nitetrain8601

It's a new character and his name is Adrian. I don't know where everyone got Tommy Vercetti or CJ from. CJ would be about 80 and the protagonist says he moved there to get away from it all and for better weather. Tommy was in Miami which in gaming is the same weather. Plus he would be about 50 or 60. CJ would be 40 or so and plus he's from LS.

If he likes that formula, Dunn's career is over. He's always had a low BA but has been able to supplement by taking walks. Now you're telling a guy who turned into a free swinger last year, to turn it even more loose. I expect the guy to bat .010 with 30 dingers and a .199 OBP.

QUOTE (ZoomSlowik @ Oct 26, 2011 -> 04:06 PM) I think the cities are different for every player. Some might want to be closer to home, some might want to be in a big city with plenty of nightlife/entertainment options, some might want somewhere warm, some might want a state with no income tax. For some I'm sure the organization is more important than the city. If given the option, it seems like free agents typically go to LA or Florida, so I'd say those teams are 1-4, with New York 5. After that, who knows. Everyone is a little different, but for most of these guys I would think it looks something like this: 1) Money, though this is dependent on the gap between the offers. If the Lakers are offering me their MLE and the Timberwolves are offering me something like 5-60, I'm going to Minnesota. If it's more like 5-60 from Minny and let's say the Knicks or Magic are offering me 5-50, I'm probably going to the better team in the better city. 1A) Winning at least I hope this would be the case. For me, I'd rather take a few million less and be in a better situation than extract every last dollar out of a situation, though I'm sure some guys are all about the money. 3) Fan base. I don't really know about this one. I'm sure playing in a half empty stadium all the time sucks, but then again the constant media attention in a more basketball-rabid city could suck just as much. 4) Location. I don't think I'd care personally. The team is traveling for 6-8 months out of the year anyways and I could always live elsewhere during the off-season. I think some players care about this a lot more though. So with that said, you answered why teams overpay for marginal players. It's because they have to in order to get them to go there or stay there. As you stated, I would look at LA or Florida first. Next would be any big city. Winning would go next. And the players want to keep that system.

QUOTE (cws0591 @ Oct 26, 2011 -> 01:50 PM) 2 notes. one i thought black ops had a very well done campaign but second i started at gta 3 aswell and put a lot of hours into each game thereafter. To me San Andreas was the best because there were endless things to do after the story. with Vice being the best atmosphere and 4 having the best presentation. Agreed on all ends. Vice just captured everything so perfectly. To me, BOGT was this gen's San Andreas. Maybe, you'll be able to fly between LA & Miami this time around

I wouldn't mind anyone from Walt Hriniak's school of hitting.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Oct 26, 2011 -> 03:26 PM) interesting stat correlating recruiting with winning titles: In the Past 9 years from 2002 to 2011 here are the top 21 teams ranked by how many top 100 signings they had: 1. Duke (34) 2. North Carolina (30) T-3. Kansas (27) T-3. Kentucky (27) T-5. Arizona (25) T-5. Connecticut (25) T-5. Florida (25) T-5. Syracuse (25) T-9. Louisville (24) T-9. Texas (24) T-9. UCLA (24) T-12. Memphis (23) T-12. Michigan State (23) T-12. Ohio State (23) T-15. Florida State (20) T-15. Illinois (20) 17. Villanova (19) 18. Georgetown (18) T-19. Alabama (17) T-19. Georgia Tech (17) T-19. Indiana (17) The top 8 teams on the list have won the last 9 championships. If you look at all 21 teams, 17 made at least one Final Four between 2003 and 2011, and the group is responsible for 28 of the 36 Final Four slots in those years. The question is, does top 100 recruiting guarantee success or does success guarantee top 100 recruiting? Success guarantees top 100 recruiting, while top 100 recruiting guarantees sustained success.

QUOTE (ZoomSlowik @ Oct 26, 2011 -> 03:26 PM) What you pay these guys is an entirely different issue than finding them. No one made Washington give Arenas that huge deal coming off a major injury, just like no one forced Memphis or Atlanta to give those guys max deals before they even got a shot to test the market. I don't really know why some teams have a big problem with that, because it seems like some teams get players to sign reasonable contracts all the time (Rondo and Aldridge immediately come to mind). If the money isn't right, you don't HAVE to give it to them. Seattle/OKC eventually moved on without Allen and Lewis (before you say that cost them their team, the Sonics were essentially gone already), Memphis has moved on without Gasol, Atlanta would get by with Horford/Smith and Teague developing as a PG, ect. The problem is no one ever says no. It seems like everyone would rather spend $60 million on a 40 win team and then b**** about it than spend $30 million on a 25 win team and try to rebuild. Not only a question for Zoom, but for everyone else as well. If you were a big time star in the NBA, going into FA, what cities would you consider off the bat(rank them)? Also rank the following in terms of importance to you. Winning Money Location Fan Base

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Oct 26, 2011 -> 02:49 PM) The Clippers have a major market to feed off of, and they're really helped by the existence of the Lakers. The Pacers, Kings, Bobcats, don't. This is actually one of the worse things the NBA has done recently...in pursuit of new owners willing to put up with losing money, they've wound up moving a lot of franchises to places that were smaller cities than previous. Memphis is a small market. New Orleans was a small market even before a storm. OKC is a much smaller market than Seattle. Thing is, OKC draws but have a horrible color scheme and logo, which is why they don't sell jerseys or merchandise. But they have one of the best fanbases in the league. Memphis drew once they started winning. New Orleans is the only one you could really make a case for.

QUOTE (Marty34 @ Oct 7, 2011 -> 11:22 AM) Read the thread Cowley appears to have been proven correct about the dysfunction. Not that it matters in the grand scheme of things, but isn't that true. Hey Joe, one out of 100 rumors you and Ozzie/Oney spread is not a success rate of any kind.

QUOTE (PlaySumFnJurny @ Oct 7, 2011 -> 10:44 AM) One problem with the above is that Ozzie Jr wasn't a "member of the organization" late last week, but I don't disagree that the Guillens feed the beast. Yeah, but Cowley isn't going to give exact details. Right Marty?

I wanna hear more about Coop and Cowley darnit!

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Oct 7, 2011 -> 08:29 AM) It is absolutely true, and all you have to do is go back over Joe's own columns to figure it otu. Anyone got Kenny's e-mail. Maybe they can post the exposure on WhiteSox.com. Marty called two different managers before they settled on one, who didn't end up being either of the guys who were "locks".

Gammons was on earlier on The Score and he said politely, he couldn't see that(What Cowley reported) being true.

QUOTE (BigSqwert @ Oct 5, 2011 -> 01:17 PM) Hmm. I felt the same way back when I was dating and always struggled with trying to date a showstopper. Whenever I did it never really lasted long, probably because of my insecurities. I'll defer to others on this one. Key is, don't be insecure. I see it as making it to the pro's. You're obviously good enough if you got to that point. Do what you did to get there, and the ride will continue. Start thinking about other things out of your control(image, criticism, etc.) and you will end up out of the league, or in this case, without this girl or any other hot girl who wants to date you. Remember, the girl wanted to go out with you.

QUOTE (iamshack @ Oct 5, 2011 -> 11:59 AM) You opened the door for him... So I have a question...what's everyone's opinions on when you have a date with a chick that definitely seems to be out of your league? I know your good pals will say "Don't say that! No one is out of your league!" Yada yada...I think a few times I have gone out with chicks that I was definitely outkicking my coverage on, and I think it makes me uncomfortable. I usually don't even bother with super hot chicks, because I figure it will just be more trouble than it's worth. I hate being with that girl that EVERY SINGLE DUDE is checking out everywhere you go. And every time you go to the bathroom, there is some dude sidling up to her trying to get her number. I've had a few friends like that, and that is a pain enough itself. I went on a date Sunday with a chick, and honestly, it was the middle of the football games, like 4th quarter of the early games...I got to the bar first, and I was sitting there watching the Bears try and put away the Panthers, and then she walks in, and it was like the entire bar stopped. She comes in wearing this little denim dress with San Diego Chargers wristbands on. Every dude is looking at me like, ok, he's either loaded, is hung like one of those zebras you see at the zoo, or this is a blind date and she will walk out on him the second he has to go to the bathroom. The date went well, and she called me afterwards to tell me she had a great time, but I am still uncomfortable. Just too damn hot for me...Now I usually get pretty cute girls, but not the showstoppers.... Thoughts....? You're overthinking this. Just think about the girl you're going out with at the time, and make sure you give her your attention and she's giving you hers. Sounds strange, but there are a ton of females who don't always go for the hottest looking guy, but one with the best personality.

Apparently, the Red Sox are looking at bringing in a younger manager instead of a big name one. They are going to be going head to head for Dave Martinez and Sandy Alomar Jr with us. Hopefully Kenny doesn't mess around and is interviewing these guys as we speak. I could see Martinez going to Boston and that's who I really want.

QUOTE (Marty34 @ Oct 1, 2011 -> 11:04 AM) How do you pass an opinion off as fact? Look at your posts in many threads where you are called out, and 95% of the time, you make claims, with no evidence. Hell, look at the Dodge thread for examples.

QUOTE (Alpha Dog @ Jul 5, 2011 -> 06:07 PM) Then what good is he? Sox batters as a group suck, take too many pitches down the middle and swing at crap. Give them a pitcher they never seen and they are as unprepared as my son seems to be for calculus tests. There seems to be some kind of group-think here that just stinks. If you can't blame him for the bad, then he should get no credit for the good and should just be let go since there is no reason for him to even be here. Lol at the son comment. At the same time, I agree with everything you said.

My thing with Marty and a few others is that they continuously dodge facts or they ignore them with some tired saying, "He/They don't mean that." after all the evidence points to them saying, doing, and others confirming what they did and didn't mean. You can have your opinion, but at the same time, don't try to pass your opinion off as fact, especially when you have nothing, and I mean, literally nothing to backup the facts with.

I'd like to say, you can't say, Ozzie's never acted like this before. How many times since '05 did he say he was thinking about quitting or that he should quit or that he would. Hell, in '05, I remember during the end of the season, he said he would quit after the season. Ozzie has wanted to escape, and finally came out with the real reasons why. He wanted to be in Miami and he wanted more money.

I have Nebraska also beating Wisconsin. I have Illinois losing in an upset, though I hope I'm wrong on that one.

I've pepped up a little on Alomar, but I still would prefer Martinez. As long as we don't end up with someone like Bobby Valentine, I think I'll be fine.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Sep 29, 2011 -> 04:31 PM) Maybe Swisher just needed.... 1) To be surrounded by All-Stars at every position so his offensive game would pass by unnoticed 2) Not to be forced into the leadoff spot, which is at least 50% KW's fault because Cabrera wasn't a protypical leadoff hitter and Jerry Owens was doomed to fail...at least to objective scouts who had been following him since his Expos/Nationals days 3) A wind tunnel to the RF bleachers In the end, it's still far from clear the Yankees will retain his services. We'll see. Explain how he did in Oakland then if that's what you believe. Fact is Swisher was talented, enjoyed success prior to the Sox and after the Sox. Either way, I blame the Sox, for how the Swisher situation played out. I still don't understand how that '08 team didn't do better. Then again, I'm still wondering how '03 didn't win the World Series too.

Get the Galaxy and call it a day. Then again, I think they're also supposed to get the S2, so I might just wait for that. I could be wrong on that though.

I think Lovie is given a raw deal because his fate ties into Angelo's fate. If he does good, he should get all the credit considering what Angelo laced him with. No offensive line, no #2, much less #1 WR, no CB's and they barely got decent safeties in the past two years. I think Lovie's done a hell of a job. If he were with a team like Dallas or Jets, where they spend the money to fill out their team, he would be even better.