Cheech Tremendous

This man:

I didn't really get hangovers during my high school and early college days. It wasn't until my 20s that I started to feel like I was hit by a Mack truck after a rowdy night of boozing. Probably also has something to do with the fact that a big day of drinking might be 15+ beers these days as opposed to whatever minute amount got me shitty drunk when I was an 18-year-old begging for whatever shit alcohol my older friends would buy me.

Ecsktein signs with Padres Our long national nightmare is over. At least he's going to play second base instead of continuing to pretend that he can actually throw the ball to first from short. Other news: Michael Young has rescinded his trade demand from the Rangers and has agreed to move to third base next season. This will allow Elvis Andrus to take over the starting job and shift Blalock to full time DH. That should be an upgrade for the team, at least defensively.

Exercise. Run, bike, lift weights... anything that burns calories and gets your heart rate up. Burn more than you take in and you'll be golden. That's really all there is to it.

It ended like four years ago, man. But I meant "post-Mannie Fresh era" as in "the era following the mainstream advent of the Mannie Fresh aesthetic," not as in "after the Mannie Fresh era." The "Mannie Fresh era" itself was part of the "post-Mannie Fresh era." Sry for the confusion. Is this folder allergic to rap discussion? Other than your brief synopsis of Mannie Fresh vis a vis the southern rap scene and the timely thread about Warren G., there is nothing on the front page regarding hip hop music. Maybe this needs to be my next music folder project.

It was a really good idea to add that La Parka option. It has more votes than all four other options combined. Let's look at this situation from a different angle. If we were starting a brand new board with the existing members, what sort of wrestling folders would we need to satisfy their needs? My gut says WWE and Other would be all you need, but I don't know for sure. I guess what I am trying to say is don't look at it from what we have, think about what we actually need.

I love the fact that they added John Smoltz, Brad Penny, Takashi Saito, Rocco Baldelli, Mark Kotsay and Josh Bard to an already-solid core and the whole thing cost them less than one year of AJ Burnett. In all likelihood those guys offer very little next year, but if even one of them succeeds it'll make the whole investment worthwhile. I don't see the fit with a guy like Adam Dunn, but if the price tag is as low as some people are saying, I'm glad they're checking in and doing their due diligence. He won't sign to be a back-up, but maybe Theo sees some sort of time share that gets all the corner guys 500 or so ABs. If nothing else, it gives them insight as to what they might offer Jason Bay to lock him up for the next few seasons. 1. Dustin Pedroia

Fixed. I'm okay with letting Lester go year to year for right now. Last year was his first full season at the major league level. Let him do it a couple of more times and then start talking extension. No reason to go full out for a young pitcher given their propensity to get injured or flame out early. Same reason that I am glad the front office is showing restraint with Papelbon. The Sox have the money to minimize the risk and go year to year with these guys if need be. I love Youks, but he's just not on the same level with Teixeira. Teixeira's a switch hitter who is younger, gets on base more, hits for more power and plays superior defense. Last year was the first time that Youks put up an OPS+ even close to Teixeira's career average. That season looks like something of a fluke, given the crazy slugging percentage out of line with what he's done the rest of his career. Youkilis is a fabulous player who deserves his big deal, but there is no need to stand him up against an obviously superior player. As for Tek, he's probably only worth $4 or $5 million, depending on what you think his intangibles are worth. Bard's already signed for $1.6 million and he projects as the better player going forward. Given that Tek turned down $10 million earlier this offseason, I don't think he'd take such a low amount and I don't think the Sox would offer something so low for fear of insulting him. He might come back because no one else wants him, but it's time to start the realization that we've seen the last of him as an everyday catcher in this league. That skillset isn't there anymore.

My cable company didn't have any channels that carried ECW during its heyday. My first extended exposure to the product was the ECW on TNN show. Now, I had seen ECW here and there when I visited my friends with satellite dishes and PWI magazine filled in the rest, but I was salivating at the chance for a good look at the product. This was during the absolute apex of my fandom as well. Unfortunately, I never got into the show at all. A Friday night timeslot when I was in high school? May as well not even existed because the likelihood of me catching the show was 0. From what I remember, I didn't miss much either. ECW was really sort of a shell of its former glory at this point. When I was around I was intrigued by what I saw, but I think it did a poor job of trying to hook new viewers. The product wasn't really special or different anymore compared to Attitude-era WWF.

Youkilis signs 4 year, $40 million contract with Red Sox I like it. It seems like a very favorable contract for the team, locking up Youk through this prime at a below market rate. Gives Youkilis a little security for the next couple of years as well with the economy possible having continued downward pressure on player salaries. I wasn't looking forward to the upcoming abitration case with him at all. Now see if they can get Bay to do the same and I'll call this offseason a major success.

It doesn't have to go anywhere, but the whole folder has only received four replies in the past week. This thread alone has doubled that count in the last twenty minutes. I am against giving that folder a prime spot at the top of the board when nobody uses it at all. As much as I disdain mega-threads, would having a single thread for Overseas and Indies in the General folder be that bad? I can't see it be any worse for those posters who actually want to discuss that subject matter.

After some deliberation, I went for the fourth option. Keep WWE and MMA and throw everything else under the banner of General. Make that a catch-all thread for old school discussion, TNA and other assorted stuff. That probably won't be a popular option, but I think it makes the most sense given where these forums are going. But then again, I like an active folder and don't really feel the need to keep certain things around for posterity' sake (looking at you, Comics thread).

Sorry man. Someone making a call to improve the forums is like my bat signal: I can't help myself from interfering. I guess this is the tiring junior-mod schtick that everyone rails me on. Can you add your poll back to this thread? I liked your set-up better than mine.

I agree with Bob. Overseas and indie stuff should fall under the blanket of "General" anyways. That sort of screws with my dream of that folder becoming an exclusive for Old School talk, but that has been dying since the WWE 24/7 subfolder headed off to WWE land. More than likely the random Puro and ROH stuff will just get lost in the shuffle. That's a shame for those guys who follow it, but how many people are we talking here?

I think most of them post here.

You might want to consider these for your next purchase: It's a cleaner, more traditional look than you might find with Lugz, but I'd guess that the wallabee style runs parallel to your tastes in footwear. They're made by Clarks. Solid brand.

Boy, there's a Venn diagram. You're telling me. vs.

Good call. I actually wear these bad boys during winter months: They are a nice, sturdy, waterproof boot by Timberland. Thankfully the style is such that I can wear them with bootcut jeans and not look like a rapper or transplanted mountain hick.

Oh shit, Kreese isn't dead? Sorry what I said about your wife, man.

Oh, cashmere is fantastic. Too bad you'll go fucking broke trying to get the good stuff. A nice alternative is the cotton-cashmere blend at J. Crew. It's reasonably priced and is of a much higher quality than really cheap cashmere. It's the workingman's alternative. Like Czech, I also recently acquired a cardigan. I was extremely reticent about this item working it's way back into popular fashion. However, I went ahead and bought a gray one late in the fall and it has been a staple of my wardrobe since. It's so versatile.

Since I am bored today, here the top 10 prospects in the American and National League, courtesy of Jim Callis at Baseball America. All comments are his, not mine. In other prospect news, Baseball America named the Texas Rangers as having the best minor league system in baseball. That team could be scary good in a few seasons. There really is a sea change going on in that division, with Texas and Oakland on the way up, Seattle rebuilding and LA looking a little vulnerable. Anyways, here are the reproduced lists: American League 1. David Price, lhp, Rays What he showed us in the postseason was just the beginning. 2. Matt Wieters, c, Orioles He could be Mark Teixeira—as a catcher. 3. Brett Anderson, lhp, Athletics The best player Oakland got in the package for Dan Haren. 4. Trevor Cahill, rhp, Athletics It will be fun to watch his friendly rivalry with Anderson. 5. Neftali Feliz, rhp, Rangers Just one reason the Braves wish they could undo their Teixeira trade. 6. Tim Beckham, ss, Rays Yet another multitalented star-in-the-making for Tampa Bay. 7. Eric Hosmer, 1b, Royals He could be the best of all the special hitters K.C. has drafted recently. 8. Lars Anderson, 1b, Red Sox Even if Boston signs Teixeira, it will find room for Anderson in 2010. 9. Travis Snider, of, Blue Jays Of these 10 guys, he might make the biggest 2009 impact in the majors. 10. Mike Moustakas, 3b, Royals In a few years, he and Hosmer could combine for 70 homers annually. National League 1. Pedro Alvarez, 3b, Pirates Spring injury, summer holdout overshadow his devastating hitting ability. 2. Madison Bumgarner, lhp, Giants Showed much more polish than expected in first full season, led minors with 1.46 ERA. 3. Colby Rasmus, of, Cardinals The best player developed by St. Louis since Albert Pujols is ready for the majors at 22. 4. Buster Posey, c, Giants Has the tools to become the NL's version of Joe Mauer. 5. Tommy Hanson, rhp, Braves Displayed four plus pitches at times while blowing away Arizona Fall League hitters. 6. Logan Morrison, 1b, Marlins The best hitter in the minors who hasn't received the hype he deserves. 7. Jason Heyward, of, Braves It's still unfathomable how he lasted 14 picks in the 2007 draft. 8. Dexter Fowler, of, Rockies Colorado has done a fine job of developing the once-raw Fowler. 9. Cameron Maybin, of, Marlins Strikeouts are still a concern, but there's a lot of Andre Dawson in him. 10. Mike Stanton, of, Marlins Hit 39 homers in first full season after turning down a shot to play two sports at USC.

You know, if the Red Sox don't end up signing Varitek, his career may well be over. I can't see any team giving up a first round draft pick to bring him aboard at this point. Maybe he catches on somewhere in the second half once the compensation provision disappears, but really, how realistic is that? It's hard to imagine Varitek or some team looking forward to that scenario. It's a shame that things are going down this way, but Boras really mis-read the market. Heck, even Pudge might be done. I heard the other day that he's just banking on a Spring Training invite somewhere. Speaking of free agency, have he we heard anything about Ben Sheets, Oliver Perez, Orlando Hudson, Ken Griffey, Bobby Abreu, Garret Anderson or any of the other remaining free agents? I know the market's depressed, but I haven't heard those guys being discussed at all. Not even a peep about what they've been doing in free agency.

By the end of 2006, Jones was a 29-year-old coming off back-to-back 40 HR seasons at a .900 OPS. He had also just won his 9th consecutive Gold Glove award. Presumably, Andruw Jones was just entering the prime of his career and had already amassed most of the counting stats that he'd eventually need for election. It's really quite amazing for a player to become a regular at 19, especially for a team that was competing for a division title year in and year out. Had he followed a normal career trajectory, I have no doubt that he'd eventually put together a Hall of Fame resume. He should have had 2-3 more peak seasons, followed by five or so above average years and a couple more in which he finally declined. Let's say he ends up with 20 seasons in the bigs, 15 of which are above average campaigns, plus 10+ Gold Gloves, 500 HRs and an impactful player on a dozen or so playoff teams? That's really hard to deny.

A 9th place finish was respectable for my first year, but you bitches are dead this time.

He is right on one thing. We don't need an Overseas/Indies folder. It should be merged with TNA. I've been advocating that one since before I was a mod.