Soul

I like the potential of Wainwright. Im really high on him. A good 1-2 punch of Carpenter and Wainwright will give teams a struggle. Carpenter Reyes Wainwright Wells Looper Not sure what you would get out of that rotation. Wow. I'm really wondering what kind of voodoo LaRussa has planned for this year then. ERA+ for 2006 Carpenter: 143 (good) Reyes: 86 (terrible.....but barely pitched, 85 innings) Wainwright: 141 (barely pitched.....75 innings) Wells: 70 (horrid, barely pitched last year though, hasn't been over 100 since '03) Looper: 124 (again, barely pitched though....he's a reliever) These are mostly relievers being thrust into the starting rotation, yes? What kind of rotation is this? Seriously, if they win with this there needs to be a federal investigation. That's worse than our starting rotation last year, and it isn't even close. How many runs are they expecting to get out of Pujols? 300? What's the plan in Stl?

Who is going to pitch for the Cards this year? No seriously. Who?

No, no, no. You're in the Chicago market. You still get all your Cubs games. And White Sox.

I doubt that seriously. Orton's struggles were in his true rookie year. He had 10 wins, and has had a year to sit, watch, talk to both Rex and Brian, and learn what it takes to be an NFL quarterback. My guess is that we have the same 3 quarterbacks next year, or if we draft a middle round/late round QB, I could see Griese being traded and Kyle being #2. Who cares? He's not going to play here, ever. He knows that, which is why he was complaining back in training camp. #3 QBs aren't for someone who just sits and stagnates. It's a fluid depth-chart position that almost always has some young low draft pick who nobody knows about yet. We know about Orton. I doubt Kyle even wants to stick around under these conditions. As for trading Griese----I suppose that's one of the only ways Kyle sticks around, but it leaves us in a much worse QB position than this year. I don't see why Angelo would suddenly want to leave us razor thin when he worked so hard to remedy that situation.

Push. Yeah, I tend to agree. If someone has a edge here, it's probably pretty slight. I would have to agree-the RB's are dead even. Maybe I'm being a homer, but I think the Bears RBs are better...but thats not taking a lot away from the Colts RBs who I think are good. I think Jones and Addai are about a push, but I think Benson is better then Rhodes Everyone is certainly entitled to their opinion, but there's no way IMHO to definitively judge the RB duos of the game, especially since Addai was used progressively through the season. Both duos had a great regular season and have been solid in the postseason. As big of a fan of Addai as I am right now, I'd say the RB matchup is as even of any matchup in the SB. Addai was a really good pickup for you guys. YOu guys didn't lose much getting rid of Edge. They gained by it. Edge was hitting the wall, and Indy wisely saw it.

Less than 10% is simply an eloquent way to say that MILLIONS of people still can't get DirecTV. 10%. What is that? 30 million people? Something like that? Oh yeah, the numbers are very small. Heck, you can probably get 30 million people in a baseball stadium. :roll: 30 million is a large raw number, when taken by iteself. But is small is relation to those who can get it. Here's a nice visual... Those who can get it: XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX Those who can't" XXX I've been on many cable providers in my life. Then I switched to DirecTV. The sports and extras they offer just blows cable out of the water, and that's without the new EI exclusive. Here in Madison, I'm getting Milwaukee, Minneapolis, and Chicago sports stations as part of my BASIC package. Cable subscribers here get Milwaukee. That's it. And no alternate channels. There's really no comparison. Cable providers in LA and Chicago when I lived there were no better. Cable just sucks period.

How exactly am I suffering? I have DVR. I have digital cable and digital phone. I have the entire cable tv package, which includes a ridiculous amount of premium movie channels. How is that suffering? Sometimes one doesn't know how much he suffers until the suffering ends.

Bears are underdogs, and I believe rightfully so. I'm not complaining about it like I was when people were picking the Seahawks over the Bears. I really believe Chicago will have to play its best game of the year to win this one. Indy has the edge going in. If Manning pulls it off, you're going to see gushing over him like crazy. So if the Bears pull off the upset, would it be bad that they would receive praise? No, not at all why so defensive? I simply stated what I think is going to happen. WE'RE A LITTLE JUMPY, OK? OK?!?!??!?!?! I even said the Bears won! Please Bear fans...don't touch any caffine for the next 9 days! No dammit!! You're just trying to bring down the Bears!!! Seriously, I didn't mean for my response to sound snippy.... 8-)

whoa whoa whoa. I've never seen a picture of Carrie. Is that her? If so, who cares what she writes?

I think it matters, but I don't think we're arguing the same point. I'm not saying they need to be baseball insiders, but that it would be better if they actually CARED about baseball, and I see nothing in the members' backgrounds that would indicate they give a damn beyond the financials. Guys like Reinsdorf and Steinbrenner? Their backgrounds yes, I agree. But those guys bleed baseballs and their decisions are affected by that. I dunno, maybe there's some Carlyle guy who lives & dies with baseball and would be put in overall charge of the Cub financial decisions. When I look at the roster @ Carlyle past & present though, I don't see that. I see a whole lot of D.C. insiders who's desire for baseball likely begins and ends with how much exposure they can get by making an appearance at an Orioles or Nationals game.

Bears are underdogs, and I believe rightfully so. I'm not complaining about it like I was when people were picking the Seahawks over the Bears. I really believe Chicago will have to play its best game of the year to win this one. Indy has the edge going in. If Manning pulls it off, you're going to see gushing over him like crazy. So if the Bears pull off the upset, would it be bad that they would receive praise?

Another thing I don't understand: why are so many of you continuing to suffer with cable? Seriously----if you're a sports fan, DirecTV is way better and has been for many, many years. And it's cheaper. Latest stats I have seen say less than 10% of the people in the US can NOT get DirecTV due to blockage. Even some of those could get it by making a few yard adjustments, etc. The numbers are very small.

Greenburg clearly understood the point being made and made the point that neither of those guys were on teams that were going to do anything whereas Grossman was on a team that could and did make it to the Superbowl. The Bears had a lot more to lose if Grossman sucked and that's why he got more criticism. I thought that was a very fair point. Golic almost always misses the point. Too many hard hits in his playing days----the mind's not all there anymore. People, people. Just because someone uses stats from a hall of famer to suggest a point does NOT mean they are saying a player is CURRENTLY on par with those hall of famers! LOL, I love when people try to make that argument. It's the ultimate Red Herring. If the Governor of Illinois can outwit Golic on sports, then what does that say about Golic :P

This is the crux of my stance. DirecTV's MLBEI will be much better than what's available now. The problem with this stance is that it doesn't have to be mutually exclusive. You can have DirecTV access and cable access...that's the way its always been. Now it may be better for DirecTV subscribers who have High Def cabablity...but that # is sooo much smaller than the people who were able to get it before that its a net loss. I think of it as turning an entire stadium into luxury suites...no regluar seating available for anyone. You can't argue that the suites are "nicer" to sit in...they are, and they get better service and have more features...but you can argue quite effectively that the arrangement is NOT better for the guy who always had season tickets in the upper deck and doesn't have any way to upgrade to the suite. EI was already an exclusive package, even on Cable. What we're talking about here is more akin to 2 groups of luxury suite owners, one of whom will now have to park in a different parking lot and walk a little further to get to the gates. And in return, they'll get a better service in the form of more HD games. Big deal. Sounds like a fair trade to me. As far as the # of HD subscribers being small, that is true. But the number is growing.....and will continue to do so. I seriously doubt a company like DirecTV is going to make decisions based on a static view of today's reality. They're going to look to the future-----and the future is HD.

Bulls may have done alot to douse the fires of Pax by beating the league's best last night, but I still think once Shaq is healthy the Heat will roll down the stretch and be the favorites. I'd love to see PJ play like that more often though. I've never seen him do things like post up on Dirk twice----both times getting baskets, and big ones too. The Bulls are still missing a consistent, tall, inside scorer. They're going to have to prove they can win it without that element----people aren't going to automatically assume they can; they're going to do what they're doing now---doubt the Bulls can keep the hot shooting going all the way to the finals.

Because he has little upside and #3 QB is really the place where teams take chances on a guy who hasn't been quantified yet.

Haha, you just suggested Neifi has value 8-)

But would you trade Deng, Tyrus, one other non-Gordon/Hinrich player for Kevin Garnett-----as Reggie Miller suggested last night? Reggie, though he's obviously not a GM or anything, seemed to think McHale would jump at such an offer... I think we'd immediately be a favorite to win the East. Yeah, you lose Deng and that's bad. But Garnett is so much more uber.

When the Bears were conducting the head coach search that ultimately resulted in hiring Mike Ditka, Halas made it clear that whoever was hired had to be willing to work with Buddy Ryan as defensive coordinator. Similarly, when the Cubs hired Dusty as manager it was clear that whoever was hired would have to accept Rothschild as pitching coach. It may be similar with the Cowboys; the new head coach may not have any choice but to work with Garrett. Also, the Dolphins hired Dom Capers as D coordinator before Cam Cameron. It happens quite a bit. I know. It just seems to offend the sensibilities though. Most prospective head coaches are going to want to bring in their group of guys. It could limit the choices that are available. Still---that doesn't mean it can't work.

A big reason why the Bears are going to the Super Bowl this year instead of washing out in the first game is because Orton has faded from view. And that's the bare bones truth baby. Say what you want about Rex. Orton (or Griese for that matter) don't make those deep throws to Berrian or bring us down the field on their arm alone when the team needs a score. There's a pretty good chance Kyle's going to be cut at the roster trim-downs next Summer, so I hope you enjoyed your last look at him :wink:

It's pretty hard to argue this signing makes little sense. I guess KW is trying to recapture old Erstad glory? That was like 2001-2002 though---ancient history. He doesn't need more "veteran leadership" on that club, or anything like that. It's puzzling. If Erstad works out, it'll be another of those so-called lucky KW signings. edit: makes little sense..

Nah, he's got over 20 games under his belt now, plus playoff games, plus 4 years in an NFL system. Rex is no rookie. That said, I maintain his youth and relative inexperience give him upside you won't find with many 4-year vets.

Someone should block this. The devil with the rules.

I thought this was funny, but George Soros is/was associated with Carlyle and he doesn't really fit the mold. There are also several former Clinton administration people who are associated with them. They're DC all the way. The Cubs would be an interesting little plaything for them; they probably know less about us than the average Cardinals fan. This is a disaster of epic proportions if it happens.

Because a newspaper company would know anything about baseball? Many owners of successful sports teams come from backgrounds completely unrelated to sports. Oh really? Which World Series winning franchises are currently being run by a group of investors from D.C.? Are they planning on at least moving to Chicago? Or would they rather run the Cubs from remote than make the extraordinary effort of entering "fly over" country to check on their investment?