Rex Hudler

I am not a hockey fan, but this will probably be what is best for the game in the long run. The owners have to be sure not to give in now, like the baseball owners did in 1995. Losing the 1994 WS was a total waste because the owners caved in and nothing got fixed. The NHL would be smart to learn from baseball's mistake and make sure they follow through. I don't see the NHL player's union holding together like the MLB players did, however.

QUOTE(The Bones @ Feb 20, 2005 -> 01:39 AM) I'm following the MVC but my team, ISU, is on a losing streak right now. Hopefully they can end it tonight at UW-Green Bay. As for the amount of bids we get, I think it will depend on who wins the conference tournament and gets the automatic bid. If SIU or Wichita State win it I think they'll be the only 2 to get in but if UNI, ISU, or Creighton, etc. win it I think they would have to take WSU and SIU along with the tourney winner. Who knows though, there's still a lot to be determined in these last few weeks. I agree, I think it depends on how the rest of the season finishes and how the conference tournament plays out. The problem is that each of them play each other still, so there will be losses to be had, by at least 2 of the 3. My guess is that two get in. If UNI wins the conference tourney, I could see Wichita St. getting squeezed out, especially if they lose another to SIU or UNI in the next three games.

QUOTE(Brian @ Feb 20, 2005 -> 01:01 AM) Salukis win at Kent State. Looked awful on offense for the first 10 minutes of the 2nd half, falling behind by 5 after being up 12 at half, but pulled it together to win by 10. Good game for the Salukis. Unfortunately, not so much luck for Wichita State. Northern Iowa handled Western Michigan, taking them to 19-8. The conference is very good this year. It is not just top heavy with two good teams.

QUOTE(Punch and Judy Garland @ Feb 19, 2005 -> 11:06 PM) Frank has always been used by writers to stir the pot. I will say this, this has been a trying offseason for me as a Sox fan. They got rid of two of my four favorite players. I know Buehrle will be around for awhile, but if things end badly with Frank, I may not forgive the organization. We don't need another Fisk situation. I know that Frank will try to stay in town as long as management doesn't slap him in the face. I swear that Kenny Williams better not try to run him out of town. Kenny has wanted to get rid of Frank for several years now. Why do you think things will change now?

One more day of voting. 43 votes cast so far. I was hoping to get to at least 50. Voting will end Saturday evening.

Don't think this round could get much closer....... every vote will count

QUOTE(chisox05 @ Feb 12, 2005 -> 11:57 PM) Yes he was, he was one of the top pitching specs according to many sites and he had a mid 90s fastball back in the day When exactly did he have a mid-90's fastball? I know it wasn't this past year in Birmingham. And it wasn't the year before in Winston-Salem.

I'd laugh if some guy bid on him and made him his "buddy'

Shania Twain - Country Music Artist Jenny McCarthy - Model, TV Personality, Playboy Playmate

Carmen Electra - Model/Actress Nikki Cox - Actress... Las Vegas TV series

Opinions vary......... that is the beauty of this. People are allowed to vote how they think, rather than how you or someone else thinks they should think.

IU pulling away from Minny......... 63-48 with 3 minutes and change left.

QUOTE(LosMediasBlancas @ Feb 11, 2005 -> 08:10 PM) Totally attainable physique.....roid free. Most any physique is attanable without taking roids. It just takes more dedication, harder work and more time.

QUOTE(southsider2k5 @ Feb 11, 2005 -> 12:12 AM) What? That skinny little dude? Uh ok?!?! Steroids does not necessarily equate to bulk. One could use steroids along with a workout program to gain lean muscle tissue without bulking up. Guys with Nomar's build would have difficulty bulking up, but they can still be ripped and very muscular. I am not saying that he did it or did not do it, but that bulk is not the only result.

QUOTE(greasywheels121 @ Feb 12, 2005 -> 05:22 PM) I don't think Bracey's starting from what I'm hearing, but I'm pretty sure he'll see some action today. I don't think Indiana will have much trouble today. If it weren't for that dreadful start to the 2nd half at Minnesota, we would have won at their place too. It's good for Bracey they he is going to get some action today, but will he play in the game? That's more important to me than Bracey's social life.

QUOTE(winodj @ Feb 12, 2005 -> 03:51 PM) I don't advocate the use of steroids or performance enhancing drugs, but it was my understanding that it wasn't illegal in MLB prior to the past couple of years.... So why is this such a controversy? People are acting like every player before 1980 were as pure as the driven snow. There have always been lots of "greymarket" things happening surrounding sports. It's a problem, let's clean it up and chase it aggressively now - and forget about what happened in the past. Frankly, it doesn't matter to me who made their nuts shrink for an extra boost in their stats. You are correct to a point, but the issue with steroids is that even though they weren't against baseball rules, they were illegal substances. Almost every other sport had banned them. Steroids at that time fell under their drug policy which called for counseling first for a player with a problem. The catch was, they had no testing so unless a player happened to get busted with illegal steroids in hand, there was no way of knowing.' I don't think baseball should, nor will go back and change records broken by players suspected of steroids, but this era will always have someone of a footnote to it. Sadly, all players who performed well will get lumped together many years down the road when people talk about the steroid era. It may not matter to you who used them, but I think you are the minority in that regard. If one player were caught, that woudl be one thing. But imagine if half the league were caught with corked bats. Would you then begin to question the integrity of the number they put up? I sure would. I also find it funny that you "don't advocate the use of steroids or performance enhancing drugs" but that to you "it doesn't matter who made their nuts shrink for an extra boost in their bats". It's a fine line, but in esssence, the fact that you are okay with those that did in shows advocation. If no one cared whether it was done or not, then why the hell wouldn't guys do it? Health reasons? You won't find very many players at all that wouldn't trade off "potential health effects" for a huge multi-million dollar contract. The short-term reward is too great.

QUOTE(He_Gawn @ Feb 12, 2005 -> 05:16 PM) Should be a pretty good game, but I think we'll pull it out. If Davis wants ANY chance of staying, they better. I do think they will beat Minny at home, however.

QUOTE(qwerty @ Feb 11, 2005 -> 12:28 AM) Maris did play in 161 games in 1961 the year he broke the record. Ruth never had 705 plate apperances in his career. Well okay, you got me. Maris did indeed play in those extra 5 games (I looked at the wrong year) and Ruth did not have 705 plate appearances. He had 691 to Maris 698. Still hardly a major difference. I don't think those numbers change the point.

QUOTE(DBAH0 @ Feb 12, 2005 -> 03:03 PM) Indy vs. Minny should be a good affair, and Illini should have the goods over Wisconsin. Anyone know when Utah's next game is? I'm on Bogut Watch. (And someone get a pic of Greasy) Yeah, I am sure he will be the only one in red and easy to spot.

Having high picks certainly increases your margin for error however. But you are correct, that great players come from all over the draft and many players develop later and/or work harder than others.

QUOTE(BHAMBARONS @ Feb 11, 2005 -> 04:20 AM) I went to Winston Salem site purchased 2003 and 2004 set. I didn't see Brandon's Card in there just wondering what set would I find in. Tom Try Kannapolis. It is possible he got missed completely since he moved to different teams. If W-S had already done their set when he arrived and Kannapolis didn't finalize their set until later, he may have gotten left out. I can't imagine Kannapolis leaving him out of their set even if he was already gone though. You don't leave a marketable name out of your set.

The quarterfinals are over. Now we move on to the semis. Round 3 results are: Carmen Electra defeats Denise Richards, 19-13 Nikki Cox squeakes by Amber Brkich, 17-16 Jenny McCarthy beats Lauren Michelle Hill, 21-14 Shania Twain takes out Heidi Klum, 18-12 Semifinal matchups are: Carmen Electra vs. Nikki Cox Jenny McCarthy vs. Shania Twain New polls should be up and ready for voting later today. Thanks to all who voted.

QUOTE(Chisoxfn @ Feb 11, 2005 -> 11:19 PM) The reason I don't think its true is because this comes down to the boy who cried wolf. Canseco is broke and is doing everything and anything he can to make a little money. Larussa talked about it and said McGwire and Jose didn't even hang out and pretty much said the stuff was 100% BS. At least about Jose shooting him up. Then you have Canseco making this blatant accusations of actually shooting this guys up with roids and then later on he's asked and he goes I dont' remember, I may of done it once or twice for these players. My 2 cents is when it smells like bulls***, it is bulls***. I'm not saying these guys aren't juicing, I just think Jose has absolutely ZERO credibility at this point. Whether Jose has any credibility or not, doesn't really matter does it? Whether the details he gives in his book are 100% correct doesn't matter. What matters is the fans perception of what may or may not have happened. Could Roger Clemens have used steroids? sure.... Could any of the other players that have been mentioned so far done it? certainly... maybe even probably.. I think steroids was a lot more widespread than you think Jason. Perhaps not in the past 2-3 years, but throughout the 90's I have no doubt. I also have absolutely NO DOUBT at all that teams knew what was going on. When Brian Cashman says he didn't know Jason Giambi was using, he is speaking in technicalities only Bill Clinton can relate to. I can confidently say that the attitude about steroids in the past was like the army policy with gays - Don't Ask, Don't Tell. Teams didn't give a crap about it as long as they didn't see it happening and no one got caught. A player had to do what he had to do. Steroids, I believe were just as prevalent in the minors as they were in the Majors. Guys felt like they needed to take them to make it. Players felt like they had to hit 20 HR as a middle infielder. The Brady Anderson's of the game changed what players did to make it. I am not saying that every player did roids. I am not willing to try and put a number on it because I was not there and most of my information is second-hand. But it would not shock me in the least if someone said that out of 25 guys on each team at least 5 were taking roids at least at some point. Wouldn't shock me if that number was much higher either. That is why baseball doesn't want to look at the past, but only ahead to the future with the new policy. They buried their head in the sand and allowed it to happen for so many years because they couldn't beat the players union and get a policy in place. Plus, all the HR's and increased offense certainly didn't hurt fan interest in the game (hence - Chicks dig the long ball). Selig and company want everyone to see what they are doing now, but ignore what they didn't do for a long time. Now they are faced with some real dilemmas. How will they handle Bonds when he breaks Aaron's record? How quickly will Jose's book go away? Will Spring Training become one big witch hunt? Will every player that has an off year or that gets injured after being healthy most of his career be accused of 'roiding? MLB just wants it to go away, but it won't. On the flip side, there is a slight possibility that Jose's book could help. I think many fans truly want to believe that guys like McGwire, Sosa, etc. weren't on steroids. Or at the very least, they suspect it, even know it in their minds but they suppress it because it taints the game they love. If Jose's accusastions are so outlandish and if fans refuse to believe or admit they belive Roger Clemens, etc. used steroids, then they may begin to defend those players in their minds. If Jose is seen as many of you described him here and is seen as not having any credibility, then their may be anger in their pointed in his diretion. If that is the case, then at least subconsciously, they will defend their favorite players and all of this could go away faster. When I speak of "fans" I am speaking in a larger sense than just you or I. Jose's book could be just enough to rip things wide open at the seams, which it seems it has been ready to happen. Or, the public may dismiss much of it because of its source. The steroid issue will not go away quickly, but it is possible that Jose's book could lessen the intensity. I wouldn't bet on that happening, but anything is possible. Without even reading his book, my best guess is that the reality of what happened lies somewhere buried under the sensationalism the book protrays. So if you ignore the details of the hows, whys and even whos to a point, then you can probably at least believe the underlying point that steroids were very widespread.

QUOTE(GASHWOUND @ Feb 12, 2005 -> 08:07 AM) That's a good point...I don't know how these types of lawsuits have turned out in the past, taking this not an opinion..in which that wouldn't have a case..but stating they for sure did use steroids...they would have something there.. But it may be to early, who's to say they won't sue him...but obviously all of them are gonna deny it..unless you put them in front of a grand jury like Giambi. The problem is if they sue him they open themselves up to investigation and cross-examination. Whether the details of Canseco's book are 100% correct, it is doubtful they want their dirty laundry aired for everyone.

QUOTE(ZoomSlowik @ Feb 10, 2005 -> 11:44 PM) Agreed. The guy was hungover half the time, and it still took 3 guys on the juice 70 years later to hit 60 homeruns faster than he did. I'm not a fan of praising Maris, he got an extra 10 games to try to break the record in. Not really. Technically Maris had 7 more games to hit his 61. However, Maris played in only 156 games where Babe played in 151 in 1927. Babe had 705 total plate appearances and Maris had just 698, so in reality Babe got more chances.