rawaction

Yeah, that was a good team to have a hangover against. Whether it was the inability to replicate the UK high or the week off, it just wasnt there today. Good thing ND couldn't score the basketball whatsoever.

Nice. Butler just beat Purdue.

As a Democrat, Herman Cain was the ideal Republican Nominee. He was an absolute joke.

1996 was pretty damn bad. Other than Bob Dole you had Lamar Alexander, Pat Buchanan, Robert Dornan, Steve Forbes, Alan Keyes, Phil Graham and Dick Lugar. I see your 1996 GOP and raise you 2004 Democrats. John Kerry, John Edwards (while knocking up a woman that was not his cancer ridden wife), Howard "BWAH" Dean, Al Sharpton, Joe Lieberman, Carol Mosely Braun.

Sorry meant to answer this before. I still wouldn't start Julio. Julio is much more likely to get shutout or a sub-5 point total than White who Atlanta will make a point of getting him his catches. It won't hurt you either way though. I just like that Robinson did still put up numbers with Miles Austin being 100% last week.

So, how should a Democrat vote? Who they think is the best candidate or who will be the easiest to beat?

He did some of that at Memphis with CDR.

Yeah, and I hate that people tend to assume that the downfall came once Bob Knight went away. IU didn't do anything under Knight for the last 7-8 years. Mike Davis was a joke and Kelvin Sampson was a fraud, but the decline of IU basketball started with the game passing ol' RMK by in the late 90s.

Yeah, he's Carimi at C. He's huge (6-5, 315 ish), strong as an ox, physical as they come, and surprisingly a really good athlete for his size. Even with Garza, I would hope if Tice is the OC and has some say-so in personnel decisions that he would go back to UW for the 1st round pick. His son played for Wisconsin and he fell in love with Carimi going to games. I don't see how the same couldn't be true of Konz. That being said, I do understand if they don't pick Konz. WR is probably a bigger need and DE and CB will also be considered in the 1st. But I'd still like to grab a C by the 3rd/4th round. Really like Ben Jones- UGA and Mike Brewster tOSU also in the 2nd/3rd round range. One way to do is it to try and have a good line and good receivers, spreading around your talent, but another option is always trying to build a dominant line, which is going to make your WRs more effective, almost by default. Agreed. And I think you get more bang for your buck with a 1st round OL and a 2nd round WR. The dropoff at WR is never as large as it is for the OL from round to round.

I understand the thinking, I really do. But I think signing a FA WR could go terribly wrong. You're looking at $25Mil guaranteed and about $50Mil over 5 years for any of those 3 WRs. D Jackson clearly has some issues, whether team, production or character related. V Jackson is going to be 29 and has had some off field issues along with contract disputes. Bowe is young, but he's disappeared for games at a time or seasons at a time in 2009. He's had several games with 3 or fewer catches. He's had several games under 35 yards. Obviously with a draft pick you take some risk too, but not a $25Mil guaranteed risk. Plus, it's not like the offense is in do-or-die mode. Very young nucleus on offense all around. Improved greatly this year without a top talent at WR (when Cutler was healthy). They have time to develop a WR. As for the OL, I think everyone would love the Bears to go out and sign a very good offensive lineman. But I don't think that's realistic. If they were going to sign someone, they would have done it this offseason. Now, they finally have some young talent on the OL. Webb has been greatly improved this year. He's 23, they aren't going to toss him aside. Chris Williams was playing like a top 5-10 OG in the league before he went down. His first year starting at LG from day 1. Carimi isn't going anywhere anytime soon. Lance Louis has struggled recently at RT, but there's no reason he can't still have a strong future at RG. And at C you have both Garza and Spencer under contract. I think you could see a Peter Konz (Carimi's UW roommate) or a mid-to-late round OL picked up, but I don't think the Bears will spend at the position, considering they have 7 players (including Edwin Williams) who have played at a decent level at some point on the OL this season. I'm OK with how the line showed progress on an individual level. Webb, Louis, and Williams all showed some semblance of improvement. Adding Carimi to the mix is kind of like having an extra 1st next year. I'm not expecting a star to be added here, but a starter, who may be capable of playing both guard and tackle. On the WR note, I'll just disagree about having time to develop one. Our offense needs to be firing next year on all cylinders. Because our D's window is closing, even if we draft heavily there most likely. Just as we're seeing with the Cubs, these WR's all have some sort of flaws. But they also have been bigtime producers and would certainly make teams gameplan differently against us. I honestly think it should be our one "must have" through FA. We've certainly got the cash to do it anyway. To me, it's time to take a risk or two. I think the window of the defense is overblown. Granted the 4 best players on D are Briggs, Urlacher, Peppers and Tillman who are all 30 or over, but the rest of the D is pretty young. Melton, Paea, Okoye, Moore, Conte, and Wright are all major contributors who are young. And there's still Wootton, JT Thomas, and DeCicco who could still develop. Granted, none of the young guys project to be stars (maybe Melton or Paea could be) but I think if you draft an early DE and CB this year and you have your potential stars. Briggs is a great player, but I this scheme is geared for the WLB to make plays (Jamar Williams had 20 tackles in a start a couple years ago). Urlacher will be tough to replace, but you're not going to groom his replacement with a mid-round pick. Going to need to find a special player to replace him, and I think you wait to do with a 1st round pick when you absolutely have to. LB is probably the strongest position in the draft year-in and year-out.

Yeah, he's Carimi at C. He's huge (6-5, 315 ish), strong as an ox, physical as they come, and surprisingly a really good athlete for his size. Even with Garza, I would hope if Tice is the OC and has some say-so in personnel decisions that he would go back to UW for the 1st round pick. His son played for Wisconsin and he fell in love with Carimi going to games. I don't see how the same couldn't be true of Konz. That being said, I do understand if they don't pick Konz. WR is probably a bigger need and DE and CB will also be considered in the 1st. But I'd still like to grab a C by the 3rd/4th round. Really like Ben Jones- UGA and Mike Brewster tOSU also in the 2nd/3rd round range.

Pretty much a toss up for me. I wouldn't be surprised to see them all with 80-100 yards and a TD. All those run Ds are in the bottom 1/2 of the league, with Detroit being the lowest of the group. But I think Helu is most likely to put up numbers in the passing game, though Bush can catch also. If I had to rank them, I'd go: Bush, Helu, Greene. Bush has had 95 yards and/or a TD in all but 1 game since McFadden's been out. And has had multiple catches in each game.

Crisp is terrible. Not only is he terrible but he's a player that depends mostly on his legs and he's going to be 32 this season.

I understand the thinking, I really do. But I think signing a FA WR could go terribly wrong. You're looking at $25Mil guaranteed and about $50Mil over 5 years for any of those 3 WRs. D Jackson clearly has some issues, whether team, production or character related. V Jackson is going to be 29 and has had some off field issues along with contract disputes. Bowe is young, but he's disappeared for games at a time or seasons at a time in 2009. He's had several games with 3 or fewer catches. He's had several games under 35 yards. Obviously with a draft pick you take some risk too, but not a $25Mil guaranteed risk. Plus, it's not like the offense is in do-or-die mode. Very young nucleus on offense all around. Improved greatly this year without a top talent at WR (when Cutler was healthy). They have time to develop a WR. As for the OL, I think everyone would love the Bears to go out and sign a very good offensive lineman. But I don't think that's realistic. If they were going to sign someone, they would have done it this offseason. Now, they finally have some young talent on the OL. Webb has been greatly improved this year. He's 23, they aren't going to toss him aside. Chris Williams was playing like a top 5-10 OG in the league before he went down. His first year starting at LG from day 1. Carimi isn't going anywhere anytime soon. Lance Louis has struggled recently at RT, but there's no reason he can't still have a strong future at RG. And at C you have both Garza and Spencer under contract. I think you could see a Peter Konz (Carimi's UW roommate) or a mid-to-late round OL picked up, but I don't think the Bears will spend at the position, considering they have 7 players (including Edwin Williams) who have played at a decent level at some point on the OL this season.

Go Tate. I know Houston is in a 4-way fight for homefield, but they are in the playoffs and have been destroyed by the injury bug this year. I think they will take it really easy on Arian Foster the last 3 games (15 touches at most the next 2 weeks)...all against teams they should be able to beat without him.

Free agents AFTER this season is over: Forte (unrestricted actually), Idonije, Roy Williams, Kellen Davis, Tim Jennings, Steltz, Meriweather, Graham, Okoye, Bowman, Iwuh, Hanie Plus, all the UDFAs (Sanzenbacher, Decicco, Henry, Horn, McCown, Andre Smith, Massey-LS). Khalil Bell may be restricted, but I'm not sure. I'd re-sign Forte, Okoye, and Jennings. Everyone else can walk. Jennings isn't great, but he is a solid starter, who is only turning just 28 on Christmas Eve. I don't like spending big money on FA CBs and it's hard to expect a draft pick to come in and start right away. Plus, with only Tillman and Moore under contract, you're going to need to bring in at least 2 guys anyway, even if you bring 1 back. The only 1 I'd definitely not bring back is Idonije. I'd take everyone else back provided they are extremely cheap. Meriweather, Williams, Idonije can walk and I wouldn't care. I'm on the fence about Bowman. I'd rather have Graham back than Bowman, because at least Graham can play the nickel. My offseason plan would be bringing back Forte, Okoye, and Jennings. Spending on a decent S (not a lot of money, and not necessarily a star player) who can either start or motivate Major Wright to stay on the field. Then I'd spend a pretty decent amount on a DE or an OG. And I'd draft WR, CB, and OC early, with DE thrown in very early if don't sign one. I'd also look to draft a LB, late round CB, and an OT in the mid-to-late rounds

Free agents AFTER this season is over: Forte (unrestricted actually), Idonije, Roy Williams, Kellen Davis, Tim Jennings, Steltz, Meriweather, Graham, Okoye, Bowman, Iwuh, Hanie Plus, all the UDFAs (Sanzenbacher, Decicco, Henry, Horn, McCown, Andre Smith, Massey-LS). Khalil Bell may be restricted, but I'm not sure. I'd re-sign Forte, Okoye, and Jennings. Everyone else can walk. Jennings isn't great, but he is a solid starter, who is only turning just 28 on Christmas Eve. I don't like spending big money on FA CBs and it's hard to expect a draft pick to come in and start right away. Plus, with only Tillman and Moore under contract, you're going to need to bring in at least 2 guys anyway, even if you bring 1 back. The only 1 I'd definitely not bring back is Idonije. I'd take everyone else back provided they are extremely cheap.

1. Eli is a no-brainer. 3 straight weeks of 350 and multiple TDs. Rivers gets the Ravens. 2/3. I wouldn't start Jones in a PPR. He hasn't had more than 4 catches since week 4. Non PPR, there's more of a decision. Gore has struggled, but he's a tough sit because he could score a couple short TDs and get 20+ carries in any given week. I'd honestly probably start both Gore and Helu along with Laurent Robinson. Steve Johnson was shutdown a few weeks ago vs. Miami and Jones is too up and down. *Nothing personal, but I hope your team loses this week. The guy I'm playing has: Eli, Gore, Steve Johnson and Julio Jones in his lineup.

We only start 2 RBs. No RB flex possibilities. I have McCoy and MJD as starters. I'm pretty sure I'm sticking with MJD. He's been pretty consistent all year.

Tough to sit CAM, but I would, that's a bad matchup for him.

I'd go with Helu over Marshall regardless Felix Jones definitely. Helu over Marshall definitely. But I would go Marshall over Austin if Matt Moore plays, if it's a PPR. If non-PPR, it's a toss up. If Moore does not play, it's Austin easy.

It is PPR.

VJ is a must have for this team so you can draft other positions of need. This team sorely needs a true #1 WR. First round I think DE/OL would be a good start. Eh, I like Vincent Jackson and all, but I'd rather not pay that much money to a WR who's going to be the oldest starter on the offense (other than Garza). Granted, he's only going to be 3 months older than Cutler but a 29 year old WR is completely different from a 29-year old QB. This draft is loaded with WR talent. Cutler has shown he can win with crap WRs. That doesn't mean I want to stick with crap, just that I don't see the need to pay $25Mil guaranteed (basically what Santonio Holmes got) to a WR entering his post prime years. I'd rather spend money on a younger player. My FA philosophy is don't spend on players over 28 unless they are a proven franchise QB (never happens), a high caliber offensive lineman (because they can play well into their 30s), or truly one of the top 5 in the game at a game-changing position of need (ala Peppers). While WR is a huge position of need, I don't think VJack is quite at the talent level I would be willing to risk that type of money on. Besides, with the way this season has ended, the Bears are going to be back in Michael Floyd territory in the draft order. He reminds me of a shorter, slightly slower version of VJack. If not him, there's a ton of WR talent in this draft. The last pick Angelo spent on a WR within the first 3 rounds was Iglesias if i'm not mistaken. At this point I'd rather we bring in VJ or some other proven player AND draft a young WR. Watching Knox slipping down the field makes me want to scream. That would be ideal, but the Bears would have to make an admission that is atypical of the organization. If you bring in a FA WR, he's going to be the #1 WR. Bennett and Knox aren't going anywhere. So, you're looking at either a rookie (presumably a high pick or what's the point) or Devin Hester (the guy the team has annointed the #1) as the 5th WR. This year, Knox started as the #4, but he's gotten plenty of time, but the Bears have been missing either Bennett or Hester (on offense) most of the year. Last year, Aromashodu was the 4 and he never saw the field after the first 2 weeks. So, there's no chance the 5th WR sees the field. So, you're talking about either a redshirted draft pick or a major demotion of the coddled Hester.

Got a lot of decisions to make this week. QB- Michael Vick vs NYJ. Vick didn't have a good week last week, and now is playing the #5 defense vs. QBs. Mark Sanchez vs. Phi. Has several 20+ point games this year, but when he gets less than 20, he gets less than 12. Matt Moore vs. Buf. Buffalo has given up a ton of points to Qbs this year. But Moore is questionable. RB- I put in a claim for Felix Jones. Do I dare bench MJD coming off a 40-pt game vs. the Falcons #7 ranked vs. RBs for Jones vs. the team last vs. RBs? DEF- Steelers vs. SF Dolphins vs. Buf. SF has the lesser offense, but don't turn the ball over much. Buffalo gives the ball away and has allowed 3 of the last 5 team Ds to score over 20 against them.

VJ is a must have for this team so you can draft other positions of need. This team sorely needs a true #1 WR. First round I think DE/OL would be a good start. Eh, I like Vincent Jackson and all, but I'd rather not pay that much money to a WR who's going to be the oldest starter on the offense (other than Garza). Granted, he's only going to be 3 months older than Cutler but a 29 year old WR is completely different from a 29-year old QB. This draft is loaded with WR talent. Cutler has shown he can win with crap WRs. That doesn't mean I want to stick with crap, just that I don't see the need to pay $25Mil guaranteed (basically what Santonio Holmes got) to a WR entering his post prime years. I'd rather spend money on a younger player. My FA philosophy is don't spend on players over 28 unless they are a proven franchise QB (never happens), a high caliber offensive lineman (because they can play well into their 30s), or truly one of the top 5 in the game at a game-changing position of need (ala Peppers). While WR is a huge position of need, I don't think VJack is quite at the talent level I would be willing to risk that type of money on. Besides, with the way this season has ended, the Bears are going to be back in Michael Floyd territory in the draft order. He reminds me of a shorter, slightly slower version of VJack. If not him, there's a ton of WR talent in this draft.