SouthSideRyan

he's tough because his skin is made out of the same material that the nike combat gear is. It's not that difficult. Sorry couldn't think of something that dumb. Hahaha, yeah, that's it. He actually knew exactly what it was supposed to mean, but he's watching football and it messed with his typing.

Andy [expletive] loves lasagna.

25-12 now.

We're not catching them, so isn't it better that they take out some of the WC competition? Not that we have much of a chance at that either. In order for the Cubs to win either they have to go on an absurd tear, like 18-2. If they do that the teams that are nearby aren't keeping pace. I think 15-5 will do it. As of tonight Cubs are tied with ATL and FLA in the loss column and possibly only 6.5 out of WC lead. 15-5 would require a 7-11 finish from the Rockies just to tie them. 12-7 from the Giants too. That won't get it done.

This is horrible television.

We're not catching them, so isn't it better that they take out some of the WC competition? Not that we have much of a chance at that either. In order for the Cubs to win either they have to go on an absurd tear, like 18-2. If they do that the teams that are nearby aren't keeping pace.

Made the switch, so Trent will march them down.

Nothing big, 300 dollar pot per week. Come to think of it, there is a season long winner too, and I'd be forfeiting 16 points for the chance that the Chargers starters are involved in some sort of horrific accident walking out of the locker room.

So if you change your pick to Oakland, what happens if San Diego wins? Are you still getting 10 percent? Just thought it through. If I switch to Oakland and they win, I get 80% regardless of the early game. If I keep SD the only way I get money(10%) is if Buffalo and San Diego win. If I thought Oakland had any chance at all, it'd be an easy call, I just think San Diego is gonna beat em by 80. Its gonna suck if you don't switch and Oakland wins. I would switch just because It would piss me off if I didnt switch and Oakland won Coupled with the Chargers being my survivor team.

That was freakin awesome.

So if you change your pick to Oakland, what happens if San Diego wins? Are you still getting 10 percent? Just thought it through. If I switch to Oakland and they win, I get 80% regardless of the early game. If I keep SD the only way I get money(10%) is if Buffalo and San Diego win. If I thought Oakland had any chance at all, it'd be an easy call, I just think San Diego is gonna beat em by 80.

So regardless of whether you think it's a cheap move to pull: In my confidence pool you can change your picks up to til each individual kickoff. In the current setup: If Buffalo and San Diego win I get 10% of the pot. If I change my San Diego pick to Oakland: If New England and Oakland win I get 80% of the pot. If this game comes down to the wire, do I make the switch?

You people who live close to Wrigley make me sick. I would love to go to a Cub game again. Not to sound like the millionaire who bitches about not being able to buy his third house in Miami, but I only enjoy it when the Cubs are good. When they are mediocre or suck, all I see is no parking spots and horrible traffic before and after the game. I've gotten used to planning my trips out of the house around Cubs games. But I totally know I take it for granted. I'll miss it when I eventually move someday. Let's face it, you're pretty miserable about it when the Cubs are really good too.

Any sane person knows that. There's a reason why nobody wanted to face Philly in the first round. Wait, I missed this earlier. This is nuts. Their #2 starter was Brett Myers

But what about by a man dressed as a woman? Billie Jean King?

Yeah I realized after the fact that wasn't what I meant to say but [expletive] it. You don't think it's a zero sum game where some teams have a lot of guys underperform expectations(for whatever reason) while others have a lot of guys outperform expectations? That was my point, the Cubs as a whole outperformed expectations slightly, but not to any sort of level where I'd say "everything went right" for them. As I said, Zambrano having his worst full season is not everything going right. Lee having his worst full season in ages is not everything going right. Fukudome disappearing for 5 months is not everything going right. Soriano missing 50 games is not everything going right. Bob Howry throwing batting practice is not everything going right. Scott Eyre walking everyone is not everything going right.

Guys playing up to(not exceeding) expectations is good luck now?

And I'd say the Cubs losing their 2nd best starter(heading into the season) last year was a bit of "bad luck"

Despite being 5 games worse both in real record and pythag, while playing in a worse division you know that Philly had a better team based on the 7 games between the 2?

Soto's out of nowhere talent in 2007 didn't guarantee a fantastic rookie season. And Lee's season was pretty much par for the course for most of his career. It was almost exactly what he did in his first year as a Cub at 28. The Cubs won 97 games last year. They weren't a 97 win team. Led the league in runs scored without a single elite bat. They led the league in walks taken despite being a team that previously never really walked much, and they've since moved right back to the middle of the pack there. There most disappointing offensive player still had a more than acceptable .360 OBP. They probably should have been more like a 90-92 win team. This year they maybe should have been a 88-90 win team and they are on pace to win 84. 2008 was special but it's not something anybody can reasonably expect to happen again unless they significantly upgrade the talent. It didn't guarantee a fantastic rookie season, but it's not like there wasn't a reason to believe that Soto would be damn good. Lee's season was about 50 points of OPS lower than his career # heading into '08. Career #s that included 800 PAs of sub-replacement level offense when he shoulda been in the minors. In any given year there's maybe 1 true talent 97 win team. To be a 97 win team, you have to have some luck. I just don't think there were these astronomical # of events that everyone else wants to pretend happened that paved the way. They weren't lucky in the sense that they outperformed pythag(-1) If the Cubs should've been a 90-92 win team in '08, then no other team in the NL should have been a 90 win team. To call it a fluke isn't close to being true. It wasn't a bunch of blind kool aid swilling Cub fans that thought this team would take the division this year. From the most sophisticated of projection systems to the brain-deadest analyst. It's horribly annoying when every spaz goes on about the Cardinals being lucky and flukish, and it's just as annoying to say it about the Cubs.

I don't know why people don't think that 2008 wasn't a fluke season where everything went right for the Cubs. This is a good team that's built to be mediocre unless everything goes according to plan. It's not a great team. Also, to backtobanks the Yankees have twice the payroll of the Cubs and are built to weather injuries, as we've seen. Quit being ridiculous. Everything going right for the Cubs being Edmonds, Fontenot and Dempster? Soto's rookie year, Theriot's career year. Wood's out of nowhere resurgence. DeRosa's career year. And no competition. Not a great player on the team but still put together a great offense. Things all fell into place last year. Usually they don't. Soto's out of nowhere talent happened in '07. So did Wood's out of nowhere health. DeRosa and Theriot's years were better than expected, but they weren't out of this world. They're pretty easily cancelled out by Lee's subpar year and Fukudome's 5 months of absolute suck. Zambrano had his worst full season in the majors(by ERA+) Bob Howry fell off a cliff. Eyre fell off 2 cliffs.

There's a huge difference in payrolls between the Cubs and Yankees, but it's not even close to twice as much. Stop saying that.

I don't know why people don't think that 2008 wasn't a fluke season where everything went right for the Cubs. This is a good team that's built to be mediocre unless everything goes according to plan. It's not a great team. Also, to backtobanks the Yankees have twice the payroll of the Cubs and are built to weather injuries, as we've seen. Quit being ridiculous. Everything going right for the Cubs being Edmonds, Fontenot and Dempster?

I think we'll be lucky to get 2 more good seasons out of Soriano at this point. 3-4 would be a surprise to me. It all depends on how much you think his knee has affected his performance. He's already improved his approach with a walk rate this year similar to the career best he put up in Washington. Assuming no knee relapses, I'm expecting '07-'08 levels for a few years.

I think everyone saw what Abreu and Ibanez were doing in May and assume they're still performing at that level. These same people also completely ignore defense.