ELCABALLO45

It makes plenty of sense. Both have shown they can have success if they have even halfway decent protection. With as weak and porous as the Bears line was, plugging almost any QB would lead to them facing the same damn glaring weakness. Shore up the line, strengthen the running game and Orton and especially Rex can succeed. Rex Grossman and Kyle Ortan are NOT the answer at quarterback. If you want to keep telling yourslef that, then cool. Quite frankly, one of the biggest problems I had with the Bears' draft was that they did not tab Brian Brohm in the second round and they did not draft a project type of QB like Josh Johnson, Kevin O'Connell, or someone else along those lines with one of their late round picks. They might get a passable backup with one of the two guys they tabbed as UDFAs, but there is no heir apparent at starter. I'm glad they passed on Henne and Booty, though. Yeah, I would be frustrated as a Bears fan as well. Even when Grossman has time, he is to inconsistent to be a above average in this league. Might as well try to find someone who can be consistent for when the line comes together, and get better WR's. Its like the are keeping Grossman around to get smoked next year.

It makes plenty of sense. Both have shown they can have success if they have even halfway decent protection. With as weak and porous as the Bears line was, plugging almost any QB would lead to them facing the same damn glaring weakness. Shore up the line, strengthen the running game and Orton and especially Rex can succeed. Rex Grossman and Kyle Ortan are NOT the answer at quarterback. If you want to keep telling yourslef that, then cool.

I liked the 1st pick for the Bears. But how do you NOT draft a quarterback? Your starter is REX GROSSMAN. And your back up is Kyle Ortan. Makes no sense.

Really? Got a problem wit da way I talk? JK of course I said that in a joking kind of way, sorry you didn't find it funny :hello:

Good ole Brewers/Cub games. I love them. GO BREWERS!! And I probably say this all the time but, Fred LOVE the stats.

I have no idea who everyone likes, I know Vance is a Cowboy fan, and im sure alot of you are Bears fans. Kiper's Mock Draft 14 Chicago Bears Chris Williams, OT Vanderbilt 22 Dallas Cowboys (from CLE) *Felix Jones, RB Arkansas 28 Dallas Cowboys *James Hardy, WR Indiana 30 Green Bay Packers Antoine Cason, CB Arizona McShay Chicago Bears -- Ryan Clady, OT, Boise State Dallas Cowboys (from 10-6 CLE) -- Felix Jones, RB, Arkansas Dallas Cowboys -- DeSean Jackson, WR, California Green Bay Packers -- Brandon Flowers, CB, Virginia Tech And Vance, If im a Cowboy fan, I would LOVE the James Hardy pick. I think he will be the best of the bunch for wide outs

Haha, No I don't think he will hit .350 all year. But I take Jason Kendall over Estrada, Estrada makes Kendall look like Ricky Henderson. estrada had a 7.7 VORP last year, kendall had a -9.8. they're both bad defensively. estrada is still the better player - unless kendall is able to sustain the .344 BABIP with a 16% line drive rate, and good luck with that. Jason Kendall threw out his 7th base runner today. He has improved alot from last year. Kendall > Estrada

All I mean by that is, Who would you rather play? The Pirates or the Reds? I would rather play the Pirates every day of the week, and twice on sunday. I don't care what the records say. But yeah right now they are both pretty bad. Haha, No I don't think he will hit .350 all year. But I take Jason Kendall over Estrada, Estrada makes Kendall look like Ricky Henderson.

Yeah, they really are at this point. They may not be by the end, but the Reds have been straight up awful so far. They're losing to everyone, and they're losing big. in their last 11, they are 3-8 (including a sweep at the hands of the Pirates), having been outscored by 25 runs over that span (including wins). They were outscored 63-22 in the 8 losses. That's half the season so far. They are now last in the division. And I didn't mean to single you out (and I am not directing the following at you). It's just that there was so much of that "Cubs catch all the breaks" from Crew fans down the stretch last year, and it is such sour grapes BS (like acting shocked when the Cubs started pounding the ball late in the season, even though the team was loaded with perennial sluggers who had underachieved all season to that point) that it sets me off. And after the Cubs won the division, I heard a lot of "I hope they/you enjoy it, they won't get close again anytime soon" from Crew fans. The problem is that many Crew fans seem desperately attached to the notion that the Brewers are so much more talented than the Cubs (and everyone else) that if all things are equal, they should win fairly easily. Where this theory runs into trouble is that it isn't true. Now before any Milwaukee fans have a conniption fit, I will concede that the Crew is very talented, probably more talented than the Cubs. But not by that much. I just think all the hype about the young talent has gone to Brewers fan's heads a bit, to the point that when they aren't in first place, it must be due to some sort of poor luck for the crew, or horseshoes up the butts of the opposition. Much of that is due to the 24-10 start last year in which, let's be honest, the Crew was probably playing over their heads a bit. There are no guarantees that Fielder will hit 50 homers, or that Braun will OPS 1.000 or Hart will produce like last year. Hardy is almost certainly more of the 10-15 homer guy he has been than the 25+ guy of 2007. Gagne is no Cordero. Yost is still Yost. On our side, Lee and Ramirez are both top 5 at their positions in MLB. Soriano is an All-Star. Fukudome is a Japanese MVP. Soto is a favorite for ROY. Zambrano is a Cy Young candidate (one that doesn't get injured regularly, mind you). There are 3 guys in our pen (despite a couple slow starts this year) that could be #1 set-up men for many teams, including yours. Plus the Cubs are big spenders. They may not be as loaded with young talent, but for this year and the next at least, the Cubs aren't going anywhere, and it isn't because they catch breaks. And by that time, you'll have the Reds (provided Dusty hasn't messed them up too badly) to deal with. There is a legitimate chance (though I doubt it, it may well happen this year) that Prince, Braun and Co. won't experience playoff baseball as Milwaukee Brewers at all. Maybe some of the more loudmouthed among the crew fanbase should temper some of that "we're so talented" sense of entitlement with the reality that they won't be running away with anything. Ok, Well I just want to say I never said once said "The Brewers have so much more talent" or "We are going to run away with the divison". I don't agree with some of your posts but Im not here to start a fight or anything. This is a Cub board and I will respect that.

I figure MOST of you are Bears fans. Im a Packer fan FYI. But, I have been listening to KFAN out of the TWIN CITIES, and my god the Jared Allen love needs to end. They are acting like they just won the superbowl.

Okay well, I will explain myself. First off you can't say "Well the Pirates are good if we didnt beat them 6 times". And then turn around and say "They got to play the Cardinals". No the Reds are not just as bad as the Pirates, don't be that stupid. Your right we both played the Mets, And you did miss Santana, And you faced Figueroa, well so did we. (He locked us up). And your right you did get Philly. And whoever said you have to go to New York for 4 games, well we have to go to Philly for 4 games, so that even's out. I know the schedule will even out over the year. Im not that dumb. But so far we have played @ Chicago, @ New York, @ Cincy and @ St. Louis. Also 1. I said you guys are hot right now. Can't deny that. I think when I say that I meant to say "WE" as in the Brewers are not catching any breaks right now. Look who we have had pitching against us this year. 1. Zambrano 2. Lilly 3. Harang 4. Cueto 5. Santana 6. Wainwright 7. Cueto 8. Harang 9. Wainright 10. Hamels That is a pretty rough stretch. I didn't mean to cause such a riot by saying "catching every break" its just, Having Ned Yost as your manager really frustrates you. So thats my bad. Hopefully I didn't overdue my welcome here

Sorry, can't do it. Can't put it on Gagne this time. If Weeks makes a play that T-Ball kids make then it's game over and it doesn't go 12 innings. Gagne let Cesar Izturis and Skip Schumaker on base. He wasn't without blame. No way you can put this on Gagne. Izturis should not of been on, the ump blew a strike 3 call after he froze Izturis. Shumaker was a hard hit ball, he is hitting .324 this year, but yeah that was hit bad. And then he got the best hitter in baseball to ground into a double play and Rickie Weeks decides to throw like a little girl to first. BS. When you hit a sub .200 hitter to start the inning and then allow a hard hit single to put runners at the corners with no outs in a 1 run game, it's your fault. I don't care what happens after that. Pujols' hard hit ground ball could have easily gotten past Hall anyways. He was lucky that the hard hit ball was hit drectly at Hall in the first place. The key of that inning was Izturis. I didn't see this alleged blown call by the ump, but it shouldn't have come to that anyways. How are you going to go to a full count on Cesar I Dropped The Soap! Izturis leading off the 9th in a one run game? You obviously didn't watch the game. It was a perfect pitch, Izturis watched it, and it Froze the Ump. Hard hit ball? Are you kidding? It was a regular double play ball to 3rd. A avg. 3rd baseman can field that. You're missing the point. It should have never come to that on a hitter as bad as Izturis. Anyways, I just watched the replay and it's not even close to as bad as you're making it out to be. It was a borderline pitch that could have gone either way. It wasn't close to "blown call" territory. Like I said though, it shouldn't have come to that. He fell behind 2-0 on 2 fastballs not even close to the zone, then we he got it to 2-2 he throws a changeup? A 2-2 changeup to Cesar Izturis? Come on. That ball you're talking about was one pitch out of 6. He went 3-2 on a crappy hitter and then hit him, period. He did that to himself. As for the Pujols play, you're right when you say it wasn't that hard hit. I just checked the replay and it wasn't what I thought. My point stands though, because that ball could have easily gotten by Hall. Gagne did a good job getting the ground ball, but it's not like Pujols hit it right at an infielder because of Gagne's awesome pitching skills or something. When you put runners at the corners with no outs in a 1 run game, tons of things can happen. You put a ton of pressure on your infielders, and even though he would have gotten out of it if Weeks makes that throw, it was his fault they were in that situation to begin with. By the way, I wouldn't call that Pujols ground ball a routine play. That was a great pick by Hall. It was a close call, but dealing with that ump all day, it felt like he was killing us all day. Go back and watch the 3-0 pitch to Braun in the first inning. Anyways the point is, he had to strike out Ankiel before Pujols even got up and he did that, and then he got a ground ball off of the best hitter in baseball, and his defense let him down. Weeks had all day to throw that ball and he blew it.

Sorry, can't do it. Can't put it on Gagne this time. If Weeks makes a play that T-Ball kids make then it's game over and it doesn't go 12 innings. Gagne let Cesar Izturis and Skip Schumaker on base. He wasn't without blame. No way you can put this on Gagne. Izturis should not of been on, the ump blew a strike 3 call after he froze Izturis. Shumaker was a hard hit ball, he is hitting .324 this year, but yeah that was hit bad. And then he got the best hitter in baseball to ground into a double play and Rickie Weeks decides to throw like a little girl to first. BS. When you hit a sub .200 hitter to start the inning and then allow a hard hit single to put runners at the corners with no outs in a 1 run game, it's your fault. I don't care what happens after that. Pujols' hard hit ground ball could have easily gotten past Hall anyways. He was lucky that the hard hit ball was hit drectly at Hall in the first place. The key of that inning was Izturis. I didn't see this alleged blown call by the ump, but it shouldn't have come to that anyways. How are you going to go to a full count on Cesar I Dropped The Soap! Izturis leading off the 9th in a one run game? You obviously didn't watch the game. It was a perfect pitch, Izturis watched it, and it Froze the Ump. Hard hit ball? Are you kidding? It was a regular double play ball to 3rd. A avg. 3rd baseman can field that.

Chris Bosh misses a game winner from about 20 feet. Magic up 2-0. This would of been a great game for Toranto to take home court away.

Sorry, can't do it. Can't put it on Gagne this time. If Weeks makes a play that T-Ball kids make then it's game over and it doesn't go 12 innings. Gagne let Cesar Izturis and Skip Schumaker on base. He wasn't without blame. No way you can put this on Gagne. Izturis should not of been on, the ump blew a strike 3 call after he froze Izturis. Shumaker was a hard hit ball, he is hitting .324 this year, but yeah that was hit bad. And then he got the best hitter in baseball to ground into a double play and Rickie Weeks decides to throw like a little girl to first.

Wait, are you being serious? Al Jefferson can't hold KG's jock. Its not even close. Take KG off the Celtics and they are probably a 6 or 7 seed, not top 5. Al Jefferson is a okay player FOR THE LAST PLACE TIMBERWOLVES. My MVP Ballot 1. Kevin Garnett 2. Kobe Bryant 3. Chris Paul 4. LeBron James Its so damn close You do realize that what your saying is that Garnett is worth around 25 wins more than Jefferson is, right? You also realize that what you're explaining is completely absurd, right? Boston was 66-16 this year while No. 6 Toronto was 41-41, No. 7 Philly was 40-42 and No. 8 Atlanta was 37-45. So for Boston to fall that far, they would have to be 25 to 29 games worse. Even if you replaced Garnett with a league average starting power forward, Boston still would have won their division by 10 games over Toronto. Removing Garnett and adding Jefferson probably costs them 10 games, maybe 15 at the most. That would put them, at worst, as the No. 3 seed. Al Jefferson is not that good, thats all im saying. He put up good numbers on a bad team. You can't just say "well, the Celtics would of won x amount of games with Jefferson and would of still won the divison". It doesn't work that way. Last year the Celtics had Jefferson and Pierce and won 24 games. So just adding Ray Allen makes them a number 2 seed? Maybe they still win the Divison but that doesn't make them an elite team. And if Bosh doesn't get hurt and Jefferson stays on the Celtics, I still see the Raptors better then them

Garnett: 18.8 PPG, 9.2 RPG, 3.4 APG, 1.2 BPG Jefferson: 21.0 PPG, 11.1 RPG, 1.4 APG, 1.5 BPG C'mon now, let's be honest here. There isn't a single rational person that would take Jefferson over Garnett at this stage, regardless of what those numbers say. Plenty of players have put up big numbers for bad teams. This also isn't baseball; defense matters a great deal (as, to a lesser extent, do intangibles). Garnett is a much better player at this time than Jefferson. The above poster was correct, Garnett will be in the Hall of Fame and it's not likely Jefferson will join him. Thank you

Garnett: 18.8 PPG, 9.2 RPG, 3.4 APG, 1.2 BPG Jefferson: 21.0 PPG, 11.1 RPG, 1.4 APG, 1.5 BPG Plus didn't the Wolves win about the same number of games with Jefferson? Garnett is a good player, but so is Jefferson. They won 10 less games this year. Ok so they did better with Garnett than I thought. But, they are also in a much tougher West this year. I really think Jefferson is almost, almost as good as Garnett. But, that isn't meant as an insult to KG rather a compliment to Al. I don't like Jefferson at all, I think he is overrated. I don't think you can build around him at all

I guess the voting is usually the best player on the best team. And that's Kevin Garnett So you are for Kobe then? Cause the Celtics are the best team only in record. Nope, I belive the Celtics are the better team.

I guess the voting is usually the best player on the best team. And that's Kevin Garnett

KG turned around a team that was 24-58. Yes Ray Allen helped that out alot, but Garnett was the best player on the best team this year. He was the leader of the best team in the NBA. If that isn't MVP material then a I dunno what is. And to say Al Jefferson was better than him, im sorry then I don't want to talk NBA with you anymore. It's not necessarily that Al Jefferson is better than Garnett, it's that if the Celtics didn't make that trade and had a trio of Pierce, Allen and Jefferson, not much would have changed. The Celtics won their division this year by 25 games, they were 14 games better than No. 3 Orlando and 21 games better than No. 4 Cleveland. I don't think they would have had the best record in the league and probably wouldn't have been No. 1 in the East, but Boston would have won their division and would have been at least the No. 3 seed in the East, if not the No. 2 ahead of Orlando. As far as LeBron, I discount him a bit because he's in the East and any team with a pulse could have made the playoffs in the East. I also hold this against Garnett. The West was far and away the tougher conference this year and when determining MVP candidates, that has to be in consideration. I wouldn't take LeBron out of the discussion, but I'd put him a solid third behind Kobe and Chris Paul and easily ahead of Garnett. And even though I'm a Lakers fan and my choice of Kobe for MVP is a semi-homer pick, I won't be disappointed at all if Paul wins it because he's been ridiculous this year as well. Wait, are you being serious? Al Jefferson can't hold KG's jock. Its not even close. Take KG off the Celtics and they are probably a 6 or 7 seed, not top 5. Al Jefferson is a okay player FOR THE LAST PLACE TIMBERWOLVES. My MVP Ballot 1. Kevin Garnett 2. Kobe Bryant 3. Chris Paul 4. LeBron James Its so damn close The Celtics would be a top 2 East team had they still kept Al Jefferson. He is a damn good player all by himself in Minnesota. He is a decent player, not Garnett type tho. Garnett is a HOF player.

KG turned around a team that was 24-58. Yes Ray Allen helped that out alot, but Garnett was the best player on the best team this year. He was the leader of the best team in the NBA. If that isn't MVP material then a I dunno what is. And to say Al Jefferson was better than him, im sorry then I don't want to talk NBA with you anymore. It's not necessarily that Al Jefferson is better than Garnett, it's that if the Celtics didn't make that trade and had a trio of Pierce, Allen and Jefferson, not much would have changed. The Celtics won their division this year by 25 games, they were 14 games better than No. 3 Orlando and 21 games better than No. 4 Cleveland. I don't think they would have had the best record in the league and probably wouldn't have been No. 1 in the East, but Boston would have won their division and would have been at least the No. 3 seed in the East, if not the No. 2 ahead of Orlando. As far as LeBron, I discount him a bit because he's in the East and any team with a pulse could have made the playoffs in the East. I also hold this against Garnett. The West was far and away the tougher conference this year and when determining MVP candidates, that has to be in consideration. I wouldn't take LeBron out of the discussion, but I'd put him a solid third behind Kobe and Chris Paul and easily ahead of Garnett. And even though I'm a Lakers fan and my choice of Kobe for MVP is a semi-homer pick, I won't be disappointed at all if Paul wins it because he's been ridiculous this year as well. Wait, are you being serious? Al Jefferson can't hold KG's jock. Its not even close. Take KG off the Celtics and they are probably a 6 or 7 seed, not top 5. Al Jefferson is a okay player FOR THE LAST PLACE TIMBERWOLVES. My MVP Ballot 1. Kevin Garnett 2. Kobe Bryant 3. Chris Paul 4. LeBron James Its so damn close

KG turned around a team that was 24-58. Yes Ray Allen helped that out alot, but Garnett was the best player on the best team this year. He was the leader of the best team in the NBA. If that isn't MVP material then a I dunno what is. And to say Al Jefferson was better than him, im sorry then I don't want to talk NBA with you anymore.

I think you have a point. Most of their struggling players will pick it up at least a little bit, but I can easily see a lot of them regressing quite a bit from last year (though I'm not banking on it). (1)Fielder had a monster year last year, but he might regress closer to his 06 numbers. (2)Braun will end up being good, but maybe not nearly as good as last year. (3)Weeks has only had 1 good year. (4)Hart may regress a decent amount from last year. (5)Hardy will almost certainly not put up the power numbers he did last year. (6)Hall has had one good year and one pretty good year. They have a lot of potential but a lot of question marks - especially if Sheets ends up being out for awhile. 1. He probably won't hit 50 home runs again, but to say he will come closer to 28 seems a little harsh, and only 81 RBIs? No, Don't see that happening. At his time last year he had only 2 home runs. 2. I could see this, however he also is playing his 1st full year in the majors this year, we didn't have him till May 25th last year. 3. This is such a tricky subject, Rickie walks so much, but he just doesn't trust his wrists. He has a chance to be a damn good player, im leaving this on imcomplete. 4. NO. This one you are wrong. Corey Hart didn't become a full time starter till end of April last year, He had a decent year last year and he will only get better. 5. Okay I will give you this one, no on saw that one coming thats for sure. 26 last year was alot of home runs for him, I could see 15-20 this year and be happy with it. 6. He is quickly becoming Adam Dunn without the walks, and with a better defense. I see him hitting around 35 home runs this year, however only hitting like .255. I see what your point is, but I could sit here and say how I think player X for the Cubs is going to regress also if I wanted. This should be a fun summer.

Sorry if this is late but im a big NBA fan and here are my predictions... (1) Lakers defeat (8) Nuggets - How crazy is it that a 50 win team is a 8 seed? And after saying that this is a mis match. The only way Denver has a chance is if AI and 'Melo do something special, and I don't see that happening. (2) Hornets defeat (7) Mavericks - This one is interesting, ask yourself this: If the Mavericks were the 2 seed, who would you pick? I like the Hornets in 7 in this one. CP3 probably could argue with Steve Nash on who the best PG in the league is. (3) Spurs defeat (6) Suns - I really want the Suns to win, I really do. However this is the worst 1st round match up they could ask for. Tim Duncan is a man, and during playoff time he brings it. I really want the Suns to win, but I got the Spurs in 7. (4) Jazz defeat (5) Rockets - What could of been? Missing Yao is going to hurt bad for the Rockets, I see the Jazz taking this easily in 5, maybe even a sweep. --- (1) Celtics defeats (8) Hawks - "Were going to shock the world" - Josh Smith, hey Josh, just stop talking now, The Celtics will deliver a beat down, and the Boston 3 Party will march into the 2nd round. (2) Pistons defeats (7) 76ers - Wow, Upset in game 1. Won't matter, Pistons in 5. (6) Raptors defeats (3) Magic - This is going to be a fun series to watch, if no one has seen the Raptors play, they play a really fun up and down style of basketball (Suns like). The Raptors can get HOT and shoot with any team in the league, upset here. Raptors in 7 (4) Cavaliers defeats (5) Wizards - King James will continue writing the legacy. Cavs blow it open.. win in 5. ====== 2nd Round (1) Lakers defeats (4) Jazz - Should be a fun series, West is so strong, But Kobe Bean Bryant has a Championship on his mind. I see the Lakers in 6 (5) Spurs defeats (2) Hornets - Parker vs. Paul, now THAT is a match up. Paul will show everyone why he is the next great point guard. However, it won't be enough to slow down Duncan and the Spurs. Spurs in 7. --- (1) Celtics defeats (4) Cavaliers - LeBron vs. The Nation. LeBron will have to put on another "Jordan" performance to keep up with the Celtics, Jesus Shuttlesworth's outside shooting will be to much. Celtics in 6. (6) Raptors defeats (2) Pistons - JC and AM get hot and STUN the Pistons. Pistons will think they got a easy matchup, however the Run and Gun Raptors live to see another series. Raptors in 7. ========= Semi-Finals (3) Spurs defeats (1) Lakers - Kobe can taste it now, 1 series away from the finals, until they run into the machine known as the Spurs. Gasol will fold under Duncan, and the Spurs wave the Western Confrence Banner for the 2nd year in a row. (1) Celtics defeats (6) Raptors - The Cinderella story ends her for the country of Canada. The Celtic Nation will celebrate the Eastern Confrence Championship, and David Stern grin gets even bigger. Celtics sweep. ======== THE FINALS (1) Celtics defeats (3) Spurs - The Celtics have been on a mission since day 1. They will not be denied. Great Series that will go back and fourth, But Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen will get their rings and the NBA front office goes crazy. -- Those are my predictions, and The Raptor one probably won't come true, but hey its always fun. And I typed a book for every one of my predictions so I will stop typing now.