whitesoxfan101

QUOTE (fathom @ Jan 26, 2010 -> 06:25 PM) No, it really isn't. Thome as a primary PH is going to be awful. If this means less ABs for Kubel, then good for us. Don't forget that the Twins use Mauer at DH when he's not catching. I'd rather face Thome as a PH late in the game than someone like Morales. Yeah i'm not as concerned about Thome being on the Twins as a lot of people are. Like you said, he could be taking some AB's from better players, plus we don't know how that ballpark will play, plus Thome is a healthy risk in my opinion. This turn in the "saga" doesn't change the problem, which is the Sox don't have a person even close to qualified to DH.

There is potential for the Sox to look really stupid here. I still am not nearly as bothered by the Twins having Thome as I am at the fact that the Sox are less equipped to play with a DH than many NL teams are, let alone AL ones though.

It would be pretty ironic (I think i'm using that word correctly here) if after surviving all of those stretches where he'd have been fired by virtually any other organization in baseball, Walker is actually be fired in 2010 because a bad offense performs badly.

QUOTE (Ranger @ Jan 26, 2010 -> 05:28 PM) Well, smartass, I'm a guy refuting the idea that this season's offense rests in the hands of Greg Walker. People can't spend an entire offseason saying the hitters in the lineup aren't good enough but then say Walker is responsible if it fails. Can't be both. Greg Walker has to be happy right now, and let me explain why. He's been given an offense that absolutely sucks for the 2010 season. I think the only realistic expectation for this offense is that it will finish in the bottom 4 or 5 in the American League in runs scored. With that in mind, I'm not sure how Walker can really take the blame this season when the offense fails, because the players assembled overall just aren't any good. This isn't even like the last year or two where he was given big names who were past their prime, he's just been given an outright talent deficient offense. All he can do is look brilliant if some miracle occurs and this offense is actually league average.

QUOTE (Soxbadger @ Jan 26, 2010 -> 01:06 AM) Over spent last season, have to get creative this season. Not to mention if a potential player became available during the season, Sox have shown the ability to get a deal done. Its just the nature of being aggressive, they spent a lot of cash for very little this year. Almost every business is going to take a more conservative approach after that happens. Id love it if they can print money, but I never expected the Sox to be a top 10 payroll team, so even when they are close I cant really get that upset. Then that's fine, go the inexpensive route and bring back Thome, who is flawed, but cheap and still gives a significant boost to the DH situation. There is really no point of view that excuses the current DH situation.

QUOTE (Tex @ Jan 24, 2010 -> 10:04 PM) Nothing like coming to the end of a contract to fix a few things . . . As long as he puts up a great season, I don't care why he's motivated. Just let him get back to being the Bobby Jenks of old.

QUOTE (Soxbadger @ Jan 26, 2010 -> 12:58 AM) White Sox 2010 is based on pitching. Kotsay gives Ozzie far more flexibility than Thome, considering Thome cant even play 1b. I know that a lot of you guys like him, but there is a reason why no one else is calling either. I don't mind not having Thome. My question is why didn't the Sox acquire a real DH at some point this offseason? I know this team is based on pitching, but that is not an excuse to basically give away the fact that your DH spot will be bottom 3 in the league in production.

QUOTE (fathom @ Jan 26, 2010 -> 12:43 AM) As Steve Stone said, the Sox don't think Thome has the type of swing/approach that would flourish playing only twice a week. After seeing some of his PH ABs with the Sox and Dodgers, I don't blame them. I don't blame them either. I don't think people are as mad about Thome not coming back as they are with this move being the realization that the Sox are actually going to go through with this clown college of coaches deal at DH though.

QUOTE (Soxbadger @ Jan 26, 2010 -> 12:29 AM) You cant be seriously saying that Andruw Jones and Kotsay hitting over 15 hrstogether is a statistical improbability? Jones hit 17 last year in 82 games. Kotsay had 4 hrs. Seems like hyperbole to suggest that together they wont hit 15. I have to assume you meant they both wont hit 15, meaning its improbable (not sure why you need to throw "statistical" in there) that the tandem hits 30 hr. But then again Id say its improbable that Thome after hitting 24 hrs last year, hits 30 this year. Ill go on record as saying im fine with this decision, but if it completely backfires Ozzie has to take the heat. Hes got a hunch and hes betting big. I don't mind going with a hunch in a specific situtation in a game. But relying on one for a VERY important position over an entire season? That's just crazy.

QUOTE (fathom @ Jan 25, 2010 -> 11:40 PM) Pretty sure jphat meant he hasn't felt this way about our lineup during this decade. It's going to be interesting when the Twins are the team hitting 200 homers, and the Sox are playing small ball. Can we say the Twins will hit a lot of homers for sure without seeing how their park plays yet? And I don't have a problem with the Sox playing small ball. I do have a problem with them telling a guy who OPS'd .850 against right handed pitching last year that they can't get him enough at bats because they have to rotate 3 guys who can't hit (except Kotsay against righties, and his numbers in that category were not as good as Thome's last year) in the DH spot though.

QUOTE (bucket-of-suck @ Jan 25, 2010 -> 10:56 PM) The Yankees, Angels and Twins have been doing it for years. Yeah, with MLB calibur hitters. The only MLB calibur hitting split among the guys the Sox will rotate at DH this year is Kotsay against righties, and even those numbers aren't overwhelming.

The most frusterating part of this "rotation DH" debacle is that absolutely nobody will be held accountable for it when it invariably fails. Hopefully, it doesn't fail enough to directly cost the Sox a playoff birth.

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Oct 25, 2009 -> 11:25 AM) Shutup dumbass. They had to drive 72 yards for the win because of a fluke play that the Spartans pulled on Iowa. So no, that isn't lucky, thats good and doing what you need to. The Northern Iowa game was a beatdown the 2nd half. Iowa completed dominanted and left tons of points on the board. It happens and those weren't chip-shot field goals and they wouldn't have needed 2 blocks had they been smart and fallen on the ball after the 1st block like they could have. Figure it out. I don't see you blabbing about Bama being lucky cause they needed the luck of the missed field goal this week to beat Tenn or Florida being lucky for the calls and breaks they've gotten (see Arkansas game). Bottom line you need to play well and have things go your way a bit to be undefeated at this point of the season in college football. And you blab about the Arkansas State game...did you watch it, Iowa was up 2 TD's most of the game and Arkansas State scored a late TD with like no time left to make the score closer...but never was the game in jeaporday. Iowa also dominated the Wisconsin game in the 2nd half, Penn State game in the 2nd half, was up on Michigan most of the game (albeit they almost blew it). Hell, outside of the first week of the season, by the time you were into the middle of the 3rd Iowa had the lead in pretty much every game. Oh and Iowa also drubbed a ranked ARizona team. It takes a special kind of pathetic loser to consistently name call on a message board. Congrats on being that pathetic loser (and that's not a personal attack, because it's a fact that you fit that description if you attack somebody on a message board just because you run it). And btw, your football team is still a lucky, 9-3 or 8-4 type team taking advantage of a mediocre conference, no matter how many times you try and bully me and call me names on a message board (classy). The reason I don't pick on Alabama? They play in a real football conference. If Iowa played in the SEC and won at the last second every week, I'd leave them alone since they'd be playing the SEC. But they aren't, so I won't. I hope you enjoy the ass kicking and reality check in Columbus. When I get suspended or banned from this board for doing the same thing you do in this post, it will be pretty funny and a definition of your hyprocrisy. I thought this place was better than WSI, I was clearly mistaken.

QUOTE (kev211 @ Oct 25, 2009 -> 10:21 PM) Yes but we're not claiming ISU would win 75% of the time. Saying ISU would be lucky to win 1/10 is ridiculous. No it's not, unless the games are being played in Normal. Then i'd say ISU might win 2 out of 10.

I agree with those who think Lovie Smith's message might be starting to fall flat with this team and thus a new coach could be in order soon, but why isn't Jerry Angelo taking more heat? Yes he brought in Jay Cutler, but he didn't fix a single hole on this team other than QB this offseason. Both the offensive and defensive lines are trash, the lack of LB depth is being exposed since there are injuries there, the secondary is a joke, the WR's are a pile of crap that Cutler makes look decent at times, Forte is starting to look like Anthony Thomas 2.0. This team has a major talent deficiency problem, and even though the Cutler move was OBVIOUSLY the right move and maybe Gaines Adams will work out as Adewale's replacement, a team that doesn't draft well at the top of the draft as is and has a lot of holes to fill is missing quite a few draft picks. There aren't enough picks to fix all the holes on this team, and we know not to expect a spending spree in free agency (and those don't always work either). It's a mess right now, the hardest thing to find is a QB and the Bears have a good one, but besides that, so much needs to be fixed. The schedule is favorable for the Bears to put up a decent record, but it's going to be very hard to finish ahead of Green Bay and even harder to catch Minnesota.

Btw, Ron Guenther with a quote today that shows why he's one of the biggest idiots in college sports: "I think it was really unfair to start jumping, at the end of the fifth year, on the guy" Yeah, after all, by the fifth year, only EVERY PLAYER IN THE PROGRAM was brought in by the current coach. Totally unfair to judge a coach at that point. Illinois athletics should just avoid all people named Ron. Between Guenther, Zook, and Turner, what a nightmare. Absolutely sickening, I can't imagine what's it's like for those of you who actually go/went there (although I might go to grad school there, so I could end up in that group along with you all someday).

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Oct 24, 2009 -> 09:58 PM) I don't know where lucky comes into it. Tonight they had a minute and a half and one timeout to get a TD and they got it done. If marching down the field 72 yards is lucky, Texas, Florida, Alabama must be lucky as well. The manhandled PSU at PSU, but had some tough games vs. Northern Iowa and Arkansas State. Wisconsin was a pretty close game, but Iowa dominated the second half. They don't have the talent level as most of the other teams ranked in the top 10, but their talent level goes up considerably when DJK is in the line-up. If they do play in Pasedena, I would be shocked if they embarrassed themselves. It's not just tonight, they've been losing at some point in every game but two, have played in a close game in every game but one, etc. When two of your wins are because of two consecutive blocked field goals and a touchdown pass as time expires, you are lucky. They shouldn't apologize for it, but it's just the truth. The talent level thing you mentioned is why I still don't buy in though (besides all the close games, ugly games, and lack of offense) because eventually, lack of talent catches up with you. Beating a team with the talent of an Ohio State on the road would sell me though obviously, both on the team and their talent level.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Oct 24, 2009 -> 10:04 PM) While it probably ended any shot of winning that particular game, its good for the team and will probably result in many more wins during the season. Usually I'm against the goonery, but protecting and sticking up for your guys pays big dividends. Its like a pitcher retaliating. It may not help you win that particular game, but its great for team chemistry and other teams know that the team has everyone's back. They were pretty well dominated in that game too, so they probably deserved to lose. Nice to see Huet play well tonight and the Hawks get a win.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Oct 24, 2009 -> 09:37 PM) The Hawkeyes only have one more road game left until the Bowl season. At Ohio State. They have had a tough Big Ten schedule this year. At PSU, Wisconsin, MSU and Ohio State and they don't get to play Illinois or Purdue. While it really hasn't been pretty except for the final scores, if they run the table, no one can say they don't deserve where they end up. They are the luckiest college football team I've ever seen outside of 2002 Ohio State, but I agree that they'll end up where they deserve (especially considering they still have to win in Columbus to go perfect). They are still a longshot for the title game though, the odds are still pretty strong that Texas and Florida or Alabama will go undefeated, and that would force the Hawkeyes to settle for Pasadena. I'll be interested to see how they would do in a bowl against a major opponent from the Big 12, SEC, or perhaps against USC though, because regardless of if they go 12-0 or not, that's who they are going to get in their bowl game. You can still consider me a doubter though, they'll have to win at Ohio State to fully convince me. Even with the Buckeyes down a bit this year, they are still the only team Iowa will play this year who has much better talent than them (I guess you could argue Penn State might too, but Iowa always beats them anyways), so if they win that, I promise to finally give them their due. I just can't do it yet because I have a hard time admitting i'm wrong in situations where it's not blatantly obvious such is the case .

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Oct 24, 2009 -> 03:17 PM) Define "chance." I don't think anyone would argue they don't have a "chance," but they have an incredibly small one (1 in 100). That's not bias, it's just the way it is. Illinois has better talent, better coaching, and more depth. It's not even close. Illinois State would need the perfect storm to beat Illinois. You can't rule out college basketball upsets ever due to the 3 point shot, but Illinois has far, far better players than Illinois State, especially with the incoming guys this year added into the fold.

QUOTE (danman31 @ Oct 24, 2009 -> 03:03 PM) Northwestern came back from 28-3 down to beat Indiana 29-28. Bill Lynch coached the game away with some poor clock management. I had a chance to go to that game, oh well. Good win just because they came from way behind. That was a huge game for both teams, as they were both 4-3 (1-2) coming into it. Indiana has games at Iowa, Wisconsin, at Penn State, and Purdue left. They'll have to win two of them just to become bowl eligible, and that will be a very difficult task. On the other hand, Northwestern is now only one win from being bowl eligible and still have Illinois on the schedule (although their other games are Wisconsin, Penn State, and at Iowa, and 6-6 doesn't automatically get you into a bowl).

QUOTE (Palehosefan @ Oct 24, 2009 -> 02:58 PM) I've never seen a team have an 8 turnover differential in a game. Nebraska just got their butts whipped last week, but this was the dictionary definition of giving a game away. But you have to give ISU credit for battling with back-ups at QB/RB and winning in Lincoln. I give Iowa State some credit for battling, especially considering they have 5 wins and are probably going to end up bowl eligible, which is an incredible job by their new coach with as bad as they have been recently. But at the same time, 90 percent of the reason Iowa State won today was because of mistakes by Nebraska. Like you said, I don't think i've ever never seen an 8 turnover differential in a game, and if I have, it was probably a 50 point blowout.

I was one of the buyers in to Nebraska being "back" after the Missouri game, but now they are just back to what they've been the last several years, mediocre. After being blown out at home by Texas Tech, they lose 9-7 at home to an Iowa State team who didn't even have their starting quarterback. I give Iowa State some credit because it's their 5th win (and with games at Texas A&M and vs. Colorado left, they have a great shot to get bowl eligible if not also to 7 wins), but if you can describe a team as literally giving a game away, Nebraska did it today. They had EIGHT turnovers and were -8 in that category, many of which were inside Iowa State's redzone (with some inside the 5). A game that set football back several decades, and God the Big 12 North SUCKS. Amazingly enough, Kansas State also won game #5 today and is one win from bowl eligibility, although their schedule isn't favorable for another win and they may regret their loss to Louisiana-Lafayette big time come bowl season. It's as bad as it's ever been, which is REALLY saying something. Also, if Guenther is serious is he's going to keep Zook around after Illinois finishes the season 1-11, then he's an even bigger idiot than I thought, which is also really saying something.

I don't think either of them is an everyday player, but if I had to pick between one of them, I'd be more inclined to favor Nix. He's more likely to become everyday player quality IMO.

QUOTE (whitesoxfan99 @ Oct 23, 2009 -> 11:23 PM) Iowa is going to be horrible, and I really can't see them improving. They were awful last year, didn't bring in a good recruiting class, and lost two of their three best players. Not to mention that they lost 5 of their top 8 scorers. I don't think they can get much worse. But even if we assume you are right, it's possible that 9 of the 11 teams in the league could improve. Even a person such as myself who generally snipes on the Big 10 (and usually deservedly so) can admit the league is pretty good this year.