Rowand44

QUOTE (JoeCoolMan24 @ Jul 20, 2011 -> 02:29 PM) He is slumping at the plate right now, but still has 9 BB in 10 games. Gotta love how he can be slumping and still be productive. He's come such a long way in only 1 year.

QUOTE (Greg Hibbard @ Jul 20, 2011 -> 01:12 PM) It's amazing to me that people can look at this team, a team that's 8 over at 36-28 since May 6th, despite playing like s*** offensively, and say 'no chance, they don't have it' and then not evaluate MIN, CLE and DET the same way. Cleveland is 30-35 since then. Detroit is 36-27 since then, a half game better than the Sox. Minnesota is 33-33 since then. Nobody "has it". Nobody is running away with this thing. The Sox will be within 5 games all season. It is right there if they can ever wake up and take it. And still under .500 on the season so who cares what these teams have done since May 6th, that's just a random date to throw out there to make this team look better than they are. You're right about one thing, the Sox will be within 5 games probably all the way until the end but they wont win this division. Should they? Absolutely. Will they? Nope, not happening.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jul 20, 2011 -> 09:28 AM) I think Jeter's ESPNization as a national product really lead to a backlash from people who hate the Yankees, which is pretty much everyone outside of NYC and transplanted NYers. Yup. QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Jul 20, 2011 -> 12:09 PM) Basically ESPN & the media have overrated him so much, that many people have underrated him as a result. He's definitely on the decline now, but he was a heck of a ballplayer for about a 15-year stretch. HOF lock. Yup. Perfectly said guys.

QUOTE (maggsmaggs @ Jul 20, 2011 -> 11:03 AM) Yeah we can, but yeah we won't. I think this about sums it up.

We know, Dayan, we know.

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Jul 19, 2011 -> 05:13 PM) I'd say many people vastly underrate Derek Jeter and the type of player he is/was. Completely agree. While the media has glorified him a bit too much, I think a lot of people on this site(or internet message boards in general) have underrated the type of player that he really was.

QUOTE (The Critic @ Jul 19, 2011 -> 09:55 AM) I'm too lazy to type it again, so I'll copy/paste what I wrote at WSI about it: I would have done things a little slower. Last night would have been Vince upset and despondent about Punk leaving with the title. Then on Raw, I would have had Punk send an email to the Raw General Manager with a video file of himself hanging out at Wrigley Field with the "championship". Over the next couple weeks, Punk sends videos of himself on vacation with the belt, making Vince more and more furious. Vince can then order the tournament to crown a new champ, which Punk would mock in subsequent videos. Finally Vince snaps and starts punishing everyone responsible - he puts Cena and Del Rio in handicap matches to get squashed, he gets more and more belligerent with guys like Slaughter and Laurinitas, and then finally, he orders Laurinitas to have a match against Kane or Henry. THAT's when I have HHH step in and relieve Vince of his duties. Then HHH can start to reach out to Punk, telling him that he may carry a belt around, but the real champion is the one who's in WWE defending the title. Tell him stuff like right now he's the same as some guy who bought a replica title on wwe.com, stuff like that. Play on his competitive spirit and ego and eventually Punk comes back to show who is the true champion. That's how I would have booked it, anyway. That would have absolutely worked as well. All I'm disagreeing with you about is that I don't think this squashes the Punk angle at all, if they do this right everything can still all tie in very nicely.

Viciedo for Heath Bell.

QUOTE (The Critic @ Jul 19, 2011 -> 02:02 AM) It's an interesting turn of events, but it kind of s***s on the Punk angle a little bit. Vince has made this about Vince. Kind of reminds me of Hogan/Dixie. Not sure I like it, I'll have to see how this plays out. It's nowhere near what I would have done, though. Eh, I disagree. It still all ties into Punk-Cena, it's just an interesting way to keep things going with out Punk actually being there, which as we talked about made the most sense to continue the storyline.

QUOTE (scenario @ Jul 18, 2011 -> 11:45 PM) Addison Reed is having an amazing Hudson-like fast-track year. Gotta think the Sox will bring him up in September. A lot different cause Reed is a reliever but ya, he'll be up in the bigs in no time.

The bullpen is so f***in good right now.

I'm seriously so shocked that the E keeps on delivering right now and this is with out Punk on tv tonight. Fantastic once again. Think the most shocking thing of all is that Cena actually referenced TNA. Speaking of Cena, I know he's beyond hated on this board but besides some of the corny one liners he's thrown around, he's actually been damn good since the start of this as well. Not even close to Punk's level but I feel that he at least deserves a bit of kudos since no one else has said it yet. I still have no idea where they're going with this and that's what makes this so compelling.

QUOTE (The Critic @ Jul 18, 2011 -> 03:47 PM) Oh, and I read on Punk's Twitter that he's going to the Cubs game today, so no Punk on RAW - which is the right move to further the storyline. Tonight is Cena's day of reckoning. I read that as well but I wonder if you'll get him via satelitte at some point. I agree though, as much as it will suck if he's not on the show, it really makes the most sense to continue the angle.

QUOTE (fathom @ Jul 18, 2011 -> 04:29 PM) For those at the event, was I the only one who thought people were going to act very stupid if CM Punk lost? I'm not talking about full-scale riots....but it was definitely an intense atmosphere. My buddies and I were discussing how we were legit worried about little kids or women in Cena shirts if Punk were to lose. The crowd was crazy, probably very drunk and wrestling fans in general are quite the group of characters to say the least.

QUOTE (Jenksy Cat @ Jul 18, 2011 -> 02:59 PM) But that's the thing....if all the behind the scenes s*** was real, he wouldn't have won the match. If he was leaving the WWE, he wouldn't have won the belt last night so it's all just a storyline. If it was real it'd be cool I agree, but the fact that he won the belt means it's all just a part of the story. No, his promos have been worked shoots. Yes, it's part of a story line but the context of what he's saying was very, very real and a lot of it has been stuff that wrestling fans have been saying for years and years and that's why everyone fell so in love with what was happening, not to mention his delivery of the promos were absolutely perfect. As for him coming back, yes, that seems very likely at this point but his original contract was indeed set to expire at the end of last night and for once nothing was leaked on the internet and absolutely nobody knew what was going to come of this whole story line. And last nights ppv was pretty much what the fans wanted from top to bottom and that's something that hasn't happened in this company in a long time, they actually executed a ppv card and the main storyline to perfection. So basically, you add up the facts that there was a ton of realism in this storyline + the execution by Punk + this ppv being in Chicago + the E actually pulling it off to perfection and you have probably the best angle since the attitude era.

QUOTE (Jenksy Cat @ Jul 18, 2011 -> 02:32 PM) I haven't followed WWE since it stopped being good in the late 90's....but why is this such a big deal? I mean...it's all fake...Punk isn't really walking out with the belt. He wouldn't have won the match if he was really leaving, so I don't understand what all the fuss is about. Punk's promos the last month have been about as real as it gets in wrestling, not to mention they were about as good as any since...I don't even know but they were unbelievable. Like I said before, it's hard to explain if you don't follow too much but if you've ever read or followed any of the behind the scenes s*** that goes on and then listened to Punk the last month, you'd know why it's such a big deal.

QUOTE (BigSqwert @ Jul 18, 2011 -> 02:07 PM) Jose Contreras Freddy Garcia Jon Adkins Felix Diaz

QUOTE (Harry Chappas @ Jul 18, 2011 -> 01:33 PM) That was a cool event to be at. I am not that into wrestling but my kids (10 & 7) are. The crowd was insane. The lines and parking at that joint suck BTW. The Punk Cena match was epic but the ending was kind of lame I thought. The MITB matches were really good as well. I think the Miz winning would have been good. Chciago loves the Santino (sp?) but s*** all over Rey Mysterio. I thought that was odd. It's kind of hard to explain if you don't really follow it but storyline wise, the ending to Punk-Cena was pretty much perfect.

For everyone who was there and was wondering if the crowd came off good on tv: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rq91KpVK1QA Unreal...

QUOTE (whitesox91403 @ Jul 18, 2011 -> 11:51 AM) No, Bryan isn't a heel, you're correct. I should have clarified that those were probably the 5 biggest pops of the night. Hell, besides Bryan the biggest "face" pop all night might have been for Santino, no joke. And the Miz's pop when we made his run in after the injury was HUGE.

QUOTE (The Critic @ Jul 18, 2011 -> 11:46 AM) Anyone pick up that limited-edition Punk "Best In The World" t-shirt last night? I'm seeing it going for $300 on eBay right now. Crazy. The souvenir lines were absurd last night, whoever got one of those shirts probably missed a good chunk of the ppv. QUOTE (The Critic @ Jul 18, 2011 -> 11:47 AM) Bryan's not a heel, is he? I think he gets cheered in Chicago at least partly because of his "indie hero" status. He's a face but ya he's been an IWC favorite for a long time and Chicago is quite smarky so that's why he gets cheered.

That was seriously f***in amazing. Pop for Punk and the heat for Cena was insane, surprised the roof didn't blow off. Side note, Mysterio had a ton of heat, kind of odd.

That is one long game

QUOTE (Stan Bahnsen @ Jul 14, 2011 -> 06:54 PM) Sale has been terrific lately. He's even showing a decent change. Why would we limit him at this point? His change has been real solid. He has 3 plus MLB pitches, there is absolutely no reason why he can't be a very good big league starter.

QUOTE (Paint it Black @ Jul 14, 2011 -> 06:33 PM) I was told we also have to see how good Hector Santiago really is. I propose an 8 man rotation. But seriously. This year has shown Chris Sale really is a pen arm. The "he should start" stuff was all a pipe dream. What now?