Chisoxfn

QUOTE (thxfrthmmrs @ Dec 21, 2014 -> 03:02 PM) The difference between Jimmy this year and years past is we are running more offensive plays for him, in variety of pick and rolls, post ups, and isolations on the wing. His mid range jump shot is also much improved, and whenever he decides to put the ball on the floor, he's stronger than most of the 2 guards guarding him, and that leads to him drawing fouls in bunches. It is the jumper that has made the difference though. His shot is much improved, meaning guys have to play his shot and thus he's able to move aggressive to the hole. His post game is so strong. I'd call it elite if it weren't for the fact that we are talking about a two month stretch.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Dec 19, 2014 -> 07:34 PM) Really nice road win. Niko and Butler were just beasts Yeah. Huge. We need to ratchet up our intensity at home. Big time win and game. Now a day or two off than we get Rose back and hopefully Taj as well.

QUOTE (soxfan49 @ Dec 19, 2014 -> 06:37 PM) TRADE IDEA!! Sam Bradford and a 5th to the Bears for Cutler and a 7th. Bradford and Cutler have almost equal contracts for next year, but the Bears would be out of Bradford's after next year. When Tampa cuts McCown, sign him to compete with Bradford. Loser either 1) gets cut next January (McCown) or 2) walks away to FA (Bradford). Not really interested in that deal.

This sucks. I had been wondering why I hadn't been able to catch games recently and now I know why. When the Bulls season started, I did my math and there were ~45 nationally televised games (counting WGN superstation)...that number shrinks to closer to 30 thanks to this news. I probably would have been more willing to opt for league pass had I known that. Now its too late (cause I certainly am not justifying that cost on a partial season). I must be one of the only out-of-market people who watch cause if it weren't from WGN superstation, Soxtalk would never exist cause there would have been zero chance I'd have became a Sox fan without some access to Sox games from a far as a kid (yes I followed through box scores, etc, but at least I know I could get 1/2 games per week throughout the season in the pre xtra innings days). Same with as a Bulls fan and all the games I was able to watch.

Caught this nugget out of a David Haugh article. Would look like phillips is sticking around.

QUOTE (shipps @ Dec 19, 2014 -> 03:25 PM) David Schuster's probably saying to himself "I should have never told that douchebag Eric that!" Haha...seriously though, you sometimes never know who knows and why. It was like the time the Chicago and national media totally blew a report on a certain White Sox player and I had direct knowledge to the contrary. In about a billion scenarios, I have no knowledge, but in this case, I evidently was one of the few people outside the White Sox offices who knew and it happened to be because I had that rapport.

QUOTE (shipps @ Dec 19, 2014 -> 03:22 PM) Trestman wanted to bench Jay in the Tampa game. Kromer told us this much. Now Trestman is benching him just so he can have some solace in the closing of his tender as coach. He believes once Jimmy does a good job running his offense it will prove that it was Jay's fault for all the issues they have had this year. Its not going to happen that way but I think Marc believes that Jay has to be the whole problem for why this team hasnt produced and this is Trestmans way of showing the world that. Oh I think that is probably the most likely scenario but there could be other scenario's at work and I do question that Trestman would finally grow a pair.

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Dec 19, 2014 -> 03:18 PM) The only problem with that rumor IMO is that Cutler was announced as the #2 quarterback. If Clausen gets killed by Suh or if he is Burris bad, Cutler will have to play. It would make more sense to declare him inactive for the last two games with Fales or a FA as the backup. I agree with that, however, I do believe that technically Fales was elevated to the actual roster this past week as well. Whether he suits or serves in that emergency role this week, who knows. We won't technically know that until Sunday. For the time being, maybe Bears would prefer to remain coy on the matter. I don't know...like I said, would be great to be a fly on the wall in Halas Hall (or probably would be extremely frustrating).

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Dec 19, 2014 -> 02:57 PM) Isn't that Eric of Eric and Kathy on the mix? HOw in the world would he have football insider news that no one else has? I don't think he is the person who is actually reporting it. Just happened to be first article I googled. All over social media apparently (I don't know who this Eric character is). Like I said, everyone at work knows me as the resident Bear fan and they all were running over to see if I had heard the news. They all heard it as it was a done deal and I was like, that can't be, cause you can't trade anyone right now. However, you could technically talk trade, etc, to lay the ground out for future and I guarantee Bears have done that and could just be playing all this very close to the vest. I may be giving them too much credit though. I also think it would be more likely that it was the case than Trestman going crazy and making some massive stand against Emery. That doesn't seem like Trestman's style at all.

No idea validity of this but literally 4 people at work came by in last 5 minutes asking me if it was true, haha, so apparently this has been pretty widely reported. Probably a lot of junk but I presume nothing is to prevent teams from discussing hypothetical trades even though deadline hasn't been reached so I could see a scenario where that is the case. I just question why we would allow our current management team to make any sort of deal, unless of course, some people are sticking around (or the McCaskey's feel so strongly / needed this type of assurance that they could move him with the logic being they had to know 100% that they could dump Cutler because that would lessen the blow of the costs they'd have to eat to get rid of current clowns + significantly better management / coaches).

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Dec 19, 2014 -> 01:59 PM) Hanigan actually fills a hole for Boston and they had absolutely no use whatsoever for Middlebrooks. We'll say the Sox traded Dayan Viciedo to the Rays for Grant Balfour, would you say the Rays automatically win that trade because Viciedo represents the only upside in that deal? Depends, Balfour actually has a chance to be a bonafide piece, depending on what the Sox internal scouting reports say on his down 2014 season. If he pitches like he did the 3 years prior, who cares, he fits into your immediate plans. In the case of the Red Sox, they are not getting an integral piece but are moving a guy with high upside at a much more premium position than Viciedo current plays. If I were to trade Viciedo, I'd want someone else's talent who might turn into our upside, a raw player who might have some upside, or a quality player who fills a more integral need.

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ Dec 19, 2014 -> 12:02 PM) I get what you're saying. I think the answer depends on context. For example, where else does the team need shored up? Is it a buyer's or seller's market for pitching? I think there are certainly scenarios where it makes sense to "punt" your 4 and 5 spots if it allows you, in some way, to acquire a bigger upgrade elsewhere. However, a run saved is a run scored, so if you have to do something less than ideal to turn pitching into hitting, you can certainly be better off just being unbalanced. Depends on stuff. Given that you could have 4 front of the rotation guys for a fraction of the front of the rotation cost, I absolutely don't think you move away from that and instead use the financial resources you have on other areas of the ballclub.

QUOTE (Chilihead90 @ Dec 19, 2014 -> 01:34 PM) Yeah, the idea is that they cost about half the price, unlocked, and don't have any bloatware UI from any major manufacturer. The problem for me, though, is that I get all my phones on discount w/ a 2-year contract. I've never paid full price for a phone. So even though these One+ phones are only $250-$300 unlocked, that's significantly more than I pay when I sign a new 2-year upgrade. And yeah, then there is the whole referral program thing. So move to a provider who doesn't charge you the subsidized rate...ie, Tmobile.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Dec 19, 2014 -> 12:31 PM) I think Middlebrooks is garbage, so I think the Red Sox made a fine deal. I think the Padres made out like bandits. The only upside in this trade is Middlebrooks. I'm not saying he'll reach it but I'd bet on him before I bet on Davidson, I'd tell you that much.

QUOTE (Chilihead90 @ Dec 19, 2014 -> 01:14 PM) Just became aware of the One+ phone manufacturer. Very interesting stuff. But I assume those phones aren't available on contracts, so it would actually cost me more money, not less. I thought they were very fairly priced, hard part was getting the invite to actually purchase one?

QUOTE (shipps @ Dec 19, 2014 -> 11:13 AM) Very cool. I am living this right now myself and its not easy but its worth it for some many reasons. For both you and Hickory's wife, it is awesome and said another way, it is also a tremendous influence on your families and kids. As a parent, being able to be that role model from a hard work, dedication perspective, being their to help your kids, etc. is all crucial, but I also think it is critical when they look up and see that you have taken great strides to educate yourself, work hard, constantly strive to do your best as well as see how you treat other people (with respect, etc).

Padres certainly have been aggressive. NL West race is extremely interesting.

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Dec 19, 2014 -> 09:20 AM) I'm saying he has negotiated well and used his assets wisely (e.g., getting Marshall for a 3rd round pick, waiting on the Forte deal and getting a very reasonable deal for the best all around back in football, etc.). He plays the mechanics of the GM game well, which is why giving up so much negotiation leverage just to prove a point to a QB suggests a deal has already been made. It's possible he's making a stupid move, but I don't see the track record for that. Did you not hear his defense of Jay being an elite QB being his record being over .500. That was baffling. He also ignored LB last year after the footage on Greene / Bostic was brutal his rookie year (forced Shea on us another year as well to try and justify his move). Largely ignored safety, which had been a huge fundemental problem. He hired our three worst coaches (Trestman / Decamillis / Tucker). The list goes on and on. He's just as much in this thing as Trestman, imo.

QUOTE (scs787 @ Dec 19, 2014 -> 09:51 AM) Meh, with a solid draft and 29 mill in cap room it's not impossible to fill those holes. In my ideal fantasy world K.J. Wright and Louis Delmas hit the fa market and sign with the Bears. That fills the 2 biggest needs quite nicely. Then in the draft they hit on another corner, an offensive tackle, and a center early. Most importantly a whole new coaching staff (And yes I'm saying all this with Jay as our starting qb) I think as an organization, we need to stop looking at FA as this magical elixir and really win this back in the scouting and draft. The best teams draft well and do it well. That also means you can make timely personell moves via FA, etc, but we can't look at spending significant cap room each year via free agency, imo.

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Dec 19, 2014 -> 09:33 AM) Shea has been a disaster. I think Bostic less so. He isn't going to work, but he did show a lot of potential early. Chalk that up to "just didn't develop as we thought." I'd have to look and see what other LB's were picked around him and how they're doing. At least he was drafting the right need. I don't think Bostic ever looked good. He has awful football instincts and really doesn't make plays. Our only young LB that I would bet on is Jones.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Dec 19, 2014 -> 09:27 AM) Hard to pin that on him with the ownership situation that came in and destroyed it all I completely agree with you on that. Meant to put that point in the post but kind of just assumed everyone go, well its the Browns, haha.

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Dec 19, 2014 -> 09:26 AM) Let's bring this back to the NFL thread: This is sort of my issue - nearly every move was met with "yeah, I like it!" Some people criticized his out of the box hire with Trestman, but none of the REAL criticism showed up until about week 5 of this year. Last year he was a genius. No one criticized the move to get rid of Peppers and sign Allen. We all knew Allen wasn't going to lead the league in sacks, but his no-show is an abnormality. His pick of a CB over a safety is just preference, it's not some terrible decision. Emery deserves to be fired because he's ultimately responsible for this team, a team that under performed, a team led by a guy that shouldn't be a coach in this league. I think the majority of his decisions were sound and made sense, they just didn't work out as planned. I think I was one of the few people who took a more detailed prove it stance on Emery, largely because I wasn't sold on his draft picks along with how bad we have screwed up the LB position. I have probably been the most anti Bostic / Greene guys out there, than you add Shea to the mix (and really that whole first draft under his watch) and really you have quite a few places where he has some egg on his face. I will say this past draft was his best draft and looks like it can be an impactful one for seasons to come. I really love the young DT's we drafted and Carey looks like a solid pick as well. Punter is growing and Fuller has struggled through the rookie wall but upside is still there.

QUOTE (shipps @ Dec 19, 2014 -> 09:15 AM) Really? This is intriguing. Also Hub Arkish apparently hinted at the idea of Holmgren possibly come into the position if Emery is to be fired. He has had a relationship with the McCaskeys. That could be thing. I know he failed with the Browns but he was successful in Seattle and obviously in Green Bay. I guess the question with Holmgren is, does that mean we go cheaper on a coach, cause my #1 priority is Jim Harbaugh. I presume they could work together as long as their egos could fit into a room and Holmgren would probably hire a young personnel guy who could be groomed and do a lot of the heavy lifting and probably would be groomed into the role of GM. That would obviously be extremely expensive for the Bears though.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Dec 19, 2014 -> 08:53 AM) Yes, but the holes are enormous. I don't think we are as bad of a team as we have looked. We have areas that need to be fixed, no doubt, but I think the right coach could put a lot of makeup on this mess. Part of that is because I do think Trestman is that bad...like one of the worst head coaches ever. I presume the stories that will come out will just be flabbergasting in regards to lack of leadership, tone at the top, etc.

QUOTE (scs787 @ Dec 19, 2014 -> 08:52 AM) And yet they'll have the 10th most cap space next year and can get out of Jays contract for just a 3 mill cap hit the following year. In theory, even if we were going to draft a QB this year, it is highly unlikely that we would be able to get one of the two top QB's, which means we are looking in the 2nd / 3rd round for someone. Those guys aren't going to just get handed the job, so I don't necessarily think we are done with Cutler just yet. I think a lot of this will be determined when the season ends and we see what direction the team heads in. If somehow people stick around, I think Jay will be out, if it is new people, than I think there is less pressure on them to make a move and they could tell McCaskey's, we will find a QB we think is the right fit, but in the meantime build up the rest of this football roster and while doing that we could still potentially be competitive depending on what our new coach can get out of Jay with a plan of walking away in year 3 when it is cheaper. And if I were the Bears, I certainly wouldn't just indicate we were done with Cutler. If you are going to have any hope of moving him and maybe even getting something of value, we'll at least want to put out the act that we still think he can do it. Heck, think of how Alex Smith was done in San Fran, Harbaugh comes in, and bam, Smith takes steps forward.