jersey cubs fan

I agree. They have a lot of holes to fill and only after a couple drafts will they then get filled. And they are missing key elements to a team, not just quantity. LT/QB/RB(Kevin Smith?)G's. Entire DL except for Redding, CBs. the Panthers were an expansion team and made it to the SB in their 2nd year. with the likely #1 pick and 4 more 1st day picks you can reasonably expect with a decent GM to get 5 starters and with the cap space another 3-5 through FA. it's really not improbable (assuming Marinelli's canned) that they could be a factor in the division next season. unless they take a QB with the #1, or retain Mayhew. Expansion teams start fresh and don't have to clean up previous messes. They also didn't make the SB in their 2nd year.

Why? what he do wrong? Did you see how terrible he made the lines the first 3 games? I know nothing of hockey strategy or what makes a good coach. My feeling when he was hired was that they hired the name to appeal to fans emotions more so than hiring a coach. I get the feeling there isn't a team in the league dying to hire him and he was only the Blackhawks coach because he used to be a Blackhawk (similar to Tallon).

http://www.chicagobreakingnews.com/2008/10/hawks-fire-head-coach-savard.html

Wow? That's really really weird. Not that he was fired, but 4 games into the season. I don't think this is a good move. This will put more pressure on a young team. Weird timing. Why not fire him in the summer? I don't think he's all that great of a coach, by why start the season with him, and then fire him 4 games in, right after their best game of the season? You had to figure that Bowman's arrival and no contract extension meant he was on the chopping block, but now?

Hello bye week. Please pull this one out and then rest up.

They've got a long ways to go though, I think it's going to be at least 3 years before they are actually good. They might make some noise before then, but they are worse than the Wanny Bears.

Man, I had almost talked myself into not ordering Center Ice, now I'm wavering.

they're spread out over like seven years. and he's had a couple very good individual series. did he go from unable to hit postseason pitching in the '01 alds to being ok with postseason pitching in the '01 alcs to back to sucking in the '02 alds to back to being awesome in the '03 alds? And then absolutely god awful pathetic in the '03 ALCS, '03 WS, '07 NLDS and '08 NLDS. Soriano crapped the bed in the 2003 playoffs. Soriano has been horrible in the playoffs, I don't know people have trouble thinking that maybe there's a reason. My personal theory on Soriano is pitchers are just too confident in their own abilities to get him out as easily as he seems to get himself out. Early in his career pitchers thought he was just another young talented player who they could get out with their regular approach. They actually did that throughout 2001 when he was 25 and did next to nothing in the regular season. He exploded at age 26 during the regular season (2002 season) from a power standpoint, but he was still a fairly easy out. By 2003, however, teams were done challenging him "when it mattered". In the 2003 playoffs he struck out 26 times. During the regular season teams tried to beat him with high heat and while they still got him out 66% of the time he did enough damage that in the playoffs they weren't willing to take that chance. That carried over in 2004/2005, when he had Neifi-like OBPs. Perhaps he made some adjustments for the past three years, but he was just barely better than he was at his earlier peak, and he was still the same easy out that teams could shut down if they were not too proud or cocky enough that they'd constantly challenge him.

I hope Toews calling a players only meeting 3 games in isn't a sign of panic on the horizon.

Because if there's one thing Dallas is known for, it's player focus and effort at all times.

marcel has got to be one of the worst, though. it's not impressive at all to say your system is accurate when you just predict everyone in the league is going to be mediocre. it's the crazy stuff (on both ends) that makes a projection system interesting. marcel is not interesting. I don't think a goal of a projection system should be to be interesting.

Generally speaking the NTC is waived when a guy wants out badly or he's offered a carrot. Samardzija hasn't done enough for Hendry to smear his name (Sosa) or to justify offering any more of a carrot. A NTC isn't just a matter of getting permission, it makes trades very difficult, and often forces discounts that players value in trade.

They have Phil Hughes and Ian Kennedy, 2 guys that a lot of teams would love to get their hands on, especially one about to embark on a full rebuilding phase. Also, Im thinking that the Pads will try to package Peavy and Khalil Green like the Marlins did with Becket and Mike Lowell, in which if a team wants Peavy, they'l have to take Green as well. Ian Kennedy isn't worth anyone's time. He's a 5th starter. If I am the Padres and I am looking to rebuild, a package involving Cano, Cabrera, Hughes, and a prospect or two for Peavy, Greene(could play 2B), and a prospect isn't looking like that bad of a trade. Are you seriously that enamored with the overhyped Yankees prospects?

That's a kickass uni. I'd like to see that one again on throwback day. If that picture was taken at US Cellular, I was at that game.

NFL Lines For Week 7 - NFL Football Line Week Seven NFL Line 10/19 - 10/20, 2008 Date & Time Favorite Line Underdog Total 10/19 1:00 ET Tennessee -8 At Kansas City 35 10/19 1:00 ET At Buffalo PK San Diego 45.5 10/19 1:00 ET Pittsburgh -9.5 At Cincinnati 37 10/19 1:00 ET At Miami -3 Baltimore 36.5 10/19 1:00 ET Dallas -7 At St. Louis 44 10/19 1:00 ET At Chicago -3 Minnesota 38 10/19 1:00 ET At Carolina -3 New Orleans 44.5 10/19 1:00 ET At NY Giants -10.5 San Francisco 45 10/19 4:05 ET At Houston -8.5 Detroit 47.5 10/19 4:15 ET NY Jets -3 At Oakland 42 10/19 4:15 ET At Washington -7 Cleveland 43 10/19 4:15 ET Indianapolis -1 At Green Bay 47 10/19 8:15 ET At Tampa Bay -10.5 Seattle 39 Monday Night Football Line 10/20 8:35 ET At New England -3 Denver 47

Dusty is to plate patience as Lovie is to Cover 2. Except it's the complete opposite.

Cubs started out 1-3 and the Brewers 3-1 and we turned out ok. Different sports, different season lengths, different spread between good and bad teams. And a very large spread between teams that make the playoffs and teams that don't. A slow start in MLB can make it nearly impossible to be one of the 4 teams in your league to win it, not so in NHL, with double the playoff participants. However, they are doing everything possible to eliminate the momentum from last season. The red carpet thing was tacky. They signed a purported #1 goalie in the offseason and can't allow the fans to rally around him because they are stuck with their last ill-advised goalie signing (probably) taking half the starts. They have scored just 2 goals a game after emphasizing goal scoring all offseason, and don't play well on defense. Blackhawks fans have had the rug ripped out from under them before, and I have to believe they may very well fear the same thing is happening now. A lot of people coughed up a big chunk of change in a tough economic climate, and if they aren't a winning team by November, they could completely lose everything they built from a fan excitement standpoint.

One particular fan who was excited about his team winning caught flak from at first a moderator when others piled up on him. His comments were innocuous in a game thread talking about a game that his team had won. He was correct when he was saying that he was cheering because his team won, NOT because the Bears lost. It seemed like the perpetrators of that issue with wading through garbage posts come from the Bears fans (and as I said, a moderator on this board got it started, and I have a ton of respect for Raisin). That said, I never received a response to my inquiry in the other thread about what "proper etiquette" would be in a Bears/Packers game thread considering there are a few handfuls of big Packers fans on this board. I had no problem with any of his posts during the game or even the first celebratory post but 2 celebration posts in a span of 10 posts in the thread seemed like overkill (and it appears as though I wasn't the only one to think that; but if a lot of you think otherwise, fair enough...). this will probably be my last post about it, but all i did was make two celebratory posts after an unbelievable win, then i left. When I came back, about 10 people complained about it (which seemed like overkill to me). So, I defended myself :bye:

Fans booed Rex because he was the starting QB of the Bears, it had nothing to do with Kyle. He will receive the same treatment from fans if he struggles.

Okay, this needs to be said. You had your fun in the last game thread, and I'm officially tired of reading it. If you don't have Bears game related material to share, please quit posting in the Bears game threads. Your whining is as childish as anything. Grow thicker skin. Trash talking fans are pathetic.

Carolina, Tampa and Philly are all right there with Minnesota defensively, if not better.

The interest in him is already zero, so there's no real risk of damaging his value. I would prefer Huet get the majority of playing time, instead of 50/50, but Khabi does have to play if they want to find a taker.

](*,) ](*,) ](*,) ](*,) Why the hell did we sign Huet then? I assume you are referring to the rotation. I can only assume they are trying to showcase Khabi to get teams interested. If he plays in 15 of the first 30 games he could get traded and leave Huet as the undisputed starter.

http://blogs.chicagosports.chicagotribune.com/icing/2008/10/no-place-like-h.html

If he starts he will start in the majors if he isn't good enough he will be in the bullpen. We just aren't simply going to throw a very good relief pitcher to the minors just so he can be a starter. A good starting pitcher>>>>> A mediocre starting pitcher>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Middle relief=A bad starting pitcher. He has much more value as a starter. Whether he can start and maintain his "stuff" is an open question. If the Cubs think he can start they will put him in AAA. I don't know what Wood will ask for but I'm guessing the Cubs will pay it. I think it will be described as a "fair" deal. You got to think like Piniella. Do you throw one of your best bullpen guys in the minors for the simple reason you want him to start? Or do you give him a shot to start in the majors if he isn't there yet keep him as a RP because he is one of your best. I highly doubt the Cubs are going to be willing to go without one of their best RP because he is in the minors starting. We called him up from the minors last year when he was starting and doing well I see no reason to think we will let him sit in the minors again next year. It's not a "simple reason" it's the most important part of the equation. Samardzija had mixed results in fairly limited bullpen duty this year. He's no lock to be a shutdown reliever. He had a hot start but ended with a 1.40 WHIP. His September ERA was over 5 and opponents had a 113 OPS+ against him. It's not a matter of letting him sit in the minors, it would be trying to get the most out of your asset, and starters are far more valuable than relievers.