whitesoxfan101

QUOTE (kapkomet @ May 23, 2010 -> 08:11 PM) I gotta tell you - Vancouver was this team's test this year, IMO. And they blazed through that. They matched up really well with SJ, and it showed. I didn't get to watch as much of the WC finals as I would have liked, but I'll definitely be watching the Cup finals this year. It's awesome to see these guys arrive a couple of years faster then expected. There is definitely pressure on this team to win now, perhaps even more than you'd think. Obviously getting to the finals is very hard to do, plus having an opponent who is either a #7 or #8 seed (both of whom barely made the playoffs) is a rare opportunity. In addition to that, while the Hawks are setup to contend for a long time, salary cap restrictions mean it will be tough for them to build a team this deep again anytime in the near future. It's setup about as well as it possibly could be for the Hawks to take the Cup this year, lets hope they seize the moment in the finals like they did the first 3 rounds.

QUOTE (Jordan4life @ May 22, 2010 -> 10:01 PM) Van Gundy just said something that made sense. Vince Carter with Kobe's work ethic, drive and competitive fire would have about 4 MVPs right now. It's a shame that he never came close to maxing out that limitless potential he had in the early 2000's. Couldn't agree more with you and Van Gundy on Vince Carter, he's a classic case of what might have been. The career he's managed to have even without caring shows just how much talent he has.

QUOTE (bmags @ May 23, 2010 -> 05:27 PM) STANLEY CUP FINALSSSSSS... I don't remember s*** from 92, I didn't get into it until 94, one of my fav teams everrrrrrr... but nonetheless... YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS I love every player on this team now. Huet...meh. Yep same here, not old enough to remember 1992, and also got into it in 1994 after going to a playoff win against Toronto at the old Chicago Stadium when I was but a young boy. Between the pretty play we saw quite a bit later on in the regular season and the goaltending, a lot of people (like myself obviously) didn't think this team would be able to win the mighty Western Conference. To not only do it, but to do it by sweeping an outstanding San Jose Sharks team is just incredible. They've made some great adjustments, got hot at the right time, and Niemi has been great obviously as well. The Hawks are a strong favorite in the Stanley Cup Finals regardless of who they play, and let's hope they can keep playing like they are right now, because they will win if they can do so. QUOTE (chw42 @ May 23, 2010 -> 05:37 PM) And Niemi is Bobby Jenks/Joe Crede, lol. I would say Niemi is Bobby Jenks and Dustin Byfuglien is Joe Crede.

Awful news, RIP.

QUOTE (chw42 @ May 22, 2010 -> 12:12 PM) I wonder if he knows Nick Swisher I'd be willing to bet those two ran into each other at a watering hole somewhere downtown during Swishers brief tenure here.

QUOTE (WHarris1 @ May 22, 2010 -> 02:03 AM) Sat directly behing the Hawks bench tonight, and Mike Wilbon was in the seat in front of me. Awesome experience. Spent the entire intermission before OT discussing the game/series with Wilbon, great guy. As for the game...incredible. Big Buf is the f***ing man, Toews played a really good overall game, and Niemi was fantastic. Also, Dave Bolland = Bolland had a video game esque performance with the 3 penalties, breakaway goal, and sweet game winning assist in OT (anybody who has ever played "be a pro" mode on NHL 10 can relate to that). Also good to hear that Mike Wilbon was both at the game and is a nice guy, that sounds a lot like the kind of guy I'd have guessed he is. Give credit to (I believe it was) Brian Campbell on the game winning goal last night. Bolland made a quick, awesome pass and Buff did a nice job finishing it, but it was an absolutely awesome keep in at the blue line just in general, and it also went to Bolland and went to him quickly. Not only did that seem to get Nabakov lost, it seemed to get the Sharks lost. I'm not sure if they thought the puck was leaving the zone or what, but I was shocked how Buff was just wide open in the slot. We also saw last night (as well as in game 1, and even during the first 10 minutes or so of game 2) why you can't win a Stanley Cup without a goaltender playing well. It's so hard to win this thing, and you're going to run into a team who is on par with you talentwise or performancewise. That's where you need a guy to play well, and fortunately Niemi is doing just that. Hopefully the Hawks can finish this off Sunday, because this Sharks team is not one you want to mess with.

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ May 21, 2010 -> 09:22 AM) What's the point of these questions? Dan Bernstein asked the same thing, "what do you care more about, the Hawks winning the Cup, or the Bulls getting LeBron?" Completely stupid questions... we get it, you don't like hockey and you're only on the bandwagon for the hell of it. Some of us have been Hawks fans for awhile, and a lot of the new fans are greatly in love with this team. Let us have our fun and stop trying to minimize the importance of this season for a lot of us. That's just a stupid question by Bernstein. Unless you just don't like hockey, the answer is obviously the Hawks winning the Cup. And besides, getting LeBron doesn't guarantee the Bulls anything. Obviously, having him here long term gives them an excellent shot at eventually winning a title. But you can't guarantee yourself anything by signing a guy who has never won a championship, no matter how good he is (and LeBron is obviously the best right now, but still.)

16-24 at the quarter pole of the season. Still too early to start selling off (outside of A.J. if you get a decent offer), but the contingency plans for what to do if the season is a disaster have to be in place and being reviewed at this point, because it seems likely such plans will need to be executed come June and especially July. This team looks absolutely hopeless more and more by the day.

Can the Hawks please just come out tomorrow, play a simple game, use the home ice advantage, get a win, and pretty much kill off the Sharks? Please? I'd like a nice and short series for once.

QUOTE (greg775 @ May 20, 2010 -> 11:30 PM) Well said, How could anybody argue with that? Because some people, if left in the major leagues without a lifejacket, will drown in a pool of self pity and shot confidence. I don't think Gordon is somebody like that (although he seems just dead in terms of confidence right now), so I can understand leaving him up, but if he was sent down, I wouldn't argue it either.

They're not 30-11 good (which is absolutely insane in the AL East), but they're going to be in the playoffs barring a disaster, and they have the talent to win once they get there, so pretty darn good. I wish they had the money to keep some of these guys they are going to be unable to (and I also wish they supported that team down there), but we'll see if they can replace such free agent losses and be a good time for the long haul in due time. It seems like they have the talent in the minors to be able to do so.

QUOTE (SoxFan1 @ May 18, 2010 -> 12:46 AM) Quick question: where do people stand with Niemi as far as the future of this team? Is he the guy for the future or do we still look to get a veteran goalie this offseason? Ask that after the season. I think he's shown enough, barring an epic collapse on his part, to be the man next year in the eyes of the team. The interesting question is what they'll do with Huet, and perhaps who will be the backup to Niemi next year.

QUOTE (Thunderbolt @ May 17, 2010 -> 10:57 PM) Spending the night rotating between Clayton Richard against the Giants and John Ely against the Astros. Not even going to comment on CR, because I’m a firm supporter of the Peavy trade, but my god,it looks like Ely really knows how to pitch. He sequences each batter perfectly, and changes speeds at will. Those moves could look bad on paper for us because those guys get to pitch half of their games at Dodger Stadium and Petco Park, and almost all of them in the National League. The Peavy move is indeed fine, but the Pierre move could eventually end up really bad.

QUOTE (Jordan4life @ May 17, 2010 -> 06:53 PM) Cleveland. I'm not going to pretend the Bulls have a legitimate shot. Lebron loves this. It's going to be the great Lebronathon for the next 50 days. He'll thank the Bulls, Knicks, ect for the overwhelming interest, love, respect....Yadda, yadda. And he'll in the end say his heart is in Cleveland and all that stuff. Wouldn't surprise me at all if this happens. I think he's going wherever Calipari does though, because the package deal thing sounds exactly like something LeBron and World Wide Wes would do. Where that place is? Who knows, because it'll take some balls to do that and basically give LeBron the keys to your organizations decision making.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ May 16, 2010 -> 06:58 PM) Did John Paxson piss in Jeff Van Gundy's cheerios or something? http://sports.espn.go.com/chicago/nba/news/story?id=5193092 Him and his brother have been talking about the Bulls all offseason, and not much good Jeff Van Gundy saying the Bulls need more than LeBron to be a title contender falls into the same category as Avery Johnson saying that LeBron and Derrick Rose wouldn't be a good combo. That category being neither of them are going to get the Bulls job, so they are trying to talk them down. Once you know you aren't going to get the job, it's all about propaganda.

QUOTE (The Critic @ May 16, 2010 -> 06:01 PM) Quenneville tricked the refs. He brought Bolland and Versteeg off the ice when the penalty was called and he sent Versteeg to the box. The refs didn't stop him, so he had Bolland available to kill the penalty. Crafty s***, that was. Indeed, that was a great job of pulling the wool over the refs eyes by Q. The Hawks were (and still are) owed a few calls though after the exhibition that was put on today by the officials. To win a game on the road against a great home team when the refs basically had Sharks jerseys on is just incredible to start the series though, and Niemi was sick. The final score was deceptive today, tons of great scoring chances on both ends (as you'd expect to see all series), but both goalies were really good. The difference basically turned out to be the soft 1st goal Nabakov allowed to Sharp. Lots of pressure on the Sharks Tuesday.

QUOTE (Jordan4life @ May 14, 2010 -> 05:59 PM) I know this will be next to impossible for most. But I'd try my absolute hardest to get it out of my head that there's a chance Lebron will be a Bull. Well, there IS a chance he'll come to the Bulls. But to me, it's still an underdog proposition, so I wouldn't get excited.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ May 14, 2010 -> 03:18 PM) He's about to risk losing what, $100-$150 million in franchise value overnight in a few months? Indeed. Losing LeBron ends the teams run of being good, kills 100 million of team value, leads to an empty building, likely means the hometown hero will be playing on a conference (if not division) rival, and hurts business in downtown Cleveland. Other than that though, Cleveland doesn't have much invested in what he does.

QUOTE (SoxAce @ May 14, 2010 -> 04:32 PM) Speaking of which.. if only we can have a "lead-off hitter" like that man who can still drive in runs when called upon. I would love me some Denard Span for example. Yep, I'll take an .800 OPS, .390 on base guy anytime.

QUOTE (Kalapse @ May 14, 2010 -> 04:22 PM) In 8.2 IP as a reliever his numbers look like this: 1.96 WHIP 6.23 ERA, 6 inherited runners/ 3 scored. Awful. He's going to blow up to the media, in the clubhouse, or both in the not too distant future if this idiotic experiment isn't ended soon. Not that he was much better as a starter though. I'd imagine Gorzelanny will be headed to the bullpen soon. They don't need another lefty down there (although they could use anybody that can get outs), but he's really the only logical guy to move.

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ May 14, 2010 -> 04:07 PM) Omar Vizquel is the starting DH for the Chicago White Sox today. While not surprising, is this individual act alone a fireable offense?

QUOTE (earthshiner @ May 14, 2010 -> 04:23 PM) its 1-0 is it not? Indeed, tonight makes it Vizquel DH appearances 1, times Juan Pierre hits it over the outfielders head 0. At least as far as I'm aware.

QUOTE (Thunderbolt @ May 14, 2010 -> 04:21 PM) Anyone remember how the people who took Ozzie at his word this spring that Vizquel would DH, got chewed out? The lesson is that Ozzie is usually a man of his words, and the ideas behind those words are tragically stupid. Indeed. I'm pumped Vizquel is DH'ing just this one night because it wins me a bet, but it's still sad to see how dumb our manager is. You know this won't be the last time we see him in that spot.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ May 14, 2010 -> 03:54 PM) The designated hitter... is Omar Vizquel today. Woo! I had a money bet with somebody that Vizquel would be the DH for us at least once this season, a bet which stemmed from us arguing what would happen more this season: Omar Vizquel DH appearances or times Juan Pierre hit the ball over the outfielders head. I think my official prediction was 3 to 2 in favor of Vizquel DH apperances, but at any rate, time to cash in!

QUOTE (knightni @ May 13, 2010 -> 07:23 PM) Too bad that there's no DH in the NL. Cincy might take on Dye or Konerko. There are whispers they might be interested in Dye even without the DH.