Bored

I read a blurb that Williams is going to have competition for the 5th spot. It might just be friendly competition as it seems rather pointless.

What the hell...I'll throw my opinion in on the Astros/Cubs debate. Catcher (2003 OPS+) Michael Barrett 63 Brad Ausmus 54 This is the best they can do? Barrett has shown some ability in the past to be a slightly below league average hitter and other times he's just god awful like last year. He is only 27 though so I supppose he has "upside" if you will. Of course he's still a better hitter than Ausmus. He maybe a good defensive catcher but who cares if you hit that poorly? He really should be strictly a back-up. Verdict: Advantage Cubs First Base Derrek Lee 135 Jeff Bagwell 127 Pretty simple here. You have one player who is 28 on the rise and the other who is 36 on the decline. Bagwell is still a good hitter and very durable but his numbers have slipped each of the last four years. Verdict: Advantage Cubs Second Base Mark Grudzielanek 105/Todd Walker 95 Jeff Kent 118 The Grudzielanek/Walker platoon should produce average to slightly below average results. Grudzielanek is coming off the second best year of his career so expect his numbers to drop. Kent is obviously better than both although last year could be a sign he's starting to hit the wall. It was his worst season since 1998 and he'll be 36 this year. Verdict: Advantage Astros Third Base Aramis Ramirez 104 Morgan Ensberg 130 Not much of a contest here although Ensberg hasn't played too much yet. Anyone wanna figure how Ramirez was so good in 2001? He is only 26 though so guess he still has time to prove that season wasn't a fluke. He led all third basemen last year with 33 errors. Verdict: Advantage Astros Shortstop Alex Gonzalez 82 Adam Everett 79 Oof. Um flip a coin? Nothing really to add although Everett did lead all shortstops in range factor last season. Verdict: Even. Left Field Moises Alou 113 Lance Berkman 137 Bit of a rebound year last season for Alou after having the worst season of his career in 2002. But at 37 now he isn't the same player he once was and is a liability defensively. Last year was a down year for Berkman but he still had great numbers. Verdict: Advantage Astros Center Field Corey Patterson 116 Craig Biggio 95 Patterson was having a nice little year before it was ended due to injury. Have to see if his first half last year was a fluke or not. Biggio is going to be 38 and has to be close to retirement. Actually wasn't terrible as a center fielder but not very good either. Verdict: Advantage Cubs Right Field Sammy Sosa 135 Richard Hidalgo 142 Sosa is coming off his worst season since 1997 but he didn't exactly suck either last season. Still probably has a 50 homerun season left in him. Hidalgo is impossible to figure out at this point. He had an amazing 2000 season then just disappers into obscurity the next two and then has an amazing year last season. He has a great arm that produced a major league best 22 assists last year. His inconsistency vs. Sosa's track record though makes this too close to call though even though Hidalgo was definently better than Sosa last year. Verdict: Even Starting Pitchers (2003 ERA+) Roy Oswalt 149 Roger Clemens 112 Andy Pettite 109 Wade Miller 107 Tim Redding 120 Mark Prior 175 Kerry Wood 133 Greg Maddux 105 Matt Clement 103 Carlos Zambrano 136 I think both of these rotations might be slightly overrated. Both are very good of course but there is so much focus on Clemens, Pettite, and Maddux that there isn't enough focus on the ages of Clemens and Maddux and that Pettite has been overrated most of his career by pitching in New York. Clemens strike out to walk ratio still isn't slipping so don't expect any huge drop off even at 41 but he isn't the dominator he once was. Maddux's season last year has to be a concern and it remains to be seen how much he has left. Pettite is a good pitcher but he has had only one truly outstanding season (1997) that warrants the amount of hype he gets. As for the rest Oswalt is a rising star and Miller and Redding should both continue to improve. Jimy Williams apparantly still is going to have competition between Redding and Jeriome Robertson for the #5 spot in Spring and I have no idea why as Redding is the obvious choice. Prior as everyone knows is a stud and might be the guy to replace Pedro Martinez as the best pitcher in baseball. Wood is of course very good and should only get better. Clement is nothing special. Zambrano came out of no where last season to have a great year. This a really tough call as the greatness of Mark Prior has me tipping it in favor of the Cubs but then I think there are more questions about the Cubs rotation than the Astros (How much does Maddux have left? Was Zambrano a fluke last year?) that I'm gonna cop out on this one. Verdict: Even. Bullpens (2003 Component ERA) Joe Borowski 2.26 LaTroy Hawkins 2.48 Mike Remlinger 3.88 Kyle Farnsworth 2.58 Kent Mercker 3.72 Juan Cruz 5.23 Octavio Dotel 2.02 Brad Lidge 2.82 Ricky Stone 4.00 Jeriome Robertson 5.19 (as a starter) Mike Gallo 3.66 Dave Veres 3.98 Both teams are secure at closer and primary set-up man. Hawkins could potentially end up being the closer at some point but Borowski did well enough last year that I think he'll hold on to the job. The concern with the Cubs is Mike Remlinger's shoulder as he might not be ready for the start of the season. Kent Mercker would then become their left-hand option and he had a rebirth of his career as a middle reliever last season although wasn't nearly as good as his sub-2 ERA indicated. With the exception of Veres the Astros bullpen is very young although very talented as well. Robertson did not pitch well his one full year as a reliever in the minors back in 2001. If Remlinger's shoulder holds up I like the Cubs bullpen a little more than the Astros. Verdict: Advantage Cubs It's a close call and I actually picked the Astros in the MLB predictions topic although that was just off the top of my head. There are a plenty of reasons to think one will be better than the other and I thik it's a good bet both will make the playoffs. I'd say there are more "what if?" scenerios with the Cubs as with the Astros I think what you see is what your going to get. But in the end I'm going to say the Cubs will be slightly better than the Astros.

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/football/nf...e-changes_x.htm Here are the proposals:

How many kids (as in elementry school age) listen to the radio beyond when they are in a car with their parents? How many kids actually want to listen to the radio over watching television when they are at home? I seriously doubt too many kids ever listen to Howard Stern.

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=1745069

If the 49ers end up cutting Jeff Garcia then Owens may want to stay after all. Either way it's win-win for the 49ers. Either they keep one of the best player's in the game or they trade him for a player or draft picks when before they were going to get nothing for him.

I believe that was Eddie Izzard Really? Well, I know George Carlin said something along those lines This isn't what you were thinking of but the Carlin line (even though the reference is a bit dated) to use for this would be:

Wow Louisville lost again!? They are getting awfully close to putting themselves on the bubble which is shocking considering they were a legit Top 5 team just a month ago.

http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/atl...04/26lewis.html

News is slow, so I now present Pedro Martinez and his Jheri Curl. That ain't nuthin' but Ultra Perm.

Easily the song I have hated the most of all-time, that at the time I nearly gave a speech in my speech class about the decline the of western cilivizaton and put the blame on this song. "Summer Girls" by L.F.O. If you don't remember them they were yet another boy band when the Backstreet Boys and N'Sync we're poisoning our youth with their music. Now the name is bad enough as it stands for Light Funky Ones. The name alone makes me want to gouge out their eyes with a melon baller. This song produces such mind numbing lines as: Need I say more? If some kid ever went on a killing spree because of this song I wouldn't have blamed them.

Bob Holly: "They love me in Kansas City!"

HOLY SHIT! Damn she was hot too. This make me a racist for jerking off to her?

I know we ruled out Thursday and the weekend but did we talk about doing it Wednesday by any chance? Otherwise yes we might as well keep the offline picks going between now and Monday.

I had to reboot. Pick #1 of the 11th Round, Rebels of Oakland select....Paul Lo Duca.

An invite would be nice. I've never even used AIM before, had to download it for this.

I'd avoid taking Cap Anson since he's been dead for 82 years. Anyways I got a huge SWERVE~ for the #1 pick overall. Okay not really.

Here is Joe Lunardi's latest Bracketology and seed breakdown. http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/bracketology #1 seeds: Saint Joseph's, Duke, Stanford, Pittsburgh #2 seeds: Kentucky, Oklahoma State, Gonzaga, Connecticut #3 seeds: Providence, N.C. State, Mississippi State, Texas #4 seeds: Memphis, Illinois, Wake Forest, North Carolina #5 seeds: Georgia Tech, Kansas, South Carolina, Charlotte #6 seeds: Louisville, Cincinnati, Southern Illinois, Wisconsin #7 seeds: Florida, Arizona, Texas Tech, LSU #8 seeds: Syracuse, Kent State, Boston College, Utah State #9 seeds: Georgia, UAB, Dayton, Vanderbilt #10 seeds: Michigan State, Florida State, Purdue, Seton Hall #11 seeds: Oklahoma, Western Michigan, Air Force, Utah #12 seeds: Alabama, Michigan, Manhattan, Xavier #13 seeds: Virginia Commonwelth, Troy State, UTEP, East Tennessee State #14 seeds: Boston University, Louisiana-Lafayette, Austin Peay, Wisconsin-Milwaukee #15 seeds: Princeton, East Washington, Monmouth, Mississippi Valley State #16 seeds: Valpariso, SE Louisana, Liberty, Lehigh/Coppin State And as usual here is the Top 25 teams in the RPI rankings from collegerpi.com thru Sunday's games. In case you were wondering Duke was ahead of St. Joe's by one ten thousandth of a point. 1. Duke 22-3 2. St. Joseph's 24-0 3. Kentucky 19-4 4. Stanford 23-0 5. Mississippi State 21-2 6. Oklahoma State 20-2 7. Gonzaga 23-2 8. Pittsburgh 23-2 9. Connecticut 21-5 10. Wake Forest 17-6 11. Providence 18-5 12. Texas 19-4 13. North Carolina 16-7 14. N.C. State 17-6 15. Georgia Tech 19-7 16. Kansas 16-6 17. Florida 15-8 18. Southern Illinois 22-2 19. Louisville 17-6 20. Seton Hall 16-7 21. Memphis 19-4 22. Boston College 18-8 23. Alabama 13-10 24. Vanderbilt 17-6 25. LSU 17-6

Newsday talks about a trade rumor that would already send Alfonso Soriano back to New York! Make that the New York Mets. http://www.newsday.com/sports/baseball/met...-sports-big-pix

Royce Clayton is all mine now!

Ishii has a terrible strikeout to walk ratio and his ERA+ and component ERA numbers are nothing to get excited about. Roberts would be an odd first pick up for DePodesta since he doesn't walk or hit for power. But I guess for both teams they are both better than what they currently have at pitcher and 2nd base respectively.

It appears this year's league leader in arm injuries is going to be the White Sox if new manger Ozzie Gullien gets his way: http://chicago.whitesox.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb...s_cws&fext=.jsp

Nitro February 26, 1996 Sting def. Big Bubba Lex Luger def. Renegade Road Warriors def. Harlem Heat Hulk Hogan, Randy Savage, & Booty Man def. Ric Flair, Arn Anderson, & Kevin Sullivan February 24, 1997 Public Enemy def. Jeff Jarrett & Steve McMichael Jim Duggan def. Galaxy Hugh Morrus def. Joe Gomez Ice Train def. La Parka Faces of Fear def. Eddy Guerrero & Chris Jericho Rey Mysterio Jr. def. Juventud Guerrera Prince Iaukea def. Pat Tanaka; TV Title Match Ultimo Dragon def. Dean Malenko by DQ Diamond Dallas Page def. David Taylor by DQ February 23, 1998 Lex Luger def. Curt Hennig by DQ Lex Luger def. Scott Steiner by DQ Diamond Dallas Page def. Hammer; U.S. Title Match Ultimo Dragon def. Kaz Hayashi Chris Benoit def. Raven by DQ Chris Jericho def. Lenny Lane; CW Title Match Rick Steiner def. Vincent Saturn def. Yuji Nagata Booker T def. Reneagad; TV Title Match Konnan def. Lizmark Jr. Buff Bagwell & Scott Norton def. High Voltage Eddy Guerrero def. Disco Inferno Ric Flair def. Brad Armstrong February 22, 1999 Jerry Flynn def. Mike Enos Bam Bam Bigelow def. Van Hammer Booker T def. Bret Hart Disco Inferno def. Kaz Hayashi Hugh Morrus def. Chris Jericho Rey Mysterio Jr. def. Kevin Nash Scott Norton def. The Cat Goldberg def. Scott Steiner by DQ February 28, 2000 Mamalukes def. Lane & Idol; Tag Title Match Booker T NC Kidman 3 Count def. Brian Knobs in a Hardcore Handicap Match to win the Hardcore Title Dustin Rhodes def. Norman Smiley Jeff Jarrett def. Vampiro; U.S. Title Match TAFKA Prince Iaukea def. David Flair The Cat def. Maestro Ric Flair def. Curt Hennig Buff Bagwell def. Lex Luger by DQ Sid Vicious def. Tank Abbott; WCW Title Match February 26, 2001 Rey Mysterio Jr. & Kidman def. Johnny Swinger & Jason Lee Lance Storm & Mike Awesome def. Chuck Palumbo & Sean O’Haire The Cat def. Rick Steiner Booker T, Diamond Dallas Page, & The Cat def. Scott Steiner & Totally Buff Shane Helms def. Shannon Moore Sean O’Haire def. Kanyon Jeff Jarrett def. Dustin Rhodes; Special Referee, Ric Flair Thunder February 27, 1998 Eddy Guerrero & Chris Jericho def. Booker T & Dean Malenko Fit Finlay def. Brad Armstrong Davey Boy Smith def. Dave Taylor Bill Goldberg def. Rick Fuller Yuji Nagata def. La Parka Scott Steiner def. Marty Jannetty Jim Neidhart def. Curt Hennig by DQ Diamond Dallas Page NC Chris Benoit; U.S. Title Match February 25, 1999 Hak def. Damien Psychosis def. Hector Garza Ernest Miller def. Stevie Ray Raven & Kanyon def. El Dandy & Villano V Juventud Guerrera def. Blitzkrieg Bret Hart def. Disco Inferno February 23, 2000 Fit Finlay def. 3 Count in a Hardcore Handicap Match La Parka def. Berlyn Buff Bagwell def. David Flair Tank Abbott def. Mike Jones Ric Flair def. Vampiro TAFKA Prince Iaukea def. Crowbar; CW Title Match The Wall def. Disco Inferno Harris Brothers def. Booker & Kidman Sid Vicious def. Lex Luger by DQ February 28, 2001 Jung Dragons def. Mike Sanders & Kwee Wee Shawn Stasiak def. Johnny the Bull Shane Helms def. Johnny Swinger Mike Awesome def. Konnan Chuck Palumbo def. Disqo Rick Steiner def. Big Vito Booker T def. Scott Steiner by DQ Raw February 22, 1993 Bam Bam Bigelow def. Scott Taylor Tatanka & Nasty Boys def. Shawn Michaels & Beverly Brothers Crush def. Terry Taylor Undertaker NC Skinner; Raw goes off air before end of match February 28, 1994 Randy Savage def. Yokozuna by DQ Bam Bam Bigelow def. Mike Khoury Kwang def. John Chrystal Earthquake def. Black Phantom February 27, 1995 Lex Luger def. Tatanka by count out Owen Hart def. Larry Santo Doink def. Bob Cook Kama def. Ken Raper February 26, 1996 Jake Roberts def. Isaac Yankem Diesel def. Bob Holly Ahmed Johnson def. Shinobi Yokozuna def. Owen Hart & British Bulldog by DQ in a handicap match February 24, 1997 New Blackjacks def. Godwinns Stevie Richards def. Little Guido Goldust def. Savio Vega by DQ Taz def. Mike Whipwreck Legion of Doom NC Headbangers, double count out Tommy Dreamer def. D-Von Dudley Undertaker def. Faarooq by DQ February 23, 1998 New Age Outlaws def. Legion of Doom; Tag Title Match Ken Shamrock def. Jeff Jarrett Truth Commission def. Disciples of Apocalypse Barry Windham NC Taka Michinoku Bradshaw def. TAFKA Goldust Steve Blackman def. Rocky Maivia Headbangers def. Rock ‘n’ Roll Express to win the NWA Tag Team Titles Owen Hart def. Marc Mero; Euro Title Match February 22, 1999 Public Enemy def. Gangrel & Edge by DQ Ken Shamrock NC Billy Gunn Owen Hart & Jeff Jarrett def. D’Lo Brown in a handicap match The Rock NC Paul Wight; WWF Title Match Steve Blackman def. Droz Goldust def. Val Venis Bob Holly def. Bart Gunn; HC Title Match X-Pac def. Chyna Undertaker def. Kane in an Inferno Match February 28, 2000 Hardy Boyz def. Acolytes Rikishi Phatu def. Kurt Angle by count out; Euro Title Match Edge & Christian def. Head Cheese The Rock def. Brooklyn Brawler Chris Jericho def. Perry Saturn Crash Holly NC Mark Henry; HC Title Match Tazz def. Chris Benoit by DQ Dudley Boyz NC Road Dogg & X-Pac; Tag Title Match The Rock def. Triple H & Big Show by DQ in a handicap match February 26, 2001 X-Pac & Justin Credible def. Chris Benoit & Eddie Guerrero Lita def. Molly Holly Dudley Boyz def. Rikishi & Haku; Tag Title Match William Regal & Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley NC Vince McMahon & Trish Stratus Dean Malenko def. Taka Michinoku; LHW Title Match Chris Jericho def. Raven; IC Title Match Acolytes & Jerry Lawler def. Val Venis, Bull Buchanan, & Goodfather Hardcore Crap: Big Show pins Essa Rios to retain HC Title; original match was Big Show vs. The Rock vs. Kurt Angle February 25, 2002 Billy & Chuck def. Hardy Boyz; Tag Title Match Rob Van Dam def. Lance Storm and Big Show in a Triple Threat Match Booker T def. Rikishi Jazz def. Mighty Molly; Women’s Title Match Chris Jericho def. Kurt Angle; WWF Title Match Steve Austin def. Mr. Perfect February 24, 2003 Jazz def. Jacqueline Kane def. Lance Storm Scott Steiner & Booker T def. Batista & Randy Orton Test & Stacy Keibler def. Chris Jericho & Christian by DQ Jeff Hardy def. Christopher Nowinski Jerry Lawler def. Chief Morley in a No-DQ Match Booker T won a Battle Royal Smackdown February 24, 2000 Crash Holly def. Test to win the Hardcore Title Kane NC Chris Benoit, double count out Dean Malenko, Perry Saturn, & Head Cheese def. Hardy Boyz & Edge & Christian Triple H, Road Dogg, & X-Pac def. Rikishi Phatu & Too Cool Godfather & D’Lo Brown def. Big Bossman & Prince Albert Mr. Ass def. Buh Buh Ray Dudley by DQ Kurt Angle & Big Show def. The Rock & Chris Jericho by DQ February 22, 2001 Rikishi def. Jeff Hardy Hardcore Crap: Big Show wins HC title after pinning Crash; original match was Crash vs. Perry Saturn Chris Benoit & Eddie Guerrero def. Chris Jericho & X-Pac Ivory NC The Kat; Women’s Title Match Test def. William Regal; Euro Title Match Kurt Angle, Edge, & Christian def. The Rock, Undertaker, & Kane in a No-DQ Match February 28, 2002 Dudley Boyz & Jazz def. Hardy Boyz & Lita Big Show def. William Regal Maven def. Goldust; HC Title Match Undertaker def. Al Snow by DQ Billy & Chuck def. A.P.A.; Tag Title Match Booker T def. Scotty 2 Hotty Triple H & Kane def. Chris Jericho & Kurt Angle February 27, 2003 Funaki & Torrie Wilson def. Jamie Noble & Nidia Eddie Guerrero def. Nunzio Chris Benoit & Rhyno def. Matt Hardy & Shannon Moore Kurt Angle def. Brian Kendrick Brock Lesnar def. Team Angle in a handicap match

Since people might let a good player go till the fifth round (as was with the NBA league) this one is straight. And no one complain, I had already stated as much in my very first post (of this thread) *reads first post* You did?

Yup, a whole two years. 2002 A.L. West had the Mariners finishing in 3rd place with 93 wins, the A's winning an A.L. record 20 straight games, and of course the 2nd place Angels with 99 wins winning the World Series.