Fractures are better than torn ligaments.

Think positively.

I truly hope this won't effect his pitching, but it brings up the frequent injuries active young men sustain, and the adage that you can't have enough pitching. Organizations that don't keep as many youngsters as possible in a starting role throughout their development are.. well I don't have to say it.

Will Carrol was right.

3
Dang, beat me to it.

He could be big as a house by spring training.

1
D4P should be here shortly to put that thought to rest.

I do not think Bills should have a ghost operate on his leg.

4 I was going to go there but I decided to be nice.

Though it sounds like he should be able to start rehabbing his leg pretty soon.

From Joe Posnanski:
"6. Al "The Bull" Ferrara, 1,573 PAs, 0 stolen bases.
Comment: He had quite a lot of power, and he got on base quite a bit — The Bull had a career OPS+ of 119. But he might go down as the slowest outfielder in baseball history. Not only did he never steal a base (one attempt), he got to almost nothing in the outfield. They say The Bull* had muscles on top of muscles, and all those muscles can slow a guy down."

Did any of you old timers see the Bull play the outfield? I thought I remembered him going into the stands once to catch a home run.

This has the stench of Gary Bennett.

If Texas Tech wins tonight, I sure hope people do not still vote Alabama number 1.

It must suck to be a horse.

8 Think Greg Luzinski when it comes to covering ground in the outfield. Ferrara was a two-skill player. He could hit and hit for power

I finally check in on DT and I find this. AAAGH.

Apologies.

13 (for I am the harbinger of doom).

I was in a cast from ankle to hip for three months once; I hope he doesn't have to go that long.

Re TTU v Oklahoma: Is Brent Musburger worse than Tim McCarver? Discuss.

Meh. Should have read more closely. Two weeks in a cast ain't so bad.

Torn ligaments are better than fractures.

PS: Reading, PA...?

The Pretzel City.

Named after the railroad in Mopopoly™.

19 Hmph. From Wikipedia: http://tinyurl.com/652kbf

"Short Line is believed to refer to the Shore Fast Line, a streetcar line that served Atlantic City.8 The B&O Railroad did not serve Atlantic City. A booklet included with the reprinted 1935 edition states that the four railroads that served Atlantic City in the mid 1930s were the Jersey Central, the Seashore Lines, the Reading Railroad, and the Pennsylvania Railroad. The actual "Electric Company" and "Water Works" serving the city are respectively Atlantic City Electric Company (a subsidiary of Pepco Holdings) and the Atlantic City Municipal Utilities Authority."

I hate slipping and/or falling. I plan to never live anywhere with a lot of icy ground.

21 I advise you never get old either.

22
Good advice. I prefer my hips unbroken.

17 - 530 miles from Defiance, Ohio.

http://tinyurl.com/68xvew

We did most of the shopping tonight for our vegan Thanksgiving. Among other things, we bought vegan sausage, vegan butter, egg substitute, and soy whipped topping.

24
I wasn't questioned where it was, but rather why someone with Chad's financial resources (and job in Los Angeles) would choose to live there.

25
What's in the sausage?

How can something be butter if it has no dairy in it?

What if there were meat-tasting vegetables? That would be something.

26
Chad may have a wealthy future but he ain't there yet. We should get him to sign a nice little deal while he ponders his fragile future sitting on his ass staring at his cast.

The "sausage" is mostly textured soy protein concentrate, with a bunch of other ingredients that include the word "soy".

The butter is mostly soy stuff too, with various oils as well.

The sausage has no fat, and a ton of protein.

The butter has no protein, and a ton of fat.

So basically a vegan Thanksgiving is really a soy Thanksgiving, with some vegetables thrown in.

25
I respect your decision but the list did not get my mouth watering.

I've got a friend who probably will not see the new year, when you are short term you have different goals. Right now his goal is to be able to enjoy one last Thanksgiving.

Was Carrol the one who had Bills an injury risk two years ago? Well he missed and he said it would be do to his physique and motion, so he was way off.

Wasn't Matthew Berry in the same Billingsley-is-going-to-break-down boat?

34
We was just making fun of Mr. Carrol, not in anyway giving him credit.

I thought eating a lot of soy messes with your thyroid and causes your body to make more estrogen?

The menu:

Vegan Shepherd's Pie (lentil based, with mashed potatoes on top

Mushroom stuffing with gravy

Roasted Butternut Squash with Cinnamon and Olive Oil

Olive Oil Mashed Potatoes

Broccoli Almondine

Brown Sugar Peaches with Vegan Almond Cookies, Soy Ice Cream, and Soy Whipped Topping

I think the sum will ultimately be more appetizing than the parts.

[Reads headline]

Well, it's been fun folks. It was nice knowing you.

[muffled]
[head hits desk]

I thought eating a lot of soy messes with your thyroid and causes your body to make more estrogen?

I've read that before, and I've also read that it was a myth. So, I'm not sure what to think.

26 - Which is why I felt the distance from his family was relevant.

41
Gotcha.

#8, I remember Al Ferrara. One game in particular at Connie Mack Stadium where he left a ton of runners on base. He was similiar in skills to Frank Howard, though Howard had the far better career. Al didn't play all that much even though the Dodgers did not have much power. Alston used him almost exculsively against left handed pitchers if I remember correctly.

I guess remembering Al Ferrara qualifies me as an old-timer--- no offense taken.

Stan from Tacoma

40
I eat Kashi everyday, but then I stopped after I read that. My cousin said that you have to eat a lot, so I eat it everyday again.

So I sure hope it is not true.

If you're like me, you've probably heard the rumors about soy. That it can make men infertile or that it has a feminizing effect. You might be thinking twice about the amount of soy you're eating, or possibly wondering whether you should drink soymilk at all!

Well, you can stop worrying. While the soy debate rages on, the important facts have been verified. The short story is, no, soy doesn't have any kind of feminizing effect on men - although experts recommend eating whole soy foods, such as tofu and soymilk, rather than extracts and isolated proteins. The Asian countries where whole soyfoods are consumed regularly don't seem to be having population problems!

I think I will try olive oil mash potatoes once.

44 If you get pregnant, you'll know its because you're been eating Kashi everyday.

47
Now that is a quality lawsuit.

Even with the near proximity to his family and all, it might be time for Chad to think of wintering somewhere warmer, since he can. Move the family with you! Oh well, at least he'll be fine for spring training.

By the way, see Let the Right One In if you get a chance. As Swedish vampire-coming of age movies go, it's tops!

I know this was brought up in the previous thread, but can I just once again say...

Why is Florida playing The Citadel? That is a travesty of a mockery of a sham of a mockery of a travesty of two mockeries of a sham.

49
Did you ever see "Man On Wire"...?

49 I believe he bought a place in the Phoenix area after the Dodgers announced they were moving there from Vero Beach. He probably just lives back there for a few months.

49
He just goes there to store all his lower body fat for the winter.

49 "it might be time for Chad to think of wintering somewhere warmer, since he can."

Where he can surf, wake-board, and sky-dive!

Ah, so that's how he gets the ThunderThighs -- stored blubber.

51 Yes, quite good. Except for my fear of heights, I enjoyed it. "Young@Heart" is good too, among other recent docs.

I'm such a fan of Billingsley that whenever I hear negative news about him my first reaction is Defiance.

54 - No! He and every other precious Dodger needs to stay in their apartments all winter until spring training. Doctor's orders.

Poor Texas Tech.

57 You want everyone to turn into Andruw Jones?

Wait. If Billingsley's family is in Ohio, and he's in Reading, Pa., for Thanksgiving week no less, is he "seeing someone" there?

I feel like a National Enquirer reporter.

55
I'm deathly afraid of heights. I kinda felt like Philipe's conquest was partly for me, as well as for all of humanity.

59 - No, he needs to go to Reading, PA.

--

Okay, off to watch DVDs. Cheers. I want no one else getting hurt.

Okay, off to watch DVDs. Cheers.

Never liked that show.

Time Warner has now added The Big Ten Network & in HD for me. Too bad it doesn't help me watch the OSU-Arizona game.

I wonder how much Selig had to shell out for this. Also, whether it was a direct payment, or funneled through a PR agency.

http://tinyurl.com/6f655m

D4P is opposed to reproduction, the food chain, and Cheers. When recombinant DNA vaccines work, he's going to be the first in line to get gills and live under water.

64 OSU missed the extra point so with less than 4 minutes left in the game, 17-16 Arizona.

I have USC vs Cal in womens volleyball on 3 channels.

I'm pretty sure college beach volleyball would be more popular than college indoor.

I can't believe he missed the XP. My non-rose bowl BCS bid dream is dying.

70
BCS championship is a longshot but it's still lingering for USC, if a few things work themselves out.

71 - FSU will need to channel tonight's performance over to next Saturday. Or, OU rolls tonight, then loses to Okie State, meanwhile Tech goes into the tank after this week and loses to Baylor. That leaves Texas, who loses to Mizzou.

Why is Billingsley in Reading, PA? Could it be...love? Cherchez la femme.

Anyway, in case you want to know the difference between a spiral fracture and other fractures:

http://tinyurl.com/6lhlbf

And butternut squash with cinnamon and olive oil sounds fantastic.

That's the great thing about being a meat-eater. If someone invites you to their house for a vegan meal, you can say, "Sure, what time?" But the reverse isn't true.

71 The dream lives.

Go Beavs!

Are we sure Oklahoma isn't playing L.A. Trade Tech?

Would be funny if Oregon State misses the field goal too.

The Civil War will mean something this year.

I see Jimmy Connors was arrested at the UCSB/N.Carolina game friday night. I guess he argued one of the line calls and after a point penalty got tossed. :)
vr, Xei

Another game where a long pass with little time left was completed.

I, for one, like the Rose Bowl. I will be rooting for Oregon in the Civil War, thank you very much.

36 Sorry to take so long to reply--yeah that's what I thought. I can't think of a more stupid prediction.

Michael Vick put family pets in rings with pit bulls and thought it was funny watching the trained killers injure or kill the helpless dogs, a witness told federal investigators during the dogfighting investigation that brought Vick down.

Wonderful.

81 - I do too, but for one year, we need a change and a shot at someone else. The momentum going into next year fresh off a beat down of an SEC or Big 12 juggernaut would be huge.

Plus, it'd be great for the conference to get 2 BCS bids.

Now I know what it feels like to be a UCLA fan.

84 Here's the part I don't understand, USC was ranked 3rd in the preseason polls and then jumped to 1st after the first week of games.

Now, did they deserve to drop 8 spots after losing to Oregon State on the road? That's a valid question since Oklahoma and Texas only dropped 4 and 3 spots, respectively after they lost their first games.

And Alabama was ranked 24th in the AP preseason poll.

86
After week one did everyone know the Pac 10 was going to be this bad?

In hindsight no, but the perception is that the Pac 10 was so bad that any loss was unacceptable. We made our own bed, but the rest of the conference clearly hurt us.

Thus the need for an eight team playoff to decide the title. Let the rest of the teams then play in meaningless bowl games, like they currently do.
vr, Xei

Oklahoma and Texas lost to high ranking teams, which is the key difference.

25 HEY D4P,

I'm looking to buy a vegan cookbook for a friend. Have you used any of these
cookbooks or do you recommend something else?

http://tinyurl.com/5wutcf

http://tinyurl.com/5n6un4

It would be nice to have recipes that have fairly quick prep and cook time. Your advice would be appreciated.

This is all kinds of awesome. Now all that needs to happen for Texas to make the national title game is for OU to lose to either Ok St. or Mizzou. Both of which are really good teams.

Has a team ever played in the national championship game after failing to make the championship game of its own conference? That's what could/would happen to the Longhorns. They have essentially zero chance of making the Big 12 title game but I'd put their chances of making the NCG at around 50/50.

Of course, the downside of that is that the Longhorns now have almost no chance of going to a BCS game that isn't the championship game. It's the national title or bust.

If Russell Martin hadn't given him the call to walk outside, this never would have happened.

I only saw Al on TV. My strongest memory of him is Vin saying he once played piano in Carnegie Hall...

This injury's on me, guys. I was willing the ESPNews ticker to run something about the Dodgers. Anything.

92 Nebraska turned that trick in 2001 after giving up 62 pts to Colorado and missing the Big 12 Conf championship game.

92
Nebraska in 2001 lost to Colorado and missed out on the Big XII title game (Colorado beat Texas in that game), but the Cornhuskers went on to lose to Miami in the National Championship Rose Bowl.

97
What he said. :)

50/50 chance for OU to lose to Oklahoma St. or Missouri? That's being more than a little generous to those two teams. Missouri has beaten nobody this year, and that's a capital NOBODY. Nebraska is probably the best they've beaten and they are just an average 4 loss team. The best team Oklahoma St. has beaten is Missouri (see above), although their best game was probably against Texas. I would put the chance of OU losing to one of these two at less than 5%, not 50/50.

"50/50 chance for OU to lose to Oklahoma St. or Missouri?"

Well, obviously I think those teams are better than you are. Keep in mind that the OU-Ok St game is in Stillwater. But my 50/50 estimation also includes the possibility of chaos in the SEC resulting in an all-Big 12 national title game. Say Alabama loses to Auburn but beats Florida for the SEC title. The result would be an OU-Texas NCG.

100. That means you think they have a 97.5% chance of winning both of those games. 70% on both games would be 50%. I think splitting the difference would be prudent.
vr, Xei

101
Well, obviously I think those teams are better than you are.

I agree totally. These two teams are definitely better than me, no matter where the game is played.

100 - 102 Ah, the BCS . . .

I think the best shot for Texas would be for Tech to lose to Baylor. That would put Texas in the Big 12 title game and greatly increase their odds. Unfortunately, I don;t see that happening either.

Lets talk about better things. Like the margin of loss that is awaiting ND at the hands of the Trojans. :)

106. Or how many times Claussen will be picking turf off of his face mask!
vr, Xei

100 That's extreme hyperbole. There is no major-conference matchup which would ever result in one team being 39:1 favorites over another, which is what your math works out to. (And especially not when the 39:1 underdog is the #12 team in the country playing on its home field.)

102 97.5% sounds fair.

103 :)

109. Feel free to lay me those 39 to 1 odds.
I will even give you a discount and take 35 to 1 odds on both games.
vr, Xei

108 111
Whatever the odds, it will happen. I know Xei is probably just talking statistics, but Eric, what makes you think those two teams are that good?

108 USC-Washington State?

112 I don't think they're great. But they're pretty good. I did say that OU was more than three times likelier to win each game than to lose it. I don't see how that's unreasonable.

I agree that Oklahoma is much better than either of its opponents. But in sporting events the best team doesn't always win. That's why we all love sports. Uncertainty alone probably gives any randomly chosen team at least a 5% chance to beat Oklahoma.

If Oklahoma were as good as you seem to be advocating, their record over a three-year period would be 39-1. But it isn't.

39:1 just seems to be an overwhelming amount of confidence in an unknowable outcome. Heck, even if you had the players and refs on your payroll the outcome still wouldn't be certain enough for 39:1. I wouldn't lay those odds on a bet over what I had for dinner an hour ago, much less on the outcome of a football game between two top-12 teams.

114 Although I do think Oklahoma is pretty darn good, I'm in no way advocating that they are good enough to be 39-1over their last 40. What I am saying is that Missouri and Okla St. are overrated and over matched, badly. To me, they've proven that against every good team they've played, with the exception of Okla St. playing Texas pretty well, but that was one of those random days where we all love sports. If they replayed, I don't believe it would be that close.

I'm also really not seeing how an OU loss to Okla St. helps Texas all that much. Wouldn't that put Tech in the Big 12 Title game if they beat Baylor? So then if Tech were to win the Big 12, and beat Texas head to head, surely they rank ahead of them. Maybe not with the crazy voting sometimes.

Here's a well-reasoned, albeit biased, look at the confusing Big 12 scenario...

Attention Human Voters: The Case for Texas
http://tinyurl.com/5k5w2r

BCSGuru.Com breaks down the mess like nobody can. Here is what they say about USC.

The door is left slightly ajar for USC as well - ironically because Oregon State may keep the Trojans out of the Rose Bowl. If they end up playing Texas in the Fiesta Bowl, there is a chance for the Trojans to win the AP title - that chance doesn't exist if they face Penn State in Pasadena. In any event, there is virtually no chance for USC to play in the BCS championship game.

I certainly don't like our chances, but I'm not sure USC has "no chance" at playing for the BCS Title.

GOLDEN GOD SIGHTING!! on the Kings game!

117 Yes, you're right, that scenario would put Tech in the Big XII title game. But it would also put the Longhorns in the national title game. And I could give a flip about the Big XII title. I want the whole shebang.

Even if Tech were to beat Mizzou for the conference title, the computers would rank the Longhorns far ahead of the Red Raiders. And I feel safe in saying the human voters would too. Tech played two D-II teams, and even a Tech neutral-site win over Missouri wouldn't equal Texas, which has already won AT Missouri while Tech didn't have them scheduled this year.

Bottom line: If OU loses once and Texas beats Aggy, the Longhorns are going to Miami for sure, no ifs, ands, or buts.

120 They did say "virtually."

For USC to make the NCG, four of these five things would have to happen:

- Florida has to lose
- Oklahoma has to lose
- Texas has to lose
- Alabama has to lose, maybe twice
- USC has to rank ahead of Tx Tech in the BCS

Russell Martin makes L.A. his off season home?

For those who can't go without football tonight, the UH-Idaho game is streamed live here:

http://www.espn1420am.com/?id=66

It's at halftime, UH leading.

124

That's a good question. In the interview, he said he was just here for a few days and was about to head back to Quebec to see family. Not sure if his home is near Montreal or Manhattan Beach.

The night life is better in L.A.

60 73 You guys realize Chad is married right? Thing is, he met his wife in Vero Beach, so unless she was just down there for the spring training games and does live in Reading, it doesn't make a ton of sense why he would be there.

128

You're right. He was probably just washing his truck.

I think he was actually watching Jeff Kent's truck. When you play with Kent, rookie hazing lasts three years.

Maybe he's a Mennonite.

Does this mean we can bring back one of the all-time great Dodger nicknames -- The Reading Rifle?

So, whoever encouraged me today (or was it yesterday) to liten to The Mountain Goats, I've purchased several songs off iTunes:

San Bernardino
Cotton
Heretic Pride
Love Love Love
No Children
Sax Rohmer #1
This Year

So far, he sounds a lot like Sufjan Stevens and the guy who sang lead on Postal Service. Except on some songs, especially "No Children," he's really angry. Just in musical terms, my favorite right now is "San Bernardino" -- love the strings. I like the overall low-fi feel, and the clarity he seems very dedicated to. He's not fooling around in his lyrics. He wants you to hear every word unmistakably.

In the same buying/downloading spree, I picked up a few Cat Power songs. I love "The Greatest," so I wanted to see what else she can do. Brilliant. I love her version of Dylan's "I Believe in You." But where I really blew my wad was on a recording of Yo-Yo Ma playing all six Bach Suites for Unaccompanied Cello -- the more recent of his two recordings. On iTunes, that one set me back $12.99. On Amazon, it would've cost me $29. Those suites are like spiritual math. You feel your mind being reordered while listening to them.

(P.S. This is also at the end of another thread. I put it there by accident.)

Ratt, you've embraced iTunes?

So I come back from my honeymoon to find this...

I will say one thing - I'm glad to see that this doesn't affect his arms, although I hope his royal thighness can still reign supreme.

Is it time for me to find a new favorite Dodger? From the Gurnick article:

After the surgery, Chad felt well enough to watch his favorite college football team, Notre Dame

That hurts, Chad. That hurts.

http://tinyurl.com/6gqmz3

I wonder if the injury to Chad will end up helping the Dodgers in a way. Even though Chad is expected to be back and ready by spring training, maybe the hint of uncertainty will increase the sense of urgency to sign CC.

From Dylan Hernandez in the Times, more of the increased Dodger tax in trade talks:

"The Dodgers' discussions about a trade for former Cy Young Award winner Jake Peavy stalled some time ago, as the Dodgers balked at the San Diego Padres' asking price of a multi-player package that included Billingsley"

http://tinyurl.com/6hhol6

135 Congratulations!

136
Awwwwwwwwww!

Strangely, in a keeper fantasy league I'm faced with much the same decision the Dodgers are. I can have Peavy or Billingsley for next year but not both.

I'm keeping Billingsley.

138 -- I love how Hernandez calls Billingsly a "question mark" for next year's rotation. Spring training is about three months away, and the article itself says he will be able to pitch at the start of January. But of course Hernandez might be able to get more people to read his piece by injecting some artificial drama into it.

Yes, I'm on iTunes now -- 10 months and counting.

Rhapsody just got too buggy. I began dreading each new version, trying to block the automatic downloads. The version I have now streams just fine but to transfer tracks to the mp3 player meant not just rebooting the computer, but deleting then re-adding the software. After doing that, you had about 15 minutes at the outside before you'd have to go thru the same drill again. Then my mp3 player broke down. The stars were aligned. I saw an iPod vending machine in a Macy's in Minneapolis. I had my Macy's card in my wallet.

I stood in front of the machine for half an hour, pondering whether I should hook up with Apple after all the slagging I dished out. Finally...I bought an 8GB iPod nano and we're very happy, thanks.

One group that is very excited about a potential Penn State-Oregon State Rose Bowl is the Tournament of Roses Committee. Pasadena would be awash in Beavers fans and people from the Beaver Valley.

It would be very Beavery.

In the animal sense.

124 Russell Martin makes L.A. his off season home?

Martin was in town for this:

Dodgers fans play 'Under the Lights'

>> More than 250 Dodgers fans showed up Friday night to take live batting practice at Dodger Stadium as part of the first "Under the Lights" event hosted by Russell Martin and Andre Ethier. <<

http://tinyurl.com/5ccdpo

Matt Kemp will host the next one scheduled for December 13th.

Speaking of the BCS -- we have a lot of Pac 10 fans here. Would you care if the Rose Bowl didn't have a Pac-10-Big-10 affiliation any more and was instead part of a national championship tournament? That's the argument the conferences are using in favor of the current BCS system, that they don't want to lose out on the years of tradition.

Somehow I got the fibula confused with the tibia, it may have been Ratt's diagram, that showed a spiral fracture of the tibia. Anyway, I was trying to picture an ice slip fall that could put that much torque or stress on that thick a bone in a guy with sturdy legs. It was hard to figure without some damage to the back and core. The fibula is much thinner and more vulnerable. Whew!

Last night I dreamed that archeologists found a Coca-Cola bottle under the Sphinx, proving to most scientists that ancient astronauts built the Sphinx and also brought Coke to earth. The leading opponent of that theory was Jeff Kent. I'm open to interpretation.

Sometimes I get dreams like that from too much caffeine.

91
Sorry, but I can't really help you. This is the first multi-course vegan meal we've ever intentionally prepared, and we got all the recipes off the internet.

144
Back in 1994, Oregon needed a win in the Civil War or a loss by USC to UCLA to clinch a Rose Bowl berth vs. Penn St.

Now in 2008, Oregon State needs a win in the Civil War or a loss by USC to UCLA to clinch a Rose Bowl berth vs. Penn St.

146- I would care. I'm pretty sure I've never wanted to watch Kansas State play Miami. I know for sure I don't want to watch them play in Pasadena on New Year's Day. The Rose Bowl is the only one that matters.

Horrible news regarding Bills.

Twelve hours and change left to claim a free bottle of Dr. Pepper. It has something to do with Guns 'N Roses, but I'm not sure what. Free stuff, though. Nothing beats free stuff.

http://www.drpepper.com/freeDrPepper/

Bills shouldn't have been washing his truck when it was so cold outside.

151 - ironically both times to face Penn St, the only 2 times Penn St has played in the RB as Big 10 champs.

154 - A misunderstood soft drink. Edgy.

Per ESPN's Buster Olney:

I had a couple of conversations with Sabathia during the season about his free agency, and walked away with a couple of strong impressions:

1. He fully appreciates the fact that no matter what decision he makes, he is never going to be able to spend the money he is about to earn.

2. Factors other than money could serve as tiebreakers in his decision. Maybe, in the end, it will be about remaining in his home state of California, if the Dodgers or Giants or Angels check in with a competitive offer. Maybe it will be about playing in the National League. Maybe it will be about heading to New York with a good friend who happens to be a pretty good basketball player, and taking a parallel path and commiserating and sharing the experience of shouldering enormous pressure and conquering New York.

http://tinyurl.com/CC2LA-LBJ

The blog entry centers around the premise that the possibility of good friend LeBron James's arrival in New York--he's a Yankee fan--could eventually lead to CC Sabathia being swayed to take the Yankees' offer...that and $140 million. Who's to say that CC's arrival in LA can't bring LBJ to Los Angeles as well...for the Clippers. ;-)

156
Penn St. went undefeated that year and didn't even get a share of the national championship.

158

I am going to laugh my butt off like never before, if, after all that hype about James going to the Knicks, LeBron James signs with the LAKERS.

Imagine all the hoopla about James with the Knicks, only to head West instead?

Far as CC, that's the best excuse yet I've heard from him to go join the Yankees.

Elephants in the room.

CC really wants to play in the NL and live in SoCal. Can/is Colleticourt gonna get it done?

The leveraged players in the world are destroyed like never in our post war period. This has to funnel down to leveredged borrowers like McCourt. We aren't privy to the details, but the prudent and common thing to do today is to de-leverage and reduce expenses.

What do the Dodgers do?

146 You thought the Masters was "a tradition like no other," that is how the Pac 10, Big 10 and the Rose Bowl committee feels about their game. And as long as they can negoitiate their rights fees separately from the other BCS games, it will remain so.

162 I understand that. I'm asking how you as a fan feel, given that the tradition gets in the way of a playoff tournament. Which is more important to you? The chance to see USC (or UCLA in some lucky future year) in the Rose Bowl, or the chance for them to win the national tournament even if they are ranked 6th in the final BCS standings?

162
We Pasadenans like Midwesterners coming out to Our Fair City (or in my case the city north of me.)

We're fearful of those strangers from places like Texas, Oklahoma, Nebraska, and Miami.

Actually, I think there were about 20 Miami fans in Pasadena compared to about 20,000 Nebraska fans.

163
If you want to say "some lucky year" for a Pac-10 school going to the Rose Bowl, save it for Cal or Arizona.

I can only an informed opinion about UCLA fans, but if UCLA were playing for a national championship in football, fans of the school might show up if the game were played in say, Westwood. Or possibly Santa Monica.

But we really can't be bothered travelling anywhere else. And that includes Pasadena.

163, 165 - give me a shot at the NC in a tournament, unless every bowl is going back to traditional tie-ins.

CC-NOMICS...
CC? Manny? Dunn?... I really hope I'm wrong, but I feel like none of it is gonna happen for a long, long time. The economy is sinking like polar ice in July -- fast and shocking and scary... And for financially sketchy owners like McCourt, baseball is taking a back seat to wealth maintenance. Toward that end, McCourt will sit on his hands for the foreseeable future. So in addition to gearing up for long term unemployment, we all should get emotionally prepped for a 2009 Dodgers lineup with DeWitt at 3B, not 2B (where he belongs), and an extended re-audition of A Jones in the outfield. When Jones fails that - and he will - we'll wind up with, say, Baldelli.... By the way, usually I'm an optimist.

also, axl rose trying to look like stevie wonder is pissing me off. anybody else?

Funny thing with McCourt and payroll, if they solved all holes internally and augmented middle infield positions with low budget guys that fall through the cracks, we'd field a pretty decent team for this and next year. We'd likely let guys like Elbert, Broxton and McDonald develop nicely with a longer leash...not to mention Hu, Abreu and Dejesus.

All for $70-75mil.

Thats why I'm hoping for big fish CC and nothing rather than 3 or 4 stiffs for the same price.

I was looking up my all-time favorite tennis player (Stefan Edberg) to see what he was up to these days, and ran across this note, which I had never known about:

Edberg was involved in a freak accident during the boys' singles final at the 1983 US Open, when Richard Wertheim, a linesman, was struck in the groin by a ball hit by Edberg. Wertheim fell backwards, fracturing his skull, and died in hospital shortly thereafter.

169
i love the youngsters. but if we have one who can hit, say, 30 homers, please point him out. the dodgers have developed a fine group of no. 2 hitters (martin, maybe dewitt) one potential no. 3 hitter (kemp and MAYBE eithier) several no. 5/6 hitters (eithier, loney, probably lambo in about three years) and lots of 7/8 hitters (hu, abreu, dewitt, dejesus)... there's a lotta fine defense in there. some great baserunning. probably some excellent on base percentage and very decent gap power... but there's no clear cut no. 4 hitter; nobody who needs to be pitched around, nobody who will whack it outta the yard often enough to instill actual fear. i don't know if you noticed, but the dodgers did pretty well last year when we had somebody like that. i'd argue manny's dodger stint shows that, with a legitimate home run threat in the middle of the order, the dodgers can contend for a ring. without that, they'll offer what we've been looking at for awhile now... a lotta youngsters who'll be fun to watch...

I believe good young hitters develop power as they approach their mid to late 20's.

Seems to me the 1996-2000 Yankees did OK without the obvious thumper,no? Give me a solid 6,7 hitters with great pitching developing together.

With that said, I'd take Manny as the One and then deal with the OF logjam. Do we bring in Dunn or trade for Carlos Lee, then try to pawn off Andruw and/or Pierre?

Why do I continue to be a Rams fan? -16 yards in the first quarter, to 128 for the Bears. A kick return to the Chicago 23, a first down at the 12, and no points.

Why do I continue to be a Rams fan?

Because it's fun! I'm hoping for another huge halftime deficit this weak. Chicago's up 14-0 at the end of one quarter, so the half's off to a good start.

Daniel's football weekend.

Big Game - Thumbs down
Beehive Boot - Thumbs down
Rams game - Daniel has run out of thumbs

175 It has been a rather depressing weekend from that standpoint. Thankfully I finished installing some brick pavers, cleaned the porch, hung Christmas decorations, and cleaned out the garage. So it wasn't a complete waste!

Ha ha! Fake punt on 4th and 15 is no good, two plays later, a 47 yard run for a touchdown, 21-0.

177
Yes! 96-3 in the last 3 first halfs, with 9+ more minutes left for Da Bears to score more points.

Detroit is leading 17-7 at home against Tampa Bay. Will the Lions avoid an 0-16 mark?

Whoops. Now it's 17-14 as the Bucs just scored.

Rats. Rams got a field goal.

96-6.

So maybe the Lions will lose every game now.

The Rams have attempted 9 rushes.

1 resulted in 11 yards.

The other 8 resulted in a total of 0 yards.

99-6.

If I understand correctly, the Rams just punted, and got an unnecessary roughness penalty. Fortunately for them, the Bears were called for an off-setting penalty, so the Rams punted again.

And got an unnecessary roughness penalty on the second punt too.

Then the Bears punted after 3 downs, and the Rams ran into the punter.

From ESPN's front page:
"Brett Favre vs. Kerry Collins. Eli Manning vs. Kurt Warner. Which QB doesn't belong in this picture? Sorry, Eli, but your youth is sticking out. "

I was thinking Collins status as a mediocre journeyman stood out.

BP reports in "on the beat" today that the Dodgers have decided not to resign Beimel.

The new iPhone OS update 2.2 really seems to have fixed the Safari crashing. This will make following DT during games (among much else) a lot more pleasurable next season.

Old news that may have already been covered here recently, but I found the following write-ups interesting on former Dodgers pitching prospects Michael Watt and Eduardo Perez, both of whom were surrendered to the Padres in the recent Greg Maddux trade:

"He's a good one," said Watson, the club's assistant general manager, player development. "We certainly thought a lot of him."

Watson said Watt, a 19-year-old left-hander, has two "swing-and-miss pitches" and athleticism that give him a chance to become a solid starter in the major leagues.

As part of negotiations that would send Padres pitcher Greg Maddux to Los Angeles on Aug. 19, the Dodgers refused to trade Watt. Creative thinking by Padres General Manager Kevin Towers helped the two sides strike a deal. Towers suggested that if the Dodgers reached the playoffs, the Padres could get Watt, in addition to minor league pitcher Eduardo Perez. The Dodgers eventually agreed, and when L.A. won the National League West, the Padres got Watt.

Watson said that Watt was responding well to Dodgers coaching and conditioning methods by season's end. In the lefty's final 23 innings, he had 20 strikeouts and zero walks. He went 9-4 with a 4.35 ERA in the hitter-friendly Pioneer League.

http://tinyurl.com/maddog4watt

92. Eduardo Perez, RHP (53 innings in GCL, 3 innings in Pioneer League in 2008)

Signed by Dodgers 7/13/05
6'2", 185 lbs, 20.5 years old
4-3, 3.38 ERA, 1.30 WHIP, 8.36 K/9

Eduardo Perez was one of the "players to be named later" in the deal that brought Greg Maddox to LA, so unfortunately he is no longer with the Dodgers. However, I had put this list together before the trade was completed, so that is why he is still included in my top 200. Perez had a solid season in 2008, so I was a little disappointed to see him leave the Dodgers. His K's per 9 were excellent, and he only allowed a .240 batting average. Also, he will only be 21 at the start of the 2009 season, so he is still young. He'll probably do well in the Padres system, and we may someday see him facing the Dodgers

http://tinyurl.com/maddog4perez

As an added sidenote, I didn't know Logan White was a former Padres scout. I wonder if he still maintains relations in San Diego that will allow for the Dodgers and Padres to complete any future deals (Peavy or otherwise) that would be otherwise difficult for intra-division rivals.

190
Good thing Maddux got us to the playoffs. : P

I wonder if Donovan McNabb was also unaware of the existence of benches in the NFL.

176- You put up Christmas decorations before Thanksgiving?

190 -- Towers angrily fired Logan White, so no.

194
Angrily fired? How so?

193
See: 16 kids

Nate Silver projecting that Stuart Smalley will win the Minnesota recount by 27 votes.

Hard to believe you could get a 250 vote swing between counting the first time and the second time.

195 -- The Padres had interest in drafting Javier Vazquez out of Puerto Rico in the 1994 draft, but Logan White advised the Padres against drafting him. The Expos ended up drafting Vazquez in the 5th round that year. Obviously, Vazquez turned out to be really great value for a 5th round pick, and Towers blamed White for being wrong about Vazquez.

197- He doesn't seem to have a hypothesis explaining why the numbers are trending the way they have. Looks like he's extrapolating from a pretty shaky foundation.

I only care that the Raiders win one more game. Today.

Red Sox make offer to Japanese amateur

>> Sanspo.com in Japan is reporting that the Boston Red Sox have made a $6 million contract offer to right-handed pitcher Junichi Tazawa. <<

http://tinyurl.com/63pqvx

I root for the Raiders when they play Broncos under the same theory I have when USC plays Notre Dame.

Presently, the NFL.com website shows the score as Raiders 4, Broncos 3.

OK, they fixed it. It's 10-3.

Why do people hate the Broncos so much? Not that I like them, but why so much hatred? Is there something I should know?

What a terrible call! Ugggh.

Well, Raiders are guaranteed a lead at halftime.

205
Speaking only for myself, I hate anything associated with John Elway.

205 - I'm a Raiders fan, so that's easy. Can't speak for anyone else though.

208
Because of Stanford...?

D4P, the menu sounds delightful. I'm going home for Thanksgiving to visit my father and stepmother who are vegetarians. I was raised by my mother who very much was not (and thus nor was I), but I would eat vegetarian food every other weekend at dad's. Then I went off to college and in a bout of youthful idealism, I thought I'd give it a shot. A few years later I went vegan.

Going to dad's for the holidays is a bit odd now because not only are they not vegan, they eat turkey on Thanksgiving. I don't. How our roles have reversed.

Could you send me a care package of leftovers?

210
I hated John Elway when he was in high school.

211
When I visit either side of my family, I am served meat for almost every meal, with the possible exception of breakfast. I never realized how much meat my family eats, and thus how much I used to eat.

The notion of having a meal without meat is completely foreign to them.

212
Back when the obelisk was just a gleam in your eye...

212 My wife met John Elway one fine morning. Later that afternoon, Elway lost the most amazing, sensational, traumatic, heart rending, exciting thrilling finish in the history of college football.

I like to think she jinxed him.

I recently bought a MacBook, thanks in part to the enthusiasm for Macs of several people on this site. Now, I'm handling the OSX pretty well, but I'm really struggling with Office for Mac 08. I've been using Office 2002 on my PC, so the transition is really been frustrating. Can anyone suggest some good manuals or other obvious sources of help? Unlike Office 2002 on the PC, I find the Help for Office for Mac to be totally useless, unless I'm somehow missing where the actual help is. And while the Apple people could not be more helpful with their own stuff, naturally they do not support Microsoft products -- and naturally Microsoft offers very limited free technical support. Thanks for any suggestions

These personal fouls are so friggin lame!

Stop running Fargas on goaline!!!!

Hell yeah!!!

This Raiders/Broncos game is LITERALLY unbelievable! Usually I ask at this time "How are the Raiders going to blow this one?"

But today, it is really going to take a lot. I'm a Steeler fan, but I'm lying if I'm say I'm not enjoying this.

I just noticed that the LA Market isn't getting this game, while SB and SD are.

Oddly enough, Los Angeles got Jets/Titans... great on paper, but a laugher in action.

NE/Miami was the best game so far, even though the Pats pulled away late.

I don't know how we'll blow this, I'm sure it will be a new low though. I'm just hoping for some luck for once.

I love this team of body snatchers that has replaced my Raiders.

This is crazy!

If the Broncos come back from THIS, the Dodgers will sign, Manny, CC, and Mark Texiera and then trade Pierre and Jones for Jake Peavy.

I love this, we've just got to hold on!!! Body snatchers is right, I told my fiancee I was predicting a replay of "the langston walker" game, but that was wishful thinking (and there's no snow).

Well this made my day.

227 - this made my NFL year. Now lose out and take Crabtree.

228
Best game we played in the last five years.

My friend talked to Russell Martin at the MLS Cup today (who knew?) and he was not very concerned about Billingsley and apparently he is a big 24 fan.

216 The Help in Office 2008 is a lot better than in recent Mac versions, although often still insufficient. Type in keywords and see what turns up: if there's a link to a webpage there will be full Help.

Otherwise, go to the MacTopia Forums: http://www.officeformac.com/productforums/
and ask there. There are many knowledgeable people who answer questions there, especially the MVPs. If you go there regularly, it works much better (in my opinion) by setting it up instead in a newsreader (including Entourage itself). There are other websites for Entourage and Word, especially, also Excel. If it's one particular app. I can tell you where is best.

Congrats. Best game, indeed, and arguably one of the broncos worst, and thus, that happened. Yikes. Well, i promised i'd log on here from my phone if it happened. :) ah well, the perfect capper to a poopy weekend. Time for some Mst3k to wash the taste away.

232
Thank you. You will still win the division.

The Booby Prize you mean? Yep it shall be ours!

My friend talked to Russell Martin at the MLS Cup today (who knew?) and he was not very concerned about Billingsley

Yeah, I doubt they club together.

The Pistons lost at home today by 26 points to Minnesota.

Stupid Lakers.

236

It's still the only loss of the year (so far).

I'm sure Celtics fans feel the same way about the Indiana loss.

216 231

The Entourage Help Page (exhaustive, complete):

http://www.entourage.mvps.org/

Word Mac site (very good):

http://word.mvps.org/Mac/WordMacHome.html

Some Excel Mac tips:

http://www.agentjim.com/MVP/Excel/ExcelHome.htm
http://www.mcgimpsey.com/excel/

Thank god when a pitcher breaks a leg, or a guy like JP breaks an arm.

Hoping not to break a rule with a quick question, why do the Japanese have incentive to want to kill whales in this day and age, with all the negative press.

239
Because there is a market to eat whale meat in Japan.

The Japanese have had bigger PR problems in this world.

Tonight has to be the worst defense the Lakers played all year long. What makes it so tough to defend little quick guards?

240 I guess I can accept that--I was afraid it was something macho.

241
Derek Fisher is not very quick. Farmar is not the greatest defender around either.

The Lakers are giving up a lot of points to a bunch of scrubs.

Hey, they're all NBA players. Or something close to it. Its not as if the Kings filled the team with Triple-A players.

On that note, what is the NBDL equivalent to? Single-A? Double-A?

245
AAAA. Barely anyone is good enough for the league.

Only sometimes do teams send their young players to work on their games.

Young players that are worth something, that is.

Okay, then what's the goal of the NBDL? To become a double-AA type league? A place where teams can send rehabbing and prospects to play while the rest and best of the team can play at full strength?

I mean, the reason why the minor leagues exist because there's literally thousands of baseball players to fill the various teams and leagues, to the point where there's multiple independent leagues.

Is there such a demand for a new developmental league in the NBA? So far, I'd say no. But in 20 years? 30 years? I'd say... maybe. It all depends if basketball is willing and basketball players are demanding to play in the U.S. and not just at its highest level.

For all the bad defense the Lakers are playing tonight, SacTown is playing even worse. 92 points for the Lakers in 3 quarters? Yikes.

The difference is, in basketball all the good players not in the NBA can go to Europe.

Worthwhile article on the state of broadcast television:

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117996347.html

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/blog/index?name=gammons_peter

Gammons has a new article based around the Dodgers and Billingsley injury. He thinks that its actually a blessing for the Dodgers because it'll force them to trade or go after harder for a starting pitcher like C.C. instead of the wait and see mode they're currently in.

193 You put up Christmas decorations before Thanksgiving?

Yes. This absolutely violates every rule I swear to live by. However, my wife pointed out that it will likely be turning much colder in a week or two, since we've been blessed by unusually warm weather lately. I remembered that the last few times I've hung them in very cold weather, with blowing snow. I was convinced.

For a more instructional tale of how to farm out programming blocks the proper way, it's already happened to a one once-vibrant daypart: Saturday morning. As youngsters fled to such cablers as Nickelodeon and Disney, and the kids TV marketplace collapsed, the nets wound up selling the time to production companies like 4Kids (Fox and CW) or programmers like Discovery Kids (NBC).

But the programming was horrid. If companies are going to emulate 4kids, we're doomed no matter what.

So Gammons thinks Chad Billingsley is the Dodgers equivalent of Aaron Boone?

197 Hard to believe you could get a 250 vote swing between counting the first time and the second time.

Not hard to believe at all. I read an article by a security expert who said that, no matter how hard they try, credit card companies can't get fraud below 2%. He made the case that we put much less money into ensuring our election counting methods have no errors, so any error below 2% is reasonable.

252

A fascinating question: Are we better off with multiple media sources, such as this website, the internet, numerous cable channels, and even satellite radio?

I am old enough to remember when Broadcast Television was still a juggernaut. I liked the simplicity of it, but I also remember how limited the options were. I feel more informed today than I did then, but it does come at a price.

258

I miss the old days though, sometimes. Of course, for me, the "old days" was the mid 80s to mid 90s.

Some pundits speculate that the splintering of media stems from the de-regulation of broadcasting in the early 80s. For instance, the demolition of the "broadcast code", removed the 4 minutes per hour advertising restriction.

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_hb3250/is_/ai_n28597912

I won't even start with the "fairness doctrine", lest I get slammed with multiple Rule 5's.

Check that, it was 4 minutes per half hour.

260 That is very little compared to ads now. Its ten minutes ads per 30 minutes. Its as if TV execs doesn't realize that the more ads on a given program, the lower content on a show, and the less reason for people to actually watch television.

238 Thank you I appreciate the tips. I will check them out.

Sponichi has published a detailed account of the contract Boston offered to Junichi Tazawa. The article also quotes "They want me to come over, and I understand how I can develop. I feel like it's a good team". Nikkan Sports is reporting that Tazawa has already decided on the Red Sox, and says that he'll be able to officially sign at the beginning of December.

http://www.npbtracker.com/2008/11/details-on-bostons-offer-to-tazawa/

252 - to which my response would be ...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d9nk8XwHbS4

He should have not stayed at Holiday Inn Express.

I believe the minimum federal prison sentence is 2 years plus restitution.

http://tinyurl.com/5fhjmd

They should have stopped Entourage two seasons ago.

265 This may sound dumb but where in Simi Valley can you spend over five grand in cash and not look suspicious.

267

Blow is a good way to start.

268 In the subs, wouldn't meth be more likely.

Diamond Lueng has a new post up.

Rafael Furcal told El Caribe that the A's have offered him a four-year contract worth $48 million that could reach $50 million including incentives.

http://blogs.pe.com/prosports/mlb/dodgers/

Three possible reasons exist for declining broadcast ratings: (1) competition from cable, which provides a better product, (2) there are so many commercials that people no longer find it worthwhile to watch the show (as mentioned above in 261), and (3) the broadcast signals are so weak that people are now forced to buy cable. Network execs focus entirely on #1. But who wants to spend $60 or more per month on cable? Make it possible to watch a decent product with decent reception, and there's suddenly no reason to buy cable. A couple of years ago, I reached the saturation point both on commercials, on all but the most adictive shows (meaning Lost), and on the price of cable. I now only get NBC and WB without fuzz, so that's what I watch when I channel flip. Mostly, though, I watch on the computer, where the commercial number is more acceptable, or wait and rent the series from Netflix. Improve the reception and cut the commercials, and all of a sudden shows that I am only mildly interested in become worth my time.

269
I guess if you want to be a dealer.

271 Its primarily number 1, though I don't think its necessarily because they provide a better product but its the number of different choices.

While, it may be true that less people watch the 3,4, or 5 networks, I don't think less people are watching television.

But now, almost 80% of the country has access to a lot more channels than they did 20-30 years ago.

Its ironic that one thing that I have seen some complain on this thread about (commercials) is the one of the major topics of the largest show to be broadcast on a network each year, the Super Bowl.

270 I don't think the Dodgers should top that offer, certainly no match in years.

139 - Thanks!

Haven't had a lot of time to keep up over here, aside from a couple times late at night, but it's been enjoyable. Eventually I'll be able to stick around for more than mere hit and run commentary. :)

My best man's speech had a noteworthy line that I feel I should share here:

"If Maggie was late to class, I knew it was because she was up late doing homework. If Dave was late to class, I knew it was because the Dodgers went into extras."

270
Well, if he is not a Dodger, I am happy he is an Athletic.

No more Bobby Crosby!!!

274 Hopefully the Dodgers don't overreact and give a bad contract to either Rentiera, or Cabrera.

Frankly, if we miss out on Furcal, I want the Ivan DeJesus Jr. era to start. I will also accept the mini era of Chin Lung Hu, and DeJesus starting in AAA for half of the season.

276 Just glad the Giants missed out on Furcal. Why are they suddenly a player for free agents? Is their new owner that rich?

275 4+1 :)

Congrats.

278
They want the team to start being more competitive to get the stadium built in Fremont. That is my guess.

Lew Wolff also cares a lot about winning.

280 The Giants want a new stadium in Freemont?

216

From what I have read, Office 2008 is not being well received. If you can, return the product and pick up Office 2004. It has been solid, and I have had no complaints. However, if it is purely a "switching over" issue, than stick with it and search for user forums. I have found some amazing help on random website searches.

280 281

Oakland wants a new stadium in Fremont, Lew Wolff owns the Oakland Athletics.

The Giants spending spree has yet to be seen.

282 Office 2007 works well for me, and its language settings is light years ahead of previous office versions.

Oh, you meant the Giants. Well the Giants always have a good-sized payroll.

I am still sad to see Jill go on Top Chef.

I hereby declare that the current roster of Lakers will not win a championship this season. Their defense is simply not good enough, and they look destined to suffer the same fate they met last season.

287 The defense is shaky, but...

I declare a moratorium on complaining about a team that is 10-1 and has played very few close games.

288 oops, make that 11-1

The Lakers are 1st in scoring, despite being only 11th in FG%. It helps that their 1st in forcing turnovers.

The worst thing about losing Furcal would be Torre's new lead off man and left fielder now becoming an everyday player again.

This might be my least favorite thread of all-time. Billingsley hurt, Furcal gone to the freaking ATHLETICS, and something about how eating Kashi every day means you will be pregnant.

Make it stop.

I get the impression that Billy Beane is trying something different...

287 - All I know is of Sunday morning, the Lakers were on pace to set a team record for fewest points allowed.

Points allowed by Lakers:

First 6 games: 86.8
Second 6 games: 98.5

255 - My kids love Saturday mornings watching The CW. (We don't do Cartoon Network or Nick or Disney channels.) I think that's 4Kids programming, but I can't remember for sure.

I write this mainly because it's a good opportunity for me to tell Jon (as I've been meaning to for some time) that my boys do not miss "The Spectacular Spider Man." And I often catch myself watching it with them.

According to WEEI in Boston, the Red Sox have offered Jason Varitek a one-year contract. Agent Scott Boras has said previously that he believes Varitek should get the same type of deal as the four-year, $52 million contract Jorge Posada recently signed with the Yankees, but WEEI reports that even the Red Sox's one-year offer "didn't approach the annual average commanded by" Posada.

No doubt Boras will hold out until he gets the kind of Serious Offer™ he believes his client deserves.

277 If Ned hasn't made a panic offer to Furcal by now, he plans to make a panic offer to Rentiera or Cabrera.

Does anyone think Chad may not be telling the truth about how he hurt himself? Like Vlad Rad or Jeff Kent.

296 Spectacular Spider-man isn't produced by 4kids, and yet after they taken over, they're been reediting the series to take out more of the violence and impact of the fact scenes. While I agree that some scenes may be too violent for children(in general, not just for Spider-man), earlier runs of the ep were not edited to diminish the fight scenes like cutting out the footage of punches actually hitting flesh. Before 4kids, it was okay, and after it wasn't?

This was a problem they had with their FOX programming for years, not believing that children could handle complex concepts like death or a serious situation.

Or Joe Beimel. Or that Golden State Warrior guy.

295 The Lakers play at the third fastest pace in the league. They are still #1 in defensive efficiency.

http://tinyurl.com/5epp4a

299

Never crossed my mind

302
I think I'm still bothered by the Detroit game. The Pistons have generally "owned" the Lakers in recent years, and dominated that game in a way that doesn't bode well IMO.

303 I'm just trying to figure out how you break your leg slipping on a porch. If you slip you're falling backwards, I can picture a broken, wrist, arm, collarbone. A broken leg though? It just doesn't add up to me.

298
Orlando *Cab*rera - Cartagena Columbia - 11/2/74
OPS 84, 8 HR, 2008
OPS 86, 11 HR, Career AVG

Edgar *Rent*eria - Barranquilla Columbia - 9/7/75
OPS 84, 10 HR, 2008
OPS 96, 11 HR, Career AVG

306 The best part is that they hate each other guts.

305
Could there be contractual issues if a pitcher broke his leg playing in the snow on a board or skiing?

Spiral fracture is commonly associated with skiing.

Umm - I had one in my left leg - not fun.

I think Martin, Loney, Kemp, Ethier, and DeWitt have to have good enough years in 2009 before the team will benefit from any free agents that might sign. If they do well I think the Dodgers be an above .500 team if they sign CC and play Hu and Abreu/DeJesus up the middle and Pierre/Jones/Young as the third outfielder.

Furcal would have been nice but not worth the risk of a 3+ year $36MM/48MM contract. Maybe they can make a trade in July to make them more of a championship team should their young core show progress.

I have no interest in watching Renteria or Cabrera play and would fast forward to get past their at bats or use the restroom, etc.

I'm willing to jump on the "Billingsley didn't break his leg by slipping" conspiracy bandwagon. It doesn't really sound like a very likely story, the more you think about it.

305

I have done some weird things after slipping, especially if I try to over correct. I am going to give Chad the benefit of doubt on this one.

Another common cause of spiral fractures is...slipping on stairs.

305 If you are walking up steps covered in ice and lose traction I can see how it would happen. Even going down it might be less likely but certainly could happen.

Would would it benefit him to lie (other than avoiding embarassment)? He does not have a LT contract. He's not even eligible for arbitration for another year.

Oliver Stone is writing a script as we speak.

If you are walking up steps covered in ice and lose traction I can see how it would happen. Even going down it might be less likely but certainly could happen

I hadn't thought of going up. My mind was only thinking about going down. Going up makes more sense...

310
That comment is the most unexpected thing to happen this morning since the rising of the sun.

And by that I mean the actual fact that the sun rose today.

Where do you go snowboarding in the Reading, PA area in late November? Or any time of the year?

312
If your leg got pinned behind you
and you landed on your lower leg against the edge of the stair step
and you were twisting somewhat as you fell
then yes, that is very plausable.

317
I was considering that as I was making the entry.
Mammoth Mountain is open for business though.
What about playing ice hockey and getting smacked just the wrong way on the leg with a hockey stick?
The quest for controversy continues ...

As a tall and clumsy person, I support people in their clumsy times.

Ice is slippery.

Ice is slippery

Except, ironically, when wet.

BTW, this is payback for all the people who called Chad His Royal Thighness. His legs aren't so Royal now are they!?!

(Shivers in disgust after typing/acknowledging HRT)

(Squeezes a copious amount of sanitizer in hand)

(Turns on hot shower)

If you want conspiracy theories how about this:

Lowe pushed him down the stairs for not protecting Manny. Lowe also was cackling like Tommy Udo.

314
Well that's the real question, isn't it? Why? The how and the who is just scenery for the public. Rawitch, Dr. ElAttrache, Reading, the ice. Keeps 'em guessing like some kind of parlor game, prevents 'em from asking the most important question, why? Why was Billingsley hurt? Who benefited? Who has the power to cover it up? Who?

Yes, it is a very slow time in the baseball year.

324
Lowe was cackling like Tommy Udo and bellowing "CHICKEN LEG!"

Somehow Jeff Kent and a garbage can must be involved.

And "take that" you Global Warming Conspiritists. If it was always summer this would never have happened.

First, Chad Billingsley blew two games.

Then he blew one leg.

Chad Billingsley now has a leg in a box.

Ned Colletti must place an offer in CC Sabathia's mailbox.

Juan Pierre can play left field. He has a ring in a box.

Is it to early in the week to wear a USC "Beat ND" pin?

too

The difference is that this isn't really conspirecy theroy. It's not far fetched at all that this is a cover up, for the simple fact that it happens all the time. Athlete hurts himself doing something he's not supposed to and the story that always surfaces, "I slipped doing X". Just like a 12 year old kid with bruises that says he hurt himself "falling down the stairs", you have to be skepitcal.

LOL. The Academy of Art University here in SF (which those of you here know of as the school with the black school buses and several campuses around town) has a basketball team! Men's and women's. And they played USF (!) the other day.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/11/21/SPE5148QD5.DTL

They lost to USF by around 50 points.

Btw, I may be going to the UCSB @ USF game here tonight. I'm pretty sure the Gauchos will provide a sterner test than the "Urban Knights."

Also, I can care less how Billingsley hurt himself.

332
Someone has been watching too many episodes of "House."

"Everybody lies."

I don't buy that he fell on some stairs, either, but it doesn't really matter as long as he's back and healthy by the start of spring training.

335 I've watched 4 minutes of House in my life.

336 I share the exact emotions as you. It doesn't add up to me, but he's going to be fine and I can care less how hurt it.

337
I don't believe that.

Everybody lies.

I'm not saying athletes can't lie, but I'm not seeing why it's so difficult to picture a person slipping while going down the stairs and then having something in his leg snap as he tries to stop himself on the next step.

Reading, PA temperatures

Thursday, November 20
High of 40 with snow

Friday, November 21
High of 35 with snow

Saturday, November 22
High of 32 and windy

Does rooting for Notre Dame warrant automatic obelisk inclusion?

342
I'm chalking that one up to the Demerol.

My wife tore and strained knee ligaments just trying to sit back down in her airline seat. Weird stuff happens.

341 I think it happened Friday. Per weather.com the high was 35 and the low was 24.

I'll go on record as believing him.

I dunno Dave, it doesn't add up.

343
Unprecedented magnanimity...

I thought Billingsley lived in Arizona...?

346 good one.

348
Billingsley moved to Reading for the waters.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/sfgate/detail?blogid=21&entry_id=32949

The A's are saying the Furcal contract is 'untrue'.

334 ,350
Technically, "I can care less" implies some level of caring, since you can in fact care less.

If he didn't care, he couldn't care less.

326 Ditto.

We need some fresh CC news here.

If we can't get that how about a CC rumor?

340 I'm just having a hard time picturing it in my head that's all. I do appreciate however you at least ackowledging the fact that it happens that athletes aren't always truthful about how they hurt themselves. As opposed to the sarcastic/snarky responses most have posted as responses.

350 I don't care how he hurt his leg. I was just surprised that when I skimmed through the first 200 or so posts this morning that it hadn't been discussed at all.

the fact that it happens that athletes aren't always truthful about how they hurt themselves

Sorry for the snarkiness, but the above statement is the problem. Sure, sometimes athletes (and everyone) lies about something that may be embarrassing, or harmful to a contract. But you make it sound like it's the rule rather than a very minor exception. Simple accidents happen much more often. Why do people have to immediately get skeptical?

I used the new Occam by Gillette to shave this morning.

353 As if my head needed to be further done in. : )

355 Hope you know I'm just pulling your leg. And I'm positive that was the intention of Marty and Bob, too.

I'm willing to be skeptical, but deductive reasoning is not very useful in this case. If there were some reason to believe it hadn't happened the way he said it did, that would be one thing. But I have no trouble believing that somebody slipped on ice. Ice is slippery.

350, edited-

MC Safety
305 332 334 and 338 are really doing my head in.

Two highly skeptical "It doesn't add up" posts that would have one thinking you cared quite a bit, followed by two "I can care less" posts.

My first thought when I heard that Billingsley broke his leg was "I bet some people on DT are going to think that he was doing something bad."

357 My origanal comment

Does anyone think Chad may not be telling the truth about how he hurt himself? Like Vlad Rad or Jeff Kent.

I've never said that he's not telling the truth. I'm skepitcal, that's all.

363 I think the issue is why ask the question?

I understand the curiousity but once I heard the story, I was more concerned about recovery time and how it could affect the Dodger free agent and trade plans.

I will add that had he gotten hurt doing something like hanging Christmas lights or chopping wood, I probably would have thought the guy should just hire someone to do that stuff.

Walking up or down stairs, I guess the guy does have to do that on his own.

I can't believe anybody here has been skeptical, really. What's improbable about someone hurting themselves slipping on ice? That happens all the time. The only explanation I can come up with for why some of you are skeptical is that maybe some of you Southern Californians have never actually stepped on ice in your lives.

Someone mentioned Jeff Kent's "I was washing my truck" in connection with Billingsley's explanation for his injury. How is that comparable to slipping on ice? How may people seriously hurt themselves just by washing their personal vehicles? And besides, in Kent's case there were eye-witnesses who saw him get hurt trying stupid stunts on his motorcycle.

359 Don't pull his leg hard enough to cause a spiral fracture on his left fibula now...

363 What motivation would he have to lie? Suppose he broke his leg doing something prohibited in his contract (he lost control of his motorcycle on some ice?). What are we going to do to him; prorate his $400k contract?

Haven't we learned that baseball players get hurt in really, really dumb ways? If John Smoltz can go on the DL because he ironed his shirt while he was wearing it, why would Bills slipping on ice be weird?

367 The Padres and Greene situation. They fined him for $2 million.

Hi MCSafety. I think we can stick a fork in Arsenal's title hopes. Their season has gone exactly like I thought it would. No leadership and experience, especially in midfield. It looks like it's between Chelsea and Liverpool, although I am definitely not counting out Man U. I wnder if Arsene Wenger will finally make a huge purchase this January. If they do miss out on 4th place, Fabregas will be gone next summer. The good thing is that Arsenal are always capable of running off a lng winning streak, and Villa have definitely shown that they can drop results as well.

368- It seems like the main objection to the Company Line story is that it's insufficiently amusing. Which really isn't fair: slipping on ice is very funny! I slipped and fell three times (twice while standing, and once while trying to get up) within one minute, once, in a parking lot in Utah and it was hilarious. Somebody probably would have tried helping me, if I hadn't been giggling hysterically like a drunkard.

369
They tried to not pay Greene, but the players association stepped in and Greene, at least temporarily, got paid his salary. A grievance is pending.

369 Greene had a $4 million contract. They wanted to cut his pay for the time he was not available.
Bills will get paid $450,000 or so. Say he misses the 1st month. They could claim $30 or $40k. Seems like a lot of stress and lawyers for that much money.

As one who slipped on the ice and almost broke my leg (luckily just sprained my knee), and who's g/f broke her foot when jogging across the street and tripping, I can't believe people are being paranoid about this.

Meanwhile, the Pirates signed our favorite Indian pitchers Dinesh Patel and Rinku Singh to minor league deals.

One time I was walking downhill in the rain in Seattle and slipped on one of those stupid metal grill drain thingys on my way to buy some seafood.

There was just too much stuff going on between holding the umbrella, listening to my ipod that was playing music that when paired with the weather made me want to kill myself, and drinking a coffee.

If there ever were a sign from above, that was it.

Maybe now the Dodgers will make him buy an elevator at his house.

Slip on that, Chad! :-)

I know a guy who landed a little funny stepping off a curb and tore an ACL.

I think I made the first joke about "washing his truck," and that's all it was, a joke.

Bills gets all his power from his lower body. A broken leg is bad news all around, even if it is in the off-season.

Like TC said earlier, Billingsley could be near 275# by the time he enters spring training.

I'll be pleasantly surprised if he's throwing by spring training. Furcal's back & Werth's wrist have me skeptical of rehabilitation time tables.

378 I'm sure Jason Schmidt's shoulder doesn't make you feel any better?

379,
Who's Jason Schmidt?

370 I've been waiting for that comment. What a couple of weeks for Arsenal. You were right, though. Flashes of brilliance, but no real consistency. No way Cesc leaves this summer, though. He's on tape going back to last summer saying he wanted to be the next captain. He's got his wish, now it's time for Wenger to spend a little of that money we've got. I heard Wenger's got his eye on DeRossi.

1:36pm: Yahoo's Tim Brown talked to Furcal's agent, Paul Kinzer. Kinzer called the El Caribe report "bogus." Apparently there has been no four-year, $48MM offer from Oakland nor are the Mets interested. And Furcal doesn't want to move to second base anyway.

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/

378 -- I am sure Billingsley gets exactly zero power from his LEFT leg. It is his right leg that he pushes off from. All he does with his left leg is swing it upwards and back to his right, and then forward so he lands on it. And surely in what PART of the off-season an injury occurs is relevant. It is not even December yet. Billingsley will be 100% by mid-February when pitchers and catchers report. People like Gammons and Hernandez sound silly trying to make this sound like a big deal.

382 Oh, you just gotta love this time of year.

Carlos Santana footage from Inland Empire:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CLaGyIQnTrI

383 - Unless you're Jack Youngblood, a broken leg is a big deal.

For entertainment purposes:

USC -29 vs Notre Dame
Texas -34 vs Texas A&M
Oregon State -3.5 vs Oregon

385 I remember that clip from earlier this year. The highlight they show with him getting drilled while catching than slowly falling over like a tree, makes me laugh everytime. I have no idea why it's so funny to me.

385 I totally see Delwyn Young when watching Santana hit.

387
Also:

Florida (-15½) at Florida St
Auburn at Alabama (-14)
Oklahoma (-7½) at Oklahoma St

386 - And certainly a bigger deal in the middle of a game as opposed to your next game being five months from now.

And the Game of the Week in the Pac-10

UCLA +10 at Arizona State

What a great game to watch while enjoying left over turkey!

I misread the headline on FoxSports.com, and hilarity ensued, at least for a moment.

There is a picture of Donovan McNabb on the sideline next to Andy Reid, and the headline is "Sit Happens."

Bob Gibson suffered a broken leg in July of 1967 when Roberto Clemente hit a line drive off of him.

He did OK in the World Series that year.

392 - Shockingly ASU still has a good shot at a bowl game.

Tiger benched too-
General Motors Corp. said Monday it is ending its nine-year endorsement deal with golf superstar Tiger Woods as the automaker continues to cut expenses and hoard cash while trying to survive the worst sales downturn in a quarter-century.

340-Probably because of Jeff Kent. And Joe Beimel. And Hunter Pence. And Clint Barmes.

And Monta Ellis.

According to Sweeny Murti of WFAN, the Giants signed Edgar Renteria to a two-year, $18MM contract. More details and confirmation as it becomes available.

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/

399
[Wipes forehead]

Whew.

Giants are hoping the NL Renteria (2006, 2007) will resurface instead of the AL Renteria (2005, 2008).

399-YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!

399 Stupid Giants

Okay good. I'm not the only one happy.

Someone please sign Orlando Cabrera.

1 down bad SS down, 1 more to go and we're home free.

Is anyone having trouble pulling up Renteria's B-R page?

It looks like you can't get to any big leaguers right now.

Renteria has looked done about four times in his career, so I'm not ready to count him out yet.

I believe Sean Forman slipped on some ice and broke his leg.

That took out the server too.

386 -- "Broken leg" is a very vague phrase. Chad broke a fibula, and did so with over two and a half months to heal before spring training (more than he will need to heal, period). When I was five-years-old, I broke the femur in my left leg, or more precisely the car that ran me down broke my left femur. Now THAT is a serious "broken leg."

Dodgers Mailbag:

1). Why did the Dodgers withdraw the offer to Manny Ramirez?
2). Why decline Brad Penny's option?
3). Why the lack of interest in re-signing Derek Lowe?
4). Any chance Greg Miller makes the team next season?

http://tinyurl.com/5zo2fr

409
Bob Gibson's "broken leg" was his fibula. It was broken above the ankle.

I hope signing Renteria has lowered the Giants budget on potentially signing C.C.

407 True, but even if he does improve to a 100 OPS+ (give of take) his defense would probably still make him an average SS at best. (Maybe worse?)

I probably shouldn't doubt Billingsley: I stumbled on the sidewalk last year, landed on a rock, and needed eight stitches in my knee. Of course, I was day-to-day so it was a bit different.

413 Bad fielding, iffy hitting SS seem like too much of a gamble.

Can someone please explain Kevin Mitchell and the Great Microwaved Doughnut Injury to me? Bob? Do they have a book on that in the library?

Hurting yourself via microwave takes some kind of talent.

416
Can't speak to the donut, but a friend of mine microwaved a boiled egg for 30 seconds. Upon biting it, it exploded and caused 2nd degree burns to 20% of his face.

I once pulled a muscle in my back playing Madden on my PS2. I sat leaning to one side and jumped up after a game winning field goal. I know what Gramatica felt like. It took a week of Percocet to take care of it.

Renteria's deal isnt bad for the Giants. Its short-term (2yrs) & he does represent a rather large improvement over Omar Vizquel. He's not going to make them a contender, but unless there was a kid they could have given the job to, I understand the thinking in signing him.

410- 3) the Derek Lowe question is a good one. Surely the Dodgers would at least make him an offer, even it was a token? Its almost like a foregone conclusion that the Dodgers have no interest in re-signing him.

418 What kind of reaction would you get if you yelled "Saban" in your part of the country?

419 The Dodgers will do that when I assume they offer him arbitration if he is not signed by that time. What Gurnick has said is not different from what others have been saying for some time.

Though Joe Torre did say he planned to call Lowe at some point during the last month or so.

418-If you microwave an egg you are asking for calamity.

Two other things on Renteria:

#1. Do the Giants forfeit draft picks in signing himg?

#2. This makes the Renteria for Jair Jurjens/Gorkys Hernandez deal a steal for the Braves. They really sold high on him. It was a gamble (Renteria had a great age 31 year and who knew he'd totally fall off for the Tigers the very next).

420
Gunshots would certainly follow for the crazier among us. I am actually heading there tomorrow morning, so I could experiment.

I am a bit more levelheaded. He left us for a better job. If I was a Dolphins fan, I'm not sure the word "pissed" would do my anger justice.

423 Two different sources I saw said the Tigers tentatively get the Giants' second-round pick without having to offer Renteria arbitration.

422
That was in college, so truthfully I can't vouch for his sobriety when it happened.

I found out today that a faculty member at a university in the Pacific Northwest slipped on icy stairs last week and broke his/her wrist.

I'm just glad the Giants didn't get Furcal!It would have been horrible to see him have even one great year with the hated ones.

I'm torn on whether the Dodgers sign sign Rafael, if it's the right deal then good, but I also wanted to see what our home-grown guys can do if given the chance.

I once missed the last step on the staircase while doing laundry in my apartment building and I sprained my ankle.

The rules on arbitration is that any type-A FA that signs before Dec 1, his former team automatically receives the team that signs the Type-A FA 1st round pick, and a comp pick between the first and 2nd round. But because the Giants finished in the bottom 15 in terms of their win-loss record, the Giants will be allowed to keep their first round pick, and instead give up their 2nd round pick.

If the Giants pick a Type-A FA that is graded higher than Renteria, such as C.C. or Texieria, or Manny, then the Tigers are bumped down another slot and will instead receive the Giants 3rd round pick.

Yeah, its a flaw of the system, if I can't receive a team's first round pick, then give me two comp picks instead. A team who protected their first round pick with a bad season could conceivably give up their 6th round pick to somebody if they signed a bunch of Type-A free agents.

427 I thought I broke my wrist the same way, except it was an icy hill.

I have a friend who lives in Manhattan and walks to work (45 minutes each way) all year long. I asked him about slipping on ice and he said that he just slips, and if he falls, gets back up and keeps going.

I'm not sure I could handle that.

I think I pulled a rib or some muscle in my side when I was watching Jack Ass in the theater. The sad part is that I got all worried I was having a heart attack or something, so I stopped laughing for the second half of the movie. I kept thinking, "if I die while watching this movie, I am going to be pissed off"

410

I don't get the whole part about Derek Lowe not wanting to play with the Dodgers, but that they made the best offer. I do understand the power of money, but when you get over the $30 million mark, wouldn't you want to just go to someplace you will be happy?

434 I believe by the time Lowe signed, it was already late Jan, and most teams have already spent their budget and set their roster. Boras will wait, and wait for the offer he thinks will come, and it seems the only offer he was happy with was the Dodgers.

While Boras doesn't demand his client signs with the team offering the most money, I'm sure he suggests it forcefully.

Strange signing for the Giants. I guess they're going all-in this year. I wasn't aware they had a two-year window for anything. This makes the addition of a big bat for them even more likely: Manny, Burrell, someone via trade. BTW, I much prefer Giants Thoughts to Slipping Thoughts.

Teams can only sign up to 3 Type A/Type B free agents this year (compensation picks down to 4th round if 1st round pick is protected).

However, a team may sign as many Type A/Type B free agents that it has lost with no limit.

427 - You mean, that's what you were told.

At my little sister's wedding a few weeks ago, the groom's mother stood up from her chair to congratulate the new couple when everyone heard a "SNAP!". Sure enough her fibula shattered.

That was kind of a big downer on the day...

427

Doubtful

439

That is awful. How old was she?

Renteria's signing likely means Furcal is headed to Oakland. That is, unless Colletti matches or tops Oakland's offer at the last minute. I don't mind losing him, but I don't know who our long-term answer is. Hu is iffy; DeJesus might not be able to play SS; and lower down I'm not sure we have that much.

I'm not crazy about giving up big bucks to O. Cabrera. Would it be that wrong to go into 2009 with Hu as our SS?

442 In a vacuum, Hu as your starting SS doesn't bode well. However, if a big bat is signed or traded for, I think it might be OK.

442 Furcal's agent now says that reports of the A's four-year offer were "bogus"; there was no such offer.

Ok, seriously can we drop it. I get it, it's so incredebly ridicolous for me to suggest that we need to poke fun at my statement. I had dropped it, I'd be sweet if you could do the same.

443 Exactly. I think it also would mean DeWitt would be asked to play 2b while we bring in a new 3b. My philosophy is: Someone has to bat 8th; why not Hu? I'm officially on the Hu for SS in 2009 bandwagon. There has to a reason why we haven't traded him yet, right?

444 Then there's that. {Slinks back to work}

436 It's still a relatively weak while competitive division so I can see the Giants being more involved in the division race next year, possibly, but I don't really see them going "all in." Not that I really know what Sabean's plans ever are. His makes Colletti's "vision" look coherent.

I, too, am glad Furcal is not going to SF. I have mixed feelings about re-signing him, but hate the idea of him going to the rivals and coming back to haunt us repeatedly. If he doesn't end up back in LA I'm fine with him going to Oakland. If they could just sign him to something less than 4 years I'd be happy to bring him back, especially since they'll gain no draft pick for losing him and think he's better than Hudson.

442 What do you mean by "big bucks"? O. Cabrera is one year older than Renteria, is coming off a .281 / .334 / .371 / 84 OPS+ season himself, is under 90 OPS+ more often than over, but is a better fielder than his fellow Colombian. If the 2yr/$18M contract for Renteria is real and market indicative, should Cabrera's deal be much different?

445 - I wasn't saying that it was ridiculous to suggest.

438
Hmmm...good point. It's a public university, so maybe I can look at his/her contract to see if there's any cause for suspicion...

Sometimes I feel like I'm in the movie "Brazil." I can't grow wings or sail through the clouds, but I can daydream about the Dodgers' roster. {Sobs uncontrollably, then slips on tears}

446 Yeah, his vision problems. Nobody wants a SS who can't see the ball.

452 Hee.

--

On the other hand, maybe it's possible WFAN isn't totally accurate (gasp!)

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/sfgate/indexn?blogid=22

>>WFAN, a radio station in New York, is reporting the Giants have signed shortstop Edgar Renteria to a two-year, $18 million deal. When I called the Giants to ask, they said not true, but I'm checking further.

I got off the phone five minutes ago with Paul Kinzer, the agent for Rafael Furcal, who said he and the Giants are still talking. In fact, they talked an hour ago, which seems to throw cold water on the notion that the Giants and Renteria have a deal.

So it goes in the Internet era. Kinzer had to spend the morning denying a report that the A's have offered Furcal a four-year, $48 million deal and the Mets have offered Furcal a job at second base.<<

446 - I'm happy to bring in a veteran-y guy for 3rd like Joe Crede on a short 1- or 2-year deal and give 2B and SS to some combo of DeWitt, DeJesus, Abreu, and Hu. If Crede breaks down, DeWitt can slide back over to 3rd.

I just don't want any 4- or 5-year, big-dollar deals for O-Cab, O-Dog, or Furcal.

449 I consider 2y/$18 mil "big bucks." That's Jeff Kent money.

Argh.

WFAN, a radio station in New York, is reporting the Giants have signed shortstop Edgar Renteria to a two-year, $18 million deal. When I called the Giants to ask, they said not true, but I'm checking further.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/sfgate/indexn?blogid=22

454 I consider the whole {} thing your schtik. I believe in giving credit where due . . .

445
We kid, because we love.

Or something like that.

Or perhaps we just love kidding.

Or perhaps deep down, we all are in touch with our inner jerk.

ESPN's Enrique Rojas talked to free agent southpaw Odalis Perez, who said he has received offers from the Yankees, White Sox, and Nationals. Perez intends to stay with the Nationals, and his agent is working on a two or three-year deal with them.

Old friend Odalis as a Yankee. This must happen.

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/

.286/.345/.406 Renteria ('09 Bill James proj)
.276/.334/.404 Avg NL SS in 2008
.260/.309/.361 Hu ('09 Bill James proj)

Factor in $, defensive value, draft pick compensation and the fact DeJesus is around the corner. You'd have to go with Hu as the fallback to Furcal.

456 Renteria's last contract was 4/40, Cabrera's 4/32, Julio Lugo is in the middle of a 4/36. Maybe 2/18 is big bucks, but it doesn't seem utterly ridiculous within that sort of context.

437
Not that any team would sign that many (Yankees?), but I believe the maximum number of Type A/B free agents one team can sign is 4 (not counting the number of such players lost).

Per the CBA, the quotas depend on the number of FA available:

0-14 A/Bs: 1 per team
15-38: 2 per team
39-62: 3 per team

Then, "if there are more than 62 such players, the club quotas shall be increased accordingly."

According to our good friends at MLB Trade Rumors, it looks like the number of Type A & B free agents is 66, which is just over the quota of 3 per team.

381 MC Safety, Arsenal have been very unlucky with injuries too this year. It would not have made them champions, but losing Adebayor and then Walcott is brutal. Fabregas has been injured and in and out of form. I still get the feeling that he might leave, although you are right.. being captain has to be a dream come true to him. Also for Arsenal, having Jack Wilshire, Jay Simpson and Carlos Vela coming up in the next year is awesome to look forward to. I've only seen Vela play, but from the sounds of things, those three sound like they will become/are already special players. Arsene just needs to bite the bullet and buy some steel in the midfield. De Rossi should be good for them if they can get him.

I'm going to go out on a limb and say that 2/18 for Renteria will be a better deal than 4/48 for Furcal.

I'm with bigcpa: $18 million - Hu's $400,000 = 17.6 million better spent elsewhere.

460 - I can see Odalis in pinstripes on a minor league deal with an invite to spring training.

The torpedo Dominican Rafael Furcal on Monday traveled to the West Coast of the United States, where he could complete an agreement with one of the two clubs in the bay of San Francisco Giants and Oakland Athletics. El pacto sería por alrededor de 50 millones de dólares. The pact would be for about $ 50 million.

Dominican Torpedo? He had such a cool nickname and never told us?

http://tinyurl.com/62v2oq

From ESPN, regarding Ken Williams, GM of the White Sox:

Would Williams actually trade Dye, who has averaged 34 homers and 95 RBIs in his four seasons with Barack Obama's favorite team? Or how about Jenks, who is only 27 and has converted 88 percent of his career save chances?

The genius of Williams is that he just might.

I'll call MENSA.

Ken Williams is a genius? This is a guy who thought Scott Podsednik was a better player than Carlos Lee.

445

I wasn't even thinking of your statement when I made that comment to D4P, but I am sorry if it felt like it was piling on.

459
I fully accept that I am a jerk sometimes.

An acquaintance of mine, a Patriots fan no less, just speculated in all seriousness that if Matt Cassel led the Patriots to the Super Bowl (not even a win, mind you), Bill Belichick would start next season with Cassel as his starting QB.

With Tom Brady healthy.

470 He thought several years of Podsednik, Iguchi and Pierzynski were better than one year of Lee. That was a pretty smart thing tothing.

How do you pronounce Kevin Kolb's name? Everyone pronounces it as Cobb, that just seems odd if it is pronounced that way when spelled K-O-L-B.

474
Kolb is a German name, loosely translated as "grass on the other side of the fence."

469 Wasn't that article using "genius" facetiously? Or was that just wishful assuming on my part...

471 No problem, I wasn't referring to you.

476
To be fair, I stopped reading at the part I excerpted. But the gist of the article up to that point gave me the impression that the "genius" was not facetious.

474 Silent Ls are unusual, but not that unusual: chalk, balk, walk, yolk, salmon, solder, and DeKalb (deh-KAB), Georgia, for example.

479
Rule 1 thanks you for not also using sealing material as another example. :)

464 Yeah, it's been a rough couple of weeks. We sure could use Eduardo. Can't wait to see what kind of form he's going to be in.

Wilshere is definitely looking promising. But Wenger has said he's going to move slow with him considering his size and the tactics of a lot of English teams. He's said he's on the Theo Walcott plan, and usually doesn't like to play the kids proper (Cesc being the exception) until they turn 19, so he's still 3 years away.

Did you see Vela's goal against Wigan in the Carling Cup? That kid knows how to finish. Haven't seen much of Jay Simpson outside of that Wigan match, but he has to be better than Bendtner. He hasn't impressed at all this season, although it's a small sample.

From a few things I've read/heard it could be another battle between AC Milan and Arsenal for DeRossi's services. We need someone of his ilk.

5:02pm: Via an email from ESPN's Jerry Crasnick, Renteria's agent Barry Meister says the report of Renteria signing is not true. Renteria is at home in Colombia; nothing is close.

Man, somebody must be having fun creating all these rumors.

Next up, Orlando Cabera signs with the Twins for MILLIONS OF DOLLARS.

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/

468
The original article in Spanish uses "torpedero" which is the slang used in Spanish for "shortstop."

Spanish baseball slang is great. The second baseman is called "camarero" which is actually a word for waiter or bellboy.

Well, I think we can all agree that it would be great if USC wins out and Texas, Oklahoma, Alabama and Florida lose a game or two.

What, no?

485
Fight On!

As a great gift for Eric, I can see nothing better than for him to be able to see his Trojans play right in his backyard.

Ned (Vin's hometown): Hi Caleb: Thanks for the chat, wondering if you have thoughts on my rotation, in light of Chad's 'spill'? What moves do you think I should make, and what should I realistically expect from Kershaw next year?

Caleb Peiffer: Is James McDonald ready to start? He's going to be 24, so the future might be now. Elbert also might be ready to chip in by the second half. Jay Jaffe proposed taking a chance with a one-year deal on Randy Johnson to complement Billingsley, Kuroda and Kershaw, and bringing in an innings-eater like Wolf or Garland for the final spot. I think that's a sensible plan (I'd take Wolf over Garland, who seems like he wants a four-year deal). You always need at least six solid starters, especially if RJ is added to the fold, so McDonald would be able to step in when the injuries hit.

http://www.baseballprospectus.com/chat/chat.php?chatId=551

This is actually one of the more useful write-ups on the Furcal situation as it stands, sorting through all the jibber-jabber.

http://www.sportsline.com/mcc/blogs/entry/6270335/11891898

Courtesy of Burnt Orange Nation: Eight different ways the Longhorns could possibly make it to Miami, in approximate order of likelihood. (All of these assume Texas defeats Aggy on Friday.)

1. Baylor beats Tech; Texas beats Missouri.

2. OU loses to OSU; Tech loses to Missouri.

3. Texas wins BCS tiebreaker with OU; Texas beats Missouri.

4. Florida loses to Florida State; Florida beats Alabama.

5. OU loses to Missouri.

6. OU loses to OSU, Texas Tech beats Missouri.

7. Bama loses to Auburn; Bama beats Florida.

8. Florida, OU and Texas all win out

Which leads me to wonder: Why do people hate the BCS? All the different possible permutations are great fun to hash over. Without it, what the heck would football fans do the other six days of the week?

Really? Milan for De Rossi? Where will they play him? They have Pirlo, Gattusso, Ambrosini and Flamini, pretty much competing for those two central midfield spots. I just don't see it. They need some younger defenders, who are good, before they should buy anybody else.

I saw Vela's goal. He looks like he will be really good. Yeah, I am not a Bendtner fan at all.

487
Low blow, man. Low blow. :)

489 - And in the end, the news is, "Some teams are interested in Furcal."

The Holiday Bowl is like the ultimate booby prize.

At least the Big 12 runner up gets to be sent to the Cotton Bowl.

485

(hand raises)

Ummm...no. If you put USC in there instead of an SEC school, you would have to sit through an entire offseason of Southerners saying there is an anti-SEC bias.

I'm from there and I get tired of the nutsies down there. It's better for everyone's sanity if Bama can make it through to the Title Game.

494
The Pac-10 needs better bowl affiliation, indeed. The Holiday Bowl is currently setup as Pac-10 #2 vs. Big XII #3, but the Cotton Bowl gets to choose before the Holiday Bowl does.

Most likely, the Holiday Bowl this year will end up with the Big XII #4 team (Oklahoma St or Missouri, depending on how such things are determined) against the Pac-10 #3 (Cal or Oregon) if OSU wins this weekend.

490
8. Florida, OU and Texas all win out

This one will be tricky. Both Florida (playing #20 FSU & #1 Alabama) and Oklahoma (playing #12 OSU) stand to gain in the computers against Texas.

The key there will be whether or not Oklahoma jumps Texas or not with a win this weekend, a possibility given their proximity to one another in the polls.

493 Yep, basically. But at least it was honest about it instead of WFAN-style hyperbole. Sounds like nothing will happen til next week so why bother worrying or caring 'til then.

OK, We'll let in The Longhorns and the Tide. But we don't want the Irish!

It could be worse for USC. They could have gotten sent to my backyard instead of the other Eric's.

Whats the worst record that the Fighting Irish can have that can still get them into a BCS bowl? 9-3? 8-4?

Clint Hurdle has two reasons to look over his shoulder. Three if you count the rompin', stompin', don't-forget-to-get-out-of-his-way Brian Jordan.

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3724191

496
The Pac-10 would get better bowl affiliations if fans of Pac-10 schools actually went to the games.

500
The Irish are coming to Eric E's backyard.

499
How about a generous portion of Irish Stew this Saturday in LA?

497 The key will be getting certain human voters to reconsider their shiny new Sooner toy, and remember that Texas already beat Oklahoma by 10 points on a neutral field.

496 Aside from the Rose Bowl, all of those other contracts are up at the end of this year.

This may not be the best year for the Pac 10 to argue for better bowls considering that Washington, UCLA, Stanford and ASU are not going to be bowl eligible barring some upsets.

493 Jon was wise not to stop the presses and the breaking news flash as a new post last night.

490. If permutations are all you want, you could still have them in a playoff system as teams fight to become one of the eight (playoff size) finalists. Then instead of only 5 teams having meaningful games the last 5 weeks of the season, you would have more like 20 teams having meaningful games the last 5 weeks of the season. BCS is junk. Feel free to ask me what I really think. :)
vr, Xei

How is GlenAllen Hill a coach?

He would be one of the last people I would want teaching fundamentals.

I remember when the Cotton Bowl was not a consolation prize.

509 But if you had a playoff system, wouldn't Alabama already be one of the playoff teams regardless if they beat Auburn? And that still does not answer the questions regarding Boise State?

510
Glenallen Hill is a first base coach. What does he do besides yell "BACK!"?

I'm hoping that the OSU wins the Pac 10, and USC gets matched up with an SEC school. I've got no dog in any fight (I went to a basketball school), but I'd really like to see USC put a boot on the face of an SEC school.

506
That will be a tall order. In 1993, Florida State lost to Notre Dame but ended up winning the national title despite each finishing with 1 loss (ND lost to Boston College).

Plus, it's not like the OU-UT game is the only thing on which to judge them. Oklahoma has the tougher non-conference schedule, with victories over Cincinnati and TCU, plus a potential advantage by faring better against TT & OSU (presumably) than did Texas.

It's certainly a tough call to pick between Texas & Oklahoma right now. If Florida State takes care of business though, the Texas-Oklahoma problem might not be an either/or decision.

USC is more likely bound for the Fiesta Bowl and a matchup against the Big 12 team not playing for the championship.

515
Texas didn't play any FCS teams unlike OU and TT.

Texas should have scheduled Temple so they could have played all three of the FBS "Owl" teams.

516 That beats the Rose Bowl this year, but it sure would be interesting to see USC-Florida or (perhaps?) USC-Alabama, only because we've heard so much about the superiority of the SEC over the past few years.

Even the playoff system is subjective. I endorse the Mike Leach 64 game playoff system. : )

My bowl guesses:

BCS Championship: Oklahoma vs. Florida
Rose: Oregon St vs. Penn St
Fiesta: USC vs. Texas (the battle of Erics)
Sugar: Alabama vs. Utah
Orange: Georgia Tech vs. Cincinnati (meanwhile, Boise State has to watch this awful game)

USC-Texas
USC-OU
USC-Texas Tech.

I just want to see OU in the Holiday bowl.

515 What Bob said. Texas played an entirely D-1 (or whatever it's called now) schedule while Oklahoma and TT did not.

Texas also played a much tougher Big 12 schedule than the other two. Of the three big teams, the Longhorns are the only one that didn't get a home game against one of the other two. Plus Texas whipped Mizzou on the road, while neither OU or TTech played them at all.

If it's about schedule strength, Texas wins that easily over the other Big 12 schools.

Maybe they should just start the season in playoff format. First game you lose, end of season.

I also endorse a plan for the government to just give every citizen 2 million dollars. 760 million bailout vs. 1 trillion.

Alabama has not beaten anyone that good. I do not think they should be number 1. Everyone just assumes the SEC is so great again.

522 There should then be a renegade BCS game featuring TTech vs. Boise.

Remind me again why the Big East and ACC have automatic bids?

524 Congratulations to Ball State, your 2008 National Champs.

526
There was a time when Florida State and Miami were good.

523
Question: Does the Sagarin schedule strength rating rate the entire schedule, or only the games played thus far? Just wondering.

Right now, Texas is rated as the 5th toughest schedule, and Oklahoma has the 25th toughest. Texas hosts 94th-rated (by Sagarin) A&M while OU goes on the road to face #12 OSU. I doubt that will make up the difference, but it will make them closer.

Are there any bowls outside of the BCS system that merit the description of being better then the holiday bowl? Is it just about playing on New Years Day?
Being a typical Bruin fan who has sold his Rose Bowl tix to pay the rent, I take pride in belittling the importance of bowls that don't impact any sort of championship. On the other hand. If the system keeps the Trojans from a chance at mythical championships I suppose it can't be all bad.

530
The Cotton Bowl probably fits that description most years.

530
If the system keeps the Trojans from a chance at mythical championships I suppose it can't be all bad

I'm pretty sure it was Jacquizz Rodgers, and not the system, that ran wild over USC on that fateful Thursday.

I suppose a USC can also hope and expect Ben Howland to never win a championship at UCLA.

Personally, I am just happy that UCLA avenged last year's loss to USC in women's soccer.

I'm grabbing on to any slender reed of hope.

I wonder whether Texas could win the AP national championship by beating USC in the Fiesta Bowl.

535 you all are much better informed then I, but I think that's possible. If the title game is OU-Florida, and OU wins barely, but Texas slaughters USC... ?

535
I was thinking the same thing, only you know, the other way. Florida State probably has to win for that to happen for me though.

512. The college football system that I proposed (XeiOnSports) would currently have the eight following teams matched up, of course this will get juggled around as there are still games to play.

Playoff Matchups
#5 USC vs #4 Texas
#8 Boise State vs #1 Alabama
#6 Penn State vs #3 Oklahoma
#7 Utah vs #2 Florida

And yes any system has some subjectivity in it, where do you draw the line in how many teams you invite and how do you best weight the importance of winning a conference championship with being highly ranked in the BCS. My system answers all this. If you have an eight team playoff and you are the 9th team looking in, I don't feel as sorry for you compared to being the #3 team in a two team playoff.
vr, Xei

I don't believe the FCS, Division II, or Division III playoffs allow schools that didn't win their conference to get a bid and then let another team from the same conference in.

538 I think any playoff system has to have a mechanism for including every unbeaten team, no matter who they are. That's the only way you'll ever end up with a truly undisputed champion. What if Ball State really is that good? Obviously it's doubtful, but we deserve the chance to find out. Make 'em face Boise in a play-in game if nothing else.

538 So what happens to Oregon State, Cincinatti and Florida State? Why bother having conferences in this scenario?

540. Then you would have teams scheduling Army, Navy, Air Force and Syracuse every season to give themselves a good shot at going undefeated. There has to be some incentive to have a tough schedule. Each team usually has around 3 or 4 non-conference games to put a traditionally good team on the schedule.
vr, Xei

538 Also, whither Texas Tech? I know they got spanked, but that shouldn't put them behind Penn St and Boise.

541. Because you are compromising to only have an eight team playoff. I wouldn't mind a 12 or 16 team playoff which would likely include those teams you mentioned. The biggest compromise I've heard on the behalf of the BCS supporters so far is a plus one game. vr, Xei

543. There is an incentive for winning your conference title and that slips Penn State and Boise State ahead of them for the meantime. Things could change and Texas Tech could move up... there are still games to play.
vr, Xei

542 I can see the problem there, but still, this should be a hard and fast rule: Every undefeated team gets in. Period.

You can put them at a disadvantage by giving the higher-seeded teams byes. If eight teams go undefeated with cupcake schedules, fine, let 'em all knock each other off before getting to play Texas or USC in the next round. But if a team wins all its games, it should at least have the opportunity to play for the title. Any playoff system that doesn't have a provision for this will be an illegitimate system.

It's important to schedule well, yes, but that applies mostly to the autobid leagues. Teams in the smaller-time conferences ultimately have almost no control over their own scheduling, and they're the ones who get screwed in your system.

539 The Colonial Athletic Assn has 5 teams in this years FCS (I-AA) playoffs. William & Mary (ranked #16 in FCS) hoped to be the CAA's 6th team in the field but didn't get a bid.

546. I'm comfortable with the way I have it laid out, with a possible minor tweak here or there. 8 teams is manageable and a vast improvement over the current system. I am looking at what is realistic. I think too many people are afraid of having their New Years Day cheese and diet pepsi moved with a playoff system.
vr, Xei

533

I actually don't expect a USC fan to have any good feelings about Ben Howland. What makes this better is if Howland gives little reason to hate him besides putting a winning team on the floor.
If you are going to be the Yankees of Pac-10 football I think the bad attitudes from fans of other teams/rivals is expected. We just wish the commisioner would put in a salary cap.

548 Play the first round on January 1st; Final 4 on Saturday the 10th and The Big Game on January 17th. Somebody picks the top 7 bowl games and they rotate them around.

The Rose Bowl this year is in a position where:
1. The Big Ten champ, Penn State, only wants to play in the game if it plays against USC.
2. USC would rather not play in the game, but rather in the BCS championship game.
3. I don't think USC really wants to play in the Rose Bowl, but wants Oregon State to lose on general principles.

Welcome to the 2009 Paradox Bowl!

549
Facebook has stopped suggesting I make Pete Carroll my friend.

ESPN always does a competition between a player's wife and a teammate.

This week they used Reggie Bush and his girlfriend Kim Kardashian. She easily did the worst of anyone I have seen on these segments.

553
They ask them questions about the player.

NPUT