-trade two years from now, they have to consider it.

I'm sure he was merely mistranslated. The peaceful solution is probably that Ahmadinejad keeps talking like this but doesn't do anything. It's empty rhetoric. He doesn't have the stupidity to attack Israel, particularly with a nuke. Despite the criticism over the word choice, we would obliterate Iran if they nuked Israel (no matter who ends up president), and he knows it. This is just playing to his base.

QUOTE (DrunkBomber @ Jun 2, 2008 -> 04:51 PM) I can see that I guess but I doubt we will never really know. Theres no way the guy is ever going to admit he was dazed but at the same time a few seconds before the fight was stopped he looked like he was lost. That's true, but he looked that way a couple times earlier in the fight, too, and each time he would avoid a punch and then put Kimbo on the mat. I'm thinking he was looking to do that again, and had a decent chance of succeeding. But it's all guesswork at this point.

QUOTE (DrunkBomber @ Jun 2, 2008 -> 04:16 PM) I dont disagree with that at all. I know Kimbo was exhausted, but I think he did enough to end the fight and I think Colossus had no idea what was going on when the fight was stopped. You can see it in his face. Imo, he knew exactly what was going on, he was just flabbergasted at the stoppage. His eyes followed the refs hands (the signal that the fight was over), his eyes then snapped back to the refs face and he looks incredulous. The ref was saying something, probably that the fight was over, then he flailed out at him.

QUOTE (kyyle23 @ Jun 2, 2008 -> 03:25 PM) I dont understand what you didnt like, thats exactly what happened Agreed. Also, I think people are making a bit too much of the 'hitting the ref' thing. He was frustrated, it was an immediate reaction, and it was more like a disdainful push than a punch. I'm not saying it's okay to do that sort of thing, but I don't think he was thinking of hurting the ref.

Please dl Ryan Zimmerman, oh please please please please please.

That bawling you're hearing this morning in the apartment upstairs? That's one of Travis Henry's kids. Rotoworld reporting that The Great Inseminator has just been released.

QUOTE (SoxFan1 @ Jun 2, 2008 -> 10:57 AM) That would definitely also be a target, but I personally feel that between his youth and the fact that he played all 82 last season, Charlotte will want far too much for a guy who really isn't all that fantastic offensively. Brand is a 20-10 guy at age 29 while Okafor is a 14-10 guy at age 26 (when the seasons starts). To be honest with you, there is no reason not to expect Noah to be able to put up Okafor numbers in a season or 2. You'd also have to lock up Okafor at big money soon. With Brand, you could recover the cap space and sign a guy like Wade in two years.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ May 31, 2008 -> 04:38 PM) Who in the world would the Cubs have that would interest the Indians at that level? Considering that if he walks he's a type A guy, I'm not sure that emptying the Cubs minor league system would be enough to pry him away if I was the tribe Uh, Matt Murton? Durr... Admittedly, it's a steep price to pay. But the system would hardly be empty with future superstars Felix Pie, Angel Guzman, Bobby Brownlie, Jeff Szmardjialphabet, Bobby Brownlie... And Eric Patterson! Don't you ever forget Eric Patterson! Yeah...they don't have s***.

QUOTE (Brian @ Jun 1, 2008 -> 04:30 PM) Prior being Prior. Yeah, I saw the headline on rotoworld, and I wondered what kind of snark the comment would use. I should have realized, every joke's been used and it's just not funny anymore. There's nothing left to say. If this turns out to be the end of the road, I gotta say -- As much of an ass as he supposedly is, and as big of a disappointment as he certainly is, and as ebullient as I was when his team pissed away the NLCS, he was still one hell of a talent. Adios, muchacho.

QUOTE (MHizzle85 @ Jun 1, 2008 -> 12:08 PM) It was obvious because of it being on CBS that they were going to stop these fights before they even had the chance to get ugly. UFC would be the "king" of MMA, mainly because of having a majority of the best fighters in their organization. To my knowledge EliteXC hasn't been around as long and would be lower on the totem pole. Thanks. That was kind of my impression of UFC vs Elite, but I don't really know why I thought that.

QUOTE (MHizzle85 @ Jun 1, 2008 -> 02:09 AM) So the EliteXC event tonight started off well, but ended poorly. Whether it be the ending to the title fight, or the suspicious ending to the Kimbo fight...i'd say it's an epic fail for EliteXC. Hopefully they'll take notes from the WEC on Sunday. As someone who never watches MMA, it left me wondering. Do they always stop the fights like that, or did they do that because it was on CBS? I don't mean just the Kimbo fight, because I known there are other possible reasons for that. But the middleweight and the women's fight seemed to get a quick stop, too. And what's the 'hierarchy' of these leagues? Is UFC>EliteXC, vice versa, about equal?

QUOTE (knightni @ May 31, 2008 -> 07:43 PM) I heard that he had torn hammies on ESPNNews this afternoon. The surgery is speculation, I admit. But, he will not be stealing bases for the rest of 2008 with those injuries. Also, as long as it lingers, the only obvious progression for that injury is surgery. It just depends on how much pain he can handle in the meantime. ALL strains are tears, I believe. It doesn't mean it won't heal, nor that he needs surgery, nor that he won't steal any more this year. I think that would be true for a complete tear, but they haven't backed off the diagnosis of a grade 1 strain, which, if I understand it, would just take some rest to heal -- something like 3 to 4 weeks, give or take. I'm open to correction, but until I hear something worse, I'm kinda doubting your take.

QUOTE (knightni @ May 31, 2008 -> 08:04 PM) Byrnes could be having surgery. Both of his hamstrings are torn, so, his SB history is... history. Originally, they said that they were strained, but they are actually torn somewhat. Eh...that's the first I've heard of surgery, and I find squat when I do a search. Are you basing that on anything or just speculating? Everything I've read says that he'll probably take longer than 15 days to return, but nothing has said he's suddenly going to lose all his speed, nor need surgery of any kind.

QUOTE (FlaSoxxJim @ May 30, 2008 -> 11:19 AM) throwing my own $0.02 in. . . There already is an established and eagerly anticipated Soxtalk hot chicks contest that has evolved its own round-robin type elimination structure. Doing the same thing as a compilation of submitted lists, imo, won't be as compelling. Just my thoughts. Go Beer! Totally agree on the first part. Don't mess with tradition. But I gotta go with the tv cartoons. The beer threads are fine and all, but I wanna hear arguments about how Tutenstein would kick Spongebob's ass.

Need some advice -- W/ Pedro returning soon, I'm trying to decide who to stash on my dl. Between Byrnes, Hawpe, and Carpenter, who would you choose? I've never been a Byrnes fan, but, c'mon, 50 sb and 20+ homers. I still have faith in Hawpe, but man if he hasn't tested it. And Carpenter's supposed to return only a year after TJ surgery -- that feels a little soon. Usually I go with the pitcher, but the other two are pretty damn tempting. Thoughts?

Out before finishing 4. Not pretty. And I threw him tonight in one fantasy league. Ugh...

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ May 30, 2008 -> 12:02 PM) In terms of where they were the day they were called up for the first time, I think the last guy who I'd say was at the level where I think Kershaw can be right now is Verlander. Just amazing stuff to start off. Maybe King Felix or Liriano would go in that boat, but each of them has a different set of pitches. But with young pitchers...there's so many variables it's just impossible to say whether you'd rather have one guy or the other. You give me 2 dominating young pitchers, I'll place a bet that 1 of them will suffer a major injury within a few years that sets them back (who would you have picked in 06, Liriano or Weaver/Verlander?). Or one will have his mechanics go screwy after a bad game and his pitch counts will go nuts (Floyd, Billingsley). Or one will have something else crazy happen. His curve is great, but comparing him to Liriano? 2006 Liriano was one of the most dominant pitchers I've ever seen. There was one pitch in Kerry Wood's 20-k game where some announcer said, God couldn't hit that curve. That's a decent description of about half the sliders Liriano threw that year. Liriano's not "maybe" in that boat, he's driving the damn thing. That's not to pan Kershaw, nor is it saying that Liriano's a better long-term bet (far from it), it's just to say that Liriano's stuff that year probably won't be approached by any rookie for a long time.

QUOTE (SoxFan562004 @ May 30, 2008 -> 05:23 PM) you may be right, I guess on TNT last night Doug said he wasn't interested in coaching until he talked to Chris and he talked him into coaching again. No... The only way that happens is if the players like them both and the Bulls are playing well, and if that happens, I wouldn't have a problem with the move. But the players have too much of a say for that to be preordained.

It really wouldn't seem that difficult to create a changing ballot based on playing time. Suppose you only get added to the ballot once you get 100 abs, something like that. Don't release a ballot until a reasonable number of players qualify, then add players as they qualify (while still allowing write-ins for anyone). You'd still get the ridiculous Coco Crisp votes, but at least you'd get rid of this sort of Owens/Quentin nonsense.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ May 30, 2008 -> 09:14 AM) They showed a stat last night on ESPN that he improved all three teams he coached at least 10 games in the first year he was a head coach, including an 18 game improvement when he took over Washington. A LOT of that is MJ, not Collins. His first year with the Bulls followed an injury year for Jordan, and his first year with the Wizards was also Jordan's first year there. Collins is a training wheels coach. He'll wear out his welcome in a year or two, but hopefully he'll instill better habits in the meantime. I think, all in all, I would have preferred Avery Johnson. I really like what he was able to do with the Mavericks, and Devin Harris in particular (just thinking about Rose's development, if he is indeed the pick). But this could work out, too. I was a fan of Collins when he was with the Bulls. Wait and see.

QUOTE (Athomeboy_2000 @ May 29, 2008 -> 12:46 PM) and bring back Phil, run the triangle and win 6 championships in 8 years. Hmm... Maybe not Phil, but someone like Phil. Paxson needs to find the next assistant coach who despises Red Auerbach. And I'm afraid the years ahead may be lean ones. I really can't guarantee any more than 4 championships. I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I know this is a strange view, but, dammit, I'm just trying to be realistic here. Dwayne Wade isn't getting any younger...