UMFan83

At the risk of being UMFan-level creepy, google her. You don't want pics. That's not creepy, that's just looking out for your fellow man. I don't think Bob googled her for Calves' sake. Amateurs at being creepy. I've got her address (and, by extension, UMFan's). Yeah well you don't know what apartment number!

I said it had nothnig to do with the Lions specifically, just all the hype they've gotten plus a solid looking preseason. I'm sure Brady and co. were frustrated. Even if you are running very simple game plans and aren't really game planning the opponent like its the regular season, no one wants to give up 30+ points in a half of football. Not saying there's no merit in the performance, but do you honestly think a veteran team with lots of experience is playing with the same effort and intensity as a young hungry team looking to prove itself? Anyways, after doing a quick google search about the 2008 preseason, I can see that the topic seems to be brought up quite frequently among Detroit newspapers and blogs, so I can understand your frustration about it being brought up here. I obviously don't really root for any other North teams, but if any team besides the Bears had to win the division, I would want the Lions to. They seem to be a really exciting team.

You run Bell out there or that undrafted RB if he's not already cut. I'm sure the Bears would rather not be stuck paying Taylor and not be able to play him. If Bell gets the carries, worst case scenario is he gets hurt and they replace him with a minimum salary player. I'm not saying it has 0 importance, but 3rd string running back is not so important that you have to risk playing a player that you already plan to cut. Plus a ton of things could go wrong. Couldn't he basically refuse to play if they tried to play him? I mean they told him he's cut, why would he going out and risk injury? Plus even if he gets only mildly hurt, he could play it up to ensure he gets paid from the Bears. I dunno seems like an unnecessary gamble.

Ahh...ok. I share your optimism that the North can get both Wild Card spots. It will be fun to see the Bears play a road playoff game, since they haven't played in one since 1994 (not including the Super Bowl)

Damn man, you have the Packers 3rd and Vikings last in the North?

On PFT, they said that the Bears confirmed it

Does anyone else think there's almost too much optimism surrounding the Lions this year? I know I have been anti-Lions in the past, but it has nothing to do with them. It just seems like when a sub .500 team gets so much preseason hype and gains more with an impressive preseason, people tend to get excited and overrate them. I definitely respect the talent on the Lions, but I wouldnt be surprised if they finished like 6-10. I also wouldnt be surprised if they went 10-6. Don't get me wrong, Lions fans have a right to be excited because it seems like they are putting together an exciting team. But don't let preseason play get your hopes up too much. Just a few years ago they went 4-0 in the preseason and 0-16 in the regular season.

Good. It didn't seem like he was impressing anyone. I wonder where he goes from here. I would have loved for him to turn his career around here, but oh well, he's a buckeye.

No she's a red head. I wonder if it's RedIvy. Remember her? Wow I never thought about that. However based on my memory of her posts, it doesn't really match the personality of my neighbor, but you never know. If that's the case though, RedIvy probably still lurks here, and I will probably get an angry knock my door tonight from her.

No she's a red head.

Seriously, what a splurge. Basically all we did was sign Julius Peppers at the expense of Alex Brown. Obviously a huge win for us, but not nearly the spending spree that was reported in the papers.

I feel like a creepy stalker, but this is from an article in her hometown Quad Cities newspaper. I'll omit her name even though it would take 0.5 seconds to figure it out. It'll hopefully prevent her from googling her name and seeing her neighbor blabbing about her on a message board.

The new GM doesn't get to hire his own assistant? What kind of nonsense is that? I dunno, thats what she told me. She worked her way up from an intern at the company serveral years ago so I don't think they'd just let her go because Hendry was canned. Her offical title (on the website) is Executive Assistant to Vice President/General Manager. I have no idea what the role of Executive Assisant is, but I assume their job isn't baseball related. Its all about being organized and being able to effectively communicate and such. So I don't think its absurd to say the GM wouldn't get to choose, at least to the extent that they would retain the previous person at first. Regardless, my point was that she's not going to be let go because Jim Henrdy was let go. She'll still be with the Cubs in some capacity. I don't know what she does on a daily basis, but from looking at the Cubs website, she is one of 17 people listed under the "Baseball Operations" heading. I honestly think she has a bigger role than answering the phone for the GM, but I could be mistaken. She started as an intern with the Cubs in the marketing department 6-7 years ago and worked her way up to the role.

Quite a bit, but I doubt they make a move like that at this point.

Yep, it makes sense for Briggs to try to pick this fight now though. He's not gonna get primo money if he waits till the deal is done. Then maybe he shouldn't have signed it in the first place. Hey Lance, have fun sitting out the next 3 years if you don't get a new contract. I'm pretty sure that Soldier Field will still be full whether or not you and your over-inflated tackle numbers are there or not. Stuff like this is what sucks about the NFL. I know the players take the risk with no guaranteed contracts and it sucks for them, but complaining and trying to negotiate with 3 years left on a market value contract when only like 2 teams had any interest when you were an unrestricted free agent 3 years ago? [expletive] off. The guy made it clear he's not sitting out this year and that his hope is to have an extension before next season. The NFL does not suck so your commentary really doesn't make any sense. Unless your owner is Mike Brown, there's no way that Briggs sits until the end of his deal. The thing about the NFL is that their average career is much shorter than the other 3 sports, even for good players. And unlike a sport like baseball where you can sign an 8 year deal at age 30 and suck the entire last half, the first year you suck in football, you suddenly become too expensive to keep and are cut. So you have a player like Shaun Alexander who wins the MVP and has one of the better all time seasons at RB getting cut just 2 seasons later, and out of football 3 seasons later. Making $10 million in a career might sound awesome right now but you are talking about only $100,000 a year for the rest of your life post taxes. I understand 100k is a lot of money, but compared to the average NBA or MLB player of similar skill level, it doesn't compare. So in that respect, I definitely understand why NFL players do everything in their power to maximize their earnings while they are playing their best.

The new GM doesn't get to hire his own assistant? What kind of nonsense is that? I dunno, thats what she told me. She worked her way up from an intern at the company serveral years ago so I don't think they'd just let her go because Hendry was canned. Her offical title (on the website) is Executive Assistant to Vice President/General Manager.

Yeah but he's got the Madden curse going against him.

Wow you ended up with Vick, Mendenhall AND Steven Jackson? Nice

I don't like Sydney Rice even though he's my 4th WR, but if the Seahawks ever give up on the Tavaris Jackson experiment and go back to someone like Whitehurst, he might have some value. He's still a very talented WR.

So I talked to my neighbor today who was the assistant to the GM under Hendry and will have that role under the new GM. Take everything as a grain of salt because she wouldnt tell me anything too juicy either because she simply doesn't know (shes not involved in the discussions) or knows and won't tell me (and I don't blame her. Im sure all her friends ask her) but she did mention that names that she knows have been brought up and discussed so far are Rick Hahn, Andrew Friedman, Billy Beane, and Ned Colletti. She kind of hinted that Rick Hahn may or may not have already interviewed with the Cubs for the job and than the Cubs really like him. She said Friedman they really like too. Beane has been mentioned but they're not sure he'll leave Oakland. As for Colletti, I made sure to pass along the message that Cubs fans don't want Colletti. Nevertheless, its likely he is being discussed as a possibility. If I hear anything else in the future, I'll share.

Not that winning or losing matters but damn. -Robbie Gould misses a chip shot FG from 29 yards out -Bears driving for an easy FG when Hanie throws a pick 6. -Bears block a punt and the punter recovers and runs for a first down How close we were to winning.... Anyways, I was impressed by the offense today. The defense was mediocre but got better at the end. Special teams was a virtual non-factor.

Apparently you can. Never seen that happen before.

LOL a blocked punt by the Bears might cost them a chance to win the game.

Come on go for the 57 yard FG and the lead. No balls

Yeah it looks like the Bears have already made their decision. Which is weird because Barber left the game hurt tonight.