bigruss

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Feb 2, 2010 -> 02:34 PM) The U.S. is darn near the bottom in belief in evolution in the Western World. Typically only Turkey is worse than us. It's about 40-50% of the entire population in most polls that flatly rejects it. Someone posted the other day a link to a clip from The Big Bang Theory tv show that I thought was fantastic regarding the southern people's beliefs here in the US.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Feb 2, 2010 -> 03:05 PM) Well duh, he'd hit .360 there so it wouldn't matter But wait, he wouldnt be facing Tiger pitching. I never really got that stat, yes some ballparks make a difference but so does the quality of the pitching your facing. I understand the use of it when you compare your home ballpark to away games.

QUOTE (Thunderbolt @ Feb 2, 2010 -> 02:58 PM) Huh, for a stats guy Keith Law sure seems to be ignoring every relevant stat in this discussion. For an idiot and Sox-hater, Law sure seems to be doing exactly what was expected out of him.

QUOTE (iamshack @ Feb 2, 2010 -> 01:45 PM) I think signing another offensive tackle would go farther than signing a #1 WR. Honestly, I don't really feel we need another wr. The line should definitely be addressed before any other move in terms of importance.

QUOTE (SoxAce @ Feb 2, 2010 -> 01:34 AM) Well thats what the minor leagues and the minor league hitting coaches are for. Perhaps to tweek his mechanics a bit. His swing doesn't bother me as much. (hell Alexei has that same toe-tap) This guy has been over hyped and it's not really fair for him. (besides me, daa, and a couple others here, noone knew about him from back then) He's an intriguing prospect, but as we all know he can also be one of the biggest bust. I've seen alot of prospects get over hyped over the years (some warranted, some not) but Bryce is probably one of, if not, the most over hyped. Teams have been coming out and saying hes the around the 10th best in the draft in terms of talent, and along with his signability concerns I see him slipping late in the first round if not later.

QUOTE (BigSqwert @ Feb 1, 2010 -> 05:28 PM) It's probably a sign and trade. I think they're targeting AJ and Kotsay. Ozzie wouldnt go for that, he loses his man crush in Kotsay. Not to mention his versatile DH.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Feb 1, 2010 -> 04:18 PM) Obviously Lee and Felix is a dynamite 1-2, and then they can mix and match Snell, Rowland-Smith, Fister, and a couple others into putting together a respectable rotation. One more starter would be really nice for them. I've also really only seen Mulder connected to the Brewers this offseason, so I have to imagine he ends up there. I thought Garland wouldve been great for the Mariners, someone who you can count on putting in alot of innings (even if they are very mediocre) just to have some stability behind the big 2. His landing with the Padres should help him though in that huge ballpark.

The typing on the ipad would be really awkward. Its a decent start IMO but needs alot of improvements to really be functional.

Three nights of drunkeness turned into a s***ty night for me last night. I cant remember what I was drinking to get me so shwasty but I do know someone took my coat that had my room key and icard so I ended up at a friends apartment.

QUOTE (kev211 @ Jan 30, 2010 -> 09:59 PM) I'm just making sure they know that their 1% chance of losing to us is a little off. Really don't care if I get flamed. Talking trash is what make sports fun so if they can't handle the heat get out of the kitchen. The Illini have no excuse for losing those games. Pretty much the same as ISU has no real excuse for losing to teams like Niagra.

I am incredibly dissappointed in the lack of progress this Illini team has made thus far into the season. They should be handling these bad teams easily now instead of playing dumb basketball like in the beginning of the season.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Jan 27, 2010 -> 04:57 PM) I don't see LF as a liability. Pierre, in his career, has been a 6.4 UZR/150 LFer. He has makeup speed, and though I haven't seen how he reacts, it has to be atleast decently for him to put that up over 173 games. He doesn't have an arm, but an arm in LF isn't necessary (though something comparable to my arm isn't really what the doctor is looking for). The biggest two question marks are Alexei and Beckham. Alexei is entering his 2nd full season at SS and he was solid last year. Beckham exhibited range at 3B but it appeared he wasn't used to the speed of the position. I think the biggest thing with Beckham is going to be his footwork at 2B, and that is where the adjustment period could be noticed but I think he'll be absolutely fine. Having Vizquel on board should really help both of those two along with the infield defense off the bench period. I also envision Vizquel being a late inning replacement for Teahen at 3B if he proves he isn't a capable defender, and he may do that anyways even if Teahen does. Team defense is the least of my concerns. The team defense could be fine, but I see it as an issue until they prove they have improved/are actually decent at their position. I just feel that if we are going to have a suspect offense that you need a stalwart defense to go along with your stellar pitching staff. For me, its a wait and see game with the defense.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Jan 27, 2010 -> 05:21 PM) I think our defense is going to be fine. Pierzynski is a middle of the pack defensive catcher, Beckham should be about average or so, I look for Ramirez to improve a bit, Rios is a plus defender in CF. That's generally all I consider when I look at a defense. If you want more, Quentin should improve but still be a negative fielder in right (he was regarded as a great defender in right coming out of college) and Pierre should have plenty of range with absolutely no arm whatsoever in LF. Konerko is, for lack of a better term, a brick wall at 1B - he doesn't move but nothing gets by him. Teahen's a wild card, but I'm expecting about average defense from him. I see alot of question marks still, Im not saying they wont be decent to good, but theres a large chance (IMO) that this defense is pretty poor (youre really depending on guys improving). Thats the scary part to me, that youre depending on the pitching staff to carry you and yet your defense is suspect at a lot of positions. I see LF as a liability, RF could be bad depending on Quentin's health, Alexi may not improve (or be consistent again), Gordo could struggle a bit at 2b (i think itll take an adjustment period), Teahen could benefit from having one position or he could just be a poor 3b, and AJ and Paulie are good at some things but weak at others.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Jan 27, 2010 -> 05:11 PM) From what I have observed in my 10 or so years of watching and reading about baseball, teams with good pitching staffs and versatile yet bad to mediocre offenses generally overachieve their Pyth W-L, whereas teams with mediocre pitching staffs and great offenses generally underachieve their Pyth W-L. This is because those teams with good pitching staffs and versatile offenses will be able to win closer games at a much higher rate, whereas those teams with great offenses but mediocre pitching staffs will be able to come back from deficits, but will also give the opposing team runs right back. Essentially, assuming that Quentin and Konerko put up around .850, Beckham and Rios put up around .800 and everyone else in the lineup does whatever they want, and the rotation performs generally how it should, this season is going to come down to the effectiveness of the bullpen. I would say the defense is just as big of a question as the offense is. And I say that because of the direct impact it has on our pitchers.

QUOTE (Flash Tizzle @ Jan 27, 2010 -> 04:34 PM) If they're traded for quality major league players, like Clayton Richard was for Peavy, then I'm fine with it. And I know where this is going, with us acquiring Garcia, Floyd, Vazquez, Swisher with highly regarded prospects who have yet to amount to anything. Personally, I'm more of the opinion of developing the best talent for the purpose of building within. So, instead of having to trick some GM into taking our crap, and then paying 8+ million for the veteran in return, we can fill a position for league minimum. I'm sure no one enters the draft room thinking they're going to draft someone that one day will be traded for a backup catcher, but not devoting enough money to the draft, religiously following slot recommendations, avoiding players with certain clients, or failing to sign a highly regarded prospect because they're off on 100,000 needs to end. There is a reason teams like the Yankees and Red Sox are rarely below #10 in overall rankings. Even if their prospects are hyped (which they are), and ultimately fail (as many of ours do), they still put the effort into it. No, we're never going to have the funds they have; but there should be NO reason teams like Minnesota continue to run circles around us. And it's been like this for a long time. Something is obviously wrong with our personnel. Agreed. I strongly believe that if you spend and extra 3-5 million a year in the draft your farm system will be so much stronger, and your flexibility in terms of trading is that much greater. I look at it that if you dont sign a Juan Uribe or some similar player for your bench than you can devote that money towards the draft and produce atleast one more big time prospect that you either trade or keep on to depending on your needs. And if your investing that much more you tend to have alot more than one extra prospect each draft, many times you can steal 3-5 if your motivated in buying prospects.

QUOTE (justBLAZE @ Jan 25, 2010 -> 04:55 PM) Maybe this was answered before and I missed it, but for example we do sign Damon, do we just cut Jones? Because having one backup infielder in Vizquel just won't fly? Or do we go with 11 pitchers instead? Last thing I would worry about is a backup infielder if we got Damon. Sign some minor leaguers for depth at Charlotte or hope Nix accepts a DFA there. Or just sign someone out of a job later in the season if need be. I would jump out of my shoes if we got Damon, he makes so much sense for this lineup IMO.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Jan 25, 2010 -> 09:44 AM) What's with the Royals and creating position jam-ups? Last year it was 1B. This year its the outfield. Throw a bunch of s*** at a wall and see what sticks (or with them, if anything sticks).

Where the f*** is the Im drunk thread. f***. I love firdays thuogh.

BADM 350 IT for Networked Systems BADM 380 International Business ACCY 202 Accounting 2 Fin 221 Intro to Finance ECON 302 Intermediate Microeconomic Theory RLST 110 World Religions Really pumped for a few of these classes, such as my IT one (first one of my major) and the World Religions class (taught by different professors for each religion). I will probably be dropping atleast one class though as I just have too much other stuff going on at the same time.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Jan 18, 2010 -> 10:38 PM) 500 Days of Summer was a very enjoyable film I saw that and Away We Go and both were good, but not great movies. Great rentals though for lazy nights.

QUOTE (knightni @ Jan 17, 2010 -> 10:01 PM) Shipps. Top Notch is better than Redamaks? I know that 5 Guys ekes out just above Redamaks for me. Mmmmm Redamaks. Its in a great location too, right on the way going from Chicago to Michigan which makes a great lunch stop.

Lets determine who the staff ace is after the season, that should fuel who some much needed inner team spark and hopefully bring out the best in each pitcher. Kind of like who can out-duel the previous pitcher in the playoffs in 2005. I wouldnt mind that at all.

Went to Windsor, Canada for the first time even though I had lived in Ann Arbor for 5 years (but now im 20 so it was actually worth going to). Went to a casino, bar, and night club in that order, good times were had by all especially because I was only down 10 bucks from the casino for a few hours of entertainment (also my first time doing real gambling that wasnt just with friends). I must say though, they water down the drinks big time. It usually takes alot to get me drunk but I had 5 shots of tequila, 4 jeagerbombs, a few pints of bud light, and a few rum and cokes and was barely tipsy. Shouldve just had the beer all night.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Jan 8, 2010 -> 11:28 AM) LOL, Schaumburg, didnt the guy say he wanted to be CLOSE to work. That is the absolute boonies. And much farther than a 45 min drive in traffic. Try westchester on the west side. Its become somewhat affordable and is a good starter area. Hell for that money you can get a good place in Forest park and still have a good nightlife in your city as well as even an El ride to downtown. Since we are almost the same age, Forest Park would be my choice if I was transitioning to the burbs without children. Forest Park is definitely were the younger crowd is moving towards. As a native of Oak Park, I love that setting and Forest Park is cheaper and definitely more lively at night. I would move to Forest Park if that was my choice.

I have a soft spot for the Padres, but dont really follow them too much. My grandma lived near San Diego and Ive always liked their blue hats so they are my NL team.