bmags

That is ridiculous. He should lose commish powers.

QUOTE (gatnom @ Sep 24, 2014 -> 04:32 AM) More or less this. It's a common thought that Illinois should bend over backwards to please the Chicago basketball scene (hire Reggie Theus!) to get the top recruits from the area. I guess the best way to put this is that Chicago will never be owned by Illinois, so it's fantastic that we have a coach who can go out and recruit nationally (his top two recruits at Illinois so far are from out of state, and he has the interest of 4 other out of state top 50 recruits this year). I have no problems with the big name guys going elsewhere, by the way. They don't owe Illinois anything. It's funny isn't it. Honestly I feel like it's an uphill battle for Missouri to get St. Louis/KC 5 stars to come to Missouri. I think the feeling is like, that's where the in-state 3 stars go, I'm good enough for a top program. May sound dumb but when I was choosing colleges, going to U of I, where so many were going, kind of turned me off (because I was 18 and stupid). edit: by same token, when we are chasing some kid from California and we are top 5, I never really think "oh but we are so far away".

Eh, I can relate to the guy. I'm fine if it's not a high completion rate. What I don't liike was when (not bad anymore) to correct how easy it was previously, they basically had the cornerbacks play the ball while the receivers ran like idiots completely oblivious to the ball. They didn't correct it by having the QB throw long and erratic more often, just had the DB play the ball perfectly every time while the WR doesn't make a play for the ball.

QUOTE (Brian @ Sep 23, 2014 -> 09:03 PM) Guy offered me Jimmy Graham and Asiata from Alshon and Alfred Morris. He didn't understand why I laughed at him. Eh, when you own Jimmy Graham and he single handedly wins you games left and right, you should demand the world for him.

QUOTE (Vance Law @ Sep 23, 2014 -> 08:00 PM) I don't think anyone thinks "something different is always better than what you have." We have a glut of middle infield options. Ramirez will prob never have more trade value than he does this offseason and he would bring in some serious prospects/players. I'm not necessarily for trading Ramirez, but there is rationale. They are a glut, but this isn't a bunch of top 100 prospects we are talking about.

Weren't the Knights terrible this year?

I love PFF statistics. Post a positive grade in here and everyone is like "oh yes he's amazing see?". Post a negative grade "Their grades are unreliable and skewed!" I will say that I was surprised to see Sutton with a negative grade. He seems to be collapsing the pocket regularly.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Sep 23, 2014 -> 07:40 PM) I don't think the whole "wait on Tim Anderson to be the answer at SS" train is going to get going until he proves he can field that position more effectively in 2015 than he did the last couple of seasons. Birmingham will be a big test for him. It's a make or break year for him sticking at his highest value position, IMO. To me, right now, I'm going to be more cautious and say he's still more likely to end up at 2B/LF just so I won't be disappointed in the future. If he does remain at SS, that allows for me to be pleasantly surprised at his development. I'd rather have a "plus" LF with good range and oozing with talent and an above average arm for that position (compared to short) than a below-average shortstop...unless Anderson's doubles and triples starting turning into 18-24 homers per season and you live with the errors in order for that kind of bat to be in the line-up at a premium position where 75% of the players league-wide are under a 700 OPS. The wait for Tim Anderson crowd is hopeful because otherwise we are severely downgrading our SS position for no reason except that something different is always better than what you have.

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ Sep 22, 2014 -> 10:06 PM) I've enjoyed it. That said, NHL 15 and Destiny have kinda taken over. I swear, the first games of Madden are enjoyable, and then suddenly it always becomes impossible to do anything but slant routes without getting intercepted. Why did they reuse so much of the audio?

You have to admit that Gruden must have made a point to get it right last night.

QUOTE (chw42 @ Sep 23, 2014 -> 05:49 PM) I think you're right. That was another lob if I remember correctly. That was a terrible throw that thankfully worked out.

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ Sep 23, 2014 -> 04:51 PM) We very well may get outbid on Martin, I agree. If it gets into the $80m range, we should bow out. And it may. Also, I think what you seem to be implying about 2015 is it may be a "domino issue," in that if you decide to do one move, a bunch of others need to follow. I think that makes sense. LIke if you sign Shield or VMart, you should also try to sign the other, and you should also not trade Alexei, etc. Thanks, friend! There's just no way he's going to come at 2 years. I just don't think Leury's bat out of SS is going to ruin this team the next year or two if you're right and no one in the minors can stick at SS. A good bat at SS is a luxury but not a requirement. The DEFENSE is a requirement, and I think Leury has it. I'm okay with that floor in the worst case. Depends what you mean by "ruin the team". We have several infield prospects that really don't appear to offer higher than average offensive returns. So we are taking 1 of those positions where we were seeing average to above average offense and downgrading it. Is 2b getting an upgrade with Semien? Perhaps, but I'm only from the Beckham baseline. So, if we don't get Martin, you'll be getting below average production from Catcher, SS, 2b, and likely one of two corner OF positions. While this may not "ruin" the team, it doesn't really solve my biggest issue, which is quite possibly wasting the core years of a tremendous group in Abreu, Sale and Q. Unless you are getting a starter from Alexei, I don't see the need to develop that position.

I don't see a SS in the minors until Tim Anderson that I think can match 80% of Alexei. I still think we should hold on until then and "get nothing".

It looks like the Jets game plan was anticipating that the Bears would throw everything at the run game with Decker hurt, so they decided to hit quick passes between the hash marks. It was there all game, and they executed it pretty well. This has been my main worry about the D. Last year they were so bad that I wasn't confident that even if our run game improved the passing game was a worse option for teams to exploit. But last night I feel like they are close, and with so much turnover it will be a matter of consistency and reps. That said, DJ Williams is still not showing much at all.

Eh, I don't care, that stuff tends to even out over the year. I don't care if this is a lucky year like 01. I'm glad we finally have a rookie class playing. But that said, no more injuries please. We've had enough. I can't wait to get Slauson back.

Cam going out in 4th when I needed 4 more points to lose, and Robbie Gould getting one more point than I could take last night. 0-2 week.

QUOTE (GoSox05 @ Sep 23, 2014 -> 02:06 PM) Have you guys watched the Packers offense this year? Not pretty. Seahawks, Jets, Lions away, that's not the best slate to score points. Lions every once in a while put those games together at home that you think they'll be a beast. Hopefully they never are, because I hate every one of those players.

Did any of the safeties injuries sound serious? Conte would probably be the worst as he got off favoring his injured shoulder. That was Bostic's best game as a pro. I'm feeling better about him being an eventual starter.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Sep 22, 2014 -> 10:34 PM) We saw ALOT of fighting in our seats in the LF bleachers at the Cell around the early 2000's. I never understood the desire to get in a fight and get arrested all while paying for a seat to watch a game. It's just strange to me. That was bad but for the most part the atmosphere at baseball/basketball/hockey games (at least of late) is nowhere near the drunk douchebaggery of football games. You'll have your 1 or 2 dudes out of control, but at football games it's all around you. At the rams game a Bears fan threw a rams fan down the stairs, and the bears fans then started cheering and yelling at the rams fans wife.

QUOTE (Chilihead90 @ Sep 22, 2014 -> 08:07 PM) I actually don't remember the last time mine crashed. But it is a painfully slow app. It often sits and loads 4-5 seconds between sports and it will show me the previous days scores until I swipe down to refresh a couple times. I hate the app, but not for crashing problems. This blows my mind. I'm going to restore my phone this weekend, sense has been acting wonky with a lot of stuff.

Football games are just out of control. I think I mentioned this here, but I went to the bears rams game in STL last year. It was disgusting and awful. Bears fans you'd think were the worst except you realize that the scum of the earth somehow shells out all of their money to go to these games every week.

Is it too late to b**** about Madden?

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ Sep 22, 2014 -> 09:19 PM) Thib's head is going to explode. Please...Thibs has Hinrich. He's pleased as punch.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Sep 22, 2014 -> 09:19 PM) I dont fully agree with your statement because the Big Ten coaches are missing on players that play in the MAC and could make their programs incredibly more competitive. I could drop at least 20 names right now in Ohio that will end up in the MAC and are better than what Purdue, IL, IU etc are putting on the field. I think they need to put more time and effort into their recruiting program in general. I think one thing MAC coaches do well is finding those tweener "Athletes" and finding a way to make them work. That's why you see a lot of awkward QBs come out of the MAC that would have been converted to tight end or safety elsewhere. Even though Mizzou is a heartbreaking team not worthy of any praise right now, one way they outperform their star rankings is by finding the unheralded "Athlete", using their great weight training program and dline coach and turning them into star dlineman. Then they say "how was this 6'6 freak a two star athlete"...and it's because nobody knew they'd be dline.

QUOTE (Rowand44 @ Sep 22, 2014 -> 08:17 PM) Front court depth is bueno, backcourt...not so much. It's a lot of forcing forward pegs into guard holes.