So with both the professional and collegiate football season approaching their end, I am left with the depressing realization that I will have nothing to watch on TV anymore. I don't care about basketball, soccer, or hockey. And so with nothing to look forward to for awhile, I look to the past.

This past season was the first full season I spent with my fellow Talking Choppers. When I sat and watched my Braves on the TV, it wasn't just me and my bottle of Seagrams 7 and my Jack Russel Terrier, Bacon. Nay, you all were there with me, on my laptop, resting on my thighs placed an inch or two above my scrotum. We went through the entire season together guys and gals, and had alot of memorable moments. So I ask you: What was your favorite moment from the 2010 season? Not necessarily your favorite baseball moment (Heyward's first swing, Conrad's walkoff GS, etc) but rather your favorite moment involving conversations held in the game threads.

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So, since Smoltz's Beard seems to be completely AWOL I am gonna go ahead and steal his idea. Its been awhile since we had a non-baseball related thread for us to play around with, so I'm here to take initiative and start one. Got something on your mind you wanna share, but don't feel like starting a twitter account?  Whether it be profound or esoteric, feel free to let it out here. I will get this party started....

I am totally digging the newest Geico commercial, with R Lee Ermey as a therapist. Good stuff.

On May Twentieth, in the year of Our Lord Two-Thousand-and-Ten, the diminutive Brooks Conrad delivered unto the faithful a divine jolt that did smite the non-believers of Cincinatti and would prove to be the impetus of the Atlanta Braves journey into the post season.

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So I ripped this idea from Royals Review, but thought some of the results were hilarious and figured we could come up with some for our guys.  So for those of you at work and needing something to help you procrastinate, feel free to select a name from either current or former Braves and rearrange the letters to form words. I realize there anagram generators available on the interwebs but it is much more satisyfing to make your own and the results tend to be much more funny. I will get us started.

Troy Glaus- surly goat. (This was an easy one)

Kenshin Kawakami- I makin Shaka wink. (This was harder)

Tommy Hanson- My moon shat! (I really with Tommy would change his name to Tommey Hanson=Money Shot Man!)

Jason Heyward- Ya, son!!! Dr. Jaweh!

What have you guys got?

I recently moved to Huntsville and was pretty stoked to discover they had a minor league team. Even though I am a Braves fan, I plan on getting season tickets to y'alls AA affiliate but I am not exactly knowledgeable in the Brewers' minor league system. So, I ask you all: for which players from the Stars should I keep an eye out?

I plan on bringing my camera with me to all the games and uploading any decent shots and/or stories.

Okay, so last year was my first attempt in a fantasy league and I was less than impressed. I guess that could be expected as it was a free Yahoo league. None of the other players in it were active at all. I am fairly certain that at least half the players used the auto-draft feature. Nobody wanted to make any midseason moves. It was a boring experience.

SO! If any of y'all plan on setting up or know of any decent leagues upcoming, could you gimme a holler. Also, anyone know when its starting up again?

UPDATE: Because it seems that there are several of you out there that seem down with the idea of a TC fantasy league, I am taking it apon myself to ge this ball rolling. Anyone interested in participating, e-mail me your SBNation ID and in the subject line put, "TC Fantasy". My e-mail is groo_83@yahoo.com

As we get closer to fantasy season I will compile a list of all interested members and we can get a league going. Hope to hear from a good number of y'alls.

I saw this on mlbtr in a discussion on the biggest/best/worst trades of the decade. http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2009/11/discussion-the-trade-of-the-decade.html

I thought this view of the trade made alot of sense. Dunno if it deserves a fan post but I am appearently a moron and cant figure out the new system of fan shots. Anyways...here it is.

Okay, I dont understand why everyone seems to think the Braves got completely jobbed in the Tex trade. Lets take a closer look at what the Braves gave up in that trade.

1. Salty- the centerpiece of the deal. In 238 career games .251/.314/.389 A .703 OPS with average defense at best. Braves have McCann. No big loss here.
2. Andrus- Despite a pedestrian year at the plate (.267/.32/.373) he was a fantastic defender at a premium position. With more ML seasoning and improved plate discipline he could become one of the better leadoff hitters in baseball and a dynamic all around player. This loss has been negated, however, by the emergence of Yunel Escobar as one of the better ss in the game.
3. Feliz- A very impressive debut but I would be careful about canonizing him after only 31 IP. Especially if the Rangers are serious about converting him to a starter.
4. Matt Harrison- 26 career games, 147 IP. 76/54 K/BB ratio. 5.76 era. 1.6 whip. Uhmmm....no thanks. I think the Braves are good on pitching anyways.
5. Beau Jones- Never pitched above AA. In 2009 he went 3-4, 4.47 era, 57/33 k/bb, 1.66 WHIP. See Above.

In each case the Braves were dealing from a position of strength. Brian Mcann's presence made salty unneeded. After dealing him away, Tyler Flowers emerged as a top catching prospect. (Later traded to CHW for Javy Vazquez)
Yunel Escobar's presence made Elvis Andrus expendable. (Escobar also allowed us to trade Edgar Renteria to the Tigers for Jair Jurrjens and Gorkys Hernandez, whom we flipped for Nate McLouth. Talk about bad trades!)
The loss of Feliz might come back to bite the Braves but the other 2 pitchers are quite redundant in the Braves organization at this point.

The Braves made a move to win the world series. They sacrificed alot of future talent for 1 full and highly productive season of Tex and .5 years of the Great Ron Mahay. I think it is a testament to the Braves' drafting and development team that not only did this trade not cripple their farm system, but the argument could be made that it is even stronger now than it was before the trade. Wow.
In any event, I think we are focusing too much on the wrong end of the Tex trade. We should be complaining about Tex's exit from Atl to Laa. Mark Texiera for Casey Kotchman and Stephan Marek? Yech!

Posted by: Troll | November 28, 2009 at 01:03 AM

Hey guys,

   I always hear about how everyone is a "die-hard Brave fan." Well, now I would like to hear why. I would like each of you to share your favorite memory, on-field or off, of why you came to be a Braves fan. I think that sometimes we all get caught up in the stats and numbers; the WHIP, OBPS, BABIP, UZR, VORP, and any number of other acronyms, that we oftentimes forget that we are, at the end of the day, fans. And although we may disagree about the best means to go about it, we can all agree that we want this team to do well. We all have an emotional investment in this team, and I would like to hear your reason:

1. I may have been 6 or 7 years old. My mom and dad and me were on a flight from Misawa Air Force base, Japan to visit family in Tuscaloosa, Al. I BARELY remember the flight but one of my mom's most treasured possessions is a framed picture of me asleep on the plane wrapped in a Braves fleece.

2. Various times throughout my life: my dad, drunk off his ass, sitting in his Steve Bedrosian jersey, yelling at the tv screen watching a Braves game.

Share.

In my Yahoo! public fantasy league, I am getting absolutely verbally mauled for my proposed trade with another member.

   Frenchy's Fries (me) offers: Ryan Zimmerman & Jason Bay

                           for

  Flash n bash (him): David Wright

I realize it is a fairly significant downgrade at 3rd for him but I can actually see Zimm doing pretty well this year especially with Dunn batting behind him.

Also, he is getting a huge boost to his outfield, which I would say is the 2nd worst in our league. He has Carl Crawford, Brad Hawpe, and Andre Ethier starting with Rick Ankiel on his bench.  I am going to be dealing from a position of strength. My outfield currently consists of Josh Hamilton, Jason Bay, Nick Markakis, with Nate Mclouth on my bench.

Now I am not saying it is a completely even trade. I thought the whole point of trades was to come out on top... But is it so bad a trade that I deserve the beating I am getting?