bukie

Does everyone know what a blind bid is?

#Cubs sign P Scott Baker to one-year deal for $5.5 mil plus incentives worth up to $1.5 mil http://chicago.cubs.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20121113&content_id=40265986&vkey=news_chc&c_id=chc Roster-o-meter: 35

That is an odd interpretation of that piece, to say the least. I mean, the guy is the world's biggest Expos fan and is writing a book on the demise of the Expos, I'm pretty sure he's not much of a Loria fan.

Jonah Keri on how Loria continually manages to exploit the system built to make him money: http://www.grantland.com/blog/the-triangle/post/_/id/42760/theres-shrewd-theres-genius-then-theres-marlins-owner-jeffrey-loria

Bradley goal: Mix goal:

What about Jon Stewart? You know, without NC around anymore, someone has to pick up the slack. What happened to NC? Is this something I missed? Good developments in his life caused him to have vastly less time to spend online. Read: He's Mitt Romney.

This is what bad weather does for the game.

I'm going to trust Sagarin a hell of a lot more than a biased ND fan's eyes. Like USS? Of wait, he's not an ND fan. You trust sagarin bc it tells you what you want to believe. Sagarin has ND in first in the BCS rating.

FYI: difference in Sagarin ratings: Sagarin BCS: 1. ND 2. Kansas State 3. Florida 4. Georgia 5. Oregon 6. LSU 7. Oklahoma 8. South Carolina 9. Alabama 10. Texas A&M Sagarin Predictor (points-based): 1. Alabama 2. Oregon 3. Kansas State 4. Texas A&M 5. Notre Dame 6. Florida 7. Oklahoma 8. Georgia 9. South Carolina 10. LSU So, based strictly on schedule, wins and losses, the championship should be ND-KSU. Based on points performance in games, it should be Alabama-Oregon.

Compared to who? Their perception where they've occupied 5 spots in the top 10 all season and already have a bye to the Championship? I was going to make a comment about this earlier. Take a team like South Carolina. They are #8 despite being blown out by 33 points to florida, losing to LSU as well. They did blowout Georgia, which was impressive, but outside of that win, they havent beaten anyone. Look at the rest of their wins.. Vandy (5-4), ECU (6-4), UAB (3-7), Missouri (5-5), Kentucky (1-9), Tennessee (4-6), Arkansas (4-6). You'd think that a team playing in the SEC with all these top 5 teams would have at least 2-3 wins over ranked teams if they are #8 in the country. Georgia is similar to South Carolina. They beat a good team (Florida) and got blown out by 28 points for their only loss to South Carolina. Other than that, their wins are over Buffalo (3-7), Missouri (5-5), Florida Atlantic (3-7), Vandy (5-4), Tennessee (4-6), Kentucky (1-9), Mississippi (5-4) and are on their way to beating Auburn (2-8). Their last 2 games are somehow against Georgia Southern (1-AA) and Georgia Tech (5-5) then the SEC title game most likely. How do you get through the supposedly impossible SEC with 1 win over a ranked team until the championship game? Yet LSU and South Carolina are 2 loss teams in the top 10. Immediately after them are an undefeated team (going into the week) and 3 one loss teams from BCS conferences (Florida State, Oregon State and Clemson). I don't necessarily think the SEC is vastly overrated, but I'm starting to think it is overrated to some degree. Of course they're overrated. They've won the last how many championships as a conference, including playing themselves in the championship game last year. And the fact that every good team in the conference has a top 10 win should say something. They are literally beating each other up. KState only has 1 win over a top 10, and that team isn't in the top 10 anymore (Oklahoma). Playing themselves in the championship last year was a crock, and the only reason every good team in the conference has a top 10 win is because any SEC team can lose twice and stay in the top 10.

I disagree that those three SEC teams are better than Oklahoma.

Notre Dame is a draw on its own. If they're one of two undefeated teams, there's no chance they get left out of the NC. They are a draw, but are they one of the top 2 teams? The game last year shows that people want the best 2 teams in it. I don't think ND is in that 2. Also by the end of the season, Oklahoma will be the only real quality win for K-State. After the way ND handled Oklahoma, if they beat USC on the last game of the season and go undefeated, there's no way they get jumped by a 1-loss team. They're undefeated on a tougher schedule than any SEC team.

Defensive efficiency: http://www.footballoutsiders.com/stats/teamdef The Texans' pass defense is vulnerable against the #2 WR and the RB out of the backfield, but is the best in the NFL against the #1 WR. So...go Earl Bennett and Matt Forte, and hope Cutler doesn't try to force too much to Marshall if it's not there. The Bears' pass defense is vulnerable against...nothing. They're just awesome everywhere. And even though the Texans have the 2nd most efficient pass defense in the NFL, the difference between the Bears and Texans is more than the difference between the Texans and average. As for rushing... http://www.footballoutsiders.com/stats/dl2012 The Texans' D-line is 11th against the run, vulnerable up the middle. They're 4th in pass rushing efficiency, which is bad news for the Bears' OL and Cutler. The Bears' D-line is 2nd against the run, vulnerable on left tackle runs (Bears' right DE). They're 7th in pass rushing efficiency, basically the only spot in which the Houston defense has an advantage over the Bears' D.

This could be the first time all year the Bears actually need Forte to shoulder a bit of a load. He's only averaging 15 carries per game, and didn't play in Green Bay, which I'm fine with if it's kept him healthy for situations like the next couple weeks.

...how? This is pretty typical Simmons article, and more than he's written about the Bears and their fanbase all year. And if he can relate to anything, it's overconfident fanbases.

2 of those td's have come in garbage time in the lions and cowboys games this year. And does that count the Chris Johnson 80 yarder against the backups? If that was a passing TD, it may go down as the shortest pass in history.

Doesn't sound like McFadden's going to play, so Moore's role in the offense is probably expanded. So I'd probably go Green-Ellis/Moore.

Agreed. McCarthy is a funny guy on twitter and stuff, but on the mound he's just a worse version of Rich Harden. In what way is McCarthy any version of Harden? He pitched for the A's, got injured, and the Cubs are interested in him. They're practically twins.

Miller's been better this year, and the difference between Chicago's D and KC's "d" is about the size of the Atlantic Ocean.

FO noted today that the playoffs are amazingly predictable this year, with 9 of the 12 spots all but locked up (every division leader plus PIT), and two others at more than 75% certainty (GB, SEA), with only the last AFC wild card spot really up for grabs since Miami lost to Indy.

Just in case anyone needed an actual reason to discount .

If the game comes down to special teams, the Bears will win in a blowout. The Bears have a top of the line D and ST, with a below average O held down by the O line and Cutler not being able to throw passes in the first quarter. The Texans have a well above average O and D, with the worst ST play in five years.

Weird...thats the same thing he said last week. Guess a 31 point drubbing didn't affect his views. Well than what about the Bears having the best point differential in the lead? How about 5 of the Bears 7 wins being by 16 points or more (most in the NFL)? Simmons is just like any other analyst in that he stereotypes NFL teams, and those stereotypes are likely influenced by one or two particular games. For whatever reason the Lions and Panthers games have stuck in his head and have now defined the Bears in his mind. I understand that its nearly impossible for someone to have their finger on the pulse of all 32 teams at once, but at least do a little research before you go on the air. Maybe Barnwell can tell him whats up since Bill seems to get most of his NFL insights from him. He's just so focused on the AFC. He picked every AFC team against every NFC team last week, and three of the games were NFC blowouts, and the fourth was a Giants collapse in the 4th.

Simmons said in his podcast today that he doesn't know what to think of the Bears, since they've been barely beating teams week after week. He must have them confused with the Falcons or something.

Cutler endorsing Romney is one way to swing the general public towards Obama.