WCSox

The 2004 Red Sox are strong evidence that there's no such thing as curses in sports, given that they "overcame" one of the greatest curses/myths in the history of professional sports. I'm not sure if the Shoeless Joe/Black Sox curse is as well-documented, but the 2005 Sox offer even further evidence that there's no such thing as curses in the realm of professional sports. You can write a halfway decent paper on this topic. You just have to do a much better job of formulating your argument.

QUOTE(White Sox Fan For Life @ Apr 20, 2006 -> 05:25 PM) Well thank you for that harsh criticism I appreciate it. I can sense a huge feedback of great honesty. So when I talked about Buckner at all did it makes sense at all or was it just going off the topic? The criticism wasn't meant to be harsh, but you have to realize that what you wrote was not something that would earn you a passing grade in a college course. Make your argument in the opening paragraph and support that argument with examples in the following paragraphs. Cut out the part about Buckner's exile to Idaho, as it has nothing to do with your argument.

QUOTE(White Sox Fan For Life @ Apr 20, 2006 -> 05:08 PM) We are going to get into another long debate like my last thread were we don't really understand one another. So I will be the bigger one and not get into this arguement all over again but I will ask you in your opinion: if you were writing this exact thesis statement paper what would be your 3 main points on how to support curses don't exist in baseball? 1. The Red Sox won the 2004 WS 2. The Cubs front office being historically incapable of building teams that could be compeititve for several years (no back-to-back winning seasons from 1972-2004) 3. Curses are nothing but excuses for lack of execution (Buckner, Prior/Gonzalez) Cut out the "lack of supernatural occurance" crap and don't dwell on Buckner's move to Idaho. The former is garbage and the latter has nothing to do with your argument.

Do you guys mean to tell me that Anderson shouldn't be expected to have Pujols-like rookie year?

QUOTE(Soxbadger @ Apr 20, 2006 -> 02:40 PM) WCS, I dont have a hard on. I just want Barry to be treated like every other player in a similar circumstance. Why is the fed not going after Palmeiro? He perjured? Why is baseball not going after Mac, he used steroids? Hypocrisy needs to be beaten down, no matter who it forces you to defend. The Feds are not going after Palmeiro because they don't have any evidence that he was using steroids when he testified under oath. However, they did investigate the possibility after he tested positive and apparently they didn't find enough evidence to put him on trial. McGwire took the 5th during his testimony, so they can't go after him for perjury. The Feds are going after Barry because there are a number of people that Barry pissed off who are willing to testify against him.

QUOTE(Gregory Pratt @ Apr 20, 2006 -> 02:28 PM) Umm, Barry used to abuse his girlfriend/mistress. Nice try painting him as someone who at least didn't "commit real crimes." The fact is that Bonds is not only a juicer but a real-life monster. Barry's also a terrible teammate and hates white people. Oh, and he's an admitted former steroid-user and he's being investigated on perjury charges. Why so many people have a hard-on for a guy like that is beyond me.

QUOTE(fathom @ Apr 20, 2006 -> 01:47 PM) Garland and Contrereas were definitely on the market this offseason. Did KW actually come out and say that or was it just a rumor? Even if that information is true, Garland finally had ONE good year after five very mediocre ones. Contreras is at least 34 (possibly as old as 36) and had not been as consistent as expected in his major league career. Neither of those guys have as much long-term upside as Buehrle and, therefore, are not as important to the team's long-term goals.

QUOTE(fathom @ Apr 20, 2006 -> 01:07 PM) We were going to be competitive this season, but that didn't stop KW from considering trading one of his starting pitchers. And which one was that?

QUOTE(NorthSideSox72 @ Apr 20, 2006 -> 01:08 PM) Policing class? Westwood College certainly has some interesting courses. Your paper is in need of some serious revision. The first sentence ("Many people either believe or don’t believe in a curse.") is useless because it's completely obvious. There are also many instances in this paper in which you sound like you're speaking to somebody on the phone. It is imperative that you use proper grammar and complete sentences. Outside of the grammar, you don't really present a compelling argument. What does "no evidence of the supernatural" in the scorecards of the '86 World Series have to with anything? Present your argument at the end of your introductory paragraph, make sure that the following paragraphs support evidence for your argument, and summarize your paper in the last paragraph.

QUOTE(fathom @ Apr 20, 2006 -> 11:38 AM) Here's my opinion on Buehrle. If KW can tell that Mark won't be able to be brought back when he becomes a FA, then trade him to the Cards in the offseason. St. Louis is going to be in the market for pitchers this offseason, and we could try and get a lot of prospects for Buehrle. Then, you take one or two of those prospects, and you trade them along with Fields and Sweeney for Miguel Cabrera. With the saved money on the non-Buehrle deal, you can lock up Joe Crede to a multi-year deal. Given that the Sox will likely be very competitive next season, I doubt that Beuhrle will be dealt (unless we're significantly below .500 in July of '07).

Typical flavor-of-the-week trash from Moronotti. That said, it would be poetic justice for Barry The Racist to fall short of Ruth's record.

QUOTE(aboz56 @ Apr 20, 2006 -> 10:43 AM) On the open market, yes, but my guess is he doesn't get that far. Sox should lock him up so that he doesn't have an opportunity to be offered that kind of money. I agree. That said, given that JR has never offered $75 million to a pitcher before, I'm not holding my breath.

QUOTE(aboz56 @ Apr 20, 2006 -> 10:40 AM) It's the nature of the beast. Fans for the most part will side with the athlete over the executive. But that doesn't make it right. $15 million/year is probably the lower end. I wouldn't be surprised if somebody offered him $17 million/year.

Agreed with the general premise of the article, although it'll take a lot more than 5 years/$65 million to keep Buehrle around. What I disagree with is the fact that KW is called out, but Frank and Mark are not censured for their not-so-professional comments over the past few years. Hurt and Beuhrle may be fan favorites, but they're certainly not beyond reproach.

QUOTE(whitesoxfan101 @ Apr 19, 2006 -> 11:03 PM) If the Wirtz family bought the Cubs though, that would be pretty funny.

QUOTE(fathom @ Apr 20, 2006 -> 09:11 AM) Ozzie said that Thome isn't going to play in the field all season. Really? They're being THAT careful with his back? Wow... Surely, he'll pinch-hit late in the games against NL teams, though.

QUOTE(Iwritecode @ Apr 20, 2006 -> 09:06 AM) I was somewhat suprised at the 21,901 for the Tuesday game. I didn't figure they'd have a game under 25,000 the entire year... Nah. There will always be a few games in April or September where the pre-sale and walk-up numbers will be really low. I'd be surprised if it happened again in June or July.

QUOTE(fathom @ Apr 20, 2006 -> 08:43 AM) It's going to suck when we can't play Thome on the road in the NL. Why not? Thome can play 1B. That might also be a good way to give Paulie a day of rest. Having either Thome or Paulie available to pinch-hit isn't exactly a negative, either.

When the Sox draw 26,000 on a weekday in April against a team that will probably lose 100 games this year, you know the ballpark is going to be very full this summer.

Over the past four years, Santana's ERA and WHIP numbers have been significantly lower than Buehrle's. I'd say that he's the more dominant pitcher.

QUOTE(Kalapse @ Apr 19, 2006 -> 01:43 PM) Cliff Politte f***ing blows, trade him. Fixed!

QUOTE(Wedge @ Apr 19, 2006 -> 02:13 PM) Alright, this stuff makes me unhappy: Rumor Central Unfortunately I don't have Insider, but even seeing Buehrle on that list really pisses me off! Uh, yeah, the Sox are going to trade Buehrle to the Cards when they're the defending champs. I hate ESPN. Only they would suggest something that incredibly stupid. QUOTE(Beltin'Bill @ Apr 19, 2006 -> 03:22 PM) With that said, I love the idea of locking MB up and trading Freddy. I think Freddy is a big game pitcher but also a day game chump. You need to win 95 games or so to have a chance at 11 more victories. Give me 5 Freddy Garcias and I will show you a third place ball club with 75-85 victories. Give me 5 Mark Buerhles and you have a much better shot at the post season. I would take my chances in the FA market to solidify the bullpen and let B-Mac step into the rotation. Agreed. I'll always be indebted to Freddy for Game 4, but he's waaaay inconsistent. I'm not sure that a guy who never seems to pitch well at home is worth $9 million a year.

QUOTE(Gregory Pratt @ Apr 19, 2006 -> 11:00 AM) I do hope Kenny doesn't wind up pulling a 1990s and pushing our better players away, like Buehrle. To play Devil's Advocate, Blackjack, Fernandez, and Alvarez had maybe one good season before suffernig injuries that effectively ended their careers. One of the few things that Schueler was good at was getting rid of pitchers right before they tanked. That said, I'd like to see Mark retire on the South Side.

QUOTE(Rowand44 @ Apr 19, 2006 -> 01:13 PM) No, you don't put your future ahead of the present when you have a world series caliber team, that's not smart. Small market or not you don't go trading your 1 or 2 starter when you have a real good shot at at least making the playoffs. You don't start rebuilding in a playoff year. I agree that trading Zito on a very competitive A's team would be a mistake. They have enough support around him to absorb a bad first half (like the one he had last year). If Zito gets hot for them later in the year and they make the playoffs, they'll be in VERY good shape.

QUOTE(Iwritecode @ Apr 19, 2006 -> 10:35 AM) Overhand pitching in a softball league??? Or are you talking about throwing the ball as a fielder? Throwing as a fielder. All of those throws from deep CF take a toll on my old arm.