jersey cubs fan

Are you speaking about the weeds coming out of John Ritter's grave? If Hendry is taking advice from the dead this is a much more interesting offseason than it appears.

:banghead: There is no way the Bears can justify bringing the whole coaching staff back. I really don't mind bring most of the coaching staff back, but Ron Turner cannot under any circumstance return. He simply don't know how to use a QB properly. You don't have to fire Turner, just don't render him a contract. You do have to fire him, he's signed through next season. I'm afraid you're right. Although I could see them spending some FA cash since they will once again have no early pick signing bonus money to worry about. They generally stay away from the top of the free agent list, but between Pace, Muhsin, Tait, Miller, trading for and extending Ogunleye and Cutler, and keeping all their big money free agents, the Bears aren't afraid to spend on veteran football players.

Zell turned a healthy profit on the Cubs and still owns .05 of them. To think oterwise is looney. I typed too fast for my brain there, I don't recall what Zell paid for the Cubs, (it wasn't the 1B # that B2B believes wasn't true or something) he may have made a profit Zell took a bath on his entire Tribune ownership stake, which included the Cubs. He bought the company when the Cubs were valued by most at $1B, and sold them for less. You'd have to do some really funny accounting to say he made money on that investment.

I'd like to go back to the "they just write it off" discussion. That's always a fun one.

Of course he hasn't said anything yet. This thing is headed to court. If he made the kid sit in a closet for any reason for several hours I don't see how he is going to win. In the age of the "timeout" punishment for kids, I don't see how that is a fireable offense. He detained a kid in a room and would not let him out for several hours. Not exactly sure why he should be able to do that regardless. Sounds like every test I took in college.

Kramer, is that you? When Zell purchased the Tribune, the Cubs were reported to be worth $1B, they sold for much less two years later. The Tribune bought them for $20 million in the 80's, so they turned a pretty good profit on their investment. Also, what the Cubs were reported to be worth is different than what they were really worth. And those profits were gained long ago. There is no guarantee that the next generation will provide even greater value for sports franchises. It's a huge financial risk these people are taking, and there are plenty of situations where it's a money losing venture.

I just noticed the blue balls bowl is on, and from what I can tell it's very sloppy.

http://www.northsidebaseball.com/bridge/index.php?f=6&t=56427&rb_v=viewtopic

Of course he hasn't said anything yet. This thing is headed to court. If he made the kid sit in a closet for any reason for several hours I don't see how he is going to win. In the age of the "timeout" punishment for kids, I don't see how that is a fireable offense.

Kramer, is that you? When Zell purchased the Tribune, the Cubs were reported to be worth $1B, they sold for much less two years later.

I generally watch it, but just because it's football. It's not football. It's semi-footballesque-ish. It's generally the closest thing to football we get after the Super Bowl. A game of Madden would be closer to the real thing. But it's before the Super Bowl now. That means no Super bowl players will play, probably very few conference champ players will play, and a fair amount of 2nd round losers will skip as well.

I saw a headline on the trib saying Hendry declines to comment on Zambrano rumors. I can't imagine what this rotation would look like minus Harden and Zambrano. Dempster becomes your most reliable starter entering the season.

I generally watch it, but just because it's football. It's not football. It's semi-footballesque-ish.

I'm sure it matters, but it's a case by case study, and Detroit's payroll wasn't going up for the 2004 season, they were still clearing out the old. It was 2005 when they started opening up the window. The fact is the 2006 offseason saw the Cubs coming off a bad year and spending a crapload of money to try and get better. The window was definitely open.

The Cubs world series window was wide open when they were coming off of a 66 win season? When their best players were younger and their payroll was beginning to expand exponentially, yes. Ramirez signed the same month that Soriano signed, I'm sure that level of committment, which was forecasted before it happened, influenced him quite a bit. The Cubs have stepped back from the acquisition window, which can be interpreted by players that they aren't trying to win. But it's not closed now.

Never have seen more than a couple minutes, but now that its the week before the Super Bowl I might watch a couple more minutes for novelty purposes.

This subject came up in the NSBB Prospect Chat, particularly in the context of Jay Jackson versus Andrew Cashner. In one camp, those who supported Jay Jackson over Andrew Cashner made the case that, if Cashner became a top-flight reliever and Jackson became a 2-3 starter, Jackson would be more valuable since he would pitch more innings, be an above average starter, etc. However, the other camp made the case that a top-flight relief pitcher can be just as good as, if not better than, an average/above average pitcher. With Cashner, he has two devastating pitches in his fastball and slider. Not only does he profile as a closer/top-flight setup man as a reliever, but he profiles as a really good one. In other words, they would take a great relief pitcher over a very good starting pitcher. Granted, I think those same posters would take a great starting pitcher over a great relief pitcher. My point was mostly that Sickels falls firmly in the former camp. I tend to follow that particular line of thought, but the opposing viewpoint has given me food for thought. But isn't it still way too difficult to judge who can become a great relief pitcher? There's just a handful of them out there. If you are ranking prospects a guy who projects as a solid starter does so for a reason. Cashner still potentially projects as a very good starting pitcher, which should inflate his rankings, even if people think eventually he'll have to settle as a reliever. But if a guy is a reliever from the get go in the minors, then he's got a lot more to prove.

What I read was more or less hard feelings related to contentious contract negotiations.

http://www.chicagobreakingsports.com/2009/12/toews-among-four-blackhawks-on-team-canada.html Toews, Keith and Seabrook selected. They already have 5 olympians, Kane is a lock and they might have 7. Is that too many guys not getting a break midseason? I was secretly hoping Toews wouldn't make it.

The same way everybody makes these things, by reputation on past accomplishments rather than current level of play.

Maybe it's just me but that Daily Herald blurb did not read like a "hot rumor" but rather one writer simply saying there is a way to make salaries match and the Bulls would be open to getting him.

Ugh, I was at that game in Detroit. Horrible. Needless to say, I will also forever remember that embarrassment. As for this game, I can't bring myself to hope for a loss and a nail in the Lovie/Turner coffin against Detroit. I just have too many friends that are Lions fans. Besides, I think even the Bears should handle Culpepper or Stanton. With no draft status to worry about and in my opinion very little chance that any meaningful change will occur with a loss, I don't find it hard at all to avoid cheering for a loss.

The Tommie Harris injury excuse is done. And it's the coach's job to get max effort. If they can do it by coddling guys, great, if they have to light a fire, do it. But if Tommie dogs it, then that reflects poorly on Lovie and Marinelli. If Anderson, Ogunleye and Brown can be a menace for a season and then fade away for three years, then that reflects poorly on the coaches. If this defense can dominate for a year and a half, and with the same personel fall to below average, that reflects poorly on the coaches. The problem with the scheme is it requires top notch athletes at the peak of their skills, and makes no room for adjustments to players' ages.

For the first time since the Rams game, and maybe only the 5th time this year, the Bears are favored, by 3 this time against the still pathetic Lions. If Lovie's Bears have been impressive against Favre-led teams, the Lions have been a similar thorn in his side. Chicago has won 3 in a row, but they've lost 4 times to Detroit since Lovie took over, including an embarrassing post-super bowl season sweep that featured a ridiculous come from ahead loss where the Tampa-2 was humiliated with a freaking 34 point fourth quarter. I will forever remember watching that game on my blackberry from a pub in London, just terrible. That one game may slant my take on things, but it just feels to me like Detroit is a team that gives Chicago too much of a run for their money. Anyway, the game doesn't mean much of anything to anybody, except for those in danger or losing jobs. A loss would effectively ruin any positive vibe coming out of the Minnesota upset, while a win would just leave a bitter taste in the mouths of those who were hoping for change. Whether they win 6 or 7 games, I have to think this season has put a dent in the convoluted "Lovie has more wins than anybody in the NFC besides Tom Coughlin since 2005" defense that the John Mullins of the world used to try and laugh off any calls for Lovie being fired earlier this year. I think I said before the season that it would take a 10 loss season to force some change, so I guess I'll stick with that prediction, and also predict Chicago wins in unimpressive fashion, and they make only minor changes to the staff and roster this offseason.

I think most of what you said definitely happened, but it still doesn't explain many of the picks in the red zone, and a lot of the other clearly bad decisions. He always had the reputation as a "forcer" even in Denver with a better scheme, better blocking and a superstar receiver to help in bailout situations. I just feel you are a bit to quick to rationalize away his own mistakes, but he has to be held accountable.