BigSlick

Getting Greinke probably would have required a few tweaks to increase the quality, but nothing so substantial as to completely overhaul the deal. What pisses me off is that I think this is also the kind of package that could have netted Adrian Gonzalez. Maybe the Padres wanted the Red Sox prospects, I don't know. But, when you compare that package to what the Cubs gave up, again, I think a minor change or two to the Cubs' prospects to increase the overall quality would have been comparable to what the Red Sox traded for Gonzalez. Also, why do people think the NL Central will be weak this year? As far as I can tell, the Reds, Cardinals, and Brewers will all roughly be the same as or better than last year, while the Pirates (yeah, yeah) should start seeing dividends from bolstering their farm system. I get the feeling that this will be a difficult division to win, even with a good team. No use bringing up Greinke and Gonzalez because the Cubs don't have the money for their contracts. The big reason for this deal is that Garza has had success, is still young, and is controlled for the next 3 years. If we can't sign Greinke or Gonzalez to club friendly deals after this year when a lot of money comes off, then we shouldn't bother trying to win long term anyway. This also makes all the meatheads talking about us going after Pujols next year all the funnier

he always struck me more as a mobster type

heres the big question: could we have had Greinke with the same haul? if we could, then Hendry made a damn big mistake

the worst thing about the Angelo press conference was when he said he has no interest in retiring after the season

well, guess we're just going to be on a 3 game losing streak after tomorrow, so it goes the last two games have made me far more furious than what really are 2 meaningless games, but got damn

Go Seattle and Green Bay (I don't want Green Bay to win but this is how we get to play Seattle in the first round)

I can grow a better beard than Jay Cutler I rule btw I like the idea of playoff beards in other sports but it doesn't really work in football because of how short it is...now basketball...we already have to deal with Joakim's horrible beard in the NBA...but months of no shaving?

just dont part ways with starlin castro just yet, please

Bernstein bet Boers that sometime during the time Noah was going to miss that Asik was going to put up a double-double, Boers scoffed at him, but he's getting awfully close now He'd do it easily too if he didn't get an automatic 2 fouls everytime he took his warm ups off

Yeah I dunno if they were playing it close to the chest but Cutler had a rough day and the receivers had an especially bad day. (Without Bennett, who has turned into Cutler's favorite target lately) O-line and Forte both played a decent game, and the protection even wasn't all that bad most of the time, but Cutler either didn't see anyone or everyone pulled a Knox on the receiving end. The most encouraging thing was that our defense played a hell of a game. With any offensive output, we win this game handily. I'm sure the Packers feel the same way.

beating, or at least staying competitive and keeping me entertained while i wait 2 weeks anxiously for our first playoff game, would be nice, and since i can't have nice things that wont happen packer 41 bears 24

Except that they're playing the AFC West and NFC South. my bad, read it wrong, still not the worst draw

playing the afc west and nfc west isn't too bad, probably the easiest two divisions we could play (of course that also means the rest of our division gets easier than usual games as well) as a bears fan i'm fully prepared for our luck to peter out and us to be mediocre/bad again next year, so i fully anticipate us not taking advantage of the schedule

Wow, I might go out of my way and put some money on the Packers then. They'll take this in double digits, I mean, given Lovie's history, Caleb Hanie is going to have serious minutes in the second half.

lol, 'i'll give my credit to mike tice' *circles two guys* 'this guy isn't playing anymore, this guy isn't playing anymore'

stanzi had a really awful game and in the entire second half he must have been injured or something because everything was sailing, even his checkdowns were awful and hung there for his players to get squashed that interception + the return was one of the coolest plays ive seen all year though

while i firmly believe chris harris thinks this, he isn't in a position to make that decision

another poor fuckin effort for the first 3 and a half quarters of play. i stopped watching when the vikings-eagles game became more important, but i see we had a strong stretch to end the game and made the difference rose really pressed hard in this one...still glad we can go through the motions vs really bad teams, but god damn this was a team we should blow out

football rules as cool as it would have been to see a high pressure packers-bears game, at least my heart will survive for another few weeks i dont see lovie putting out a strong lineup after a quarter or two now (considering we'll know if we're alive in the 1 seed hunt by the time we play) and he's shown that he can and will rest starters with a bye locked up still kinda wish we'd play full effort and try to knock a team that has the potential to be the best team in the nfc out of the playoffs

yeah i'm not as irate over the nfc west division winner being (possibly) sub-.500 as some people are, its a freak occurrence and the first time its happened since the inception of divisions. if the nfl wants to do the nba thing and reseed it so wild cards can host home games, fine by me, but I can go either way with it.

Heres the thing that everyone misses out on: Everyone Is Susceptible To The Short Passing Game. There isn't a team in the league that can stop a really well run west-coast style short passing game akin to what the Patriots and Packers run. The way the game has been legislated and the rules have been enforced, its basically unstoppable. They'll roll up yards and points on you. Its the way the NFL wants it to be. You just do what you can to hold teams to as few points as possible, and try to get your turnovers when you can. The days of a shutdown defense are gone. Pine for those days all you want, but even the best defense in the league can't hold Aaron Rodgers, when he's on, from rolling up 270+ in the air. Its just the way the league is. Hope you can generate a pass rush, hope you can disrupt as many of those underneath passes as you can, but there is no more stonewalling. Those days are over. Now whether or not our corners and secondary are worse than average in stopping the short game is a possibility. We certainly played better at the beginning of the year, of course we also played much worse teams at the beginning of the year as well. With all that said: As scared as I am of a back-to-back playoff scenario vs. the Packers, when I stop and think about it, its not all that scary. We only need to beat them once to stop them (either shut them out of the playoffs at Lambeau, or beat them in the playoffs) Its...just not all that likely, even with a team as strong as the Packers, with a QB as good as Rodgers, to beat a team in back-to-back weeks. Yeah, its not unheard of, but I would take the Bears in at least overcoming them one of these times. As humiliating as it would be, it just probably doesn't happen. Either way everything in this season has been gravy since clinching the North. We've already played beyond our talent level, and we still have a young growing QB. I want to see strides, but I'm not going to be crushed emotionally if we lose in the playoffs, especially with this offensive line. Next year may be the make-or-break year, as our defense isn't getting any younger, and that may be our one window year to contend. Now if we don't pick a minimum of 2-3 lineman in next years draft...then I'll be crushed emotionally.

..someone like...Tracy McGrady?

that was certainly something whatever just gobble up as many wins as you can without noah, no complaining about how you go about gettin em

I don't see Cutler sitting out. Lovie takes pride in beating Green Bay and isn't going to roll over. Did you forget 2006 that soon? With the number one seed wrapped up the Bears played Grossman all of like 3 series and then gave the keys to Griese I think. Yeah and right now the Bears don't have their seeding wrapped up. They still have the #2 seed and a bye week to play for. You honestly think Lovie won't play for that? :-k No of course he will. I'm just saying when the Bears have nothing to play for they have, on two occasions, sat starters. And its possible, though unlikely, we'll have clinched the #2 seed by next week.

I don't see Cutler sitting out. Lovie takes pride in beating Green Bay and isn't going to roll over. Did you forget 2006 that soon? With the number one seed wrapped up the Bears played Grossman all of like 3 series and then gave the keys to Griese I think.