AirScott

Francis dealt to Knicks well that gives them 4 shoot-first guards, and somehow Stephon Marbury is the one with a penchant for passing.

I wouldn't think Jenks would falter like Shingo in terms of hitters figuring him out, because Shingo was more gimmicky, for lack of a better term. Jenks is a completely different pitcher, who can sometimes get by on only fastballs. if Jenks falters, it will be if he starts consistently falling behind 2-0 or 3-1, and hitters can just forget thinking curve.

QUOTE(aboz56 @ Feb 16, 2006 -> 10:07 PM) I can't wait for Paulie to hit a walk off on your sorry ass during a Cubs-Sox game this year. You are a sorry specimen. God you were awful on the White Sox. Worse than Koch (is that even possible?) Have fun rotting on the Northside. quite a feat to be remembered as worse than Koch here. I remember Eyre as worse than Koch, and I despised KW for some time after the Foulke-Koch trade.

QUOTE(SSH2005 @ Feb 17, 2006 -> 04:33 PM) When Baines wants someone to steal second base he will just point at second base without saying a word. nah, I'm thinking he'll just give a slight nod towards second.

this really isn't a big deal. Pods has a green light to steal whenever he so chooses, and any signs will come from the bench. as long as Baines manages not to fall asleep on his feet so he can yell "BACK!" on pick-off attempts, the only difference we'll notice will be watching Raines run to first to beat out the throw before every inning (which I enjoyed, by the way).

Duncan's capable of hitting shots from 20-22 feet, but he doesn't have to be. it's easy for him to get down low and take shots at a max of 15 feet.

QUOTE(CWSGuy406 @ Feb 15, 2006 -> 01:17 AM) So what's Spring Training going to prove? Seriously -- it doesn't mean a whole lot. If Uribe hits .500 hitting in the #2 spot in Arizona, it'll make me no more or less confident than if he hits .100. Juan put up a .344/.412/.525 last year in Tuscon. If he does that this year, what exactly will that prove? It's a sticky situation that probably won't mean a whole lot in the long run. Switching Uribe/Iguchi in the lineup might mean a run here, a run there, but in the end, not enough to get worked up over. Ozzie won't be looking at stats during this spring experiment. he will be looking at if/how Uribe changes his approah hitting second. will Uribe take more pitches or make more productive outs? there'll be more to it than just OBP.

here's one reason I could never be a GM: a week before the regular season started, I would make an announcement that my team would be switching to shorts for the season, and then start an office pool on the number of players that would request to be traded.

let's see if I can attempt to end this ... where did Orton's QB Rating rank out of the 32 starting NFL QBs this past season? or how about this: did you notice a change in philosophy on offense after Grossman came back? did it seem like they changed it to accomodate a QB who is capable of running an offense?

QUOTE(kyyle23 @ Jan 30, 2006 -> 07:58 PM) pretty crazy to hope 100 RBI's out of RonDL White. Especially since he has NEVER done that before in his career. he's capable, but he's usually plagued by injuries. people have said the Yankees gave up on him too early because his hand was messed up. not playing the field makes those numbers more likely than before.

QUOTE(Felix @ Feb 8, 2006 -> 03:06 PM) It was nice? I thought it was downright childish. He's been in the league for how many years, and yet he still doesn't realize that those type of comments are completely out of line? It was pretty clear that the call on the Roethlisberger TD affected him, since he was still complaining about it at halftime. Maybe if he had gotten over it, they could have devised a real plan in for the 2 minute drill. Instead, he let the call get to him, and it seemingly affected the teams ability to perform. which one? the 2 minute drill before the end of the 1st or 2nd half? 'cause both were awful.

Sun-Times article apparently Gretzky's wife is involved too. I remain largely uninterested.

QUOTE(kyyle23 @ Feb 7, 2006 -> 05:02 PM) LOL, during the year! Not the playoffs! my mistake, I suspected you meant during the year, which is why I brought up Hermanson to avoid looking like a complete ass. chalk it up to a terrible short-term memory on my part.

no doubt there were some bad calls, but two that weren't were Darrell Jackson's pass interference and Big Ben's TD. Jackson had his arms fully extended, to me that constitutes a push-off. Big Ben's TD was very close, but look at that picture that was put up here; it hurts my eyes and looks like a little of the ball still could have crossed the plane. now every other call people have brought up was a bad call, no question.

well the obvious was Orlando Hernandez's relief job vs. Boston when he came in with the bases loaded and no outs, but another great performance came against the Tigers, with us nursing a 2-1 lead in the 9th when Hermanson came on and gave up a lead-off triple to Pudge, then retired the next three batters to escape with the win. it was incredible to see Hermanson grind that one out.

QUOTE(Balta1701 @ Feb 6, 2006 -> 05:18 PM) If you couldn't see the guy getting a hand on hasselbeck, I'm amazed you could see Jackson even touch the DB. Hasselbeck had his shirt clearly grabbed on the way down. I'll grant it was only obvious from 1 angle, but from that angle it was incredibly obvious. Had the refs not overturned that call...that'd have been enough for me to say they were bought off. Because they did overturn it, I just think they stank. I said the first replay, it was obvious on the second, and if you are at all unaware, the action sort of moves fast. from what I first saw, it looked like Darrell Jackson pushed off. I'll look closer to see if Darrell Jackson didn't push off, I was somewhat distracted when they were replaying it. I thought he did though. I saw the play, saw the flag thrown, said "Push-off" and saw a replay and went back to what I was currently doing. I thought he pushed off. EDIT: just saw it on again PTI, and it wasn't much of a push-off, but still, a push-off. now the Hasselbeck call (when he was called for a 15-yard penalty for essentially tackling below the waist) was wrong.

QUOTE(Balta1701 @ Feb 6, 2006 -> 04:23 PM) ESPN.com finally flipped to cover mainly the officiating. This piece by Bayless hits on the refs, and this Michael Smith piece has been up all morning. But as usual...the interesting stuff is in The Poll Man, saying the NFL has worse officials than the NBA...that's one heck of an insult. obviously the reffing from last night was still fresh in people's minds, because the NBA's reffing is by far the worst...and I'd bet very few of these voters could make a slightly educated judgement on NHL refs. some games are officiated worse than others, but some of the calls people are b****ing about (such as Woody Paige, who's a complete windbag if you ask me) aren't really that inexcusable. in the first replay it was still difficult to tell if anybody got a hand on Hasselbeck, and I still think Darrell Jackson did push off.

QUOTE(DukeNukeEm @ Feb 5, 2006 -> 03:14 PM) http://media.putfile.com/Vince-All-Star-Game ...... does that speak enough for itself? not necessarily, no.

QUOTE(witesoxfan @ Feb 2, 2006 -> 09:21 PM) Scott Wright and Mel Kiper are probably the two most respected draft analysts in the friggin world. You wonder why people go to them and see what they have to say. You called everyone here a moron that follows NFL Draft Countdown and/or Mel Kiper...in doing so, you are insulting people who perhaps are either using one of their best sources for their information/trying to learn more about how to judge players. That's a little over the top, don't you think? I agree...Mel Kiper makes his career out of projecting the NFL Draft, he's watched these players play numerous times and has watching plenty of film on them. I have to say I trust his opinion over your's Duke.

QUOTE(AddisonStSox @ Feb 2, 2006 -> 08:37 PM) It's probably lead poisoning talking from those f***ing teeth. maybe they're picking up government signals and screwing with his brain...just a thought.

QUOTE(AddisonStSox @ Feb 2, 2006 -> 08:53 PM) Yeah, I know; some of those national experts are just downright goofy. But, believe it or not, I've heard both things before. I've heard that Vernon Davis might slip, and I've also heard that Marcedes Lewis should still be viewed the second-ranked tight end coming out. Now, I don't think I agree with either of those, but, draft day is crazy and nothing would surpise me. That said, I just can't imagine Vernon Davis falling. Unless teams are just scared to death about what he has between the ears--or, the lack thereof--he's just a talent, pure and simple...I'm thinking Rams at 11, no later than 17. there are teams that could use a TE like Davis, but they also have more pressing needs. the Rams could use secondary help, Cincy as well, so it is possible he could fall to the Bears (and I'll keep telling myself that until April 29).

QUOTE(DukeNukeEm @ Feb 2, 2006 -> 07:08 PM) he could go as high as San Fran.(they have Eric Johnson.... I know) If he fell I'd fall to the ground and praise god for 10 hours straight.. but I dont think its happening. well there are a bunch of teams in front of Chicago who could use a pass-catching TE, so you're right, it's very likely he will be gone by #26. but I can hope that these teams instead decide to try to bolster their defenses or O-Lines, can't I?

QUOTE(Heads22 @ Feb 2, 2006 -> 01:00 PM) More likely the lack of interviews could be explained by this Ozzie quote... yes, I remember seeing that quote months ago, couldn't remember exactly what was said. love that one.

QUOTE(SoxFan101 @ Jan 30, 2006 -> 05:37 PM) While he said it like a prick DukeNukem is right on Vernon Davis.... there is absolutely no reason to move him from the TE role... his blocking isnt as bad as you make it out to be either....And than you compare him to Antonio Gates who is possibly the best impact TE in the NFL today which proves he is more suited as a TE lol. don't forget, you can line up the TE as a 3rd WR, or motion him into the slot. Davis at TE would make the Bears more versatile.

QUOTE(whitesoxfan101 @ Feb 2, 2006 -> 11:25 AM) Black on black crime? Why did he have to bring race into this.....there are times to pull that card, but this isn't one of them. It's about an idiot ruining a team and throwing Donovan under the bus, not race. I agree, but don't really blame him. McNabb's had to deal with people discriminating him because he's black all his life, and once he gets to the NFL he's criticized because of it twice in the media. I just wish people in the media (Rush Limbaugh, the guy from the NAACP) would stop bringing it up. and just curious, I know it doesn't mean much here anyway, but was Brett Favre ever asked what he thought about TO's comments?