soccer10k

I definately didn't like it when he said "horses" either but didn't mind the injury part too much. Not great, but not horrible.

If you're talking payroll, the Cubs are much closer to the Yankees than the Marlins are. As for Girardi, all he's done is guide a team that started a ton of rookies and had a $15 million dollar payroll to third place in the NL East and a 54-61 record. I understand that the record doesn't sound like anything special but that team was expected to have one of the worst records in the major leagues this year. I would take Girardi.

wha-wha-wha-what? I guess I understand your argument now, but the top ranked scoring defense and second ranked yards defense returns all its starters and added a couple pieces. so if assuming incorrectly that the Bears defense is only "good" I guess I agree that the QB play won't be good enough. they won't be 2001 Ravens good, but they'll be alot better than I think you are giving them credit for. They'll have one of the top defenses in the league but I'm talking about all time. They aren't the 2001 Ravens. They aren't the 1985 Bears. I guarantee you that most people (i.e. non Bears fans) aren't going to remember the 2006 Bears defense like they do with those other two defenses. I don't think the Bears have a good enough defense to compensate for an average quarterback situation when they reach the playoffs. I don't think I'm undervaluing the Bears defense at all. I think they'll finish near or at the top in all the important defensive statistics. But that doesn't always parlay into a Super Bowl without a competant quarterback.

Not saying they will, but there are multiple teams that could put the Bears down 13-0 and keep them down. Also, don't forget that all it takes is a little luck as well. One tipped pass for a pick or one fumble recovery and you're in trouble. Not saying that's going to happen every game, but it could and you can't discount that possiblity. How about a team coming out on fire and running the right plays that the Bears don't expect and before you know it, the Bears are down 10 or 14 points. Seattle can run the ball all day with Shaun Alexander. They have a good enough passing game to get the job done and scored the most points in the league last year. Arizona has, quite possibly, the best WR combo in the league with Fitzgerald and Boldin and added Edge to that offense. The Giants have a solid offense with Manning/Barber/Burress/Toomer that can put up a ton of points. New England has a solid offense and I fully expect Corey Dillion to have a solid comeback year. Tom Brady also had probably the best season of his career last year. St. Louis has a solid offense with Bulger/Bruce/Holt/Jackson and can put up points quickly as well. Not saying that each team will steamroll the Bears but I'm saying that it could happen. I expect the Bears to go 10-6 or 11-5 this but think they will get bounced from the playoffs in their first game. but that could be said of any team in any year. any team that relies on ubber QB to throw his way to comeback victory is in trouble. I don't disagree with your assessment of what the Bears will do during the regular season, but I think they win a playoff game or two, assuming the defense shows up. keep in mind that the Bears first round exit last year had more to do with defensive failings than with QB play. the Bears QB is expected to put up 18-21 points a game without alot of mistakes. both are perfectly capable of doing that. the Bears QB play is way low on the list of concerns. rush blocking by the O-line, nickel back (and non-Vasher CB play in general) and getting healthy is the main concern. that and keeping Mike Brown healthy all year as IMO he is more important to the Bears than any other single player. My point with the QB situation is that the Bears do not have a quick strike offense. If they fall behind, they are in trouble. Other teams with good QB's (Manning, Brady, etc.) have the offensive firepower to strike quickly. Look at the Colts last year. If Vanderjagt makes that kick, the Colts send that game into overtime and the Colts should have put up 18 points in the fourth quarter. The Bears are not a come from behind team because they don't have a solid passing game. Relying on a running game and a good, but not great defense is wonderful, but it's unlikely to win you a Super Bowl. You need a great defense to make up for a lack of a quarterback and the Bears don't have a great defense. The 2001 Ravens had a great defense but Dilfer was a competant quarterback who played within their system and didn't make many mistakes. I don't see that with the Bears this year. Apparently we're going to have to agree to disagree.

Not saying they will, but there are multiple teams that could put the Bears down 13-0 and keep them down. Also, don't forget that all it takes is a little luck as well. One tipped pass for a pick or one fumble recovery and you're in trouble. Not saying that's going to happen every game, but it could and you can't discount that possiblity. How about a team coming out on fire and running the right plays that the Bears don't expect and before you know it, the Bears are down 10 or 14 points. Seattle can run the ball all day with Shaun Alexander. They have a good enough passing game to get the job done and scored the most points in the league last year. Arizona has, quite possibly, the best WR combo in the league with Fitzgerald and Boldin and added Edge to that offense. The Giants have a solid offense with Manning/Barber/Burress/Toomer that can put up a ton of points. New England has a solid offense and I fully expect Corey Dillion to have a solid comeback year. Tom Brady also had probably the best season of his career last year. St. Louis has a solid offense with Bulger/Bruce/Holt/Jackson and can put up points quickly as well. Not saying that each team will steamroll the Bears but I'm saying that it could happen. I expect the Bears to go 10-6 or 11-5 this but think they will get bounced from the playoffs in their first game.

Not to say you're accusing me of this, but I'm not jumping to conclusions based on this one preseason game. As I said, I've never been high on Rex and think he will be benched this year.

Was this directed at me or USSocccer? Either way, I'm not very high on Grossman and have never been high on him. I don't think he's that good of a quarterback which is why I'm never surprised when he doesn't play well. Because of this doubt, I predicted Griese would become the starter before the Bears play Miami. When you have a decent backup quarterback it gives you the option of replacing your starter if need be. So I'm not a Bears fan, what does that matter? That I can't offer my opinion on the team? FWIW, my dad is a Bears fan so I do follow them a little more than other NFL teams. you are predicting Grossman will screw it up and Griese will become starter, and earlier in the thread you said Giese will screw it up. sure its fine to offer an opinion, but it doesn't seem to be offering an opinion. it seems more like baseless predictions of doom and gloom. the Bears are not quarterback centric. the team is designed to win with defense and rushing. all the quarterback has to do is not screw things up and maybe make a play or two in a game here and there. they won a lot of ballgames with terrible QB and special teams play last year. they return 22 starters. why suddenly they should be all that concerned with their QB when the two they have to go with are exponentially better than the one they had last year is a mystery to me. Did I say this pages ago because I didn't say it recently? If I did, thanks for reminding me. To defend that point, I'm not a big fan of either quarterback. What is wrong with thinking Grossman will screw up, Griese will become a starter and won't play well either? It's not necessarily doom and gloom. I do think they will make the playoffs but you saw what happened last year right? 17-41 for 192 against Carolina. IIRC, Grossman at one point was something like 2-12 with 20 yds or something like that. If that team gets behind, and believe me they will at some point, they will have to throw the ball and rely on their quarterback - something I wouldn't be too confident in if I was a Bears fan.

To add anohter thing, the Bears as an organization expect to win this year and I think their fans expect them to win this year. If Grossman comes out and doesn't play very well and the Bears start off the year 3-3, 3-4, 4-3, I could easily see the Bears benching Grossman in favor of Griese to try and give the team a spark.

Was this directed at me or USSocccer? Either way, I'm not very high on Grossman and have never been high on him. I don't think he's that good of a quarterback which is why I'm never surprised when he doesn't play well. Because of this doubt, I predicted Griese would become the starter before the Bears play Miami. When you have a decent backup quarterback it gives you the option of replacing your starter if need be. So I'm not a Bears fan, what does that matter? That I can't offer my opinion on the team? FWIW, my dad is a Bears fan so I do follow them a little more than other NFL teams.

Two thoughts I have relating to this: 1. It's actually reason number 290820482099 why Dusty should be fired rather than reason number 290820482098. 2. And look who was number 2 on that list of BP's Pitcher Abuse Points: Carlos Zambrano.

It was bound to happen, acutally it should happen more. Everyone knows he has a puss arm and thus they all try to take the extra base. At some point someone had to bite off more than they could chew. I've been saying this for years and not just with Pierre. Players known for having good arms don't get run on very often so they don't have many chances to throw anybody out. Players known for having average to poor arms get run on all the time so they get more chances to throw somebody out and they are bound to get lucky and throw out an overzealous runner once and a while. A good example that I always use is Barry Bonds. He has an average arm but gets run on all the time and every once and a while, throws somebody out. But most of the time it's like Sid Bream all over again.

Yeah, I could have seen the Cubs running Mateo out there today for a few innings.

This is what I'm interested in seeing: how Hill responds to a rough outing.

Griese will be the starter before they play Miami in Week 9 on November 5.

http://www.youtubex.com/ Just copy and paste the URL from the video you want and it saves to your computer. Thank you.

"How's that blood pressure doing Ronny?" "It's good. Very good." "Goodbye Houston, hello Atlanta."

These are hairs that don't need to be split. .325 is just as crappy as .320, and Pierre has been right around there for the past 1.5 seasons. He has a .350+ OBP in each June, July, and August. In 2005 he only had one month with a .350+ OBP. If he finishes August with a .350+ OBP and does the same in September, he could end the year with close to a .340 OBP. It's not great, but it's much better than April and May.

Wow, how do you miss that? The pitcher and catcher pulled a Chuck Knoblauch though. An extra run scored while they were arguing that call.

Even though Pierre currently has a .325 OBP this year and has never had a year with an OBP less than .320?

How he's hitting recently should not matter. But for what it's worth, he's hitting .261/.320/.304 over the past 7 days. Sorry, I should have clarified. I meant he has recovered from his horrendous April and May. He has put up decent numbers (but not great) since then and I believe teams (this will likely include Hendry) will look at his, as of now, decent 2.5 months more than his poor two months and will think he had trouble adjusting to Chicago or some other BS like that. If he continues his line of .300/.350/.400 (averages) all the way through August and September, he'll easily garner $7-8 mil per year in free agency.

Boy, wouldn't it be a kick in the teeth if the Cubs gave Pierre a Furcal-like contract? I wouldn't put it past Hendry to throw that type of money in Pierre's direction. I think the whole impetus behind Hendry's desire to re-sign Pierre is to justify the trade in the first place. I get the feeling that Hendry will do anything to "prove" that the Pierre acquisition was a good one, even if it means compounding the original mistake by making an even bigger mistake. Somehow I don't think Pierre will be taking a pay cut for next season considering he has been hitting much better recently.

"All those things you mentioned aren't nearly as important as getting on base, and the Brewers are 15th in the [NL] in on-base percentage. They're not as important in earned run average, which they're last in the league." Awesome interview.

I would be content to have 75% of the 2003 Mark Prior for a few years. Considering that 2003 Prior was a Cy Young candidate, 75% of that would be a solid 2 or 3 starter right now - something he isn't even close to being.

Where's my mouthwash?

I wouldn't read too much into this. Actually, on second thought, I wouldn't read into this at all.