REALLY.SMART.PEOPLE. Build and own the teams. This is his "out". If Dan had his way...sports would not be played on a field but in boardrooms and on spreadsheets to create the BEST TEAM. There is NO SUCH THING AS TWTW to Dan...or "clutch"..or performing when it MATTERS MOST....which is just sad and pathetic. That will be his out if Theo's plan does not reach what DAN CLAIMS is the ultimate goal..a CHAMPIONSHIP.

By definition, the best team wins the championship.

_________________
Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Elon, Tulsi, and Don

To be honest, Hawk is an easy guy to jump on. He's opinionated and when people are opinionated, others will respond to those opinions.

That said, one cannot deny the overwhelming knowledge that Hawk has about the game. He's been around the game and it's pivotal members for 6 decades. When compared to Bernstein, it would be like a guy who WATCHES people play guitar railing about said guitar abilities versus a musician, like say Clapton or Keith Richards who have been playing guitar themselves and with the best players of all time (at the highest level) for 60 years.

But hey, when Hawk got mad about the call at home plate and made he comment about 'what's next, wearing skirts?', Bernstein and Abbatacola did their 'Washington Redskins Name Change' duty to be offended - as men - on behalf of the millions of women every where who were incredibly offended by that comment by Hawk. Oh wait....

To me, it's very simple. If a guy like Hawk, who has been around the game at it's highest level for 60 years says that something called 'The Will to Win' exists, then it does. Maybe that 'will to win' translates into a guy taking an extra 20 min of BP each day or hitting the weights that much harder or modifying his diet or drinking in the offseason.

Translation: I'll believe a guy who is PART of the game any day over a guy who has never played or just watches the game.

Hawk was in front of everyone when it came to how bullpen use was going to change baseball and he gets zero credit for it. He's been talking about it for years and now we see it in these playoffs with first rounder after first rounder coming out of the bullpen and starters not going past the 6th inning.

It don't matter how good your starters are if you don't have a good bullpen.

You can't win today without a good bullpen, Stoney.

Organizations are going to start building their pitching staffs from the back to the front.

There are established protocols for deciding the best team. We call them "playoffs". I much prefer that method rather than allowing some know-it-all like li'l danny bernstein decree who is actually the "best". Now, tell us again how fucking great Jay Cutler and Christian Hackenberg are.

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Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Elon, Tulsi, and Don

The problem is that he is numbers stupid, he relies upon others to interpret information. Its why he was about WAR but has backed away because he doesn't always know and fears people "much smarter" will out his ignorance.

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DRINK BƎTTƎR. @theRIPH

It's a great point. The rules are quite simple and everyone plays by the same ones. The last one standing is determined to be the best.

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Hawaii (fuck) You

Wasn't Tony La Russa changing bullpen use with his incessant lefty-righty wanking long before Hawk picked up on it?

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Maybe he even fired LaRussa over it.

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Elections have consequences.

LaRussa introduced the specialization of the bullpen. Hawk has been talking for years about the growing importance of that specialization and we're now seeing it with teams using their best pitchers in limited bullpen roles.

Baseball's turned into a battle of the bullpens, Stoney.