whitesoxfan101

QUOTE (Thunderbolt @ Dec 8, 2010 -> 10:46 PM) Jesus. The annual pissing match between the Red Sox and Yankees is getting ridiculious. There really needs to be a cap. Well of course, we've known that for a while though. It amazes me that some people still take sides in Yankees vs. Red Sox, they're one and the same as franchises nowadays. The Yankees are having a rough offseason though, especially if they whiff on Cliff Lee too (and that's very possible IMO), while the Red Sox are doing big things.

QUOTE (Jordan4life @ Dec 8, 2010 -> 10:42 PM) And that, my friends, is an AL wrap. Unf***ingbelievable. I wouldn't go that far. Sports, ESPECIALLY baseball, don't work that way. Boston is going to be very formidable though obviously. This is just a killer for the Yankees. Not only do they see Crawford go to their big rivals in addition to Adrian Gonzalez, but now the Angels are going to go all in for Cliff Lee, and I wouldn't be surprised if he ends up there instead of NY.

Not sure why an ownership group with financial issues is giving a 1 year/10 million deal to a guy who will turn 33 early next year, is coming off a bad season, and likely isn't in their long term plans. The deferred money thing makes it even weirder. 5 million next year for him to play on a team going nowhere, then 5 million deferred down the toilet for your 2012 payroll when maybe you have a better shot at contending. Only way I get this move is if they plan to hope Pena gets hot and trade him for something in July, or hope he's a type A free agent and get 2 picks. But is Jim Hendry really that smart?

Can't express how happy I am with this offseason so far. Yeah, our bullpen is iffy, but that can be said for basically every team out there since bullpen arms are largely crapshoots anyways. Kenny will do all he can to find some help down there even though we're basically out of money. I know i'm normally the negative guy, but assuming the rest of the winter goes like I'd expect it to, I really like our chances in 2011.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Dec 7, 2010 -> 12:02 AM) After last season's second half bullpen meltdown and the 2007 season, only having 3 relievers (I'm not counting Pena as "quality") and two of them being Sale and Santos, that's a bit scary. If those four guys ALL pitched to their abilities, then you're not quite so worried. But the last time that happened was 2005 and the first half of 2008. And that's making another big assumption you don't need Sale as a starter at some point. And projecting Infante into the bullpen when we're going "all in" might be asking for trouble, although it's better than spending money on Octavio Dotel or Kyle Farnsworth, etc. So still really torn on the Lee + bullpen help versus Konerko argument. OFC, would love for money NOT to be the deciding factor, but when has that ever been the case with teams outside of NY and usually Boston? I'm as worried about the bullpen as anybody, but I'd rather have a proven commodity like Paulie then sign a couple of bullpen arms that may or may not work out. Bullpen arms are SUCH a crapshoot (your 2005 example being a classic case of that) and realistically, we could spend ten million dollars on a couple/few arms, only to see them all pitch poorly. I say sign Paulie, deal for a modestly priced bullpen arm or two, and cross your fingers.

QUOTE (Thunderbolt @ Dec 2, 2010 -> 04:06 PM) Cowley says that the rest of the team believes Paulie is coming back and that KW is seeking to rectify last years offensive woes with big bats. "Ozzie Ball has come and gone," says Cowley. As happy as I am Dunn is in the fold, I'm even happier to read this.

The Ohio State President is taking a lot of heat for anti Boise State/TCU comments he made. I'm going to take the side of the Boise State President in this debate simply because the Ohio State guy apparently defended the BCS too, and you'd have to be some kind of idiot to do that. http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/football/news...stpresident-bcs

The Illinois State Championships going on Friday and Saturday down in Champaign. Wheaton Warrenville South, who is ranked in the top 20 in the nation by rivals, can be seen Saturday afternoon. Their QB, future Illini Reilly O'Toole, has 3,000 passing yards, a 75 completion percentage, and 40 TD's against only 2 picks. Seeing him against a defense as awesome as Lake Zurich's will be interesting.

QUOTE (Heads22 @ Nov 21, 2010 -> 09:05 PM) And, after every game, I'll likely thank Northern Illinois for Jake Anderson. 19 and 15 as a 6-2 guard. Ha, I was just coming in here to ask if you're enjoying the strong play of Jake Anderson. It's still beyond me why we basically asked him to leave the program and find somewhere else to play for his 5th and final year, but i'm glad he's having success somewhere else. He was a good player the 3 years we had him on the court, but our inept coaches never really used him properly (he's a very unique player, plays a lot bigger than his height as you've seen) and the only reason I'm not really pissed Jake is gone is the team absoulutely sucked the 3 years we had him anyways. I hope Iowa State has a good year though, he deserves to be seen and playing on a good team, very nice kid.

QUOTE (Heads22 @ Nov 21, 2010 -> 09:34 PM) Also hoping NIU can keep winning, they seemed like a class act in Ames. I'm glad the school showed itself well there. I was hoping you guys would get the 6th win and get bowl eligible, your coach seems similar to ours in that he's a likable guy and discipline oriented. Plus, I have a soft spot for you guys since Iowa State, Illinois (glad they got bowl eligible) and NIU were the only schools I applied to. It's still a shame Chandler didn't play in that game, am curious what would have happened had he. We should kill Eastern Michigan on Friday to attain our first 10 win season since 2003, and that would likely move us into the top 25 for the first time since 2004 (we're first in each poll in others receiving votes). We'll probably play Ohio in the conference championship game, hopefully we can finish it off, haven't won the MAC in 27 years. QUOTE (Quinarvy @ Nov 22, 2010 -> 12:20 AM) NIU is my second favorite college team (going to Mizzou next year, so it takes top spot, but both parents went to NIU and it was my fall back school). I was at the NIU - U of I game and NIU almost won that game, so I think they could beat U of I in a bowl game. If only they had a bigger stadium, the Big 12 might ask for them to join. Even though the Big 12 will fall apart within the next 5 years due to either conference expansion, everybody else in the league realizing being Texas' b**** is no fun and thus seeking greener pastures, or a combination of both.....the conference isn't going to be asking NIU to join anytime soon. There is no reason we can't be the best athletic program in the MAC though with the resources we have (the fact the basketball program isn't better is a joke, for instance). QUOTE (Jenks Heat @ Nov 21, 2010 -> 06:18 PM) I would love to see an NIU v. Northwestern or U of I game They won't have an NIU/Illinois rematch. It's not completely impossible that Illinois and Northwestern play in a bowl though. The NIU bowl situation is complicated because even if we win the league, the bowl in Detroit wants to pick Toledo. So NIU could get shuffled around in the bowl order to one of the bowl games with the MAC as a backup plan (if such a plan actually has to be used due to another league not being able to fill up all of its bowl slots) to get them an intruging matchup. But that's a long ways off still.

The idea of an NFL team having 3 days off and then playing again is just so asinine. Not enough time to adequately recover from the last game or prepare for the next one IMO. Bears caught a break with the Dolphins QB situation though, a win down there is certainly very possible. As for today, I thought the Bears played a very solid game for the most part. My only complaint is some points were definitely left on the field. But overall, the Bears did exactly what they should do at home against a s*** team, and that's encouraging.

QUOTE (Capn12 @ Nov 14, 2010 -> 01:44 PM) Woohoo, its been a LONG time coming. And, call me crazy, but this team is able to beat Auburn. That would be a bigtime BCS buster. Had the lead 27-21 AT Auburn, then turned the ball over 4 times in the 4th quarter. Lets see how it goes at a neutral site this time! You could definitely beat Auburn in Atlanta, you're a bad matchup for them IMO. Auburn got a bad break with you winning Saturday because I think they'd have laid waste to Florida. I like Auburn to lose the Iron Bowl anyways, however I also think if they lose that and then beat you, they'll finish ahead of both undefeated Boise State (who is clearly going to finish as the top Non AQ now if they take care of business) and TCU. Interesting fact for a team like Boise State: they need LSU to lose at Arkansas. Auburn realistically can't drop below LSU since they beat them, but that's not a factor if LSU has a second loss.

Any story/rumor involving the Cubs adding any noteable amount of payroll (aka any story about a big free agent splash or trade) should be ignored. They do not have the money to do it right now. The media loves their Cubbies so they're going to get the hopes of the sheep up with some wild rumors, but none of it will actually go down.

NIU scored 65 points tonight to beat our rivals Toledo and basically clinch the MAC West. I'm sure most don't care, but I had a great time at the game! As for the big story though, the Cam Newton stuff just seems like a lot of he said/she said right now. I know that where there is smoke, there is fire, particularly when it comes to improprieties in big time college recruiting. But I need more evidence in front of me before I call Newton cheating scum.

Wait a minute, so you're telling me that the Heat are having trouble with interior defense and it's losing them games? *Gasp* who could have seen this coming? (Other than anybody who didn't overreact to the Miami Thrice hype machine).

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Oct 31, 2010 -> 03:13 AM) i will go on record to say that Both BSU and TCU would beat Oregon in a title game. They are a complete paper tiger. Everyone is saying "wow they beat USC" well USC is 87th in total defense and hasnt been able to stop anyone all year. Sorry if the name confused everyone, but Oregon still hasnt played anyone that actually knows how to play defense. The best team they've played so far has been ASU at 48th defensively and not suprisingly that was their closest game. I will lay down the house again Oregon if they play in the national title game, especially if its against a team that can actually play defense. I'm not sure I totally buy into Oregon either, but they aren't going to lose because the only team on that schedule capable of beating them is Arizona, and that game is at Autzen. I suppose the Civil War could always be a surprise I guess though. I'm curious if Alabama would finish ahead of an undefeated Boise State and/or the winner of the TCU/Utah game, who will also probably go undefeated. It looks like they would, and as usual, the computers love Oklahoma, so they can't be completely counted out either yet.

Auburn/Oregon would be such a fun title game if it happens, but that's still a long ways off obviously. Utah/TCU should be absolutely glorious next week, winner of that game has a better claim to playing for the National Title than Boise State does as far as I'm concerned. I think the title game will be Oregon against the winner of the Iron Bowl (as if that game needs even more to be riding on the line than it usually has, but it does this year) though.

Random note: 11 isn't the afternoon. ;-). In all seriousness though, with this scheduled on the guide to go from 11 am to 2 pm tomorrow, there is absolutely zero chance I'll be watching it with NIU, Illinois, and Northwestern all playing on television in that time window. I'll definitely have it recording though, and will look forward to watching it later.

Steve Perry is actually a big Giants fan, I even remember hearing that in 2005. So this isn't a surprise.

QUOTE (fathom @ Oct 29, 2010 -> 02:10 PM) I really hope this isn't true. Why do you say that?

QUOTE (Rowand44 @ Oct 25, 2010 -> 01:44 PM) And you want a statement with no validity? How about the fact that everyone keeps saying that Boise would already have 2 or 3 losses if they played in bcs conference? Why is that exactly? Because they don't have the overall talent or depth to survive the week to week grind of a top conference. They have good enough players and coaching to beat major programs in 1 game settings, but over the course of an 8 game conference schedule, they'd lose a couple of games.

QUOTE (bmags @ Oct 24, 2010 -> 11:09 AM) seriously haha. Also, i'll never forget going into a german exam still drunk and off 1 hour of sleep the day after we won. I actually got an A too. But yeah i did think after it was all over, that it was ridiculous how anxious and stressed I was considering we were 11-1 in the playoffs. Haha the bolded is so true. We realistically had one of the most dominant postseason rules to a championship sports has ever seen, but because of the whole 1917 thing and how close a lot of the games were, it was so incredibly stressful. I don't want to imagine how I would have been had the series been going 6 or 7 games (or 4 or 5 in round 1). As for the "over it" thing, 2005 is no longer a defense for Kenny and Ozzie and their job security. As far as I'm concerned, they should be held to the same standards as anybody else in regards to whether to retaining their employment, and 2005 should not play a factor at all in regards to if they stay around or not. HOWEVER, I'll never be "over" 2005. It was an absolutely incredible ride for me as a fan, and a dream come true to see the Sox win the World Series. As a fan growing up, especially of the White Sox and Blackhawks (always my 2 very favorite teams), all I asked from the mythical sports gods was to see each of them win it all once. I'll always hold my teams to a high standard, but the 2005 White Sox and 2010 Blackhawks will always hold a special place for me because they fufilled my one wish as a sports fan, and that is to know how it feels to see your team be the best.

I'm so glad that both the Phillies and Yankees are gone. I know the ratings for this series will probably suck, but I'll be tuned in because as a die hard baseball fan, I think it's going to be great. As for the series itself, home field hasn't really been a huge factor for the most part since the All Star Game deciding it nonsense started in 2003. However, I think it will be big this year, even with the fact that Texas has been awesome on the road this postseason. I'll say Giants in 7, but this series is a complete tossup IMO.

QUOTE (Rowand44 @ Oct 24, 2010 -> 09:51 PM) Auburn will lose at some point, so I wouldn't worry about that. And you're never going to win the Boise argument around here. For as much as people make some of us out to be mid major homers, there's a bunch of people around here that will never, ever give Boise any credit just because they're Boise. As long as Boise not only plays in the WAC, but is tricky with their OOC schedule, then yes I will not give them credit. Boise loves to play their toughest game OOC as the opener (Oregon last year, Virginia Tech this year) and I'd bet that's no coincidence since the opener in college football is typically a weak game for teams since there is no preseason. Would Boise have beaten Oregon in October of last year or would they beat Virginia Tech now? I say no and no. As well, despite being in the WAC, Boise schedules teams like Toledo and Wyoming out of conference. They know the WAC hurts them, so schedule 4 BCS teams out of conference if you're so interested in being #1. And even with all of that said, Boise doesn't have the test of multi week stretches of stiff competition like the Auburn's of the world do. Without all of these advantages, Boise State would not go undefeated. End of story. If Boise is the only undefeated team at the end of the season or one of two, I have no problem with them playing for the title. But if they finish ahead of any of Auburn, Michigan State, Missouri, or Oregon despite such a school going undefeated, then we have a big problem. Fans of Boise State and TCU (TCU is only a hair behind Boise State right now, and may pass them later on this year if they can pull it off against Utah) REALLY need help this weekend. Michigan State won't lose if they win this weekend, I can't see Oregon losing if they survive this weekend, and Missouri has a shot to run the table if they survive Lincoln.

QUOTE (danman31 @ Oct 19, 2010 -> 02:54 AM) I won't say I liked the hire, but it wasn't like Chizik was bad at Iowa State. I think he was average there, but he wasn't there long and you just didn't know about him. Hard to evaluate a guy after 3 years at any school, but you can't compare what a coach can do at Iowa State and what a coach can do at Auburn. I agree that it's hard to evaluate a guy before about his 4th or 5th year at a school, and Auburn isn't Iowa State. But still, 5-19 is 5-19.