jb10194

The games have been fun so far, and there are a lot of fun matchups yet to be played. Tomorrow might be the most entertaining day to a casual USA soccer fan. It almost reminds me of an NFL Wild Card Sunday. England at 11, potential next-round matchup in Belgium vs Senegal at 3, then USA at 7.

I think Friday will be a fun day with Group G still being somewhat in the air. Belgium still has a chance to win the group with a win and Egypt draw/loss depending on goal differential. On the other hand, if Iran wins and stays ahead of Belgium, they can win the group - leading the potential to a very interesting USA/Iran matchup in the Round of 16. It would be fun to get revenge on Belgium, but I feel like that's the worst case scenario.

Jerry had to find a way to free up some money for a potential White Sox deadline acquisition

I can't imagine what it's like being in the OKC organization right now with all of their assets moving forward. They should be dominant for the next 10-15 years unless they somehow mess it all up. 8-0 so far this playoffs with one of their top three players only playing two games. They have two top 15 picks that haven't really played yet. They have #12 and #17 this upcoming draft. Players like Lendeborg and Mara could fall right to them and fit in right away. They could draft projects and stash them away for a while. They supposedly have 13 first round picks in the next 6 years (not sure if that's accurate), so they have trade flexibility. Or, they could keep their core and build a rotation through the draft. Pretty much the entire team is 27 or younger outside of Caruso. This could just be the start.

It’s understandable feeling that way as a Kansas fan since they kept it pretty quiet, but I think my perspective on Peterson’s season has changed after hearing about what he was dealing with through the year. I think that would have messed a lot of kids up. If anything, it’s a sign he cares too much if he was pumping his body with too much creatine.

There's still some really good, plug and play talent out there, but I don't know if many of those names will fall to 57. I'm thinking be aggressive and move up to get their guy, and then take BPA at 60. I just don't want them to get stuck with multiple developmental players with the holes they have while entering win-now mode.

He's leading the league with a 1,835 ERA+ lmao. Second place is 371.

If they land Blackwell, will there be a reason to even try to go a after a "pure" PG? At this point, it looks like Vaaks is that person since the freshman look to be more combo guards. I'm just not sure how many minutes would be left between Vaaks, Andrej, Mirkovic, Davis, and the twins if they land Blackwell, but a pure PG might not even fit their system.

Has there been any news on Ty Rodgers recently? I’m not sure we can expect anything from him at this point, but wondering how he fits if he can somehow get healthy.

It's kind of crazy looking at the box score against UConn back in November and seeing that Wagler and Mirkovic (32) combined for nearly as many minutes as Lee and Petrovic (29). I think that was the last game Lee and Petrovic saw significant minutes. On the other hand, Reed and Mullins combined for 25 minutes that game, so they weren't at full strength either. This Illini team is just so much different now than four months ago.

It's a weird thought, but I've been thinking about what this Illini team might have looked like pre-NIL when we used scholarship grids to predict future rosters. I know transfers would have still been likely (Skyy Clark), but I wonder how that theoretical lineup would have stacked up to the current roster. I think that would end up being something like Clark, Jayden Epps, Amani Hansberry, Gibbs-Lawhorn, and Morez Johnson added to Tomi, Wagler, and Mirkovic.

It's not the most inspiring name, but I wonder if they'd look at Kalif Raymond for a WR4/5 spot. He's had some success with Ben before, but he is past 30.

I’ve been comparing Hendrickson and Crosby with the thought that their salary would nearly net to zero with the loss of Dalman and DJ. Looking at option A and option B, I’m not sure option A makes the Bears a better team. A. Crosby with the loss of DJ, Dalman, and a first round (possibly two first round) picks. B. Hendrickson with the loss of DJ, Dalman, but with the picks. I hate it, but if I blink, I can see the DL being a strength if they can land Hendrickson and a solid DT in the draft. Booker would’ve been on pace for 7.5 sacks in 17 games, which is fine for a 3rd DE. Maybe Dayo will have a year 2 turnaround similar to Robert Quinn (we can only hope). I wonder if their backup is prioritizing a LB that is fast enough to cover the crossers that they had such as issue with last year.

Will he be worth his $/WAR though?

Mac Jones