NO, THIS MEANS THAT YOU HAVE TO KNOW COMPEITORS' PLANS BEFORE YOU CAN FIGHT WITH THEM.
IF YOU DON'T KNOW THEIR STRATEGY, YOU SHOULD CERTAINLY NOT DO BATTLE WITH THEM.
The Art of War

Enough of the excuses. Everything from poor scouting reports to bad field conditions to exalted expectations have run through the A's clubhouse like a deep-fried taco washed down with Pachuca (that's in Mexico) tap water.

The quotes coming out of the A's do not sound like this is a team that has been to the playoffs the last four seasons...or a team that is headed to the playoffs this season.

"We haven't been playing real well lately. If we don't turn it around, we're in trouble." - Eric Byrnes, Grasper of the obvious
"I take the blame for this one tonight. Any time you give up three runs in the first inning, it puts pressure on your offense and makes it a little tougher." - Tim Hudson, Stand up guy
"I don't think we have a very good scouting report on the young guys. As soon as we figure out how to pitch Dobbs and Reed, we'll be all right." - Tim Hudson, Not so stand-up, and unaware that such things as cameras, videotape, statistics, the internet and telephones do indeed exist
"It's a big week. Either we get the job done and we're in the playoffs or we're not. There's no pressure. Hopefully, I'm answering questions about how to get the monkey off our back in the first round (next week), and if not, we'll make plans to have a good off season and worry about next year. We've played about as bad as we can for the last month, and we're tied for first place. Obviously, we want to play at the top of our game, and we're busting our butts but it's just not working for us. It could be one at-bat, one outing that turns it around. If not, we're done." - Eric Chavez, Unwilling to comprehend the situation
"Nothing changes because we have to get ourselves together." - Ken Macha, What are you talking about?
"Any way you see the scenario, we have to win three of the next four no matter what. I hope we can do the job tomorrow and make things interesting for the weekend. We know where we're at." - Mark Kotsay, Yes, please make things interesting with two turn-tables and a microphone
"I talked about it with Mach and Billy (Beane) and we all felt the same. His results haven't been great, but he's been throwing the ball OK. I expect him to come up with some good quality on Friday. Sink comes from consistent release of the baseball. He's been a little inconsistent. There's a feeling you've got to develop." - A's Pitching Coach Curt Young on Mark Mulder, what exactly is good quality as compared to say, bad quality?
"If we can stay in it, there's going to be a time when I get hot."- Eric Chavez, Ugh, Eric...if you get 'hot', then you are in. DO you understand that? This isn't chicken/egg scenario time
"It's been a problem all year. Someone pointed out to me that we've set an (Oakland) record for hits (with 1,522) this season, that we're going to have two guys hit .300 for only the second time. The idea is to score runs." - Ken Macha, Maybe if you didn't have the two players batting .300 five spots apart in the batting order you could score some runs...oh, and if Scott Hatteberg had not gone into a second half swoon (thanks to not getting a day off) the A's would have had three .300 hitters

You could not ask for a more glorious example of Ken Macha's ineptitude with in-game management than last night. From the line-up to the bullpen to the inane comments after the game.

Happy 54th birthday, jackass.

AN ATHLETICS CRISIS

Get up off your fat ass and come to the Network Associates Coliseum and pay the $9 it costs for a bleacher seat to watch the A's play.

Yes, they look terrible right now, but, do you want to be sitting at home when/if they turn it around? All it will take is a 4 or 5 run inning...by the offense, for a change.

These are the times that try fans' souls. The summer lay about and the bandwagon bobblehead seeker, may, in this time of crisis, shrink from the service of their team. But they who stand now and chant, "Let's Go A's" deserve the love and thanks of man and woman. Bad baseball, like hell, is not easily conquered, yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the A's simply need to score more runs than the opponent.
- Thomas Paine, Oakland A's fan