Cheech Tremendous

What's the Foodman? I don't remember that one.

He's the most conistently awful poster in the sports folder and he's everything I envision the stereotypical mouth-breaking Yanks fan to be. I don't think you want him representing your "side."

I think we need to institute a posting license for the board. All posters must be 21 years of age, have an Associate's Degree or trade school, be in good credit standing and able to insult members of the Yankees without breaking into ethnic slurs in all caps.

While we're at it, don't let the blacks have kids either. That would take care of the crime and poverty problem right there.

Really? I thought that the entire process gets very personal and that teams will try to avoid arbitration whenever they can, even if it costs them money. Arbitration hearings, by nature, force the team to argue against their own player's abilities and accomplishments. That can often cause bad feelings between player and team.

A few names inked today: -Mets signed RHP Tony Armas, Jr. to a minor league deal. -Orioles signed RHP Steve Traschel to a minor league deal. -Pirates signed 1B Doug Mientkiewicz to a minor league deal. -Rockies signed the arbitration-eligible 3B Garrett Atkins to a 1-year deal worth $4.3875 million.

Even X-Pac hates X-Pac.

Reading is our friend.

He was dominant for a stretch in the NBA as well. He was first team All-NBA five consecutive times in the early 80s, finished top 5 in MVP voting another five times and led one of the best NBA teams of all time to a championship in 1983. I think you're underestimating his level of play, not to mention the impact he had from a cultural and stylistic side.

But how big of a role did it play? That's a question, I really don't know the answer. The three point shot was a very minimal part of the NBA game in the eighties. Larry Bird is often considered to be one of the best 3-point shooters ever and he never even cracked 100 made during any one season in his career. I'm not trying to put King down or discredit him. I just thought that was an odd thing to pick on.

The three point shot wasn't even introduced until the 1979-80 season. Dr. J had was already half-way done with his career at that point. It wasn't even an important part of the game in that era. It's sort of disingenuous to knock him for lacking a skill that he never needed to cultivate.

But she is dead. Everyone is talking like she's dead, but where's it say she is? Am I missing something? Dude, it's like two posts down:

The Dolphins cut QB Trent Green, WR Marty Booker and seven other players today. The Parcells housecleaning is well underway.

There were like three different threads that discussed some Saliva song yesterday. I find that odd.

The sad part is he'll be Baltimore's 2nd best pitcher.

With their 3rd round pick, the Stat Mongers select: Ryan Zimmerman, 3B

Facemaskgate

San Francicso Chronicle reports that the A's have signed Keith Foulke to a one-year deal. There aren't any Burger Kings in Oakland, are there?

Believe me when I tell you Baltimore has a VERY pressing need for relief pitching. Remember Sherrill doesn't reach free agency for four years yet as well. It's not that relief pitching wasn't a problem. In fact, they probably had the worst bullpen in the American League last year. It just seems like a waste to bolster the pen on a team that probably won't even win 70 games. I would have asked for more prospects. EDIT: Sherrill is three years from free agency. He's also 30 years old.

You cut out some of the best stuff.

The Orioles cleaned house on this deal. This is a superior package to the ones received for Haren and Santana this offeason. Adam Jones is a legit star in the making and he fills an immediate hole for Baltimore. Tillman has great stuff and should eventually develop into a mid-rotation starter. I think Seattle did okay too, but they may have deluded themselves into thinking that they are a contender. I think that they've improved themselves by 5 wins or so, but given that last year's team was more of an 80 win team than the 88 they ended up with, these big moves might still leave them ten games out of the playoffs. If they can add another bat they should do so, even if it costs them the farm. The only player moving that I don't get is George Sherrill. He was an integral part of last year's bullpen and Seattle needs a bridge to Putz. Baltimore doesn't have any pressing need for middle relief. My only guess is that they are going to pencil him in as the closer and hope to move him at the deadline.

Causation... correlation... they all mean the same to me.

Is the PTC still even around? Good ol' JN News is a mainstay of this thread. And I'll be pissed if there's some dude named Kamala working the indy scene! I laughed at that too, but I sometiems feel bad for JN News. I didn't want to drag him back into this thread. It's funny to read the comments suggesting that now Smackdown is off UPN they can go to NBC or move to a better night. Apparently they don't realize that the only reason they are on network tv in the first place is because the 5th place network needed to fill time cheap on a death night for ratings. They aren't going to suddenly move up in the world.

He's still going... I'm going to be really pissed if I see a Cheech Tremendous working the indy scene.

After he was drafted, he totally changes his mechanics in an effort to avoid a possible future injury (he had a major jerking motion). No one has said for sure whether this was a Red Sox management call or something from the Boras camp, although there have been accusations from both sides. After a confusing 2006 season where he worked as a starter, long reliever and closer at multiple levels, they put him on a strict 50 inning limit last year and stated from Spring Training that he would not be called up from AAA under any circumstances. He had a disastrous first half, but regained some of his form towards the end of the season. His old mechanics and devastating slider returned in September, but then he was shut down with a minor injury and later had surgery to correct sleep apnea. He's sort of a huge question mark right now, but should compete for a bullpen spot. It's really a make or break season for him.