Desipio Message Board

Time to draft lots and lots of linemen.

Walk right past him to the Super Bowl.

Via the weasely Florio, who is absolutely not overreacting in any way to this huge story.


KILL HIM in the on-field, legal, football sense

Preview sucked.  Still time to get better jokes before January.

Beats the hell out of Leno.

Ted Lilly: Off the board.

Today was Big Ten Media Day in downtown Chicago, so it's about time to get one of these started.

Who had 32 mph in the How Fast Can Ron Zook Waterski pool?

The show came back yesterday.  Anyone catch it?  I wonder how many episodes will close this season with drinking and smoking in places of worship.

Anyone heard any rumors on this yet?  Where would you nerds rather have it be set?  My randomly ordered first choices are Chicago, London, Australia, or Brazil (or a similar South American nation).  I've seen some talk that it's going to be Vice City, but who knows.  Hawai'i would be cool, oh wait, Just Cause 2.

And hopefully they bring back fixed-wing aircraft.

This is fun.

The geniuses on MLB Network talked about this little lefty who can throw 96.  Too bad he's a righty.


Click for MLB.com scouting video

Hayden Simpson, rhp, Southern Arkansas
"He's putting together about as good of a college career as you can. I think he's 28-1 or 29-1 in college now. I'm not sure what year he lost a game, I know it wasn't this one. I haven't seen him a second time, but I saw his first start of the year and. . . they left him in a little longer than you'd like to see—I think he threw 115 pitches in his first start—but he was sitting 92-94 and touching 96 for the first couple innings. It fell off a little bit but he can spin a curveball too. He's not a big guy—I would say he's about 5-11, 175—but he's got a good arm and his numbers are backing it up. His delivery gets out of whack every once in a while and he struggles throwing strikes, but he can usually put it back together. His stuff is just overpowering at that level. I think he's striking out 13 or 14 per nine and guys aren't making solid contact off of him at all. I think he's a bullpen guy. That first outing, he fell back down to 90-92 late in the game. He never dipped below 90 on my gun and he reached back a couple times when he saw the finish line. I know his second start of the year, his velocity did fall a little bit—I think he was 88-93, working much more with an average fastball, so I'm interested to see him when I get back in there a second time and see how he's holding up over the course of the year. I heard last year he finished the season as strong as he started it, but it seems this year there's a little bit more variation in the velocity." - BA

Quotesfbennett1 (Edmond, OK): Cubs Fans (Wrigley): WHO?!?!?!

Kevin Goldstein: Our first complete and utter shocker in the draft as the Cubs take Heyden Simpson, a D-II pitcher from Arkansas. Just floored. Undersized righty with very good velo, but not a ton of other stuff.

QuoteJ.P. (Chicago): Hayden Simpson? Too soon?

Kevin Goldstein: As the scouting cliche goes, it just takes one team to like a guy. I am totally floored on this one.

QuoteJ.P. (Chicago): Kevin, was this a signability pick? Should we expect the Cubbies to take a guy with big money demands in the 2nd or 3rd ala Samardzija?

Kevin Goldstein: I don't know what it was. Just totally dying here on that one. Biggest first round shocker since Matt Thornton? Wow, as if the Rays needed a break here, they get the best high school hitter in the draft at 17. Teams with previous picks with regret this one.

Quote1976reds (Virginia): Is this the highest a DII player has been picked?

Kevin Goldstein: Tim Belcher was the first pick overall out of an NAIA school, so it's hardly unprecedented.

    You rang?

Milton is gone.  TROPHY TIME

Also considered:

A Long Offseason March to Yet Another Disaster
The Worst Show on Turf
Lovie's Already Out of Challenges
O-Line?  More Like No Line, AMIRITE?
Urlacher Impregnation Tour
In Which Briggs Crashes on Purpose
Super Bowel Here We Come
At Least They Don't Have A First Round Pick
Kahlil Bell Sploogefest

Shit.

if there's a Purdue thread, there should be a Northwestern thread.  tournament?  what tournament?

Anyone of you hipsters like Aim and Ignite?

Because no one cares about the last game of preseason.

Since apparently the season is over, have at it.

Could Harden stay healthy enough to make signing him worth it?  He's been a beast down the stretch.

Second half, in 6 starts: 2-1, 1.95 ERA, 37 IP, 19 H, 11 BB, 47 SO, 0.81 WHIP, 11.4 SO/9

Probable Pitchers

QuoteTuesday, August 4

Tom Gorzelanny, LHP (3-1, 5.19) vs Johnny Cueto, RHP (8-8, 4.06)

Scouting Report:
Cubs: The Cubs acquired Gorzelanny on Thursday from the Pirates, and the lefty will make his debut and return to the big leagues in this game. He's been pitching for Triple-A Indianapolis, and was 4-3 with a 2.48 in 15 games. In July, Gorzelanny had a 1.11 ERA, giving up four earned runs over 32 1/3 innings in five games. Former Pirates GM Dave Littlefield, now a special assistant to Cubs GM Jim Hendry, had scouted Gorzelanny, who did pitch for Pittsburgh from May 18-June 9, but only in relief. He was strictly a starter in the Minors. In fact, Gorzelanny picked up a win in relief against the Cubs on May 25.

Reds: Cueto had another rough outing against the Padres last Thursday. He gave up six runs in just five innings as he lost his fourth consecutive game. The big blow to Cueto came in the fifth when he allowed a three-run homer to Will Venable which gave the Padres a 6-1 lead. Cueto has given up 26 runs over his last five starts while throwing just 22 2/3 innings. He will look to break out of his slump against the Cubs who beat him July 25. In that start, Cueto allowed four runs over six innings.