Soul

Someone at the game Friday asked me if I knew what happened with Prior. I had to tell him I didn't know. Pretty sad news.

Holy crap think of the opportunity to snag baseballs before & during the game! On Rollins' comment, I think he's more right about any comments that are uncivil than just saying Philly fans "are frontrunners." Booing I'm OK with, not showing up when the team sucks -- I'm OK with. Yelling out obscenities & such, personally I think that's when it crosses the line, and if I was a player I too would want to know if I was going to get alot more of that than usual.

The truth will out: http://www.suntimes.com/sports/football/bears/1124028,williams082408.article To be fair, some guys might have a herniated disk and it doesn't affect them. But it bothers me that after it flared up, the Bears continued with the lie that it wasn't a pre-existing injury even though they clearly knew that wasn't the case. Why lie? Everyone else already knew. I want guys running my favorite team who are honest and straightforward. I can't say that about Angelo, and sometimes even Lovie, and that bothers me.

He didn't play much against the against the Cards either. I find that to be interesting, don't you? Doumit didn't play yesterday against the Crew either. I'll bet he plays all 3 against us. Great work guys, we have proof of a conspiracy! Now all we need to figure out is a motive. My point isn't that it's a conspiracy per se, but that teams definitely gear up for the Cubs. We get everyone's best effort. Other teams don't. Come on, you really dont believe that do you? That is embarrassingly lame I don't. I was merely pointing out he's been sick. Plus, he has a .635OPS for August. He was directing it at me. And I do believe teams "get up" to play the Cubs. Not because it's a conspiracy, but because it's quite natural to want to play your best against -- let's face it -- one of the most exciting, well attended and funded teams in all of sports. But as it was basically just pointed out, the Brewers are a likely playoffs-bound team with a lot of heat right now and who are drawing huge crowds at home. Why would a team lay down for them just to stack up for the Cubs? Sure, but they don't have near the name or the support of the Cubs. If this was the Cards, then I might agree with you.

His last 2 starts haven't been all that great. That's probably why they wanted to give him some more rest.

and yet all the national media likes to talk about is CC I hope they don't start talking more about Harden. Let them lavish praise on CC. Hopefully Yost will get full of it and overpitch CC more than he would have.

He didn't play much against the against the Cards either. I find that to be interesting, don't you? Doumit didn't play yesterday against the Crew either. I'll bet he plays all 3 against us. Great work guys, we have proof of a conspiracy! Now all we need to figure out is a motive. My point isn't that it's a conspiracy per se, but that teams definitely gear up for the Cubs. We get everyone's best effort. Other teams don't. Come on, you really dont believe that do you? That is embarrassingly lame I don't. I was merely pointing out he's been sick. Plus, he has a .635OPS for August. He was directing it at me. And I do believe teams "get up" to play the Cubs. Not because it's a conspiracy, but because it's quite natural to want to play your best against -- let's face it -- one of the most exciting, well attended and funded teams in all of sports.

He didn't play much against the against the Cards either. I find that to be interesting, don't you? Doumit didn't play yesterday against the Crew either. I'll bet he plays all 3 against us. Great work guys, we have proof of a conspiracy! Now all we need to figure out is a motive. My point isn't that it's a conspiracy per se, but that teams definitely gear up for the Cubs. We get everyone's best effort. Other teams don't. Come on, you really dont believe that do you? That is embarrassingly lame Because you say so? Teams playing with no fan support all year, dank dark stadiums, suddenly the Cubs come to town, or they go to Wrigley where they know it's going to be packed to the gills? They gear up for it. For some of these guys it's the most exciting baseball they'll see for a month or more.

He didn't play much against the against the Cards either. I find that to be interesting, don't you? Doumit didn't play yesterday against the Crew either. I'll bet he plays all 3 against us. Great work guys, we have proof of a conspiracy! Now all we need to figure out is a motive. My point isn't that it's a conspiracy per se, but that teams definitely gear up for the Cubs. We get everyone's best effort. Other teams don't.

He didn't play much against the against the Cards either. I find that to be interesting, don't you? Doumit didn't play yesterday against the Crew either. I'll bet he plays all 3 against us.

Brewers win. I love how McLouth doesn't play against the Crew, but you can bet your bottom dollar he'll be ready for the Cubs.

Even after Saturday's drubbing, I'm really sick of this Nationals ballclub. Let's just blow them out Sunday and forget they exist until next March.

Wow Cubs game, Hancock, Lou Malnatti's, Buckingham fountain? All you are missing is a trip to Navy Pier! :) There was a pretty big concert down by Buckingham though, so unfortunately it wasn't as serene and beautiful as I like it. I left after a few minutes :( Other than that though, good day!

I wouldn't expect it. The Crew knows how to leave no doubt against these crappy teams. Pirates will show no life until Monday.

Pretty darn good day. Had good seats in the shade just to the 1st base side of home plate. Cubs trounced the Nats, saw 2 Rammy homers. Demp looked solid, if a little wild. All good. Took a trip to the top of the Hancock building. It's true, the views are much better than Sears Tower. Got some Malnati's pizza, very good. Going out to cap it off with a walk down by Buckingham fountain after dark. Good way to end the annual Chicago trip. Yesterday is forgotten and forgiven, Cubs.

Huh? They lost one player on offense. Yes it was a big player they lost but besides Rodgers how is it a unknown? Grant? I could see. They have one of if not the best WR group in the NFL. A improving line, and Donald Lee is starting to come into his own as a TE. I'm not sure I'd lavish that high of praise on them. They're one of the better WR cores, but they still are really 2nd tier. I can think of several teams off the top of my head that have better. Like who? Colts Pats Arizona Cinci After that there are a couple of teams that can be argued either way (Detriot, New Orleans, maybe one other that I can't think of right now). Indy? Probably Pats? No Arizona? haha no Cinci? No Arizona? Seriously? Yes they have Boldin and Fitz but after that? Come on now New England has Moss and Welker but Gaffney and co. would be battling it out with Ruvell Martin for the 5th WR spot on the Packers rosters. Cinci? Johnson and TJ are both elite but Chris Henry is.. well blah. He has talent but he cant stay on the field to prove that. And Chatman wouldnt make the Packers roster. The Packers 1-5 have the arguably most talent and depth in the NFL at the WR position. The Colts are probably the closest however. Gonzalez would probably start over Jones but after that... And Wayne and Harrison are obviously elite but after that it would be Nelson and Martin over Hall and whoever else they have. So I would probably give you the Colts. I think a WR core has to be weighted according to projected playing time. You're right IMO on one thing: the Packers fifth wide receiver has proved more than pretty much any other team's 5th wide receiver. However, that isn't much benefit. Your 5th wide receiver only gets a small amount of playing time. So when looking at receiving cores, having a better 1st and 2nd wideouts are the most important thing. Then, having a good 3rd becomes important as they are on the field a lot. 4th and 5th are really not all that necessary most of the time (many teams don't even use a lot of 4 WR sets). So I would agree with the Colts, Pats, Arizona, and Cincy. They all have 2 receivers who are gamechangers. Those are a lot more dangerous than 5 good receivers who are interchangable like the Packers have (2 of the receivers probably being classified as very good). If you look deeper into those teams, most of them have 3rd and 4th string guys who have enough talent to beat 1 on 1 coverage, which is all you need when having those top 2 guys. I know the Colts and Pats do. I would then put the Packers on the next tier. Good WR cores that can burn you, but aren't the entire focus of a defense. Other teams on this tier include the Steelers (Ward/Homes/Washington/Sweed), Browns (Edwards/Stallworth/Jurevicius), Cowboys (Owens/Crayton), Saints (Colston/Henderson/Patten), and Lions (Williams/Johnson/Furrey). I considered teams like the Giants, Rams, and Seahawks for the 2nd tier, but ultimately decided they were all 3rd tier. I would agree, the weighted benefit is strongly on the side of the 1's and 2's, and those teams have better ones. I still think the Packers will be pretty good though. I don't what they'll be getting from Rodgers yet, and won't until the regular season starts. But the D is pretty good and they should be able to pick up from the last part of '07 and run the football reasonably well. Rodgers has some other pieces to rely on, which is good (or bad if you're a Vikes fan).

Yeah, it's 4 games out of each team's schedule and that can mean the difference between a good season and a great season.

Heading out to the game in a little bit. I like to get there early. I'm having difficulty accepting the idea that the Nats lay down for the Crew yet put on a display like they did yesterday. But hey, today is a different day. GO CUBS.

He walked the bases loaded.

What happened? I sat in the rain for 2 hours getting drunk, wondering if there was going to be a doubleheader on Saturday. Then the rain stopped and they started playing. Looked good for awhile, happy. Then Marquis started sucking to high heaven, so Lou puts Cotts in there. Cotts then serves up a granny ball to that little punk who probably still can't believe he hit it, and we were all like "WAT?". Then more runs, more BS from various bozo pitchers. I left in the 8th and went and got a hot dog. Ridiculous waste of my time. That's what happened.

Actually I believe the IOC is asking the International Gymnastics Federation to undertaking an investigation, as opposed to doing it themselves (at least that's what was stated in the ESPN article I linked to a page or two ago). I believe issues such as this are decided by the individual sports' governing bodies (since they make the rules in the first place), not the IOC. I think it was the same four years ago when there was the men's all-around controversy. Cool. I suppose I should have known you guys would have discussed it a couple pages back by the time Costas mentioned it in his daily wrap :)

What are you basing the Vikings prediction on? The Tavaris injury? I heard it wasn't really that serious. Though I admit I haven't really been following them all that closely.

I want to see this offense humming like a well-oiled machine again. Especially since I'll be at the game. BEAT THESE FOOLS!!!

Apparently the IOC is now undertaking an official investigation into the age of China's female gymnasts. Costas announced it a little bit ago.

I think it is time we think about the possible decline of some of our players on defense. Still though, as frustrating as it was to sit through that performance tonight, I still want to wait for the regular season before I make any declarations. The 49ers scored a lot of points on Green Bay last week too. I find it highly unlikely that's because GB's D will suck too. More likely, it's at least partially because the 49ers are a team under a great deal of pressure this season to turn it around, and they're very eager to show everyone they are doing so, even in the preseason. GB thinks they know what they have on D, and so do we. You didn't see our best packages or best performances tonight. I gotta believe that until I see otherwise in the reg. season. Orton had some nice reads & throws tonight. Overall, I was much more pleased with the offensive playcalling and philosophy than I was last week. I think it's time to seriously think about saying goodbye to Garrett Wolfe. I just don't see the point anymore. Very nice to see Greg Olsen get a little more involved. I'm trying my hardest to remain positive here.