UMFan83

Nothing lifts the spirits like acquiring some high priced talent. Expect to see an All Star or two go the Yankees way within the next 2 weeks

First thing I thought when I saw this thread was that the heart attack was probably caused by too many calzones.

I'm taking a shot in the dark that the Cubs weren't one of those 15 teams watching him throw.

No....not likely bottom of the West unless there are a lot of injuries or the West gets all bunched up and separated by a few points and the Hawks are on the short end of that. This team is still bringing back pretty much their top 2 offensive and defensive lines. The depth will keep us from contending for the top seed, but the top end talent should keep us in the Central Division hunt and a top 4 seed. Don't forget, between Toews, Keith, Kane and Hossa, you are looking at probably 4 of the top 25 players in hockey (feel free to argue, I didnt put much thought to it). Not many teams can match that type of front end talent (Washington, Detroit, San Jose are the only 3 I can think of, Pittsburgh is borderline in terms of having 3-4 of the top 30)

There is just too much talent from the top 3 to really let things like interior defense stop them. Plus, IIRC Haslem is a decent interior defender. And I'm sure whatever center they pull off the scrap heap will be defensive minded. As far as being able to play together without detracting, they both, especially James have the ability to be great distributors when needed. I don't think they would have accepted less money to play together and then fight about who is doing the scoring and who is doing the distributing. Not saying role players aren't important because they are in most situations, but bottom line is that superstars are the difference, especially in the playoffs. I think you'll see the Heat have a mediocre regular season record (by mediocre I mean 50-55 wins) as they figure out how to play with each other as well as conserve themselves for the playoffs. Then they will pick up steam come playoff time and run over the East. I think the Lakers have too many weapons to lose to Miami though. At least this year. In 2-3 years when the Heat have 2-3 MLE's used up there will be no stopping them.

Admit it; deep down that's what you want. It doesn't bother me as much as it probably should. I don't think the Bulls can win the East even if the Heat weren't formed. Not saying they won't be better but I think it's a year or two away.

I can't believe the Heat have enough money to sign Haslem and Miller to multi million dollar deals. The Heat are going to be scary good. Chalmers Wade James Bosh ???? Miller Haslem The rest can be scrubs, they will dominate.

I don't think they had any 1st round picks, and 2nd round picks aren't guaranteed. But if they did have a first round pick, they would have had a cap hold that goes against their salary cap so they wouldn't be able to spend all their cap space and then try to sign their draft picks.

I don't know, I seem to remember nothing but praise for him for the most part. He's probably almost overrated in the minds of many Hawks fans. I'm almost stunned he got blame, but almost no criticism when his miscues led to two goals scored in one of the SCFs games we lost to Philly. He has a lot of positive credit built up to Hawks fans. But I think his skillset is a must. Since we've taken such a hit to our forwards this summer, along with losing another dman in Sopel, I think we need defensemen that can help initiate offense by getting the puck up the ice, something that hammer does well. In my mind, the difference between him and the average defensemen is much larger than Niemi and the average goalie (which Niemi may or may not be exactly that). Obviously 1 goalie is greatly more important than 1 defensemen but keeping that those top 4 defensemen in tact greatly lessens the job the goalie needs to do. Personally, I think Niemi is gone. In a situation where we have almost no cap space, there are at least a few goalies out there for cheaper and Niemi's value has never been and will probably never be higher, it's hard to justify keeping him if him and his agent play hardball for more money (or if the arbitrator sets his price at more than we can afford)

Chris Young? Seriously? Is he gonna ask Ted Lilly to be his pitcher? Uhhh, he's my darkhorse, I think. He has awesome power. Speaking of, Where is Mark Reynolds? I was more or less referring to his .753 career ops to go along with his .400 SLG last year as the reason its a random selection. But then again Hee Seop Choi once participated in the HR derby so whatever.

Chris Young? Seriously? Is he gonna ask Ted Lilly to be his pitcher?

I've seen some really insane homer proposals in this thread.

Didn't Yanr did that wayyyy back in the day? DaveMason10k from the old ESPN.com board was banned for that trick about a week after I joined. He was under another name and had several thousand posts before revealing himself and was immediately banned. ah yes davemason. He made the trolls on this board look like Bruce miles on comparison. His schtick worked though since it's been 7 years since i've posted there and I still clearly remember him.

No one has ever run out the brother/friend excuse before.

Didn't Yanr did that wayyyy back in the day?

So we're all pretty much in agreement that Brazil is going to take the next World Cup with ease right?

The best part is when he created a second account in order to make fun of himself so that other people wouldn't think it's him.

nothing is going to happen about this Not gonna to do anything to Miami's situation, but they could change rules so that in the future this sort of player tampering doesn't happen.

Think Dwayne Wade....but take it a notch. Well Wade's divorced and Fisher isn't so I'm not exactly sure what you mean by this. I think I know the story RedFlash is talking about. Apparently back when Fisher was a member of the Jazz he asked the owner, who has since passed, to let him out of his contract due to the condition of his daughter. Fisher wanted to be near certain doctors that LA has that Utah doesn't. Utah decided to let him go so he can be with his family. So Fisher signs with the Lakers and exactly one month after he signs, his daughter was cure of the cancer. Fisher had made it seem that his daughter condition was in dire straights, when in reality by the time he got to LA, he's daughter was already beating back the cancer she had. Apparently Utah would not have let him out of his contract if they knew his daughter was in better condition then Fisher had mention. I don't know if that is what Red heard, who knows, but that is the story that I had heard through different websites I frequent. I don't know if it's true or not, but if it is, the man is as dispicable as Dwyane Wade, if he use his daughters' condition (making her condition worse then previously thought) to get out of Utah because he didn't want to be there anymore. I don't think it's true, to be honest, but that is something I've read on certain sites. So take it for what it's worth. The thing I don't understand with the whole rumor is what's Fisher's motivation? the Jazz were coming off a 51-31 season and made the Western Conference Finals. The Lakers were coming off a 42-40 season where they were hammered by Phoenix in the first round. Kobe was still demanding a trade when Fisher signed as well so it was unknown as to whether or not he would be with the team. Gasol wasn't on the team yet. Andrew Bynum was coming off a season where he averaged 7.8 points and 5.9 rebounds at 19. He wasn't a lock to put up the 13-10 that he did in 35 games the next year. And he took $2M less for the 07-08 season and $8M less total to sign with the Lakers. It just doesn't add up (and I know you said you don't think it's true). He took less money to play with a team that was worse the previous season, was worse on paper going into the next season with a star player who had requested a trade. Sick of being around mormons?

The Lee thing isn't true. I posted it on RealGM and then several people said they heard that segment and he never said it.

I would find this so friggin hilarious if Miami do sign Howard. So far they are 0-1 at signing him. Try it again 11 years later?

I've never watched a 3rd place game before. I never realized the quality of play resembles an MLS game.

I hear he does a killer Jack Buck impression

The Mets just called and said "Nevermind we're just going bring Ollie back up"

The reason the Jazz aren't contending for a championship is because the Lakers have Kobe. The paint is a factor, but it doesn't come close to Kobe. Yup, I gotta think the Jazz would have made it to the finals one of the last 3 years. They are a really enjoyable team to watch.