1381 replies to this topic

[ifmanis5]

E5 Yaz, on 22 April 2012 - 12:23 PM, said:

The Sunday Notes appear to be subscription only now.

As is Shank. Blessing in disguise at this point.

[pedros hairstylist]

They'll finally see there's no audience for these clowns and perhaps hasten their retirements.

[puffyme]

E5 Yaz, on 22 April 2012 - 12:23 PM, said:

The Sunday Notes appear to be subscription only now.

Sad I have read them since Gammons started them back when I was a kid. There is zero chance I will pay for them. At least the NY Times let you read 10 articles a month for free. Oh well death of another tradition.

[Brianish]

Not to put too fine a point on it, but these asshats are probably my least favorite thing about this whole situation. If they didn't exist, and the Sox just sucked without me having to hear self-important columnists and tv personalities go on about it? I'd get annoyed, then shrug and enjoy low-stakes baseball with pretty decent ticket prices. (Seriously, check out Stubhub; the last six months have destroyed the secondary market). As it is, I have to see articles from CHB and Abraham doomsaying, Cafardo's smug self-satisfaction, hear talk radio hosts ranting, and Yankee reporters gloating. The longer I follow baseball, the more I wonder why they can't just let us enjoy our game.

Edited by Brianish, 22 April 2012 - 05:41 PM.

[joyofsox]

The nice thing about the writers is they are easily avoided. (Or you can read only the ones you like/respect.) It's up to each of us how much we want to be exposed to them, but 0% is possible.

[Brianish]

joyofsox, on 22 April 2012 - 06:40 PM, said:

0% is possible.

I have never found that to be the case.

Edit - Not if you want to keep up with team news, I mean.

Edited by Brianish, 22 April 2012 - 07:25 PM.

[TheoShmeo]

MyDaughterLovesTomGordon, on 22 April 2012 - 08:59 AM, said:

At least he's not using the "we" bullshit, but I suppose he shifts to "I" when he particularly wants to take credit.

We note that he's back to that in today's column:

Quote

We understand it’s tough to fire the players. And that in the process of attempting to change the culture of the clubhouse, most of the same players were brought back in the hopes that the new manager could do that. And it’s true, Valentine needs to do that.

[MyDaughterLovesTomGordon]

TheoShmeo, on 23 April 2012 - 06:45 AM, said:

We note that he's back to that in today's column:

For some reason, that makes my blood boil more than anything else that he does. That an editor allows it is mind-blowing.

I love this take down of fools who use it:

Quote

Consider another volatile personality, Roscoe Conkling, who served as senator from New York after the Civil War. In 1877, Conkling objected to how the new president, Rutherford B. Hayes, overused the word we, and The St. Louis Globe-Democrat reported his rejoinder: “Yes, I have noticed there are three classes of people who always say ‘we’ instead of ‘I.’ They are emperors, editors and men with a tapeworm.”

Cafardo is, of course, only the latter.

[rembrat]

I heard he did a great job with Don last night.

[E5 Yaz]

Now he's speaking for everybody

Quote

Bard has said his future is “not for me to decide. I feel I’ve done my job as a starter. They’re trying to address a need and whether or not I can completely turn everything around down there is to be determined.’’

And now that he’s made a successful return?

“I’m not reading too much into it right now,’’ he said. “I know I can start. I know my value to this team in throwing 150-200 innings a year rather than 65-70 out of the pen.’’

Not sure any of us agree.

[rembrat]

What if he's talking for all the voices in his head?

[E5 Yaz]

rembrat, on 24 April 2012 - 02:02 PM, said:

What if he's talking for all the voices in his head?

I considered that, but decided that he wouldn't agree with those

[FelixMantilla]

rembrat, on 24 April 2012 - 01:51 PM, said:

I heard he did a great job with Don last night.

You were misinformed.

[AMS25]

E5 Yaz, on 22 April 2012 - 12:23 PM, said:

The Sunday Notes appear to be subscription only now.

You can open them up through a link on MLB Trade Rumors. But, be sure to transform them immediately into a single page.

Also, if you are lucky and have access to Lexis Nexis Academic, you can pretty much go behind any paywall.

BTW, the Sunday Notes is the only column I ever ready by Nick Cafardo, so I'm thankfully out-of-touch with his views of the team otherwise.

[E5 Yaz]

AMS25, on 24 April 2012 - 02:06 PM, said:

BTW, the Sunday Notes is the only column I ever ready by Nick Cafardo, so I'm thankfully out-of-touch

So is he

[Redkluzu]

rembrat, on 24 April 2012 - 01:51 PM, said:

I heard he did a great job with Don last night.

He mumbled, went on meaninglessly without taking much of a position on anything. In Chat we described listening to him as bad as choking down white bread without water.

[Harry Hooper]

Nick with a nice piece of pot calling the kettle black today, or is this his way of saying he's a knee-jerk, fair-weather fan?:

Quote

Suddenly, Valentine isn’t wearing a dunce cap. If he were doing this at Fenway, the knee-jerk, fair-weather fans who booed him would probably be keeping their yaps shut.


The Daniel Bard-to-closer talk has died down.


There’s no cry for Jose Iglesias’s defense over Mike Aviles’s offense.


You never hear about Ryan Lavarnway replacing Jarrod Saltalamacchia or Kelly Shoppach.


And although Carl Crawford might be out three months with an ulnar collateral ligament sprain, it feels less ominous to a team that’s already missing Jacoby Ellsbury, because Cody Ross, who knocked in two more runs Friday night and now has 17 RBIs on the season, is driving in big runs, and Ryan Sweeney is hitting .383.


The Marlon Byrd acquisition from the Cubs has created some energy.

Of course, he later writes:

Quote

Is it perfect? Surely not. There will likely be more tweaking since the Red Sox can’t possibly allow Aaron Cook to escape May 1 without bringing him up.

[riboflav]

Harry Hooper, on 28 April 2012 - 12:52 PM, said:

Nick with a nice piece of pot calling the kettle black today, or is this his way of saying he's a knee-jerk, fair-weather fan?:







Of course, he later writes:

Wait... What? I thought Cafardo was the one who kept harping on Bard needs to close, Igelsias needs to start with the big club, etc. Maybe I'm missing the point.

[ptremb]

riboflav, on 28 April 2012 - 12:59 PM, said:

Wait... What? I thought Cafardo was the one who kept harping on Bard needs to close, Igelsias needs to start with the big club, etc. Maybe I'm missing the point.

I believe that is the point.

[Sampo Gida]

Harry Hooper, on 28 April 2012 - 12:52 PM, said:

Nick with a nice piece of pot calling the kettle black today, or is this his way of saying he's a knee-jerk, fair-weather fan?:







Of course, he later writes:

Downright Orwellian.

[riboflav]

ptremb, on 28 April 2012 - 01:34 PM, said:

I believe that is the point.

Ah! That's what having a newborn can do to the brain.

[Brianish]

Yeah, if he's being self-effacing and chiding his own reactionary ranting, I actually have to give some kudos. And frankly, he was beating those drums so hard, I'm not sure he can possibly be that un-self-aware.

Of course, most of the reports had Bobby wanting Iglesias over Aviles, so he may just be throwing out unconsidered statements. That wouldn't be completely out of the ordinary.

[Savin Hillbilly]

And this morning he can't resist a little hedging:

Quote

Mike Aviles has made everyone forget about Jose Iglesias....for now.

Very cute. He sorta kinda admits he was wrong, while keeping the I-told-ya-so door ajar.

Sunday Cafardo column (paywall)

[Kid T]

AMS25, on 24 April 2012 - 02:06 PM, said:

You can open them up through a link on MLB Trade Rumors. But, be sure to transform them immediately into a single page.

They don't have the single page option anymore, but I was able to open his column via MLB Trade Rumors and read each page.

[Humphrey]

Saturday night he had a 5 minute monologue on where Roy Oswalt would end up.

I hope it's not the Sox, at this point I'm utterly sick of hearing about this guy and all the ass kissing that's apparently required to retain his services.

Nick's paragraph about Joe Maddon/Rays w/regard to traveling lightly was kinda creepy.

[Humphrey]

Savin Hillbilly, on 29 April 2012 - 09:18 AM, said:

And this morning he can't resist a little hedging:



Very cute. He sorta kinda admits he was wrong, while keeping the I-told-ya-so door ajar.

Sunday Cafardo column (paywall)

And this week he's back to pissing and moaning about Iglesias not being up!

[John Marzano Olympic Hero]

What the hell was he talking about regarding the Bobby Jenks thing? Because what he's insinuating is that Jenks is a moron who doesn't know how to save his money.

BTW, Mike Aviles is arguably having the best season out of everyone on the Red Sox. What position is he playing? Right, the one that Cafardo is currently bitching about.

And Jakey Peavy is sad about Junior Seau, Nick? Way to delve into that piece of news. And it's actually a bit more topical than 500 words about the Red Sox grounds crew chief, which honestly could have been 2,000 words and could have run in the OFF-FUCKING-SEASON.

[E5 Yaz]

Quote

The Pirates could part with Joel Hanrahan, but you’d pay a steep price, because he is someone you can build a team around.

Hanrahan is pretty good, but do you really build a team around him?

[JohntheBaptist]

Sorry, E5, that's what popped up in Nick's "sports column sentence clause generator," found under the "Hey, This Guy is Pretty Good!" tab.

[dynomite]

If there's one person I'm going to build a team around, it's a 30 year old reliever with a 3.89 career ERA. When you're a superstar you're a superstar.

[Buzzkill Pauley]

dynomite, on 07 May 2012 - 12:01 PM, said:

If there's one person I'm going to build a team around, it's a 30 year old reliever with a 3.89 career ERA. When you're a superstar you're a superstar.

Step 1: Joel Hanrahan
Step 2: Adam Kennedy
Step 3: Jose Iglesias
Step 4: ???
Step 5: Profit!

[backpeddling]

Hanrahan has picked up close to 50 straight saves, so I'm sure that gets Nick's gold bond'd balls-a-tingling.

Unfortunately the time to pick him up was 3-4 seasons ago when he was emerging as a high quality arm. Just like the Angels picking up an under-the-radar arm like Frieri.