soapy

White is putting together a nice string of games. Keep it up DJ (but don't leave after the season, please). His defense and rebounding are especially encouraging. Even though it's out of conference, I still think the UConn game is important. I'd love to see IU establish a pattern of being able to win on the road.

Hahaha...People, in 2003 Mark Prior did the following: 2.43 ERA/ 211.1 IP/ 50BB/ 245 SO (not to mention going 10-1 with a 1.52 in the second half in the middle of a playoff race) What did he make in 2003? $3 million? Also, he was very good in 2005, which everybody seems to dismiss. Yeah, let's throw a fit because he has the audacity to ask for a very modest raise (which he probably won't get anyway).

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/statistics?stat=team&sort=pts&pos=off&league=nfl&season=2&year=2006 Chicago - 427 New Orleans - 413 Not a huge difference, but it's still a difference. Yes, but as I said, the Bears scored a lot of points on defense and special teams. Not really the offense's doing. According to ESPN, that is offensive scoring. I might be mistaken, but that's what I'm finding on ESPN and NFL.com. EDIT: Actually, you might be right. That might be overall scoring, but if that's the case, then I need to search a little harder next time. :lol: That is also their total number of points. I looked at the standings, and they officially have the Bears as scoring 427 points, so those offensive rankings must count both defense and special teams TD's as well, which are at least 10 TD's I think for the Bears, if not more. The point remains, the Bears scored more points then any other team in the NFC (NO was 3rd), while allowing the fewest points in the NFC (NO was 3rd). But yes, by all means, let's hand the Saints the NFC Championship now. No need to play the game. This should really be a great game.

Wow, it's kind of amazing that Hendry's having so much trouble trading this guy given that contract. Perhaps he's not as intent on trading Jones as rumor suggests. That would be good news. I agree unless Jones is hurt and we don't know about it. And/or other GMs think Jones isn't likely to repeat is 2006 numbers. Which is understandable.

Z or Marquis should be batting 6th in that lineup. And probably playing CF or SS.

I'd like to know this as well. Is he (Jones) that upset with the coaching change? Upset with the (early season) fan treatment? What's the deal? Something is weird about this whole thing. A part of me thinks Hendry needs to tell him to suck it up and deal with it.

I can just imagine some of those day-game-after-night-game lineups with a 6-9 of: 6. Finley/Erstad/Pie/Pagan 7. Blanco 8. Izturis 9. Pitcher not named Zambrano

For whatever reason, the Cubs appear to be hell-bent on trading Jones. So I'd be surprised if he's the opening day CF (though that's what I'd prefer at this point). As you mentioned, I'd be fine with Pie if they upgraded at SS. I don't see that happening, so I'm a little leary of depending on Pie as the everyday CF. I'm kind of hoping that a possible Church deal isn't really dead yet. Things have cooled down, but once teams get into spring training, the asking price for Church may go down. I assume the Nationals would be most interested in pitching. We didn't see much of Pagan last season, but there really isn't anything about his past that suggests to me that he would be a solid option in CF (offensively or defensively). I have absolutely zero interest in the like of Erstad and Finley. I'll be extremely disappointed if the Cubs go that route.

The Bears defense has to get more pressure on Brees than they did on Hasselback. I'm excited, but I'm not optimistic.

Gale Sayers is a just a bitter, jealous old man. And I've thought that since long before he ever uttered Rex Grossman's name. He has always seemed to resent the great players that came after him, Walter in particular. That LT comment is just another example. He's got a little Joe Morgan thing going on.

Gale Sayers on ESPN News saying the Bears can't win the Super Bowl with Grossman (or Griese). He also stated that Rex "didn't think about his teamates" when he publicly admitted to being under-prepared against Green Bay. Claims he should have said that to his teamates and left it at that. Also LT can't be considered "the best" because there are too many domes in the NFL now? Also because of the hash marks being in closer. Whatever.

His explanation is that Rex is more concerned about the where the next party is than what the next job is. Dear God please tell me that he didn't really say that. Please. He most certainly did. I didn't think it was possible for me to hate Boomer any more than I already did. Wow. What a douche bag. Oh well, I'm sure Boomer was 100% focused and as fully prepared as is humanly possible for every single game he played in his career, no matter how meaningless. Also, for some reason, it makes me hate the Bengals even more. Yay!

His explanation is that Rex is more concerned about the where the next party is than what the next job is. Dear God please tell me that he didn't really say that. Please.

All the numbers you stated were very encouraging. Another thing I was really pleased with was their ability to score despite shooting poorly from beyond the arc. That's something they haven't shown to date. Stemler did a nice job of using his quickness advantage by driving to the lane, instead of settling strickly for jumpers. And of course DJ was solid. Probably his best game to date other then maybe the UK game.

One thing IU has going for them (in the race for 3rd in the Big Ten) is that they only play OSU and Wisconsin once each. Very lucky scheduling break there.

I agree with most that it should be Benson, butLovie may disagree.

He was going against Oden. Cut him some slack. I am very impressed you guys played them that well. I wonder if they are starting to hit the wall abit with all of those frosh. Oden only blocked 1 of his shots. The other big man blocked 3 or 4 more. And it's not just OSU. Same thing happened as a frosh, understandably, in the Big Ten and against Alleyne at Kentucky. I'm not impressed by playing with anybody. IU has the coaching and talent to compete, especially if they shoot well. They gotta be better down the stretch though. Would have been a huge road win against the best team in the conference. Give them 1 of the games they have lost late (Butler, Duke, UK, OSU) and they are a tourney lock. You do realize the impact Oden has is felt at all times? You always are worrying about where he is and as a result will sometimes get your shot blocked by a guy you aren't paying the closest attention too. I also think you might be over estimating your talent level. It is good, but nothing to warrant beating any of those teams you mentioned. I understand Oden's impact. But again, I am talking about the times when Oden was out. DJ had 3 shots blocked with Oden on the bench, and didn't dominate like he should with him out. The other guy (whatever his name was) is a good player also, but shouldn't be a dominant force over a player like White. And I don't know how the talent doesn't warrant beating any of those teams, when they played them all close til the final 2 minutes on the road, and 3 of them while missing a key player. DJ has had this problem before. It's not just Oden. He really needs to get tougher down low and/or IU needs to develop another scoring threat down low. DJ needs a little help. They are still struggling to get to the line as well. I guess I may have to just accept that they are a jump shooting team and they are going to live or die by it. "Moral victories" annoy me. They need to start winning a few games like this. They had several chances to win this game, the Duke game and the UK game. Playing a tough schedule doesn't mean anything if you lose all the tough games.

One of the things I'm most worried about is the pass rush. They absolutely need to get consistant pressure on the QB. Without that, the defense will be in trouble, IMO.

My own feeling is that this becomes an option worth possibly exploring if the Cubs bomb in the first half of 2007. That is to say, all the things that can go wrong do (Lee can't recover, Soriano reverts back to 2004-2005, same with DeRosa, Marquis and/or Lilly bomb, etc.). If the Cubs are toiling in the cellar again, you start exploring a trade of Zambrano (among others) to "re-load" on prospects, IMO. He's going to be owed a truck-load of money and it might not be in the best interest of the Cubs to pay it to him if they have no hope of contending with their current roster. Get what you can out of him and re-group.

hahaha...awesome. I'm a huge Bears fan (and homer) but I think some of the complaining is getting a little crazy. There isn't any conspiracy against the Bears. They have been the subject of some terrible calls, just like everyone else.

If Lee's power was an issue, I'd consider hitting him 2nd, sure. If that happened I'd have no problem with Murton or Ramirez hitting 3rd. Having said that, I think the best option is having Murton in the 2-hole. I really hope this isn't an issue though. They are going to need Lee hitting HRs.

Really, Prior's second half of 2003 was absolutely stunning (at age 22?). I don't see how anyone wouldn't get caught up in that. 10-1; 1.52 ERA; 95K; 16BB please stop, you're making me depressed If I'm going to be depressed, I'm going to bring others down with me!

2003 OPS Patterson: .839 Lofton: .852 Alou: .819 Sosa: .911 2006 OPS Pierre: .717 Murton: .809 Jones: ..833 :(

Really, Prior's second half of 2003 was absolutely stunning (at age 22?). I don't see how anyone wouldn't get caught up in that. 10-1; 1.52 ERA; 95K; 16BB

I don't even count the year that they won 90 games, 1998 as legit either seeing as it took them 163 games to do it. Just think 17 seasons without a 90 win season (in 162 games). Pretty amazing. Last year we were 30 games under .500. The last time a team like the Red Sox was 30 games under .500 in any point in the season? 1963 I believe. This has gotta stop, and I don't think Ted Lilly and Jason Marquis are the answer to that. Those really are some astonishing (and depressing) numbers. I'm always amazed at how willing Cubs fans are to give Hendry the benefit of the doubt and always throw out the old, "Let's wait for things to shake-out before we crusify the guy." Hendry has been here long enough and done enough to warrant judging him on what he's done so far. In the simplist terms, he's developed a team that went from mediocre in 2003-2004 (yeah, they got lucky and snuck into the playoffs with 88 wins in 2003), to bad in 2005, to horrible in 2006. All while spending $100 million to put it together. Of course has made some nice moves, but the overall body of work is quite unremarkable and is, to me, unacceptable.