whitesoxfan101

The Tigers will regress next year without question. They have some pitching that's for real like Zumaya, Bonderman, and Verlander which will keep them decent, but this offense of theirs really isn't any good, Kenny Rogers and Todd Jones will remember they are washed up, Fernando Rodney and Jamie Walker, as well as Jason Grili and Wilfredo Ledezma will remember they are average. The Tigers will win about 80 to 85 next year, problem is the Twins aren't going away.

QUOTE(Brian @ Oct 14, 2006 -> 07:12 PM) Justin, SIU > Iowa now!!!! WOOHOO!!!! Undebateable now, since SIU won by 7 at Indy and Iowa lost by 7. But what does this say about Illinois State, who DESTROYED the Dawgs in Normal today?

That was fun to watch, but the idiots reactions we'll get about ex Sox in this town Monday make me sick. It's been sad since September 1st and will only get worse.

QUOTE(Rowand44 @ Oct 14, 2006 -> 02:29 AM) It's funny cause you were the one who basically said Gordon was 100 percent locked into U of I not more than a few days ago. That's because he was, and the fact that Weber still lost him says all I need to know about his recruiting.

Joe Novak cost his team their season and his running back a trip to New York by starting the wrong QB. He's done a great job with his program, but he should be ashamed of himself today. Seeing Iowa suffer and lose to a team that barely beat Illinois and Ball State and lost to Southern Illinois was fun though.

If only we had kept Maggs and Frank, we win it all. Dye and Thome just sucked this year. Ugh, Kenny sucks!!

QUOTE(VAfan @ Oct 13, 2006 -> 05:00 PM) I disagree about whether Crede will continue to improve offensively. He's only 28. I don't know where the up curve ends -- it varies by player -- but I think it is likely to continue at least until he is 30 or 31. He also has an "easy" area of improvement -- drawing walks. He's 9th among ML 3Bs in OPS, 8th in slugging, but horrible in OBP because he's last in walks drawn at 28. If he went to a team like the Yankees that stress plate patience, I would expect this number could quickly double or triple. If it did, Crede could be a top-5 offensive performer at 3B. He also has absolutely no protection in the Sox lineup, which is why I advocated flipping Crede and AJ in the order. I agree, however, with the idea that trading Crede and a starter for A-Rod probably makes us weaker overall. It certainly weakens our defense. We've seen what works best in the AL Central -- pitching and defense. When we had it, we won it all. Every other year since we won the division in 2000 has been led by a team with the best pitching and defense. That's where KW should focus his attention, not on chasing A-Rod. All good points, except it being easy to draw walks. That's one of the harder things to do, since if you try to draw walks, you might lose your natural approach and hit a lot worse. I have little hope that Joe will ever be any good at getting on base, but that's not really a reason why I think we should trade him.

Why isn't Cora getting fired? He's FAR worse than Raines.

Well if Gordon has really been on the fence the last several months, Bruce shoulda had a backup plan, which he obviously didn't.

QUOTE(IlliniKrush @ Oct 13, 2006 -> 11:15 PM) I don't think people realize how locked in Gordon was to Illinois. If Bruce hadn't treated him like a current player and stopped doing any recruiting of Gordon once he verballed, he never leaves. And before the Bruce defenders say it, you don't assume the recruit is yours until the LOI is signed. It's not illegal to recruit a oral commit, and Sampson got it done, but if Bruce had kept on the trail of Gordon, he goes to Illinois.

Whoever signs Alf to 5/70 or so is going to be crying in 3 years. A lot.

QUOTE(SleepyWhiteSox @ Oct 13, 2006 -> 03:26 PM) Agreed. Some of the losses were bad, but we also had one of the toughest schedules in the country, and we lost to some quality teams that may not be very hyped (Bradley and Bucknell). There were also some very good wins last season that give hope for this season. Can't wait for this season. I like Coach Wainwright's scheduling as he doesn't fill up on cupcakes... That DePaul team was weird. I saw them up close and personal lose to NIU out here, and you could see they had a ton of talent, but it looked very unorganized. Wainwright is recruiting well though, and he can coach, so they should improve a lot. QUOTE(greasywheels121 @ Oct 13, 2006 -> 04:03 PM) WH and I were talking about this, Weber kind of gets an unfair wrap in all of this. How can you guys say that?? Weber has recruiting a lot of big time players, and has LOST EVERY TIME. Livingston Collins Wright Gordon Rose Scheyer Bruce Weber is a BAD BAD recruiter. Great in game coach, but he doesn't have what it takes to close the deal recruiting, and you can't win the Kentucky Derby riding donkeys. Like I said, 3 year clock for Bruce starting now. Oh, and why are Indiana fans defending themselves here? This disaster is a Bruce Weber production (with help from Gordon and his dad, but only to a certain extent) and Indiana did nothing wrong.

I checked out the first NIU practice tonight, they are one of the favorites to win the MAC. A lot of new guys, but the talent level is WAY higher than last years team, which won the MAC West. That made me feel quite a bit better, I'm really glad I don't go to Illinois, must be a morgue down there tonight at practice.

Nobody is allowed to defend Weber's recruiting now btw, he officially sucks. He also is on a 3 year clock to prove he can win with marginal recruits, or else he needs to be canned.

QUOTE(greasywheels121 @ Oct 13, 2006 -> 02:09 PM) Haha awesome. I know just about anything I say is going to make me look like an asshole, but I'm sorry Illini fans. I know this is a huge blow, and there's nothing enjoyable about it. However, I hope you guys can still pull a solid class, and we've definitely got one solid rivalry on our hands now. Why are you sorry? What did you do? This is a case of Bruce Weber being a horrible recruiter (it's now official) and Gordon being pulled in a million different directions by a ton of people, including his own dad. He's a kid, and the fact these recruits are kids is why these sagas are often times so silly. The only thing in this situation that bothers me is Gordon, until literally yesterday, has been telling Illinois privately (and I actually do know this because of people I know, honestly) that he's a solid verbal for 3 months, and now the Illini are in a tough spot since LOI day is 3 weeks away here. The only people I have an issue with is Bruce Weber for sucking at recruiting, and Eric Gordon Sr. for being a media whore and lying for 3 months. In retrospect, I can't blame the kid, he was in a tough spot.

QUOTE(greasywheels121 @ Oct 13, 2006 -> 07:26 AM) Eric Gordon will be attending Hoosier Hysteria tonight. Hmm, that would insinuate he's going to IU obviously. Or in other words, he's been lying to everybody at Illinois for 3 months now. I feel bad for the kid if that's the case, but hey, that's his problem to deal with in the future.

Here's my thoughts. Any deal involving 2006 Crede and a starter probably makes us weaker. The question is, will 2005 Crede be Crede the rest of his career, or was this a career season. I think Crede is between what he did in 2006 and what he did in 2005. No way he will be 2006 good the rest of his career, but he will be a plus player and great defender. Is is worth giving up him and a starter to get one of the best players ever, and get him motivated since he wants a ring and would be out of New York? I say yes, but I see both sides of the debate.

QUOTE(Jimbo @ Oct 12, 2006 -> 08:03 PM) KU lost one scholarship for next year which they can defer to the 08-09 season..Nothing huge, big time talents still coming. Thanks, Roy you f***in jackass You should be feeling lucky your a big name school. Smaller name ones have gotten 1 to 3 year postseason bans for offenses less serious.

QUOTE(RockRaines @ Oct 12, 2006 -> 03:11 AM) So you hate every professional sport? Because its worse in every other sport, football has the most even amount of talent on the field, and the least amount of games. On any given sunday your team can win, and it can be an important win, which is why the NFL is more fair and just than every other professional sport. Imagine if the MLB only played 16 games, imagine that. The NFL is the most even keeled league where every team has a chance every week, which is the exact opposite of why you dont like the league. I dislike the league because almost all of the teams themselves are bad. That's really all there is to it, and it seems obvious to me that among all the professional sports, football has the most teams in it that are terrible. Parity is a good thing, but a league full of bad teams is not. At least the NBA has a list of 10 or so teams that actually are good enough to do something every year.

QUOTE(lukeman89 @ Oct 12, 2006 -> 06:57 AM) so whitesoxfan101...you bash the nfl for being "a giant suckfest" but you pay attention to college football i dont get it If you don't get it, that's your problem.

It's October 12th, and there is enough snow at NIU to see white roofs all over the place. On October 12th. You gotta be effin kidding me, I can't even remember the last time I saw snow in October, let alone on the 12th.

QUOTE(winninguglyin83 @ Oct 11, 2006 -> 09:11 PM) must be more to this story. guy was voted best pitcher in the International League. He's left handed. Below average lefties last forever. but never a whisper all season about bringing him up. not even for September. my guess is they've looked at him, decided he's not a big league prospect because he doesn't have any plus pitches. wish somebody would explain what the problem is. Maybe he's not good at/won't throw at other teams batters if one of his teams hitters gets plunked.

What Frank does in the playoffs won't change the fact that Thome, a lefty presence, had a better year in every category, was better than Frank, and it was the right move to keep Konerko, get Thome, and let Paulie go. And I would assume even the people who still defend Frank would have the common sense to admit that. Frank had a great year, but Thome's was better, as the numbers, the fans, and the Sporting News agree with.

Question(s): If we get A-Rod, will Ozzie tell him he can only hit home runs or steal bases, not both? And will he talk about how disappointed he is with A-Rod, and then play him 3 weeks straight?