nitetrain8601

Alabama and Rutgers not ranked? Wow. Is this the poll that matters or is that the AP? I would also have Illinois at #17 and BYU and Tennessee move down one.

It's time to...

QUOTE (AWhiteSoxinNJ @ Aug 1, 2008 -> 06:14 PM) Why is everyone acting surprised that Griffey is in CF???? Lol I was about to ask the same.

I wish he was wearing #24 honestly. I'm torn though since Crede is my favorite player and he wears #24. Oh well.

QUOTE (southsideirish71 @ Aug 1, 2008 -> 02:38 PM) Our pitchers need to establish the inside corner more. I break our pitchers into a few categories The Buerhle mold Buerhle and Danks are at their best when they drive their cutters in on right handers, then go away with their changeups. Danks has a better fastball, but not fast enough to overcome bad location. When these guys go away away away, then right handers start to dive over the plate and drive their pitches. Pounding inside, keeps this from happening. Floyd The key to floyd is not whether he establishes inside. His is the curveball. If he can throw it for strikes he can be very effective. I would like to see him go with a high 2 strike fastbll, chest high or higher, then break off the curve. Contreras. His is simple when healthy. Can he keep that arm slot up. If he can keep it up, and only use the sidearm attack as a different look or a 2 strike look he is fine. When his arm slot is up, he can drive down on the forkball and get the tumble action that he needs. Vazquez. Vazquez is a slinger. His ball has so much movement. I would rather see him climb the ladder on 2 strikes. As his fastball has late life, aiming it is not exactly something he does. His problem with going away is the tailing action on his pitch. It comes back over the plate, and with his gunslinger approach, it sometimes catches too much of the plate. His issue similar to contreras is arm angle as well. He either gets into a bad funk, or gets tired in a game and then he opens up a bit. A guy like him needs to stay closed, and drive towards the plate keeping the arm up high. When he opens up, his arm drops down a bit and the ball sails all over the place. He gets into hitters counts, then aims a meatball in. My thoughts are they all can be fixed quickly. The pen is another story. Its more about throwing strikes for them, and not getting into hitters counts. A starter has 4 pitches usually and can get away with more mistakes than a short reliever that may have 2. If one isnt over, its easy to eliminate and drive. Just my 2 cents. You're spot on about Vazquez. In fact an old scouting report when he was first traded from Montreal stated the same. When he climbs the ladder and doesn't get emotional, he flat out dominates. 1st pitch - fastball 2nd pitch - changeup/curve 3rd pitch - fastball And his stuff is good enough and has enough movement to miss alot of bats. Thing is, he only throws on one side of the plate.

QUOTE (SoxFan1 @ Jul 31, 2008 -> 02:31 PM) Okafor is a 14/10 guy and he got 72 million. Those numbers aren't much more than solid. Drew Gooden could average those numbers with consistent minutes. It's 2008 and it's the NBA. Pay up or lose out. He also plays a premium position. SF is hardly a premium position.

QUOTE (CaliSoxFanViaSWside @ Jul 31, 2008 -> 08:45 PM) From what Hawk and DJ are saying Griffey will just take Masset's spot and we'll go with 11 pitchers. Now when Crede, Linebrink , and Contreras get off the DL we wont carry 6 outfielders. You'll see Fields, Carrasco and either Wise or BA sent down. Or they might just DL Paul Konerko if he's still blowing hard.

Griffey is the goat.

QUOTE (JFields27 @ Jul 31, 2008 -> 02:03 PM) So .... whose starting the Ken Griffey Jr. Fan Club in their sig apparently KGJ is one of everyones all-time favorite players, atleast he is for me He is for me. My favorite athlete ever!

I'm betting it's 34.

QUOTE (southsideirish71 @ Jul 31, 2008 -> 10:52 AM) Poor Nick Massett. Hopefully he has mentally prepared himself for his up and coming TJ Surgery after Dusty gets ahold of him. :lolhitting

QUOTE (Brian @ Jul 31, 2008 -> 10:45 AM) This is exciting. We gave up practically nothing. Richar is out with the emergence of Alexei. If anything it adds new life and energy to the team with a Hall of Famer coming in. I do have my concerns with Griff in CF but hopefully he can prove me wrong. He is still very athletic for his age. This may have been brought up, but do we still have him under contract for next year? If so, I see Thome gawn. He has a team option I believe for next year.

QUOTE (JFields27 @ Jul 31, 2008 -> 10:44 AM) Swisher better not give up his number, nor be going anywhere(obviously not likely he does) My Dirty 30 shirt hasnt even been worn yet Your mistake.

Wow, smart move. Looks like a lot of people now want to work for the Blackhawks. Any word on what Red Wings fans think?

f***ing excellent deal!

After reading the article, it said Griffey wants answers unrelated to his contract. So basically he probably wants to be assured that he won't be a bench player.

Richar and Masset, definitely insignificant for my favorite athlete in any sport ever. Excellent trade IMO. Richar wasn't going to get a shot considering he f'd up with his Visa problems and fell quickly out of favor with Ozzie. Masset shows flashes every now and then. I NEED A GRIFFEY JERSEY!

QUOTE (ZoomSlowik @ Jul 30, 2008 -> 11:18 PM) You mean besides starting every game there? Unless you REALLY call Radmanovic a PF... It's a stupid argument anyways. Regardless of the actual numbers, for a perimeter player Deng is a pretty solid rebounder. No doubt he is solid. My point is, you pay solid no more than 60 million.

QUOTE (rudylaw @ Jul 31, 2008 -> 09:18 AM) This team will not be nearly as good with out the OC. I really hope we keep him and get our 2 draft picks after this year. As do I. I don't think we have anything close to him, but it wouldn't surprise me if we got rid of him.

QUOTE (BigSqwert @ Jul 31, 2008 -> 09:16 AM) Why is everyone in love with Swisher? He has been awful. If anything OC has been playing much better than Swish this season. I'm not, but it's no secret, the organization wants to get rid of Orlando ever since the "error" incidents.

Well I also heard on ESPNews, that the Sox are working on a 3-4 team trade to get Huston Street. Everyone assumes Swisher is gone, but no no no. Why can't it be Orlando who they've been trying to unload? Also, I think this move is so Ozzie could give his guys more breaks like he did in '05. Right now, he doesn't believe he has the flexibility he used to have. From what I heard, KG will be playing 1B and DH as well as OF. First year we don't talk about it extensively, we finally get Ken Griffey Jr. I'll get his jersey as soon as it's possible.

He did terrible in the majors which is why he's back in the minors.

QUOTE (ZoomSlowik @ Jul 30, 2008 -> 10:12 PM) 3 of those guys played an awful lot of PF last year and in previous years (Odom, Marion, Smith). It's debateable which position they actually play, hence why the two sites list them differently. Yes, that matters because they're closer to the basket more often guarding PF's. Deng did occasionally late in games, not to that extent though. Butler didn't qualify, that's why he wasn't on the previous list (I didn't feel like double-checking everyone out there). Odom didn't start playing PF until last year with the Lakers, but at that, he started the game there and would shove over to SF when Turiaf came in and at times would play G when Kobe would leave the game. On top of that, when they got Gasol, Odom never sniffed the PF spot for more than 3 minutes a game.

QUOTE (SoxFan1 @ Jul 30, 2008 -> 10:01 PM) Elaborate. I didn't know standing under the rim and jumping a lot meant you had great instincts. Could you give an example? He's also a terrible man defender and usually gets his blocks on help defense...so I don't know much about his "great instincts." Um, no. Only time he gets beat is when they play him at SF, which then again is all the time he's on the court. He doesn't just stand underneath the basket. He knows when to jump and when to go for a steal. His defense is game changing when put at PF. Now if he does gain bulk, it would help him out alot more with guys like Boozer. I'm not saying he's perfect, but he's very good defensively with big room for improvement.

QUOTE (ZoomSlowik @ Jul 30, 2008 -> 09:52 PM) Wow, total rebounds for a guy that missed 20 games. Nice try. Yeah, he was if you do sort by position on ESPN. His 6.3 a game last year would have put him 4th behind Lebron, Melo and Josh Howard, just slightly ahead of Rudy Gay and Danny Granger. Even if you slide Mike Miller, Lamar Odom, Josh Smith and Antwan Jamison to SF (all are debateable) he'd be in the top-10. In 06/07 his 7.1 rebounds was second at the position, again, down to 5th if you count Marion, Smith and Jamison. Go back another year and he was 4th, depending on how you list those 4 guys and Boris Diaw (and he tied with Josh Smith). Small forwards that grossly out-rebound Deng are extremely rare. Per NBA.com Lamar Odom Shawn Marion Josh Smith LeBron James Carmelo Anthony Josh Howard Caron Butler Those are non-argumentive for last year. So again, he was good, not great and not top 5.