nitetrain8601

It would be okay if they brought in A-Rod to play SS next to Crede. Let Dye and Buehrle go as well. Then you could put Sweeney in RF.

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QUOTE(santo=dorf @ Mar 25, 2007 -> 08:24 PM) I get so tired of seeing this line of thought. Unless the relievers are getting rocked, the batters aren't going to face the same reliever more than once. Our 9th inning guy is Jenks, and our 8th inning guys are Thornton and MacDougal. So Haeger comes into the 7th at the latest, probably relieving one of our non-flamethrowing starter. Yes, but several of the bullpen guys pitch high 90's.

I would've liked to have him up at least with the bullpen to be a change of pace. Nothing like trying to hit a knuckler than 98-100mph of pure heat.

That's great, lol. And I love OJ's final move. You only get to be a kid once, might as well use it all up. Hate him all you want, he'll be the best player in his class when it's all said and done.

QUOTE(witesoxfan @ Mar 21, 2007 -> 04:59 PM) I disagree with like every thought in this post. 1) Quinn is easily the best QB in the draft in terms of both being NFL ready today and potential. Arm, accuracy, size, leadership, some mobility - what does he have that teams should be afraid of? 2) Even as a RQB, if you will, Vick is dangerous as hell. And beyond that, Vick isn't the reason the Falcons didn't win last year, it was the defense. 22nd in TYPGa, 29th in PYPGa, and jacks*** for turnovers won't help you win many games. If Petrino can fix the defense, they will be good. If he can't, they won't. Bingo. I think people that hate him are the ones that are only looking at the Fantasy numbers. In real life, the guy is very dangerous and propels his team from being very poor to being an NFL caliber looking team. That defense needs to be worked on.

QUOTE(Balta1701 @ Mar 21, 2007 -> 03:49 PM) Pablo is a righty. Mack is a lefty. Which one is Ozzie likely to use as a starter when Erstad and Podsednik average .630 OPS's between them for the first 4 months? Neither, he'll stick with Erstad and Podsednik because he's stubborn.

My prediction: Ozzie will cost us the World Series with his crapping in game managing.

QUOTE(fathom @ Mar 17, 2007 -> 10:52 PM) I like the idea of only worrying about having 4 starters the first few weeks of the season. This way, Perez can make the opening roster, and we can get him in the lineup to face some of the tough lefties we'll face in the first few weeks (assuming he's healthy). I still demand that Floyd start the year in AAA and actually show he can get professional hitters out at a good rate. I'd like to see E Perez up too. Ozzie would probably find a way to misuse him somehow. SEND BRIAN DOWN AND LET EDUARDO PLAY THE OF!

QUOTE(Kalapse @ Mar 17, 2007 -> 10:17 PM) Yeah that's some bulls*** right there. Apparently a whole lot of scouts and members of the media also have man crushes on Rich Hill because he's been touted as one of the better pitcher prospects currently in the bigs (despite being 27). And to say that anyone who like Rob Mackowiak as a player simply has a man crush on him -- and because he's a Cub killer? -- is just ridiculous. I like him because he's pretty good at baseball why the hell does that have to be a man crush? What about the people who irrationally dislike players like Mackowiak what's that all about? What's the opposite of a man crush. A dislike in the player. Possibly a man uncrush? Hill has 4 good games last year and now he's supposed to win between 15 and 20 games? Um, I don't see that happening. He has a very nice curve, he has nothing else to me. Mackowiak is an okay utility player, but people were begging for him here because he's from Chicago and because he's a "grinder" and because he's a "Cubs killer". I rather see Haeger or Sisco make this team over Logan. Bring me back Damaso before Logan.

QUOTE(Buehrle>Wood @ Mar 17, 2007 -> 10:19 PM) One small point, but Collins was a silent verbal to Illinois, so yes there was interest. Some say it was a mysterious visit from Bill Self to his mother that changed his beliefs, but I doubt it. I don't think Bill is dirty past the fact that he hires people close to recruits. Weber just lost him somehow. I don't mean to turn this into another Bill vs. Bruce pissing match like every Illini thread seems to turn into so I will just leave my final thoughts. It just bothers me about Illinois fans that Bruce is not even allowed to have a 23 win season and 4th place finish. Could they have been better this season? Yeah, probably. But it wasn't too horrible regarding all they went though. Well I definately don't think it's acceptable, this is why: They were an elite program for the last 6 years. Illinois basketball was definately top 10 in the nation and I'd say top 5 overall during those years as a whole. Self recruited players without being in the Final Four, much less the championship game, but Weber couldn't keep that going despite doing what Self hadn't. Why is that? He's at a top program that was getting the most national exposure it's gotten in awhile, that almost went undefeated. He also played in a major conference. Why is it he couldn't keep the flow going? Weber knew the players he was going to have this year. Why didn't he bother developing Warren Carter earlier? Carter was a 4 star SF recruit out of Texas IIRC. Why would you wait all the way until his senior year to get him burn? Calvin Brock should've been backing up Dee Brown and Rich McBride last year so he could develop and get his feet wet. It's not only that Weber sucks at recruiting, he underachieved for a program that was doing great up until this year and his acts of discipline are a complete joke, especially compared to his football coach. In summary, 1)He doesn't have top talent on the horizon when he should be. 2)He didn't win this year with probably better talent then he'll have next year. 3)His way of teaching his players are small slaps on the wrists. 4)His former assistant coaches are outrecruiting him despite not even sniffing the Final Four. I could understand a down season if you're waiting for players to come though, but at this rate, we'll have to wait until 2010 for that freshman in high school to come and play for us and that's if he doesn't decide to go to Kansas or Duke.

It should be: Podsednik Iguchi Dye Thome Konerko Crede Pierzynski Uribe Anderson It will be: Podsednik Erstad Thome Konerko Dye Pierzynski Crede Iguchi Uribe

QUOTE(Kalapse @ Mar 17, 2007 -> 10:03 PM) Why is it that every time someone wants a player to make the team or is cheering for an underdog it's immediately written off as a 'man crush'. Must everything be either a man crush or sarcastically critiqued with ridiculous hyperbole? I only consider it a mancrush when people severely overrate players. For example, tons of Cub fans have mancrushes on Rich Hill and Angel Guzman despite them having several shortcomings. Sox fans have mancrushes over Rob Mackowiak (because he's a Cub killer, whatever that means), Jeff Baj, and Boone Logan.

I just don't see it with Logan. I see him getting lit up again if he makes this team.

QUOTE(Buehrle>Wood @ Mar 17, 2007 -> 09:41 PM) Says dumb internet speculation. And if he does end up going to Arizona, are you going to call him a traitor too and say that's not Bruce's fault? That was probably Self's biggest mistake because Iggy did want to come to Illinois and Self didn't think he was good, or at least good enough. No, not because some guy on a message board said it, but because that's been the rumor around HF for awhile now. JW has nothing against UofI, but he thinks BW is pretty much a joke as is his recruiting pitch when compared to other coaches. I heard much different. Beverly wanted to come to UofI, but they weren't interested. Instead, they were just trying to attract the disinterested Sherron Collins and Jon Scheyer here.

If Logan makes the team, I'm going to be worried. Seems like people have the same mancrush over him like they did with Jeff B.

QUOTE(Buehrle>Wood @ Mar 17, 2007 -> 08:26 PM) Or he was just out of his sophmorehigh school year and was a lock for nothing. People who think Self just tore up the recruiting charts at Illinois need to know their facts. Deron Williams was no more highly touted than Demetri McCamey. Luther Head wasn't anymore highly touted than Quinton Watkins. Richard McBride wasn't any more highly touted than Calvin Brock. James Augustine no more than Brian Carlwell. The biggest difference between the two relies in one player- Dee Brown. Weber should have gotten his Dee in the '07 class. And he did for awhile, except this kid left Weber out to dry with no time to even recruit anyone else. There's a difference, Self was still bringing them up, Weber had a team full of Self's recruits that was already handed to him. And again, apparently Quinton Watkins is thinking about going to Arizona instead now as he didn't even sign a LOI. Rich McBride was way more touted than Calvin Brock. Brock's stock only picked up his senior year. Everyone though McBride would eventually develop into a special college player. Self was reopening up the link between UofI and the CPL and it closed right back up as soon as Self left. Weber's players obviously didn't like him enough to help him out in recruiting and instead helped out the guy before him. Self had Charlie Villanueva until he left along with Julian Wright. Sherron Collins was going to follow Self wherever, especially with Dee Brown advocating that. I think Scheyer would've been a lost cause, but Rose or Patrick Beverly would've been here. Heck, isn't Pat Beverly the one that said he would've gone to Illinois except Weber payed no attention to him. Funny how we wish we could have a player like him right now. Next season is going to be worse than this season for the Illini.

QUOTE(fathom @ Mar 17, 2007 -> 11:22 AM) He told Wright that he'd enjoy his stay more at Kansas. It didn't matter in the long run, as Wright thought Weber was a dork and that his in-home visit was comical. If Self never left Illinois, Wright would have been a 100 pct lock to go there. Why's it so hard to believe when there's a quote in the media how Dee might have done a similar thing with Sherron Collins? I don't understand that either. Wright was definately a lock for Illinois until Self jetted out of there. I'm a huge Illini fan(2nd fav team behind UNC), but I'm not going to drink the orange and blue kool-aid these fans that are in denial are drinking. You need talent to go all the way in the NCAA and good coaching. Self was a good coach and he could recruit with the best of them. Is Weber a better coach? Yes, but not infinitely better where it makes up for his lack of recruiting.

QUOTE(DrunkBomber @ Mar 15, 2007 -> 08:28 PM) Anybody have their brackets trashed yet? One of my friends had Duke in the final four for our work bracket that was 50 bucks, Id say hes done. I had Duke in the Elite 8. That's the only reason I don't have a near flawless bracket.

QUOTE(whitesoxfan101 @ Mar 17, 2007 -> 12:28 AM) First of all, I said in 2005 Bruce not being able to recruit would cause a downfall, however I had no idea it would be that fast. Second, Doyel is out of his mind normally, but I can't argue with a word of that article. I knew recruiting would be his downfall and you're right, I don't think anyone would think it would be this quick. Hell, he might lose Quinton Watkins for godsake.

Lets get Damaso back!

QUOTE(AddisonStSox @ Mar 15, 2007 -> 03:52 PM) Dominating the high school game and dominating the college game are two very different things. What about his pedestrian junior college numbers make you think he could still be "big-time?" Just asking. My thought would be that he's just disinterested in the JuCo scene.

Angel Santiago is kind of like Steve Francis. They're both dynamic high energy guys and take it to the hole alot. That's their whole offense really. Like Francis, for whatever reason, he doesn't have his head on completely straight. For Illinois, I'd say he's a good risk to take with Weber recruiting because they haven't been able to land anyone significant with him as coach.

Solution is simple, re-hire Jimmy Collins as an assistant so he can reopen that connection between UofI and the city public schools. Until they do that or get Bill Self back, UofI is screwed with Bruce Weber.

Well, Ozzie will love him: