UMFan83

and no one picking the Bears. interesting. like i said, i'm confident that we're going to punish such lack of faith. Actually one of the AFC writers did if you click the link at the top

They are bad enough to lose by 32 at home to a FCS team, why wouldn't they be bad enough to lose by 24+ on the road to a BCS conference team? I get what you are saying about MSU's offense and it seeming unlikely that USF is as bad as they played last week, but it seems like a perfectly reasonable line to me.

I'm concerned about the commitments being made to guys who aren't the difference makers on this team. Taken by itself this signing isn't disappointing, but giving Crawford and Hjalmarsson a combined $10+m per year is a little perplexing to me. Perfect summary. You don't let Kane walk away to keep either Crawford or Hammer. Do you seriously think that Stan plans on letting Kane walk away? That the Toews and Kane situations aren't a factor in every signing they make? No I'm sure that is a factor in every signing. I think they are planning on Hossa and/or Sharp not being on the team when it comes time to resign Kane and Toews.

Week 1 picks starting to trickle out. 5 of the 8 CBS guys have the Bengals winning straight up, and 7 of the 8 ATS. The ESPN guys that have picked so far are split, 5 taking Cincy and 5 taking the Bears with Allen, Keyshawn and Carter still to pick. Yahoo users pick the Bears but the 'experts' haven't made their picks yet, nor has Peter King at SI.

Hawks sign Hjalmarsson to 5 year extension, not sure the money yet

I don't want to sound like I'm defending this deal, because I'm not, but don't goalies typically age slower than skill players? Him being 34 years old at the end of the contract doesn't seem like a big deal. I think it probably seems that way since it usually takes goalies longer to develop and the really good ones can hang around seemingly forever. It will be hard for him to be worth this contract, particularly since it will likely cost the Hawks either Hammer or Seabrook being traded to make cap room to pay Toews, Kane, Leddy and Saad. The article posted above said was really good at breaking down the average starting goaltenders value above replacement level (assumed to be the average backup). It said historically a starting goaltender is with ~2.17 wins more than replacement level or 4.something points, and given the minimum salary and current cap, that works out to like $4.6 million per season. But with the cap almost certainly increasing that number should be higher. While I do not really agree with the 6 year deal or the dollar amount, Crawford shouldnt be too overpaid if he produces numbers like last year. But I still hate the deal and despite last year's Cup win I still don't trust that he's anything more than an average to slightly above average goalie. If we didn't have Raanta, I might feel slightly better, but I believe that there are only a few exceptional difference making goalies out there, and the rest go from slightly below average to slightly above average depending on the season/defense in front of them.

I don't want to sound like I'm defending this deal, because I'm not, but don't goalies typically age slower than skill players? Him being 34 years old at the end of the contract doesn't seem like a big deal. http://www.mc79hockey.com/?p=6252 ok im out of justifications

I don't want to sound like I'm defending this deal, because I'm not, but don't goalies typically age slower than skill players? Him being 34 years old at the end of the contract doesn't seem like a big deal.

Playing Devils Advocate, if the cap goes up, more teams have money to spend making it likely Craws value would go up if he has a season at least as good as this one.

Does DJ Williams starting after missing basically the entire preseason with a new defense say more about his health/ability or more about Bostic not being as impressive to the coaching staff as he's seemingly looked at times this preseason? Or am I reading too much into it? Either way, Bostic clearly looked like a playmaker out there, and even if they don't think he's ready to start week 1, he looks to be a legit starter in the future.

I doubt he could do that now

Alright Pirates just need to go 1-25 now. This is going to be historic.

Sucks that they randomly did away with MNF this week

Sweet the DJaxx are back! Maybe Chris will return now and set up some more prospect chats.

Wonder what the numbers are just for starters. At a quick glance it looks like 4 offensive starters (Jeffery, Forte, Mills and Long) and 8 defensive (Wooten, Paea, Melton, Briggs, Bostic, Tilman, Conte and Wright).

Why did they sign Raanta then? This is a little crazy. Bye Hoss or Sharp after this year I guess.

So Ohio State has scored 2 early TDs and went and converted 2 point conversions both times. Why?

Haha we lost.

Pete Prisco picked the Bengals to win the Super Bowl lol

Yup. We held them to a field goal at one point though! I think it was because the half was running out though

It's time. Bears favored by 3.5 at the moment. The last time the Bears and Bengals met in 2009, I was in attendance and watched the Bears get slaughtered 45-10. The time before that was 2005 when Kyle Orton threw 5 INTs and Chad Ochojohnson did a riverdance in the Soldier Field end zone. I think the final score was 24-7. [expletive] these guys, lets kick their asses.

How can Onobun make this team? Is he a great blocker or something?

It's amazing how rebuilt the O-line is. 5/8 players listed are brand new and 2 of the other 3 have only been with the Bears for 1 season.

Lets sign Lance Louis

I like the Southport bars because while they get their share of Cubs traffic, they are rarely packed to the point where you can't get a seat or hear others talk. Man I'm getting old if those are my priorities at a bar.