soccer10k

Good teams don't look as good when they're playing other good teams. Like when the Ravens struggled against a near certain playoff Browns team. That's one example. The Bears struggled yesterday against a near certain playoff Buccaneers team. The AFC also is 38-22 against the NFC this year. I wouldn't call it struggling. It really wasn't a hard fought game. The Bears completely dominated until they went to sleep in the 4th, and TB took advantage. The Bears then re-awakened and snuffed out TB's chances. The Bears needed overtime at home to beat a team that is likely to get a top 5 pick in the draft.

Week 15 vance: 9-6 Mark: - ndistops: 10-6 soccer: 9-7 Ryan: 12-4 Truffle: 10-6 UMfan: - rawaction: - ChiCubsFan: - Overall: vance: 104-97 Mark: 38-48 ndistops: 107-111 soccer: 105-113 Ryan: 39-31 Truffle: 74-56 UMfan: 46-76 rawaction: 28-35 ChiCubsFan: 30-37 Note: There have been 6 ties overall (2 in Week 3, 2 in Week 5, 1 in Week 7, 1 in Week 11)

What is the tiebreaker?

[nitpicking]This century, the 21st, started January 1, 2001 as did the new millennium, which is the 3rd.[/nitpicking] As per Wikipedia

Good teams don't look as good when they're playing other good teams. Like when the Ravens struggled against a near certain playoff Browns team. That's one example. The Bears struggled yesterday against a near certain playoff Buccaneers team. The AFC also is 38-22 against the NFC this year.

Yes I did. I watched him play many times that year as I wanted to see if Illinois could go undefeated. He was the weak spot on that team. Before you jump all over me for that, I realize that saying Augustine was the weak spot on that team isn't really saying too much because of Head, Brown, and Williams. But he never did anything that stood out to me. He just always seemed to just be on the court while the three guys I mentioned before did most of the work. Now, I'll admit that I didn't see him much last year after Head and Williams left so he could have improved a bunch and could have been more of a focal point in their offense last year. But two years ago, he didn't really do anything that stood out to me and I wasn't very impressed with his play.

Good teams don't look as good when they're playing other good teams.

I saw that little segment on The OT where he was criticizing Grossman. It was some funny stuff. The guy definitely has some problems with the Bears and Chicago as well as Grossman in general. It's not a surprise to me that Buck would say that the Eagles have a better chance in the NFC than the Bears. I definitely think that he is a closet Eagles fan. He's obviously comparing this years Eagles to last years Steelers and he isn't the only one who has done this.

Pitt always plays a terrible schedule and is overrated. Maybe sometime this century the Big 10 will win a National Championship? Do you think? I think someone will this January. They should also be playing another Big Ten team for the title. I beleive we had a basketball team that would have won if not for standing within two feet of Sean May being a foul. Just because Illinois couldn't stop Sean May to save its life in that game doesn't mean you have to throw out untrue statements like that. Don't get me wrong, I was rooting for Illinois that year but there was no favorite playing by the refs in that game. I would agree with that-I was also rooting bigtime for Illinois, but I thought that game was called very fairly. I though NC definitely had the benefit of the calls, but nowhere near to the extent they did two games before. oh if only one Alando Tucker was healthy that year. The free throw disparity would also agree with my argument. UNC also got the benefit of the doubt on a huge call in the last minute against Villanova. They got a lot of "breaks" that year in the tourny. Come on. You're an Illinois fan. You should know what type of team you had back then. Illinois was a 3 point shooting team. They didn't drive into the basket. They shot jumpers. You don't get fouled too often shooting jumpers. 40 of their 70 shots in the title game were from beyond the arc. Illinois shot 6 free throws in the National Title game. They also only shot 8 against Louisville in the National semifinals. Does that mean the refs favored Louisville? Didn't think so. Sean May was an established post presence and the fact is that Illinois couldn't stop him. When you're completely overmatched like that, you're are going to commit fouls. It happens. James Augustine played 4 minutes 4 minutes. Felton got in foul trouble early and then played the entire final what, 27 minutes without picking up another foul. I know we shot a lot of threes, but we also got called for fouls for standing next to Sean May. i get angry every time i think of that game. one of his fouls, either the 4th or 5th, seemed like it was almost intentional. for a second i thought he was throwing the game, but the replay didnt look as bad, he was just understandably frustrated with horrible officiating. Or maybe he, I don't know, just wasn't a good basketball player.

I picked the second option.

with both that game and the game against Wisconsin, I though the problem was May was allowed to push everyone out of the way down low, whether it be to get open, to make a move to the basket, or to clear out for a rebound, while at the same time there were alot of touch/ticky tack fouls called when NC was on offense. while certainly I am biased for the UW game, but I don't think that's an unfair assessment and the commentators stated so during that game. but with U of I, I had NC picked to win it all in the pool, so I think I was a fairly objective observer. despite your insistence, NC did get the benefit of the calls, especially in the first half of the champ. game. So because you claim to be an objective observer I'm wrong? Are you kidding me? I could say the same thing to you. Despite your insistence, NC did not get the benefit of the call at any point in the game. In the UNC-UW game, UW only committed 2 more fouls than UNC and shot 5 less free throws. Sean May only shot 4 free throws. Again, the guy was a monster in the tournament, especially in the Final Four, and had clearly stepped up his game.

Pitt always plays a terrible schedule and is overrated. Maybe sometime this century the Big 10 will win a National Championship? Do you think? I think someone will this January. They should also be playing another Big Ten team for the title. I beleive we had a basketball team that would have won if not for standing within two feet of Sean May being a foul. Just because Illinois couldn't stop Sean May to save its life in that game doesn't mean you have to throw out untrue statements like that. Don't get me wrong, I was rooting for Illinois that year but there was no favorite playing by the refs in that game. I would agree with that-I was also rooting bigtime for Illinois, but I thought that game was called very fairly. I though NC definitely had the benefit of the calls, but nowhere near to the extent they did two games before. oh if only one Alando Tucker was healthy that year. The free throw disparity would also agree with my argument. UNC also got the benefit of the doubt on a huge call in the last minute against Villanova. They got a lot of "breaks" that year in the tourny. Come on. You're an Illinois fan. You should know what type of team you had back then. Illinois was a 3 point shooting team. They didn't drive into the basket. They shot jumpers. You don't get fouled too often shooting jumpers. 40 of their 70 shots in the title game were from beyond the arc. Illinois shot 6 free throws in the National Title game. They also only shot 8 against Louisville in the National semifinals. Does that mean the refs favored Louisville? Didn't think so. Sean May was an established post presence and the fact is that Illinois couldn't stop him. When you're completely overmatched like that, you're are going to commit fouls. It happens.

Either one player can't be responsible for the success of the team or he can. We can't have it both ways just to support Sammy. It's semantics. One player can't completely change a franchise like in basketball. When Cleveland got LeBron, he instantly changed their franchise. Sammy couldn't change the Cubs. His phenomenal years in 1998 and 2001 led/almost led the Cubs to the playoffs despite the rest of the roster being, average at best.

God, the NFL really needs to drop whatever crap they are holding against the Bears and start calling a fair game. Christ. The NFL doesn't have a vendetta against the Bears. I can understand you claiming an announcer (Joe Buck) doesn't like the Bears but to claim the NFL has something against the Bears and instructs the referees to favor the other team is just stupid. It was a freak'n joke. Somehow I doubt that. There's word I want to say to you but this is a family board, so instead, why dont you just shut up, jerk. Thank you for editing your post...but both of you need to drop this. Done.

God, the NFL really needs to drop whatever crap they are holding against the Bears and start calling a fair game. Christ. The NFL doesn't have a vendetta against the Bears. I can understand you claiming an announcer (Joe Buck) doesn't like the Bears but to claim the NFL has something against the Bears and instructs the referees to favor the other team is just stupid. It was a freak'n joke. Somehow I doubt that. There's word I want to say to you but this is a family board, so instead, why dont you just shut up, jerk. How kind of you.

God, the NFL really needs to drop whatever crap they are holding against the Bears and start calling a fair game. Christ. The NFL doesn't have a vendetta against the Bears. I can understand you claiming an announcer (Joe Buck) doesn't like the Bears but to claim the NFL has something against the Bears and instructs the referees to favor the other team is just stupid. It was a freak'n joke. Somehow I doubt that.

God, the NFL really needs to drop whatever crap they are holding against the Bears and start calling a fair game. Christ. The NFL doesn't have a vendetta against the Bears. I can understand you claiming an announcer (Joe Buck) doesn't like the Bears but to claim the NFL has something against the Bears and instructs the referees to favor the other team is just stupid.

Rattay to Galloway. 98 yards. i just puked blood. I'm no doctor but that can't be good.

Rattay to Galloway. 98 yards.

Remember they still play in the NFC. Seattle has laid eggs the last two weeks. New Orleans just lost to Washington. Dallas got killed by New Orleans last week and has been up and down.

The funniest thing, at least for me, about this is that I'm watching the FOX postgame show and Jimmy Johnson just tried to say not to worry about the Bears defense because most of the points were "scored in garbage time when the game was over".

Carolina packed it in a little early this year.

What Sammy did wasn't right but the Cubs did just as much as he did to tarnish this relationship. It was clear the Cubs wanted him gone and they did all they could to try to tarnish his image with the fans as they could. He was the only reason to watch the Cubs for a number of years. And how do you know a higher percentage of Sammy's HR's were either solo's or when the game was over than the average player? If you have stats to back your claim up then go ahead and present them. But you thinking something is true doesn't make it true. This isn't basketball and one player can't completely change a franchise. Last time I checked, Sammy wasn't a part of the pitching staff and was only one of nine hitters in the lineup. There's only so much he can do. He singlehandedly led the Cubs to the playoffs in 1998 and almost did it again in 2001. Once again, you have stats to back up your claim that he "wasn't able to seal the deal when it was needed most". You claim to be a big fan of him yet all you did in this post was diminish his remarkable achievements.

There was a thread started a couple months ago which posed the 'is Bagwell a HOFer' question and I said the same thing you did. I too didn't realize that his stats were as good as they were.

That is all. I'm not sure what's funnier, his away message or the fact that you have his AIM screen name.