BrandoFan

Hey, Cubs were only 5 easy outs away from World Series (where Prior, Wood and Co woulda whupped on overswinging Yankees) and are probably odd-on FAVORITES to win the Worls Series in 2004 as soon as they pick up either Maddux or Ivan, which they will. With Sosa we would have won in 2000 (Maggs plays LF and Carlos 1B, no Konerko) as well, which would have made 2001-2003's not only super-fun but also a LOT different in terms of attendance and National reputation. But hey, who needs all that.

Now I realize that the above characterization is perhaps too generic, too vague and as such might have contributed to Israel's confusion and resentment. No, what Sharon is, is a blood-soaked Kosher butcher with a cow fetish. Duh.

That's "ya thata boy, son whoohoo " to you, mister.

Damn, I forgot Redbird's only 22. Have a great one, Heather!!!

It ain't happening. For every 2 bucks Sox fans bring in, JR re-invests a dollar. You want a 75+ Mill payroll? 140-150 Mill in revenues would do that trick. In 2003, Sox fell 25 Mill short of that figure. Sorry, but Sox fans ain't winning the battle. Jerry and his peeps is doin' jus fine even if the team is losing and the franchise is disrespected. Fans are the ones whose hearts are broken, dreams crushed and mood f***ed-up. They will also be the ones to revitalize the team by coming out in hordes. Or not.

Hey, with these momentum swings and streaks in baseball, you NEVER really know for sure. I mean, one day Twins were 5 games under .500 and 9 back of the Royals. Next thing you know they are winning 90 and the division with it. There is no doubt in my mind we are a playoff team with Kip Wells with us in 2003. That is in the bank. Now 2002 is a different story: Kipster wins literally 3 times as many games as Ritchie PLUS we keep Durham PLUS Kenny Lofton has an insentive to actually TRY....PLUS we get an impact player at the ASB, PLUS Josh Fogg pitches out of the pen where he is lights out PLUS the pressure is on the Twins.......It's 50/50 we win or they win at the end, really. But either way, there are MORE fans (the team did give up in July afterall) in the park and a higher payroll in 2003, allowing us to keep Foulke. And so on. Speculation? Sure,. but the trade was bloody awful either way./

Considering how relatively cheap Wells was, why the hell not? We could have done some damage with Loaiza-Wells-Colon-Burhle in the playoffs. And yes ERA drop from 6.60 to 3.60 IS a big deal, especially early on when Lofton (who quits on losing teams and thrives on winning ones) and Durham were on fire and we needed just that little something to go on win streaks. Who knows, if we were only a few games behind Twins at the ASB, we probably don't trade Lofton and Durham and maybe even get get Everett-type impact player instead to battle Twins down the stretch.....instead of packing it in by July.

Yes we only gave up a pitcher who throws mid-to-high 90's heat with a good curve and a solid slider, a pitcher who just entering his prime but can already be a #2 in most rotations......and one who would have cost our cash-strapped team next to nothing in 2002 and 2003, leading to at least 1 ALC pennant. Like you said, nothing major.

A first ballot HOF'er and one of the most recognizeable superstars in all of sports over a mere All-Star? Yeah ok, if it makes you sleep better.... To be fair, we were going nowhere, the deadline was looming, the strike seemed imminent.....and Adkins does throw that 97mph fastball. Hoyt, Gossage, Seaver, Fisk, Minoso, Aparicio, Allen, Luzinski....Just who are these imaginary individuals y'all talking about?

Worst trade: Ritchie and Koch. Clayton. Both trades not only pretty much killed respective seasons (and failure to make playoffs in 2002 resulted in smaller revenue and payroll in 2003 and failure in 2003 in turn diminished....well you get the picture) very early but but also cost us cheap Kip Wells and burned us with untradeable 6.25 Mill in 2004. Best trade: Marte. Self-explanatory. Worst signing: Ramirez, Baines, Konerko (2002) and Valentin (2003). Best signing: Loaiza. Frank Thomas at 5 Mill before 2003. Gordon. Wunsht (2004). Dark horses: Pacheco, Uribe, Olivo, Harris and Grilli. If just two of them can realize their talent in 2004, we're in business. Gary Glover will be a very good reliever once they find him a nice arm slot.

[insert a really tasteless Helen Keller reference]

Actually it used to be called Real American Heroes, but that nasty lil' WTC thing happened, so that was the end of that . Mr. Bad Toupe Wearer is funny cuz it's true. Women barely pull them off, fcol. They should also make one about middle-age men trying to hide gray and white hair via generic paint only to end up with this ridiculous-looking orange color .....I will burn in hell, why do you ask?

I wonder which one of you worthless tinkerbell cocksuckers did not care to contribute to my thread?

It's true, before you joined the debate, many posters on this board were indeed starving for factual education and moral guidance. Others just needed a male role model and a shoulder to cry on. Hell, I've always wanted to learn the finer points of Stealthian ninjametry from a real-life Grand Imperial Douchebag, but never felt I could share this burning need with anyone; your gentle, enlightening touch has been liberating. Thank you. Do you speak Ivri't?

San Antonio, Dallas and Austin round off the top 4.

Robert Benchley says:

Quoting the Bard again?

Hell yeah I was nervous the first time I boarded the 4-seater Cesna in Paluwoki. But the instructor calmed me down and it was awesome thereon. Expensive but awesome.

I would take care of my family and friends (and no, no Porshes or Benzi or country clubs.....just pay for their health, take care of debt, buy a few reasonably inexpensive houses, etc), lay a few Mill aside to have fun on and to pay for my future kids education.....and use the remaining 175 Mill to help the poor.

That Ashley woman is a moron.

I hope to live a very long and relatively healthy and see my great-grandchildren accomplish big things. But ever since I was a kid I never saw myself making it to 40. I guess it will probably be some sort of cancer, auto accident or grief-related suicide. It's fate. Oh well. And no I didn't click on the link.

You're right, I didn't consider a lot of controllable variables in the whole fram system equation. But the point was that when you're going young and are over-relying on rookie infusion, you're far more likely to get a Devil Rays, Ti gers or Cleveland Indians or 1999 White Sox out of it than 2003 Marlins. What type of organization are the Sox? How good are our managers, coaches, trainers, scouts, facilities comparatively speaking? What are their policies with respect to said drinking, curfew, etc? How much do they spend on overseas recruitment network? I am not very confident we can pull this youth movemennt thing off. And this organization simply can ill-afford to have non-competing teams in 2004-2005 IMO.

To an extent, yes. Can you imagine if there were no consequences at all, no collateral damage, how many MORE attacks would be perpetrated? Similarly, if the Ben Gurion airport security became lax, there would be planes hi-jacked WEEKLY. And so on. However, I already admitted that it's not working NEARLY as well as Israel hoped it would. It's just that the other alternative is even worse as harsh as that sounds. Welcome to ME warfare reality. How many times have Arafat walked away from the Peace Table? Do you think Israel was offering the lands that they see as righfully (moral right, not arbitrary UN right) belong to them out of the goodness of their collective heart? No, those suicide bombers were distrubping their economy, their way of life big time. If it weren't such an effective weapon of persuation, terrorists wouldn't be using it for so long. Given the TRUE objective of PLO and the Arab world, and considering Arafat and Thugs' desire to stay in power (as per Jauggernaut's post) at all costs, it's likely that suicide bombs would continue to go off long AFTER West Bank is in Palestinian possession. What will Israel do then? Take the lost lands back because the conditions were not met? Trust me, there will be another HAMAS, another excuse, there will be another cause. There will be another intifada. There will another trecherous attempt to pin it all on Israel and to pressure UN. And so on.......Israel is not THAT altruistic and never claimed to be. Safery and security first. Nataniachu and many others echoed that sentiment/policy in so many words during the recent Gertzl convention. . We'll see how the Fence works. If it does, Sharon will get overwhelming support of his people, which would ultimately lead to Transfer 3-5 years from now. Which is basically what Churchill and many wise polits-ci and social theorists argued for ages: Isralites and Palestinians/Arabs should be SEPARATED, that's the ONLY way to ensure long-term peace. And since Israel ain't about to give up the trophey/penalty lands it took in numerous wars started by its enemy, that means it's time for Palis to pack the f*** up. As it were.

No, not in Andrei Chicatilo way. In a good way. Not too keen on figurative language are we?