Chisoxfn

Saw Chronicle last night. I thoroughly enjoyed it. The wife on the other hand...gave me this cold stare at what a terrible movie I had picked, haha. Really an enjoyable flick. But last week we rented Twighlight so I got to choose this week (thankfully). And yes, I have seen every Twilight movie. Most are bearable, the last one...awful.

QUOTE (SOXOBAMA @ Feb 18, 2012 -> 09:45 AM) I could see the Bears or 49ers willing to do that for Wallace. I am not to sure how much money the Bears are under the cap but the 49ers will have about 35-40M to spend. The 49ers will have to re-sign A Smith, Rogers and a few other key pieces. As of 2/14, the Bears are supposedly $46.834 mill under the cap. This includes approximately 8M in rollover savings from last years cap that can be applied in the CY.

Vacation.

QUOTE (Milkman delivers @ Feb 18, 2012 -> 06:47 AM) Why would you pay extra money to watch batting practice? The opportunity to catch a meaningless ball? Batting practice, to me, is one of the coolest things to watch. I love watching infield/batting practice and it is also one of the best things about spring training. Especially when you get to catch a great player during BP. Some of my greatest memories were watching Bonds and McGwire taking BP just crushing moon shots.

QUOTE (MexSoxFan#1 @ Feb 18, 2012 -> 08:10 AM) No Balta, what ss2K5 was arguing is that in today's NBA there are more players physically similar to Jordan, so he would have defenders able to stay in front of him, making him a decent player, not the great player he was. I think that's garbage and you make a good point with the Rose/Jordan comparison. He did imply that Wade is athletically better than Jordan which is complete garbage. Jordan was only better than Wade at dunking and defense. That is just terrible.

QUOTE (SOXOBAMA @ Feb 18, 2012 -> 08:51 AM) I wonder if Mike Wallace would be leaving the Steelers, since Pitt is about 13M over the cap. He might, but he is a RFA, so anyone that signs him is giving up a 1st rounder.

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ Feb 17, 2012 -> 02:40 PM) Man, I'm telling people, it's a good movie and I don't really understand the hate. Everything save Jar-Jar is awesome. I enjoyed the whole trilogy (1 through 3). There were some flaws but to me the hate some of these movies received was just ridiculous.

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Feb 17, 2012 -> 02:23 PM) Jordan wasn't 6'7" first off. And second , no, he wouldn't be superior to other people in today's game. He NEVER went against guys like Lebron, Wade or Howard. EVER. I'm not suggesting he'd become Steve Kerr in today's game, but this idea that he was some physical powerhouse is just not true. Hell, he wasn't that in his prime. He was always a finesse player much more than he was a physical player. And yes, his midrange game and post up game made him the greatest. I agree with you there. He went against guys like Hakeem. Hakeem was a dominant center. He went against Shaq in his prime. I don't get where people are making this argument that in a matter of 10 years the athletes are completely different. In a 20-30 year span sure. But Jordan played less than 14 years ago and he played with a good number of guys that were superstars in the current NBA (and guys he dominanted) so it is pretty easy to realize he'd still dominate, given that some of those guys were literally the best players in the current league (e.g. Kobe/Shaq/Duncan/etc). Excuse me...6'6. PS: J4L, great point in Clyde.

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Feb 17, 2012 -> 02:16 PM) Yeah, comparing him to a hall-of-fame, 50 best ever (while still playing), top 10 defensive player ever is a HUGE slap in the face. GMAFB. And Pippen wasn't too bad passing the ball either. LBJ >>>>>>>> Pippen. Its not even close. Terrible argument. And like I said, this isn't a knock on Pipp. And there is a huge difference than being one of the 10 best ever and one of the top 50-70 ever.

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Feb 17, 2012 -> 02:11 PM) OK come on now. We're going to the other extreme with this argument. We're closing in on "Ditka 110, Packers 3" territory. He was physically superior. Jordan in his prime was an incredible athlete. It wasn't alone what made him great, but he definitely was that. He'd still be just that in this league. There aren't many guys 6'7 who are as strong and athletic as he was playing in the NBA today. And the few that are, are pretty tremendous players. However, bball is more than just athletism, Jordan had the best midrange game in the league and an uncanny ability to finish in the paint.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Feb 17, 2012 -> 01:41 PM) And in todays game, his length and quickness would be nothing special. Most teams have a guy with those type of dimensions (though probably better built) and quickness. Hakeem was the greatest defensive center in NBA history. Dwight will probably surpass him but Hakeem did some amazing things and he even did some pretty great things against a guy like Shaq (one of the most dominant players ever). You realize Jordan still ruled the entire league in the late 90's. At that point he was still the MVP and to top matters off the athleticism really hadn't changed. I look at the best players in the league today and compare them athletically to Jordan and I don't see a major difference. Heck, Luol Deng isn't even that athletic of a player. He's long and solid but he's not some freak athlete.

QUOTE (MexSoxFan#1 @ Feb 17, 2012 -> 01:38 PM) Dude, just stop, Pippen dominated with his length and quickness, don't confuse him with Anthony Mason. Pippen made All Defensive first team from '92-'99, when the hand check rule was already implemented. And was still a defensive stopper late in his career. I find this proposterous. Pippen gets overrated a bit, however, defensively, he was an all out stud. Offensively he had some limitations but he proved his worth the year MJ was gone. Dude should have been the MVP of the league that year. He truly was a tremendous player.

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Feb 17, 2012 -> 01:34 PM) Yeah he did, but he also had the rare athletic qualities that guys now have - he was 6'8", 230 lbs with speed and long arms. He could guard 1-4 and sometimes 5. I've always felt Lebron's greatness from basketball "skills" is overrated. I think it's mostly due to his physical attributes. He's Pippen with an extra 20-25 lbs with the same speed and better leaping ability. Not saying he sucks, obviously, but make him 2 inches shorter and 30 lbs lighter and his skill wouldn't allow him to dominate games. That's what makes guys like Jordan and Kobe so special. They're not physically overpowering. They're incredibly skilled at shooting/dribbling/finishing around the rim. Lebron is a better scoring Magic. Lebron is one of the greatest players I've ever seen. Unfortunately he doesn't have the "it" that Jordan/Kobe have. To compare him with Pippen is a slap in the face to Lebron. Lebron is one of the best passers in the game (Pippen was solid but he's no LBJ).

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Feb 17, 2012 -> 01:09 PM) Well no s*** sherlock. The game changes more in 50 years, than it does in 20... imagine that. Fanboys will never admit MJ as anything other than the GOAT, which is why this discussion won't go anywhere. You are out of your mind. Jordan was physically superior to almost anyone playing in today's league. In fact, the NBA game is actually worse than it was during many of Jordan's run. I'd actually say that pro basketball is one of the sports that hasn't gotten better of the years. Baseball players have gotten there, football the same, but in terms of basketball, there are a lot of guys who played in the past that are tremendous players. Jordan would score 40 a game with ease given the lack of overall defense that is played and the beneficial rules. It wouldn't even be close. Would Wilt be as great today as he was than, nope. He was the only big in the game, practically. In this day and age, that is different. I'd take MJ, physically, over pretty much every single player in the game. Not many 6'7 players can do what he did athletically. Hell, not many could do what Kobe did and when they went up Kobe was physically younger and still was dominated.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Feb 17, 2012 -> 12:48 PM) Honestly, pretty much everything except dunks and probably defense. I have no idea how you can make this statement with a straight face. MJ would absolutely destroy in this league. The rules were far more beneficial to defensive players in that era and he still lit it up. The players were more physical and in my opinion better defensively as well.

QUOTE (Rowand44 @ Feb 16, 2012 -> 07:04 PM) So anybody hear about the fire in Wadsworth today? Ya that was my house, cats dead, stuff gone, house gone. Life blows Holy crap Row. I'm so so sorry to hear that. Thoughts and prayers go to out to your family. That is absolutely terrible.

So did they win or lose. With all the whining going on I couldn't tell?

Great article. I wish Terry the best of luck with the Twins and if he comes back to Chicago I hope he's able to get on the big league roster and succeed!

Sorry for your loss.

QUOTE (danman31 @ Feb 15, 2012 -> 10:22 PM) SDSU gets smacked at home to UNM and the numbers (and Vegas) laugh in Justin's face. I wish I saw his comment, I would have said something. New Mexico is a darn good team. That conference is by far the strongest mid-major conference in the country and far better than the power conference the Pac 10 claims to be (they are awful).

QUOTE (CrimsonWeltall @ Feb 15, 2012 -> 09:46 AM) Must have been something wrong with the guide that didn't register that ep as part of the series. Lame. The worse part is, I saw mine had started recording and than I woke up in the morning and it wasn't there. I only know this case I was watching something else that was DVR'd but saw the record icon next to Alcatraz. Additionally, I didn't have anything that would have inhibited it. Oh well, DirectTV is usually pretty good. I guess I'll just have to watch it on Fox. All I know is the last episode (about the escaped guard) made it looks like this show could get more interesting. The question is how long does it take to get a good story and how long until the whole show isn't just focused on one prisoner per episode.

QUOTE (CrimsonWeltall @ Feb 15, 2012 -> 07:38 AM) Mine did too. DirecTV? Yep.

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Feb 15, 2012 -> 06:52 AM) Anyone still watching Alcatraz or The River? I thought both this week were pretty meh, though I'll give props to The River for creating some genuinely tense moments. I"m watching both of them. My DVR skipped this weeks alc today for some reason.

I didn't realize he had an .800 OPS in 130 games with the Cubs last year (and a .379 OBP). That is pretty damn solid for $500K.

Interesting. Pretty good value, depth move. But I can't really get excited since it is highly likely that this will be a pretty poor season. I really hope Dunn, Rios, and Beckham kick some ass early in the season (along with our other guys playing consistent with there historical production) and than maybe I could get a little excited. Who am I kidding, even than we'd need Sale and others to be above average from the get-go too. As a guy who is usually an optimist, I just can't be very optimistic about this team.