Soul

Yanks will sweep. Not a game will be close. ZZZzzzzzz.

I'm looking at this thing, and honestly what's to watch? You've got the Yanks. OK, they're legit. Then you have the Tigers, who couldn't beat the Royals in the final weekend to save their division title. They wouldn't be a playoff team most years. The Twins did everything they could to blow it in the final two series as well. They'd be an also ran most seasons. The A's might be legit----but I'm thinking this is one of the weakest A's playoff teams ever. That's 1 American league team that is a legitimate playoff team. And that's the *GOOD* league. National League is, of course, a joke. The Cardinals are incredibly bad for a playoff team. Neither the Dodgers or the Padres are legit. Only the Mets could be said to be an actual playoff caliber ballclub, but their pitching staff is pretty banged up. I doubt they would have held on in other seasons. It's just that literally the entire rest of the league is complete junk. The fact that the wild card team came from the West tells you all you need to know. What's the point? This is the worst group of playoff teams I've ever seen in over 30 years of watching baseball. It'll be Yanks/Mets---and that's going to be a snore.

?? who? Everyone I saw and read picked the Panters or the Giants or the Cowboys You're talking ancient history. Nobody in their right mind is picking 1-2 Carolina, or 1-2 NY, or a dynfunctional Cowboys team. They're all picking the Seahawks, with a few stragglers picking Chicago. The Seahawks are probably the *LAST* team in the NFL that can claim to be underrated. Maybe the Bengals. Not meaning to be rude, but perhaps it's time to take the pre-season football magazines off the coffee table and trade them in for a current issue of SI?? :wink:

See? They read my post and, realizing the game was up, led off with the story. 8)

You mean realistic WS? Anything that does *NOT* include the Yankees would be ideal.

You might be right CW, but I for one would be suprised if Theriot hits .300/.360 over the course of an entire season next year. Pleasantly suprised, no doubt. But suprised. If he earns the job, and is the best option, then so be it. I still see him as a good utility option for now.

Clemens is a great player, but why should anyone be forced to like him? That makes little sense to me. I can respect the player but be irked by the personality and the demeanor.

Everyone and their brother has the Seahawks penciled in to the Super Bowl, and you say they are underrated? Wow, what are you talking about huby?

If Hendry resigns Pierre, and he stinks in April, May, and June again------there will be hell to pay. He might do it. It's a risk. But we need much more than a CF, too. I guess it all comes down to price.

Oh really? *gears up the rant machine.......* That would require objectivity and journalistic integrity, both qualities ESPN has precious little of. They'll wait until they can't anymore----secretly hoping somehow the story is false so they don't have to carry it. ESPN knows which players bring cash into the coffers. Clemens and Tejada are 2 of them. You do realize they're planning the all-time biggest bash in history for when Bonds breaks Aaron's record, right? That's their boy---they even signed him to a contract to do a puff-piece mini series. Bonds is a damn ESPN employee, for crying out loud! You think Clemens won't be once he retires? Think again, my man. Think again.

Theriot will get his chance to compete. There's nothing wrong with that. I hope he does great. But put him as starter for next year now? No, that's just wrong. Good performances during garbage time earn you a long, hard look........but never an automatic starting job.

He's supposed to be gone, but hey you never know with Hendry. Never underestimate Jim Hendry's ability to delude himself. My ideal Monday? "Cubs sold to Mark Cuban. MacPhail, Hendry, Baker all fired immediately." Ohhh yeah. Just give me more drugs to keep the delusions rolling.

http://www.msu.edu/~huizing7/slapjls.gif I saw that, LOL. MSU really is a snakebit program. What a tank job. Good win for Illinois though. On the road and everything. Maybe that will spark the program a little bit. Right now winning anything more than 3 games would probably give folks a heart attack down there.

Uhhh, yeah. He's not that fast a healer. I'd like to see a side-by-side of MRIs before declaring a miracle. Not that I have a clue, but somehow I find it difficult to believe God would care much if Shaun Alexander can make the Bear game or not. Hurting or not, if the crack is still there then playing on it might only make it worse.

No, and that's not a good sign. Lovie said yesterday that they didn't know the severity of it yet. The Trib said a high ankle sprain would keep him out around 4 weeks. Ouch.

I travel often to Minneapolis on business. This is no lie: twice have I ventured over to the Metrodome, and both times someone has handed me free tickets out of frustration trying to sell them.

Oh I agree. But if the Bears think they can completely come in and not worry about the run, Morris will easily run for 80-100 yards. Agreed. Alexander was running too gingerly with that foot. People need to realize this isn't a sudden injury---he's been playing on it for awhile and it has shown. With Alexander finally out, the Seahawks can concentrate on running the ball with a healthy RB. IMO this is actually a blessing in disguise for them. Shaun would not have been effective with that foot anyway. Morris will be better for them.

Well that's interesting. Is this article incorrect then? http://www.kndo.com/Global/story.asp?S=5454161&nav=menu484_4_1

Why would anyone make such an announcement now? I question whether this is even real. If this is such a great idea, then just move Giles to leadoff right now......? This sounds like a lot of speculation.....even if it does come from someone in the organization. Nobody can know with any degree of certainty what will happen next April.

My hatred for the Cardinals is surpassed only by the early 90s Knicks teams. The Astros, while lame, have never really bugged me as much. I doubt they can do it, but would laugh heartily if they did. I admit it, I'm reduced to rooting for disasters on other clubs to make me feel better.

Thayer's been using every opportunity to point out that Benson can catch the ball and is a good receiver out of the backfield, so there's a reason right there to put him in on passing downs. Benson's not the first Bear running back to be held short on playing time because of the "poor pass blocker" tag. I believe ATrain stayed off the field for a bit his rookie season for that very reason, too. Trouble is, Benson's been around for over a year now. He should be able to pass block at this point. I don't think pass blocking is a natural ability----it's a learned one. So unless someone can tell me Benson's not putting in the work, then it's on the coaches. Nobody has been willing to say "Benson's not working hard," so I have no choice but to blame the coaches for Benson's lack of playing time due to pass blocking.

Injury? Man Law. That word is not allowed in any Bear thread.

I do think next week's game is winnable if we play better than last week. And I don't want to get ahead of myself for fear of bringing down the jinx.....so let me preface this with a big *KNOCK ON WOOD* Still, I think it's worth pointing out. Look at the schedule after the Seattle game: 10/8 VS. BUFFALO BILLS 10/16 @ ARIZONA CARDINALS 10/29 VS. SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS 11/5 VS. MIAMI DOLPHINS 11/12 @ NEW YORK GIANTS 11/19 @ NEW YORK JETS 11/26 @ NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS 12/3 VS. MINNESOTA VIKINGS 12/11 @ ST. LOUIS RAMS 12/17 VS. TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS 12/24 @ DETROIT LIONS 12/31 VS. GREEN BAY PACKERS :shock: Looking at how the Giants played this weekend, and the Patriots........and the Bills There's nothing but very, very winnable games on the schedule after Seattle. Sure, there's a big 3 game road trip but even assuming we drop 2 of those 3 games-----how does this Bear team finish less than 12-4, worst case?

I agree that they did some things right, but they sure did some things wrong. The tackling was horrible. There's really no way around that. They took a long time to adjust to Minnesota's blitzes, though they did adjust by the time we needed it at the end. And although some of the penalties can be attributed to poor officiating, they really need to make sure those don't happen. I just hope that they come out a little more crisp all around on Sunday night. You're right, mistakes were made. I attribute some of that to just the fact that they can't hear themselves think with an enclosed, roaring crowd of 70,000. Not all of it, though. Blitz adjustment was a problem.......I knew Minny's blitzes were going to be difficult because I watched what they did against Carolina and it was impressive. Thing is, Seattle does alot of the same stuff so I'm glad we got some good practice Sunday. No excuse for 10 penalties @ Soldier Field. I will be watching that closely, as I know you will. It's just really, really tough to go up there and beat the Vikes. Even Favre used to struggle with it in his prime. I'm proud of the Bears, for sticking with it for 60 minutes and coming out on top. In years past, this would have never, never happened. We would have folded after the Grossman INT, no question in my mind.

Likely. Maybe the Bucs can see what Major Applewhite is up to these days Great name, marginal QB skills. I could be wrong, but I thought I saw Major up in the booth for someone.....is he an OC now for some school?