It turns out Young really isn't owed $80 million over the next five years.  It's actually $59 million with some of that being deferred.

 

Link to article.  Good stuff and now we can all forget about those pesky reading comprehension and reporter disbelief issues we've had in thread after thread.

 

It really is ridiculous that I can't just post this link without having to come up with additional filler.  I mean, seriously, this is a pretty important topic, given the confusion it has created over the last few days.

Time for a little turkey, some dressing, and an afternoon of Cowboys Football!

Hopefully, the Cowboys will come out focussed and ready to play.  With every game being a must-win, they can't afford to have a let down against a really bad team.

On a side note, stars that come in to sing the National Anthem should avoid trying to jazz it up.  Really.

Note to Adam.  The 75 word limit is really, really, really, really annoying.

I didn't see this posted anywhere, but Longoria won the AL ROY.  Was Davis not eligible in the voting or something?  I was a bit surprised that he got no votes at all.  Anybody have anything?  I don't really think he should have won over Longoria, but surely his season merited some consideration.  He won't be a rookie again next season will he?  I'm a little confused.

 

P.S.  This post length rule sucks, Adam.

Why don't we set up some permanent fanposts so we can avoid trashing every other thread with the same old stuff?  There's got to be a way to "sticky" a couple of diaries up at the top of the list.  I'd suggest the following:

1)  Laird Bitchfest Diary;

2) Botts Bitchfest Diary;

3) Wash Bitchfest Diary;

4)  JD Bitchfest Diary;

5)  Our Defense Sucks Bitchfest Diary;

6)  "X" Should Be Up and "Y" Should Be DFA'd Bitchfest Diary.

I'm sure there are others we can create.  This sure would make the regular threads much more tolerable.

We went to the Sluggers of the West Awards Dinner last night.  It was a fun night.  Lots of players there, including some minor leaguers.  Hicks even made an appearance.  Some notes from the evening.

1.  Millwood looks like he's lost a ton of weight.  They showed clips of him from last season doing charity work and his gut was substantial.  Last night he looked pretty slim.  There's no telling how good he could be if he starts the season in shape.
2.  C.J.  You're awesome, man.  But ... that ... hair.  It's time for a haircut.  Dreadlocks, ugh ....
3.  Hamilton looks like a beast.
4.  Marlon Byrd is a witty guy.  And he's genuinely likeable.  It's easy to see why he's a fan favorite and a favorite in the clubhouse.
5.  Kins (that's what Young kept calling Kinsler) looks at Mike Young like an idol.  They've been working out together at RBIA all offseason and are spending time together outside of baseball.
6.  Chris Davis is humble.  And stout.  Definitely a beast in the making.
7.  Mike Hargrove doesn't look too good.  It was great to see him, but I'm worried about his health.
8.  Jim Reeves looks as angry in person as he comes across in his articles.
9.  Baseball players don't marry non-hot chicks.
10.  Mike Young is a class act.
11.  Eric Nadel is the epitome of awesome.  And Rojas is a funny guy.  Lewin is still a bit of a dork.  Tom is ... Tom.
12.  JD and Wash might be gay.
13.  Those present:  Kins, Young, Byrd, C.J., BMac, Milly, Salty (who apparently signs autographs faster than anyone else), Tea, Davis, Jack Benoit, Duran, Whittleman, Mathis, Hank, Broussard, Hamilton, Kam Loe (I'm sure I'm missing somebody).  Non-players included Wash, JD, Sunny, Rusty Greer, Scott Servais, and Merle Harmon.  Jamey was there too.

Overall it was a neat evening.  It sounds like everyone is pumped for ST.  There was a lot of emphasis on not pressing this season, which was a big problem, as you can guess, during April and May last year.  I don't know how good these guys will be this year, but they ought to be a lot of fun to watch.

Big game for Dallas today.  New York has been hot the last several weeks.  Go Cowboys!                                      

                                                                   

Open Discussion Thread.

                                                                   

Just saw this.

Tough blow for both Detroit and Zumaya.  His arm is nothing short of incredible, and to be sidelined and have your career put in jeopardy over something like this is tragic.                                                                    

Apparently, our squad has a sense of humor.  Luckily, so does the biggest man on the team.

On a positive note, we may now have a clue as to why Botts hasn't had much power since being brought up.  He's missing his magic lasso.

                                                                                               

Per Jamey.

Arrived late for a workout in New Orleans, so they're going to delay his re-call, possibly until Sept.                                                                                                                                                      
                                                             Wow.

In reading Jamey's newsletter about the Rangers minor league coaching staffs, I noted that one of Frisco's coaches was Scott Coolbaugh.  Is this the same Scott Coolbaugh that was just ahead of Dean Palmer in the system?  If so, I remember having an innate dislike for him, not because he was a bad player, but because when both he and Palmer got September callups, he got the lion's share of the playing time, collecting something like 62 AB's to Palmer's 19 or so.

If this is the same guy, can anybody tell us what happened to him after he left Texas?  I just remember that he was gone all of the sudden and lost track of him.

They don't look terrible so far, but they aren't exactly crisp either.  Some good plays are being overcome by poor play-calling.  And the defense is leaking but catching some breaks.

Anyway, here's a gameday thread to post insight, criticism, or whatever else you've got.

The stupid 300 character limit is stupid, Adam. Can't you do something to change that?

According to the DMN's Richard Durrett, Laird will get to peel his butt off of the bench to catch Millwood Saturday night.  That will be my first live game this season.  I'm looking forward to seeing Millwood bounce back from Monday's disaster.  Also, it will be nice to see the Rangers best catcher when I go ....

Happens next Saturday at TBIA (screw Ameriquest) from 9:00am until 5:00pm.  Has anybody heard yet which players will be there?  They had some pretty good guys available last year, including Mike Young and Ian Kinsler.  I haven't heard who will be there this season, but I'd like to know in advance so I can plan my day out better.  Thanks for any info and I hope to get to meet some of you guys in person.

When is Bill going to realize that his powder puff offensive line can't get a yard when they need it.  They consistently get knocked back off of the ball and allow penetration in short-yardage situations.  This is yet another example of Bill's poor playcalling.  They've got to go with play action passing and wide runs on the goalline.  Since Bill can't seem to build a fire under the lard-butts on the OL, he's got to spread the defense if he wants to run in the middle.  Power v. power, those guys just can't get it done.

Detroit stinks, but if the Pokes let them hang around into the 4th quarter, they are perfectly capable of pulling off a Washington/Seattle type upset.

I'm looking forward to Adam's comments on this article:  http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/spt/stories/082405dnspocowlishaw.124cb0b3.html.  Cowlishaw is basically saying what we've all known and feared for quite some time.  Buck has formed an evil little triumvirate with Hicks and Hart instead of being an advocate for his players.  His desire to have a bigger part in the overall show has apparently, once again, undermined his ability to keep a team happy and confident in him.

The simple truth of the matter is that Buck needs to be fired.  He's lost this team.  And with his biggest detractors being the core of the team, I don't think he can get them back.  If he is the manager going into 2006, I truly believe that the team will have a difficult time signing any impact free agents this winter and next season will be an even bigger disaster than this one has.