jersey cubs fan

As a directional kicker and not a big boomer, he probably has a small margin of error between great kicks and shanks.

Yeah...as good as Hester was...you have to think Toub had a lot to do with the 06 season. Manning led the league in yards per return last year and Knox is doing the same thing so far this season. He's definitely doing something right. The Bears have generally been excellent in all areas of special teams too including punt and kick coverage so I think he has to get a lot of credit. I've been critical of Maynard but the numbers disagree with me. Why critical of Maynard? He's only really had the one bad punt that I can think of (the shank against Seattle). I thought he was bad a couple years ago, but he's generally been a really good punter.

Haha. I guess I can see where Turner might have the inspiration to use the pass more with a QB he can trust to make good decisions and actually make the plays happen. What's weird though is Rex Grossman certainly sent the ball 20+ yards down the field more often than Cutler has been so far. Is it because Berrian could get open better than Hester and Knox? Or does Turner feel that Hester and Knox have better potential after the catch over running deep patterns and catching the ball over their shoulders? There has only been one lengthy connection and that was to Knox in game 1. Everything else has been possession type throws. Maybe Lovie is open to a more pass friendly attack as long as they are passes that they don't create turnovers. Sort of a smash mouth, in your face, clock gobbling short passing game. Bennet caught some passes that were somewhat lengthy. I think a lot of it has to do with the lack of pass blocking. They aren't going to the really deep drop because they are old on the left side and inexperienced on the right. They don't really have the time to prepare for those big 40+ yards in the air throws. But they are fine with the intermediate stuff, and that is where your bread is buttered.

Bears in a landslide. They haven't even attempted to establish the run. I guess that's endorsement enough as to how bad our run blocking line is in that the coaching staff won't even try to establish the run. A coaching staff and organization that has always bled smash mouth, in your face, clock gobbling run game. Luckily, Cutler has enough weapons through the air on offense to make up for the lack of ground game. However, hardly ever running the ball does make the running game a bit stronger in that the defense isn't expecting the run. And Forte proved that if you can get through the first wave of defenders, he can match any linebacker and quite a few db's in a foot race. I think it has more to do with Cutler than bad run blocking. I think Turner is pass enamored. If you're gonna be pass happy though, like Brad Biggs was saying on the radio this morning, you really have to start drawing up some big plays for some of these WR's. So far we've had what...one long pass, and that really was a short pass with a nice Hester run for a TD. If you believe Hester is really a number 1, and you believe that Knox is an up and comer, start watching how other teams are getting their receivers open, and get some packages designed specifically to do that. I don't necessariliy agree with that. This isn't the Colts. The Bears are closer to what Philly has been, using the short passing game as a substitute for running. It keeps completion % high, keeps the clock running and moves the chains. They've tried to go deep, but haven't had great opportunities. And while their receivers have some talent, none of them are capable of getting themselves open deep even when the defense is covering it. And can you really say clock gobbling on here?

I'd like to see that, but I don't think they have the personel. I don't think either of those guys would be effective at all dropping back.

We could be worse is nonsense? Give me a [expletive] break. I guess I'm just more concerned with who IS our GM rather than who ISNT. If Ricketts loves Bill Bavasi or Jim Bowden or Steve Freaking Stone, I couldn't give a [expletive] whether or not Hendry deserves to keep his job (he doesn't). I want the Cubs to be in the best possible situation next year... and there's a very large amount of GM candidates on the market who would be actively taking this team a step backwards. And I think that's a pretty pathetic way of looking at things. They could be a heck of a lot better, and I'd like to see them do so. Hendry epitomizes mediocrity and I don't see why we should stick with that out of fear of failure.

He and Zambrano were both better than people give them credit for. And they both took an inordinate amount of blame for the struggles of the season.

Going from 64 to 2 would require a lot of other picks added to the draft.

http://www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=326656 If they sign Grabow to a 3-year deal and let Harden walk without offering arbitration, I won't do anything, but I'll be really annoyed.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0429493/

I don't care about PCL success. I care about the Cubs producing bats through their system. They haven't done that. One guy in several years with even a chance of being good (but who sucked this year) is meaningless. Nothing about his resume screams must keep. He's just another guy. Scapegoating the hitting coaches is weak, but just because he's respected doesn't mean he is a guy you have to have as your major league hitting coach. And if he takes that AAA job, he's right back where he theoretically has the most value to the organization anyway, so again, no big deal.

Yes and no. Given the new owners I can see the appeal of getting someone new in and signaling a "new era," but that typically requires paying big for such "newness." If the money is there, great, get the new guy in. If not, eh, limit Hendry basically to trades only and I can live with it for another year. Either way, I'm not losing sleep. If they want to still fire Hendry and there's not the money to make a big splash I'm not going to be worked up over it. I guess technically I could live with it for another year, but there's no good reason why we should have to. He's been in charge for a very long time and the team is barely over .500 with a huge financial advantage over the competition. I'm not all that upset that Joshua has been canned, but it's a weak move by Jim who typically finds something else to blame for a lack of success. He goes year to year on bizarre tangents, and he's the one who put them in this tight spot with so much money tied into just a few guys for several years. So if they somehow make it so his moves can't cripple the team going further, fine. But much like "Dusty-proofing" a roster, I don't see the point in hanging onto a guy you have to prevent from screwing up the team when he does what he wants to do.

One guy who had one good year and then declined significantly. Not much of a case so far. So you believe '09 is Soto's true talent level. And that his '07 sucked. I think his true talent is probably somewhere between his 08 and 09, and his 60 PA in 07 don't really merit mentioning.

One guy who had one good year and then declined significantly. Not much of a case so far.

No, it doesn't. I'm not opposed at all to firing Hendry; I just recognize the odds that his replacement will be better aren't very good. That doesn't mean I want Hendry to stick around...I'm just not getting worked up over his replacement until they prove they're not part of the usual parade of crap that is the average MLB GM. When was the last time an owner telegraphed a GM replacement before first firing the existing one? The Jocketty situation is the only one I can remember. I don't understand what this has to do with anything. I'm not stating that the replacement has to be picked out or "telegraphed" or interviewed or whatever before Hendry is fired. I don't care if, how, where or when Hendry is fired. The closest I've come to "defending" him is saying that I wouldn't be opposed to keeping him for another season only if there is no significant payroll to work with and even then I'm not against him being fired. There's plenty of payroll to work with, the problem is Hendry has pissed much of it away. Considering Hendry has only really improved this team when they were massively increasing payroll (and after he turned the team from decent to crap), I would think that a lack of significant payroll boosts this offseason would be more incentive to get somebody else in there.

Maybe he was, and maybe he's just another guy who is a hitting coach that everybody likes, but as Derrek Lee said, those guys are overrated. It's the talent that matters. And he hasn't exactly turned the guys he's worked with in the system into highly productive players.

I think people are a lot more miffed at the 2 that pushed Vitters down to 3 rather than his ranking alone. It's an arbitrary ranking of prospects in Low A ball. He had one good month there. I don't get the uproar.

When the current GM has already fired two of the most respected batting coaches in the business within just a few months of each other, who can you realistically expect Hendry to hire next? You are dreaming if you think Jaramillo would come here so that he can be the next person Hendry blames for his own shortcomings. Since when did Von Joshua become one of the most respected hitting coaches in the game? People weren't exactly lining up to hire him while he spent the last several years in the Cubs minor league system. This whole Von Joshua uproar is getting out of control. Von Joshua has been very highly regarded for quite a while now. People keep saying that, but he's been a minor league coach for several seasons and he's in his 60's. How highly regarded could he possibly be? Everybody who stays around long enough in baseball is a good baseball guy, but if Von Joshua was only able to get a job as the Cubs AAA hitting coach, he can't be that much in demand.

Hendry has had the team in the playoffs 2 of the last 3 years, with teams that could have won the WS. I think it is a refreshing change, when everyone is sitting around lamenting about not making it into the playoffs like we are expecting it every year. And if you don't think the Cubs could do worse than Hendry at GM, just read any article that is pining for the new ownership to hire Steve Stone. The club's history isn't relevant. Fans should expect this team to be in the playoffs every year. And Hendry hasn't been GM for just 3 years, he's been there since 2002 and has been a major decision maker long before that. He's had his time and he's allowed this team to be a disappointment far too often. A couple division crowns in a weak division is nothing to hang your hat on. The Hendry era Cubs have barely outpaced the Florida Marlins during the same timeframe, and with many more resources at his disposal.

I bet it doesn't. You'll keep it bumped now just to prove me wrong. :mrgreen: I might. But even without that help the Bears are the only thing that matters now for most people who would be posting on this board the next couple weeks. The Blackhawks game might dip to page 2 before their next game, but not the Bears.

I bet it doesn't.

I bet he doesn't winter in Detroit.

That seems like a waste of Bradley and a good way to ensure he loses his mind. He's no guarantee to get more than 300 PA anyway and he's already lost his mind. Between Soriano's health and the questionable situation that will be in CF, he'd wind up playing much more than just the games in RF against LHP.

Are people really miffed that Vitters was ranked 3 instead of 1? And I thought All Star game voting debates were meaningless.

They should just platoon Kosuke and Bradley in RF next year. Kosuke's bounceback year was barely better than Bradley's disappointing season, and they have a L/R platoon split that fits.