Soul

Is Kornheiser really going to subject us to his stupid "Hello? I'm still here!" opinion over & over again all damn night? Christ, we get it. You think people have forgotten Peyton Manning. They haven't. Now shut the hell up! My God is he bad. This booth is completely unlistenable.

I completely agree with you I don't think Michigan will beat them, but I agree they've had it easy and the Big 10 is down. To be honest, a lot of conferences are down this year.

no but uk losing to florida is fine because uk beat l'ville, uk beat lsu who beat vt. this isn't something that is hard to understand. if a conference performs better when they play out of conference, then when they play in conference there's a better argument for beating up on each other. the sec did fine out of conference, so when the play each other they beat up on each other. the little ten laid an egg outside of conference, so when they play each other its crap over crap. The Big 10 is horrific this year. I don't know how anyone can argue that the Big 10 is anywhere close to the SEC. the best part is that the big 10 is pretty stinky, but ohio st. has a very good shot of being in the title game again! That's the thing that gets me. Everyone thought Ohio State, losing a ton of players, they're done. Nope. They're clearly the class of the big 10 again.

I guess my point is that the Cubs ought to fix their problems drafting and developing American talent as well as focusing on foreign shores. For the time being, the impact of Latin players has been far greater than Japanese or Korean. Hopefully that's what Tim Wilken and his staff are here for and acquiring American talent.I hope so too. But then again perhaps their two best position prospects; Colvin and Vitters are just as hack happy as everyone else and haven't seemed to change once they got to the minors. Hendry kind of downplayed the roll of player development, when, IMO that is the Cubs real downfall. I don't buy the argument that a player cannot learn plate discipline. Well he talked about it being scouting, and he talked about the commitment in Latin America. It sort of sounds like he thinks it's more front-loaded. I don't agree with that completely. Young players like that -- it's got to be coaching too, not just picking talent from some Latin American playground. They need to be able to teach at that level.

I'd still prefer Peyton Manning. Can you work that out for me? 8-)

There wasn't a hold or a tackle. Fred Miller got his arm around the defender like it was going to be a hold, but he never got a grip. And while Miller did spin him a bit, the defender never went down to the ground. If he had, there likely would have been a flag thrown. lol..just re-watched it myself...it wasn't even remotely close to a hold. Fred admits that it was: http://www.suntimes.com/sports/football/bears/614154,CST-SPT-bearnt22.article Now -- I think it's important to be clear here: holding is holding when you get caught. EVERY team holds on pass plays. Bears do it, Packers, Eagles -- everyone. Just so happens Freddy got away with that one. If I went back to the tape I'll bet I could find examples where Eagles players got away with "veteran holds" too.

Alright, but wasn't it like $25,000 worth? $25k worth of HGH to treat a simple glandular condition? Color me suspicious. Obviously any doctor prescribing a medication is going to put a medical condition in the record as a reason for prescribing it. That's going to be the case with normal prescriptions, as well as shady ones. So I'm not sure that really proves anything, but it's good to know. Obviously it didn't help Byrd's fastball. I don't think that's really the point either.

Moronic. 5-fold? Winning? Let's have a look at Texas' record while ARod was with the club, Roz. Explain to me how the dynamic would be any different with the Sox. It's identical. ARod would be *ALL* they would have. And they'd lose. Not necessarily. ARod, Konerko, Dye and Thome could be a solid core for a couple years. Texas's record doesn't say a thing about what would happen to another team that took him on. Texas didn't make a mistake by paying ARod, their problem was wasting millions on much lesser players and having no pitching. But you are right, I don't see them getting $1.5b in revenue off of ARod. But the financial engine is very similar. The Sox aren't going to expand their payroll that much, and they aren't raking in dough like the Cubs. They wouldn't be able to keep around all those players. Dye & Thome likely on the big slide downward anyway. And teams always need to keep improving. If you aren't improving, you're getting worse. You can't look at it in a vacuum. There will be future needs. Needs that won't be met because the Sox won't have the cash. I don't know, it looks & feels like Rangers to me.

Moronic. 5-fold? Winning? Let's have a look at Texas' record while ARod was with the club, Roz. Explain to me how the dynamic would be any different with the Sox. It's identical. ARod would be *ALL* they would have. And they'd lose.

The Rockies had the best record in the NL since the middle of May you know... Im just saying.. I keep wondering what it would take to turn the Cubs into a hot, young, eager ballclub like the Rox. And it makes me want to booze up and sleep for days.

ARam matters more to *me* than Soriano 8-)

Im guessing it goes back to the team again. Maggs runs were more valuable to his team than Arods were to the Yankees, since the Yankees had a better offense around him. I think that is where Meph is making his argument for Maggs being the most Valuable. Alright. So this is kind of a...."I have a grading system and this is out it came out" thing. That's cool. Well its really a system of taking everything into account, instead of looking at 1 category like most of the voters will do. Meph is discussing the most valuable player, not necessarily the best player in the league. I hope Im describing this right, and not speaking wrongly for Meph. This is true. For the third time: These rankings do not rank best players in the league. Cool. I'm all for new & different stuff. I'd still take ARod for MVP this year 8-)

After 8 or 9 days off? I wonder if the Rox will come out a little cold.

Im guessing it goes back to the team again. Maggs runs were more valuable to his team than Arods were to the Yankees, since the Yankees had a better offense around him. I think that is where Meph is making his argument for Maggs being the most Valuable. Alright. So this is kind of a...."I have a grading system and this is out it came out" thing. That's cool.

OK, I don't run numbers because it bores me but can a serious case be made for Magglio over ARod for AL MVP? Keeping in mind, Magglio's efforts didn't do much as his team sunk badly out of the race, and ARod's efforts spearheaded a pretty good comeback by the Yanks that landed them into the playoffs. MVP votes usually always go to a player on a team that made the playoffs. Rightly or wrongly, that's an accepted axiom among many voters.

The Rockies are on one of the all time hot streaks. It's the one thing that was fun to watch in the NL for me. I just knew they'd kick the DBags in the teeth and they would never recover. That's exactly what happened, too.

# of foul balls with 2 strikes? I'm looking for that "pest" factor. I wish we could quantify # of starts over a better, younger, player. Difficult to do though. IF Hits+Sacrifices+ P/PA+Years in minors before debut+Round in which drafted*BA w/ RiSP/Height in Inches + multipliers (1 (Dirty Helmet Multiplier) + 2 CWS Participant +# of teams played for before ML Debut) I've included P/PA to account for the pest factor. Oh, that's getting damn close now. Someone will have to do a front page article or recruit Bruce to give it some polish.

Playoffs or not, it should be a fun group to watch in terms of development. That comeback against the Red Wings was great. I could kick myself for turning it off when the Hawks went down 0-2 early. I won't do that again. The damn Stars game wasn't broadcast. The "home games not on TV" thing again. I'm really hoping Wirtz's kids get rid of that, it's pointless now.

# of foul balls with 2 strikes? I'm looking for that "pest" factor. I wish we could quantify # of starts over a better, younger, player. Difficult to do though.

Just about every team is prone to having stretches where the can't hit anything. That's not only a Cubs problem. I knew you would say that 8-) Surely the Cubs were more feast or famine than many other clubs. It sure felt that way to me -- I know that's terribly scientific.

So there's IF hits, sacs, HBP, height. How do we incorporate "driving in runs with your glove," a true sign of grittiness?

Those were the real Chicago Cubs. No, those weren't. No kidding. The Cubs sure aren't the '27 Yanks, but what they showed in the LDS was pitiful, and certainly not what they had been for most of the season. Arizona was exposed by Colorado the same way they should have been exposed by the Cubs. It would make me feel much better if I could believe that Arizona was the better team and the Cubs were simply beaten, but I would be lying to myself. I can't believe people are still so willing to lie to themselves about what the 2007 Cubs were. The 2007 Cubs were prone to looking exactly like the team that got swept in the LDS this year, they did that very same thing on numerous occasions. That was the real Cubs. Yeah, you're right. The real Cubs only averaged 2 runs per game this year and gave up an average of 5.3 runs per game. What's that you say? They averaged 4.6 runs per game and gave up 4.26 runs per game? Well by golly they sure didn't do that in the postseason. And I don't know about you but I'm much more willing to believe 162 games than 3 games. Additionally, if those were the real Cubs as you are insisting, then I suppose if I looked up their regular season stats that I should expect to see that Derrek Lee has an OPS of .718, Matt Murton has an OPS of .500, Cliff Floyd has an OPS of .375, Alfonso Soriano has an OPS of .343 and Aramis Ramirez has an OPS of .077. And I also bet that Ted Lilly had a ERA of 16.20 this season, Marmol an ERA of 9 and Rich Hill an ERA of 9. Oh wait, I won't see that because those guys performed significantly better than that over 162 games. Yeah, but I think the point is we saw these stretches where the Cubs would hit nothing. It wasn't something we didn't see. It happened quite a bit with our hitters. Then they'd come back another time and slaughter the ball and the overall numbers looked better. As for the pitching. OK -- especially Lilly. I didn't see that one coming, not against the DBacks. I'll give you that.

Even the Red Sox?? i'd rather the rockies or indians win. but if the red sox win, then whatever. better them than the diamondbacks. I'm tired of Boston sports. +100 Look no further than the Sports Guy for the giant transformation from sarcastic down on their luck fans to overly prideful goons. Every week he writes a new article about how terrific it is to be a fan in Boston. It's sickening. It's pretty amazing the town hasn't seen a champion in any sport since the 2004 season, yet they all seem to act as if the Patriots haven't lose a playoff game in a decade and that the Red Sox are indesctructible. They need to revert to their old, loser selves in the worst way. Sadly, I think the Pats might have the most realistic shot @ 19-0 of any team in awhile. I'm torn whether to hold my nose and root for them to shut Czonka and Bob Griese up forever, or just root against them on the basis that Boston has become a hateful sports town. I know the Bo Sox need to be stopped. That's what I'm focusing on now. Maybe the sand flies or gnats or whatever the hell they were will return to the Jake and save us from having to hear about the Sox anymore.

Even the Red Sox?? i'd rather the rockies or indians win. but if the red sox win, then whatever. better them than the diamondbacks. I'm tired of Boston sports. +100

Even the Red Sox?? i'd rather the rockies or indians win. but if the red sox win, then whatever. better them than the diamondbacks. I'm actively rooting against the Sox. If they win the WS, then the Pats run the table? And the resulting ESPN love-fest that will undoubtedly follow? My poor brain, it will hemorrage.