rawaction

Actually, scoring more runs than your opponent does. Oddly, scoring runs factors into that. I completely agree... but our starting pitching did the job more or less... our offense and defense killed us. Regardless, this team was built to win it all... Soriano is wrong. The starting pitching was awful. 15.1IP 15H 10ER 12BB 13K That's the combined line of the 3 starters. Take out Dempster's start and Harden/Zambrano did fine... but again... it still doesn't make a difference, who thought Dempster was going to bad? I had nothing but confidence in him... The argument at hand is that Soriano said we weren't built for a short series, and that is false. WE WERE BUILT FOR IT... just didn't execute. So now it's down to Z and Harden doing well... 11.2IP 11H 6ER 5BB 11K That's an era of 4.6, that ain't going to get it done either. Offensively, they're built for beating up on bad to medicore pitching staffs. Pitching, they're close to where they need to be for short-series but like most teams they lack a true ace, if Harden could stay healthy, it would be him. Look at LA. Combined over the course of the year, I would take Lowe, Billingsley and Kuroda over the Cubs 3. Although several factors loom over next year (Lowe's age, Z's workload, and Harden's health, Dempster's regression). Let be honest Z never had a shot at anything but failure in his start. His defense let him down. Z never had a shot at anything b/c of the defense and Billingsley pitching great, but he had 2 outs with the bases loaded with only two runs and gave up the bases clearing DB which brought that total to 5. He didn't make the pitches when he had to either. This is utter tripe Ping. He made the pitches 3 times when he needed to. He threw 3 double play balls that inning and due to the hit and run and defensive incompetence he got 0 outs from them. Yet, show me that pitch to Martin and where that was located and I'll show you a 3 run double. Not taking into account that it was what? his 30th pitch? That's like blaming a pitcher for getting lit up in the 9th after throwing 150 pitches thru 8. He was set up to fail. He shouldn't have been out there. Bottom line, he still gave up 1 hit to the last 7 hitters he faced in the 2nd. That should be good enough every time.

And except for today they've been doing it against real competition. This year is looking like a very pleasant surprise. Maybe last year was an aberration rather than the start of a decline. Last year was more health related, IMO. I don't think it was necessarily an aberration or that this year is necessarily the norm. The Bears are a severely flawed team. They were flawed when they went to the SuperBowl. The key to teams without the talent of the Cowboys, Pats, Colts, and Chargers is how they overcome or hide those flaws. Still, I don't think the Bears are as good as they have shown in their 3 wins. Detroit is just horrible, and I think they really got motivated for Indy and Philly. I don't know what happened in the 2 losses. But it will be interesting to see the Bears against a more talented, equally motivated team. Two weeks vs. the Vikings may be that game.

Matt Ryan just threw a pick in the redzone.

this game should never end.

Why not? Mostly because you only get 2 a game. Who knows if you'll need it on a much more important call. Bingo bango. The Bears have clearly dominated. Worst case scenario was 20-0 game. I don't think it was worth saving a challenge when it most likely won't come into to play again.

Why not?

Before that , Orton was 10-10, with 176 yards on 1st down.

G-REG! He owed us.

Run offense and pass defense better be ready in the 2nd half. 75% of the plays for the Bears will likely be runs. 95% of Lions plays will be passes.

Trade for Matt Holliday or Hanley Ramirez.

Good deal, though I still think it remains to be seen if Vasher plays. Here's an interesting scenario, if the Bears are competing for a playoff spot still and St. Clair continues to play the way he has (I think he's been ok, nowhere near great though), do the Bears throw Williams in there to get him some reps? What's the chances he can come in after no training camp and 8-9 missed weeks of the season, and be better than JSC?

I think at least 1 of the starting CBs has been missing for every Detroit game for the last 3 years.

wrong. look up his career numbers...he's hit a number of good pitchers very well...sabathia, smoltz, glavine, k escobar, carpenter, mulder, maholm, etc. Exactly. Soriano can hit anyone when he's on. He can't hit anyone when he's not. His splits mean absolutely nothing.

My thoughts: Cubs offense wasn't that bad last night. They hit .291/.333/.458 off of Lowe last night. And that should have been better had Fukudome's hit been ruled the other way, which was a tossup. Soriano saw a grand total of 0 strikes last night. He swung at all but what 1 pitch last night? He was pretty pathetic. Whoever called 5 straight fastballs to Manny in the 5th w/ an 0-2 count, completely screwed up. Whether it was Rothschild, Dempster, or even Soto. Throw him a slider or splitter. Worst he can do is hit it out and tie it at 2. Maybe then Lou goes to the LHP vs. Ethier w/ the bases empty or definitely vs. Loney. Best case scenario, Dempster throws a good slider and Manny either misses it or grounds out to the left side of the IF.

Hillenmeyer has been absolutely brutal this year and I dont think I want to see him starting ever again I was seriously hoping this offseason that the Bears would package Hunter for a draft pick (4th round probably at best) and give the job to Jamar Williams. Hillenmeyer wasn't that good last year either. But I thought he could garner some interest because of his speed, ability to play the middle, and his Bears pedigree.

Sucks that Derosa is injured. Fontenot not playing sucks. He's a great low ball hitter. I think he's 3-5 against Lowe in his career.

Interesting stat. Since the inception of the wild card, 10 of the 13 times, the NL teams in the playoffs from the same division have had the same fate in the NLDS. Either both division teams have lost or both division teams have lost 10 times. One of the exceptions, 2003.

I'd bet my left nut there won't be 18 elite players from that last. 5 would be a huge stretch. That's kinda why I said POTENTIAL.

I think out of area fans are cooler. There's no geographic obligation to root for the Cubs. I'm from the area, but have lived in Pittsburgh for 4 years. I love the Cowboys fans here. Most of them are Cowboys fans because they grew up when Dallas/Steelers was a rivalry and they just like the Cowboys for spite. To me, that is awesome.

Those pants are a sin.

Actually, I wear the jersey shirt underneath my work shirt. Today it's a sweater, though, so it's not quite so visible. That's definitely understandable. If you can wear Cubs stuff to work then by all means, don't take it off for the game.

Do people really dress up in Cubs garb just to watch the game on TV? I'll probably change into some sweats and a t-shirt after I get home from work.

There's the potential for about 18 elite players from that list.

Dear Meph: Neither were the 05 White Sox or 06 Cardinals.

She stands alone, never sheds a single tear She stays in the coolest moods, clearly woman of the year She and all her (boy)friends, they go out dressed to win She stands on the cooler side of town but she lives in my lap She lives in my lap! She lives in my lap! She lives in my lap! Make me want you, make me miss you make me wonder where you are, then forget you Girl remind me, just who we are We're oh so close, but yet so far