CuseCubFan69

the NCAA owns the NIT now, so no, they wouldn't So what they could do is have X amount of the losing teams play in the NIT. I think this could actually work.

Had Hendry offered that the O's should have accepted immediately. If they had a normal owner, yes. I wonder if they want Patterson instead of Cedeno? I would if I were them.

i mean, maybe they got screwed, but they'd lose in the first or second round anyway. that's why i really don't feel too bad for bubble teams that don't get in. which is why two bubble teams should have to play the tuesday play-in game to get in as the 12 seed or something Yeah, they just said that on Mike and Mike. What do you guys think about Bobby Knights idea of having 128 teams? It is just one more game. that would take all the excitement out of the conference tournament week. every big east, acc, big ten team with a winning record would make the tournament. It would take away from the conference tournaments but what it would do is not reward or punish a team from scheduling strong teams out of conference and traveling to a "mid-major" and playing on their home court. Or...you could have all the at large bubble teams play on Tuesday. The conference Champs and teams that have made the top 64 according to the committee would get a bye for that game. Of course, you'd have the NIT suing the heck out of the NCAA if they did do this.

i mean, maybe they got screwed, but they'd lose in the first or second round anyway. that's why i really don't feel too bad for bubble teams that don't get in. which is why two bubble teams should have to play the tuesday play-in game to get in as the 12 seed or something Yeah, they just said that on Mike and Mike. What do you guys think about Bobby Knights idea of having 128 teams? It is just one more game.

What about 1st base? Our league never schedules back to back games on purpose. All it takes is one throw. You have to let their arms recoup and though I agree that first throws the ball the least, that one time you have a play at home or third from first and they just let it fly and snap. Personally, I just DH/AH (additional hitter) the kid until his arm is ok. 1st base is the best spot if you have to have the kid play defense.

I think we really do need Roberts on the Cubs, then, since maybe he (spring traning OBP=.405) can teach the rest of the Cubs how to deal with distractions. Or when he comes to the Cubs will he also fall victim to distractionitis? I'm not really sure what you're trying to say here. If Roberts were traded, the distraction would be gone. I'm not syaing it's a huge deal or anything, but I think the players would like to definitively know who their teammates will be on opening day. My point was that Roberts has demonstrated during this spring training that he is not distracted by the trade talk. If he does come to the Cubs, maybe he can teach his new teammates how to cope with distraction. On the other hand, maybe being easily distracted from doing your job is something peculiar to the Cubs and once he joins the Cubs he also will become susceptible to distractionitis. I agree with you but when it comes to the younger guys and distractions I think it's a little different. If Gally keeps pitching well I'll be pretty impressed with all of this going on.

Did you stop to look at how the guy the Reds got back is doing? Volquez has 19 Ks and 3 BBs to go with his 3.46 ERA (bad stat?) in 13 innings this spring. He is just filthy, and is going to be the Reds 3rd or 4th starter behind Harang, Arroyo, and maybe Cueto. I'll take pitching over hitting 100 times out of 100. So far it looks like a win for both teams. You better hope he continues to display that control. In his try-out with the Rangers last season, he walked 15 in 34 innings. For 2007, he walked 75 in 178.2 IP. For 2006, he walked 17 in only 33.1 IP for the Rangers. Control has been his undoing. Granted he's young and still has a lot of time to learn to harnass his stuff. But, I would worry that the control he's shown in 13 IP could be quite fleeting once he's back on the mound come April. He's 24 years old. And the Rangers better hope Hamilton stays away from drugs, stays healthy, and hits left handed pitching. Not to mention his personal baby sitter Johnny Narron didn't go over too well in the clubhouse last year. It was a trade for two talented, young players each who have their flaws. It could (and I hope) it ends up being a win-win for both teams. I wish Hamilton the best the rest of his career and more importantly life. Hamilton has the benefit of working with the best hitting coach in the majors; Volquez will have Dick Pole and a manager notorious for over working young pitchers. I think it's more likely Hamilton does better here. He's funny and direct as heck. I remember him complaining about how stubborn Blaylock was and how he wouldn't listen until he was marred in a big slump.

i mean, maybe they got screwed, but they'd lose in the first or second round anyway. that's why i really don't feel too bad for bubble teams that don't get in. That brings up a good point, has a 11, 12 or 13 seed at large team ever made the Final Four?

Pitch counts are a nice start. What I'd like to see is if a kid throws 70 or so pitches, he can't play another position for a couple days. I want them to throw but to do so gradually and not play SS the next day after throwing a lot of pitches the day before. Imo, the biggest problem we face regarding injuries is the year round playing of baseball. Kids need some time off to do kid things and this insane push to do this year round is forcing injuries to arms and shoulders at a much much earlier age than ever before.

Which is/was more exciting, the movie 300 or the thread 300?

Why? Almost all closers have to start at zero saves sometime. I'm fine with Woody or Marmol. Almost all, Cuse? Do some guys get a headstart with like, 10 saves, to start their career? :D Wise guy. When I said that I was thinking of a guy like Howry that had a few saves by throwing a couple of innings while not being anointed the closer!

http://www.suntimes.com/sports/baseball/cubs/845965,CST-SPT-cub17.article Right side, strong side. I don't know if I like the direction this might take us.

Agreed, but allowing our young players to actually play and learn from mistakes for once would be even better Having Fukudome, Pie and I suppose Soriano who could play CF if needed, that's not bad and allows for a bigger bat off the bench and the Cubs aren't forced to keep a no hit CF for that spot.

Chicago Tough. I see. They put a man on first and we put one in the bleachers, that's the Chicago way.

That's quite possible and I'd rather have Patterson than Cintron.

Why? Almost all closers have to start at zero saves sometime. I'm fine with Woody or Marmol.

This ought to be an interesting tournament. I miss the days when I could just take Thursday off and watch the games from 12 on drinking beer and eating wings throughout the whole day.

Congrats Andy!

Yeah, that's a decent possibility as well. I think the fact that Demp can go to the pen might make the Cubs keep him and with Marquis I'd think he'd be quite unhappy relieving the 4th inning in a blow out.

So it seems as if Marquis and Payton are now involved perhaps?

Less than a week ago he had doctors messing, cutting, and un-twisting one of his nuts. I'd be scared of everything too. Give him a couple days to get back into life and forget about what had to be a mentally scarring experience before judging. At least I am. Straddling a fence after what he went through would be the last thing I'd want to do.

they have to win some of those games against tough competition for SOS to matter. playing a bunch of good teams and losing doesn't help your cause. True. It seems to help Arizona often enough though and we did beat Georgetown and Marquette along with Nova, Cornell, Siena and St. Joes. Plus, since the committee is talking healthy, we played at Virginia before they had injuries and won. Another thing for the other RPI posts form others. The committee is big on wins versus the top 50/100/200 and how is this criteria determined? The RPI.

I've seen a ton of Arkansas games this year. They are as talented as anyone around, but they have a new coach and new system this year and are just now starting to figure it out. They have a DEEP bench, and especially talented inside. Hill at 7' is Mr. Defense, second in blocked shots in SEC history behind Shaq. Townes is almost automatic in the post. Thomas has a double/double in him at any time. Someone on their frontcourt will get you around 20pts/10rb every game, but their leading rebounder is 6' 1" Beverly at guard, who is the heart of the team. Their point guard, Ervin, has been suspect all year. That said, if Weems at SF looks to be hot early, look out. When he is on he is unstoppable, when he is off he just looks bored out there. Their inside game is always there, but they go as their guards go. Hope that helps a little. They sound like a team that could beat a lot of good teams and then lose to a bad one.

:oops: I think they are going to show some sort of highlight thing called "This is the Year" or something like that. Pie looked very Pierre esque on that play. It looked like he was afraid of running into the wall. He just came back from an injury and I'm sure that limited him in going back along with his confidence to just go after the ball.

Bayless was back for the conference tournament, where Arizona crushed OSU by 40 and lost a close one to Stanford. The actual RPI number makes very little difference. 12-4 in a BCS conference is still 12-4 in a BCS conference, and the 4th best conference by RPI. There's just no ignoring that, and the crazy situation of the conference tournament basically destroys the importance of it, aside from Georgia getting the auto bid. Essentially, since January, Kentucky has been, by far, the better team. RPI matters. The Committee mentions it when they want to bounce a team out near the end if it comes down to it. If anybody wants to know about how the committee selects teams and what criteria they use, this is probably a good thing to read Last year about a month before the tournament, they let the media come in and play like they were the committee and make a bracket. Here's a story about it: http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/columns/story?columnist=katz_andy&id=2758650 And if you're interested in the first link, here's another one: http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/columns/story?columnist=forde_pat&id=2758770&sportCat=ncb There are a couple other links from other people involved in that process that has some otherwise not covered info that I can dig up if you want to read more. It's really quite fascinating IMO. And as for RPI, It was a nice read but we're talking writers, not the guys that made the decisions.