jersey cubs fan

Anybody notice how few people were in PNC Park last night?

I read that as "not fielded", which is technically correct. :wink: Uh..yeah. Dude, that's totally what I meant... 8-) Not seeing the field definitely implies not playing in field, regardless of pinch hitting duty.

shouldn't it be milb version? ml is major league. I am honestly not excited about any minor league Cubs. Maybe it's a matter of having less time to pay attention to them, but there isn't a guy down there whose numbers I just have to see in these box scores. I guess Vitters might become that guy. Colvin is going to have to do much more than OPS a shade over 800 as a 23 year old back down in A ball.

And yet his season stats remain putrid. I don't see how that is at all "curiously timed". It's an article about which early trends are likely to continue. So the "trend" is one terrible week? That he followed up by tearing the cover off the ball? The trend is the first two weeks of baseball, after which Derrek Lee's numbers look as bad as they did the last 5 months of 2008. The fact that he "tore the cover off the ball" for a couple days and yet that was unable to prop up his season-to-date stats shows just how bad he's been overall this year. Seriously, "curiously timed" doesn't really make any sense. It wasn't an article about Lee. It was an article about various early numbers, good or bad, and whether some people think that trend will continue.

Probably since it became his real name. Actually, it's been since before it became his real name.

And yet his season stats remain putrid. I don't see how that is at all "curiously timed". It's an article about which early trends are likely to continue.

Maybe, but that brings us back to who are you willing to release to make that happen? Lou seems to like Cotts for some reason. It seems like they are going to give Marshall a few starts before they relegate him to the pen. It's probably a matter of waiting out the first DL stint moreso than preparing to release somebody. One of those guys is bound to go down sooner or later.

I'm not aware of his injury history outside of this past season. Is it that bad throughout his career? And in my previous post, I meant best available at WR, not just best available. Now that we have a quality QB, we need to give him the necessary tools to be as effective at his job as he can be. He had a reputation for being more interested in his music career than football, and for sitting out unnecessarily for relatively minor injuries. I don't think that reputation was challenged last year. And I disagree that they have to sign others and draft best available WR in the 2nd. Part of the value of getting Cutler, as well as investing heavily in the line, is that should make the wide receivers better. If Orton was still here, then I would agree it's absolutely necessary to give him the best possible weapons, to offset his lack of talent. Hester should be better with Cutler than he would be with Orton. Bennett should be better than he would be with Orton. Olsen should be better, Clark may even be better, and quite honestly, I expect some marginal 3rd receiver type to be better with Cutler instead of Orton. If they see a WR available that they'd love to have, who is worthy of the pick, then take him. But this is still a team whose defensive talent in slipping on a weekly basis, a team with some questions now, and in the future, on the offensive line. Bottom line, it's a team with needs everywhere but QB and RB. They can't narrow their search in the draft to best WR available. That's how they ended up over drafting guys like Bazuin and Wolfe, when there was clearly better players available at other positions.

The end of the game is why I don't understand why the league and refs get praised for "just letting them play" in the playoffs. Calgary was taking cheap shot after cheap shot in the first two games, and were seeing very little repercussion. They continued that into game 3 and when the Blackhawks stepped up their chippiness, things got out of control. That may get some people all excited, but it makes the hockey boring as hell.

Yeah, I'd seriously consider bringing back Lloyd. I think the coaching staff, like other staffs before them, may feel his committment to football is significantly lower than their demands. But he's a halfway decent talent who could potentially have a big year with a Pro Bowl caliber QB throwing to him.

Well, it's mid-april, the Cubs are in first place, and some other big bats, Bradley/Soto, have yet to show anything either. I think he needs to see more prolonged decline by Lee as well as the team struggling, before he will make a move. I think you can go back to the 2nd half of last year to see DLee has started a prolonged decline. Soto and Bradley are different situations because they both had solid seasons last year. DLee started off hot last year, but started to decline from about June on. Oh no doubt, we're going on about 6 months of weak performance by Lee. But my point is I don't think Lou will feel the need to move him with the team winning and the potential leap froggers not hitting the ball either.

He needs to get out there and play. I hate to say it, but Kaner is gaining a reputation for being soft and that's not good. He's still really young and physically a kid more than a professional athlete. But it could be difficult to overcome such a label if he does sit out. The playoff games have really shown just how much more valuable Toews is to this team than Kane.

Well, it's mid-april, the Cubs are in first place, and some other big bats, Bradley/Soto, have yet to show anything either. I think he needs to see more prolonged decline by Lee as well as the team struggling, before he will make a move.

Coke. Yeah raw, that is a good point. It's certainly possible to find the right fit at WR in the 2nd. But that would also entail the Chicago Bears scouting and coaching authorities to find and develop the right guy, not exactly their best skill. And if it is just a matter of giving Cutler somebody with decent talent, that could make it unnecessary to spend a 2nd rounder on one, especially with multiple needs.

Florida still needs to go 79-72, a .527 W%, the rest of the way to get to 90 wins.

I'm not. I'd be happy for two more at the UC right now... If this team is ever going to take the leap into elite status, they are going to have to win in hostile environments. The first 2 games were great for getting them playoff experience, but playing with the crowd on your side is probably a help.

Otherwise they jeopardize their chance at the pennant?

I agree with what Ditka said, it won't change our offense alot, but I disagree about the significance. Ron Turner is an idiot. It doesn't matter who his quarterback is, he's going to try to run a Favre-style offense. He's not capable of tailoring his offense to the guys he has on the field. What Angelo has effectively done is tailored the personnel to the kind of offense that Turner runs instead. So, I think the addition of Cutler will be significant. Turner will try to push it downfield now. It's what he really likes to do, as you can see from his time with Illinois when he had some weapons, and in '95 when he had a couple decent receiving targets and a passable QB in Kramer. The one misperception that I think is out there is that Turner is like Shoop. He's not. He isn't very imaginative, but he does like to throw downfield if he can. Defenses in the NFL can adjust and stop a passing game if you don't put anything in there to change it up though. I'm not sure Turner can actually do that consistently, so I also view next season as a big test for him. They did it last year, only Orton missed his guy most of the time.

I'm really looking forward to seeing this team play on the road, especially in a Canadian venue.

It's not like Samardzija was an unstoppable force out of the bullpen last year.

Turner has only been a Bears OC in the NFL. And he's had limited success, if any. He's yet to develop or contribute to the development of a good NFL QB. And his offenses are usually bottom half of the league. I agree he hasnt done anything to contribute to develop a good NFL QB, but he has had a QB with alot less talent than Jay Cutler put up some very impressive numbers in 1995. Yes its 14 years ago, and Turner leaves alot to be desired, but Im willing to give him a chance this year with a true NFL Qb. Yeah, he coaxed one good year out of Kramer, nice, he also coaxed half a good year out of Rex and half a good year out of Orton. That doesn't make him a quality NFL offensive coordinator. If he was really any good, he probably would have been persuaded to join a team with an actual NFL offense by now.

Turner has only been a Bears OC in the NFL. And he's had limited success, if any. He's yet to develop or contribute to the development of a good NFL QB. And his offenses are usually bottom half of the league.

Understandable, and I'd have to agree. Which makes me wonder why you think Detroit would do well to take Stafford 1st over all. I don't see that working out well for them. The only reasons he's considered potential 1st material are because he is a QB and Detroit needs a QB. It's not because he's clearly the best draft prospect.

I think you'll see a similar style offense. It's not like the old one never threw downfield, Rex did it a lot, and Orton threw some as well. The difference is hopefully more of them will be completed. Also, a lot of that depends on protection. I think I'd prefer they sign a free agent WR and draft somebody else in the 2nd, because I have my doubts about how much a 2nd round WR will provide to the Bears this year.

If he stepped back into the batter's box after being called out on strikes, I think people would have whined even more than they did. This "incident" took seconds. You know what I mean. Bradley has a history of over-reacting and not maintaining control of his emotions like a normal adult. (Yes, I know, professional baseball players are not normal people.) Or are we just going to accept this as "Milton Bradley being Milton Bradley"? Baseball players argue over bad strike 3 calls all the time. Milton's argument didn't delay the game at all, and was no big deal.