TruffleShuffle

Oh oops, I looked like 10 times to be sure too. Hang on a sec. i'm here once you get make your replacement pick for sabathia

Saying he still had a 97 ops+ makes it sound like that is a good thing. Well considering that a 97 OPS+ tied him for 9th out of 30 in terms of all starting MLB second basemen, I'd say it sort of is a good thing. Would you like to reconsider your sarcastic response?

i say lock it anyways. No way, it's almost to 200 pages! Is this the longest thread ever? Not even close who the hell are you?

meow

well at least you prove the committee wrong by losing home NIT games to Holy Cross!!!

It doesn't matter what your intentions are, the result is the same. Nobody ever said the Bears are good in rain. The cold and snow was an advantage against New Orleans mostly because the Saints never played in those conditions. The rain is bad for the Bears. And the rain was good for the Colts? Hell, they're a dome team. I didn't say it was good. Seriously, go away. no offense, but you're being somewhat irrational, and if anyone's escalating this into an argument, it's you.

Come on... the Colts were outgaining the Bears almost 4:1 at one point in the 4th quarter. I was actually afraid that the Bears would find a way to win the game when it was 22-17, because it seemed to me that the Colts had been so much better than the Bears for just about the entire game, and I wanted the better team to win. I know you guys aren't happy with the way that your coordinators approached the game, but even if your defense had been more aggressive or if Turner had done whatever you wanted him to do, this was a very good Colts team. It sure looked to me like the Colts were and are the better team.

My pick to win the NL Central this year is the Milwaukee Brewers. They've been building their team the way a small-market team should, from the farm system. The signing of Jeff Suppan was surprising, but gives them another consistent veteran starter. Here's the way they shake out: C - Johnny Estrada - I think the deal for him was a good one, especially if Doug Davis' poor year last year was not a fluke. Throwing over 100 walks and a sharp decline in his K-rate suggests to me that it wasn't. Anyhow, Estrada can't draw a walk to save his life, but he is a pretty solid hitter for a catcher. He's definitely an upgrade over Damian Miller, who belongs as a backup at this stage of his career 1B - Was already good last year, hitting 271/347/483 with an OPS+ of 111, at just age 22. If he tightens his strike zone a little this year, he could really be a feared hitter. I think he'll have a really good year. 2B - Rickie Weeks - Hasn't been quite as good as expected, but still had a .363 OBP and 97 OPS+ in 2006. I think he'll progress offensively, but he really needs to get better defensively. .950 FP for a 2B downright sucks. SS - J.J. Hardy - I love his glove, but there are definite questions about his bat. He does have pretty good patience though. I think he'll at least be able to contribute somewhat offensively as long as he's over his ankle problems from last year. 3B - Corey Koskie - He's been very steady during his career, but the big question is health. He played only 97 games in 2005 and missed a lot of last year with a severe concussion, and still isn't participating in baseball-related activities. They do have Tony Graffanino and Craig Counsell, who are adequate backups, but I think they'd be better served to move Bill Hall to 3B and go with Kevin Mench in LF - assuming Koskie isn't ready to go. LF - Bill Hall. Projected to move to the outfield, since he's not a great SS and J.J. Hardy should be ready. Hall really blew up last year, doubling his HR total from the previous year. He drew a lot more walks but also struck out a ton. I don't think he'll have the power numbers he did last year, but he still should be a good offensive presence. CF - Brady Clark - liked him a lot in 2004 and 2005, but in 2006 his OBP went down and his power - doubles and homers - completely vanished. I think he'll bounce back some, since his poor BA in 2006 was mainly due to a mediocre BABIP despite a solid 23 LD%. Still he's no better than an average leadoff hitter. RF - Geoff Jenkins - really not a great hitter, and his power was down last year. He also seems to get injured a lot, although his health hasn't been too bad the past 3 years. He'll probably do about what he did last year. Extra OF - Kevin Mench, Laynce Nix, Gabe Gross. Mench had a disappointing 2006 but still is a good backup and a serviceable starter. Nix was highly touted as a prospect, but has been awful in the bigs. His plate discipline is atrocious and it's hard to believe that he'll ever be more than a good-field, no-hit outfielder. Gabe Gross had a good year as an extra OF last year, and could be a good bat off the bench. Tomorrow or Tuesday I'll get to pitching. Starting pitching is good and deep, which is why I like them.

How about Prior? Maybe that would help him stay healthy and return to form. :D\\ that was my thinking Does it have to be one player or could you put up a couple smaller photos say of Wood and Prior? Maybe include Lee in there as well since he was hurt last year? he shouldn't press his luck; we should be happy if ONE cub has a surprisingly good/healthy year

If you like 6’ 5”, 230 pound quarterbacks with a laser rocket arm. He's pretty good. Hopefully we'll see some new commercials in the offseason. please no, i'm already as tired of his commercials as i was with all the patriots crap

ooh i already know who i want, please nobody pick him

sorry, glad you noticed my post though... we'll kick mark's ass after the draft is over

I used to have lunch nearly everyday with Eli and a couple of my good friends who were on the football team all the time at the athletic facility at Ole Miss. Eli is a very quiet guy who is very humble. I've also met Peyton and the rest of the Manning family numerous times. Their family has a cabin down from mine at the Neshoba County fair (basically a 3 day drunk fest in rural Mississippi). http://www.smugmug.com/photos/54964455-S.jpg

I agree, but the fatties never get any love.

I was laughing about that as well. The Iowa one is funniest. It said "Colts defense" not "Bob Sanders", but that didn't stop Iowa people from voting for the defense. I'm sure if they could write in Dallas Clark, they'd do so.

The ESPN poll is "who is your Super Bowl MVP?", and the options were Manning, Addai, Rhodes and Colts' defense. Most of the nation picked Manning except: -New England - they really hate Manning apparently, so they went with Rhodes -Wisconsin - they also went with Rhodes, no idea why, though it is really close between Rhodes and Manning -Iowa - picked Colts defense (they love their Bob Sanders) -Indiana - tie between Rhodes and Manning -Louisiana - picked Joseph Addai (LSU) Funny how homerism and college loyalties even affect this.

clock is ticking, kctigers

Is that an accurate statement? I could've sworn that Cooper was the oldest. yeah but he didn't play in the nfl so he doesn't count

haha, yeah i wish i could have a pathetic existance with a $100M contract and a super bowl ring

Lovie agreed

Exactly. Obviously the Bears' defensive leader is Urlacher and they can't let him go anywhere. You've got guys like Tommie Harris and Nathan Vasher, both of whom are good young players who you don't want to get away. If they both get paid, then you're probably talking close to $30M/year on just four defensive players. If I were the Bears, I'd start by releasing Mike Brown and drafting a safety pretty early.

Maybe, but he's damn good during the game, and that's all I'd really care about.

YES!!!! This is probably a good thing, but as an Eagles fan who has watched his team stay good for an extended period, I think the Bears (or any team) have to suffer some painful losses in free agency to maintain success. I remember back when the Eagles dumped Troy Vincent and Bobby Taylor, everyone was furious - until Lito Sheppard and Sheldon Brown played Pro Bowl-calibre football. They let Jeremiah Trotter go in his prime, and they released Corey Simon. They identified their leader on defense (Dawkins) and let a lot of other guys walk. The Bears don't have the high-priced quarterback like the Eagles do, but they're still going to have to draft well so that they can replace talented players who they can't afford to keep.

the saints want a do-over from last week, too :wink: