apete6

Comcast (owner of Versus) would never allow that.

Hawks going 1998 Florida Marlins here. Just kidding. But losing to Columbus and Edmonton at home, losing Hossa, and embarking on the circus trip in a few weeks leads me to believe that we have an uphill battle the 2nd half of the season. But WE WON THE [expletive] STANLEY CUP. Suck it every other team I've rooted for since 1998.

Roy Oswalt. Aaron Rowand comes in 3rd. That's soon to be 2 time world champion Aaron Rowand to you.

And their wins are against Penn State, NIU, Indiana, and a I-AA directional school. Not exactly murderers row.

DePaul signed Shane Larkin, son of former Reds SS Barry Larkin today. #62 in the country according to Rivals. That's 3 guards signed so far from Purnell. Not bad. Going to be a run and gun team, might as well have guys who can run and jump and handle the ball. Waiting on Mike Shaw to hopefully be the big man for the class (although he will/should probably go to Illinois).

What a douche. I'm glad he's so freaking professional. It's asshats like that why people would rather read blogs than read a newspaper full of the moral high ground and douchyness.

Is it mathematically possible to balance the MLB schedule, or at least get very close to it? Yes. Is it mathematically possible to balance the NFL schedule? Not even a little bit. The schedules will always be unfair as long as there are leagues and playoffs. The most fair thing to do would be for each team to play every other team in both leagues (baseball and football) the same amount of times home and road. So, in MLB, each team should play the other 29 teams 6 games each (3 home, 3 road) for a total of 174 games. Take the highest winning percentage and declare a champion. That would be the most fair. That would obviously be the most boring. Even in the NFL, why don't they just play each team in their league once (15 games) and then the 1st place teams play each other in the Super Bowl? Because everything is all about $$$, not fairness.

I thought Lou retired yesterday. Surely Quade is smarter than placing the guy who gets on base more than anyone in the 8th spot. And while I don't think Colvin is a serious contender for 1B next year, there is no reason for Xavier Nady to play there anymore. Let the kid play 1B to see if he can handle it. The more things change, the more they stay the same. Actually, it wouldn't be a bad idea to get Nady plenty of playing time to see if they wouldn't want to sign him back. If their intention is to move Fukudome then bringing back a healthy Nady could be a smart move. 100% agreed. Maybe they can get rid of Fuku and Nady if there's an injury or something. Can't imagine someone not taking a flyer on Nady for a bag of balls and some big league chew.

Agreed. I just spend 20 minutes on Baseball Reference trying to figure out how we did not win the WC that year. It came down to 2 things: LaTroy Hawkins and bad luck. We played 5 games below our pythag and Houston played 3 above theirs. Prior had 16 freaking Ks against the Reds and lost and the obvious Victor Diaz game. Those 2 games just took the wind out of their sails and lost a ton.

I'm glad the Bears decided that cutting Alex Brown and his $6 million in an uncapped year was a good idea only to give back some of that money for Todd Collins to come in Week 6 after Cutler is paralyzed and lead the Bears to a 3-13 record.

IT'S NICE TO BE IMPORTANT BUT IT'S MORE IMPORTANT TO BE NICE

The Ricketts family DID have a season ticket holder day in July and they answered just about any question asked without ruffling any feathers. They mentioned their disappointment in the season. Besides not spending on this draft, what did everyone expect them to do? Fire everyone mid season, call the team out in the media, and promise to spend $200MM on next year's payroll? Steinbrenner didn't buy the team. First and foremost, Ricketts is a business man. He's not going to throw all of his cards on the table right away. He's going to analyze everything in the offseason, take stock in what they have, and make a plan. He sees the empty seats and knows the only way to keep them full is to put out a good team. I would imagine they'll do whatever they see fit to make that happen while still making money. Now, if he sits on his hands, brings everyone back, and cuts payroll, then we can worry, but let's give them a chance first.

Marmol is the best reliever in the NL and maybe all of baseball. Managers are dumb.

In other Brad Hawpe nostalgia, I am still pissed at him for injuring Mark Prior with a line drive in May 2005, ending any chance at effectiveness Prior would ever have for the Cubs. Rot in hell, Hawpe.

He's very good, but I still don't agree with your conspiracy theory that they were benching him for an "inferior player" last year. That guy would be Carlos Gonzalez.

Dunn IS 2009 Lee with worse defense. He's way better than 2010 Lee though. Cubs will suck next year regardless, but I'd enjoy watching everything about Dunn (many long HRs, working counts, and the occasional comedy at 1st base. Oh ya, and the thought of him partying with Soriano and Castro on the road--picturing that in my mind just made me laugh for some reason)

My lord, did Kaplan not get enough credit for doing chores around the house when he was 5 or something? He is an attention and glory hog the likes of which haven't been seen in the media.

Most managers wouldn't want to use him in a dual role like that, though. He'd either pitch or hit, and not do both. Aren't most managers morons? (See Piniella, Lou and Baker, Dusty) If he is OK with it and can be successful, I don't see it being a problem.

He wouldn't be the worst 25th man on a baseball roster. He could be the mop up/long man in the pen who could give you decent at bats in that role as well as play 1B/OF in a pinch (extra innings, blowouts, maybe 5 starts a season).

\ On the other fan, he's 100% OK with being a terrible manager and appearing old and senile through his decision making. Where is the first fan? Ha, brutal typo. Clearly meant the other hand.

\ On the other fan, he's 100% OK with being a terrible manager and appearing old and senile through his decision making.

Isn't it about this thread called it quits?

Agreed, but maybe a few more $$$ to each contract could convince them.

Kampman- 4 years, 24 Mil, 11 Mil guaranteed A Rolle- 5 years, 37 Mil, 15 Mil guaranteed A Brown- 2 years, 10 Mil, 0 guaranteed Peppers- 6 years, 91.5 Mil, 42 Mil guaranteed So, yes the Bears conceivably could have had all 3 players for cheaper than Peppers. The problem was Kampman and Rolle would have had to have wanted to sign with the Bears. All indications were that Rolle was discussed, but chose to go to NY. Also, that would have likely meant no Chester Taylor, who could prove to be a must-have if he motivates Forte, saves Forte from all the wear and tear from his first 2 years, and produces. Hub is 100% right. Peppers is a great player, but if you have a chance to fill 3 roles instead of 1 on a team that, frankly, isn't very close to the Super Bowl, you do it. Brown + Kampman would be better (and cheaper) than Peppers. Add in Rolle who is about 500x better than all safeties on the Bears and you have a winner. Also, who says they couldn't have afforded Taylor? The guaranteed money would still be less than Peppers. That being said, the Bears structured the contract beautifully and have a chance to cut bait with Peppers if he underachieves, which he almost certainly will. There's a reason that there weren't too many teams interested in Peppers in the offseason. He's great, but overrated and those Carolina teams had some pretty decent overall d-lines when he was there, not the pupu platter of Mark Anderson, a broken down Tommie Harris and Marcus Harrison.

Did you stinkfinger Bunny Cody as well there Drugs Delaney?