NorthSideSox72

QUOTE (farmteam @ Mar 9, 2012 -> 08:38 AM) Weber fired No shocker there. Maybe this should be its own thread in the Pub, not in the champ week threads.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Mar 9, 2012 -> 08:09 AM) Even if you're right..."yes I was paid several hundred thousand dollars in bonuses for my cooperation" seems like it wouldn't stand up in court anywhere outside of Wall Street. Here is what I think you are missing. These were not bonuses in addition to anything. These guys probably we slotted for large bonuses. The deal was likely something like "you get to keep your job for an extra year, and get part of your bonus, if you help us untangle this whole web and show us everything". Its a gamble though. On the one hand, having a few people like that around during the investigation could probably get you answers to your questions a lot more quickly, or even just plain get them at all. On the other hand, if one of them was actually complicit in some way, they could hide their tracks as they go, potentially. I'd bet there are independent auditors stalking their every move.

Forget jelly. Toasted white bread, chunky peanut butter, and honey. I even have some prickly pear honey that adds a little tang to it and its perfect.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Mar 9, 2012 -> 08:00 AM) Hey, putting the hyperlink in the smiley actually works. I have a strong suspicion this is part of a building deal for their cooperation against others.

QUOTE (Tex @ Mar 9, 2012 -> 05:53 AM) He did appear that way, plus he didn't fit into a nice GOP mold. Too moderate on immigration, too conservative on some social issues, to liberal on other social issues, and too traditional on budgets. Tex, as people have been telling you all along... you don't seem to be viewing the same reality about Perry that everyone else is. I can't tell if you are being sarcastic or playing a role here, or if you really believe these things you are posting.

Did anyone get to see any of the Marshall-Tulsa game? Not that normally people would, except that it was 3 OVERTIMES. Must have been a fun one.

Had a bad feeling about that game going in, as I said before. Texas was desperate, ISU was nervous and inexperienced in that sort of situation. Not a good combination. Now ISU goes from being a 7-seed (with a win vs TEX) and a chance for higher, to being probably an 8-seed, maybe even 9-seed. Sucks being in the 8/9 section of the bracket, playing a near-match team and then the 1st seed. Oh well. No matter what goes on now, this season was a BIG step in the right direction for the Cyclones.

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Mar 8, 2012 -> 04:15 PM) All of that could be taken out in a matter of minutes by long range missiles. This isn't Libya. Syria has relatively advanced systems and air defenses, and a lot of them. Libya's air defenses took days, you think Libya will take hours?

Northwestern starting in the hole against Minny. Colorado State trying to leave no doubt, going up quick 9-0 on TCU. I forgot how much I love this time of year. I had been away from giving a crap for a few years.

PAC-12 is so weak this year. They may send only one team, potentially. Cal and Oregon play tonight. Arizona still to play too, but seem like they need to go all the way or close to it for a shot at a bid.

Washington loses in the 1st round to Oregon State. They were the #1 seed in the tournament. They won the PAC-12 regular season, but couldn't win a game in the tourney, and their SOS is terrible. I just read they have beaten 1 team in the RPI top 75. They may be out now, certainly they are at least on the bubble. San Diego State narrowly escapes the same fate as Washington, pulled it out at the end against a 13-17 Boise State team. Me thinks they were looking ahead a bit. ETA: Just saw the replay, the game was tied just before the buzzer, and SDSU made a falling down, prayer 3-pointer to win it as time expired. Damn.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Mar 8, 2012 -> 09:24 AM) And other than Lillibridge and Humber, and Santos if you want to claim he overachieved....nobody came close to outproducing their career lines. Maybe DeAza too, a lot are expecting something less than the numbers he put up. I was more thinking about starting position players, starting pitchers and relievers who pitched most of the year. Bench guys, sample size issues come into play. De Aza wasn't around for long and Lillibridge wasn't exactly playing a ton. You are right on Humber though, I left him off. Konerko and Humber overachieved. Among players still with the team, who else that got significant playing or pitching time outperformed their norms significantly? No one. Alexei, Ohman and Crain, all performed around career averages. That leaves these returning players who underperformed, a little or a lot: Danks, Thornton, Floyd, Peavy, Rios, Beckham, AJP (maybe), Dunn So, 2 guys over (one of which had never pitched a full season, so who knows), 3 guys at (and 2 of those are bullpen arms), 8 guys under, and then the guys you just don't know yet (Morel, Viciedo, Sale, De Aza, Reed). I am NOT saying this means everything, it may mean little, but I do think it is an interesting indicator.

QUOTE (Athomeboy_2000 @ Mar 8, 2012 -> 11:04 AM) Holy Crap! Obama hugged a black man! Eh?

QUOTE (Tex @ Mar 8, 2012 -> 12:31 PM) The more I see of these guys the more I think Perry blew a great chance. I am still stunned how inept his campaign was. He picked the wrong superhero costume out of the closet. His campaign? It was HIM. The guy is a dolt, he went in having an obvious lack of the kind of knowledge he needed, he's terrible at engaging any tough dialogue, and his ideas were transparently ridiculous. His campaign may also have been inept, but it was his own personality and intellect (or lack thereof) that was his main downfall.

QUOTE (Tex @ Mar 8, 2012 -> 12:07 PM) I agree with y'all, one reason could be to conduct a more complete autopsy. Dissect his brain, etc. Why? The value of some scientific analysis of his brain is pretty minimal, and it has to be weighed against much larger concerns. I don't see the point.

I am guessing that Illinois and Iowa may both go NIT. Iowa definitely. But I think Illinois has a shot too.

QUOTE (ChiSox_Sonix @ Mar 8, 2012 -> 10:42 AM) I guess it's more I would rather Drexel be rewarded for winning their conference regular season and having a great season (27 wins, 19 in a row) and IMO passing the eye test, rather than reward a big conference school for mediocrity. That I get. If all else is equal, or very close to equal, I would give the nod to a team who won a conference title. But I don't think Drexel is all that close to Texas. We'll see what happens today. If Texas beats ISU, they are definitely in. If not, then the argument with teams like Drexel, Seton Hall, Colorado State and others will get interesting.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Mar 8, 2012 -> 10:20 AM) For the record, it wouldn't surprise me if it were a lie. But I am not going to go off of a completely irrelevant email to base that as reality on. That is the main point. Also, I am not sure what makes these guys think the only way to get genetic info and photographs from the body is to ship it all the way to the States. There is no reason they couldn't have taken blood, tissue and hair samples, photographs, etc., on the ship. In fact to me, that makes the most sense. Why make the body travel more and invite more risk? There is really no reason to bring the body back to the US, at all. Unless you want to hang it up on the public square, so to speak, which I think would be a mistake.

QUOTE (ChiSox_Sonix @ Mar 8, 2012 -> 09:04 AM) ESPN has UConn's SOS at #3. But I see what you're saying, I just don't agree. I think they are solidly in at this point, and already were going into yesterday. I'm sure they would also have gotten some consideration for the NCAA's debacle of handling Boatright and Calhoun missing so many games. I also don't think they have very similar squads either. I think Drexel has a better chance than Texas at the moment, for example. Hm. Well, in case I was unclear, I didn't mean to say that UConn and Texas were similar in style of play or anything. I meant in terms of resume. We obviously have to agree to disagree on this one. My feeling is that, they have similar resumes, but UConn simply had an easier late-season schedule to work with being in a conference with a lot more flotsam at the bottom. Also, I would be highly skeptical of ESPN's rankings when discussing any Big East school - just look at the Bracketology posts they put up. But Drexel over Texas? Seriously? They have beaten no ranked team, their SOS is a miserable 212th (of about 300), the only team even in the Top 50 they beat is VCU (who they also lost a game to), and the only major conference team they played (UVA) beat them handily at Drexel. Texas has 1 win against Top 25, 3 against Top 50, and an SOS in the top 20. Drexel may sneak into a play-in game if things fall out just right, but I would put them below Texas AND all four of those Big East schools we were discussing.

QUOTE (daa84 @ Mar 8, 2012 -> 08:42 AM) they had a breakout players list...no sox were on it Interesting. This team has so many question marks, and so many holes... and yet, I've never seen a Sox team coming off a season where so many of its players performed below their averages. Most of them, really. And I've gotta think that the odds are, some significant number of those are likely to improve.

Also, someone should dig up the thread from on here a few years ago, with the article and photo of that giant garden spider in Australia eating a bird it caught in its web. In someone's back yard, on their laundry line post.

If you really hate spiders, you might feel better knowing about the Tarantula Wasp.

QUOTE (ChiSox_Sonix @ Mar 8, 2012 -> 07:52 AM) You do realize UConn has a top 3 SOS along with a top 30 RPI right? I don't think UConn is anywhere near the bubble anymore. And WVU is going to be a 10-11 seed. If Texas gets in they are playing in the play in round. USF is probably in after last night. SHU is the only maybe at this point. Agreed. SHU depends on what happens in the Big 10/Big 12/A-10 Tourneys Per Sagarin, UConn's SOS is 16th nationally (this includes yesterday's game), Texas' is 15th. Going into conference tourney play, they were both 19-12 overall. They each have one win over a T25 team. UConn had an easier conference schedule to plow through, but not by a ton. Very, very similar squads in background. UConn beat WV which likely gets them in, just as Texas likely gets in (full bid, not the play-in round) with a win over ISU tonight. For either one, a first round loss in the conference tourney puts them, IMO, on the bubble, hoping for a play-in 12/13 bid. WV has a 14th SOS per Sagarin, so again right there with the other two. They finish 19-13. They actually have 2 wins over T25 teams though. I call them a bubble team too, right in the middle. UConn is leaning in, Texas leaning out, at the moment. But, UConn won, so they are likely in. Texas, we'll see tonight. B12/B10/A10 tournies matter, so does MWC, maybe a couple other conferences as well, to see what bubble teams need an at-large bid. Drexel already got thrown into the mix.

I think most everyone figures he is likely to fall back at least a little bit, maybe more. Do they have a list of likely comeback candidates? Because this team really only had PK overperforming last year, a couple guys around their average years (Alexei, Floyd), and then a whole lot of guys who underperformed. That is really the one reason why I think this team might beat expectations.

QUOTE (ChiSox_Sonix @ Mar 7, 2012 -> 02:23 PM) They are both locks IMO. 7-10 seeds I am not so sure. Seton Hall and UConn were under .500 in a conference that wasn't as tough as the B10 or B12. WV was at .500. Texas, as an analog, was at .500, but in a conference without the soft bottom that the Big East had. Their SOS is very similar to, or better than, those 4 Big East teams. None of them have a ton of wins against Top 25 or Top 50 teams, 1 or 2 each. I personally think a team like Texas gets the nod over UConn, Seton Hall or WV right now. USF is kind of a weird case because they did so well late in the season, but they beat no one OOC and they only beat 1 ranked team. Or how about Colorado State? More wins against T25 than any of the schools we are discussing, SOS is a little softer but not bad, and they still have games to play. Of course, this all can change quickly, as all these teams (except WV) have games left to play. But I'd wager that not all four of those Big East bubble teams make it. That would be 11 from the Big East, and I'd bet on 9. To note, I also am assuming that there will be some bracket busters this week that cause problems - so there will be fewer spots for these bubble teams to go. If all the tournaments go on with basically no surprises that matter - which basically never happens - then maybe there is a chance those teams all get in. But I doubt it.