betterREDthandead

You basically don't have any idea what this poll means.

Are you nutz? Inge is a Gold Glover. If he doesn't win it this year, he'll win it in the future - mark my words. Has the best infield arm in baseball and terrific range. You don't just toss aside a 3B of that caliber defense that can also knock in 70 runs a year. A-Rod and Renteria? Come up with something realistic or just don't bother. I do agree, though, that Bonds isn't gonna happen. Which is nice. We've got a DH in Sheffield. I've never cared for Sheffield, but he's a Tiger, so he's one of the good guys now. But Bonds and Sheffield on the same team - eeeeesh. I think it's a little disappointing that the Tigs didn't make the playoffs, but when's the last time we were disappointed the Tigers didn't make the playoffs? They had a nice season, and Verlander's no-hitter and Maggs' batting title are some nice consolation prizes. Just hope Bonderman comes back healthy in the spring.

Ummm....Hudler does have to step up. He's the guy the Wings are counting on to be that second-line scorer and fill that gap they have between the top two scorers and everyone else. Anyone who thinks his goals-to-ice-time ratio will automatically translate to whopping amounts of goals when he gets his 16, 18 minutes a night is off their rocker. Hudler needs to step up and show he can handle the pressure of actually being counted on to score and play the big-time minutes instead of being looked at as a nice little bonus feature. Everyone here is such a psychologist who swears they know exactly the reason why Melrose supposedly hates the Wings.

I'm with the Rangers all the way on this one. The NHL has pretty much proven that they don't know marketing, and now they want total dictation of every team's marketing efforts? Sounds like a losing proposition.

Not so much any more. Maryland knocked them off....although, that's not a conference loss. Still - bad news. I hate the Terps But enough with the bad stuff.....how bout them 'Hoos? We were starting to get a teensy bit of recognition after three straight wins in the conference, but I was worried about how legit it really was, since they were all close wins, and two of them were UNC and Duke....and Georgia Tech wasn't looking like too much special either. Today though.....44-14 over Pitt, 27-0 after the first quarter alone. Now I know we can run an offense. Plus, UNC and Duke hung tough on the road against Virginia Tech and Miami, respectively, and Georgia Tech knocked off Clemson. So this is shaping up to be a very nice season so far.

Wading pool, maybe. Did we really need Sopel? Now we get to watch Meech get his shot, and if he doesn't cut it, there's still plenty of homegrown talent left. This is probably for the best for all parties. The only disappointment with how this defenseman battle shook out is that Quincey is robbed of badly needed ice time.

Maybe he means that the room was created by Devereaux when Boyd went off the ice because his crushing hit earned him a roughing penalty? on second thought, nah, that's crazy.....we all know it was Norton in the box for tripping.

You know, it's a good article you're missing out on. The preview is perfectly good, and they even pick the Wings to be first seed in the conference again. Confusing one former Wing with another is hardly a deal-breaker.

Cleary.

Dude. ESPN made a mistake. The world needs to know. What's funny is, in order to point out ESPN's mistakes and point out how stupid they are and how their hockey coverage isn't fit to read, you have to actually read their hockey coverage. I'm gonna steal one from Lou Holtz's halftime comments tonight: "Hypocrisy is complaning about all the sex and violence on your VCR."

Right here: ESPN article Mostly it's an article about Kitna and his religion, and how he's taken over leadership of the team.

How dare they. HOW DARE THEY?!?!?!?!?!

Someone bid $57,000

Cam Neely?

I think because of that fact, that Meech can't be sent down without clearing waivers, that he'll be the guy to make it. The Wings would have to be actively disappointed in him to let him go, and they're not. So I do think Ericsson and Quincey will end up in GR to start the season, but I'll be looking forward to seeing Ericsson back with the big club sometime this season....unless it means an injury to Lidstrom or Rafalski.

I don't count Kindl. I figure a full year in GR for him, at least, and I think the Wings feel the same way. Kindl's still pretty raw, and unless he's positively stellar in GR, he won't likely get a sniff at the big club until next season. When I say defensemen at the bottom, I mean the assortment of warm bodies looking to fill the 7th d-man role - Ericsson, Sopel, Quincey, Meech, etc. Kindl's pretty much guaranteed a spot when it's his turn, but it's not his turn yet. Ericsson's the guy I'd really love to see get the shot to earn a spot in the defensive rotation.

Yes, I'm well aware you endorse the stuff. I'm not planning on using supplements and stuff like that right now though. The more weight I lose without using them, the easier it is to keep it off. Supplements are no different from any other fad diet out there. They bring your weight down 'til you stop, then it comes right back.

Well, there's the ever popular "Prospect X and a pick for Superstar Y," trade ideas. One that sticks in my head is that someone once suggested we could get something worthwhile for Lilja and a 2nd or 3rd rounder. And a personal favorite of mine is, "Halifax should have an NHL team." Recently though, the prize-winning theme is: Blackhawks will beat hell out of the Wings on October 6th.

Y'know something, I know the Lions are 2-1, haven't actually beaten anyone impressive, and looked exactly like the Lions we all know in Philly. But I've decided to start guzzling the Kool-Aid now before it's all gone. I keep reading about how Marinelli's cleared the locker room of all the bad-attitude nonbelievers and how Kitna's really made the team "his" team, and just today I read in an ESPN The Mag article on Kitna how there were guys last year on the sidelines openly mocking the effort from those who still cared. (Dre Bly, perhaps? Marcus Bell? BMW?) Actually was kind of shocked to hear that. With the whole team now on the same page, and actually believing in their quarterback unlike when Joey was here, and the quarterback returning the faith to his team unlike Joey, and guys like Cory Redding stepping up to lead, I think the extra effort alone is worth an extra four wins this year over last year. I swore up and down I wouldn't get sucked in by any team run by Matt Millen, but maybe this team isn't being run by Millen any more.

Now that I'm home I'm weighing myself more frequently and I seem to be checking in between 170 and 175 most of the time. Now that I've beaten my goal of 177 by last week, my new one is 165 by Christmas time. I did work out today. But on the down side, I'm sitting here right now eating an absolutely delicious Sourdough Jack from Jack-in-the-Box. Bad me! But it's sooooooo good, and in my defense I never promised to cut out fast food entirely. I still have no idea what my ideal target weight ought to be, though. I'm still kinda pudgy around the waist. Definitely nowhere near as much as I was, but I can still grab a big ol' chunk of gut even when I stand up. (Nice image, huh?) Maybe another 20 pounds to get down to 155 would do it? I'm just gonna keep setting new goals til I get there. Problem is, it's easy to go run and lose weight when you're on the ship and there's nothing better to do and Taco Bell is not beckoning from every corner. Now is the real test to see if I can stick with a routine.

Sorry then. My bad...I did think you were serious in my defense though, I have seen nuttier ideas proposed in total seriousness.

The HoF will probably just find a way to display the ball so the asterisk doesn't show.

Maybe they should wear the jerseys inside out to send the water the other way

Fair game in sportswriting, if you're gonna slam someone, is to base it on something other than "rumors and rumblings" and a few little anecdotes. If a sportswriter has an opinion but only that much to back it up on, she should keep it to herself. I see no evidence whatsoever in that article that backs up the bad attitude claim - only some stories that Jenni Carlson thinks corroborate her opinion. As far as Reid defending himself, he didn't have a chance to. The piece came out on Saturday - game day - and the press conference was directly after the game. Sometime in between, Coach Gundy was shown the article. Reid, no doubt, was too busy pouting about being benched - wait, either that or preparing for the game, because I promise you, players' routines on game day start very early in the morning and they don't have time to pick up a paper.

I'm very firm in my belief that Carlson twisted Reid's words like a Twizzler: Reid said that to one of Carlson's cohorts at the paper, not a "source within the team." Carlson decides that means that "Reid's nerves have always been an issue," and "How you handle the nerves is important, though, and Reid hasn't always managed them well." Here's another quote from Reid, regarding being benched: Sounds like innocuous sportspeak to me. Straight from the cliche toolbox, on the shelf next to "take it one game at a time." Carlson seems to think that means "...you can almost see Reid shrugging his shoulders as he says those words. Does he have the fire in his belly?" What does Carlson want? Should Reid stab his competition in the leg like that punter? Should he scream at the coach? Complain to the paper? Reid did everything right here with regards to the media's asinine question of, "How does it feel getting benched?" and he still can't win. I don't see many "inside sources" being quoted in her article. I see a lot of "Word is..." and "If you believe the rumors and the rumblings..." In fact, those phrases are repeated throughout the article. You know what that means? Message boards. Fan talk. Using "the rumors and the rumblings" to slam a guy is piss-poor journalism. Coach Gundy's reputation is only suffering with the media. It would seem his estimation in the eyes of the fans has gone up a few notches. And I'll bet it went up even further with those from whom it really counts the most: His team.