JoeHova

Back in the day, I knew several guys who fought dogs. It was disgusting then and it's disgusting now. At least in boxing or MMA (although I hate MMA) the humans have a choice and there are some rules to try to keep people relatively safe. The dogs have no choice and often get horrifically injured. One guy I knew was really into it and bred pits for fighting. It was odd to see the relationships he had with the dogs. On the one hand, he really loved them (not all trainers do, from what I understand). On the other, he made them fight and badly mistreated them in order to make them "mean". He was one of those guys that thought that feeding gunpowder to the dogs would make them mean and that surely can't be good for them. But when I would see him the day after a fight, he would be so happy and proud of the dog if it won and feel so badly for the dog if it lost. It's kind of the same thing that I've noticed in farmers. Farmers sometimes become real attached to their livestock but that doesn't stop them from sending them to the slaughterhouse. I don't think I could kill something I loved, or make something I loved fight for it's life. That's why I think that both of those things are herditary in a sense. I think you have to have grown up around dog fighting (or farming) to really be comfortable doing that, which I think is also the reason why dog fights are so persistent. If you've grown up around something, it will usually seem normal, even if the majority of people find it bizarre or abhorrent. I think that explains why some people can't see the big deal about dog fighting.

I also realized I have a Wally Szczerbiak Wolves SGA bobblehead from around 2003, if anyone is interested.

PCL Pitcher of the Week, pretty cool. Nice honor for Yovani. I always wonder what a player gets for that. A certificate? A little plaque?

That was yet another excellent episode. They are really going out on some high notes. The guy who plays AJ may not be that good of an actor, but I actually think he is good for the role. I liked the scene where all the other guys tried to console Tony by mentioning their kids problems. I also like how Melfi's douchebag psychiatrist basically told her that she was ennabling Tony's antisocial behavior. I really have no idea why she would keep going to him, he's such a dick. I love it.

2005? It looks kind of like a McFarlane but the base is wood and there is a cool Cy Young award replica on the base as well. I got it at a Twins game and it is still new, never been taken out of the box (my wife and I each got one and we only need to display one). I also have a couple other SGA (stadium giveaway, for the uninitiated) doubles that I wouldn't mind trading if anyone was interested. - I've got a Royals Frank White bobble from last year. It's really cool, he's holding a stack of Gold Gloves. I have a small replica of Metropolitan Stadium in Bloomington, MN which is where the Twins (and Vikings) used to play. That's from a Twins game. I've got a Wolves Kevin McHale GM bobblehead from like 5 years ago. I've also got a Wolves Flip Saunders bobblehead from that same year. And a bobble of some "Superfan" from the Wolves that year. Additionally, I have a spare Cecil Fielder Starting lineup figure from around 1994. He's in a Tiger uni and it is not an SGA. If anyone is interested in any of this stuff, let me know what you would be willing to trade.

I think I found one on eBay. The seller is selling it in a lot that also includes a Giants one, but I think it's what you are referring to. There are 2 days to go in the auction and the pair is already up to $240. So assuming the price will continue to rise, maybe it's worth $200-$300? I'd keep an eye on the auction and then divide the closing price by 2 in order to get a pretty good estimate. link: cgi.ebay.com/Vintage-Phot...dZViewItem http://www.gigcom.net/data/eauctionplace/inventory/2167/1179330506.jpg edit: I see that you said yours had a black & white photo whereas these have color. I'm not sure how that would affect value one way or the other. You would think the black & white one would be older, but it's usually easier to see who is who on a color photo, so who knows which is more desirable?

I'd like to think he could, but I'm not sure. Laynce Nix has actually had a good amount of MLB plate appearances (over 900, which is more than JJ and Corey and the same amount as Prince) and has done nothing at all in them. He's also 26 and seems to get injured easily. I think that the most he could bring would probably be a Sarfate type of guy, ie a guy who is OK in AAA but isn't up in the majors because he can't throw strikes consistently enough. That said, I would take a guy like Sarfate for Nix in a second if someone offered something like that. It would probably have to be a GM who only looks at "tools" though, not one who looks at results.

I'm not sure you can say this. There have been plenty of high profile busts who were supposed to be offensive players. Tskitishvili, Jay Williams, Mike Dunleavy, Dajuan Wagner, Marcus Fizer, DerMarr Johnson, Darko Milicic, and Shaun Livingston were all drafted in the top 6 between 2000 and 2004. All of them were known primarily for their offensive abilities and all are garbage or role players right now. Adam Morrison is also absolutely horrible, but I don't like to say a guy is a bust after 1 year, no matter how horrendous. The Bucks have also taken a lot of scrubby guys that were known for offense in the 1st round. Todd Day leaps immediately to mind. Jeff Grayer, Terry Mills, Shawn Respert. Bogut and Robinson were disappointing compared to expectations and both were known as offensive players.

Of course Bogut isn't a total bust yet. However, the list of #1 picks who broke out and became dominant after 2 seasons as mediocre as Bogut's is very short: 0. Gasol is an established post player who is young enough to play another 10 years and possesses all of Bogut's strengths and none of his glaring weaknesses. Gasol is not the best player in the league, but he is a top Power Forward. I'm only advocating trading Bogut if the Bucks get Oden (or if they get offered a great deal). Bogut will not work with Oden as neither one can shoot and Bogut is much too slow to guard athletic 4s. Oden may be quick enough to be able to do that, but that would be a stupid misuse of resources as Oden's biggest strength is protecting the rim. Gasol is a true 4 who can play inside and out and can guard 4s. He can also slide to the 5 when needed. Gasol is kind of a lesser version of Tim Duncan. Bogut is a poor man's Chris Kaman at this point.

Well, his career numbers are 19/9 with 3 assists and 2 blocks per game. To even put Bogut in the same breath as Gasol is laughable because Pau is a good defender and a very good shotblocker. Also, he can shoot, unlike Bogut. He's also as good a passer. Even if this was true (it's not), isn't it kind of like saying that Barry Bonds is kind of similar to Gabe Gross in a lot of ways except that Bonds is a much better hitter? In other words, it is a huge difference.

I really hope the Brewers sign all 3 of these guys. I'm still disappointed that they let Jemile Weeks get away (I know he wasn't a DFE, but still).

I'm not sure I agree with all the talk about how great this thead is. One side sems to be using facts and reason and the other seems to be neglecting to do so.

It's getting ugly, I agree. The Brewers are starting to look like an old timey team where a pitcher only has to worry about a couple guys and can otherwise throw BP because the bottom of the order won't do anything but groundout or, occasionally, get a single.

I would love Moustakas. I hope they take a hitter. They have had a pretty good track record with their recent #1 pick position players (Prince, Rickie, Braun), not so much with their pitchers (Jones, Rogers). I guess Krynzel flopped, but at least he flopped because of suckiness, not injury.

1. Oden 2. Durant 3. Is where it gets hard. Horford, Brewer, and Wright (the UNC one) are all very intriguing. If the Bucks get Oden, they should trade Bogut while he still has value. Oden and Bogut will not work well together, any better than Magloire and Bogut did. Bogut and Villanueva for Pau Gasol would be something I would explore as Pau would be a much better complement to Oden and he's still plenty young (26). Memphis has a long way to go, so they may be interested in a 2 for one deal. My dream lineup for next year is: Mo Redd Patterson Pau Oden 6th man: Bobby I think that team could win the East within 3 years (yes, I realize that Rube will be old by that time, but he'll probably still be ok at that point, much like Bowen is still ok). Now, the Bucks getting the #1 pick is very unlikely and their chances of getting a top 3 pick is less than 50%. Still, we can dream for a couple more days. Speaking of dreams, I had a dream the other day that the Wolves got the #1 pick, the Celtics got the #3, and the Bucks got the #5. I hope my dream proves to be inaccurate, although Garnett getting a true star player to play with would be interesting.

Mario Pena put Elmer Dessens to shame with 11 earned runs in 1 2/3 innings pitched.

I agree with Mass that Nix should be dealt ASAP, hopefully for a young guy (A ball or so) with some upside. A deal like Franklin for Villanueva would obviously be ideal. Maybe some Brewers scout or Gord Ash or Doug Melvin has their eye on a middling or low-level prospect in some other organization who they think has the tools to eventually succeed.

Not interested in selling your collection piecemeal?

This was a badly managed game by Nedward.

Let's hope Spurling can get out of it. And he does.

Hell @#%$ no.

that's no good.

and there it paid off because the sac fly was still in order.

He didn't want to risk another stupid out on the bases. Smart, imo.

Every episode so far this year except the premier has included the conclusion of a pretty big character's storyline: Episode 2: Johnny Sack dies Episode 3: Junior Soprano is resigned to his life in a home Episode 4: Hesh and Tony fall out over money Episode 5: JT Dolan is killed by Chrissy Episode 6: Chrissy is killed by Tony Also, depending on how the final 3 episodes go, episode 1 could have been the last episode that focused on Janice Soprano and/or Bobby Bacala. This episode was a great one, imo. I figured after the crash that Tony would take the opportunity to kill Chrissy and he did, but it was still somewhat shocking. AJ's attack of conscience is interesting and I hope it's explored more over the final episodes. After implying inn episode 5 that AJ had found his niche in "collections", episode 6 showed that he perhaps was not as comfortable with violence as he first thought he was.