bigruss

QUOTE (iamshack @ May 1, 2011 -> 01:24 PM) These are not slumps, Russ. Slumps are like 3-37 stretches. These are periods of months at a time. Eh, I call them the same thing, but bottom line is that he has to figure out a way to shorten these stretches.

QUOTE (iamshack @ May 1, 2011 -> 01:23 PM) And it's hard to disagree with you. But it won't be because he wasn't as talented as we thought he was. It will be because something is not quite right upstairs... I honestly almost have to laugh, the Sox finally draft someone incredibly talented and makes it to the majors, and then they find out that he can't handle slumps. Ugh.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ May 1, 2011 -> 01:20 PM) Craig Grebeck hit a line drive foul ball right at my head. Nailed a guy's beer on the way to me, but because the plastic beer cup shattered, I couldn't see the ball coming. My dad managed to snag it out of the air before the ball nailed my head, but I wound up with most of the beer on me. Did you also get funny looks from other parents as they walked by a beer reeking child?

QUOTE (iamshack @ May 1, 2011 -> 01:15 PM) I'm not arguing about the length of time, I'm arguing about the quality of those stretches. He's shown in two separate years (the only two he's played thus far), that he can play at an all star level for extended periods of time. That indicates this isn't a case of him being a AAAA player, or having some fatal flaw that wasn't exposed until he reached the major leagues, or even the league adjusting to him and him being unable to overcome that adjustment. This reeks of something else...and I don't think it has anything to do with Greg Walker or expectations that are too high. He's meeting those expectations for long enough stretches of time to show that he is capable of what the expectations are. Well, it shows that the player either cannot learn how to break a slump in short enough time to truly become a good player, or the coach has failed to help him out of these slumps faster.

QUOTE (iamshack @ May 1, 2011 -> 12:57 PM) You can always move to the Ukraine with Cangelosi... Haven't been there yet Still many places I want to go to, including a hiking trip into the Alps, and a trip into the Sahara desert.

QUOTE (Milkman delivers @ May 1, 2011 -> 01:00 PM) He's not been some stud. He's had good stretches, as you said. I think Steve was right when he said that we probably need to reevaluate our projections for Beckham. League average 2b hopefully, not bad but disappointing considering his potential. I think one of the hardest things for a amateur player scout to see is how a player deals with slumps, since usually the top picks never had to deal with them before. A player can show great personality, but it's a different ballgame once they struggle on the field.

QUOTE (iamshack @ May 1, 2011 -> 12:42 PM) Absolutely. I'm not sure it will even last that long if this continues. The scary thing is I don't even have a clue what the solution is. I am not in Chicago, and so I think I get a more nationally-based perspective than most of you guys, who get the local perspective, and the national commentators think we'll come out of this funk. But if we don't, I don't know what the answer is. I have no idea what we do, other than just completely blow the entire thing up. But as DA has pointed out, you're still going to most likely be stuck with Peavy/Dunn/Konerko/next year....that's a $45 million payroll just between those three guys...this could get REALLY ugly if they don't snap out of this. One reason why I was such a big proponent of signing Lee over Konerko, since it would only be a one year commitment (obviously Lee has not been good at all so far). Im also sick of the leadership that Konerko and Buehrle bring to the team, it would have been nice to have some fresh voice in the dugout.

QUOTE (Milkman delivers @ May 1, 2011 -> 12:12 PM) This is another problem with the Sox. I've talked about the lack of accountability before, with the team constantly underachieving and nobody ever getting the ax. But on top of that, we're now going to take a guy out of the position he's excelling at because he doesn't make a ton of money so that guys making 10 times as much can do a worse job in the same position. Retarded. It really is beyond ridiculous, performance seems to take a backseat for contracts/favorites on this team. But then again, it happens all the time in baseball.

QUOTE (iamshack @ May 1, 2011 -> 08:45 AM) If nothing else, at least I can take solace in the Twins sucking every bit as us thus far this season... If the Sox don't win the division, I really hope the Royals or Indians do. Can't stand the Twins (obvious reasons), and I have to many Tiger fan friends that annoy the crap out of me.

Nobody loves the song "Ignition Remix" like I do.

QUOTE (Jordan4life @ Apr 30, 2011 -> 05:28 PM) Just got to the park. First of all, portal potties are f***ing disgusting. Second, I haven't seen this many f***ing hot ass mexican girls in a while. I'm going to get my liquid courage on and hopefully I'll be livin la vida loca later tonight. Go open those sets (kudos to those who know the reference).

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Apr 30, 2011 -> 03:57 PM) I don't want the most talented player starting, I want the bucket of suck

Mediocrity, because with the way the Sox are with finances, it means they wouldn't have a chance to build and develop a strong core through the minors like the Rays (with the ability to keep the players), while not really having the finances to continuously try to buy wins. You fall into a bad cycle of not being able to improve your team through the draft nor FA.

Drafting/scouting/development is key for any organization's future, even if you succeed without it, it would help you preserve your success or give you pieces to trade at the deadline. If an organization isn't doing well in that area, giving up on it is not the right thing to do. Go hire the right people to get the job done. If your company is having terrible IT problems, a good company wouldn't just give up on it and not change anything, they would go out and hire the right people to take care of the problems.

I'd rather not have to rely on a 25-5 stretch to take first place, sooo hopefully the Sox turn this crap around soon.

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Apr 29, 2011 -> 10:12 AM) Remember in the immigration debate, when people were claiming that the jobs held by illegals wouldn't be taken by Americans because "Americans don't want to work in low paying jobs like that?" http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-28/m...an-planned.html A million people in the country applied for 62,000 jobs with McDonalds. Obviously McDonalds isn't the worst job in the world, but I think most people would consider it one of the low paying jobs that Americans typically don't want to have. College and high school kids are getting desperate for summer jobs, especially if they are in a major that doesn't have a decent amount of internships. I wouldn't mind seeing hte breakdown of those who applied for jobs with McDonalds.

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Apr 28, 2011 -> 10:40 AM) I'm a White Sox fn

QUOTE (iamshack @ Apr 30, 2011 -> 01:49 PM) And thus started an adolescence of alcoholism in foreign lands... My liver is probably hating me with a burning passion right now.

QUOTE (G&T @ Apr 30, 2011 -> 10:54 AM) Two Brothers is a good brewery. The Domain Dupage I had was oxidized and tasted like a fine card board. Other stuff was good though. And don't be a beer snob in college. Too expensive. Drink the garbage in college when your body can handle it. Enjoy it! The one I had was quite good, but like I said not the best ale. I can easily drink cheap beer, in fact I love drinking it at parties. But Im out of shape and this summer I want to give up beer so that I can cut those calories out, but I'll be drinking quite a bit again next year. What are some low calorie drinks that I can get at bars for not too much? I was slugging down double rum and diet cokes, but those aren't always $2 (I lvoe Thursday nights haha).

When I was a little kid my dad would take me to BP before the game and once a homer was coming right our way and I reached up for it with my glove but I was a bit too short so the guy behind me ended up catching it with his hat (which is pretty cool in itself). But the guy was holding a beer and it spilled all over me so the guy felt really bad and gave me the baseball. There were plenty of jokes in that BP session about me being drunk and covered in beer, good times.

Ive been avoiding beer here on campus because I know its gonna suck, and Im also trying to get in better shape. But I went to a really good BBQ place in Urbana that had a good collection of beers and had a Two Brothers Domain Dupage, not the best Ale Ive had but still really enjoyed it. Im going to have a hard time not drinking micro beers this summer :/

First night on campus in about 5 months, went hard and spent a ton of money even though it was $1 wells. WHen the bar closed at 2am I was ready for the club, oh Europe, I miss you.

So I brought back about 11 Belgian beers from Holland, guess I'll be having a Belgian Beer tasting with my dad and friends. Oh, and also brought back a bottle of absinthe, interested to see how that goes at the apartment next year.

QUOTE (FlaSoxxJim @ Apr 25, 2011 -> 12:43 PM) Belgian beer and good cheese. . . There's hardly a better combination out there. De Garre anyone??

Finally back in the states after being away for 4 months, way too bittersweet.