pitchcs

1) Murray 2) Murray/Battle

It seems far less personal bias and emotion is being used for decisions now.

I've been awaiting this news. \:D/ I don't hate you Mike, you're just not the man for the job.

Obviously nothing is guaranteed, but a Bears +8.5 line right now is unbelievable.

For tailgate purposes I assume. Going to NY games at 1pm allows for a decent amount of tailgating, but I feel like noon games come up too quickly in the morning. But the 4pm games are a glorious mess of beer and seared meat products. Mostly for tailgate purposes, for noon games I have to leave the house at like 830 am. But I also like the afternoon slot because I'm able to watch most of the early games somewhere before (condo/bar/parking lot). Biggest down side to the later games is it gets pretty cold in the 2nd half most weeks. But I'm usually always home before 7:30. Night games suck.

Dammit, why can't we just have noon games? Now we'll have had 1 noon game in a 6 week stretch (MNF vs. DET, SNF vs. MIN, Noon vs. TB, Bye, MNF vs. PHI, 3:15 vs. DET) I agree, but it's still better than primetime As a season ticket holder I love the 3:15's

I have one, it's right below the Recent Topics list.

I love the Dick Van [expletive] show Wow, they really don't want [expletive] to be typed.

Van [expletive] mentioned it in a small blurb in the Trib today. He's terrible though.

Soriano for Vernon Wells?

Yup, sign me up for another Allagash. Multiple times away from Napoli MVP, just end this already.

Now that would be impressive! I need to get to Seattle, San Francisco, Arizona, Baltimore and Tampa (eww, been putting this one off) still.

What would be perfect replay, everything?

Oh yeah, I was there. That thing was over in about 5 minutes and Olin Kreutz was getting in fights with fans.

Best events I've done/attended: - The Masters: 2006 3rd & 4th rounds (got to sit front row on 16 on Sunday, it was amazing), 2007 3rd & 4th rounds, 2011 practice rounds. I'm extremely lucky with these as my Grandpa, Dad & Uncle are marshals on the 15th hole and are given extra tickets. - Visited 32 baseball parks (7 teams with 2 different venues). This is what my Dad and I did when I was a kid; we typically got to two a year. This is also the first time I met Vance, albeit unknowingly. In Houston I believe. - 2 Cubs home playoff games (2003, Game 3 loss to Braves & 2008 Game 1 loss to Dodgers) - Maui Invitational: Been 3 times and sat court side under the basket. This event is seriously awesome. I've sat next to Magic Johnson & Danny Ainge, seen Joe Montana & Jay-Z. My Dad has a client he audits every Thanksgiving in Maui and I've been fortunate enough to go with him and attend this every time. - World Cup: 1994 at Soldier Field. Germany vs. Spain (1-1 tie) - Have a PSL seat at Soldier Field - Been to a lot of great NCAA Tournament games - White water rafted the 3rd largest river/rapids in the US/7th in the World. 1 semi-near death experience So I pretty much owe all/most of these things to my Pops -- he's pretty cool. Events I want to do/scheduled to do: - In the process of hitting different football stadiums for Bears games. But I've only been to Cincinnati, Detroit, Minnesota, San Diego and Miami. Will be going to Oakland later this year. Had tickets for New Orleans a few years ago, but damn Katrina. - European Soccer Match - Skydive

Hell yeah, it won't be anyone else if Texas wins. That would be a great payoff. Napoli has the highest OPS in the World Series for the Rangers and has 2 game winning hits in the series (I think...i know there was another key moment in the series he came through). He's gotta be a lock. The only people at this point that I think can change that with a big game(s) are Beltre or Cruz. None of the pitchers particularly seem likely to get enough momentum to be awarded the MVP. Funny thing is I typically wouldn't put that much on a future/luck bet like that, but I was watching the Bears/Vikings game that night and drinking 90 minute IPA. Napoli was awesome for my fantasy team in the 2nd half and I guess I was just thinking what the hell let's roll with the hot guy at an awesome price. Normally I would probably only put about $20....but I'll take the nice payout if it wins. Far from over though, if Cardinals come back and win and Pujols has 1-2 more HR, then.....loser.

I put $50 on Mike Napoli to win MVP before the series at 18:1 I'm thinking if Texas wins that is getting pretty close to a sure winner.

People really thought Hendry was going to make it through this year?? Geez, I honestly never doubted he'd be gone for a second.

Why on earth do you all know who Christina Kahrl is?

For those who couldn't watch: Ricketts: "Crane Kenney was INVALUABLE". He emphasized that. Epstein: - "Tradition is great, baseball is made to be played during the day. We will find people who can make it happen." - Very happy with the way Hendry handled his departure and the players he drafted. - "Cubs way" -- Steady stream of players coming through the organization who play the way they want them to play. - Build a dynamic baseball operations dept -- bring in the best & brightest from all over - Will use traditional scouting & objective data. Digging deep to find the next great competitive advantage Epstein answers to Questions: - Will sit down with Quade and go from there. - "We were sitting in our draft room in Boston this year and said 'Wow, we think the Cubs finally get it.' It got everyones attention around the league" - Sustained success, build a foundation; however, every season presents a new opportunity to win and we will take advantage of that. But the decisions we make will have the Cubs best long-term interests in mind. - Culture changes in the front office: Hard work is the key, if you don't believe that you won't be along for the ride. Must establish winning culture in the major league clubhouse (players understanding winning is the most important thing, better health/fitness, etc) - It won't be ME doing it, it will be US doing it. This is not a one man show by any means. - Bring in people where winning is more important than the external mindset. Used Red Sox as example of overcoming drought and hindrances that came with it. - There's a gap between where we are and where we want to be. We are going to have to have a high hit rate, but lots of examples of teams quickly jumping into contention. - Defense/Run-prevention/Base-running is an essential part of the game. It starts with fundamental play and it has to start at low levels. There will be a player development manual so we all play the same way (Summer, Fall, Dominican, Minors, Majors). - "We will grow the baseball operations staff, we have to." - More than enough resources to win Ricketts answers to Questions: - There had to be one person at the head of the baseball side. - "We started with no list of candidates; looked at successful teams and systems. A handful rose above. I talked to 20 people within baseball who I could trust. It was apparent Theo was the right man for the job and we moved forward."

If anyone used the term "grinding at bats" around these parts they'd surely get tons of [expletive] for it.

Actually sounds like that is what happened when listening to the interview/explanation and all the other talking heads give their opinions.

No way it's Eagles -4.5, and if it is then every person on here should jump on the Bears. Eagles -3, - Lovie Smith is 4-1 off his last 5 bye weeks - If I remember correctly, Bears have handled Vick in past Bears 23 Eagles 21

Fired as manager certainly, but I think they may keep him on somewhere.