Princess Dye

I dont know if most here agree... but to me.. baseball can really drag along if you dont have a rooting interest. Football draws in casual viewers like crazy, b/c it's a fast-paced game with a defined time limit. Plus fantasy and gambling considerations.

Also I'll add two more things: 1) I'm aware these rankings probably dont control for all kinds of other factors I'm not taking into consideration (changes in how Americans spend their entertainment dollar) 2) TV ratings arent the end all be all--no this isnt a major topic. But Cubs fans gripped onto this fact in Nov 2005 as their one source of happiness. And also your team's popularity correlates to what yr owner wants to spend on the roster. Usually.

Even though we right away kept hearing that the '05 series ratings were record lows.... looking back, we're the highest ranked Series in the post-steroid era. (EDIT: Post-steroid-naivete, i should say) Right about 2005, people nationwide were just extremely sick of this sport. In a way, I have to admit I kind of like it. I'd rather have the diehards than all those casual fans creeping in when its fashionable. Kind of related to how basketball fandom has changed post-Jordan era. A great telecast like NBA on TNT is possible because basketball now is more of a niche sport. It doesnt have to have mass appeal to dumbasses. I love arguing with knowledgeable Cubs fans. When I'm confronted with a vitriolic Cub fan who doesnt know baseball, it's borrowing Betamax tapes. Pointless. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Series_television_ratings

QUOTE (G&T @ Sep 10, 2009 -> 06:04 AM) Uh...this thread seems to forget that the Sox are in fact in third place. The Twins have to suck ass too. Twins pitching will find a way. That isnt to say we cant find a way either, but hey, I'm fine with all three teams being in it at the end. Way better than what we have now. And actually that's our best case scenario, since for this to work, we need to root for Minn over Det in their head-to-heads

Everytime I try to get out, they keep pulling me back in. LAA is throwing two lefties against our very righthanded team. Meanwhile, Detroit will shortly face Halladay and Romero. Why cant I just give up on this thing.

AJ great year, Paulie pretty good year. Pods shocking year. But Quentin, Dye aeh

QUOTE (Kenny Hates Prospects @ Sep 9, 2009 -> 04:47 PM) I just watched that video and that was the final straw for me. AJ shouting "Go White Sox!" and flicking off the Cub fans with his World Series ring was one of the greatest moments in Chicago sports history. So f*** off Tyler Flowers, I hope Kenny trades you! I don't EVER want to see AJ leave this town! He's my favorite position player on this team and I really don't give a rats ass if anyone thinks we need to turn it over to Flowers. If Kenny trades AJ I will forever hate him. Kenny Hates Prospects Hates Prospects.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Sep 9, 2009 -> 11:29 AM) Frankly, they ought to be. The only positions we're really in need are the 3rd righty out of the bullpen and a corner OF/DH. The only corner OF out there worth a ton of money is Holliday, but personally, I have no interest in being the team bringing him back to the AL to watch him repeat his performance from Oakland this year. The only way some major FA signing would make sense is if there's a big trade of one of our current starters to clear a position for someone. You're not benching Beckham, Rios, Getz, Quentin, Alexei, AJ/Flowers, or Konerko next year. This is factoring Dye and Pods both being brought back? Something tells me KW will find a way to do something to get more left-handed. That to me is a need, albeit not positional. Perhaps he turns Dye into Abreu. Here's hopin' at least

QUOTE (WCSox @ Sep 9, 2009 -> 11:20 AM) That's pretty much the crux of it. If money grew on trees (like it apparently does in the Bronx), re-upping Dotel might not be a bad move. But the reality is that we already have $67 million committed to next year (not including options and arbitration) and even re-signing Jenks to a one-year deal might be stretching the budget. In fact, it wouldn't surprise me if Kenny needs to deal Jenks this winter to round out the rest of the 25-man roster. If I read you right, are you saying that you see upcoming FA signings being very minimal?

Bullpen arms are so fickle year to year. To win you have to get lucky with a few unproven guys (politte, cotts etc). So, if we're reupping Jenks, then I cut Dotel loose and put that $4M towards adding a position player FA. Next year we need to see Nunez and/or Torres in the pen to support Thornton, Jenks, Linebrink, Peña, Carrasco. If they are feeling like bringing Garcia back.....it should be interesting to see what they do with Hudson and some other top young arms. Hey perhaps I'd spend 4M on a solid FA reliever but Dotel is too all-or-nothing for my tastes.

QUOTE (BigSqwert @ Sep 8, 2009 -> 08:52 PM) This just in. We are so-so as well. The talent differential between Sox and A's is no small amount in my view. Thats not to say i'm putting tons on Ozzie, but I think we're considerably more talented than them...albeit not w/ our starting pitcher today. My personal view is that we have an incomplete roster with respect to all the components you want on a team, but lots of pure talent on the roster nonetheless.

Somewhat quietly, Paulie has had quite a bounce back year for himself.

goddam royals are trying to help us and here we are down 7 to a so-so bunch.

Can this year please just be over already.

So Tomko HBPs Pierzynski. Tomko and AJP hate each other right? San Fran issues?

MARK KOTSAY GANGSTAR POOL PARTY 2-R HR

I'm aware he's 32, so i wont do an AAP thread But why has this guy never had a major league shot? Very few MLB atbats, yet has always produced in the minors. Just a bad fit for every org he's been in?

I cant fully support Pods at DH unless we're getting power from somewhere new, such as Blaylock or something along those lines. It would be awful to be this talented speed team, but to lose out on the playoffs due to teams coming in and being better equipped for our park than we are.

Bring Kotsay back. I think he just suffered in BOS due to a bad stretch plus the increased competition level

Is it possible kotsay isn't awful? Maybe he just was in a bad division for hitters last yr

I have no problem with paying big for defense and speed...as well as the pop he seems to have The issue is will the pre-arb guys we have make up for that? Great teams have productive up and comers as well as guys who are being paid in the present.

"That's what happens when you play a DH in left field" I hope Stone announces here 20 years. His honesty is ridiculously ideal. And i'm glad he takes the home team to task too.

Did Alexei improve his D the second half of the year? I want to say yes, even though it's tough to say that after the play we just witnessed. Pretty impressive that he could be a .340 OBP by year's end.

Bradley's hand puppet squawk is the funniest thing ive ever seen, he's easily my favorite Cub. b/c he hates the fans just like me.

QUOTE (whitesoxbrian @ Sep 3, 2009 -> 03:48 PM) This season was a huge disappointment. However, my 5 highlights are: 5. Winning 4/6 from the Cubs. 4. Winning our last game at the Metrodome. 3. Beckham = stud. 2. Seeing Beckham's first career HR live in Cincinnati. 1. Buehrle's PG. There's at least a chance you will one day flip 1 and 2 with regard to significance. I say this because Beckham is guaranteed first ballot obviously