Dr. Tom

HA! At least I'm not the only one who thinks Ratzinger bears a resemblance to Palpatine. Anyway, I think he reigns for 5-10 years (heck, maybe less, since he's already 78), then croaks, and a more progressive guy gets the nod. By that point, most folks who remember the days before Vatican II will be dead, and a link to old-school traditionalism will be broken. Ratzinger is believe to have little patience or use for Muslims, and does not appear very TV-friendly. That makes him an interesting choice to succeed JPII, since he deliberately reached out to many other world religions, and was an excellent pope for the Media Age because of his charisma and folksy appeal. Interesting though the choice may have been, it wasn't surprising at all.

And conveniently, Clark Kent returns at the same time, and still no one figures it out... I'd like to see how they're going to explain that. As a fan of Superman, I can't say I like the returning-after-being-gone-for-6-years premise.

Three cheers to you. Shit, now I'm torn...

Because guests use up as many server resources as regular members. And since we don't have a Cray supercomputer running this site, we decided to conserve resources by forcing lurkers to sign up or move on.

The ABERDEEN IRONBIRDS~! Roster (still need one more player): C Elston Howard C Tom Haller 1B Todd Helton 2B Bobby Grich 2B Joe Gordon 2B Bid McPhee SS Cal Ripken SS Bert Campaneris 3B Robin Ventura 3B Sal Bando 3B Harlond Clift OF Lou Brock OF Frank Robinson OF Babe Ruth OF Fred Lynn OF Wally Berger OF Paul Blair OF Jack Clark SP Bucky Walters SP Carl Hubbell SP Mike Mussina SP Bert Blyleven SP Milt Pappas SP Jim Palmer RP Trevor Hoffman RP Ugueth Urbina RP Willie Hernandez RP Steve Bedrosian RP Paul Quantrill P Harry Brecheen Starting lineup: Lou Brock, CF Bobby Grich, 2B Babe Ruth, RF Frank Robinson, LF Todd Helton, 1B Cal Ripken, SS Robin Ventura, 3B Elston Howard, C No DH is the pits, P Rotation: Bert Blyleven Jim Palmer Mike Mussina Carl Hubbell Milt Pappas Long relief/spot starter: Bucky Walters Relievers: Steve Bedrosian, Willie Hernandez, Paul Quantrill, Ugie Urbina, Harry Brecheen Closer: Trevor Hoffman Bench: Tom Haller, C Bid McPhee, 2B Jack Clark, OF/1B Fred Lynn, OF Sal Bando, 3B That's my 25-man roster. w00t~! Reserves: Uh, whoever's left. :-/ Stadium: Oriole Park at Camden Yards Manager: Earl Weaver (I would have chosen him even if he weren't the default, since he, y'know, managed the Orioles and all.) If coaches matter... 3B: Cal Ripken Sr. 1B: Davey Johnson (he manages if Weaver gets ejected (if the sim does ejections)) Bullpen: Elrod Hendricks Bench: Joe Altobelli (becomes 1B coach if Johnson has to manage) Pitching: Ray Miller Hitting: Eddie Murray GM: Pat Gillick I'm not sure how Weaver's strategies carry over to NL rules, but the only person who bunts should be the pitcher. I'd like an aggressive approach on the bases and at the plate. EDIT: Added 25th player, and some coaches, in case they matter..

I think I want a lefty pitcher. I'll poke about on BR tonight and find one.

Vern secretly drafted Danny Almonte. DIABOLICAL~!

Depending on my depth, I might want another pitcher. Can I see my roster (minus that one player) before I decide?

Thanks, O'Reilly. He really does need to shut the fuck up about "the secularist movement," though. Anyway, the reason I think they'll pick someone more progressive is because they'll basically have to. The rest of the world will catch up with concerns raised by American Catholics. Africa has a lot of Catholics and a lot of AIDS patients, and a conservative Church doesn't have a good stance on stopping the spread of AIDS. Presuming the next Pope reigns for about 10-12 years, a lot of the people who predate Vatican II will be dead or ineligible to vote by the time his successor needs to be named. Congregation members who predate (and remember before and after) Vatican II will likely also be dead, or very old. Someone more progressive could reach out to more members of the Church.

Actually, Dr. Tom selected OF Paul Blair, 3B Harlond Clift, SP MIlt Pappas, OF Chuck Klein, and RP Paul Quantrill.

w00t Incidentally, where are these tournaments? And do they allow those bloody rebuys I hate so much?

Even though I turned out an atheist, I was raised Catholic and went to Catholic school for 12 years. Pope John Paul II has been Pope for the entirety of my life that I can remember. Even though I cast the religion aside, I always liked the Pope, so RIP. I think his legacy will be mixed, though. Yes, he did a lot of good, but he also made significant missteps. Protecting child molestors several years after firing a bishop for suggesting that Africans use condoms to stop the spread of AIDS was the big one. Still, he was an icon of the 1980s and a tireless advocate for liberty. I think the next Pope will be older and conservative in the same ways John Paul was. Then, when that Pope dies, I think they'll go with someone a little younger and more progressive. Whoever they pick this time needs to be media-savvy and charismatic like his predecessor.

AL-only money league, hopefully 12 teams (but probably 11), auction draft with $260 salary cap. This is a list of my keepers. The draft is this Sunday. C Joe Mauer 2-3 15 2B Omar Infante 2nd year 5 3B Bill Mueller X 3 SS Bobby Crosby 1-2 15 (signing to a 2-year contract) OF Chone Figgins 2nd year 1 OF Aaron Rowand 2nd year 3 P Brendan Donnelly X 1 P John Lackey 2nd year 4 P Brad Radke 2nd year 15 P Freddy Garcia 2nd year 17 P Bob Wickman 2nd year 10 P Mike Timlin 2nd year 1 That's $90 in total salary by my math, leaving me $170 for my 13 open slots. Any fantasy players within driving distance of Baltimore who want in on the league? It's short notice, but we need one more owner ASAP (someone had to drop out unexpectedly after taking a job overseas). PM me if interested.

You aren't cleared for that information.

Hmm. We have Sass and Josh definitely against paying anything toward the site, me philosophically against it but maybe willing to kick in a part of it, and PK willing to pay 5-10 a month toward it. I think this can be taken to the general Staff folder and see if the GMods are willing and able to cover the rest. If not, it looks like we'll be going with the Invision Free plan. Thoughts?

I dare you to suspend 50 random WWE folder dwellers for the entire duration of tonight's SD. Extra points if they actually take part in the SD thread.

I froze when I read what Slickster wrote... The room... it's spinning...

But is there a cap on the quantity of data you can have? Bandwidth? While we don't have as many active members as our total would suggest, even 800 active members might run us afoul of something like the new INvisionFree. We can keep what we have now if there's a way found to pay for it. Otherwise, I'm all for the free solution, as long as it's feasible. I remember, in the latter days of the Smarks EZBoard, they had to keep chopping things down to keep the board free. I don't want to repeat that.

HA, I don't think I've heard that one since the Challenger exploded.

Why is NASA drinking Coke? Because they can't get 7 up. HAHAHAHAHA! What did the sharks eat that day? LAUNCH meat. Bwahahahaha! What color were Christa McAuliffe's eyes? Blue -- one blew this way, one blew that way. HAHAHAHA Ok, I'll stop now. But there are plenty more...

Wow. I'm going to buy a stuffed animal and just make up all this "spooky" shit and sell it for a mint. Jeebus, stupid people will believe anything, even with a five-figure price tag.

Wednesday, 6-8 PM. Just in time for the story to get EVEN MORE coverage on the cable news channels. :-/

Quality of life > quantity of life. I don't think it's a stretch that someone who has only 20% of her brain has zero quality of life. Keep the tube out. Give her a needle and make it quick.

Fake. Just like all "ghost videos" and "ghost photos."

Um... wouldn't that also paralyze your HEART for seven hours, too? That doesn't seem terribly conducive to living at the end of the experience. But I guess the plus side there is that addiction is impossible...