hawkeyecub

I agree. I'm very surprised the Brewers didn't hold out for more. They didn't get the arm they were rumored to be after, Mench is average (obviously inferior to Lee) and Cruz is superior to Nix. This deal doesn't help them in the short-term and not in the long-term either.

If only he hustled more-that's all that you need! Hit .220, get an OBP of .260, but try real hard...then we'll win the World Series! Don't forget scrappy guys. We need more of those! A few gritty ones too! Just like Aramis' lack of hustle shouldn't be considered one of the top few problems of this team, I don't think we should have these same sarcastic replies every time it's brought up. I wasn't the #1 fan of Augie Ojeda. I don't want a team of Doug Dascenzo's. But I also don't think we or anyone in the organization should accept a lack of hustle or poor attitude at times just because someone produces. There is some middle ground there and some in this thread have done a good job of defending that.

Jacque has a fasciniatingly inconsistent approach, at least to me. Look at his IsoD by year: 2000- .34 2001- .59 2002- . 41 2003- .29 2004- .61 2005- .70 2006- .27 Basically when he's able to hit the ball well and have a high average, he goes up hacking. When he struggles to get hits, he's actually pretty patient. If he could ever have one of those .60-.70 years when he was hitting in the .290's or around .300, he would be a great value.

How is his arm ruined?

http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/5800306?FSO1&ATT=HMA Gibbons sounds crazy. I don't blame him. Earlier that day Hillenbrand wrote on the bulletin board (that's used to post BP times) "Play for yourself." Then later he comes out and writes "the ship is sinking". This is all after whining about not being patted on the back enough after taking 4 days off for an adoption. After whining about it to the media, he passively instigated things with the entire staff, but then when he was called out on it he called up a reporter and arranged his own press conference to whine about being Gibbons being "very unprofessional." What a clown. This is the same guy who demanded he be traded out of Boston and called Theo a "faggot" on a radio show.

Not many people like to throw away the good amount of money they spent for tickets 5 months ago. It's easy to complain about it when you aren't the one who paid $100+ bucks or maybe planned a vacation with the Cubs game being a centerpiece. What is to be gained by not going to games and "taking a stand" as you say? The problems aren't with the amount of money being spent. If we had ownership that wasn't willing to spend more than $50M of the money they're making (plus still employed the same incompetence) then that might make sense. Another crazy idea is that people like baseball, like the Cubs and like going to Wrigley Field. I know I do even though I'm upset with the season. Oh and frontrunners (bandwagon jumpers, fairweather fans) suck.

NOW is the time to strike and bring him to Wrigley. Get him out of there and he'll be fine offensively and defensively. Move him back to SS where he can be the best SS of all-time. This stuff is total hyperbole.

What an awful, awful trade for the Reds. Hopefully there are a couple more teams this desperate for bullpen help that we can take advantage of.

Are there any indications that the Cubs would consider Jacque in CF or think he's still capable? I see that he hasn't really played any extended time in CF since 2000, but that's because he played with Torii Hunter. I really like the idea though. Even if Jacque reverts back to his career numbers, he would still be an acceptable CF at his cost. I like Burrell and outside of 2003 he's been exactly what you described. I do wonder why he's so disliked out there though and why he always seems to be a scapegoat. Is it just because of his salary? Is it because he strikes out a lot, has a fairly low batting average yet doesn't hit as many HR's as a guy like Dunn?

see my point earlier about Brown. I wonder how all the post 1970 RB's would like to play against defenses that didn't have a single player bigger than he was. He also could outrun those guys that were smaller or the same size as him. Obviously you're comparing different era's, but Jim Brown was a man amongst boys like Babe Ruth was in baseball. He had the total package as a runner and had some insane production. 1. Jim Brown 2. Walter Payton 3. Barry Sanders 4. Emmit Smith That's it, that's the list. like I said earlier, the better comparison for Jim Brown is George Mikan. Mikan completely dominated basketbal...but he was 6-8 inches taller than the next tallest guy on the court. same with Brown. Brown would have been great in any era, but to assume he would dominate like he did in the 50's against the defenses of the 70's - 00's is absurd. not a single guy could tackle Brown by himself when he was playing. most linebackers playing today could bring him down no problem. Most could bring him down no problem? Many linebackers had problems bringing down Jerome Bettis in his prime and he was nowhere near the back that Jim Brown was. I agree that he wouldn't dominate like that against today's defenses. But he was a man amongst boys and if he had access to all of today's supplements and year-round training, he may have been even more of a physical specimen. Also something to consider is that the quality of tackling in the NFL today is not where it was then, so that offsets a little bit of the size differences. With a running back who has the size and force of Brown, that makes a big difference and that was part of what made Bettis so successful.

see my point earlier about Brown. I wonder how all the post 1970 RB's would like to play against defenses that didn't have a single player bigger than he was. He also could outrun those guys that were smaller or the same size as him. Obviously you're comparing different era's, but Jim Brown was a man amongst boys like Babe Ruth was in baseball. He had the total package as a runner and had some insane production. 1. Jim Brown 2. Walter Payton 3. Barry Sanders 4. Emmit Smith That's it, that's the list.

Crazy. Yeah I can understand the reasoning behind that. I guess I was just thinking of something like Wisconsin had last year, where Bielema was named the head coach for the 2007 season and beyond. Obviously it's different because they had Alvarez there for his final year to make the transition smooth, but still Fitzgerald has never even been a coordinator. Regardless he should be a great fit there, he'll just need some patience. He was a hell of a player that was easy to respect and had much more class than his coach at NU had.

Could they really turn it over to Fitzgerald already? If they plan to have him be the man long-term, wouldn't it make more sense to promote someone else as the interim coach for this season while grooming Fitzgerald to take over next year. This would be an extremely difficult situation to begin his career under, and he really had no time to prepare.

Jim Brown and that's the end of the discussion. Walter is second.

Soon. When I first looked at this it said 'you should come out with one'. Now it says soon and it wasn't edited. Am I going crazy? I am not sure when they will be out, but all the ones I have seen in magazines have OSU at #1. Notre Dame is getting some also, and Athlon's has Oklahoma. They all have their flaws and there's no one that's a clear cut leader, but I like both of those two more than Ohio State. As an ND fan it pains me to say this, but they are not a #1 team. No way at all. I don't think they are either, but who really is this year? Certainly once we get into the season there will be some teams who step up and are deserving of being #1. There just aren't any teams that look convincing at all as preseason #1. I like Notre Dame better than Ohio State, but I would be shocked if either went undefeated. Ohio State's offense will be damn good, but I think people are overestimating how good it will be because of the Fiesta Bowl. Most importantly they're going to have to replace a stacked back 7 on their defense AND play at Texas and at Iowa before October. By the end of the year they'll be tough, but I don't think they have enough time to gel in order to win two extremely tough road games in the first month.

Soon. When I first looked at this it said 'you should come out with one'. Now it says soon and it wasn't edited. Am I going crazy? I am not sure when they will be out, but all the ones I have seen in magazines have OSU at #1. Notre Dame is getting some also, and Athlon's has Oklahoma. They all have their flaws and there's no one that's a clear cut leader, but I like both of those two more than Ohio State.

So what's new? Michigan has top ten talent almost every year. Under Lloyd Carr they usually find a way to lose a close game or two and underachieve most years. So I don't know that they "should" beat everyone but ND and OSU. At Penn State and home games with Iowa and MSU will be tough also. What suggests that Chad Henne will be improved? He was worse last year than he was his freshman year and needs to prove that Braylon didn't make him. I can live with what you said except for the Henne comment. He had nearly identical numbers last year than as a true freshman with Braylon. He didnt get much better but he most defintly didnt regress. After looking at the numbers I guess you're right. He just seemed to be feast or famine and really struggled (and was a big part) in their losses. He had terrible games against Notre Dame and Minnesota, and had a poor game at Wisconsin. He did play well at Iowa, MSU and OSU though. I guess it's kind of like people thinking Tate wasn't as good last year because we weren't as successful. He actually threw 2 more TD's, cut his INT's in half from 14 to 7, had a half yard more per attempt and had the same completion percentage.

Which only takes about 7 wins for ND, right? Which is a hell of a lot harder to get than the ACC's automatic berth. LOL please tell me you didn't say that. In the ACC you have to beat out FSU, Miami, Va Tech, Virginia, BC, Georgia Tech, Clemson and Maryland. All Notre Dame has to do is win all of the games they're supposed to win and go .500 on the others. Yeah that sure is tougher. What changes were made? Do they not have to win just 9 games or finish in the top 12 anymore? As far as disadvantages of not being in a conference, come on. How is it a disadvantage? I don't want to get into another ND debate but you know that ND has far more advantages than disadvantages of not being in a conference and that's why they won't switch. If they were in a conference it wouldn't be as easy to get into the BCS and they wouldn't have nearly every home game televised nationally.

Which only takes about 7 wins for ND, right?

So what's new? Michigan has top ten talent almost every year. Under Lloyd Carr they usually find a way to lose a close game or two and underachieve most years. So I don't know that they "should" beat everyone but ND and OSU. At Penn State and home games with Iowa and MSU will be tough also. What suggests that Chad Henne will be improved? He was worse last year than he was his freshman year and needs to prove that Braylon didn't make him.

You wouldn't? You would be wrong then.

He is? He's not at all in line with his numbers as a reliever. His numbers as a reliever are less than 60 innings prior to this year, not a whole lot. True, but it's also a much different game pitching as a short reliever compared to a starter and that's evidenced by the many successful closers/set-up men who were failed starters. He wasn't going to stay on the pace he was at during the 30+ inning scoreless streak and 25 consecutive saves, but he's also a better relief pitcher than he's shown in the last month.

He is? He's not at all in line with his numbers as a reliever.

Do you honestly think that Hendry/Baker/Management didn't know the fans were upset with this team, until they decided to throw garbage on the field? Honestly, use a little logic. It's not like they don't know the fans are upset. It's not like they aren't just as upset themselves. It's not like they don't care about winning. Throwing garbage on the field or selling tickets to Sox fans isn't going to make management any smarter. not making them smarter yes, making them look like crap on a national tv broadcast, much better How does that make management look like crap on a national broadcast? It just makes the fans in the bleachers look like total idiots. It's not like no one knew we were having an awful season before garbage was thrown on the field.

Do you honestly think that Hendry/Baker/Management didn't know the fans were upset with this team, until they decided to throw garbage on the field? Honestly, use a little logic. It's not like they don't know the fans are upset. It's not like they aren't just as upset themselves. It's not like they don't care about winning. Throwing garbage on the field or selling tickets to Sox fans isn't going to make management any smarter.