UMFan83

Another Bear jersey of mine goes from the active player pile to the former player pile. That's what I came here to post. What a terrible jersey purchase. I bought it right before the 2006 season after his big 2005 season. I wore it through 2007 and then after that it was really too embarrassing to wear.

It's a Toyota ad, not a BMW ad.

Wow Grossman in a Shanahan offense.

Well there's the fact that Lovie is absolutely enamoured with him and has been since the day he was drafted.

I'd be panicked if my team had the best record in hockey last year and lost in the first round too. You are going to worry about everything until you get over the hump. Hawks fans are panicking becuase they are Chicago sports fans, who in general, panick about everything and anything.

TO is a shell of his former self. I don't think its worth taking playing time away from Devin A. to get him on board.

Eddie Williams, who they signed a few days ago. Whoops, took a week off from following the Bears

Who is going to play FB? Kellen Davis?

Is it time to buy one of these: http://img191.imageshack.us/img191/2722/silvaaa.png or more accurately.... http://img41.imageshack.us/img41/7517/notbrad.png

Fred, it's not spelled "no" it's spelled "nine"

AL E: 1. Red Sox, 2. Yankees, 3. Rays, 4. Orioles, 5. Blue Jays AL C: 1. Tigers, 2. White Sox, 3. Twins, 4. Indians, 5. Royals AL W: 1. Rangers, 2. Angels, 3. Mariners, 4. Athletics ALWC: Yankees ALDS: Red Sox over Tigers, Yankees over Rangers ALCS: Red Sox over Yankees NL E: 1. Phillies, 2. Marlins, 3. Braves, 4. Mets, 5. Nationals NL C (note: I probably shouldn't predict this because my heart is too involved. I think the Cardinals are maybe the best team, but at the same time my heart tells me to expect regression somewhat, and I'd love to think the Cubs are finishing first but I don't think they will so...) 1. Reds, 2. Cardinals, 3. Cubs, 4. Brewers, 5. Jakes, 6. Astros NLW: 1. Rockies, 2. Dodgers, 3. Giants, 4. Diamondbacks, 5. Padres NLWC: Dodgers NLDS: Phillies over Dodgers, Reds over Rockies NLCS: Phillies over Reds WS: Phillies over Red Sox

What in God's name are you babbling about? I dunno. I was bored on the El during the ride home from work yesterday.

I would think Utley and Hamels would be a good start for Philly.

Very well done.

When in doubt refer to the history books... *Before game 6 of the 2003 NLCS* MacPhail: So we are up 3-2 in this series and are one win away from the World Series. This is way too much pressure for me. What should we do? Dusty: Lets consult the history books dude. MacPhail: alright.....well it says here in the past when we've gotten there we've committed a horrible enbarrassing collapse. In keeping with the tradition of the team, I suggest we do just that. But we don't have any black cats and the Mets aren't available. And Boston already ripped off the "ground ball through legs" thing that most everyone probably won't even remember that we did that once before. Hmm... Hendry: I got it! Andy do you remember that special needs kid with the glasses and the headphones around his ears? Call up the make a wish foundation and get that kid in a seat down the left field line. This is gonna be an epic reminder of our teams glorious history!

The problem with this nonsense is there's no such thing as earning it in the spring. Spring training numbers are absolutely meaningless. How well you perform is absolutely meaningless. Hitting well in spring training should not "earn" anybody a job they've proven they don't deserve over the course of multiple regular seasons. I do think it matters in cases like this. Millar is a declining veteran. The cubs want to see if he can still provide value to team. If he proves he still has bat speed and out performs any other marginal player fighting for a spot then good for them. Spring training results are meaningless and you could probably get all the info or tape you need on a player without inviting them to camp but that's not how baseball teams do business. Spring training numbers don't mean much because of a lot of reasons including the fact that results aren't the most important thing for players with guaranteed roles. Millar is fighting for a spot and by all means came to camp in game shape as did Tracy and whoever else is fighting for the spot. If you are going to argue it's stupid to give the spot to someone who is fighting for one last shot in bigs and has no long term value or upside to you, I'm all for what you are saying. But if there is no young player with a high upside and future on the team, then it's stupid to invite players like Millar to try out, see them tear the cover off the ball and send them home in late march.

This guy on a Phillies message board is saying that swapping Howard with Pujols in the Phillies lineup would give them 19 more third order wins next year.

I think Seabrook and Keith have taken a big step back. Keith not as big, but his turnovers in our zone are very visible mistakes. Seabrook has looked pretty bad as the year has gone on. Honestly with their regressions, Campbells injury and the presence of Sopel in general, I'm wondering if defensemen, not goaltending, is the biggest weakness on this team. you guys give up like 4 shots a game. defense ain't your problem. It is when 3 of them go in. We generally do a good job of limiting shots, and that's been our philosophy all year. But theres more to defense than just limiting shots. We've done a horrible job clearing the puck out of our zone lately, and just limiting turnovers in the zone in general. Yes sometimes a team just executes properly, or a good player will go 1 on 1 with our guys and make a good move and shot. But when you turn over the puck on offense while trying to clear, you are greatly increasing the odds of a high percentage shot on goal. Think of it like a pitching staff with a low WHIP. That's an indicator that the pitching is good, but it's not the sole factor for evaluating pitchers. This is a rare case, but if a pitcher has a 1.10 WHIP, but gives up 45 home runs in the year and has a 4.50+ era, he's obviously not as strong of a pitcher as his WHIP suggests. At least that's how I look at it.

New ESPN article "Olney: 27 Other MLB teams - Totally discussing swap for Pujols as well"

Nooo stop it we suck and will never get it together. They should just decline a postseason bid if they are selected for one.

I'm guessing a few teams rejected invites, cause there are better teams that didn't make the NIT than that. There's no representation from the power conferences in either of these tournaments. Perhaps they just assume that teams from those conferences wouldn't be interested in a third-rate or fourth-rate tournament. I think they do at least try to contact some of the power conference teams but most reject it. As they should. The larger programs gain nothing by going to a 3rd rate tourney. No fans will come, there is absolutely no press when you win (can anyone tell me who won the first two CBIs?). They are broadcast on something called HDNet. I mean the NIT is a crappy 2nd rate tournament too, but when Michigan is in it I semi-follow it and if they get to MSG I watch the semi's and final's. I don't know if Michigan was actually gonna get invited, but it was reported in the local media that UM was going to turn down a bid to the CBI if they were offered one.

Where do you think the current recruits are coming from? You don't go to the title game in '05 and then go out and grab a bunch of kids that'll be in school the next year. It doesn't work that way. That's not just me talking, Jim Calhoun told Weber you see the spoils 3-4 years down the road. It's not like Illinois's recent recruiting successes have been capitalizing on the performance on the floor from the past couple years, they're getting a bunch of recruits who were young and impressionable watching that '05 team, and fell in love with the school from that. Yeah ok so 3 out of the 4 years Weber had a team of all his own players they were a marginal NCAA team at best. Better? That's fine that the real recruits won't come until 3-4 years down the road, but if Weber is really the answer for Illinois, he should have had better results for his team in the meantime. I mean Calipari came to Kentucky and all the sudden they are a 1 seed in the tourney. I hold Illinois in high regard, and while they aren't a program like Kentucky or Duke or UNC, I think they are a tier just below and should be a team who is a top 8 seed year in and out in the tourney. In the last 4 years, Illinois has accomplished that once. I'm not saying fire the guy, I'm well aware of the prospects that are coming in, I'm saying if these recruits don't lead to results in the next year or two, it's time to take a long look at Weber's future in Champaign.

If McCamey comes back they're going to contend for the Big Ten title next year. I'm sorry but big freaking whoop. Your sights should be higher than contending for a conference title once every few years. If Kruger or Self had stuck around you'd be looking at a perennial powerhouse, IMO. I don't see that ever coming out of Weber. What's holding Illinois back from being one of the 5-10 best jobs in the country? Weber's coaching ability isn't and shouldn't be in question. Recruiting was an issue for a while, but the recruits are finally coming. Getting the recruits to buy into Weber's system right now is the challenge. Well I have my questions about Weber's coaching ability. But the recruiting thing is still a huge issue. I don't follow this stuff, especially when it comes to Illinois, nearly as much as you guys but my very subjective opinion is that it really shouldn't be that hard to pull in top 10 classes to Illinois. Is there anything stopping Illinois from throwing gobs of money at Jamie Dixon or whoever? I really do think if you find your Thad Matta you'd see Illinois rule the Big 10. It's a huge state with no real in state competitor. Seriously, like some above said, Illinois should be shooting higher than making the NCAA tourney most years. Let's face it, Illinois has been a marginal NCAA team the last few years. Let's take a look at Weber's tenure: 09-10: 19-14 (10-8) No NCAAs 08-09: 24-10 (11-7) 5 seed, lost to 12th seed in 1st round 07-08: 16-19 (5-13) No NCAAs 06-07: 23-12 (9-7) 12 seed, lost to 5th seed in 1st round 05-06: 26-7 (11-5) 4 seed, beat 13 seed Air Force in 1st round, lost to 5 seed Washington in 2nd round 04-05: 37-2 (15-1) 1 seed, beat 16 seed Fairleigh Dickinson in 1st round, beat 9 seed Nevada in 2nd round, beat 12 seed UW-Milwaukee in Sweet 16, beat 3 seed Arizona in Elite 8, beat 4 seed Louisville in Final Four, lost to 1 seed North Carolina in Championship Game 03-04: 26-7 (13-3) 5 seed, beat 12 seed Murray State in 1st round, beat 4 seed Cincinnati in 2nd round, lost to 1 seed Duke in Sweet 16 Remember that the 1st 3 years of his tenure, clearly his most successful, were played with a core of Bill Self's players (Brown, Deron, Powell, Augustine, Head - I know 05-06 only Augustine and Brown were there but that was a big part of core) So in the 4 years since the team has been Weber recruits, the team is 2 for 4 in making the NCAAs and has not won an NCAA tourney game. For a school like Illinois, who had the opportunity to build off a ridiculous season capped off by a championship game appearance, that's not good enough. Now I don't advocate firing Weber right now, but I think that you have to start considering his job status, whereas 2 years ago he was untouchable. I just don't like Illini fans making excuses for him. Bottom line is Weber should have been recruiting better. All that buzz after 05 was not capitalized on.

http://sports.espn.go.com/chicago/nhl/news/story?id=4994950 It just might not be our year. Please don't suck too much Sopel.

My upsets are (not including 8-9 matchups) 10 Ga Tech over 7 Oklahoma State 13 Murray State over 4 Vanderbilt 11 Minnesota over 6 Xavier 10 Florida over 7 BYU 12 Cornell over 5 Temple 10 Missouri over 7 Clemson 11 ODU over 6 Notre Dame My Elite 8 is: 1 Kansas 1 Syracuse 1 Kentucky 2 Kansas State 2 Villanova 3 New Mexico 5 Texas A&M 6 Tennessee Final 4: 1 Kansas 1 Syracuse 1 Kentucky 2 Villanova Title game is Kansas and Kentucky with Kansas winning.