rawaction

True. If he's going to be in relief, rather it be for a stud.

Bears just went from 8th in the NFC to hosting a home playoff game if the season ended today.

While the Bears did have 4 kick returns of 32 yards or more to get the ball outside their own 40. And they did have a +2 turnover advantage. I would say the Bears did beat the Vikings straight up. The Favre fumble led to nothing as Gould missed a 1st down FG at the end of the half. The last INT just iced a game that was already over. Even without those 2 TOs the Bears win this game by 7 at least.

Westbrook is a pretty decent pitcher. I would think he could get a 3 year deal somewhere though. If not, I'd take him for say 2 years/$16Mil or so.

Need a quick answer. At WR/TE, in a PPR league. Mike Sims Walker vs. Houston Jacob Tamme vs. Cincy Houston is the 32nd ranked pass D, but Sims-Walker has 4 games this year of less than 5 points. I can't afford to have that in my lineup. Cincy is a middle of the road pass D, but the Bengals haven't allowed much to TEs this year. However, Tamme has played 2 games and averaged 23 points per game.

Wonderful.

How come the Circus trip can never go? @ Houston @ Dallas @ Clippers @ Sacramento @ Golden St @ Denver @ Minnesota But instead of the Clippers, TWolves, and Warriors, Bulls always get Lakers, Spurs, and Suns with the "easiest" game on paper coming on the 2nd night of back-to-backs.

I decided this was a must win for the Bears playoff chances. In the grand scheme of things, they could still make the playoffs with a loss today, but the odds become even greater. Lose today, and the disaster that has been the Vikings is just 1 game behind the Bears, with a head-to-head road win. So, a safe assumption would be another loss in Minnesota later this year. That would mean both teams at 5-5, with the Vikes having all tiebreakers possible. The Bears are 5-3, but the combined record of the teams they have beaten is 10-31, with 6 of those wins coming from 1 team, the Packers. The other 4 wins are against teams that as of now would be drafting 1-2-3 and 6 in April. The Vikings wouldn't do much to help the combined record of the teams the Bears have beaten, but without the win, you are looking at a world of negative possibilities. This is the last HOME game the Bears have vs. a team that is not currently in one of the top 6 spots in their conference (aka playoff team).

Uggla's bat plays pretty well at 3B. I think if he moved from 2B to 3B, he would lose some value, but he would still provide a solid enough bat for the corner IF. He will be 31 next season, though, so I don't have much interest in him on a long-term deal.

Seriously? 83 points?

IUs season opener was decent. I thought the Hoosiers played pretty decent defense. Held the team to 60 points, but 22 of them came on free throws thanks to a really tightly called game, which went to the benefit of the road team as IU didn't even bother to look to score inside for the most part. Watford played on the outside most of the first half, but was a lot better when they got him inside. Jones III played the point the entire time he was in there (with Moore getting the other PG minutes, UGH!). While, Hulls excelled in the "catch-n-shoot" role, Jones predictably turned the ball over 5 times (all on stupid passes) to only 2 assists. Overall, can't complain much about 22 assists on 30 baskets, especially when 4 of those non-assisted baskets came on offensive rebound put backs. But they still don't value the ball and turned it over 24 times. Overall, the team looks very athletic. Freshman, Oladipo can run and jump all day. Creek will get back to that point probably right around conference season. Watford looks bigger and stronger, but still needs to work on muscling the ball into the hoop down low, even when he gets fouled. Pritchard looked more athletic, and was a beast on the boards, but can't stop fouling people. Still the same inconsistencies. Still have lapses on D way too often. Still trying to make passes with opposite color jerseys in between the ball and the man being passed to. Still only sometimes hits the boards.

That's probably true. But that's been true of every game the Vikings have played this season. The Vikings are still a good team, but they have been victimized by consistent mistakes. The NO and NE games weren't that bad. They only lost the turnover battle 1-0 in both games. But both those teams are elite teams in the NFL that you can't make any mistakes against. But the rest of the games....Miami recovered a fumble in the end zone and won by 4. Jets returned an INT late to ice a then 2-point game. Green Bay had an INT return and won by 4. Arizona had a KO return and fumble return and the Vikes had to pull off a miracle to win. I think the Bears can win the TO battle and are the best return team in the NFL year-in and year-out. I think that will be the difference, if the Bears don't make a bunch of mistakes.

My keys to this game, probably aren't groundbreaking. Get after Brett Favre, consistently. Favre is only 1 hit away from watching this game. The Vikings are only 1 loss away from being done. The Cardinals sacked Favre 3 times, but 2 of them came on the first 6 pass attempts of the game. The last one came on the play right before the game tying TD drive. Favre went something like 35-38 passes without being touched. Cannot let that happen. I would blitz a lot, sending a corner or safety. I like the matchup of DJ Moore on Harvin in the slot. I even like Tillman vs Berrian on the outside, despite the 99-yard TD from a few years ago. I'd see if they can handle 1-on-1 matchups early. The Bears have to score early, forcing Favre to throw, and taking Peterson out of the game as much as possible. Obviously, don't turn the ball over and force TOs. Pass blocking will be very important, as the Vikes haven't gotten much pressure this year, but did have like 7 sacks vs. Arizona last week. Minnesota is actually a team that can be hurt with 5-7 step drops when their CBs (who aren't good) have to cover for a long period of time. I think the Bears win this. 5-3 team that gets no respect. Playing at home. Division opponent. Chance to drive a stake into Favre's career. Bears 27- Vikings 23.

Nice. I really did a number on this thread. Kinda my plan. Wasn't a suggestion. Just some BS that will probably get thrown out there.

Zambrano, Fukudome, and Byrd to the Mets for Beltran, Jose Reyes, and Oliver Perez.

Hollowell is 50/50 IU and Ohio St. right? Is anyone else in the picture?

Heartcase vs. Headcase. Heartcase was better last year than the headcase. Of course, the problem was giving the headcase a 3-year multi-million dollar deal in the first place. But to be fair, most of us were OK with the deal.

I think Hulls can run the point. He took care of the ball better than any guard on the roster last year (not saying much). I think he will be very effective though as a catch-n-shoot guy with a legit PG and inside game.

Cody said that he would start recruiting players immediately and he mentioned Yogi by name. With IU needing another point guard by 2012 and at least 2 other players recruiting him it would seem like IU has everything lined up for Yogi. IU needs a point guard by 2010. I would say they need another one. Hulls running the point for 20-25 minutes a game isn't bad. The problem is who runs the point for the rest of the time. And by 2012, it will be worse since there's nobody in the 2010-2011 classes that can really run the point. Jones III will probably run the point the next 2 years when necessary. Not ideal, but a better option than Doc's boy.

Cody said that he would start recruiting players immediately and he mentioned Yogi by name. With IU needing another point guard by 2012 and at least 2 other players recruiting him it would seem like IU has everything lined up for Yogi. IU needs a point guard by 2010. Don't hate on Jordy.

Jumping the gun (how can you not?). But the 2011-12 Hoosiers are looking like: F- Watford F- Zeller G- Jones III G- Hulls G- Creek Bench- Elston (assuming he stays), Etherington, Oladipo, Marc-Michel (gets PT just based on size) The 2012 Hoosiers could look like: F- Watford F- Zeller F- Perea G- Ferrell G- Creek With Hulls, Elston, Etherington, and Oladipo as key bench contributors.

Zeller is a HOOSIER!!!

So, the Cubs could lose their 2 best bullpen arms, 2 of their top 3 hitters, their best starting pitcher and actually get OLDER (along with being clearly a worse team) by getting the likes of Dice-K, Papelbon, and signing Konerko.

Well, if it's a 1-year deal....the Cubs won't have to worry about his mid 30s, as he'll only be 33 next year. Not quite mid-30s.

I love Noah on my team. If he was on any other team, I'd despise him. Garnett was once my favorite player in the post Jordan NBA. Now, he's like one of the most dispicable human beings walking the Earth.