cabiness42

Biggio a virtual lock to get in before too long, possibly next year. Looking good for Bagwell and Piazza as well.

My vote would be: Bagwell Biggio Piazza Raines Trammel Schilling

Dunn's walks not translating into runs is not something you can attribute to Dunn. It is dependent on who he has hitting behind him. When you consider hits+walks-HR, deAza/Keppinger were on base after batting 33.2% of the time last year and Konerko/Rios were on base 30.7% of the time, so you actually get Dunn batting more often with people on base if he's hitting 3rd than anywhere else in the lineup, plus you have the added advantage of having him on base a lot when your two bets hitters are up. Plus, with deAza/Keppinger on base Konerko will hit into a lot of ending inning DPs whereas Dunn is more likely to strike out and give Paulie a shot to drive them in.

Considering the number of homers Konerko and Rios hit, Dunn will bat with guys on base hitting behind deAza and Keppinger just as much if not more than if he hits behind Konerko and Rios. So by batting him 3rd you maximize the amount he hits with runners on plus you have guys behind him that can drive him in when he walks. If Viciedo and/or Flowers have breakout years then you might be able to make a case for sliding Dunn down to 5th behind Konerko/Rios and in front of Viciedo/Flowers, but as it stands now Dunn's walks will get wasted if he doesn't bat before Konerko/Rios.

His OBP coming from walks is exactly why he needs to be hitting in front of Konerko/Rios and not behind them. He's not going to hit for enough average to drive in Konerko/Rios, but he will get on base enough for them to drive him in. How hard is that to understand? You want a low average/high walk guy before your best hitters, not after them.

In every thread where you've gone off about Dunn, myself and/or others have pointed out that while Dunn isn't anywhere near the player the Sox expected him to be, he still put up a .333 OBP and drew 100+ walks on a team that is sorely lacking in OBP and moving him down to where he has Ramirez and Beckham hitting behind him would make the lineup even worse than it already is. If you disagree with that assessment, then fine, but STFU about people not showing statistically why Dunn should be batting 3rd.

That means "dual-threat" quarterback, so they are quarterbacks who generate a substantial amount of their offense via running. From what I've seen, NW is strictly a spread offense team so pretty much any QB they recruit will be a DT.

Did not catch who they said was their source, but ESPN Radio is reporting that the Hall of Fame is not making any congratulatory calls to anybody.

In a good lineup, you might be able to argue moving him down, but his .333 OBP in 2012, which is awful by Dunn's standards, makes him a guy you have to have batting in front of Konerko and Rios in this particular Sox lineup. His 100+ walks are wasted if you have Ramirez and Beckham batting behind him.

So now MLB is getting into 1990's technology in 2013. How hard would it be to have touch-screen computer terminals in the dugout and bullpen and have the manager or pitching coach just pick from a list of relievers on the screen and have it flash on the bullpen screen?

I know for the BCS championship game, the schools only got 17,500 tickets each and the rest went to the Dolphins, BCS staff, ESPN staff, etc. Notre Dame could have easily sold 80,000 tickets and Alabama was probably in that ballpark, so I don't think selling tickets for the playoff games is going to be a problem even if you assume that the schools would get a bigger allotment for the semifinal games. There are enough different people who want to go to games that you don't have to count on the same people traveling twice. This is what I understand so far about the playoff system: The semifinals will rotate among six bowls. Three are definitely the Rose, Sugar, and Orange. The other three are most likely going to be the Fiesta, Cotton, and Capital One. The Rose and Sugar have been announced as the semifinal games for the 2014 season (and presumably 2017, 2020, etc.) Two others will get 2015 and the final two get 2016. The Rose and Sugar bowls will always be played Jan. 1 at 4:30 and 8:00, regardless of whether or not they are semifinal games. When the Rose and Sugar are not semifinal games, the two bowls that are will be played Dec. 31 (all dates get adjusted to avoid Sundays). The championship is the first Monday that is at least 6 days after the semifinal games. The committee places the 1-4 and 2-3 matchups in the two semifinal games based on geography, with the stipulation that the higher seeded team will not have to face a "home field disadvantage". So for example if LSU is 1 or 2 in 2014 they would get to play their semifinal in the Sugar Bowl but if they are 3 or 4 they would not.

Sorry, I was up in SB for the game and got home late last night. 1) My buddy had been getting hammered in his bowl game bets so he texted me to cancel the 3:1 and 5:1 bets because he couldn't cover them so only the first two bets stood and we broke even. 2) Alabama is clearly better than ND but ND isn't nearly as bad as they looked in that game. I don't think any team was coming within 10 points of Alabama the way they were prepared for that game. 3) ND's gameplan/playcalling was absolutely terrible. Defense needed to have 8 in the box and rush 4-5. Bama was running easily against 7 in the box and the receivers were beating the zone anyway so ND should have been bringing max pressure. Oh, and Golson clearly has trouble connecting on the deep ball down the sideline so stop calling it, and for god's sake, don't send three receivers on deep routes on 4th and 4! Brian Kelly has clearly done a tremendous amount for this ND program, but his playcalling remains absolutely brutal. I'm not saying ND would have won if the coaches didn't have their heads up their asses, but it would have been a lot closer. Oh, and take the f***ing ball to start the game and try to get a lead. 4) Nick Saban is the master of preparing a team after a long layoff. Once the 4-team playoff starts and the finals are only a week after the semifinals, then some team might be able to beat him in the finals, but I'll never bet against him in the semifinals.

The same Will Muschamp that just got pantsed by Charlie Strong?

I am very thankful that my cousin is a Sgt. with the Indiana State Police and that I have a resource if I ever find myself in an Indiana locality as corrupt as Steubenville.

How many facemasks do the Ravens get away with before it starts getting called?

Christian Ponder just married Michelle Beadle. No reason he should have to strain his triceps anymore.

Yes, I did have that backwards didn't I? I'll fix that.

I get even money on ND losing by less than 9½ points, but I get 5:1 odds on ND winning by more than 5½ (and I get 3:1 odds on ND winning by any amount).

You're more than welcome to try and make it $400 if you're so confident.

3% is a significant difference in completion percentage.

Career Win% Jeff George .371 Jay Cutler .548 Career Completion% Jeff George 57.9 Jay Cutler 60.8 Career Rating Jeff George 80.4 Jay Cutler 84.0 Jay Cutler >> Jeff George Even though Cutler was the 11th pick and George the first.

Made my bets today: $50 on Notre Dame +9½ at 1:1 $50 on over 40.5 at 1:1 $50 on Notre Dame to win at 3:1 $50 on Notre Dame -5½ at 5:1

Pioli is out in KC.

It's only the second time that it has happened. The first was in a Texas/Texas A&M game in 2004. The rule is there because since the defense has a chance to score 2 points by returning a blocked kick, interception, or fumble, there has to be a risk involved for the defense possessing the ball. So if the defense possesses the ball in the field of play and then is downed in their own end zone, it is considered a safety in the same way that it would during a normal play, except that this type of safety is only worth 1 point instead of 2. Something else that is possible, but incredibly unlikely to ever happen is for the team that scored the touchdown to have the ball downed in their own end zone (97 yards behind them) which would give a 1 point safety to the defense. I guess this could happen if the defense blocked an extra point, ran it almost all the way back, fumbled near their goal line, with an offensive player recovering near the goal line and then going backwards into the end zone and then getting tackled. If this incredibly unlikely event coincided with that team failing to score the rest of the game, a team could actually end a game with 1 point.

Taxes and other deductions are based on when you are paid, not when you worked. As for the $45, it depends on how much of that was Federal income tax withholding and how much was FICA. The FICA went up Jan. 1 and the newly passed law did not take that rate back down. The law did take the Federal income tax rate back down (assuming you make less than $400K) so if that withholding amount went up it should go back down within the next check or two, but the extra amount you already paid won't come back to you until you file your 2013 return.