witesoxfan

As I mentioned, I mingled with Val Kilmer and Will Forte this weekend. Val was in town for the "American Indian Higher Education Consortium." He is an advocate of Native American rights and is part Cherokee himself. It started on Saturday night, waiting at the airport for Val. We got to the airport about 15 minutes before Val's flight arrived and waited. That was a common theme. Passengers finally started making their way out of the plane about 45 minutes after we got there, and I got my first glimpse of Val. He had on a hat and sunglasses and was in an apparent hurry. He shook my hand, shook my friend's hand, and immediately wanted to get out of there. Even considering how small the Bismarck airport was, there were apparently quite a few people there trying to take photos of him. So we got him out of there and the 3 people with him helped get all of his bags into the back of truck. There were a lot of them. We got everything checked into the hotel - that took another 30 minutes or so - and then made our way to the Civic Center because Val wanted to do a soundcheck. The problem was that there was an MMA event going on at the same time (at which Mark Coleman fought) and there was no way he was going to be able to do anything he wanted. On top of that, he struggled to find a changing room as well. Val was not happy. So we got what we could that he needed for his performance into a safe place, and then he went away - he did that a lot too. They ended up having a meeting of some sort, so I went out to the car to wait with the other guy. We were out there for an hour. We then went our own separate ways - one to go to the hotel and so some shopping, and the other - the group I was with - to go get food. That ended up being another half hour of waiting. We finally got back to the hotel, and were instructed to run a few menial tasks before going upstairs to eat. The problem here was that we didn't actually get to eat with Val - he was upset and had some material to study, so he stayed by himself. I did atleast get to see him then though. The next day started at around noon. I was a bit out of it, so the other guy and my mom actually went out to go run a few errands for him while I got ready. They didn't need me for like 2 hours, so I ended up waiting at my house for a while. After I got there, we ended up running a few more errands - I don't remember what it was, but it was small. I learned that there was some person on the way named "Will." We had no idea who Will was, but knew it was an actor and that we'd probably recognize him. Looking back, I think our entrepreneurship advisor heard his name but didn't recognize it and only remembered "Will" so that was all she told us. In the meantime, we were running some errands and trying to figure out who "Will" was. We got to the airport, and waited for another 45 minutes - we didn't have anything else to do, and his flight was delayed by about 20 minutes. I finally found out it was Will Forte and got immediately jacked up. So I sat, patiently waiting in the airport. He got there and I introduced myself and he introduced himself too - surprised me a little bit, but I don't think everybody quite knows who he is. He was great, very personable, and hilarious. Got out to the car and he introduced himself to the other guy and we took him to the hotel to check in. By that point, Val was back at the hotel and they started goofing around a bit - me and dude were dressed up in shirt and tie - and Val told us that we "looked like Mormons." So we went to go change. Got back to the hotel and Will was hungry, so we were going to go to McDonalds with him - we hadn't eaten since like noon - but wanted to check in before we went. Turns out, there were like 500 flyers that needed to be cut. That took about an hour, and then we received his 35 page script that we needed to trim too - we had to cut 2 inches off all 4 sides, and then had to paste it into a book. This entire process took about 2 hours. We finally left the hotel 15 minutes after his performance was supposed to start. He's been big into Mark Twain recently and has an entire performance based around it. It was hilarious. Will was simply there to introduce him. After the performance, Val promised a photo opportunity for anybody that wanted it - there were about 800 people there. Only about 200 of them wanted a photo with him, so this only took an hour and a half. Then we had to pack up his stuff and wait to get out of there. We were hungry and didn't think there was going to be enough food for everybody in the group, so Will Forte, the other guy, and I went to eat at Applebees. We got there and people were kind of looking at Will funny, but either people didn't want to approach him or just weren't sure it was him, so we got to eat in relative peace. I asked Will what he was working on - said that Tim and Eric's Billion Dollar Movie just finished filming - and that he was going to tour the area before heading back to LA. He'd mentioned that he was at a wedding the night before and that there were a ton of very, very recognizable actors there. We asked why he didn't invite us, and he responded by saying that he didn't know us then, otherwise he would have. We eventually finished our drinks and took Will back to the hotel with the intentions of hanging out with Val for a bit. Val was asleep, but my favorite line of the entire weekend came during his phone conversation with Val. Their hotel is right by a train line and it blew its horn and I assume Val asked what that noise was and, without missing a beat, Will said "I farted." Will eventually retired for the night but we got a couple photos before he did, and then we went off to bed. The next morning, Val was the keynote speaker at this event and actually did the performance on Sunday night for fun and because he wanted to work out the kinks. He delivered a great speech - with the key idea being that people should find something to do that they enjoy doing, because people will pay you for it, and this is a key message to Native Americans because of their economic struggles in general. My favorite part was that he said to "live life without judgment. Whether someone is a Democrat or Republican, black, white, or brown, gay or straight, to look past that and to appreciate them for the person they are." It was difficult to hear because people were running up to him to take photos of him and about half the room of 300-400 people were talking. After his speech, he took photos with all the schools present - 32 schools total - and then we made our way out of there. We went and got lunch and actually had the opportunity to sit and talk with him. He is honestly a really fun and incredibly interesting guy to hang around. After lunch, which was about an hour of socializing, we sat around and waited for an hour because their flight didn't leave for another 2 and a half hours. Then came the mad rush at the end - taping packages and picking up any number of assorted items and finishing up some transactions and whatever else. We finally got everything loaded up and got to the airport and got everything unloaded and into the airport so they could check them. Val signed a CD for us, we shook his hand one more time, and took off. Honest to God, it was awesome being able to see people that high up when they aren't performing, whether in movies or just in a public setting. And seeing all the work that goes on behind the scenes to make everything work was amazing too. It was an incredible experience, and I would gladly do it again. BTW, Will gave us his phone and email info and told us to contact him if we're ever in LA. That is f***ing sweet.

QUOTE (Milkman delivers @ Apr 20, 2011 -> 12:17 AM) See, this is garbage. People have been saying it's too early to call it a season, but that a fire sale will happen if things continue this way. For some reason, a lot of people on this site can only see black or white. Nobody sees the grey of posts with two scenarios in it. Of course, if they continue to play at a 67 win pace, they absolutely will and should. The likelihood of them continuing at this pace is about as likely as J4L is to suggest I'm banging chicks all the time. A week ago today, none of this talk would be happening. I don't mean that in the sense that "they've only had one bad week, they'll turn it around, rah rah rah!" I simply mean it in the sense that it only takes 1 bad week for vastly change the perception of an entire fan base. If the Sox go 6-1 over their next 7 - extremely unlikely, I'll admit - and the Sox are 13-11, does the thought of a fire sale even come up on here? If they're .500 at the end of April, what is the perception on Soxtalk? It's simply too early for the thought of a fire sale to even come up. There are like 100 games between now and the end of July. That is a lot of games. Let them play more than 17 games before talking about a fire sale.

QUOTE (Milkman delivers @ Apr 20, 2011 -> 12:31 AM) Such as having a top two payroll in the division since 2001? Or having the top payroll in 5 of those years? The Sox lack of minor league development is really the big detractor there. The Twins advantage in scouting and development really outweighs the Sox ability to spend there. Having top 10 picks for a decade really did help them there, considering their biggest asset was a #1 overall pick.

Of course that's it! In all seriousness, my entrepreneurship advisor was Val's former personal assistant, and he had a couple gigs set up in the Bismarck area. Another of her students now, and a guy I've done a lot of work with, remembered that I was in Bismarck and asked if I'd like to help out. I'm obviously not going to say no to that. So basically, total luck. I'll make a thread later tonight and tell what I can or what I remember, but it was pretty incredible.

QUOTE (Princess Dye @ Apr 19, 2011 -> 10:16 PM) I understand that '10 and '09 were decent-to-good years for Juan Pierre...... ....but nonetheless, give me some help with this: Why is it that, year-in year-out, Juan Pierre's WAR is often of good quality? I dont know a lot about how these are calculated. Any help is greatly appreciated, even shot-in-the-dark conjecturing. Defense. His (extremely limited) value as a hitter relies solely upon the fact that he gets on base at a respectable rate - his stolen bases don't add much value from a sabermetric point of view. But he's got great range defensively, so he saves quite a few runs that an average fielder does not.

QUOTE (Princess Dye @ Apr 19, 2011 -> 10:16 PM) I understand that '10 and '09 were decent-to-good years for Juan Pierre...... ....but nonetheless, give me some help with this: Why is it that, year-in year-out, Juan Pierre's WAR is often of good quality? I dont know a lot about how these are calculated. Any help is greatly appreciated, even shot-in-the-dark conjecturing. Defense. His (extremely limited) value as a hitter relies solely upon the fact that he gets on base at a respectable rate - his stolen bases don't add much value from a sabermetric point of view. But he's got great range defensively, so he saves quite a few runs that an average fielder does not.

QUOTE (Jordan4life @ Apr 19, 2011 -> 10:36 PM) Well we're already 6 games out. Another week or so of this crap and we could very well be 10 games out. You say don't worry about it because it's Cleveland and KC? Well if a team at any point in the season can put you in that large a hole it's more than likely because they're legit. And it's not like the Sox have exactly shined against either team the last 3-4 years. My bad. 5 games out. Losing 4 games in the division in 1 week would be a pretty remarkable feat. (I'm not making fun of greg, I just thought it would make for a nice short poem)

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Apr 19, 2011 -> 09:51 PM) that did take a pretty extraordinary run, and in the end they still missed the playoffs because of their horrendous start. It still included the extraordinary run, so you can't look past that. And there were a lot of reasons they missed the playoffs...I'd argue that, instead of looking at a 55 game stretch where they were 9 games under .500, to instead look at an 18 game period where they were 8 games under .500 - 5-13 against the team that won the division has a stronger correlation to them missing the playoffs than does a rough start to the season. QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Apr 19, 2011 -> 09:53 PM) A .513 winning percentage is pretty mediocre. .522 might sneak you in in a bad division. It's about 5 years of frustrations, many of them repeated, that are causing all of the reactions right now, not one 7-10 start. A .513 winning percentage over a 5 year period is pretty damn remarkable. I would guess, over the same time frame, there are 6 teams that are better. My guesses are the Phillies, Cardinals, Red Sox, Yankees, Twins, and Angels. It's hard to have any type of sustained success over that period of time unless you have a clear advantage - whether singular or some combination of advantages - in some aspect over every other team. The Phillies have had great scouting and development and have become big time spenders, the Cardinals have had the best player of the generation, the Angels have had money and some player development, the Twins have relied pretty much solely upon scouting and development until recent years, and the Yankees and Red Sox have pretty much been #1 and #2 in spending throughout that time frame (and considering all salary contributions during that time frame, they are certainly #1 and #2). So you can't look at this from a single season point of view because you have to account for some variability and different levels of talent on the teams themselves. And, if it WERE the 5 years of frustration, people would have been b****ing about wanting a new GM and manager in the offseason. I can think of about 1 person on here who was advocating for a new GM and maybe 3 who were advocating for a new manager. This is ENTIRELY because of one 7-10 start. I have seen several, if not close to 100% of the board, who have said that if 2011 doesn't result in a playoff appearance (or at the very least, a great season with a ridiculous amount of bad luck, as in the Sox go 97-75 and lose the division and the Wild Card), then you clean house. I'm on board with that too because, at that point, something has to give.

QUOTE (BigSqwert @ Apr 19, 2011 -> 08:34 AM) They beat up on the NL in order to look relevant again. I'm not going to give Ozzie a ton of credit for the brief run in what ultimately was an underachieving season last year. NL teams or not, the White Sox went 15-3 in interleague play last year. A team could go 12-6 and it would still be considered "beating up on the NL." On top of that, they swept Atlanta - who was in the postseason - as well as the Angels in a 4-game set and the Royals in 3 heading into the ASB. Then they ran into 3 days without baseball and 4 days of Kryptonite.

Or steal. I heard Juan Pierre was good at that.

See? This is the kind of s*** I'm talking about. The White Sox have started 7-10 and people are calling for the GM's head and the manager's head. Why use 2007 and not 2006? Or why not start at 2008? Of course, because you're cherry picking statistics and are trying to prove a point. They're 425-403 since 2006. That's a .513 winning percentage. They're 263-241 since 2008. That's a .522 winning percentage. Instead of having good discussions about the White Sox, let's just propose firing everybody instead because that doesn't make you look like the stereotypical fairweather fan when they're losing. I can guarantee you won't be singing this tune when they start winning.

QUOTE (Milkman delivers @ Apr 19, 2011 -> 08:14 PM) That won't help either, but we can't even talk about the problems the team is experiencing without people acting like we're saying that the world is coming to an end. I don't have a problem talking about the problems of this team, because there are problems with this team, even some I didn't envision it having. Fact of the matter is, the board is seemingly split pretty equally into "it's too early to worry about this stuff" and "this team is toast, sell it off and cancel the season." There is absolutely no middle ground whatsoever. So, if you want to talk about problems this team is having, that's absolutely fine, because I'll talk about the problems this team is having. But if you are going to even bring up the thought of this team selling parts off at this point in the year, I'm going to call you ridiculous or stupid or overreactive and then we're going to get even less done than we normally do on this site.

QUOTE (Milkman delivers @ Apr 19, 2011 -> 04:50 PM) SARCASM WILL DEFLECT ALL OF OUR OBVIOUS STRUGGLES AS A TEAM FOR BOTH THIS YEAR AND THE RECENT PAST They're 7-10. Woe is me.

QUOTE (gatnom @ Apr 19, 2011 -> 02:51 PM) Peavy? Haven't had him all year, so what's the big deal?

QUOTE (Milkman delivers @ Apr 19, 2011 -> 02:44 PM) Three weeks into the season is too early to declare it over, but it certainly isn't too early to begin to wonder. It's not too early for me to consider what I want to do with my retirement money either, but considering I don't have a cent in a retirement account, there are other things I can wonder about instead that will be slightly more productive.

I'm not normally the guy to do this, but this is absolutely the stupidest f***ing thread I have ever seen in my life. First of all, the initial post mentioned that this team has the same offensive problems that were only solved briefly in 2005. The 2005 offense was terrible. So what problems were solved? Will you go into detail? Were they not dependent upon the home run that year? I'd say 200 home runs for an offense that scored 741 runs says that they were extremely dependent upon the home run. In 2006, they scored 120+ more runs and hit 36 more home runs, but that's the team that had offensive problems. Get real. I'd say the defense will end up being, at the very worst, middle of the pack. Making generalizations 16 games into the season about how the entirety of a season will go is f***ing absurd. Alexei Ramirez is the best defensive SS in the AL, Gordon Beckham is solid, Morel has always been described as solid and 16 games isn't going to make my mind on that, Juan Pierre was great last year and I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt, Alex Rios is average to above average defensively, and Paul Konerko can pick it with the best. Konerko has no range, and both Quentin and Pierzynski are pretty bad, but that's about it. Enough has been said about the bullpen? Go into detail. You really think the bullpen is going to put up a a 5.21 ERA all year? I think Tony Pena MIGHT put that up, but I would bet considerable money that the bullpen's ERA is closer to a full run less than that at the very worst and wouldn't be surprised in the least if it ends up closer to the rotation's current ERA of 3.75. If you think that the bullpen is going to be bad all year based on the first 16 games of the year, then you don't understand that slumps and streaks occur in baseball. Oh, and if you are making conclusions about how the bullpen will end up based on these 16 games, then luck of the draw itself will even out and the Sox will win a ton of games with that 3.75 starter's ERA. If there is any team in the Central that needs to be panicking, it's the Twins. Their $180 million player is showing signs of becoming injury prone and perhaps already breaking down, their rotation is extremely mediocre, and the two relievers they thought were going to be good for them have shown huge signs of vulnerability - Capps gave up a home run in his appearance last night too. So what will happen? The Sox will probably end up going 4-7 on this road trip - which will put them at 11-15 on the year - and you will continue to freak out about the White Sox and you would have sworn that a swarm of locusts came over you and that you saw a few alien ships fly over head when nobody else has seen any other type of thing. The team will be torn down, tired, and ready for a break, and then they have 6 more games before they do finally get a day off. You will continue to exclaim these end of the world prophecies, even as the White Sox start winning games and move ahead of the sliding Royals. The end of the world is nigh! as the Sox continue to win games and move ahead of the fading Indians into 2nd place. And then sometime in mid to late June, the Sox will move into 1st place for the first time and people will remember this thread and several others like it and laugh and laugh. And then the second half of the season will be fun and entertaining and a bigger roller coaster than this. I think they'll end up winning the division, but if they don't, so what? It's baseball. Settle down.

Anybody talking youth movement for a team that's 7-9 is f***ing crazy

QUOTE (Jordan4life @ Apr 18, 2011 -> 11:14 PM) You forgot about Cabrera (Asdrubal). He's been the best of them all. But that won't last. He's good but not great.

QUOTE (Jordan4life @ Apr 18, 2011 -> 09:06 PM) Let me add a caveat: no recent history in which they didn't host a play-in game even though they lost the season series to the team they were tied with. OK, that's reaching. I didn't remember them being 3 games under after nearly 40 games. So I'll go with a very limited history. But nobody can deny this has not been a second half team under Ozzie. It hasn't, but there have been a few teams that weren't bad (which, admittedly, isn't saying much) and I really don't think much of the Central this year. I always say that too, but I don't see Cleveland and KC sticking around all year, I haven't liked Detroit at all, and Minnesota looks quite a bit more vulnerable than in years' past. If I had to make a prediction, I'd say the Sox win it with the Twins falling by the wayside, KC finishing 3rd and then Detroit and Cleveland duking it out for 4th and 5th (with Cleveland probably finishing last). I think KC is going to get a huge boost from their midseason callups but they remind me of the 2001 Twins right now - a team that is currently a bit underrated by the rest of the league with tons of talent on the way but inexperience and scouting reports will eventually get the best of them.

I just want to reiterate what was said throughout the thread - it could get worse from there. It has. Overall, it will get better from here. Just hope that they can hit the ball a bit tomorrow.

QUOTE (Jordan4life @ Apr 18, 2011 -> 08:26 PM) The White Sox have no recent history of starting slow and still getting to the playoffs. They don't deserve the benefit of the doubt there. Just about any team in baseball can play the "it's early" card right now. What's the difference between 7-9 and 14-17? Because the 2008 White Sox were 14-17. They were also 15-18 and 18-21. Of course, they were only 2.5 games back at the very most during 2008, so naturally it's different because Cleveland and Kansas City are going to continue playing this well all year.

QUOTE (Jordan4life @ Apr 18, 2011 -> 08:44 PM) People really think they were really enamored with the garbage bunch of prospects we gave up to get him. "See, we do have a farm!" It was all about getting out from under that contract for a pitcher that has been injury prone since 2008. Well it was all about getting out from under that contract, regardless of his success or injury proneness. It was and still is a risk. I'm not going to write it completely off as I think that's silly, but it's definitely frustrating as a fan and there has to be concern that he's not going to be fully back for a long time. Just hope it's nothing serious tomorrow. (you can also read into this that one of the biggest Peavy backers on the site is starting to lose a little faith, but I wouldn't do that)

QUOTE (forrestg @ Apr 18, 2011 -> 12:53 PM) No comment yet on Cameron Bayne's 0.000 era after 14 innings of work at Winston Salem. Because it hasn't been incredibly impressive. I get that he appears to be a sinkerballer, but he just hasn't done anything that's worth talking about. And, no, 2 outings of 7 IP with no runs allowed is not worth talking about. He didn't really do anything last year either. Quite frankly, until he can show some stuff that will miss bats, nobody's gonna mention much of him no matter what.

ELLIOT JOHNSON IS STILL A TERRIBLE NAME FOR A BASEBALL PLAYER GO WRITE SOME POETRY YOU F***ING SALLY

QUOTE (The Gooch @ Apr 17, 2011 -> 11:15 PM) It would be better to pay him to be a reliever than to keep paying him to sit on the DL. If he had proven that he absolutely could not stay healthy starting, or constantly dealt with lingering issues when starting games consistently, then I'd agree. He hasn't started a game this year and has been injured only once as a starting pitcher for the Chicago White Sox (I don't count a setback that they knew was going to happen as an injury). So yes, if come August he can't stay healthy starting games, then I'd say use him out of the bullpen for the rest of the year. You have to try and get the most value of him as possible, and that begins with using him in the rotation.