UMFan83

An actual picture of Steve Bartman from another (happier) day in his life: http://fastcache.gawkerassets.com/assets/images/11/2011/09/xlarge_bartmancircle.jpg Deadspin makes a great point. It's amazing that in this internet age we live in that there has been absolutely no photos caught of Bartman since the game, and no stories of run ins with Bartman. Maybe people don't recognize him without the hat and headphones, I don't know. But given that he is said to have a desk job at an office in the suburbs that he drives to and from everyday, its amazing that no one that he works with has said anything about him at any point. I can understand most co-workers respecting his wishes, but someone on the other side of the office that doesn't know Steve or his department, what's to stop them from sharing a Bartman sighting story?

Not to mention we'd be 1-3 with almost half our home schedule already played.

Maybe they should let him throw in the pen for the majority of the game in case that opportunity arises.

http://therealmeangirl.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/the-end.jpg

Just because one season doesn't work out in favor of 2 WCs doesnt mean it should be scrapped. Right now the NL Wild Card will be decided by one team playing a 100 loss team and another playing a 100 win team. Wouldn't you rather see them settle it against each other? Plus you can't even really look at it the same as if the season was played with 2 WCs in each league at play. Maybe the Giants don't play a bunch of young players or stick with their regular rotation if they are within striking distance of the WC with a week left. Maybe a team that's on the fringe of the WC race in July makes a couple of trades knowing they can get back into the race.

Are you going to use it on a NSBB Premium membership?

No wonder Byrd only has 35 RBIs this year, the dude wants to swing at everything when there is a runner on base.

BTW, in case anyone was wondering, I believe home field for tiebreaker games is now settled by record against the 2 teams. If that is in fact the case, Red Sox-Rays would be in Tampa, and Cardinals-Braves would be in St. Louis

Looks like the AL and NL Wild Card races will be tied going into the final game of the season.

The guy that really blew the Cubs season gets to go on TV and casually discuss the game while Bartman has to hide forever.

Ryan Theriot gives the Cardinals the lead with a 2 RBI triple. This is all Carlos Marmol's fault.

I think its starting to be clear that the Braves choke is just as bad as the Red Sox. Red Sox are 7-19 in their last 26, Braves are 8-17 in their last 25

Theo just dumped his relator in Chicago.

It's not the first time a team has made a trade for a better than marginal major league player in mid-to-late September. In 2008 the Brewers traded for Todd Coffey down the stretch, and he pitched in multiple games, helping the Brewers win the Wild Card and then sitting out the playoffs. He went on to spend 2 full seasons in Milwaukee, with a nice sub-3.00 ERA in 2009.

it's not the first time. Remember Lou Piniella to Tampa Bay? Hell there were rumors about Guillen being traded to the Marlins last season. I think Mike Stanton was the name rumored to go to Chicago.

I don't know why I'm posting this because its not an idea based on anything, just a speculation article. Dan Szymborski writes that the Red Sox are exploring the possibility of trading for a starter to start game 162 instead of pitching Lackey on 3 days rest. In that list he suggests Zambrano: http://insider.espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/7023605/boston-red-sox-trade-options-final-day I doubt this would ever even be considered, given that he couldnt play in the postseason, but if their was interest it might be the best chance to get rid of him without eating much money as the Red Sox are in a position of desperation.

All day? They tried 9 times (and 2 cutler scrambles) and abandoned it. They were down by double digits in the first half itself and Forte was averaging less than 0.5 yard per carry. Thank goodness they abandoned it when they did. Now, Martz called some inexplicably dumb pass plays given the quality of the line and receivers but that's a different argument. Have you never seen a team struggle with the run for a chunk of the game and eventually find some holes, wear down the D and finish with a decent game? I just think that balance is very important. I didn't see the game so I don't know how GB was aligning defensively in the 2nd half but I'd imagine they were dropping 7-8 guys back into pass coverage. Granted the Bears were down double digits the majority of the game, so its more understandable than last week but 9 carries is extremely low for an NFL team. In fact, the Bears had the lowest number of rushing yards in a game since 1954 yesterday, and only because of Jay Cutler scrambling did they avoid having the lowest in NFL history. That said, I'm not too upset about it, because like I said, being down 14 points early causes you to change your game plan. As does getting 0.5 YPC on the ground. But there needs to be more emphasis in general on the running game. It doesn't have to be 50-50 every game, but there should be enough to throw the defense off a little. The Bears won't win many games throwing as often as they have, and it shows, having scored 13 and 17 points the last 2 weeks.

I am ok with just taking the 4 best teams, seeding them, and holding a playoffs, but to do so they have to balance the schedules. As of now, divisions make sense because you play the other teams in your division for almost half of your games. So if you play in a division that has 3-4 decent teams that beat up on each other, you might have a 87 win team that finishes 1st and has the worst record of all playoff teams. I think its fair that the division champion should be rewarded with a playoff spot. As far as the existance of divisions, it does seem to create a lot more excitement, and due to geographical closeness seems to really create and maintain rivalries. There are some negatives of course but nothing is going to be perfect.

All day? They tried 9 times (and 2 cutler scrambles) and abandoned it.

I predict the Bears win a really ugly one. 19-16 in OT

I love this idea. I can't stand when Wild Card winners all jump on each other and celebrate when they clinch their wild card spot. I bet they won't be going crazy and celebrating now. I remember one year the Yankees and Red Sox had a 3 game series at the end of the season and they had both clinched playoff spots and were 'competing' for the division, and the series was halfhearted at best because both teams were more concerned with setting up their playoff rotations than winning an extra home game. Can you imagine the drama of that series where the team that loses the series has to go into a winner take all game while the winner rests for their 1st round series. I think this adds so much more drama and just about completely fixes the issue of the Wild Card team not getting penalized for not winning their division. Look at how this would work out this year: Red Sox vs. Rays from Fenway Park Teams still alive in last week: Angels (2 gb) Braves vs. Cardinals from Turner Field Teams still alive in last week: Giants (4 gb) I can see how a little drama could be lost in these final 3 games because in the NL the Cardinals and Braves would have both clinched WC spots and would only be playing for HFA for the wild card game, but fighting for 1 home game in a 1 game series has a ton more drama than teams fighting for 1 home game in a 5 game playoff series 2010: Yankees vs. Red Sox from Yankee Stadium Teams still alive in last week: White Sox (1 gb), Blue Jays (4 gb) Braves vs. Padres from Turner Field Teams still alive in last week: Cardinals (4 gb) 2009: Red Sox vs. Rangers from Fenway Park Teams still alive in last week: Tigers (1.5 gb), Mariners (2 gb), Rays (3 gb) Rockies vs. Giants from Coors Field Teams still alive in last week: Marlins (1 gb), Braves (2 gb), Cubs (4.5 gb) Look at 2009, 16 out of 30 teams are still alive for the playoffs going into the last week of the season. This year, if the Red Sox and Braves didn't completely choke there would have been maybe 9-10 teams alive.

first of all, the missed PI on woodson when he fell into hester like an oaf was pretty impactful. because it wasn't called, the bears punted and gave the packers great field position, which they used to score a TD. the punt return was just another bad call by the refs. I know, I admitted that in an earlier post. That's why I'm surprised there wasn't more complaining about that one. Fact, is I'd be more upset about that one then the punt return. The punt return was just a cooler play and the last one. I'm really not trying to be an A-hole (ok, I probably was a-holeish on in a post or two). I've had discussions/arguements with fans of my team on other boards regarding stuff like this as well. There is a lot of time until next Sunday and I like posting about the game that took place. Fact is I enjoy posting on this site more than other ones. the problem is, a call like that probably sabotaged our season, and i've seen the packers get the benefit of every call and every break for about what, 10 weeks in a row? it's frustrating to watch things like this continue to happen for a team that i'm not fond of. the packers are the better team, i'm not saying the bears are better by any stretch, but their run of luck has been nothing short of astonishing. Says the fan of the team that was considered the luckiest team ever in 2010. Not trying to defend the Packers, but while I hated hearing about how lucky we supposedly were last year, we did get to play the [expletive] Seahawks in the playoffs. It doesnt get much luckier than that.

I'm late to this Soriano hate thread. Did anyone make the "Yeah well I feel mistreated by Soriano" joke already?

So Bears fans bitching about "bs non calls" in a loss against the Packers is ok, but if the shoe was on the other foot Packers fans would be told to "stop crying" and "the Bears won fair and square", etc. It works both ways. Now you've got it. As long as you can admit the hypocrisy. Well duh, I and many Bears fans treat this as a Bears thread meaning they act as biased and hopelessly illogical as they want to.

So Bears fans bitching about "bs non calls" in a loss against the Packers is ok, but if the shoe was on the other foot Packers fans would be told to "stop crying" and "the Bears won fair and square", etc. It works both ways. Now you've got it.