Cheech Tremendous

Lester's pitching a hell of a game so far. Lackey too, for that matter. I was just messing around. No need for any Manny debate.

Can't replace Manny's bat my ass!

I don't usually post while I'm watching the game. Forget the camera, someone show him to a decent men's store.

Yes, that's the right idea. I was diligent about doing that as well when I was a mod. It's need to be done in a lot of other folders as well (credit to Czech for doing it in Music... even if the thread titles leave something to be desired).

No one has ever adequately explained to me why we too many threads is a bad thing. I'd like to see each folder turn over once a week. That would mean 2-3 new threads per folder, per day. As for stupid and unnecessary threads, yeah I get it. Mods close them now... why wouldn't they close them if mega-threads were gone?

Good. Looks like they think they have all the support needed for House passage as well. I have regained faith in our democratic system. For now.

Offseason threads are bad. I agree with you there. As for the definition of a mega-thread... I don't know. You just kind of know them when you see them. I'm talking about those threads that encompass multiple topics and go on and on for pages with no breaks. I don't have any problem with a thread being long. It's the threads that keep going without any frame of reference. At least with TWIB and NFL x they turn over on a weekly basis. CWDWAT just go on forever and ever. Same with the Wii thread or Campaign 2008. Think of it as like reading a book. There are short paragraphs and long paragraphs, but you at least get a new one when the thought changes. The mega-threads are like one paragraph going on for dozens of pages. Horrible analogy, I know, but maybe it can give you a visual.

The sports folder is nothing but megathreads. Really? I'm the one railing against mega-threads and I think the Sports folder is one place where they aren't that prevalent. There are few, but nothing egregiously bad like a few of the other folders.

The error seems to be fixed now. It was probably just from all the traffic coming to see Kinetic's newest video extravaganza.

The problem is getting worse for me.

This is a contradiction to what you wrote earlier. You said that if you can't afford to buy a house without using credit you should be a renter. That probably eliminates like 95% of the US population. Maybe we just misunderstood you earlier. Down payments should be at least 20%, and that was the industry standard before this recent crisis. What has happened now is that people with good credit AND a down payment can't get loans. That's why the current credit crunch is being a called a crisis. Money has to be available to keep the economy turning. Lastly, we need to move on from the continued blame towards lenders and borrowers for bad mortgages. Yes, they made mistakes, but this isn't all at the feet of the lenders. This was a failure in government oversight and regulation. It doesn't matter that these current institutions made the loans; if they didn't they would have been put out of business by those who were. We are looking at the results of a free and unfettered market. This bailout must be combined with increased regulation and federal oversight.

Good job, Kinetic! Way to hit that one out of the park.

In what way is he the catalyst? Guy had a fine season, but it was the improvement of the pitching staff, including the acquisitions of Garza and Percival combined with the unbelievable turnaround of the infield defense that transformed them into contenders. On the offensive side of the equation, Carlos Pena rebounded from a slow start to be the team's offensive MVP. The Longoria love is sappy sportswriter stuff. He had an excellent rookie campaign and is a star in the making, but he was only one piece of the Rays puzzle this season.

Probably depends on your definition of great as well. I think if you're one of the best in the game (say multiple All-Star games and appearances on MVP ballots) you can be called great. By that definition, Jason Bay is a great player. Matt Stairs and Jason Kendall have also had very good careers (Kendall especially), but both are reaching the end of their playing days. It would be nice to see both of them get rings.

Donald Trump supposedly said that he thinks that if we dont do anything about the financial crisis that the price of oil will collapse. Donald Trump apparently passed his Econ 101 class.

Is anyone else going to vote? This is typically one of the year's most popular threads.

The Angels won the season series. But six of those eights wins came at the end of July when the Red Sox clubhouse was a mess and they were running out their little league lineup because of all the injuries. To me the, the head-to-head sample isn't large enough to make a definitive statement either way. If you look at RS/RA and BP's Third Order Wins, the Red Sox were probably the best team in baseball this year. The Angels were good too, but a lot of that was a result of playing in the AL West. Doesn't mean I think the Red Sox are runaway favorites. I think it will be a tight series. It's just the overwhelming Angels support that caught me off guard.

You may or may not be right, but that doesn't mean we should ignore what's going on and pretend that it will go away. A depression is the worst case scenario right now. I don't know if it has a 1% chance or a 50% chance, but the threat is real. I hate to post long articles that people skip over, but here's a simple answer as to how we end up in a depression. It's probably more concise than I could be.

I'm a bit perplexed as to why 75% of the board thinks the Angels will beat the Red Sox. I'll be the first to admit that a five-game series with two even teams can go either way, but the Sox have won nine consecutive postseason games against LAA and were the better regular season team this year. They have distinct advantages in starting pitching, relief pitching, offense, baserunning and defense. Are people that concerned over the homefield advantage or is it something else? The potential injury concerns of Lowell, Drew and Beckett?

This thread has not quite definitively proven that posters may or may not like mega-threads. I think I've done my job.

So technically the season is underway, but that's only because money-hungry MLB decided to have the first game of America's pastime in Tokyo. Let's get everyone's predictions down in one place so that we can look back a few months down the line and realize how poorly we did. (x- denotes Wild Card) AL East NY Yankees x- Boston Tampa Bay Toronto Baltimore Thoughts: Boston and New York will both win 90+ games, but I think the hitting and pitching depth will put the Yankees over the top. Tampa Bay will surprise everyone by going .500 and staying in the race until September. Toronto might be the 6th best team in the AL, but they catch the breaks of being in the best division in baseball. AL Central Cleveland Detroit Chicago Minnesota Kansas City Thoughts: I see no discernible difference between Cleveland and Detroit right now as I feel the offseason moves on the Tigers part are going to improve the team only marginally. It's going to come down to injuries and depth and I feel that Indians will be better able to cope with losses over the course of the year. The other three teams get to meander around the 70 win mark. AL West LA Angels Seattle Oakland Texas Thoughts: The worst division in baseball. The Angels will coast and win the division by ten plus games. Seattle regresses big time and the other two teams end up better than we expected when the kids start to click around mid-season. NL East NY Mets Atlanta Philadelphia Washington Florida Thoughts: The Mets run away from the division and the rest of the National League behind their hitting and pitching. Atlanta and Philly fight for the Wild Card all year, but are ultimately upstaged. NL Central Chicago Cubs x- Milwaukee Cincinnati St. Louis Houston Pittsburgh Thoughts: The Cubs and Brewers both take another step ahead to become real title contenders. Cincinnati and St. Louis both hang until after the All-Star break but then are left behind because of each team's massive flaws (Dusty Baker and pitching, respectively). NL West Arizona LA Dodgers Colorado San Diego San Francisco Thoughts: I see Arizona with a slight advantage here because of the pitching and continued growth of their young players, but in reality any of the top four could take it. San Fran will be the worst team in the league.

You think Lackey can beat Lester twice in one series? Not saying you're necessarily wrong, but that's a bold prediction.

Anyone? Anyone? Bueller? I can't think of one reason why a capital gains tax cut would help anything at all. You're on your own with that one.

Senate to vote Wednesday on bailout package FDIC insurance may increase to $250,000

By choosing the A schedule, the Angels and Red Sox will have an extra off day. That means both teams can shorten to 3-man rotations and ride the back end of bullpens extra hard. You'd have to think that favors the Sox. Not exactly sure why the Angels would go that route when they held advantages on the 4th starter and in bullpen depth. Anyways, it's a tough series to call. I'm going to go slight edge to Boston, but there's not a lot of confidence there on my part.