The Beast

QUOTE(Ozzie Ball @ Dec 25, 2007 -> 12:00 PM) Gotta love that name drop. It's no problem though, I'll just get my tickets from my fellow British bud Luol (yes, Deng). Liar!

I'm at home away from the distractions of people drinking at college---enjoying my time with my girlfriend and my family more than some of the fools at school, who think all there is to do at EIU is drink. I've found many things to do (as a non-drinker) such as hanging in the dorms with friends, writing as a beat reporter for Sports, going home on some weekends and hosting my own radio show.

QUOTE(scenario @ Dec 24, 2007 -> 08:59 PM) I like Boylan, but I'm not sure he'll be the replacement. Jim was Skiles' handpicked right-hand man. If Pax decides to go in a different direction philosophically, he may opt for someone else. Funny, if Boylan becomes the coach, then I will try and get tickets off of his daughter, Shaina, a volleyball player at my school, EIU.

QUOTE(knightni @ Dec 24, 2007 -> 05:11 PM) Jeff Van Gundy maybe? I thought about him, but he also has some of the same flaws Skiles has---a key one being not getting teams past the first round of the playoffs. What I can't understand is why they fired Skiles this early, the Bulls usually start out slow anyway.

What do you guys think about a coach like Stacey King?

QUOTE(South Side Fireworks Man @ Dec 23, 2007 -> 12:30 PM) In other words, do the Sox really need an accomplished leadoff hitter and starting second baseman now that they have signed a utility player who is not a leadoff type with no major league experience? Thanks for the mockery. Now just for that I hope Roberts goes to the Cubs. That's how confident I am in starting Danny Richar, after all, we did give up "god" in Cunningham for him.

QUOTE(103 mph screwball @ Dec 23, 2007 -> 09:34 AM) I think Uribe is insurance in case Richar fails. If Richar does well, then Uribe will be dealt to a team whose shortstop is injured. It is also possible that Uribe could go to Baltimore as part of a package for Brian Roberts. Do the Sox really need Brian Roberts now that they have Alexei Ramirez?

QUOTE(jackie hayes @ Dec 23, 2007 -> 12:04 AM) It's pure spin. Juan Uribe is gone, Ramirez or no Ramirez, if anyone will take his salary. Who would take his salary? The Rays? I seriously have no idea who would take Uribe other than if we packaged him with a prospect and the Count or Konerko to somewhere.

Per whitesox.com ---Scott Merkin, staff writer. What do you guys think about the statement of Juan Uribe? Who would take Uribe and his $4.5 million dollar salary? Or do you guys think that we'll either trade Cabrera, or keep him and play Uribe off the bench? I doubt a package of Uribe and Conteras with a minor leaguer such as Gio/DLS would look that appealing to other clubs.

I can't believe none of us called in and ripped him a new one on air. Although, I think it might be delayed for that reason.

QUOTE(GreatScott82 @ Dec 13, 2007 -> 07:03 PM) Yep Frank was robbed in 2000 by Mr. Roids himself (Giambi). Frank is and always will be Mr. White Sox in my book. Hopefully he ends his career strong in Toronto this season. Quoted for truth. If we're out of it and looking for something to cheer for, I must say we'll have to tune into Frank and see some real baseball being played. Who knows, maybe we'll have him traded to us at the deadline to retire as a member of the White Sox? (That is, if Toronto sucks this year and Thome is hurt/traded.)

I hope you get first ballot HOF vote you big man. Those jackasses at ESPN Radio 1000 (Mac, Jurko and Harry) can go to hell, they were surprised that Frank didn't come up on that list. God bless him, he is truly "the man!"

QUOTE(The Ginger Kid @ Dec 13, 2007 -> 11:47 AM) Daryl Kyle? wow, it that's right then that explains a lot. That's got to be hard for that family to swallow. The man just dictated his fate by using the steroids. I'm sure his wife feels terrible none the less but if she knew, just imagine how the woman would feel.

I am very surprised to see Johnny Damon, Paul Byrd, and Nomar Garciaparra on that list. I am not surprised to see Mark Prior on the list, as well as Albert Pujols and Miguel Tejada. Speaking of which, if Frank Thomas comes up, I will be surprised. The guy played football at Auburn!

How many of you will go up and ask him questions? Who is going to this seminar? I have a feeling he will deter answers to Ozzie and Farmer because Farmer actually has balls and Kenny does not. I'm also thinking that he might just bring Rick Hahn into the mix instead of him actually being there.

Props to Kenny on the Andy Gonzalez move, here's to me hoping that they'll offer Crede arbitration.

Taken from another thread: QUOTE(BearSox @ Dec 6, 2007 -> 12:12 AM) I hope various people ask him the following questions at soxfest this year... -How exactly do you expect this team to compete next year or in future years? -Did you honestly think we were are a good team that just "preformed" bad last year? -Why in hell did you just not blow up this team and restart the rebuilding process when we had the chance to do so back in May and July? -Where exactly would you rank our farm system compared to other team's farm systems? -Why were you too f***ing cheap to pick Poreda instead of Porcello? -Do you not know we have a pitiful farm system? -Can you explain to me how Andruw Jones strikes out a ton and hits for a low OBP but Rowand and Hunter don't? -Why do you suck? -In how long do you think we could finally see Rick Hahn take over as GM? -Are you retarded? -We all know Boras is a b****, but why do you refuse to deal with him? Ozzie said himself that Boras represents the best players in the league, so you will never go after the best players in the league? -I think you are a sad excuse for a GM. -Why do you suck? -Why are you a conceded jackass who acts all smug as if he is better then all of us, talking down to all the fans as if we don't know what the f*** baseball is? -Why did you trade Jon Garland for a 33 year old SS in his last year of free agency who doesn't want to sign a contract extension? -Why are the likes of Cole Armstrong and Andy Gonzalez on the 40 man roster but not Fernando Hernandez, who will now be on some other team most likely? Hell, that reminds me, where the f*** were you thinking when you let Fabio Castro go for nothing? Lets keep this list growing as we take our frustration out on Kenny Williams. For those of you who are going, I hope you will be ruthless to this guy. Please rip him a new asshole. I'll add a few of my own questions: Why didn't you complete the Hunter deal and let the ANGELS get him? Why didn't you add in more years and money to get Aaron Rowand? Now that 2008 is over, what will be in store for 2009?

QUOTE(SoxWS05 @ Dec 12, 2007 -> 04:45 PM) Because he smokes crack! And he's probably on steroids. No chance I would trade Danks, gio, floyd or anyone else with a future for the addict. I can't believe you posted this. I read an article about him and he's off his addiction. Maybe you should be a bit more sensitive? The Sox might as well just get Jason Bay, Corey Patterson or a Geoff Jenkins.

Okay, so here's my problem: Now that we threw money at Rowand and Hunter, does this money go away? Or does our team actually go and spend it? If they spend it, how will they fix the leadoff hitter, centerfielder, starting pitcher and bullpen holes? Do the Sox go out and get a guy like Corey Patterson or do they trade with the already battered farm system for either Crisp or Bay? What do we know about Geoff Jenkins? Do the Sox sign Colon, Clement, or Garcia? How about Vizcaino? Do they sign Kuroda?

QUOTE(spiderman @ Dec 11, 2007 -> 09:42 PM) WGN is reporting that the Cubs have signed him..... I'd like to know what level of interest the Sox showed, though it appears that it was the Cubs all the way for him. I just went to the Chicago Cubs MLB.com message boards and people are looking for links that are just not there. ESPN doesn't even have a story out yet. I think that something is coming but I doubt a contract has been signed yet. Kenny should just stick his nose in the door and try to sign Fukudome for the hell of it before Fuk-u-dome makes the biggest mistake of his life with the Cubdom. Edit: I saw the link on ESPN.com about it, but it seemed to be a small story. The money is still being worked out, and I think that it could screw the deal up a bit, but that is just me.

Now I expect to see people jumping all over the Aaron Rowand bandwagon since it appears Fukudome is going to the North Side. Either way, the Sox are going to have to pay for a Centerfielder. I for one will not be satisfied with Anderson in center. Crisp

I get to my Macroeconomics class today and my instructor says: "There was some confusion about what I said in regards to the minimum course grade I wrote on your last test. If you fail, you still will have that minimum course grade. (I had a B for my minimum course grade.) If you have an A, please just return the sheets of paper to the desk and I will recycle them, you will get an A in the class. For everyone else, the University says I have to supply a final to you, and you must take it, but they never said anything about me not grading them, so if you don't mind, please just drop off all of the tests with whatever answers you filled in. I will give you the grade you deserve, whether that be the minimum course grade OR the grade you will move up to." Tomorrow, I go to my Math course, I have two more on Thursday, with Broadcast Announcing and Environmental Life Science coming up before I drive home to Downers Grove at 2:30.

QUOTE(NorthSideSox72 @ Dec 6, 2007 -> 12:50 PM) Well, it is a message board for fans. Speculation, analysis and the occasional celebrating are what we do. What else would you expect? And in the case of that last post you quoted, he specifically used the word DOUBT, to signify he didn't know for sure. That's better than some of the laughable absolutisms I've seen in this threads. Give him a break. Fair enough. We are all fans here and I guess I've just grown frustrated of all of this speculation and would like to see some more factual information being passed around. Soxtalk is a great site to be at, I just hope that we don't give up on our team before the season starts. I'll give him a break because I know how I once was as a poster here.

QUOTE(29andPoplar @ Dec 6, 2007 -> 12:43 PM) It's been in the newspapers and the site mlbtraderumors.com has encapsulated all of those newspaper reports into a big thread about Fukudome. You can do a search at that site and it has all the info of all the recent media reports. The White Sox were connected, i.e. interested in Fukudome as far back as early last year. They have a well respected scout names Ray Poitevent (whose actual title is Special Asst. to the GM) and that's all he does, he scouts the Far East for the White Sox. Dollar amounts have just been speculation so far. It appears the market price is probably $12M per year. Newspaper accounts say Fukudome wants only a 3 yr. deal, no more and no less. There you have it. As for your Bruce Levine comment, he does not make stuff up. He reports on what he hears. When he goes out on a limb and makes assurances of what will happen, that's when he gets in trouble. But he does not make stuff up, he would be out of a job if he did. Actually he is a well respected guy within the baseball industry, with agents and players and front office types. It's many of the fans on message boards who hate him because he'll report on what he's heard and if it doesn't come true in 24 hours, people call him a liar. So now you are up to date. Thank you! That is all I wanted to read, rather than the speculation I usually see. Point proven, however, that the dollar amounts are speculation. And I'm sorry for my misunderstanding about Bruuuucee Levine. I appreciate your post out of anyones.

QUOTE(iamshack @ Dec 6, 2007 -> 12:39 PM) What do any of these questions have to do with whether or not we actually will sign him? I was trying to draw a conclusion that most of what I'm reading on this board lately is pure speculation. CanofCorn has a semi-decent bit that I could trace back to ESPN about the Sox. I also wanted to make sure that the number of years and the dollar amounts that I've read for anyone really, was not speculation.