vance_the_cubs_fan

I don't think a Charlie Batch led team will get past a much improved Miami team tonight. We'll see. I have the defending champs taking the loss tonight.

I think that could be the case. I think Hendry would make an excellent scout or director of scouting. I think he lacks the ability to make a good GM.

I'm in as We [expletive] Suck.

My guess is tickets won't sell so rapidly this February as they did last February.

Sounds good to me.

Hill definitely has pitched his way into serious consideration for a rotation spot next season. In fact, I'd rank him ahead of all our young arms.

If anyone cares, here are my picks for week 1. Miami (+1) at Pittsburgh. Big Ben is sitting this one out, so Charlie Batch will be leading the defending Super Bowl champs as they kick off the NFL season. I think Culpepper will be a boost to the Dolphins and that the loss of Rothlisberger will be the difference. Take the Dolphins and the point. Denver (-4) at St. Louis.This game will be a good one. No one knows who will be running the ball for the Broncos. Whoever it is, they'll likely be good for 100+ yards and a score or two. Plummer is too inconsistent for my tastes, and considering the Rams are also the home team, I'll take the Rams and the points. NY Jets (+2.5) at Tennesee. Two godawful teams. I'll take Tennesee minus the 2.5. Atlanta (+5) at Carolina. Carolina may be the best team in the NFC. Delhomme can be a dangerous passer and with Steve Smith and Keyshawn Johnson they will be good this year. That being said, Smith didn't practice today because of a gimpy hamstring. I'm taking Atlanta and the points in an upset. Cincinnati (+2) at Kansas City. Give me the Bengals and the points. Seattle (-6) at Detroit. The Seahwks are at least two touchdowns better than the Lions. I'll give up the points and take the Seahawks. If you want a lock for the week, here it is. Philadelphia (-5.5) at Houston. I'll give up the points and take the Eagles. Baltimore (+3) at Tampa Bay. I'll take the Bucs here. New Orleans (+3) at Cleveland. I'll take the Saints with Bush and the field goal. Buffalo (+9) at New England. Patriots will cover the spread here. Take New England. Chicago (-3.5) at Green Bay. The Packers are a mess. Favre is getting old. The Bears win this one by at least a touchdown. If you need a second lock, take the Bears. San Francisco (+9) at Arizona. I hate giving up more than a TD in any pick. I also hate picking the Niners. Fitzgerald, Boldin, and James should easily provide the Cardinals a two touchdown lead. I'll give away the points and take the hometeam here. Dallas(+2) at Jacksonville. I think the Cowboys will win this game outright, so taking the points along with them makes this pick better. Indianapolis (-3) at NY Giants. I'll take Eli in this match-up of Mannings. Peyton will have better numbers, but the Giants will win the game. This game will be fun to watch. Too bad, I'm going to be watching the Cowboys. Minnesota (+4.5) at Washington. There are doubts whether Portis plays in this one. I'm going to take a risk and pick Minnesota with the points. San Diego (+3) at Oakland. Chargers easily win by ten points here. The Raiders could finish with the worst record in the league. Taking the Chargers minus the field goal.

Another reason why we need new management.

I don't see avatars or sigs any longer...no trouble for me.

Pie should have been called up. While I can understand (though I don't like) the organization letting Pierre continue his streak, Pie could and should fill in some for Jones down the stretch. His baserunning can't be any worse than Jacque's.

I'd certainly like Howard to get it over Pujols, but when looked at objectively, Pujols is still the MVP. Outside of HR and the worthless RBI stat, Pujols is the leader any which way you look at it. Value is in production, and Pujols has the greater production.

Hopefully it's not Barrett's nut.... :ohnoes:

First pick in the draft, baby! Of course, we'll end up taking a toolsy high school player that will end up being the next Brien Taylor.

If Steve Stone becomes GM, we're looking at another regime that will fail to bring in a championship. How about Gerry Hunsicker for GM and Larry Dierker for manager?

I'm all for shutting him down. He's a long shot for the Cy anyways, and this is the best move for the long term. He's been overworked this season and if we're going to do anything next year, we need a healthy Zambrano.

Barrett isn't that bad behind the plate and more than makes up for any defiecencies with his bat. If we want to go into rebuilding mode, then certainly trade Barrett. If we're tooling for a run in 2007, I doubt there's many deals out there that make sense and would make us better by trading him.

You know who else has been around at least the past two years? Rothschild and Baker. If you want to improve the pitching staff, get better pitchers or at least a better pitching coach. Getting a new catcher isn't going to make pitchers stay healthy and really shouldn't help them improve any more than a good pitching coach would. I'm not saying they're not part of the problem too. I'm just trying to make some sense of all these injuries. How many more years do we have to go through this injury excuse. Let's try to fix the problem somebody. You're putting blame for the pitchers getting hurt on Barrett? That's ridiculous!

Best of luck, Ron. Keep in touch!

Novoa stinks. He gets far too much work. He may have a decent outing every once in a while, but far too often he gives up way too many runs and allows way too many baserunners.

You know how bad the season has gotten when I'm going to a middle school football game instead of watching the Cubs.

I guess the easy thing to do is criticize season ticket holders. If I lived in the area and was fortunate to have them, I wouldn't give them up. The waiting list is too long. It might be 10+ years before another opportunity to purchase presented itself.

Ensberg could be a product of MMP. If Ramirez bolts, I'd prefer to see the team attempt to retool rather than piecemeal something together for another ill-fated season.

I'm almost certain he was.

Zambrano is making sure he's no longer in the Cy Young race.

Congrats, Scott!