UK1679666180

Bad move using Nathan now, that's the advantage of being the away team is that you can hold him till needed.

Knowing Guillen, he'll go with Danks and the 1st sign of trouble will pull him. The thing with that is that I as well as most failed Jenny Craig clients could steal a base off of Jenks and Pierzynski.

It'll be interesting to see if they go with Jenks as Minn. is a good FB hitting team and Jenks has been for some rteason going with his FB more and more and less with the great curve.

There's almost a 50/50 chance that every year one of my old teams will win a championship. Actually, the odds are 75% given how well I built that team. :)

Someone who has access to Roadkill, do me a favor and paste his roster with their points and the most points we can hold onto for next year? thanks in advance

[expletive] it. Count me in. I don't think I've managed this team yet, so my Larry Brown career can continue. Who's Doug and how bad is his team? :)

Go White Sox! Now take out the Twins.

Maddon was right last night as far as Orton holding onto the ball for too long during some of those sacks/fumbles. That doesn't excuse the O-Line not giving any time on most occasions though.

Kentucky vs. Bama should be an interesting game, similar teams as far as relying on the running game and defenses. Obviously, Bama's win vs. Georgia was huge and they deserve to be top 5 team. The wins vs. Clemson and Arkansas were big as well, but I'm not sold on the quality of either team. With that said, UK hasn't beaten anyone and doesn't have near the talent nor coaching as Bama. Despite somewhat of a letdown after last week, I have Bama winning 24-10.

Also, has negative as I have been about Turner during his tenure (both actually), I was glad to see them use Hester in the slot and have him become a deep threat instead of mostly WR screens.

Lloyd and Tillman. Big concerns right now. Every WR has made a couple plays here and there, but Lloyd was a consistently, legit option. Tillman has probably been the 2nd best defensive player (Briggs). If he's out that's a lot of pressure on the D, though Corey Graham looked good last night. I don't know what Roberto Garza was doing on 99% of the plays. Maybe time to get Buenning a longer look in practice. John St. Clair is the true definition of serviceable at LT. I don't know how long he can stay that way though. Tait was awful as well, that right side of the line had one of the worst games since Terrence Metcalf and Qasim Mitchell were lined up by each other.

With the 4 man rotation and the extra bullpen arm, the difference between someone like Howry and Wuertz/Gaudin is minimal at best. That's assuming that Lou doesn't use Howry in a high pressure situation and doesn't micromanage the pen to where using Howry in that situation is necessary. Unfort. the 7th is where Cotts could've taken that next step, where instead of being the situational lefty, he could've filled that 7th inning role where the Cubs had ideally wanted Eyre to fill while he was with the team. Of course, Cotts has struggled as of late and leaves that spot up in the air. I'm assuming Lou will basically play musical chairs with that 7th inning. Right now, I would expect the plan to be that if the starter goes exactly 6 innings, Marmol would come in if it's a 1-run game and pitch 2 innings. If there is a 2+ run lead, I think Samardzija would get the first crack at the 7th depending on the matchups. If he fails, Marmol will be ready at a moment's notice and Lou will go to someone else in that situation the next time, most likely Howry. However, if the matchup dictates it, I think he would go with Marshall. For example, if Delgado, Beltran, Church, Schneider are due up for the Mets or Ethier, Martin, Loney are due for the Dodgers. If Marmol pitches 2 innings one day and there's a game the next (Game 2 or 4), I'd imagine Kerry would get the 2 inning outing the 2nd day in a 1-run game. Agreed, he'll play L/R matchup in the 7th as well as saving either Marquis or Marshall for long-relief without using both of them in the same game if they do play a marathon ballgame.

With the 4 man rotation and the extra bullpen arm, the difference between someone like Howry and Wuertz/Gaudin is minimal at best. That's assuming that Lou doesn't use Howry in a high pressure situation and doesn't micromanage the pen to where using Howry in that situation is necessary. Unfort. the 7th is where Cotts could've taken that next step, where instead of being the situational lefty, he could've filled that 7th inning role where the Cubs had ideally wanted Eyre to fill while he was with the team. Of course, Cotts has struggled as of late and leaves that spot up in the air.

That's a worn out middle of the lineup. Anderson or Owens get to that Mauer double last night as well as the Kubel triple in the first game. Part of me is enjoying the karma of the blown call in game 2 b/c of what happened with AJ against the Rays. I'm rooting for the Sox to make to make it though.

I think the article is just isolating drafting, though, as it should. The Cubs have drafted well . . . the fact that, maybe, player development isn't great or we've let some guys go, shouldn't change the fact that we were right to grab them as amateurs. I've never had a problem with their scouting department, they have some outstanding scouts.

It's the quantity over quality debate. Prior and Soto the two Cubs all-stars that remained with the team? I can't recall if Garland ever had a strong 1st half and made the AS team? The Cubs are boosted by players like Hinske, Lohse, Garland, Mitre, Nolasco, Willis, etc. who spent marginal if any time with the 25 man roster.

The yards and points were more than adequate, but let's not ignore the scoring opportunites they failed to capitalize on in the 1st half.

The Bears deserved this loss. How many times were they in a position to a score on a 20-25 yd. pass play in the 1st half and didn't even try? It has taken them almost 11 quarters to stretch the field on offense. The defense gave Griese all day to throw the ball. It appeared that the disguise defense was working well early on and then they went away from it. The safeties had a bad day covering the TEs. The Bears don't know how to finish games and that is because they play not to lose and instead of going for the kill, they want to watch the clock run out. I can't believe someone mentioned cutting Tillman to make a point, I don't see how losing your best DB and one of your top defensive players is making a point, unless that point is how to get rid of one of your best players b/c of stupidity.

That was a nice moment. Also good to see the more subdued celebration. I think there's a better sense that this isn't enough. That's what I want to see at this point. I wouldn't worry about it, live it up for tonite.

What a great day! Time to clinch HFA.

I have a hard time believing he's afraid of being hit. Kosuke is "stepping in the bucket" when he swings or planting his stride (front) foot well further than his pivot (back) foot, one of the reasons always associated with that is being afraid to get hit. Whether or not that's true, he ain't giving himself a chance on the outer 3rd of the plate. Can you explain this more in detail? I don't quite understand what "stepping in the bucket" is or what you meant by saying he's planting his front foot farther than his back foot. his front (right) foot is striding too far toward first base, leaving the outside of the plate unreachable. think about where his feet start and where tehy end up, his front foot is further down the line when he swings than his back foot is when he steps to the plate. This is correct as everything he hits away is a pop up or a weak ground ball, also leads to the bag dragging thru the zone. I have no idea where the term comes from.

Neuqua Valley. :)

As one of the few people that somewhat follows both sides of town, I'd rather listen to a game than the radio/IPod, I enjoy the pre and post game shows as well as your patience with the callers after a loss. I listen to the pre/post shows occasionally too. Every team has their crazy fans, but the Sox seem to have the worst of them. I think in order it goes 1. Sox 2. Bears/Cubs 4. Bulls They're not really crazy as they get just as irrational as any other fanbase, but maybe it's cause I don't get the city rivalry, but when comparisons divert to the Cubs (beyond the 6 games they actually face other) I don't understand how comparing a Sox loss to anything with the Cubs good or bad accomplishes anything. Fwiw, Bears fans are the worst especially with back-up QBs.

As one of the few people that somewhat follows both sides of town, I'd rather listen to a game than the radio/IPod, I enjoy the pre and post game shows as well as your patience with the callers after a loss.

Welcome to the board.