BrandoFan

Is anybody here a fan of Ultimate Fighting, Southamerican version where you're allowed to headbutt and knee your oppnent's face among other neat things?

Margaret Dumont.

Ok, then safeties should pay the ultimate price. I demand blood, I picked Panthers to win.

See, Colombians have a firmer grasp on justice: when that dude kicked a goal in his own national team's net which led to its elimination from 1/8 at the World Cup in 1994.....he was greeted at the airport by a shotgun blast to the face courtesy of a disgruntled fan. Rickey Manning, Jr.... :puke

Whoever was the strong side corner for the Panthers should be summarily executed at dawn. The b**** kept blowing coverage and slipping down at INOPPORTUNE moment after moment, drive after drive. And the panthers kicker kicking it out of bounds....how much did HE get paid for that ugly s***? Unreal. The little things and the penalties cost Carolina a sure win. Would have been 6th year that a new team wins the SB, too. Parity rules.

Well, it's not as if Sox fans will be ever be confused with class OR with baseball knowledge.

I could care less about what other people expect me to do, CW. I just follow my heart.

Mystic River is NOT = whodunit. Ending twist was telegraphed earlier in the movie, sure...but in movies like that plot doesn't concern me that much. People hated Adaptation and Magnolia endings but I didn't mind.

I am sorry, but that's blasphemy. Me and my friends love watching Showgirls-like so-bad-its-good flicks and have fun doing it, it's true. One of life's best pleasures. And yes I did laugh at the hilarious White boy saying "You suchas got sErved!" in the promos.....But it's totally not worth it. Absolutely no reasons to see it and I am pretty busy anyway. It's so-bad-its-boring category. And what's up with you flipping out at all the wrong moment, Cali? I mean, the technically excellent Lord of the Rings Trilogy (if appreciating the seamless production of a work by the most prolific fantasy writers/medieval scholar makes me a geek, then hear me motherf***ing roar!) is not exactly the worst candidate for Best Picture considering both Chicago and Beautiful Minds are mediocre and manipulative as they come.......And where was the outrage when Scary Movie 3 and Texas Chainsacre: Redux both KILLED at the BoxOffice few months ago, rossing more than 3 times what Got Served did? Common....when I opened the thread I thought it was about terrorists blowing up a plane or something! Besides, you KNOW January is usually one of the months when the already weak movie industry dumps its CLUNKERS-- competition is WEAK as hell and people gotta see SOMETHING, right? I mean, my local cineplex, for exmple, does NOT have Mystic River or Angels in America or Lost IN Translation.....but guess what it DOES have? Suggestion: don't take Box office/ billboard/ grammys/ golden globes so SERIOUSLY or you'll be VERY dissapointed because they are only 40% about merit and 60% about money/popularity. Such is life.

I should add that I also like Lee, Olivo, Rowand, Reed and Rauch. Among the players I've never seen live I have to say Dick Allen because they said that the mofo possessed a legitimate 60 HR talent that he squandered.

Jose f***in' Valentin: Underrated defense Underated baserunning Solid offense Solid bunting Good RISP/clutch numbers Positive clubhouse force Future Sox manager Killer 'stache in truly 'stacheless times!

Wait, Cheat, how come it says Rex is the Best SoxTALK Analyst"? Shouldn't it be just "Sox Analyst" since a) it's 2003 SoxTalk Awards by default and 2) he knows very little about everything else?

Holy s***, how old was Karelin by then, 40? In his prime, he was practically untouchable.

Has anybody beaten Alexander Karelin yet? I know he retired 5 years ago, but who knows.

Sound of Silence and "Are you going to Scarborough fair" one are among my all-time favorites and single-handedly made Graduate a better movie IMO. Wait, haven't we talked about this 3 months ago?

http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/meast/02/01/...main/index.html

OT: What ever happened to good music? Is it, like, out of style and stuff? Is AWK's "I get wet" any good? Some dude told me I should check it out.

Soxy, have an awesome trip and the best of luck. Oh and behave yoself.

One word: Having fun at home playing winterball.

I don't think so, not a major jump anyway. Then again, considering his RH OPS was about 400 last year, I think imporving won't be much of a problem. I am looking for 650 LH-vs-LHP OPS in 75 at bats, most against mediocre relievers, less if Uribe gets off to a hot start. Jose is an idiot for not doing it 10 years ago, though.

While not as Alvarez-Bere-Jack-Fernandez sharp, I think Sox are probably slightly above average right now. I think Sox suffered greatly back in 2000 when Parque, Sirotka, Barcelo and Rauch succumbed to shoulder injuries they may never recover from. Otherwise, I think 2 of them would have been on the list in the last 2 years. Wright was never the same after that shoulder incident coming into 2003, either. I know injuries happen everywhere, but those 4 were either successful briefly major leaguers or just a few months away from the majors.....not some 19yo A'ers.

Jeremiyb1 is a QUALITY poster for sure. I though SoxTalk should have made him a 2-year offer when he was briefly a FA to lure him over. If Rex's stolen system is flawed because of its simplicity.....what Baggs has suggested will be just as flawed by the time he figures out the points-for-draft-round-and-minor-league-promotion-year system. Ultimately, I don't give a s*** about who was taken in what round or how many scouts are working in Thailand.....ALL I care about is how many youngsters (under 27yo works for me) helped carry a team through the season. Sox produced Burhle and Wells. When 24yo Garland inevitably breaks the 4.00 ERA mark again (he did in 2001), chalk him up as another Sox product. Rauch, Pacheco, Diaz, Stewart, Wright and Cotts will all have a fairly solid crack at giving us a 4th successful pitching prospect in 4 years. Peavy, Eaton, Bonderman, Ramirez, Fernandez among others BLOW. Brad Penny is border-line. Edwin Jackson needs to throw more than 15 innings. Cubs and Marlins are the only ones who are clearly better developers than us-- but they also had a BUNCH of high picks-- and Wood is about to be ineligible because of age. Edit: forgot about A's of course.

Me too...ME TOO! I've said from day one that Jose swindled Kenny into paying him 1-2 Mill more than he was worth. Good for him. Frank comment? Since Jose himself put on a mighty big choking in the Twins Series in September, it may sound funny to call out a fellow veteran choker. Then again.....Jose has never been one to keep him mouth shut. When he takes young players under his wing, keeps things loose in the dugout, pats youngsters (Jimenez, Borchard, Crede, Olivo) on the back, telling them what they did wrong when they make a mistake during the game, reportedly tries to break up and resolve nearly every clubhouse conflict AND plays his ass of ON the field......we all all recognize it as manifestations of LEADER's personality. HOWEVER, when the same character trait that compels Jose to actually GIVE a s*** about things other than his stats produces an UNPLEASANT truth.....some people are shocked. Hey, you CAN'T have it both ways. You can't have Jose leaving it all on the field, being a dugout clown, helping youngsters, charming people at Soxfest and not being afraid to take a pre-eminent role in resolving a clubhouse controversy.....WITHOUT an occasional unnecessary blurb thrown to the media hounds. That's not how it works. If you fell in love with a woman for her flamboyant, independent spirit and a keen mind, don't be surprised when one day she puts her foot in yo ass when you do something that strongly disagrees with her beliefs. Jose will speak his mind, for better or, as in this case, for worse.

Yeah, after barely crawling past Agassi, it was clear Marat had NO chance against much more rested (and more talented) Federer. As DBAH0 mentioned, when Roger is at his best, there is not a single aspect of the game he doesn't excel at. His serves and volleys are damn good, but his backcourt game is even better. The only knock on him coming into 2003 Wimbleton was his less-than-desired fitness (chubby) and some emotional inconsistencies that plague young players. It seems he's gone a long way toward improving both. Against Safin, you could only look at winner/unforced errors ratio (Federer had more winners than errors while Safin had twice as many errors as winners) OR the fact that Federer had a whopping 18 break-point chances in only 3 sets on Safin's mighty serve.....to get an idea who should have won the match. Good tournament overall. Sadly, Andre fell just a bit short (hope he plays through 2006), but I liked Roger since the juniors, always thought he'd be great, so I might root for him in the future. BILF won the women's. They are moving AO to March beginning 2005, btw.

Quality post, baggs.