whitesoxfan101

As much as I REALLY enjoyed the Olympic tournament, the Hawks play for the first time in 16 days on Tuesday, and that is a great thing as far as I'm concerned. Get to deal with John Tavares, Swiss star Mark Streit, and the New York Islanders, who seem to have sucked my entire life. We'll also see any final moves this week, as (I think) the Olympic trade freeze was just lifted at midnight eastern time and remains so until 3 pm eastern time Wednesday, which is the trade deadline.

It's too bad with what happened today, because the best team in the tournament (or at least, the team that played the best throughout, and by a wide margin) did not win the tournament. Then again, that's sports sometimes, especially in a single elimination setting. Coach Ron Wilson deserves a lot of credit, because the conservative, take away the boards and funnel things to the middle strategy worked well all day. Just some really stupid defensive mistakes by the U.S. on all 3 goals (although they got a couple of good breaks on pucks hitting the goalpost today.) Canada certainly deserves credit though, it'd be easy to choke under the pressure they were and they did not, and At any rate, it's pretty obvious the U.S. is as close to Canada in hockey as they've ever been, because you don't beat the gold medalist once and take them to overtime a second time on their home ice through a fluke. Such a young team too, I'd love to see them try and finish what they started in Russia in 2014. I know logistically it's really hard, but watching the pros playing hockey in the Olympics is a treat, and I think it's good for the game and brings new fans in. It may be Canada's game, and it may only be 4th or 5th on the totem pole here, but we're catching up to them. Getting back to the general idea of this thread though, I thought it was a very enjoyable Olympics to watch. Most fun I've ever had watching the winter version of the games.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Feb 26, 2010 -> 12:22 PM) Generally, you need to be in very good shape to be a race car driver. Especially if its something like F1. It is physically exhausting to drive a car like that. I don't know if that makes it a sport, but it's not like driving a Camry on the highway. Now for the stock (mis-attributed) Hemmingway quote: “Auto racing, bull fighting, and mountain climbing are the only real sports ... all others are games." This is definitely true, and that's why I gave it strong consideration. But, you're still sitting all race. I can't call something that involves sitting the whole time a sport.

The way that game played out (the first 33 minutes of no effort, the last 7 minutes of frantic effort) is why Illinois is going to be in the NIT. They just don't feel they should bother trying unless absolutely necessary against inferior opponents. That's why they have losses against Georgia and Bradley and Utah and Minnesota at home (Minnesota is much better than those first 3 teams, but losing at home today was still due to 33 minutes of an unacceptable lack of effort.) Even against non inferior opponents like Clemson, Gonzaga, and Missouri, they just decided to not try for a while (or in the case of the Missouri game, really not try period.) It's a talented group, but they are a bunch of dogs and that's why they'll end up in the NIT. Then again, I could end up with egg on my face. Maybe they'll grace us with effort the rest of the way and beat Wisconsin at home and then win a game or two in Indianapolis to get themselves back in the dance. But that wouldn't make them any less hateable.

QUOTE (MHizzle85 @ Feb 27, 2010 -> 05:02 PM) This team can't afford that. Sure they can. If Joakim shuts it down until he's 100 percent healthy (which he should) and they miss the playoffs, I have no problem with that at all. It's not about this season, it's about this summer and the seasons after that.

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Feb 27, 2010 -> 04:51 PM) Did Bruce Weber miss Gene Keady's lesson on scoring against a zone? Everytime they face one, they seem to horribly struggle. Even if they win today, any committe member who watched Tuesday or today can't possibly think this a NCAA tourney team, ugh. Well, if they lose today, they'll have to either win at Ohio State or beat Wisconsin at home and then win their 1st game in the Big Ten Tournament to get in, and I see neither of those things happening. So they better wake up and rally in the 2nd half. The people that think the tournament needs to expand past 65 teams crack me up though, because this Illinois team is not a worthy NCAA Tournament team in the least, yet they still have a legit shot to make it.

I'd first like to point out I have no problem with spot #6 in the bullpen being a LOOGY, and I have reasonable hope that Randy Williams will be ok in that role (assuming he's the guy, and I think he is.) I'm also a fan of carrying the 7th pitcher in the bullpen, even with our starting staff being so good, simply because we're an AL team and need as many arms as we can have down there, especially since we don't have to worry about pinch hitting nearly as much as an NL team obviously. Then again, we're going to have a bad hitter starting in the DH spot every single day unless a move is made, so maybe pinch hitting will be important. Anyways, if we're carrying a 7th pitcher as I feel we will be, I'd probably go with Santos unless he totally crashes and burns and/or his stuff is underwhelming this spring. I'm more a fan of giving Hudson another year of seasoning in triple A, and letting him take Garcia's rotation spot in 2011 since I doubt he's around after this year. If not Santos, then I have no idea who I'd go with. We have a lot of options, which is nice.

To me, there has to be some sort of very common or at least reasonably common occurance which can cause a person to breathe hard from athletic effort for it to be a sport. Thus, I only voted WNBA and 16" softball. And I'd have voted for figure skating if it were on there as well.

Right around this time every year I hear about this story, and with every passing year I find it weirder and weirder (and I've found it weird from the first time I ever heard about it.)

QUOTE (Quinarvy @ Feb 23, 2010 -> 01:36 AM) Yet they won five on the road against good teams. These Bulls are confusing. I still don't know how they did that.

QUOTE (whitesoxfan99 @ Feb 24, 2010 -> 12:27 AM) Their goaltender has played an amazing game. He did, but the OT winner he just gave up was a serious softie, I'd guess over half the saves he made tonight were tougher than that. Too bad.

A furious 3rd period rally has sent the Latvia/Czech Republic game to overtime. I thought this game would be a complete blowout, Latvia really wasn't even competitive in the pool play games. This would be an all time upset if it somehow happens.

People can complain about the spaceship and all that, but the sightlines and appearance inside Soldier Field is very good. The problem is, maybe the biggest reason Soldier Field has such good sightlines is how small it is. The Bears mistake was that they didn't build a stadium with about 10 thousand more seats, and they are paying for it now. I can't see a team with a stadium that is only about 7 years old (it was a brand new stadium in 2003 no matter what they say) getting much support on an issue like this in our current economy though. The Bears are the one team that could put their stadium in the middle of an empty field in an isolated suburb and still fill the stadium with 75 thousand fans every game though. Although some would argue that's part of their problem right now, they have no reason to care about winning. They actually have far less incentive to try and win than the Cubs even do.

QUOTE (JoeCoolMan24 @ Feb 23, 2010 -> 11:20 PM) I created a Twitter for the sole purpose of following baseball writers and reporters. I follow Rosenthal, Ozzie, Garfien, Reifert, Cowley, Mark Teahen, and a couple other writers just to get spring training and transaction updates. Same. I would never actually post a personal twitter update, and I don't bother telling any friends I have it, but I have a twitter just to follow what sports writers and players and teams are saying. It's VERY useful in that regard. There is a big difference between the people who use twitter to attain useful information and know stuff right away, and those who use it to post "omg i'm in class" though.

I have an irrational fear of putting Dan Hudson in the long relief spot after the Brandon McCarthy experiment in 2006. I'm not sure if i'm a big fan of Cabrera being on the team either though.

QUOTE (Chi Town Sox @ Feb 22, 2010 -> 12:09 PM) Saw Tom Ricketts at a black tie affair at Union Station on Saturday...wanted to heckle him so bad but I remained silent. Goofy looking fellow They actually seem like a very nice family. Much less hateable than the corporation who has owned that team my entire life until now obviously.

I'd give the quote in the title of this thread a 9.5 on the 1 to 10 BS meter.

I like the current system where one league has the DH and the other league doesn't, even though I admit having it this way really makes no sense. If I had to pick a side though, I'd be for having a DH in both leagues. I understand why people would prefer no DH due to double switching and pinch hitting and the strategy it involves. But watching pitchers attempt to hit is an absoulte joke and waste of time with 99 percent of them, and having pitchers hit has a lot of negative qualities, such as making teams burn through relief pitchers and pull starters way too early because the 9th spot (an automatic out) comes up in the order at a key spot in the early to middle innings. You can tell me that a guy who doesn't play the field being in the lineup is not baseball, but I don't think a team pitching around the 8th hitter so that they can get the automatic out up to the dish is exactly a great watch either. And you can also tell me about guys like Jim Thome who only stick around the last several years of their career because they can hit, but look at a guy like Lenny Harris or Mark Sweeney. They stuck around because they were "pinch hitting experts" and played for NL teams to extend their careers. I'd rather a guy like Jim Thome (future hall of famer) play 5 extra years due to the rules than Lenny freaking Harris. I also don't think people who say "DH"s just bat 4 times a game and sit down" are giving them nearly enough credit. Having to sit for an hour in between at bats and do nothing, only to be called on to get on base or come up with a big hit against MLB pitching isn't exactly easy.

QUOTE (fathom @ Feb 23, 2010 -> 08:31 PM) What gives with the awful recruiting classes in the Big 10 the last few seasons? It seems that most of the good players are juniors and seniors. Teams like Purdue and Michigan are going to be in a world of trouble when their current junior/senior classes leave. Big 10 recruiting actually isn't that bad, although Purdue is in serious trouble when their current upperclassmen leave if they don't pick up the pace. Anyways, Illinois should be in if they can beat Minnesota at home this weekend (although 1 more win to get them to 20 would assure it IMO.) Absolutely must win against the Gophers though. QUOTE (Rowand44 @ Feb 23, 2010 -> 10:47 PM) I hate Chris Lowery. I hate him with a passion. The dropoff in that program has been shocking to see, and although I can't speak for past seasons, I will say that they have lost an incredible amount of close games this season.

They'll be better with Noah 100 percent (if that happens this season) but it's hard for a mediocre, .500 team to win 5 games in a row, including 3 on the road. Even if all 5 games are against crappy teams.

QUOTE (iamshack @ Feb 22, 2010 -> 07:47 PM) I disagree. Flowers/Hudson/Jordan Danks could net a LOT of players in this league. Well, I agree Flowers/Hudson/Jordan Danks could net a lot of players, and throw Jared Mitchell in that mix as well. And if the very realistic scenario occurs in which the Sox are only 2 or 3 out of 1st in July, but 11th or 12th in the AL in runs, you may see those guys put to good use to acquire a big time bat.

QUOTE (Felix @ Feb 22, 2010 -> 08:59 PM) What's so bad about this commercial? Canada's sense of entitlement about hockey is funny to me. Yes, they did invent the sport, but 13 of the last 14 Olympic gold medals in men's ice hockey went to somebody other than them. Yet they thought the gold medal was a given for them this year, and are shocked at the struggles they are having.

QUOTE (iamshack @ Feb 22, 2010 -> 07:01 PM) Just seems to me that the best 5-man rotation in baseball history would not include Freddy Garcia, and replace Danks or Floyd with Halladay. Seems more like it would have been Halladay replacing Garcia. Only way you get Halladay without giving up Floyd or Danks is by trading Beckham, and I just don't think they'd have done that.

I think they made some moves so that the offense should adjust reasonably well to moving outdoors. I think their pitching staff is going to have a major dropoff though.

QUOTE (iamshack @ Feb 22, 2010 -> 06:53 PM) That doesn't seem to be what he was implying. If Danks or Floyd isn't part of that trade, Gordon Beckham probably is (and I'd bet Dan Hudson is too.)