burnt out cubbie fan

I agree, I wish they would extend OT to 10 minutes.

Haha, Len "apparently there are some hyenas in the area"

Those idiots in the stands that are wooing constantly are really getting annoying.

Yes, he was. He had appeared in over 40 games in the AHL for 5 seasons and had been called up to play in the NHL several times in a couple different seasons.

Well, they have Khabibulin with NHL experience and they have Raanta in the pipeline. I Seriously, how does anybody come up with the nobody with experience and nobody in the pipeline theory? Because there isn't? How can you come up with there being the opposite? If they would have replaced Crawford it would have come from outside the organization as Drew points out.

The Giants certainly aren't unless they get creative with their running back position.

Yes, insanely effective training program or....

Granted, AP is a huge step up in class compared to BJGE but still a good sign when you are going against a Christian Ponder quarterbacked team.

Well, they have Khabibulin with NHL experience and they have Raanta in the pipeline. If Raanta played well enough to look like a plausible alternative that would take away some of Crawford's leverage. The Hawks also have pieces that they could trade in order to acquire a goalie. Khabibulin is 40 and on a 1 year deal (said Turco/Emery type). Raanta has 0 experience in North America and is going to spend the year in Rockford. Neither of those options are going to reduce any of Corey's leverage in a years time, even if Raanta plays well in the AHL they are not going to give him the starting job. Based on the Bowman view of goalies do you really think they want to give up what would be a haul of skaters for one? Yes, they had to Crawford a contract that MAY end up overpaying him but they really didn't have an option.

Because they got turnovers at very opportune times...which, granted, has been their MO...but the Bengals were moving the ball at will for the vast majority of the game and the Bears didn't get a sack until a coverage sack late in the 4th. Dalton's efficiency in the 2nd half was worrisome. Luckily his team committed dumb penalties and turnovers to help out the Bears but they seemed to have a very solid gameplan to attack the Bears D. Hopefully the pass rush improves in the coming weeks because that would change things.

Calvin Johnson, however, is. Twice. :? Can't play like that again. Yeah, but he's just a big strong possession guy without the big speed threat that Green is. Peanut has always matched up well against those guys. You realize he ran a 4.35 40 at the combine, right?

I think it's a reaction to the state of flux the Hawks' net wound up in after letting Niemi get away. Not the right decision to me, but I imagine that's his reasoning. I don't think any goalie should get a big contract unless he's, I dunno, Henrik Lundqvist or Roberto Luongo (and even his deal has turned into a trainwreck). Goalies vary too much year to year based on too many things (talent of team in front of them, luck, tactical changes to penalty kills, random variance, injury, luck, and more luck) to be counted on. How many goalies are in the conversation for Vezina every single season? Lundqvist. Anyone else? Tuukka Rask will probably wind up in that conversation at some point (especially if he stays behind a Claude Julien defense). I'm struggling to think of anyone else. Carey Price has some of the best technical skill I've seen in the entire league, but he's had back to back pedestrian seasons. Braden Holtby is another guy with big technical skill and he had an awful save percentage through half the season. I think that's what's frightening. Even these guys that LOOK great have really mediocre seasons for no reason visible reason from their end. As in, there isn't an obvious reason why suddenly these goals are trickling through them as opposed to sticking in their pads or jerseys or rolling just wide. It happens to every goalie in the league except for 2 or 3 per generation. I LOVE Jon Quick, guy makes some tremendous saves. I hated his contract from day 1 (I do think he's much better than his 2013 though) and I think the Kings have made an enormous mistake in letting Bernier go to Toronto in order to let Quick be "the guy" for the next decade. That's a guy that had a season pretty similar to what Crawford just went through. I think Ken Holland said that, basically, you only pay for a top 5 goalie in the league (which really makes you wonder about signing Jimmy Howard). The gap from the 6th best goalie in the game to the 15th best goalie in the game is always marginal and the players move around all the time. Unless you're buying Dominik Hasek, you're almost better just taking a bunch of fliers on guys with raw skill (like the Hawks did with Emery which worked out really well for them). I could not agree more with both of these posts and agree with brinoch's theory. They have nobody with NHL experience behind Crawford and nobody in the pipeline. While I think the deal is too long and pricy they were kind of up [expletive] creek and felt they had to give him something because they didn't want him to have the leverage of having another solid year and being a UFA. That and look at the UFAs for the last couple years, you really want to end up with an Emery(coming into the year) or Turco type as the starter?

Strong negotiation tactic Come on, do you really think him saying that changes or impacts anything in terms of negotiations? Are you in any way surprised that is their thinking? I know I would be shocked if that wasn't the case.

The Cubs have a new deal with Budweiser and there will be a lot more Bud branding around the stadium including the new jumbotron. Also, interesting, I haven't heard the term legacy partner before. I wonder what that means exactly. http://www.chicagobusiness.com/article/20130906/BLOGS04/130909871/budweiser-logo-to-adorn-right-field-sign-at-wrigley

Anything interesting from McLeod? Assuminng not from Rickets.

I haven't heard much about him in the media since he joined the club so I thought you all might have some info. It looks like he has picked it up a little bit the last couple of weeks but certainly nothing world-beating, does anyone have a scouting report for him since he has joined the organization? Has there been any sort of clarification of what his problems have been this year? Do we know if the Cubs are working with him at all to change anything to get him back on track? I didn't see him in the list of players listed going to the AFL, is it likely they just let him sit out the offseason and clear his head and start anew next year? There are a few other questions floating around but I guess we will start with that for now. :)

http://chicago.sbnation.com/chicago-bears/2012/11/21/3677896/chicago-bears-brandon-marshall-alshon-jeffery He's going to cover everything from nutrition to route running to creating space in routes without extending his arms.

RIP Earl. very, very, very NSFW.

@ArsenioOFFICIAL: "The great thing about dating Manti Te'o's girlfriend is, you never have to wear a condom!"

So Hester definitely can't handle it then, and Bennett would be doubtful too? Wait, is Bennett supposed to be not-smart? I figured he would be half-way playbook competent considering the Vanderbilt roots, but him not being smart makes more sense with him being inactive virtually his entire rookie year. He doesn't make it obvious as often on the field, like Hester or anytime he opens his mouth, like Hester, but I recall grumbling that Bennett wasn't picking up the playbook his first year, and since then there were more than a few instances of him screwing up routes. Pretty much my take. I still find Trestman very intriguing though.

In the past you needed to clear waivers if you had a one way contract to be moved from the NHL to the AHL. Two way contracts aren't subject to waivers. Assume it's the same with the new CBA but do not know for sure.

Ice has been put down at the UC!

I'm back from the dead!

Jimmy Hayes got recalled tonight. I really like his game and think he can be a really effective power forward in time. So happy hockey is back.

Cubs signed Dyan Diaz. Linky