bigruss

2 The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien 4 Harry Potter series - JK Rowling 5 To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee 6 The Bible 8 Nineteen Eighty-Four - George Orwell 10 Great Expectations - Charles Dickens 13 Catch 22 - Joseph Heller 16 The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien 18 Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger 22 The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald 25 The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams 27 Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky 29 Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll 33 Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis 36 The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe - CS Lewis 41 Animal Farm - George Orwell 44 A Prayer for Owen Meaney - John Irving 52 Dune - Frank Herbert 57 A Tale Of Two Cities - Charles Dickens 61 Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck 75 Ulysses - James Joyce 87 Charlotte’s Web - E.B. White 89 Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle 91 Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad 98 Hamlet - William Shakespeare 99 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl 26 Total, italics I didn't read all of, the rest I did.

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Nov 17, 2010 -> 03:51 PM) I guess I see that, but I just don't think the Illini's recent performances command that much respect. I think the Minnesota loss would be much more of a reason to fire him than any lossess to NW or Fresno. Not making a bowl game again this year might be a reason to fire him, but then again it's Illinois football. Who else are you gonna get? With the athletes in place now, I think the future is looking up, I guess you might as well keep him. With the money tied up in Zook and his assistants, I don't see anyone going anywhere until those contracts expire.

QUOTE (danman31 @ Nov 17, 2010 -> 04:38 PM) Find a couple teams to play twice then. That complicates it quite a bit.

KW is just seeing his options, honestly it would be wrong of a GM to not atleast hear what the offers are and to start judging what the market is for his players and compare it to other teams' players.

QUOTE (Kenny Hates Prospects @ Nov 17, 2010 -> 02:34 PM) Morel would be replaced by Omar. We'd have to find someone in 2012 though. Morel couldn't be expected to produce much more than Omar as a rookie anyway. He'd hit for more power but the OBP and AVG would both be pretty low. He'd be a #9 hitter probably. Viciedo has potential but for Justin Upton? LOL, see ya dude! Santos - I love the guy, and I love the story, and I love the potential. But he's still an out-of-options former bust prospect with 2 seasons of pitching in pro baseball under his belt. His value is sky-high right now, and depending on the return I would not be afraid to capitalize on it. Sale can't be traded anyway. He'd have to be in the org for a full year or go as a PTBNL and no way anyone takes him as a PTBNL this far out. It just wouldn't happen. He's too valuable of a piece. Flowers and D2 aren't even prospects. Flower has no business on the MLB team in any role and D2 would only be useful as a 5th OF/defensive replacement/PR. And lastly, if you get a guy like Justin Upton, even for every one of these guys aside from Sale who can't be traded, you run like hell because it's an enormous steal and you feel happy about acquiring a new face of the organization, another middle of the order hitter, a RF who can actually play RF, and to make Ozzie happy, even more speed on the basepaths. You don't worry about who is playing C because if it was going to be Flowers then you were already f***ed anyway. Of course Upton is worth these pieces, but is it worth it to the Sox specifically? Say you trade Danks, Viciedo, Santos for J Upton (which may not even be enough). You're than looking at holes at 1b, C, DH, SP, CL still and you're funds are pretty low to fill all those spots. So as good as Upton would be on the team, is he worth more to the Sox when you combine the fact that we would have less talent around him.

QUOTE (elrockinMT @ Nov 17, 2010 -> 03:25 PM) Curtis Granderson? The Sox always seem to be a couple years late. I wouldn't trade a starting pitcher for him at this point in his career Late? If anything this is good timing, get a talented player who is worth less than he was for years and not overpay while getting little production. I don't know if I would trade EJax for him, but I would explore some options and see maybe what other pieces can be moved in addition to fill holes that a trade may create.

QUOTE (Kenny Hates Prospects @ Nov 17, 2010 -> 03:15 PM) All young replacements? Probably not for BJ whose value is now as low as it's ever been. If it's Justin Upton, then it becomes "who cares?" And as far as contracts, BJ is arb-eligible and Justin is on what should become a sweetheart deal given his ability. I also would wonder about these young replacements anyway and how good they'd be at replacing things. I'm talking about our prospects, Morel, Viciedo, Flowers, Danks2, Sale (as PTBNL), Santos, etc. Those guys would have to be used to acquire anything worthwhile (obviously differing on the player). So then who plays 3B, 1B, DH, C, 7th/8th inning man, etc. You then have to overpay in FA for mediocre to bad players, or be stuck with bad players like Teahen.

QUOTE (Thunderbolt @ Nov 17, 2010 -> 03:08 PM) I'd be fine with moving in a younger direction, my fear is KW putting his eggs in the wrong basket like last year. If we're going to take gambles, they better have a high upside. He'll probably try to find a young player with big upside with an unfavorable contract (think Rios, going after players with low value because of the contract but still good ballplayers). I don't see him going after prospects right now because we just don't have much that we can afford to give up that has any value.

QUOTE (Kenny Hates Prospects @ Nov 17, 2010 -> 03:08 PM) Good, I hope it's like 6 years and a zillion dollars. That Benoit signing was f***ing retarded. Kenny's one of the Uptons right now, maybe both. Kenny likes the bling. And we'll be depleted of all young replacements, will still have those contracts to take on, and will need to sign a bevy of FA to shore up holes still.

QUOTE (Thunderbolt @ Nov 17, 2010 -> 02:02 PM) Dunn on The Tigers is potent. We need to have a counter move in mind. I think this is what KW is fearing, the Tigers improving and the Twins staying about the same could easily push the Sox out of the picture if he can't land the pieces he wants. He won't sell off a ton of pieces, but I see him staying away from FA and trying for younger projects.

QUOTE (joeynach @ Nov 17, 2010 -> 12:54 AM) Does anyone remember what 1990 did for the white sox organization for years to come. In 1990 we saw three young impact players make their arrivals, Robin Ventura, Frank Thomas, and Jack Mcdowell and they would help provide the core of the sox team for years to come. I still believe that having a good team starts at the bottom, you need to produce your own young impact players and bring them up. Its the same thing the Phillies have done, though now their young core has gotten a bit older (Rollins, Howard, Hamels, Utley, Werth). If the White Sox are going to be a successful franchise they have to develop talent, get them to the majors, and build around them for years. If that process takes a couple years in the AL Central doghouse than so be it. If I remember correctly the Phillies sucked from like 1998 to around 2003. The thing is, although the higher draft picks help, they aren't necessary to build a fantastic farm system. Many of the star players reaching the big leagues are mid first round picks, or later. It's about recognizing that potential and not being afraid to offer overslot money to sign that kid. There's a reason why the Red Sox, Phillies, and other teams continue to draft well even when having no pick higher than #20.

QUOTE (elrockinMT @ Nov 16, 2010 -> 07:09 PM) Marlins dumping their high salaried players? However, they might be getting some good young talent and the Braves get the veteran They got a good young bullpen arm, but Infante is only 2 years younger than Uggla.

QUOTE (Kenny Hates Prospects @ Nov 16, 2010 -> 07:08 PM) This thread is making me wonder what the Marlins might give us for Lillibridge... More like Sergio Santos, they are stock piling young bullpen arms right now.

QUOTE (Brian @ Nov 16, 2010 -> 05:06 PM) Ha. It's funny there are these stories. Just walking my dog in our neighborhood and a cop pulled up and asked if I lived in that subdivision. I just pointed to my house a block away and he left. Didn't even wait to see if I went into my house. WTF Cops are so inconsistent, I mean I know they are humans and each will be different but there is such a difference in professionalism between each. I've been on ride alongs, and I work with cops quite a bit as an RA, and I've met some who are just really down to earth and want to help you, and others who obviously do the job for a source of power and will instigate and make in fun of drunk students (which is really inappropriate imo).

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Nov 16, 2010 -> 06:41 PM) Dunn put up a 1.63 ERA at AAA this year out of the bullpen and had solid velocity in that spot as well. Infante was an all-star infielder this year. I guess a comparable Sox price would be giving up Santos and perhaps Alexei. If Alexei was under team control for only one more year, than maybe.

QUOTE (flavum @ Nov 16, 2010 -> 06:31 PM) Seriously...I tolerated that punk for a month. I don't want that guy on my team for a full year. I'm not too worried about it though. I highly doubt the Sox even want to talk to Manny this offseason. He'll probably end up in Toronto, if anywhere. From everything I've heard, he was pretty classy when with the Sox and actually fit in well. Obviously he didn't smash homeruns left and right, but he easily can give you a .850 or higher OPS out of the DH, and for $5.5 million that's a good deal.

QUOTE (3E8 @ Nov 16, 2010 -> 05:26 PM) This rule is only applicable to players in their arb years (guys between 3-6 years service time plus the super 2s). If you do offer arbitration though a judge most likely will favor the player anyways if you can't settle a contract.

QUOTE (chw42 @ Nov 15, 2010 -> 05:08 PM) I f***ing despise Cracked, there's so many hiding spots that you don't know what hit you most of the time. Especially if you join in the middle of the game and the other team is raping the team you got dropped on. I've tried using the tactical respawn point at Nuketown to respawn at the other team's base after I die. It hasn't worked too well so far. Great thing about Nuketown is that it's so small, you can put a Napalm strike anywhere and you'd get a good amount of people. I cannot stand Demolition anymore, people camp wayyyy to much. I started off 16-2 in a game and ended up 25-20 because they camped our spawn and the only 2 ways to the bomb site, isn't Black Ops supposed to be the opposite of that? Like you're supposed to move around and be shifty, not this camping bulls***.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Nov 16, 2010 -> 06:12 PM) He means if AJ were offered arbitration and Manroid was offered that $5.5 million we talkeda bout in the other thread. Exactly, of course the salaries wouldn't be exact, but if AJ gets $6mm or more in arbitration and Manny gets $5.5mm plus incentives I call that pretty much the same.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Nov 16, 2010 -> 06:05 PM) I don't know if I should laugh or cry at how pathetic Manny was as our playoff sparkplug. And yet because he's Manny or the unknown he gets a free pass. Not.Worth.That.Kinda.Money. But I agree he's a better option than Kotsay/Jones/DH by committee. Look at it this way, AJ would cost more than Manny if offered arbitration (which many here are clamoring for in false hopes of getting draft picks), Linebrink makes essentially what Manny would, Teahen is close. Manny's production at DH at that salary would be huge for the Sox.

I am a huge fan of the wagon/sedan crossover types, very European style in terms of styling, size, efficiency, and they tend to have great MPG and are usually cheap.

QUOTE (DirtySox @ Nov 16, 2010 -> 04:54 PM) Details aren't entirely official yet, but this certainly influences the catchers market. If Buck is getting between 5 and 6 million a year, the Sox would be foolish to not offer AJ arbitration. Not much harm in him accepting, and draft picks if he walks. $6 million is quite a bit of harm to this team's resources right now.

QUOTE (Buehrle>Wood @ Nov 16, 2010 -> 04:27 AM) U of I will make steps towards privatization by the end of the school year. They literally don't have money to pay professors come a couple of months. Some of its elements are already privatized, like the College of Business to an extent. I know COB basically sells the name to everything possible, but is that really going private? They aren't selling the auditorium to Deloitte, just the name, the COB is still running and maintaining it. Or are you talking about something else?

Two summers ago I was walking home from a party (obviously underage) with a two other friends and we walked through an elementary school playground when a cop drove by. We figured we should probably get back home since the park was technically closed at night so we're about two houses away from my friend's place and a cop pulls over and starts talking to us. Then another cop appears, and another, and another, and so on until there were atleast 8 cops surrouding us, a few in undercover gear. All this for walking through a playground ( I understand they probably thought we were doing something illegal, but c'mon, they shouldve realized we weren't doing anything and didn't need 8 cops there). Funniest part was the first cop was asking where we were from, I answer that I used to live there but had moved and he says "I don't need your life story," and my other friend answers that he lives just 2 houses down, honestly like 10 steps away.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Nov 15, 2010 -> 10:48 PM) I hope you are right. This.