soccer10k

Yeah, I know. But I just couldn't help myself. I edited it out though.

They aren't bad. Nothing special but not horrendous.

Is it really that hard to grasp that Lee's numbers at Wrigley and the reason he likes hitting there is due to crappy Cub pitching and that if he came to play for the Cubs he wouldn't get to face that crappy Cub pitching when he plays in Wrigley? Then explain Moises Alou? Before Alou signed with the Cubs a few yrs ago, Alou had a career BA at Wrigley near the mendoza line. Maybe it's the "crappy pitching", but there are more variable of hitting at a certain park. Maybe as a hitter, he is really comfortable seeing the ball, etc, etc, etc. So I doubt the "crappy pitching" is the only reason why he seems to kill the Cubs. Obviously it's not the only reason but I think a team's pitching staff is a bigger thing than the park he's playing in.

I would probably immediately start worrying about whether the guy will truly live up to his billing. I would start a pool on how long it will be before he goes on the DL.

I'll wait to pass judgement until I hear how much Miller will be paid.

Lets hope. nope. i bet the angles offer at least 7/90. Why would he take less money?

Is it really that hard to grasp that Lee's numbers at Wrigley and the reason he likes hitting there is due to crappy Cub pitching and that if he came to play for the Cubs he wouldn't get to face that crappy Cub pitching when he plays in Wrigley?

If Hendry passes on 5/75 for ARam, he can go fornicate himself.

I'm gonna go out on a limb and say the Yankees won.

Hopefully we'll see a good game tonight. And by good, I mean Louisville wins.

Brees.

I knew I should have included the words "in the playoffs".

Just because USC beat them in Week 1? You're arguing that Arkansas going undefeated in the SEC doesn't deserve to be ranked above a USC team that lost to an unranked Oregon St. ? Every game matters. If two major conference teams both have one loss and Team A beat Team B, then why shouldn't Team A be ranked ahead? strength of schedule, conference record, when the game was, etc., etc., etc. Doesn't matter. Team A beats Team B. Do you remember the 2000 National Championship game between Oklahoma and Florida State? Well Miami handed Florida State their only loss that year but because it was early in the year and Miami lost later in the year, Florida State was incorrectly ranked higher in the polls. Miami should have played Oklahoma that year. USC should be ranked ahead of Arkansas if they both have the same number of losses. I don't really understand how there could be a better factor for which team is ranked higher under the circumstances (both with one loss) than the head to head result. In your 2000 thought process, you missed one thing. Florida State did lose to 11-1 Miami, but Miami lost to 11-1 Washington. Washington under that logic should have played for the national title, not Miami. But then they lost to Oregon... we could go on and on with this. There really is no way to solve it without guessing which was the best team at the end of the year. Ok, sorry. Bad example. But in 2006, USC beat Arkansas. USC lost to Oregon State, a team which more than one loss, so Oregon State is out of the equation. If USC and Arkansas both finish with one loss, you have to rank USC ahead of Arkansas because they defeated them. There is no string of teams like in 2000. It's plain and simple.

Just because USC beat them in Week 1? You're arguing that Arkansas going undefeated in the SEC doesn't deserve to be ranked above a USC team that lost to an unranked Oregon St. ? Every game matters. If two major conference teams both have one loss and Team A beat Team B, then why shouldn't Team A be ranked ahead? strength of schedule, conference record, when the game was, etc., etc., etc. Doesn't matter. Team A beats Team B. Do you remember the 2000 National Championship game between Oklahoma and Florida State? Well Miami handed Florida State their only loss that year but because it was early in the year and Miami lost later in the year, Florida State was incorrectly ranked higher in the polls. Miami should have played Oklahoma that year. USC should be ranked ahead of Arkansas if they both have the same number of losses. I don't really understand how there could be a better factor for which team is ranked higher under the circumstances (both with one loss) than the head to head result.

Just because USC beat them in Week 1? You're arguing that Arkansas going undefeated in the SEC doesn't deserve to be ranked above a USC team that lost to an unranked Oregon St. ? Every game matters. If two major conference teams both have one loss and Team A beat Team B, then why shouldn't Team A be ranked ahead?

Lame. It's the truth. Maybe if the Cubs actually had a realistic shot of contending next year I would me more excited about what offseason moves they make.

There are a lot more non-con games in basketball than in football. A lot of teams also play in early season tournaments that involve multiple quality teams so the schedule you see now will change. Plus, with most of the conferences, you will play every team twice rather than just once. As for not scheduling good teams, where did you get that from? Some football teams don't schedule anybody Look at some of the college basketball teams this year: #1 Florida: vs #3 Kansas, vs #4 Ohio State, #2 North Carolina: vs #4 Ohio State, vs #22 Kentucky, at #10 Arizona #3 Kansas: at #1 Florida, vs #15 BC, at South Carolina #4 Ohio State: at #2 UNC, at #1 Florida, vs #24 Tennessee, Every major conference team has a couple guaranteed games against other major conference teams that are ranked right now. In college basketball, which is different than football, is the smaller conference teams and mid-majors routinely pull upsets over the major conference teams. Now it's not day in and day out, but it's not the huge shock that it is in football. The talent level between a major conference school and a mid major in basketball is nowhere near as big as it is in football. Also, aren't the games going on now just exhibition games that don't count towards a teams record?

Week 9: vance: - Mark: - ndistops: 5-9 soccer: 5-9 Ryan: - Truffle: 10-4 UMfan: 4-10 rawaction: 5-9 ChiCubsFan: - Overall: vance: 53-56 Mark: 31-39 ndistops: 58-65 soccer: 59-64 Ryan: 27-27 Truffle: 39-27 UMfan: 29-62 rawaction: 28-35 ChiCubsFan: 25-26 Note: There have been 5 ties overall (2 in Week 3, 2 in Week 5, 1 in Week 7)

It's football season. And college basketball is about to start. If something gets posted on here, I'll read it and discuss it. Otherwise, I could care less about the Cubs right now.

With the games Arkansas has remaining (vs LSU, vs Tennessee, and vs Florida if they make the SEC championship game) if they win out I guarantee they will jump ahead of all the other one loss teams because they will have run the table in conference play in the SEC. There is no sportswriter in the country who would vote an 11-1 Auburn team over a 12-1 Arkansas team. If Arkansas runs the table, both teams will have defeated LSU and Florida, Arkansas would have defeated Tennessee and they will have defeated Auburn on the road. If Arkansas runs the table, they'll jump Auburn without a doubt. EDIT: the bolded part. I don't think there's any way a 12-1 Arkansas team jumps an 11-1 USC team. Nor should they. Sorry, I was still thinking along with the scenario of ND beating USC which would give USC 2 losses. If USC and Arkansas both finish with one loss than I agree with you and Arkansas shouldn't jump ahead of them. FWIW I happen to think USC will lose another game this year. I think Cal will beat them but if I had to put money on it, I would bet against USC running the table over Oregon, Cal, ND, and UCLA.

Yeah. It would be kinda weird for Florida to win the SEC championship title game and Auburn make the NCG because of that. I mean is it a championship game or what? Im sure people from Auburn might argue this but they are just being silly. Arkansas has 2 tough games coming up so Auburn may end up getting the chance to prove it in the title game. If Arkansas stumbles and Auburn makes it to the SEC championship game and wins it, then sub in Auburn for Florida in the scenario I laid out earlier. So what if Arkansas doesn't stumble? If Arkansas takes out Tennessee, LSU, and Florida in the championship game, what happens to them? Under the same scenario (i.e. Louisville losing), Arkansas should go to the National Title game. If Arkansas finishes the year (before a bowl) 12-1 they will have defeated Auburn, Tennessee, LSU, and likely Florida. Somehow I find it hard to imagine that happening just because of the cushion Auburn has. They have a very good shot at running the table, so it'd be tough for the Hogs to jump them. Jumping WV if they're still at one loss shouldn't be tough, and at least two out of USC/Cal/ND will likely lose again. Texas and Auburn are the teams that are tough to figure out how Arkansas would pass. With the games Arkansas has remaining (vs LSU, vs Tennessee, and vs Florida if they make the SEC championship game) if they win out I guarantee they will jump ahead of all the other one loss teams because they will have run the table in conference play in the SEC. There is no sportswriter in the country who would vote an 11-1 Auburn team over a 12-1 Arkansas team. If Arkansas runs the table, both teams will have defeated LSU and Florida, Arkansas would have defeated Tennessee and they will have defeated Auburn on the road. If Arkansas runs the table, they'll jump Auburn without a doubt. EDIT: the bolded part.

Yeah. It would be kinda weird for Florida to win the SEC championship title game and Auburn make the NCG because of that. I mean is it a championship game or what? Im sure people from Auburn might argue this but they are just being silly. Arkansas has 2 tough games coming up so Auburn may end up getting the chance to prove it in the title game. If Arkansas stumbles and Auburn makes it to the SEC championship game and wins it, then sub in Auburn for Florida in the scenario I laid out earlier. So what if Arkansas doesn't stumble? If Arkansas takes out Tennessee, LSU, and Florida in the championship game, what happens to them? Under the same scenario (i.e. Louisville losing), Arkansas should go to the National Title game. If Arkansas finishes the year (before a bowl) 12-1 they will have defeated Auburn, Tennessee, LSU, and likely Florida. At the risk of receiving a red-faced rant from somebody, what if ND beats USC by 10+? It seems to come back to the same argument over Florida-Auburn, where ND beats USC and Arkansas loses bad to them. Tough one. Both ND and Arkansas would have been blown out at home early in the season. The Notre Dame hater in me wants to say Arkansas should go over ND but that's obviously not a legitamate argument. I'm going to think out loud for a minute here. Using the current AP rankings but assuming both teams win out, Notre Dame beat #19 GT on the road, lost to #2 Michigan at home, beat Penn State at home, and will have defeated #7 USC on the road. Arkansas has lost to #7 USC at home, beat #5 Auburn on the road, will have defeated #13 Tennessee at home, beat #12 LSU at home, and #6 Florida in the SEC title game if they win out. Obviously the rankings will change over that time but Tennessee, LSU, and Auburn all should win out (aside from the Arkansas games for UT, LSU) so they won't rise/drop much. Florida has FSU left but they should win out and won't drop much either. The thing that could seriously hurt Notre Dame is if USC loses to either or both Oregon and Cal in the next two weeks before the ND game. If USC drops both of those, they will drop significantly in the polls since both games are down in SoCal and all of a sudden a ND victory over USC doesn't look as good. I think I would have to give the edge to Arkansas over USC if both finish the year with one loss based on who Arkansas will have to beat to finish the year with one loss.

Rutgers? I don't think they'll beat either Louisville or WVU. Anyway, I guess they've played a marginaly tougher schedule than Louisville. I imagine the winner of the UM/OSU game would only be favored by 30 in the national title game. The Big East is a joke. I don't think Rutgers will beat either Louisville or WVU either but all the talk before the WVU/Louisville game was that the winner would have the inside track to the National Title game. Well, if Rutgers beats both Louisville and WVU, then they should be treated the same and should be in the National Title game. As I said, this point will be moot anyway since I belive they will lose to Louisville on Thursday, but it has to be brought up. The Big East is not a joke. The ACC and the Big 12 are easily worse conferences.

Oh, I should also add this disclaimer for the situation, if Rutgers goes undefeated, then they should take precedence over any of the one loss teams. An undefeated Rutgers team is the same as an undefeated Louisville team so in my book, for a one loss SEC team to make the title game, both Louisville and Rutgers would have to lose.