tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-57408202024-03-18T23:42:58.063-05:00ChiSox DailyNotes about the White Sox and Chicago sportsBudahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15227146500846981788noreply@blogger.comBlogger356125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5740820.post-89103926657931946372009-01-19T21:40:00.002-06:002009-01-19T22:03:27.372-06:00White Sox's Bobby Jenks Gets PaidWhite Sox's Bobby Jenks gets big raise but is still a bargain -- chicagotribune.comCongrats to Bobby Jenks on his big payday. The Sox agreed to $5.4 million for one year in Jenks first year of arbitration. He has come a long way from that log cabin in Idaho.Bobby has quickly become one of my all time favorite White Sox players, and not just because of the results. I appreciate the way he Budahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15227146500846981788noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5740820.post-92229700137764287762009-01-18T21:47:00.004-06:002009-01-19T21:24:17.690-06:00Illinois Rebounding from 07-8 DisasterMaybe I shouldn't use the phrase "rebounding" as that is the one thing the Illini haven't done well this year. Everything else has gone better than expected as the Illini look like they will be headed back to the tournament after a one year absence.Ironically, it is the 2007 recruiting class that is leading the resurgence. For a while it looked the 2007 class would be best known for the one that Budahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15227146500846981788noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5740820.post-6966580669954836032008-09-03T22:17:00.002-05:002008-09-03T22:34:18.312-05:00Solo Home runsBoston Red Sox beat Chicago White Sox 8-2 -- ChicagoSports.com: "'We have a powerful ballclub; it's all or nothing,' Guillen said after the Sox didn't hit a home run in consecutive games for the first time since June 25-26. They hit 96 homers during a 55-game span before this drought, but 114 of their 198 homers this season have been solo shots"But 114 of their 198 homers are solo shots? That wasBudahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15227146500846981788noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5740820.post-58188320767754841682008-07-25T16:53:00.002-05:002008-07-25T16:57:11.622-05:00Crede to DLJosh Fields get called up to replace Crede and gets the start at third tonight. The good news is probably can't do much worse than Crede when it ocmes to fielding percentage. The bad news is that he can't make many of the plays Crede makes look routine. Let's just hope he hits.The line-up:SOXCabrera ssPierzynski cQuentin lfDye rfThome dhKonerko 1bSwisher cfFields 3bRamirez 2bFloyd Budahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15227146500846981788noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5740820.post-80507503271385186932008-07-17T21:09:00.003-05:002008-07-17T21:49:02.430-05:00Bold Predictions for the Second HalfI've been pretty confident at three out of the last five all-star breaks that the White Sox would make the playoffs: 2003, 2005 and 2006. But hey, they say 1 out of 3 is good in baseball so I;m not doing too bad.Lately I've been trying to lower my own expectations so I can't say I expect the Sox to make the playoffs this year. But without a doubt a playoff spot is there for the taking. And itBudahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15227146500846981788noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5740820.post-63625847523891072412008-07-10T20:01:00.003-05:002008-07-10T20:10:58.926-05:00This Blog is Not Dead - Only in HibernationI didn't pick a great time to take a break. This year's White Sx are a fun club to watch. I think the biggest surprises this year have to be the contributions from Quentin, Ramirez, Linebrink, Danks and Floyd. Throw in Cabrera, Swisher and Dotel, and it's quite amazing the talent that Kenny has brought in over the last two years. Who needs a farm system?I have been critical of Williams in theBudahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15227146500846981788noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5740820.post-24651682486764314482008-03-13T20:10:00.005-05:002008-03-13T21:15:44.415-05:00Obama is The Black Larry BirdIt's a bit eye opening to see some of my favorite bloggers take the side of Geraldine Ferraro in her awful comments about Barack Obama. I think the argument they make can be summed up as "hey Geraldine Ferraro is right. A big part Obama's appeal is the fact he is black". Kaus even links Andrew Sullivan, in what he thinks is some type of Gotcha!.But of course, Ferraro said no such thing. She said Budahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15227146500846981788noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5740820.post-4485091176264738872008-02-29T20:45:00.003-06:002008-02-29T21:05:19.856-06:00Clinton Spin, Not Tactics, Is What Makes Campaign PatheticMany observers think the Clinton campaign has sunk to a new low with this ad:But it's not the fear-mongering that bothers me. It's the relentless spinning that comes from the campaign that is completely divorced from reality.From Ben Smith at Politico.com:Clinton aide Howard Wolfson called the suggestion that her ad today constitutes fearmongering "ludicrous," and quoted Obama's words back at himBudahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15227146500846981788noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5740820.post-29718171551563566552008-02-28T21:20:00.004-06:002008-02-28T22:02:15.032-06:00Cramer Wrong, ChiSox Daily Right on WDCBack in mid-January, I wrote that Western Digital (WDC) was a bargain at 25.27 and stated that there was no way that this stock was staying below $30/share. Then the very next day, a caller on Mad Money asks Jim Cramer if it was a good time to buy the stock and I started to get excited. Cramer would give a plug and I would see a nice bounce in the stock. But he said "don't buy!" and called hard Budahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15227146500846981788noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5740820.post-58289935385312441912008-02-28T20:59:00.003-06:002008-02-28T21:18:24.676-06:00Not A Good Sign for the Clinton CampaignYesterday, Clinton's chief strategist, Mark Penn, gave an interview basically stating that he wasn't responsible for the campaign's implosion. Today, Harold Ickes, one of Clinton's top advisers, gave a scorching interview in response. Among the many juicy quotes he states, "Besides Hillary Clinton, he is the single most responsible person for this campaign."First, the fact that these guys are Budahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15227146500846981788noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5740820.post-1571386244345467732008-01-15T22:48:00.000-06:002008-01-15T21:34:54.529-06:00Taking Stock of 2007I did better in my stock picks than my baseball picks last year. I hit a couple homers with Helmerich & Payne (HP, 64% gain) and Western Digital (WDC, 79% gain) and a few doubles with Coca Cola (KO, 27%) and Ternium (TX, 41%). Surprisingly, all these gains were from value and not growth stocks.I did have a couple stinkers but really don't want to rehash them, although I'm still bullish on Budahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15227146500846981788noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5740820.post-32874790299241362452007-12-21T21:03:00.000-06:002007-12-21T21:29:49.271-06:00Illinois BasketballI'll have to do a little bit of research to find out since I don't remember the last time at least one state team didn't make it the NCAA tournament. We are looking at a very real possibility of this happening in 2008.Not a single team looks like they will be worthy of an at-large bid at season's end. Illinois State and Bradley might have a chance to win the MVC conference tourneys, and that Budahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15227146500846981788noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5740820.post-57371281327880917242007-11-29T20:03:00.000-06:002007-11-30T14:14:39.807-06:00Wake Me When It's 2009No, I'm not talking about the White Sox. Their future is probably a bit bleaker. I'm talking about the Fighting Illini basketball team. Is it too late to take back all the nice things I said a couple of weeks ago?My optimistic projections were based on three premises:a.) Shaun Pruitt learned how to pass out of a double team instead of forcing bad shotsb.) Chester Frazier improved his shooting Budahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15227146500846981788noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5740820.post-43979399667706857152007-11-19T21:28:00.001-06:002007-11-19T21:54:51.724-06:00Garland to the AngelsA year ago at this time, the Sox needed a center fielder, a left fielder and a shortstop. So Kenny Williams went out and traded his fifth starter, Brandon McCarthy, for a bunch a prospects and ignored the gaping holes in his lineup. OK, he did sign Darin Erstad, but I'm trying to erase the Erstad era from my memory.After predictably bad years from Podsednik, Uribe and Erstad, Williams again Budahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15227146500846981788noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5740820.post-20055818875065408462007-11-12T20:49:00.000-06:002007-11-12T21:17:42.395-06:00Illinois v. NortheasternIllinois's opening game win over Northeastern was hardly a thing of beauty. The final score was 63-55. Even though the game wasn't as close as the final score suggested, Illinois did not have a good day. Like last year, there were missed free throws, bad outside shooting, and long scoring droughts.I don't want to make too much of one game as they did get the win. But I don't know if I can take Budahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15227146500846981788noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5740820.post-73515803287375684522007-11-09T22:58:00.001-06:002007-11-09T23:11:22.603-06:00It's That TimeWho's ready for some college basketball? I watched Illinois scrimmage at Glenbrook North last week and there is a lot to be excited about. Illinois has a few good young bigs, Chester Frazier looked good shooting the three, and Pruitt is a beast down low. I think they can be better than expected this year and they have a solid freshman class that will be a good foundation for the next few seasons.Budahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15227146500846981788noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5740820.post-30524529236477091512007-11-09T21:50:00.000-06:002007-11-09T22:04:46.407-06:00Unfiltered With Dennis MillerI've always been a Dennis Miller fan. While he didn't quite fit on MNF, he was no worse than Kornheiser is now. Of course you would think Kornheiser would be better, being a sportswriter and all. But he will never get the criticism Miller did since his sport section colleagues don't have the balls to call him out.Anyway, Miller has a new show on the Versus channel on Tuesday nights. I'm not sure Budahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15227146500846981788noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5740820.post-12908922352426811892007-10-25T20:25:00.000-05:002007-10-25T20:47:36.587-05:00Really Kobe?I don't normally watch the Best Damn Sports Show, but the other night, as I raced through channels, I stumbled across one of their "lists" shows. Since I'm a sucker for any type of "list", I watched it for a few minutes. This show was called something like "Most Best Damn Memorable Damn Sports Moments... Damn" or something like that.This list was actually compiled of different athletes and Budahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15227146500846981788noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5740820.post-25349757079061774312007-10-25T20:24:00.000-05:002007-10-25T20:47:09.162-05:00Jonathan Chait on Charlie WeisThe Worst Football Coach in the UniverseNot really into Jonathan Chait's politics, but he is one heck of a writer. He rips Charlie Weis to shreds here, and on this subject, I couldn't agree with him more.Budahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15227146500846981788noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5740820.post-66106734644010548072007-10-19T21:31:00.001-05:002007-10-19T22:01:04.098-05:00Things Aren't Looking So GoodWow, my last post was over four months ago! Like the Sox, I decided to take the summer off. Maybe I'll be motivated to post a little more often with college basketball around the corner.As for the Sox, I don't hold much hope for them. Of course, I didn't before the 2005 season either. But looking back, a lot of things broke the right way for the 2005 Sox. Things look a little bit bleaker now.I Budahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15227146500846981788noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5740820.post-71734259915024698232007-06-13T20:56:00.000-05:002007-06-17T15:22:41.257-05:00Top Ten Sports MoviesSox fans need to look at the bright side of this complete mess of a season. For the first time since 2002 you don't have to spend the summer worrying about the Sox chances of making the playoffs. No more emotional roller coasters. No more spending countless hours in front of the television when you should be spending time with your family.I've decided to take a few minutes of my newly found Budahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15227146500846981788noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5740820.post-74567924140213521992007-05-23T00:01:00.000-05:002007-10-25T20:25:50.323-05:00Run Differential Comes Down to Middle ReliefWhile the Sox came into Tuesday night's game against Oakland with a 22-19 record, their Pythagorean won loss record is the exact opposite at 19-22. The Sox have been outscored 168-182 despite their winning record.If you break it down by innings it looks like the Sox have started games slow and ended them worse:Runs Scored/AllowedInnings 1-3: 41-57Innings 4-6: 69-50Innings 7-9: 54-71Now Jenks has Budahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15227146500846981788noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5740820.post-65669133242783942032007-05-21T00:01:00.000-05:002007-05-20T21:32:01.291-05:00A Positive PostSox fans are displaying a lot of angst after dropping 2 0f 3 against the Cubs and watching the offense sputter for 4o games. But from my perspective the glass is definitely half-full.Konerko and Dye started swinging their bats better this weekend and Thome returns to the everyday lineup tomorrow. This is a team that can average five runs per game and I think they will going forward. And for Budahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15227146500846981788noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5740820.post-16084464265291335722007-05-02T00:01:00.000-05:002007-05-02T10:29:25.033-05:00April Players of the MonthThe Sox struggled in the opening month but at least they finished above .500. That's quite a feat given their horrendous offense.Offensive Player of the Month - There were so many offensive players it's hard to just pick one. But seriously, I have to go with Darin Erstad. Only Jim Thome has put up better numbers, but since he is on the DL, I'll give POM honors to the grinder.His 261/312/375 Budahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15227146500846981788noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5740820.post-39369613647534338812007-04-13T07:44:00.000-05:002007-04-13T09:12:41.292-05:00Friday RamblingsThose Under Armour advertisements on the outfield wall at Wrigley look horrible. They would have been better off going with something more elegant rather than white paint on the green background. Now the Trib not only looks greedy for putting ads on the outfield walls, but also cheap for putting up ads that are plain and ugly. Of course, cheap and greedy is how the Trib has always run the club, Budahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15227146500846981788noreply@blogger.com