jersey cubs fan

none of this supports the idea that he must be the MVP.

how are those things tools? Looks like a list made for the sake of making a list.

Because Orton didn't look much better when he did play last year. 2 INT in 3 games. I thought he only played 2. Still, how many passes did he throw? At Minnesota, home in the freezer against GB and home against New Orleans. 80 attempts, 2 were picked. 73.9 rating. Clearly not good, but not what we saw his rookie year either. Most people's opinions on Orton are based almost exclusively on what he did his rookie year and it is assumed he has not or cannot improve from those levels. I don't get why.

Because Orton didn't look much better when he did play last year. 2 INT in 3 games.

It might not matter. But if they are going to do anything this year, they are going to need a QB that can get rid of the ball quickly and not throw up jump balls off his heals. I believe Rex is the worse of the two QBs when it comes to dealing with pressure, which means it's probably a good idea to go with Orton if you know you are going to be under pressure all season, and there isn't going to be much of an opportunity for 7-step drops with 30 yard passes.

Why is it so hard for people to realize the vast majority of Orton's #s were accumulated during his rookie year when he was pressed into action, while almost all of Rex's numbers occured while he was a veteran? You cannot say "Orton throws just as many INT" as Rex based on those 15 games in his rookie season.

I never could imagine when I would truly root against the Bears, but if Rex gets another job and starts against the Bears. I might. The Bears defense would absolutely destroy Rex Grossman.

If they pick up a vet, I think they'd rather keep Hanie around and cut Grossman. I really don't understand all the rage surrounding this announcement. Rex was in a pretty crappy situation with the line he had, but he deserved the criticism he got. Why is it "meatball" to not like him? He's not a good pro quarterback. He could succeed with a great line and strong talent all around him, but when things went bad with him he was unable to stop the bleeding. He was given more chances than just about any failed QB in NFL history.

Actually, there is no stalemate. It's been resolved. Some people just refuse to believe the truth.

This really bothers you? I don't really care what they do, Kaman has a right to play for Germany. I don't look at it as being a traitor or anything of that nature, he's just doing what's best for himself. I'd do the same thing if I were in his position. Call me old-fashioned, but I think if there is anything left in sports that isn't about "doing what's best for" oneself, it's the olympics. The olympics are about representing your country with pride and distinction. Otherwise, athletes may as well just go to the highest bidder. I agree. The whole notion of "wanting the olympic experience" is kind of silly when you do things like march in with another country, play for another country, etc. If you want to go ahead and move, great. But just pretending you are a citizen for the chance to play is ridiculous.

Are you saying that lineup would not be good? How many runs would that team give up in defense every game? Is Adam Dunn pitching? But I want to repeat the question. Are you saying that lineup would not be good?

Are you saying that lineup would not be good?

Or 2B, 3B, CF, or C. I'll take my chances with a few sluggers, a few of great hitters (by my definition), and a few singles hitters over 8 Dunns, especially if they have to play the field. The 8 Dunns would score 18 runs one game and score nothing for the next two games as they strike out 20 times in each game. i never get this argument that a lineup full of dunns (or whatever strikeout prone slugger) would be inconsistent. is it based just on the fact that he strikes out a lot? because that would be stupid. We'd probably see the first 21 K game pitched in a loss though.

Whether you put a lot of weight on it or not, the prime age for position players is generally somewhere between 25-29, with a peak right around 26. Lee is clearly past his prime. It has nothing to do with aging past April. He wasn't that good before coming to the Cubs and he's returned to that level. Not bad, but not that good either. Sort of blah, given his position.

Possibly, but they have to know the QB isn't going to last 16 games behind this line, and they are going to need somebody other than Hanie to step in, potentially in the the first month. A veteran they sign after the third preseason game or the undrafted rookie are not good options for that role. My guess is they'd still hope Grossman can come in and spark the offense later in the year if need be, but a release would not hurt the cap and might be their final decision.

I think this is more indicative of the fact that Lovie realizes the offense won't have any room for error and thus needs a quarterback that can limit mistakes. Their performances in the preseason were pretty much even in terms of their abilities. Grossman showed a better touch for the big play, and Orton was more conservative. Yeah, Grossman isn't going to have an opportunity to capitalize on his big play ability, his one advantage in the competition, so what's the point of risking his big mistakes? Kyle is going to have to hit on high percentage shorter routes, if he's going to make it to the bye week alive. Either way, Rex will likely play.

He also said this about Jets fans: A lot of my friends are Jets fans, and I really like making fun of them. But this "thought" was ridiculous. King regularly rips on the NFL for charging full price for preseason games, because they are meaningless and the starters barely play. But now he's offended that Jets fans didn't come out to the Meadowlands en masse for his lovers first game. Absurd! One guy I know has 7 season tickets. He can't give the preseason tickets away. He stopped trying. He planned a vacation that began Saturday and wasn't going to change it to see Favre in a dozen meaningless plays. Why is it so important for fans to show up to this game yet it's completely excusable for them to ignore each and every other preseason game? Peter King is an absolute moron.

What I am saying is he isn't going to He'd better at some point in his career. I don't want to resign a 5 inning ace to a long term deal. What the heck do you want him to do? Throw more hittable pitches? That's going to make him worse. He's had one bad game, as far as walks are concerned, as a Cub. He throws unhittable stuff. That's how he has success. He averages a half an inning less per game than Dempster or Zambrano. Considering those guys don't have the limitations that Harden has, I don't see where the issue is. He's on the same pace as Lilly as far as pitches and innings per start - 97 and 5.9.

How is that disturbing? We know he's awesome but an extreme health risk. So, they can't extend him. 5 fantastic innings at a time shouldn't be the least bit disturbing to anybody. Well they could extend him to 7 innings if he didn't throw 90-100 pitches in 5 innings. I completely agree the Cubs are doing the right things with his pitch counts, its just that hes not a very efficient pitcher. Come October when we aren't scoring 8 runs against the likes of the Giants or Braves, its going to be tough to get from Harden's 5 innings to Marmol and Wood in the 8th and 9th. Yeah? And? They could extend everybody to complete games if they didn't get to 100+ in the 6th. So what? What's the disturbing part? Harden has an exception arm that throws a baseball which is very difficult for major league hitters to hit. He also gets hurt easily and can't throw a lot of pitches. We all knew this the day the trade was made, where did it become disturbing?

I know Canada gives a hard time to some people with booze/drug related charges on file. Maybe the "passport issue" was just that the Canucks wouldn't let the little bugger in their country.

Sack totals do not make a defense. You brought up that they lacked an impact pass rusher. I was just pointing out that in 2005 they didnt have one either. I cant argue about the age factor(Wale, but i agree with raw, wale had a very good year last year and maybe his best), but in some areas of this 2008 defense the experience is in their favor. The lack of a star pass rusher was among the things I thought the defense was lacking, the total number of team sacks doesn't mean much. I don't see how experience is going to be much of a factor either. This is a team that relies on absurd physical ability, not smarts and strategy. The Bears defense was at its best when a bunch of 22-27 year old athletes ran around making plays. Those same guys aren't going to do the same things at 25-31. Pretty much every one of them have suffered significant leg/back injuries since 2005, and they haven't brought in any new bodies capable of the same things the past couple years. Add to that the fact that virtually all of these players has received his second big contract, and there just isn't much hope that this unit, made up of all the same players, just older, is going to get back to its past peak. Raw said something about the defense possibly being good enough to allow fewer points than the offense scores more often than not this year. I agree, they could be good enough to be a 9-7 team. But something else to consider is the offensive line is almost certainly going to be worse than 2005, I don't see the running game ranking 7th in the league in yards per attempt or 8th in rushing yards. The defense may face a situation where they spend even more time on the field. The last thing an older speed oriented bend but don't break defense wants is to spend too much time on the field.

Sack totals do not make a defense.

Thanks for the insult. Are you saying the Bears current D-line is old and slow? Wale is the old man at 31, but is coming off maybe his best year as a pro. Anderson is 24 and he is a year removed from a 12-sack season...which means he at least has the ability to be an impact pass rusher. Harris had 8 sacks last year at about 85% health, which was the 2nd most for his position. That also makes him an impact pass rusher in my book. He's 25. The SB Colts and Pats of last year have been near the top in fewest points allowed. Both teams were far from elite defenses. The Bears won't have the luxury of an offense that puts teams in a hole or an offense that doesn't put its team on a short field, but it's very conceivable that this defense can be good enough to allow fewer points than they score more often than not. And if they aren't forced to short fields and TOP isn't horrendous, it's very possible they could be near the top of the league in points allowed again. Being near the top, and being the best in the league are not the same thing. And since when is it an insult to be called drunk?

The Cubs sell out every game, they don't really need to advertise the team. The Bears sell out every game and they are putting out commercials. Advertising does more than help ticket sales. The Cubs mostly run radio ads, although they do run TV commercials during Cubs games (advertising Batters Eye Suites) This is the first big marketing campaign by the Bears in years though, according to the articles about these commercials.

Oliver Perez is shaky, but he can shut down anybody on any given day. I wouldn't look forwad to facing him and Santana in a 5-game series.