Chisoxfn

QUOTE(DBAH0 @ Jan 1, 2006 -> 06:00 PM) Good to see people going with the seafood tonight. FlaSoxxJim would be proud. Just put the salmon in the broiler. Having some salad, a baked potato and some rice to go with it. Than its time to sit down and watch more football

QUOTE(THEWOOD @ Jan 1, 2006 -> 05:58 PM) I am still waiting....can not wait for OSU to shut down Notre Dame. GO BUCKS!! I think its going to be a great game. I like the chances of Weiss coming up with a gameplan to keep your defense off guard, but at the same time Ohio State is in my mind the 3rd best team in the country so its going to be a battle (USC and Texas are clearly the 2 best teams in the country). Its gonna be fun and hopefully Brady Quinn, Weiss and the Irish will end this season on a win and help gain some recruiting momentum as well as gain momentum for the Irish to go out next year and win the National Championship.

QUOTE(DBAH0 @ Jan 1, 2006 -> 05:58 PM) Well I think a lot of people thought the Saints were a real talented team. But now almost everyone realizes Aaron Brooks isn't that good of a QB, and their defense ain't too good either besides the D-Line. It goes each way a little, but I think Haslett could get a job somewhere, since the openings could reach up to double figures. I definately agree with you that a lot of coaches are going to get 2nd chances since there is going to be a ton of openings. However, if my opinion means anything, I don't see Parcells retiring. I think he'll be back next year and the Cowboys should be a pretty good team next year.

QUOTE(DBAH0 @ Jan 1, 2006 -> 05:55 PM) Martz could be one that the Raiders look at. I think Haslett if he goes could definitely get a head coaching job somewhere else though. I know a lot of teams were impressed with the job he did early on with the Saints keeping them afloat. Personally I think Haslett is a garbage head coach. He's had a talented team for a while (I'm not counting this year cause it was an impossible job) and he's continued to fail to get his talent to gel and play up to its capabilities. At some point the onus falls on the head coach. Martz offensive style would definately fit in nicely on a team with as many offensive weapons as the Raiders have (they have a strong WR core and Lamont Jordan showed quite a few flashes. Of course if I were the Raiders I'd find a defensive minded coach and try to grab Martz as an OC (Al Davis would pay the bucks).

QUOTE(DBAH0 @ Jan 1, 2006 -> 05:51 PM) Jim Haslett is probably going to quit the Saints since he's had enough. Denny Green could be in some trouble in Arizona, and then there's the Rams. I think the guy that took over for the Rams did an admirable job. He went to the run but had a ton of injuries to compete with. Martz is a gonner though. I can't believe how many vacancies there will be. Your right about Haslett. I think he'd get fired if it weren't for the fact that the Saints were in such a s***ty position and Benson has to no that no good candidate will go there (it will have to be a guy whose been waiting and waiting for a shot or thats considered too green by most that they hire early and hope he can develop into a good coach). I definately could see Haslett saying the hell with it, but he won't be finding another head coaching position. Definately see him finding a gig as a coordinator and obviously Mike Martz could get hired as either a HC or a O.C. (he'd be great back in the OC position with a coach who forces him to run the ball enough).

QUOTE(DBAH0 @ Jan 1, 2006 -> 05:47 PM) There's Herm Edwards as well. I wonder if he'll stick with the Jets or bolt to Kansas City. I think he'd probably like the challenge of fixing up KC's defense, and he wouldn't have to worry about the offense at all. Edwards is a good coach. I'd take him on the Bears any day of the week. Are the Titans going to stick with Fisher? I'd like to think they would but sometimes teams just feel a change is necessary. In the case of Edwards and Fisher, if either were fired it wouldn't take em long to find a new team to coach.

QUOTE(DBAH0 @ Jan 1, 2006 -> 05:45 PM) That'd be Jim Bates. He's done a good job in Miami and now Green Bay but I think there's other Defensive Co-Ordinators around the league who have a bit more of a higher stock right now such as Greg Williams. Williams won't be in Washington next year. Technically isn't Blache the coordinator while Williams is the assistant head coach - defense or soemthing like that. I mean it was Blache's core and I think Williams was a key addition but at the same time I think he's taking some of Blache's credit. Both are going to get a really good opportunity this off-season and I could see both leaving for a head coaching job. Blache is by far the more risky hire, but he has a positive attitude and gets the most out of his players. I don't think he'll make a good head coach but he's earned a shot at it. I think Rivera is still a little raw to be an NFL head coach but he's going to get some interviews simply because of the NFL's rule on interviewing minority coaches (not saying its not deserved, but that alone will get him plenty of interviews since him and Blache are about the only two deserving of a head coaching position that fit the NFL guidelines). Personally I'd hate to lose Rivera.

QUOTE(DBAH0 @ Jan 1, 2006 -> 05:46 PM) Millen really wants Parcells but that ain't gonna happen. Russ Grimm is probably the guy they'll end up taking I think. He's the tough guy from the Steelers right? IIRC was like an oline coach. I remember the Bears were looking at him either for the head coaching job two years ago or the offensive coordinator position (pretty sure it was the head coaching job). I remember a lot of Bears fans liked the idea of Grimm, but some feared he didn't have enough experience at the time. Maybe I'm thinking of the wrong guy though. Seems like a Millen hire though and Grimm's attitude would probably be liked in a blue collar place like Detroit (it would have been liked in Chicago too).

QUOTE(DBAH0 @ Jan 1, 2006 -> 05:43 PM) I think Ferentz is really going to be in demand this off-season. Teams have seen what Nick Saban has done for Miami, and if Kirk is actually interested in coming to the NFL he could almost have his pick of teams that he wants to coach. I don't doubt it. Especially considering the amount of job openings. Lets just say: Green Bay Houston Oakland Detroit Kansas City Dallas New York Jets (they say Herm Edwards is safe, but anything can happen). Am I missing any others? Thats potentially 7 vacancies and while there are some good candidates out there, at least one of those teams is going to sniff the college ranks and Ferentz and Tedford are the two guys that will get the bulk of the calls. Both will make great coaches wherever they go, imo.

QUOTE(Felix @ Jan 1, 2006 -> 05:42 PM) Dick Jauron maybe? I don't know if Detroit will keep him around, I mean, they only named him interim head coach after Mariucci was fired. I don't think Detroit will stick with Jauron. They are going to at least interview candidates. Its too bad Millen is signed for the next 5 years. If he wasn't I'd say the odds are good that he could potentially get canned to, but no way is Detroit going to drop Millen and pay him these next 5 years.

QUOTE(DBAH0 @ Jan 1, 2006 -> 05:42 PM) Jay Glazer reported today that the Packers were going to suprise everybody and fire Sherman. It'll be interesting to see what happens with Brett Favre if this goes down. If the fire him, they are probably forcing the hand of Farve. I just can't see Brett playing with another coach (obviously he's played with a couple, but he has a good relationship with Sherman and I doubt he'd want to deal with switching systems). If Sherman is fired, he won't be without a job for long.

QUOTE(DBAH0 @ Jan 1, 2006 -> 05:41 PM) Who would seriously want this job though? The only person I can think of is Jim Fassel, and judged by Kyle Boller's performance today, he may have had enough of that situation there. Fassel is a good coach and would make a good hire. Boller may not have played great today but he played really good the previous two weeks and has all the tools. If I were a GM and Boller were available I'd definately consider him. At the same time, Fassel would be right near the top of my coaching list. He's a very good offensive mind and was a pretty sucessful coach.

I so f***ing hope no one snags Ferentz. He just signed a nice contract extension at Iowa, but his son graduates this year and he could leave. I hope he loves Iowa City and stays there for as long as he wants. I really believe he's going to eventually bring a national championship to Iowa.

Nothing official, but I'd be shocked if he is back. The stuff being talked around out here on the West Coast is that he doesn't want to be with the Raiders. He will be a highly coveted offensive coordinator and will probably land a gig with an experienced team. Speaking of job openings, you can't forget that Sherman is reportedly a potential firing in Green Bay. This could be a year without about as many coaching vacancies as I can think of. Plus a couple of them are pretty good teams (Kansas City and potentially Dallas and I think a healthy Packers team is still solid).

Ya, I think they will eventually turn the reigns over to Dan Reeves. If he doesn't get the job I expect him to be very involved with the organization. One good candidate is the Green Bay Packers defensive coordinator (was the DC in Miami until Saban took over). Obviously Greg Blache and the Bears Rivera will be contacted as well. Speaking of job openings, I tend to think Norv Turner and the Raiders will mutually go there seperate ways. I don't think the Raiders want him back and I honestly don't think he wants to be back with Al Davis and the Raiders.

QUOTE(maggsmaggs @ Jan 1, 2006 -> 12:58 PM) Diamondbacks have so many great offensive prospects. They are a little thin pitching wise. Plus, their starting rotation is pathetic and their bullpen is horrible. They won't ever contend without fixing the pitching even with the potential for one of the best hitting teams in the future. Stephan Drew and Upton up the middle is going to be lethal. I drool over Stephen Drew. He's close to being major league ready despite some struggles in AA. Once they are out of it, I'd have him up at the major league level. He's gonna be some kind of all around hitter.

Who cares. We are going to the playoffs.

Benson was supposedly going to play but looking at gamecast he's yet to get out there. Jeff Blake is also supposed to see some action today.

QUOTE(southsider2k5 @ Jan 1, 2006 -> 11:14 AM) INteresting. I would have thought with a decent curveball, that they would have tried to add something with some sideways motion instead of adding another up to down pitch. Hopefully it works for him. One nice thing about having a similar pitch with downward action is that he'd really be messing with you. He can throw his changeup with downward action, his curve with more sharp downward action and than if he threw a harder 2 seamer/splitter with some downward action he'd get the same action out of the arm but it would come at ya a lot quicker. I really think that would have guys off balance. I think we'll see him develop into quite the young star. The maturity of Mac is just so impressive.

QUOTE(Balta1701 @ Dec 30, 2005 -> 09:44 PM) That's what I fully expected him to be working on too, but the report said it was a 2 seamer/split finger pitch of some sort that he wanted to work on. I do think a split finger/2 seamer makes sense though, at least as much as a cutter, simply because the kid is freaking tall, and he'd really be able to get on top of that thing and push it downwards, just like JG. (Imagine JG with BMac's changeup...he might give up 3 hits all year) That was the talk a while back, but the Sox have also been really leary on messing with him. They feel so positive about him that they don't want him to lose his release point mixing with other stuff. I can't say what he's working on right now, but I know it was talked around and Coop had mentioned it in a few interview that they'd likely toy around with another pitch. The main thought was a 2 seamer (not sure about a splitter but I could be wrong) but a cutter is obviously in the relm since the Sox have been teaching it to quite a few players recently.

QUOTE(Felix @ Jan 1, 2006 -> 02:39 PM) Then how do you suggest evaluating players during the offseason? There isn't magic crystal ball which shows how good a player will be, but stats give a good indication of how players will do in future years. Yea, its not a sure thing, but they give an indication, and without them, one wouldn't know the difference between Joe Borchard and every other outfielder unless they watch every single game for every single team in every single level of play, whether it be A, AA or AAA. Its called mixing in stats and tools. Not just relying solely on how a guy hit or what his obp is or his ops. You can't tell me how great a player is (unless they are a .300 hitter with 30+ HR and 100+ RBI based solely on stats. You need to at least watch a guy, know how he plays defense, know the type of speed he has, how old is he, is he going to improve, what type of flaws does he have in his game, can we fix these flaws. There are so many things you have to take into account. For example, people throw out Taveras numbers and say he's a bum. You don't hit .290 or so on accident. The guy obviously has some ability to hit for an average and when it comes to evaluating a top of the order guy its nice if they can get on base. Obviously his OBP wasn't too impressive but in the minors he showed pretty good patience and most young players thrown into a leadoff role struggle with this (but should improve over time and historically his stats show that). You also know he's a guy with pretty quick hands and who uses all fields. Factor that in with him having a pretty solid arm for a CFer and plus range (although I can't tell you how good he is at getting jumps, I haven't seen enough Astros game) and I can see a guy who could develop into a .300 hitter with a .360 OBP or so that can steal 40+ bases at a high percentage all while playing good defense. That doesn't sound too bad to me, especially when you factor in that he'll be cheap and under the Sox control for a long time. Will all that happen, I don't know, but you saying how he doesn't hit doubls makes him crappy or that he doesn't have extra base hits, well that doesn't matter. The Sox wouldn't be looking at him as a run producer. Now you can talk about his low OBP and I understand that, but not a ton of Xtra base hits isn't a major reason not to get him since he's going to be here (if the Sox got him) because Ozzie wants more speed and a slap hitter in the 2 hole (not xtra base hits, those are just a plus). Pods wasn't getting many xtra base hits, but he was a very effective leadoff hitter (although he did really struggle in the 2nd half at stealing bases) but as a whole he did a very good job (had a nice OBP and came up with some hits (he stunk at driving in runners, but that wasn't his job, he was a table setter, so that stat isn't important).

QUOTE(CWSGuy406 @ Jan 1, 2006 -> 02:30 PM) I think Anderson will post a line somewhere around .250/.315/.420 next year, which isn't great, but he's not going to be relied upon as far as offense. I assume that his defense is very good, which very well could be wrong on my part. But, I'm giving KW the benefit of the doubt -- afterall, he was comfortable enough with Anderson to trade one of the best defensive CFers in all of baseball and (so far) give the reigns to BA. In both cases, I say, isn't that what Jerry Owens is for? I know everyone is saying that Owens needs some time in AAA, which I agree with, but I don't the difference in who he'd be facing in AA/AAA is all that great. Correct me if I'm wrong, but the jump from A-ball to AA seems much tougher than the AA to AAA jump. I'm sure that, as a collective group, Mackowiak/Borchard/Owens could hold down the fort if one of SP/BA/JD went down. Beck, mainly, I don't think your proposed deal of Taveras/Qualls/SP prospect is "overwhelming" (the exact word from KW, IIRC) by any means. I don't see a matchup with Houston. None of their prospects are that great, or so it seems. I keep going back to the Dodgers, but they seem to be a great matchup. Something like Guzman (Crede's replacement in a year or two) + Elbert (rebuild our SP depth) + Brazoban or Broxton (a player who could help this year, albeit in a minimal role in the bullpen) would seem to be a good start. Pods and Owens can't be in the same outfield cause both suck defensively. However, I'm not a proponent of making a trade. Find us a reliever and call it quits.

Going with Salmon tonight and some rib roast or something tomorrow. I'm doing none of the work, but I'm gonna eat and watch lots of football. I can't wait till tomorrow.

QUOTE(WHarris1 @ Jan 1, 2006 -> 11:27 AM) Most important part. I want Bron Bron on the Bulls. The guy is the best player in the NBA, imo. He has the rare ability to make people around him better. Its a skill Kobe lacks and Garnett lacks and only the greats have it. Michael was able to do it and early on it looks like Lebron is as well. Of course he hasn't had the talent around him (and he still has some work to do himself) to make it far. He won't get there this year either, but the kid is the best player at his age that I've ever seen.

This is the 1st game I'm not watching in a long long time. I decided I'll use this week as a bye week. I originally thought the game was going to be on TV but they changed it (rightfully so) to the Skins game (playoff implications). Hopefully the Bears win, but I just want them to stay healthy. I have the gamecast on and Orton's numbers don't look good but I know you can't tell s*** from that so I'd defiantely appreciate occassional updates on whats going on (for those that do have the game).