NorthsideAvenger

Just wanted to have a post in one World Series Game thread. That is all. World Series Champion....Chicago Cubs. :flythew:

I refused to post in this thread in fear of jinxing the Cubs. Season and drought over, it feels good to post about the Cubs again. Occasionally posted in Blackhawks thread but it's been a long time since I posted about the Cubs. So tonight is a good night to change that. :yahoo:

Piniella seems intrigued about the idea. And of course, the ballplayer in Theriot (you gotta love that) says he is willing to do anything the coach asks of him. So, if Theriot proves he can be a decent option in CF, would anybody be opposed to an OF of: Murton, Theriot/Jones platoon, Soriano? Cause, I'm intrigued about the possibility.

As CalRaisin said, Brown will be back with the Bears. He IS the heart and soul of the defense. I know Urlacher and Harris get the publicity and the hype---rightfully so----but the Bears D started going downhill right after Brown was lost for the season. Even tho he can't be counted to stay healthy for a full yr, Brown HAS to be brought back, nonetheless, he is too vital to the Bears D success. I would like to add QUALITY and depth this offseason. I would like the Bears to pick up a very good saftey in FA---perhaps Samuels---and pick up a safety in the draft---Mohawk kid from Notre Dame--to add with Brown and Manning (not the Manning, Jr) On Briggs, well see what Angelo thinks of Briggs and his future in Chicago. And I personally think Briggs will be franchise for 2007 season, and the Bears are going to draft his replacement (Alexander from Oklahoma or Everett from Florida could be likely candidates) and let Briggs leave after the 07 season. On Harris, he is the Bears version of Carlos Zambrano. Very colorful character, arguable the best of what they did, and both should look to command top dollar. I expect the Bears to extended him THIS offseason. And on a side note, I would like to see Dvorcek given a chance to play next yr.

Or Ohman. Why would we want to trade the less expensive, more effective one? Especially when considering the fact that Eyre's market value is well above his actual value, trading Ohman instead of Eyre would most likely be foolhardy. Well, the question is which player the other teams would prefer. Maybe Eryre doesn't tickle their fancy, but Ohman does. In that case, you trade Ohman without blinking an eye, if it involves a player that can really help the team. Now while I see that a loogy is intregal part of the bullpen, but what kind of player do you expect to recieve for a loogy? I know they are hard to come by, and IMO, the Cubs have four guys who would qualify as potential loogy (Rapada/Cotts/Ohman/Eyre), but even for Ohman, you're prolly not going to get anything more then a decent bench player (ala Mark Sweeney caliber) or a couple of solid B prospect. So, if it came down to it, I would rather keep three lefties in the pen (with Cotts as the long man/emergency starter) with the possibility of moving either Eyre/Ohman at the deadline this yr, or after the 07 season.

Agreed. As much as I love the Bears, and I really do love the Bears, simply seeing the Cubs make the playoffs would be just a little better. IDK about that. It would be close. The Cubs making the World Series would have more of a Surreal feel to it, but the excitement of either team making the "Pinnacle" of their sports championships games, would blow Chicago to the moon. And I hope I live long enough to see both happen, again.

as if tim duncan wasn't cool enough already. Why wasn't the Bulls good, when he was a FA? Damn you Krause.

I don't think, even if he wanted to, Brady could do 4,000 yrds in a season, without it taking a severe toll on his arm. I believe Brady is more a system's QB then Peyton Manning. So, again, I'm standing the comparasion of Brady:: Pennington. Cause without Belichek, Brady would be a journeyman QB, prolly playing in Arizona right now.

Maybe build wise. I see Colvin as a Mark Kotsay type underrappreciated player. One of those players you know was good, but he puts up better numbers then you expect.

I believe it's "Sean" and not "Shawn." And if memory serves me correct but didn't Sean Payton used to be the Bears QB during the strike shorting season back in the 80s, under Mike Ditka?

Agree on Brady. Brady is nothing more then Chad Pennington with SB rings. Does that mean Brady is a GREAT QB, of course, nor am I saying he is a bad QB, he is just overrated. Peyton Manning is still the better QB. I like the Patriots when they beat the Rams (due to the Rams being in St. Louis, come on Chicago, you can't ever root for a St. Lou team) and I was partially to Adam Vintieri. With that said, I should be thankful for the Patriots and the Ravens, seeing as Robbie Gould was given a shot with both clubs.

and yet the WS Champs are in the NL Central. Only because the NL Central used the ole "Jedi mindtrick" into fooling everybody into thinking the NLC was terrible, when in actuality....no wait...what am I talking about,the NL Central is terrible, and a WS title doesn't that fact. Detroit just proved to be incompetent when the game was on the line.

Atleast, he has the ability to punch one out, periodically. Blanco is signed because he is a defensive stud, so to speak.

Absolutely. Similar to another underrated 1st base, who happens to be a ex-Cub. I've been saying Randall Simon is underrated for like 5 years now. Nice try, dude. Very funny, but that joke wasn't to GRACEful, if you ask me.

How about: Cubs get: Church Pirates get: J. Jones Nats get: Duffy or McLoeth (and somebody like Novoa) ???

The flag was out so early, that I didn't get myself very excited about the runback. I didn't see the flag, so I was way too excited about a non-touchdown. I know Reggie Bush brings the sxcitement, but to me, Devin Hester has been "The Rookie" in terms of excitement all yr. He has done things as a punt returner that nobody has EVER done before. And I hope Lovie puts in some trick plays that uses Hester speed (reverses, etc). I really hope the Bears use Hester in the way the Steelers used Randel-El (who is glad the Bears DIDN'T say Randel-El, NOW?). I mean, using Hester more on offense against the Saints, would totally confused the Saints, and they would have to account for Hester, as the Bears will with Bush. I think Hester could totally impact the offensive side of ball, if Lovie choose to.

Saints offense is ranked higher than the Bears defense and the Saints D is ranked higher than the Bears offense. The weather is going to be the toughest thing for the Saints in my opinion. Considering the fact that the Saints have not played in VERY COLD WEATHER all yr (disadvantage for teams in the NFC/AFC South, come playoff time, IMO), I think it will be the "cold weather" that hurts the Saints. Playoff time plus cold weather in the midwest is a different brand of football, then regular season plus warm weather in the southern states. I just doubt the ability of the Saints to play smash-mouth football in January. My opinion is...the Bears/Saints game won't be a high scoring game. I believe the Bears will win Sunday, and I don't think it will be as close as some WANT it to be. I'm thinking something like 24-7. I love the Bears, but if they hold the Saints to 7 points, I'll...I don't know what I'll do. It isn't going to happen. The Seahawks scored 24, and the Saints have a much better offense than they do. I hope the Bears shut them down cold, but I can't see that happening. First: Seattle was/is more equipped to play in the cold that Chicago brought. I'm not convince Nawlins will be the "threat" people think they are. Second: 7 points might be a little bit ambitous, but I do think the current Bears D has the talent to do, regardless of how they've played recently. But I will revised my score....24-14.

The Seahawks are not a "pathetic" team. They had a healthy Hasselbeck and Alexander, and outside of losing Hutchingson to FA, they pretty much had their same offensive talent from the Super Bowl team. That is FAR from being "pathetic." The Bears beat a team that was underachieivng, who was dealing with injuries. In other words, the Bears didn't beat a "pathetic" team.

As a couple of posters already mention, it was a classless move by the Patriots. Doing another player's signature move on the LOGO is the picture of disrespect. TO did it to the Star in Dallas, when he was a 9er, and he got ripped for it, the players who copied Merriman should be ripped. And the Patriots are said to be "classy organization", and seeing as LT isn't one of those self-promoting jerks, I say he has some credence, and a reason to be mad. LT is mad about losing the game, no doubt, but this goes beyond the game, you disrespecting your opponent, which will be felt the next time the two teams play. Why couldn't the Patriots just shake the hands of the Chargers, and celebrate in the clubhouse, like the professional they are "suppose" to be. Patriots come off looking like jerks in the case, and I hope the Colts beat the stuffing out of them next week.

How exciting was the non-punt return of Devin Hester? And who else here think Devin Hester will have a "sophomore slump" simply because teams are going to kick the ball away from him?

Saints offense is ranked higher than the Bears defense and the Saints D is ranked higher than the Bears offense. The weather is going to be the toughest thing for the Saints in my opinion. Considering the fact that the Saints have not played in VERY COLD WEATHER all yr (disadvantage for teams in the NFC/AFC South, come playoff time, IMO), I think it will be the "cold weather" that hurts the Saints. Playoff time plus cold weather in the midwest is a different brand of football, then regular season plus warm weather in the southern states. I just doubt the ability of the Saints to play smash-mouth football in January. My opinion is...the Bears/Saints game won't be a high scoring game. I believe the Bears will win Sunday, and I don't think it will be as close as some WANT it to be. I'm thinking something like 24-7.

First: I don't like the "Won a World Series, thus should be an automatic favorites" theory. Sometimes it fits, most times, it don't. In the Cards case, it is not true. The Cards were a MEDIOCRE team that got hot at the right time. And the Cards haven't really improved themselves this off-season. Marquis for Wells, Bellard for Kennedy, losing Suppan keeping Mulder. Edmonds and Rolen are abit older. In other words, the Cards have made lateral moves AT BEST. And the Cards are going to need big contributions from Wainwright/Reyes and Duncan if they want to stay in the hunt. Second: I don't think there is a CLEAR cut favorite for the NL Central crown, simply because no team in the division have distinguish themselves as being better then the rest of the division. Each team has something that is great, and something that is bad. Right now, it's a two division, division, so to speak. In one division you have Cubs/Cards/Brewer with the Astros/Reds/Pirates at the other end. Now will this flip flopped through the yr, sure, but right now, I think on paper the Cubs are top 3 in the division---low expectations, great fun.

Worse defense? The Saints defense is ranked 4th in the NFC, with Seattle at 9th. Saints gave up 4.9 ypc this year, only team worse was the Colts. They did do well in ypc passing, but they gave up a 2nd worse 26 TD passes. I will give you that they are better statistically than Seattle. But I'm more confident with the Bears O against the Saints D than the Seahawks....especially outdoors. Well, I'll give you that. However, I think at this point the Saints O is better than the Bears D. Especially considering y'alls last few games. You'll have the top passing offense in the NFL up against a defense that, not counting this last game, has given up 283 yds and 3td's to Kitna, 268 yds and 3td's to Rattay, and 356 yds and 3td's to Bulger. Your secondary is suffering. The corners are playing well, but the safeties are struggling. I'm guessing it'll be a reasonably high scoring game next week. IDK about that. The Saints are a dome team that hasn't played in a cold weather site since Week 16 against the Giants, and they only played in 3 cold-weather sites all yr (Cleveland, NYG, GB). Cleveland sucked from the beginning of the yr, GB got off to a slow start, and Giants were finished the fall from grace. Not exactly world beaters. With that said, I have mad respect for the Saints, and I believe this next week, the NFL are going to try and make the Bears the "bad guys" so that the "Cinderalla" team can get to the Super Bowl. All I know is, the clock has strucked midnight, and the Saints "Cinderalla" season will be over in 7 days.