Wong & Owens

Ugh, you're really dating yourself with that one Tex.

I would definitely take a flyer on Astacio. No injury is insurmountable anymore. Except maybe decapitation. Can't play after that.

I'm sure winodj might disagree with you.... But I agree, if he can keep his homophobic rants down to a minimum, I'd take a flyer on him for 2004. Not as a starter though--he always seemed more effective out of the 'pen.

I wouldn't be so quick to say it was mismanagement. It's hard to compete when you are paying your workers $8-$10 an hour minimum, and your competition (Brach's for example) is paying 10 pesos a day to their employees at their new Mexican manufacturing plant. Candy isn't nearly as popular year-round anymore, due to factors like more health-conscious diets, and the days of bringing boxes of candy and flowers on dates are long gone. It's sad, don't get me wrong, but it's entirely consistent with manufacturing trends in this country in general--outsource to foreign countries, and save millions.

They can have him. He wont bat over .260.

Were Albert Belle, David Wells and Bartolo Colon playing pro bono over the last 6-7 years? I'm not supporting JR's ass-backwards business philosophy concerning the Sox, but he HAS shown a willingness to spend big $$$ at times. My theory? The Sox are letting the Yankees and Red Sox duke it out this season, and will be playing out this year with what they've got, looking ahead to 2005. After this season, they'll have a bunch of cash freed up, The Yankees will be another year older(I'm looking in your direction, Bernie Williams, Kevin Brown and Mariano Rivera), and so will Boston(Hello Curt Schilling, Pedro). Both teams will also have numerous free agent quandries to solve, and chances are that whichever team doesn't at least go to the WS in '04 gets torn apart in '05. If the Sox keep a nucleus together, and develop a couple young guys this year, they'll be in a great position to win in '05. Not a very popular plan, for sure, and nothing the Sox would ever own up to doing in public, but it kinda makes some sense, doesn't it?

This is weird. Yesterday afternoon, on the Mac, Jurko and Harry show, they were having a sports "Dead Pool" contest. One of the callers picked Tug McGraw.

OK, I just counted all my sperm. Same number as I had 5 years ago. This fraudulent report has now been exposed. You may thank me later.

If that's true about the new turf, it will DRASTICALLY affect the Twins' homefield advantage. I've run on both types, and the new turf is far softer and slower than the old s***. The surface they played on last year was essentially green concrete. This new stuff they make out of old tires plays much more like real grass.

The year the Sox signed Lofton (2002, i think, my memory is still clogged with egg nog) The Sox got off to a really hot start for the first few weeks of the season. Then they went into the tank until they were out of contention, and then started to play well at the end.

Mine said, "You will be hit by a bus on your way home from work today." Well, here goes nuthin'.............

High School -- Volleyball, Soccer College -- Volleyball Now relegated to various volleyball rec leagues/tournaments, and as much 16" softball as time allows.

Did the actual tiles cost more, or did the installation? I've installed 18-inchers before, and they're not any harder to install than 12-inchers. Refinishing wood floors absolutely blows--it's one of only 2 home remodeling jobs that i will not touch(the other being drywall taping, i'm too messy), but I don't recall it being that pricey when I had ours done. It depends of course on room sizes....

The White Sox really don't have many casual fans. Neither Nomar, ARod, Pedro, Schillng, whoever is going to put one extra person in the seats if the team is 15 games under .500 at the break. Paying a player $12-15 million a year in hopes that you would recoup that money in attendance is foolish business and not at all realistic. As a baseball team owner, your product is your team, and a good product is a competative, contending team that at least puts on airs that it cares about the fans. Very few people are stupid enough(Cubs fans) to throw their money at a poorly-managed, non-competitive team just because they want to see one particular superstar. Casual fans don't go to see players anyways, they go for atmosphere/fun, and unfortunately the Cell does not have much of a rep for either.

My camera sucks, but here you go. His name is Monster. (Hope this works)

It's probably poly, you'll be fine. Swiffer away! Why did you put in Hickory floors? I haven't ever come across hickory flooring before, usually I see oak, pine or maple. What benefits/advantages are there with hickory? Just curious.

Hold up there Fanof14. You said that your floors were sanded/finished, does that mean they coated them with polyurethane? If so, then Swiffer til ya can't Swiffer no more, they will be fine. If there's not a poly coat on it, then you don't want to touch the floor with anything wet until you do. Also, don't use Murphy's more than once every few months--the oil leaves a residue that builds up over time, leaving your floors dull and sometimes oily. Use a little dish soap diluted in water, or a tiny bit of vinegar in water.

Chuck Knoblauch is available.....

I don't know if you've read some of the other threads, but Nomar's batting numbers over the last three years have been awful away from Fenway Park. Something to the tune of .266 BA, .772 OPS. But that's really not the point. In baseball, when 11-15 players have to contribute something EVERY GAME, you can't pay one player $15 million, when most team's payrolls are in the $50-$70 million range. If the Sox's payroll is going to end up around $60 million in 2005, you can't give any one player 1/4th of your budget. No team should be paying that, Tom Hicks is an idiot for what he gave ARod.

The Trib reported today that Schoenweiss was in fact offered arbitration and will be a Sock in '04

On no planet, in no known dimension, under no accepted hallucinogenic drug is Nomar Garciaparra worth 15 million a year. Please, for the love of god, send him to L.A./Anaheim

USELESS TRIVIA FACTOID alert: First album in music history to sell one million copies? Dire Straits, Brothers in Arms.

HEY! I am also 2-0. You forgot about me. I am sad now.

Not a bad thought, not sure why Texas would want anything to do with Konerko though. They're loaded with hitters, they would want pitching.

Don't think you need an ace, you need a guy to act like an ace for a few weeks. Who was Anaheim's ace 2 years ago? Washburn? He ain't better than Buehrle. Sele? Appier? Ortiz? All average to above-average. I don't think Florida really had an ACE last year either. Beckett didn't do what he did in the playoffs all season, and Willis was a half-season rookie wonder. As cliched as it sounds, it takes a whole team, both pitching and hitting, clicking when they need to click.