Bored

Greg Vaughn, Left Fielder Milwaukee Brewers 1989-1996 San Diego Padres 1996-1998 Cincinnati Reds 1999 Tampa Bay Devil Rays 2000-2002 Colorado Rockies 2003 Awards 1998 NL Silver Slugger - OF All-Star Selections: 4 (1993, 1996, 1998, 2001) League Leader None Career Ranks Homeruns: 73rd Best Performance September 7, 1999 - Cincinnati at Chicago (Game 2 of DH) Hits three homeruns against the Cubs. Hall of Fame Stats Gray Ink: Batting - 22 (928) (Average HOFer ≈ 144) HOF Standards: Batting - 25.0 (418) (Average HOFer ≈ 50) HOF Monitor: Batting - 50.0 (368) (Likely HOFer > 100) Similar Batters in HOF: None Top 10 Similar Batters: Jeromy Burnitz, Ron Gant, Rocky Colavito, Roy Sievers, Andruw Jones, Darryl Strawberry, David Justice, Greg Luzinski, Dave Kingman, Jack Clark Year-by-Year Win Shares & Wins Above Replacement Level (WARP3) 1989: 6/1.1 1990: 10/1.3 1991: 20/8.4 1992: 16/6.4 1993: 22/6.7 1994: 9/4.9 1995: 5/1.2 1996: 17/6.3 1997: 8/1.8 1998: 30/10.6 1999: 24/7.2 2000: 16/5.1 2001: 15/3.8 2002: 1/0.6 2003: 1/0.4 Career Win Shares: 199 Career WARP3: 65.3 My Stupid Opinion Vaughn was your prototypical low batting average slugger. His one really standout year in 1998 was of course completely overshadowed by a couple of other sluggers who's names escape me at the moment. Really nothing special about him outside of his power.

Auburn will hire Iowa State's head coach Gene Chizik as their new head coach. Really? That's the best they could come up with? And that was fun end to the Richmond/Northern Iowa game.

Phillies have signed Raul Ibanez to a 3-year, $30 million deal. So I guess not having any interest in keeping Pat Burrell had nothing to do with possibly upgrading their defense in left field.

Alright time to get this up to give everyone extra time to make picks for the record 34 bowl games. All picks must be sent to me by PM. I'll post picks when both teams in a bowl have submitted them. Bowls Deadline Saturday, December 20th, 11:00 AM EST/8:00 AM PST The Bowls Bored Bowl - Winner gets $50 #1 N.C. State (AboveAverage484, 11-3) vs. #2 Arizona (UZI Suicide, 11-3) Covers.com Degenerate Bowl #4 Miami of Ohio* (Hawk 34, 9-4) vs. #6 Georgia Tech* (iggymcfly, 9-4) Sugar Cereal Bowl presented by Count Chocula #5 Ball State* (Vampir69, 10-4) vs. #8 Syracuse* (CanadianChris, 9-5) I Used To Fuck Guys Like You In Prison Football Classic #9 Alabama (AlwaysPissedOff, 8-5) vs. #10 Virginia (Edwin MacPhisto, 8-5) Don't Taze Me Bowl! #3 Nebraska (Mecca, 10-4) vs. Kentucky (Danville Wrestling, 9-5) Gamestop.com Early Reservation Bowl #7 Tennessee* (Canadian Brandon, 9-4) vs. Ohio State (Gert T, 8-5) KFC PETA Bowl LSU* (teke184, 8-5) vs. Notre Dame* (KingPK, 8-6) K-Mart Blue Light Special Bowl South Carolina* (Cuban Linx, 7-6) vs. Fresno State* (Agent Bond34, 7-6) Main Loon Restaurant China Bowl Minnesota* (Vern Gagne, 8-5) vs. Arizona State* (still fly, 7-6) AIG Bailout Bowl Indiana* (Agent of Oblivion, 7-6) vs. Boston College* (HarleyQuinn, 7-7) 34 Bowls is Way too Fucking Many...to Make Picks For December 20th EagleBank: Navy vs. Wake Forest New Mexico: Colorado State vs. Fresno State St. Petersburg: South Florida vs. Memphis Las Vegas: BYU vs. Arizona December 21st New Orleans: Troy vs. Southern Miss December 23rd Poinsettia: Boise State vs. TCU December 24th Hawaii: Hawaii vs. Notre Dame December 26th Motor City: Florida Atlantic vs. Central Michigan December 27th Meineke Car Care: West Virginia vs. North Carolina Champs Sports: Wisconsin vs. Florida State Emerald: California vs. Miami December 28th Independence: Louisiana Tech vs. Northern Illinois December 29th PapaJohns.com: N.C. State vs. Rutgers Alamo: Missouri vs. Northwestern December 30th Humanitarian: Maryland vs. Nevada Holiday: Oklahoma State vs. Oregon Texas: Western Michigan vs. Rice December 31st Armed Forces: Houston vs. Air Force Sun: Oregon State vs. Pittsburgh Music City: Boston College vs. Vanderbilt Insight: Kansas vs. Minnesota Chick-Fil-A: LSU vs. Georgia Tech January 1st Outback: South Carolina vs. Iowa Gator: Nebraska vs. Clemson Capital One: Georgia vs. Michigan State Rose: Penn State vs. USC Orange: Virginia Tech vs. Cincinnati January 2nd Cotton: Texas Tech vs. Mississippi Liberty: East Carolina vs. Kentucky Sugar: Utah vs. Alabama January 3rd International: Connecticut vs. Buffalo January 5th Fiesta: Ohio State vs. Texas January 6th GMAC: Ball State vs. Tulsa January 8th BCS: Florida vs. Oklahoma Tiebreak #1: How many total points will be scored in the BCS Championship Game? Tiebreak #2: How many passing yards will Oklahoma's Sam Bradford have against Florida?

Robothal is reporting the three-way trade that brings that Putz to the Mets is a done deal.

Gino Torretta over Garrison Hearst and Marshall Faulk. 'Nuff said. News of note, Florida's offensive coordinator Dan Mullen has been named Mississippi State's new head coach.

Since this thread is still going strong not going to bother creating another for the bowls until next week. But here's the TV schedule for the upcoming weekend for the divisions that have playoffs. FRIDAY FCS Semi-Final: Montana at James Madison, 8:00/5:00 PM, ESPN2 SATURDAY Division II Championship: Northwest Missouri State vs. Minnesota-Duluth, 1:00 PM/10:00 AM, ESPN2 SWAC Championship: Jackson State vs. Grambling State, 2:00 PM/11:00 AM, ESPN Classic FCS Semi-Final: Richmond at Northern Iowa, 4:00/1:00 PM, ESPN And here's a quick summary of the individual coaches ballots for the final Coaches' Poll from collegebcs.com.

You called it. Gordon was the only player elected from either ballot. Santo came closest on the post-'43 ballot but actually received fewer votes than he did in 2007.

CBS begins their coverage of the college basketball season on Saturday. Outside of Texas/Villanova in the Jimmy V Classic, not much going on this week. Full TV Schedule for Week of 12/8 - 12/14 Network & Basic Cable Schedule TUESDAY #23 Davidson vs. West Virginia, 7:00/4:00 PM, ESPN #6 Texas vs. #15 Villanova, 9:00/6:00 PM, ESPN WEDNESDAY TCU at Indiana, 8:00/5:00 PM, ESPN2 THURSDAY St. John's at #15 Villanova, 8:00/5:00 PM, ESPN2 SATURDAY #8 Tennessee at Temple, Noon/9:00 AM, ESPN #17 Memphis at #19 Georgetown, 2:00 PM/11:00 AM, CBS Massachusetts vs. #25 Kansas, 2:00 PM/11:00 AM, ESPN Indiana at Kentucky, 4:00/1:00 PM, CBS Utah at #5 Oklahoma, 4:00/1:00 PM, ESPN2 Mississippi at New Mexico, 4:00/1:00 PM, Versus Oral Roberts at #1 North Carolina, 6:00/3:00 PM, ESPN2 #10 Xavier at Cincinnati, 8:00/5:00 PM, ESPN2 SUNDAY Wright State at #11 Wake Forest, 4:00/1:00 PM, FSN #4 Gonzaga vs. Arizona, 6:00/3:00 PM, FSN

OMG Independence Bowl CONTROVERSY~! http://blogs.dailyherald.com/node/1070 SHENANIGANS!

There's not going to be a split champion, it's not even a remote possibility. If Texas was ahead of Oklahoma in the AP poll then there would be a chance but they aren't and it doesn't matter what they do against Ohio State. The winner of the MNC game will be the unanimous MNC.

BREAKING NEWS ON BOWL GAMES YOU DON'T GIVE A SHIT ABOUT -It seemed to be a forgone conclusion that Louisiana-Lafayette would be invited to the Independence Bowl to set up an all-Louisiana match-up but there is a report that Northern Illinois has been invited instead. -Also being reported that Florida Atlantic will indeed be invited to the Motor City Bowl.

I find it amusing that the Poinsettia Bowl is going to end up with the best match-up according to the BCS rankings among the non-BCS bowls and both teams are ranked higher than the teams that will play in the Orange Bowl.

OMG NOT BEFORE THE OFFICIAL BCS SELECTION SHOW!!! Yes, they are reliable. Here's the rest. 11. TCU 12. Cincinnati 13. Oklahoma State 14. Georgia Tech 15. Georgia 16. BYU 17. Oregon 18. Michigan State 19. Virginia Tech 20. Pittsburgh 21. Missouri 22. Ball State 23. Northwestern 24. Boston College 25. Mississippi

Almost everything is official except the aforementioned three at large bids. The Poinsettia Bowl is holding off on the Boise State announcement with incredibly slim chance that the Fiesta Bowl officials heart's grow three times larger in the next hour and invite Boise over Ohio State. Considering the Big Ten invites have been handed out already just a hunch they've all been told that Ohio State is going to the Fiesta. For the at large bids the primary speculation is N.C. State to the PapaJohns.com, Western Michigan to the Texas Bowl, and Florida Atlantic to the Motor City Bowl. I know you are all better for knowing this. Edit: N.C. State has officially been invited to the PapaJohns.com which puts Western Michigan in the Texas Bowl by default as there obviously won't be two MAC teams in the Motor City Bowl.

Edit: Everything is official...I think. Congressional: Navy vs. Wake Forest New Mexico: Colorado State vs. Fresno State St. Petersburg: South Florida vs. Memphis Las Vegas: BYU vs. Arizona New Orleans: Troy vs. Southern Miss Poinsettia: TCU vs. Boise State Hawaii: Hawaii vs. Notre Dame Motor City: Central Michigan vs. Florida Atlantic Meineke Car Care: West Virginia vs. North Carolina Champs Sports: Florida State vs. Wisconsin Emerald: California vs. Miami Independence: Louisiana Tech vs. Northern Illinois PapaJohns.com: Rutgers vs. N.C. State Alamo: Missouri vs. Northwestern Humanitarian: Nevada vs. Maryland Holiday: Oregon vs. Oklahoma State Texas: Rice vs. Western Michigan Armed Forces: Air Force vs. Houston Sun: Oregon State vs. Pittsburgh Music City: Vanderbilt vs. Boston College Insight: Minnesota vs. Kansas Chick-Fil-A: Georgia Tech vs. LSU Outback: Iowa vs. South Carolina Gator: Nebraska vs. Clemson Capital One: Michigan State vs. Georgia Rose: Penn State vs. USC Orange: Cincinnati vs. Virginia Tech Cotton: Texas Tech vs. Mississippi Liberty: East Carolina vs. Kentucky Sugar: Alabama vs. Utah International: Buffalo vs. Connecticut Fiesta: Texas vs. Ohio State GMAC: Tulsa vs. Ball State BCS: Oklahoma vs. Florida

Sorry Broward, after all that the latest report is Notre Dame is heading to the Hawaii Bowl. A big reason appears to be the fact that the Texas Bowl is one of the two bowl games that is televised by the NFL Network and Irish fans would throw a fit if they were unable to see the game. The Texas Bowl options are now either N.C. State or Western Michigan.

Western Kentucky is in a two year transitional period from I-AA to I-A and that's why they aren't currently in a conference. They officially will be a member of I-A in 2009 and will join the Sun Belt Conference. Bowl eligible means what it means. A school is eligible to be invited to a bowl game but not guaranteed one. With them expanding to 34 bowl games there was some concern there would be 68 eligible teams but they ended up with 72 eligible teams. The only rule in place about who gets left home is if a conference is down to it's final bowl bid or if there is only one at-large bid left, a 7+ win team must be invited over a 6 win team. With the current state of the economy I won't be surprised if a handful bowl games go belly up after this season.

By a landslide the AIG Bailout Bowl is the name of the 10th bowl game. Kudos to KingPK for coming up with the name. Bowls Bored Bowl: N.C. State vs. Arizona Sugar Cereal Bowl presented by Count Chocula: Ball State vs. Syracuse Don't Taze Me Bowl!: Nebraska vs. Kentucky Gamestop.com Early Reservation Bowl: Tennessee vs. Ohio State Covers.com Degenerate Bowl: Miami of Ohio vs. Georgia Tech KFC PETA Bowl: LSU vs. Notre Dame I Used To Fuck Guys Like You In Prison Football Classic: Alabama vs. Virginia Main Loon Restaurant China Bowl: Minnesota vs. Arizona State K-Mart Blue Light Special Bowl: South Carolina vs. Fresno State AIG Bailout Bowl: Indiana vs. Boston College

Well no point in drubbing up some fake drama as based on the results we know who will meet in the Bored Bowl. Congratulations to AboveAverage484 and UZI Suicide who will play for the right to take $50 from me. Final Bored Championship Series Rankings 1. N.C. State - AboveAverage484 1.9 2. Arizona - UZI Suicide 3.1 3. Nebraska - Mecca 3.5 4. Miami of Ohio - Hawk 34 4.0 5. Ball State - Vampiro69 4.05 6. Georgia Tech - iggymcfly 4.3 7. Tennessee - Canadian Brandon 9.7 8. Syracuse - CanadianChris 9.95 9. Alabama - AlwaysPissedOff 10.15 10. Virginia - Edwin MacPhisto 10.3 Other Receiving Votes: Kentucky (Danville Wrestling), LSU (teke184), Ohio State (Gert T), South Carolina (Cuban Linx)

Week 14 Results #6 Ball State (Vampiro69) 13, #3 Nebraska (Mecca) 13; Vampiro wins by tiebreak #1 N.C. State (AboveAverage484) 12, Boston College (HarleyQuinn) 10 #2 Arizona (UZI Suicide) 13, Notre Dame (KingPK) 11 Syracuse (CanadianChris) 12, San Diego State (Das Wunderkind) 12; Chris wins by tiebreak Kentucky (Danville Wrestling) 12, Florida (Urban Warfare) 11

Updates -Vampiro69 has defeated Mecca by tiebreak to win the Big MAC Championship. -AboveAverage484 has clinched the WAC Championship as HarelyQuin would lose out on the tiebreak. -CanadianChris has defeated Porter by tiebreak to win the Big Eight Championship. Porter is eliminated from bowl consideration so all 7 win teams are now assured a bowl game. Only one undecided is the Pac-8. UZI has a one point lead but KingPK owns the tiebreak so their match-up will be decided by the ASU/Arizona game.

Jesse Orosco, Relief Pitcher New York Mets 1979-1987 Los Angeles Dodgers 1988, 2001-2002 Cleveland Indians 1989-1991 Milwaukee Brewers 1992-1994 Baltimore Orioles 1995-1999 St. Louis Cardinals 2000 San Diego Padres 2003 New York Yankees 2003 Minnesota Twins 2003 Awards None All-Star Selections: 2 (1983, 1984) League Leader Games: 1995 Career Ranks Games: 1st Saves: 69th ERA+: 62nd K/9: 23rd H/9: 24th Best Performance October 27, 1986 - Boston at New York (N) In Game 7 of the '86 World Series, comes in the 8th inning with none out after a Dwight Evans' two-run double off Roger McDowell pulls the Red Sox with a run. Orosco strands the tying run at 2nd by retiring Rich Gedman, Dave Henderson, and Don Baylor in order and then pitches a perfect 9th to clinch the championship for the Mets. Hall of Fame Stats Black Ink: Pitching - 1 (822) (Average HOFer ≈ 40) Gray Ink: Pitching - 17 (1143) (Average HOFer ≈ 185) HOF Standards: Pitching - 13.0 (589) (Average HOFer ≈ 50) HOF Monitor: Pitching - 62.0 (199) (Likely HOFer > 100) Similar Pitchers in HOF: None Top 10 Similar Pitchers: Tug McGraw, Don McMahon, Gary Lavelle, John Hiller, Dan Plesac, Kent Tekulve, Darold Knowles, Mike Timlin, Mike Stanton, Ron Perranoski Year-by-Year Win Shares & Wins Above Replacement Level (WARP3) 1979: 0/0.4 1981: 2/0.9 1982: 9/4.5 1983: 20/8.0 1984: 17/6.3 1985: 10/4.5 1986: 13/5.4 1987: 5/2.3 1988: 6/2.0 1989: 10/4.1 1990: 3/1.8 1991: 3/1.4 1992: 3/1.4 1993: 7/3.4 1994: 2/1.0 1995: 6/2.9 1996: 6/2.3 1997: 7/3.5 1998: 7/2.9 1999: 1/0.6 2000: 0/0.0 2001: 1/0.5 2002: 3/1.0 2003: 0/-0.2 Career Win Shares: 141 Career WARP3: 60.9 My Stupid Opinion I have to say it's remarkable a player from the 19th century is a first time nominee on the writer's ballot. Okay not quite, but Orosco and Rickey Henderson will be the last players to make their MLB debut in the 1970s and be a first timer on the ballot. Orosco is purely on the ballot due to his longevity and his career games pitched record might stand for a while but obviously he's not a HOF.

If the Hall of Fame decided to have RICKEY~ wear a Yankees cap on his plaque then I will have no other choice but to burn down Cooperstown. And I'm not just talking about the HOF, but the whole damn town! There's no chance he goes in with any other cap than the A's. I've been sifting through some of RICKEY's~ best games and this game might be the ultimate RICKEY~ game. Four plate appearances, four walks, four runs, five stolen bases.

A's out of running for SS Furcal Well, poop. Bobby Crosby's Reign of Terror continues.