mmmmmbeeer

Some personal faves....certainly not an alltime list, as far as crediting those who made these possible Radiohead--OK Computer Pearl Jam--Vitalogy, No Code The Jayhawks--Hollywood Town Hall, Tomorrow the Green Grass SonVolt--Trace Beatles--Abbey Road, Rubber Soul Nirvana--In Utero Allman Brothers Band--Live at the Fillmore East Ben Harper--Fight for your Mind Phish--Billy Breathes Tribe Called Quest--Midnight Marauders Method Man--Tical Dr Dre--The Chronic Pennywise--Full Circle Bad Religion--Stranger than Fiction The Verve--Urban Hymns Gomez--Bring it On Neil Young--Everybody Knows this is Nowhere, Harvest, After the Goldrush Grateful Dead--American Beauty

I'm sorry about the scouting, I meant ML scouts. Specifically I have been shocked by the way that pitchers we haven't seen before just absolutely blow through our lineup. We can go out and score runs on proven pitchers but get embarrassed by AAAA rookies. It's awful. I agree as far as minor league scouts go, I'd say they are average. Sure we have a few bright spots, but I wouldn't say that we are heads and shoulders above the rest of the league. Also, I enjoy Comiskey. But there is no denying that it was an extremely plain ballpark when compared to say Jacobs field. I'm ecstatic that they've continuously updated Comiskey, but the bottom line is that it felt short of expectations. It was never a park that out of towners "had to see". Those "have to see" parks increase attendance, something we sorely lack. Ya know?

I haven't watched the movie since I was a kid, but was Eight Men Out a fairly accurate portrayal of the situation?

I wish it were just a matter of payroll, but I think that the Sox problems go deeper. PR and marketing are awful. Scouting, horrible. Development, questionable. Ballpark wasn't even in the same league as other new parks. You name it, the Sox have found a way to f*** it up. Winning will cure a lot though. So if spending some loot brings us a winner, then yes, you're correct, payroll is the answer to our problems. BTW, good article. I'm with Rex though, Maggs isn't worth Vladdy kind of money...hell, Tejada wasn't worth what he got. I'd apparently be one of the few fans who would be satisfied seeing Maggs dealt for some stud ML-ready prospects and a solid major leaguer.

ESPN insider mentions this same deal??? Man, what a steal for the Sox.

Agreed 100%... Maggs, atleast IMHO, didn't have a great year last season. He had a hot month or two right after the break and those months really helped his #'s. He didn't seem very clutch either. To get just Jackson and Miller for him would make me happy. I mean Maggs is a helluva ballplayer, but not $12-$15M good. For that money I want 25SB, >.315BA, 40+HRs, >110RBI and excellent defensive skills. I don't see those statistics coming from Maggs.

Cleveland improved tremendously last season. They are going to be a very scary team in a couple of years. They are doing an outstanding job of rebuilding. KC has an excellent bullpen, strong defense, solid hitting, and great chemistry...those things will help them overcome a weak starting rotation, IMHO. Their staff is only going to improve from last season. Minny got weaker but the Sox cant' win in the dome. Never have, never will. The place suits the Twins style of ball...not ours. It's just a prediction man. I pray that we win this division...i just don't see it being an easy task. I don't look at our roster and immediately think winning season. I don't look at our division and immediately think that we've got it locked up. Of course, I did do that the last couple of years and we came up short. Perhaps things will change this year. I just think that this may be a very long season. But I'm a glutton for punishment and will be subscribing to the Extra Innings package again so I can watch our team fall short of .500 ball. I already warned the ole lady that I'll probably be in a bad mood all summer.

79-83 and a 3rd place finish in the ALC KC got tougher, CLE will be tougher, MIN we will lose all but 1 game in the dome. We'll get slaughtered outside of our division by everyone but TX. The west is solid except for TX. The East got a lot tougher this year with Baltimore stepping up, TOR should be decent, and Sweet Lou doing his thing down in TB. Our national league games are not going to be cake, especially our sets against the sCrUBS. Pitching will kill us, absolutely destroy us, as will the lack of a leadoff man.

So I remember reading somewhere that Jose was practicing batting left-handed against southpaws during winterball, possibly in preparation to become a fulltime LH hitter... Do you think we could see a considerable jump in his average this season if he indeed ends up hitting from the left side fulltime?

I apparently missed this whole cable contract/station deal. I live out of town so, unless I see news on here, I don't know what's going on with the Sox. Is this going to hurt my extra innings coverage of the Sox? Is it a pay-per-view kind of deal? Could someone please shed some light on this for me? Thanks.

and yet another... http://www.dailysouthtown.com/southtown/ds.../pro/311sd1.htm

agreed. not one word about any source, named or not.

yeah, i didn't post this as fact. the article also clarifies that this will be fully investigated. I'm pretty sure that we all knew that France had some sort of ulterior motive, now it's just a matter of proving it. And yes, although I think it was just a matter of campaigning, I do give the Germans credit if they opposed the war with absolutely no outside motives.

http://washingtontimes.com/upi-breaking/20...94014-7323r.htm Interesting.....very interesting. Sounds like this thing was a f***ing gaggle on both sides of the pond.

Also, the fact that he implies that this has never been a Cubs town until just recently also tells me that he isn't blasting the Sox franchise as a whole, JUST current leadership.

Maggs is worth less than Vlad and you gotta remember that Beltran just signed that 1yr deal for what, $9-10M? I'd honestly think long and hard if I had to choose between Maggs and Beltran, and would probably lean towards Beltran due to his base stealing abilities. I sure as hell wouldn't give Maggs $13-15M when I could get Beltran for $10-11M.

I love that Mr. Zero moniker more and more each time I hear/read it. Even if the guy blows, he'll still have one the coolest nicknames in all of baseball.

And another thing...when the f*** have the Sox ever "won big"? You consider 2000 a successful season? 3 and out in the first round of the playoffs is a success? Seems your standards are much lower than the rest of us. Could explain our "ignorance".

So you feel as if this franchise is being run at an optimal level? You feel that advertising is both effective and efficient? You feel that player development is sufficient? You feel that Reinsdorf and company are barely making a profit? You feel that White Sox popularity in Chicago has not slipped since 1980? You feel that 2 million in attendance is acceptable in a market the size of Chicago? You believe players are happy to be a White Sox? I can't believe that you can answer yes to even half of the questions I've listed. An owner, regardless of their level of business savvy, who wants to win would do a much better job of solving the problems that many of us see with this franchise. If you're happy, then so be it. I'm not.

I've always felt this way too. It's a f*** of a lot easier for one man, JR, to change his ways than it is for 1.5million people to collectively change theirs. And yeah, those commercials last season were just absolutely f***ing horrible. I had the Extra Innings package so I got to see ads from several teams. Most were rather humorous or got your blood pumping a bit, seeing your team advertised in a positive light. Not the Sox though, their ads were just plain dumb. Dumb to the point where you get that f***ing scrunched up look on your face and want to change the channel. That f***ing "i'm lovin' it" from McDonalds kind of dumb. There are telemarketers I've talked to on the phone that had a better advertising slogan/approach than the f***ing white sox. One day the Reinsdorf era will end...each day until that day will do nothing more than test our dedication to this franchise. If you can make it through this s***ty era you know you're a Sox fan for life.

WORD

Most importantly, above all else, what has EVER granted the federal government the power to outlaw ANY drug? This is a state's decision, not the fed's. The feds waste UNBELIEVABLE amounts of money on this "war on drugs" and yet drug use hasn't taken a hit in numbers. Look at California, I believe it was San Diego, where a medical marijuana grower/distributor was arrested by the feds DESPITE the fact that the state of California considered this grower/distributor's actions LEGAL. Where is the sovereignty of the state? We do live in a republic last time I checked, or did this change? The "war on drugs", not just marijuana, is a despicable waste of tax payer money and is a truly illegal war. We're wasting money on agents and surveillance. We're wasting money on jails overcrowded with users and dealers. The madness must stop and true FREEDOM must exist. If the feds are going to spend taxpayer money to fight drug abuse then that money should go STRICTLY to a world class drug treatment program. I don't smoke pot BTW, just a pissed off tax payer.

see, now i'm confused. The link that was posted had a deal involving BOS, CWS, KC, MIL, LA, and TEX. Which is the one that has the chance of happening?

my question is, if we trade for Damon to fill the whole in CF by trading away Maggs...doesn't that just move the hole to RF? What exactly do we gain? I'd still rather have Mota than Williamson too. And we're only saving $3M. I don't like this.

I'd rather have a sister in a whorehouse than a brother who's a Cubs fan.