soapy
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Everything posted by soapy
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The thing is, I think Martz has already put together good offensive football teams without worrying about producing good run game numbers. I'm moving away from expecting a run game, or worrying about it. One of the pleasant surprises I've seen from this bunch so far has been the screens. For years upon years the lack of any sort of screen ability has frustrated me. Now it's like a light switch being turned on. They're getting big plays on various incarnations of the screen, and it serves as a surrogate for a run game since it's a high percentage play when executed well, and they're getting it done. If they can keep doing that, it really plays to our strength since we can't plow open holes, and both of our running backs have shown solid receiving skills. The one downside I see is 3rd and 4th and short yardage. They'll likely not do very well in those situations unless they can get creative. Right. I don't think they need, and I don't expect, a really good running game. But you need to be able to get a few yards on the ground when needed (particularly 3rd-4th down as you said) and they haven't shown that yet.
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I read MMQB this morning wondering what King would say about the game. He bumped the Bears up high in his rankings, but his only talk of the game was Dallas struggling and the Bears offensive line being worse than he thought. He talked about 3 QBs who won their games, and not one of them was Cutler. Don Banks who had the Bears in the bottom 5 or so to start the season said he's not sure how the Bears have won and assumes they probably won't keep winning. Will they keep winning? I don't know, but the bolded is just weird. What do you mean you don't know? That's stupid.
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The Cowboys made mistakes, but the Bears also played very well. I think it's a little funny that the whole national story is that the Cowboys are blowing it and no (or little) consideration is being given to the idea that the Bears might actually just be a decent team. The Martz/Cutler combo has been fantastic so far. If the offensive line could get it together (not likely) and they could just put together a moderate running game, this offense could put up big numbers.
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I'm a helluva lot more excited for this game than I thought I would be. It was great to come away with a road win on a game I (and most) clearly had down as a sure loss. Cutler was great and, as many mentioned in the game 2 thread, Martz made several solid adjustments in-game. I don't expect the Bears to win this game, but I feel like they have a chance if they can win the turnover battle again.
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You're damn right it is!! :twisted:
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Sure there's been plenty of mention that the Trib had a lot to do with that contract, but this is the first place I've seen something somewhat specific (adding two years).
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The comments are about what you'd expect. Man do I hate people
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Yeah, that's the first time I've ever seen that.
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It goes even beyond Ryno being a HOF player for the organization. People eat up the stuff he spews about "playing the right way" and all that. Hell, they probably love that he "shows fire" as a manager in the minor leagues by getting ejected so often. People are suckers for that nonsense.
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He'd leave if he got another job as a manager. But how likely is it that another team will offer that? I don't think they will. His only options are likely to be bench-coach or managing in the minors (if he's not managing the Cubs).
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not much other than to try to figure out what he'll be looking for. basically, i wouldn't be willing to approach that salary, or even half of it.
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Kerry Wood will be 34 years old next year, has made $10 million the last two years and has thrown only 36 innings this year. I'm not seeing it, fellas. Is it just a sentimental thing? Anyway, I do think signing Dunn to play 1B is really the only "major" acquisition the offense needs. I'd probably roll out something like this as a lineup (pretty much what XZero said): Fukudome Soto Ramirez Dunn Byrd Soriano Castro Dewitt
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Hill is fine defensively (better than that). He's just not vastly superior to Geo defensively as people like to pretend. Certainly not enough to even come close to making up the massive gap between them offensively.
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But 7-9 would really suck. would it? It would to me. Depending on how it unfolded, I'd worry it would be just enough to keep Lovie, Angelo, et al. around.
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I'll be in Vegas and I'd like to bet on the Bears but six points doesn't make me feel good about it. ETA: Boy, aren't we beaming with optimism!
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Minor League Discussion & Boxes 9-2-10
soapy replied to Outshined_One's topic in Cubs Minor League Talk
At least Hendry, et al. won't be anxious to rush him into the OF next year? :? -
But...FUKUCOPTER!
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Yeah, with Hendry as GM still there's no reason to care about who the manager is. It really doesn't matter. The only appealing option is getting a new GM. I agree it's clearly time for him to go, but I'd like the best managerial candidate brought in regardless. That would only prolong Hendry's employment. I fear Ricketts has a very "typical fan" attitude about baseball, focusing more on managers and their in-game decisions plus "blaming the players" when they don't come through instead of looking deeper at the guy who acquired those players. I worry that he thinks the last eight years have been a success because, "Hey, I remember really sucking in the 70's-90's. Hendry is great compared to that."
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Yeah, with Hendry as GM still there's no reason to care about who the manager is. It really doesn't matter. The only appealing option is getting a new GM. I agree it's clearly time for him to go, but I'd like the best managerial candidate brought in regardless.
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Therefore, nobody should care about who the manager is? (Almost) everyone knows Hendry is a problem. That's no reason to throw up your hands about the manager. He'll obviously have some input on player acquisitions. Maybe we don't know where Fredi is on this, but I'm not seeing any other appealing options.
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Come backer hit his pitching hand, didn't break the skin at all. Something may very well be broken, but he didn't seem to be in a ton of pain. Heh...Pat and Ron acted like he was in absolute agony. Mentioned he's headed to the hospital for x-rays immediately. Hoping for a strong finish to the season for Gorzelanny was one of the few things worth watching for me so I hope he's okay.
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doesn't sound good for Gorzelanny. Anyone see it?
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Definitely want to echo the thanks, fellas. Solid work as always.
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I'd be perfectly fine with Sandberg as a bench coach for someone like Gonzalez. Seems almost ideal to me.
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Yes. You don't need freaking managers inserting pinch runners for Hall of Fame hitters to get an extra step. You need a GM to get the right players and a manager to get the hell out of the way. This is dead on. Besides, I've never seen Girardi as a sabr-leaning guy, but maybe I'm just not paying attention.