ZoomSlowik

QUOTE(thedoctor @ Nov 15, 2005 -> 02:19 PM) that's still a helluva way to start the season. It works for now. One of the Cats' big problems has been that they start in a hole going into the Big Ten season, losing to several teams that they shouldn't. They almost lost to Lehigh, who's decent for a mid-major, but is someone we should have handled a little more easily. It looks like we caught Charlotte on a bad game. Alexander was brutal, and Withers was only okay (that could be a problem for them in the future, cause I'm not so sure about the rest of their team). Hopefully we can get into the Big Ten season with only one or two losses (DePaul, Virginia, and Seton Hall scare me a little) so we can at least make the NIT, then maybe win a few we shouldn't in the Big Ten and steal a 9 seed. Luckily we catch a bit of a break with our Big Ten schedule. We only play MSU, Iowa, Indiana, and Michigan once, and after we play Illinois on the 15th of February we get OSU, Wisconsin, Penn State, OSU again, and Minnesota, giving us a chance to finish strong. I'd describe myself as extremely cautiously optomistic right now.

QUOTE(Buehrle>Wood @ Nov 14, 2005 -> 11:25 PM) Northwestern beats Charlotte. Huge win for them. I'm trying to not get too excited about my team. Vukusic isn't going to score 28 every game. We need to find other reliable scorers, and Thompson is going to have to stay on the floor and make a bigger impact when we get to Big Ten play.

QUOTE(southsideirish @ Nov 14, 2005 -> 05:31 PM) Did anyone happen to mention that Abreu is Venezuelan? That makes it all the more a possibility. Maybe we can get the Twins to give us Johan Santana for a couple of prospects. He's from Venezuela, that must mean that we're going to get him. I am so sick of that line of reasoning, because it basically means nothing. Yes, we have a manager who is from Venezuela, and since he knows Freddy it made it easier to get him. But that doesn't suddenly mean that every latin player in the league is coming here. There's a big difference between actually knowing the manager and being from the same country. Abreu is going to cost a ton of money, and probably more talent than we are suggesting. Plus, he has a no trade clause, which is another major obstacle. I wouldn't get too excited about Abreu in silver and black. That's a serious long shot.

QUOTE(tonyho7476 @ Nov 14, 2005 -> 01:31 PM) What? Notre Dame sucks. I don't want our World Champs associated with that f***ing school. :puke I agree with you whole-heartedly. I almost threw up when I saw that. Not only can I not stand Notre Dame, but it is a shamelesss ripoff from another team that doesn't seem to make any sense to me. I don't care if there are only 6 of them, I wouldn't touch it. Steiner also has 16x20's of the Sports Illustrated cover (the one with Pods) #'d to 30, a closeup of the team celebration that I think is also out of 30, and a longer distance shot of the team celebration #'d to 70. I actually bought one of the latter, and it looks awesome. I think it works better than the others because there is plenty of room for the autographs, and they stand out really well. While they're still steep, there was one on E-bay for $1500, and I got mine for just under $2,000. That also happens to be roughly what I would have had to pay for tickets to Game 1 . Edit- Yikes, talk about some ridiculously overpriced Sox stuff. How about a Michael Jordan display with a signed White Sox jersey, hat, photo, bat and other stuff. Minimum bid $40,000, buy it now for $75k. Or you can buy a Gem Mint 10 Nellie Fox rookie card for the low low price of $16, 495. People buy this stuff?

QUOTE(VAfan @ Nov 14, 2005 -> 11:39 AM) Abreu costs $48 million for 3 years. Giles couldn't cost more than $30 million for three years, and would probably cost closer to $27 million. How does that become a wash, cash wise??? For that "wash" I can sign Jon Garland for 2 extra years, plus pay him what he's worth this coming year. I can also lock up AJ Pierzynski for 3 years. And I might still have money left over to sign Joe Crede for a few years. Plus, I would have given up no current players to add Giles. I don't see why you think it is harder to sign a Free Agent than to trade for a player. Do you have any idea what the Phillies would demand for Abreu? Giles is ready to sign at any time. He says he wants to play for a contender. We've never been able to sell World Series Champions to any free agents before. And with our pitching, you have to like our chances to repeat. How exactly does $12-$18 mil combined savings over 3 years allow you to resign Jon and A.J.? That's probably enough for one or the other, definitely not both. Considering the market for starting pitching, that might not even be enough for Garland. I find the whole argument somewhat pointless because the chances of the Sox getting either player are slim and none in my opinion. Both are very expensive players that play in the outfield, which is probably the deepest position in the organization right now. Does it really make sense to commit over $30 mil and 3 years to two guys well past 30 (Abreu will be for the life of the deal) when we have several young guys that could come up and contribute soon, plus all of our current starters signed at affordable prices for the next year? Does it really make sense to pay that much for a DH? I'd rather see us go for more affordable guys at DH that can also play 1B at times, something we might need in the near future. Frank and Durazo make the most sense among FA's, and trading for Delgado, Thome, or Helton makes more sense if we're going to give up talent and eat some money. All of them are probably bigger impact hitters when healthy than Giles or Abreu, especially if fielding isn't an issue.

My Dad and I won't have to worry about ticket availability now that we broke down and bought season tickets. To give some perspective, we were unable to get premium box seats (didn't realize that first timers don't even get near them), and we ended up around 150 above row 20. My guess is you'll see near sellouts pretty much every weekend game and any weekday premium game. However, they'll still get 20k tops for those weekday games against the crap teams, and possibly the better teams if it's one of those noon getaway days.

As an impartial observer, I'd say OSU is definitely a better team than Michigan. There isn't really any way you can argue that Michigan's defense is better than that of OSU, and I'd say their offenses are comparable. Both have mediocre QB's with playmakers at WR and passable but not stellar RB's as long as Hart is out. However, you can throw out opinions and records, whatever happens on the field is what matters. Also on NU and their bowl situation, regardless of low ratings and poor attendance, they always travel well. They have fans that will fork over serious amounts of cash and easily sell out their ticket alotments, no matter what bowl they go to (they even went to the Motor City Bowl!), unlike some other teams with higher profiles.

Off the top of my head Dajuan Wagner was a ridiculously good high school player, and Kobe was pretty impressive too. I don't know enough about some of the older guys to know if Lew Alcindor or Wilt Chamberlain were that good in high school. There are probably a few guys I've never heard of that were great.

QUOTE(qwerty @ Nov 9, 2005 -> 09:46 PM) They had four top 20 recruiting classes from 1993-1997. Thomas was one of the best prospects at the time. But to say he was the best high school player of all time just by looking at his stats in highschool... is stupid. His numbers are not uncommon. Sorry, that should have been in green.

QUOTE(qwerty @ Nov 9, 2005 -> 09:39 PM) Of all time? No. When he was coming out? Yes. He couldn't have been that good, he went to Villanova.

QUOTE(AddisonStSox @ Nov 9, 2005 -> 08:25 PM) Bloody hell, people. Please review Matsui's contract before proclaiming him a member of the mighty Pale Hose, trading in his blue-pinstripes for black. He'd have to clear waivers before becoming a UFA. "Snap back to reality; oh, there goes gravity..." How many teams do you think would be willing to claim him when he is demanding $11 or $12 mil? My guess is not very many.

QUOTE(kevin57 @ Nov 9, 2005 -> 08:32 PM) I agree that "years" could possibly be the biggest challenges to a Sox offer. I also think that rationally most teams would be hesitant to offer a guy of Konerko's age such an extended contract, but contracts are not about reason. They quickly become bidding wars. Of PK's possible suitors, who would be most likely to give, let's say, a 6 or even 7 year deal? I got a feeling you're not going to see anyone give him more than 5 years. Too many of these long term deals turn out poorly. However, if someone is that stupid, it will almost certainly be a fringe contender that is trying to give its fan base some hope, ie the Orioles, Blue Jays, or Dodgers. The Mets would also be a possibility because they seem to like giving people long, bloated contracts. If any of these teams are that stupid though, they'll probably regret it.

QUOTE(whitesoxfan101 @ Nov 9, 2005 -> 08:29 PM) Good post. I think at the rate Bruce is recruiting combined with his coaching skills, the Illini can continue to be a factor in the Big 10. But the problem is, they won't have success in big time OOC games or in the NCAA Tournament, so if Illinois plans on coming anywhere near the success they had in the dance last year, they have got to recruit better rather than get all excited over 1 big time recruit like Carlwell. And yeah it's a technicality, but Luther Head wasn't a top 100 recruit either, but your right, for the most part, the teams of the last few years have been built on top 100 players. I thought Head was a fringe top 100. Whatever. Another issue is that once you get outside of about the top 50 your chances of finding an instant impact player drops considerably. I'd guess that virtually every freshmen starter was in the top 50 in recent years, and the ones that aren't are out of necessity. I think he'll have to at least start getting some 4-star guys in order to consistently stay near the top of the Big Ten. He can live without the 5-star guys, but you can't keep hoping your 3-stars turn into stars. That doesn't happen too often in the bigger conferences, and even less on contending teams.

They have got to get Nocioni and Songaila out of the starting lineup. I can't think of any possible reason that Deng is behind Nocioni, Luol is a much better player. They should probably get Sweetney in as a starter instead of Songaila. They need more offensive punch out of the starters, and Sweetney is their only post scorer.

QUOTE(thedoctor @ Nov 9, 2005 -> 06:23 PM) i'd agree with this. no matter what the talent, there's no way to judge how individual kids react as they move from one level to the next. i can understand criticism of weber's recruiting, but as an illinois fan its frustrating to see him hammered for this when all he's done at the school is win. down the line if the program tapers off and he can't sustain the recent run of success, then fine, criticism will be warranted. but to base criticism now on the largely inaccurate ratings of internet "gurus" is just crap, imo. The thing is that he is probably going to have more problems as soon as next year if the recruiting doesn't pick up. Self's last two classes (one was when he left) were the Brown/Williams/Augustine class or the Randle/McBride class, which make up most of the players that are going to make a difference this year. Will Weber be able to sustain it after Dee and James are gone? It's going to be a lot more difficult without top level talent. Virtually every key player for the Illini in the last 5 years was a top 100 recruit (unless my memory is off, I think the only major exceptions are Bradford and the center on the Elite 8 team who's name escapes me, and the latter was a transfer), something they've been lacking in recent years. You can find a few good players that are hidden gems, but you usually can't rely on that in the long run. Luckily it looks like they could make a major impact in the 2007 class. It helps that most of the Big Ten isn't recruiting very well (MSU isn't recruiting quite like it used to, Wisconsin has gotten a few but not dominated, Michigan gets a couple here and there but not a ton of guys, and OSU has one class so far), but it would help them a lot if they can get a blue chipper or two, especially if they want to be one of the elite programs in the country. The rankings might be subjective once you get outside of the top 50, but the top 30 or so are pretty consistent, and the bulk of those guys produce at the next level. To really make an impact on the national stage, they'll need more All-Americans like Frank Williams, Dee Brown, and Brian Cook.

5/$65 definitely seems to be the highest he can get that makes sense. That's right around what Adrian Beltre got. Beltre was coming off a far superior season (still not sure where that 104-48-121 with .334/.388/.629 came from, in a pitcher's park none the less), but was also much more inconsistent before that season. However, regardless of what happens, I now have faith in Kenny to find an acceptable replacement for the middle of the order.

QUOTE(Buehrle>Wood @ Nov 8, 2005 -> 05:41 PM) I can see a TON of overrated teams this year. UCONN and their offcourt problems, Louisville losing their 3 best players yet being ranked in the top 10, and Memphis who has been this good on paper before and fallen apart being 3 examples. Last year, I correctly picked the Final 4 in the Preseason. This year, I can't say I see 4 great teams. Michigan State, Duke, and Gonzaga are head and shoulders above the rest. That 4th team, however, is giving me nightmares. No idea who it will be due to all of these pretenders, and therefore, I will not pick one. I seriously disagree with your pretenders lists. UConn is quite simply one of the most talented teams out there. Even without Williams, they'll get by for a long time, and everything I've read says he'll be back after the first semester. Without him, they could be similar to Michigan State last year, with enough talent to get around the fact that they don't have a PG. With Williams, they'd be the #1 team in the country in virtually every pre-season poll. They might lose a few early, but they should make some serious noise come tournament time unless Williams has a setback. Even without him, they could easily be Sweet 16 material. Louisville is in a somewhat similar situation. They have some injury problems right now that could hurt their chances early (Padgett, Palacios, and I think someone else). However, they're a very talented team. Dean is still a fabulous shooter and scorer, and when Palacios and Padgett get healthy they'll be tough. Plus their top recruit last year (Brian Johnson) is close to healthy, and he's another potential impact player. They might not be top 10, but they have some talent. Memphis could be an issue, but it's hard to argue with their talent. They could be a major player, or they could struggle. However, considering the strength of their conference, I don't see them struggling too much. Conference USA is pretty bad right now. It's hard to pick 4 teams that are really good right now. The 3 that you mentioned are pretty good, but they still have issues. Gonzaga looks really good, but it's going to be hard to tell how good they really are because of their schedule. Duke's relying on a lot of young players and former role players outside of their big 2. They're good, but far from unbeatable. Michigan State doesn't exactly have a whole lot of depth, Neitzel is a bit of a question mark, and Davis is their only legit big guy. A couple of other teams to look at are: Texas, who is very deep, very talented, and the only flaw I see is somewhat suspect perimeter shooting; Villanova has a lot of upperclassmen with some talent. The only issue they have right now is questionable health for Sumpter and Fraser, although they probably should have beaten UNC last year even without Sumpter; UConn, with or without Williams. They've got good talent with Anderson, Gay, Boone, and Armstrong starting with Brown and Nelson coming off the bench. If Williams gets back or one of their freshmen PG's develops, they'll be very tough to beat. As for top teams that will struggle, one of the big ones I see is Kentucky. They've got a serious hole in the middle until Randolph Morris gets back, and even when he does they can't afford to have him in foul trouble. Sparks and Rondo are good, but not good enough to carry the team. Some other players are going to have to step up. Another is Boston College. They rely very heavily on Smith and Dudley, and their schedule is going to be a lot tougher than it was last season. Alabama is another. They've got talent, but almost all of it is in the post. Davis is good and Hendrix is a hell of a recruit, but Davidson offers little on offense. They need some guys to hit outside shots, otherwise teams will simply collapse inside. Syracuse is another team I think might struggle. McNamara is their only proven player, and he wasn't that good last year. He seriously needs another major offensive threat to develop, otherwise he'll have a rough year. They have talented players, but all are young and unproven. One team I think is rated way too low is Maryland. Talent-wise, they belong in the top 10. Strawberry is a much better fit with the rest of their team than Gilchrist was. They're very deep and very talented, and a healthy Strawberry at the point will make them a very dangerous team.

I don't feel like reading this whole thread, but I think TO is worth a shot. The last two years he has been the best WR in football. Yes, he's been a major pain in the ass, but his antics have typically been minor in the past (obviously excluding this year), even more so when the team is winning. He was virtually a model citizen last year, and outside of some TD celebrations he was harmless for most of his time in San Francisco. If the Bears were to get him, they would immediately become one of the favorites in the NFC. I think it's worth a shot for one, maybe two years. If he starts becoming a problem again, you cut him. As long as you are not locked into him long term (I guess in the NFL you almost never are, you could cut him at any time), his talent can override the fact that he is a jerk-off. The Bears' offense is in desperate need of another playmaker, and you aren't going to find any as big as TO. For a level of talent as high as TO's, he's worth a risk as long as he doesn't require a long term contract at the moment. In the short term, he can be a highly productive player who usually keeps his antics to a minimum when winning and with a new team for a while.

QUOTE(TheHammer @ Nov 7, 2005 -> 04:08 PM) Eh, you can't ask a girl its not fair. Girls that know anything about any team they supposedly are fans of are few and far between. Come on, my Mom can name more than 4 Sox players, and she's far from an avid baseball fan.

I think I'm done with Sox stuff. Here's my full list of stuff: -Team signed 16x20 picture -Highland Mint Team Celebration Photo-Mint -Topps World Series Champs set -Chicago Tribune newspapers (think I got all of them) -Chicago Tribune book/magazine (whatever you want to call it, soft cover) -SI World Series Champs magazine -Street & Smith World Series Champs magazine -World Series DVD -Chicago Tribune headline T-shirt -Jersey numbers WS Champs T-shirt -Parade T-shirt -Locker room T-shirt -WS Champs hat -Nike WS Champs shirt -Nike WS Champs hoodie -Black WS Champs roster T-shirt (bought from a vendor) -White Sox T-Shirt, "A Different Hero Everyday" (from a shop in Evanston) -White Sox World Series Champs jacket (wool and leather, $170 version) -World Series Champs Car Flag -AL Champs roster shirt -ALDS hat -AL Central Champs mock-faded pattern T-shirt -AL Central Champs pennant T-shirt If you've got the cash, I highly recommend the Steiners' pictures, they look pretty sweet. They have virtually all of the players, coaches, and Frank. The only ones it is missing are Widger, Harris, Cora, and Man Soo Lee, all of which I could live with. List is like $2,500, but I got it for under 2k from a reputable guy on E-bay.

QUOTE(watchtower41 @ Nov 7, 2005 -> 03:30 PM) Does anyone still have the mlb.com 20% off coupon code?? I kow it was posted on a thread after the series, and I went back a good 12 pages... couldnt find it though MLBSorry20 play around with the caps and spacing if it doesn't work that way, because that's the right text.

Paulie would be my first choice because he is the youngest and wouldn't require any players. The rest is somewhat murky in my book. Delgado is probably the second best player to get, but he's also got some major money due and would cost us in talent. He definitely drops to last in my book if they make us take Lowell. However, if we could get him for somewhere between $10 and $12 mil a year without giving up crucial players (something like Marte, Hernandez, and Rowand or Anderson), I'd rank him second. Thome would probably be next purely because he would be cheaper. He's more of a high risk/high reward type player. It looks like we might be able to get him for well under $10 mil a year without giving up a ton of talent, which is very intriguing. Giles probably falls next in line. While I like him as a hitter, he doesn't have as much power potential as the other guys anymore, and I think he's getting somewhat close to a serious decline. The other issue is he probably fits better as a full-time corner OF then as the DH, meaning he'd make more sense if Dye were moving to first. Helton probably comes in last because there is just a ton of money left on his deal. Also, he could be in for a power drop without the thin air, and his average might drop also without such a large outfield for opposing players to cover. However, he is an intriguing player if we can drop his salary significantly and not give up a ton of talent. The more interesting question would be if we put Overbay and Dunn on this list also. Most of these players seem to be very similar, in that they will cost us a ton of money but maybe not as much in terms of talent.

The front page of ESPN now says that TO will be suspended for the maximum 4 games allowed and will not be back with the team this season. As much of a pain in the ass that Owens is, this is seriously going to hurt the Eagles' chances. There are only a handful of receivers that can make the kind of impact that Owens can, and guys like Moss and Johnson aren't exactly the quite consumate team players either. Anyone else in that league is signed long term. I find it hard to believe that some team with some cap space wouldn't take him. He can make a major impact on your team, and his antics are much less severe and detrimental when the team is winning. Edit- Damn you Sleepy, you beat me.

I'm trying to stop paying attention to the Cubs and their crap, but someone always has to try to get them some attention regardless of what is going on. This sounds like a typical "Poor us. Look what we go through, please feel sorry for us," crap. Everything always has to be about the damn Cubs. That's probably why Sox fans hate them so much, while the typical Cub fan (I know they aren't all bad) is happy as long as he gets as much alcohol in him as possible. I've been to Cubs games on occasion (don't worry, I don't actually pay for tickets), and it never seems like anyone around me is paying attention to the game. Someone's always making food and beer runs, looking for hot women, or going to the bathroom and getting lost for 3 innings (this isn't exclusively a Wrigley thing either. I went on a bus trip to a game at Miluakee with a heavily Cub-fan group, and the attitude was the same). I know this happens everywhere, but never as much as at Wrigley. The place is more of a tourist trap and a beer garden than an actual ballpark. How many people at the game do you think would notice if they replaced the Cubs with a local high school team? I'm putting the over/under at 15,000. As for the crack about everything going on during the game, go to any park that has been built in the last 15 years (which is probably all of them but Wrigley, Fenway, Yankee Stadium, and the Twinkie Dome) and they have various things going on during the break. Go to any sporting event for that matter. And Wrigley is better because they don't have that stuff? Maybe if they didn't have an ancient piece of s*** stadium that was falling apart they'd have video boards to do the same thing. You can't tell me that stuff wouldn't go over well at Wrigley with a straight face. I like the theory put forth in a Sporting News article I read: there are roughly the same number of die hard Cubs fans as there are die hard Sox fans, the difference is everyone in the middle leans towards the Cubs. Seriously, if you don't have the support from the casual observer, how are you going to have good attendance figures? Is every diehard fan supposed to attend every game? Guess what, they didn't even outdraw us that badly this year, and it's almost certainly going to be closer after our World Series win. Edit- By the way, I had to throw this in. I was at the Northwestern-Iowa game, and Ronnie f***in Woo-Woo is walking down the aisles in full Cub gear, waving a Bears helmet above his head. What the f*** is up with that?! This job-less freak is supposed to be a benefit?! I wanted to tackle him so bad, but I couldn't afford to bail myself out of jail if I did.

QUOTE(dreamrio @ Nov 3, 2005 -> 12:30 PM) I want to know if anyone is getting a team autographed ball from neiman marcus. $2500 yikes I ended up buying a team signed 16x20 photo from a Steiner Sports dealer. The price is a bit ridiculous (not quite as bad as that ball), but I had to have it. Obviously after I get a suitable frame for it the picture will take a place of honor on my wall.