NWINFan

I agree with you on the clarity thing. It seemed the Sox had no direction and the losing showed it. I hate tanking, but at least we knew what the team was trying to accomplish. It is now time for the organization to truly show how serious it is about creating an elite franchise. There has been good progress, but I don't put much value into the 2020 playoff appearance. Hopefully the lockout will not be as bad as it appears to be.

Dick Allen had many personal and professional problems in his career. These problems dragged down his numbers and that's a shame. He was an amazing player and a real competitor. But he sometimes shot himself in the foot. He "retired" in 1974 and left the Sox three weeks before the season ended. He could have finished out the year and still could have retired if he wanted to. And there were two instances where the Sox had over 50,000 for a doubleheader, and he didn't want to play game two.

I have mixed feelings about Allen. I still haven't seen a player hit a ball like he could. Slumps didn't bother him. He would say, it's not how you start, but how you finish. And there are few players who had his overall ability. But his work ethic wasn't great and his skills left him too early. He could have put up bigger numbers that would have allowed him entry. Still, I wished he would have stayed with the Sox for the remainder of his career. It would have been great if he would have contributed to the South Side Hit Men. I would have voted for him. You really haven't seen a home run until you saw Dick Allen hit one.

Didn't agree with his politics but he was a good man and a good Senator.

MLB needs a strong independent commissioner. The owners won't allow that. They will continue to run the sport and will no doubt run it into ground. How's that for a legacy, JR?

I don't know if Reinsdorf is this stupid or if he really has any influence at this point. I do know there won't be much left of his franchise if the Sox rebuild is hampered by another work stoppage. Fans didn't go through this tank job to experience another 1994. One division title and a playoff spot in a shortened season won't cut it.

In 1994, the owners under-estimated the players' resolve. So, the owners took JR's advice and decided to stonewall the negotiations. They embarrassed themselves with the replacement players and then got slapped down by the National Labor Relations Board. The World Series didn't happen and spring training was a joke. Yes, the players will miss their checks, but they have enough money to ride out the storm. Trying to break the union didn't work in 1994-95, didn't happen in 1981, and won't happen now. And, if it does happen, it will come at a high cost. The players don't need to run to the table to make concessions. They have leverage. The owners just don't learn from history. And, as always, the White Sox will get hurt the most. If JR has any power to stop this, he should do what he can. But maybe he doesn't want to stop it, or the other owners don't listen to him anymore.

Good signing. Leury is a good man to have around. Of course, the team needs something more dramatic.

A great pitcher. Should have had a better career. Had the pleasure of interviewing him for a book I was doing years ago. Friendly guy. This is sad news.

It's reaching the point that I think relievers are more valuable than starters. The complete game is a thing of the past, and starters think they do their job if they go six innings. If relievers have to take care of one third of the workload, you better have a good bullpen.

I would say I am disappointed but these are the Bears. One can't be disappointed when one doesn't have expectations.

I have not kept up on the particulars so I really don't know what the owners hope to achieve. At the very least, they shouldn't underestimate the players' union. Very few will allow themselves to be used as scabs, and we all know how damaging a long strike will be. Again I will say the White Sox will be one of the teams largely hurt by this, and I don't appreciate the irony of that.

I am not sold on this either and have never bought the Kopech hype. His development has been delayed by the injury and his sitting out the COVID year. He may still be an excellent pitcher, but he, like Cease, needs the learning that comes from experience. In any event, he needs to log in some innings if he is truly to become a major league pitcher. He will have some bad starts to do this.

I fear this would be another example of the White Sox getting a star who is way best his prime. Verlander has always been a great competitor, but I wonder just how much he has left.

I agree with the Rodon decision, but right now this starting rotation doesn't look all that good.

The KC offense looked just as bad. Almost. Green Bay almost completely out of sync without Rodgers. You couldn't expect a whole lot of Love. Amazing thing is Green Bay still could have won this game. More amazing, Green Bay should have won this game.

Greg, you have a point, but public figures should be aware of this. We live in a celebrity society, and people can't resist talking about meeting one. If I was Tony, I would only say things I didn't care were repeated. That's just reality. Otherwise, I don't put too much into this conversation. I am waiting for actions, not words.

The trouble with COVID is that it is so new that finding treatments is still an on-going process. Anti-vaxers grasp at straws because they fear the vaccine for various reasons. But taking home remedies or putting some weird stuff in your body doesn't make sense. In addition, all kinds of false information gets spread. Rodgers has a high profile and he really isn't helping things with his nonsense. Enough of the self-pity.

The more Rodgers talks, the more stupid he sounds. He put himself at risk, and put everyone he came in contact with at risk. Just another dumb ass who thinks putting just about anything in his body will fight off COVID. Hope he never plays another NFL game, the dumb ass.

Unlikely as it is, I hope the NFL comes down hard on Rodgers. First of all, he lied. Secondly, even if he took a alternative to the vaccine, it obviously didn't work which shows he is another ignorant nut who won't listen to medical or scientific advice. And, of course, he endangered his teammates and other members of the Packers organization by contracting the virus. How about he sit the remainder of the season?

I actually like this. Won't happen, but the less teams in the playoffs, the better. If the owners turn MLB into the NBA and NHL, they will ruin the sport. Fans should boycott by the millions if this happens.

I am not concerned about press conferences or public statements. I will wait for actions. This offseason, more than any other, will show how serious the White Sox are about building a real WS contender.

With 1994, fans were angry at the players, angry at the owners, or angry at both. In the end, it really didn't matter. There was an intense backlash, and it was double-edged sword. Baseball suffered greatly for it. Very few gained from the stoppage although the owners were slapped down for not bargaining in good faith. The Sox truly suffered in the aftermath of 1994 and will suffer again. A team can't develop young talent if that young talent is sitting on the sidelines during a strike. Sox fans will be plenty angry if the rebuild yields little winning. One more time of a team being on the verge of something only to have it stopped by something like this will set the franchise back years. I don't have a great deal of sympathy for the owners. Their business is a legally protected monopoly and many of their stadiums have been built with taxpayer money. Losing teams can still make money, and small market teams rarely go the Series. Any attempt to break the players' union will be short-sighted and futile. Baseball has some big problems. This won't help.

Fields looks like the real thing. The rest of the Bears look like the real Bears.

Stopped caring about the Black Hawks a long time ago. Care less now. I don't know if this organization will ever regain credibility. The NHL? Always has been run by a bunch of mindless assholes.