illiniguy

I would think the first name that they would ask for would be Starlin Castro.

So he's doing a worse job of identifing talent? Or he is getting worse as a coach? I just think the two big things a college coach can do is identify talent and then get it on campus. Then stay out of the way.

He has had really good talent as Pitt. Not top of the Big East type talent. Eh, I mean Dejuan Blair was as good as pretty much anyone that came into that conference in that time frame, no?

He has had really good talent at Pitt.

He's not getting the same type of talent that he was.

I wouldn't. In college Basketball who are the best coaches going right now? Cal, Self, Roy Williams, K? Of the four of them the only one I would say is a great x and o coach is K. The rest do a great job of coaching during the recruiting period.

Rasmus for Greinke?

Purdue is still going to be very good. Robbie Hummel isn't all that great. Tough loss, but I sitll think they can be a very, very good team.

Trust me Sulley, if Illinois wins the Big Ten you'll be plenty satisfied. It's been quite some time since we've raised a banner of any kind. 05 is too long? This isn't the Big 12.

Eh, that one at least a lot of people can get behind. Him dropping Wooden and K as guys who do more with less is epic win.

Hi Bo, I think it's awesome that you have convinced everyone that the 4 star and 5 star talent and that you have had play for you wasn't talent. Is it because a lot of these guys are white? Is that how you are able to convince everyone that you are coaching up really bad talent?

Are you claiming these guys weren't working with a lot of talent?

Classy. I wouldn't count on Purdue going back to mediocrity anytime soon. Oh, has Painter been recruiting another super class that nobody knows about? Because otherwise, yeah they are in for a bit of a slide. If by 'super class' you mean four star recruit after four star recruit, then yes. Purdue will have the same number of four star recruits on the roster next year as they did last year. Maybe it's more about coaching ability? Could be? In college basketball it's all about talent, not coaching ability. Also accrording to Rivals since your big 3 showed up in '07 Painter has had 10 3 star recruits and 5 4 stars. Not exactly 4 star after 4 star.

I want no part of what it will take to get Greinke from them. The time to do that was in '07 or '08 when he was underrated. Not now when he is very overrated.

Classy. I wouldn't count on Purdue going back to mediocrity anytime soon. I don't think you will fade away. But, I also do not think you are recruiting well enough to be in the top 3 of the Big Ten the next few years.

Robbie Hummel has he had a medical redshirt year? but anyway, that sucks. Nope, not yet. He came in with Moore and Johnson and they are still there so he has a year to burn.

Chasson, Chasson. Your recruiting is never really great at this point though in recent history. Self usually rebounds well though and finds a top rated kid who has verballed to a coach who got canned.

Holy Crap, I just read all of the names that are going to be at Illinois' Midnight Madness. Pretty unreal. I am not sure what the hell Mike Shaw is waiting on, seems like he might want to be a part of what is going on in Champaign the next 5-8 years.

Was that 2004 or 2005? 2005 - post end of year meltdown, boombox, walkout, corked bat, fighting with broadcast team, etc. 2005 we looked for good character guys because of how 2004 ended and because the "idiot" Red Sox won the world series taking body shots off each other. 2006 after the White Sox won the World Series with speed and small ball, Hendry somehow decided that he needed to win with speed and small ball as well. So Pierre, Fast Freddie Bynum, Angel Pagan, Ronny Cedeno, Jerry Hairston, Tony Womack, and Neifi Perez all had roles on the team. 2007 after the Cardinals won the world series with gritty fielders like David Eckstein, Yadi Molina, Aaron Miles, Taguchi and Rolen, Hendry made the statement that he decided he "likes guys that can catch the ball". Thus guys like Jock Jones, Caesar Izturis, Koyie Hill, Ryan Theriot, Mark DeRosa found roles on the team. At some point here, Lou bitched out Hendry for being a reactionary bitch and the theme seemed to die down a bit as Lou was allowed to have his own input in the process. However, after the Red Sox won the WS in 2007 with multiple Japanese players playing a role, he went out and got Fukudome, and after the 2008 Phillies won the World Series employing several key lefty hitters, Hendry did start a mini-obsession with acquiring lefty and switch hitting bats in order to have a balanced lineup. Unfortunately, in order to get more balanced, we had to downgrade in several positions. After seeing that, I can see how Ricketts would feel the need to keep Hendry around.

And your point is? An owner appeasing his fans is going to talk about making the team better, getting better players, investing in the team, etc. Writing nonsense about batting with RISP (something his untouchable GM has repeatedly tried to focus on) after hiring a strange stat dude who is all about needless situational statistics is a strong indication he is directing the organization to be focused on things they should not be focused on. My point is that you're picking apart a glorified form letter in order to justify your preconceived notions about how terribly the team is run. I mean seriously, you think lower error totals and better RISP numbers are going to be the focus of the offseason? One offseason we had to get more left handed. Another we had to get guys who catch the ball. If Hendry is making themoves, yeah I think we could base it on something as foolish as the things you mentioned.

From what I've read of Chasson, I don't think a football game is going to sway him. He seems to be handling this in a very thoughtful manner.

I'd be really interested in that as well, but as Mojo said, it's not likely to happen. There aren't a bunch of Theo Epsteins out there and the ones who were compared to him (Dayton Moore especially) haven't turned out to be nearly as good. Though Ricketts saying he wanted to model us after the Red Sox gives me some hope. I would rather have Dayton Moore running our team than Jim Hendry. Moore may suck, but his Tim Wilken is a lot better at what he does than our Tim Wilken. The Royals have a ton of talent ready to come up. I know Dayton has crapped his pants with some big league moves, but at least he has built a very deep system.

Sadly '03-'08 was as good a run as many Cubs fans have ever experienced.

Do you think Vitters to first is because they feel he can't handle third defensively, or do you think it's because they aren't planning on spending at first this offseason?

Wilken like many in the organization is fiercely loyal to Hendry and people are certain that he'd quit as soon as Hendry was fired. Being as there are like 5 people on this board who I think would draft as well, if not better than Wilken, I wouldn't let that faze me at all.