Andy

Neyer is a very smart man. Very smart. But no stat in the world can tell me that replacing Derrek Lee's production with Neifi Perez's (pre-Walker trade) and Mabry/Nevin (post-Walker trade) results in 3-5 game difference, tops. It just can't.

One the other jv football coaches and the jv baseball coach was Paul Maneri. Paul Maneri is the current head baseball coach at Notre Dame. I knew that Maineri was a close friend of Hendry's (probably part of the reason Johnson and Shark are in our system now) but I didn't know where that came from, thanks for mentioning. Maineri left ND this summer for the job at his alma mater, LSU.

I was not a Cubs fan yet in 1998 (still adjusting to living in Indiana) so my magical team was 2001. I had a long post during the off-season or early in the season about just how awful that 2001 team outside Sammy was, and yet they got into the fall before fading away, and Sammy had a season much better than anything he did in 1998. Without Bonds's steroids Sammy would've far and away been the MVP. And I watched that Rockies/Cubs game. Probably the most exciting game I've ever watched apart from game 1 of the NLCS in 2003.

Uh, ouch. Looks like a 3rd of the Cubs payroll will be Aramis, Z and Lee before long.

The Cubs went something like 5-135 in May and June. Who got fired then?

I reiterate: I have NEVER heard anything Bill Plaschke has ever had an opinion on where I agreed with that opinion. In print, on Around the Horn, anywhere. I have ALWAYS disagreed with him.

As a Notre Dame fan, I feel very sorry for what is going to happen to that team. Ty already managed to pull in one of the worst recruiting classes in the history of the BCS Big Six conferences after a 2-win season. It could be a long time for Husky fans till they're back.

I would like to see Dierker or Girardi, but Fredi would probably be my top choice.

They are lucky they don't have to play BSU again. The Cards were the only team in the MAC to defeat both the division champions last season. :D

He was in the Minor League Player of the Year voting as a catcher and no one mentioned that he had moved, so I don't know.

Blanco should not be retained, the Cubs should have an open competition between Soto and Fox to back up Barrett next March. Jose Guillen would be a decent low-risk pickup, and I like the idea of Dave Roberts in center field. But unless the Cubs move Jacque, there's no room in the outfield for Guillen, unless of course the Cubs make the stupid decision to trade Murton. So what Rotoworld thinks combined with what I think would presume something like: C - Barrett, Fox/Soto 1B - Lee, Nevin (if he will accept a bench role) 2B - Cedeno, Theriot SS - Izturis, Theriot 3B - Aramis (re-signed to a Lee-type deal) LF - Murton/Guillen/Pagan CF - Roberts RF - Jones/Guillen Util - Bynum SP - Zambrano, Prior, Mateo, Marshall, Marmol/Guzman/fill in FA pickup here RP - Dempster, Howry, Eyre, Wuertz, Novoa, Wood (signed to 1/5.5 with player option for 2nd year at 6.5) There's 2-3 slots still left for FA pickups and whatnot

When did that start? We used to always tailgate in the parking lot across from the Marathon. I know they cracked down on a lot of things (no sale of kegs, etc.) but I didn't know they messed with the tailgating. We have an RV rented for Homecoming. Will we be able to get into the lot and tailgate there? Arby's Town is new for this year, I think, and while I'm not sure if you can get in the lot or not, my guess would be a no.

If you want to tailgate at BSU, you have to go to Arby's Tailgate Town outside the stadium. Yeah, that's seriously what they call it. If we don't get free Arby's sandwiches, I hate the name.

At least you didn't sign Jeff George like the Raiders just did :D It could come down to Jeff George and Kerry Collins in the battle for the #1 pick. Of course, Volek and Brooks is just as epic a battle. Jets fans, I didn't forget about you either. Your general talent sucks too. Personally, I want to see Quinn in New York. Please suck a lot, Jets.

I'll take the one without Bynum

I don't know, I think Dusty's rep would have kept him there. Note Fisher DeBerry, who also was a tenured coach with a track record of success.

Intersperse Jones clips with Bond clips from "The Man With the Golden Gun"

Ok, but Neifi was not signed to be a "low risk". Him and Fat Glendon were signed to a combined 6.5 million a year I believe, and if you dumped those worthless pieces of crap, you could have gotten a half-decent player this offseason (6.5 mill is more than we paid Jones).

Ok, I don't care if Derrek Lee recently had a leg amputated, there is no reason at all to put him behind Jacque Jones.

It's people like you that make me question the state of the world. :wink: In all honesty, I'm not worried about Tech very much, or Michigan. I'm worried about Penn State since it falls in between those two games and since, on paper anyway, they are the weakest of the three teams, but are still very good. And I am worried about MSU because they seem to acquire special powers against ND. As for BSU, anything less than a two-TD win is unacceptable. EMU is a very weak team. Nate Davis, rated the #1 recruit in the MAC this year as a QB, will play according to coach Brady Hoke, though it's unclear how much (Joey Lynch is still the starter).

Well, since Derwood, who started these threads last year, is off to Europe for a week (godspeed), I'll take the liberty of starting the opening college football thread of the season. All times Eastern. Games with a * are on ESPN GamePlan for those of you who are completely obsessed. Matchups between Top 25 teams --------------------------------------- (9) California at (23) Tennessee (5:30 pm, ESPN) (11) Florida State at (12) Miami (8 pm on Monday night, ESPN) "Good" Top 25 Games -------------------------- (2) Notre Dame at Georgia Tech (8 pm, ABC) (6) USC at Arkansas (8:45 PM, ESPN) Stanford at (21) Oregon (3:30 pm, ABC) (22) TCU at Baylor (5:30 pm on Sunday) Top 25 Mismatches ---------------------- N. Illinois at (1) Ohio State (3:30 pm, ABC) N. Texas at (3) Texas (12 pm) Washington State at (4) Auburn (7:45 pm, ESPN2) Marshall at (5) West Virginia (3:30 pm)* Southern Miss at (7) Florida (6 pm)* UL Lafayette at (8) LSU (8 pm)* UAB at (10) Oklahoma (7 pm, TBS) Kentucky at (13) Louisville (8 pm on Sunday night, ESPN) Vanderbilt at (14) Michigan (12 pm, ESPN) W. Kentucky at (15) Georgia (12:30 pm)* Montana at (16) Iowa (12 pm, ESPNU) Northeastern at (17) Va Tech (1:30 pm) FL Atlantic at (18) Clemson (3:30 pm, ESPNU) Akron at (19) Penn State (3:30 pm, ESPN2) Louisiana Tech at (20) Nebraska (3:30 pm) N. Arizona at (24) Arizona State (10 pm on Thursday night) SMU at (25) Texas Tech (7 pm) Other Games of interest to NSBB# ---------------------------------------------------- E. Michigan at Ball State (7:30 pm on Thursday night) Northwestern at Miami (OH) (7:30 pm on Thursday night, ESPNU) S. Carolina at Mississippi State (8 pm on Thursday night, ESPN) Idaho at Michigan State (12 pm, ESPN Plus) Indiana State at Purdue (1 pm) W. Michigan at Indiana (6 pm) Syracuse at Wake Forest (6:30 pm, ESPN360) Utah at UCLA (7 pm) NW State at Kansas (7 pm) Murray State at Missouri (7 pm) E. Illinois at Illinois (7 pm) Illinois State at Kansas State (7 pm) Memphis at Ole Miss (4:30 pm on Sunday, ESPN) Lock Haven at S. Illinois (8 pm on Thursday night) UC Davis at N. Colorado (3:35 pm) # - games involving non-Top 25 teams that I know for a fact at least one NSBB poster roots for. If you want your team on here and they're not let me know.

Worked well there, I thought. Talking to a couple of guys who are around Gm's everyday, they tell me that to be successful, you have to take risk's. Risk's as in signing players like Dempster, Miller, Carpenter, etc. Guys who are coming off arm injuries, are a risk. I dont know what is so around to understand. A good example of this, is Kerry Wood. Some GM is going to take a RISK on him. No gurantee he will stay healthy, but there is always that chance he will stay healthy. That is considered a risk. Those risks are not the problem. It's the Rusch's, the Bynum's, the Neifi's and the Macias's that are the risks that should not EVER be taken.

Bonnie Bernstein called the Cubs Bennett's "nemesis" in the interview. Oy vey. I'd almost rather an intelligent average-looking woman be there instead of Bonnie. Almost.

Ok, who didn't see that coming?

Worked well there, I thought.