Kalapse

QUOTE(Vance Law @ Jan 22, 2007 -> 10:16 PM) Hopefully he's not, like, lying And yet a week ago he's making comments to the contrary, I'm sorry if that raises a pretty big flag with me. If Darin were 100% healthy, fully capable of playing CF everyday and could produce just a bit more offensively than he has over the past few years I'd be all for the Sox throwing money at him to come off the bench. The only problem is likely none of the 3 are true as of right now and he'll likely be getting somewhere around 400 ABs next year if he's healthy (which he won't be so he'd end up around 300 ABs over 4 months time) because the Sox current manager is "not going to let a player of Darin Erstad's caliber rot on the bench" - a future quote from Ozzie after using Erstad properly for the first 3 weeks of the '07 season. QUOTE(Friend of Nordhagen @ Jan 22, 2007 -> 10:20 PM) Agree about him and Edmonds, both. By the way, Edmonds doesn't look so good out there these days, either. They've both broken down just Erstad a few years before Edmonds, lucky for Jim he can still hit and with a s*** load of power unlike Erstad.

QUOTE(Friend of Nordhagen @ Jan 22, 2007 -> 09:34 PM) C'mon now, Kalapse. I know that Erstad's old, is always an injury risk, and is overrated offensively. Believe me, I know that those are all really valid points. But not much of a difference in center between him and Mack? Even with diminished range, Erstad is a natural outfielder. What that means is that he can judge a fly ball, which by itself makes him much better than Mack out there. And he'll throw to the right base, too. No question, though, that Mack is better offensively. He recently said it himself that he may not be able to play CF anymore, period. His lateral movement is all but gone as well as any makeup speed he had at one time, his arm is subpar and his instincts are completely out of whack after being away from the position for 3 years and barely playing baseball at all last season. The funny thing is I used to be a HUGE fan of his because of my love of all things defense, he and Edmonds were about as good as it got during the 97 and 98 seasons, super fun. However, that Darin Erstad is long gone the new no power slick fielding firstbaseman Erstad is all you're going to be seeing these days.

Got to agree with you, I was really looking forward to seeing the young arms throw this Spring but just like everything else involving the Chicago Sports Media we're left disappointed by what they're supplying us.

QUOTE(Straycats @ Jan 22, 2007 -> 09:19 PM) Anything to keep Mackowiak away from CF im all for.. Just reading the quotes from Erstad agent.. I think Darin will sign with us by fri At this point in time there might not be much of a difference defensively between Erstad and Mack in CF and Rob is the far superior offensive player.

QUOTE(witesoxfan @ Jan 22, 2007 -> 07:33 PM) I need to see Uggla for another before I put him in the upper echelon. There's something about him - and I'm not exactly sure what...perhaps the .340 OBP or a mediocre 5.35 AB/K...that I don't trust yet. I also think he's a very good candiate to regress this year. That's why I said we have to wait and see with him. He was also a 26 year old rookie which is pretty discouraging, if he comes out and has a major sophomore slump (which there's around a 50/50 chance of happening) then we're down to what? 5 or 6 good 2B in the entire league?

QUOTE(WHarris1 @ Jan 22, 2007 -> 07:51 PM) That...was awful. I expect much better from you. Yeah, not exactly top notch content from me right there but to be honest I don't expect much more from myself at this point in time.

QUOTE(WHarris1 @ Jan 22, 2007 -> 07:39 PM) Everyone knows I've had my license for over a year. 10:1? That is quite an exaggeration. And yes Hester is not a good choice at this time. Of the Bears studs, TH is far and away the most undersold jersey. And you need to get that Mannelly jersey pronto, what a God. http://www.longsnapper.com/index2.shtml Sexiest goatee in professional athletics but that's here nor there. Just because your Mom is willing to drive you around town doesn't mean she counts as a 'license'.

QUOTE(Tony82087 @ Jan 22, 2007 -> 07:38 PM) http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/6396994 Here is the story. This is what I was afraid of... I guarantee that if Erstad is signed by the White Sox he'll log 90+ starts next year including Opening Day which is far too many for a player who will likely spend atleast 2 months on the DL and is bad at baseball.

QUOTE(CWSGuy406 @ Jan 22, 2007 -> 07:35 PM) Erstad? Ehh, he's more or less useless at this point. Haven't injuries sapped the only plus part of his game, his defense? His last 600 ABs, he's putting up a line of about .265/.320/.365. I think he's pretty much done, and it doesn't solve the problem in LF, where we could use someone who can play everyday vs lefties. I'd rather not have to rely on Ozuna again... Yeah these are basically my feeling regarding Erstad. He's not even sure if he'll be able to play CF next year so I don't see how this makes any sense at all. It'll just be a pointless pickup that ends up hurting the team more than helping in the long run when Erstad takes over starting duties in CF a week into the season with BA hitting .230 but not showing proper 'focus' (Ozzie's future words, not mine) in CF for Guillen's taste. If we're going to bring in 40 something year old players who are all but done (I know Erstad's only 32 but he plays like he's 42) why doesn't KW go fish Ricky Henderson out of the Independent league or where ever the hell he's trying to reignite his career these days? Sure he's bad but atleast he'd be entertaining and make Pods look like a little b**** on the basepaths despite being 15 years older than him. QUOTE(CWSGuy406 @ Jan 22, 2007 -> 07:35 PM) EDIT: I didn't realize just how bad Erstad has been offensively. He hasn't had what you could call a 'good' offensive season since 2000. He was okay in 2004, but still a below average offensive player. He's basically been banking off one good offensive season his entire career but he's a hard nosed player with football roots (punter which doesn't count) so people just think he's good.

QUOTE(WHarris1 @ Jan 22, 2007 -> 07:28 PM) I have seen way more Tillman than Harris jerseys this year. But if it requires looking like an asshat to show my TH man love then I will look like an asshat. You're looking in odd places then (possibly your own subconscious but I don't judge) because I'd say the Harris to Tillman ratio that I have seen is about 10:1 and since you do not have a car and are 13 years old I'm going to assume that I have seen more people than you. The worst jersey to possibly own at this point is probably Hester for two reasons. 1.) You see those damn things everywhere now and 2.) He's not that good of a football player. I for one will be the first and only person on my block to own the entire Bears snapping/holding/kicking unit of Mannelly, Maynard and Gould so my cool factor will be vastly superior to yours. I'm 1/3 of the way there and will not rest until Mannelly receives the proper due for being the best person at his job in the NFL.

QUOTE(WHarris1 @ Jan 22, 2007 -> 07:17 PM) Of course it will get popular, but I would say I have yet to see one in a school of 4000 where I have seen just about everyone else. First on the block counts for something, no? No, no it doesn't. By the end of next season you'll see just as many Harris jerseys as Grossman and you will look like an asshat (in my mind anyway) for wearing such a popular jersey. Harris >>> Tillman as a player but Tillman >>>>>> Harris as a jersey

QUOTE(Chisoxfn @ Jan 22, 2007 -> 07:04 PM) You got to be freaking kidding me. I can live without the ability to get the NFL (and to be honest Its cheaper for me to go to the bar) Ticket but I have no other option for baseball (because watching it on a computer blows balls...its not bad as a rare alternative but I would never be able to watch all of the games on line because the quality is so shady). FUDGE...this really blows cause I got a sweet deal with cable and I'm not a fan of actually having to buy equipment. Is this going to start this baseball season or do we at least get another year? God this blows. I f***ing hate DIRECT TV It applies for the 2007 season and the next 6 years after that.

QUOTE(WHarris1 @ Jan 22, 2007 -> 06:34 PM) Guess I am alone with a T. Harris jersey? The problem with Tommie Harris is he's an incredibly good player and is only going to get more popular. You're going to see a ton of Harris, Grossman and Urlacher jerseys where ever you go and what's the fun in that? If I'm going to buy a jersey I want it to be somewhat original, a player that I'm not going to see everywhere I go. Just watching the Colts Pats game yesterday like 80% of the crowd was wearing #18 jerseys what's the fun in owning a Manning jersey when every jackass in Indiana has one in their closet?

QUOTE(Rowand44 @ Jan 22, 2007 -> 05:45 PM) WTF, ok I'm f***in pissed now. That's is f***in ridiculous. f*** you MLB. Agreed QUOTE(Tony82087 @ Jan 22, 2007 -> 05:46 PM) By 09, if the MLB channel is anything like the NFL network, I might have to make the switch. Double Agree QUOTE(Brian @ Jan 22, 2007 -> 05:50 PM) F*cking c*cks*cking, mother f*ckers! During summer when everything is in re-runs, I could always turn on the Extra Innings package. DirectTV, burn in hell!! Triple Agree I think Major League Baseball hates the fans, really there's no other explanation. They take away the best baseball video game franchise and now they want to make it impossible for a good portion of their fans to subscribe to Extra Innings. I'm not getting a f***ing dish just for the baseball package, f*** that.

Son of a b****, there's nothing I hate more than when my sports world is brought to a screeching halt due to some f***ing exclusive rights contract.

QUOTE(greasywheels121 @ Jan 22, 2007 -> 03:50 PM) WH and I were talking about this last night... The White Sox are definitely my favorite team by far, and then come the Hoosiers, a very close third is the Colts, followed by the Pacers. It's weird though, the whole time the Sox were in the playoffs and everything, nothing felt real. I never really could grasp it for what it was for some reason. However, when the Colts won last night, I got it immediately. It felt real, and everything. I'm having trouble putting this thought into words, but point is, it's weird, I feel like I'm enjoying this more than I did the WS. I feel the exact same way with the Sox and Bears it's really hard to explain but it felt like I drifted through the Sox' playoffs in a haze not really grasping the importance of each series but with the Bears it's pretty damn clear cut.

Those Invited: P Lance Broadway Ryan Bukvich Joh Danks Gio Gonzalez Corwin Malone Adam Russell Edwardo Sierra Wes Whisler C Cole Armstrong Wiki Gonzalez Donny Lucy Gustavo Molina IF Kenny Perez Robert Valido OF Kenny Kelly

QUOTE(Vance Law @ Jan 22, 2007 -> 12:41 PM) "Backloaded" because he's not a free agent for another 3 years. The first 3 years represent approximations of what he'd get in arbitration. Then the free-agent dollars kick in. Damn good deal for the Phillies. He's head-and-shoulders above any other second baseman. Maybe Cano is closest, but he hasn't shown either the power or the speed that Utley has. Somebody please put up a Soriano-vs.-Utley-ometer somewhere to track who performs better over the course of their 7 year contracts. This is also dependent on whether Dan Uggla is for real or not. If Dan improves upon his numbers from last year and continues to become an even better player in the coming seasons then he could be right up there with Utley probably not as good but a level right below Chase seems reasonable.

QUOTE(southsider2k5 @ Jan 22, 2007 -> 10:20 AM) The miss of Clark was the ONLY thing I would quibble with Rex about. Other than that he did exactly what he needed to do. Plus in reality, one mistake for a game like that is just fine with me. The one thing I noticed that I really liked was that he didn't really even come close to turning the ball over yesterday. Other than the ball that was tipped up in the air by Fred Thomas on the fly route to Berrian down the left sideline no other passes even touched the hands of a Saints DB, it was damn impressive.

QUOTE(kyyle23 @ Jan 22, 2007 -> 09:01 AM) Im pretty sure thats what you meant. And you are 100 percent right. It was insane how fast he was getting out of his stance when Brees said hike. There was a big deal made about how rare it is to sack Brees and how the Saints dont turn the ball over much, and the Bears totally dominated both of those categories yesterday. I dont understand how Rex didnt have a good game to tell you the truth. Given the conditions, and the fact that he didnt have any turnovers, I was really happy with how he managed the game. The Bears knew this game was going to be won on the ground, and thats what they did. The passing game was secondary yesterday, and Rex's numbers refected that. After watching the game a second time I've concluded that Rex did have a very good game yesterday. He had a few throws that he rushed and over threw sending them over Berrian and Clark's head plus the other toss to McKie at the goal line could have been thrown a bit more crisp but other than that he really didn't have any other bad throws that I saw. He was making excellent reads all day but was getting no help from his receivers and the elements really weren't helping him out at times. He threw the ball away about 50% of the time yesterday which was actually very impressive since he had nothing down the field and didn't want to force anything in there. Some good hit from Rex yesterday but he has to hit Clark in the endzone he was WIDE open.

2 guys had just absolutely huge games yesterday but aren't going to get much credit for it. Well 1 more than the other. Desmond Clark was just spectacular run blocking, every huge whole you saw open up for Ced or Jones was lead by a big seal off from Des. The big 33 yard run from TJ was lead off by an exceptionally awesome block from Clark where he completely took out his man. I know he only had 1 catch yesterday but Moose Muhammid had some fantastic blocks as well. The has to be one of the better run blocking WR out there, any run to the outside was accompanied by Moose keeping his man at bay. Kudos to the two of them.

QUOTE(Felix @ Jan 22, 2007 -> 12:27 AM) I actually forgot about Hunter's contract extension.. I'm ashamed. I also forgot to mention Jason McKie, who was also in talks for my second jersey this afternoon. Good call on that one, the Bears tend to have some serious turnover at the FB position under Jerry Angelo (Damon Shelton, Marc Edwards, Bryan Johnson) but Jason just might be a staple for the next few years since he actually has some value as a receiver out of the backfield. Of course is Runnels develops quick McKie could be cut since the Bears seem to really like Gabe Reid as a #2 TE/FB. QUOTE(Felix @ Jan 22, 2007 -> 12:32 AM) Looking at NFLShop.com now, they don't even have Hunter Hillenmeyer as an option for the custom jerseys (link). What's that about? Blatant racism.

I'd rather it say "P-Nut" seeing as how that's his actual nickname.

QUOTE(bmags @ Jan 22, 2007 -> 12:11 AM) you'll see manning for a couple years dude. Danielle is fast and all but he's been pretty brutal over the past 6-7 weeks, he took an absolutely terrible route on Reggie Bush today and was destroyed in coverage on more than one occasion the past few weeks. If he comes out playing like this next year he's not just going to be handed a job. I haven't seen the Saints game a second time yet so I can't really comment on today's game but I've watched the Seahawks game a few times and he was just brutal in that one. I expect him to get better and all but he better pick it up pretty quick. QUOTE(Chisoxfn @ Jan 22, 2007 -> 12:12 AM) Tillman is emerging as one of the elite CB's in the NFL, imo. He'll still catch s*** from Bears fans for whatever reason but he's had an awesome playoffs thus far, he's been an unbelievable tackler and has been beat in coverage twice so far that I've seen, the one today where he lost his footing and another time against he Seahawks which resulted in a 12 yard gain. I still don't get it why people ride him so hard the guy has been outstanding all year.

QUOTE(Felix @ Jan 22, 2007 -> 12:04 AM) Gould was actually the one I was considering today while watching the game, it would serve 2 purposes. Not only would it represent the Bears, but it would also piss off my brother, a PSU fan who hated Gould for his complete sucking in college. The other thought was Hunter Hillenmeyer, although I don't know if it would be worth it since he's the most replaceable part of the defense IMO. Actually Hunter appears to be a staple on the defense since he signed that nice sized deal in the offseason, he's a damn good player and Lovie/Rivera seem to love him. The most replaceable player would probably be Tank since he likely won't be back next year followed by one of A. Brown and Adawale considering their contract size and the awesomeness that is Mark Anderson and the safeties are pretty damn replaceable as well. QUOTE(Rowand44 @ Jan 22, 2007 -> 12:05 AM) No Adrian Peterson love? Talk about a f***ing gamer, the guy is a pretty good RB but is sticking it out on special teams and has actually become the second best special teamer behind Ayanbadajo. He'll be in the running for my second jersey along with Mark Anderson and P-Nut Tillman.