JoeBatterz

I just heard about this too on a radio station in Nashville, subject to Junior's approval, but no details on who the Sox are giving up. Nothing yet at the Tribune site or ESPN.

Once again, for maybe the 3rd year in a row, the Bears are the first team in the NFL to sign everyone of their draft picks. At least, i am presuming that they were first again this year with all of them.

How many other managers could have a list this extensive and then still have several incidents left over for honorable mentions? Go Ozzie!!

I think Sox fans could take it better as we would be able to say that we won it first and it did not take us 100 years between our titles.

For those that go to the game on Sunday or following, it would be great if you could post a pic in the forum for us out-of-towners. Thanks!

How has this been covered on the local sports radio in Chicago? I would think that even with the Sox having the largest lead of any first place team in the MLB, the Cubbies being in first, the Bulls finally getting a coach and holding the #1 pick in the draft, the Blackhawks about to have the NHL rookie of the year, Benson getting his DUI and then cut, and with the Olympics placing Chicago in the final 4, this still would be a hot topic. Have any of the beat writers been on the airwaves to comment this article?

QUOTE (knightni @ May 19, 2008 -> 09:03 PM) Pretty wild how outside of Illinois plus outside of Chicago are close to the Chicago votes. The should add a 4th option, Outside of Illinois, but originally from Chicago. Be interesting to see how many outside of the area are actually Sox fans, without growing up in or near the city or state.

Glad to see that this has been a good topic for us. A few points of clarification: If given the choice between losing my job or wearing the mascot uniform and doing, it, I would have to give in and do it. As has been mentioned before, it is not worth losing your job over. However, I would just keep it to myself or when I told my buddies what I did, I would make sure to b**** and moan adequately. Regarding not doing it at Wrigley compared to our divisional rivals, can you come up with a bigger arch-rival for the White Sox among that bunch than the Cubbies? Growing up on the South Side, I can not think of a bigger rival for us. Although, the poster from Europe brought up a great point regarding overseas rivalries. People do get killed over this stuff and take it way more serious than we do for the most part. Glad to see that we just created a little poll to weigh in with our choices.

I do not know if I am old school or if I set higher standards for myself or if others just have a lower threshold for crossing on to the other side. And by no means am I disparaging anybody. We all make our own choices. However, it seems to me, that if you root for one team, you would not cross to the side of your arch rival, even if you were tempted with going on the field to throw out the first pitch. Don't get me wrong, I would gladly throw out the first pitch at 28 other ballparks, in addition to at The Cell. However, if I had to do it Wrigley for work, I certainly would do it under duress and I would not act like it was the bees knees. In fact, I would rather pass on the opportunity, even if it would be the only chance I would get to go on a MLB field. Maybe going on the field does not hold a lot of weight for me, maybe I consider it part of my "fan values" to decline the offer, or maybe I am just stubborn. Can anybody imagine a Michigan fan, going to a Ohio State game and going onto the field to dot the I? What about a Bears fan getting to do the coin flip at Lambeau Field for a Packers-Lions game? What about a Notre Dame fan riding on the USC Noble white horse for a Trojan game against say ASU? All cool opportunities. Are they tempting enough for you to suspend your allegiance for a moment? What is the sense of having rivalries if the first time you get offered a "cool opportunity" by the other team, you decide to take it and then justify it by saying that you still are rooting for your team. I guess I am an all or nothing guy. If I am with my team, I can not be tempted by a cool life experience and then feel like I can come back to my team. It's like having an affair. Although, given the divorce rate in this country, probably not a good analogy. Anyways, it was good to see the feedback and voting results. Even if we disagree, always good to see other Sox fan's take on the issue. I clearly underestimated the support for my view point.

Not sure if this is in the right spot, but I am sure someone will slap my hand if it is not. Yesterday, at Wrigley Field, there was a promotion in which 6000 kids under 13 received a stuffed bear from Build-a-Bear in a Cubs outfit. As part of the promotion, the Build-a-Bear mascot (who knew they had such a thing) was invited onto the field and threw out the first pitch. BTW, the pitch was high and inside. The person inside in the Build-a-Bear outfit had been up until that point a lifelong, die-hard White Sox fan. Had this been the end of the story, he would have remained as such. Instead, he sent out a group text to several fellow Sox fans, in which with giddy delight, he proudly told us what a great honor this was. After a few smart-ass text responses, a few of us spoke to him on the phone as he continued to try and defend his manhood and his status as a White Sox fan. Unless he can claim today to be under the influence of a dozen or so Old Styles, an White Sox fan intervention may be needed. The question: Would a real White Sox fan dress up in a mascot costume for his work place, throw out the first pitch at Wrigley and then brag about it to his fellow White Sox fans about what an honor it is? Or would a real White Sox fan try his hardest to wiggle out of it and only do it as a last resort and the whole time, say Our Father's and Hail Marys that none of his fellow White Sox buddies find out?

QUOTE (Vance Law @ May 15, 2008 -> 12:06 AM) It doesn't make the least bit of sense. 1) Why the hell do they put the All-Star ballots out so early? 2) Why in the f***ing universe do they take the teams' projected line-ups during spring training. Thanks to the computer!, which is now commonly used both at home and in the office, it would be very easy to get the teams' all-star candidates 14 minutes before the ballot goes out, rather than 2 months. Complete morons. Amen to this.

Here it is, May 13th. We are still in the middle of the NHL Conference Finals, with the Stanley Cup to be played. We are in the middle of the NBA Conference Semi-Finals with the Champion probably not to be crowned for at least another month. And in the fact that the Cubbies have yet to be eliminated from the the MLB divisional races. Does not matter. Here in the South, where it is football season year-round, it is time for the SEC 2008 Football Preview. Glad to see I now live in a town that does not follow any of the major sports leagues outside of the NFL.

I thought I heard on perhaps the Mike & Mike Show this morning that the Cubbies are looking to grab Edmunds and platoon him in Center Field with Reed Johnson. The Felix Pie experiment is about over.

Good find. Makes you wonder if any of the starting pitchers ever have any dealings with Ozzie or if they deal with Coop 100% of the time.

QUOTE (Controlled Chaos @ May 13, 2008 -> 10:44 AM) Buehrle: No Hitter Buehrle's No-No was his best moment, but his smashing the clubhouse heater was his best move.

How about a moratorium on anything that makes reference to the Grinder Rules?

Any word if Brett has stopped crying yet? Showing some emotion was fine and it was part of what made him so great. However, he was acting like a jr high girl who did not get tickets to the Hannah Montana concert coming up the next weekend. His wife needed to slap him.

QUOTE(kjshoe04 @ Mar 10, 2008 -> 11:10 PM) I love Rickey for the fact that he bats righty and throws lefty. A weird combo. I love Rickey for the fact that he always calls himself Rickey. Plus, he has been called the Randy "Macho Man" Savage of baseball as you could never understand what either of them are talking about.

The thing about Stone, his opinions are based upon his research and knowledge of the game. He is not one to spout off to be sensational like Jay does. I think Stone will be respected because more often than not, he will be speaking the truth and he does not have an ax to grind, he is speaking to educate the fans.

Does Rick Morrissey from the Tribune read this board. Sure looks like Controlled Chaos' original post in this thread might have provided some motivation for his article today "Sox may have (computer) chip on their shoulder"

Looking forward to getting the season started to see Swisher's production at the Cell.

Really great post in the terms of the research that went into it. I look forward to more of these.

Let's just keep Big Paulie.

I like the trade. Adding a Grinder and only giving up a hope, a wish and a prayer. This makes us better in 2008 and with the club option, we have Swisher under contract through 2012.

QUOTE(IlliniKrush @ Jan 2, 2008 -> 12:11 PM) Then they would really, really, really, really need a goalie for next season. Agreed. You can not trade Habby unless you have a plan for the net in 08-09. Now if some team such as Tampa gets really desperate and wants to really really overpay us, then we listen.