goonys evil twin

Will you be easy when the package price becomes $350+ per year? When sports bars refuse to pay the huge package price for baseball like they do Sunday Ticket, as I'm sure DirecTV seems to think sports bars will value a baseball package as much as football, the price for the everyday consumer will skyrocket. I hear what you're saying, but I find it unlikely sports bars will refuse to carry the baseball package. They'll lose business like crazy to those who do. It's the whole reason they're in business. They'll be ponying up. I don't see it as being that popular in a bar and not nearly as popular as football. Yeah, most bars around here don't carry it, while pretty much all of them have Sunday Ticket. It's not the draw that football is for a bar, the extremely high level of supply means there isn't significant demand.

It's definitely been going on all year, but personally I really don't care what people say. I actually like it that way. The Bears will just need to remember on Super Bowl Sunday that no lead is safe when Peyton Manning is lining up behind center. Stick with what got us there and DO NOT TURN THE BALL OVER! I don't think that's true. I think once Grossman started to struggle is when the critics started to come out. It started after AZ, although there were seeds earlier (the weak schedule argument). But it really peaked after the Vikings game. The two NY games and the NE loss more or less cancelled things out as far as the media was concerned. But once Rex had a bad game against Minnesota, the national media pounced. People ignored Rex's really good games and decided that his bad games were the norm, and the best we could hope for was a Rex that didn't make too many mistakes (as opposed to the possibility that he could actually go something like 20/30 for 250 yards and 3 TDs 0 INTs). A lot of Bears fans fell for this same storyline. For some reason, Grossman's ceiling lowered dramatically. Grossman isn't your typical "average" QB, who has a lot of average games. He's highly inconsistent (which obviously isn't good), but capable of greatness that most average QB's have no chance of achieving. But since his really high QB rating games and his really bad QB rating games averaged out to a relatively low rating, people label him as something he clearly is not. But anyway, after Grossman crapped the bed against the Vikes, the tide really turned heavily. Prior to that game, lots of people rated the Bears in the top 3 in the league, after that game, they were regularly relegated to worse than whatever hot flavor of the week NFC team got top billing. By season's end, the #1 team in the NFC was rated behind at least 2 (Philly/NO) other teams in their league, and many people rated them behind Dallas.

For that game, you are probably right, but I was talking about the entire postseason (and really ever since the Vikings game). I admittedly don't recall heavy dissing on the Patriots in the AFC playoffs, I would doubt it reached the level that has been apparant with the Bears. They did play earlier in the season and STL won, plus STL won the SB a couple years before, so there was good reason people expected STL to win. But, I also think it's quite different to be heavy underdogs and to be hated on by the media. The Patriots were receiving some weird post-9/11 "patriotic" good feelings, and the sports media temporarily laid off the highly cynical "oh my god he sucks" type stuff you hear about Grossman today.

I don't even think Ogunleye should be saying anything. I saw him mimicking the referee's safety signal, and I know he'll celebrate after a sack. Unless you're Barry Sanders and you never celebrate on the field, shut the hell up and quit whining about other people showing you up. Mimicking the ref's safety signal? Seriously man, your trollish anti-Bearness has gone to new levels. He was calling for the refs to make the safety call. Considering it took them 10-15 seconds after the play to make the call, it made perfect sense that a player would be making that signal. Guys do the same thing when a player gets in the end zone. Their is an enormous difference between mocking an opponent mid-play, and signaling a safety or TD after it has occurred. I don't even care about the Bears, that's the funniest part. You're so paranoid you think everyone on this board who isn't a Bears fan is just some anti-Bears troll. The Bears don't play in my team's division and for most of the time that I've been an Eagles fan, the Bears have sucked. They're irrelevant to me. But guess what - Ogunleye taunts, Urlacher taunts, most players in the NFL taunt. Dawkins or Trotter or McNabb or the other 40 players on the Eagles who celebrate or taunt or talk trash - I wouldn't want them bitching about something like what Bush did. If you want the right to complain, then conduct yourself like a perfect gentleman on the field. Otherwise, keep your mouth shut and stop the other team so that you're not the one being shown up. And yeah, if we're going to start complaining about that, then let's actually call it both ways. I took a look at the Bears-Rams thread, and want to guess how many people called Hester's antics on him? Here's a hint - it's a number between -1 and 1. So making the safety sign while you await the ref to award the safety, and then running around in celebration with the safety sign is not gentlemanly enough? Give me a break. You are being absolutely ridiculous. Pointing at a player is clear taunting, making the safety sign is nothing close. Hester was taunting. It's been discussed.

the national media hates the colts! Seriously, what's with the trolling? You're acting more and more like an Eagles fan every day. The national media has unloaded almost an unprecedented level of hate on the Bears this postseason. To pretend otherwise, or that Bears fans are paranoid for thinking this is just complete ignorance of the facts. The Bears aren't even the most criticized team to play for a title in 2007 - the Florida Gators take that honor, and they take it miles ahead of the Bears. Did everybody pick the Gators to lose the SEC title game? Did everybody say their QB was the worst to ever play in a national title game? I don't think the Gators were as criticized as the Bears. There were definitely as many people picking against them in the big game, but that was more of a case of people overhyping OSU. Whomever they played would have been considered a huge underdog. These taunts are Bears specific. Had the Saints moved on, they'd be getting a lot more respect. Had the Eagles beaten the Saints and then the Bears, they would be the ultra-hot team with a poised veteran QB ready to given Manning a real test. Ever since Grossman had a couple bad games, the national media decided that the Bears could not win in the postseason with him. They brushed aside the many outstanding games, and ignored the couple decent games and focused slowly on the disaster games. The Bears scored as many points as Indy in the regular season and gave up a whole lot less, yet all people are talking about is how boring and inept the run-only offense is and how weak the defense was down the stretch. Regardless, it's unprecedented as far as NFL talk is concerned, I wasn't really comparing them to college football, where the discussion often centers around a whole lot more than the game (ie, polls/BCS controversy, etc)

Hell, we had two posters on this message board who said similar things, one of which said the EXACT same thing that poster said. That said, I certainly hope that posters like that weren't allowed into the stadium. While it's completely tasteless, I don't think it should be taken literally. That's all part of what happens when we accept things like taunting, trash talk, smack and all that junk in sports. A lack of respect for the opponent is evident on the field and in the stands, and has been for a while.

the national media hates the colts! Seriously, what's with the trolling? You're acting more and more like an Eagles fan every day. The national media has unloaded almost an unprecedented level of hate on the Bears this postseason. To pretend otherwise, or that Bears fans are paranoid for thinking this is just complete ignorance of the facts.

I can't say that article is all that good. He seems to use a lot of silly reasoning for why the Bears will win. Reminds me of the article last week where somebody had to come up with 3 reasons why the Bears could beat the Saints, and pretty much made it look like they didn't believe the Bears could beat the Saints.

It's a sickness. I'm in full-on craving baseball mode right now. I thought the Bears might keep the baseball cravings down some, but it's not really helping. I know my cravings will return, but they have not. The combination of the Bears in the Super Bowl and the Cubs hitting rock bottom last year has cooled my spring fever a bit. By Feb 6 however, I expect to be in full Cubs anticipation mode.

I don't even think Ogunleye should be saying anything. I saw him mimicking the referee's safety signal, and I know he'll celebrate after a sack. Unless you're Barry Sanders and you never celebrate on the field, shut the hell up and quit whining about other people showing you up. Mimicking the ref's safety signal? Seriously man, your trollish anti-Bearness has gone to new levels. He was calling for the refs to make the safety call. Considering it took them 10-15 seconds after the play to make the call, it made perfect sense that a player would be making that signal. Guys do the same thing when a player gets in the end zone. Their is an enormous difference between mocking an opponent mid-play, and signaling a safety or TD after it has occurred.

If Bears are one-dimensional they will lose. And I don't mean throwing in a play-action pass every 5 runs, I mean they have to throw it about as much as they run. I completely disagree with the "as much as you can" talk. That's playing into Indy's hands. They've won in the playoffs when teams' abandoned the run and went to the pass. The Bears need to run it 30+ times. Getting into a shoot-out with Indy is a losing battle.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/multimedia/photo_gallery/0701/gallery.nfl.coaches/content.9.html SI has a little trouble telling the difference between Rivera and Babich.

If the Cubs are reviewing his medical records it could take awhile. Ouch. I didn't think of that, and I should have... Now I'm starting to get spring training fever. Why do I do this to myself every year? 8-) I've had spring fever ever since the Tribune started running 8 pages daily about the Bears. I'm a Bear fan, but the over-hype on the Bears is driving me crazy. Why do people consider this overhype? They are going to the Super Bowl. That's what happens.

I'm still finding it hard to believe that this story is true.

I think it was more of a speculation that they'd be interested in Lovie than a report that they are interested. I think the Bears will extend Angelo and Smith this week. But if they end up trading Lovie for picks I wouldn't cry (or did the NFL stop that following the Gruden situation?). The talent on the field is more important than the head coach. And Angelo is responsible for the talent. I would think Angelo would have a VERY tough sell PR-wise if the Bears win the Super Bowl and he doesn't want to give Lovie his payday. I don't think it would be a matter of Jerry not wanting to give Lovie his payday. It would probably come down to whether or not the ownership would approve of a top-of-the-line head coach salary or not. I'm guessing Lovie wants something in the $5-8m range, while the Bears would prefer to pay him in the $3-5m range. Do you think the average fan will make that differentiation? Most fans will just call the Bears cheap, and be pissed that they got rid of a Super Bowl winning coach. I just don't see them doing that...the Bears will cave. They can call them anything they want, they are still going to come out in droves and fall head over heals for the team, especially if they end up with draft picks that help the team ASAP. But like I said, it's probably not up to Angelo, and I expect an extension for both this week.

I'm leaning towards switching to that line of thinking. But if a team doesn't win the final game, would I want to go back and buy a t-shirt? For this, though, I think I'll wait for the SB t-shirt (although the navy locker room shirt does look nice). FTR, and off the subject, the next time one of my teams wins a title (knock on wood), I'm going to buy everything I can. Hats, t-shirts, DVDs, sweatshirts, everything. I'll be doing the same thing as well. I don't like any paraphernalia outside the basic Chicago Bears, Chicago Cubs, etc, with the lone exception of the actual championship stuff. I cannot understand why anybody would buy an NFC North Champion hat or t-shirt, or NL wild card winner. It's completely silly to me to see somebody wearing something that basically says, "yeah, we qualified for the playoffs but didn't do so well in the playoffs but still we qualified for the playoffs and I'm really pumped about that".

I think it was more of a speculation that they'd be interested in Lovie than a report that they are interested. I think the Bears will extend Angelo and Smith this week. But if they end up trading Lovie for picks I wouldn't cry (or did the NFL stop that following the Gruden situation?). The talent on the field is more important than the head coach. And Angelo is responsible for the talent. I would think Angelo would have a VERY tough sell PR-wise if the Bears win the Super Bowl and he doesn't want to give Lovie his payday. I don't think it would be a matter of Jerry not wanting to give Lovie his payday. It would probably come down to whether or not the ownership would approve of a top-of-the-line head coach salary or not. I'm guessing Lovie wants something in the $5-8m range, while the Bears would prefer to pay him in the $3-5m range.

I think it was more of a speculation that they'd be interested in Lovie than a report that they are interested. I think the Bears will extend Angelo and Smith this week. But if they end up trading Lovie for picks I wouldn't cry (or did the NFL stop that following the Gruden situation?). The talent on the field is more important than the head coach. And Angelo is responsible for the talent.

Baseball and football are so completely different that it doesn't make sense to question what is the best style to have to succeed at either. Baker was aggressive in all the wrong ways, wanting guys to swing early and swing often, wanting guys to "make something happen" on the basepathers, which usually just means running into outs. Lovie talks laid-back, but he preaches an extremely aggressive style of defense, one in which it's not good enough to just fall on a fumble when you can try and pick it up and score. He doesn't settle for the big fat guys slowing things down in the middle, he likes 'em small and fast.

I can't find any rumored terms outside of a player option for '08. The signing is not official yet, so no announcements are being made. I find a player option to be quite odd. I would assume it would be something that kicks in if he reaches a total PA number. I really hope it's a high number and that he doesn't reach it.

The Bears also played the easiest schedule in the NFL, whereas the Colts had a middle of the pack strength of schedule... and the Bears' strength of victory was in the bottom third of the NFL, whereas the Colts' strength of victory was 4th in the NFL. Like I said, that is the evidence one would expect to see in defense of the claim the Bears are better. I made it quite clearly that I don't think that evidence proves the Bears are better.

Parcells should be irrelevent. He's way past his prime. He's done nothing more than Wannstedt in his recent coaching stints. I think it's hysterical, and quite predicatable, that the egomaniac announced this today, and that ESPN is eating it up with a chance to talk about something they care about.

Over the course of the season, including the playoffs, youd o not believe that the Bears have proven themselves to be a better team than the Colts? I do. Not that that brings in match ups or anything. May I ask how the Bears have proved to be a better team? Record against Common Opponents-Colts-6-0, Bears-3-2 That's just one statistic. Now, I am not one of these Colts fans who believe that the Colts are better than the Bears-they are not. This is going to be a very even game, although I do think there are some matchups the Colts can exploit. I certainly do not think though that the Bears have proven that they are better than the Colts, and am wondering what your evidence is for that. I would say the evidence is that Indy lost multiple meaningful games down the stretch against ho-hum competition. Indy got the ball run down their throat repeatedly, and while the playoff run stopping has been impressive, it's been as much about teams abandoning the run against them as it has been about Indy stopping people. Both teams scored the same amount of points while the Bears gave up a lot less (and when you including playoff games, the Bears have scored more ppg). I guess that would be the evidence. Although I'm not going to say that it proves the Bears are better. I think it's a great matchup of two equally matched teams. And I have no problem with Indy being a 7-point favorite. Spreads aren't about experts saying which team is better, they are a means to get people to gamble. Not many people would bet on the Bears if they were favorites due to the perception that they are somehow not deserving of being here. Thats not even close to being true. Thats all Kansas and Baltimore tried to do. They may have started passing more towards the end of the games, but it has definitely been Indy's D stopping some of the best backs in the league. And about the Bears being better in the playoffs, you cant ignore the fact that the Bears would probably be the only NFC team in the playoffs if they were in the AFC. Going through Seattle and New Orleans isnt quite like going through Baltimore (in Baltimore) and New England. I think the Bears are a great team and could definitely win this game, I just dont really agree with the examples you used. So you don't agree that Indy lost meaningful games to ho-hum competition down the stretch, or that the Bears rank much higher in the points scored vs given up department and have a better record?

That's the official storyline, but the fact is KC had only 17 runs while Baltimore had only 20, well below their season averages. Both teams threw considerably more frequently than they ran.

It's quite a bit premature for Colts fans to start comparing the playoff success of Peyton Manning and his team to the success of Tom Brady and his team. I don't see how they are doing that. They are celebrating the fact that Peyton and the Colts beat the Patriots, a feat that many people decided was impossible. Impossible? Come on. The only people who decided that it was impossible were probably lunatic homer Patriot fans. Most sane people could look at the teams and see an evenly-matched game, hence Indy being favored by about a field goal. And yet there were still probably millions of people who were shocked that Peyton came up when it counted and St. Brady did not. Many people relied on the Brady/Belicheck own Manning/Dungy theory going into that game.