Splendid Splinter

Need to fix AVG... .787 SLG for 2nd place isn't good enough... hahaha Yeah, that's just flat out AWESOME. I figured we would be seeing Brett in Sept. callup. Now it looks like to be June 1st or so.

If his knee is OK to run he should have played in the NFC CHampionship game and taken us to the Super Bowl! LOL nice... Probably sarcastic there I imagine as it's been 3 months (his recovery was half that time max) since the NFCC game and he ran the mile in about 10 minutes and 12 seconds. I wouldn't call that "running". That's a jogging pace.

Yeah I agree CB is the best value on the board (RB is close with Ryan Williams still available). I wouldn't be disappointed with any one of those 3 CBs being picked here. With Tice on board, I do feel good about Carpenter playing at RT (possibly even LT if Tice max out his potential) for the Bears. He's also like Boling where he does everything well, but nothing great (quite a few OLs have that in their scouting report in this years draft). At worst, he'll be a solid guard (unlike Chris Williams). This is why I want Bears to trade down from 29th to early to mid 2nd round and an extra pick if the 5 OTs are gone by then or possibly just reach for a guy like Watkins/Cannon/etc... Because I think if they keep the 29th pick and pick a different position that they're gonna end up like this draft- end of 2nd round and the OLs available are not ideal and going in a different direction again. Basically not getting good to great value with their picks or picking their most pressing need (OL).

CaliforniaRaisin: I'm not sure how you're gonna go with this pick for the Bears. I've been looking at who's available and nobody really standing out. I can't really tell you who to pick this time around (but if you put a gun to my head, I would probably pick Davon House). You would like an OL being picked here, but who though? (Brewer/Pinkston/Carpenter/Barksdale/Boling/Rackley/Moffitt) You can go with a CB like Davon House and it's not a bad pick... (Curtis Brown/Johnny Patrick/Chimdi Chekwa) You could even go with a DT like Nevis/McClain here and Wilkerson move to the 1 tech. Peppers/(Nevis or McClain)/Wilkerson/Izzy would be a scary line IMO. WR might be picked here, but either they're small or speedsters or a reach for a possession type WR IMO to just ignore it this round... Picking a RB here to compliment Forte would be interesting...

Leshoure to the Saints in the 2nd round is tough to beat IMO. I was hoping you would pick someone else so I can recommend Bears get Wilson (yeah I know it would mean Bears haven't picked an OL in the first 2 rounds, but that's how it goes)... Now I gotta check things out and give a different recommendation for who the Bears should pick...

Again... Pats could go several ways with this pick. My buddy thinks that Mankins will be back so this pick doesn't have to be a OL pick (which is what I was thinking if Mankins leave). When he saw the picks so far, he thinks the Pats would go defense here (with maybe a look at WR, but he doesn't like any of them well enough to get picked here)... Patriots select Christian Ballard, DE/DT, Iowa

Anybody seen this article yet??? http://espn.go.com/blog/chicago/cubs/post/_/id/3874/castros-future-starting-to-look-rose-y It talks about how his future looks promising basically... (like everyone doesn't know that already) What's interesting is the very end of the article... If Castro can hit for power like Hanley, then he's gonna be AWESOME and a yearly top 10 player in MLB. Also I don't know what the scout is talking about with Hanley's power. Hanley hit 46 doubles, 11 triples, and 17 HRs in his rookie year so he had power right off the bat in the majors. If he was talking about his years in the minors as well (it doesn't look like it in the quote), then I see what he's talking about (Hanley had 27 HRs thru age 21- 4 seasons in the minors). Nice to see Rudy is working on plate discipline (as far as recognize balls and strikes) with Castro as that will help him see more pitches and draw more walks as that's about the only thing missing or lacking offensively. Isn't that pretty hard to do though if you don't take away any of his aggressiveness? I guess he could be Vlad where he drew a good amount of walks while being super aggressive and Tony Gwynn was on a whole another level hitting-wise (same with Ichiro, but he's a different type of hitter)...

Fixed... Brett Jackson or McNutt or Vitters if they get called up would be fun to watch as well. Pena on a hot streak as well and Garza with his 14 H & K/9. Everyone else, well... ehhh Yeah, who gives a [expletive] about that hack Soto or that lazy guy Aramis Ramirez. LOL Well... A Ram, beside last year, was so consistent with the Cubs that you just knew what he's gonna do most of the time. Soto is a good to great player, but not really "fun" to watch IMO. Doesn't matter though as I will still watch as many Cubs games as possible (living in Arkansas for architecture school now). At least I got WGN on my cable, then I'll get the Astros/Cubs games among others. I'll also get to see the Cubs/Royals game June 26th (day before my bday). sneaky.. I remember those teams in the 90s and watch them as well. Most of the time it was god awful.

Fixed... Brett Jackson or McNutt or Vitters if they get called up would be fun to watch as well. Pena on a hot streak as well and Garza with his 14 H & K/9. Everyone else, well... ehhh

Seriously... try to beat this one. It's so good that they didn't even update his picture from last years... http://www.sportsoverdose.com/thumbs/dennys-reyes-59-mlb.jpg LOL

Not sure if this is the ideal or best pick for the Bucs, but I can see them drafting this guy if he falls to them in the 2nd round... He got 1st round talent and instantly gives the team depth at TE that they sorely need. Plus it gives Bucs to play some 2 TEs set and will take over whenever Kellen Winslow is gone... There's a couple other guys I can see Bucs picking, but I'm gonna go with this guy... Kyle Rudolph, TE, Notre Dame

Not nearly as much as Brewer fans will hate Prince Fielder when he defects to the Cubs. It really is the reasonable option over 10 years of Pujols. Agreed But how many years will it take to sign Prince? He's certainly a great option over the next 2-3 years but we don't need another Soriano on our hands. 6 years is the max I would go for Fielder (maybe 7 is the price is right like say 20 mil a year instead of 23-25 that's probably gonna take to get him). If Fielder is willing to sign for 5-6 years, then I think that's better than 8-10 years of Pujols IMO... and cheaper. If it was 7 years, Fielder will be 34 by the end of his contract and that's pretty much every guy with his build either falls off the cliff or is done with baseball by that age. Plus I would think Fielder would rather have a shorter contract IMO so if he's still hitting well at age 32-34, then he can still get another multi year deal.

You spelled SAFETY wrong. ??? Aaron Williams can play CB in the NFL if he's in the right system. He can play CB in the Tampa 2 scheme IMO for the Bears...

Not a fan of the belly putter eh? I wanna try one. Seems like it'd be smoother...like controlling speed would be easier. A lot smoother IMO. I have used a belly putter before (about a year and half as I was in a big slump with my putting). It's really nice and I might go back to it. You're taking away some of hands/wrists/elbows/shoulders problems so it makes it easier and smoother cuz the stomach acts as the fulcrum. Actually it's tougher to control or judge speed and the "feel" of the putt with a belly or long putter IMO. Esp with the longer putts. It's because your hands/wrists/elbows/shoulders aren't as important. I have a custom putter now that's a tweener. It's 39" long. Most regular putters are from 32"-36" and belly putter are usually around 42"-45". I like the length/feel/control/etc. of this putter now that I've been using it for a couple years now. I don't mind a guy like me or a scratch golfer (who is not competing in golf regularly) or a high handicapper using a belly or long putter. I'm not exactly fond (unless they're just in a complete funk in putting but really... do pros really get in a funk for that long though??? it's not like where it's a swing change) of the pros using one as they are PROFESSIONALS and the cream of the crop, but I'm not gonna be mad or say that it's unfair if a pro uses one and win a tournament. This is coming from a guy with a 5 handicap with 69 being my best score.

Watching Tiger's back nine was like going back in time. He was all over it. Actually -7 on the last 11 holes instead of 13 (it sounds a lot better when you put it that way and no bogey in those 11 holes). Yeah it reminded me of old Tiger. It was great. Other time when he shot this low in the past 2-3 years, it seems like he was kinda lucky or got good breaks to get that score. I didn't get the feeling of the old Tiger then. Today it was different. Honestly I think it was a confidence problem all along the past 2-3 years for him. His swing might've been not great, but it was cuz of a confidence problem, not mechanical (nothing big anyway IMO). Having confidence in yourself and your swing (wether it's good or not mechanically) can change big time for your golf game. He really showed his swagger today. I'm glad I recorded the 2nd round on my DVR. I already watched it 3 times. Tiger was just staring down everything after the 7th hole. You know it's the old Tiger as well when you shoot 66 and had 3 freakin' bogeys. That's just nuts. I mean Day had an amazing day and had a bogey-free 64 and the sad part of it is... Tiger still made more birdies than Day today. It'll be interesting to see how Tiger plays tomorrow, but I think he finally found what he was looking for. Plus another thing that's good for Tiger is that he's playing with Choi this weekend. They're comfortable with each other and should shoot well and put the pressure on the young kids in the last group. I think it's just gonna be that weekend for Tiger where it came back for him to win the Masters and his hopes for the majors record. Then he'll have his ups and downs afterwards (as I don't think he'll be back to the old Tiger consistently yet), but slowly improving throughout the year and end up with winning the FedEx Cup (or whatever it is now) at the end.

The more I'm thinking about the Bears trading down... The more I think that they won't get an extra pick in this year's draft. I've been thinking of other teams like the Pats who trades down a lot. I'm just not sure if a team is willing to trade both a 2nd and 3rd round pick this year (esp with the lockout going on and no FA at the moment). Pats does it because they're willing to take future picks. So it made me think and wanted to ask this question... What if the Bears couldn't get a 2nd/3rd round pick this year for the 29th pick, but instead was getting offers like 2nd round this year and 2nd round next year (so 2/2/3/4/5/6 this year but 1/2/2/3/4/5/6/7 next year) or a 3rd round this year and a 1st round next year (so 2/3/3/4/5/6 this year but 1/1/2/3/4/5/6/7 next year)... The only way I'm thinking a team might trade 2 picks this year is if it's like 2nd and 4th round pick maybe or a team is really desperate and a guy they REALLY want slid down all the way to 29th pick. Would you guys do that??? I'm not sure if my situation would work or not (2nd this year and next or 3rd this year and 1st next year), but I'm thinking that Bears will get an extra pick if they trade down- it's just going to be a future pick instead of this year...

Interesting... This is kinda a tough pick for the Pats. There's a lot of ways Pats can go with here. Honestly, I think they're gonna go BAP here regardless of position in the real draft so, therefore... Mark Ingram, RB, Alabama Not exactly who I want (but I'm fine with it if they do) the Pats to pick as I think Green-Ellis/Woodhead combo is enough, but Pats do like Ingram and have seen rumors that they could pick him with their 17th pick (which would be stupid IMO). I'm trying to think like the Patriots organization instead of what I want to see so it's more realistic. Plus, Ingram is only gonna help that offense even more now that they'll have a running game to go with that passing...

pfft, im hoping for the second coming of arky vaughan! I'll go one step further and say I hope Castro is a blend of Nomar/Arky... That's sounds like Derek Jeter, but with good-very good D with it...

Personally (since I'm helping you out here), I would go with Wilkerson... Paea and Harris (or Aaron Williams as I think he can be a CB in the NFL and fits in the Bears scheme IMO) aren't a bad pick as well. Baldwin and Ijalana are a little bit of a reach here as I'm not sure if they're the best at their position that's available (Baldwin probably is, but he needs time to develop to be that stud WR). Wilkerson or Paea makes the most sense for the Bears IMO out of the guys that are available, but I like Wilkerson more at the moment. Martez Wilson could be interesting here as well. It's a tough call for you as I can see any of these guys being picked and wouldn't be that mad about it (although if the real draft actually went down like this- I rather have Bears just trade down).

Mike Fontenot May 28th of last year against St. Louis. Dunston had 3 once didn't he?? Charlie Hollocher, Ernie Banks, and Shawon Dunston all had 3 triples in one game for the Cubs.

Very interesting as I'm surprised this guy is still on the board for the Patriots at the 28th pick... He's the best available player IMO. I personally met and hung out with the guy a couple times. A great guy on and off the field. He's perfect for the Pats. While he doesn't have amazing athletic abilities or skills, he makes up with hard work, high motor, and a knack for making big plays. I see a lot of Mike Vrabel in him. Ryan Kerrigan, DE/OLB, Purdue Patriots are jumping for joy right now with the picks of Solder and Kerrigan...

Yeah it was really between Jordan and Solder for me... I asked 2 friends who REALLY pays attentions to the Pats and their organization and both of them said Solder. I think (to them) it's mainly insurance in case if Mankins and Light leaves that the Pats will select an OT here and use their DE/OLB pick with their 28th pick as the depth is deeper at those position (in the first round anyway). They thought if Pats gets an DE/OLB there than they might have to hope that one of the OT will fall to the 28th pick.. I'm having them helping me with the Pats picks as they know A LOT more about them and their needs than I do.

Bucs select Adrian Clayborn as they need someone on the DL beside McCoy...

New England are going with Nate Solder... They do have other needs that could be picked, but feel like those needs are deeper in depth than OT in this draft with the exception of RB probably and Pats hasn't rely on their running game heavily in like 20 years so it's not a huge deal. With Pats being a great team still, they can afford to have Solder on the sideline and not starting as he learns how to play and develop more as he has the highest upside out of the OTs in this class.

hawkeyecub is up next with the Vikings pick....