jersey cubs fan

Not a bad trade on the surface, but like most of Hendry's moves, it's stained with his own stupidity. He had to pay somebody else to take another mistake off his hands. So while it saves them some money, it doesn't save them from the mistake of Miles. And when people start talking payroll everybody will forget the million he is paying for a guy not to play for the Cubs, again.

The reason is simple, Hendry didn't sign Polanco. As I've posted often, some posters criticize Hendry for every transaction he makes or doesn't make. Look at the criticism he's getting in the threads about Padilla and Ankiel, even though Bruce pointed out that the rumor about Padilla is false. And yet you'll defend every stupid thing he does, and support equating middle relievers with third baseman.

One is a starting third baseman, one is a reliever. You can't seriously be that dense that you can't see the difference. AND PHILLY WON A FREAKING WORLD SERIES AND ANOTHER NL PENNANT. The day Hendry pulls that off in back to back years is the day I won't give him crap for stupid signings.

It's not poor at all. Baseball is the easiest game around to flip back and forth and still follow. And they aren't even the biggest games, the championship series are much bigger. Plus there would barely be a need to have 2 games on at a time.

3B and 2B production is quite similar, they average nearly the same. If you are getting great production at one and less at the other, is there really a problem? Last year, Philly's 3B was as big a black hole as Chicago's 2B. Polanco in a down year was still an improvement over Feliz. I don't see this as a great use of resources, but I don't see it hurting Philly either.

What is idiotic about that? Oh, there's this quaint notion I adhere to, it's called watching the games. You can play them simultaneously and still have them on television and the viewer flip back and forth and enjoy both. It's not simultaneous that's the problem, it's breaking them up by region and making one game unavailable that is the problem.

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/media/photo/2009-12/50836409.jpg Apparantly, those are the first set of bushes Tiger managed to avoid.

Even beyond the "access" question, if you break the news of an alleged affair without any apparant incentive or other story making that story newsworthy, then you are forever more the guy who tells on your for banging chicks that aren't your wife.

Teams turn their record around in one year all the time. it's not impossible by any stretch. And often times it's the result of a coaching overhaul. Good teams that have one bad season can turn their record around in one year under the same coach, but when you have three straight years of mediocrity and decline and keep the same group in charge (and don't have a first day draft choice) the chance for a one year turnaround is lessened. Pittsburgh bounced back from a 6 win season to go 15-1, but they were a double digit win team in the two previous years and got a new QB. They bounced back from one disappointing 8-8 year but that was after two more double digit win seasons and a coaching change (not to mention partially caused by their QB going through a windshield). Philly is sort of the model for bouncing back from disappointing seasons while maintaining continuity with the coach, but their struggles often depend on McNabb's health. The Bears have been bad offensively and defensively for three year's now, and they don't have a day one draft choice. I don't see a quick turnaround coming with the same coaching staff.

It's tough, but if they can get to work on it right away, it can work. Presumably any new OC would have more time to work with Jay Cutler than Turner did, since the trade didn't happen until April. I do think it's a big risk and and unlikely to work for 2010 though.

They shouldn't care, considering several teams are handing out 10+ year contracts. Plus, the Hossa "problem" was different than just being longterm.

I did watch it, and in it he referred to the incident as a minor traffic accident in front of the guy's own house, acting as though it was something much less than what it really was. And it was just a bunch of blurbs from the media. It was pointless. It can be funny sometimes to take one second shots of every news organization saying the same thing, or saying something weird, but that was all they did and it was a really lame bit. I don't see how what they did portrays any sort of problem.

What is idiotic about that?

I think people like Jon Stewart sound like idiots when they say something like this. It very clearly wasn't a low speed zero casualty car crash. The dude was clearly attacked by his wife with a golf club because she was livid that he was banging other chicks. Throw out the celebrity status and this story will make the news nearly any day of the week, especially a slow news day like Black Friday. There's a bajillion stations dedicated to telling news 24 hours a day, and several news programs morning day and night on other channels. There is all sorts of airtime to fill and not nearly enough news. Some will say things like "why not report on the economy or the war or climate change", which is just downright stupid since all of these stories are already talked about all the freaking time. There's absolutely nothing wrong with news organizations talking about this story. It's a billion dollar man who is the spokesperson for hundreds of billion dollars worth of companies who has always portrayed himself as an upright boring family man. It's a story, the fact that people are reporting on it is not a story.

Well what's the point of telling people, I knew all about this the entire time? What's the point of trying to paint yourself as some pulitzer winner for having the courage to report the story that the Enquirer is running with? The fight is news, the crash is news, the fact that you knew Tiger was cheating the whole time and didn't say anything, that's just masturbatory. I don't know about that. I guess it depends on how it's portrayed, and I'm not sure what the specific example was that started this discussion. But a media member saying, "I was aware before but kept my mouth shut" isn't necessarily masturbatory.

No. I'd bet 7-9 keeps him here for another year, and then 6-10 is up in the air. I guess that makes sense since 7-9 means that they beat the Packers or a disinterested Vikings team. But they have to at least fire Turner and also bring in a new defensive coordinator. If that happens I can live with another year of Lovie at the helm. I can "live" with it, only because I don't want to die. But I am so sick of Lovie's cowardly decision making and the horrible coaching on this team. 8-8 might give me some hope that they can fix things, but I don't see it. I just don't see how they can keep tweaking things like coordinators but keep the men in charge. People forget this but Lovie's already had 2 offensive coordinators. He started with Terry Shea, then went to Turner. He's had 3 defensive coordinators, Rivera, Babich and himself, and the defense has just gotten worse. He was given greater personel authority after 2006, and personel just got weaker. He already had to demote his buddy and take over the D coordinator spot, which should have been the "last chance" option for him to save his job. What more can you do? If he keeps taking these hits, but remains the head coach, how does he maintain credibility? I think he's already lost it. Players talk about their respect for the guy, but I think it's much more clear that they like him and appreciate his easy going ways, but their lack of effort displays something other than respect. Coaches who keep getting demerits and power taken away from them will always lose the team. I think you have to cut him lose or keep the status quo. And status quo can't work.

Ive always been a fan of Polanco and his oddly shaped cranium, but 3/18mil? Even if he wasnt 34 years old, that would sound like a lot for him. I guess Ibanez worked out for them so who knows. All I know is if This were the Cubs, there would be people with torches and pitchforks outside Hednrys door. That sure seems like a good deal for Polanco. That does not seem like a good deal to me, but I'm guessing that means he will be their starting 3B. Also, "if this were the Cubs" and the Cubs were 1 year removed from a World Series title and one month removed from another NL pennant, I don't think many people would have room to freak out with pitchforks.

There never have been any legit excuses. Hendry has been in this organization for a decade and a half, he had a major input on every team of this decade, and he's had the backing and support of owners, including ever increasing payrolls while many teams were flat or even declining. If there was a lack of young talent in the organization before, Hendry shares the blame. If there were missteps in the past, Hendry played a large part in that. He has been here forever and his teams have been major disappointments. This offseason isn't going to make or break him. He may stay or he may go, but Hendry has solidified his legacy, of extremely expensive mediocrity and occassional moderate success, and that won't change with this offseason.

As ugly as the tackles have looked at times, I think the biggest weakness is in the middle. Kreutz stinks and needs to be cut. And they need upgrades at guard. I think they have the bodies to get the job done on the outside, but the guards can't run block worth a crap, and they are getting destroyed in passing situations. There is no pocket. Jay can't step up, he has to step on an angle every time to avoid the ends while at the same time avoiding a tackle or blitzing linebacker coming up the middle.

No. I'd bet 7-9 keeps him here for another year, and then 6-10 is up in the air.

I can't really blame media members for not reporting on Tiger's affairs earlier, and then being more than happy to spill now. Once it gets to the point where the story is out there, and Tiger's wife attacks him and he ends up in the hospital, they should be free to report it, because it absolutely is a story. And all this talk about privacy is bunk. If you choose to make your living as a spokesperson, getting paid to tell people to buy products because you personally think they are quality products and use them, well then you are inviting people into your personal life, as you are selling yourself. You aren't a private citizen, you've given up the security of privacy for a hefty paycheck. It was your own choice. You can be a pro athlete, and pro athlete only, making millions while retaining a reasonable amount of privacy. But when you begin to sell yourself, you've surrendered a great deal of that privacy. And once your affairs get in the open and you wind up in a hospital because your wife attacked you, all bets are off.

We've been through this before. Just because the phenomenon we're discussing cannot be distilled down to a column on fangraphs (Attitude WARP? Personality WARP?) doesn't disprove its existence/importance. Neither does it prove it. There's no logical explanation how it can/has/does have an effect, so until somebody comes up with one the only reasonable assumption is that it's pointless.

What I want to know is if Elin will ever appear green side for another tournament, because that will be highly viewed television.

No it's not. They've already come out and said they are sticking by him. He's still a meal ticket. MJ wasn't even playing anymore when his marriage fell apart and that really didn't hurt him. This isn't going to damage Tiger at all.

Or wait until your ready to make a lifetime commitment to someone. Obviously he wasn't. Has nothing to do with her being hot or he being rich and famous. He being rich and famous has a lot to do with it. He may have been truly in love and felt he was ready for a lifetime commitment, but pro athletes really need to wait, at least until they are out of their prime earnings years and/or out of their 20's. It's all well and good to talk about a committment, but a guy on the road with money is going to get hounded by extremely attractive women. I'm sure he's turned down about 100 times more than he's ended up with, but it only takes one, and it happens.