RedFlash

Hey vance, what's with your boy, Francios? (or however you spell his last name) He trash talk Tebow all week, then he's out for the game (at last I heard) with an injury. What's the matter, he bit off more then he could chewed?

in the sec, i'd be surprised if they don't have money on some of the games. You're telling me. That's why I support a floating system to which one conference's refs would not get comfortable in any one conference. Refs would have no visible concentions to any school or said conference, and maybe we see these refs start calling good games. yeah but if the school's boosters are paying off the refs, rotating refs isn't going to help anything. i think you just need to accept that everyone is going to cheat in the sec and whoever does the best job of it will probably win. Then take it of the school's booster hands. Refs should be paid by NCAA anyways and not the home school. With that said, I don't want to drown this thread with a topic that can go on forever. So....it's topic to be dealt with another day.

in the sec, i'd be surprised if they don't have money on some of the games. You're telling me. That's why I support a floating system to which one conference's refs would not get comfortable in any one conference. Refs would have no visible concentions to any school or said conference, and maybe we see these refs start calling good games.

You want to see a poorly officiated game, go re-watch the Alabama/Kentucky game. The fact that Rich Brooks were in the ear of the refs all game and got phantoms holdings and OPI calls (on Julio Jones) all game long was bad enough. Then those "refs" couldn't spot a ball to save their lives. To me the Alabama/KU game was the worst I've seen. Which brings me to this opinion: I honestly believe that NCAA needs to considered moving refs from conference to conference. SEC officials can't work SEC games, etc, etc. Every yr each conference would have a difference conference refs. Like 09 the Big 12 would have SEC refs, then 2010 Big East, etc, etc. Because some of these games ou swear these refs have money on the game.

this game is almost always in Dallas, which is more or less geographically 1/2 way between Norman and Austin Ok, that's definately an interesting idea to have a "netural site" for both teams in a rivalry game. I guess that idea works well in the Big 12 because of the north/south conference, instead of the East/WWest configuration. Good to know, and thx for the clearification, Der and everybody else who answer the question.

I know I am a spaz and a unashamed homer for the SEC and their games, but that doesn't mean I don't like good college football matchups, and boy the UT/OU game was one of the few non-SEC games I was looking forward to watching. Shoot. Here's to hoping to watching the Mizz/UT game next week after Bama dispose of Ole Miss quickly next week. (Sorry OMC) Is this game in Texas or Oklahoma? I thought I read someon say Dallas, and yet they have OU as the home team.

There is almost no chance that Edmonds will ask for anything more then 1 yr $1.25 mill type deal if he doesn't retired. The fact the he clear waivers tills you that he wasn't in high demand then, and I doubt he will be this offseason. So if the Cubs want him back money or yrs won't be a prolly. But I don't want him back.

Is the UT/OU game as exciting as it sounds for those who can't watch the game?

Not that it matters, but I swear that everytime I watch Bermans' "Two Minute Drill" he always picking against the Bears. I maybe wrong---I've been told once or twice---but I never seen Berman ever side with the Bears, even when they are winning. I know it doesn't matter, and the way I look at it is this, if you can work in Indy and beat the Colts at there place, there is no away game you shouldn't win. Right now, seeing as bad they were last yr, the Falcons are definately playing on the House's Money this yr. I like Ryan/Turner combination, but I didn't think ATL would be anything more then a 6-7 win team this yr even in the South Divison. I know alot of Falcons fans like this matchup on paper, but I believe by the end of the game on Sunday, they will realize there not as good as their record says they are. I say the Bears put up 28-35 points against the Falcons and win the game comfortably.

That's the HI......larity of it all. The Dodgers/DBacks are 6-0 against the Cubs in the NLDS, but 0-6 in the NLCS. Apparently beating the Cubs in the first rd, doesn't prepare one for the real playoff series.

I didn't want the Cubs to bring back Gary Gaetti in 99 after a great September of 98, and yet they did. This is going to be something similar. If the Cubs can't land a guy like Beltran, DeJesus, or even McLouth, I prefer to let Pie and Johnson be the platoon in 09 with no Jim Edmonds. But knowing the Cubs, unless Edmonds retires, I se them saying "since you did such a great job with us last yr, we'll offer you a 1 yr deal." I was abslutely floored and loved what Edmonds did with the Cubs, BUT that is no reason to bring him back. And what that say to Felix Pie that we like you, but no more then a 38 yr old washout?

Hermida has been a player I've liked long before he became a semi-popular buy low candidate on this board. So of course, I would be on board for Hermida. Barmes isn't a bad idea. Couple of other sleepers.....Shin-Soo Choo of the Indians. He is a career.291/.377/.493/.870 hitter. He is also has the ability to play all three OF. IDK if Cleveland would be willing to trade him, he could be a very solid buy low candidate. While he may not be a sleeper, he would definately be a undervalue pick up in Brad Hawpe. The young man is a career .282/.375/.493/.868. And looking at his numbers at home and on the road in his career, and they damn near clone like. The difference he slugs a little be higher at home, but it's not like he slgs 100 point higher at home then on the road. So, if Colorado makes Hawpe available, I would put him in front of Hermida as to get this ofseason. (And I know there is one Cubs fan, that wouldn't mind Hawpe in Chicago)

I understand Savard is trying to creat scoring depth on the team but it's pretty risky experiment having your brest two players playing on two different lines. I expect Toews/Kane and whoever lineup to be together before 5 games are played.

I would love to see Rose's first dunk come at the expense of Dirk Nowitzki.

Wilson sucks. Ross might be interesting. Zaun is likely to find a team that might give him plenty of starts. Redmond is likely to be reupped by Minnesota (he's their Blanco). Estrada sucks and has a bad attitude. So if I had to chose from this list it would be between Ross (who add good power to the bench) and Zaun, if all things are equal. But all of these is moot simply because the Cubs are likely to re-sign Blanco.

How about Andres Nocioni????

it's ridiculous how fast auburn goes through offensive coordinators. I think they scrapped it too quickly. You don't massively overhaul your offense and immediately have success. It simply can't happen. Tuberville isn't the most patient coach out there so it may have been fully his decision, but I wonder if there's anything going on behind the scenes that caused this to happen so quickly. I kind of wonder if Tuberville wasn't sold on the spread when he instituted it, but he caved into pressure from boosters or others? No inside info whatsoever and I could be way, way off base, just throwing it out there for discussion. Franklin was forced onto Tuberville, as Tommy was not Bobby Louder (the unofficial AD of Auburn) 1st/2nd/3rd/4th/5th choice for HC. So a lot of uneasy tension/feelings at Auburn. And my guess is...that you dont fire an OC during the middle of a week (if you were going to fire an OC why not wait till AFTER ARKY game to which you have 2 weeks to prepare for the next game) unless something was said that essentially broke the camel's back. And considering shortly after he was let go, Tony Franklin said, "Going to Auburn was a mistake", that statement tells you all you need to know. Dew, if there is one team that is in more disarray then your program, it is Auburn. And don't be surprise that if/when Alabama puts the boot to Auburn this yr, that Tommy is shown the door.

this years' team kind of reminds me of hte 03 team (i like this years' RBs better than jones/works *puke*) and that team ung almost a million points on the,, so who knows. BUT as good as our secondary has been (and LBs for that matter) a lot of it is because of the press our dline gets. And with no granger and a potentially hobbled mccoy, texas is a team that can expose whatever weaknesses are back there. Mccoy is a stud and i kind of find it hard to hate him. I would love for them to have a chris simms qb again that i could literally hate with every fiber of my being again I'm hoping more for a Major Applewhite :-) I cannot THANK TEXAS enough for taking Applewhite back from Alabama. So thank you again,Texas.

But getting back to Abreu, am I the only one who when he sees Bobby Abreu, I see a left handed version of Moises Alou? I mean that's not a bad thing, per se, but both are still good offensive players that are no longer even good defensive players. At this point, I would take Abreu but only as a LFer and slide Soriano over to RF. Outside of that, no thank you on Abreu. Besides, it wouldn't surprise me if Abreu ends up with the Mets.

Nah, you're not a "Debbie Downer" you interpret the article as it should. People assume when Kenney said there would be a "payroll bump" that the Cubs will be jumping to the head of every major FA thi offseason. Not necessarily...How many players have increases in their contracts? Then what happens if the Cubs decline Harden's option (not a FA, tho he would be ARB eligible). Or what happens if the Cubs feel the need to want to sign Soto long-term. I agree with you SSR, a payroll bump doesn't mean anything.

And to me, VORP doesn't tell me anything about if Roberts had a better yr then DeRo. All it shows me is that the O's needed Roberts more then the Cubs need DeRo. VORP is the bimbo eye candy chick you bring to a party. It looks good on the surface but ultimately they lack any substance to stay with long term. Give me DeRo/Fontenot over Roberts. That's not to say Roberts is a bad player, but his VORP is clearly based on the fact that without Roberts in the lineup, the O's are pretty much a crappy lineup. lol what? do you have any idea what vorp is? Value over replacement player. I looked it up. I do agree that DeRosa didn't have a better yr then Roberts, but that doesn't mean anything.

Strikeouts are overrated. Dunn is a vastly superior player to Soriano. Not the same player outside of the horrendous strike out rate.

I think that partly correct. I get the impression that if he was going to be dealt to a NON-CALIFORNIA/WEST COAST TEAM that he would threated to retired. Now if the Padres would say to trade him to a team like Arizona/Giants/Dodgers/Angels/A's that kind of team, that would be a different story. I think gloated the rumor of him "possibly retiring" to scare off non-west coast teams from inquiring about him.

And to me, VORP doesn't tell me anything about if Roberts had a better yr then DeRo. All it shows me is that the O's needed Roberts more then the Cubs need DeRo. VORP is the bimbo eye candy chick you bring to a party. It looks good on the surface but ultimately they lack any substance to stay with long term. Give me DeRo/Fontenot over Roberts. That's not to say Roberts is a bad player, but his VORP is clearly based on the fact that without Roberts in the lineup, the O's are pretty much a crappy lineup.

Boston is becoming (or has become) the new New York Yankees. A team few outside of a particular area care to see. So here is to the better team---Tampa Bay---better them done and winning the series. And here to Philadephia (god I hated typing that) to put an end to the Dodgers trek through the playoffs.