witesoxfan

QUOTE (HickoryHuskers @ Jan 10, 2014 -> 12:09 PM) Good thing for ND they don't really give a f*** what some random guy in North Dakota does or doesn't buy. It's the truth. Eh, well, you may be surprised. They take random guys' opinions from all over the country very seriously. But, unless you followed those athletes around and knew for certain that they were studying and doing everything on their own and that no professor would ever manipulate their grades and no tutors and assistants ever spoke to these teachers and professors, then I'm still not buying it. I really do hope that Notre Dame cares about this, though.

QUOTE (ptatc @ Jan 10, 2014 -> 12:34 PM) I heard one person theorize that some did it because they knew Maddux would get in so he saved his vote for one of the more borderline candidates. His complaint was the limit of 10 players for which he could vote. The problem is that we now know 2 guys who didn't vote for Maddux, and their reasoning was "because he pitched in the steroid era." That's a total BS, copout answer, and those people are just as guilty and fraudulent as Dan Le Batard.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Jan 10, 2014 -> 11:54 AM) There has to be some way for them to graduate 97 percent of players..... To be honest though, knock them as we will for many things, their APR and grad rate is top notch, only behind NW in terms of D1 programs. Thats pretty awesome. Oh yeah, don't get me wrong, it's an incredible academic institution, but to suggest that "There are no easy academic paths at ND. You can't major in tomahawk chopping or painting with garnet and gold" is absolutely f***ing crazy talk and flat out wrong. It's a holier than thou attitude that is wrong. QUOTE (Soxbadger @ Jan 10, 2014 -> 11:56 AM) I graduated college and I wasnt a famous football player, thats not really an accomplishment given how little you need to do to not fail out of college. ND is a small private school, way easier to control faculty. Also this

QUOTE (HickoryHuskers @ Jan 10, 2014 -> 12:01 PM) No, you can't major in that at physical education or anything of the sort at ND. In fact, there are not even any physical education classes that give credits. All freshmen have to complete a physical education class, but no credit is given toward a diploma. Varsity athletes can use their sport as fulfillment of the PE requirement, so athletes actually don't take and phys ed at all. All freshmen enter ND into a unit known as the 'First Year of Studies Program" At the end of your freshman year, you must declare major within one of the four Colleges: Science, Engineering, Business, or Arts & Letters. There may be a few majors in A&L that are less rigorous than most, but every major requires a minimum of two semesters of theology, two semesters of philosophy, one semester of literature-based writing, and one semester of personal experience-based writing. Virtually every class outside of my major (math) had at least one varsity athlete in the class, and I sure as hell didn't have any softball classes. I'm also sure Notre Dame doesn't have any "tutors" too. I'm sorry, I'm reading what you're writing, but I'm not buying it and I never will buy it.

QUOTE (HickoryHuskers @ Jan 10, 2014 -> 06:57 AM) I know when Golson got suspended, there was a second player involved and supposedly that player was Daniels, but he didn't get suspended then because it was his first offense and Golson's second. I would have thought Golson's suspension would be enough to scare Daniels straight, but maybe not. There are no easy academic paths at ND. You can't major in tomahawk chopping or painting with garnet and gold. ND is pretty deep at WR anyway, so he could just go away and I wouldn't miss him. I think the Admiral's kid is going to be the stud WR now that Jones is gone. So you are telling me I can't go to Notre Dame and major in physical education (or some other form of physical fitness)? I find that incredibly hard to believe. Just like every single school in the country that has an athletics program, there are going to be slack classes and majors. I got a 103% in a summer class that was taught by an idiot and his assistant/wife gave us the answers to the questions on the finals THE DAY OF the final prior to taking it. This was at DI FCS U of South Dakota. You don't think those athletes at schools where sports make more money don't get treatment like that?

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Jan 10, 2014 -> 11:35 AM) TEBOW HAS A BETTER PLAYOFF WINNING PERCENTAGE THAN MANNING SO SHUT YOUR MOUTH! Best quarterback in playoff history - Frank Reich. 2-0 record, led the Bills to the biggest comeback of all time. Frank mf'ing Reich.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Jan 10, 2014 -> 11:06 AM) Used to be a beat writer for the Dodgers, Yankees, and Mets. Now he writes for the New York Star Ledger. Also a huge douche tool, much like Gurniger or whatever that other douche tool's name is. http://natsgm.com/2013/01/19/natsgm-exclus...-of-fame-voter/ Nope, no one I know that played for the White Sox, A's, and Blue Jays and hit baseballs like Godzilla hit buildings and played at Auburn and is now a Hall of Famer did that at all. Nope, no one at all. http://gkfb.blogspot.com/2013/01/another-h...-his-mouth.html Motherf***ing win.

QUOTE (HickoryHuskers @ Jan 10, 2014 -> 11:17 AM) Would love to see one of the Chicago radio hosts try to get him on the phone and challenge him on that. I was looking for him on Twitter but couldn't find him. Yes, I was going to tweet terrible things to him. Seriously, on what planet do you vote for Hideo Nomo over Frank Thomas? Hideo.f***ing.Nomo.

QUOTE (ChiSox_Sonix @ Jan 10, 2014 -> 10:53 AM) 136 ballots released by the Hall. http://bbwaa.com/14-hof-ballots/ Whoever the hell Lawrence Rocca is, his ballot was Morris, Nomo, Raines, Trammell Used to be a beat writer for the Dodgers, Yankees, and Mets. Now he writes for the New York Star Ledger. Also a huge douche tool, much like Gurniger or whatever that other douche tool's name is. http://natsgm.com/2013/01/19/natsgm-exclus...-of-fame-voter/ Nope, no one I know that played for the White Sox, A's, and Blue Jays and hit baseballs like Godzilla hit buildings and played at Auburn and is now a Hall of Famer did that at all. Nope, no one at all.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jan 10, 2014 -> 08:56 AM) Charles Tillman ‏@peanuttillman 2h I have some exciting news to share with you all later on "I'm pregnant!"

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Jan 10, 2014 -> 10:33 AM) So I was just kicking this around with a buddy: Say the Broncos go 1 and done in the playoffs again this season, what do you do if you are Elway? You have to imagine some of those offensive pieces are getting close to getting paid, they have a lot of money wrapped up in Manning right now. At what point does he have to accept that this probably wont work? The point that you accept it won't work is when Peyton Manning says "I am retiring from the NFL." If you have the Sheriff, you put all your bullets into that team to try and bring one in.

QUOTE (Marty34 @ Jan 10, 2014 -> 10:42 AM) The addition of Tanaka would, if things broke correctly, allow the Sox to deal Quintana and Danks over the next couple of years. That's a big reason .why it would be a very good signing I love Danks and all he's done, but if they could seriously just give Danks away right now, I wouldn't care.

QUOTE (StRoostifer @ Jan 10, 2014 -> 10:38 AM) Approved. Its is early, but after KW a steamy pile of s*** would be a breath of fresh air. I like the moves Hahn has made so far and the house cleaning of KW's mess. See, I don't necessarily agree with this, because I think this was something Williams wanted too. I just don't think he had or has the patience Hahn does. If the Sox thought Williams did a poor job, he would have been fired. Instead, he was promoted or, at the very least, re-assigned to a still very prestigious position. My main problem with the Williams era is that the Sox simply didn't have depth. Depth affords you the opportunity to make moves either internally or externally.

People like food, so let's start a thread. In September, while I was in Minneapolis for a bachelor party, I ran into Scotch eggs. I fell in love. Hadn't thought of them until last night for whatever reason, but I got an intense craving. So, I made a dozen Scotch eggs last night for co-workers today. I also had one last night. Mother of god.

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Jan 10, 2014 -> 09:59 AM) I'm no expert on WAR, but from what I can understand off FanGraphs, I believe his defense was rated so badly over that time, that it more than negated all of his offensive production. In '07 he had a .869 OPS with 30 HR, 6 SB, yet had a -0.7 WAR? His defensive rating was -35.4 (whatever that exactly means) Yes, they are saying his defense in CF cost the team that much. He was absolutely, 100%, terrible in CF.

I plan on doing one of these at midseason too, just to see if we're still there. Anyways, the primary reason I started this was to, first and foremost, ignite discussion, but to see if there were any who weren't sure. There is plenty to doubt thus far, but it's the offseason and we're all filled with hope and ready for baseball, so I always wonder if that doesn't have something to do with it too. Still, there is reason for doubt, and that's why I felt like doing this. Maybe I can create an additional poll for actual letter grades too, just to get a better picture (I'd give him an A).

The football blog I follow on SBN does this, so I figured this would be worthwhile. How has Rick Hahn done? Obviously, comments and thoughts below.

QUOTE (Chilihead90 @ Jan 10, 2014 -> 12:55 AM) Man, I had no idea that Tanaka has to be signed by Jan. 24th. I was thinking that was the deadline for teams to say if they wanted to bid the $20M or not, and then there would be a separate negotiation window. Now that I know this thing only has 2 weeks left, I'll actually pay attention more when I see stories on this. Excited for this to be over. Bids have been submitted already. Unlike previous years, there is no clear winner due to the $20 mill posting limit. The 30 days to sign him still applies. The Sox bid $20 mill...why would you not in an instance like this? I put the Sox at a 5% chance, but frankly, this move alone can make them a contender this year. Beyond that, they have a lot to work with next year. Honestly, all I can do reading this thread is think back to last year when people wanted Hahn hung by his toenails for doing nothing. Given a year, I wonder how many of those posters have switched. A huge amateur international FA signing, additional prospects galore, an international professional free agent signing (and also the biggest deal in Sox history), two solid relief signings, acquring the (hopeful) CF and 3B of the future, and now involved in the Tanaka bidding. I think they did OK.

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ Jan 9, 2014 -> 04:17 PM) They pitched fine last year and stunk. There's still WAY too many variables on offense to think they'd be any good. Our (arguably) best hitter has never seen a Major League pitch, for Christ's sake. They pitched OK last year. Overall, it was a very average pitching staff.

QUOTE (The Ultimate Champion @ Jan 9, 2014 -> 04:05 PM) Personally I don't care if the Sox offer him a zillion year deal at twenty zillion dollars as long as they have an out somewhere in there after the 3rd or 4th year; allowing Tanaka to opt in to arbitration provides them with an out as a potential non-tender. That would work. What sucks though is that most of these mid-contract opt-outs offer no safety to the team because the opt out only occurs if the player believes he can get more money whereas if the player drops off dramatically the club is stuck with a massive amount of bad guaranteed money and years. IMO the worst scenario of those that would seem most reasonable would be locking Tanaka up for a lot of years at a high annual value & then having him be terrible on the field, but getting regular playing time anyway because of the contract. If he gets hurt it's not going to be so bad because most likely you're going to recover some of that money on insurance, and you should be able to acquire an at least competent starter to take over the workload if there's no one to call up. That's because players themselves are elastic non-necessary monopolies. They are each selling their very own, individual services. In the free agent market, teams have very, very little leverage when bidding on players, while the player has all kinds of leverage. The players themselves can overprice themselves from the market, and teams do not need to bid on their services, as most of these types are easily substitutable, but the relative utility of the players varies greatly and as the player's utility increases, their value increases as well and typically the overall value required to buy or retain those services is exponential (a below average starting pitcher can be had for 1 year, $5 million while an ace caliber starting pitcher may require $150 million to sign). If the White Sox say to Masahiro Tanaka "We are willing to sign you to a $120 million contract over 6 years, but we want to be able to get out of the deal after 4 years at a total of $80 million if we are not happy with your production," the Yankees will come in and say "We are willing to sign you to a $120 million contract, no strings attached." Who is he going to sign for? Beyond that, if Tanaka says "I want the ability to opt out after 4 years," the Yankees may bow out but the Mariners could surely come in and say "That's perfectly fine, we believe you are a great pitcher and that we will be able to resign you if you choose to do so." This is why you will not be able to build in the out clause for the White Sox. You can surely do so for Tanaka.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Jan 9, 2014 -> 02:39 PM) Maddux has really let himself go. Those chins are incredible. Frank is pudgier now too as opposed to a s*** brickhouse of muscle.

QUOTE (The Ginger Kid @ Jan 9, 2014 -> 12:17 PM) You think he's that good? He's an incredibly talented and efficient pitcher and some people believe he has the best splitter in the world. He's a great pitcher.

QUOTE (raBBit @ Jan 9, 2014 -> 11:32 AM) It's still noteworthy. I guess. They were also the favorites to land Nelson Cruz too, and literally nothing has come from that front in a month. Maybe they still sign him. The Yankees were the favorites to re-sign Robinson Cano until the Mariners offered him a monstrosity of a contract too. Frankly, until there is a lot of smoke, there's really no way to know. These are pretty much signals right now. If it happens that way, good for those guys. If it doesn't, they reported what they heard. I am frankly not going to consider them wrong or right either way. Some of what those guys do is report tidbits from sources who are connecting dots and don't have any actual inside knowledge. They are also hearing it from people who are trying to throw off the scent of a trail. And sometimes it is inside info. This early in the process though, all we are doing is seeing teams who are actually meeting with him and showing preliminary interest, and in the next few days, we'll find out who is negotiating with him.

Guess I should burn the Blackhawks jersey I bought this year, even though I have admitted to being a casual, bandwagon fan and jumped on it last year.

QUOTE (Soxbadger @ Jan 9, 2014 -> 11:19 AM) Wooo Go back to your alley Ronnie, you are drunk.