CubbieBum

I just wanted to say I went to get Subway after the Purdue game. I learned about the Iowa game from this thread and it was better than seeing the game. This was essentially the dialog. IMB, SSR or some one else posting, "OMG! NO WAY! THAT'S HILARIOUS!" That was immediately followed by bcl412 posting, "$%@#@%$!." The process then repeated for a full page.

I am pleasantly surprised by Purdue's performance so far. It looks like Hope has reastablished the offense. Tiller got bland late in his career and it became very easy to know what Purdue was going to do. Hope has brought back the possibility of Purdue running any play at any time. We could run on first down, do a short WR screen or go deep. The last couple years its been we either run or do short slants.

His defense is by no means good but its not terrible and doesn't suck. Its below average but suck and terrible are in a different category. At least to me that is.

Any one else feel like this is old news or at least should be.

No way would the Cubs get more for Soriano. Bradley is starting to show, even though it took about 5-6 months, that he can still hit a little. Soriano has shown absolutely nothing all year. Plus the contracts don't even compare. Everyone keeps saying how Soriano should be a DH. If you were an AL team looking for a DH, who would you rather have for DH....Soriano or Jake Fox? Yeah I didn't make it clear in my post. I was posting in a hurry and didn't write it too well. What I was saying is that if we traded Bradley we could get more for him than we would if we traded Soriano but in neither case would we get even close to full value.

I think the bigger question is why does everyone think the Cubs should ( and most probably would ) have to eat the bulk of a players salary that has a .394 OBP. Think about it. Because if we do end up shopping him every team will know we are doing it because of the headache he caused. I think we cold get more than a player like Soriano but we still aren't likely to get full value so its better keeping him.

Like the Yankees and A-Rod. The A-Rod controversy died before he ever came back to play thanks to Manny. And teams can play well with major distractions. Most just don't. I think having strong leadership helps a lot.

Is this even something that's coming up? Who is on the Cubs now or was on them in recent history who was openly or busted as being racist? And how is Bradley a "distraction" to anyone besides the fans and the media? Are people really thinking that other players on the team are somehow doing poorly because they have Bradley or his comments on their mind? Supposedly team chemistry isn't very good and nothing like it was last season (forget where I read this at). In general teams are affected by having to answer questions about teammates who are doing dumb stuff off the field. And no I'm not saying that is why the Cubs are losing. However I do want my teams to be able to concentrate solely on baseball and not be forced to answer questions that don't really have anything to do with the game. Will you get pissed if they ask Lee about his baby? They aren't asking questions during the game. There is 24 hours in the day and a position player spends about 10 minutes actually playing in a game. They don't just concentrate on baseball. Its pretty damn obvious that is a different situation. And yes a locker room cancer tends to have an effect on that teams play. It tends to divide locker rooms/club houses and it forces players to not be able to fully focus on playing the game. Look through recent teams that have had major distractions due to something a player said or did outside of the game. It happens in all sports. Bradley is the T.O. of baseball only not as good of a player. Like I said I'm fine with keeping him next year but I would prefer to trade him if we can get decent value for it.

He previously had an indefinite suspension for not following team rules and was kicked out of a practice this training camp because he was out of control. There very likely was more but that's just what was mentioned last night. This wasn't just a momentary slip. He jacked his own teammate who was trying to calm him down and went altogether bazerk for 10 minutes. I agree. If it was a one time deal I would say suspend him for the rest of non-conference but he is a repeat offender. The punch was really bad though. Full out blindside punch that dropped the guy.

Is this even something that's coming up? Who is on the Cubs now or was on them in recent history who was openly or busted as being racist? And how is Bradley a "distraction" to anyone besides the fans and the media? Are people really thinking that other players on the team are somehow doing poorly because they have Bradley or his comments on their mind? Supposedly team chemistry isn't very good and nothing like it was last season (forget where I read this at). In general teams are affected by having to answer questions about teammates who are doing dumb stuff off the field. And no I'm not saying that is why the Cubs are losing. However I do want my teams to be able to concentrate solely on baseball and not be forced to answer questions that don't really have anything to do with the game.

Bradley was on thin ice before he even signed. He had a reputation which meant he had a short rope. He has now lived up to that reputation. I can live with a player being racist. I won't like the player but I can generally live with most anything a player thinks as long as it doesn't affect his play. What I really can't stand is a player who doesn't give 110%. His comment about hoping the game is over after 9 innings so he can get out of there sooner has made me open to trading him. I really don't want players on any of my teams that don't want to be on that team. Bradley has been decent this year but hasn't been what he could be. I don't want him traded for nothing but if we can get rid of a player who doesn't want to be here and causes distractions (while his fault or not) then I am all for it. Just as long as we get pretty good value (not likely). Bradley has brought a lot of this on himself although others are partially to blame. However, the fact is he is now a daily distraction that we pay a lot of money to have.

Unprofessional? Its his job to give his opinion.

Uh he said Soriano has no business playing right now. I'm guessing he hasn't listened to Brenly during a Cubs game this year. Soriano has to be one of Brenly's least favorite players. I applaud Brenly for calling it how it is, although he picked a strange time to pile on Bradley. Lets face it, Bradley isn't the reason the Cubs have been losing all season. Even when he was struggling early on in the year, he was still getting on base pretty regularly. While it is obvious that Bradley is a head case and loves to play up the victim role, he still has two years left on his contract and could be a real asset to the team. The team needs to figure out a way for Bradley to keep his mouth shut and not be overly sensitive. I've been watching and listening. I'm just pointing out that Brenly has been talking about Soriano sucking because Truffle said, "how about saying that soriano and miles have been a joke this season? no let's pick on bradley." he was agreeing with you, dude Yeah I'm an idiot. I don't know how I took it as he saying I haven't been listening to Brenly.

Uh he said Soriano has no business playing right now. I'm guessing he hasn't listened to Brenly during a Cubs game this year. Soriano has to be one of Brenly's least favorite players. I applaud Brenly for calling it how it is, although he picked a strange time to pile on Bradley. Lets face it, Bradley isn't the reason the Cubs have been losing all season. Even when he was struggling early on in the year, he was still getting on base pretty regularly. While it is obvious that Bradley is a head case and loves to play up the victim role, he still has two years left on his contract and could be a real asset to the team. The team needs to figure out a way for Bradley to keep his mouth shut and not be overly sensitive. I've been watching and listening. I'm just pointing out that Brenly has been talking about Soriano sucking because Truffle said, "how about saying that soriano and miles have been a joke this season? no let's pick on bradley."

4 returning offensive starters spells a rebuilding season to me Yeah but they have an easy schedule, play in the MAC and return MiQuale Lewis. I didn't expect 12-0 or even a MAC championship but I expected 8-4. It can obviously still become a reality but losing to a 1 win North Texas team isn't a good sign.

Looks like I'm in for a long college football season. Ball State has gotten thoroughly beat by North Texas and Purdue likely won't do much in Hope's first season.

Uh he said Soriano has no business playing right now.

He'd probably go at least 1 for 25. Nice.

If you have ESPNU you could always watch two mid-major schools with incompetent offenses battle it out.

Both announcers pronouncing it MA-quill Lewis. Is there anything more annoying thatn watching a game where the announcers continually mispronounce a name.

GAME ON

I mean, you can agree to disagree if you want, but you're definitely wrong. Most everyone here would be very unlikely to go 1-25. The only hope many of us would have would be drawing walks or guessing the exact location for a straight fastball or changeup. I guarantee the vast majority of people here would be struck out on three pitches literally every time by major league breaking pitches. There is no way of proving this, so therefore how can I be wrong? Its a matter of opinion and my opinion is that most everyone here could go 1 for 25. That's simply a copout. It's my opinion I'd break the all time home run record in a year if given the chance. Prove me wrong. Fact is, if most people could go 1-25 against major league pitching, there'd be a lot more people capable of playing professional baseball. You breaking the all-time home run record in a year is not reasonable at all. Prove to me how a non-professional baseball player registering one hit in 25 major league ABs is unreasonable. Also, I don't see how getting one lucky hit in 25 ABs means someone can play professional baseball, thats an .040 batting avg. By the way, I blame this discussion on Aaron Miles. I don't think a large majority of people could. Most people can't react and swing the bat fast enough to catch up to a 90+ MPH fastball. Then there's the curve or slider that almost noone would be able to hit. Most people struggle with the 79 MPH batting cage speed and major league curve aren't much slower and major league sliders are normally faster than that.

I think he may actually be better off just going up there and swinging as hard as he can with his eyes closed every pitch.

thank you for my new sig. Is there really an image there that for some reason I just don't have the plugin for or something. I see nothing kind of like what the Cubs did today. edit: Ok this is weird. I see the image in my reply but not in the original messages.

Oh, I don't know Ryan....were'nt they 15 games ahead of Col. last month? They are a mess right now and they will need more than Thome to get strait. If Col. can make up 12 games in a month we can make up 6 in a month. Just gotta keep winning. That's what it's all about. The Dodgers are 10.5 games ahead of the Cubs, not 6. 6. 10.5. Its all the same. Won't matter if we go undefeated in September.