UMFan83

Please tell me that isn't true? Thank GOD we weren't able to sign him. Even if he feels that way, who says that out loud?

Also, this was in the Red Eye the other day. I thought it was funny and spot on. Read more: http://www.chicagonow.com/blogs/redeye-homers/2010/11/post-5.html#ixzz15bSAak00 My favorite part is the thing about John Scott rushing in and does nothing. So true.

This is how we are supposed to look against the [expletive] Oilers. The Oilers are 2-9-3 in their last 14 games, and the 2 wins are against the Blackhawks in Chicago. I honestly cannot comprehend how we lost to them twice when I see stats like that. And they weren't close games for the most part. They lost 6-1 to San Jose, 7-1 to Carolina, 6-1 to Detroit, 8-2 to the Rangers. It would be like if the Bulls lost to last year's Nets team twice...oh wait. Better example, it would be like if the Cubs lost 2 straight series to the 100 loss Pirates. Damn that one doesn't work either. How about, that would be like the Bears losing twice to Carolina.

He honestly needs to get a couple technicals for bitching so the refs take notice. Rose and Thibs have both openly spoke out about the topic within the last week.

But, according to Stark, we don't have an interest anyway, because we have Castro at short and are unsettled at 2B and think we have to get a solid defender at 1B. Besides we don't need a lefty power bat anyways, we just signed Milton Bradley two yea-.....oh yeah whoops.

We're ten games in. ok combine that with last year's playoffs. And then factor in that Garnett was dealing with serious knee pain the prior year that probably slowed him down a lot. knees get better as you go deeper into your 30's? what about last year's playoffs? he really wasn't doing much different then than he did last season or the season before that... and this season he's just averaging a couple more rebounds a game... in more minutes... and we're only 10 games in. i'm not saying he isn't a decent starter at this point, and that what he's doing isn't very good given his circumstances (his age, his miles, the condition of his knees)... but the days in which he instills fear into opponents are long over (or they should be, at least). and he won't be dropping 30 ppg on anyone in any playoff series. I didn't say they get better as they get older just that if he mostly got his knees healthy at some point last year, you could assume his decline was greatly exagerated. Sure he's not the player he was 5-10 years ago. But I think he's been better than last regular season and is once again a player you fear going up against in the low post, albeit in a reduced role and with the opportunity for it all to unravel quickly with a reaggrivated injury.

I thought we were insanely healthy. Or is this not health related?

We're ten games in. ok combine that with last year's playoffs. And then factor in that Garnett was dealing with serious knee pain the prior year that probably slowed him down a lot.

Yeah but those people are all morons and their opinions don't deserve to be heard.

NSBB of 4 years ago would have exploded in anger at this news.

Asik especially has been effective defensively so far this year. I don't know if he'd have the same effectiveness against Boston, but its another option to throw out there 15 minutes of the game. I think when going up against a unit as good as Boston's the key is not to stop, but to slow down. Taj supposedly was really good defensively last year but has been mediocre to below average this year, but there's still promise. I think through mixing and matching we can be competitive against Boston. I definitely don't think we'd win a 7 game series, but that's not exactly slighting the Bulls. Boston is just really deep and really good.

I think that's exactly it. What is he going to do, threaten to move the team? Close down the Cubs? Are people going to stop visiting the "3rd biggest tourist attraction" if the state doesn't give them money? What are the #1 and #2 tourist attractions? Are they raking in as much profit as the Cubs? I think Ricketts has no leverage and also these people are feeling Ricketts out. They aren't going to just hand out money to some guy who just spent close to a billion dollars on the team because he asks nicely. He needs to play hardball with them, but how? By not investing in the community. By talking with Milwaukee about playing a season there so they can do a more cost effective and comprehensive overhaul of the ballpark (taking away a lot of money from the area for a year). By alligning himself with the right mayoral candidate. There's a few things he can do. Shows how much I thought my post out. All valid points. But if he doesn't invest in the community, I would guess Daley and the new mayor are going to make it really hard for him to do anything in Chicago. More night games? How bout less? Very valid point about playing in Milwaukee for a year. That will piss Cubs fans off enough to make a stink about it, to go on top of the money the city would lose, as you said. So it makes me feel like the initial rejection by Daley and to a lesser extent Quinn (who seemed legitimately offended that he wasn't contacted about the proposal) is just them playing hardball and seeing how the Ricketts family will respond. Like I said, they aren't just going to give out money because the Cubs ask and put together a fancy presentation.

The Colts put Jennings on Marshall most of the day last year. Marshall had 21 catches for 200 yards and 2 TD's. Yeah but Jennings also intercepted a ball intended for Marshall, so...yeah...totally evens it out.

I think that's exactly it. What is he going to do, threaten to move the team? Close down the Cubs? Are people going to stop visiting the "3rd biggest tourist attraction" if the state doesn't give them money? What are the #1 and #2 tourist attractions? Are they raking in as much profit as the Cubs? I think Ricketts has no leverage and also these people are feeling Ricketts out. They aren't going to just hand out money to some guy who just spent close to a billion dollars on the team because he asks nicely. He needs to play hardball with them, but how?

I think they can be. They haven't acted like it so far this year.

I worry about the Marshall thing too. Especially because Jennings seems to be the guy they are putting on the #1 WRs these days. Jennings is 5'8'' and Marshall I believe is 6'4''. That's 8 inches he has on Jennings. Any jump ball to Marshall is going to embarass us.

That's the last thing I need is to add another guy I've hated for years to our team and have to cheer for him. All bias aside, still no. I'd be very wary of hitters in their mid-30's that have one of their top 2-3 seasons at that age. You'd be overpaying (because of his season) for a player that all statistical research suggests is due to decline significantly. It's just a very big risk. I have no idea why Konerko had the year he did last year, much like Lee the year before, but I know enough to think its a huge gamble to expect him to put up even remotely similar numbers this year.

They brought in Donovan McNabb's agent to negotiate the deal.

Probably more rewarding to go to Chicago during the holidays than Boise or some other locations. Valid point. However, Chicago in the dead of winter is just brutal. The players would probably just stay in their hotels the entire time. Luckily December is typically not nearly as bad as far as dangerously low temps go than January and February.

Jacque Jones turns into Dan Uggla. How swell.

LOL I can see Ohio State ruining their National Title hopes due to losing the Big Ten title game because their receiver ran into the RF wall trying to grab the game winning TD. I like the idea of a bowl. Wouldn't be the first bowl game played at a baseball-only park (SBC park and BOB come to mind). But how many bowls are played outdoors in northern cities? How rewarding would it be for a bowl team to have to play their extra game in 8 degree temps?

I'm setting the o/u on Bears players leaving the game on Thursday due to injuries at 4.5.

The sad thing is, I wouldnt hate that. I'm gonna assume if they signed Westbrook they wouldnt trade fukudome for Dice-K kicking Wells or Gorzelanny to the pen along with Silva. So lets say they trade him for a bat to come off the bench or platoon with another starter. Lineup: 1. Byrd, CF 2. Castro, SS 3. Ramirez, 3B 4. Dunn, 1B 5. Soto, C 6. Soriano, LF 7. Colvin, RF 8. DeWitt, 2B Rotation: Zambrano Dempster Westbrook Gorzelanny Wells Pen: CL - Marmol 8th - Wood 7th - Marshall MR - Cashner MR - one of the other guys that was decent last year LR - Silva Bench: Castillo - C (jettison Hill) Baker - MI Hall - CI/OF Fuld - OF Piece from Fukudome deal - OF/IF 2nd or 3rd place here we come!

That's fine, we play who is on the schedule. And we've won 6 of the 9 games. We haven't destroyed anyone besides Carolina and sort of Minnesota, but we also haven't been blown out either. We lost to the Giants by 11 when we lost our starting QB for half the game, and we had a couple of bad losses to the Seahawks and Redskins, both by 3 points. We also have the 2nd best scoring defense in the league so far this year. Look at these 2 resumes Team 1 Record: 6-3 Record +500 teams: 1-1 Losses by 12+ points: 0 (yeah statistical bias, I don't care) Wins by 12+ points: 2 Point differential: +29 Team 2 Record: 6-3 Record +500 teams: 0-3 Losses by 12+ points: 2 Wins by 12+ points: 1 Point differential: -18 Which team would you vote 11th and wh ich team would you vote 21st like Sando did? that's the worst thing, he purposely justifies his Bears at 21st pick by saying 5 of our 6 wins were against under .500 teams when the Bucs haven't beaten ANYONE with an over .500 record. The ONLY thing the Bucs have on us is that all of their losses have come to contenders, while we have 2 bad losses. But we also have a 1-1 record against contenders. Everyone has bad losses every season.

Mike Sando is the one that skewed these results, voting the Bears 21st. The other 3 voted them 12th, 13th, and 17th. He has the Bears below Jacksonville, Houston, Seattle and St. Louis in his rankings. So he has the Bears below every 5-4 team, and every 4-5 team except Washington, who beat the Bears 3 weeks ago. So he thinks the Bears are comperable with 6 different teams with negative point differentials. No surprise, Sando is the NFC West blogger, and sneaks 2 of his crappy NFC West teams above the Bears in his rankings. I'm surprised he didn't find a way to sneak SF and Arizona ahead of the Bears too.