Gregory Pratt

Swish!

QUOTE(Steve9347 @ Jan 3, 2008 -> 12:13 PM) This is true. Who gives a s*** if the Colts bench their starters... they earned that right. Who cares if they just want to go home and have no intention of calling a timeout? They earned that right too. They did not earn the right to give Fisher a call and have the information relayed effect the play that's called on the other end. That's cheating. Maybe they were just trying to be classy and accomodating.

QUOTE(Soxy @ Jan 2, 2008 -> 12:49 PM) Did anyone see "I'm Not There," I love Bob Dylan, but I'm not sure if this will be too arty for me. . . I've been told by the best sources that it's good. Huge Dylan fans. Is it? I need to see it, but I'd recommend it, going off everything I know. Just a guess.

That's all fine and well, but "collusion" is serious business. If the Colts are doing it out of their own concern for their terrible backup QB's health, that's one thing -- but if they're doing it with Jeff Fisher on the line, well, there's something wrong.

QUOTE(greasywheels121 @ Jan 3, 2008 -> 11:02 AM) You should host Bill O'Reily's show when he decides to retire. Wouldn't be a bad gig. I'm just teasing around, but if Donovan McNabb is allowed to crack that NE might not have beat them fair and square then Grossman can too, right? It would have as much basis in reality.

QUOTE(Brian @ Jan 3, 2008 -> 10:55 AM) Kerry Collins, speaking on WFAN, said that the Titans kneeled down at the end of the Colts-Titans game because they knew the Colts wouldn't call a timeout. Collins said that the Titans originally called a running play, but he was told over his headset that the Colts wouldn't call a timeout to potentially force Tennessee to punt with less than 20 seconds left. Pressed further, Collins said the Colts and Titans coaches had "a communication," which is sure to raise collusion questions. Clearly it would have been a long shot for the Colts to win, but Browns fans won't enjoy hearing this one. Related: Browns, Colts Maybe the media will talk about this as much as "Spygate" and maybe Rex Grossman will go on TV like Donovan McNabb and question whether the Colts won the Super Bowl fair or not. Really, I am disappointed in that -- "had a communication". I just hope the terrible Titans enjoying losing in the first round, Vince Young or Kerry Collins.

It's about the integrity of the game.

Bears? Trade for Anderson?

But that goes back to the point. Football players aren't Nobel Prize winning physicists, and even if it were that wouldn't mean they're guaranteed to epitomize class 24/7 all their lives.

I am only saying, everybody (and every organization in the history of man) has their embarrassments.

I have a few notes on this NE/Indy "Class" debate. Heads, there's a woman on record as saying that Peyton Manning said some nasty things to her and she wasn't a stranger while he was drinking in a bar, and she wasn't topless or trying to be, either. She was, what? His trainer? I know she worked for his College team as a fitness woman of some sort. You know the story I reference? There's a more explicit version out there somewhere, but that Manning was sued for sexual harassment by a trainer isn't exactly class. I'm not sure I believe her story anymore than the one against Seau -- or believe it entirely. I'm sure both incidents happened, but the circumstances are hazy and I'm not sure they are bad people or anything. I'm not willing to go there, for Seau or Manning. I will say that they aren't exactly Men of God and so classlessness from a football player doesn't surprise me. Not everyone can be, I don't know, LT (who will remind you all day and night how classy he is). I'm just saying, if you want to prove your football team is class, you should make sure your own examples aren't mirrored by certain players on your team, let alone the star pretty boy with the commercials. And more about classlessness: Isn't what the Colts did in Baltimore the epitome of classlessness? Just leaving in the middle of the night on a truck? And by the way -- you brought up an injury or two during the game against NE. Well, last year in the playoffs, Harrison was out for NE. But there are no excuses. If your guys are all on the field against NE, Belichick and Dungy will both have different gameplans. It isn't as if they'll just pretend that different players haven't been plopped on the field. Can Indy beat New England? Definitely. Would I bet on it? No. Would you? Maybe, but I'd advise against it. New England is simply better coached and is overall a better team. Any team that beats New England will have to be an excellent team, with an excellent gameplan, near-perfect execution (hell, it might take perfect execution) and a bit of luck.

I hate Willy T.

Belichick is not a bum. That you misunderstand him is your right.

Just a few notes: 1. There are no bigger crybabies in the NFL than the Dungy-Manning Colts. 2. I know Marino didn't have a Superbowl win, but the comparison is still there. Better stats, less Super Bowl victories. 3. "Class organization that still wins all the time". Except in the playoffs. Besides, I reject any characterization of the Patriots as "classless". What Belichick is, whatever it is, is what I'd like to be. "Classless" isn't the word for it, and anybody with a decent familiarity of the man knows that. But he is a bristling contrarian and a perfectionist and a genius in his art. f*** if being a "nice guy" matters.

Heads, I saw that post of yours trying to diminish what Brady's done. There's a huge difference between the team Manning had and the team Brady has. New England is simply designed to throw, even short. That, more than some desperation for the record, is the difference in pass attempts. New England is a better franchise. Bill Belichick is almost undeniably a greater coach. Tom Brady is his generation's Montana; Manning is Marino. I know who I prefer.

I liked Cobb into third, too.

Go here: http://baseball-fever.com/showthread.php?t=72011 From Cobb to Ruth to Paige to Ashburn to Tinker to Evers to Chance. Actually, those last three aren't up, yet, if ever. But great players are. My favorite of the GIFs? Mel Ott, a forgotten star. Melvin Thomas "Mel" Ott (March 2, 1909 – November 21, 1958), nicknamed "Master Melvin", was a Major League Baseball right fielder who played his entire career for the New York Giants (1926-1947). Ott was born in Gretna, Louisiana. He batted left-handed and threw right-handed. The first National League player to surpass 500 home runs, he was unusually slight of stature for a power hitter, at 5'9" 170 lb.

QUOTE(Balta1701 @ Dec 27, 2007 -> 07:49 PM) The White Sox won 90 games in the AL Central in 2006 based almost solely on a big 3 of Thome, Konerko, and Dye. Podsednik and Iguchi in front of them were bad and average in that order and their pitching staff was an abject disaster. Not true. Pierzynski, Crede might've had career years. The rotation was good-to-okay in the first half and mediocre-to-okay in the second half, with different pitchers having different halfs. The bullpen wasn't so hot, but it wasn't an abject disaster either. A lot of people had real good years that they'll never have again that year. And the truth is, the 2006 White Sox, in the first half, played better baseball than I've ever seen for half a season. They won 90 games on the strength of that first half.

I love Erstad. I'm glad he's found work.

Yo La Tengo is good. "I Am Not Afraid of You and I Will Beat Your Ass" is a fun album.

QUOTE(NorthSideSox72 @ Dec 27, 2007 -> 03:07 PM) Nah. Most Sox fans don't hinge their opinions on KW's speeches like we do here, or about what deals were rumored or not. Most fans could care less about that drivel - they just care about the product on the field, the ballpark experience... the important stuff. What will hurt Sox attendance in 2008 is the 2007 results, as well as how 2008 goes on the field. Soxtalk is not a very representative sample of Sox fandom - people here are much deeper into all the rumors, analysis, players on the market, etc. Absolutely. Podsednik is God at the ballpark and, uh, not here.

What does that mean?

I liked KW after 05 but I was a sixteen year old kid getting his feet wet. I still "like" a thing or two about KW but not much or overall.

QUOTE(iamshack @ Dec 26, 2007 -> 05:01 PM) #2, Then why don't you ever give the guy credit for making those moves? How does a collection of "several good moves" not improve the guy's stature with you? I know you characterize me as someone who "always agrees with KW." And for the most part, I do agree with a majority of what the guy has done. But are there moves that I would like him to make that he doesn't? Of course! Are there moves he makes that I would rather he not have made? Of course! But that doesn't stop you from characterizing me as "agreeing with everything" he does, does it? No. The point is, for the most part, I agree with his philosophy, his ideas, his moves, etc. You and GP disagree with those things. And that's fine. But where my questions come in are here: I come here because I love the team, I enjoy reading about them, I love our Owner, I love our GM, I love just about everything about the organization with the exception of it's mainstream fans (whom I have criticized several times on Soxtalk). You and GP come here and basically repeat ad nauseum that KW is a completely ignorant fool, the organization is a disastrous mess, etc. The entire point of my question to GP was to find out what it is that he is positive about when it comes to the White Sox, perhaps so we could discuss some of those things as well, instead of us both beating a dead horse from opposite ends. And I still haven't really gotten an answer yet. I like the Quintin pickup. I think we've got a couple of young guys who could be very valuable to have in the coming years in Danks, Fields and Quintin, but I'm also hesitant to anoint them as anything special because Fields has to survive his second season, Q. has to live up and Danks - well, you know about pitchers. Still, I think there were more quality pieces to play with. I wish, I mean.

I don't know how to answer that, either. "Why" do I post on SoxTalk? Like anyone, it's a message board to hang around; I get good news from this site, re: baseball. I like a lot of the people here. It's my team, and it's a better board than all the other Sox boards in my opinion. It's good to follow the team and sometimes I learn things from people here. Other times, I don't.