Sammy Sofa

http://chicagosports.chicagotribune.com/sports/football/bears/cs-0701160133jan16,1,6744403.story?coll=cs-football-print Preach on, Mr. President!* *Hey, as long as he's making bold declarations, I want in!

I'm not saying this to attack anyone or slight anyone but I am absolutely baffled by people who have favorite teams in different sports all over the country. It's not like I'm saying it's not possible...I've just never had anything besides that hometown mentality. Even with me moving away from Chicago very young, I could never see myself rooting for teams anywhere else, especially in multiple cities, and I've lived somewhere different pretty much every 3rd year of my life until now (I'm 27). I understand the varied regions of college fandom despite my college sports inertest being next to nil...I don't know, something about being a fan of the Cubs and then, say, the Spurs and then the Chargers and then the whatever just seems so weird. It probably has a lot to do with me being a "3rd culture kid" and growing up pretty much anywhere (often overseas) except where I was born. Most of my American friends up until high school grew up the same way. Most of us latched onto a single city or state were born in or lived in early as "our place" and then glommed onto the teams from that area.

The flag was out so early, that I didn't get myself very excited about the runback. I didn't see the flag, so I was way too excited about a non-touchdown. I know Reggie Bush brings the sxcitement, but to me, Devin Hester has been "The Rookie" in terms of excitement all yr. He has done things as a punt returner that nobody has EVER done before. And I hope Lovie puts in some trick plays that uses Hester speed (reverses, etc). I really hope the Bears use Hester in the way the Steelers used Randel-El (who is glad the Bears DIDN'T say Randel-El, NOW?). I mean, using Hester more on offense against the Saints, would totally confused the Saints, and they would have to account for Hester, as the Bears will with Bush. I think Hester could totally impact the offensive side of ball, if Lovie choose to. Hester is awesome, but he might want to master that tricky "catching the ball consistently" thing before they start getting too complicated with him.

I was driving back home to DC from Florida with the family after getting home from a week-long cruise today, so we stopped at some Godforsaken Applebee's in the middle of Nowhereville, SC to watch the 2nd half after a failing battle with AM radio. Thank you, Jeebus.

Yeah I read that in the Tribune too. Seems like they're preparing harder than they have in over a month. Hopefully it pays off. And it's not too little too late. *Crosses fingers...and toes...and other things*

[dripping sarcasm]I hope he gets his playing time. I never get tired of seeing players make the brilliant decision of sliding headfirst into 1B.[/dripping sarcasm]

I'm really glad the Cubs don't cave and do that. It's right up there with Wrigley not having a video screen for me. Every time I go to a game where they're blasting "theme music," it suddenly feels less like baseball and more like wrestling. Pass.

That's probably because you didn't see any of their dominating performances. I saw them dismantle the Seahawks, Bills, and Niners first hand so I know what their ceiling is. If they're on, no team in the NFC is within a touchdown of them. They have not, however, been "dominant" in a good 2 months. We're clearly not seeing the same team we saw clearing teams aside in the first 5 weeks. I don't think it's hopeless, but I'm pretty sure any playoff wins are going to be some victories they need to fight REALLY hard for.

Now that hurts. Why do I feel like the guy in the GEICO commercial? Well, I'll be 50 in April, and the guy who asked about OPS is in his late 60s. The guy that said I was "carrying on" about on-base percentage claimed to be a Cubs fan for 60 years. "He was wearing a onion on his belt, which was the style at the time..."

Man, how much did he pay the creators of that game? Well played, Mets...stealing away our chance at a World Series yet again!

That's such a cruel bonus. They might as well just dangle the money over his head and then kick him in the balls while making his entire family watch.

Jones may not set the world on fire, but right now his production is a steal of a bargain on this market. Until the Cubs have a replacement lined up that can almost certainly at least match Jones' production the team would be worse off trading him just to trade him. Dempster's value is also lower than it could be, so moving him now really won't net much in return and I wouldnt be surprised if the Cubs still had to pay some of his salary to get a team to bite. Use him reguarly and let him hopefully increase his value. Like you said, we've got plenty of arms in the pen to slide in if he's in trouble. I'd still much rather trade Eyre at this point...he's really nowhere near as good as some people seem to think he is here and he costs a lot, just like Dempster. Unlike Dempster, however, he didn't have any of the very obvious meltdowns and could still be shipped off for some decent return (like packaged with Jones and others for a good OFer). He can be just as easily replaced in the bullpen as Dempster and ultimately doesn't add too terribly much with the other lefties we have lurking around on the team and in the farm system.

Agreed. I like the idea of given him most, if not all, of the closing spots early on, getting him on a semi-regular schedule and hopefully seeing his performances improve, making him a valuable trading chip down the line. There's no need to rush Wood into the closer's role right away.

I'd rather see Eyre traded over Dempster, quite honestly. We have plenty of lefty arms in the bullpen and Eyre, quite frankly, isn't as good as some of stats make him out be last year. I think you could net a lote more spinning him right than Dempster...trading Dempster would probably save you money but not get you as much in return. Eyre gone will save you money (maybe more) and likely get you a better return talent-wise and the Cubs can pretty easily replace him. I do see some stock in the vague "bad year" for Dempster. A lot of us here commented on how erratic his usage was under Dusty in 2006 and how he did look a lot better the rare times he was used on something resembling a consistent schedule. I have a hunch there were times he was throwing hurt, too. Just a guess on my part, since his pitch selection seem to alter or be more limited than usual at times. Throw in his wife having a baby and the team just stinking as bad as it did and, to me, it doesn't seem like too much of a stretch to say the guy had a bad year. Yeah, I know that's a lot of intangibles I just rattled off, but that's how I see it. Dempster had a lot of success in 2005, for much of the season. I'm not much into the idea of a "career year" for guys and then they just completely fall off unless they were "juicing" or have some kind of serious injury. I don't think he's one of the mythical "elite closers," but I think he's a lot better than what we saw in 2006. In the end, if he gets traded, I'm not going to lose much sleep over it. If he stays, I think there's a damn good chance he can improve enough to be traded later for a better return. Like I said, I'd much rather see Eyre spun off right now. A lot of teams need relief help right now, and a guy like Eyre packaged right could probably move the right deals moreso than Dempster at this point.

What if the defense gives up 35 points? The defense won't give up 35 points. Didn't you sarcastically respond to someone making a similarly declarative statement on the 1st page of this thread? With as bad as the defense has looked over the past month, I am completely baffled as to how you see Benson getting most of the carries (which he should) is going to make up for the Bears' very serious defensive problems. If the Bears manage to score first, I will be far more confident that they have a good shot at winning. If they don't, I think they've basically lost the game at that point. They simply are performing way too far below the level they were at when they came back against Arizona and New York.

Sure they will. Just not while they still have any talent left. :D That would be hilarious if it wasn't so true. *Sobs* 10man, I don't see Florida moving Cabrera at this point unless they get completely blown away with a trade offer. The Cubs would need to at least involve one other team and probably even a second to get the Marlins considering moving Cabrera, short of just completely emptying the farm system of what little talent it has.

Ravens.

As much as I love A-Rod, I'd forget he ever existed if the Cubs could somehow spin an elaborate trade to snag Cabrera. Why would anyone want A-Rod over Baby Pujols? If ARod can still play SS, there's a pretty good reason for it. An IF with Lee, ARod and Ramirez could have me playing 2B and still be the best in baseball. Offensively, at least! Well, there are the if's...A-Rod being back at SS is a big if. I don't think he'd be terrible, but he's packed on some meat since his days playing that spot and has likely lost some quickness. Hopefully he'd be able to get back into his fighting form. And I guess I just see Cabrera as a much better offensive option, especially because of his age. Both, however, are pipe dreams, and will never ever play for the Chicago Cubs.

As much as I love A-Rod, I'd forget he ever existed if the Cubs could somehow spin an elaborate trade to snag Cabrera. Why would anyone want A-Rod over Baby Pujols?

Except those of us that haven't been blind to the problems this team has been having for about two months now. Yes, they're a good team, yes they have an awesome record...none of that magically makes any of their very real and continuing to get worse problems go away.

I sadly agree 100%, and have felt that way since about the 9th or 10th week. I hope to God I'm wrong, but I have the sickening feeling in my gut I'm not. I've got tix for that game too. Oh well, I'll make it fun no matter what happens. My first playoff game ever. Nice. As pissed as I am right now, I'd still love to have those tickets. I'm moving back to Chicago at the end of January, and it would be really nice if the Bears welcomed me home with a luverly Super Bowl win. SHAPE UP, YE MUTTS, YEZ! Congrats on moving back to Chicago. I had to move away for work - and I love my new job - but I miss Chicago almost every day. I cannot wait, and thanks for the well wishes. This has been a long time coming...I keep telling myself the Cubs have been waiting to start winning again until I could be home to enjoy it. In my head it sounds awesome and true. Whew. Thank goodness. I was wondering how much longer I would have to wait for a Cubs WS 8-) Yeah, my bad...I've been slacking! Man, it's really childish of me, but the Bears tonight are putting the "no cursing" rule into some reeeeeeeeeeeal motherhubbard frustration.

You really don't see any scenario in which the Bears win in two weeks? And are you referring to the same Dallas team that lost to Detroit today at home, the same Seattle team lost three in a row to get the division, including losses to the Cardinals and 49ers, and the same Giants team that lost 6 of their last 7 going into yesterday's game? The Bears haven't played any better the last couple of weeks. And how does that guarantee losses to teams that were actually playing for something? Not necessarily guarentee, but definitely make it very unlikely that a win would be anything less than a nasty fight to scrape it out. Which, quite frankly, I'd be fine with.

I sadly agree 100%, and have felt that way since about the 9th or 10th week. I hope to God I'm wrong, but I have the sickening feeling in my gut I'm not. I've got tix for that game too. Oh well, I'll make it fun no matter what happens. My first playoff game ever. Nice. As pissed as I am right now, I'd still love to have those tickets. I'm moving back to Chicago at the end of January, and it would be really nice if the Bears welcomed me home with a luverly Super Bowl win. SHAPE UP, YE MUTTS, YEZ! Congrats on moving back to Chicago. I had to move away for work - and I love my new job - but I miss Chicago almost every day. I cannot wait, and thanks for the well wishes. This has been a long time coming...I keep telling myself the Cubs have been waiting to start winning again until I could be home to enjoy it. In my head it sounds awesome and true.

Why don't we? Because the Bears have looked unbelievably good at times this year. They've also looked unbelievably awful. It's hard to say if we'll be 1 and done or not because no one knows what team and quarterback is going to show up. The problem is that they haven't looked "unbelievably good" in about two months now. All of that awesomeness was in the first 5 weeks and they've been slowly getting less awesome ever since, a lot of it masked by a relatively easy schedule and a really awful division. No, they're not bad...but they're sure as hell not Super Bowl good these days. Not even close. Oh no, I agree, but I think it's unfair to completely dismiss this team as eliminated already. I'm excited for the playoffs. I think the extra week off will be good, we need to refocus. I'm hoping against hope they're just hiding some insanely destructive defense to be unleashed on some poor team in the playoffs. La-la-la!

I sadly agree 100%, and have felt that way since about the 9th or 10th week. I hope to God I'm wrong, but I have the sickening feeling in my gut I'm not. I've got tix for that game too. Oh well, I'll make it fun no matter what happens. My first playoff game ever. Nice. As pissed as I am right now, I'd still love to have those tickets. I'm moving back to Chicago at the end of January, and it would be really nice if the Bears welcomed me home with a luverly Super Bowl win. SHAPE UP, YE MUTTS, YEZ!