danman31

QUOTE(DBAH0 @ Jun 26, 2006 -> 02:23 AM) If he can play, I think we can cause an upset. Italy haven't been impressive in this tournament to date, especially against your mob. Pfft, please. Italy has been impressive in the other 2 games with 2-0 wins in both. Italy isn't losing to your Aussies, keep dreaming.

QUOTE(SoxFan101 @ Jun 25, 2006 -> 10:36 PM) Carter is crushing the ball but wasnt he just pathetic in low A at the begining of the season? Yeah, but it's too early to count him out as a prospect. Certainly that hurt his stock, but the potential is clearly there. He's very raw, but will have to prove himself at full season ball. Francisco Hernandez has really let us down and Carter may be headed for the same path. I like trying to pick out guys after the draft as possible darkhorses, but you really can't tell if a guy is going to even be a prospect until they succeed in full season ball. Noteworthy on the GF game: 5 run 9th for the Sox capped by a 3 run walk off shot by Carter won the game.

This was easily one of the funniest things I've ever seen when I first saw it on SportsCenter.

Charlotte and Winston-Salem rained out. Barons won 2-0. 8 shutout innings for Malone, whoa. Box Score Kanny lost 17-2, ouch. Ricks 2-3. Richard, among others, rocked. Box Score Great Falls lost 7-6. 2 hit days for Hunter, Shelby, and Cruz. Box Score Bristol won 8-3. Jason's boy Woodson with 6 IP, 2 R, 10 K, 0 BB, 4 hits. Box Score

Pick 'em? Here are my predictions of knockout phase: Germany over Sweden Argentina over Mexico Italy over Australia Switzerland over Ukraine England over Ecuador Netherlands over Portugal Brazil over Ghana France over Spain Ok, so I only picked two teams that didn't win their groups which might be a little low. I could see Ecuador and Ukraine pulling upsets and there will probably be one shocker despite the fact that I think Brazil, Italy, Argentina, and Germany are mortal locks. Of the two group winners I have losing I don't think Portugal is near as good as the Netherlands and Spain is a traditional underachiever and France looked strong against Togo. Argentina over Germany Italy over Switzerland Netherlands over England Brazil over France Argentina Germany should be a classic that could go either way. Argentina over Italy Brazil over Netherlands Italy over Netherlands Brazil over Argentina

QUOTE(Heads22 @ Jun 22, 2006 -> 11:30 PM) i remember this discussion jas: woodson needs to be on the list alex and dan: who? So true!

QUOTE(Chisoxfn @ Jun 22, 2006 -> 04:30 PM) Can we say...Forza Italy Get that *** out of your avatar.

QUOTE(THEWOOD @ Jun 22, 2006 -> 07:21 PM) I would be willing to make a sizable wager that Oden stays at OSU longer than one year. Of course you would, you're an OSU fan. Oden isn't staying past one year, it's basically a fact.

Wait, Woodson got hyped up and he's repeating?

Ok DBAH0, bring it on. Italy gets to f*** up the Aussies.

Now it's time for Croatia/Australia aka the battle to determine who loses to Italy in the next round.

Hopefully a foreign coach at that. Among the MLS candidates I'm not really thrilled. At the same time, the benefit of having a domestic coach is that they stay around for more than 4 years more often than foreign coaches.

QUOTE(Chisoxfn @ Jun 22, 2006 -> 12:33 PM) This helped me get through the world cup game. US was down 1-0 and I saw the breaking news update and fell off the couch laughing. Ditto. I can just imagine what Isiah was thinking. "Larry Brown isn't doing it right. I know how to coach the team I put together. I won 5 straight titles in my franchise on NBA Live 06." Seriously he has a video game lineup. Francis and Marbury?!

QUOTE(MnSoxFan @ Jun 22, 2006 -> 11:13 AM) SPeaking of which, where is Cunningham? He was doing well for Kanny, but has not played in over a month, does not appear to be on DL either?? I know he was hurt and it was talked about on here. Maybe he'll rehab with one of the rookie level teams and that's why he's not on the roster. dasox- It's Wilfrido Pujols. He's probably related considering it's the same organization.

Players I never want to see on the national team again: Bruce Arena (obvious)- basically he picked awful tactics every game. His player selection was passable today, but still, the formation needed to be more offensive with at least 2 forwards. I should say that he picked out the same players for the 4-5-1 I would have, but I wouldn't have gone with a 4-5-1 so that's pretty moot. Kasey Keller- I've always hated him for the national team and I finally figured out why. As a pure keeper he's good, but his distribution is piss poor. He's done anyway in all likelihood so it really shouldn't matter. Does anybody know what the deal is with Howard at Man U? I know he was playing a decent amount when they first acquired him and Van Der Sar is now the full time goalie. Was Howard always thought of as a backup for Man U or did he struggle? Oguchi Onyewu (yes, controversial)- This might be a pick based on current emotions but he showed me nothing the whole Cup. Sure he can muscle around Caribbean pansies but there's a reason why he's playing in Belgium and not one of the better leagues. Standard Liege is going to be in the Champions League (well they still gotta get through the final qualifying round, but they should) and Onyewu needs to show he can play with the big boys. His middle name is Chilioke, pretty fitting because he definitely choked if all the hype was deserved. What am I thinking? All the propoganda was bulls***, this team was never good. Onyewu has some talent and potential, but he shouldn't have been playing this World Cup. It's a shame we have 0 depth and he was forced into it. The more I think about it the more he's probably going to get better and I just overreacted, but he's not ready for the Nats yet. Landon Donovan (more controversial, but I think more fair)- Plain and simple he's a b****. He won't play in Europe and he doesn't play tough. He was the worst player on the field today. He hasn't improved in years and might have even regressed. Stop calling him your star, don't give him the captain's armband and move on to the next generation of US players. Claudio Reyna- He was once great, but he's over the hill. He's past his prime and doesn't fit with the style of this group of players. He definitely won't be able to play in the 2010 World Cup so why bother giving him qualifying? The rest of the team was mostly average at best. When 4 of your supposed better players play like trash you aren't going anywhere, especially with the depth as it is in the US. I was actually impressed with Dempsey. Going into the World Cup I was not impressed with him at all, but he's good. Lewis is good as long as he is in the midfield as was displayed today. Johnson is still inconsistent at this point in his career which is probably why Arena didn't want to play him, and I actually think that's fair. The problem is you have to play 2 forwards in the World Cup. The countries that I can think of that have played 1 forward (US, T&T, Costa Rica, Ivory Coast) were all underdog teams that tried to bunker in for ties. The US is supposed to be better than that, act like it. When comparing the US' results to the results of those other teams it's about the same. Low scoring capability, playing for draws, and getting knocked out without much chance of advancing. Italy played with 1 forward today with much success but that's because they're arguably the best defensive country in the world traditionally, they're better at long balls to find their target players, and they're better finishers. The US isn't good enough at the long ball to play it like they did today and they aren't good enough at finishing to have a limited number of chances and expect to score 1-2 goals a game on the world stage. The other team that plays one forward is Netherlands and they use to very offensive wingers, far from a real 4-5-1. I'm ranting, but this makes sense when looking at the team's results. In stage 2 of CONCACAF qualifying the US went 3-0-3. They won the group, but that's far from dominant against bad teams. To compare: Mexico won all 6 games at that stage outscoring their opponents 27-1. In the final stage of qualifying the US tied Mexico for 1st, which is nice, but the US only scored 16 goals in 10 games. How can they expect to score against better defenses with attacking like that? They had a friendly against Germany a few months ago in Germany where the US was slaughtered. The send off games were atrocious. The US struggled against teams that failed to make the World Cup with all the games on US soil! It all makes sense now. CONCACAF sucks, which makes it hard for the US to test themselves. CONCACAF teams 1-8-3 in this World Cup and soon to be worse once Mexico loses to Argentina. Wow that was long.

QUOTE(southsideirish71 @ Jun 22, 2006 -> 10:18 AM) I hate short corners. We are not creative enough to take advantage, and we suck at shooting. Just get a ball into the box and let something happen. I completely agree, but that would make too much sense. I'm learning that if you want it, the opposite will happen for the US at this Cup.

Hahahahhahahahahaah. Hahahahhaahahaahha. Are the Knicks serious? Hahahahahahahahhaa.

QUOTE(CWSGuy406 @ Jun 22, 2006 -> 01:03 AM) Liotta... prospect status... falling. The only thing keeping him above water has to be his GB/FB ratio (which I can't find, BA doesn't trace it anymore) -- 3 HR in 86 IP is awesome, too bad the K/BB ratio is brutal. Lumsden is the one pitcher I'm liking right now (more than anyone), mainly 'cause lefties with that good of stuff (it's not Gio-good, but it's good) don't fall from the sky. Minor League Splits That site includes ground balls and fly balls. His GB/FB ratio as of 6/18 is 139-45.

Great Falls started last night and I had no idea, whoops. Tonight they won 9-6. Shelby 3-5. Carter 2-4 with a HR. Lee Cruz, 10th round pick, 3-4 with 2 doubles. 11th round pick, Urena with the save. Box Score

Late addition: Great Falls opener. They lost 12-2. Carter 2-3. Day with a less than thrilling start. Box Score

Charlotte and Kanny were off. Bham lost 6-2. HR for Aldridge. Broadway with a very meh start. Box Score W-S won 7-2. HR for Kelly. De Los Santos 3-4 with 2 RBI. Harrell with 6 more shutout innings, ho hum. Box Score Bristol won 11-7 in their opener. Morgan, repeating Bristol, went 4-5. Lots of other good stuff from the lineup. Let me be the first one on the Kent Gerst bandwagon. Box Score

QUOTE(Chisoxfn @ Jun 21, 2006 -> 09:10 PM) Gomes is a pretty good athlete, but you'd think we'd have someone else to offer (we don't though). Still it should be cool to see him and Fields. How about Francisco Hernandez? He's a catcher, you'd think those would be hard to come by.

Manager Glenallen Hill?

Portugal won 2-1 and looked in control the whole match. Mexico did get a PK to tie it at 2 after getting down 2-0 early but Bravo hit it over the bar. I hate seeing players hit penalties over the bar. It reminds me of Roberto Baggio in the 94 final. Angola had a shot to move on and had the lead against Iran but needed more goals and couldn't hold their lead, 1-1 draw there. Portugal gets screwed with the Argentina/Netherlands loser. Netherlands looks way more vulnerable, but I wouldn't want to face either. Speaking of which I can't wait to see the Net/Arg game. It should be a good battle and is the first matchup of powerhouse nations.

QUOTE(tigerfan @ Jun 20, 2006 -> 10:43 PM) lol no, that's not it at all. I had feeling someone would say that though. But anyway I am serious about this. No, it's a fair suggestion, but I couldn't resist. What's more important though- the World Series or having the best record in your league at the All-Star break. Plus managers will want time to plan their All-Star weekends so they wouldn't like it if the AS manager switches within a week of the game. They could pick a date a certain amount of time before the game and multiple managers are in the bench anyway, but I just don't see the point. Yeah, it makes sense for the All-Star game to be performance based on the current year for managers, but it's easier the way it is IMO.