SpongeWorthy

So is not hearing about how great the offense looks in camp a good thing? Last year's media reports--and not just the Chicago area media--made us sound like the 2nd coming of the Greatest Show on Turf. I drank that Kool-Aid pretty deeply too. I was envisioning all sorts of exotic packages, gadget plays involving Hester, and Grossman marching us up and down the field. What I got was a dreadful running game, tons of mistakes in the passing game, poor line play, and not a single well designed/executed screen play all year.

My guess is Angelo told the agent to tell Devin, "Remember when Urlacher showed up to OTA and then they signed him?" They probably refused to sign him while he was holding out, and told him, show up, and then we'll sign. That could be true. At any rate, I'm listening to alot of silly hand-wringing on the radio this morning about how this is "typical Bears" and they should have "given Hester his money long ago." Honestly, do most Bear fans feel this way? Looking at the picture, I really don't see how the Bears have botched their negotiations this offseason. I think they've actually done a pretty good job. Hester's a player under contract -- he has asked for more money. The Bears have agreed to negotiate a new contract. What else can reasonably be expected here? I had to defend the Bears at work this week. Everybody thought the Bears were stupid because Hester wasn't signed long-term yet. I got all the "he's their only way of scoring points". People don't realize that Hester has only played 2 years. He hasn't been a factor on anything but special teams until last year when the season when the season was no longer in doubt. I think it is more to Hester's benefit to be in camp than it is to the Bears. Hester wants to be paid like a #1 WR. Yeah, the Bears want him in that role, but if he isn't it's not like they don't have other options. I defended the Bears and told everyone that a 455K/year player wouldn't hold out for long at 15K/day. What other options do the Bears have? There's a mix of young guys, a special teams superduperstar, and middling veterans. Whatever good options the Bears have is directly a result of the NFL's salary cap structure and nothing they've done. It's not like they have a quarterback who is going to disguise weaknesses in the WR corps either.

The proliferation of wide open spreads in college is going to change the way quarterbacks are evaluated by pro teams, though. You can't avoid it. If you wanted to stick to legit QB prospects from traditional pro-style offenses at the college level you'd be looking at Matt Stafford, Mark Sanchez, and not a whole lot else I can think of off the top of my head. Even Michigan, which was considered something of a QB factory, is going to be wildly different under RRod. But even by these standards Florida's offense is extremely gimmicky. The quarterback lead isn't going to ever be featured in a pro offense. Also, I just wanted to rip on Tebow a little bit. I really can't believe he's considered a first round prospect.

I would be pretty surprised if Chase Daniel doesn't end up being the best pro QB out of the current Big XII quarterbacks--and there are a lot of good ones. I see a more mobile Drew Brees out of him--very accurate, very heady, quick release, good leader, and underwhelming measurables. This contrasts to Tim Tebow who I'm shocked is even considered a good potential pro in the NFL. Slow delivery, horrible accuracy, and his best skillset (running ISOs and dives into the teeth of the defense), and a pedigree from an extraordinarily gimmicky offense has almost zero value in the pros.

Except, you know, he hasn't. He had an OPS+ of 104 coming into today which will only go up a bit. Has he been great? No. But he hasn't been what you claim. And it's not the best idea to evaluate a guy in the midst of a horrible slump. I don't mean in the totality of his season. I just think this is more than a slump and a lot of it has to do with his inability to really deal with big league pitching. You reference Matsui but I sure as hell don't see a consistent .850 OPS guy in Fukudome. The guy has no power at this level.

Yeah, screw him. He only went 2-for-5 today. What a bum. No, you're right, he's definitely a $12M outfielder. Way to judge him based on four months in his first year in the majors. Hideki Matusi had a .788 OPS in his first year with the Yankees. He hasn't had one under .850 since. Not to mention that he's in the midst of a slump, which every single player in the majors goes through at some point during the season. What does Hideki Matsui have to do with anything? I agree that Kosuke is in a slump. But there's really no reason for any pitcher to do anything but challenge him in the strike zone with fastballs. He hasn't done anything with them in quite a while. There's slumping and then there's a total of 4 XBH's from your $12m corner outfielder in the month of July. Because Matsui was a guy that Kosuke was compared to before coming over here. And that should mean what exactly in terms of evaluating Kosuke's contributions--or lack thereof? He's been really, really, really bad. I think pitchers were expecting Fukudome to be more of a power hitter when he arrived. I understand he's not a home run hitter but you have to be AT LEAST a threat or a doubles machine to get much respect at the plate. He's been neither this year. Pitchers don't nibble or try to fool him out of the zone. His value as an OBP guy is directly related to his ability to punish hitter's pitches. He hasn't really done that.

Yeah, screw him. He only went 2-for-5 today. What a bum. No, you're right, he's definitely a $12M outfielder. Way to judge him based on four months in his first year in the majors. Hideki Matusi had a .788 OPS in his first year with the Yankees. He hasn't had one under .850 since. Not to mention that he's in the midst of a slump, which every single player in the majors goes through at some point during the season. What does Hideki Matsui have to do with anything? I agree that Kosuke is in a slump. But there's really no reason for any pitcher to do anything but challenge him in the strike zone with fastballs. He hasn't done anything with them in quite a while. There's slumping and then there's a total of 4 XBH's from your $12m corner outfielder in the month of July.

Kosuke has been appallingly bad at the plate for quite a long time now. There's no reason to continue defending him. He'll turn it around a bit, eventually. But if he can't square up on a fastball and hammer them instead of fouling them off or whiffing he's not of much use at the plate. No one's afraid to challenge him right now and unless he turns it around his OBP is going to continue to plummet.

Kosuke over matched by a big league fastball? SHOCKING.

DempBB

1 more for Demp?

Hehe, you mean like Appalachain State?

This and the Cleveland game from that year still has to be the most unbelievable back to back stretch in NFL history.

I'm not sure I've ever heard Marbury labeled underrated. Sure, the numbers are nice but does he actually help a team win? He's certainly a cut below from Nash, Kidd, and Payton and I would take several young PGs over what he gave you in the prime of his career. Some guys are just stat compilers on average or lousy teams. Should people look back on this era 20 years from now and consider Zach Randolph, Marbury, or Abdur-Rahim some of the better players of their day? I also have very little doubt that Rose is a more complete PG that Marbury. I'd also be disappointed if his career on the Bulls took a similar arc.

Mayo is the best perimeter defender in the draft after Westbrook.

Mayo is a more cerebral player than I think he gets credit for. He's the kind of guy you can let take the ball up the court and get you into your offense but he doesn't force too many shots. He moves well without the rock too. If the Sonics get him I think he'd be a great fit along with KD and I don't see too much of a problem in terms of shots--Durant would clearly still be The Man.

Also, a heinous schedule and no conference championship game. If they go to the NC game again this year and get killed, something is going to have to be done about it. If they go undefeated, they'll have earned it since that would mean they went to LA and beat USC. If they can do that and then run the table, I'll have no problem with OSU being in the title game. Ugh, I just don't want to see them in the title game again this year. Someone needs to stop 'em. I'm not really a OSU hater, but someone else plz. I agree and I don't want to see them in the title game either. But if they go to LA and beat USC, they'll certainly have earned it. Badgers'll stop 'em at Camp Randall in an upset. I'm calling it right here. Hey, you gotta step out sometime. :mrgreen: Tell me If I'm wrong gentlemen, but didn't they lose a game before the BCS Championship last year? By no means do they have to go undefeated. Yes, I agree with this. I don't buy the argument that Ohio State must go undefeated to go to the BCS title game again. The coaches and Harris pollsters aren't going to collude and vote differently than then would have in previous years just because OSU got spanked two years in a row. And obviously that won't be a consideration for the computers. Which isn't to say that a one-loss OSU is by any means a shoe in since so many other variables are involved but they're not going to be excluded because of what happened the last two seasons.

Yeah, I think home field/court advantage is more important in the NFL and NBA than it is in baseball and DEFINITELY in college football that's the case. I understand there's a rule as to why home teams have a built in advantage in baseball but if that doesn't overcome referee favoritism, crowd noise, comfort level, etc. then I don't see why it's material to the argument.

Also, a heinous schedule and no conference championship game. If they go to the NC game again this year and get killed, something is going to have to be done about it. I'm all for adding a championship game to the Big Ten, or else adding a +1 format to the BCS. I wish they'd just stop with all the excuses and do it. There shouldn't be a way for a team to simply slide from their conference schedule right into the Championship game with no other buffer at all. No incentive for the Big 10 to do so though. They get 2 teams in the BCS every year by keeping the status quo. Yep, why change and lose millions (why I'm not that mad about ND not joining a conference). And OSU played the 53rd and 38th toughest schedules the last two years. By no means tough but not cupcakes either. How about someone doing something revolutionary and acting in the best interest of the sport instead of for their own selfish financial interests? Just a thought. That's a contradiction in terms. Whatever is in the best interest of the sport is whatever is going to create the biggest financial windfall. Then again the NCAA purports not to be a business which is a huge farce in and of itself. Although I would argue that instituting a playoff system makes everyone richer besides certain bowl committees.

Since Sammy?

that's a 4-6-3 double play if you're scoring at home...or even if you're all alone [/Olbermann]

Here's a long profile piece on Sonny Vaccaro that I ran across on The New Republic's website--pretty stuffy mag for a profile of a shoe maven. It details a lot of Vaccaro's arguments against the NCAA and some alternative ideas he believes he has the clout and connections to pull off. They involve lobbying congress about the NCAA's tax-exempt status and moving towards a pay-for-play model. He's also had a few other ideas that he's tabled (send high schoolers to Europe for a year, a basketball academy alternative, etc.) http://www.tnr.com/politics/story.html?id=d0f34d09-ede4-431a-8477-e616b25f1360 MOD EDIT: For space and copyright reasons, I edited out the entirety of the article.

His fastball is nowhere close.

China will be very, very motivated to win the gold medal count this year. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/21/sports/olympics/21athlete.html?ref=todayspaper It's pretty sickening what the Chinese government is doing to its Olympians. I understand college coaches scouting middle schoolers is low but this takes the cake.

who are you talking about? Harang has only had 3 years with 200 ip and 2 years with an ERA+ 120 or above. Is it really unclear as to who I'm talking about or are you just nitpicking for the hell of it? I'm assuming he's going to get over 200 IP this year. He'll probably fall short of the 120 ERA+ but if he improves from his mediocre-ish numbers he'll be close to it if you aggregate the 4 years.