biittner77

the marlins are in the process of having the league approve a sale. They'll do as they are told. Yes, I'm sure the Marlins would be in real danger of having their Jeets-branded sale scuttled if they pushed back against what I guess is MLB's inexplicable goal to appease the vaunted Brewers because of...reasons. More a matter of do they care enough to actually raise a stink over this. Did anyone think the Brewers weren't going to take 2 of 3 in this series?

I'm very wary about how much Russell can contribute the rest of the year TBH. If his range isnt there because of pain or the risk of reinjuring the foot, then he can't play SS. Plus coming back after 7 weeks off and no rehab (besides the game he played when he reinjured himself) I expect a rusty bat. But I'm happy to be pleasantly surprised. It's not like people will expect him to come back after missing most of the season and be a game changing bat in the line up. Oh, wait

There aren't any Sox fans, just Chicagoans (suburbanites, really) That hate the Cubs.

skyline chili Bad Spaghetti. I know, same thing

Hockey has the randomness of Baseball but also the injury factor of football. Baseball has the slight edge for being even more random due to the 5 game series in the first round. Hockey also lets more teams into the playoffs than baseball. Baseball doesn't have a salary cap so it's much easier to bring back more or less the same team to try to repeat. In hockey, a goalie can single handedly carry his team through a 7 game series. The closest baseball has is an ace starting pitcher who can only likely affect 3 games.

'84? Pshah. Fair weather fan. Come back when you've been a fan since '69. I rooted for them for at least a few years before that. But I must admit, I remember rooting for the White Sox in '83 so I felt that disqualified me from calling myself a true fan until '84. I was young and stupid. It was easy to get caught up in the '83 Sox hoopla. The Cubs hadn't been good and that Sox team was fun to watch. Harold Baines, super Chet Lemon, the Law brothers (Rudy and Vance) Greg the Bull Luzinski. Then the 84 Cubs happened and no one ever cared about the Sox again.

And to think, the Sox could have had Earl Cunningham instead if the Cubs hadn't snatched him up with like the negative 3 pick in the draft.

Hockey and football are wars of attrition. Injuries are a certainty and a few of the wrong ones can be absolutely devastating. There are a lot of random factors that have to come together to repeat in baseball but at least the players aren't actively trying to hurt each other. Will anyone vote basketball?

I feel like we've done this before but it's been long enough ago that I don't remember.

What consideration will Devin Hester get for the HOF? Outside of Bears fans Hester is probably more well known. Didn't someone (Vai Sakahama?) already break the return man barrier for HOF consideration?

That's a pretty lousy slate of games. I like the over in the ATL vs. GB game.

You forgot an essential equation: Harvey (6 letters) plus Irma (4 letters) = 10 letters. Bill Murray = 10 letters. Therefore John Cussack won't play for the Cubs this season.

Do they also sell cheese in a cup?

Is it just me, or is this what Cam from Modern Family looked like in his playing days. I already know I'm a terrible person for thinking this.

Have you tried the M3? I tried one but it was a senior flex (or as they call it "M for mature" flex) and it felt like a buggy whip. I liked the way the club head set up.

If you're argument is that good athletes that are good at whatever sport they play will choose something other than football, I agree that will and does happen. But not every kid that is great at football will be great at soccer or whatever other fall sport they play instead. Those kids that are great at football are going to want to keep playing football. Maybe your experience with kids is different from mine, but the key factor is parents and how much they're pushing their kids into a particular sport. A lot of parents are afraid to le their kids play football but there are still quite a few that still see that as their best chance at a scholarship, or professional career or whatever it is those parents want "for their kids".

Also, I immediately dismissed the idea of buying an adjustable loft driver as a dumb gimmick that couldn't possibly work. Was I wrong?

I have a friend on bookface that goes on a tirade every time the Cubs lose. Actually, I wouldn't be surprised if someone else here knew him since he's one of those people that know everyone. His name is Chris Monson.

Yeah, I know but if people feel really strongly either way about a club it does narrow things down. I usually hit a power fade with my driver and can occasionally hit a baby draw. I hit the ball pretty high which is part of my love hate relationship with the 5 wood. I got the HL shaft and they're not kidding when they say it goes high. Which is good on long Par 3s but less so from the fairway. I've only hit Titleist clubs a couple times with mostly positive results.

I still like my Titleist 910, but it's probably time for me to upgrade there, too. I like the look of the Baffler 4-wood. I would try that one out. I've mostly subsituted my Cobra 2/3 hybrid (in 2-setting) for my 3-wood this season. I wish I could get a 1-hybrid. I have an older model (from the 90s) King Cobra baffler 4 wood which I like a lot. I like it better than any of the rescue hybrids I've hit. Right now I have a burner bubble titanium 3 wood (also from the 90s) which I like but I wonder how long it will hold up. I bought an Aeroburner 5 Wood which I don't love. For whatever reason, the shaft feels a lot more stiff than any of my other woods. (insert joke here)

Perhaps a bigger concentration of talent is what I meant to say. If their school drops football, the kid's that have talent will go to the most successful program they can find that's close enough to travel to. So the good teams will get bigger and better. With fewer schools having a team, only the bigger/ more talented players will be out there and with increased competition there will likely be an increase in meatballery. Wouldn't you agree that the highly successful HS coaches are the most prone to having an "old school, toughen up" type mentality? 25 years ago I knew highly talented kids whose parents wouldn't let them play football. I'm not sure why you think that decreasing participation only means the bad players stop playing and the talented ones keep going. And FYI, this isn't about a high school, it's about a park district program stopping the tackle football program for kids. I'm also not sure I agree with the last point about successful HS coaches. Probably true in horsefeathers like Texas and Ohio, but there's a lot more football out there than just those places. And most people aren't moving school districts based on sports, even talented kids. If there are fewer teams, it stands to reason that the remaining teams would be able to cut less talented players. I was talking about high school. Why does a park district even have football? In the small city where I teach, people are changing schools for sports all the time. Plenty of people drive their kids to a neighboring town to play a sport that is not available at their local school. A guy I know is driving his daughter 1 hour each way to a school because they have a better softball team. I know another person that drives his son even farther to play football. People are crazy when it comes to kids and sports.

I'm gonna need you to show the math. Perhaps a bigger concentration of talent is what I meant to say. If their school drops football, the kid's that have talent will go to the most successful program they can find that's close enough to travel to. So the good teams will get bigger and better. With fewer schools having a team, only the bigger/ more talented players will be out there and with increased competition there will likely be an increase in meatballery. Wouldn't you agree that the highly successful HS coaches are the most prone to having an "old school, toughen up" type mentality?

In the market for a new 3 wood. Any recommendations?

Our football coach said that participation state wide (Maryland) is down 750 kids this year. Not sure where that number comes from. I don't mean to marginalize the effects of cte and other head injuries but they do provide an easily defensible excuse to drop football which is a very expensive sport to run. The net effect of that will be better programs drawing more talent and, along with it the best athletes and the biggest kids. So whatever margin that high school football is safer than college or the NFL, that gap is going to close as participation drops. But I believe football survives because in many small towns it's seen as such a defining part of local identity. In the inner city, it's viewed as a means to a better future/ escape from poverty. The NFL is a multi billion dollar industry and it's not going down without a fight.

The Bartman Group is my new band name.