Andy

Don't look now, but: UNC 16, Miami 7 8:42 left 2nd quarter

I don't usually get into the Big Ten, but Tim Brasic is playing pretty well for Illinois against Wisconsin, and the Badgers lead only 13-10 in the 2nd quarter.

It's supposed to be some kind of hurricane signal flag deal. Personally I don't get the sudden trend of college throwbacks, most of them look dumb anyway.

Uh...Post All-Star numbers: Murton --> 316/377/515 Burnitz --> 237/300/387 I think he way outperformed Burnitz. Move that qualifier and you have a true statement. How many ABs did Murton have compared to Burnitz...Yeah sit down and shut the hell up....You can say Murton had a better season but you would be god damn lying he ad like 150 AB's compared tp JB's 400 or whatever he had....So die....Good day.... hahahahahaha wtf?! THAT'S RIGHT SABERMETRICS PEOPLE, NUMBER OF ABS IS NOW THE CORRECT WAY TO DETERMINE A PLAYER'S WORTH That means Neifi Perez and Jose Macias must have been pretty damn good then! :wink:

I figured I'd post this here rather than giving it its own thread, but it looks like any Weis/NFL speculation is out the door, as ND is extending his contract five more years, taking it up to 2015. Weis' contract extended to 2015

LSU's game with N. Texas was supposed to be played on September 3rd, but some b**** named Katrina spoiled that idea.

I think Jim Hendry will put together a team capable of making the playoffs in 2006. Then again, he put together quite possibly the most talented Cub team in history in 2004 and Dusty and Co. ensured that we missed the playoffs that year. So you never know.

I expect the Cards to stick with Mark for another year. He's a solid 2nd baseman and a nice guy to have near the bottom of the order. I can't see Jocketty throwing money at Furcal when he's got a more than satisfactory option in-house.

So, we're not supposed to say good job when our GM makes a good move? That's news to me. What are we supposed to do? Complain? Sorry, I meant that more along the lines of how we had to worry about whether he'd actually make an obvious move like picking up Walker's option. I wasn't worried. I feared the worst but I was above 90 percent sure that Walker's option would be picked up.

I love humor. Barrett "a freak experiment gone wrong"...excellent. If you want a complete package, All-Star, superman at every position, then be a Yankees fan.

Who said anything about replacing him with Henry Blanco boss? Henry Blanco is a fine back up Catcher and if Barrett was unable to learn a lick from Blanco, he's hopeless. He should DH in the AL or play 3rd or LF (somewhere FAR away from Wrigley...he'd actually be a better DH), cuz he's a liability as a Catcher, period. But since you didn't read my entire post, I said to replace Barrett with RAMON HERNANDEZ, who is a 100% upgrade over Barrett and would be SPECTACULAR on the Cubs in 2006. Because all people are talking about in this thread are how important it is to have a defensive catcher. Who needs offense from catcher, just go out and grab these unnamed stud OFs since they're a traditionally hitting position. Sound like Blanco to me. After all he's an even better defensive catcher than Ausmus OR Molina!! World Series here we come!! For that matter, SS is a defensive position too. Forget pursuing Furcal, let's stick with Neifi, he's got a slick glove over there. CF too, they're defense is too important, let's stick with Corey, no need to upgrade there iether. Now all we need are top 5 players at 1B, 3B, both corner OFs, and a stud starting staff and we'll be set! Seriously. Of all the positions the Cubs have, some fans are choosing to focus on a position that the Cubs are already among the best in the majors at. Barrett is, at worst, a slightly below average defensive catcher, and I'll take that and his .270-15-60's every year and you fans will take a Brad Ausmus type and my team will win every time, all other things being equal. Blanco is a very solid backup. The Cubs' catching is among the best in baseball and for the moment there is absolutely no reason to tinker with it.

One of the top five funniest things ever written. :lol: :lol: :lol:

I don't see what else Dempster could have proven. He closed for 4 1/2 months out of the 6-month season, converted 31 of 33 saves, and had an ERA under 2.00 as a relief pitcher. He was legitimately one of the best closers in baseball. Yes, he walked some people and got himself into jams from time to time but the great thing is that unlike LaBlown Save Hawkins, he had the mental toughness and extra pitches to get out of those jams, then come back and pitch well again the next day. If you're waiting for someone to jump out of the Cubs' system and turn into Brad Lidge, Eric Gagne or Mariano Rivera, you're gonna wait a very long time. IMO Dempster will end up being the best closer the Cubs have had since the Shooter in 1998.

it's called overpaying based on save percentage rather than stuff. not a smart move if you want consistent numbers...especially from an important piece like your closer. even a good player is a bad deal based on the money and years you give them. Dempster could have gotten much more than a 3/15 on the open market. Watch the contracts a lot of relivers get that had much worse seasons than Dempster and you will see what I mean.

Nice! Good to see Williamson back. So far, we have two good moves (Walker and Williamson), one debatable move that will probably turn out to be positive (Dempster) and one move that probably shouldn't have been made (Rusch). I'll take that.

Dusty? Is that you?

If that's the total amount, that's not a terrible deal. Rusch is a nice insurance policy for when (not if) the Cubs' rotation starts dropping like flies in mid-May. I'd have liked to see the Cubs go in a different direction but I highly doubt this signing will turn out to be that bad.

Please let this be correct... (the first post, not the last one)

I have a hard time believing any of these guys used, but we'll see what happens.

The best was the secret home run derby location that was a living room. "Oh darn, wrestling was about to come on!" "This guy's a real bull in the china shop!" :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

won't corey sit on the bench & pout?? wonder who Texas would give up for Patterson?? I bet the hold up on walker is that we only pick up the option if texas agrees to take him, corey, and mitre for Soriano. :pukel: :pukel: :pukel: :pukel:Yuck. No, thanks, Jim. If you were even thinking about that, then stop right now! :shock:

I don't believe this is the case, mainly because Greg, from what I know, wants nothing to do with managing or coaching once he is done playing. But would I like to see it? Hell yes.

Thoughts: I hope Burnitz does not come back because I don't know how much he will decline...after all he is getting up there in years. But he was an able replacement for Sammy and seemed to be one of the Cubs that was always in the middle of anything good that happened in 2005. I hope Jeromy knows that we Cub fans appreciated his game effort this year, which was always a constant even if his offense was not. Please pick up Walker's option. We're not going to get a better second baseman for that amount of money and he is one of my favorite guys on the team. I'd keep Corey around this year, if only because we know that he will go to the bench without causing too much of a fuss, enabling us to have a backup plan in case we come up with nothing in center field.

Sosa? I really hope Sammy ends up with an NL team in 2006 so that he can return to Wrigley. I'm extremely intrigued as to what the reaction would be. Unfortunately he is likely to be a DH-type player from here on out.

I don't even want to think about it, because I'll convince myself that we need to throw money at Burnett. As for the healthy thing, I was reading SI.com's Truth and Rumors and supposedly Wood was on track to be ready to start right away in 2006.