Chisoxfn

QUOTE(whitesoxfan99 @ Sep 23, 2007 -> 07:51 PM) So is there anyone out there that still wants to defend Rex and Benson? What has Benson done? He was down on that fumble and did fine with any hole that the line gave him. If I want to blame anyone for this game it is a combination of: HORRID f***ING LINE (run blocking especially as the pass blocking was much improved this week), s***TY WR's (piss poor routes where they stop on the ball...huge drops...Berrian drops 1 touchdown and had another huge drop on the first drive of the game that would have put the Bears into scoring range), and piss poor f***ing tackling (good lord). Oh and could the Bears have adjusted to TO going into the middle of the field every f'ing play. Good grief. They aren't even a playoff team with the way they are playing RIGHT NOW (notice I say right now). They better get there s*** together or we will quickly be comparing the 2007 Bears to the 2007 Sox.

QUOTE(Gene Honda Civic @ Sep 23, 2007 -> 07:39 PM) In real time, I thought Benson was down. If you knew what you were looking for, you could see it from about 3 different angles, but it was a mess. They blew the call twice, but the Bears weren't going to win even if they did get it right. Ya, I'm pretty sure he was down too there just wasn't a camera angle in there. Its just you had to time things and keep your eye on various places to see it.

QUOTE(fathom @ Sep 23, 2007 -> 07:03 PM) He was awful tonight anyways. Seemed slow the entire game, wonder if he was hurt coming into tonight. Are you freaking kidding me...Briggs was his usual stellar self. What half of football were you watching???

QUOTE(fathom @ Sep 23, 2007 -> 05:23 PM) Statement game tonight for Bears. They made a statement. The WR"s drop big pass after big pass, oline can't run block, Rex can't have a good game and threw a couple picks, and the defense looked f***ing horrid after Briggs went down (I hope everyone was watching Jamar Williams look incredibly SLOW on the field). It was just a game for Williams...but good lord is he a lot worse than Briggs (who I think is as good as Urlacher but I've always thought Urlacher was a bit over-rated...very good, but not necessarily as good as everyone else says he is). Oh and can I just say...f***ing great job tackling defense...great job. (I hope you all noticed the sarcasm in that).

QUOTE(Gene Honda Civic @ Sep 22, 2007 -> 06:49 PM) 209 minutes into the season, Iowa allows their first touchdown. IT's too bad since the first two games of the season the rushing attack has really fallen off. This defense teamed up with any sort of offense would make the Hawkeyes contenders against almost any team in the country (excluding probably 5 to 7 teams). Too bad the offense is just horrid right now. They do go back down the field with under 40 seconds thanks to a nice kickoff return and get a TD with 4 seconds left to retake the lead entering the half (10-7 Iowa).

QUOTE(southsider2k5 @ Sep 19, 2007 -> 06:06 AM) Lance Broadway will not be a reliever for the Sox next year. If he doesn't make the team as as starter, he will be in Charlotte. There are too many guys with no options who would be in front of him for the pen, such as Sisco and Floyd. Sisco has options, IIRC.

QUOTE(CWSGuy406 @ Sep 22, 2007 -> 01:08 PM) I don't know where to find the splits, but I'm 99% sure that during his minor league career, his tendency has been to struggle early and then adjust. Maybe later I will look for a post on SSS backing me up, as I seem to remember Cheat having a post or three about it. Thats exactly his MO. He would get promoted, struggle initially (first 4-6 weeks) and than pitch fantastical the rest of the way at that level until he earned a promotion to the next level. At that point the whole cycle would repeat itself. Thats why it was so surprising he had his hot start at the major league level and I Think that hot start led the Sox to get more encouraged about him and people began to forget just how young and raw he still was/is. Bottom line he still has a long ways to go (especially with his changeup, cutter/2seamer and curve ball).

QUOTE(CWSGuy406 @ Sep 21, 2007 -> 07:35 PM) The Yanks scored four in the ninth to tie up Toronto -- they're in extras now. That's awesome. --------------- On a separate note, I'm still a little angry that Boston didn't give into that Delcarmen/Pena for Dye deal. Pena has a 125 OPS+ in just over 100 at-bats for Washington and now that he'll be playing every day, he should put up numbers similar to his 2004 season in Cincy (.259/.316/.527). That would have been a perfectly good deal for the Sox. Declarmen has a very good/projectable arm and should be a future set-up guy and I still think Pena could have a few 40HR seasons at the major league level. However, I also like Dye and don't mind having him, especially if he's healthy.

QUOTE(LukeGofannon @ Sep 22, 2007 -> 05:55 AM) FRAA consistently puts Buehrle at like 2-7 FRAA and Garland at 1-2 which means they're both good but Buehrle is better. Rowand was a better canidate than Hunter in 2005, better than Vernon Wells too but he was just slightly above average so I'm sure if I looked I could find that he didn't deserve to win either. For example, Ichiro was better and Podsedniks 2005 defense was by far the best I've seen in the AL that year. The 2005 AL OF Gold Gloves should have been Randy Winn (SEA) 13 FRAA (split between LF and CF) Jaque Jones (MIN) 12 FRAA Scott Podsednik (CHW) 11 FRAA Runner up; Nook Logan (DET) 9 FRAA The fact that Pods would win the award based on that stats shows me that the stat is severely flawed. I think Pods as a hole had a good 2005 season, but defensively he is not even close to being a gold glover, in fact he's one of the worse defensive left fielders in baseball (and was in 2005 as well). He was better defensively in 05 than he was in 06 (where I honestly think he was the worse defensive lf in all of baseball).

QUOTE(Mr. Showtime @ Sep 22, 2007 -> 10:40 AM) It's turning out to be quite the finish to the season. I'd have zero problem with Erstad coming back as a BENCH PLAYER. PLain and simple. Have him sub ocassionally at first, play all of the OF positions in a defensive bind and be a guy you go to if you have a guy go down for a week or so. Maybe plan on getting him in 80-100 games (most being as a defensive replacement...pinch runner and obviously the ocassional spot start when you just want to rest a guy). However, it has to be as a BENCH player and I honestly think he'd accept that role.

QUOTE(Dick Allen @ Sep 22, 2007 -> 12:10 PM) So basically all the Sox need is a new SS, and a couple of bench guys and its back into contention. Wow. I actually think if you pencilled in a Furcal and added a solid CF like Rowand and had everything else the same this team competes for the series (and that includes the pen consisting of guys like MacDougall/Thornton/Etc). And by this team, I'm talking about next years team. Note: I'm not implying the team can get Furcal and Rowand without losing some of its current major league pieces. However, you are essentially adding a gold glove caliber (and an above average leadoff hitter) at SS, a gold glove caliber CF (and a solid hitter based on his career production...an above average hitter based on this year but I think it would be foolish to expect him to duplicate this season), and a gold glove caliber 3rd baseman (yes I'm risky saying this cause you don't know how Crede will be after his injury, but no matter what that he's pretty solid and superior to Andy Gonzalez). All of these are major upgrades to Juan Uribe, Darin Erstad/Scott Pods/Jerry Owens (insert any other CFer), & the combo of 3rd baseman the Sox have used. You also upgrade in LF where Josh Fields is better than Scott Pods. I am not at all concerned about the rotation and I honestly feel we have most of the pieces of a good pen, its just a matter of the guys producing. Obviously there are some if's in there, but there are going to be "ifs" for every team cause there is no sure thing.

QUOTE(Balta1701 @ Sep 21, 2007 -> 08:43 PM) I would be fairly surprised if, after this season, the Dodgers don't try to find at least 1 more starting pitcher this offseason. Penny, Lowe, Billingsly, then a bunch of hurt guys. Schmidt, Wolf (is he even under contract), Loaiza, David Wells (not under contract). Even with the guys coming up, they will probably want another starter. And I believe Lowe is a FA at the end of 08, so there will still be an opening in the near future. As is Loaiza. Not sure about Penny. Part of the reason they got Loaiza is that they feel his contract is actually a good value for next year. The Dodgers have already indicated that they aren't going to bring Wolf back (he's not under contract either, although they may have an option for him or something like that). Wells won't be back, Schmidt is a major question-mark but they obviously have money invested in him and that could semi-impede there ability to make any major move. However, factor in Penny/Lowe/Billingsley/Loaiza thats 4 guys they plan on using. I don't think they have a 5th ready in house and I'm guessing they'll probably even consider Schmidt/Loaiza as one pitcher based on the fact that you can't truly rely on them for a full season (they could both have one, but I doubt the Dodgers would be banking on that) so it definitely makes a trade for a starter possible. I just don't know if they will want someone as good as a Garland or if they'll look on the cheaper side (than again, there may not be anyone cheap and at that point you might as well get a good guy). I actually could see the Angels being a more likely destination for one of our pitchers. They are losing Colon's contract off the books and are a team that relies on pitching. Lackey and Escobar are both above average starters with Weaver being a young 3rd. I don't know what they think of Santana anymore and Saunders is solid but they probably only end up relying on one of those guys in there rotation and thus they would have an open spot for a guy like Garland that could slide in as a #3 in there rotation (moving Weaver to the 4 spot) and giving them the option of moving Santana (hell for all I know him or Saunders is part of a Garland or Contreras deal) or Saunders. Still, that is a big stretch. But you know one thing...almost every contending club will look to upgrade pitching and since there isn't any in the FA market they will have to look at the trade market and Kenny has one of the best chips out there Garland and another decent chip (simply based on the market and I really hope he kicks butt the rest of the season because I do think teams will look at that and be willing to give up a good starting pitching prospect for a guy like Contreras and take his contract). No, I'm not saying a Pelfrey type prospect, but a good one (top 5, not top 2 or 3 prospect). This again is based on me feeling that in the end there won't be pitching out there to acquire and thus teams will eventually overpay for it. I also thought this would happen last year, but even last years FA class had some decent arms (this one has ZERO decent arms).

I don't necessarily think Olsen himself makes it better, its more having him on the field creates the defense to spread out and opens up new seams and options for Grossman and as a hole that should help the offense. I do think he has 3 catches and his first NFL TD though.

QUOTE(Rowand44 @ Sep 22, 2007 -> 04:12 AM) I'm thinking UM pulls the upset as well. I'd be more confident in them with a healthy Henne but I think Michigan will make its way back into the polls.

QUOTE(Gregory Pratt @ Sep 21, 2007 -> 03:39 PM) Dodgers are probably going to go after Blanton, hard, instead of Garland. I just don't expect us to get much for Jon Garland. Who are we going to trade with and what are we going to get from them? Almost every team in baseball would love to have a guy like Garland in the rotation and any team looking to improve the pen will have to consider Garland as he'll be one of the 3-4 very best pitchers on the market. Hell, Contreras could possibly one of the 5 best pitchers on the market (the market this year is freaking horrible...there are zero worthy FA starters and aside from Blanton I can't think of many starters better than Garland or even Contreras for that matter). Therefor if you want a starter, you'll have to come to CHicago and Kenny should have all kinds of leverage.

Lilly and Hill will completely fall apart if they have to pitch on limited rest (I guarantee it).

I just want to say as a whole this is a great thread. Props to NS for thinking outside of the box and bringing up this discussion and props to all of those who have contributed in this thread discussing different aspects that make NS's stat flawed or that can be added to improve the stat (as a whole though its a good start and I personally agree with where NS is coming from in the case that there isn't a really good stat out there that truly takes into account the added benefits speed can bring). We all know speed means guys can go from 1st to 3rd (score from 2nd). But its not a tangible stat (aside from looking at stolen bases). How do you factor in the added pressure a good base s tealer puts on the pitcher (which ultimately could lead to him losing focus on the hitter or adjusting his pitch selection to where he throws more fastballs...both giving the batter added benefit).

Anyone else stoked to pick up Halo on Tuesday? I know I can't wait to grab it.

QUOTE(Shadows @ Sep 21, 2007 -> 12:58 PM) No wireless, plugs into the wall.. In that case it should just kick right in (unless you have some sort of security password or something that you need).

QUOTE(witesoxfan @ Sep 21, 2007 -> 12:40 PM) I ripped my favorite pants the other day they had a hole in them and i put my foot in the hole and now they are a goner That was just a flat out classic convo

I know the Angels score from 2nd and go from 1st to 3rd more than any team in baseball. I saw the stat a couple weeks ago during an Angel telecast and it showed some of the other teams (I'd assume the Sox are right around dead last in this category) as well. However, I've never seen this sort of stat on ESPN (but mlb has a pretty good database so maybe there is a way to get it from there).

QUOTE(whitesoxfan101 @ Sep 13, 2007 -> 12:35 PM) Yeah, if they end up with a pick that leads to Derrick Rose, Michael Beasley, Eric Gordon, Chase Budinger, etc....they won't be crying, especially if Oden is back healthy that following year. As for the microfracture, that is the injury Amare Stoudemire had. He had the surgery in October, tried to come back a little over 5 months later in March, and after 2 games still had stiffness and missed the rest of the year because of (admittedly) rushing back too fast. And also, as good as Amare was last year, his raw athletic ability obviously wasn't as good, although that did help him IMO develop his all around game further. Lets not forget that prior to this past full season where Amare looked to be healthy, people were beginning to question whether he would ever have much of a career at the NBA level (due to undergoing the micro-fracture surgery). In fact I remember reading numerous articles from respected sites such as ESPN basically implying his career was over or would be drastically reduced (I even read where he's going to at one point have to have the surgery again). Zach Randolph is probably the best case of a guy who had the surgery and has been able to come back without having any problems since. Darius Miles also underwent the surgery with the Blazers and has had a far tougher recovery (but is expected back this year). The Blazers have said that Oden's microfracture is much less severe than the one Randolph or Miles had so that bodes well for him. I still don't think this is a minimal procedure (in terms of his NBA career). In terms of everday life, yes its a minimal procedure.

I've only got through the first one on my DVR...but again the show is fantastic.

QUOTE(Shadows @ Sep 18, 2007 -> 01:33 PM) Yeah we have high speed internet I believe, and it said it connected and it went like two things down on the check before failing one which I dont remember what it was called.. You just have ot go into the internet settings and essentially tell it to connect to your wireless network (I assume you are on wireless). Once you do it once, it will be auto ready for whenever you want to go onto xbox live in the future.

QUOTE(SnB @ Sep 13, 2007 -> 08:53 AM) i played 07 to death last year with my roomate. Once you get used to the stick controls, it makes a world of difference. We'll have to look into getting 08 08 is way better (and I loved 07). I haven't gotten the full version but the demo was sweet. The puck physics are a lot better and the goalies are improved (less cheap goals).