HarleyQuinn

Can agree with this to a point, although I'll admit to being curious why Al's being booted as Mod (too hands off?). I love a good back/forth debate as much as anybody but I largely stick to talking about the Boston teams because they are who I follow and I don't have enough merit to talk at length about other specific teams (i.e. talking about Oakland or the Mets as opposed to the Red Sox) so I let others handle that. I'll happily chime in on certain players/news but we do have a decent split in terms of what teams are talk about. Part of the issue is when someone like a Dama lives in Oklahoma but cheers for the Celtics, it showcases more of a slant to say Boston, as opposed to him offering his thoughts on the Mavericks or Spurs instead. Off the top of my head... - Cartman, King, Me, Max = Boston - Czech = Chicago - Al = Philadelphia - NoCalMike = Oakland A's (off the top of my head) - Marvin = Baltimore - VX = Green Bay/Wisconsin Area - Dama = Oklahoma Sooners - Dirtybird = New York area My Existence: Talk about I-AA Football in the college threads and bounce around in terms of discussion that I find interesting (see the Rickey/Rice HOF thread for example). I pre-dominantly post in the Sports Folder, not much in the game threads, but I'm usually somewhere if a debate arises.

Or not... Leena?

I'm not a fan of the Mariners, but this HAS to happen. Seconded although if this happens, Seattle would be smart to platoon him at DH and start him against RHP. 2006-2008 vs. RHP: 945 AB - 268 H - 53 HR (BA: .284 with 5.6 HR%) 2006-2008 vs. LHP: 501 AB - 108 H - 22 HR (BA: .216 with 4.4 HR%)

Stocking up on hitters at the moment... Getting a bit of pop at SS with overall ability. SS Yunel Escobar

2B Rickie Weeks

I like the guy as a developmental project. Not sure he'll be taken in the 3rd (though I could see it) but I expect him to go more around the 4th or 5th round. He definitely has good enough arm strength but seems to come off as more of a Tyler Thigpen type QB (who got drafted in the 7th out of Coastal Carolina). He'll need to work hard to read coverages better and pick up the speed of the game. He could be serviceable if employed in a pre-dominant Spread system as Thigpen was last year, but he'll likely need 1-2 seasons on the bench first.

Coach Gary Kubiak confirmed that following Morlon Greenwood's release Xavier Adibi will be the Texans' starting weak-side linebacker. Houston also cut RB Ahman Green. Raiders C Jake Grove's contract has voided and he is a free agent. He apparently met playing time requirements. Oakland also claimed QB Bruce Gradkowski off waivers~! I have a soft spot for the guy... San Francisco released OLB Tully Banta-Cain. Curious but doubt that the Patriots would nab him back for depth.

As an aside: Adding your players to the My Watch List section is a great way to keep track of your team and "confirm" who you've picked (in case Krankor screws up). MJ: I'm more annoyed with the weekly roster changes vs. daily but that's 'cause I wanted to try some tactics that are a little harder to do weekly wise (and that a "weekly" format could be done on the daily too just by setting up a team on Monday and leaving it for the week but eh).

Man... I can't decide whether to laugh or just shake my head at Matt Young. Meh

I'm actually agreeing with your remarks except the idea that those fans are gone today. Watch an old school ECW show and really watch it. Watch a match. See how often the fans "boo" or "cheer" as opposed to starting self serving chants for themselves. That chant of "ECW! ECW!" is telling the wrestlers... we don't really care enough to split you up as a face/heel and cheer/boo for the duration of the match. We just want to cheer the company name and get ourselves over as smarter than the average fan with intelligent, meaningless chants. That stigma is now with the ROH crowds. You're giving too much credit to a minuscule number of fans in those arenas. The spirit of fans from the 60's, 70's, and 80's are still there in the fans of the 90's and 2000's. For every company that caters to the mutant smart mark crowds (ECW, ROH), there are companies like the WWE who cater to normal fans who want a reason to cheer/boo and most fans don't give a shit about anything backstage. If anything, smart marks are the poison. Those wrestlers are giving you their livelihood and you cheer a heel to be "cool"? You boo a face because you don't like him based on rumors and gossip? That's moronic and takes away from the match. If you were really a smart mark, you'd boo and jeer the everloving shit out of that guy because it means he's getting over. It means you hate him and as a heel, that's his job. You'd cheer that face because it means he's getting over and he needs it. You want a certain guy to be "pushed" then get vocal and boo him if he's a heel or cheer him if he's a face. Smart marks thought Cena was cool as a heel and he was cheered. He turned face. Now you want to disown him because he's exactly how you made him? Triple H was finally "selling" in 2000 and you think the fans cared that he was up top backstage? They wanted to see him get beat and lose that title. They hated him because he kept just barely winning. The Chris Jericho phantom title win said it all. Those fans didn't care that a workrate guy won... they cared that somebody beat Triple H. Imagine the Jake Roberts/Randy Savage angle taking place today in ROH... there would be company chants. Chants of "Holy Shit" but you would never hear a boo directed at Jake Roberts just because he's a nasty bastard to Savage and Elizabeth. That wouldn't have been cool. That would've been a mark reaction. Now imagine it in the WWE. It'd be very similar to the way it happened back in the WWF. Sure there'd be a handful cheering Jake, booing Savage but they wouldn't be heard because most fans would rightly boo Jake and cheer Savage. Those fans exist today. Those are the fans who cheered Cena and turned him face and keep cheering while he's a face. Those are the fans who cheered Randy Orton as he ran through Evolution and boo'd Vince McMahon when he went up against a reformed DX. Those are the fans who cheered Jeff Hardy when he won the WWE Title.

Whoa... I'm amazed that guys (Travis Pastrana...) don't suffer more major injuries. Often you hear of a broken wrist or a mangled leg, etc. but never that a guy is in a coma or had a fractured skull upon landing.

Agreed. We know someone else will happily take the team and put in some effort to make the picks (or at least PM his picks if he'll miss).

I think part of the issue is the alteration in format... Back then, you had WWF Superstars (largely squashes), Wrestling Challenge (largely squashes), and Prime Time Wrestling, which featured high end matches. Nowadays, we have three shows in and of themselves that would show "PPV" level matches. We'd never see a Hogan vs. Piper on WWF Superstars back then but it became commonplace to see The Rock vs. Triple H or Steve Austin vs. Undertaker on a given Monday Night Raw. After seeing Rock/HHH for the 4th time in 3 months, the "impact" of seeing them square off on a PPV is not nearly as significant as it was seeing Hogan vs. Andre at WM3 or Steamboat vs. Savage then. Hasbeen2's comment about the backstage pull/overexposure is largely Smark talk and BS for most garden variety average fans. They may know that, as TMC said, it's no longer as "fake" in terms of being able to suspend belief but they don't care if Triple H runs the booking team or not. The fans want a good product, same as the kayfabe era. A guy like Cena got over, period because of his mic skills and solid ring act. It didn't matter to the fans whether he could throw out 4* matches or was a Smark darling or not. He entertained and that's all that matters. As good as Russo's stuff was... it also took away the concept of the "big match" IMO. There's a reason people talk about dream matches like Hogan/Austin, because they've never wrestled each other 1-1 on a Raw/Smackdown show. You see Batista vs. Cena or Orton vs. Jericho on a Raw and when they put that same match on a PPV, it's ho hum because you've already seen it before so it's lost that luster of knowing it's such a big match that it can only be seen on PPV. Why pay the $35 or invest yourself extra as a fan at a PPV, when you can largely catch the same match for free at a cheaper live show?

Some other transaction notes... Notable names only Cleveland Browns released QB Bruce Gradkowski, QB Ken Dorsey, CB Terry Cousin, OLB Antwan Peek, and OL Eric Young Detroit Lions released CB Leigh Bodden, S Dwight Smith, and TE Dan Campbell New York Giants released RB Reuben Droughns, S Sammy Knight, and CB Sam Madison

Dawson also won four Gold Gloves as a center fielder, four more in right. Five of those seven players you listed made significant contributions on defense. Rice played left field in front of a short wall. Not a big fan of Range Factor but he was good in that department (2.10 vs. LA of 1.84, better by +0.26) and had a .981 fielding percentage compared to a league average of .978. Sure, the Green Monster may have made opportunities "easier" but Manny Ramirez was a below average fielder playing in front of that short wall as was Ted Williams. Yaz was a pretty good comparable to Rice and he won 7 Gold Gloves... Yaz had a 1.93 RF (vs. LA 1.58) and a fielding % of .982 vs. LA of .977. Numbers are put outs, range factor, and fielding percentage. 1980: LF Ben Ogilvie (377, 2.63 and .978), LF Al Oliver (283, 2.10 and .974) vs. Jim Rice (232, 2.23 and .988) 1983: LF Dave Winfield (208, 1.69 and .972) vs. Jim Rice (339, 2.38 and .984) 1986: LF George Bell (268, 1.94 and .966) vs. Jim Rice (334, 2.24 and .978) Not sure if Win Shares would support it but it looks like Rice could've had a legit case to win at least 2 Gold Gloves. Also keep in mind that Rice was often playing with fellow GG winners in Fred Lynn (Through 1980) and Dwight Evans in that same outfield so it may not have been so much lack of defensive talent so much as that was the only place to fit him in and then he stuck.

Was looking at the numbers and thought I'd see what others thought. Jim Rice (1974-1989): 2,452 Hits - 382 HR - 1451 RBI - 670 BB vs. 1423 K - .298/.352/.502 Other Notes: Career 128 OPS+ - 4,129 Total Bases - Finished inside the Top 5 in MVP voting in 6 seasons, Won in 1978. Hit over .300 in 7 seasons and had 6 seasons over a 130+ OPS. Negatives: Lack of a peak and his home park factor. In regards to the peak, I'd say from 1977-1983 was his peak (5 seasons over 130+ OPS with the 2 others finishing at 116 and 122). He had a .920 OPS at home vs. a .789 OPS on the road (Also hit .320 for his career at home). Was he aided by Fenway? Of course he was... He still hit .277 and slugged .459 for his career on the road. Andre Dawson hit .278 and slugged .483 on the road for comparison and plenty are vouching he should make the HOF. Let's put Rice into context in regards to the era he played in. He led the AL in HR in 1977, 1978 (46 vs. 34 at 2nd), and 1983. He tied for 2nd and 3rd in 2 other seasons. This during a time when hitting 35 HR could get you the top spot in the AL in any given season. He finished in the Top 5 in BA 4 times and finished at 6th and 7th in 2 other seasons. Finished Top 5 in hits in 5 seasons and led in 1978. He's an iffy choice at worst (Exceeds in Black Ink, Gray Ink, and HOF Monitor. Just shy on HOF Standards at 43 vs. average 50) and I'd argue, deserving of his place in the HOF. Other Guys from that era... with home vs. road splits Fred Lynn: 1906 Hits, 306 HR, Career 129 OPS+ (.911 vs. .780) BA = .299 vs. .267 Dwight Evans: 2446 Hits, 385 HR, Career 127 OPS+ (.885 vs. .798) BA = .283 vs. .261 Don Baylor: 2135 Hits, 338 HR, Career 118 OPS+ (.757 vs. .797) BA = .253 vs. .267 Harold Baines: 2866 Hits, 384 HR, Career 120 OPS+ (.829 vs. .812) BA = .290 vs. .289 Lou Whitaker: 2369 Hits, 244 HR, Career 116 OPS+ (.817 vs. .762) BA = .279 vs. .274 Andre Dawson: 2774 Hits, 438 HR, Career 119 OPS+ (.811 vs. .800) BA = .281 vs. .278 Alan Trammell: 2365 Hits, 185 HR, Career 110 OPS+ (.785 vs. .749) BA = .292 vs. .277 If we penalize Rice, we'll have to penalize anybody who's played in a hitter's park or had predominantly "great" numbers at home. Larry Walker will be an interesting case (very similar career totals to Rice) and he hit .348 at home with a 1.068 OPS but still hit .278 and slugged .495 on the road in his career. How much will he be penalized (should he?) for being with Colorado to play in Coors Field? He still hit .289 with St. Louis at age 38 so it wasn't all just Coors.

I think that was initially the reasoning behind how this all came about, in that she was gathering information on him and this (the steroid/banned substance) popped up.

SP Mike Pelfrey

Had this guy last year... he'd be the next Mike Piazza if he could stick at C and not be screwed by Mathis, IMO. He's the next power stud regardless. C Mike Napoli

Agreed. If the pick needs to be "fixed" somebody will point it out in the thread (or shoot a PM?) and the fix can be made later as the others draft.

Quick question for ya, Al I was looking at home/road splits and came upon Bonds in 2004 with the following stat line... Home: 304 PA, 16 2B - 3 3B - 26 HR, 115 BB (61 IBB) vs. 23 K, .412/.638/.962 Is that one of the top lines in either a home or road split ever amongst batters?

Both those guys were kept, Matt (JS Round 1, AR Round 20)

I totally Victoria so here's the best retirement vid for her I've seen. Not big on the song and wish there was a bit more Heel-era love but oh well. I'd do my own vid but just don't have the patience atm.

ABC Family... not sure it was ever "great" but now they're stuck showing (pre-dominantly) Step By Step, Fresh Prince of Bel Air, Sabrina The Teenage Witch, and Full House with the odd movie thrown in here and there. Boomerang still kicks ass, although it's starting to become Cartoon Network lite with Powerpuff Girls, Teen Titans, Justice League Unlimited, The Batman, Johnny Bravo, and Dexter's Laboratory.

I'll third the dislike of ESPN's setup. Just an annoying hassle to deal (more so) compared with Yahoo.