barryfoote

Here's what I have. What a disappointing season. 5. Sh*t's gonna happen 4. It's not gonna happen 3. It's gonna happen to us again. 2. It's gonna implode 1. It's gonna happen (if by it you mean lose in the playoffs)

I say pair him up with Steve Stone.

I don't see how can you predict that Buffalo will score 24 points on the road against the Bears defense. Here's how: I made a similar prediction for the Seattle game, and we saw how that turned out. I'm just sticking with what works. . In that case I will not ever question your predictions again.

I don't see how can you predict that Buffalo will score 24 points on the road against the Bears defense. THis team is on a mission. Much like the '84 playoff loss against the 49ers lit a fire under the Bears, the playoff loss to the Panthers last year seems to have done the same to this team. I don't see them letting down at all. Bears 27 Buffalo 6

http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/6008120 Yea, Matt, especially with your o-line trying to block our defensive linemen one on one. To me that a key aspect of this game. It doesn't matter if you have receiver mismatches if you are on your back. The other key is that Grossman can't be throwing balls up for grabs under pressure. The Bears need to win the turnover battle.

right? and i think he realizes that the reason he didn't play against the vikings was that they were blitzing on every play and he needs to improve his blocking. if seattle doesn't blitz as much, we'll see benson in this game. benson will get his shot eventually, and we'll like him much more than jones. They will. We will be seeing many many blitzes after the way last week went. Gotta get the run game going I agree but picking up the blitzes at home should be easier without the crowd noise.

Did you notice another quote in the same article? “You don’t want to beat a dead horse to death,” Baker said Monday

What a concept, starting the player you think gives you the best chance of winning even if he is a rookie.

That's the problem with Favre lately though. He does turn the ball over with regularity and you aren't going to win when that is happening. If the Bears do not lose the turnover battle they will win by 10 points.

Another aspect about taking walks (or at least working the count) is that you make the pitcher throw more pitches and therefore are more likely to get to the middle relievers, which tend to be the weakest part of many clubs.

When you have 4 rookie starting pitchers, there is no realistic chance of getting back into the playoff race. I would prefer that the Cubs do not do well for the rest of the year because I do not want management to be able to kid themselves about how far away this team is from being a legitimate contender.

Niefi-light was never projected to be a Sandberg/Sosa type player. I agree the Cubs should let him try to work his way out of it, but if he doesn't improve drastically over the last few months of the season, Hendry has got to acquire a real SS for next season. I dont recall that Sandberg himself was projected to be a Sandberg type player at first. My bigger concern is that this coaching staff is unable to develop young players. Theriot starts and can't even be left in for the whole game tonight? We aren't going anywhere so play the kids. Wins and losses are meaningless now, player development is.

Maybe you just don't understand player development in baseball. Players don't just step onto the field and improve in a straight line. Almost all of them suffer setbacks. To "blame" a rookie, or get upset with a young player for experience normal setbacks in his career is just plain old illogical. I tottally agree with you on this one. Not all players come in and are immediate factors. Ryne Sandberg's numbers for his first two full seasons Year Ag Tm Lg G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG TB SH SF IBB HBP GDP 1982 22 CHC NL 156 635 103 172 33 5 7 54 32 12 36 90 .271 .312 .372 236 7 5 3 4 7 1983 23 CHC NL 158 633 94 165 25 4 8 48 37 11 51 79 .261 .316 .351 222 7 5 3 3 8 Greg Maddux's first year numbers Year Ag Tm Lg W L G GS CG SHO GF SV IP H R ER HR BB SO HBP WP BFP IBB BK ERA *lgERA *ERA+ WHIP 1987 21 CHC NL 6 14 30 27 1 1 2 0 155.7 181 111 97 17 74 101 4 4 701 13 7 5.61 4.29 77 1.638 The one good thing that can come from this dismal season is that the Cubs have the opportunity to blow this whole thing up and play the rookies so that they can develop.

My personal opinion is that you should treat it like it was a 2-0 or 3-1 count. Look for a certain pitch in a certain location and if you get it then take a swing at it. I would make an exception though if the pitcher is struggling with control. In that case you should make him throw a strike. It does annoy me when a batter swings at a first pitch ball from a pitcher that can't find the plate.

My friend tells a story about going down to Florida when he was a young child and noticing in the local paper that the Cubs were in first place. When he got back to Chicago they were in last place. As it turns out, he was mistaking the Cubs for the Cubans in the paper.