Jake

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jun 22, 2012 -> 09:08 PM) 2.5 years and $30 million. Bringing him in wouldn't be the worst thing in the world.

I like the non-scruffy Thornton better. Now he just needs a haircut.

I don't hear much talk about Aramis, does he have a lot of time left on his deal or something?

Who is due up next inning?

Two fine plays by O-Dog. He has some redeeming to do.

QUOTE (Baron @ Jun 22, 2012 -> 08:49 PM) I want to add the other one to our ball club That'll be Viciedo, Jones, Quintana, and Pedro Hernandez please.

Both of these pitchers are excellent.

If Axelrod doesn't succeed right away, I'd rather see Simon Castro come up. Bruney was the right guy to call up. Has had sporadic MLB success before and unlike most Soxtalkers I'm okay with a guy who isn't going to set the world on fire in the long reliever role. It also doesn't f*** up another young pitcher's development by sticking him in the last spot in the bullpen, Brian is more than used to being a reliever and a sporadically used one at that. Fuku could have worked out and may catch on with someone else, but Jordan Danks is the better player right now and I'd much rather see what we have in Jordan if someone is to go down with an injury for a while as opposed to trotting Fuku out there at this point who may produce but no longer lacks the upside of a talented 25 year old like Danks. Wish the best to Humber who may be done as a White Sox, though I assume he'll return and probably take Bruney's spot.

Seems like we're getting more and more of the good Soxtalk posters over there We certainly want a user base that has some degree of independence from this one, but to attract those people we need to be talking about s*** over there. I'm enjoying it so far. I also love the Bulls board skin.

QUOTE (Soxbadger @ Jun 22, 2012 -> 10:16 AM) Until proven otherwise there are 2 coaches in the NBA who I think actually add wins to their team, Doc Rivers and Popovich. Every other coach is either neutral or a negative. Call me a nuthugger, but I am not sure if the Chicago Bulls make it into the championship conversation without Tom Thibodeau. He was a negative in this year's playoffs, though. He handled the shake up from the injuries worse than the players.

QUOTE (WHarris1 @ Jun 22, 2012 -> 09:27 AM) I did not realize prior to this series that Scott Brooks was capable of such blatant stupidity as a coach. His insistence on using Kendrick Perkins despite the fact that I'm unsure if he contributed a single positive play in the entire Finals was mind blowing. Not too mention the stubbornness to stick with the double teams of LBJ despite the fact that he was dropping dimes for wide open 3s possession after possession. This. I think we put that whole team on a pedestal when in reality Kevin Durant is amazing and the rest are a notch or more below. Very classy of Brooks to talk to his troops in the last timeout, if anyone saw that replayed on ESPN. Said "they beat us fair and square" and wanted to make sure that every Thunder player took the loss gracefully, congratulating the Heat. With the way LeBron dominated these playoffs, I have to wonder if he needed "superstars" alongside him to win it. Wade in particular still had some great games, but these playoffs were all LeBron. Could he have won in Cleveland on a team that would have the money to invest in role players instead of superstars?

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jun 22, 2012 -> 08:16 AM) There's starting to be a decent chance Castro will get a look this year if there's need for another starter, although they're talking up Leesman a lot so he might still be ahead of Simon. Either way, he's back up to AAA and is probably in the team's long term plans as I'm typing this. Yeah, I think Castro will be one of the next guys we see. Leesman...I don't know. I wonder how many lefties we're willing to have in the rotation? lol. Castro (supposedly) has a very high ceiling though so I hope he really produces in AAA.

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Jun 22, 2012 -> 09:06 AM) Greinke away from Miller Park as a Brewer: 8-8, 4.80 ERA Usually when the opposing player has stats that suggest he'll dominate us, he will. When the stats suggest he'll suck, he will dominate us. The Sox also go 0-162 every year.

QUOTE (WHarris1 @ Jun 22, 2012 -> 08:49 AM) I mean that's kind of how sports work, no? I think the fact that damn near the whole world loved MJ while LeBron is perhaps the most hated star today speaks volumes, about something at least.

QUOTE (Soxbadger @ Jun 21, 2012 -> 10:54 PM) Now we can start talking about how the Bulls will disappoint us all in the draft. If we don't get Anthony Davis I'm disappointed.

QUOTE (zenryan @ Jun 21, 2012 -> 10:51 PM) Had one last year against a weaker Heat team. I like seeing the games played instead of going off previous results. We weren't the same team either and I'd imagine there's a good reason we once again led the league in wins. Unfortunately everything that could have gone wrong, did. The world shall never know.

QUOTE (daggins @ Jun 21, 2012 -> 10:11 PM) Very little discussion on Molina. Secretly disappointed? Not so secretly? Hopefully Castro shakes out, he was awful in his last go at AAA. Hard to know what exactly is going on...I'm sure they wish he had been more productive this year but who knows what he's been working on or what the exact problem seems to be. He still needs more experience, at the least. I really like Castro and it seems like we've taken care of those control issues. Would still like to see him show the dominance that was always promised in those early scouting reports.

LeBron earned this one, but it sure irks me as a Bulls fan that we didn't even get a crack at Miami and we likely won't get a legitimate shot at them next year either.

QUOTE (Carter224 @ Jun 21, 2012 -> 10:43 PM) Thats what I dont get, who care about the player in college basketball.. Yes, I want them to get good ones, but I just want Illinois to win period. Doesnt matter if they only have a guy for one season. The lack of continuity just turns me off. That and the fact that anyone would rather go to some s*** hole like the University of Kentucky over the University of Illinois for such silly reasons (prestige, payments)

QUOTE (Carter224 @ Jun 21, 2012 -> 10:40 PM) Ive got news for ya, the Heat will be in the playoffs next year and those same people will be back rooting for them to lose. I'm not sure of that. I feel like the whole point was keeping LeBron out of the championship ring club. I don't think the super casual not really basketball fans are going to keep paying attention.

QUOTE (Soxbadger @ Jun 21, 2012 -> 10:36 PM) I watch the NBA because NCAA is over and so is football. Something has to fill that sports hole. I watch Illinois, but it's hard for me to get really into it. As soon as you get a good player, he leaves for the NBA. I hate watching and realizing that I'm not seeing the sport played at its highest level. College football is the same way with the added bonus that the system of determining the champion is completely stupid.

QUOTE (Carter224 @ Jun 21, 2012 -> 10:35 PM) Oh please, people watch the NBA for the stars. Its the only real sport thats completely star driven. They're watching for LEBRON and I'm uncertain whether that will last now that he's in the club of championship winners. I know so many people that are watching the finals just because they don't like LeBron, and these are the type of people that would have never thought much of anything about LeBron if it weren't for the whole decision fiasco. These people are not going to remain fans now. They'll shrug their shoulders and move on. I think that's too bad.

QUOTE (Soxbadger @ Jun 21, 2012 -> 10:34 PM) The point is people arent really giving great reasons for why they may consider Lebron a low life or be so opposed to him winning a title. If you want to hate someone, maybe you should consider Wade. The guy who toyed with the Bulls about maybe wanting to play here, just so he could pitch Lebron better on Miami. lol, you're acting like LeBron didn't visit Chicago too.

BTW, I think Miami winning tonight is terrible for the NBA. Like it or not, the hatred of LeBron James brought a new interest to the NBA and I don't think that Miami hatred/mystery of whether LeBron will ever win will persist now that LeBron gets his ring. There will still be SOME vitriol, but the casual fan won't be watching anymore just to see Miami lose now. I'm not sure if this phenomenon lasted long enough to build real fans that would watch regardless of the monolithic storyline.

QUOTE (Soxbadger @ Jun 21, 2012 -> 10:27 PM) You presume Rose wanted Lebron. What indication ever was there that Rose wanted to share the spotlight with Lebron? Im pretty sure Rose texted him maybe 1 time and his comments were something to the effect of "If he wants to come here thats cool". Wade and Bosh were begging him to come. I don't give a s*** what Derrick wanted and I think the fact that LeBron was so vulnerable to that sort of thing over just the logic of which team was going to be better upon arrival tells me all I need to know. I know one thing about Derrick and it's that he would never be opposed to a winning personnel move.