Fökai

Sheffield was my last pick for the week. That would give me eleven players. And looking through 909's team, he drafted Bruce Sutter, not Gossage. I only noticed this because I drafted Gossage.

Going with my Friday pick. I think opinions of his placement are going to be polarizing, but I feel he's a steal at this point in the draft. Nine All-Star Games. Multi-position star, but I'm placing him in left field. Ridiculously consistent throughout his career with a a top-10 OBP and OPS season after season. Best seasons were '92, where he hit .330/.385/.580 with 33 HR and 100 RBI, then in '96 .314/.465/.624 with 42 and 120. He also walked a ton, and stole 15+ bases nearly every season he played. And last but not least, my favorite batting stance and swing of the current generation. Gary Sheffield.

Del Negro failing miserably in the playoffs against the Cavs would help your cause more than a lottery pick would. On a nationally-televised series, watching VDN make important coaching decisions - foul management, balancing minutes and clock management in the 4th quarter - is a bigger indicator of his coaching ineptitude than missing the playoffs would. So help me, I'm using Ripper's previous logic with Mike Woodson. Del Negro is getting another year if they don't make the playoffs, don't you think? EDIT: Tyrus and Noah are both improving considerably and are part of the rebuilding core, but they need a real coach now to facilitate their growth. This season, Thomas went from 35+ minute nights to 10 minute nights on a back-to-back because VDN wanted to be "fair" to the bench players. 2010 with a real coach won't solve the problems they have now. Tyrus wouldn't be such a basketball dumbass if they had a player's coach like McMillan or SVG to rein in the younger guys while assuaging their psyches. Thomas attacks the rim like LeBron and Dwight and needs an offense built around that - Tuesday night against the Pistons was an indicator.

Goose Gossage.

I went back and forth between two pitchers, but finally settled on the Hall of Famer. I'd be esctatic to get them both. Don Drysdale. “The trick against Drysdale is to hit him before he hits you.” - Orlando Cepeda.

That's deploreable. So you only liked the Braves when they have good players? They have a bunch of players to still root for like McCann, Escobar, Franceour, Jurggens, etc Even though the Braves haven't been great the past few years, I'm still a huge fan. In fact, the only reason my fandom has waned at all is because they're not on TBS anymore, and I don't have MLB Extra Innings 1. I have no attachment to any of the new crop of players that you mentioned, as promising as 3 of those 4 are. 2. I loved the average players on previous Braves team. Lemke, Blauser, Bream, Nixon, Rocker, Wohlers, Ligtenberg, Graffaniino, Belliard, Jordan. I could go on with roleplayers for days. In the previous post, I forgot about Klesko, Dye, Deion, the one year of Lofton. That's not the point of why I stopped caring about the current Braves team. 3. My apathy toward the Braves started with TBS cutting ties with them. Turner is the reason they have a fanbase from all over the country.

Ruth goes to DH with my new right fielder, and leadoff man. He has 15 combined Gold Gloves... ICHIRO!

For the Braves love, I've been resigned to the fact that it's ending when both Chipper and Bobby Cox retire. At some point in the last five years, I had realized I had stopped caring about the team as a whole and rooted for individual players. I still have fond memories of Justice, Gallaraga, McGriff, Pendleton, Gant, Chipper, Andruw and the Big 3. I can remember where I was when ESPN announced they had traded for Denny Neagle, for fuck's sake. I never had a "second" team" to cheer for, besides liking the West Coast teams by proximity, so that's one out the window. I picked up the Bulls during their first title against the Lakers, and never left it. I'll be as die-hard as it gets. No second team, either. The only team because of proximity, the 49ers. In the early 90's, it was the cool thing to cheer for the Raiders, for obvious reasons. Chose the Niners because of Montana and Rice, same deal as the Bulls. In the end, it will be the Bulls, 49ers and UH Warriors in all sports. Sure, I was a frontrunner as a kid, but I've stuck with the Bulls and Niners during the bad years, which isn't easy to do in a state when you can jump from team to team each year with no ridicule.

Arizona State surely followed the blueprint for the "Pac-10 at the Dance" performance. Jeff Pendergraph turtled up like a little bitch today. He laid an egg against a team in Syracuse who has little to no interior to speak of, fouling out in essentially 15 minutes of play. From the tip-off, he simply hid behind his defender and waited for a lob or dump pass to come his way. I've heard for the last two years he's been projected as a first round pick in the draft - what a pro career he has ahead of him. That being said, Syracuse is in my Elite 8 for a reason -- that team is absolutely deadly when they have the drive and dish going. Blake Griffin looked incredible yesterday, but I don't think the OK backcourt stands a chance against 'Cuse. I wouldn't be surprised if their 2-3 zone holds everyone on Oklahoma not named Griffin to under 10 points.

I won't be here tonight, so I'm making the pick now. Building a multi-position team that will conform to any ballpark in the league, this pick is a no-brainer. It has to be mentioned again: 2 MVP awards, one each at SS and CF. My shortstop, Robin Yount. EDIT: I realize it's not time to make the pick, but I'm up next (tomorrow morning) and each team has drafted their required 6 players already. Had this not been the case, I would've held off the pick.

Now why isn't there another early game?

My pick was between Dean, Smokey Joe and my next pick...I should be glad to get 2 out of 3.

Dizzy Dean.

Thank god for MMoD. CBS just switched away from Purdue/Northern Iowa to cover Maryland/Cal, which just started their second half. Why?

Hoping for both of my picks to drop to me... Centerfielder, Duke Snider.

Moving around the infield, second basemen, Charlie Gehringer. Perhaps a reach, but a guy valued equally for his bat and glove. *1937 AL MVP *Finished in Top 6 of MVP Voting in five consecutive years, which I will go with. Batted over .325 with 200 hits and 100 RBI, then led the league in fielding percentage and assists in each of those seasons.

Batting third to protect Ruth... First Baseman, Hank Greenberg.

I can't imagine letting this guy drop any further... Greg Maddux.

I don't see why people are quick to include teams with young (or unestablished) quarterbacks into the mix. If owners are already hesitant about adding the guy, most of these quarterbacks wouldn't exactly be begging for Owens either. Cutler already has a fragile psyche with this offseason, Clemens would be dead in the water, Flacco needs someone else in the mold of Derrick Mason, not a TO-type personality, etc. I can say the same thing for Tampa, Green Bay, Chicago, KC and Buffalo, at least among the 'favorites' to land him. Oakland seems like the only team stupid enough to sacrifice a young QB's future for the sake of winning (and yes, I am taking into account what 909 has been saying in this thread). And as someone has already mentioned, you need to have a strong, established quarterback and a strong, established coach. Owens, with the first comment he makes questioning his team's motives, will have the media questioning whether said coach can control his own locker room. So, it's wash, rinse, repeat with TO. Any coach that can say "I don't give a shit about him, I'm going to sit him out this week" will be the one that's successful with Owens. Taking my own qualifications into consideration, the teams left are Tennessee and New England.

The Panthers franchised Peppers despite him saying he would demand a trade if tagged. Good luck with that, Julius.

al, Cheech, Harley, Smues, Treble, pbone, Alfdogg, Dandy, Agent, 909 and VX, judging by the threads in sports,

It's a message board.

Okay, I found this pretty funny.

It is a big deal, though. In the grand scheme of state affairs. But yes, it is a joke.

You have to consolidate talent if you're Portland. You're already hearing *slight* grumblings when it comes to playing time, and it will only be compounded with a sea of young talent who all need time to contribute. That's not even accounting for the shitload of draft picks the Blazers have acquired for the next two seasons. Aldridge is a great building block and coming into his own, but this is AMARE STOUDEMIRE. A duo of Amare and Oden is untouchable on the offensive end. Bayless will never crack the starting lineup with this depth chart. And sitting on LaFrentz' contract? It's an expiring and a top trading piece in the league. Teams are willing to part with legitimate talent for that contract. If you had to make a move, I'd try to grab Amare and Barbosa. If you value Aldridge that much to keep and develop him, don't make the trade. If you are still concerned about Amare's injury history, don't make the trade. Otherwise, make the trade.