betterREDthandead

I can't look you in the eye, but....I'd NEVER be comfortable in that situation. Not even if it was Mariano Rivera or Dennis Eckersley instead. If you're not uncomfortable, you're not a fan. That said - yes, I'd put Jonesy on the mound in that situation.

Heavens no, the Train was in high school when Leyland was managing Florida. Leyland did, however, manage Renteria, who was a young up-and-comer with the Fish at the time. Even if this deal doesn't result in a WS championship, I'd forgive DD for that. I love that the Tigers have come 180 degrees from 10 years ago. They're making bold moves and dammit they're trying to win us a championship. God love DD for it. Pity the National League can't give up one of its playoff slots to the American League. The Senior Circuit is getting worse and worse every year.

Screw that, the Yankees new slogan is "Yankees: Detroit Lite" Proven young talent. Best part is these guys are just starting to enter the prime of their careers. The Tigers didn't even mortgage the future for this. This isn't them trading for a 38-year-old slugger and hoping there's a couple good years left. I really love how this trade went down. That's how trades should be. Completely out of left field. I think I might have read one rumor on Sunday or Monday that said the Tigers were talking Cabrera but it was more or less shot down in the same paragraph so I paid it no mind. Then BAM! trade. Much more fun than waiting around two weeks like the Santana sweepstakes. And speaking of Santana, does anyone think the Tigers oughta take Drew Sharp's advice and offer up Bonderman for Santana? Another big risk, and would probably require thinning out the prospect ranks even more, but wouldn't the Tigers' rotation look extra nasty with a side order of holy s***? Oh, one more thing. If you're not already fired up about having Cabrera, this should do it. And if this doesn't do the trick, you're a Cleveland fan, or comatose. From baseballreference.com.....

For what the Tigers gave up, Willis had better be much better than that. No, he doesn't need to be the ace, that's what Verlander is for, but he must - and this is non-negotiable - put up a minimum of 14 wins with an ERA below 4.00. And he should be pitching at least into the 7th if not the 8th on some days. Willis is why this trade is such a big risk. But Dombrowski oughta be commended for having the balls to do it. It's not a dumb risk, not like trying to pay Juan Gonzalez $115 million, but it's a big one. But it could pay off HUGE. It's not improbable that Willis returns to 2005 form pitching in Comerica Park. And if he does, the rotation is pure gold.

Holy s***! That's the only way I can describe this one. Wow! Sucks to lose Maybin and Miller. I mean really, really sucks. But look at it like this: Willis will be 26 and Cabrera 25 when the season begins. So it's not like the Tigers are mortgaging the future. Just nudging it up a couple years. I see the lineup like this - CF - Granderson 2B - Polanco 3B - Cabrera DH - Sheffield RF - Ordonez 1B - Guillen SS - Renteria LF - Jones/Thames C - Rodriguez And don't forget the rotation.... 1 - Justin Verlander 2 - Kenny Rogers 3 - Dontrelle Willis 4 - Jeremy Bonderman 5 - Nate Robertson NICE. Edit - Also, Dombrowski is a P-I-M-P. In case nobody noticed, the Braves traded for Infante from the Cubs to help with the infield depth after losing Renteria. I bet you Dombrowski would have tossed Infante into that deal if he had to, but oh well, he didn't, and now we have a left fielder too. One who's gonna provide 25 HRs from the 8 spot. Edit again - Did we mention Willis is a lefty? Dolphins' Stadium is the anti-Comerica when it comes to left field.

Dakota is the new dynasty these days. (Though it strikes me that you might not even have been living in Michigan when Dakota was founded.)

Thanks! And you're right....man do I not want to have to watch Tim Tebow running apes*** like I know he will. If there's a way to have a worse season than this one for Michigan and still play in a New Year's bowl (and likely get slaughtered, but oh well), I don't want to know about it.

UVA's going to the Gator Bowl to play Texas Tech. First time I've seen UVA play on New Year's Day since I started going there - pretty excited about that. Nice consolation prize even though we missed out on the Orange Bowl. By the way, I think the Big Ten's games that have been announced so far, Penn State vs. Texas A&M and Wisconsin vs. Tennessee, are very winnable.

Where'd I say I think the new schedule will be worse than the one they have now?

Well....what Miles said was "I am the coach, I will be the coach, and I haven't talked to anyone." Nothing about Michigan or even LSU. Nothing about an extension. Nothing at all. Might as well not even have had the press conference. This is getting stupid.

Perfect example today of why the playoff proponents are only kidding themselves when they bring up all those arguments about how a playoff would suddenly make the conference championships more interesting. Today all eyes are on Mizzou-OU, because if Missouri wins, they go to the title game. If they lose, OSU goes instead. (Barf. Go Tigers.) Under Wetzel's playoff, this game would be 100%, totally, completely irrelevant. So it cuts both ways.

Saturday: NY Rangers @ Ottawa Carolina @ Buffalo Pittsburgh @ Toronto Nashville @ Montreal Atlanta @ NY Islanders Dallas @ Philadelphia Washington @ Florida Phoenix @ Detroit Boston @ Tampa Bay Chicago @ St Louis Columbus @ Calgary Colorado @ Los Angeles Sunday: Atlanta @ New Jersey Vancouver @ Minnesota Edmonton @ Anaheim

Those of you who are bitching that "it could be better".....are you serious??? Nobody wanted to listen to me when I pointed out that no schedule would make everyone happy. Shut up, they said. Anything would be better than what we have now, so we're going to continue bitching. Now we get rid of the schedule that damn near nobody likes for something much more feasible, and still we have several people going "well it could be better. Let's use my solution instead." This thread is proof positive that half the league's efforts to please people are totally wasted.

I still think of D-Mac as a Wing. When they showed him in the stands, my first instinct was "what's he doing there, is he injured?" Took me a second to remember his very forgettable stint in Calgary and that he's pretty much retired, and my second thought was "damn, he shouldn't have to sit in the stands with the commoners, he oughta be in a box or something."

Lilja punch, Phaneuf punch, Lilja uses his oak-like strength to take Phaneuf to the ground. Not exactly one of the all-time classics. I thought it was a clean hit, BTW. I didn't see Phaneuf leave his feet. But Lilja earned his paycheck tonight for that anyway.

Wow. I tell you what. You find me when a 9-3 team was put in any championship over a BCS-conference team with fewer losses and I'll shut up. In fact, you find me ANY title game at ANY time under the BCS when ANY BCS-conference team with a better record was snubbed for a team with a worse record. I'll give you a hint: You can't use 2001. See, in 2001, Nebraska lost their last game, to Colorado. It was their only loss. Colorado then won the Big 12 championship. But Nebraska went to the national championship anyway. Why? Because they were 11-1 and Colorado was 10-2. "Happens every year." You crack me up. It never happens, but I'll gladly eat my crow if you can find it. I'm waiting.... You can cuss at me all you like. But next time get the facts on your side.

If you don't care who's in the Rose Bowl, why would you suddenly care about who plays Oklahoma in the first round of the so-called playoffs? That's the issue I have with Wetzel's argument there. Some other schmo argued me that college football would be popular around the world if only they had a playoff system. The arrogance of the playoff proponents know no bounds sometimes. Like a playoff is a magic bullet that suddenly makes everything completely fascinating. And no, 2006 was not exactly successful. Beating Ohio State would have been nice. Call it clearing the high jump but getting hurt on the landing. That was a unique, first-time situation though. Very strange.

ACC/Big Ten Challenge going on! Always a fun little tournament. Looks like the Big Ten is not going to break the streak this year either though, not if Iowa can't even beat Wake Forest. Personally, I'm a little pissed this year. UVa wins the regular season ACC title, 11-5, and advances to the 2nd round of the NCAA's, and we draw frickin' Northwestern. I hope we stomp them. We ought to be getting Indiana or MSU.

You just don't ******* get it! It doesn't ******* matter whether we go to the C*****l O** Bowl or the O*****k Bowl or the Alamo Bowl or the C****s S****s Bowl or what the hell ever. They're not the Rose Bowl. And do you honestly think the BCS would have picked Michigan as an at-large team with the loss to App State on record? So it's all about BEATING OHIO STATE! Look, not to sound arrogant and disrespectful, but you're an MSU fan, and MSU generally needs to climb the ladder as high as it can every year. For MSU, there's a difference between the Alamo Bowl and the C*****l O** Bowl. For Michigan, it's different. It's not a ladder climb, it's more like a high jump. You either clear the bar and get to the Rose Bowl, or you don't. And beating OSU goes hand in hand with getting to the Rose Bowl.

Utter nonsense. Under no circumstances is it conceivable that a 9-3 team would leapfrog an 11-1 team to play for the title. That's your imagination thinking up ways to argue against the BCS. The voters aren't so dumb as to do that. If the two 11-1 teams are clearly the best teams, they're not getting leapfrogged by a 9-3 team. Ridiculous. Or final exams. In case you didn't notice, they are STUDENT-athletes.

I would like to know: - Why it's so important that college football crown an argument-free national champion. - Why college football needs a playoff to do this. - Why a playoff is a better system. Never have I once seen a suitable answer to any of these questions.

Can someone tell me why that's so important?

Doesn't matter that there is no "Big Ten hockey". The fact that they are member institutions of the Big Ten gives the BTN the right to show those games. Although that's even kind of moot - if the SEC felt like giving the BTN the right to show some SEC football games, they could do that too. It's all about what the member schools allow. And the Big Ten member schools will certainly have no problem allowing the BTN to show their hockey games.

My school never even makes the playoffs, let alone anything resembling a state final. One playoff appearance in the 11 or 12 years since I started there. We suck But at least we stopped scheduling Stevenson and Dakota and the like for Homecoming. Nothing says yay school spirit like getting beat 48-7 for Homecoming.

Friday: NY Islanders @ Boston Washington @ Philadelphia Columbus @ Minnesota Phoenix @ Anaheim Tampa Bay @ Carolina Montreal @ Buffalo New Jersey @ Atlanta NY Rangers @ Florida Vancouver @ St Louis Toronto @ Dallas Saturday: Toronto @ Phoenix Calgary @ Colorado Buffalo @ Montreal Philadelphia @ Ottawa Boston @ NY Islanders Carolina @ Washington Detroit @ Columbus Atlanta @ Pittsburgh New Jersey @ Tampa Bay Minnesota @ Nashville Chicago @ Edmonton Los Angeles @ San Jose Sunday: Dallas @ NY Rangers Calgary @ St Louis Los Angeles @ Anaheim Chicago @ Vancouver