Banedon

That's 2 no-hitters too...damn.

From 7/8:

How is that the first in a series of moves except by a loose definition considering all trades a series of trades? How does swapping out Duncan for Lugo open up anything, unless they trade Brendan Ryan and Bo Hart for Halladay? By the loose definition, wouldn't the Derosa trade be the first?

They had Chris Duncan in LF. I think the upgrade in offense more than outweighs any defensive difference there might be.

The quote from the dispatch article...sounds like a whole lot of speculation and nothing more:

http://www.suntimes.com/sports/baseball/1681419,CST-SPT-parque23.article A different story than the Barry Bonds/Roger Clemens of the world.

Huh...I didn't realize Duncan was such a hot button topic in STL. Reading all these articles it sounds like fans were riding him pretty hard.

Here's another angle, and wow...talk about a lot of talk over nothing. Lebron was coming in from the side....it wasn't like he was just torched or anything... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kvobIJ3zN6g

BTW...would optioning Duncan down before the trade help Boston with roster moves at all? Just wondering why they made that move if this was on the horizon.

Was it sunnydoo that was all ga-ga for Sanchez?

Here's the dunk over Lebron that Nike supposedly confiscated....really tough to see though. http://www.tmz.com/2009/07/22/lebron-james-the-secret-dunk-video-exposed/

Fantastic.

I have a problem with them reporting the b/a level. What's the relevance? Where does legitimate journalism end and gossip-mongering begin? If his b/a level is a factor in the incident, fine. But otherwise, it's just tabloid garbage.

If anyone is interested: http://www.pantagraph.com/sports/article_704d699a-761a-11de-80e1-001cc4c002e0.html

Or BP had it wrong in the first place, ESPN printed the article, then BP fixed their version. Yeah, that makes more sense.

I meant to make almost this exact post earlier. The way the media is covering this is irritating me. I think all the story that is there has been covered, unless they find a note or something at this point.

Weird, so ESPN took a correct article and changed that one name to be incorrect?

Boo insider articles.

You don't think this will be remembered? I think this story will definitely be among the top golf stories for the foreseeable future. Man that was painful to watch. Yeah, even Cink said he recognizes that the tourney will be remembered more for Watson than for himself. The tournament will be remembered more for Tiger actually missing a cut at a major than Cink. I don't think this will be something that people are going to remember for years and years as they would have if Watson won. It's not Jean Van de Velde in 1999. Completely disagree. Tiger missing the cut would've been the story if Watson hadn't almost happened, but I think the Tiger story is all but gone already. When I think about this tourney, I'm going to remember Watson's 18th hole on Sunday, and the second playoff hole tee shot into the crap.

You don't think this will be remembered? I think this story will definitely be among the top golf stories for the foreseeable future. Man that was painful to watch. Yeah, even Cink said he recognizes that the tourney will be remembered more for Watson than for himself.

I like the US Open better than the Masters. Yep.

If he sucks, it'll be blamed on him being hurt too. It's a no lose situation for them.

That sucked to watch. Watson completely fell apart.

There are quite a few reasons why Packers fans are rightfully expecting improvements in the defense in comparison to the defense last season. First of all getting rid of Bob Sanders will be an improvement. The 4-3 man coverage scheme he ran was about as bland as a defensive coordinator could make a defense. On another football forum I normally visit a few fans that broke down plays of every Giants game were almost able to correctly guess what the Packers' defense was going to run on every down in the 2008 NFC Championship Game. That was two seasons ago but very little actually changed with the scheme. If a couple of fans that are no more than high school coaches can do that, then imagine how obvious it would be to a seasoned offensive coordinator in the NFL? This is where the hiring of Dom Capers comes in. While he has a poor record as a head coach he has an excellent track record as a defensive coordinator. In this respect he is very similar to Dick LeBeau. Wherever Capers has been as a defensive coordinator he, for the most part, has had no problem creating a defensive scheme around the players on the roster. Capers is planning to slowly integrate more 3-4 formations into the base defense, while still maintaining 4-3 looks in nickel and dime packages. Whenever he has spoken to media in Green Bay he has made it perfectly clear that he plans on creating a defense that suits the strengths of his players, rather than the other way around. This is the trap that most teams normally fall into when switching defenses. The fact that Green Bay now has a creative defensive coordinator willing to experiment with an array of schemes is better than what was there before. The personnel in Green Bay over the past few years has become more suited for playing in a 3-4, so come this offseason the team didn't need to find that many new players. Starting on the defensive line the Packers have done a good job filling the nose tackle position, easily the most important in the 3-4. While Ryan Pickett's skills are definitely on the decline, he is a still an above average run stuffer. The Packers also drafted B.J. Raji in order to be nose tackle over the long term. Their job will be to control both A gaps, absolutely crucial for a 3-4 to work properly. Both are suited to for this role, Raji especially. For at least this season Raji will be playing left defensive end and backup nose tackle to ensure Pickett doesn't tire too quickly. Defensive end is a little more questionable. Right now Justin Harrell is slotted at right end, but given his injury history he is a huge question mark. If he can stay healthy he offers the size and playing style that teams look for in a 3-4 DE. So far at OTAs and minicamps Harrell has been one of top performers, and looks prepared to have what would be a breakout season for him. I have already mentioned that Raji will be the other end, even though it is not his natural position; this is one thing that does worry me about the defensive line. Cullen Jenkins is a question mark given that he is recovering from multiple injuries. Even Johnny Jolly is a question mark given his legal status, but it looks like that won't be too much of a factor this season. A potential dark horse at defensive end is Alfred Malone, who looks to offer some depth on a thin defensive line. Probably the deepest position on the defense is outside linebacker. Aaron Kampman will be making the transition from 4-3 DE to 3-4 OLB. While he has shown disapproval so far about the move, he is still going to go about his business with very little complaining. So far he has been shaky in coverage, but he showed steady improvement as time went on. I am not too concerned about this since he won't be asked to drop into coverage that often. On the other side it looks to be a battle between rookie Clay Mathews and Jeremy Thompson. So far in camp Thompson has looked better than Matthews. He was a player that was too small to play in the 4-3, but given his size and athleticism he is an ideal 3-4 OLB. With Matthews it will be a faster transition than most 3-4 OLBs since he is not making the transition from defensive end. The thing that makes me hopeful with him is at the NFL Combine he put up 10 yard splits that would be good for defensive backs. If he can translate that burst onto the field it will be a major boost to his pass rushing skills. Deeper on the depth chart there is Brady Poppinga, who has experience as a 3-4 OLB from his college days at BYU. The transition should help him as well since he will no longer be put in coverage situations that exploited his weaknesses as often. A draft pick that has me intrigued is Brad Jones, a DE/OLB from Colorado, though I don't expect him to contribute much this season. One move on the coaching staff that I think will make a huge difference is hiring Kevin Greene as OLB coach. Last year he worked with some of the Steelers LBs, and all of them credited his coaching in improving their play on the field. Much like the DEs, the ILB situation concerns me. When it comes to Nick Barnett I don't think he will be in Green Bay much longer. The biggest question with him is how he will recover from a torn ACL. Given that his style of play relied very much on speed I don't like the chances that he will be anywhere close to the player he was prior to his injury. Also the fact that he is not good at engaging interior lineman does not bode well for him in the 3-4. The only saving grace is the one-gap 3-4 needs it ILBs to be more fluid, and this does suit him. In 2007 when the Packers had a good defense Barnett had his best season because he could get to the ball carrier quickly with very little in his way. If the defensive line does its job, then the chances of Barnett succeeding in the scheme should increase. The situation with A.J. Hawk is similar. Last year he replaced Barnett at MLB, but had a down season while playing with groin and chest injuries that lingered for most of the season. If both come back healthy, which is a huge question in itself, they may make a good pair of ILBs. I do like Brandon Chillar and Desmond Bishop as depth, though. With Chillar, he is strong in pass coverage and blitzing, both crucial qualities for an ILB. Bishop already has experience playing in a similar defense at Cal, and his run stopping ability will be more of an advantage now than it was in the 4-3. The secondary has me the least concerned. Charles Woodson did well in man coverage and he did well when he played in zone coverage in Oakland. This will be a huge transition for Al Harris, but one I think that will benefit him the most. So far in camp he has caught on quickly. Last year Tramon Williams played well in replacement of Al Harris. I expect his development at CB to continue, eventually replacing either Harris or Woodson. Until then he is an excellent nickel back. Nick Collins had a great season last year, but this year I am expecting his play to decline. He didn't do much at all in OTAs and minicamps, and given that he will be the quarterback of the defense, he should have been the last person to do that. If he lags in understanding the complexities of the new scheme it will cost the whole defense in the end. The scheme looks to help Atari Bigby, who now instead of being stuck playing poorly in coverage, should be better utilized as an in-the-box SS. The only depth at safety is Aaron Rouse and Anthony Smith, both nothing more than backups. With all that said that is why I have high expectations for the defense this season. I have no doubts that there will be bumps in the road the first few games of the season, but by season's end I expect the defense to improve into a cohesive unit. At the very least it can't be worse than the defense that showed up last season. Even the offense looks to be improved from last season. I expect Aaron Rodgers to make minor improvements now that he has a full season under his belt, as well as becoming more of a leader in the clubhouse. Ryan Grant is returning healthy without the contract issues he had last off-season. James Jones is fully recovered from his injuries, ready to build on his rookie season. Most of the dead weight on the offensive line has been cut, and the younger players look to be stepping up. Looks like I can be as big a homer as some posters in this thread. Holy crap...wall of text.

Packers fans are expecting a lot out of a defense that just changed it's entire scheme.