naterb

I don't know, but it should never look like this...

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So I'm having a good ol' time with my fantasy baseball team. Draft went really well, and my worst position was Catcher. I picked up Jorge Posada in the draft. I figured it was serviceable, and he's an experienced player. Apparently he's a little more than experienced, he's worn out. Most of the time he has been on the bench nursing his wounds. Now he's on the DL for 5 weeks... that's 2-2/3 times the 15-Day DL! But guess what, he's on the cannot drop list! It's ridiculous.

I had Tulo in another league, who was on the cannot drop list as well. He's out until at least mid July, and I was able to drop him like a bad hat. Now I don't have space on my roster to keep two catchers. So I discovered that you can petition cbssports to be able to drop a player on the "cannot drop list" by clicking "help" and sending an e-mail.

This is where everything gets worse. I click on the spot to send a message, and it asks for my login. Wtf?! I'm already logged in! What kind of tripe is this!? Okay, okay... calm down... try your log in. I put my login... the page disappears for a second and acts as if it is loading... only to return to the login page. What the heck?! I just want to drop Posada from my stupid league so I can have the roster spot and pick up players that are actually going to produce!! How stupid!!! Stupid CBS!!! Fix your page!! If you say that people need to go through certain channels, ensure that the channels are working properly. I get it, you idiots don't want to hear about our problems, and don't care if things don't work properly. I guess I'll just go to Yahoo! Sure, it's an inferior site, but at least their stuff works!

I'm continuing my PAC-10 preview for next year with Cal & Stanford. I expect to see both teams easily in the bottom half of the conference next year. For Cal there is hope, as they've hired Mike Montgomery and have a chance at Ryan Anderson pulling his name from the hat and returning to Berkely. Stanford on the other hand is in a world of hurt. Trent Johnson bolted for LSU just weeks after both the Lopez twins hired an agent. Not a good sign. Stanford then goes and hires an unproven assistant coach in Dawkins... not what I would've expected from a program with so much success in the recent past. They'll go from fighting for the PAC-10 crown to trying to avoid being surpassed by Oregon State... OUCH! So without further delay...

California Golden Bears

Starting Lineup: Randle, Seely, Christopher, Boykin, Kamp
First off the Bench: Kately

Cal will assume a more traditional line-up this year under Mike Montgomery, and chances are most of the players will finally start playing to their hype and potential. Although they won't be fighting for the P-10 Crown, they've certainly made a move in the right direction simply by hiring Montgomery. The loss of Ryan Anderson will hurt more than anything, but in a weakened conference, they'll still manage to improve upon their ninth-place finish.

Potential Returnee: Ryan Anderson has thrown his name in the hat for the NBA draft, but is yet to hire an agent. It certainly seems as though he is in it to find out where he rates among the class. I expect after participating in workouts, receiving feedback, and learning what areas he needs to improve, he'll return to CAL for one more year. He's got NBA potential, but is he ready? If he returns CAL will make a nice jump into the top half of the conference, despite lacking a true front court threat as Anderson is more of a SF than a PF.

Stanford Cardinal

Starting Lineup: Johnson, Goods, Fields, Plumlee, Hill
First off the Bench: Green

Stanford's bread & butter are gone. Their guards are serviceable, but what made Stanford into the contender they were was the depth and strength of their frontcourt. The three primary frontcourt players from last year's squad are gone. Stanford is going to be forced to play a small game and hope that they can get some major contributions from freshman players like Plumlee. Even in a down year for the P10, it's going to be a rough audition for a new coach.

Potential Returnee: None. The only early departures were the Lopez twins, and they've hired an agent. Maybe Johnson didn't just leave, he abandoned ship.

The deadline for the draft entry has come and went, but players still have a month to withdraw their names after testing the waters. There are several players that as of right now are likely to return, including Ryan Anderson (CAL), Mbah a Moute (UCLA) and Shipp (UCLA). Since there is no way to really know for sure what is going to happen, let's assume that each team that has had a player declare for the draft and not sign an agent has one player that will return, and everyone else goes. They will not be listed in the starting line-up, but will have their name and the impact of their return listed seperately. Now before any idiot decides to say that is unlikely... I know, but I'm not going to try and predict what the mind of a college student is going to decide!! I'm going to post rivals together starting off with Arizona/Arizona State

Arizona Wildcats

Starting Line-up: Jennings, Johnson, Horne, Hill, and Withey.
First of the Bench: Wise and Negedu

Arizona will be a longer team that will look to use their height to apply defensive pressure. They will be back to pushing the tempo more after a strange season, which can be labeled the "black sheep" of this UofA era,  under Kevin O'Neill. Arizona's defense will still be a bit sketchy, but Jennings is a solid defender, and having a second big-man in the front-court will help tremendously. As it sits right now, they are one of the shortest benches in the conference and for a Lute Olson team in recent memory. Yes, even shorter than the '07/'08 version. Unless Budinger returns, or Olson can pull a rabbit out of his magical recruiting hat, these guys will be in trouble. Regardless of the potential returnee, Arizona is going to have a different look next year: a front-court minded team. Guard play is going to be significant, but look for the ball to go down low a lot more and for Arizona's front court to punish the other PAC-10 teams this coming year.

Potential Returnee: Arizona fans and players will be paying special attention to Chase Budinger over the next few months, hoping he's going to withdraw his name from the hat. If he returns to school for his junior season, Arizona will be a favorite to win the conference. They will have one more legit offensive weapon, and he will likely take the SG spot. Jennings will be the slasher, and passer, but Arizona could still use another slashing guard instead of just another spot-up shooter.

Arizona State Sun Devils

Starting Lineup: Glasser, Abbot, Harden, Pendergraph, Boateng
First off the Bench: Shipp & Kuksiks

Arizona State will ultimately be the same team as last year, even with the loss of senior Antwi Atuahene. While once again Harden will be the toughest guy to stop, Pendergraph is going to be the key. Without Pendergraph in the game ASU has no weapons in the front court. Similar to Jordan Hill for Arizona, it will be interesting to see if Pendergraph will become a smarter player with that additional season under his belt.

Potential Returnee: Okay, so he transferred and won't be back. Christian Polk, even if he did suit up in an ASU jersey next season still wouldn't see much floor time. Harden has those minutes pretty well locked up. So the bench is a little weaker, big deal when you consider he only scored 3.5 ppg last season.