Flames24Rulz

I don't think I am. Mendenhall got nearly 300 touches last year and averaged over 6 yards a carry. That's more than PJ Hill, Knowshon Moreno, or Jamaal Charles. Juice was the QB and only got about 430. Juice's completion percentage and INTs were not appreciably better as the season progressed, and he'll likely be facing more passing downs without Mendenhall. I don't doubt the ability and athleticism of the Illinois receivers, I doubt the ability of Williams to consistently get them the ball. I think counting on marked improvement from Juice without as strong a running game is pretty optimistic. pierre thomas was the starter in 06, and averaged 6 ypc splitting time with mendenhall. i'm not worried about the running game. we have dufrene (6.3 ypc last year), pollard, and jason ford (remember the name) who will all get time and offer their own different looks as running backs. the illini won't struggle for yards on the ground. juice only rushing for 430 last year isn't really the point. in the big games where they needed him to run, he got the tough yards. against the vaunted defense of ohio state, he sat on the ball the entire 4th quarter in a hostile environment because that's what they needed him to do. he may break the 500 yard mark this year, but he'll run just enough to be threat while the other backs get enough carries to lead the conference again, behind the big wall up front. in his last 4 games last year, down the stretch, he put up very good numbers, and 2 of those games were aginst top 5 competition. if the running game isn't as strong, he'll throw more, and the illini will be fine. in his first 5 games he posted completion percentages 50 or below, then only once the rest of the way. in those last 4, he had one game below 60, and that was aginst osu, where he threw 4 tds and then parked it in the 4th. as far as not expecting him to progress from his sophomore to junior campaigns, well, i can't really offer anything more than what i've heard and what i've seen. i'm telling you that the kid is getting it and ready to go. Don't forget about Leshoure either. I think the running game, and the offense as a whole, will be just fine for the Illini this year. i would have liked to have seen leshoure redshirt and then move to FB, he's a large one. He can be the perfect change of pace back for guys like Dufrene and Ford. I wouldn't be surprised to see him be the primary back inside the 10.

I don't think I am. Mendenhall got nearly 300 touches last year and averaged over 6 yards a carry. That's more than PJ Hill, Knowshon Moreno, or Jamaal Charles. Juice was the QB and only got about 430. Juice's completion percentage and INTs were not appreciably better as the season progressed, and he'll likely be facing more passing downs without Mendenhall. I don't doubt the ability and athleticism of the Illinois receivers, I doubt the ability of Williams to consistently get them the ball. I think counting on marked improvement from Juice without as strong a running game is pretty optimistic. pierre thomas was the starter in 06, and averaged 6 ypc splitting time with mendenhall. i'm not worried about the running game. we have dufrene (6.3 ypc last year), pollard, and jason ford (remember the name) who will all get time and offer their own different looks as running backs. the illini won't struggle for yards on the ground. juice only rushing for 430 last year isn't really the point. in the big games where they needed him to run, he got the tough yards. against the vaunted defense of ohio state, he sat on the ball the entire 4th quarter in a hostile environment because that's what they needed him to do. he may break the 500 yard mark this year, but he'll run just enough to be threat while the other backs get enough carries to lead the conference again, behind the big wall up front. in his last 4 games last year, down the stretch, he put up very good numbers, and 2 of those games were aginst top 5 competition. if the running game isn't as strong, he'll throw more, and the illini will be fine. in his first 5 games he posted completion percentages 50 or below, then only once the rest of the way. in those last 4, he had one game below 60, and that was aginst osu, where he threw 4 tds and then parked it in the 4th. as far as not expecting him to progress from his sophomore to junior campaigns, well, i can't really offer anything more than what i've heard and what i've seen. i'm telling you that the kid is getting it and ready to go. Don't forget about Leshoure either. I think the running game, and the offense as a whole, will be just fine for the Illini this year.

Ugh, that ball should've been smoked. Hopefully we get some 9th inning heroics again tonight.

Typical.

Holy crap, I was so not expecting that.

Eric Dickerson or whoever hits a leadoff homer for the Reds.

haha, so it's not just my computer ESPN's gamecast is done too.

I like it. Hopefully this series turns out like that one did in 05 when we completely dominated the Marlins.

Hahahaha, this has been amusing at least.

In other news, the sun came out today. This bum always shuts us down.

The Twins have a 14 game road trip later this month, so I'm pretty sure that the division will come down to that.

Hopefully we never see him take the mound in a Cubs uniform again.

No strikeouts for Shark. Makes me want to puke. Send him back to Iowa.

Aramis is a gutless choking dog, he can only hit solo homers. Damn him.

It's raining doubles.

Hopefully one or both of the Brewers and Cardinals lose tonight. Good win today. Let's get the series tomorrow.

This is the guy I've wanted for a while now. It would be a wet dream for me if we were to land Bradley. Do it Jim.

I think Konerko's on his way out.

At this point, I'd take him.

No they don't. I don't see how Glenn isn't done at this point. I'll be shocked if he ever plays significant time again. Even with his injury woes, the Bears should still take a flier on him. He'd probably be the best WR that they'd have for the few games that he is healthy.

Never guarantee anything. Idiots. Great win tonight. If we can beat Sheets tomorrow, I'll be loving this.

He hasn't since April.

Hey this is just like the Houston game where Lilly was cruising, the offense decided to stop scoring runs, and Lilly gives up a couple of runs. Fitting. Didn't expect to win this game anyway, but this script is getting old.

It would be one thing if we had a guy worth plugging in to right field. If Edmonds ever needs replaced, I'd rather just platoon Pie and Johnson No, but it would be easier to go get a big corner outfielder bat than it would to get a centerfielder. If we were making a move for a corner guy, I'm sure it would be considered and I'd be all for it, but right now there's really not a point yeah, but I know that Manny and Holliday are both out there to be had. Why not really go for it? I'd love to. I have my doubts that the Red Sox are doing anything other than dealing with the Manny situation the same way that they always do, and that we have enough to get Holliday, though. I do think we have enough to acquire Holliday, however it would completely deplete our farm system. Not that I really care about that though as everyone knows our farm system really isn't all that great. I'm fine with Edmonds in CF too. The problem is he's 38 years old and he's a little banged up right now. You can't expect him to be healthy for the rest of the season. That's why I think we need to make a move for another OF. You never know when Edmonds could be out for good and then suddenly you're stuck with a Johnson-Pie platoon once again when instead, you could have someone like Holliday or Manny (doubtful) in the outfield. I think Alex Rios makes a lot of sense as well. That way you wouldn't have to move Kosuke, plus I do think Rios' power numbers would come back a bit as he would be playing half of his games at Wrigley. We'll see what we do. I think Hendry realizes that we need to make another move before the deadline.

At least this will give the talking heads on ESPN something to talk about. I doubt there's anything really to this, but I'd really like Manny in LF and Soriano in RF. He's the lift our offense needs.