Chisoxfn

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Dec 22, 2014 -> 10:53 AM) According to Glazer, they are interested. I think Glazer even indicated they were the perceived front-runners. Hopefully Glazer has a good source on this! Helps that the Phins are out.

Gould is very intelligent and insightful and is publicly supporting Jay (and pretty much shredding Trestman). http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/footb...1222-story.html

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Dec 22, 2014 -> 09:57 AM) I'd guess that a couple years with Thibs on a developing/rebuilding team and you might see real solid development from him, but on the current Bulls team he'd get buried in Thibs's doghouse and would never work his way out of it because they're a team trying to win. Oh I agree and wasn't insinuating the Bulls make a move for him. I do think if you put him in the right place with the right overall team culture and he could very well thrive and take the steps necessary. He's kind of like Cutler from the perspective of you know the tools are there to be an above average player....the results however, are not above average.

QUOTE (bmags @ Dec 22, 2014 -> 09:57 AM) Stan Van Gundy is a fine coach IMO, and after evaluating him he thought the best move was to pay for him to play elsewhere for like, the next 10 years ( i forgot how that provision works). I agree w/you on SVG. I think he's a good coach and the Pistons are need of the culture shock that he should bring to the table. Not sure how he is as a franchise builder and how he will do with the amount of power he has in that organization.

QUOTE (bmags @ Dec 22, 2014 -> 09:40 AM) It wasn't even the inefficiency that I thought was stupid, it was that the talent on their roster forced him into his worst tendencies (playing him as SF). I hope he gets it. When he would really play in the post he was a thrill. But man I would never want him on my team. I wonder how he would do with a coach like Thibbs. He really should be an all world defender and if you really managed the offensive side, he could be something. Was an awful move for the Pistons.

PS: If Coughlin is fired/retires as coach, how about hiring him as a team president.

I speculate what happened in San Fran is the owner and GM didn't like the HC getting all of the credit. They weren't happy, leaked rumors about it, than players hear those rumors and know the coaches job isn't as safe, and all of a sudden they are less happy, etc, or at least ones that don't like the hard work, etc, feel like they have an excuse to not quite follow the rules, etc, since HC is on the way out.

QUOTE (bmags @ Dec 22, 2014 -> 08:27 AM) Luckily with Jimmy, his midrange shots are not being hit at an incredible rate nor do they make up an abnormal amount of his points scored. So this doesn't appear unsustainable. And the reason I'm so confident here is that his best skill is getting at the line. Yep, he's always been excellent at that, but his shot now is much more consistent which makes his ability to drive that much more lethal. I think a lot of what we are seeing this year, we would have saw last year, if not for those injuries that really missed with his shot / explosiveness. He was never very comfortable after having a great off-season. By the way, I freaking love Jimmy Butler. Just need to say it. I hope he keeps playing this way and turns into a franchise cornerstone!!! He's certainly been playing like it!

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Dec 22, 2014 -> 08:01 AM) Comcast SportsNet ‏@CSNChicago 1m1 minute ago Nate Jones plans to start throwing in early January (@CSNHayes) -- http://bit.ly/1sQr1lM #WhiteSox #WhiteSoxTalk This would be huge if we could get Nate back by mid-season. Any reports on when they estimate him being able to throw on a mound, etc?

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).