bukie

Cubs in 4 Phillies in 3 Rays in 3 Red Sox in 4 Cubs in 6 Rays in 5 Rays in 4

This should be interesting... NL MVP: 1. Lance Berkman 2. Albert Pujols 3. Carlos Beltran 4. Hanley Ramirez 5. Chase Utley 6. Jose Reyes 7. Nate McLouth 8. Ryan Braun 9. Tim Lincecum 10. David Wright AL MVP: 1. Justin Morneau 2. Grady Sizemore 3. Ian Kinsler 4. Josh Hamilton 5. Joe Mauer 6. Cliff Lee 7. Carlos Quentin 8. Kevin Youkilis 9. Raul Ibanez 10. Curtis Granderson NL CY: 1. Tim Lincecum 2. Johan Santana 3. Cole Hamels AL CY: 1. Roy Halladay 2. Cliff Lee 3. Jon Lester NL Rookies: 1. Geovany Soto 2. Joey Votto 3. Jair Jurrjens AL Rookies: 1. Mike Aviles 2. Evan Longoria 3. Joba Chamberlain NL Managers: 1. Cecil Cooper (still a dick) 2. Fredi Gonzales 3. Tony LaRussa AL Managers: 1. Ron Gardenhire 2. Mike Scioscia 3. Ozzie Guillen (also still a dick) All choices made through some kind of statistical measure. :)

So what, just let them be happy for their team that won the World Series 3 years ago. The stupid part of the argument is the assumption that anyone who lives in Chicago has to hate one or the other, which is just juvenile crap.

Really, it would make most sense if the teams were simply seeded 1-4 by record. If that gives a wild-card team home field advantage in a round, so be it.

The Brewers strike me as a prime example of a "just happy to be here" playoff team. But, you never know until the games are actually played.

If the Cubs beat the Dodgers, I immediately expect the Cubs to win the World Series. In fact, if the Cubs win the first game against the Dodgers, that will do a lot to get the monkey off their backs and make me feel a lot more confident. So, your two options are get swept or win world series?

Please tell me someone didn't try the "You don't know how it is if you don't live in Chicago" argument.

Stats: Team Efficiency Ratings: - Bears 11th overall in efficiency. They won last week despite being clearly outplayed. - 21st offensively, 9th defensively, 5th ST. Same as ever, really. Although the defense is better than it was last year. Team Offense Ratings: - 21st overall offensively, but 25th in passing and 10th in rushing. They were actually projected to be worse offensively at this point, which is promising, but the passing game was much worse this week than it was overall after last week. Team Defense Ratings: - 9th overall, 12th passing, 9th rushing, above average efficiency in both. Slightly worse than projected, but still adequate. Team Special Teams Ratings: - 5th overall, which is lower than projected. The Bears have traditionally dominated special teams efficiency (as in, first by a long ways), so there's been a dropoff here to this point. - They're slightly above average in point-kicking (FG/XP) efficiency, second in the NFL in kickoff efficiency, upper third in kickoff returns, upper third in punting, 5th worst in the NFL in punt returns. Hopefully will improve with a healthy Hester actually running forward. As for individuals, Orton has been....bad. 28th among QBs in overall value, 30th in value per play. Forte is middle of the pack, 20th in overall value, 18th in value per play. His success rate (rate of successful running plays to overall running plays) is near the bottom of the league, though. As Wide Receivers go, Lloyd has actually been very good, 16th in the league in overall efficiency, 15th per play. He'd certainly be missed if he's out for an extended time. Rashied Davis is right about at the bottom of the list of qualified receivers (12 catches). Hester has been slightly above average to this point, with hopes that he can pick up the slack if Lloyd is down. Booker has been more useless than Davis. Tight Ends have been a huge disappointment thus far, as both Olsen and Clark are right at the bottom of the qualified TE list in efficiency, both far below average. The Offensive Line is pretty poor, 24th in the NFL in run blocking efficiency, 22nd in pass blocking efficiency. Run blocking is much better on later downs, but abysmal on first downs. The Defensive Line is very good at run stopping (9th), not so good in pass rushing (20th, an NFL average 8 sacks overall).

Actually, Buffalo doesn't play a division game until week 8. Then, 2/3 of their remaining games are divisional.

I thought Braun was a better comparison, since it's fresh from yesterday in the minds of fans. :P

Yeah, Howry basically turns the entire NL into Ryan Braun when he pitches. In contrast, Michael Wuertz basically turns the entire NL into Kosuke Fukudome when he pitches.

Let's go White Sox, since my wife is going to be home tonight and it's better for everyone involved when the Sox win.

Yes, at the end of August, also encompassing the last time they played a good team (swept in 4 @Philly). Also included a sweep at Washington. To be fair, they also swept the Phillies in 4 games earlier in August. They're not pathetic, they're better than they were in June, still the worst team in the playoffs.

Ethier was playing before the Manny trade. It's not as if Andruw Jones was walking out there every day. Also, Furcal is just coming off the DL and played 4 games prior to the end of the season, going 2 for 9 with no XBHs. The Dodgers finished the year 14th in the NL in scoring, going 8th in the NL over the last month+.

Huh, don't know where I heard otherwise. They improved offensively about the same as the Cubs did over the same period. Remember, back when the Cubs played the Dodgers, there was no healthy Soriano, and Soto was hurting. Also, back in June, Blake DeWitt was hitting the cover off the ball at 3B, so the difference in offense between that and Casey Blake is minimal. The big difference, obviously, is the upgrade from Juan Pierre to Manny Ramirez.

Except that the Dodgers scored at exactly the same rate on the road as at home, which is weird.

You think the Tigers wouldn't want to crush the Sox's playoff hopes? I think they would. I think if the Tigers were playing the Sox last week, they'd love to crush the Sox playoff hopes. I think today, the TIgers simply wish the season were already over.

There is both no reason to discount Hoffpaiur simply because of his age, and no reason to depend on him as a starter next year. He could be good, he could be the next Roosevelt Brown/Jason Dubois.

I have a hard time imagining the Tigers actually giving a good effort in this game, after such a disappointing season that has them finishing in last place in the Central.

Gammons picked the Dodgers last night on SportsCenter. It should be a good series. I'm curious, what was his rationale? He likes Derek Lowe and Manny Ramirez. Go figure.

I look it as the Bears have already played their toughest 3 NFC games of the season, arguably, and went 1-2, disappointingly. They did outplay their opponents in two of the games, though, so considering them a playoff contender isn't much of a stretch at this point.

I do find it hilarious, however, that just 3 weeks into the season the Lions had a 0.0% chance of making the playoffs.

Interesting, hadn't thought about Baltimore since they've only played two games. Is it safe to assume, though, that according to the data if the Titans beat the Ravens Sunday, they will then be the best team in the AFC? :D Heh, as long as they outplay them while doing it, and look better than Buffalo in the process... ;) After Baltimore/Tennessee/Buffalo there's a huge gap in the AFC to the next "tier". To make you feel better: Even before this week, the Titans had the best odds of any team in the NFL to make the playoffs

Actually, statistically to this point (coming into this week), Baltimore has been the best team in the NFL. Granted, that's only with two weeks of statistical data to work with (for them). Top 10 statistically, coming into this week, were Baltimore, New York Giants, Philadelphia, Tennessee, Buffalo, Atlanta, Dallas, Green Bay, San Diego, Pittsburgh The always fun "If the playoffs started today" playoff lineup: NFC: Arizona, Carolina, NY Giants, Green Bay, Washington, Tampa Bay AFC: Buffalo, Baltimore, Tennessee, Denver, Pittsburgh, New England

The Bears somehow won this week despite getting outplayed overall and giving up 4 turnovers. I like to think of it as somewhat evening out the previous two weeks where the Bears outplayed both teams and lost anyway.