DivineBovine

Unbelievable victory for me this week! Here's the scenario: I have 129.18 points this week after strong performances by Randy Moss and Greg Olsen. My opponent has about 93 points going into today with Roethlisberger and Hines Ward going for him today. I'm up about 10 points going into the end of the game. Pittsburgh drives down to the 3 yard line of Denver, up 21-10 with under 2 mins left. I'm thinking, as long as its not Roethlisberger to Ward, I'm good. Pittsburgh is going to run the ball anyways, right? NO! TD pass, Roethlisberger to Ward. I frantically check my iphone Yahoo app to see if he's got enough points. He's up 129.22 to 129.18. He starts barrage texting me smack talk, rubbing it in. But wait! Denver gets the ball back with under a minute. Orton throws a pick. Pittsburgh gets the ball back, and Roethlisberger takes a knee. -1 rushing yards!! I win 129.18 to 129.12. Unfrickingbelievable!!!

LeBron may indeed pick the Knicks over the Bulls because of the NYC factor, but it would be a dumb move. As great a player as he is, it is not easy to win rings and that's what makes a career. LeBron may never win a ring in NY. He could get into the cycle of Ewing, Barkley, Malone where he's always on a good team but never a championship team. If the Cavs lose again this year, which they will, he will really see that championships are not to be taken for granted. The Bulls are already a decent playoff caliber team with decent big men, decent defense, and a good young PG. We'll see how much he values the NYC glamour factor. Yes, it would be cool for him to win a championship in NY. He'd be a NYC hero forever. But he would make nearly as much money in Chicago. If he never wins a championship, his career would be tainted forever.

Oh, I'll be furious if that's the case. I know it's irrational, but I'll use hindsight to bash Paxson and Foreman for letting go of Gordon for nothing. I was pissed at the time but I understand their line of thinking, as I said. But if we reach the summer and we can't get any of those free agents? That erases that line of thinking and instead of having a guy that can pour in 21 points a game, we're going to be relegated to keeping John Salmons for a long-term deal when BG should be getting that money. I hope it doesn't come to that. I really hope we don't screw this up in the summer. I don't know if its a matter of screwing up. The Bulls saw how many great FAs were out there, positioned themselves to be a player that offseason (and actually got better in the process), and now they just have to hope that they can attract a FA to come there. I see this offseason (for the NBA in general) going one of two ways: 1) Almost all the FAs end up going back to their current teams because they can offer more money and security; this offseason is a huge bust in terms of the hype it's gotten. 2) Due to the economy, many of the smaller market teams with FAs, can't afford to give their players max deals and/or deem it more fiscally responsible to work out sign and trades so they get something back in return. I think 1 is more likely by far. If that's the case, you can rip the Bulls for their plan not working out, but I tend to think the Bulls are in a better position long term now than they were a year ago this time, so all is not lost if we get shut out. Anyways, if FAs are looking elsewhere, there is gonna be a lot of competition and I think there are several more attractive options for most FAs than Chicago. Look how things turned out in 2000 when we went out looking for stud FAs. Chicago wasn't as attractive as Orlando, despite neither team having much in the way of talent. Yes the Bulls have a better team now, but Chicago isn't considered by many players a destination NBA city (IMO). Who wants to go out at night and deal with 15 degree temps in January when they can be living it up on South Beach or something. I could be wrong though. I will anticipate the offseason hoping something happens, but I'm not counting on it. Relax guys. 2010 is not 2000. In 2000, the Bulls weren't even close to being a playoff team and had a terrible reputation with hated Jerry Krause running the show. In 2010, they will hopefully be coming off another decent playoff showing and have many young and promising players. Any free agent would have to look very favorably upon the Bulls. It would seem to me that they are a perfect fit for LeBron, DWade, or Bosh. There are no superstar scorers on this team to take away their points, just a bunch of good solid young players, decent defenders, and a good young PG. If they do strike out in free agency, which is always very possible, then it you can't blame it on Pax and the Bulls for putting themselves in a bad position. And I still think it was a good move in losing Gordon. He is not worth the money Detroit gave him. We don't need his 20 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists, horrible defense and horrible ballhanding. There will be better options for improving the team. Relax.

Myth. The Bulls are shooting about the same % this year as they did last year. Of course the Bulls are scoring about 8 points per games less this year, despite playing a slightly tougher five games this year as they did last year. The Bulls are not aggressive enough this year, as can see by the lower FTA so far (112 through 5 games this yr, as opposed to 149 attempts last year), and Gordon wasn't a real factor in getting to the line. Personally the Bulls are missing Rose's explosiveness moreso the Gordon's offense. The Bulls had an effective field goal percentage of .493 which was only good for 20th in the league. The problem is that they're at .427 so far this season which is second to last in the league. They were 7th in 3 point FG percentage last year and they're dead last so far this season (.381 vs. .234). You can attribute that to no Gordon and Salmons/Hinrich being ice cold so far. The good news is that their rebounding on the defensive glass is vastly improved. They're 3rd in defensive rebounding percentage so far when they were 28th last year. Deng and a consistent Noah have been huge their so far. Sadly, Thomas not getting much run has helped that too. Keeping in mind a small sample size so far I think you can expect that letting Gordon going and replacing him with Salmons at the 2 and allowing Deng to slide in at 3 has had the effect you'd expect--trading much better rebounding/defense for a drop off in outside shooting. The good news is that Salmons should start shooting better and Rose will get healthier to help mitigate the losses on offense. In other wrods the Bulls are not really missing BG at all. Here we go with Gordon talk. Even if the Bulls are winning. Losing Gordon was good for the team. 1) Cost: That money is better spent elsewhere and allows the Bulls to be in a good position for 2010 free agents 2) His limitations as a player: Yes, he can shoot. But that's it. - He can't defend - He can't pass - He can't rebound - He can't dribble - He was a terrible complement to Rose: I can't believe how many people actually think BG was good for Rose. Rose is best when he drives and creates. BG was a guy who would get the ball, take a few dribbles, and jack up a shot. Sorry, not enough balls for the two of them. - He cannot score in crunch time with the game on the line. He cannot create his own shot. I can't believe so many Bulls fans haven't realized this by now. How many times do they need to see him get swatted or stripped with the game on the line before they realize it. Get over Gordon. I appreciated what he did, but he was overrated, one-dimensional, and getting rid of him was better for the Bulls. Period.

Bad loss, but this a young team on the Road. Didn't get too up about yesterday, nor too down now. Celtics are the class of the NBA in my mind anyways. Nobody will be able to beat them in the playoffs if they stay healthy. Not Orlando, not Cleveland, not the Lakers.

I love his answers. Perfect. Good riddance Tribune. We don't need Steinbrenner. I'm happy with just caring about winning.

I think today's loss was just a bump in the road. They will be a .500 team at the end of the year and they are right there now. Lovie and his staff have had one of the best records since he started as head coach. And they have had far worse talent than the other teams around them. Is Lovie a great coach? No. But he has had one of the best records with just barely above average talent. I would like to see what he can do with good talent. He had two good years in 05 and 06. Since then the team has been mediocre, going 7-9, 9-7, and now 3-3. He is a mediocre coach. Now, I highly doubt he will be gone before his contract is up in 2011, but don't act like he is anything more then what he is, and don't get all high and mighty just because fans want a great coach, especially when Shanahan and company are available. The talent Lovie is given is worse than Lovie's coaching ability. I don't understand how you can make such strong statements about this teams lack of talent. Coaching is everything in football. It is by far more important in football than any other sport. Great coaching and a great system can make players look great, and vice versa. Not even a professional scout can accurately comment on a given player's "talent", because once they go to other teams, they can look like different players. Orton and Benson sure do. At some point, the coach has to be accountable. Superbowl winning coaches have recently been fired, so a coach who just went to the Superbowl is certainly fair game too. I don't think its crazy for people to start calling for Lovie's head. And it was always crazy to think Ron Turner deserves a job. How that guy has a job, given his horrific resume, is absolutely beyond me.

I think Miami punted in that game. And the Bears scored a few points.

A troll? I am just defending against unnecessary reactionary meatball fans. Every team has a stinker game and the coaching staff should not be fired after one stinker game. Plus Lovie doesn't have much talent to work with right now. Should he be fired because Urlacher is hurt, Pisa is hurt, Tommie has been just a shadow of his former self? That is out of his control. He has been one of the most successful coaches in recent memory. Dusty Baker was successful also...... Good teams don't get embarrassed 38-3. Have the Bengals even punted this game? Where are the adjustments? And the offense has been consistently bad forever, running the same bad plays. Keep blaming the offensive line and the personnel if you want. I blame the coach.

What an embarrassment. So glad I am not able to watch the game. So I guess the Bears aren't that good. Maybe something good will come out of this. Like the firing of Lovie and his entire coaching staff, including Ron Turner.

Apps always seem much easier to use than safari. A lot of websites have apps, even if they have mobile sites through safari. There are advantages to having a dedicated app rather than using safari. There may be message boards out there with apps already. Someone who knows what they are doing might be able to make a really cool app that would make surfing the site much smoother than on safari. Some examples of apps written for pretty straightforward websites that I use all the time rather than using safari: ESPN Scorecenter, Yelp, Opentable, Yahoo Fantasy Football. All these websites work in safari, but the app makes them far more user friendly. I found this link here on a google search: http://www.getafreelancer.com/projects/mistersoft_459021.html I know little about writing iphone apps, but I know that there are a lot of people out there that write them. You can possibly recoup the development costs by charging a fee for it, or maybe bundling it with an NSBB premium membership. Or maybe there's a member out there with some expertise in writing them.

I think that would be cool. Now I'm not sure how many people would be interested, nor do I have expertise in writing one, but it seems as if it would be doable and people might use it. Just a thought.

In terms of pure talent, who's to say our offense isn't as good? Orton and Benson sure look like pro bowlers outside of Ron Turner's horrific system. To me, the skill positions have talent. Adrian Peterson would've had a difficult time gaining yards today with the blocking, and Randy Moss couldn't have done much more than the receivers. It's easy to blame the offensive line, but what about the coach? oh, come on. Orton didn't have a terrific receiving corps to throw to with the Bears and Benson didn't have a great run blocking OL. the Bears really aren't as talented as you think. truth be told, coaching might be a strong suit to this team. they beat the Steelers, who have a more talented player at damn near every position on the field. There's only 1 way to find out. Fire the damn coach. This looks like the same Bears offense for the past 5 years. Terrible run blocking. Same short passes. Constant 3rd and 5's. Over and over again. The excuse used to be that the QB had no arm, or the QB was too reckless, or the offensive line couldn't block, the running back was too slow. How about the offensive coordinator can't design or call a damn play? Can't keep looking at the talent and saying its not there. The players have recycled over and over. The ass designing and calling the plays has remained the same. The same guy who has never been successful on any level in football.

In terms of pure talent, who's to say our offense isn't as good? Orton and Benson sure look like pro bowlers outside of Ron Turner's horrific system. To me, the skill positions have talent. Adrian Peterson would've had a difficult time gaining yards today with the blocking, and Randy Moss couldn't have done much more than the receivers. It's easy to blame the offensive line, but what about the coach? This offensive plays are horrible. The same old boring, predictable plays for the past few years. Over and over. Unless the QB is sharp, there will be turnovers and no long gains. There is no margin for any error is this system. No Bear QB has ever made it look easy. They have to continually execute sharp passes and keep making first downs, or they look terrible. Short passes. Runs up the middle. Nobody ever gets the chance to make a big play. The Bears have 2 of the fastest receivers on the planet, and all they get are short outs or jump balls. Matt Forte runs right into 8 man fronts that a combination of Barry Sanders and Adrian Petersen couldn't run against. Grossman, Orton, and now pro bowler Cutler. Sure, Cutler looks better than the other two, but its the same old crappy offense. Either the other team has to suck, or the QB has to be perfect. How long can we keep blaming on offensive line. Fire Ron Turner. Has the guy ever won anything? He couldn't even win in college. Has he ever produced a good offense? How the hell does this guy have a job? I'd love to see what the Bears offensive talent could do with a real coach. Because we keep changing the players, keeping the same crappy coach, and getting the same results.

Unbelievable.

Now that's how kickoff coverage should be played.

Nonexistent pass rush.

At least they're now using the proper personnel on it. Ron Turner is the most uncreative offensive mind in the history of football.

Olsen has to catch that.

HOLD ON TO THE F@#$ING BALL AFTER YOU GET IT!!!!! Jeez.

OKAY, FIRE LOVIE NOW.

I'm so F@#$ing sick of this Ron Turner Offense. Short passes, Short runs into an 8 man front, no yards after the catch ever, No margin for error for the QB. It doesn't matter who the personnel is. It's the same F@#$ING offense for 10 years. When are they going to wise up and fire this fool?

I think you hit the nail on the head. I blame Turner and the offensive line. I wouldn't blame Angelo, Lovie, or anyone else as much as those them. Clearly, both players benefitted from a change in scenery, and those have been the biggest differences. Give any QB or RB better plays and better blocking, and they perform better. Time will tell how good Orton and Benson turn out to be, but it looks pretty bad for Turner and the offensive line right now. They went to two different teams, and they both are playing like different players. Does that mean that both the Bengals and the Broncos have better offensive systems in place than the Bears? Maybe.

Well, at least the city has football season to look forward to. Go Rams!

Absolutely classic Cubs. Wow. :lol: