NorthSideSox72

QUOTE(South Side Fireworks Man @ Dec 10, 2007 -> 05:07 PM) What the hell was that? Awesomeness.

Clothing and shoes will always do well in brick and mortar - online only works so well for fitting. Also anything that tends to be bought with a need for expertise. For example, Tex, if some guy decided he wanted to start backpacking, he's probably going to want to go to REI or something to ask some advice.

All three of those back end guys make me nervous. As people are saying, chances are, 1 or 2 of them will flop. Also though, chances are, 1 of them will probably do quite well. Then there is the outside chance that all 3 flop, or all 3 succeed, but neither of those scenarios is likely. So since everyone is discussing who will do badly... anyone want to guess who is most likely of those three to have a good season?

Good. Things still moving along as expected.

QUOTE(Gregory Pratt @ Dec 10, 2007 -> 11:27 AM) Floyd will fall apart sooner rather than later; if he starts well, it'll be because it's cold, but I doubt even that helps him. There's one prediction; I'm not comfortable predicting what the other two do although I'd bet that Contreras gets worse as the year goes on, what with his health, and Danks gets gassed late in the summer (I, for one, still think Danks is a good young starter, but the innings scare me) Already building in your excuse in case he succeeds, I see.

QUOTE(Texsox @ Dec 10, 2007 -> 11:21 AM) I disagree, technies are the guys that have to have it now. A card goes out, they are upgrading, etc. It's the average consumer that walked away because of Best Buy, etc. I liked CompUSA because they price matched and gave a store credit instead of a rebate. I always walked in there with Best Buys ad. Nowadays, you order it today, you get it tomorrow. My experience with techies, and I work with a lot of them, is that they hate the idea of going into a store to look at computer hardware.

Uribe would be a solid bench piece, if he didn't cost $4.5M. But even that scenario is better than him displacing Richar, which if Richar is healthy, would be pretty dumb.

Most techies I know don't even bother going into stores anymore. Everything is ordered online. And CompUSA wasn't going to be competitive with the PC and hardware companies, or the amazon's and buy.com's of the world. What few people buy this stuff in stores now go to Best Buy, or Abt or the like - glitzy electronics stores with wonderful toys. This was inevitable.

I think its kind of funny that people get all worked up when Ozzie or Kenny say these sorts of things. What do you expect them to say? My guys suck?! Heck, if anything, this tells me its likely that one of Danks or Floyd might get moved in a trade.

A different article previously mentioned some team other than CHC and SD making a big offer. This article says that the Sox are that third "mystery" team in with the Cubs and Pads after Fuku.

QUOTE(southsideirish71 @ Dec 9, 2007 -> 12:50 PM) Leadoff hitters who have pretty much about 98% of their OBP invested via their batting average are a ticking time bomb. I'm not sure I'd go that far. As I've said before, I think Owens would likely have a very Pierre-like career if given the chance to start, and I think that's good enough to leadoff for some teams. Obviously a little power would be preferable.

QUOTE(southsideirish71 @ Dec 9, 2007 -> 12:47 PM) Ozzie can talk all he wants about OBP and such. But push come to shove, a bantam weight track star will be our leadoff guy. He can't get the f***ing Marlins experience out of his head. The only weigh that Owens doesnt start is if we waste money and pick up Pierre. And that's what it would be. Why pay $9M or whatever Pierre gets for Owens aged a few years. I think the Sox end up with Rowand in CF.

To say there has been a large swing in the polls lately would be an understatement. Check out the latest... Iowa: Newsweek (12/5-6)... Hucakbee: 39% Romney: 17% Thompson: 10% Giuliani: 9% Paul: 8% McCain: 6% Iowa: Mason-Dixon (12/3-6)... Huckabee: 32% Romney: 20% Thompson: 11% McCain: 7% Giuliani: 5% Paul: 2% You read right. Huckabee with 22 and 12 point leads in those polls, and Giuliani at only 9 and 5%. Now for NH... NH: Mason-Dixon (12/3-6)... Romney: 25% Giuliani: 17% McCain: 16% Huckabee: 11% Thompson: 6% Paul: 5% So NH isn't as quick to swing as IA, and the religious conservatives still don't play as well there.

More polls... Iowa: Newsweek (12/5-6)... Obama: 35% Clinton: 29% Edwards: 18% Richardson: 9% Biden: 4% Iowa: Mason-Dixon (12/3-6) Clinton: 27% Obama: 25% Edwards: 21% Richardson: 9% Biden: 5% For the past 5 to 7 polls, Obama nets an average 1.6 to 2.0 point lead, and that goes up if you remove Zogby. Now for NH... New Hampshire: Mason-Dixon (12/3-6) Clinton: 30% Obama: 27% Edwards: 10% Richardson: 7% Biden: 3% This is the first poll where Hillary's lead is less than the margin of error in NH.

No matter the interloping law in place, all use of force must be justified by the situation. Deadly force is used in situations where deadly force is justified. Some dude running away who may or may not have committed larceny, and doing it while disobeying the direction of the police dispatcher on the phone, is not justification for deadly force. This guy's almost assuredly going to be prosecuted, and most likely convicted. The only question mark, I think, is if the jury gets loaded with types like him. Its possible he could get off with some sort of hung jury. This is the type of case that jurors sometimes use to grasp onto a societal "point".

QUOTE(wilmot825 @ Dec 9, 2007 -> 10:47 AM) Rangers sign Milton Bradley, the Dodgers sign Andruw Jones, and the Phillies have stated publicly they won't spend that kind of money for Rowand. So has the whole baseball world done us a favor by giving Rowand only one more option? I say A-Row is back in a White Sox uniform before christmas, so that the Sox fans can go out and buy up some jerseys for the holidays. A-Row has more than the Sox still possible for his services. And the Sox still have Fuku and maybe Ramirez, or someone else in trade, to consider. I wouldn't say its a 1-to-1 relationship just yet.

QUOTE(RockRaines @ Dec 7, 2007 -> 04:46 PM) Cause its his birthday that old s*** It ain't the years, Rock.

So, the US House finally got around to packaging a serious, wide-ranging energy bill that would raise CAFE standards to 35 mpg down the line, include more vehicles in there, and shift all kinds of money formerly going to big oil to alternative energy funding. It passed the House. But the Senate, of course, stopped it. The bill technically had the votes to pass (57), but they used Cloture restriction to stop it from continuing. They claim its because the bill contains $21B in new taxes. But here is the kicker - those "taxes" are actually, predominantly, the removal of $13B in what had been subsidies to big oil. The dropping of them is what the GOP senators stopping the bill (led by Domenici), object to. But hey, the GOP isn't in big oil's pocket or anything. The good news, maybe, is that even the Republicans who thwarted the effort are saying they feel they can make some changes that will allow it to pass. If those changes mean giving back those subsidies, I will be pissed. Article.

QUOTE(CWSGuy406 @ Dec 7, 2007 -> 03:52 PM) I love the half-assed veiled shots at certain posters here. Of course we're going to obsess over their moves -- it's a message board, what are we supposed to do? Kenny told has repeatedly told us fans that we're going to compete in 2008. If he were more reasonable and said something like, "We're going to do our best to compete in 2008 without sacrificing our long-term chances in 2009 and beyond", people would be more reasonable and level-headed with him. But instead he's been making stupid comment after stupid comment the whole winter -- "‘‘All this has done is put the Tigers in a better position to contend with us.’’ If I was a reporter there I would've burst out laughing right in his face. I think he meant... everyone.

Point of clarification - I have read nothing indicating any increas in profit for baseball. Attendance is up, and revenue is up. But so are costs. Some clubs still lose money, most only make a little - and that is just the guesswork that Forbes publishes annually because MLB doesn't give out this information. Has there been any indication at all that MLB and/or the teams are actually making more money?

QUOTE(GoSox05 @ Dec 7, 2007 -> 03:22 PM) A 2005 study, published in the British Medical Journal, found that learning and practicing the didgeridoo helped reduce snoring and sleep apnea, as well as daytime sleepiness. This appears to work by strengthening muscles in the upper airway, thus reducing their tendency to collapse during sleep. I'm sure this is false cause all scientist are evil commie athiest's. I knew someone would go Google didgeridoo.

I'm just going to say three more things, and then leave this thread to the soothsayers... 1. The Sox made one deal in the winter meetings - and it helped the club. 2. Do any of you own a calendar? 3. If the Opening Day roster looks like it does right now, then I'll be right there saying this is, at best, a 3rd place-caliber team in the ALC, and maybe worse.

QUOTE(fathom @ Dec 7, 2007 -> 03:04 PM) I think that Tampa blog in the few hours leading up to the final decision caused everyone to get their hopes up. Yes it did. That still doesn't change the fact that M-Cab was a reach all along. I am just really hoping the Sox can land Rowand or Fuku, or maybe pull a fast one and manage to get Hamilton or Alexei Ramirez or someone sort of unexpected. Crisp doesn't do much, I don't think - not enough anyway. And Pierre, well, they might as well stick with Owens.

QUOTE(witesoxfan @ Dec 7, 2007 -> 01:30 PM) I'm going to be completely honest here and say that I *hate* when people use the "Oh, it's already the playoffs, why play the regular season" card, because it's stupid. Really, it's not the playoffs yet, there's a season to be played? No s***? Thanks! The Sox are not a contender this year; if you don't realize this now, then you are blind. They will not put a product on the field that will be considered a favorite or even a good team by nearly everyone on the planet. That doesn't mean they can't potentially be a good team if the planets align and a meteor hits the earth and etc etc what not else. All I'm saying is that playing Pablo puts the Sox in no better of a position this year than Richar does, and Richar gives you hope for the future, where Pablo gives you none. And by the way, let's look at the Colorado Rockies...the team that scored the 2nd most amount of runs in the NL last year and put up a 4.32 ERA, which was good for middle of the pack, and beyond that, had a bullpen that put up an ERA of 3.85 for the year, which is outstanding. Thus, the Rockies were a damn good team, and the Sox don't have near the talent level the Rockies did. Buy a calendar, wite. This 'year' doesn't start for another 4 months. If the team still looks more or less like this in 4 or 5 months though, I'd agree, they are a long shot at best to compete for the post-season.

QUOTE(fathom @ Dec 7, 2007 -> 02:58 PM) That would be stupid, as there hasn't been anyone who's suggested the Sox are the frontrunners for him. And yet, most of the board was ready to lynch KW for not getting M-Cab, even though they had even less of a shot at him.