UMFan83

That play call on 3rd down was stupid IMO. You can't feel secure with that guy kicking a 40+ yard FG.

Please win this in regulation NW. This game will be on ESPN Classic/B10 Network for years if NW can pull this off.

Holy crap...NW recovers a fumble after a long runback by Auburn. What an amazingly entertaining game.

I expected the Devils to be the one team that we couldn't completely control the game against and dominate. Mostly because of their solid defense and exceptional goalie. It's only one game, and it was on home ice and it was the 2nd of a tough back to back (Pittsburgh, @ Chicago), but the Blackhawks completely dominated them tonight. I am impressed.

Gregg and Rick Aguilera are actually much closer than I anticipated. I almost put Aggy there, but the pain of Gregg is fresh in my mind. And Buford is a good choice given that Patterson gave the Cubs an above average half season (2003), an average season (2004) and 2 awful seasons (2002 and 2005), but when Patterson was bad, he was just awful. As for RF, I hear ya on Burnitz, but Bradley just left a bad taste in your mouth when you remember his season on the team. Worse than Burnitz even or 08 Fukudome or 07 Jones.

Anti decade team c - hundley 1b - mcgriff (decent decade for 1b) 2b - deshields (obviously there were worse but we gave h 2b spot to start year and he was beyond awful) ss - neifi 3b - Lenny Harris lf - hollandsworth cf - patterson rf - bradley sp - estes rp - too many (can you decide between Alfonseca, Hereida, Veres, Rush, Ohman, Wellemeyer, Remlinger, Hawkins, even year Farns, and Fassero?) cl - gregg

Here is my decade team if you are not looking at individual years and just the decade as a whole C: Barrett 1B: Lee 2B: DeRosa SS: Theriot (Possible consideration for Ricky Gutierrez) 3B: Ramirez LF: Alou CF: Patterson is the only one that played significant time there, but I can't pick him so Fukudome RF: Sosa SP: Zambrano, Wood, Prior, Lilly, Dempster SU: Marmol CL: Borowski Manager: Lou Piniella I didn't really think more than 2 minutes on this so there will probably be disagreements.

Meh 3 years is pretty excessive. But 5 million a year is only slightly overpriced IMO.

that's not even close to being accurate. before tonight he had given up 9 goals in his last 6 games. tonight he only gave up 1 in 37 minutes. Well that's where all my confusion lies, but he gave up 4 to boston, shut out the next game (forgot who), gave up 4 to Nashville, and I assumed he gave up 5 tonight, making me think a trend was developing.

Niemi started today no he didn't d'oh, I'm in St. Croix so I didn't watch the game until the very end, we musta pulled Huet.

Niemi started today

We gave up 5 goals. Offense did their part. Can't get too down on the D or the goalies as they've been spectacular for most of the year. It happens. I'd like to see this team have a better road record though.

BTW, Niemi has been pretty meh since he started getting more PT. Granted it's a small sample size but he's given up 13 goals in his last 4 games, and that's including a shutout in there.

Dammit I don't want to drop this one to a mediocre team. What is the Hawks record on the road? 9-6-2 or something? They would pull to 9-9 on the road if they lost this one.

i think the nfl is pretty much wide open No question, but all six teams in the NFC will have a shot at making it to the Super Bowl. I think three teams (at most) in the AFC have a shot at going that far. i don't know. the colts choke in the playoffs almost every year, and norv turner and the chargers aren't much different. depending on which teams win the wc, i think the afc is wide open too. I feel like the Chargers have overachieved in the playoffs with Norv Turner. In 07 they were afterthoughts in AFC and had injuries to Rivers and LT and played rather competitively against the Pats in the AFC championship game. In 08 they were 8-8 and still won a playoff game, albeit at home. Maybe they don't completely play over their heads but they haven't really been choking either. They have as good as shot as the Colts IMO.

BTW, hawkeye major props for showing up in a huge pro-Bears thread after a pretty difficult loss for your guys.

Tillman fractured what looks like multiple ribs. At least he should be ok as far as his personal health. As for his status in Detroit, I'd have to say highly doubtful.

How freaking convenient. An injury that was not mentioned all season randomly is disclosed once he starts to do good and people wonder why he wasn't in earlier. Someone should have told Cutler that Devin A. was hurt when he was pining to the media for him to play more midway through the season.

I really don't have the heart to root for my team to lose even if it hurts us in the long term. Lovie isn't a great coach and has really messed up this team and we certainly could be much better coached, but despite all the bitching I'll do if they keep him I can live with it.

The "more" is the part that I disagreed with so strongly. As for "as", I would agree because of the position they are in, they have as good of a chance as the rest of the teams in the NFC. My original point was that I didn't think the Vikings were as good as their 10-1 record, and while they aren't as bad as the 1-3 they've put up since then, I think they are a slight notch below the elite in football. I've been wrong before and I'll be wrong again, just my opinion.

Both teams had tons of chances to win this game but didn't. Vikings missed an XP, Gould straight up missed a FG which seriously never happens (sportscenter guy said "ive never seen Robbie Gould miss a FG in my life" lol), Bears dropped 1 game ending INT and got hands on another, Vikings could have stopped the Bears returners on special teams, Bears could have stopped the Vikings on 4th and game, etc. I enjoyed watching the game despite the fact that it was meaningless for the Bears. It was good to see that dancing hick Brett Favre possibly denied of a bye week by the Bears. Still wanna argue the Vikings are more legit of a SB Contender than anyone but the Colts and Saints hawkeye?

You dumb Blackhawks, play better.

With the win, the Hawks are just 1 point off the most points in the league and are 2nd overall in the league in points per game behind NJ, who has as many points as the Hawks with 1 less game played. If the Hawks win tomorrow, they will have the most points in the league ending the night, and if Pittsburgh loses to Toronto (not likely) tomorrow, we will have sole possession of most points in the league. Oh and the Hawks now have the best goal differential in the NHL. Just keep winning boys!

Fun stat of the day: The Bears have had just two 100 yard receivers this year. Devin Hester had 102 yards one week, and Matt Forte had 120 yards another week.

I would love to see it happen followed by the Eagles jumping them for the Bye Week spot. I said this earlier in the year, the Vikings are just not as good as their record. In addition to their 3 losses, they should have lost 2 more (vs. SF, @ Balt). They were a miraculous once in a lifetime throw and catch, and a missed 40 yard FG from being 9-5 instead of 11-3. While that's still a decent team (although they've had a pretty easy schedule with STL, CLE, DET (x2), SEA on their schedule), it's probably not a SB contender. I Think FO's DVOA said their offense is 9th in the league but their defense is 16th overall (and 25th against the pass). They are a above average team but I don't think they are one of the elite teams out there, especially if Favre keeps his usual December collapse going. I know. No one else in the NFL wins games they could have lost. Especially not the teams with good records. They're not invincible and they've been really bad in 2 of the last 3 games. They're still a top 5 team in the league this year. Yes the Vikings have the 30th easiest schedule this year. Know who is 29th? The Saints. Know who is 27th? The Eagles. Know who is 32nd? The Packers. The Cardinals and Cowboys are 24 and 25. They're more legit as a Super Bowl contender than anyone outside of the Saints and Colts. Agree to disagree. I just haven't been overwhelmingly impressed with your Vikings this year. Don't get me wrong, they are a good team but I think they are a slight step down from the creme of the crop in the league. Sorry to bag on your team but that's my opinion based on a little bit of fact (DVOA rankings, which aren't the end all be all of stats but they do tend to be pretty good stats).