NorthSideSox72

QUOTE(RockRaines @ May 5, 2006 -> 08:27 AM) soxtalk.net is better. That was kinda fun, in its own way. But I'm glad we're back to normal.

Like SS2K5 said, pitching and defense are the biggest keys. As far as the offense goes, we used that 5th best HR total AND small ball last year. And we're doing the same thing this year. We won last year, and we are winning this year. Our power hitters had slumps last year, and will have slumps this year, and its all OK. When you have great pitching, great defense, good power and good fundamentals (including small ball stuff), then its OK when one of those has an off day.

QUOTE(LosMediasBlancas @ May 5, 2006 -> 07:56 AM) Ozzie gets a lot of criticism around here for his line up shuffles and for putting the 'wrong' hitters in certain situations. I'm a firm believer in what he does. If you show confidence in players, more often then not they will rise to the ocassion. If you treat a player like a ;ast option, he'll peform like one "I have people who can play everywhere: Ozuna, Alex Cintron, Ross Gload and [Rob] Mackowiak,'' Guillen said. "It gives me the opportunity to play guys. People say I rest [regulars] a lot, but I want all my players to have a chance. When these [bench] guys are needed, then they're ready. "To me, everyone is important, from Paul Konerko to Ross Gload to Pablo Ozuna. I always want to have all 25 ready because it's not always going to be Konerko or [Jim] Thome at bat [in a critical time]; it might be Ozuna. I have to keep everyone sharp. In the long run, it will pay off.'' Seems pretty obvious to me, and his results seems to indicate he is right. But there are a lot of people on this board (and Sox fans in general) who don't seem to see that big picture.

The top two are pretty much exactly as I would have guessed - I'd be pretty happy with Bayh or Richardson. The list is a little more left-leaning after those two than I thought it would be, especially since I took hawkish positions on immigration, business and labor, gun control and the budget... (100%) 1: Sen. Evan Bayh (D) Information (90%) 2: Gov. Bill Richardson (D) Information (87%) 3: Ex-Gov. Mark Warner (D) Information (87%) 4: Sen. Christopher Dodd (D) Information (86%) 5: Gov. Tom Vilsack (D) Information (84%) 6: Sen. Hillary Clinton (D) Information (80%) 7: Ex-Gen. Wesley Clark (D) Information (80%) 8: Ex-VP Al Gore (D) Information (80%) 9: Sen. Russ Feingold (D) Information (79%) 10: Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D) Information (76%) 11: Sec. Condoleezza Rice ® Information (74%) 12: Gov. Mitt Romney ® Information (73%) 13: Gov. Mike Huckabee ® Information (72%) 14: Gov. George Pataki ® Information (71%) 15: Sen. Majority Leader Bill Frist ® Information (70%) 16: Ex-Mayor Rudy Giuliani ® Information (70%) 17: Sen. John Kerry (D) Information (70%) 18: Sen. Joseph Biden (D) Information (67%) 19: Ex-Sen. John Edwards (D) Information (65%) 20: Sen. George Allen ® Information (57%) 21: Ex-Rep. Newt Gingrich ® Information (55%) 22: Sen. John McCain ® Information (52%) 23: Sen. Sam Brownback ® Information (51%) 24: Rep. Tom Tancredo ® Information (41%) 25: Sen. Chuck Hagel ® Information

QUOTE(Heads22 @ May 2, 2006 -> 08:33 PM) Jason updated my original post^^ Well, good luck guys. We appreciate the work you put in. Talk to 'yall in a few days.

QUOTE(Felix @ Apr 29, 2006 -> 06:06 PM) Holy crap! That has to be the worst facial expression on a baseball card I have ever seen.

I have tried to open the "I Loves me some Pods..." thread three different times in the last few days, and each time, Norton says there is Trojan Horse in there. Once was at work, and I had to explain to my IT network department why they got that alert. Um, I was going to this work-related website, and...

QUOTE(fathom @ May 2, 2006 -> 12:22 PM) There's absolutely no way to know that. Without our pitching staff being incredible, there's likely no championship. It's not like our hitters tore the cover off the ball in the World Series. It's too hard to tell that if what worked last year, will work this year. Lets just hope Dye can get healthy soon. Well, we know it worked last year. I certainly agree that Pitching was the #1 reason, but there was a whole list of reasons, and having players healthy and strong is a key piece. And I certainly hope they are cautious with Dye, especially since Mack is now apparently finding a groove.

QUOTE(southsideirish71 @ May 2, 2006 -> 12:20 PM) Maybe after we won the series we would relax a little. The formula last year was win the first game of the series to take control, if we won two then we took the foot off the pedal because mission was acocmplished for that series. Which is pretty much what Oz has done here, though this is only a 2 game series. I seriously don't think he is doing this any different than he would have last year, and that worked pretty damn well.

QUOTE(SpringfieldFan @ May 2, 2006 -> 12:18 PM) Personally, I think we won the world championship in spite of the Sunday lineups But its all good; tomorrow's another day... Without the Sunday lineups, we would have not had the gas we did in the post-season. Therefore, no championship.

QUOTE(southsideirish71 @ May 2, 2006 -> 12:18 PM) We won the division last year because we attacked our division. Our sunday lineups were for other teams. We changed our rotation middle of the season so the top of our rotation would face our division more. We were not resting 3 and 4 starters against the Indians and the Twins last year. We were on certain days. We weren't playing the starting 9 every single game against CLE and MIN, thats for damn sure.

QUOTE(BigSqwert @ May 2, 2006 -> 12:16 PM) But why sit 3 of them at once...against a division rival? If you read more than that one sentence of my post, you'd see the answer to that question. Day game after night, after west coast trip, travel day again.

You guys with the "Sunday Lineup" complaints kill me. Seriously, you sound like you live in a video game. In the real world, human beings need this little thing called "rest", to help prevent "injuries". And the subs need playing time, or else when you do need them, they suck. And they came in yesterday from the left coast, and now have a day game after night game, and will travel again today to play tomorrow. And oh yeah, WE WON A F***ING WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP THIS WAY. It works. Its proven. And we often win games with the "Sunday Lineup". Enjoy it! As for Buerhle, well, can't help you there. Maybe Ozzie wanted him to get his 6 in.

QUOTE(YASNY @ May 2, 2006 -> 10:45 AM) Seems to me that a big ass wall would be a one time expense and the other options seem to be a perpetual expense. Build the wall. A wall needs maintenance, for one thing. And people will find their way over it, so you still need the human and technological elements anyway. Plus its an environmental disaster. Oh, and it will completely screw up drainage and irrigation. And what do you do along the Rio Grande? Cut off Texas from the water supply they need? Wall = unworkable and hideously expensive.

QUOTE(southsider2k5 @ May 2, 2006 -> 09:30 AM) among the things he mentions is that he favors the abolishment of the Electoral College http://www.newsobserver.com/102/story/434527.html I like him more and more as time goes on. My only question with him is the environment - I haven't seen him speak about it, its not mentioned on his website or publications, and I am not familiar with his record on it in Indiana. Anyone have any info on that?

QUOTE(NUKE_CLEVELAND @ May 1, 2006 -> 02:37 PM) http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060501/pl_nm/...HNlYwMlJVRPUCUl National guard troops to the border, crackdowns on businesses who hire illegals and a bunch of other goodies. Im liking what they are proposing down there. Forgive me for this, but I have to say I proposed something very similar in here months ago - troops in small groups, electronic detection, and no wall. Sounds good to me. And I hope they get serious on the businesses that do the hiring as well.

Classless and trashy. And for the record, despite Frank's whining and difficulties, you can bet your a** that i will be giving him the standing O when he arrives in town. Which is why I really don't get how anyone can boo a class guy like Thome in that situation. How embarrassing for Cleveland; the team and the city.

QUOTE(Timoperezrulez @ May 1, 2006 -> 12:48 PM) does anybody know what the lowest possible price would be for 2007 Sox season tickets for a guy in his 20's looking to buy the cheapest season tickets available?Would stubhub be a cheaper way? The cheapest way is to get on the 2007 waiting list (which is open NOW), and then get the UD Reserved plan of your choice ($925 or so for full seasons, I think about $400 for 27 games in 2006).

QUOTE(EvilMonkey @ May 1, 2006 -> 08:00 AM) tex, I have a customer that is in the construction industry, can't get too muych more specific, that has about 70% of its labor force hispanic. According to my office contact, about half of those are probably illegal. She says they present papers and id, but some of them she can tell are fake (she has been doing this for a while). The lowest paid laborer in this company makes over $16/hour, with benefits. They do not all pick fruit. Sometimes in your arguements you seem to assume an all or nothing pose. Not all illegals pick fruit, nor do they all have $16/hour jobs. By the way, the company is basically shut down today since they don't have enough workers coming in to staff any of their job sites. Way to f*** the white workers! And the black workers! And anyone other than the hispanic workers! While this boycott/protest/rally/crime orgy thing annoys the crap out of me, I have to say I don't feel too badly for companies suffering without their illegal immigrant hires. They are in the wrong as well.

QUOTE(Kalapse @ Apr 30, 2006 -> 03:16 PM) pfft, took you long enough.

I have discovered Jim Thome's true identity. By day, mild-mannered professional baseball player... By night... I'm pretty sure of it.

QUOTE(hammerhead johnson @ Apr 30, 2006 -> 12:27 PM) Oh really? Like who? This ought to be interesting. He didn't get a regular job in the majors until he was 27, correct? What do you think kept him down there for so long? The guy couldn't judge a non-routine fly ball to save his life. He can't field grounders out there in LF, and his arm is terrible. He's a career AAA player who somehow slipped through the cracks. A product of expansion. There is no way in hell that a guy with such terrible fundamentals should be on the major league level. It boggles my mind. Also, his wife showed her vagina to a bunch of complete strangers. I can't seem to find any positives right now. I'll get back to y'all. Well, I have no comment on the wife. But he is better defensively than Manny Ramirez, for example. Manny stinks even when he makes an effort, which is rarely. Last year, Pods was in the top half of baseball LF's in FPCT, was 2nd in Range Factor, and 4th in ZR. Now, we all realize is arm is less than stellar, and he had only 3 OF Assists (definitely lower half). And those stats are certainly not he entire picture. But as an overall defender, Pods is just not as bad as the complainers like to think. Is that interesting enough for you, sarcasmo? I am a lot more concerned about his failures on the basepaths right now than I am about his defense.

His lack of success stealing, often getting thrown out by a mile, is disconcerting. He looks like he is running a bit tenatively, and isn't getting good jumps either. I hope he gets some 1-on-1 sessions with the physical therapist and Rock Raines to fix any possible lingering injury issues and work on his jumps. As for the defense, I don't think he is nearly as brutal out there as some complainers here make him out to be. He bumbled a play in the corner last night, but aside from that, he looks to me like a better defender out there this year than last (and yeah, I've been at or watched a lot of the games). His arm even looks a little stronger. He is certainly not at the same level as BA or even JD defensively, but he is better than a number of other MLB left fielders.

QUOTE(Balta1701 @ Apr 28, 2006 -> 03:26 PM) Just because it is Russian technology doesn't mean it's automatically bad. The biggest problem with the Iraqis was not the technology, it was the training. They simply didn't know how to use most of the things, since most of the people were conscripts forced into the army and taught never to do anything unless they were ordered from above. And furthermore, these things are light years beyond any of the technology we faced in Iraq, except maybe the Mig 29's, and those were the places where the intensive U.S. fighter training really paid off. Agreed, as I mentioned earlier in this thread.

QUOTE(southsideirish71 @ Apr 28, 2006 -> 12:53 PM) Our first strike MO for the last few engagements has been the same. We hit hard with Cruise Missles and Stealth aircraft the first few waves to take out command and control and also use it to take out Sam installations. Once that is thinned out, we then lauch major operations with the rest of the air fleet. We also have F22 Raptors that have stealth capabilities to add to the B2 and the F117. Also remember that the Russians talk up their techology and their ability to compete, however in the last few wars we have ran up against the Russian technology and have beat it. Remember the Mig29 in the first gulf war, and how supperior it was to our fighters. How the advanced sam installations would take us down. Their tanks and how they would take us out due to numbers. We were ahead of them technologically then and we are now. The only real risk that we have to worry about in a fight with Iran is the following. Silkworm missle attacks on our fleet in the gulf. Balistic Missle attacks from their long range rockets on Israel, and our bases in the gulf. This of course is until we get air supperiority. Suicide attacks. This will be the lingering issue for the long haul. You cant defend the single minded insane person who wants to kill himself and lots of people around him. Iran wants confrontation, at least their nutty leader does. He wants to bring about the 4th imam. He is a religious nutcase. The Iranian people dont want a war. I think its important to point out here that the problems the Iraqi air force had during the gulf war were NOT a problem of technology. Those Fulcrums and SAM sites failed because the Iraqis didn't know how to use them, and in many cases, didn't maintain them. This will (I am guessing) not be true in Iran, at least not to the same extent.