UMFan83

Can someone explain what the hell "derp" means?

lol I was just about to make a reply saying "wow LeBron AND Wade??!!?"

The Cardinals don't get to have a home field advantage because the Phillies fans also wear red, so they are used to it and aren't distracted. It's not fair.

And the Cardinals overcome almost insurmountable circumstances such as shadows and messed up body clocks to win.

Damn, I thought we'd get at least 2 hours out of that airplane to Boston rumor. Thanks for blowing it David.

Why would they fly to Boston anyways unless it was to pick Theo up to go back to Chicago? I would assume they'd want Theo to come to Wrigley, see the offices, etc etc. Hmm then again, given how crappy the Cubs offices are said to be, maybe they don't want him to see it

He's not 31. He's 33 in 18 days. It's not a random decline, either. He has been steadily declining the past 3-4 years and this year, which also happens to be when he's oldest (duh), was awful. Don't buy that this is a decline at age 32. 28: 3.01 ERA, 3.54 FIP 29: 3.75 ERA, 4.53 FIP 30: 3.83 ERA, 3.73 FIP 31: 4.40 ERA, 3.85 FIP 32: 6.41 ERA, 4.71 FIP It doesn't seem like much of a decline at all until this year's drastic jump in ERA, which seems a little flukey. His ERA went up last year moving from LA to Bostn, but the FIP was nearly the same. He had a very similar FIP at 29 and had a much lower ERA. I mean its possible he's in a steep decline. He's been pitching 200 innings a year for 8 years. But I don't think the stats give us any conclusive evidence as to an on going decline other than his age, which is by no means old enough to expect a decline. *Also I will admit that I might be abusing the FIP stat a bit as I only know basic information about the stat and it's application so its possible I drew an incorrect conclusion.

I think Cam Newton has the most passing yards on the season than every QB they've played this year, so I think that's a reasonable excuse if the other 3 games are 'slight excuses' as you said. All that said, I agree with your overall sentiment about the D being extremely disapointing so far this year.

lol 26 grams is not even an ounce. That's a felony?

Thanks Fred. From now on assume they mean 'modern baseball history' when they say baseball history :)

He was my hero after he hit the game winning home run in the one Cub game I was able to goto in 1998 after the Cubs came back from down 10-2 to win. Also got to see Sammy's 60th that day. We'll just ignore the fact that I had a choice to go to either that game or the game the next afternoon where the Cubs also won a comeback thriller, but Sammy Sosa hit 61 and 62. I was at the one the next day with 61 and 62. Grace hit a walkoff HR. That was an awesome weekend all around. I believe its still the only series in baseball history where both teams scored double digit runs in all 3 games.

Andy Pafko is a 90's Cub (actually just turned 90 in February), but he's not really that obscure. Oh well.

He was my hero after he hit the game winning home run in the one Cub game I was able to goto in 1998 after the Cubs came back from down 10-2 to win. Also got to see Sammy's 60th that day. We'll just ignore the fact that I had a choice to go to either that game or the game the next afternoon where the Cubs also won a comeback thriller, but Sammy Sosa hit 61 and 62.

LOLZ Chip likes the blue shoes!!!

Seriously. I'd have no problem taking on Lackey. Move him to the NL and get the issues with his marriage resolved, and he could be a comeback player of the year candidate. I kind of lean towards being willing to take him if that's what it took to get Theo. He's not a bad pitcher, or wasn't until last season when there was a highly documented personal issue going on with him. Maybe it didn't have anything to do with his performance, but maybe it did. Either way, he'd be moving to the NL Central from the AL East, so that right there should be good enought to see improvement to, at worst, a servicable 4th or 5th starter. Obviously he makes #1-2 starter money but that's a sunk cost at this point. If you truely believe Theo is going to be the GM that builds a championship ballclub, and he is ok with bringing Lackey and his contract with him to Chicago, then it's good enough for me. At least he's not bringing Badley with him. There are good GM candidates out there that wouldn't require giving up significant compensation. Taking on a large chunk of Lackey's salary (which is what it would have to be for Boston to consider it compensation) is not worth it. See I disagree. I think Theo is the best fit, and if the Cubs feel the same way, I think it's worth picking up Lackey. Theo wouldn't decide to come here if he knew he also had to bring a hopeless John Lackey with him. We need starting pitching, Lackey has been at worst a 4.50 ERA pitcher in the AL except last year when there was documented personal issues. Maybe the personal issues didn't have anything to do with his ERA jumping up 2 runs per game (his FIP was something like 4.67 this year). But I think its more likely that had something to do with it than a 31 year old pitcher declining randomly.

Seriously. I'd have no problem taking on Lackey. Move him to the NL and get the issues with his marriage resolved, and he could be a comeback player of the year candidate. I kind of lean towards being willing to take him if that's what it took to get Theo. He's not a bad pitcher, or wasn't until last season when there was a highly documented personal issue going on with him. Maybe it didn't have anything to do with his performance, but maybe it did. Either way, he'd be moving to the NL Central from the AL East, so that right there should be good enought to see improvement to, at worst, a servicable 4th or 5th starter. Obviously he makes #1-2 starter money but that's a sunk cost at this point. If you truely believe Theo is going to be the GM that builds a championship ballclub, and he is ok with bringing Lackey and his contract with him to Chicago, then it's good enough for me. At least he's not bringing Badley with him.

He's right, what a stupid book. How could Billy Beane write that garbage?

Pretend that the "you have have Theo if you take Lackey" demand was real, how much of his contract would the Red Sox have to pick up before you considered doing it? I'd probably say half. We need a back of the rotation pitcher anyways.

Head that Sharpie will be playing in the season opener on Friday. Also, here is an NHL 12 simulation that has the Hawks losing in the SCF to the Penguins in 6 games, after beating Vancouver in 7 games in the WCF. http://www.thescore.com/home/articles/174279-game-simulation-sees-pens-win-cup-leafs-make-playoffs

Meh if they want Vitters they can have him. And WSR, firing Hendry did accomplish something...it rid the Cubs of Jim Hendry.

Thats basically what I said 5 days ago. Yes they 'collapsed' this year. Yes some of their FA signings turned into busts. But we're talking about a consistent 86+ win ballclub every year for the better part of a decade. Cubs fans would kill for a consistently good team like that.

Has this ESPN article been posted yet? A couple of seemingly new tidbits in this one: Another chance for the Red Sox front office to issue a denial and it doesnt happen. I think it's obvious they are considering letting him go to the Cubs. Wonder if the Cubs would be willing to do this.

I forgot to do this the last few weeks Saints Titans Colts Eagles Giants Jaguars Raiders Vikings Buccaneers Jets (yeah seriously) Chargers Packers Lions

The award is not given out for playing on a winning team in a more difficult division. Pujols was the most valuable player that year and it wasn't a particularly close call between him and Howard. I didn't say it is. Albert Pujols did. That is my whole point.

And if Cliff Lee didn't blow a 4 run lead in game 2, the Phillies might have swept. Whats your point? Typical whining Cardinals. Remember when Pujols complained about Ryan Howard winning the MVP over him saying that he should have won it for leading his team into the playoffs, even though the Cardinals had like 4-5 less wins than the Phillies, who obviously played in a harder division?