the pinjockey

And I find it hard to blame him for this. Granted I don't live in the Oakland area so a.) I don't have a vested interest and b.) I haven't seen what he has been saying for the past month but looking at this Salary Boston: 3yr/21mil with option that would probably make it 4yr/28mil Oakland: 4yr/22 mil So it is likely going to be 6 mil more over the life of the deal. Plus he is going to be closing for two of the best 5 pitchers of this generation. You can't tell me that that wouldn't tempt a closer. Finally, who knows what the A's are going to do to keep their team together. Three years from now, you can pretty much guarantee Boston will still be spending money and keeping players. Oakland has revolving doors. So it is hard to see a down side about Foulke going to Boston. Also, he was only an Athletic for one year. So I don't see him as an A like Giambi was.

Urbina

Trade offered to you ratings.

Gee, this is nothing like what happened to the Tom Green show is it? People catch on, ruins the joke, goodbye show. Possibly, they are just doing this to catch celebrities off guard and get a couple more seasons out of it. But either way, by the end of this season they probably had some people catching on so it was going to be the end of the show anyway. At least this way, if it's real, Ashton walks away a celebrity as opposed to being cancelled by MTV.

The last Flyers title was 1976. They were in it in the 80s and then there was that abortion against Detroit. But they have been a bane of my existence due to their constant great regular seasons then they always come up short in the playoffs. There have been no titles in Philly since 1983. There have been some fun seasons (93 Phils and 2000 Sixers), but people want a parade.

After the last month or so, the greatest thing I could ever imagine would be AS having to become a Philadelphia sports fan. You don't know heartache til you have been one of us. Fuck all the Boston whiners, at least they had the Celtics and the Pats. And Chicago, screw them having arguably the greatest NBA player ever along with 6 titles.

I don't see why you would need to mark it down, since if the Yankees finish 3rd there is no doubt in my mind AS would call it a disgrace. And I don't really think it would be a disgrace to finish third, when the other two teams are arguably the best in the league. That is just catching a bad draw.

First Round Playoff Preview (for one game at least) #1 seed Whalers on the Moon vs. #8 seed (but 5th best team) Berzerker Vikings QB: Whalers: Brett Farve at SD Berzerker: Steve McNair vs. Buffalo Normally, I would give the edge to McNair. But he has been injured this week and he is also playing the 2nd best pass defense in the NFL. Favre, on the other hand, faces the 27th ranked pass defense in the league. So balancing out Favre's struggles/health with McNair's health/matchup I look at it QB: Even WR 1: Whalers: Marty Booker vs. Vikings Berzerker: Hines Ward at Jets Again, Berzerker draws the short end of the stick in regards to matchups. Marty Booker will be facing the 28th best pass defense in the league, while Ward faces the 9th best pass defense. So that leans toward Booker. Over the last month, their production has been nearly identical. But there is an x-factor in this match. Rex Grossman. No idea what he is going to do, how he is going to play, who he will like as a receiver. I see it as the matchup evening out with the QB situation (Maddox isn't exactly lighting the world on fire) leading to another WR1: Even WR 2: Whalers: Isaac Bruce vs Seattle Berzerker: Curtis Conway vs. Pit Here is the first mismatch. First of all, the matchup favors Bruce as he faces the 26th ranked pass D, as opposed to the 12th best that Conway will face. Throw in the fact that Conway is getting around 3 catches a game for 35 yards, while Bruce is getting 5 catches a game for 72 yards leads to WR 2: Whalers, slight edge RB 1: Whalers: Stephen Davis @ Arizona Berzerker: Edgerrin James vs. Atlanta Matchup here favors Edgerrin. Arizona has a middle of the road run D, while Atlanta is bad bad bad. Also, Edgerrin has been on a role as of late with an average of 15 more YPG than Davis. But the big key is that James has been a TD machine over the last month. Whether or not that continues, who knows? But it leads to RB 1: Berzerker, moderate edge RB 2: Whalers: Jamal Lewis @ Oakland Berzerker: Thomas Jones vs. Houston No matchup advantage here, as both run defenses are terrible. Jones has shown to be capable of putting up 80-90 yards if given 20 carries. But then there is (to steal a phrase) JAMAL~! with 9 100 yard games on the year. Five of those games going for over 130. Throw in the TDs and you have one of the top 3 RBs this year. RB 2: Whalers, solid edge TE: Whalers: Todd Heap @ Oakland Berzerker: Boo Williams vs. Giants No matchup difference here as both pass defenses are bad and both teams have quit on the season. Boo Williams had the one big game and since has seemed to settle into a 45-55 yard range. But his big quality is finding the end zone. Scoring in his last three games. On the other hand, Anthony Wright hasn't been looking Todd Heap's way as he only has 6 catches for 74 yards over the last three games. TE: Berzerker, moderate edge WR/TE: Whalers: Josh Reed at Tennessee Berzerker: Alge Crumpler at Indy Big matchup difference here as Alge Crumpler faces the 10th ranked pass defense, while Reed faces the worst pass defense in the NFL. But the only person happier to see Vick than Alge was Peerless Price. By the end of last season Vick to Crumpler had become quite the common occurence and I see no reason why that would change. So I see the matchup and the QB cancelling providing WR/TE: Even WR/RB Whalers: Michael Bennett at Chicago Berzerker: Dane Looker vs. Seattle Both are injury question marks. Looker seems more likely to play, while Bennett would be more likely to do something if he gets on the field. So I will go with yet another WR/RB: Even K Whalers: Jeff Wilkins vs. Seattle Berzerker: Doug Brien vs. Pit Wilkins against Seattle at StLouis could lead to too many XPs and not enough FGs, but you can't go against the league leading scorer against a team that allows over 30 PPG on the road against non-Arizona opponents. K: Whalers, moderate edge Def Whalers: St.Louis vs. Seattle Berzerker: Green Bay @ SD Dead even in YPG and PtsPG. But the rub here lies in the takeaways and sacks. The Rams have forced almost twice as many turnovers this season as the Packers and have 9 more sacks on the season. Both opponents are even in the giveaways cancelling out the opponent effects there. St. Louis is facing the better offense so they may get hit with more points and yards. But the sacks and turnovers are going to have more of an effect than the yards and pts. Def: Whalers, slight edge Game edge: Whalers I worry about McNair. It would do my heart well to see McNair either not suit up or get enough points quick that they yank him to avoid injury. Edgerrin worries me, he looks like he could put up 2-3 TDs every game right now. I am not thrilled having to face Berzerker since they are the 5th best team, but I can't complain since otherwise I would be facing Seoul. The same Seoul who owns Clinton Portis, facing Cleveland this week. Clinton Portis is my nemesis right now, and I don't need to be against him when he faces Cleveland.

Ok, now alkeiper is going to throw things from cbssportsline. Philadelphia exercised its 2005 option on Bowa and added team options for 2006 and 2007. Bowa, the 2001 NL Manager of the Year, has led the Phillies to a 252-233 record in three seasons, twice finishing second. Philadelphia led the NL wild-card race late last season but faded in September, finishing third behind Florida, which went on to win the World Series. Bowa's 252 wins in his first three seasons are the most by a Phillies manager since Pat Moran had 278 from 1915-17.

Boy, that winter meeting show was great. Hot rumor #1: Jacque Jones might be traded Hot rumor #2: Mike Cameron may go somewhere I should have known better than to think they actually had something big going on. I did enjoy the Phillies love, however.

He was dead on right though, about not throwing the challenge. At that point, the other tribe was almost dead. A broken spirit in this game is the worst possible characteristic. And they had broken the other tribes spirit. If they had won that challenge, you could have booted that whole other tribe off the island right then and there, because they weren't recovering from that. I would hate Rupert if he was wrong, but the fact is he was right and after that point he realized he was among idiots and people willing to tank games. So of course he is going to react

I actually loved the subway series, but not for any good reason. My roommate at college was a NY douchebag of the "Well at least either way I still win", and he didn't even know who Chili Davis was the year before when he was starting DH for them. Making him a poser, as well as a douche. So I got a good month of torturing him out of the subway series.

If it weren't the Yankees he was going to I would put money on Brown failing his physical, but the way their luck is going (with Vazquez falling into their lap) there is no doubt that they will be able to get rid of Public Enemy #1 for Brown.

Good lord, I now find myself at that Phillies forum constantly updating the page hoping that Ilovekruk guy comes back with something else. I need to get a life.

Eagles/Cowboys But ditto what angelslayer said.

That would make the owners identical as opposed to close. Whoooo semantics

I would like to see the deal go down for two reasons a.) like you said it is easier to find a RF and b.) I have just come to despise Jimmy Rollins. I would assume that if this was the deal Boston would move J-Rol (one of the reasons I hate him is that fucking nickname) to 2B? Unless they (Nomar and Boston) are at such odds that they would trade him regardless of Arod getting done.

"Rumors are also going on that the Phillies have entered the bidding for Nomar by offering Bobby Abreau and Jimmy Rollins." For some reason I get the picture of alkeiper throwing something around the room at this rumor. I have just come to associate him and Abreu. I would hope they have some plan to replace the RFer. coughVladcough Hey, at this point their budget is shot anyway.

If I have to look hard doesn't that refute the idea that owner's are on TV and the NBA is pushing and pushing the idea that the player's salaries are out of line? And about these tons of rules limiting player's salaries.....it's their own fault. They allowed a salary cap, so they have to live with the consequences. And I am not going to weep to much when the rules force veterans to be paid at least a mil and allow players to sign 20+ mil/yr extensions. And in all honestly, as soon as you say that NBA owners are close to MLB owners, you just sound silly.

Note for Phillies fans: On the ESPN bottom line thing, it said that Dan Pleasac was retiring. Arthur Rhodes and Ricardo Rincon please stay near the white courtesy phone. Hopefully Ed Wade contacts you shortly.

And if it weren't for the owners, those players would never have the courts and arenas to put the balls in the hoops. And if it weren't for the commisioner and the league's marketing these players would not have the opportunities they do when it comes to endorsements. I can't see how any NBA player can complain when the veteran MINIMUM salary is in the seven digits. And I don't see the NBA being like baseball, where they will blame things on the player salaries. The NBA has high salaries, but I have never seen them say the players don't deserve them or drastic changes need to be made to curtail them or as you put it "pushing that the players are making more and more".

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(marks out) You weren't the only one my friend. And having that and Fertig's (probable) dark match debut in the same thread is one of the greatest things ever.

I am going to be looking $90 section, $300 is just silly. And people are looking at it the wrong way. Use a credit card to get the tickets, then you can use money received for Christmas for the tickets. Instead of having to spend money right before Christmas. And I would imagine the crowd will be very similar to last year, which is a good thing. Of course if the Eagles are still in the playoffs you will likely hear chants instead of the boos reigned down on Steiner/HHH last year. So January 25th look for a guy in a Jeremy Roenick third Flyers jersey.

Figured I would throw the ticket info, since a few people were interested. They go on sale Dec. 20th at 10:00am $300, $90, $65, $50, $35, $25 And it is at the Wachovia Center