soapy

It may not make one a racist if he/she "left" the Cubs solely because of Milton Bradley, but it sure would make that person stupid. I have no idea why anyone would think that the Cubs would actually lose a significant number of fans because of Milton freaking Bradley. I'm sorry, but that is insane.

I think part of the benefit biittner was seeing was that if nobody claims him, it potentially demonstrates to Bradley that his value might not be what he thinks it is. Maybe it opens a door to sitting down with him and explaining that mending fences and playing with the Cubs in 2010 is his best option. Not sure that would be the outcome, but I think that is part of what biittner was saying. I'm sure that would be the outcome. :pig: Do you think Bradley worries about his value when he's sitting on $21 million. Bradley has serious anger problems, which he can't control and posters think that that sitting down with him and telling to be good is going to change things. :-)) Probably not, but I don't see what can be hurt by it (irrevocable waivers) either. I don't think anyone really thinks simply sitting down with Bradley and telling him to be good would change anything. What they can possibly do is at least try to convince him that playing nice (to some degree) with his teammates and the media is in the best interest of his career. It may be wasted breathe, but to not even try is insane. Didn't Bradley get along with most people pretty well when he was in Oakland and Texas? It's not like it hasn't happened before. If Bradley comes out hitting in 2010 then it becomes pretty easy for people to forget his past mis-steps.

I think part of the benefit biittner was seeing was that if nobody claims him, it potentially demonstrates to Bradley that his value might not be what he thinks it is. Maybe it opens a door to sitting down with him and explaining that mending fences and playing with the Cubs in 2010 is his best option. Not sure that would be the outcome, but I think that is part of what biittner was saying.

There's no denying that Bradley brought much of it on himself with his stupid comments, but Hendry made this bed and now he has to lie in it. Bradley probably didn't have much value to begin with going into the offseason, but Hendry essentially announced to the entire planet that his number #1 priority was to get Bradley off of this team no matter what. Now their attempt (IMO) to create the illusion of some wide interest in Bradley isn't working and the entire thing is going to blow up in Hendry's face, just like the Sosa deal. You'd think he would have learned from that, but I guess not. Now it appears that the Bradley situation has hijacked the entire offseason and Hendry is going to end up having to make a horrible trade to get out of it. Regardless of the suspension, it would have been entirely reasonable to at least put on a show about wanting Milton back to start fresh in 2010 and at least creating the illusion that they were attempting to mend things between Milton, his teamates, the management and the fans. It's entirely possible that Milton would have gone public and blown the whole thing up, but they could have at least tried and attempted to reason with him. Based on their public comments that I've seen (I may have missed something), neither Lou nor Hendry have even contacted Bradley since the suspension but instead have spent plenty of time making clear their desperation to get rid of him.

guh...

Agreed with you on most points here, particularly about them not doing much in conference. I do think their talent level is higher than last year, but mainly their improved depth is the key (i.e. keeping guys like Moore and Finklemeier off the court). Also, solid win for Illinois. I only saw pieces but they looked sharp.

I really hope the entire Cubs brass isn't obsessing with moving Bradley as much as Bruce (and others) are making it seem. This has Sammy Sosa written all over it, to a lesser degree.

I think they'll steal a few more games than people think. They've really looked pretty good tonight and have been much more competitive this year than last. It helps when you don't have an unathletic midget playing a bunch of minutes at PG. Jeremiah Rivers isn't much better. Whoa? Rivers isn't a world beater by any means, but Daniel Moore can't even carry his jock. Of course, that's much more of a slight against Moore than a compliment to Rivers. Thank God Moore didn't see the court last night. Hopefully that trend continues. It was a really nice win for this team. I was impressed with their rebounding and physical play underneath. I will say, Pitt looked really bad.

If the Cubs sign Scott Podsednik I will jam a freaking ice pick into my brain.

Yeah, I think Pitt will be too physical and will likely dominate the boards.

I think the suggestion was to trade Z to another team for prospects. Then turn around and trade those prospects (plus some) to Toronto for Halladay.

There has to be something there. If Hendry signed Harden for say $9MM knowing that he had arm troubles that would likely result in him missing a significant portion of the season, everyone would be pointing out that he never learned his lesson from the whole Wood and Prior fiasco and that he relies too heavily on players with a history of injuries. Offering Arb to Harden was a risky proposition, knowing that his arb award would likely be the best offer on the market for him. Not sure I agree with that, at all. However, as stated before, if he's injured further than we know then I don't have a problem with not tendering. That remains to be seen.

John Grabow and Aaron Miles will make a combined $6.45 million in 2010 and Hendry is afraid to offer arbitration to Rich Harden. Just let that marinate for a minute. His arm better be about to fall off.

Yeah, I assume the only way Shanahan comes in is if Angelo is gone to. I'd be beyond shocked if that happened.

He's not getting it done. There's no denying that (although they lose the Steelers game without him, IMO). I'm definitely not ready to buy into the whole "he's not a winner" garbage though. I don't think anyone can expect him to overcome all of the things you mentioned simply because he is a franchise QB. Franchise QB's certainly should be able to overcome some of the team's shortcomings, but he can't do it all himself. There is no running game...the o-line is horrible...the WR's are sub-par...and of course some disappointing play calling. The offensive coaches need to draw up a game plan that plays into Cutler's strengths. There were some good calls last night that Cutler simply missed, and certainly that has to be put squarly on him. I've been pretty disappointed in a few of his games, but in no way am I close to buying into the loser stuff. Even with his shortcomings this year, I think he's among the least of their problems.

Exactly how I see it. Honestly, I have no expectation of IU ever getting back to the level routinely being a national championship contender, and I certainly don't expect Tom Crean to accomplish such a feat in a handful of years.

fiver, i'm not sure what you expect at this point. the program is/was a disaster in every way imaginable (current talent, recruiting restrictions (in terms of NCAA restrictions and lack of face time with "local" talent), facilities, etc). this is going to take several years to turn around, if it's even possible. is today's game really not televised at all?

Are you kidding me, Jim? Amazing

Forte v. PHI or Wells v. STL? Pretty sure I'm going with Wells.

and i did. you guys are/were hilarious. what is that from, two years ago? IU did nothing with Gordon. Sampson is effectively banned from coaching NCAA forever. IU is an absolute train-wreck. you pretty much got everything you wanted. why are you still mad? Who's angry? I'm just enjoying the angst. hahaha...nice. not sure i have much angst at this point though (unless we're talking about Bears/Cubs). seemed like you were still pretty bitter looking at your comments, but I digress. i certainly don't begrudge any Illini fan enjoying IU's struggles.

and i did. you guys are/were hilarious. what is that from, two years ago? IU did nothing with Gordon. Sampson is effectively banned from coaching NCAA forever. IU is an absolute train-wreck. you pretty much got everything you wanted. why are you still mad? I'm guessing you missed the entire 2007-08 Illinois Basketball Season, and Illinois never forgets just ask Iowa. I didn't miss it any more than you missed the entire 2008-2009 Indiana Basketball Season (and we might as well throw in the upcoming 2009-2010 Indiana Basketball Season in there as well). But really, it kind of seems like you guys would just sit back and enjoy the (deserved) IU fall-out at this point and let the anger go, but to each his own.

and i did. you guys are/were hilarious. what is that from, two years ago? IU did nothing with Gordon. Sampson is effectively banned from coaching NCAA forever. IU is an absolute train-wreck. you pretty much got everything you wanted. why are you still mad? I want Jay Bilas to apologize to Weber and Deron Williams. Actually I just want Jay Bilas to get hit by a train. Make that happen soapy and I'll be cool with IU again. fair enough. i'll see what i can do.

and i did. you guys are/were hilarious. what is that from, two years ago? IU did nothing with Gordon. Sampson is effectively banned from coaching NCAA forever. IU is an absolute train-wreck. you pretty much got everything you wanted. why are you still mad?

Norwood is hurt. I wouldn't play either of them if Turner plays. I would recommend Snelling over Norwood, though. Ditto. And why would you drop Beanie Wells after his two most productive weeks? It appears as though he is passing Hightower as RB1 on the depth chart. i think he was saying he would drop Greene to pick up Wells. and yes, i would.

guys, iu sucks hard and sampson isn't there anymore. you can let it go for a while.