whitesoxfan101

QUOTE(farmteam @ Feb 7, 2008 -> 12:43 AM) I'd say IU has a shot at the sweet 16, and our defense isn't exactly spectacular. You guys aren't even in the same discussion as UNC when it comes to bad defense.

QUOTE(Balta1701 @ Feb 6, 2008 -> 02:41 PM) During their watch the terrorist threat grows dramatically, and despite people screaming that something needs to be done before it's too late, only piecemeal steps are taken to deal with the growing threats. A few missiles are lobbed, but a firm plan is never created to go after the people who attacked us in 1998 at the embassies, the Middle East is allowed to dramatically move towards fanaticism, U.S. troops are kept in Saudi Arabia for seemingly no good reason, Pakistan destabilizes, and the Taliban takes over Afghanistan. While they did some good, i.e. stopping the Millennium threat, the 9/11 commission report has more than enough blame to go around. I guess my whole critique on the first Clinton administration is that they didn't really lead. They went along with the ride in a lot of cases, too timid to really make a dent in the issues that were on the horizon. Without their timidity on issue after issue, the disaster that the Bush years have been might have been lessened or even avoided. VERY well said. That, in essence, is why I could never vote for her. And to all the people (including Hillary), that say she is a different person than Bill.......... . I don't think people realize just how much of the terrorist problems that led to 9/11 and the Bush presidency disaster were caused by ignorance/ignoring problems by the Clinton. In fact, I think the Republican party would be smarter to focus on THAT than focus on the "we've been safe since 9/11" crap. And your thoughts on them failing to lead are also dead on. Bush doesn't deserve to have blame shifted off him for the disasterous last 8 years, but the previous administration set the stage for it to happen.

QUOTE(BearSox @ Feb 6, 2008 -> 08:21 PM) So, it looks like McCain's gonna get the nomination most likely... if so, who do you think his running mate might be? I would think Romney so he could try and win over some more of those conservative votes, but then again you never know. I'd be shocked if it's not Huckabee, every sign in the world is just pointing in that direction.

UNC has ZERO shot at the Final Four (outside of a lucky draw) unless they figure out a way to defend. They are the worst defensive team I've seen all year among teams that could go to the Sweet 16, and by a pretty wide margin. Their offensive skill when healthy is extraordinary, but they are just so damn lazy on defense. They are like the NCAA Phoenix Suns.

QUOTE(RockRaines @ Feb 6, 2008 -> 04:33 PM) You know i love Zook, but he had a rep as a snake oil salesman long before last year's recruiting class. There hasn't been a great recruiter who wasn't at least a bit of a snake oil salesmen. And I'm shocked all the ND fans who said Zook cheated last year aren't out saying Minnesota is cheating this year *rolls eyes*. I am not that suprised at what Minny did, Brewster is a great recruiter. The question is, will he the the Ron Zook at Illinois version of a great recruiter, or the Ed Orgeron at Ole Miss type, who great great players and doesn't know how to use them. Oh, and random, but Illini RB signee Mikel LeShoure looks EXACTLY like Xzibit:

I actually don't have a big problem with her (my hate is for Romney), and I'm sure I'm one of the very few since I'll be voting for McCain in November. I think a lot of the reason for people not liking her (and people won't agree with this), is that Bill Clinton is not nearly as beloved as people think, not even in the Democratic party, and that has a dropoff affect on people. Her plans for universal medicare don't do any favors either (people want better healthcare, but not universal IMO, and that goes for both parties), so she loses points to even Obama among a lot of people there. Lastly, it is true and Hillary and Barack are both strong candidates, but I think the Obama supporters don't really like her because they want something different in Washington (put away the gun TexSox, I didn't say the "c" word), and Hillary is DEFINITELY not something different in general for the democratic party. That's about the best I can do, I'm sure somebody can explain it better, but I tried. I think it's obvious why Republicans don't like her .

QUOTE(Jenksismyb**** @ Feb 6, 2008 -> 11:56 AM) Ex-Maryland assistant Mike Locksley who's now an asst at Illinois. He essentially rules over the DC area these days. I read an article the other day that says Illinois is more popular in some high schools (Dunbar for example) than Maryland. Locksley is a beloved figure in the District of Columbia, and more specifically, Dunbar is a great program and Locks is best friends with their head coach. Disch is the reason for a lot of Florida kids (especially Jacksonville), Zook has the Ohio connections, it's a nice system. And NIU signed a much better class overall than I expected, I have to give Coach Kill credit, he pulled out all the stops and got people from all over the place.

I'm pretty surprised Harper didn't go to Miami, still a good class for the the Illini though. Julio Jones, the consensus #2 player in the land and top WR, signs with Alabama. Not a surprise, but a big get for Saban.

So why aren't the women of California going to be ripped for being sexist when I can't hear 5 minutes of Obama talk without race being brought up? Hypocritical, but not surprising.

That has to be the worst trade I've ever seen, just ahead of Caron Butler for Kwame Brown. WHY would the Suns do that?!?!?

My friend at the SIU said they had like a 25 minute tornado delay during tonight's game, very odd. It amazes me SIU and NIU are in the same state when I see it's 70 and tornadoes there and we're getting 10 inches of snow.

I actually think at this point that the candidate most likely to cause change would be the one that comes along that doesn't say they will cause change, but that will never happen. Anyways, I second what Tex said.

QUOTE(Athomeboy_2000 @ Feb 5, 2008 -> 11:27 PM) hmmm..... according to reports on MSNBC in the Romeny campaign, he is going to have "frank discussions" about the future of his campaign. I think he's out by this weekend. Huckabee... the little engine that could? Huckabee could make it moderately interesting with McCain if Romney drops out, but not all the states (in fact, not many in terms of those with major delegate counts), have the conservative base to overpower McCain that the southern ones Huckabee did tonight do. I think McCain locked up the nomination tonight. QUOTE(Reddy @ Feb 5, 2008 -> 11:30 PM) McCain/Huckabee ticket scares the s*** out of me... that thing could really win in Nov. And the ONLY thing Republicans seem to agree on right now is how important it is to get an electable ticket, so I could really see it happening, especially with the lack of bad things Huckabee has had to say about McCain and vise versa.

Methinks McCain taking Cali is an all but official knockout blow for Romney when you consider how well Huckabee did tonight and McCain coming back late to get Missouri. I also saw nothing to change my mind that Huckabee might be the running mate for McCain. As for the democrat side........it's all about Cali, but if Obama can close the gap there, he had a hell of a night. Obviously, the longer the race goes, the more trouble Hillary will have with Barack.

QUOTE(Rex Hudler @ Feb 5, 2008 -> 11:17 PM) Don't be so sure about that.... Indeed, I'd say it's 50/50 at best he'll declare tomorrow. If he does, I'd be pretty surprised if it's not Ohio State, but if he waits......Ohio State is in trouble IMO. And Illinois will be fine if Jason Ford qualifies, regardless of what Harper does tomorrow. Mr. Ford is going to be a really good one at the next level and might get significant burn this fall if Harper goes to Clemson or DA U.

2 points: 1. Deron had 29 and 11 to Paul's 6 and 6 last night as Utah beat New Orleans by 22. OUCH. 2. Kobe had more turnovers (7) than points (6) tonight, but the Lakers still won by 15 on the road. I know NJ is bad, but they are in the NBA Playoffs if they started today. If the Lakers get Bynum back healthy by late April............look out.

QUOTE(Soxpranos @ Feb 5, 2008 -> 08:10 PM) He is an individual that was on the greatest team in sports history. HAHA, even if you want to argue the '72 Dolphins are the best team in NFL History (which the aren't, but I'll let you have that for the sake of this debate), there is no way in hell they are better than the 1996 Bulls or 1986 Celtics, or the 1927 or 1998 Yankees. None. Hell, the 80's Oilers had a couple teams better than the Dolphins, but I'd need Tony or one of the hockey experts to back me up on the specifics there.

QUOTE(YASNY @ Feb 5, 2008 -> 04:42 PM) When it comes right down to it, there is no candidate in this race that a true conservative can feel good about supporting. Which is why, I believe, both of us have such a s***ty attitude about this election. I have no argument with this point, can't see how anybody would. And I've been in the nobody represents me pool enough times to know it sucks, so I feel kind of bad actually.

QUOTE(knightni @ Feb 5, 2008 -> 03:53 PM) You may be an idiot, but you've got a long way to go to be #1 in this poll. People seem to use that quote like I should regret it. I don't, I mean it's just the truth.

QUOTE(YASNY @ Feb 5, 2008 -> 04:08 PM) Oh hell, gimme a break. I just watched a McCain commercial where he claims to be a true conservative. The man doesn't know the meaning of the word, apparently. Hey, I said earlier I'm worried about him suddenly pandering to the social right wingers, so I'm aware of what he's doing. I don't like it either, although for totally different reasons.

QUOTE(DBAH0 @ Feb 5, 2008 -> 04:19 PM) So when are the 1st results for the majority of the states meant to be coming through? The polls close at 7 PM local time in the vast majority of states, so results will likely come in from east to west. Also, the states where a winner is obvious in exit polls usually declare their winner as soon at the polls close (for example, Obama was declared winner in South Carolina about 5 minutes after the polls closed), so the closeness of the races are factors as well as to when announcements are made. I believe it took about 2 and a half to 3 hours to decide the close GOP race in Florida, so I guess that's another factor to keep in mind. The California polls close at 11 eastern time, and of course that's the grand prize.

QUOTE(YASNY @ Feb 5, 2008 -> 03:57 PM) McCain damn sure isn't a Reagan conservative. He's disgustingly too liberal to call himself a Republican. Romney damn sure isn't a Reagan conservative either, but he tries to claim he is, at least McCain seems to for the most part admit who he is. And McCain is more of an independent than anything else.

QUOTE(Buehrle>Wood @ Feb 5, 2008 -> 03:35 PM) Cooley was going to commit to the Illini this past weekend, which is why Griffey hurried up and made his choice. Indeed, it was a brilliant ploy by the Illini to get Griffey on board, too. Griffey is a much better player, so I'm glad it worked out.

QUOTE(sox4lifeinPA @ Feb 5, 2008 -> 02:51 PM) he seems like he's got convictions and convictions enough to follow through with them in the face of his own party at times. Of course he gained political capital with the left, but hey...a guy that works both sides and comes out looking smart and more popular than before is someone I can vote for. I'm not voting for "guy I'd like to babysit my kids"... I'm voting for "guy who has enough political know-how and smarm to out duel the other political BSers out there." I don't think Obama or the rest of the crowd can occomplish that like McCain can. I agree with all this, I just hope some of the pandering to the right he's done on social issues is just that, and not him turning into a legit phony. Part of the reason I like McCain is he's not afraid to try and get things done with people on the left, I don't want that to change because he has a very real shot at the White House.

I'm pretty disappointed I don't lead this one, I'll have to somehow be even more of a pest next year.