vance_the_cubs_fan

ULM hanging with Arkansas for a half. I'm very proud of the effort from the Warhawks so far.

Wow Hartley missing a chip shot.....will 2010 be another year of kickers missing easy kicks?

Who dat thought this would be a game dominated by the defenses?

I find that people who make broad generalizations about large groups of people are usually more ignorant than the people whom they make such generalizations about.

Here's my critique of your proposal. First, it will never happen. There's a lot of reasons for that, but it just won't. So, while you might think it's a good idea, it's a fantasy idea with little chance of happening. It's too radical. Second, it focuses the conferences strictly with a focus on football. There's a lot more to some of the conference alignments than just that. Third, some of your conferences seem haphazard at best. I know that you have a somewhat geographic idea...but trying to even out the powerhouse schools is an impossible task. For example, you C-USA has teams from Indiana, Texas, Alabama, Tennessee, North Carolina, New Jersey....what were you doing there.... yet, other conferences seem geographically grouped. Why split Alabama from Auburn? If you're going geographic, go all the way. In your big 12, you lump most Texas schools, yet then spin some like Baylor out to other conferences. Even if your idea was plausible, and it's not, you're application of it is flawed. You need a much more logical way of grouping the schools. What you have fails miserably.

This might be the first seven-win division champion. And Seattle is awful the same way the Rams were awful last season. Hollowed out roster with zero playmakers on either side of the ball. Wow, that is a huge overstatement on Seattle. They are nowhere near as bad as the Rams last year. You have Trufant, Thomas, Tatpu, Curry all playmakers on the defense. Hasselback is still better than any QB in the division and likely better than most in the NFC What? Yeah...Hasselback may be the best QB in the west, but I think more than half the NFC QB's are better than he is. Brees, Rodgers, Favre, Romo, Manning, McNabb, Ryan, and Cutler are better than Hasselback. Then there's guys like Kolb and Stafford which could be better...it's debatable. But Hasselback isn't bad....he's just not that good either.

Peterson is probably better than half the cornerbacks currently playing in the NFL. How high is he drafted next April?

Cowboys trade Patrick Crayton to the Chargers for a 7th round pick. meh.

I'm hoping for a great year from the Cowboys. The miserable preseason is over. My biggest concern right now is the O-line which has looked really bad. I'm going to be at 7 of the 8 home games this year. I'm ready for football!

I think I would happy with Wedge mainly because he's not Sandberg.

Frankly, I don't want Sandberg to manage the Cubs, and it's because I absolutely love Sandberg. Ryno has been and always will be my favorite all-time Cub and favorite all-time player. I want those to always be the way I think of Sandberg. I want him to always be welcome as a part of the Cubs family with little to no bad blood. I want him to be a player that is always greeted positively by Cubs fans everywhere. If he manages this team, all that could change. Surely, if the team is successful, his legacy will grow by leaps and bounds. If he fails, then what? How soon before the Cub-faithful turn on him? What happens if he ends up (which is likely at some point) being fired? Will he still be welcomed by Cub-fans everywhere? Maybe my reasoning is off-base. Maybe not. I have no problem with Sandberg being part of the Cubs organization. I just don't want it to be in a lightning rod-like position like manager or GM.

When my number was called last year, I had the choice of bleachers and some in the 500-level.

This

The Vikings may be a good team without Favre, but they aren't an elite team. With him, they are a top 3 team in the NFC and legitimate condender for the Super Bowl. Without him, they are still likely a playoff team, but fall from that elite status. If everything falls their way, they still may be a Superbowl team, but they fall into the 6-10 range if not lower in the NFC.

I love his announcing, but ive certainly never heard anything even close to suggesting that he's "a hell of a nice guy." Yep. Uecker seems on the air to be nice guy because he's funny and all, but from what I've heard he can be somewhat of an ass.

Dez Bryant signs his deal with the Cowboys and becomes the first first-rounder to sign a contract. Link

I would definitely trade leaving Wrigley for a World Series Championship. That being said, no park I've ever been to enhances my baseball experience quite like Wrigley. There's something beautiful about being there, especially on a warm, sunny day. Even on my last trip there, the level of play was horrendous, but the experience was grand. I've been to a lot of ballparks with a lot better ameneities, and none compare. So, while I'd support the Cubs playing elsewhere, I'd much rather have them win one with Wrigley part of the package.

The Rangers see a chance and are going for it. This is a good trade for them. If a penant race can put butts in the seats, it will help that team's finances.

If any of you Bears fans want to see the Bears play at Cowboys stadium in Septemeber. I have two extra seats to that game. They are up high in the cheaper seats (though there aren't any cheap seats in the stadium.). Sec 446 row 29. Hit me up if you are interested. Oh...game is on September 19 at noon.

Salty is currently in AAA for the Rangers. He's hitting well there, but is having major difficulties throwing the ball back to pitcher. I still don't think the Rangers are ready to give up on him, but with the trade for Molina, he's likely stuck at AAA for the remainder of the season. I don't see a Salty for Nady swap, but if the Cubs tossed back another player, the Rangers might be willing to make the swap.

griiiiiiiitttttttsssssssss!

As a casual observer to the NBA, this thread has been entertaining.

I'm going to open a can of worms here and I know I'm going to get flamed for it, but so what. Isn't judging a GM simply based on a W/L record without looking at the particulars akin to judging a pitcher based only on his w/l record? Now, I'm not saying the GM isn't responsible for the product put on the field, and hence has a great influence over the record, but that record isn't entirely under his control. Things can and will occur (both positively and negatively) that can be largely unforseen. Now, if we want to hold a GM responsible for those things, then surely that is our right. On the other hand, sometimes breaking down the individual components of his performance might give us a better view of whether or not he has done a good job and whether anyone else could have done better.

My sarcasm detector went off, and so I provided the rationale behind my thinking.

I see Rick Ankiel. I see myself in this thread. Great objective analysis. It would make Al Yellon weep. Well, if you want to know why I see similarities in Colvin and Francouer, I could provide those. Colvin through 75 games this year and 180 PA has posted a 121 OPS+. Not bad at all. Francouer in his first 70 games albeit 274 PA, had a 124 OPS+. Francouer's line was 300/336/549/884 (ba/obp/slg/ops) with an 11/58 bb/k ratio. Colvin's current line 271/313/554/867 with 11/49 bb/k ratio is similar to me. A key difference was that Francoeur put up those numbers at age 21, while Colvin is 24. Also, Francouer maintained that line over a greater number of plate appearances. On the other hand, when we look at what Francouer did over the next few seasons, we see that he was still able to provide some homeruns, but eventually his inability to consistently make contact while not walking provided increasing diminishing returns on his value. I think that unless Colvin makes adjustments that I'm not sure we have any reasonable evidence to think he can make, he's going to have more liabilities than value in the very near future. Just as he appears a bright spot on the horizon, so did Francoer to Brave fans in 2005, but we shouldn't ignore the fact that striking out a ton while walking little is usually an omen of bad things to come.