Soul

That's the first positive statement I've heard about Prior is quite some time. Everyone has written him off, but what if he bounces back and regains his dominant form? Then we have two ace pitchers, Lilly in his rightful #3 spot, Hill at four and Miller/Marshall/Marquis battling it out for the last spot. Sure, we can't count on Prior right now, but I can see it happening. You have not been reading very carefully, then. Most of the comments on the pitching staff the past couple days have been about what happens if everyone is healthy. Heck, I've had a front page article up about it for two days now! :D Is there any we can, you know, force Mark to stop being fragile and sucking? I want my 2003 Marky Mark back, darn it all!

I would have preferred a 2 year rebuilding plan, given this year's market.

Yeap. But don't dare criticize the great QB from Dallas. Aikman might have a hissy fit.

If the Bears get a bye they won't even play in the 1st round. Fine, the 2nd round, which would still be the 1st round for them to play in. I just don't see this at all. Have you seen the NFC? We're going to likely have HFA through till the Super Bowl, and I just can't imagine an NFC coming in there and beating us assuming that either Rex turns it around, or Griese is in there. And I don't think it's a stretch to say one of those will happen. I don't think we'll see either the Cowboys or the Saints until the NFC championship game...so who do you see beating us in the first game? Anyone. Like I said, it's nothing really concrete, I just feel really nervous about this team. I'm not even sure why. Because it hurt really bad to watch this team lay an egg at home in 2001 and 2005. That kind of pain sticks with you for awhile-------at least until your team gets past that point.

If that happens, I'm guessing we'll have a very angry and unhappy Lance Briggs on our hands. I can see him being a little irked at first, but he would be getting top 5 money so it's not like we would be getting him for cheap.

How many TDs did the Pack score? We get $1 off Papa Murphy's pizzas for every TD on Monday nights! 3 That's 3 bucks off. I think there's a smaller discount for FGs too. Could wind up being $4 off Papa Murphy's :D

This whole thing is Larry's idea. I have a whole host of feelings about this, but none of them are suitable for NSBB. :x Wow. How big do his cajones have to be to think he can succeed where Duncan and Leo-freakin'-Mazzone failed? I'd sure like to know why Larry would be working with Marquis in the offseason in the first place. That seems weird to me. I thought I read somewhere that Duncan had identified where Marquis was tipping off his pitches, and he wound up throwing his hands up in disgust because Marquis wouldn't work with him to get rid of the "tells."

If the Bears get a bye they won't even play in the 1st round.

How many TDs did the Pack score? We get $1 off Papa Murphy's pizzas for every TD on Monday nights!

Seahawks will lose, Seahawks will lose. Angels sing from heaven! Seahawks will lose!! 8-)

This whole thing is Larry's idea. I have a whole host of feelings about this, but none of them are suitable for NSBB. :x

Hmmm. Who is talking Cubs winning the World Series? I haven't heard it. If someone's talking Cubs WS in '07 they are sadly fooling themselves.

I thought Miami might play well @ home here. The 2 teams the Bears have lost to are actually very solid AFC squads. Miami just had a horrid start, but they were always much better than that.

We'll trade ya for Grossman 8-)

You could be right. They might think if they get Floyd then they can switch in/out with Murton to gain a little pop in the lineup, allowing Pie to work in as the CF even though he's very young. Question would still be: what happens to Jones in this scenario? Do we just dump him for a prospect, or package him with one of our young pitchers for something more?

I'm surprised Grossman still has so much support. I voted for him too. One more start----he's really under the gun now with Griese getting some snaps in practice. Let's see if he responds, otherwise <*yank*>

I like Palermo's. The real thin crust one. Does Papa Murphy's offer a frozen pizza? The ones from the store are freshly made, not frozen.

The fact that Pepsi has 40% of the vote is horrifying. Are you people really human?

I'll go 80-85 wins, keeping in mind that apparently the Marquis deal isn't done yet.

Unless they put him on the IR, I'd imagine they won't really have a good sense of things for a few weeks. Vasher's hamstring is getting better, but it sure doesn't sound like he'll play Monday night. Nor should he. Yes but they said he was going to Dallas or something to check out his hammy, did they ever have any news after that? I have heard no news on this. And I assume it means the doc said "yep, it's really bad you're out."

Minny was just firing on all cylinders tonight. Hitting everything. Bad game for Deng as well, and I was just pimping him earlier in this thread. :( Minny is tall with a good inside presence (or at least, better than the teams we have been feasting on lately). And the Bulls, with their lack of size and scoring in the paint, have difficulty against teams with big men.

I'm aware the Central is producing the Wild Card in many seasons----one of the reasons why I believe the objective in Hendry's mind is to grab up that Wild Card, or sneak out a weak divisional win. If this wasn't the case, and Hendry was truly trying to win the World Series ASAP, then I strongly believe (though of course I have no proof) that Hendry would have looked at the lack of talent available in the FA market, and put the Cubs on a 2-year rebuilding plan.

I'll take it. Bill James for teh win. 8-)

Best news I've heard in awhile. That is, of course, assuming they're negotiating vesting clauses/incentives that might make the deal worth 3/$21 (or let the Cubs off with a third of that if he sucks), rather than negotiating the last $7 mil. that would make it worth 3/$28 gauranteed. xxfingersxx I'd say Sullivan, who had this as a done deal @ 3/28, has alot of explaining to do if this is the case.

I think it's a given at this point that Floyd will be on the team next year. He's from Chicago and Hendry has a mancrush on the guy. I'm still wondering what Hendry has up his sleeve because even with a Floyd addition I don't think this team is strong enough to compete for a World Series. I don't think winning the World Series is on Hendry's radar, if you caught him in a moment of honesty. He could save his job with a miracle Wild Card appearance, and I believe that's more along the lines of where his sights are set. Floyd's last year of playing regularly was 2005, where he put up 34 HRs, somewhere in the neighborhood of a .360 OBP in 150 games. I guess the plan would be to use Murton to keep Floyd fresh in LF then. Pie would be the CF, with Soriano in RF. Assuming Hendry didn't also go after some kind of CF option. Seriously, the offseason spending spree is up to 305.5 Million and he's hoping for a MIRACLE wild card appearance? The Cardinals won 83 games last year and won the WS. It's not just on Hendry's radar, it's the goal of the organization. I find that difficult to believe frankly. This team isn't close to a World Series team. I chose not to believe Hendry doesn't know this, but rather that he is finally able to spend like the Cubs were able to all along, and he's just trying to save his job to fight further in the coming years. What the Cardinals did last year was a gross aberration. Rarely if ever been done before, and there's no reason to think it's going to be happening regularly. I don't know of anyone out there who is seriously expecting to win World Series rings with .500 ballclubs as a matter of course.