Chisoxfn

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Oct 19, 2017 -> 09:22 AM) The “build equity” quote was terrible. Anyone should listen to that and try and explain to me why I should give this team one minute of my attention I heard it as....try to put some cushion in my job security (i.e., buy job security).

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Oct 19, 2017 -> 09:12 AM) Here's the problem. If this is something that has been building for years, there is plenty of blame to go around. First off the Coach needs to be the person who steps in here and either fixes this or figures out a way for them to co-exist. If that can't be accomplished, then the Coach needs to go to upper management and tell them that one of these guys needs to go. If the Coach isn't able to handle the situation, it is up to upper management to either decide that the Coach isn't able to do his job and find someone who can, or to look at Player A or B as the problem and move them out of the organization before something awful happens. Especially when you factor in that Niko was just a free agent that the Bulls didn't have to bring back, this situation could have been easily "solved" by not resigning the guy. If Portis was the problem, find somewhere else for him to go. It isn't lazy to point that out. None of us were there or saw how things escalate so I think it is lazy for everyone to just assume and point finger at Gar/Pax (in the case of this) and deflect the blame from the individuals directly involved. That said, below is a quote from Cowley referring to Doug Collins being upset.

Now that comment from Paxson...just awful.

QUOTE (Tony @ Oct 18, 2017 -> 05:17 PM) 1. The Bulls had it happen with MJ, and it gave Kerr a black eye...not two facial fractures. Also, right or wrong, when you a franchise running on all cylinders, you can get away with those types of things. 2. The Kreutz/Fred Miller thing happened at a BBQ, with booze involved. Two totally different things. You can make all the excuses you want to protect the environment GarPax has created over there, but when you have John Paxson, the executive, putting his hands around the throat of the coach, and consistently running people out of town....there is a HUGE problem, and it starts at the top. There is a difference between blaming Gar and Pax for basketball decisions, etc., and throwing the blame on this incident on them. It's the easy/lazy thing for fans to do.

QUOTE (Tony @ Oct 18, 2017 -> 03:09 PM) It's a theme of dysfunction. Are Gar/Pax directly responsible for the punch being thrown? No. Does this happen in a franchise that is run properly? Absolutely not. They deserve everything they get. The glory Bulls had it happen. The Bears with Olin Kreutz (who were a solid team at the time), had it happen. People act like this doesn't happen on good teams, but it does. It doesn't get reported nor would this have got reported, other than the fact Niko got hurt. Arguments regularly happen in practice (and fights happen too). Have you guys seen Hard Knocks in football? Players are not all going to be friends and when you are consistently practicing you are going to get heated with various players and may even have overall battles with them. Escalations into fights can happen pretty quick. Kobe got into it at times with various players on the Lakers and Derrick Fisher regularly had to get in the middle of those dynamics. Sports are intense and to think otherwise is ignorant. No justification for Portis to throw the punch (and it sounds like Niko had other issues to blame), but it can happen and I think its just lazy to throw / deflect the blame on Gar/Pax cause its cliche to rip on them. I'm not going to point fingers at others, I'm going to point the finger at the two adults who allowed this to escalate and make the direct decisions that they did. The coaching staff and front office's job is to discipline and set the message that it won't stand. If Niko and Portis constantly argued with each other / didn't get along, what should Gar/Pax do or Fred, suspend them for arguing or intensly battling eachother? Come on...trash talking and competition happen regularly in those dynamics. You have elite athletes battling each other and trying to show they are best. Ego's are going to come out.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Oct 18, 2017 -> 09:32 AM) If everyone was aware that this has been brewing for two years and nobody went to these guys and told them to be professional and to knock that s*** off, it is also on the coaching staff and front office for doing nothing And yesterday, where the hell was the coaching staff when this went off? Come on Sports are intense, stuff happens. People love to blame Gar and Pax for everything. You know what...sometimes blame doesn't belong there. This is on Niko and Portis and to deflect that blame onto others is not right.

QUOTE (Brian @ Oct 18, 2017 -> 09:01 AM) Or in the stands. Except Gage. Ha, I'm not a big Niko fan. I do think his defense has been criminally underrated though. I didn't mind the 2yr deal they gave him.

QUOTE (bmags @ Oct 18, 2017 -> 08:50 AM) 2 more assets handled perfectly by Gar Forman. Honestly...how does this have any bearing on Gar or Pax or anyone else. This was two players getting into it and one ultimately snapped.

Wow...awful. RIP. Prayers and thoughts to his family & friends.

I keep getting upset just thinking about this.

I'll still watch, but its legitimately not the same without the US in it. This is so extremely disappointing.

Man that sucks.

Eliminated. So unfortunate. Unless something amazing happens.

If we lose, we have to play in a tie-breaker, no matter what, correct? And that is only if Honduras and Panama don't both win outright (correct). If we lose and they both win, we are eliminated, correct? Which is quite possible given the fact that Honduras is now beating Mexico and Panama is notted up with Costa Rica. We better find a way to get the draw!!!

Geeze, down 2 goals. They are going to be tight. Not looking good.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Oct 10, 2017 -> 01:04 PM) Right now he's not the guy. He isn't going to lead this particular team to the playoffs, but he obviously has a lot of potential. Give him some experience and some decent receivers, and he might be a star. Except for maybe Cutler, I don't think the Bears have ever had a more talented guy at QB. Hopefully he develops. The guy only started 13 games in college. To think he will get anything but better is crazy IMO. With this receiving Corps, I don't even know if Tom Brady would lead us too far. I do think with a very good QB we are a playoff team. Our defense is good, our oline (when / if it gets healhty is good), RB is solid, but the WR / TE position are so weak (hopefully Simms bounces back and shows something with Trubisky in and we see developments from Shaheen) that it is just so darn difficult to move the ball. Defense needs to create turnovers for us to win games (and offense needs to protect the ball, win time of posession, and wear down the other team.

One thing that I should point out is that our defense lost Timu and after that we had a lot more issues getting guys aligned. I don't necessarily view this as a huge inditement on the coaching staff since Timu was replacing multiple guys who were out and thus we really just didn't have anyone left with much experience to call the plays in the defensive huddle. Floyd had a sweet game (outside of that late "holding" penalty).

Lots of penalties on both teams, just an ugly and unique game. Pass rush was strong and our defenders continue to get their hands on a lot of balls (without getting the key turnover). I predict we'll have a stretch where we will finally force those turnovers in bunches. Offense is just really ugly. Trubisky looked relatively comfortable, but pre-snap issues occurred and Whitehair has just been bad. Hopefully he can turn things around and we can start to get a consistent olien out there so they can build up confidence. Cohen is an odd player, he can be frustrating and I almost feel we are over-using him. On special teams he was brutal and we went to Jackson late (for a reason). Howard is such a better RB (albeit Cohen is clearly a valuable and explosive player). Things will look so much better if we could open the offense up a bit (and had some downfield threats). Last year we had Miller (who was a much more explosive player then this year (age and injuries are catching up to him), plus obviously, Jeffrey & Meredith are significantly better then anything we have at wideout this year.

What is the NFL rule for a defender coming back in (from out of bounds) and being the first to touch the ball? Harrison Smith (I believe) was out of bounds and then came in bounds to intercept Trubisky on that play? I know if that were a receiver doing that, it would be illegal (and not ruled a valid catch). Does that same rule apply to a defensive player? I've never seen it called so I presume not, but was curious.

QUOTE (bmags @ Oct 9, 2017 -> 08:40 PM) That game decided John fox’s fate Any statement like this is so inaccurate. John Fox's fate will be decided by how Trubisky and the Bears do the final 6 weeks or so of the season. If they can finish strong and showing signs of life, he'll be back...if not, he's out.

QUOTE (chw42 @ Oct 9, 2017 -> 08:35 PM) Bears defense played their ass off. Except for they had some key breakdowns. Yes they played good, but there were a couple big plays that were blown.

QUOTE (bmags @ Oct 9, 2017 -> 02:33 PM) We were damn near league average last year with Barkley and Hoyer at QB for much of it. And a significantly better receiving corps. Night and day difference. This receiving corps is just brutal. Said it when Glennon was in and will continue to say it again. Really sloppy start of the game and just an ugly game in general. Our inability to limit the big play on defense and/or create turnovers is just brutal. Lots of opportunities. Trubisky flashed but also showed that he is still a rookie. Game plan was awful and we still failed to throw down field. That said, Trubisky got some experience and can hopefully learn from it.

QUOTE (Jose Abreu @ Oct 3, 2017 -> 02:14 PM) I too don't understand where the "Collins had a bad year" agenda-pushers came from. I'll take an .816 OPS with his defensive improvements any day. Depends on how you view stats. Given that his OPS is driven a lot from a strong OBP (as well as solid power numbers), you could view it as assuming those same components will carry forward at higher levels or you can take the approach that if he can't hit at the lower levels, you will see even worse hitting at higher levels. Additionally, higher level pitchers are more accurate and given those stats aren't going to be pitching around you, which then bodes the question of how much will you really benefit from that strong plate discipline.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Oct 3, 2017 -> 12:09 PM) That's the problem. If he's worth the contract, it gets ripped up and you have to give him another one, or be smart enough to walk away. IMO, acquiring him, unless you are ready to win now or very soon, is something that can only blow up in your face. No matter what, you are going to be getting a player who eventually will be paid a lot of money to really suck. My view is the Sox are going to at some point, play in the free agency space, so with that in mind, I think they are going to spend money. If you get Stanton, you are getting him (even before he opts out) during a window you anticipate contending and if anything you might actually accelerate that "contention" window. You are right that if he performs he is opting out and I would advise the Sox to walk away at that point. If he is good, he might stick around and that isn't necessarily an awful thing either. You know you get him for the next 3 years and if he performs, that should work out to a solid overall value. If he doesn't, you definitely run a risk to be on the hook for the remaining years.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Oct 3, 2017 -> 12:06 PM) To be fair, one of the reasons Stanton missed the end of a year was because he was hit in the face by a 95 MPH fastball. That's not injury prone, that's bad luck. He has been prone to lower body injuries in the past, primarily quads, hamstrings, and groins, which are not good. I would trust the Sox training staff to take care of him. For the right price, I'd absolutely consider it. I believe he has an opt out in 3 or 4 years, and I imagine he'd use that to get one more long-term deal, but maybe not. If he performs, he's opting out. If he collapses, then you are stuck with the long-term nature of the deal. Get creative with the insurance you associate with the contract.