Cheech Tremendous

Sixers GM Billy King announced that Iverson is officially off the market and will not be discussed in trade possibilities. Nothing like battling for the #8 seed for the next five years, eh Philly?

I'm shocked. SHOCKED.

Liriano did end up making the team as a replacement. Travis Hafner did not, however, and he's been the MVP thus far (at least in my eyes.)

Yeah, because all matches in the old ECW ended in DQs, right? I think all the DQ's are going to play into the Heyman storyline long-term. I mean I think that the "Extreme Rules" concept is a WWE-thing to keep the promotion for being all garbage matches that kill the roster, but the actual way it's being presented will turn into a storyline.

- What has been the most significant development in front office construction in the post-Moneyball world? Has the dissemenation of statistical knowledge tightened the gap between the haves and the have-nots, or is the opposite true? Has the misinterpretation of the book as Walkball or OBPBall effectively thrown the lesser GMs off the scent and created new market inefficiencies (e.g. the A's and Red Sox' use of advanced statistical modeling to reconstruct their teams around defense)? -Has the great fallacy of the sabermetric revolution been the divide created between stats and scouts, either real or perceived? Many have theorized that the weakness of the A's current farm system is their continuous drafting of players with stats that they covet, rather than players who have the skillsets to develop into players who can achieve the stats they covet. To elaborate, young players with OBPs that are walk-heavy tend to flame out as they move up the ranks because the better pitchers learn to expose that the players wait on pitches because they are inferior as hitters. How far are away are current teams away from effectively marrying the two camps?

Brad Miller is lock to make this team. He's the only legitimate center with the skillset needed for the international game. One of Battier or Bowen will make the team to give that 3-point/defensive specialist off the bench. As for Hinrich, I would certainly take him over Joe Johnson, but it could go either way.

Atlanta wasn't being offered anything of worth. The most you will get in a sign-and-trade are bad contracts or loose parts that can help fill out a roster. With the trade exception, they were able to take back a draft pick and no other salaries. They got something for nothing. Harrington was a free agent, and was never resigning with the Hawks. Say all you want about the Hawks mismanagement, but saving cap room is a better strategy than filling your squad with bench fodder that will take minutes from your developing young players and cap room that can be used better elsewhere. The Hawks can still pursue an Iverson, Gooden, Wilcox, Magloire or something else out there.

I think the OMEGA lockerroom disagrees with you. Lita basically runs second to Missy Hyatt in wrestling's all-time whore department* *Assuming at least 10% of what was written about her in that Scummiest Wrestling stories thread was true

Did you miss the part where they got a trade exception? That's big, and probably better than anything else they could have gotten on the current market.

Not sure if this has been mentioned in any of the topics here, but a poster with a medical background over at Wrestling Classics explained that the liver problems currently plaguing the Smackdown roster are often associated with steroids that are taken orally instead of injection due to the way the body has to break them down. Don't know how much truth there is to that, but another interesting thing to consider.

I grew up a Kings fan, but I lived in Portland during the Bonzi Wells era and I am beyond relieved that he won't be back next year. This guy is an absolute headcase and only showed promise last year because he was in a contract year. Think of it as the "Jerome James" Award. Whoever signs him to that big contract will be rewarded with a guy who will become a locker room cancer the minute he is jettisoned to the bench for ballooning up 30 lbs. by Christmas.

Please, not this again.

Bobby Abreu is being consistently mentioned in trade rumors, but none of the "experts" really feel he can be moved. Reason #1 is usually his large conract, but the second thing that is always mentioned are his declining numbers. Well, I did little research this afternoon and found that his numbers aren't really declining at all. His "loss of power" is overstated, seeing that only twice in his career has he hit 30 homers. His career numbers suggest he has 20 homer power, which is just a couple more than he will likely hit this year. Everything else, from his defense to avg, obp, steals, RBI, etc. seem to be in line with career numbers. So my question, why do people consider him to be in decline, and would you want him on your team?

Tim Kurkjian reported it as "extremely close" and the network ran with it. The network's coverage of the trade deadline this year really emphasizes how much they are missing Peter Gammons. He seemed to be the only "Insider" that actually had the respect to receive inside information and the courtesy to present it accurately. As for the Soriano front, it might just be smoke and mirrors to drive up the price for the Tigers. The Sox won't include McCarthy in any deal, supposedly (which is smart, IMO) and the Nationals would be fools to accept a package built around Scott Podsednik (which is the new rumor).

He really does seem to be unraveling from the negative criticism he has gotten. I'm not exactly sure why Yankees fans continue to boo him when it is obviously causing mental lapses in his game. I guess it's the in thing to do or something, but I sure can't figure it out. Interesting subplot mentioned by Michael Kay (sp?) and Joe Morgan in separate interviews I heard today. They've speculated that part of the reason Derek Jeter hasn't come to his defense is that he is still bitter about A-Rod saying he was a better player years ago before he joined the Yanks. Talk about holding a grudge.

Yeah I saw that this morning, and almost posted the link. Glad they triggered my memory as to why I hated the guy so much. I'll never forget an episode of ESPN's Hotlist a year or two back when Brian Kenny had Reynolds and John Kruk on. Reynolds made a comment about someone being a great leadoff hitter because "they knew how to get on base." Kenny quickly pointed out the guy's OBP that year (which was abysmal, like below .300). Reynolds then makes some sarcastic comments about Kenny being "one of those guys" and saying a computer can't tell him anything about baseball. Then Kruk decides to make loud computer noises every time Kenny said something the rest of the interview. I though BK was going to kill somebody.

Is there a more annoying subpolt in baseball right now than the A-Rod saga? I leave for lunch and have Dan Patrick going on and on about A-Rod on ESPN Radio the whole way home. Then I get to my house and turn on ESPNews to see them discussing the possibility of A-Rod being dealt. Then I flip to ESPN just in time to catch a special Outside the Lines on his strugges in New York and if the Yankees would have been better off keeping Soriano. Give me a fucking break.

This thread reminds me of the WWE folder when someone like Tomko gets released. Even though the guys sucks, soon as he is gone everyone gets a soft spot because they'd rather rag on the incompetent company or all the other choices that could have gone before him. No one will miss Harold Reynolds.

The Canadian Destroyer

from what I have seen only, Id say Royal Rumble 04, No Way Out 04(simply for Eddies big win), WM 20, Summerslam 04, Rumble 05, WM 21, Summerslam 05,Rumble 06, Wm 22, Judgment Day 06 (suprisingly good to me) Summerslam 04 was one of the most abysmal shows I have ever seen. It completely turned me off the product for good. Wrestlemania 20 was an excellent show, and probably the only thing I can remember from the past few years that is worth the money to seek out. One Night Stand (if you consider that WWE) is also very good, mostly from a nostalgia standpoint.

Does anyone have a clue to as what John Salmons has done to warrant a 5 year, $25.5 million contract? He averaged like 7 and 2 last year in 25 minutes per. Geoff Petrie said that he should be able to pick up where Bonzi left off production wise. Huh?

You're actually closer to reality than you might expect. Reportedly, they did some test studies with Stephen A Smith when they were considering hiring him as an analyst. The reports on him were almost unanimously negative amongst those polled. ESPN executives, after seeing the reaction, decided to go ahead and hire him because he could essentially play "heel" (I know, I hate wrestling terms but it's the best way I can describe it) on their programming.

I know. Knowing ESPN and their hiring policies, they might actually find someone worse than HR to take his spot.

Now get rid of John Kruk, Steve Phillips, Joe Morgan, and Jeff Brantley and we might be on the right track. In all fairness, even though I never agreed with what he said, Harold was at least likable. Tough break, and I would assume he did something really bad to warrant this.

Thus the danger in taking things said on Gamenight at face value. NOTE: Since I announced the trade on here last night after listening to ESPN Radio, I thought I should fill you in with what was said this morning via the Mets. The trade came from a team source who had a direct link to someone at ESPN Radio. It was not official, and the announcement was not cleared trough ESPN television. It appears it was something discussed this year, but never finalized. I apologize for jumping the gun, but it seemed like a credible source.