caulfield12

If you go into the future, the only things that Bush did that could be considered Republican are cutting taxes on the rich, cutting back regulations further and going to war. Everything else, you'd think he was a liberal Democrat, lol, or WORSE! (I say that as a Democrat). Go back to the 90's when Greenspan, Wall Street and the bond traders pleaded for a balanced budget. Now of all that's gone out the window. If it's not stagflation, it's deflation. We've pumped so much money into the world economy with our low interest rates that it didn't have a final destination, ending up seeking higher return in high-risk areas like derivatives and credit default swaps. Just like the early 80's with the Japanese, the Chinese, Singaporeans, Dubai, etc., have become big holders of US bonds as well as stock market investments and "rescuers" with their sovereign wealth funds. It's a complete mess, to say the least. We can never seem to find that moment when the worst is over, whether it's the stock market, banks collapsing or now the auto manufacturers. One thing is obvious, it will take more than the IMF, World Bank, G7/8, G20....all the countries we need to work together, as problems can't be isolated in just one country or region. There's the destabilizing Middle East situation now....the falling price of oil taking a toll on Russia and the OPEC states. Boom and bust. Look at countries like Iceland, Hungary or Latvia. At least European countries tied into the EURO system have been somewhat isolatd from the problem. So you can point at the lax regulation of Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, Greenspan's forcing everyone in the housing market...we either have to spend our way out of this (when everyone's grown concerned with debt) or just put our head in the sand and hope the problem goes away. Highly unlikely. Consumer purchases can't drive this recovery now, it has to be driven by government monetary and fiscal policy. Let's just hope they get it right.

QUOTE (Princess Dye @ Jan 2, 2009 -> 06:46 PM) Man. Roberts is such a monster though. Gavin $-wise makes us all want him around awhile, but really how irreplaceable are those skills? We can get middle rotation starters. True leadoff guys though arent around How many mid 20's pitchers making under $1,000,000 per season with his stuff are out there on the market today? I mean, we can't even get Bailey for Dye, apparently. And Bailey hasn't proven anything yet. Gavin was big down the stretch when we needed him, with the exception of his playoff start being so-so.

QUOTE (Brian @ Jan 2, 2009 -> 06:08 PM) It would depend on an extension for Roberts, IMO. Gavin had a very good year, but who is to say he stays consistent. Yes, but couldn't the same argument be made for trading Danks, too? Yes, there are differences....but the Indians would have looked really smart (then really dumb again) for trading Cliff Lee at different points of his early career.

I just wanted to add that would be the dumbest trade in White Sox history....one year of Brian Roberts (and probably Type A compensation) for another hole in the pitching rotation. The ONLY way this makes sense is if we have a Dye/Konerko trade already in play for pitching, but that pitcher would probably be a youngish prospect/suspect like Bailey, and then you go into the season with 3 young or rookie pitchers, a 3rd year pitcher perhaps going backwards because of the expanded workload in 2009 and Buehrle. Not exactly a recipe for success. Either that, or the Taveras signing and the cost of Floyd is how high the price of a Top 5-7 leadoff hitter has become in the game today. And signing Roberts to a long-term extension at his age (middle 30's) just doesn't make much sense either. KW would be buying too high on Roberts, with the likelihood that his best days are probably already behind him. It would make more sense to spend some money on Hudson and not blow up our pitching rotation any further. KW has to remember 2005, and the fact that it was/is/always will be starting pitching that wins championships moreso than any other individual factor.

Everyone is hyping the actress from the Slumdog movie as the next "It" girl already....is she really that amazing? The last time there was such a buzz, it was over the South American javelin thrower in the Olympics. Well, it looks like Marley & Me is continuing to blow away the competition, already at $80 million. I wonder if we'll get the inevitable sequel...but how do you make a sequel when the dog has already died in the first movie? I guess it will be Marley: The Puppy Years or something like that, and it will make even more money because younger kids and families can safely see it without the tearjerking scene at the end. As far as Tom Cruise goes, I wonder if he'll ever get greenlighted for another $150+ million action movie again, and how long that will take? Tropic Thunder was an interesting choice for him, and could have backfired, but it didn't, just like Magnolia. Well, Hollywood really loves a great comeback story. Think of all the actors like Sandler, Ferrell and Jim Carrey whose recent movies have more or less struggled or been critically panned. Even Will Smith hasn't been enough to defeat average or worthless scripts like Hancock and 7 Pounds. Speaking of killing box office, how many Angelina Jolie movies will do disappointing numbers before people realize she simply doesn't guarantee big openings for a movie just with her name...unless you want to try to count Wanted, although I'm not sure you can because of the genre of that movie. Specifically, A Mighty Heart and Changeling have done poor or so-so box office....which finally brings up Nicole Kidman's mess of a movie, Australia. Another good (sometimes great) actress who just doesn't draw people into theatres with her name alone, if she ever did.

Well, there's Betemit, too. I guess. Although he might be equally bad or so-so at every infield position, at least he's fairly versatile. However, if we have Betemit starting over 100 games at any position this year, I think we're in major trouble. Who knows, maybe he'll have a Carlos Quentin-ish breakout year offensively too playing at USCF. But not counting on that happening one bit.

Actually, fwiw, one of my Master's students (Gift) is in the transformational process right now from man to woman but hasn't had the surgery (quite expensive) yet. In some cities in northern Thailand, they actually have three bathrooms, one for men, one for women and one for kathoeys/ladyboys. I know there are a ton of them in Pattaya (about 45 minutes south of me), but the closest I've ever been is a drag show. If you really want to find them, just hang out in Bangkok or Pattaya or Phuket and you'll be inundated. That's why I live in a nice, quiet, non touristy college/university town right by the beach. Not so many tourists (just Thais from Bangkok on weekends or holidays) and the occasional "coyote" dancer, but pretty normal lifestyle. I can even buy Dairy Queen Blizzards here to pump up my Berkshire Hathaway stock. Unfortunately, only KFC, no McDonald's!

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jan 2, 2009 -> 01:44 PM) I was actually trying to find how much CF the kid has played, but there isn't much detail I can find on his minor league time. Anyone got any solid info on exactly how much CF Lillbridge has played? Apparently he played quite the position quite a bit in college (Univ. of Wash) but has been a shortstop pretty much ever since he was drafted. I don't think he played CF at all in the minors with the Braves, baseballcube might have the answer. Born September 18, 1983, in Everett, Wash. ... parents are Leslie and Curt Lillibridge ... has three younger brothers, Kiel, Cameron and Riley ... Kiel is a freshman on the UW baseball team this season ... majoring in anthropology. Washington 2004 (Sophomore) - Named to the All-Pac-10 first team for the second straight season ... named to the all-tournament team at the NCAA Regional ... ranked third in the Pac-10 with 65 runs scored, seventh with 79 hits, fifth with 16 doubles, ninth with 11 home runs, seventh with 130 total bases, fifth with 41 walks and fourth with 18 stolen bases ... nine doubles in Pac-10 play tied for conference lead ... several season totals ranked in the top-10 in Husky history: 249 at bats (fifth), 79 hits (ninth), 54 runs (fifth), 41 walks (sixth) and 65 strikeouts (first) ... enters his junior year No. 6 on the UW career batting average list with a .347 mark ... 24 career home runs ties him for 10th in UW history ... finished the regular season on a 14-game hitting streak (21-for-59 (.356) with 18 runs during the streak) ... one of two Huskies to start every game ... began the year at shortstop, but moved back to center field (where he spent most of his freshman year) in midseason to give Batkoski a place to play

Based on ability alone, Lillibridge would seem to have the higher ceiling, and yet Getz looks more likely to be a solid/steady player at this point. All that can change, as early as Spring Training. The jury remains out on whether Lillibridge could actually be a leadoff hitter...and whether Owens can stay healthy playing CF everyday. I would say both are bigger question marks than Getz being a decent #2 hitter, although KW has rolled the dice before and won a number of times with players coming off injuries or down seasons like Lillibridge.

Yes, you're right, there are a large number of kathoeys or ladyboys in both Thailand and the Philippines. Actually, my g/f is Filipina, she lives in Cebu City, I was there for Christmas. There's a saying, that "the most beautiful women in Thailand are men," although I can usually tell right away, even with surgery on the Adam's apple. It's either the voice, the height, or the musculature in the arms/shoulders/legs, or the fake boobs. One of those always gives it away.

That Tubby Smith...of the Tulsa/UGA years, is not the same Smith of today. I don't think he's as motivated to win as he once was, especially after he was spit out of the Kentucky grinder. And 20 wins doesn't mean as much as it used to as far as "magic numbers" because the number of games played has changed and many teams are scheduling weak non-conference schedules in fear of getting upset by mid major teams, even at home. If Minnesota can go to the NCAA's just two consecutive years in basketball, I'll be very impressed. Three would be amazing.

The NFL has a different system, but look at the rise of the Dolphins and Falcons this year, to name a couple. Of course, there's the example of the Rays, who defeated the might Yankee Empire and all its dollars. Actually, signing Free Agents will never disappear, if it's seen as the final move to put a team over the top or into contention. It's building your team with free agents and not having a strong farm system that will eventually lead to disaster. At least the Diamondbacks learned this lesson the hard way after almost going bankrupt. Actually, I think the MLB is almost as safe as the NFL in terms of bankrupty likelihood. It's the NBA, NHL and NASCAR that are going to be in trouble first. You look at the worst franchises, like the Nationals, they're in no danger with a new stadium and super-rich owner. The Royals have been turning a profit consistently over the last few years due to revenue sharing. Even the Marlins aren't hopeless...of all the teams right now, maybe the Pirates are the most vulnerable, but McClatchy also has plenty of money. However, there's concern that the impact of his businesses weakening or failing might cause him to sell off the team, and it would be a shame if they left Pittsburgh with the history there and the nice new stadium the public largely financed. Maybe the Padres, with the Moores divorce as well. But they also have a new stadium and were a winning franchise until they imploded. Perhaps Cincinnati....Ohio and Michigan will suffer greatly from this recession, but Cleveland's still able to bring Wood and DeRosa on board. I remember going to games in the old stadium on the lakefront, talk about a bleak and totally depressing environment for baseball. Cleveland and Detroit are much better off as cities than they used to be.

QUOTE (Milkman delivers @ Jan 2, 2009 -> 11:14 AM) I watched The Assassination Of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford last night. I'm not entirely sure what to think of it. I think it's kind of ridiculous the way Ford was treated after killing James. Sure, he Sometimes I really like westerns, like 3:10 to Yuma and Unforgiven, not to mention Shane, lol. And Magnificent 7, can't forget that one. I thought Casey Affleck was very good in that movie...the reason James was such a hero was because of the area of the country he lived in, the times he lived in (people were still suspicious of the Federal government)...Missouri has always been something of a wild state, and bucks a lot of trends. Even today, it's pretty conservative and rural, except for KC and St. Louis. You have to remember, Nathan Bedford Forest (mastermind of the KKK) has a presence there for quite some time and and the Border War with Kansas, Quantrill's Raiders and the fact that he was seen as something of a Robin Hood character and thumbed his nose at authority...which went with the sentiment of a lot of people, as they resented the North for winning the Civil War and presence of so many Pinkertons. Everyone loves an outlaw, whether it's Billy the Kid, John Daly or Jesse James, even though the legend wasn't a match with reality. People love bigger than life stories, and shooting someone in the back and then trying to profit from it, well, people don't take too well to that, especially in the South.

I live in Thailand, so I haven't seen any of the new movies yet. My friends have told me to watch The Reader, Rachel Getting Married and Slumdog Millionaire, among others. The last English movie I saw was The Day the Earth Stood Still, one of the worst movies I ever saw in my life before I saw a really low budget film called "Quarantine" in the Philippines a week or so ago. That had the annoying Greg Germann from Ally McBeal (also agent's voice in Bolt) and Jay Hernandez (The Rookie, Crazy/Beautiful) as its two biggest stars. Horrible. Oh, and an actor I used to like, Steve Harris, the lawyer from Ally McBeal as well, as the cameraman. I've never left a movie early, and almost did that time. Or maybe it was during that Nicolas Cage movie way back when. Heck, Bolt is the best movie I've seen recently...sad but true. Or Wall-E, which might even get a best picture award from the Oscars, the last to compete in that category was Beauty and the Beast way back when. Seems to be mixed reviews on Benjamin Button. I'm looking forward to Gran Torino, Doubt, Revolutionary Road (Winslet/DiCaprio together again, kind of like the Ice Storm and American Beauty mixed with a Neil LaBute dramedy). I will definitely see Marley and Me (since I had a crazy Black Lab who ate a rock), Benjamin Button and Valkryie. Undecided about 7 Pounds, most people really HATE that movie....Will Smith is coming back down to earth now with Hancock and Seven Pounds both disappointing.

Until someone proves otherwise (like Purdue, when/if healthy), you go into almost every season now with MSU and Wisconsin (especially if they have some superior athletes to mix with the role players) as the favorites because Ryan is such a good coach. I think Lickliter will need at least one more season to see what he can do with his own system and set of players. As usual, many B10 teams will pull off some huge upsets at home. I guess the first surprises of the season are Illinois winning at PU (injuries?) and then MSU clobbering Minnesota on the road. With both the football and basketball programs at Minnesota, I'm not convinced either ever live up to the early season hype and thrive during the heat of the B10 season. I'm just not convinced that Smith can truly turn that program around and consistently make the NCAA's every year. We'll see. We'll see how good Crean can recruit, and whether he can win consistently without another Dwayne Wade. All these things said, the B10 looks very interesting, if lacking in dominant teams....and is a year or two away from returning to a position of being one of the better BB leagues in the country.

That .596 line from last year in SD is scary. I know Petco is a pitcher's park, but geez! That said, he was very solid with us and played very well for the Phillies after the trade in 2007. I don't think we should give him a guaranteed contract, but it wouldn't be the worst back-up plan in the world for Getz/Lillibridge/Nix. That said, I would much prefer one of the younger guys succeeding, but the position seems to be Beckham's in the future, unless he ends up at 3B, where Viciedo theoretically would/should be better suited.

QUOTE (MO2005 @ Jan 2, 2009 -> 09:19 AM) I would of parted our future for Miggy! That guy is a stud and at the cell would hit 50 hr's...You know what you are getting with Miggy, but you don't know what you are getting with Viciedo. We'll see We didn't have anything close to Cameron Maybin in our system. Nor Andrew Miller, although I now think Poreda has a chance to equal or better him. And for Cabrera to play somewhere on our team, we'd have to somehow get rid of Dye or Thome, or play him at 3B, which has been proven to be quite a lousy idea.

QUOTE (MO2005 @ Jan 2, 2009 -> 09:41 AM) Finally someone who agrees! I have been saying this for the past month and everyday dread the start of this season...That projected lineup doesn't even win 81 games..I say 70-75 tops! There is definitely more youth playing in 2009, but overall common sense knows this team is going to suck bad! Positives (on paper) We have 2 good starters and that's it I put a question mark by Gavin because he had a career year last year. Negatives Richards/Marquez competing for 4 and 5 (that's all I have to say about that) Positives Jerry Owens may steal 40-50 bags Negatives Jerry Owens hits .230 with 0 HR and 20 RBI as leadoff hitter Kenny's offseason quote "pitching and defense wins games and we need a leadoff hitter" My Kenny Williams Interview O.K. Kenny our pitching staff has 2 maybe 3 consistent starters, which means we will have to overuse the bullpen again. What happened when we overused our bullpen last year? Ohh and you say we need a leadoff hitter, but if you are going to use Jerry Owens then why didn't you just say we already have a leadoff hitter for next year. And if you are so high on him, why didn't you use him last year? I know I have a lot of time on my hands and this offseason is aggravating! I hardly think Danks is yet a proven ace until he backs up 2008 with a similar season in 2009, but Floyd looks a little bit more vulnerable, yes. But please relax. Let each day worry about itself. And wait until Opening Day if you can. Then things will come into more focus. Owens didn't play much because he was hurt in the spring (he was the projected starter entering the season) and then lost his position to Quentin basically, as they needed Swisher to play in CF and be the leadoff hitter as well. Anderson's not a leadoff hitter, and neither was Swisher after awhile. Traditionally, the White Sox (from 2005-2008) have been one of the best teams in baseball in terms of not overusing their bullpen. But yes, we all know that starting off 2009 with Marquez and Richard/Poreda has all kinds of built-in peril in store for us and Ozzie.

You could argue the merits of Torii Hunter (I think he's in for a big decline over the life of that contract, just like Soriano), but we were really pretty lucky not to end up with the contract of Fukudome (who the White Sox could still pursue if the Cubs will eat salary) or Rowand. And hopefully Viciedo will come close to approximating Miguel Cabrera Lite (I know, a tall order), but at least we didn't have to part with our future in order to obtain Miggy.

QUOTE (WhiteSoxfan1986 @ Jan 2, 2009 -> 02:45 AM) LOL, the Big 10 is better than the ACC. Before tonight, the ACC hadn't won a BCS game since FSU won the 1999 title game. Since the BCS was created, the ACC has never sent more than one team to a BCS game. The BIG 10 has done it seven times. As for USC, it's always amazing how talented that team is. It's equally amazing how much they play down to their competition and lose to teams like Stanford and UCLA. USC would be much better off in the Big 12 South. They'd have to get up for almost every game, and it would really push/press/challenge them. Their biggest enemy is always cockiness and complacency. Or a really good team at UCLA to bring out their best. The Pac 10 has enough athleticism, though, that any team (well, besides Washington and WSU) can win any given game on their home field. As far as Stoops goes, you have the National Championship losses to USC and LSU, then recently to Boise State (that was something of a fluke) and also to West Virginia last year. There's just a different feeling about this year's team, but we'll have to wait and see. I really wonder what happened to New Year's Day? It used to be so much fun growing up. Now you have all these peripheral games after the 1st, and three of the major games (as well as the Cotton Bowl, which is kind of the fifth/forgotten bowl) aren't played until later. I guess it's better for the fans to see all the games, but the excitement of everything being decided in one long day is gone. Still, the NCAA's making boatloads of money, even with the ridiculously unnecessary/antiquated bowl system (see Dan Wetzel's excellent reason column on this subject at yahoosports.com, the wasteful spending of the bowl committees appears even more egregious in these time of financial austerity).

Obviously the Marte and Barfield experiments didn't work out so well. I think they'll really miss Blake, although DeRosa is a good substitute. Both are versatile, veteran, offense-minded players. Peralta just seems like a pending disaster at SS as he keeps growing, putting on weight. I won't label him the reincarnated equivalent of Viciedo at SS exactly, but he's about as mobile as Tom Brady these days. Garko's one of those streaky players that looks to be on the verge of playing himself off the team one year (due to his lack of typical 1B power numbers), but he's an RBI machine. The main problem is that Victor Martinez is also a DH, so you're either stuck with Hafner or a very lousy catcher, probably the worst in the baseball. It will be interesting to see what Flowers gives us from that spot in a couple of years...or if he also moves to 1B/DH. I guess keeping Peralta and Cabrera as the DP combination seemed the more logical way to go. Still the only "power" hitter on that infield is Peralta (for his position), and he's really a 3B now. It's just that DeRosa will cause less damage at 3B than 2B, I guess.

The irony is that they're looking to trade Rowand (among others) in order to bring Manny Ramirez on board, largely because Rowand is one of their more expensive players now. Aaron has never been able to find either a guaranteed starting position or a team he can get really comfortable with for 3-5 years, for whatever reason. He's one of those players like DeJesus with the Royals that's borderline really good, but certainly not the pretty good you pay $10+ million per season to acquire.

QUOTE (joesaiditstrue @ Jan 2, 2009 -> 01:25 AM) "I'm more set than I think you guys have written and talked about," said Williams with a laugh. "We've got a lot of confidence, but that's not unusual. It's not your job to scout and project players' performance. That's our job, and we'll continue to do that with the best players we put on the field." - Kenny Williams lol I think Brooks Boyer simply is paying off KW with some of his marketing funds, as KW's unbridled/unabashed enthusiasm has been one of the constants this offseason in the face of all the criticism. I don't know if 2008 validated any of his (KW's) theories or not, but he seems to be pretty sure of himself, almost too sure. (Maybe that quote about Detroit turning out to be true has gone to his head?) So either he's playing a great game of poker with Bond and Le Schiffre or we'll still see some twists and turns before the season opener. I know that he would have had a lot to answer for at Sox Fest (not that he would care!) had he done this coming off a non-pennant winning year, and with the tickets rising in price. I'm not sure how many of us are convinced on the message boards, but they say if you keep repeating something to yourself over and over again, i becomes the truth, at least your version of the truth. Maybe KW is telling the truth, or at least what he believes to be the truth. That or we're in for a really tough season again.

Historically, the White Sox have always been 2-3 years too late on getting players past their prime/s...this time, KW really brought in Iguchi at the perfect time and place, as he was one of the catalysts in unwinding the selfishness of the previous teams and serving as a role model in how to play the game quietly and correctly, in a way that wasn't really reflected accurately by the box scores.

Plus he doesn't have the type of swing that's conducive to coming off the bench and only getting 150-200 at bats in a season...he needs to play close to everyday, and, at his age, I'm not sure if his stills haven't gone the way of Roberto Alomar and Steve Sax when they were on the SouthSide.