ChiliIrishHammock24

QUOTE (BigHurt3515 @ Mar 12, 2016 -> 04:42 PM) Has to DH I still want a LaRoche/Avi platoon.

QUOTE (Tony @ Mar 12, 2016 -> 01:40 PM) In 2010, we went to a Blue Jackets game in Columbus in March. Decent arena and stadium. Pretty cookie-cutter and that cannon is so annoying. What was more annoying was it was the Stanley Cup season, and the Hawks lost 8-3 that game. The Blue Jacket fans around us actually felt bad for us. It was awful. Good luck Of the cities we have gone to, Nashville was far and away the best city and stadium.

Just got my Hawks ticket for Columbus in April. My whole family does an away game every year, but with my pursuit of moving to Arizona, I didn't get my ticket when everyone else did. But now that it's drawing nearer, I decided to go. Snagged a seat for $73 using ScoreBig. Never bought from them before, but they offered $25 off first purchase. The rest of my family paid $94 for worse seats (not much worse). Hoping to sneak over and sit with them, but either way, pretty excited!

It's funny you mention Lawrie.... I was just alerted by my Facebook that I have "memories" from this date 4 years ago when I got to visit with a bunch of MLB teams with my press pass. One of the teams that granted us the most access was the Blue Jays, and I apparently took a few pics of Lawrie, because he was then a hot prospect. https://scontent.ford1-1.fna.fbcdn.net/hpho...amp;oe=575C16F3 https://scontent.ford1-1.fna.fbcdn.net/hpho...amp;oe=57539843 https://scontent.ford1-1.fna.fbcdn.net/hpho...amp;oe=57623E3C

No idea how Davidson hit that ball out to RF with such a pull swing.

QUOTE (shysocks @ Mar 10, 2016 -> 01:40 PM) It's great. It's a game that I'm excited to get home and play, and when I'm not playing it, I badly want to be playing it. It's an addiction on a level that I haven't felt from a game in a few years. The size of the map is overwhelming and the world is detailed and beautiful. Gunplay is sharp, matchmaking is smooth and easy, and playing with friends and mixing and matching the options for skills keeps fights from getting repetitive. I'm only 4 or 5 hours in so this doesn't constitute a full review or anything, and this is a game that's up my alley; it might not be up everyone else's. I'm wondering if I'll still feel compelled to play once I'm max level and have all the best equipment, but they've teased their post-release content schedule for the next year and it seems like they'll have a nice stream of new stuff coming out all the time. Yeah, I like it a lot so far. I've only put in about 3 hours so far, but there seems to be a TON of stuff to do. Definitely recommend.

QUOTE (illinilaw08 @ Mar 9, 2016 -> 02:11 PM) Oh man, the days of $5 (maybe they were $8?) student tickets in the corners of the 300 level to watch the ABC line... Student tickets were $8 I believe. My brothers used to go all the time and not take me.

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ Mar 7, 2016 -> 03:25 PM) You mean like what you're doing? Tell me, who was your favorite pre-2007-2008 Chicago Blackhawk and what was your favorite moment involving him? *Sigh* This isn't isn't the first time I've been for some reason "forced" to claim my fandom to you. I don't know why you insist I was never a fan growing up, but I'll play your stupid little game for more than just the first time.... Favorite players growing up were Daze, Zhamnov, Ruutu, Probert (Because he fought and wore my hockey number, 24), Amonte, Cullimore. Favorite moment other than trying to catch the McDonald's coupons that floated down from the RC blimps that dropped them around the stadium was seeing Gretzky's last game at the United Center, in a skybox, when he was with....the Rangers maybe? I want to say he or someone got a hat-trick that game because I remember everyone flinging their "mousepad" giveaway on to the ice.

Indianapolis seems like a good spot to me. Already have 2 popular pro teams.

QUOTE (HickoryHuskers @ Mar 7, 2016 -> 03:45 PM) Haven't actually been out to the island, but I've been to that area on both sides of the bridge and it's very nice. No cars allowed on the island, it's all bicycles and rickshaws. Great fudge shops.

I thought we heard a few weeks ago that he might not even be ready for opening day?

The Division unlocks at 11 pm central tonight for those who have downloaded and "preloaded" it.

QUOTE (Tony @ Mar 5, 2016 -> 11:34 AM) I've never really understood the complaints about all the bandwagon fans. I just don't know how it affects your fandom. Sure it can be a little annoying to see someone get so worked up about a game and know they had no idea the team existed before 2010, but again, it doesn't change my enjoyment of it, so who cares? Hell, my dad can almost be considered a bangwagon fan in a way. He had season tickets to Hawks for 23 years. He gave them up when I was born, and raised me a Hawks fan. In the late 90's, early 2000's, he gave up on the team because he had enough. I obviously hadn't been through that many years of Blackhawks hockey so I stuck around. I tried to get him to games and told him about the new awesome Arnason-Bell-Calder ABC line and how good Ruutu was going to be, but it didn't take. Then he started hearing about these young kids the Hawks had debuting in Kane and Toews, and I got him out to his first game in years. His 1st game back was the Toews goal against Colorado, and I legit remember the look on his face after he scored the goal, like "Wow, this kid is legit". Your dad sounds like more of a fair-weather fan, not a bandwagon fan. And I got no problems with bandwagon fans. I tried for so long to get my friends in to hockey growing up that I'm happy I finally have a group to watch the games with and talk about the team. It's more fun than being the hipster fan by yourself. Plus, the more money the "bandwagon fans" pump in to the team from buying jerseys and merch, the better! The only thing that bothers me is the fact that it's much harder to go to games now, and when newer fans pretend they have been fans their whole lives, or are diehards. Just own up to it and then it's all good.

It's really nice when a move you have been asking for for months finally happens. Once we lost out on the big 3, I wanted Jackson over Fowler so, so hard. Glad it happened. Yet another very low cost pick-up that fills a big hole. Even if Jackson is just a league average player, that's more than 3 WAR improvement over Avi Garcia's 2015 debacle. The most important thing he brings to this team is defense. Not only is Jackson an improvement over Eaton's weirdly horrible 2015 defensive season (+13 DRS from Eaton to AJax), but Eaton will quite easily be an upgrade over Avi's horrendous OF play (-22 DRS in only 176 games in RF). Now the question is whether Eaton or Melky will play RF. Eaton is the presumably the better corner OF, but Melky has the better arm, so it's hard to say. Avi then hopefully gets put in a platoon role with LaRoche. In 2015 Avi hit .293 with a 103 wRC+ against LHP, and LaRoche hit 64 points higher with a 93 wRC+ versus RHP (-1 against LHP, lulz). Both of their wRC+ are higher for their careers against those splits, but the I wanted to use what is hopefully their worst-case-scenario splits, which equate to a decent hitter when combined.

White Sox trade for Ender Inciarte.

QUOTE (Tony @ Mar 4, 2016 -> 11:46 PM) Correct. Hawks drafted Toews in 2006, and he played for North Dakota in 2007. Happens quite a bit, which obviously is different than other sports. I really like the rule from a developmental standpoint. Not only a development standpoint, but from a quality of life standpoint. These kids actually have a degree to fall back on if being an athlete doesn't work out. I wish baseball would offer that for position players (Would never be allowed for pitchers).

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Mar 4, 2016 -> 10:44 PM) That's a Hawks Prospect? So guys can be drafted and stay in the system while they go to college?

Then Frazier reaches out and pokes a flyball to deep RF somehow to drive home Lawrie. Great plate coverage and awareness to realize he needed to hit a flyball somewhere. Awesome sequence of 2 plays.

Great baserunning by Lawrie. Stealing on the play, the groundball was hit to 1B and deflected off the glove. 1B ran to get the ball and flip it to the pitcher covering, and Lawrie rounded 2nd and kept going to 3rd and made it easily realizing the 1B was worried about the play at 1B.

Avi finally swung at the 7th pitch he saw of the day.

The guy in the booth who is not Russ Langhor (Brian Anderson maybe?), thinks Eaton is in CF. Kept commenting on when May and Avi kind of flubbed a play in the OF and even during the replay he thought it was Adam.

QUOTE (scs787 @ Mar 1, 2016 -> 04:41 PM) White Sox Facebook posted a slow mo of Avi's home run swing and damnit, it actually looks pretty damn good. Someone more technogically inclined wanna post it? https://www.facebook.com/WhiteSox/videos/10154717597193298/

Or best of all, you can watch the game LIVE for FREE on whitesox.com. 1st of 10 free webcasts.

QUOTE (kev211 @ Mar 1, 2016 -> 07:47 PM) Wish the sox broadcasted these online. Think they'd be more fun to watch than a regular spring game. MLB said Dan Hayes couldn't even periscope the event, which doesn't make sense to me. They aren't able to profit of the game in any way, shape, or form.

I would love to have him too, but let's give it a year first.