bukie

Al and I are dead even right now, aside from one little pitching matchup. Z got 22 points and Lannan got -17.

Cubs already well ahead of last year's pace.

I'm not sure how big a fan I am of the "get them out by making them hit the ball in the air as hard as possible, just to center field" strategy.

Bases clogged with grit.

I think I'm more upset that they blew 3 leads of 22 runs or more.

I missed the bottom of the 7th, but how did Heilman look? Why didn't Lou let him finish out the inning?

ewwww. Shades of Bruiser Flint?

Lannan off to a bang-up start today.

Today's "I was not aware of that" number (thanks to Peter King, oddly): Kyle Orton's 2009 base salary: $995,000 Jay Cutler's 2009 base salary: $1,040,000 Difference in salary: $45,000. So, with the money not being spent on a first round pick (which I will assume would have been more than $45k), this was actually a cost-cutting deal for this year.

Maybe this is a dumb question but... How can he still be on the minor league roster despite being named the starting CF'er? I only know because I asked a week ago regarding Jordan ZImmerman... A player is minor league eligible until he goes over the eligibility limit (200 PA, 10 starts, 20 pitching appearances). You can activate him earlier, but aren't forced to.

Devine to the 60-day DL, Ichiro to the 15-day DL, Dukes the odd man out in Washington, and Bailey sent to the minors (again). Good start.

If you have enough grit, you have a chance... Tim grabbed Fontenot right before I was going to pick him up, I'm lacking in grit as well. Although, I still have a high % of white guys. I have available grit if anyone is interested. :)

Haha, I actually had stopped paying attention to my bracket long ago, but somehow after ending the first round in last place in the office pool, I just ended up being the only person to get both finalists right and I'm guaranteed to win money. 25-person pool.

What is 1st tiebreaker? Bulls have head to head over Det right? For now, yes. They lead the season series 2-1, with a game yet to be played in Detroit.

Yeah, is everyone scheduled in a 7-8-7 format too, or did it just work out that way for me?

A Bulls win today could eliminate as many as 4 teams from the East playoff race.

Anyone ... ? Any thoughts...? I think it's more likely that DHB falls to the Bears in the second round than they trade up into the first to grab him. Take that as you will.

Keep in mind the whole thing started when Denver fired Shanahan and the OC, both of which Cutler liked and was trying to fight for. Then Denver tried to trade for Matt Cassel. After that, Cutler met with the new Denver coach (McRoberts?)), which still didn't apparently settle things. It was pretty obvious Denver's offensive plan didn't mesh well with Cutler. Both sides are at fault here for the situation, Denver for basically ignoring Cutler until after a failed Cassel trade, and Cutler for apparently not getting over it and being willing to work with the new staff.

I wonder if that's slightly skewed by the 3 NFL North teams playing an 0-16 Detroit team twice.

Likewise, making the NCAA tourney was far more satisfying than losing twice to PSU. In all seriousness though, there was a different set of expectations coming into the season for both schools. PSU doesn't have any history of sustained success like Illinois does. A "down" year for Illinois is usually a "good" year for PSU. So, for a school that is trying to establish a higher level of competitiveness, a 5 game run through the NIT was a more valuable playing experience than the NCAA might have been. Now, if PSU had made the NCAA and had pulled an Arizona and gone to the Swet Sixteen, that' a completely different story. Either way, I'm proud of the players for shaking of the disappointment of missing the dance and playing some really good basketball in the NIT. They'll get to hang a banner, and they'll return most of their players for another run in the Big Ten next year. If they can finish in the top half next year, I'll be pretty happy. I just think Illinois had a year that really exceeded expectations, followed by a crippling injury to the senior starting PG that really tempered expectations going into the tourney. I'd probably have been a lot more disappointed if Frazier had played and they'd lost. I still think they got the best possible draw imaginable for the tourney, it just didn't work out this year. Next year, I expect the Illini to struggle early with an almost complete changing out of the guards (3 freshmen in, Frazier/Meacham/Brock out), but ideally the new guys are a big enough step up in talent (go Brandon Paul) that they should still be competitive in a tough Big Ten.

I wish I was able to read Aaron Schatz's take on the deal, as I respect his opinion a lot more than Schlereth or Dilfer (or Peter King, etc.). Here's why I like the deal, even if it's for more than I was originally expecting: - Cutler is arguably the best player traded like this, possibly ever. The Herschel Walker deal was bigger in manpower, and did a lot more for Dallas with the picks, but Walker really never panned out. Bledsoe was traded after a nasty concussion at the age of 30. Joe Montana was traded late in his career. I can't think of another scenario where a team made a trade that instantly gave them a just-entering-his-prime QB that's already top 5 in the league. - Cutler grew up a Bears fan and shouldn't feel as if his services aren't wanted here, so I don't think his attitude will be an issue (Heck, one of his big draws at draft time was that he was a high character guy...this feels a lot like a John Elway situation. All was quickly forgiven with Elway.) - Cutler should quickly be able to get accustomed to the Bears offense with 2 former college teammates on the team with Williams and Bennett. This can only mean good things for Bennett, really. - With the Pace signing, along with the other OL signings, the Bears can focus drafting defensive players, and won't have to pay out first-round money for a pick, which really makes the money in this deal a wash (Cutler's contract is very reasonable for 3 years). I'd still like to see the Bears sign/trade for a WR.

Likewise, making the NCAA tourney was far more satisfying than losing twice to PSU.

Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Pat Ewing, Shaq, Charles Barkley, Clyde Drexler, Gary Payton/Shawn Kemp (early years), Stockton/Malone, there were plenty of stars in the league when Jordan and the Bulls basically owned it. A lot of people forget that the year the Bulls won 72 games, the Payton/Kemp Sonics won 64, the Shaq/Penny Magic won 60, and the David Robinson Spurs won 59. Those same Bulls swept the Magic and won the first 3 straight against a Sonics team that hadn't lost 3 straight all year.

Who's the 6th? Hoffpauir? Yeah, this year's equivalent of Daryle Ward as a backup 1B/corner OF. Meanwhile, they have 4 players total capable of playing 3 IF positions. Unless you count Soriano playing 2B.

Maybe this is the year Mexico fails to qualify....naaaah. Only way for that to happen is if they lose some matches in Azteca, and I don't see anybody beating them there, even the US.