EVIL~! alkeiper

You know, EHME attempting to debate with Marney is such a wonderful trainwreck waiting to happen that I can't help but watch.

C-Bacon, afternoon Opening Day games are a tradition. I don't have a problem with openers in midwestern locations. Last year was an unusual situation, usually the weather is not that bad. The only thing is that teams in that situation should use some common sense and schedule as many games as possible in the afternoon. It's those 40-45 degree night games that kill you. Having Atlanta/Washington tonight is a bit ridiculous. Both teams have DAY games in different cities tomorrow! If they were playing same city tomorrow, it would make more sense. I've got the Philadelphia/Lehigh Valley game taped on tv right now. Really nice park, they have kind of the Jacobs Field setup with dugout suites behind home plate.

Or because a limo driver and Pete Rose are it, while Bruno Sammartino and Bob Backlund aren't. Over the past few years, the WWE HoF has become more industry wide rather than WWE orientated, which makes it seem more credible. While criticism has died down over the years, and rightfully so, it's still a HoF that counts a limo driver and Pete Rose as members, when people who have made far greater contributions to the company still aren't invited. Not that James Dudley is incredibly deserving, but isn't that a bit of a harsh description?

Y2J at #3? Way too high. The list is too slanted towards current wrestling, of course. It'd be fun to come up with a list proper. Oh, and #9 and #18 are essentially the same moment.

Jack was NWA champion so that's a high standard. Jerry was definately better in the tag team. They had a great feud against Rick Steamboat and Jay Youngblood in 1983. They then had a short WWE run, with the highlight being a great match against Murdoch/Adonis in MSG in Dec. 1984.

I think it was well known that Prior wouldn't be ready until June when the Padres signed him, so this isn't a surprise. I might have addressed this before, but why the animosity? Prior may be fragile, but that's not a flaw of character. Looking at the NL Central, it seems like pitching moreso than usual will dictate the division. The Cardinals, Astros and Brewers all have potential issues with their pitching depth. The Cubs have the best frontline talent by far. The Reds have the deepest rotation, with a few options beyond the starting five. One thing forgotten about the Cards is that they have Mark Mulder and Matt Clement yet, who might come back and contribute later.

Nope

The elbow injury is being played up as breaking news, but it has been bothering him for a couple years and I know even the Tommy John eventuality was known late last season. It will knock him out of action eventually, but until it happens Pujols can still play every day at a Hall of Fame level.

The Cubs won the division with 85 wins. The Cardinals only finished seven back, that's not a lot of ground to make up. And they had a season where their third baseman missed 50 games, their shortstop missed 45 games, their catcher missed 51 games, their center fielder missed 45 games, etc. A bit of luck and things can look awfully different in a hurry. Ankiel hit 43 across two levels last year. He might post a .315 OBP to go with it, but he can certainly hit 30 home runs in a full season.

This probably isn't worth arguing, but just because you think the debate is unecessaey and tiresome doesn't mean other people do, as evidenced by the last page. Too many people do, and it floods the rest of the topics. We've got an unconfirmed, third-hand matchlist from a dvd four months away and it turns into a Benoit debate.

I can envision a scenario where the Cardinals win the Central. It's not likely, but it is not far fetched either.

Cheech, that RoH figure involved something in Canada, did it not? I don't think that's an overall figure, but I might be wrong. Birmingham hosted Armageddon in 2000.

Let's see how musician John Mayer takes to announcing.

I'll address hanging on for a moment. In one way, it hurts his legacy. On the other hand, staying in the spotlight is important. How much do modern fans remember a Jack Brisco nowadays? I remember the big moments more than the great matches. There have been better matches with Kerry Von Erich than the Cotton Bowl title change, but no other match was as important to a promotion. I think if I were to pick five definative Flair matches, they'd be the Royal Rumble, Starrcade '93 vs. Vader, Clash VI vs. Steamboat, the Christmas '82 cage match with Kerry, and Clash I vs. Sting.

We've really gone over this "debate" a hundred times. It's unnecessary and tiresome.

Did I miss a news item today or something? I could have sworn Luis Hernandez was still manning shortstop instead of Miguel Tejada.

1. Rocky 2. Eight Men Out 3. Bad News Bears 4. Bull Durham Baseball is best depicted in Bull Durham, but the romantic stuff is pretty bad. Eight Men Out is perhaps the greatest historical film I ever watched.

Yeah, thanks for reminding me that we lost our team. Blame Norfolk. Ottawa stole our AAA Phillies in the first place. Besides, Ottawa will have a CanAm team this season yet.

I'm going to the first official Lehigh Valley IronPigs game in Scranton! April 3rd!

Let's give this a spin. AL East 1. Boston 2. NY Yankees 3. Toronto 4. Tampa Bay 5. Baltimore Reasonable expectations for Tampa Bay, though they will surprise people. The Matt Garza trade represents a new era, where they take their pure talent and start shifting it into a contending ballclub. Last year's club was plagued with things like a complete lack of middle infield. Now they have Bartlett and Iwamura up the middle. Beyond that, the only challenge is picking the Yankees/Sox winner. Please be ensured that picking the Red Sox does not imply that I really care in any fashion. AL Central 1. Cleveland 2. Detroit 3. Chi. White Sox 4. Minnesota 5. Kansas City The White Sox made some stupid moves, but that will make them better this season and bite them later on. Twins have better pitching than people realize, but will experience growing pains. The Tigers I think do not have the kind of depth that Cleveland enjoys. AL West 1. LA Angels 2. Seattle 3. Oakland 4. Texas The Angels have the depth but injuries to Lackey and Escobar could make this a close race. Seattle is not as good as they appeared last year, their offense is particularly weak at points. Adding Bedard and Silva will at least boost the pitching. Despite rebuilding, the A's are good enough to press for .500, particularly if their key starters are not again decimated by injuries. NL East 1. NY Mets 2. Philadelphia 3. Atlanta 4. Washington 5. Florida I'm not counting on the Phillies' pitching for a damn thing. I'm also a bit pessimistic on the Braves, until I see John Smoltz pitching in games again. NL Central 1. Chi. Cubs 2. Milwaukee 3. Houston 4. Cincinnati 5. St. Louis 6. Pittsburgh I don't know where the Houston hate comes from. Carlos Lee, Lance Berkman and Miguel Tejada is a damn fine middle of the order, and Hunter Pence is in there as well. They have improved offense at shortstop, and J.R. Towles comes in to catch. Their problem has been black holes in the lineup, and they cleaned those up. If they get any kind of pitching, they're in business. NL West 1. LA Dodgers 2. Arizona 3. San Diego 4. Colorado 5. San Francisco I think this season the Rockies' young starters come back to earth. The Giants are without question the worst team in baseball. At least the O's have Nick Markakis, Adam Jones and Brian Roberts on the offense. The Giants have NO upside whatsoever. If it was not bad enough, Omar Vizquel is hurt and filling in is Brian Bocock, who hit .220 in the Cal League last season. World Series: Red Sox over Mets. I'm not getting cute with this one, just picking the best teams in each league.

I think a general rule of thumb is that if you have nothing to add to a news item, it doesn't merit posting. Not just a topic, posting.

Thank God this isn't a sporting event. What does that imply. It's simply protocol that if there's a severe thunderstorm, you clear the seating area and get people under cover. That's only in a lightning storm, not any kind of rain event.

If there is lightning the show stops. You don't keep fans sitting exposed at any sporting event.

Most of the old AAA standbys (Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton) picked up teams in the Northern League. Ottawa is joining the CanAm League this season. I'd love to see some Canadian teams get together and form their own independent league.