TheVolCub08

The only scouting report I've really read on him (by a site that ranks him the 10th best prospect in baseball): Does not sound like a $30 million gamble I would ever want to see the Cubs take.

Alright, just checking in with a few things I have heard today... Smart was all but locked up to UGA, but in the 11th hour, Bama came back with an offer that Smart could not refuse. UGA was sure they had him locked up, and Smart may have seriously damaged any shot he had at becoming the next head coach at UGA. I'm hearing that a bridge was severely burned today. This is from a high school coach very close to the Athletic Dept at UGA, so tifwiw. Kyle Prater is expected to visit UT this weekend, and the belief off the record is that if he visits, he's a UT lock. Since he wants to be an EE, a decision this weekend is a necessity if he's going to land at TN. Oddly enough, UT was not in Praters Top 3 when he committed to USC, as OU and ND were there. This is a move of necessity for Prater, and UT is in the picture for 3 reasons: Kiffin and his style that is pretty similar to Carroll's, Kippy Brown, and the fact that Zach Fulton and Matt Milton (both families are close to the Praters) are Vols. This decision will have little to no impact on whether the Vols continue to pursue Sims, as they are looking at him as a slot receiver. And don't fool yourself into thinking that TN does not want Sims if they sign Prater. Kiffin and crew spent 7 hours at the Sims house the day before he decommitted. You don't spend that kind of time with a kid you don't desperately want. I've also got interesting info on Sims from a very reliable source that you're welcome to if interested. This info comes from someone who says that Sims would decommit almost 2 months ago. Look for Jessie Scroggins and possibly George Uko to decommit and take a hard look at TN (there are TONS of connections between USC kids and the UT program). I doubt either lands at UT, but their names will both be mentioned there in the coming weeks. You can believe all of this or none of this. Either way, won't bother me. I know it sounds like a UT fan saying "everyone wants to play for us", but this is not at all true. Some of this info is a little hard for me to believe as well, but it comes from the same folks who told me 3 days before that Ahmad Dixon would be a Vol, and that Willis was also switching back to TN several days before that was made public. Per Rivals, TN ends with a Top 3 class. Might still make them 3rd in the SEC, though. Of course, those rankings don't mean anything more than a little positive PR in February, and we all know that nobody wins games on paper in February.

All in due time, dew. I'm taking a little leap with something I've heard from a football coach in Georgia who sends alot of kids to UGA.

As encourage by CNS. I doubt Smart takes the Tech job, cause I think Smart is waiting for the GA job to open up possibly after next year. But it wouldn't surprise me if Smart does take the Tech job. Kirby Smart is the next DC at UGA. No. Personally, the ONLY way he goes to Georgia is if/when Richt is fired. And knowing Richt penchant for being cheap when it comes to paying his assistants plus Alabama's assistants are about to get a big raise....less then 5% chance of Smart going to Georgia. You were saying?

Colts 24, Ravens 13. Chargers 38, Jets 16 Cowboys 28, Vikings 24 Saints 24, Cards 20

5 shots for Aldrich. 5 shots. Against a team without a center. Yeah, like it or not, Pearl absolutely outcoached Self today. Aldrich was primarily defended by a skinny true frosh today, due to Chism's foul trouble. No excuse for Cole only getting off 5 shots. Thought too much of Kansas' game plan involved Collins taking 18-23 footers.

Not a bad pregame assessment... sans the final score.

13 minutes from tipoff in the Kansas/Tennessee game in Knoxville. Oddly enough, I have a decent feeling about this one. This is exactly the type of undermanned team that Pearl tends to coach well. He has struggled coaching supremely talented teams, but gets an awful lot out of teams that are overmatched. Not saying that is what we'll definitely see today, but a UT upset just would not surprise me. That said, I'm calling it KU 79 TN 63.

Wow. What a downgrade Jack Del Rio would be; from Carroll and those two. I don't like Del Rio because it's widely rumored that Ed Orgeron will be his #1 choice as DC.

Well, he probably lights up there because he's facing Rangers pitching. He no longer benefits from that.

As encourage by CNS. I doubt Smart takes the Tech job, cause I think Smart is waiting for the GA job to open up possibly after next year. But it wouldn't surprise me if Smart does take the Tech job. Kirby Smart is the next DC at UGA.

Playoffs Each division champion will make the playoffs. Beyond that, there will be 2 Wild Card teams from each Conference, for a total of 8 playoff teams. Seedings and matchups will be determined at a later date. This will be voted on during Winter Meetings Consolation Bracket For the 8 teams who do not make the playoffs, there will be a consolation bracket to determine the top pick in the following draft. The champion of the consolation bracket will receive the first overall pick, and picks 2-8 will be determined by order of finish from the regular season, ensuring that the worst team will receive at worst the 2nd overall pick. The seeding for this bracket will also be determined at a later date.

I know it is, but how about getting tougher schedules? Next year is a start with Virginia Tech, but that's not enough. It takes two sides to agree to a game. Boise can't just call up Florida or Alabama and say "Hey guys, we're coming to play you next year on Sept 4". There was a story earlier in the year (can be read here) about how Boise was calling a bunch of schools that had an open game the same weekend Boise did asking to play one game at the other team's place (no return trip necessary) and they were getting turned down left and right. Given the culture in NCAA Football, I understand why they have such trouble finding teams to play them. What does it benefit teams to host Boise State? You beat them, and it's just a WAC pretender. You lose, and you're totally out of the BCS Championship picture. It's almost a no-win situation. I'm not saying it should be that way, just that it is that way.

Ahh, yes. The good ole transitive property argument. That one is pretty infallible.

Boise State got the shaft. #4? Ouch.

I'd bet that Lowell is on the way out the door once he returns healthy from his surgery.

And that's not even true. 8/4/3 is "more" money than 3/4/8. Not to mention that most players who sign multi-year deals don't typically sign up to take a 50% pay cut from year 1 to 2, followed by a 25% pay cut from year 2 to year 3. This is an incredibly unrealistic scenario.

The brothers DuCross said "go to". Neither Wright nor Reyes fit that descriptions, because they came up through the Mets system.

What are you basing this on? Right now it looks like the Cubs have a good chance of having sold high on DeRosa and gotten return for doing so given the performances of all three thus far. And the end result of DeRosa being with the Cubs instead of Bradley wouldn't have changed much of anything in terms of the record since DeRosa wasn't very good last season. Granted, they wouldn't have to deal with the mess of having to deal with Bradley's contract, but in the grand scheme of things DeRosa having stuck around his last year wouldn't have changed much. I'd much happier that they have the three players they got for him instead of keeping DeRosa through the end of his contract and getting nothing. As I explained to dew, most of my cynicism is based on being a Cubs fan for 30 years. Maybe all 3 will turn into useful pieces, but if they do, I'd be shocked. Personally, I would have much rather held onto DeRosa and not dealt with the fiasco that was Milton Bradley (nor the impending disaster that is Carlos Silva). Also, it could have kept the Cubs from signing Miles, who I simply cannot stand. And I personally don't feel that trading away a solid every day player who can slide in at 4 or 5 positions for guys who could potentially be serviceable middle relievers (could.. not will) is an equitable trade. Not saying I'm right and anyone who disagrees is wrong, just stating a personal preference. In hindsight, it would have been my preference to hold onto DeRosa and foregone the Miles/Bradley/Silva disaster.

Wait, what? And why was it painful watching DeRosa with the Cardinals? He was not very good last year at all. I have no faith that Gaub, Archer, or Stevens will ever be anything worthwhile at the Major League level, hence the "3 guys who won't amount to much". There are some questions surrounding all three players, but I don't understand the complete lack of faith. All three have been very impressive in the minors and Stevens showed some good signs in the majors this season. What is it that gives you no confidence whatsoever in them? I guess that if I'm honest, the answer to this question is... I've been a Cubs fan for 30 years. Not exactly scientific, I realize. Plus, I'm not sure that I consider a middle reliever or two a decent return on a guy who was a solid player who could play multiple positions. I know that all 3 still have plenty of time to develop (and they may), but as of today, I just don't consider it a great trade- mostly because the chain of events it set off.

Considering this team ended the year with 62 scholarship players, I don't see how any UT fan could consider this season a negative in any fashion. Fulmer deserved what he got from fans. He left the program much worse than he found it, and Kiffin is having to overcome the deficit that Fulmer left him. I see that, and I was actually sad that Fulmer left the way he did.

Well, this conversation could change with the Byrd signing.

Wait, what? And why was it painful watching DeRosa with the Cardinals? He was not very good last year at all. I have no faith that Gaub, Archer, or Stevens will ever be anything worthwhile at the Major League level, hence the "3 guys who won't amount to much". It was painful because I like DeRo. It's painful because DeRo could have remained a Cub and spared us the failure that was the Milton Bradley Experiment. Seriously... there is no way anyone could ever convince me that swapping Marquis and DeRosa for Bradley was good. Of course, that is all in hindsight.

I think Pellini has Nebraska headed in an excellent direction. I could see him winning the North 75% of the time he's at Nebraska.

I don't see how Hendry doing nothing could be worse than Hendry doing something, at this point. I realize this is in retrospect, but look at what last NYE got the Cubs. 3 marginal prospects, Aaron Miles, and Milton Bradley (essentially, since the DeRo trade was a salary move to create room for Bradley... who became Carlos Silva.) Everyone was giddy last NYE, because we were all sure that those 3 arms were pieces in the imminent Peavy trade. :banghead: So, a year later, I have trouble seeing a day that led to 3 guys who probably won't amount to much, Aaron Miles, and a year of Milton Bradley (and a future of Carlos Silva) as somehow better than likely doing nothing. So, in my opinion, last year has to be more disappointing. Oh, and let's not forget that we watched DeRo and Peavy end the year with the Cards and White Sox, respectively. :banghead: