Chisoxfn

QUOTE (Soxnfins @ Aug 29, 2017 -> 05:09 PM) May be going against everyone here, but I'd give them Carson Fulmer, especially if the organization projects him as a reliever. Although that could be too high. I'd make that trade without thinking twice. I'd probably be willing to give up Fulmer / Adolfo...those type of guys.

QUOTE (Rowand44 @ Aug 29, 2017 -> 04:17 PM) I'll go against the grain here and say I'd absolutely be interested in Stanton. Obviously, it depends on what you'd have to give up but even if that contract bites you in the ass in the last few years he really has a chance to put you over the top these next 5 or so when our current group of prospects is ready to make moves. I'm with you. I figure he'll opt out in a couple years, but I think he's the perfect fit for what we are trying to do. And if you can get him by taking on salary (which we actually have the capacity to do)...you go for it, imo. Even if it isn't until 2019 we are contending for a wildcard, you are talking about one "wasted" year and not giving up key prospects. I think we'd be crazy not to be involved (if it is more of a dollar play than a prospect play). If it is a prospect play, I agree, we should not be involved.

QUOTE (ptatc @ Aug 31, 2017 -> 09:12 AM) I know I've said this before and people can fire away again. If they have an awful season next year with that plan, the rebuild has failed and they will need to start again. If the rotation is Rodon, Lopez, Giolito and Kopech, all players they are counting on for the rebuild, they better not lose 90 games. They will struggle but they can't ALL struggle that badly. I don't agree, guys usually need to take a bit of lumps. The key to me is how you finish. If we are finishing the season playing really poor baseball, we have a problem. I expect we will be really really bad for the first half of next year.

http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2017/08/29/chi...ic-expectations Thought this was a really really good read. Agree with pretty much everything he says, with the obvious key how the QB position emerges, especially in the second half of the season. Highly possible we are going to get dug into a big hole with that start of the season, but if we could put on a strong finish, from Fox's perspective, it could be the way to save his job (and I don't think he's a bad coach and I like the idea of continuity and him staying around vs. restarting thing) while creating good positive momentum for 2018. Trubisky is key to all of this, but defense is so much better than a few years ago, albeit we still have a lack of playmakers in the secondary. To be honest, we are a developed QB, a wideout, and a strong DB from being what I'd call a damn good team. The QB is the hard piece, but we have a guy who could be that with time (he may not too...but we've at least invested in a guy who has a shot at doing that). Knowing this is going to be a process and the start of the year might be rough (and I think we should all recognize that) but big picture, It has been a long time when I've been this excited looking forward as a Bear fan!!!

The Kopech / Collins stuff point me on the path that the Sox want to get as many guys as feasibly ready up next year to get some of their "lumps" early so that they can truly be positioned to turn a corner in 2019 (and presumably so the front office has an idea what they have vs. don't have) as part of that process. I presume we'll see Eloy on a similar timetable as put out for Collins (presuming Eloy keeps doing his thing). In terms of Fulmer, no surprise there.

QUOTE (JenksIsMyHero @ Aug 30, 2017 -> 08:39 AM) I've been swamped at work the last few days, but even after further discussion, reading and reflection, this season was a bummer. There were moments here or there that were awesome, the ending is where we basically wanted to be, but how we got there and what they had to do to change the characters to fit those end points was pretty much unforgivable. 1) Tyrion. I'm fine with him "losing" to Cersei/Jaime when it comes to battle strategy. That makes sense, he's not a soldier. So whatever, first misstep of taking Casterly Rock and letting Highgarden left unguarded is a reasonable mistake. But all this nonsense about bringing a wight to Cersei, and then TRUSTING that Cersei would abide be her word, is against everything we've ever been told about Tyrion. He's an amazing statesman, a great judge of people/character, and a man who knows his history. NOTHING about his knowledge of Cersei would have let him believe that she would honor that deal. Pretty much exactly what I said 3 weeks ago about this stupid plan - that she would just leave Jon and Dany to fight the Night King while she sits back and watches her enemies die and/or become weaker - came true. It's inconceivable that Tyrion wouldn't see through that or at the very least know that there is a STRONG likelihood that she won't honor the deal. The pregnancy revelation, to me, doesn't change that equation. Now, to be fair, we don't quite know the end game here. Is Tyrion pulling a double cross somehow? Is he not trusting Cersei but playing along with her false promise for another reason? I guess we'll see. 2) Arya/Sansa - I mean, that's the worst part of the season. The fact that the writers believed that the audience would buy that there would be a rift between these two is downright offensive. They essentially asked us to believe that Arya and Sansa (and the audience) would disregard the prior 6 seasons and the experience they went through to get where they are now. We're supposed to throw all that out the window and believe that they're little kids again, bickering about kid s***. And unfortunately this wasn't a huge ruse to trick Littlefinger into believing that his comments to Sansa may actually work. No, Arya and Sansa really did have a rift. Sansa really did consider killing Arya. According to the actor that played Bran, there was a deleted scene involving Sansa finally realizing she could talk to Bran and see what was true/what was not, and that was what prevented her from going after Arya. 3) Littlefinger - obviously the death was what everyone wanted, but it was a season or two late, it had little emotional impact and it again reversed everything we learned about a character from the prior 6 seasons and even the advice Littlefinger was giving Sansa just last week - always keep your options open and make sure you know your enemy's plays before they do. And yet we're supposed to believe that he honestly though he could divide the Stark house after Bran and Arya returned? After his altercation with Jon? Please. His death should have been immediately after the battle of the bastards. Sansa should have called up what's his face from the Vale, explained what happened with his mom and had LF killed off RIGHT after he saved Sansa/Jon. At least then it would have been believable that LF didn't give himself an out. In the scenario that played out this season, LF should have left Winterfell for the protection of the Vale on at least two or three different occasions but he didn't because, what, love? Meh. Now I could be misremembering this a little from the book, but I'm pretty sure they depicted the stuff between Sansa and the boy in the Vale in the show, i.e., that he loved her. So the knights of the Vale would have been loyal to Sansa, especially since LF was threatening the lords of the Vale. 4) Jaime - nothing they did was really terrible with him this season, but I think his decision to finally leave Cersei due to her lack of honor is a bit weak. He didn't leave her after she destroyed the sept, he didn't leave her after she pressed on with this unwinnable war vs dragons, but now that she didn't honor her pledge to fight the dead with Dany and Jon, that's the final straw? I mean, I buy it, but it's not the best way to get Jamie to the "good guys" side. And I feel like the show has flip flopped on Jaime being a good guy/bad guy so much anyway, who knows what we're supposed to think. On the first point, maybe Tyrion knew that all along but thought by going through this process, he could at least get Cersei to not attach while they are dealing with the north while also poaching Jamie, who was the leader of her armies and presumably has some clout (so I would think the potential to actually have people loyal to Jamie switch allegiences could be possible). Obviously we have to see what happens to Jamie, but it seems clear that he intends to help in the battle with the witewalkers (and he seemed to indicate his intent was to lead the armies north...Cersei certainly will have some say in that dyanmic).

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Aug 29, 2017 -> 11:26 AM) This is absolutely consistent with what Rick Hahn has said about believing 2019 is when his window re-opens. Yep and to do that, you need to at least ensure you are getting your guy's feet wet in 2018 (or a good variety of them). It takes time and not everyone is just going to emerge overnight and some will never emerge.

QUOTE (CaliSoxFanViaSWside @ Aug 29, 2017 -> 11:13 AM) Anyone else get the impression the Sox might want to not tank next year ? I read a lot of Sox stuff and that's the impression I am getting. Put the claim in on Stanton and embed him into the rebuild!!!

QUOTE (BigSqwert @ Aug 28, 2017 -> 03:19 PM) This was also my interpretation. Yeah, he was on the same ship as Dany/Jon and was looking at Jon entering Dany's quarters.

Did you evaluate switching providers? I know every location is different, but I was on Uverse for about 4 years paying approximately $100 / month (whole home DVR with 3 receivers total) and had internet (albeit, speeds were not fantastic...24mb/s maximum). Every year they would do a good job of getting me back to my price (when my year contract was up...albeit I had to spend a bit of time on the online chat or phone to get them to whack the price with me always being honest...I am only quitting because your fees are too high and I would like to stay but can't justifying paying more then X. Almost every time they magically got me at the same point (last year they actually lowered my price). I actually switched providers this weekend to a cable provider and after taxes am now paying $110 a month (includes TV...whole home DVR in 3 rooms) but internet speeds which are capped at 100 mb/s. Price fixed for 2 years and comes with $100 gift card. I also get home service for free as part of it, but I could care less about that piece of the equation (just needed for the "bundle" savings). No installation fees, etc, for these, albeit, having to switch meant I needed to be home for the install. I'd love to cut the chord and just go ala carte, but whenever I've looked at the price of just those streaming packages and then the nonbundled high speed internet costs, I just can't get around it, since I would want a "sling" like service on-top of it because I need to watch my sports live. I've made my own unscientific conclusion that chord cutting was not designed for hard core sports fans (or at least that is what I always tell my wife who honestly would be fine if we had no tv at all).

QUOTE (CrimsonWeltall @ Aug 28, 2017 -> 01:42 PM) My guess is that he is referring to Tyrion looking upset/concerned by the Jon/Dany alone time. I didn't get any betrayal vibes from that though. Remember though, she was warned previously that she would have three major betrayals in here life and not to trust a Lion (i.e., the Lannister banner). Tyrion even mentioned / highlighted that it can be okay to lie at various points (and maybe Tyrion was okay with her telling the lie because it at least ensured that their armies focused on what was more important...even if Cersei was going to continue to build her army.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Aug 28, 2017 -> 11:58 AM) My takeaway was that it was entertaining but continued the season's trend of being more and more of an standard action/comic book movie rather than something with more of the "intrigue" and trope-flipping. With Cersei predictably betraying the truce, it really highlights how dumb and pointless the whole adventure north of the wall was, but they needed to get the NK a dragon somehow I suppose. They might have gotten a Lanister out of it (and who knows who else ends up coming with Jamie since he mentioned his intent to bring the armies north).

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Aug 28, 2017 -> 09:50 AM) Actually, it wasnt a poor throw, it would have hit the WR(Thompson?) in stride. The CB made a really nice play on the ball and undercut the route I should have made it was a poor read (not a poor throw).

QUOTE (raBBit @ Aug 28, 2017 -> 09:07 AM) Trubisky impressed again. His stats were good and he got screwed by his receivers a few times. He moves so gracefully in the pocket. Seems to pick up the blitz well. He did throw high to White (on a ball I think a good receiver catches more often then not) and did throw a near pick (plus he had the fall down). His time with the first string was poor, but you are right, his presence in the pocket is just fantastic. That said, I hate him taking some of those hits running...want him to slide (like his use of the run, but don't take unnecessary hits). He really settled down after that near pick (which was a really poor throw and the second near pick he's thrown in as many weeks). If Glennon made that throw we'd have ripped him so only fair to say the same for Trubisky. So damn accurate though, always seems to get the ball in the right spot. I actually thought Glennon's performance had plenty of warts, despite the solid numbers. His overall accuracy and ball placement regularly leaves a lot to be desired. There were also a couple times where he made some bad reads and left yards on the field (of course that happens with every QB, but Glennon seems to struggle a bit and reading through all of his progressions). The throw to Cam (when Cam got hurt) was a thing of beauty though. Something we haven't seen out of Trubisky as much (in terms of just the pure timing).

QUOTE (Wanne @ Aug 28, 2017 -> 08:23 AM) Exactly! Trubs does things and makes throws you don't see guys that have been in the league for 5-6 years make. He's gonna be one of the better QBs in the league at some point IMO. The one thing I hope the Bears don't ignore...and it's not a huge issue right now since the O-line is playing fairly well and will help having Long back...but when the Bears got Cutler...that dope Angelo thought "my work is done here"...and they COMPLETELY ignored putting a solid line in front of him...and quite honestly that was probably the biggest problem besides the revolving door of OCs. Leno has done a surprisingly solid job at LT...and the interior seems very solid (sans Grasu)...but Massie is really hit or miss IMO. I'd like them bring in another stud T in the next year or so... The Bears tried to upgrade the RT position in the off-season, but got outbid. They seem committed to the oline but I completely agree with you. We need to always have a good oline to protect our investment. We seem to have routinely invested in it under Pace. Hopefully Long can get healthy, but it has been good to see Grasu make strides. When we drafted him originally, I thought we had gotten our next Kreutz (he was raw and needed to put on strength but last season's injury was tough). I presume we will be taking a WR / DB / Pass Rusher with our 1st pick in next years draft. Personally, I hope we are able to do what the Pats do and move down and start stockpiling some picks. In Angelo's defense, he drafted some high picks on the oline, they just happened to have injury issues and end up being busts with the Bears (Columbo and Carimi).

I still say a best case scenario is Glennon plays solid and after another team loses its guy, the Bears deal Glennon to turn things over to Mitch (to get his feet wet this year). That or at the end of the season we are able to dangle Glennon (because Mitchell has proven himself fully ready!!!).

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Aug 28, 2017 -> 07:26 AM) I yelled when he dropped that deep pass in the bucket. Thats such a hard thing to do. It was an incredible throw. This is probably from years of watching crap QB's, but Trubisky's pocket awareness just seems so amazing for a rookie. And the accuracy...oh my. Glad Glennon played well though. We really are a QB away from being a playoff team (albeit, we need help in the secondary and at receiver). I believe in this defense. Of course...a QB away can be like being a lightyear away, but maybe Mitch will be that guy.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Aug 27, 2017 -> 09:16 AM) Over 500 boat and helicopter emergency evacuations reported in Houston so far, calling in emergency services from around country, water is still going up, many of the highways are becoming impassible so if people do need to leave the roads out of Houston are slowly shutting down. Houston is just getting a highway of rain from the gulf right now. It comes up to me after it dumps in Houston so I get a boatload of water, but they get 2x as much. I just had statewide weather coverage preempted by local weather coverage on TV. QUOTE (dasox24 @ Aug 27, 2017 -> 10:48 AM) I'm in Houston right now. Safe at the moment. I've never seen this much rain in my life. The backyard at my parents' house is basically a shallow pool, but fortunately, the house is slightly elevated, which mostly sweeps water away from the house, down the driveway, and into the street. Hasn't breached the house yet, but keeping a very close eye. Pretty nerve-wracking. A family friend went from "fine" to his whole house being submerged with 4 feet of water in a matter of hours. He'll lose everything. It can happen so quickly. That's the scary thing. We just need a break. Even if it's just an hour. Unfortunately, that hasn't happened and not sure that it will. This is the worst-case scenario playing out. Stay safe Brian/Evan. Just crazy.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Aug 28, 2017 -> 07:12 AM) They should just let the white walkers by and let them take Kings landing. I thought that episode was awesome. I screamed when LF finally bit it. Also they finally locked down theories that we've been speculating for years. The reunion of all the players left was interesting, but I feel like the books would have made that a little less hollywood buddy comedy. I saw each epi might be 90 min for the last season. That would be epic./ I was with you and then when I thought Jamie was going to get killed, I was like, oh man, totally didn't see this coming. I figured there was some twist from Cersei but it was still great when she was like, what the hell are you doing, I'm going to build my army up while they are up North. For the poster who mentioned Tyrion...I can see where someone reaches the conclusion that he is up to something.

QUOTE (juddling @ Aug 28, 2017 -> 01:13 AM) In the big meeting, when the Hound talked to the Mountain, he asked "You know who's coming for you, don't you??" Any idea who he was referring to? I didn't think the Hound was referring to himself but I guess it was possible I presume somewhere in his vision, the hound saw, there was a battle with the night king, maybe?

QUOTE (South Sider @ Aug 27, 2017 -> 10:27 PM) Several large plot points were realized, a new one seemingly legitimized with Tyrion potentially betraying Daenarys. Jamie BAILS on Cersei, Qyburns zombie-boner is raging, Cleganebowl pretty much confirmed, Baelish finally got what he has had coming for 7 f***ing seasons, Bran finally listens to what Lyanna was saying to Ned ;-) bad ass blue fire breathing dragon even deadlier than regular fire breathing dragon pwns the wall... forgettable indeed. You will have forgotten all of this even happened by the time you are making your popcorn and nerding out to the season premier in 12-18 months. Christ some people are hard to please. It's not without its faults but if you really wanted to turn off the show while Baelish was finally getting his... or when Mountain might be killing Jamie.. because it was TOO predictable then guess what, you are THINKING too much. Predictability isnt necessarily a bad thing. How do like 90% of shows and movies that all have good and evil usually end? Guess what, good prevails over evil. Since the bible, since stories in general, because guess what.. good is cooler than evil. Here's unpredictable for you, a giant meteor crashes into Westeros and does the majority of the NKs work for him. Littlefinger mindf***s Sansa and Arya into killing each other. Cersei wins over a dragon by sheer political prowess. Edmure Tully finds his way to the dragon pit and kills everyone. Ahhh yes, instant satisfaction due to the unpredictable nature of the show? If you are expecting unpredictability with 1 season left at this point, you are fooling yourself. I agree with this entirely. I thought the episode before had some issues, but the finale was fantastic and very entertaining. I thought Jamie was going to be killed. Its funny cause I have a couple friends who just started watching game of thrones like 6 weeks ago (and they just caught up all the way to where they are live) and when you ask them, they are like oh man, the most recent season or two were by far the best. I think some people, the longer a show goes, just like to play "critic" vs. enjoy something for what it is (entertainment).

QUOTE (SoxAce @ Aug 26, 2017 -> 04:45 PM) Looks like Yolmer is heating up.I hope this is more him getting comfortable and starting to figure out the league and getting comfortable. He's been taking some aggressive hacks and really just hitting the ball hard. Another great game today (3 more hits) all while being a good defender.

QUOTE (Tony @ Aug 27, 2017 -> 02:39 PM) Ausmus on Giolito: "He wasn’t one of these young pitchers that comes up throwing 95 to 97 mph. He pitched." The kid is smart....he is going to have some struggles because his mechanics are still a work in process, but he's a smart kid who understands the game. There is a lot about his delivery and stuff that reminds me of Gavin Floyd (with a bit more juice on his fastball when working and a slightly better changeup).

QUOTE (Wanne @ Aug 27, 2017 -> 02:43 PM) This D is VERY underrated IMO. Bear's front 7 is actually pretty impressive. Demps has been a very nice signing also. Other teams really shouldn't overlook this team this year...especially if they stay healthy. Jackson actually goes for the ball. The D is above average, albeit, we still lack playmakers in the secondary (and in my opinion, we need another strong pass rusher to take the D to the next level). Really like how they have built the D. I still think the O, despite the strong oline and ground game, will be lackluster (and not due to coaching, just lack of playmaking talent). I hope I'm wrong though...would love to be pleasantly surprised. So far, outside of the Meredith injury, everything about preseason has been pretty enjoyable (mainly because of Mitchell Trubisky)!

QUOTE (Wanne @ Aug 27, 2017 -> 02:15 PM) Cruz had a bad drop also in the 4th on a nice play by Trubs to get out of the pocket and nice throw on the run. Shaheen will be fine once he acclimates a little more to this level...but the kid belongs. He's a beast. Glennon made it easy today for the Bears to open the season with....and I'm sure they're breathing a sigh of relief since they really didn't want to throw Trubs into that role immediately. His day will come...and the future is very bright with him. I'm just hoping today's Glennon is the one that shows up on Sundays (which not holding my breath). Another thing...Loggains has really done a nice job with this offense IMO. Wasn't too high on him last hear and thought he might be a little in over his head...but he's settling in nicely and doing a really nice job IMO. I'm not saying Shaheen is a bust or not good, just stating that all the hype from practice hasn't yet transferred to the games. And you were right, that was an awful drop by Cruz on a really nice play by Trubisky. He certainly looks like he's pretty advanced at this point and you can see why he was the #2 pick...hopefully he can continue to grow and develop and works his tail off, etc, and truly can become a franchise QB. And I completely agree with you, I think they are glad Glennon wasn't so bad this game (that said, while Glennon was sharp that first drive, he still just looks uncomfortable with pressure, but he, like Trubisky is learning a new offense). Either way, Glennon got better each week (which is good). I like Loggains, I like how we mix up the run pass, put playaction, leverage TE's, etc. That said, with the lack of downfield passing threats, our oline and running backs are really going to have to work (and even the TE's are goign to be impacted by guys recognizing that we aren't a downfield passing team (at least not with the current weapons we have). Hopefully guys emerge and that changes with time.