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Who considers Crede a better player than Ramirez? Just about every White Sox fan, so pretty much almost everyone on Chicago Sports radio.

Because of some sort of Money dispute our local cable company may be losing ABC on Friday. I will be very sad if I have to miss the games on Sat. Somehow I think that they will be on but my next cable bill is going to be $20 more.

I wanted to comment of several posts so here goes. 1. Tim I really like Trammel also and he easily would make it if not for injuries. I think the modern SS may keep him out. 2. Tony Gwynn was fast. He probably could have hit 20 hrs a year also if he wanted to lower his BA. 3. I dont post this in defense of McGwire or any other of the possible steriod users. In Sandy Koufax's book it is mentioned that he took a prescription pain killer that is now illegal and a banned substance in baseball. He took it just to pitch. I am sure that he was not the only guy on these painkillers in his time. This is clearly a performance enhancing drug. Do we need to weed out all of this kind of stuff also.

C'mon man. You'll vote for Big Mac but not for Dawson? Let's compare: Dawson: .279 BA, 2,774 hits, 1373 runs, 438 homeruns, 503 2B, 1591 rbi, 314 sb, 1 mvp, 8 gold gloves McGwire: .263 BA, 1626 hits, 1167 runs, 583 homeruns, 252 2B, 1414 rbi, 12 sb, no mvps, 1 gold glove If both players played through the same era I would probably take Dawson in his prime over McGwire also. I think Dawson would have hit 50 Hrs several times in the late 90s early 00s. I bring this up some and usually get a few hate filled remarks but I will say it anyway. Why is Cal Ripken so revered for setting a personal record that probably hurt his performance and the teams. I think Cal should be in the hall and was a great player. If Barry Bonds was swinging at bad pitches to set the HR mark he would certainly be criticized for putting personal records in front of team records. Cal Ripken playing everyday probably hurt his performance as a player, hence he and his managers put personal records ahead of what is good for the team.

strange situation for them. two points either way to the fourth ranked team could mean the difference between a BCS game and the Lampshade Bowl. A similar thing happened to Tennessee in 2004. We made it to the SEC championship with two losses (I still have a little hate for ND for knocking Ainge out for the year in our loss to them) and outplayed Auburn but still lost and dropped from a BCS bowl to the Cotton Bowl. We went on to demolish TAMU in the bowl. Funny how the Cotton bowl is considered an inferior bowl. When I was a kid it was one of only 4 bowls on New Years day and it was a big one. The Southwestern Conference champ would go and play an at large. I remember Joe Montanas(really Notre Dame) comeback against Houston was a Cotton Bowl

No chaos. It would only make the 2 best teams meet in the NC game There's a difference between the two best and two most deserving. Michigan doesn't fit the latter. There the most deserving now. If it wasnt for some sort of mythical doesnt make any sense we dont want a rematch rule they would be #2. I have said though that USC will make it if they win out. I wouldnt argue against them becuase they played a real good non-conference schedule. However if they lose than Michigan most certainly deserves and is the best team in line to play OSU.

No chaos. It would only make the 2 best teams meet in the NC game

Who does ISU play. I work with several alums and want to be on the ball tomorow with knowledge of who they play.

Laid eggs? They were outclassed. Their only other games were against second tier programs, so of course they looked better. Come on, man. Laid eggs? Yes, laid eggs. Quinn has thrown 5 INTs all year and 3 of them came against UM. That's a laid egg. Hell he didn't even have any against USC whose D is pretty damn good too. Rhema hasn't dropped passes all year until this game. Freeman looked like crap. USC outplayed ND but that doesn't mean ND played their best game. I give all sorts of credit to UM and USC for playing the way they did in those games, but they weren't responsible for Rhema's not holding onto the football today or for ND's offensive line crapping out in the UM game. The only consolation is that we likely didn't get beat bad enough to fall out of the BCS. Wait, the reason Quinn threw those interceptions was purely because of him laying an egg and not because of the UM defense ?(and the supposed best defensive line in the nation?) Yes, you can look really good against service acadamies, maybe only throw one or two picks. Congrats. USC and Michigan? More talented than ND. Maybe Weis can recruit very well, we'll soon see. Yeah, that great UM defense that gave up 503 yards to OSU. What an awesome defense. I think I was defending Michigan. I was just saying that Michigan would score against OSU and OSU would have a tough time against Michigans defense if they tried to do what they normally do. So Tressel went with something unexpected that caught Michigan offguard. By the way OSU will beat USC by 3 touchdowns.

Laid eggs? They were outclassed. Their only other games were against second tier programs, so of course they looked better. Come on, man. Laid eggs? Yes, laid eggs. Quinn has thrown 5 INTs all year and 3 of them came against UM. That's a laid egg. Hell he didn't even have any against USC whose D is pretty damn good too. Rhema hasn't dropped passes all year until this game. Freeman looked like crap. USC outplayed ND but that doesn't mean ND played their best game. I give all sorts of credit to UM and USC for playing the way they did in those games, but they weren't responsible for Rhema's not holding onto the football today or for ND's offensive line crapping out in the UM game. The only consolation is that we likely didn't get beat bad enough to fall out of the BCS. Wait, the reason Quinn threw those interceptions was purely because of him laying an egg and not because of the UM defense ?(and the supposed best defensive line in the nation?) Yes, you can look really good against service acadamies, maybe only throw one or two picks. Congrats. USC and Michigan? More talented than ND. Maybe Weis can recruit very well, we'll soon see. Yeah, that great UM defense that gave up 503 yards to OSU. What an awesome defense. If OSU would have come out with that offense against any team in the country they would easily put up 500+ yards. I have to give Tressel credit, he realized Michigan would score and that his regular offense would not work against Michigans defense. He came out in 5 wide with 3 step drops and took Michigans front 7 out of the game. Tressel probably would use that offense against most teams but I think he realized this was the way to beat Michigan. He also had the talent to pull it off. As for the at large BCS teams. I think Michigan, Boise St and Fla/LSU are locks. If Fla loses they are one if Fla wins than LSU is one. The fourth will be ND unless Rutgers beats WV, then I dont know. Louisville would be more deserving but ND is ND as Lou Holtz has said. Doesnt ND get an automatice berth if they are ranked so high in the BCS poll?

I have a feeling there is going to be a backlash against players of this generation. Since HOF voters dont look at things like OBP and OPS, I am inclined to think that Bagwell will have trouble getting in. Also whenever there is a player who may be borderline a thing that helps a lot is postseason success, which Bagwell has little. Do I think he should be in? Yes Do I think he will make it? I dont know

Jason Schmidt. He has been losing velocity for several years and he will be leaving one of the best pitching parks in baseball.

It has bothered me that people who are experts and are actually employed because of Baseball do not understand that a player usually takes 2 to 3 years or major league experience to develop into the player that he will become. The writers who write about the Cubs seem to think what you do in your first month in the Majors will be what you do for your career. Luckily Sandberg was able to rise above them. It seems in Chicago if you dont put up Rookie of the Year numbers you are tagged by the Media as no good and they would rather have Cliff Floyd, who isnt any better but has a name they know. Sadly I think a couple of the pitchers who came up last year will be solid pitchers. Alot of members of the Chicago media have already deemed them no good.

Bill James? The father of modern sabermetrics? I don't really know how to say this, but he's kind of a big deal. I will grant that his projection models aren't as wonderful as systems like PECOTA, but it's still a wonderful sign that his system sees Rich Hill as probably deserving at least some down-ballot Cy Young consideration. If I recall correctly, PECOTA had Hill putting up some outrageous numbers on the high end as well. you're correct. pecota's 'optimistic' projection for hill would make him the best starter in the NL. Bill James did predict the 84 Cubs to win their division. I dont think that James gift is in predicting how players will play. He is really good at pointing out overrated aspects of some players and underrated aspects of others in a interesting form

They are in a conference and since the Big East is so terrible ND wouldn't even have to play their starters all year. Why not just make the Big 10 the real Big 10 and have Penn State and ND join the Big East. Not sure you pull Penn State out after 13 years in the conference. Whatever will become of the storied Land Grant Trophy game? And from my own biased perspective, I wouldn't want Penn State to have to deal with the BS that WVU, Louisville, etc. have this year. "Yeah, PSU is 10-1, but who did they beat? Pitt? South Florida? Rutgers?" Forget it. They have the recruiting power to hang in the Big 10 and I like the challenge Are you serious? ND and Penn State plus what's already in the Big East? In any given year it could be the top conference in college football. I do think that big rivalry game Penn State vs Michigan St is a good as it gets. Way better than a Pitt/Penn State game. Also, if Penn State were in the Big East this year they would have had anywhere from 2 to 4 losses in the Conference alone. looking back at their pre-Big 10 days, Penn State actually played quite a lot of games agains the Big East. 2 to 4 of Syracuse, Pitt, BC (who was Big East at the time), Rutgers, or Miami every year. Believe it or not I think that there are Academic considerations for joining the Big Ten. I am not dissing the fine insitutions of the Big East but one of the reasons Penn St joined the Big Ten were for Academics.

How about: 1) Aramis eats himself off third base, but we can't move him to 1B because Derrek is already there 2) The pitching doesn't come through 3) We don't win the WS even though Soriano breaks through to a 1.00+ level of OPS What I was really saying is if we win the WS it is a good signing if not it is going to be a bad signing. I really think it boils down to that. The money is too much for the talent. The only justification is we win the World Series.

After a day to let this sink in I have decided that only 2 outcomes can come from this signing. 1. Cubs win the World Series in the next couple of years with Soriano being a plus 9 OPS guy. Great signing or 2. Cubs not win the WS in the next couple of years and Soriano is putting up Jacque Jones type numbers in 2010. Horrendous signing I pray its 1 but would be more inclined to beat on 2.

Sure they did. Michigan had close games against Penn State and BALL STATE. The Penn St game wasnt close, only the score. If you look at the season objectively I would say that either Michigan or USC should be #2. Michigan does have the best overall resume but USC will improve theirs if they win out. I want to also give USC credit for playing a real non-conference schedule. If it was up to me I would give it to USC if they win out. If not I think its Michigan and its not even a close arguement. Also I hate the arguement that Michigan had its shot. In reality everyone had their "shot". If any of the other teams were undefeated they would be playing in the NC game. So they had their shot. So Michigan should be punished for losing to the #1 team while others have lost to lower teams. Edit: Also Penn St is a pretty good team. I havent looked at all the 4 loss teams but Penn St is probably the best. The 4 teams they have lost to have a combined 3 losses.

If USC wins out they will pass them. It does appear to be down to those 2 teams against OSU in the championship game though, unless someone else can win very impressively and maybe pass Michigan up in the polls if USC losses. Like I said in my previous post, I think this system still has the potential to leave several unanswered questions.

That frosts me because Arkansas gets punished because the "experts" didn't think they would be that good. IMO there is no reason why some stupid poll before the season even starts has so much influance on who plays in the BCS Championship game. The "experts" seen them get smoked by USC early in the season. Its not like Michigan started #2 either. They made their mark early by beating a Top Five team on the road. If Arkansas would have at least played well in their game versus USC they would have moved up faster. What is supposed to make this whole system great. Every game matters. I dont think Michigan has any gripes if they dont get in because they did have a chance. The truth is they still have the best arguement for being the second team. I think this is just going to be another year that it is painfully obvious that the system still leaves way too many unanswered questions.

I am making a bold prediction right now. Ohio St will beat anyone they play by 3 tds, unless its Michigan. In some sort of sick way I hope they do play Rutgers. I dont know if the pass interference play was called correctly. I do know that the defender had his back turned and was slapping at Manningham's hands. If he by chance didnt hit one he was lucky because he sure was trying to interfere. I dont think the refereeing made any difference in the outcome of the game. I think that there was some not so great calls both ways but the difference in the game if you ask me is that Troy Smith played better than Henne. It wasnt that Henne played bad but Smith was Heismanesgue.

I have been a little worn out by the hype also. Someone did remind me though that the winner of this game will definately go to the National Championship game which really doesnt happen as ofter as you would think. So you could almost consider it on the same level as the AFC or NFC Championship game from the NFL. I noticed in the Henne video about 75% of the plays came from the Michigan/OSU game from when Henne was a true freshman.

While driving home today I was listening to Mac, jurko and Harry hoping to hear some good Aardsma for Cotts stuff. Instead they were talking Michigan and Ohio St. Anyway Mac at one point said that Michigan creamed Notre Dame. So a few minutes later a Notre Dame fan called in to take offense to Mac saying it was a creaming. It really was some of the funniest radio I have heard in a long time. I dont mean this to be an attack on Notre Dame because I surely know some dumb fans of almost every team. What I thought was really funny was that this guy took time to call in and call Mac a moron for saying that Michigan creamed Notre Dame. I mean how much time he has had to waste over the last 2 months justifying his arguement that Michigan didnt cream Notre Dame and then to call a radio show and call someone else stupid for suggesting it. At the end of the conversation I reminded myself why I dont listen to a whole lot of any Talk Radio. This was really funny stuff though.

Not even to mention the fact that he is coming off a year that is out of context with the rest of his career. It just amazes me how many times do teams have to be burned with bad free agent contracts before they study what types of players tend to be bad free agent signings. I can almost guarantee that the number one bad idea is signing a past 30 player who is coming off a career year to a more than 3 year contract. "Oh but he is athletic and toolsy." I just want to know are the fans who want to pay "whatever it takes" to get Soriano willing to accept the fact that we will not be able to obtain other players in 3 years because we are stuck with his contract while he is putting up Jacque Jones numbers.

Wisconsin hasn't beat a team with less than 4 losses all year. You can only play the teams on your schedule. Their BCS ranking would normally qualify for a BCS game. The BCS takes SoS into account. I don't know what else to tell you. I understand what you're saying but they should at least play one BCS school team. They scheduled Bowling Green, Western Illinois, SD State and Buffalo. Plus, Syracuse can't even schedule Buffalo because teams like Auburn and Wisconsin offer them too much money according to the Buffalo AD. Exactly. Nothing against Wisconsin, but you need to schedule some good teams if you want to get BCS consideration. This isn't the NFL where you have little to no effect on the schedule that you play. This is the kinda thing that killed Kansas State for years. You guys are missing my point. I understand that Wisconsin scheduled patsies for their non-conference schedule. I'm not defending that. I'm saying that they would normally make a BCS game with the BCS ranking they are likely to have at the end of the season. They will probably finish around 6 because of matchups ahead of them and that's normally good enough to make it. Because Michigan and Ohio State are both great this year, they are going to get left in the cold. As a Wisconsin fan, that sucks. The strength of schedule really doesn't apply here at all. Edit: Also, if I'm not mistaken, if the Badgers finish 6th in the BCS, they will be the highest seeded team not to make a BCS bowl. I could be wrong, though. Wisconsin's beef isnt with the BCS it is with the Big Ten. They are the only conference where you dont play everyone or have a chance to play into a conference championship game. The Big Ten should either go to a 10 game conference schedule or find another school. I also think if you take off the magic "BCS" bowl name, Wisconsin may have a better bowl game than they may have gotten being a 3rd Big Ten team in the BCS. They will be playing the first non-BCS SEC team. This could be Florida, Arkansas, Auburn or even LSU. Probably a better game then possibly playing Boise St or the ACC champion.