Cheech Tremendous

Future Hall of Famer Ray Allen isn't a star? In what universe?

Why not 65-97? You may not have noticed, but their starting shortstop has a career .619 OPS in the EASTERN LEAGUE. PECOTA projects them for 65 wins, but given that teams on the margin are the most likely to over or underperform their projections, it might be a rosey projection. The fact that they lack a good bullpen and the most likely scenario at the deadline is sell, a late-February prediction of 65 wins is probably the best they'll look all year. By the way, for those who don't have a BP membership, their new team projections came out today. The Rays are projected to win 89(!) games this season.

Not only are the Oroiles awful on paper (and they should be, it's a rebuilding year) but they play in division that might feature 4 of the ten or twelve best teams in baseball. I just don't see any hope for them other than the fact that a few of the pieces they picked up might give them a decent core in 2010.

I remember that I did very well on this last year, but I'm much less confident in my picks. I could see about 15-20 teams falling somewhere between 80 and 90 wins depending on injuries and in-season trades. The only virtual locks I see on the board are the Rays, Giants and Mariners. Everything else is tough to call.

The O's will be significantly under 66 wins. More like 50-60. If I were an O's fan, I'd be elated with 65 or 70 wins.

His avatar changes from the stupid ninja turtle to an ad for avatarity.com free avatars multiple times a day with no rhyme or reason. Am I the only one outraged?!

I always assumed that the avatarity.com avatar was some sort of postmodern statement on posting and the representation of one's self in an anonymous internet world. I think I overthought things a bit.

I was amused by the fact that dustinbeaverton's idea of improving was to simply not post. A lot of posters could learn from him. EDIT: And thanks for the birthday wishes, Dr. Venk

Holding the show at three venues and bringing in celebrity announcers is one of those ideas that probably seemed really good on paper until they actually tried to put it in practice. I think without the hindsight of seeing this show's failures it seems like a novel concept.

I knew it.

What are your feelings on the Phils chances this year Al? I was really high on them last season (and correctly picked them to win the division), but I'm not sold on this year's team. I expect a moderate regression from Utley, Rollins and Howard. Combined with the loss of a productive Aaron Rowand and Pedro Feliz getting the lion's share of at-bats at third and the team could see their high octane offense take a step back. Even more troublesome is their rotation. Cole Hamels is an ace, but I worry about his health after an increased workload last year. Myers will be good, but after that the whole rotation is a bunch of question marks. The bullpen still looks shakey even with Lidge. I just see this as an 85 win team that will come up short against the Mets and probably the Braves.

I am a firm believer that one's taste for wrestling is mostly influenced by the type and style they grew up watching. I know a lot of people bitch about the lack of quality and workrate in the matches at these mid-80s shows, but to me it's just normal. I've always been a guy who preferred big face wins and angles over match quality and it's because of things like Wrestlemania 2. To me, a show doesn't feel the same without a face getting the win over a monster heel. My entire childhood experience was Hogan beating a big fat fuck on the biggest shows of the year. It's probably why I feel Big Show was the most underpushed wrestler this decade while most were clamoring for Jericho or RVD. Hell, I think Matt Morgan should have been a star.

Ain't that the truth...iness All puns aside, the guy is awful.

Isn't there some team up in the New England area who has won two WS titles in the past four years and accoring to BA has the 2nd best farm system in all of baseball? I could swear that there was. Kenny Williams is an idiot. You build your team through the minors and sell off the players that aren't expected to contribute to fill holes at the major league level. He has the whole process ass backwards.

I posted that yesterday to little response. Couple of things I noticed when perusing the list. - 9 of the top 20 players belong to teams in the AL East , including 4(!) Tampa Bay Rays. - The White Sox don't have one player listed on the top 100, or on the just missed - Brandon Wood has stuck out over 400 times in three minor league seasons - I believe this is Homer Bailey's fourth consecutive year on the list, second time in the top 10

oh come on..ANY SCANDAL WHATSOEVER?? CORKED BAT? I know its not steroids but come on. and like I said, I remember Cubs fans being all happy the were trading him because he had obviously used steroids and since he was off he was rapidly declining. The corked bat was nothing more than a footnote by the time they traded him. Czech's probably more of an authority on this, but I know the Cubs fans I worked with at the time was more disgusted with Sosa walking out on the team at the end of the season. Also, since he was in obvious decline, they felt that it was time to move on (as the team was cascading downward after 2003). Also, there is very little evidence that Sosa's decline was because he stopped using PEDs. The guy was 36 years old when he started his heavy downward trend and any scouting report will tell you that he lost bat speed and that caused a precipitous decline in his ability to challenge pitchers, especially righties. That's a normal thing that happens when hitters of his age and build reach their late 30s, regardless of any suspected steroid use.

Although my wrestling viewing habits didn't fully evolve until sometime in 1987, this is the first show I distinctly remember watching as a kid. Well, I do remember watching Savages I-C title win on tape, but I think that I saw that after watching this show. But I digress. Hogan-Bundy seemed like the biggest thing in the world to me when I was four years old and therefore I have a soft spot for this show, even if I can't remember anything else that happened.

#561. This thread

So you're saying from the start of the summer on (when the weather gets nice and attendance picks up) the Orioles were one of, if not the worst team in baseball? I wonder how this played into their 3% drop in attendance.

For some power, Rick Ankiel, OF

The O's sold 80,000 fewer ticked in '05 because they sucked. It had nothing to do with acquiring a suspected PED user other than the fact that said user was an offensive black hole. Does Marvin even read what he is writing?

Had to resurrect the thread for this gem...

I like how the Torch article mocks journalists for not doing any research and taking the $20 million figure at face value, but then does nothing in the way of actual correction or new information. Why doesn't Mitchell get off his fat ass and figure out what Mayweather is actually getting.

What subject? Something like a math course you'll need to new edition. For a history course though it's inconsequential. And you could always consult with the professor themselves. Most of them know what a scam the college textbook market is. Professors are usually required to change their textbooks every couple of years because the campus bookstore is a cash cow for most universites. Because most professors are disinterested in learning new material, they just choose newer editions with modest changes in page numbering, pictures or something else inconsequential. As long you can follow what the professor is talking about, having an old edition is usually no problem.