Chisoxfn

QUOTE (VAfan @ Oct 1, 2014 -> 06:29 AM) Did anyone else enjoy seeing Billy Beane's trade deadline strategy go up in smoke last night, at the hands of the lowly Kansas City Royals? I'm talking about the Jon Lester trade, which Beane must have thought was his ticket to the NLDS should the Angels somehow pass his A's and he be forced into a one-game wild card game to get in!! There he was, Jon Lester, out on the mound in the bottom of the 8th, having outdueled James Shields and the first couple guys out of the vaunted KC bullpen to a seemingly insurmountable lead of 7-3. But Lester couldn't finish the 8th, and Oakland goes on to lose 9-8 in 12, blowing 1 run leads in both the 9th and 12th innings! All while Adam Dunn, in his only postseason game in his career, sits on the bench! With the Sox out of it, we have to take our pleasure somewhere!!! Discuss. To be frank, the writing seemed to be on the wall with Lester. He should have been pulled a few batters earlier. By the way, I continue to say I would really like Billy Butler.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Sep 30, 2014 -> 01:09 PM) Mostly Hoke is losing and people already want him gone. The answers from their press conference are pretty much the same as MSU's was. Gholston was only taken out because its policy for players to come off the field if they have to stop the game for an injury. http://www.msuspartans.com/sports/m-footbl.../100212aab.html The confirmation of a concussion right now is actually debatable as well. Just saying the outrage for the firing of both the coach and the AD are directly related to their success on the field. It was clearly handled poorly at the same and since then, but it's pretty clear why the torches are burning so bright. I'm not saying the action on its own gets him fired (although it is clearly a major negative, imo), but when you combine his performance on the field with these type of actions and if I am Michigan, I am firing him.

QUOTE (chw42 @ Sep 30, 2014 -> 02:11 PM) How did the other guy lose 5 pts...? I'm guessing a wideout had a catch that he fumbled in end zone with someone else recovering and he inappropriately still got credit for TD or something like that?

To be honest, I think the way he has handled this whole thing is deplorable and he should get fired midseason.

QUOTE (Rowand44 @ Sep 30, 2014 -> 08:27 AM) He doesn't have great weapons anymore but the last 2 years he's been making some absolutely horrible reads and throws. People just want to blame the supporting cast but he's been bad as well. He had absolute garbage last year and somehow won. It might have been his best season in his career when you consider what he had.

QUOTE (chw42 @ Sep 29, 2014 -> 07:56 PM) Ok, Tom Brady blows. He threw at least one pick where the wideout ran the wrong route. He's getting crushed, etc. Point is, even the all time greats are human to an extent.

Anyone know when the game times come out for first round of playoffs? I have tickets to Saturday's Dodger game and am curious what time the game will be at.

QUOTE (SoxAce @ Sep 29, 2014 -> 03:25 PM) Yea no kidding. Jay Cutler vs Packers as a Chicago Bear (Including Playoff game) 1-9 164-295 (55.5%) 2,000 yds 12 TD's 20 INT's Vs everyone else as a Chicago Bear (Including Seattle playoff game) 41-21 1,211-1,978 (61.2%) 14,193 yds 101 TD's 59 INT 5 Rushing TD's This game and to be frank the last game of the regular season last year were the two best games Jay has played vs. Packers.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Sep 29, 2014 -> 11:13 AM) There is no doubt the football broke the plane from what you could see of the angle his arm was extended at. It just amazes me that the NFL doesn't have an end zone view camera to keep track of the backline. Or tracker technology in the ball.

The question comes in to me is did the bobble then adjust where his forward progress truly was? I didn't think it did and it was still hi point but analysts seemed to indicate otherwise, which would make it all a moot point. However, I fully think at one point ball was across plane but clearly it couldn't be overturned. I was very surprised Bennett didn't turn that into a TD given the momentum and everything. I tip my cap to the Packers for making that tackle. Also, with Kyle Long's penalty, would it have been assessed at the kick or would it have ruined the TD anyway? Presume since they reviewed the play anyway that it would have been an after the whistle assesed on the extra point.

Yeha. Even when I looked back at the first pick, I will tip the cap to Packers DB who did a nice job on Morgan, although 100 times out of 100 Jay needs to not make that throw, although I know you usually throw the slant off a presnap read and they liked what they saw (and typically with a slant you have little time to adjust, it is a pretty immediate throw I believe based upon how the defense is playing). The other pick though, total bummer, cause if he does run the right route, you are looking at another potential big play. Still, wouldn't have mattered with way D played. Fact that we ran the ball is huge and should open up some things going forward. We still make a lot of little mistakes that we can't overcome, especially given our defense and special teams. Against above average offenses, our offense is going to have to be perfect which is pretty difficult. I still think Jay had 3 TD passes in 1st half and to be frank should have had a 4th. Should have thrown the ball a little lower to Alshon and often times Alshon still comes down with the throw he did make. Either way, that was one you really would like back, same for that series where we shotgunned it on the 1 yard line on 1st down and had the penalty (might be same series). That was brutal in general

Kyle, Trestman clearly stated that Marshall ran the wrong route on the pick. I don't know if Trestman was sending a message or what. Cutler played more of the, miscommunication, general comment on both him and B, but Trestman was pretty evident and he rarely is. That said, B and Jay tend to mix things up from time to time and I wonder how much of this has to do with B missing practice, etc.

QUOTE (raBBit @ Sep 29, 2014 -> 10:04 AM) This may be true but why push the payroll to ~100 for a few more wins when you have Andy Wilkins??? Yeah...cause that Andy Wilkins guy is going to do things. I swear, most everyone on this board would never build a winning team and just wants to sit around and constantly win 80 games. You aren't going to win with the strategy a lot of you propose. If you can fit it, short term, do it. I don't mind a 2 yr deal at big money as that is a time where you can spend it to take team closer and more likely to compete with other things going well and it doesn't block at bats from anyone and give you a quality vet for young players to learn from. If it doesn't work out, you aren't any worse off as we had the payroll flexibility and we haven't filled it up in yrs 3 and 4 where you likely will be changing where you allocate those resources.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Sep 27, 2014 -> 11:01 AM) Would that "really alter the lineup" though? There are another 15 who have an OPS over .817. The difference between a guy at the top of that list and a guy in the mid .800s is huge. Adding 2 of those latter guys, yeah that's a big lineup change. Adding one more of them? Nice contributor, but not going to suddenly turn this lineup into a force. Ok, so you are adding one of the top 15 to 30 offensive players in the game to your lineup? Yes, that alters your lineup. Under what situation does it not? That is adding a guy who is the #1 hitter on half of the teams in this league to go with Abreu, given you two guys when a lot of teams don't have one.

The PFF grades are pretty bad, on both sides. All I know is Cutler made one real dumbass throw after looking great but I'm not ignoring the defense. PATHETIC. SMELLY. AWFUL. Refs were horrendous on both sides of the ball and we clearly couldn't overcome the lost momentum from what I thought was a TD at the end of the half. However, I agree it couldn't be overturned. Cutler missed an easy 6 to Alshon where we had to settle for a field goal. The Marshall pick happens and if you watch other teams you realize it happens to them too where QB / WR aren't on same page. You just think it only happens to Jay cause you mainly watch Bears games. Happens less to guys that play a number of years in same system but it still happens to them too. Our pass rush and secondary were just brutal. Bright side is running game got going and we are still 2-2 which is where I graded us. Huge game next week @ Carolina. They are going to bring everything given the past 2 weeks, kind of like we got out of GB this past week. The game was pretty much GB's season and Rodgers delivered. He's the best QB in the league, Cutler isn't going to beat Rodgers in a duel. Not going to happen. If we are going to win, we need our other units to show up.

QUOTE (Brian @ Sep 26, 2014 -> 03:47 PM) Rondo breaks hand. Presume he'll be back shortly after the start of the season.

QUOTE (Rowand44 @ Sep 26, 2014 -> 01:19 PM) And you're absolutely correct. I think this is a fair take. I think if you transplant the 7 world series and 5 championships and all the other post season accomplishments the talk is still pretty high. Chipper always got a lot of credit....just add 4 world series championships and it would be a heck of a lot more, imo. Did Maddux get any less credit because he spent the majority of his career in Atlanta? Fact that Jeter handled the spotlight made things crazier but its hard to put his career elsewhere because not many guys have his post-season accolades.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Sep 26, 2014 -> 12:53 PM) He is still 6th all time in hits, 10th all time in runs, and last night was the first home game he ever played with the Yankees eliminated from postseason contention. 5 World Series wins, 7 World Series appearances, His peers hold him in very high regard. If he were a guy who was out seeking the attention, I could maybe understand some of the flap, but really he hasn't. I don't watch ESPN much when it's about baseball, but if it bothers people so much Jeter is getting praised, they could always change the channel instead of venting and being even more obnoxious the other way. Yep...borderline / fringe HOFer if you listen to some of the clowns on this site (LOL). 6th all time in HITS. Dude was one of the best ever and one of the best ever to play his respected position.

QUOTE (Jake @ Sep 26, 2014 -> 11:08 AM) Only Yankees fans could help make a HoF player into one of the most overrated players in history. In reality, he's a fringy HoF guy who is put over the top into "definite HoF" territory for being an excellent playoff performer. Fringey HOF guy. Dude has 3400 hits. Get over it people. He is also the only player in MLB history to play in 4 world series and hit at least .350 in each series.

I don't mind Ackley and I don't mind Butler. But if we do that we need to make moves to bolster rotation and bullpen. Ackley is presuming we aren't giving up anything but Viciedo plus a not so good prospect. I like Ackley's versatility more then anything else.

QUOTE (bmags @ Sep 25, 2014 -> 08:38 AM) Spurrier certainly claimed it was. Spurrier was notorious for talking about how much more work the NFL was. Of course he had it really good in Florida and has a general reputation for getting in plenty of rounds of golf, etc. In college he can largely recruit based upon his reputation, etc. In the NFL, he said the workload was significantly more.

It wasn't just the series, he completely dominated in the series against the Angels, especially in Anaheim where he helped get the Sox off to early leads in 3 games in Anaheim. Paulie...YESSSS!

Awesome video.

QUOTE (Quinarvy @ Sep 25, 2014 -> 08:04 AM) It'd be interesting to see what would happen to Grantland. Would other writers follow Simmons? I wonder if he has part ownership in grantland as well? Not sure how the contract would have been written. Simmons is awesome and ESPN should take a lot of heat from what has happened. Problem is they control much of the airwaves.

I am sure when you are signing up for a new contract you can negotiate that 99 fee to be waived. Just have to ask and be forceful and point out you won't subscribe if they charge you.