whitesoxfan101

If you don't think Ozzie should be fired now, you'll never be convinced. And I understand that thanks to 2005, there are some people like that out there. But yeah, this year=nightmare. It may end up 2007 ish at this rate.

Went to the road watch party tonight, definitely a good time. Kind of a strange game, but Vancouver is just shot mentally. If the Hawks come out ready in game 5, this should be over Sunday night.

QUOTE (whitesoxfan99 @ May 5, 2010 -> 09:02 PM) Laughable, there is as much talent in the NBA as there has been at any point in NBA history. There was a pretty big lull following the Jordan era but the talent and the style of play is terrific right now. You're a better poster than this nonsense, come on now man. .................... As for the game tonight, not much needs to be said. The last 40 minutes were just awesome hockey by the Hawks, and the first 20 was just an incredible display by Niemi. Great goaltending, ugly goals, adequate defense, just a great performance.

I really like the idea of Brouwer out and Buff with Kaner and Tazer. Q's line shuffling annoys the piss out of me most of the time, but I won't blame him for this decision regardless of how it works.

QUOTE (bmags @ May 5, 2010 -> 02:30 PM) I wonder if we would've heard this awful officiating card on this site in the 90s. I was a kid (mostly a little kid) during that timeframe, so I wasn't at the point where I noticed awful officiating. Obviously awful officiating won't bother you nearly as much when your team wins, but it still dilutes the product a great deal. As long as David Stern is commisioner of the league, the shady officiating will exist and hurt the league though unfortunately. At least in the 80's and 90's the actual product on the floor was better though. Better athletes now (by far), but better players then.

QUOTE (bmags @ May 5, 2010 -> 02:05 PM) I like watching the NBA playoffs. I also like the NHL. These two things can co-exist! I don't dislike the NBA because I like the NHL. I liked both leagues for a long time and co-existed easily. I dislike the NBA because it absolutely sucks. QUOTE (WhiteSoxfan1986 @ May 5, 2010 -> 12:23 PM) My biggest problem with the NBA playoffs is there are just way too many teams that make it. Realistically, how many teams in the playoffs have a legitimate shot at winning the title? three? I think the No. 8 seed has upset the No. 1 like three times in history, and one of those times was the lockout year in 1999. The first round is a complete waste of time. Well in the NBA and NHL, you have 16 of 30 teams making the playoffs, so there is no difference in that sense. It's just that in the NHL playoffs, it's a lot more wide open and everybody has a chance to make noise, whereas in the NBA only a few select teams have a shot. That's not really my issue with the NBA though. My issue is the product stinks, and in addition to the product stinking, the product often looks borderline fixed due to awful officiating.

http://www.miaminewtimes.com/2010-05-06/ne...-with-rent-boy/ How can so many people be this dumb? After all, we know George Rekers isn't the first person to get caught up in a situation like this. If you're gay, don't promote, vote for, and comment all the time with anti-gay ideas. Pretty simple.

QUOTE (SoxFan1 @ May 5, 2010 -> 12:03 AM) That's because the NBA is a joke. Exactly. The NBA is only a small step below the WWE now as far as I'm concerned between the Donaghy thing and just how blatant the officiating is favoring the home team and the superstars. I've lost a lot of my taste for that league in recent years.

This is such a good team when they just play smart. They were running around like chickens with their heads cut off early, and were fortunate it wasn't 3-0 or even 4-0. But after that, they got the goal to make it 2-1 and settled down big time. It wasn't perfect, and they got a bounce or two, but the Hawks were clearly the better team for the last 50 some odd minutes (although some really stupid penalties all night, going back to the play smart point.) I don't know if you can learn playing smarter on the fly, but the Hawks can still do big things in this postseason if they just play with intelligence. I like their chances to get 1 up there, and if they do, I'd take my chances with home ice in a best of 3.

There are individual things to be optimistic about, but I can't see how anybody can have an ounce of optimism about this team. The last team I can remember of ours looking this bad this early would be one of the Terry Bevington teams of my very young childhood. Combine that with the Twins being very good and the Tigers being better than us, and I'm already thinking about 2011 right now, which is an absolute joke if you consider where our payroll is. I hope there are significant firings and changes if this continues (although I doubt anybody gets fired, we don't seem to believe in changing things that aren't working.)

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Apr 28, 2010 -> 02:13 PM) Have you ever watched Tarvarias Jackson play quarterback????? Yep, he and Gus Frerotte split time in 2008, when the Vikings finished ahead of the Bears in the standings. That Bears team won 9 games, a number this years team would have to really play well to match based on their lack of talent. QUOTE (T R U @ Apr 28, 2010 -> 01:54 PM) Thats so overblown.. Dez Bryants mom had already been arrested for being a drug dealer, I don't see why some people are freaking out over it.. And anyways, Dez shouldn't have leaked it out.. Another example of these type of questions is Toby Gerheart was asked about being a white running back and if he felt that he was entitled, what does that have to do with anything? Questions like that are asked every year, the only reason its a big deal now is because Dez made it that way.. Wtf? How are those questions even comparable? I understand you want to blindly defend your team here, but this is no reason or excuse to ask a question like that. It has no impact on anything, and although being a drug dealer isn't exactly classy, it's a lot different than being a prostitute. I like how you have somehow spun this to make it Dez Bryant's fault though, wasn't expecting somebody to be able to pull that off.

Finals Week is almost a relief for me. As much as it sucks, it is absolutely nowhere near as bad as all of the stuff (papers/homework/presentations/etc) that has to be done in a short period of time leading up to it.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Apr 27, 2010 -> 05:48 PM) And you could also argue that Adrian Peterson is falling flat on his face and the Vikings defense and O-lines were showing signs of strain last season. I don't think the Vikings lines showed signs of strain. They were a play or two from winning on the road against the eventual Super Bowl winner in the NFC Title game. Adrian Peterson is a legitimate concern though, but he's still young and has a lot of ability.

I'm not sure there are many Brian Campbell haters left. His contract still isn't exactly a sight to behold, but he's a very valuable and important player to this team.

Taking a look at our schedule in May and especially June (even up until the all star break), this team will have it's chances to get back into the race. If they have any ability at all, they can make some hay in that timeframe.

QUOTE (Kalapse @ Apr 26, 2010 -> 11:25 PM) The funny thing is our 1.112 OPS DH swings about as hard as he can at basically every pitch he sees. Andruw is striking out about 1 in every 3 at bats right now, and is 14 for 33 on balls in play, so his OPS will be nosediving like an airplane that just blew all of its engines if such a ratio continues. However, I do agree that swinging as hard as you can at all times isn't always a bad thing.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Apr 27, 2010 -> 05:42 PM) Was I the only one who saw Julius Peppers single-handedly defeat the Vikings last year? No idea how this season will play out. I could see the Bears winning the North, and I could see them in last. Julius Peppers got paid. Good luck getting consistent effort out of him now, as that's always an issue (including last year), let alone after he gets paid. To say we have no idea how this season will play out is overly hopeful. You could argue the Packers and Vikings (if Favre comes back) are the two best teams in the NFC not named New Orleans. The Bears haven't done nearly enough to catch either of those teams.

QUOTE (MurcieOne @ Apr 27, 2010 -> 03:34 PM) They've done it to me again, I'm getting a little optimistic about the Bears chances next year. I don't think you can build a team via free agency, but signing Peppers and Taylor seem like promising moves. Then we get back a solid starter in Chris Harris and draft Major Wright who could be a nice addition at FS. Suddenly the Bears defense doesn't have many holes (getting Urlacher and Tinoisamoa back too). The biggest question mark for me is how the marriage between Martz and Cutler works out. I was really skeptical at first, however, Martz and Cutler have said all the right things so far. I know it's just talk, but Jay seems excited to be working with the Mad scientist and I think Martz might be toning down the asshole act because he realizes how much he has riding on this season. Dammit, I'm hooked again. The Bears are a DISTANT 3rd in the NFC North to the Vikings and Packers, even if Brett Favre doesn't return. If he does (and he will), I find this season 100 percent hopeless, because the Bears best hope is the #6 seed, which will be tough playing those two teams for 25 percent of your games. Oh, and Jeff Ireland is a real classy guy.

A lot, I'd be willing to overpay a little even if I had to. And i'd be thinking about doing it very soon, because I think Danks is going to continue to get better, and thus his pricetag goes up by the day.

QUOTE (maggsmaggs @ Apr 26, 2010 -> 02:47 PM) The biggest problem with our homeruns is that the majority are solo shots. I am not sure the stats behind this, but it sure seems like at least 60% of our homeruns have been solo ones. That's what happens when your lineup is sporadic in who is hitting such as ours right now. We've got a few red hot guys hitting the home runs, but the ice cold guys are making it so that nobody or only one guy is on base. This could be a season long problem too. The hot guys will cool and the cold guys will warm up, but overall, we just don't have enough on base percentage in our lineup to make the doubles and home runs really count. As for Ozzie Ball, it's a myth. Always has been, always will be. Our team is built on pitching and home runs, and it's been that way for a long time now when things are operating properly. If our front office doesn't want to be so home run reliant, it needs to build a lineup based upon consistent on base percentage throughout the lineup, because that's the only way you'll be able to pile up runs without power reliance (although mixing in some speed helps too). Also, power isn't a bad thing.

I was kind of expecting a faster than usual (for this series) first period with the Predators fighting for their lives and having the home crowd behind them combined with the Hawks flying high after game 5, but wow that was ridiculous. Hockey is a strange game though in that really high scoring/exciting periods generally=both teams playing poorly disciplined hockey, and that looked to be the case in the 1st tonight. I really thought the Hawks settled down and played a sound on the lead game the last 40 minutes though (outside of the poor PP work during that time), and Niemi made the stops when he needed to. They've beaten Vancouver before and can do it again, just have to execute, but the Hawks should enjoy tonight's victory for now. They needed to come out and bury the Preds in a tough enviornment and got it done. Go Coyotes tomorrow.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Apr 24, 2010 -> 03:35 PM) Jenks could easily find a groove as well. I hope so, that way we can maybe get something decent for him around the deadline. Jenks should have been traded years ago now though. Might be too late to really get anything for him, which is unfortunate.

Not much the Bears could have done in this draft with so few picks (although that's their own fault), but the LeFevour pick was stupid and a waste. I like Major Wright though, and feel he can help at safety as an immediate starter. Corey Wootton could also be a very good player if he ever gets healthy, but that's a BIG question mark. He was definitely worth a 4th round pick though. Beyond that, meh, although I think Freddie Barnes is an interesting UFA signing. He has incredible hands and knows how to get open, I don't care what the competition is, numbers like the ones he put up last year are amazing.

How is it that Andruw Jones, Paul Konerko, Mark Teahen, and Alex Rios (probably the 4 most important guys in our lineup heading into the season according to many, me not excluded) are all doing very well offensively, and we're STILL not even in the top 10 in the AL in runs? Dear A.J. Pierzynski, Carlos Quentin, Gordon Beckham, Juan Pierre, and Alexei Ramirez (especially the first 3, I expected Pierre to suck and Ramirez is always awful in the cold/April): please remove your heads from your asses.

I think Keith might have lost the Norris Trophy with his poor play after the Olympics. He was the clear leader for it before the Olympics though IMO, so he still has a shot, but I think Drew Doughty might pull it out. As for Hossa, I think you could argue he should get a 1 game suspension, but it's not a tragic mistake to give him no suspension. The Predators have nobody to blame but themselves anyways, it took an absolutely epic gag job by them to not only give up a short handed goal to tie the game in the last minute, but then not score for a 4 minute power play in OT and lose almost immediately after that. As exciting and fun as that victory was, Nashville had the Hawks on the ropes in the game and series Saturday and just blew it. Most championship teams have a shocking victory or two on their way to glory though, and lets hope that was an example of such for the Hawks this weekend.