bukie

Oddly enough, Purdue was up 15 when I posted that 44-29.

Thoughts on the B1G after the first week: - Purdue might just be the best team in the B1G this year. - If NW wins tonight and can avoid losing to Rutgers, they should make the tournament. They'll have to go at least 10-8 in conference, though, since their non-conference was really weak. - Illinois has no way to rebound or post defend, which isn't going to win them any easy games. - MSU really misses Valentine - Minnesota, Illinois, PSU, Nebraska, and Rutgers are BAD. Predicted standings at end of year: 1. Purdue 2. Michigan State 3. Maryland 4. Michigan 5. Iowa 6. Indiana 7. Northwestern 8. Ohio State 9. Wisconsin 10. Illinois 11. Minnesota 12. Penn State 13. Nebraska 14. Rutgers

Mirotic does well when he plays the 4. He can't do the 3.

Mirotic needs to not be a SF. Hinrich needs to not be a player.

Cubs have 5 players projected to 5 WAR or higher. The other 11 projections combined have 7 players projected to 5 WAR or higher (Donaldson, Price, Betts, Machado, McCutchen, Felix Hernandez, Votto).

ESPN talking about next year's NL Central: http://espn.go.com/blog/sweetspot/post/_/id/67294/path-to-the-playoffs-nl-central-2 One thing I wanted to note: St. Louis Cardinals 2015: 100-62, plus-122 run differential, lost to Cubs in Division Series Projected 2016 record from FanGraphs: 88-74 Pittsburgh Pirates 2015: 98-64, plus-101 run differential, lost wild-card game Projected 2016 record from FanGraphs: 87-75 Chicago Cubs 2015: 97-65, plus-81 run differential, lost NLCS Projected 2016 record from FanGraphs: 100-62

Err...the Mets traded for Neil Walker a while back.

Illinois continues their streak of doing well enough to win games but making damn well sure they don't win easily.

Brendan Ryan was never going to be on the active roster, so it has as much bearing on Baez as releasing Olmos did earlier. Well as of right now the only people capable of playing SS are Baez and Russell. That was true before they released Ryan.

Brendan Ryan was never going to be on the active roster, so it has as much bearing on Baez as releasing Olmos did earlier.

The good news is that Illinois looks as if they'll be able to field a team for the B1G season.

I don't get this one to be quite honest. The package they gave up for Todd Frazier isn't ridiculous. Montas is a very nice piece, but his chances of staying in the rotation are debatable, and Micah Johnson might not be a 2nd baseman. Thompson is relatively raw for an upper level guy. I can understand why Dave Stewart did what he did, but that was an overpay and a bad trade. This ... doesn't seem to be the case. I didn't mean the trade specifically, I meant where the Sox are now. They thought they were better than they really were last year, and now instead of continuing to build the franchise, they're selling out for a player that, while good, really still has them as 3rd banana in that division with no long term plan in sight.

The White Sox strike me as the AL version of the Diamondbacks.

The recreational leagues in the area now have very strict policies about what parents are and are not allowed to do at the field, and I've even see it enforced to the point parents are not allowed to stay at games to watch their children due to their behavior in games. You would think that would give parents the hint they need that their behavior is embarrassing and they should change, but instead of that they just enroll their kids in more competitive leagues that aren't as strict about parent behavior, so they treat it like it's the major leagues. They act like the worst of disgruntled fans, because since they paid X dollars they are entitled to do whatever they want and yell at whatever they want during games.

As a coach of a highly competitive youth soccer travelling team, I've seen and heard some things that just anger me beyond reason. I worry there might be further abuse going on behind closed doors, because their kids are seriously terrified of them and letting them down. I've seen parents berate their kids after games (and practices!) if they think they aren't playing well enough for their satisfaction. I've had parents berate me for daring to bench their child for things like striking other players. I've had parents scream at me from the sidelines during games because they don't feel their child plays enough for what they pay to be on the team, and then after the game send a letter to the league office asking for my dismissal for that reason. I've had parents scream at their kids during the games non-stop for 60 minutes of game action. I've had parents of opposing teams scream at my players during games because of perceived dirty play, including one particular crazy who brought my son to tears on the field because of the things he was saying about him. I've had player and parents accuse me of favoritism of this player or that player or my son because he or she plays this or that position more often than this other player who is obviously better. I suppose I'm just jaded and disheartened of sports parents. This abuse story just sounds like it's another thing supported by the children's sports culture that absolutely shouldn't be, and I hope stories like this bring to light what monsters parents can be to their children in the guise of "pushing them to be better".

I had no idea LLF was the GM for the Diamondbacks.

I like the move, but it's not a salary dump when you add $56 million.

Same here. Like, I mean, the kid is devastated. He's worn #13 and played SS ever since he started playing T-ball 5 years ago, and he's got Castro cards and posters all over his room, and he met Castro last year during ST.

My 8-year-old son is crushed.

At this point, the position of CONCACAF president has a worse reputation than the Defense Against the Dark Arts instructor at Hogwarts.

There's already more Cueto threads than I feel comfortable with.

If Seattle and Tampa Bay lose, Carolina clinches a playoff spot.

I'm not sure that's true. Basically, in order for the Bears to somehow make the playoffs, they'll have to pass at least 2 of Seattle, Green Bay, Minnesota and Atlanta. Granted, Atlanta is currently closer than Minnesota, but those are the two most likely to falter over the second half, so either win/loss result in that game is good for the Bears. As long as it's not a tie.

Nunn, Black and Tate all played tonight, and the Illini actually looked...good? I mean, they'll still probably lose tomorrow, but hey.

I wouldn't be too surprised if Gase or Fangio is coaching this team in the next couple years.