UMFan83

Maybe maybe not. But I think there is a very fine line between elite KRs and good ones. Hester was arguably the best kick returner ever for a 2 year stretch. But he was as great as he was because he was a threat to score a TD every time he returned a kick. However when he isn't breaking touchdowns, I don't think he's really much better of a returner than Manning. With TDs, he's incomparably better. He hasn't broken a TD in 2 seasons...so it's a tough call.

I must have missed something in this thread. The talks with the Astros are about Oswalt right? The Astros better get a better headliner than Happ. Oswalt has another year on his deal right? I'd think he'd be a bit more valuable than Lilly.

The Bears have to keep saying he is learning to become a receiver when he screws up constantly because for some stupid reason Angelo gave Hester a new contract mostly predicated on the fact that he would become at least a number two receiver. I think he knows the plays, he just doesn't have the offensive skills it takes to get open, find holes, and so forth. He just isn't smart and he doesn't have great hands and is afraid to go over the middle and get hammered. I don't care how good Daniel Manning is, Hester is best used taking all the returns and kickoffs. The Bears had the best field position in the NFL when Hester had those two great years. This offense would thrive on that. What a weapon Hester used to be. Lovie screwed up big time. I'd love to move Hester back to full time PR/KR and use him as a 4th receiver, but I'm not 100% sure how much of Hester's lack of impact had to do with too much concentration on being a receiver, how much is a worse special teams unit in front of him, and how much of it is 4 years in the NFL taking a toll on his ability. It's probably a little of all 3.

Prediction: Martz successfully designs an offense to fit Cutler's strengths, he has a good (but not great) season and everyone assumes that he's finally figured it out and hit his potential. Which, in a way, he will have. In terms of very basic stats, I'm thinking 63% cmp%, 27 TD 17 INT 7.8 YPA

Overall the Pirates and Astros are a combined 77-123 (.385 winning %) Cubs are 0-8 in series against the Pirates and Astros (1 sweep, 7 lost 2 of 3) Overall the Cubs are 7-17 against the Pirates and Astros and have been outscored 107-84.

If Cincinnati and St. Louis play .500 ball the rest of the way, then all the Cubs have to do is play at a 107 win pace from here on out. They are done. 41-21 is doable! Ok, or not.. The problem is the fact that there are 2 teams way ahead of the Cubs. If there were just 1, I'd still think it's doubtful but its a lot more likely for one team playing at a 90 win pace all year to randomly play .500 ball the last 60 games of the season than 2 teams playing around a 90 win pace falling to that level. And then that's without considering the Cubs playing better than they did in 2008 for 37% of the season.

I think I made it pretty clear that it's ok for him to want to be a starter. I just said it wasn't smart of him to publically state that his aim is to be a starter when the team you are trying to sign with has already reportedly had concerns about him accepting a role player type position with the team. Unless the quotes were taken out of context, I guarantee you that his quotes were not received well in the Bulls org. And that's what I was saying. Jeez you jump to conclusions without even reading other posts. That's still a ridiculous conclusion, and yes, you're a crybaby, as anyone who's read even just two posts by you about any of the teams you cry over. Any player's goal should be to be a starter. It's asinine to expect someone to say otherwise. In what universe do you dwell where you expect players to come out and say "yeah, I really think my ceiling is being a bench player." Did you get wood when Corey Patterson said he thought he'd make a great #6 hitter? He doesn't have to say anything if he wants a job with the Bulls. You are a gigantic doucebag and are part of the reason why half the people that used to post on this forum no longer do.

http://sports.espn.go.com/chicago/nba/n ... id=5412508 Shocker. I guess I wasn't being a crybaby afterall.

I think I made it pretty clear that it's ok for him to want to be a starter. I just said it wasn't smart of him to publically state that his aim is to be a starter when the team you are trying to sign with has already reportedly had concerns about him accepting a role player type position with the team. Unless the quotes were taken out of context, I guarantee you that his quotes were not received well in the Bulls org. And that's what I was saying. Jeez you jump to conclusions without even reading other posts.

Why would I want a washed up, injured veteran who doesn't have starter ability anymore thinking that he should be a starter for a team that has two players slotted ahead of him? How does believing a lie help the team? I'm all for TMac knowing his role and coming to the Bulls. Unfortunately he doesn't know his role. Dan Bernstein made a good point today. Name one wing player who has had microfracture surgery surgery or major knee surgery who ever came to close to being his old self? McGrady has to know his role or at least keep it to himself. I'm trying to think of the players who have had it. -Chris Webber had it and was never the same. Lost a ton of his agility, but was able to reinvent himself as a useful player the rest of his career. -Jamal Mashburn had it and was never able to get back on an NBA court and had to retire. -Allan Houston had it twice, once on one knee in 98 an another time in 2003. He definitely had a pretty good run after the first surgery. Can't remember how explosive he was but he set career highs in PPG and RPG after the first surgery. -Kenyon Martin had it in 04-05, he was able to be very useful as a starter on good Nuggets teams, but he's not the same player he was pre-surgery. However he is better off than most guys who have the surgery. Of course Amare and Jason Kidd both had it and lived to tell about it, but obviously they aren't wing players. It's a really mixed bag, but like Bernstein pointed out, none of them were the same player they were presurgery. And then you add in his ongoing back issues, and it boggles my mind that TMac can sit here and say he wants to be a starter. He has to earn that right at this point because no team is willing to consider TMac reliable enough to give a starting slot to. (I realize he didn't demand to be a starter or anything, and said he was ok with a bench role if he was how he was in NYK, but the fact that he said that his aim is to be a starter bothered me quite a bit. It's one thing to think it and it's another to publically state it when the Bulls reportedly were looking to see how willing he is to adapt to a role and not be a distraction.)

I hope we can get at least 3 innings out of Silva today.

Seriously though....Bobby Howry was a reject of this historically bad bullpen. What does that say about the Cubs?

I guess, but he's not good at basketball anymore. He's like our 11th man...I can't think of many teams that have a better 11th man than Kurt Thomas. A ton of teams probably have comperable players, but not many are better.

I don't want McGrady anymore (was never really for it, but was warming to the idea). Just the fact that he's even talking about the potential to be a starter gives me pause. That's great if he thinks he can still play like the old TMac of old, but if you are really looking to be a team player and you really want to play for the Bulls, you play the team card to the public, and you use it as motivation to play your ass off and earn being a starter. Yes it's obvious that Brewer isn't nearly good enough to be the Bulls long term option at SG, but it's not a bad player to have because of his length and defense at the position. So yes it doesn't take an idiot to realize if the Bulls sign you and you dominate training camp you will probably be named the starter. But you also need to realize that's not the plan and that's not why you are being signed to this team. I mean I know he's just trying to be confident, but the Bulls are already reportedly concerned about his ability to accept a reserve role (as they should be)...this won't help convince the Bulls.

You're entitled to your view. It reminds me of Major League 2 when Jack Parkman does his shmmy that drives the girls in Cleveland crazy, then it causes them to puke later in the season. Bottom line, there are players that I hate because they are good and I wish they were on my team instead of my rivals (Pujols), and there are players that I hate for reasons that go beyond just their performance on the field (although their performance is a big part of it...aka Edmonds, Favre, James Posey, Rondo, etc)

If Pujols suddenly became a Cub, you can bet my order for the Pujols Cub jersey would be placed very quickly. Jimmy Ed -- he hasn't made any disparaging comments towards the Cubs since playing for us (that I know of). We gave him an opportunity he might not have had elsewhere, and my feeling is that he appreciates it. That tends to turn attitudes around, and so provided he doesn't come and say something like "oh hell yea, I hated those idiot Cub fans even when I was playing for them!" -- I'm not going to hold the same ire for him that I did when he was a Cardinal. I guess I'm just different in that respect to UMFan. I'd love Pujols on my team as well. I don't hate Pujols like I hated Edmonds. Edmonds (and TLR) symbolized everything I hated about the stupid Cardinals. I hated his showboating. I hate how arrogant and stuck up he acted. I hated the mascara he wore. I hated the stupid half shirts he wore. I hated when he bitched about the showers at Wrigley. I loved when Z beaned him in the ass, even though any neutral observer would have hated Z for that. I dunno he is just the one player I hated on those Cardinal teams above all else. Pujols I respect...Edmonds I didn't. And I wasn't alone. The point is, I just couldn't in my right mind turn around and love all those traits I once hated about him just because he was a Cub. It's not like he chose to play for the Cubs in the middle of his career. He was DFAd by a San Diego team desperate for offense. not a lot of teams even looked his direction. He chose one of the few that did because they were the Cardinals rivals and he wanted to stick it to LaRussa for some reason I now forget. He hit a HR against St. Louis and stared at the Cards dugout during his trot. I don't know, it just makes me feel shallow to immediately root for someone I spent so much energy hating for so many years. Like I said, it's not like I was booing his contributions and hoping he would fail. As a Cub, I have to root for him because the team is more important than the individual. But did I ever come to the point where I didn't hate him? No.

It pretty much boggles my mind that Miggy is only 27, and not 28 until next April. Seems like a long time ago when he was crushing the Cubs spirits in the NLCS.

traitor. How can you hate someone with so much passion and then throw away 15 years of pure loathing for 2 seasons? what you are supposed to do is appreciate the contributions that said player makes but never accept him as a player on your team. Continue hating when he exits the team. This doesn't apply to someone you hate just a little or whatever. Those I can accept you coming around on when they play for your favorite team. It's the fickle nature of fandom. But when it's a player you have hated so much for such a long period of time to the point where you don't respect the fans that root for him (a different thing than disliking), it is not acceptable to just turn around and love him. Especially when he is doing the same BS crap that made you especially hate him in the past. It sickens me to see Vikings fans (who I guess I never fully respected before #4....its a little too easy to get tickets to the metrodome in December) fawn over Favre when he does his little prance around the field like a ballerina after a TD, when I know for a fact that it made them nauseous not very long ago. Like I said there is a fine line. If Yadir Molina came to the Cubs, sure I wouldn't be thrilled at first because I don't like him, but if he performed well I'd learn to like him because he's a Cub...he's one of us. But when a player I've detested for years, not just because he's a Cardinal, but because I do not respect the way he plays the game or acts in general, comes to the Cubs a la Edmonds, at the end of their career for a couple of seasons, short of a game winning WS home run, I cannot find a way to like the guy. I appreciate that he hit like 20 HRs for us, and it was nice when he hit 2 HRs to single handedly beat the Cardinals. But it's one of those temporary truces that only exists when he's playing well with my team and is erased immediately upon exiting the team. Anything less just makes me feel like a huge hypocrate for ripping on his all these years for his showboat catches and douchey personality. I'm taking this too seriously no doubt, but my point stands.

that's a unique way of putting it.

and yet Bobby Howry still wasn't good enough for them...

6-4 homestand....somehow this is progress. We went 5-2 against the contending teams and 1-2 against the teams that much worse than us even.

I agree. And Pujols continues to get lucky as well. Luckiest career I've ever seen.

nice camera angles espn

Dempster giving up a lot of hits the last 2 innings. I think 5 hits in the last 2 innings. Thankfully he got 2 outs on the basepaths that limited the damage.

Oops, that sucked. Having issues getting runners home from 3rd with less than 2 outs. 0-3 with 4 outs made and 0 runs scored in the last 3 ABs in that situation.