Rex Hudler

The Barons had just lost Game 5 of the Division Playoff Series to Huntsville on the Sunday before. If the Barons had won, they would have been hosting Game 1 of the Championship Series that night. I woke up to a phone call from my roommate telling me to turn on the TV. Like many others, I got the TV on in time to see confused coverage and then the 2nd plane hit. I remember one of the TV guys saying they had no idea what was going on and wondered if it was some kind of major air traffic control accident. I immediately thought, "there is no way, this is definitely intentional". I still am not sure if I really understood the enormity of it at that time. Well I took my quickest shower ever so I could see what else was going on. I got dressed and headed into work with no real new news at that time. I was listening to the radio on the way to work when I heard that they had ordered every plane in the sky to land and that air traffic in the whole country was being shut down. At that point, it hit me as to how big this was going to be. I got to work and immediately went into my bosses office to see if anything else was going on. There are two offices with TV's so everyone was crowded into those two offices. After a couple of hours of doing nothing but watching coverage, the boss called a meeting. He said that he didn't think work was important at that time and that we were free to go. He said we could do whatever we wanted and deal with this however we wanted to, but that we had no responsibilities there. People hung around a little longer talking and then went their separate ways. My roommate and I basically spent the rest of the day and night in front of the TV, watching everything we could.

I found this column very enlightening on how things afftect people personally and what is going on down in New Orleans.... It is definitely worth the read. From Saturday's Birmingham Post-Herald

QUOTE(CWSGuy406 @ Sep 11, 2005 -> 04:00 AM) If the season ended today, Northwestern would get a share of the Big Ten title. How 'bout that? AS would Vanderbilt in the SEC. Now back to reality............

Henne fumbled just before the goal lone on a QB sneak from inside the 1 yd line. I thought he scored on the QB sneak the play before, but that is neither here nor there at this point. They still should have scored on that possession. Henne really struggled today, making lots of bad decisions. Some very obvious such as the 4th down play at the 5 and the final play of the game, but other times he threw to the wrong receiver or tried to force the ball. He'll have better games and they will improve. They will still be in the hunt at the end. Quinn was also off a bit after that first drive of the game. Perhaps we need to give the defenses more credit??

QUOTE(Fotop @ Sep 10, 2005 -> 08:19 PM) Go Irish. Our defense really stepped it up today. It was defintely a close game (which we all figured it would be), and the turnovers made the difference. Quinn looked shaky all day, his passes weren't as precise as they usually are. Walker had a nice game, hopefully Mcknight will be ok (he did walk off under his own power) but i fear an acl injury. One thing that bothered me about the game was the Michigan fans throwing stuff on the field. It's your home field, your rules, and you've made your bed in regards to Instant Replay. Sleep in it. Of course if this was at ND, they wouldn't have had to worry about IR . Anyways, tt just seemed really classless to me that they had to stop play twice for their shenanigans. Either way, it's gonna be a madhouse here at ND next weekend. Can't wait. I agree about the throwing s*** on the field. As much as I hated it, both of those calls were correct. Hopefully, both McKnight and Hart will be fine.

Gotta give ND credit today. While Michigan belw several chances, ND's defense made plays. I can't count how many passes they batted down or how many times they stuffed the run on 1st down, forcing Michigan to pass. I was really surprised that the defenses ruled the day instead of the offenses. I figured it would be quite the opposite. Chalk this one up to a good game by ND and Michigan's yearly f***up.

QUOTE(FlaSoxxJim @ Sep 9, 2005 -> 05:21 PM) Yeah, Jeanne did a loop out at sea and looked rather inconsequential before she changed her mind and doubled back for us. There was one a few years ago (can't remember the name) that cossed the peninsula once, went up through the eastern Gulf states, turned east and broke almost completely up before exiting up in coastal Georga or the Carolinas, reforming and cominng back to make another Florida landfall. Not a very high strength storm (or I'd remember the name), but it was an odd one. I remember that one....... it was weird

bullpen killer

I do not think the White Sox will take him off the 40-man roster. I believe they will try and trade him either in the fall or during spring training next year. Everyone has hoped Joe would finally come around. His numbers indicate he may have just done that. Since May 1st he has hit .283 with 27 HR and 60 RBI with an OBP of .350 give or take a few sacrifices. Since June 1st he has hit .292 with 23 HR and 50 RBI with an OBP of .361 give or take a few sacrifices. I'm not really sure what else we should expect from the guy. His strikeout rate improved nicely over the season. It is a strikeout per every 3.45 AB's for the full season. From May 1st on it is one per every 3.70 AB's and from June 1st on it is one strikeout per every 4.16 AB's. At this point he has done this year what is expected of him. If there is no opportunity on the Sox (and I doubt there will be), then he should move on, whether it is his choice or they trade him.

QUOTE(RockRaines @ Sep 7, 2005 -> 06:56 PM) merge this with the other thread. He worked out in the Miami area at a gym several Major Leaguers use. Dennis Ulacia also worked out with the same trainer and/or at the same gym and he was suspended last year and at the beginning of this year as well.

QUOTE(Dick Allen @ Sep 7, 2005 -> 08:25 PM) So Rosenthal is saying his May positive is the steriods he took last season. I'm sorry if I don't feel sorry for Morse. It is my belief that you should be suspended, and not allowed to play until you test negative. If there is year and a half lag time, tough. I'm not a doctor, but even testing positive for a very small amount means that stuff is still in your system, and you may be benefitting from it. I can't see suspending a guy 3 times for the same thing. You may feel a player should not be allowed to play again until he tests negative, but that is not the rule. If the substance is truly the same as what he took BEFORE the 2004 season, then this is a total crock. Obviously there are still kinks to be worked out in the steroids policy if this is possible. If you change the policy to a 50 day suspension for the 1st offense and the substance can linger in the body for more than a year, then your idea of waiting until the players system is clean is just not realistic.

QUOTE(Goldmember @ Sep 7, 2005 -> 07:06 PM) just an fyi that the bob & tom show along with peyton manning are having an online auction tomorrow 7am-12pm (central) benefitting katrina victims. a bunch of really cool stuff is going to be auctioned off... Bob & Tom............ man I miss those guys!!

QUOTE(bmags @ Sep 7, 2005 -> 04:55 AM) If we don't call for action, it may not change...i see no problem with the fury of complaints, if this fury was all placed for terry schiavo, they took notice, when its to question the federal procedures for major catastrophes , we should be quiet? Give me a break. If you think they don't realize what is going on, then you are naive. To think that we have to complain for them to make changes is nonsense. The problem is that it is now more about placing blame on others to make yourself look good. Dems attack Bush not so things change, but so he looks bad and they shine. Don't think such motivations are as pure as just wanting to "get things right".

I agree that Edwards had his moments. He had a couple of easy drops in the Oregon game 2 years ago that were very costly. He also made big plays no one else would make. I do believe he was a great receiver and one of the best in Michigan history, but he was not without his mistakes. He booted a few easy grounders at key times, if you will.

QUOTE(Jimbo's Drinker @ Sep 7, 2005 -> 04:14 AM) Our president was sitting in the sun and doing nothing, i mean running the nation from his summer home. And your point is? The President can do anything necessary to run this country from anywhere. The Oval Office does not give him special powers that he can't use elsewhere. Look, any time we have a major catastrophe there are going to be situations that can be handled differently. Sure mistakes were made, communications broke down, etc. I would be shocked if that were NOT the case. I just think it is a major crock to be politicking all of this. Why does the blame game have to start now? Someone mentioned because there could be another catastrophe next week? If you don't think that behind the scenes heads aren't rolling and they aren't already working on what went wrong, you are naive. I just don't see the purpose or need for a partison roast through the media. Sometimes, things need to be worked out behind closed doors rather than for all to see and critique. Unfortunately, this country has to blame someone and it all starts with the media. All the media does is turn things into a bigger circus. We have just witnessed the single biggest catastrophe in American history. It has basically wiped out a whole coastline. The magnaminity of this is almost beyond comprehension. No matter what the role of government is, and how many "fire drills" are done to have a plan ready, something of this enormity is bound to be a clusterf***.

QUOTE(Fotop @ Sep 7, 2005 -> 02:29 AM) Outside of Avant, who do they have at receiver? Breaston is very quick but runs some pretty poor routes. He's much more of a threat in the return game than he is on offense (knock on wood). You are very correct about the line even though they lost Baas. Michigan always has good lines. I'm not saying their offense is bad...it's good I just don't think they're THAT much better than Pitt's was (experienced qb, deep threat in Lee, depth at TE). Granted, Pitt has no running game right now...so in that respect Michigan is much better. That's why I think it comes down to the ground game, which is one of our strengths with an experienced line and depth at RB (Walker, Powers-Neal). Arrington is a nice #3. Carl Tabb has excellent speed and can burn a LB out of the slot. They get some mileage out of Doug Dutch too, but not sure how good he is. Massaquoi and Ecker are both solid TE's.

I think Michigan's offense as a whole is better this year. The combination of another year's experience for Hart and Henne, the offensive line and the depth of receivers they have will make them better. No one player is better than or can make up for what Edwards brought to the table, but the sum of all the parts can be greater this year. From a selfish point of view, it is a damned shame that the game isn't in South Bend so I could watch it in HD. NBC finally got off their asses and is broadcasting ND home games in high definition this year. Instead, we'll get the crappy ABC SD feed.

QUOTE(Texsox @ Sep 2, 2005 -> 02:09 PM) Did Letterman ask him to recreate the stunt? No, but he pulled out a gallon of milk and sat it on his desk as a joke.

No, the playoff roster is set...

Owens would have had his 39th steal today, but he slid past the bag after being safe on a steal attempt and got tagged out. Rogowski and Sweeney have gotten hot at just the right time.... Rogowski has hit in 9 of his last 10 games. Sweeney has 33 RBI in his last 202 AB's after having only 14 in his first 227. Both have hit Jacksonville pitching well of late. Other notes: Don't quote me on it, but I believe Antoin Gray was released. He is no longer on the Birmingham roster. Christian Acosta replaced him. Also, quietly Frazier Dizard was added to Birmingham's roster a couple of weeks ago.

QUOTE(OilCan @ Sep 5, 2005 -> 08:18 PM) Arnie Munoz....starter or reliever? Joe Borchard...trade bait or 4th outfielder for next year?? Ryan Sweeney....AAA promotion or another year at Birmingham to develop some power??? Munoz - only chance in the bigs is as a reliever. Looks as if Arnie didn't take well to not getting called up. His last two starts were terrible. Borchard - more than likely he'll be traded in the off-season, which could include up to the end of Spring Training Sweeney - repeat AA, at least 1/2 season, more likely a full season

Sorry to hear that Tom........

The picture in HD is pretty, but the play by both teams is not. :sleep

QUOTE(Kalapse @ Sep 5, 2005 -> 04:57 AM) From underachieving starter and whipping boy to dominate lefty reliever and go-to guy out of the pen is quite a turnaround. Thank god I've always been on his bandwagon. I don't think "underachieving starter" is a fair label at all. The kid was rookie who had skipped AAA. Pitchers need development time and Neal was getting his feet wet. In reality he is still likely getting his feet wet preparing for a starters role in the future.

For those of you that follow the NFL in-depth, what does it look like the role will be for Matt Jones. He was drafted by the Steelers, right? How has he done? Will he fit in right away?