I thought you guys might be interested in checking out the recent Brian Griese "interview" on Kissing Suzy Kolber.  It's a recently opened NFL blog started by some of the commenters from Deadspin. Most of the posts are pretty hilarious, and this one is no exception.  This is probably the best part:

Drew: The Bears had an outstanding regular season last year but lost their first playoff game to Carolina. How much blame do you personally take for that loss?
Griese: I played in Tampa last year.

Drew: So you acknowledge that you weren't there for your team?
Griese: They weren't my team.

Drew: I see this is a touchy subject, so I'll move on. You played with Chris Simms. Is it true that when Chris Simms was a child, he made his dad hire a black man to be his toy for a week?
Griese: No.

Drew: They made a movie of it, you know. Starring Richard Pryor. Remember that?
Griese: That wasn't Chris.

Go Bears!

With Carlos Lee front and center in the news for almost singlehandedly beating the cardinals yesterday; I thought it might be interesting to see if and what people are thinking about El Caballo.  I'm of the opinion that regardless of what Podsednik looks like right now, the White Sox would not have won the World Series last year without the move that sent Lee to Milwaukee for Pods & The Viz.  As has already been mentioned numerous times, this trade also freed up the money to get El Duque, A.J., and Iguchi, but Carlos is sure looking good while our left fielder is batting
.059.  

Anyways, so what are your thoughts?

from espn

TUCSON, Ariz.--  Infielder Alex Cintron was acquired by the Chicago White Sox from the Arizona Diamondbacks on Wednesday for pitcher Jeff Bajenaru.

A switch hitter, Cintron batted .273 with 19 doubles, eight home runs and 48 RBI in 122 games for the Diamondbacks last season, when he played second, third and shortstop. His three pinch-hit home runs tied for the NL lead.

I'm not really sure what to make of this right now, but it appears that Baj is NOT going to be in the Sox bullpen this summer.  Not to mention the fact that this is going to have quite an effect on how the bench shapes up.

Nothing earth-shattering, but I didn't see it posted, and I thought you guys might like to know about this. What do you guys suppose this is going to mean? I'm guessing this spells the end for Gload, or possibly Borchard, and that Ozuna will play some more outfield. Also this might be the precursor to another trade. I guess we'll just have to wait and see.

Chicago

I give you Chicago. It is not London and Harvard. It is not Paris and buttermilk. It is American in every chitling and sparerib. It is alive from snout to tail.
- H. L. Mencken


Chicago By nights when the yellow salamanders of the EL bend all one way and the cold rain runs with the red-lit rain.

the way the city's million wires are burdened only by lightest snow;

When chairs are stacked and glasses are turned and arc-lamps all are dimmed.

By days when the wind bangs alley gates ajar and the sun goes by on the wind.

By nights when the moon is an only child above the measured thunder of the cars, you may know Chicago's heart at last.

from Nelson Algren's "Chicago: City on the Make

Chicago

Chicago is an October sort of city even in spring.
- Nelson Algren August 13, 1984

4 more games.

from the Carl Sandburg poem "Chicago"

...And having answered so I turn once more to those who sneer at this my city, and I give them back the sneer and say to them:

Come and show me another city with lifted head singing so proud to be alive and coarse and strong and cunning.

Flinging magnetic curses amid the toil of piling job on job, here is a tall bold slugger set vivid against the little soft cities;

Fierce as a dog with tongue lapping for action, cunning as a savage pitted against the wilderness...

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Now that it seems the playoffs are finally an inevitability, there are a lot of important decisions Ozzie is going to have to make.  Right at the top of that list is who is going to be our closer?  Lately it appears Jenks has the job, but he faltered a few times in some big games, and his velocity seems to be down.  Hermanson has the back problem, and who the hell ever knows what Marte is going to do.  

I'm guessing that Ozzie is going to continue going with closer by committee, but I figured I would see what you guys all think about this situation.

Poll

Who's YOUR Closer

0%

Brandon "Mr. Fantastic" McCarthy

0 votes

0%

Luis "The Viz" Vizcaino

0 votes

21%

What's with all the choices, let's just see what the situation calls for, and go from there.

5 votes

65%

Bobby "King of the Hill" Jenks

15 votes

0%

Orlando "El Duque" Hernandez

0 votes

8%

Dustin "The Herminator" Hermanson

2 votes

0%

Neal "Don't You Fucking Dare and try to Sleep on My" Cotts

0 votes

4%

Damaso "Let's Partay!" Marte

1 votes

0%

Jeff " Baj" Bajenaru

0 votes

0%

Cliff "The Vulture" Politte

0 votes

23 votes | Poll has closed

Continue reading this post »

Today's Sun-Times. mentions how the Bulls are going to be retiring Scottie's number this season.  Here's  the actual note:  

The Bulls will retire Scottie Pippen's No. 33 jersey at halftime of a Dec. 9 game against the Lakers.

 I think that the Bulls are definitly making the right move with this gesture, but it got me thinking a little bit about Scottie's career.  I've always felt that Scottie was the kind of player that was always being simultaneously overrated and underrated throughout his career.  I'm curious what you guys think, so I figured I'd put up a poll.  Anyways, thanks for moderating the site Matt, and hopefully these Bulls will have a great year.

Poll

How would you best describe Scottie Pippen's career?

13%

Underrated deffensively but overrated offensively

6 votes

0%

Overrated deffensively but undrrated offensively

0 votes

25%

Simultaneously overrated and underrated

11 votes

58%

Consistently underrated

25 votes

2%

Consistently overrated

1 votes

43 votes | Poll has closed

Here's a link to a picture of when scotty got punched in the first Yankee series.  I tried posting it as an image, but I couldn't get it to work.  

I don't know about you guys, but it sure doesn't look like that guy was going for the ball at all, as the "official" report said he was.  It also looks like Scotty is a good 4 feet off the ground!

On the brink of another series with the Yankees, I thought it might be nice to see a reminder of the hustle that makes this team great. Hopefully we can get back to that.

I found the link at Bill Simmons' ESPN Sports Guy page. Check it out, the guy is hilarious.

From mlb.com

CHICAGO -- White Sox designated hitter Frank Thomas has played his last game for Chicago this season and, perhaps, forever. I was looking at Reifert's Inside the White Sox Blog when I saw that the report on Franks foot is not good.  Apparently he has suffered a second fracture in his left ankle and he is done for the season, if not for his career. You can read about the whole thing on the White Sox Home Page. I'm sure you guys will have a lot to say about this, but I just figured I would post this news for now.

This really is a sad day for the White Sox and for all its fans.

Apparently the White sox are "aggresively"going after Burnett here's the story:

Miamie Herald
July 13th

MARLINS A.J. BURNETT

Trade talks heat up

The Marlins have reportedly talked with six teams about a possible A.J. Burnett trade.

BY KEVIN BAXTER

kbaxter@herald.com

DETROIT - The Marlins have stepped up efforts to shop right-hander A.J. Burnett and are reportedly in trade discussions with at least six teams about deals that would net Florida a top reliever in return.

The Chicago White Sox are believed to be the team most aggressively pursuing the pitcher, who will become a free agent after the season. But the Baltimore Orioles have also renewed attempts to woo the Marlins, offering a package centered on reliever Jorge Julio, while the Toronto Blue Jays entered the sweepstakes this week.

The San Diego Padres, Los Angeles Dodgers and Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim have also been mentioned as possible trade partners.

''We're sensing that, based on the interest conveyed through the media, that there are a lot of suitors,'' said Darek Braunecker, the player's agent.

Baltimore, which has been talking with Florida for some time about Burnett, has taken 24-year-old right-hander Daniel Cabrera (7-7, 4.90) off the table, instead offering 20-year-old Hayden Penn, a minor-leaguer who went 2-2 with a 6.75 ERA in seven big-league starts earlier this season. But they are willing to part with Julio (2-2, 4.24, a former closer whom the Marlins reportedly covet, as well as a left-handed-hitting outfielder, probably Larry Bigbie (.262, 4 HR, 17 RBI).

The Blue Jays might be the most intriguing option because Burnett (5-5, 3.33) has made no secret of his desire to be reunited with former Marlins pitching coach Brad Arnsberg, now with Toronto. The Blue Jays are willing to deal closer Miguel Batista, a former Marlin, but he's owed more than $6 million on a contract that runs through 2006. Burnett will make about $1.8 million the rest of this season.

The Marlins are also exploring several trade options that don't involve Burnett in an effort to shore up their leaky bullpen. They are known to be among four teams -- the others being Texas, Atlanta and the Chicago Cubs -- talking with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays about All-Star closer Danys Baez, who could be expendable now that Tampa has signed former Cubs closer Joe Borowski. They have also expressed interest in Kansas City left-hander Jeremy Affeldt, who made two trips to the disabled list this season with a strained groin, and might pursue the Colorado Rockies' Jay Witasick, a nine-year veteran who was released last fall by the San Diego Padres.

What do you think it would take to get him?  Do you think we can swing a contract extension in the process?

Thought you guys might be interested in this little contest. Apparently it involves picking which player will have a better game at each position for every game of the sox vs. cubs series this weekend. It also appears that there are prizes involved, relating to how well one is able to coincide their selections with some sort of scoring system. Anyways here's the link.

The Ultimate Crosstown Player Challenge

With a name like that, how could it be bad?

First off I want to say that I really dig this blog.  I've been reading and posting on Daily Kos (probably the biggest scoop based site, and sort of the blogfather to this site) for quite awhile, and I think it's great that our sox have a scoop based site of it's own.  I think that once more people find out about the site, and start posting more frequently, we're going to have a pretty awesome little community.  So thanks for setting it up the cheat.  

With that being said  I was wondering if anyone could explain sabermetrics and what all these macro stats are all about? I understand all the basics, but for example what exaclty is WPA? and What are some of the more esoteric stats all about?

Poll

Which pitcher would you pick to start the first game of a playoff series?

18%

Garland

2 votes

63%

Buehrle

7 votes

0%

Garcia

0 votes

0%

Contreras

0 votes

18%

El Duque

2 votes

11 votes | Poll has closed

Continue reading this post »