biittner77

Make it a league for players that don't want to go to college and pretend to be a student but instead want to get paid something like $50k a season to play football in the hopes of later playing in the NFL.

Right now, it's not all that inconceivable that we'll have back to back champs in Hockey, football and potentially baseball (have to think the Astros have as good a chance as anybody of repeating. Basketball doesn't count.

The best case scenario is that Brady gets Thiesmaned but the Pats still win. Or he escapes unscathed and then he and Belicheck beat each other to death. Or retire. I'm good either way.

If he signs with the Twins I will realize that I never really wanted him. The Twins? That too. The Twins might as well be Japan from an affects the Cubs standpoint.

Yes but the complication happens next season when they have to get back under the cap. The other part is that without Crawford, who can they get that will actually be enough to get them into the playoffs? Or, should they rebuild on the fly and angle for that lottery pick. It's tough for the Hawks to break up the core for a variety of reasons but there's an old saying about trading a guy a year too early vs. too late. Trading Seabrook has been discussed. What about Keith? He's still the Hawks best defenseman and a future HOF but if they are thinking about an overhaul he'd likely garner a lot of interest. I doubt they'd actually do it but they don't have a lot of guys that they could trade without it actually hurting. I don't think it's worth angling for a high draft pick. They wouldn't get that high, and picking 10th most years isn't much different than picking 20th. But yeah the back end seems to be where they could get decent value in return without breaking up the team completely. Problem is the cost of a team taking on a Seabrook or Keith contract would probably limit how much we would get back. I don't like these bye weeks. Too long without hockey. The cap going up makes it a lot easier to move Seabrook. Old timey GMs probably love Seabrook and still value him, especially at half his current salary. The Hawks don't really have to angle for a lottery pick, they just have to miss the playoffs. Maybe they could get the guy that does the NBA lottery to run the NHL lottery. That way the Hawks could "win fair and square without any possibility of it being fixed and their winning had nothing to do with them being a major market and the league wanting to give them every chance to be good since it will help the league".

I never could muster much hate for Michigan State until now. As far as NCAA's "reaction" or lack there of, they have a chance here to make a powerful statement by giving MSU the death penalty for all of their sports programs for 3 years. That would be the end of universities sweeping stuff like this under the rug. Is it harsh? Yes. Is it unfair? Perhaps. However, if MSU has to be the sacrificial lamb to send a clear message of zero tolerance then it's worth it. Of course they won't do it because of the money involved.

Yes but the complication happens next season when they have to get back under the cap. The other part is that without Crawford, who can they get that will actually be enough to get them into the playoffs? Or, should they rebuild on the fly and angle for that lottery pick. It's tough for the Hawks to break up the core for a variety of reasons but there's an old saying about trading a guy a year too early vs. too late. Trading Seabrook has been discussed. What about Keith? He's still the Hawks best defenseman and a future HOF but if they are thinking about an overhaul he'd likely garner a lot of interest. I doubt they'd actually do it but they don't have a lot of guys that they could trade without it actually hurting.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HBpEmqyBrfQ I felt like this might not really belong in the soccer thread

This potentially could create competition with Hinostroza for that first line left wing spot. It's also interesting that they took Clendening back in the trade. Arizona did that so they could have another roster spot available for future trades of whomever they still have to dump at the deadline. Clendening is nothing more than an AHL depth player but that might make it easier to trade Gustafson or perhaps Kempney. Not that they get much for either of those guys individually but there's always a market for reasonable defensemen and they could be part of a larger trade to get someone more interesting.

I can see where having a name like Castro would be problematic in Miami.

I guess that healthy scratch is worse than getting benched in other sports since there is zero chance of getting in the game to redeem yourself. It's a lot more noticeable and no other sport does that. With regards to trading Seabrook, the obstacles in doing so are three fold. He has a no trade clause so he'd have to approve a trade which doesn't make it impossible but certainly more difficult. Second, under the CBA, the Hawks can only eat half his contract which might be enough to entice a team but that's a long time to pay somebody a lot of money to go away. Finally, for all his recent struggles, he's still Brent horsefeathering Seabrook and he's supposedly a leader in the room. People hate hearing about intangibles, me included, but people that make these kinds of decisions seem to put a lot of faith in that stuff. That being said, perhaps this sends a message to Seabrook that he should consider waiving his no trade. There *might* be a fit with Toronto who need a defenseman and Babcock really likes Seabrook. He has a bad contract but he does have an "old time hockey" element going for him.

Two questions I have: Machado wants to play SS but he hasn't done that on a full time basis in 5 years. I guess he did have 45 games at SS 2 years ago. Just how much defense would the Cubs be giving up to gain Machado's offense which was down the first half of last season and *could* be affected by changing leagues. The Orioles are likely to want a lot for Machado or they will just keep him. From a selling ticket standpoint, they'd be better off moving him at the deadline for what they could get than taking whatever deal the Cubs are willing to offer now. I'm thinking they will want a 5 for 1 type deal with Almora and Happ being 2 of the 5. Is that worth it for 1 season of Machado plus a sandwich pick or whatever they get when he signs elsewhere?

All I want for Christmas is Yu

Fwiw, I think Pace will be back. I can't imagine year 4 being that much of an improvement to where you can justify bringing him back for off-season #5. It is disappointing that Mitchell's 1st two years of a cost controlled rookie contract will consist of a lame duck coach in year 1 and a lame duck GM in year 2. I have no reason to be confident in Pace turning this thing around after 3 bad years and an already failed coaching staff his 1st time through. If Mitch is any good, they should at least contend for playoff position in 2018. Probably won't go from 4-12 to 10-6, but at least flirt with 9-7 and show actual improvement. If they can't manage that, then he's gotta be gone. Would better play calling and actual wide receivers be enough to change 4-12 to 10-6? I'd say yes. That happens in the NFL all the time. This year's Rams for example.

https://www.naturalstattrick.com/teamtable.php They're giving up a lot of shots but they have Crawford who's one of the best goalies in the league.

The Orioles are in a tough spot. They can't -or won't- spend the way Boston or the Yankees will. One of those 2 teams will be favored to win their division. So the question is what do they do about it? They could be The TB Rays and be in a compete every 6 years, rebuild the other 5 cycle but that would require better scouting, better organizational philosophy and better luck. The other "problem" for the O's is that they will always have decent attendance since Camden Yards is a cool park that people want to see. Despite that, they are still losing fans to The Nationals and Yankees because they offer hope of actually winning something. So they can't really go the Cubs route and tank hard for 3 years because they have neither the brains nor the necessity to do so. Their version of a rebuild is to trade their best player for at least 3 valuable pieces and likely a couple lottery tickets. That's a lot for a one year rental but if they don't get that then they might as well keep Machado and try to cobble something together around him.

Saturday Games Pros and cons: Pros: I can watch the Bears Lions game on NFL Network Cons:

He's already misusing "humbled".

How are you able to navigate to this website and yet can't find anything on Ohtani signing? I went to ESPN's baseball home page and the Angel's team page and they had nothing. I don't use twitter. I would have thought that the Angels would have something pre written for when they signed him.

I can't find anything about this anywhere else.

That hand drawn Swastika could have been drawn on the back of that guy's neck while he was passed out drunk.

But did he get his free airplane for life?

I always liked to call him Raffie "El Palmiero"

Remember when Card's fans were saying that they were ok with their future HOF first baseman bolting for The Anaheim Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim because he wasn't going to be worth the crazy money he was going to get? Pepperidge Farm remembers.

I'm not sure it's crushing. It might have been had Hossa not gone on LTIR. There are worse D men making the same same as Seabrook. With reduced minutes he hasn't looked that bad if you weren't comparing him to what he used to be. Doesn't seem like Toews or Keith are nearly the players they were either (although Keith's contract is much more palatable). Not sure what can be done but I'll still take it considering they won it 3 times. If you asked me in 2006 I would have said that never could happen and it was awesome. They have about $4 mil in cap space from Hossa' LTIR. That doesn't buy what they need but it could get them close.