bukie
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Everything posted by bukie
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Peter King continues to say the stupidest things about baseball I think I've ever read from a professional columnist.
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Sources: Cutler broken thumb; likely out rest of reg season
bukie replied to UMFan83's topic in Other Sports
Here's how I see the NFC playing out: - SF and GB clinch byes by Week 13 - DAL and NO win divisions - NYG fade and finish 8-8 at best - Any team with 4 wins or fewer doesn't finish better than 8-8 (I'm looking at TB and PHI, specifically...and SEA I guess?) That leaves just the Bears, Lions and Falcons for two playoff spots. Of the three, the Bears have the easiest schedule remaining, and the Lions the toughest. Detroit could very well lose the next two vs. GB and @ NO. They also still need to travel to GB and Oakland and play San Diego. Even if they somehow pull a 3-3 out of that schedule, the Falcons are likely looking at a 4-2 finish. That would mean that if the Bears go even 3-3 to finish, they're the 5 seed in the NFC. -
Sources: Cutler broken thumb; likely out rest of reg season
bukie replied to UMFan83's topic in Other Sports
Why do you assume Detroit gets the 5 seed? Have you seen their schedule from here on out? -
Here is why I am still optimistic: 1. A replacement-level QB could go 4-2 against the Bears' remaining schedule with the D and ST advantages the Bears offer. KC and SEA are inexcusable no matter what happens, DEN and MIN are also both terrible but on the road, OAK is an average team, and GB is probably resting starters by week 16 at this rate having wrapped up the division and a bye...and if they haven't by that point it means the Bears are somehow still in contention for the division and they have a playoff spot clinched anyway. 2. 4-2 guarantees a playoff spot unless it's New Orleans that falls back. Cutler is back at that point, and the 5-6 seed is what the Bears were looking at anyway. Playoff game in New Orleans/Dallas/New York/Atlanta. 3. Hanie is better than replacement-level (I mean, have you seen some of these replacement QBs?), so it gives the Bears a bit of a buffer on that front, too.
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I mean, Tebow is 4-1 and look at the crap he's tossed out at QB. I have full confidence that Hanie will be better than Tebow. You might think "Yeah, but it's not like the Bears get to play the AFC West every week". But...yeah, they kind of do.
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Different team, different time. The current offense is built in a way that requires strong QB play. The 06 team had a much better offensive line and was built towards minimizing the number of mistakes the QB can make. Sure at times Grossman was given the keys to the offense, but as the season went on, especially in the last few games of the season it was a much more basic game plan most of the time (see the St Louis game) The current offense is mostly generated through Matt Forte, and it can continue to be. This Bears team is not successful right now because of their offense. Not that Cutler is chopped liver out there, far from it, but the way the line and receivers have performed for the majority of the year, the offense already had to rely on Forte, and now they'll have to do it even more. Fortunately, none of the defenses coming up in the next 5 weeks are really effective against the run. Only Seattle is in the top 10 in run defense efficiency. Even better, none of the final 6 opponents are in the top half of the league in pass defense. Basically, the Bears are done playing good defenses this year.
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Sources: Cutler broken thumb; likely out rest of reg season
bukie replied to UMFan83's topic in Other Sports
The Bears have already shown they can beat a good team with barely any offense. They'll have to lean on the defense more (and the D gets their mulligan today for the middle quarters), but it's not as if the offense was lights out to begin with. Canie is a better option than Todd Collins was last year. -
If the Bears can make the Super Bowl with Rex Grossman at QB, they can make the playoffs with Caleb Hanie at QB.
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At least the backup isn't Todd Collins.
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The correct answer was Torrey Smith. My answer was Starks and Bennett (I had Maclin who was out today, so I tossed in Bennett as well).
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I worked too hard to get zero clicks on this. :) Pity click! From the aggregate of the comps, it's a reasonable expectation for Pujols to offer at least 5 WAR of production per year over the next five years (assuming he's 31...which we really just have to do at this point). The major concern, then, is a contract of 9-10 years. Do you front-load it for his productive years so that his contract past age 36 is either trade-able or sinkable? From my perspective, I think it's reasonable to expect both Fielder and Pujols to be top-10 productive at 1B over the next five years. I'd rather acquire the player that is worth more over that expected period of production. Past that, the concerns become: - Who drops off in production faster past 5 years? - Who will accept a contract friendlier to their potential back-end dropoff? - Which has abilities less likely to deteriorate quickly due to age?
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I honestly don't mind the fake punt. San Diego special teams blows, they need two scores anyway, get the first and the game is over.
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Redskins and Cowboys headed to OT.
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Why does Green Bay hate Starks? I chose flex...poorly.
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Positive article about Sveum from Christina Kahrl: http://espn.go.com/blog/sweetspot/post/_/id/18596/sveums-intro-an-exercise-in-intel
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8/40 is a much better deal for the Cubs than 3/33 from a time value of money perspective. Was it 8/40? I guess I was just assuming it was 5/40. But yeah, I'd even rather do 5/40 than 3/33.
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Somebody ought to let Penn State know they have a game today.
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Man, Illinois looks good right now. Where has that been the last 4 weeks? Is Zook out today?
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Well, Pujols is. Fielder, as good as he is, isn't really all that rare a player. It's rare enough that a player even of Fielder's caliber becomes available for nothing but money. Add onto that the Yankees, Phillies and Red Sox aren't involved in the bidding, and it solves the team's most glaring positional need when there isn't a single viable option existing within the system, and it's easily an opportunity that almost never comes along.
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Can he take Kaplan's job? I think that's a solution that works for everyone that matters.
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The major flaw in the "wait until they're ready to contend to sign a Fielder/Pujols-caliber free agent" is that having a Fielder/Pujols-caliber free agent available is a once in a decade opportunity.
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Sveum on using saber stats: "I do my due diligence and video work and prepare as much as anybody," Sveum said. "As far as the stats, those are what they are, and we can use them to our advantage. It's a big part of the game now. It's helping us win a lot of ballgames, the stats and the matchups. That's just part of the game now, and you use what you can. But a lot of that stuff, we do throw out, too."
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I haven't seen a recent picture of Cespedes. Does he count as one, or two Cubans? :) I'm guessing Tim is referring to both Cespedes and 19-year old defector Jorge Soler. Bah, can't even make one little weight joke. Would've worked better with Fielder. But thanks, yes. :)
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If anything, saving 6 roster spots is pretty encouraging as to the Cubs' free agency plans this offseason.
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The other possibility is that Epstein/Hoyer/McLeod don't value those players as highly as the prior regime did.
