Gregory Pratt

I doubt Frank Thomas ever factored into any players' thoughts before, after or during a steroid injection, at a ballpark or anywhere.

QUOTE(Balta1701 @ Jan 25, 2008 -> 11:25 AM) No matter what mistakes they did make, you still have to give the team credit for their behavior during the 2003 tests, and for Frank's behavior in general. I always have wondered whether simply having Frank around the clubhouse might, for the most part, have been enough to keep us clean. Because seriously, do you want to piss off #35? Right. I'll bet Frank Thomas checks his teammates' locker rooms for steroids and if he even gets a whiff he lets them know it's unacceptable. I mean, Frank's admirable but he isn't a crimedog.

QUOTE(ChiSox_Sonix @ Jan 25, 2008 -> 03:38 PM) When there were no viable free agents and no one on the farm who could be counted on to be a SS and not much on the trade market, signing a guy who can be counted on (aka you know you're gonna get .220/18/65 with upper echelon defense) for one year at 4.5M is not that bad. I hate it when people ask that question. What else we were going to do? We didnt have OCab yet and there werent any rumors he was coming here. Would you rather have paid Eckstein 8M for 3 years? Or would you rather we moved Richar to SS? Ozuna? Sign Vizquel? Again, we had very few options at the time and we made the safe move. It may not have been a great idea to sign him, but given the other options, there could have been many far worse decisions made. Good post.

http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2008/01/24/comet-dust.html

QUOTE(BearSox @ Jan 25, 2008 -> 03:17 PM) It still baffles me why we gave a fat lazy bum who can't hit his weight, 4.5 million dollars. Because he's a fantastic defensive player and we needed some sort of insurance policy.

QUOTE(TheBigHurt @ Jan 25, 2008 -> 02:37 PM) Oh, for Christ's sake, play Richar. What makes ANYONE think Uribe is going to be a good 2nd baseman? He could handle it defensively and, I think, better than Richar but other than that, I think it's better to play Richar. I was and am only saying that Richar will never be the SS defender Uribe is and probably isn't the 2ndbase defender, either.

QUOTE(RockRaines @ Jan 25, 2008 -> 01:39 PM) Richar put up basically the same if not better numbers than Uribe offensively in his first appearance in the bigs, to play Uribe over a young improving player is asinine. Richar's range should prove better than Juans as well. Juan is a backup whether he likes it or not. He has been a decent play in a supersub role. I doubt Richar's range will be better than Uribe's. Uribe is solid in all respects at short; Richar will never be able to handle it at the ML level, that's why he was moved.

QUOTE(shipps @ Jan 25, 2008 -> 08:55 AM) He is a part of the reason the Sun Times is going down the tubes.Have you seen how thin the paper has got? It's off steroids.

More than his hatred of the Sox organization (which I don't care about either way: that is, his hatred, not the organization) I am troubled by his disregard for the facts. Here's how I think he writes his columns: got to fill his quota, wait for news, write reactionary piece in thirty minutes, spend ten of those "saucing" it up -- and you have a soup of s***. He clearly doesn't spend much time fact-checking: It was 88, unless I am terribly terribly wrong. But the fact that it was in 1988 is what makes it so remarkable. As to his other point -- would I be stunned if we had a bunch of steroid users? Nah. Valetin, Ordonez, Lee, bunch of relievers -- none of those would surprise me (although I am not making any allegation). I don't buy this "White Sox squeaky clean, White Sox protest because they want harsher penalties". Yeah, maybe, but that doesn't mean that the Sox weren't willing to look the other way. They clearly, Canseco shows, were. Just like everyone else. The league is the steroid enabler, not any particular franchise. So, to sum up: Mariotti full of crap, no fact-checking. White Sox probably had their fair share of steroid users that they kept despite it, and it IS justifiable considering the nature of the game at the time.

QUOTE(Flash Tizzle @ Jan 23, 2008 -> 08:10 PM) I'd never go on. I know that much. I do like the entire concept behind this show, but how slowly everything is moving is excruciating. This most applies to the contestants answering and the woman narrator thereafter giving the answer. I'll bet.

QUOTE(Dick Allen @ Jan 23, 2008 -> 05:29 PM) If he were making more than $5.1 million I may agree. But where are you going to find a guy who is capable of excellent defense, maybe 30 homers, and doesn't strikeout much at his price? He's had back issues for years. Its possible he's healthier in 2008 than he's been since 2002, when he was more impressive than Hall of Famer to be Josh Fields. I'd be shocked if Crede ever hit 30 again, and he almost certainly wouldn't playing in the NL West for San Francisco. I guess we just disagree over how much "value" he has; I contend it isn't much. Why would you give up anything significant for him? He is no last piece, he has one year left, he's never been all that good and he is coming off back surgery.

Man, this is a f***ed up world.

Kurt Warner is one cool guy. It isn't anything new about him -- but I was just reading up on Mr. Warner, and he is cool.

QUOTE(Dick Allen @ Jan 23, 2008 -> 12:34 PM) I think KW should wait until spring training when Crede can show he is healthy to deal him. It would make no sense to deal him now. Keep him around, if he's healthy he's got a lot of worth, and who knows, maybe Fields gets hurt in the spring. I disagree; if healthy, "proven healthy" during the spring, he has the worth of a player with one fluke year where he was still terrible at OBP and a lot of mediocre years with a great glove but that's it. There aren't that many teams looking for third base help, however, and it isn't like he'd be the last piece of the puzzle for San Francisco or Philadelphia or anything.

I don't go out of my way for The Sports Guy but I will read him when I'm reading Page 2. I do like him, overall, but in this particular instance he was referenced on, I believe, Pats Pulpit. (The only sportswriter I go out of my way to read is Jeff Pearlman.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Wn-MIuAfmE Great song, even if it is pro NYG. I love it. The trophy belongs in Gotham City! How cute. EDIT: The Patriots remind me of my favorite cartoon, That I used to watch when I was young, There was a group of villains called the Legion of Doom, When I saw them in New England I was stunned, Bill Belichick's Lex Luthor with his evil genius plan, Tom Brady is Bizarro, he's the coach's right hand man, Who's protected by Gorillas trying to keep him from a loss, While he fires another laser to the Riddler Randy Moss, Eli put on your Superman cape, Fly out to Arizona on a plane, Don't let New England's bad guys escape, The desert with a title and another claim to fame, Avoid Lex Luthor's camera kryptonite, Turn the aging lion Seau to a kitty, Take your Giant men of steel out into the fight, And show the men of stealing signals that the trophy belongs in Gotham City, Tell Osi Umenyiora to start up the BatMobile, Tell Strahan that it's time to get in, Meet the team in Arizona in the Patriots backfield, Show the world that the good guys still can win, Eli's life won't be the same when the Giants win this game, He might even tell Tom Brady that Gisele's his Lois Lane, Now the world is going to say that his chance is less than zero, But when New York wins the Super Bowl, he'll be a cartoon hero, Eli put on your Superman cape, Fly out to Arizona on a plane, Don't let New England's bad guys escape, The desert with a title and another claim to fame, Avoid Lex Luthor's camera kryptonite, Turn the aging lion Seau to a kitty, Take your Giant men of steel out into the fight, And show the men of stealing signals that the trophy belongs in Gotham City, Yes, justice will be done cause the trophy's coming home to Gotham City ...

Yeah, Simmons of ESPN says Brady will be 100% by the Bowl and it's just a sprain. Hallelujah.

QUOTE(Texsox @ Jan 22, 2008 -> 04:06 PM) For the rest of the day, and in the honor of the anniversary of your birth, I shall post in blue. I was thinking of visiting Balta, North Dakota but really who the hell wants to go to North Dakota Happy happy!

I was furious when the Colts beat the Patriots in the AFC Title game last year. My favorite sports memory? I actually think it might be Brady to Moss for the record and the win. Other favorites: Bulls beating the Jazz, all the White Sox Astros games since 2005's World Series (especially the Iguchi Game, and Podsednik's walkoff is my favorite).

I really liked him. I even earned the nicknames "Brokeback" and "Heath Ledger" after dressing like a cowboy for a debate competition; instead of being insulted, I was proud. This is awful news; sad to hear.

QUOTE(greasywheels121 @ Jan 22, 2008 -> 08:44 AM) It's pointless here though. Who in their right minds would expect Brady or anybody to miss this game because they're "sore"? I will say this -- Brady is a little more than sore. I don't know what's wrong with him but he's awfully ginger right now, according to reports and the video. I'll bet he's fine for the Bowl and more than good enough, but I am a little worried. That's what I do, though. Worry. I can't wait for this season to end and I won't have to worry about their record

By the way, I don't want to kick a guy while he's sulking but how about LT? Just sitting there looking like Darth Vader or Curt Schilling while The Wild Thing prepares to blow the World Series. That's alright though, because he's "classy". If you don't believe me, he'll tell you himself.

QUOTE(kyyle23 @ Jan 22, 2008 -> 08:34 AM) This is definitely a Belichek ploy, he loves to play the "He may be hurt, he may not be hurt" game with the media and opposing teams As Greasy said -- it's pointless to do such a thing considering the circumstance and as I'll add, no, Belichick isn't doing this as a "ploy". Brady received medical attention during the game against the Chargers after being hit hard. He's probably fine, and he'll almost certainly play and play very well (I'd say certainly if anything were certain) but this isn't something they're making up to get into someone's head or whatever. That's silly. And Belichick putting Brady on the injury list as "probable" for years is more an act of mocking rebellion against the league than any attempt to screw with opposing teams. If Brady's wearing a boot, he isn't wearing it because Belichick is messing with someone. He's wearing it because he had one too many parking tickets. Or something.

Agreed -- but also, what they do against X or Y team is hard to take and apply to other teams because Belichick and his staff adjust game-to-game and are the best at it. They don't do the same things against everyone. QUOTE(Brian @ Jan 20, 2008 -> 09:14 PM) Based on what? NE hasn't played great this post season and Giants almost beat em in Week 17. NE will be favored huge, but Giants should be able to hang. Someone else pointed out about NE/NY and the circumstances (NY playing its best, at home; NE, not, and still winning) but one of the more interesting things to me was something I read in one of the Boston papers a few weeks ago that Belichick was playing quite conservative, without a ton of pressure, in the first because he didn't want to hurt anyone and figured the Giants would rest their starters after one half. That WAS the plan until the players said they wanted to continue and that's when NE really took over in the second half, along with the adjustments. Regardless, I don't think NYG has as much talent or coaching or luck. They'll need perfect execution, a great gameplan and some good fortune to shine on them in the form of Patriots mistakes. They'll certainly need to execute some "gutsy" plays like the Jaguars did against NE, especially on the first drive, and as the Eagles as well as teh Giants themselves did. At this point, though, you've got to wonder how much they've got and further add that it is questionable how much a few new surprises might help since it hasn't done anything for anyone else. This year's Super Bowl could be a rout or it could be a close game but it almost certainly won't be a Giants victory. Like San Diego going further than it was supposed to, NY will find its final stop at the next. Congratulations on getting there, but you really don't belong, whatever the final score says. I don't say that as a boast -- that's just the way things are going to be. However, I worry about the game, as I have been for all the Patriots games. It is football and anything can happen in life, but I think I'm being realistic. And besides, I heard Eli's Oreos were going to wear him down in the coming weeks.