TruffleShuffle

Fixed It will end up getting them in another BCS game in which they will be destroyed by superior teams again. ND will not make the BCS next year, mark my words. The only reason they did this year was because they had a good offense, and their offense loses a lot next year.

Too bad LSU didn't get to play a real team so that we could get a measure of how good they are.

ND should consider practicing how to tackle next year.

Everyone that's been in Division I-A since at least '94? well just woke up from a nap, and don't know if they said it during the game, but 87 different teams have won a bowl game since ND last won one.

They have TVs in jail... does it really matter whether he watches the Super Bowl from home or from jail? :wink:

Everyone that's been in Division I-A since at least '94? no, not quite that many

Ha quit being on the west coast and then ESPN and Full Court will pick you up. What a joke. Meanwhile Duke's practice will be shown tonight, you know cause of their program's history. Maybe it's due to the clean history at Duke. Do you know who Myron Piggie is? Ask Coach K about him and Corey Maggette then get back to me with their clean history. awesome response, thank you. Unfortunately, ESPN doesn't talk about that whole thing because they've cast their financial lot with Duke.

Anyone who heard this stat, don't answer. It blew my mind, though. Take a guess if you don't know. How many different teams have won bowl games since the last Notre Dame bowl victory (in 1994)?

Way to totally contradict yourself in the span of there sentences.

I think it also shows how much people underrate pitchers when trying to pin a number on them. Yeah, in a perfect world, the Cubs would have the Tigers rotation of last year and have four significantly above-average starters. But they don't. I don't care what world you live in, the Cubs do not have one #1, three #4s and a #5, at least not unless everything goes wrong. They wouldn't need everything to go wrong, and they wouldn't need anybody to be any worse than they have been in recent years. I think the Cubs have locked up not being the worst rotation in baseball. The problem is, they aren't close to the best rotation in the NL, and without a top lineup either, they have nothing to hang their hat on. Without a great lineup or rotation, it's hard to be a great team. I get pissed when a top payroll Cubs team strives for averageness. Do you really think they're striving to be average? You seem focused on the idea that Hill could lose confidence in his fastball, Lilly could pitch like he did in 2005, Prior and Miller stay hurt and/or ineffective, and Marquis is just as bad as in 2006. Well then yeah, you've got a 1, three 4s and a 5. But what if Prior or Miller are close to where they once were, Lilly pitches like he did in 2002 or 2004, Marquis is close to where he was in 2004, and Hill pitches just like he did in the second half last year? Then you've got at least one #1, two #2s, and two #3s. What will happen almost certainly lies in between, but you seem dead set on the worst case scenario. And do you really think the cubs are striving to be average? I don't. When you start from the bottom, which last year was, you can't just make a quantum leap to having a great team on paper. They could've signed Zito, Schmidt, Soriano, Drew and Carlos Lee and handcuffed the payroll for at least the next five years. But without a good minor league system - and let's be honest, the Cubs sure don't have that - you lack the resources to trade for impact players, and you don't have a bunch of youngsters who will come up and make an impact next year (a la 2006 Florida Marlins). So the Cubs made the first few steps toward having a contending ballclub, which was to have a much more reliable rotation, to add one big bat, and then a couple of other players who at the very least take the place of some of the more inept players on last year's team.

I think it also shows how much people underrate pitchers when trying to pin a number on them. Yeah, in a perfect world, the Cubs would have the Tigers rotation of last year and have four significantly above-average starters. But they don't. I don't care what world you live in, the Cubs do not have one #1, three #4s and a #5, at least not unless everything goes wrong.

Is Lilly a below-average #3? Possibly - if he pitches like last year, he's an average #3 on a good team; if like 2002 and 2004, then he's pushing the level of a #2. If it's 2003 Lilly, then you're talking below-average #3, and 2005 Lilly is downright bad. Anyhow, I'd love to have had another top-notch starter, but Zito at $18M per? Schmidt - maybe this wasn't even possible, but maybe having to dump $18-20M per on him to get him to leave the West Coast? Daisuke at what will turn out to be almost $21M per? That's a really heavy price to pay, especially if you want to keep Zambrano around next year.

http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/article/how-good-is-your-4-starter/ http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/article/more-fun-with-rotation-numbers/ Pretty interesting: Lg #1 #2 #3 #4 #5 MLB 3.60 4.14 4.58 5.10 6.24 AL 3.70 4.24 4.58 5.09 6.22 NL 3.51 4.04 4.57 5.11 6.26 CHN 3.33 4.25 5.02 5.78 7.40 Now this does include all MLB teams, not just contenders - but it does suggest that the generalizations of Lilly as a #4 starter at best are absurd - he's better than the average #4 starter and far, far better than the turds the Cubs rolled out to the mount to pose as their #4 starter last year. In fact, from the second article, here is the same data, but for the top half of all pitching staffs: Lg #1 #2 #3 #4 #5 MLB 3.30 3.83 4.30 4.87 5.94 AL 3.27 3.81 4.26 4.84 5.76 NL 3.32 3.85 4.33 4.88 6.09 So, Hill would have to improve a little over his entire 2006 to be an average #2 on a good team, and Lilly probably projects as a #3/4 on a good team.[/code]

Yeah, but to say that a big reason that Hawk gets her vote for the HOF is because he was a nice guy who signed lots of autographs? That doesn't qualify one to be in the Hall.

Oden is sick... went 9-10 in free throws against IU while shooting with his left hand (since his right hand is broken).

Isn't Eli getting booed by the fans in New York?... Yes. One of my brothers (Giants season ticket holder) said he wants Eli to have a career ending injury and that he hates his slack jawed face. A friend of mine saw Eli out drunk the night of the Saints game, doing karaoke with some other Giants players. That's the sure sign of a team that values winning.

btw, did anyone hear this exchange by the announcers? Guy 1: blah blah blah stay up past 8:30 to have a good time on South Beach. Guy 2: Well, I have two Trojans up here in the booth with me. I can show them how to have a good time. Think before you speak, man!

I think that was the right call. The ball was shifting after the initial hit and I don't think he really had control of it when his knee went down.

interesting... my instinct was that the first guy i should keep is Parker

Trick plays work a lot of the time - often for big yardage. Who says football has to be straightforward? Boise will never have the athletes that a school like OU has. Give them credit for finding ways to move the ball.

paul thompson is a disgrace

Don't get me wrong, Mason isn't completely incompetent, but he's never going to get a team past the mediocre stage. He can coach a program from bad to mediocre. But his defenses always suck, he doesn't make proper, halftime adjustments, and he hasn't learned after choke after choke that you do not go away from what go you the lead in the first place. If you're a school like Duke and just want to win a few games each year, maybe he's your guy. But he's shown no ability to improve his flaws as a coach and he'll never be anything other than the paragon of mediocrity that he became at Minnesota.

as a fellow sports fan who has been kicked in the crotch repeatedly, let me offer my condolences... that's painful.

wtf, take muhammad out

what's erik kramer up to these days?