jersey cubs fan

Chris Kuc ‏@ChrisKuc Roberto Luongo is first #Canucks goalie off the ice during morning skate so that means ... well, we already knew that. #Blackhawks

The Yankees have 3 first found picks?

20 minutes with no ads is rough, but OT hockey is compelling tv, which should make banner ads more valuable during that time. They could always negotiate in extras for that. Plus, if you go through one 20-minute OT period, you could always chop the next into 15 or 12 minute chunks, with a more brief intermission so you run 2+ minutes of ads right after the period, a brief studio report and then more ads before starting up the next period.

I think it will eventually. I am sure they will always have at least one full OT period though. Maybe another 5 min 4 on 4 then a shootout. I think there will be some fluke year with 3 or more triple OT games and TV will demand that they do something. I don't think TV hates it all that much, and I think they are much more likely to do something like breakdown the 2nd/3rd OTs into short duration than have a shootout. We're talking about a program that airs in the middle of the summer, when there's virtually nothing else on. And most games are on cable stations and not networks, so I don't see the issue.

But the comment was made that you could probably go as far back as the 60s and not have anybody surpass Soto's total.

Although he doesn't say it the context of this discussion is always homegrown position players and what they produced with the team. Palmeiro hit early on, but he probably had 1.5 seasons worth of time to rack up his value to the team.

A 22-year-old Ronny Cedeno isn't our No. 25 prospect, either. Correct, because he could field a tough position.

Jody Davis? Although I guess he's like Sandberg and not fully homegrown, despite debuting with the Cubs.

I'm inclined to assume the worst with everybody's else's players, plus the bad ones on my teams.

the write-up portion of completely different

I think it's fairly common for those taller lineman to have already had knee surgery in high school, let alone after 3-4 years of college. I doubt very man do it simply for precaution.

A) If everything goes well for vitters, I'd say .300/20 is more in his wheelhouse than .275/20. B) A .275/20 3rd baseman is super awesome. C) He's *really* close to being there, seeing as how he actually hit in AAA. Ronny Cedeno hit in AAA.

Did Chuck Wasserstrom put together those stats for Topps?

Erm... The Fridge wouldn't be worth a nickname if he showed up today.Yes, they're bigger than they were in the 70s and 80s. People said that same thing about the fridge in the 90's, 20 years ago. Proper PED usage isn't making guys larger, it's making them stronger/quicker and allowing them to heal faster. Richard Dent and Reggie White were two of the premium pass rushing ends of the previous era, and they are the same size as many of today's guys. Dick Butkus was a 6'3" 250 pound LB, which isn't different from todays' players. There are a few big fat dudes clogging up the middle, but that style of play isn't as popular as the smaller faster players.

Pretty fortunate for them that next year's draft is stronger.

I feel like some people are relying far too heavily on completely unproven ranking systems to determine the value of football players. Isn't this like the antithesis of NSBB? I mean, I understand that baseball advanced metrics are a million times more reliable and proven, but there was a time when they weren't as widely acclaimed. Also, there's a lot of discussion of PER in NBA threads, FO ratings are used as gospel in most NFL threads, and even pass blocking efficiency (which is the ranking system I assume you're referring to) has been used to make many an argument without being questioned. Why all the sudden is this system "completely unproven"? All the sudden? It's never been. This isn't baseball. Baseball metrics work because you can specifically track individual performance, as it is an individual game, and the sample size is ample in any one season. Football is not, and tracking individual performance with a system like this is flawed from the outset.

But if you are predicting 1.5-2.5 WAR from a guy, ever, let alone only the peak season, isn't it nearly impossible to suggest there are 24 guys better in the system?

If you could ever get a platoon to work out that way, sure.

I feel like some people are relying far too heavily on completely unproven ranking systems to determine the value of football players.

There's no need to cross him off the board yet because the "possibility" of other guys is useless. The Bears need a LT. They cannot miss out on one by only looking at ideal candidates.

I think Orlando Pace is a really bad comp for the discussion. He's much more likely to be the next John Tait. The Bears were forced to overpay Tait because, hey what do you know, they had no offensive line. Tait was nothing special, but he filled a huge hole and allowed the team to stabilize the line for a few years (before the lack of attention in the draft, and aging among the rest of the line once again made it a problem).

Can't wait to see where he goes this summer. Aaaannd the fans rioted, continued their racist chants and the game has been suspended. Cool look, Holland. Jozy wanted to keep playing: folmokaked akaglen

The NFL gets a pass because there isn't the same regard for the record books and "sanctity" of the game that MLB has. And because people love the violence, and the game is as violent as ever. But it's obvious that the NFL is juiced. The one thing that always strikes me when watching old (not all that old, even 20 years ago) NFL highlights is how small the players were. Today's players are monsters in comparison. Bigger, faster, stronger. And not just a little, either. And yes, the hypocrisy of the media when it comes to MLB and steroid use is ridiculous. Even more ridiculous is the feigned ignorance regarding the steroid era, and how "shocked and betrayed" they felt about the "revelations" of PED use. Its disingenuous horse [expletive]. The rampant steroid use was at best ignored and at worst tacitly encouraged by the league, ownership and the media that ate all of it up. And for most of the steroid era, it wasn't even illegal within the sport. Now if you use now, you're in a whole different category (at least in my book) than McGwire, Sosa, Clemens et al. Now a player really has to have an arrogant disregard to use what is explicitly banned. While there is crossover, you also have to take into account that baseball media are not the same people as football media. Baseball people lived on the mythology of their heroes forever. It was always about the innocence of childhood and the past. Baseball media is sanctimonious by nature. Also, guys weren't really smaller 20 years ago. Steroids were huge in the NFL in the 70's/80's/90's. They may be faster now, but they aren't all that much more huge. There are more guys today who can be described as ripped, but that's probably more to do with the refined training (and PED) use, rather than increased usage.