DBAHO

QUOTE (ChiSox_Sonix @ Oct 6, 2008 -> 01:00 PM) I was in Astoria, Queens Saturday afternoon. Place called the Beer Garden at Bohemian Hall. Its mostly outside, modeled after a German beer hall. Folksy type music, small wooden dance floor with a stage. Food vendors around the outside. The beer was kinda expensive but they had so many good european style beers there (Hoegaarden, Spaten, Stella, Heineken, etc...) It was a lot of fun. I lived in Germany when i was younger and have vague memories of being at a beer hall and the moment I walked in there was an immediate sense of recognizing that type of atmosphere. Highly recommended to anyone who lives around NYC I've been there a few times. Find it's best on a Friday Night, when they have the live band on. Good european beers like you've said, but it is a little pricey. Still it's a good atmophere when the weather is nice.

QUOTE (knightni @ Oct 16, 2008 -> 08:17 PM) http://www.hmm10demo.lmmattersonline.com/c...ng_process.html Click View Text if you don't want to watch the video. Thanks. Have a 3000 word paper due in on Monday. And I thought I was done with all of that stuff after I finished College last year. O hwell.

That's no real surprise RE Tallon. My guess is they go all out for Brian Burke from Anaheim, unless Bowman thinks he can somehow convince Holland from Detroit to come over for a new challenge.

Stupid question, but what are the 4 steps of a budgeting process?

QUOTE (MurcieOne @ Oct 16, 2008 -> 02:35 PM) Brian Sutter brought a team to the playoffs, with a goalie tandem of Steve Passmore and Jocelyn Thibault. The defense on that team had Boris Mirnov and Alexander Karpotsev, and Mike Smith was his GM. Sutter did just fine while he was here. Alpo was an abortion and only lasted a few months, and Yawney was given a team with basically no talent. But Id agree that Savvy was better than both of them. Sutter only played the vets though basically, and didn't bring the young guys along at all. At least Savard gave the young guys a chance to grow and put this team in a good position. If Toews didn't get injured in that mid-season stretch, we would have made the playoffs last season IMO.

QUOTE (Jenks Heat @ Oct 16, 2008 -> 01:29 PM) I'd like I-Rod Somehow I don't think he'll be settling for a backup catcher role.

The thing is, compared to past Chicago coaches such as Sutter and Suponen, I think Savard has actually done a pretty good job. He deserves another coaching opportunity in the NHL, and I hope he gets one.

I've met Mr. Met before also. Deserves much better than that.

Don't like it at all. I think Savard did an underrated job last season considering the injuries to Toews etc. to get us as close to the playoffs as we did. And sure we'd had a slow start, but jees it's 4 games in. I don't think Dale Tallon may be around much longer either the way things are going. This move has Scotty Bowman written all over it.

Well at least Joe the Plumber is a celebrity now. As for last night, I thought McCain did well unfortunately, especially on the economy, which ain't his strong suit. He was outpointed on Health Care though I thought. He may have clawed back the gap a little though, so I don't think this thing is over by any means yet. At least not until the next Palin Gaffe.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Oct 16, 2008 -> 07:09 AM) So this might be the best possible scenario for the Hawks right now with Khabi playing really well... Could he have some trade value finally? Yeah, if the Hawks play their cards right, they could hold onto Khabi until the deadline and really get some nice pieces for him possibly, if they traded him to a contender.

QUOTE (SoxFan562004 @ Oct 16, 2008 -> 10:36 AM) I'm sure it's been mentioned, but I would love to see a significant upgrade at backup catcher. AJ has just piled on so many innings the last few years that I would love for the Sox to pick up a quality backup who could catch 2 days a week and contribute significantly on defense. Yeah someone in the Jose Molina mould (defensively) would be ideal for a backup catcher.

QUOTE (whitesoxbrian @ Oct 16, 2008 -> 07:54 AM) Next time, I'll add my scale of how to rank players in the NFL. /green I go from awful, to medicore, to solid, to good, to great. To me, Williams isn't even good. You can say "He will be now that he's leaving Detroit", but how do you know? He's suddenly going to limit his drops? How much better is Johnson then Kitna/Orlovsky? Well Johnson won't be throwing to him for very long it looks like anyway.

I'm trying to get tickets to see Penn State on the 11/15 against Indiana. Is there anywhere else besides the usual sources (Stubhub, E-Bay and Craiglist) to try and get cheap tickets possibly? EDIT: Scrap that idea, I thought Penn State was in Philly, not halfway b/w Philly and Pittsburgh. May have to try and get tickets to a UConn game instead somehow.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Oct 15, 2008 -> 03:26 PM) Yeah, but losing a pick in the 20's hurts a lot more than losing a pick in the low 50's like we did last year. Still if you use it to draft players such as Lance Broadway and Kyle McCullough, it isn't a huge loss. And you know KW likes to be aggressive. If he can get the right guy in FA, I'd think he'd definitely make a move there, losing draft picks or not.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Oct 15, 2008 -> 02:41 PM) Aaron Hill is interesting too...it'd have to be pretty cheap if he were brought in though. More or less I'm just willing to give him a chance as a stopgap and to see if his high contact rate can make him a viable option at 2B. It wouldn't hurt to have a guy that makes contact as much as he does at the bottom of the order, and getting a little bit of speed in the lineup wouldn't hurt either, even if he's not super fast. If he flops, use Beckham or someone else from inside or outside the organization the following season. The Red Sox philosophy (and KW's too for that matter, it's just that his players didn't turn out well) of filling holes from within and spending money on big bats is actually a damn good plan. I expect to go into next season as the division favorite but I also expect quite a few moves this offseason as well. If Getz does have one thing going for him as you say, it's his contact skills, and it's probably why he was given the nod over Richar as a long - term option on that front. If he could hit over .270, then yeah, I'd definitely consider giving him the full-time job. I just don't know if he can do that in his first full season in the majors. If you can sign Hudson on an inflated 2 year deal, considering the other options that are out there in FA, I'd be inclined to do that. You'll lose 2 draft picks for doing that, but the Sox should gain 2 for losing OC anyways, IIRC. Either way, more guys with better BA's/OBP's and who can fit into this team's core if they're not a major FA acquisition, should be KW's main aim this off-season.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Oct 15, 2008 -> 02:25 PM) Hitting 9th though? I've warmed up a bit to atleast giving Getz a chance, but Uribe coming back has to become a necessity at that point and not just an afterthought (well, Uribe or someone like Alex Cora or whoever). You don't need a world beater to come in and take over the position, but you need some type of backup plan if you want Getz as the starting 2Bman next season. I've got no doubt Uribe will be brought back after what he did at the end of last season. Would still prefer to see him as an utlity man though over the long - term. Aaron Hill could be a guy you could try to buy low on, and if he doesn't get back to 2007 form, you go with Getz or Uribe at 2B. I'd still like to see a more balanced lineup though, and we'll need improvements at 2B/3B/CF for that to get done.

QUOTE (Brian @ Oct 15, 2008 -> 02:04 PM) He was winning in Philly. How did that end? After a WIN this year is when he had his meeting with Romo and started b****ing. TO cares about himself and that is it. Hope he NEVER wins a Super Bowl ring. Because him and McNabb didn't get along, unlike he and Romo. If TO cared about himself so much when he was in Dallas, he would have been kicked off the team by now (ala Pacman Jones, who's basically a lost cause IMHO).

TO just wants to win. If it wasn't for his great relationship with Romo and Jones, I'm sure he would have cracked the "s***s" by now. Either way, there's no reason why he, Williams and Witten can't average 5 catches or more a game going forward. If anything, this acquisition could help TO big time, because he was getting double covered, and you can't really afford to do that anymore.

QUOTE (rangercal @ Oct 15, 2008 -> 10:53 AM) Not sure who was available. But, with Jerry Jones willing to overpay, I'm sure someone could have been had. The NFL deadline is pretty tough. Too many teams feel they are still in it. (aside from the Chiefs and the Lions) . Maybe the move works out for 2008. Just saying it does not help on the defensive side of the ball. Hope you don't run into Steve Smith or the Fitzgerald/Boldin combo in the playoffs. The Chiefs weren't willing to give up Gonzalez for anything less than a 2nd rounder. Maybe we should have tried to get Leigh Bodden included on the deal with Williams. I think we need to get a better pass rush from our front 3 (upgrade from Spears) regardless, and a bigger NT wouldn't hurt either.

QUOTE (rangercal @ Oct 15, 2008 -> 10:35 AM) 1 step at a time. Win a playoff game 1st. Then he should have overpaid for a CB or 2. Roy Williams seems more like a move for the future (eventual replacement for TO). In the present time, you need Defense. Your secondary is in shambles (just like the Bears secondary). Well which CB's are there available for trade? Jenkins was a 1st rounder who has good size and played in both zone and man to man in college. My guess is by the end of the season, he'll be our version of Charles Tillman. Scandrick should make for a good nickel back also. But the Cowboys definitely need to find a good FS who can defende against the pass. Roy Williams (the safety) is a goner after the season anyways.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Oct 15, 2008 -> 10:34 AM) They'll be a good combo if they don't kill each other over who should get the ball 75% of the time. My guess is Witten will end up with more catches than either guy anyways. Romo loves him down the middle.

Don Cooper would be one of the best at teaching the cutter. It's certainly made a big difference over the years to some of the pitchers we've had here, and Danks is no exception. The above shows why it's important KW needs to continue to look for good young pitching, and guys who may not have a good breaking ball (fastball/change), but can learn the cutter to go to the next level.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Oct 15, 2008 -> 10:57 AM) I don't see the Sox getting Hudson. Historically Kenny has used 2B as a position to save some money. Think back on our 2Bs, he has never ponied up big for a guy over there. Alexei Ramirez, Juan Uribe, Danny Richar, Tadahito Iguchi, D'Angelo Jimenez, and Willie Harris are the guys that come to mind right away. When Ray Durham was about to get paid, Kenny traded him for nothing. I'd bet on Getz, a cheap FA, or some minor league guy no one is thinking about that Kenny swings a minor deal for. I'd like Hudson, but I wouldn't offer him anything more than a 2 year deal. Realistically, Beckham should spend all of 2009 in the minors, unless he just dominates at B-Ham and then Charlotte, and deserves to be given a chance. But we are going to have at least 20-25M to spend this off-season IMHO, and we need improvements at 2B/3B IMHO. Putting Getz at 2B, is a lot of pressure to put on someone who most see as only a future utlityman at best. I'm still dreaming of a lineup with Beltre at 3B and Hudson at 2B, but I'd be happy if we end up with only 1 of those guys really. Ellis would be a decent option also FWIW, if the price was right.

QUOTE (rangercal @ Oct 15, 2008 -> 07:48 AM) I would think you need a CB 10x more than a WR. Crayton and Austin are fine #2 and #3 receivers. I'd call Crayton a decent #3, and Austin is progressing, but Owens and Williams will be argubly the best WR combo for any team in the game. As for the CB's, I'd rather give Jenkins and Scandrick the rookies, all the playing time in the world until Newman gets healthy. They'll progress and get better, because Anthony Henry is basically done (Steve Breaston took him to school on the weekend), while Pacman I doubt will be back. And yeah I think we overpaid for Williams, but Jerry Jones is basically desperate for a superbowl.