UMFan83

At least we can agree that the NBA Playoffs are like the anthesis of a crapshoot.

I would reverse NHL and MLB. I mean in the NHL a couple of years ago, the conference finals consisted of the last 4 NHL champs. The Kings and Blackhawks have won 4 of the last 6 Cups and are among the favorites to win this year. That said, there is definitely some crapshoot elements, especially in the early rounds where 8 seeds routinely upset 1 seeds. In fact I remember in 2010, the 4-6-7-8 seeds in the East all won their first round series. Also, occasionally you see an 8 seed get to the Cup Finals like the 2012 Kings and 2006 Oilers. I still don't think it holds a cake to baseball where teams like the Braves can make the playoffs 14 years in a row and only win 1 championship. So I guess the difference to me is that in hockey it seems like you can build a team to get deep in the playoffs many years like the Red Wings for so many years or more recently the Blackhawks whereas in baseball it doesn't seem to matter whether you win 100 games or 83, as long as you get in. Heck even having to play a single elimination game to get into the playoffs doesn't always seem to effect a team's odds.

That's a great point. I think Pace saw how quickly Emery was ran out after making a bold hire that failed spectacularly, and while I don't think that's the main reason why he went after Fox, it certainly was a benefit to it. I also think the organization is happy because, which they definitely want to win, I think they were extremely embarassed last year and want to do anything to avoid that embarassment in the future so in a way they'd be partially satisfied with an 8-8 team that keeps their off the field activities out of the news.

How did I miss this brilliance way back when? I bet nocode was at day 3

It's crowded and hard to see/do anything except for the vendor area, the opening ceremonies are on TV/Radio, and any interesting news from the breakout sessions is reported in real time. Like I said before, if someone gave me a free ticket, I'd go but I wouldn't go out of my way to go. I do enjoy the uptick in Cubs talk/reporting during the weekend though.

He's taken two teams from two different conferences to the Super Bowl. Trust me I'm not like virus who says he doesn't think he can win the 'big game'. I don't have any doubts on that. I'm just not sure how far he can take this roster over the next 2-3 years, but I believe at worst he will make us respectable.

Now that's an inspiring hire! You're right though, it's not terrible I don't think. I think he has a high floor in terms of his likely performance with the Bears. Not sure how high his ceiling goes though. Hiring Fox to me makes me feel like the Bears are going to take another run at it next year with a veteran heavy roster. I could be wrong....and that's not a bad thing overall.

I don't think it would be that bad. He just lead the Bills to their best season in 15 years with Kyle Orton as the QB. I know they have a great defense, but he can't be THAT bad, can he? It would be a little underwhelming based on the other names we've been rumored to be in on. And I'm not even that big on Fox but it would seem like a better hire. Marrone did a good job last year and he seems to be confident enough in his own abilities to opt out of his contract and look for a better job. I just remember how lightly regarded he seemed to be coming out of Syracuse to Buffalo. Syracuse was in terrible shape when he took over but it's not like he brought them to great heights...unless you consider the Pinstripe Bowl to be great heights. I don't know...wouldn't be my first or second choice but wouldn't be a hire that seems so bad that I would pan it without giving him a solid chance to prove himself.

I hate them. We did beat them a few weeks ago when we were good. But since then everything has completely collapsed and I have no idea why

Or whether Manning has decided to retire

Thanks Tim! I noticed a distinct lack of snark in my life today :D

THE BEARS MUST HAVE BEEN TAMPERING

Oh yeah that was fun. Edit: but this game is not

Whenever I think of John Fox, I think about this stupidity:

:drool: http://instagram.com/p/xziOrkSBfJ/

He lost by 3 points to a vastly superior Patriots team that was in the middle of a 33-2 stretch of football. I don't know if you can exactly count that against him. So all you are really going off of is the shellacking in last year's Super Bowl.

Definitely concerning to finish 4-4 in a stretch where.... 7 of the 8 games were at home Only 2 of the 8 games were against teams better than 1 game over .500 More concerning is that 3 of those losses were blowouts, 2 at home to teams with a combined record of 27-52. And all 4 of the teams that won were struggling when they beat the Bulls. The Nets lost 6 straight after destroying us, the Magic lost 6 straight before playing us, the Jazz are in the middle of a 2-6 stretch. All that said, that leaves us at 26-13, still fine...with the Cavs sucking we have quite the cushion in the Central, and plenty of time to figure it out before April. What concerns me is: -The defense. Pau is a great player on offense, but gets lit up by Centers and provides terrible help D. Noah is forced to chase around more athletic stretch 4s on a bum knee. Is this something that is going to come together eventually or did Gar finally fill the team with enough bad defenders to have an effect on the defense as a whole -Noah in general is a concern. The bad knee is slowing him but lately it seems like he's also just playing stupid -Not too concerned yet, but Jimmy has slowed down these last handful of games. Whats most concerning is that things look broken when he's not playing like a superstar -Thibs looks like he's losing patience and starting to lash out in the media. If he loses the team it's over. Overall though this could easily be a 10 game stretch that is easily forgotten come April. The Bulls have definitely shown a much higher gear already this year so its not like this team is bad, or even average. They are good, they just have some things to work out.

Gotta love having an already underdog Michigan team go into their arch rivals house the day after those jerkwads won a football championship. The crowd should be insane, I don't like our odds...

At 8-8 and only thanks to the Bears literally giving it away. Let's make Marion Barber the head coach

I was already saying this was the worst football season ever when Michigan finished 5-7 and the Bears 5-11. That will truly be cemented when the Packers win to join OSU as champs

oregons run d is like watching the 2013 Bears all over again

This is like watching the Bears defense. 3rd and long? No problem. Every. Single. Time. This would be a blowout if 3 fumbles didn't all go Oregon's way.

Have you been watching the game? I know, total blowout city it will be, because its a sports team i strongly dislike, and because the bulls are getting blown out for the 3rd time in 4 games so might as well just keep piling on the pain

Of course the record breaking Oregon offense is completely shut down while Ohio State's 3rd string QB drives down the field at ease repeatedly. Man I hate sports

This would the type of hire that a unproven young GM would make after seeing the last GM run out of town after 3 seasons because he took a giant risk for a HC and it failed. Safe, high floor low ceiling hire