BrandoFan

Who wrote him off? I know I didn't. I was just surprised that there was no BWS-- it was probably his fastball which was supposed to move so much when he takes some velocity off that people were mistaking for a slider. Comparing to Foulke is crazy. Foulke's fastball doesn't move and his curveball is....um...not good.

Ok for starters, that car is probably a vagina.

I think Steff should be banned as well. She is a troll magnet. She destroys troll marriages.

Was Phil only as good as Michael Jordan? Bowman as good as Yzerman? A coach/manager can win 5 games a season just by being "better" than peers, Easy. Luck plays some part, too, but over time it evens out. Lou Pinella or Mike Sciossa couldn't do anything with their untalented/injury-prone clubs. But you bet your ass Sox would have won ALC with them last year. No doubt in my mind, wahtsoever. To let Jerry Manuel off the hook would be criminally unfair. I am not even going to go into such unmeasurable things as player motivation, clubhouse control, etc. Look at his line-up tinkering. Look at his asinine substitutions. Look at how his players were unprepared fundamentally. Considering we were 2 games in first in mid-Sept, Jerry Manual was a big reason we failed in 2003. Koch, Konerko, Rios, Wright, White screwed up big time....but Jerry Manuel alone could have changed the momentum. IMO.

Oh it made sense alright! You just need some help with interpreting it.

What the hell is this luxid dream y'all chirping about? A dream is a dream...WTF.

. I'll take our physics over their chemistry any damn day of the week, thankyouverymuch. And don't get me started on english.

I will miss Bateman a little. The way he obcessed over Steff and couldn't come to terms with her being connected.....was mucho pricelesso.

:headshake Ban the IP

What happened to Neal's "bizarro world slider"? It was hyped so much, by scouts and publications and such. Did they mean his curve? Or the way he pitches up so effective? Something doesn't compute.

Why 100 years, why stop there? You why not, say, 140 years? What are your criteria for an "original" thought? Put the bat on the ball and outscore your opponent. Oh and don't get laid within a few hours of the game. Huh? There is inevitable, unintentional "copying", which is just expressing sound ideas better/differently than others....and then there is PLAGERIZING of which Mariotti (and pompous hacks in other industries) has been long suspected. He generates ratings, so noone at the paper questions his ethics and "ways". WSI thing is just a recent example. There is also a big difference between a trade proposal and a focal idea of an ARTICLE. Well, if we're to look at it like that........Show me a thought PERIOD that millions of people didn't think of, one way or another at some time or another. Not that I would necessarily judge a professional journalist the way I would do "normal" people, mind you.... You don't have to re-invent the wheel of fortune in every paragraph, but at least have the decency to come up with our own thesis, arguementative progression and a semi intersting/original conclusion that 1000s of uneducated message board folk haven't already beaten into the ground and frgotten.....I mean........What are your degrees worth otherwise? . I think you're looking for something that isn't there. It's not meant to be taken literally. Most people joke and hyperbolize about two-bit columnists scouting the boards and stealing their precious pearls of wisdom to further underscore how UNETHICAL those columnists are allowed to be, and how SIMPLISTIC and UNORIGINAL and CHEAP their scribblings are....even to the untrained eye. Most of Toad's logic and conclusions are THAT pititul and THAT agenda-driven, Tex. , Not that I think Mariotti would stoop as low as to actually paste-n-copy beastlyordonez's gems.......But in EVERY industry, especially now that Internet is here, nearly EVERYBODY steals/borrows/gets "inspired" by everybody else. Gauging feelings is just a fancy way of putting it. Reality. It gets fairly easy to spot a skilled and imaginative talent just because of the startling contrast with the rest of the crowd. . Forgive me for calling a spade a spade. That Jay Mariotti is a major city newspaper columnist, covering the coolest game ever invented in the fashion that he does......is a testament to the greater injustice of the world. Oh the stigma and shame that come with being "ignored in most bars"......Oh God, no, not the baaaaaarrs.......

What a strange question. I must ponder it abit.

Oh absolutely! It's all about legal bounderies, social taboos, slipping slope and self-actualizaton. Nah, they just said it to get into each other's pants. Snobs...

They say it's a sign of high intellectual capacity. So, no. And I am glad, too cuz as scary, tragic, erotic, insane and/or fantastic as are my dreams often are, I am totally IN the moment and usually have this huge WTF? as I wake up....sometimes glad (as in when people I love die and I could have saved them, etc), sometimes mad-- you get my meaning, lol Inducing and controlling dreams? No way. I don't walk on water either.

Yes, disregard the general goodwill and myriad good things I've ever said about you. And if I recall, you had some interesting ad hominem gems leading up to 5) Anyway....THAT is the "string" you took offense to?? I was totally playing along with your tongue-in-cheek mocking stereotypes directed at your classmates and then at myself. I responded in kind, was that wrong? I mean...you're a Kraut for god sakes-- that's as far from a redneck on a foodchain as it gets.

Ok, I'll bite... What did I do now?

Just how strong do you anticipate Padres, Backs and Giants being in 2004? Bonds is gonna turn 40, fer crying outloud. Schmidt's arm might not be so durable. Rob Nen... I do like the idea of getting Lee for a couple of Mill.

Baj, I can't speak for anyone else here, but I personally wouldn't be able to look myself in the mirror if I couldn't be honest and fair and at least somewhat objective when seriously analyzing players.. I would never bash a player just for the sake of bashing, especially kids my age (which most of you are more or less, let's face it). That would be pathetic and unbecoming. I may get pissed off, but it's never malicious or personal. But I also don't toss anyone's salad, literally or figuratively. Luckily, the 5-6 players that DO post here have enough intelligence and sense of humor, not to mention the sheer confidence in their abilities, that I never have to worry about having to kiss anyone's ass and can speak freely and joke around without fear of offending anybody. As far as you guys' (that goes for people like Kris, Ryan, Arnie and Emencio who don't post here as well) making some serious impact in the MAJORS......People on this site have HIGH expecations of you cream of the crop youngsters and can be pretty damn harsh on occasion....But if they are anything like myself, DEEP DOWN they would love NOTHING more than to have their amateur opinions proven wrong, and would rather be eating some major crow all summer long if it means that Neal, Brandon, Jim, you, Wyatt are putting up ZERO's on the board inning after inning after inning, bringing pride and glory back to Chicago. Simple as that. Brando.

Call me f***in' crazy, but the act of proposing is a MAN's lot. And pressuring him into it, using body and guile in equal measure, is a WOMAN's responsibility. Buy him off with season tickets, whatever it takes. Just don't ever get down on one knee with da boxy-box, even ironically.... Strip life of tradition, customs, games, roles, etc.....and what a dull, formated , unnatural f***in' existence you end up having. Blech. [/i am a feminist, too...but only when it comes to vital stuff like equal pay, opportunities, etc]

As they say in the ol' country, днем с огнем...

Your friends were right. Two months salary thing is a joke. It's not a vacarion trip to Mexico or a big screen TV, people. It's something that a man has got to work (and save) his ASS off for and later see in his nightmares. And the woman should be damned teary-eyed every time she looks at it and understands how special she is. It transcends the actual ring/stone. It's, like, symbolic. That's how I was taught, anyway. What the hell do I know!

He's a handsome devil, isn't he though? :headshake

Wite....either dem pixels are actin' up 'gain, or the part I put in quotes really does mention Konerko for Mota as a trade possibility.

You mean to tell me you'd sacrifize the entire season with a 115 Mill payroll team instead of trying to come up with a smart trade and, use the remaining 25 Mill and some non-Miller/Jackson prospects to fill a few line-up holes.....praying that Barry Bonds starts showing his age and/or Schmidt has arm problems again? Honestly?