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| 2008 Around the Interruption Week 18; Originally H.U.G. | |
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| Topic Started: Sunday Oct 5 2008, 05:40 PM (911 Views) | |
| WeatherManNX01 | Sunday Oct 5 2008, 05:40 PM Post #1 |
The Yanks are coming!
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I'm baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack! Several of the world's most chilly sports fans! This week on ATI:
All that and more. There are eight topics but just one winner! Participants may now introduce themselves. |
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| Cougar | Sunday Oct 5 2008, 05:55 PM Post #2 |
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yo. |
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| PSUSyr5 | Sunday Oct 5 2008, 05:58 PM Post #3 |
The Board Idiot
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The other day I heard a story about stores having Christmas sales already and I thought it was a bit too soon for that. Joke is on me, it's gotten cold lately! |
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| WeatherManNX01 | Sunday Oct 5 2008, 10:22 PM Post #4 |
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The Yanks are coming!
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Thanks to PSUSyr5 for hosting last week while I had to work some night shifts. +1 However, Rob Stone he is not. -2 |
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| WeatherManNX01 | Sunday Oct 5 2008, 10:29 PM Post #5 |
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The Yanks are coming!
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Let's get it started tonight with some baseball playoffs! Kickoff! The Chicago Cubs are not the World Series champions! That's right, you heard it here last. One of the best teams in baseball all season long had been lauded and praised and believed to be the team that would undoubtedly go all the way. There was absolutely no question about it. The best team in the NL and better than the teams in the AL. Well, maybe they should have questioned it. The Dodgers brought out the brooms on Saturday to complete the three-game sweep of the Cubbies in L.A. "Choke." "Underperform." "Overrated." "Collapse." There are a plethora of words you can use to describe how the series went down for Chicago and its fans. How would you describe the elimination? Did the Cubs ever have a chance? What about next year? Also, give me your thoughts on how the rest of the playoffs are going. Due time: 8:00 PM EDT on Monday, October 5 Next week: details available soon |
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| The Dark Knight | Monday Oct 6 2008, 12:39 PM Post #6 |
 
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It's not surprising that they lost, they are the Cubs afterall. What is surprising is how bad they looked. All kinds of errors, the inefficiency of the pitching staff, a lack of hitting, you're not going to win too many games with that kind of performance. Once they lost game 1, they really didn't have a chance at all in the series. Before this year, the winning of game one in the NLDS ended up winning the series 24 out of 28 times, now it's 26 out of 30. As for next year, I wouldn't count on it. There have been 100 "next years" all of which didn't turn out so well, so why should next year be any different given this was the best Cubs team in a long time? The rest of the playoffs haven't been too exciting, except for the Angels and Red Sox series. Even though the Sox took a 2-0 lead in the series, at least the games were competitive. The others were hardly worth watching. |
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| PSUSyr5 | Monday Oct 6 2008, 02:21 PM Post #7 |
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The Board Idiot
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I'm not surprised they are out, but I'm shocked that it didn't take long, and they really didn't seem to have any fight in them, even when they were down just 1-0. I figured they would win the series, but even if they didn't, they'd win at least 1 game. That obviously didn't happen. It shows just how much better the Dodgers are now than they were earlier in the season. The Cubs had a chance, but the errors cost them dearly, especially in game 2. You aren't going to win games when you make 4 errors, and that was the game they really needed. 1-0 is hard enough in a 5 game series, but if you can tie it up, then it's a whole new series going into Los Angeles. I don't like the Cubs' chances next year. The Dodgers are going to be great with Manny there the whole season. The Phillies should still be a decent team, the Brewers could give the Cubs a fight in the division, and that's just for the regular season. In the post season, the team just can't handle the playoffs...they've lost 10 straight playoff games, including 3 sweeps in the first round. That just doesn't look good no matter how you slice it. The Phillies/Brewers series was about as expected. With Sabathia as their only big time pitcher, and with his struggles in the post season, it didn't look good for the Brewers before the series began. Also consider that they had a collapse in September, and were saved only because the Mets thought the season ended in August. The Rays/White Sox series has been entertaining. It's nice to see Tropicana Field have actual people in the stands instead of people who look like the seats. The Rays are great at home when they get decent attendance, and Tampa Bay is the best story of the season, especially now that the Cubs are out. As for the Angels/Red Sox series, this is the most competitive series so far. Neither home team has won yet, and last night's game went into extra innings. Even though the Red Sox went up 2-0 in the series, the 2 Red Sox wins were close throughout, with Boston getting 2 runs in the 9th in each to seal the deal. I'd like to see this one go 5 games, because of how close the teams have played each other through the first 3 games. |
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| Buster | Monday Oct 6 2008, 06:25 PM Post #8 |
Practice Squad
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For Cubs fans this elimination is devastating. Heart-breaking. Depressing. This was supposed to be "the year". Saying "there's always next year" was supposed to have made its last appearance at Wrigley. They were the beasts of the NL, and were supposed to be able to take on anyone. Dodgers? A roadbump. Brewers? A nuisance. Phillies? A hurdle. Well, there's that theory out the window. As for the rest of the world? Well, I would describe this as "business as usual". Even if we did believe they could do it, we weren't married to the idea. The Cubs never had a chance. This year's Dodgers are last year's Rockies. They've gotten hot at just the right time, and their riding the wave of momentum into the playoffs. ManRam is doing his thing, and Torre is proving that the problem with the Yankees was the Yankees and not himself. On the Cubs side, Zambrano has been iffy and Fukodome has been pretty mediocre lately and not worth mentioning...except to mention that he as been mediocre. And that goes for the rest of the Cubs. The Cubs seemed to be riding a wave of mediocre play and poor opponents into the playoffs, and maybe they seemed just a bit worn down. If the Cubs couldn't do it last year, and they couldn't do it this year, then I don't think they're going to be able to do it next year. Sure they'll be good, but I think there are too many potential playoff obstacles - the Mets, Phillies, Brewers, Dodgers, D-Backs...too many teams have the ability to be hot when the Cubs are just kinda there, and that's going to spell yet another disaster. They'll at least make the playoffs, because I see only the Cardinals and Brewers being real contenders in the Central, not that I'm that optimistic about those two. Other notes: I was expecting the Brewers to put up a bit more of a fight. I saw the series going either way, but the Phillies proved that they are a real powerhouse in the NL. The Angels have surprised me with a win over the Red Sox, but I still see the Angels heading home for good after tonight. As for the White Sox, they took one game, but I think the Rays are just good enough to keep going. I don't know how long they can keep going, though. We've seen it before - mentality is a big thing, and the pressure just might start getting to them int eh CS. Though they did beat the Red Sox regularly in the regular season...so who knows. It will make for good television, at least. |
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| Cougar | Monday Oct 6 2008, 06:47 PM Post #9 |
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The elimination was brutal. It wasn't too shocking but still a bit surprising. They caught the Dodgers at a wrong time and the Cubs couldn't play regular baseball. They were out there making little league mistakes and errors. The Dodgers just capitalized on the errors and won the series. Not too mention the Cub stars didn't hit well during the series. Soriano, Soto, Ramirez, Edmonds, Theriot, Fukudome, all didn't hit well. Only Lee and DeRosa seemed to have hit well in the series. Unfortunately, their pitching didn't do so hot either. Ryan Dempster was money in the season, but was absolutely horrible in game 1 with all the walks. Zambrano, their ace, wasn't great. Rich Harden, another star pitcher, was pretty bad. All in all, when you have 6 errors (I believe many of them were crucial) in 3 games, chances are, you're not going to win those games. Did the Cubs have a chance? Well going in, it looked like it. They were the best team in the NL and had great expectations. The only thing that was against them was 100 years of history, but regardless, the Cubs still could've made the NLCS and lost...that would've still been the good old "Cubs do it again" theme. I think they caught a Dodger team that was hotter at the end of the season. Next year? The Cubs will be back. The Brew Crew, well I think they'll be back in the mix...and who knows about the other teams. But so far, I think this team could retain the division. They need to add more in the offseason. I'd bring back Dempster, regardless of the postseason start, he had a great season. I'd try to beef up the back end of the rotation as well. Plus, one more bat will help. I just hope they practice really hard at fielding, I mean 6 errors is ridiculous. So ya, I think they'll be back next year but World Series? Too far away to tell. Plus it's the Cubs, so you have to think they'll blow it somehow. As for the rest of the postseason. It's been alright. The Rays are still doing it, people keep expecting them to fall. Meanwhile I am a bit surprised the Angels aren't doing as well, they dominated the Red Sox in the season but I guess that doesn't matter in the postseason. The Phillies-Brewers series wasn't that exciting. I look forward to the Dodgers-Phillies series, this one should be good. |
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| WeatherManNX01 | Monday Oct 6 2008, 07:30 PM Post #10 |
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The Yanks are coming!
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You know, TDK, your post is hardly worth scoring. Scores
Buy/Sell The Miami Dolphins continued to improve on last season. This week, they managed to double their total wins for this year...which had been the same number of wins for the entirety of 2007. After taming the mighty Patriots, the Dolphins yesterday went for the throat and sent the San Diego Chargers bolting for the loss column. Their playbook includes a number of surprise and trick plays, including direct snaps to running back Ronnie Brown. Brown scored yet another touchdown in this manner. Buy or sell the Dolphins being for real in 2008. Due time: 8:00 PM EDT on Tuesday, October 6 Next week: details available soon Edited by WeatherManNX01, Monday Oct 6 2008, 07:30 PM.
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