jersey cubs fan

I almost feel that works in the Bears favor, because under normal circumstances I hate their chances in Miami. I hate travelling on a short week. I hate primetime games. I hate going to Miami. Everything about this game begs for disappointment. But if they can win, that would be a huge shift in the potential final record, as much like the Dallas game, I've been penciling this in as a loss all along.

That does not make them a more national school. UM is a huge national school. I've met more Wisconsin and Iowa people in the NYC area than Northwestern. They get a higher percentage, but they don't get more actual "national" students. Thus, they aren't more national.

Then there's no way he's smart enough to get into Northwestern under legit circumstances. I agree with it being a smart campaign that makes perfect sense. It may not be true, but it's a "title" they can make a claim on. You'd be surprised by the number of people who have never heard of Northwestern or at least have no idea where it's located both within the Chicago area and across the country. It's not as bad as Washington University or University of Chicago (minus location), though it's still pretty bad. If you're not from the area and you don't watch any Big Ten sports, there's a pretty decent chance you don't know where Northwestern is located. Also if you are an idiot. I would not be surprised that lots of people don't know what Northwestern is, but the vast majority of those people probably don't know where London is either.

Sure, but it's a percentage of a much smaller pie. It doesn't make them more of a national school.

Then there's no way he's smart enough to get into Northwestern under legit circumstances. I agree with it being a smart campaign that makes perfect sense. It may not be true, but it's a "title" they can make a claim on.

Is that not because they are by far the smallest school, and therefore have the smallest group of alumni by default? With just over 8,000 undergrads, it's mostly that. However, Northwestern is a far more national school than any of the other Big Ten schools. Only 40% of undergrads are from the midwest. I don't see how that makes them more of a national school.

I would think Iowa stacks up well with Nebraska for national telecasts and OSU blows away A&M.

Is that not because they are by far the smallest school, and therefore have the smallest group of alumni by default? I'd be willing to guess a larger portion of NU alumni end up on the coasts w/r/t the other Big Ten schools as well. There are a ton of PSU, OSU and MU alumni where I live.

Is that not because they are by far the smallest school, and therefore have the smallest group of alumni by default?

That's the one I always use as an example. Notre Dame and half the big ten teams.

And where did they do gameday?

They might in the top-half of Chicago-area Big Ten fans. Maybe. For football. I never got the impression Chicago had one big ten team. Nobody ever gave a crap about the Illini. Michigan, Indiana, Purdue and Iowa had as much representation as anybody. I think promoting it this way makes sense. But it's been a decade plus of relavance for that program and it's still not that big a deal.

It's hysterical. Somebody mentioned that the benching was more of a contract negotiating move last week and I still don't understand how that works. Is there anyway to read into this about Snyder's intentions for potential lock-out next year?

That's why Favre isn't coming back next year.

Why is that a good thing? It's not like offenses have dominated this sport. The median points/game is 22.3, making it roughly 7 scores per game, which last three hours. Where is the need for this rule change? It's a bad and unnecessary idea.

Given what our limitations appear to be(no money for Dunn, Pads very unlikely to trade a hurt A-Gon), you disagree? Yes. They have plenty of money for Dunn, he's 32, barely a positive WAR player as an OF, let alone 1B. At best he's an acceptable fallback option if they don't have to give up anything of value in a trade. But he is in no way shape or form an ideal target.

But the difference is that with a spot foul there's no realistic opportunity for the player to calculate whether it is worth the penalty. If it's 10 yards or maybe a 45 yard catch, you will see a huge increase in PI on purpose. It is a no brainer and coaches will teach it. Holding or illegal contact doesn't make any sense as a comparison and I'm not even sure why you'd try. Holding or illegal contact makes perfect sense. Guys ARE taught to use it if they're completely burned but it's hardly used at will even though it can prevent big gainers at the expense of a 5/10 yard penalty. It's a perfectly valid comparison. And yes, of course you will see PI used as a tactic more often. I never denied that. Why is that a bad thing? Intentional fouling is a tactic used in football, basketball, soccer, etc. It's not inherently bad. It's a horrible comparison because you are talking about something done before a pass is even attempted. The payoff is not nearly the same. You don't even know who he is going to throw to, if it could be tipped or picked off, or if they might get a sack. You aren't going to use that tactic under the circumstances you would see NFL defensive backs committing a PI on purpose if it was a simple yardage penalty. And it is a bad thing because the outcomes are completely different. An intentional foul still results in free throws. A 15 yard penalty does not equate closely enough in what a potential 45 yard pass or TD pass could result in. A 10 yard penalty for holding that prevents a sack? Makes perfect sense. A safety for holding in the end zone? Perfectly fair. Pass interference that turns potential game changing plays into mere 15 yard gains is dumb.

http://www.cubworld.com/category/a_cubworld_cam/ I looked this morning and they had some barriers set up around it. I was thinking they would not be able to paint it due to the landmark designation.

Could have happened already with no Favre. I find it interesting that Childress wasn't fired this morning. Especially in light of what happened with the Cowboys yesterday. I'm not saying they should follow some other team and just copy them, but it's pretty clear a boost in performance is possible with a coaching change, and the Vikings really need that right now, and Frazier is a very solid candidate. To me that's a formula that should have added up to an 8am report that Childress is gone. But nope. They just signed him to an extension.

Exactly. It's the grain of salt that needs to be taken with each dose of these national media reports. None of these guys are going to have in depth knowledge of each team. Even if they did, the NFL is just too unpredictable. They'd still get a lot of it wrong. I do find it interesting what they say because it gives a view of what outside opinion might be regarding my team. But that's about it. Oddly enough, Peter King has done a fairly good job of it without the unnecessary nonsense about how they are one of the worst teams in the league.

Could have happened already with no Favre.

But the difference is that with a spot foul there's no realistic opportunity for the player to calculate whether it is worth the penalty. If it's 10 yards or maybe a 45 yard catch, you will see a huge increase in PI on purpose. It is a no brainer and coaches will teach it. Holding or illegal contact doesn't make any sense as a comparison and I'm not even sure why you'd try.

The real reason it's there is because Brent and Kirk will be doing the Ohio State/Iowa game. And why are they calling that game? Because it's the only ABC national game of the week and they are ABC's #1 broadcasting team. Is it normal for Kirk to do a 3:30 game when gameday isn't at the campus? Doesn't he usually go to night games?

Fine, then keep it as is. You can't make intentional pass interference a smart defensive play. Say what you will about rules in favor of the offense, there is still plenty of defense being played and plenty of terrible offense out there. Why not? They do it in college and it works fine. College offenses are different animals. Most defensive backs aren't physically capable of purposefully interfering with deep passes. NFL defenders are right there and it takes pinpoint accuracy for deep throws to work. If you give these guys an opportunity to interfere at will, they will take it. It is the same reason that gimmicky offenses in the NFL cannot be sustained.

I don't believe for a second they are a super bowl contender right now. I think they might be able to win a first round playoff game at this point if they get there. But they have the potential to turn into a contender if things improve where they need it most.