BrandoFan

1. ____ (Colon?) 2. Loaiza 3 Buerhle 4. Perez 5 Judy. Marte ____ (Osuna?) Showy Kelly Danny Sully Koch/Diaz Rauch 1. Harris/Uribe 2. Reed/Rowand 3. Frank 4. Maggs 5 Carlos 6 Jose 7 Crede 8 Gload 9 Olivo We need to build a 7-8 game lead at the ASB, so that JR will see that the team is probably going to win. That way he can shell out up to 5 extra Million with less than 2 months to go, which would allow Sox to beef up for (much tougher) playoff competition. With 6 weeks to go, 4.5 Mill can buy you 15 Mill worth of impact player talent. More if you give teams some Royce Ring-type prospects so they can pick up part of the salary. If we get Colon early, then the impcat player could be Jim Edmonds or maybe even Vladimir or Delgado because the above is likely to be very average. Otherwise, a STUD ace should be a priority. I do NOT trust Burhle with the #2 spot and Loaiza as ace. Suggestions, I am sure I am missing a lot of stuff.

He'll be our next manager.

Mother Teresa was one.

This is a fascinating discussion. CrimsonWeltall is so b****-slappable. Educators...HAHA

I feel sorry for you. But not really.

Teaching is one of the MOST dignified careers I know. I would even call it a calling.

Waste of money? Heresy! I would argue that Universal Soldier 2 can rival ANY comedy special (yes, even Bill Hicks) in tems of pure, unadultared laughage. "Those are police cars!"

I hate Mexicans. And Indianese. And Denmarkians. And Frenchili. Poor Messica.

No no no, it's going to be Glitter II....but even Glitter didn't have the balls to name the main character that. I am talking about "It's so bad, it's GOOD" hall of fame....I am SO there, nothing beats snarking at the screen with friends. And I spackle donuts da'nad laundrymat!

Michael Jordan is the best baller I've ever seen. All-around (including the clutch) nobody was better. Some scored more but couldn't defend, pass, rebound, steal, motivate or make a big game as well or as consistently. I an opinion, but it's as close to being a fact as it gets.

Ebert is vanilla...but I'd say a 1000-word essay from a bright, experienced and passionately dedicated man is worth a HELLA LOT more than a completely arbitrary "that movie rocks, yo!", especially if such replic is prompted by one spraying his shorts at the mere sight of, say, Jessica Alba. "I teach hip hop down at the senna"

We can have (and archives are filled with) endless debates about what constitutes knowledge or skill.....but to deny that some are (much) more knowledeable and/or skilled than others would be stupid.

Now we're getting somewhere. I suggest those with a small person syndrom tune out. No, but I can expose their unevolved, arbitrary preference for what it is. I am not saying people who like Freddy Got Fingered should be gased, but I do think Godfather is objectively better. Quit looking for excuses that allow one to pass ignorance and lack of taste as sometihng good. I have no intention of "converting" or "proving" anything to anyone because 1) it's not worth the effort and 2) I like the world to be diverse, no point to liking same exact thing. Elvis and Beattles are both heavyweights, so liking one and not liking the other is perfectly fine. Kid Rock or Titney are not their equals, no matter how much they turn people on and/or inspire adrenaline rushes. Subjective? You betcha. Semantics-dependent? So what, we should stop debating because the language is flawed and we probably won't get anywhere? Yeah ok. Like I said, a convenient refuge.... ". The point is that there are broad (and greatly debatable) categories: good, mediocre and bad, with the latter two making up the majority...by default almost. Countries you mentioned might prefer different styles and themes and intruments and whatnot to US, but you bet your sweet ass they also differentiate between gold and crap. And those who don't are either lazy or stupid or both. Not that there is anything's wrong with it. . If you have no personality or imagination, if you have no rhythm, are slow and can't hit a note, you are NOT good. Ever heard most of the first round rejects on AL? Holy s***, superstahs every last one of them...lmao. Just because their mommy thinks they're the best (which is sweet until you realize part of the reason she does is because of basic human ego-- most think they s*** gold and she'll be damned if her kid ain't the best on the block....but I digress), and I can't give her a mathematical formula, a number that "proves" to her that her son is a talentless dolt doesn't mean s***. Again you need to start separating subjective from the objective as daunting a task as it is, otherwise you won't get anywhere. Nobody is trying to hijack your right to like crap, but merely point out that it's crap. I like a LOT of stuff I "know" isn't top choice and am pretty unapologetic about it. But deep down, way after I turn off the boombox, I know that my preference simply doesn't pass certain tenets, criteria, a filter for originality, complexity, thematic integrity, etc. Which is ok since most stuff by default doesn't pass. Again with the "proving" and "making someone" and "being right".....relax. It HAS been cutting it for centuries if not millenii. You know, come to think of it there is no INTRISTIC goodness or badness in bat hitting the ball, either. The universe/God equally care less whether it's a 500-foot bomb or a weakass dribbler back to the mound..............Get my meaning? Again, nobody suggests art should like sports or science, but there is still a lot of room for thought, rules, standards for excellence, etc in it. I like Valentin more than Barry Bonds, but guess which one is OBJECTIVELY better. In music criteria may be different and ill-defined and almost unexplainable, but it's THERE. If you don't want to recognize it, it's your problem, not mine. Check that, it's not really a problem at all. That's what makes it great, that we don't agree.

f*** buddies?

in making inconvenient "problems" go away department? http://www.cnn.com/2003/LAW/12/04/attorney.death/index.html In most countries, a prosecuter's life is not worth the garrish pattern printed on his cheap fabric tie.

$$$ . I am sure they tried. He might not be a year older than he is, but he turns 28 next year. He is as much a young pitcher as Weaver. And frankly I think he is overrated. 4.15 career ERA in the National league? That translates into 4.40+ in AL. If Contreras is healthy, he will be a #4 in that rotation. FOUR. NJ is a young John Olerud. If his wrists ever heals completely, watch out. Expos are not going anywhere in 2004. To them it hardly matters if they win 80 games instead of 76.

Ever considered that other people may not be made from the same stubborn (you don't even allow for the possibility that your mind may change about JP) mold as youtself? That maybe they happen to like JP or some of his work for a certain reason(s)? And that if you present a piece of evidence or strong arguement against his art, perhaps exposing him and his aesthetics or philosophy as fraudulent or grossely overrated, their favorable opinion about his work will change? It's not as clear cut (let alone constant) as you make it out to be. When I was 10yo lad I liked certain things and didn't others for a whole variety of reasons. As I kept growing I changed....many times over, sometimes literally overnight and only realized it in retrospect. If I didn't have "curators" telling me I was "wrong", that probably wouldn't happened.

Is it my fault that I am not as bright and educated as you? I was born this way. Have some compassion.

College education is overrated. Hell, I don't have a HS diploma. Oh well. Carry on.

Not really. But I can be appreciative of older women.

I consider myself to be as democratic and PC as anyone here, frequently defending POV's I may not have much affinity or respect for.....And I DO think PA is out of line, though I don't consider KORN to be a great band by any stretch of imagination. But whatever. Spiff: When you and Steff and others all but imply that all opinions are by default equal/valuable/relative, it sounds just as ridiculous as trying to "mathematically prove" that Caruso was better than Callas.....Just the good ol' anti-intellectual, amateurish, feel-good drivel. Just because certainty, precision, logic, erudition and rules play a much smaller role in ART than they do in science or sports, DOESN'T mean they have NO role whatsoever. Common mistake. That's where you get delusional arhythmic and off-key vacuous American Idle rejected contestants. They just can't believe that they OBJECTIVELY lack in talent and that there are QUALIFIED people out there who can confirm that for them in a second. It's not their fault, of course, they're only human. And who knows may be in 30 years when all standards of excellence are gone, they may be considered worthy of stardom.... And I didn't mean "you" as in YOU personally. But I can tell you where you can stuff that strained indignation.

Fair enough, though more and more the ultimate and unassailable relativity/subjectivity of it all becomes a convenient refuge in the hands of the lazy and/or the incapable....instead of being the last option avalilable to those who've exhaused every other means of persuation, hitting the proverbial dead end. (See: Dumensil versus Claimont as one instance) And no disrespect to my uncle, but Pauline Kael's opinion means more to me than his when movies are concerned.

So when you get that lump on your testicle, do you a) shrug it off as nothing because, well, it happens to be your opinion....which is obviously as valuable/subjective as anyone else's.......even though you've been a tiny-brained no-goodnik all your life. or b.) run like a b**** to see a certified urologist/oncologist, crossing your fingers, hoping to God that in his QUALIFIED opinion there is nothing to worry about. Hypothetical question as it were.

My mom is a fat-bottomed girl. Sorta. Then again, she is in her late 40's (46), so some heavyage was to to be expected.

I like Konerko as a person and he was a bargain in 1999 through 2002. However: 1. His gigantic choke in 2003 simply KILLED our team. I mean, Koch, White, Rios, Daubach certainly "helped", but none of them were paid as much nor were played as much. His being the worst player in baseball in the first 3 and last 1) months contributed to a very slow start when we could have ESILY finished off the Twins before they even reached for Stewart's help.... 2. His 700 OPS was certainly disappointing, but what some people forget is that his horrible range at 1B leads to runs given up while his countless GIDPs and turtle-like baserunning rob us of runs scored. 3. Nobody talks about his chronic hip/back any more? That means that his AGGREGATE value is much lower than his normally good 840 OPS (which BTW he might never get back to again!) and low error total. I like Paulie as a person, and I truly consider him as "home-grown" as Lee, Maggs, Mark, etc. BUT I will NEVER forgive him for choking so badly in 2003. He should have gotten that existential funk out of his system in 1999, 2001 or 2002. Last season was do or die for this franchize and now we have to live with the consequences.