bukie

Yeah, that's just a little darker...

I'll stick with Nexus for the time being to function as a guinea pig.

If the demo site works correctly, wouldn't it be quickest to just do a file compare to the CSS files on the demo site? :) Otherwise, I'll look through that whole CSS file when I have time to see where the sizes got messed up. An inability to test things out, though, could make it difficult. :)

I don't have it from northsidebaseball.com yet, Tim. I have to use the IP to access.

I guess that's the difference between him and winning quarterbacks. Winning QBs play defense too apparently. Jay is selfish that way. Always has to be the quarterback.

Studies show that Jay Cutler has yet to play a single down on the defensive side of the football in his career.

Actually, one of the FO guys responded directly to that question:

Not only that, look how far their projection is from the rest of the league (for both D and ST).

The Bears have always had a stellar ST during the Smith era. During 2006 and 2007, when Hester was crazy with the return TDs, they were so far and away the best ST squad that FO's prior position of ST success being largely luck was rescinded.

Wow...also look at their playoff odds: http://www.footballoutsiders.com/playoff-odds/2008/dvoa-playoff-odds-report The link has 2008 in it, but it's clearly the 2009 odds. According to them, the Bears have a: -79.5% chance of making the playoffs (which is the highest in the NFC) -55.5% chance of winning the division -40.7% chance of getting a first round bye -37.1% chance of getting to the conference championship game -23.3% chance of winning the conference championship and a Super Bowl appearance (1/4 odds wow) -11.8% chance of winning the Super Bowl I'll take those odds. Yeah, if you look at the projections, they're the only NFC team in the top 7, and the clear favorite (especially if the Williams Wall misses 4 games) as the only team projected with more than 10 wins. 13 of the 16 NFC teams are projected between 6 and 10 wins, with only the Bears, 49ers and Cardinals outside that spectrum.

That would be nice for a minor league jersey.

FO's 2009 NFL projections for DVOA The Bears are still projected to have a below average offense, but...

The Rockies have been "all of a sudden" hot for three solid months now. At this point, they probably would have a better chance of catching the Dodgers. The playoffs really only become an option if the Cubs take off over the next week and either the Rockies, Dodgers, or Cards completely collapse over the same time period. Until then, it's a pipe dream, and there's nothing wrong with people that see it that way.

Did I say we were a shoe-in? We may lose the next 6 games in a row....but the odds are better that we WIN the next 6. We are in a goddam tough spot but the Phils and Cards are the only teams that feel safe...all the teams behind them are nervous. What do we have to be nervous about? We are in the sh*t house already! Look at the teams we play the next week....you tell me we can't beat them? E.J....don't we have 22 games left? (I think) I count 23 left . . . but I'm an idiot The Cubs are 71-67, meaning they have played 138 games. A season consists of 162 games (barring cancellations), so technically, the Cubs have 24 games left. Let's consider the odds of catching Colorado: Since June 3, the Rockies have gone 60-28 (no, really!) for a .682 winning percentage. Before that, they were 20-32 for a .385 percentage. Say they play that bad for their remaining games, all of a sudden. That puts them at 9-13 to close out the year. Then, all the Cubs would have to do to catch them is go 18-6 (.750 winning percentage) to close out the year. So, all the Cubs need to do to get the wild card is play better than they have all year, and have the white-hot Rockies cool off to pre-June levels at the same time.

Wasn't pretty, but 3 points is 3 points, and that should be enough for them to coast through. A home victory against Costa Rica would guarantee a top 3 finish regardless of what anybody else does the rest of the way.

2-1 or 3-0 and I'm feeling really good about my bold predictions. :)

Good news: The Cubs still have 4 more games with the Pirates. Bad news: The Cubs still have 20 more games with other teams.

No it isn't. At most it depends on 2 other guys, but more often than not it just depends on the QB getting the ball and falling forward before the lineman react. Yeah, in hindsight, I probably oversimplified my example a bit too much. Should've just stuck with a run play up the middle with the pull block.

To me, baseball is a series of one-on-one efforts masquerading as a team sport. Pitcher to batter. Batter to fielder. Pitcher to catcher. Fielder to first baseman. As such, it involves very simple interactions that are difficult for managers and other teammates to affect. Really, the only thing a manager can do is limit a player's options. Call for a sacrifice or hit and run? Batter is limited to a single option: bunt/swing. Call for a steal? Runner is limited to a single option: run. Call for a pitchout? Limits the pitcher to a single option. As such, statistics in baseball show much more about an individual's impact on the game as a whole, as it's fairly simple to independently analyze an individual's efforts. Football, though? Every play is dependent on all 11 players out on the field. Even something as simple as a QB sneak is dependent on blocking efforts of 10 other players. A run up the middle could call for 3 receivers to run distraction routes, one guard to pull around the line and lead the hole, two linemen to run block left, two linemen to run block right, assign the QB to offer a trailing block, and so forth. One player missing an assignment (such as a WR taking the play off) can key the defense to the play call and ruin the whole play. It looks like the RB gained -1 yard, but in reality, it was a team failure.

Yeah, the sheer amount of misunderstanding regarding so many facets of the Bears is mind-boggling... - The team was not a loser last year. They finished 9-7. - Jay Cutler was not responsible for Denver's 8-8 record, except maybe for it being that good. - The defense was a top 10 efficient unit that got left out to rot in many games. - If anything, Forte wasn't as good as billed, he just got so many touches that he was productive. I'm probably most concerned about this, especially now since Jones is out for the season. Here's what I expect from the Bears: a top-10 QB (if not top 5), a top-10 defense, a top-5 special teams unit, and a top-10 TE receiver (or two). I also expect Forte's efficiency to improve slightly since teams will actually have to worry about the passer, and I expect the receiving corps to improve if only because they couldn't possibly be worse. The OL can't be worse than last year, but it's tough to see how much it could be improved. The DL is only going to be as good as the interior line, which was poor last year. Really, the biggest things the Bears needed to improve over the offseason was QB and both lines, and got Cutler, Pace and Marinelli.

Yep, I definitely owe Navin a beer.

Check the Fantasy forum.

NFL predictions: AFC: East New England 12-4 Buffalo 9-7 Miami 7-9 NY Jets 4-12 North Baltimore 12-4 Cleveland 8-8 Pittsburgh 8-8 Cincinnati 5-11 South Indianapolis 11-5 Tennessee 10-6 Houston 8-8 Jacksonville 5-11 West San Diego 8-8 Kansas City 5-11 Denver 3-13 Oakland 2-14 NFC East Philadelphia 12-4 NY Giants 9-7 Dallas 8-8 Washington 8-8 North Chicago 13-3 Green Bay 11-5 Minnesota 8-8 Detroit 5-11 South Atlanta 10-6 New Orleans 10-6 Carolina 9-7 Tampa Bay 4-12 West San Francisco 10-6 Seattle 10-6 Arizona 7-9 St. Louis 5-11

10. The Pittsburgh Steelers will not make the playoffs this year. 9. Brett Favre will not be able to get out of his own way enough to lead the Vikings to a winning record. Minnesota finishes 8-8 and out of the NFC playoffs. 8. The Cleveland Browns will finish 9-7 this year. 7. Nobody in the AFC West will finish with a winning record, but the Chargers will win the division at 8-8 anyway. 6. The San Francisco 49ers will win the NFC West this year. 5. The NFC will beat the AFC in head-to-head record this year. 4. Only one team out of the NFC East will make the playoffs, and it won't be the Giants. 3. The Bills will make the playoffs this year at 9-7. 2. The top 3 fantasy QBs this year will all be from the NFC in Rodgers, Brees and Cutler. 1. The Bears will get the #1 seed in the NFC with a 13-3 record.

But one of those is Clijsters, so I'm not sure she should count. :wink: Actually, none of those is Clijsters, as she's the only unranked player in the bottom half of the draw.