Jake

QUOTE (WHarris1 @ Mar 12, 2013 -> 06:15 PM) Very inconsistent yes, but was very good in 2011. And regardless of what PFF says he's night and day better than Webb, Webb forced the Bears to consistently chip/leave a TE in/run 2 man routes/etc... Kromer has had loads of success as OL coach in NO I'll give him the benefit of the doubt here as long as the price tag isn't outrageous. We almost never have adjusted our offense to help our tackles. QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Mar 12, 2013 -> 06:16 PM) WEbb isn't bad, he isn't great. What this does is allow Webb to go over to RT and as a result we have a RT and LT that are upgrades over the prior year. This. I suppose we are already better off because Carimi is out of the lineup. Though it can be argued that Carimi's play was very adversely affected by his helth -- then again, who is to say he can be healthy?

Bushrod = not very good, wildly inconsistent. Hope we didn't give him much $$ or are planning on ALSO bringing in another T

I'd really like to see us get a high profile lineman, but I have no idea what kind of cash we're working with.

QUOTE (Soxbadger @ Mar 12, 2013 -> 04:50 PM) This is the scoop Ive been waiting for: "Jake Long extremely interested in signing with Bears, wondering when they will offer, willing to give discount" Technically true! Yeah man, I'll take league minimum if they get me on the pension when I'm done.

OPS is a nice statistic, it helps me predict how many runs the player will be worth. Except it seems to suggest that Alexei wouldn't drive in >70 RBIs every year when he always does just that. There seems to be wide disagreement about whether Sanchez can play SS defensively at all at the MLB level, nor is there agreement that he's even anything better than average at 2B. If he is just a singles hitter (all he's ever been), I'm not about to displace a guy that will always outvalue him on defense alone and has been one of the most consistent and durable players in the game at the position.

So Jake Long and I share a name...should I start trolling the beat writers and announce my signing with the Bears?

QUOTE (Boogua @ Mar 12, 2013 -> 09:29 AM) I just use pro football focus. I wouldn't call the rankings gospel, but the people that do the rankings probably know more than either of us, so it's a decent tool to use. Oh, and Andre Smith wants 9 mil a year at RT and is regarded as one of the best (if not the best) RT in the league, so we don't have to use the grading thing with him too much. PFF looks at every single player on every single play and assigns him a rating based on objective criteria that they have created. May not be perfect, but beats our ability to eyeball.

QUOTE (PlaySumFnJurny @ Mar 12, 2013 -> 11:04 AM) Cool!

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ Mar 12, 2013 -> 09:53 AM) So you expect a player turning 37 (Konerko) to do better than last year? You expect a player who's declined 4 straight seasons to do better (Ramirez)? You expect Adam Dunn to do better than 40 jacks hitting .204? Honestly, I don't expect anything out of the lot. I've given up on thinking that age matters for PK. I expect him not to be worthless for half the season and spend virtually the whole season approaching at bats like Juan Pierre. What he might lose to age (get slower?), I think he gains with a fancy new wrist. He'll also be seeing more time at DH this year which would help ameliorate some concerns about his age. Dunn may not drop 40 bombs, though he may since that is something he does far more often than not, but I doubt he has such a low BA/OBP again. At worst, I expect a wash and 40/96 out of your 5 hitter ain't so bad. Alexei Ramirez RBI's by season: 77, 68, 70, 70, 73. Until further notice, I say the drop in peripherals last year was a blip on the map -- for whatever reason, his early season slump lasted almost a month longer than normal. I expect a similar or better season because that's what he always does. There are plenty of reasons the team might not do well, offense included and especially, but there are just as many reasons they may do very well. In the end, we produced ENOUGH but not consistently to win last year. Spread out some of that run scoring into the last two weeks of the season and we look at this completely differently. I'll take my chances with this team and if it doesn't work out I see a ton of ways we can keep improving in the next season or two as well.

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ Mar 12, 2013 -> 09:15 AM) So you see Alex Rios playing well again, Tyler Flowers matching AJ's 2012 output, Paul Konerko staying healthy, and Adam Dunn hitting 40 jacks? This offense is going to be horrific. Pretty much everything went right last year and they were still painful. I would say not everything went right last year. I would expect upticks in production from Viciedo, Ramirez, Konerko, and possibly Dunn and Beckham as well. Not counting on anything with Gordon, though. 3B will be far better than last year. Rios had a real nice year, but he really didn't drive in very many runs so it would not shock me if he improves in that regard from the 3 spot.

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Mar 10, 2013 -> 10:49 PM) Congrats on winning the Big Ten Indiana, you earned the toughest draw in the tourney. Seriously, that sucks for them. QUOTE (IlliniKrush @ Mar 11, 2013 -> 07:14 PM) All Big Ten teams: http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/big10/...13AllBigTen.pdf TYLER GRIFFEY WAS ROBBED

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Mar 11, 2013 -> 07:03 PM) Gimenez has been hitting the crap out of the ball so far. Last I saw his average was over .500 QUOTE (Chicago White Sox @ Mar 11, 2013 -> 07:34 PM) Yep, so we'll have to hope he clears waivers, which I'd say is 50/50. I know some people on this site hate him, but the kid has nasty stuff and would at least be welcome AAA depth. Meant Sanchez, sorry

I'm predicting Gimenez gets cut and they keep Morel as super-utility.

QUOTE (zenryan @ Mar 10, 2013 -> 06:41 PM) I wish I followed the advice of some Vegas "insider" who was doing a betting segment 2 Friday's ago on the radio. He said once the Blackhawks lose, bet against them the following game because he anticipates a big letdown. Edmonton was +200 tonight. Not over yet...

Of the ones I've seen, Django is far, far superior to any other. I have a sense that Amour is going to be very good based no who made it, though.

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Mar 9, 2013 -> 09:22 PM) Only one player on the Spanish roster was actually born in Spain. Yo hablo español, ¿puedo jugar yo?

I finally just saw Argo. That movie...sucked. I honestly can't believe it was nominated. I'm not outraged that I spent money to rent it, but seriously that's not a great movie.

QUOTE (HickoryHuskers @ Mar 8, 2013 -> 11:13 AM) Yes, there are many people that still blame the victim, but there are also many who are not blaming the victim but having their words misinterpreted. There's nothing wrong with proactively pointing out that a certain activity puts you at higher risk for victimization. Proactive information is different than reactive preaching. People like to tell a person who has been raped all the things they did wrong, as if they didn't think about the ways they did and did not avoid risk. There is also a tendency to focus on telling women how NOT to be raped rather than spend time telling men not to rape. It sounds silly to tell men not to to do this, but it actually has to be said.

QUOTE (Reddy @ Mar 9, 2013 -> 12:22 PM) I'm adopting the Primal Blueprint Fitness plan for a while to see what I think. I'm eating paleo right now (yeah the vegan thing went away because I went gluten free to test myself for sensitivities, and now my reflux is all but gone....... and vegan + gluten free is f***ing impossible) Just did 6x50 yard jog followed by six 50 yard sprints at 100% effort with time in between to get my breathing back to normal. Sounds like nothing - but that's an AWESOME workout. And apparently sprinting can increase your cardio endurance just as well as... well... running a bunch of miles. Pretty neat. Sprinting is an excellent exercise. For body composition and general cardiovascular health, it can't be beaten. I haven't looked into the plan you've mentioned, but HIIT w/ sprints sounds like a good start. In other nudes, my long slow running in preparation for a longer and slower run is going real well I bought Hal Higdon's book "Marathon" today to repay him for the free training plans

I don't have a way to watch it...

QUOTE (GreatScott82 @ Mar 9, 2013 -> 12:52 AM) The good news for him and the Padres is that there are not too many quality 3B out there. If the Padres play their cards right, they will hold on to him until a desperate team overpays. Definitely, and I don't want to be that team. On the other hand, if he gets off to a slow start this year then last year looks more like an aberration. We can use the .770 career OPS, we don't have to have the .870.

Sale would be a tremendous overpay. It is unbelievable how overrated Chase Headley is. You're not acquiring A-Rod in his prime, here. This is a guy that could be a 0-2 WAR player for the rest of his career and nobody would bat an eye.

Interesting, maybe I'll survive 6 years of being at a competitors' school.

QUOTE (Tex @ Feb 24, 2013 -> 01:20 PM) Part of changing our views on victims. Thankfully society now sees victims as victims and not someone that should be shielded in any way. It's hard to believe that not too long ago parents wouldn't want their children exposed as being victims, they didn't want their kids dragged through court and forced to testify. Sexual abuse, rape, etc continues to be an under reported crime category. I think the changes are for the better. But the changes have not happened everywhere. In some corners of the world women are still ostracized if they are raped. There are many people in the USA that still blame women for being raped. "Why did you dress like that?" "Why would you go out without someone to protect you?" "Why would you get drunk?" If women don't do absolutely everything to reduce their risk, many people see it as something they had coming to them. Hell, even that priest on TV claimed his colleagues had been seduced by boys...don't feel like fishing for the link, but it is both hilarious and sad.

I may have a crisis coming, guys. I am not far from applying to graduate schools, and I will probably apply to Iowa, UW, IU, Michigan, and Northwestern in the B1G. If I go to one of these schools, do I change allegiances? Do I change if I go to a non-B1G school?