Cheech Tremendous

That was still an odd statement to make. He doesn't want Bobby Abreu if the price is Phillip Hughes, or does he not want Abreu period? It was vague. The Red Sox don't need a 3B, but if someone like A-Rod was available, I would sure as hell want him. I just don't understand the statement "I really hope the Yankees don't get Abreu." It's like saying, I really hope my team doesn't get better by acquiring an awesome player.

Selling out that building doesn't come close to paying for that contract. As for the merchandise, sorry that's an MLB property, and profits are split equally between every major league club. But I'm sorry it got you all huffy, I was just having some fun during a slow news day. The Astros need to keep targeting Tejada. I think they could get him if they put together the right package. They can't just keep punting offense from the SS, C and CF positions and expect to compete in the long run.

No. The Astros aren't "out of the playoff race" just yet. They're six back with 8 games to go against WC leading Cincinnati. Although the situation looks grim, there's still time for the Astros to either pick up a bat or not pick up a bat and go on a run regardless. Clemens could have signed with either the Yankees or the Red Sox, but didn't because he wants to pitch in Houston. He wants to win a World Championship in Houston. If Clemens pitches in the postseason this year, it will be in Houston. The team is effectively out of the race. Not only are they six games back, they are currently trailing Cincinnati, Arizona, San Francisco and Atlanta. They would have to leapfrog all of those teams. Then they would have to make sure that they keep pace with Colorado, Milawukee, Florida, Los Angeles and Philadelphia, who are all either tied with Houston or a game behind. That's not to say they are eliminated, but the stars are definitely aligned against them. I don't think Clemens will be traded. But is it that much of a stretch to envision a gentleman's agreement between the two sides regarding his future if the Astros fell out of the race? Why wouldn't Clemens want to try for one last title with Boston or NY? Houston could at least dump the salary and maybe get a decent prospect out of the whole thing. Seems like a win-win to me.

I know Vampiro69 might disagree, but to me this whole thing is easy to figure out. The WWE started doing wellness testing. Several wrestlers are taken off the road for kidney/liver problems. These kidney/liver problems are indicative of a certain type of ingestable steroid. What's so elusive about this scenario?

Fuck you guys. Fletch is awesome. By the way, I don't want a prequel.

Ok sorry. Glad to see that it's okay to spend two pages talking about the extremely miniscule chance that these guys all have Hepatitis, but that it's out of line for me to suggest it was PEDs. Whatever.

I don't have any proof. I'm just reading between the lines. The chances of it being Hep C (and us not knowing) are beyond minute.

It's not Hep C. These guys have liver issues from painkillers and steroids.

The funny things that happen when you put on a consistently decent product.

I believe that the newest park factors actually suggest that Coors Field has morphed into a pitcher's park. Gotta love those soggy baseballs. EDit: Jumped the gun on that one. Coors is playing as a slight hitter's park this year (although that could be a statiscal anomaly - for example, it has Fenway as the hardest place in the majors to hit a HR this year).

This is part of the reason that the WWE doesn't book more intellectual storylines. Their fans can't even pick up the most basic of hints about storylines. I guess subtlety is lost on this generation of wrestling fans.

This is true. I was just hoping that since he was from Philadelphia and covered the team that he would have a little better insight. At least he didn't scream about them needing to find a dog, someone they could take into a fight.

Not an actual rumor, but does anyone think the Astros are at least entertaining the idea of trading Roger Clemens? They are basically out of the playoff race at this point and Clemens is costing them big time dollars. He considered pitching for the Yankees and Red Sox this past offseason. Would they move him to one of those teams for a prospect or two out of respect for Roger?

Screamin A Smith was on the ESPN this afternoon discussing the Iverson story. He said that the Sixers can't afford to go into a rebuilding mode and that the only way you trade Iverson is if you get a comparable All-Star in return (Carmelo Anthony and Paul Pierce were names he threw out). Does this guy not understand that today's NBA is not driven by the players, but the contracts by which they are binded to? What good would it do to trade an All-Star for Iverson... you won' tbe any closer to winning a championship. And why can't Philly accept a rebuild now, they are essentially half way there.

ahaha I wonder if someone like Dama, someone whitebread, gets it.. white-bred... It had to go over the heads of 75% of the posters here.

It's amazing to think there are people out there that still think Paul Heyman has one bit of say about WWECW. Dave Meltzer described the WWECW TV booking process as this: 1) Heyman writes a draft for the show 2) Vince & Co. liberally make changes to what Heyman has written 3) Vince's severely altered version makes it onto the air without compromising with Heyman Since when is fucking Dave Meltzer the almighty god of wrestling and everything he says is 100% fact? 1985?

It's amazing to think there are people out there that still think Paul Heyman has one bit of say about WWECW. Dave Meltzer described the WWECW TV booking process as this: 1) Heyman writes a draft for the show 2) Vince & Co. liberally make changes to what Heyman has written 3) Vince's severely altered version makes it onto the air without compromising with Heyman Doesn't matter. The original script is written by Heyman. He chooses the layout of the show, the matches, characters, etc. Just because some of that might be lost in translation by going through the editing process doesn't mean we aren't getting some form of what Heyman is shooting for. If you can't see that these are Heyman-influenced shows, you don't have a clue as to what his booking style is. Meltzer has said numerous times that the direction of ECW changes daily. You're picking and choosing from his past writings on the subject.

It's funny that the entire Sox starting rotation are having below-average seasons for them (except Contreras) when they all had above-average seasons for them last year. Regression to the mean can be a hell of a thing. Glad that the sportswrites are finally starting to catch up to the fact the White Sox are an offensive powerhouse, and that pitching and smallball aren't winning the games this year. How about Prior having a no-hitter through 5 2/3? His K/BB was 3:5 however, and he had thrown 103 pitches already. But still, that's an encouraging start.

PWInsider said Vince was backstage during the Smackdown/ECW tapings. Regardless of that fact, last night's show totally felt like a Heyman show and the booking style had his fingerprints all over it. Although the shows aren't that great, I don't feel that there is anything necessarily bad, it's just things haven't quite clicked yet. I'm very optimistic about the future of the ECW project though. Heyman has avoided shooting his load in the first few shows. Things are building slowly and I wouldn't expect things to come together until the first PPV show. They are just working out the kinks and establishing the base for a new ECW.

Good old Crazy Carl Everett was DFA'd by the Seattle Mariners today. Don't let the door hit you on the way out, Carl.

Re-read your post and explain to me why Iverson can't be the casualty. You state that they were two whole years removed from being a #4 seed in the East when they traded for Webber. They weren't a contender, and they certainly aren't now that a couple years have passed and they have a couple more with these guys under contract. The Sixers (and their fans) have to decide what they want. Do you want to fight for an 8th seed every year, or do you want to start rebuilding now with the intent to really compete 3-5 years down the road. McKie, Mashburn and Webber will all be off the books by the end of '08 season. If you can move Iverson for a package of young players with upside, draft picks and short-term contracts, you are in a position to have a solid base in just two years.

I'm about half-way through Seth Mnookin's Feeding the Monster, an all-access look at the front office of the Boston Red Sox from 2001-2005. Interesting stuff so far, but written more for novices than the advanced statheads. Really provides a lot of information as to why front offices to do things that seem to go against their nature.

The current playoff format in the NBA breeds mediocrity. GM's are driven by the oppportunity to make the playoffs and secure the income stream from 2 or more home playoff games. They can say to their fanbase that they made the playoffs and are one or two moves from the finals. In reality, that's not the case. There are 3 or 4 contenders, 3 or 4 bad teams, and 20 or so that fit right in the middle. They are essentially interchangeable and slot up and down year to year based on trivial changes to the roster that handicap them long-term because they sacrifice the cap to keep together a sub-par nucleus. It's a vicious cycle.

Did you Nguyen? Excellent.

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