whitesoxfan101

I'm sure Wise is a nice guy, but he's just not a major league player, let alone a leadoff hitter and everyday center fielder. That's pretty much all that needs to be said, put Getz at leadoff, Alexei in the 2 hole, BA in CF and the 9 spot in the order, and be done with it.

Great way to start the season. The offense made you want to pull your hair out until the big home run showed up, but that's just how it is. Buehrle didn't have much, but he kept us close, and the bullpen, Getz, Fields, and Thome were great today.

QUOTE (CryptviLL @ Apr 7, 2009 -> 01:47 PM) good AB by fields, really impressed That part of it was VERY encouraging to see, but four singles leading to one run and only scoring a single when the bases were loaded with nobody out looked all too familar as to some of the problems we had on offense last year.

Ugh, it took them until the bottom of the 2nd inning to be annoying. At least Fields got a big hit and tied the game...

Gordon is going to have a breakout season in my opinion, and I don't just say that because of the preceding at bat. Solo home runs at The Cell are ok to allow though, it happens in our park.

QUOTE (ScottyDo @ Apr 7, 2009 -> 01:05 PM) aww crap. we're gonna get no-hit for the season Wish I would have thought to say that line first.

QUOTE (CanOfCorn @ Apr 7, 2009 -> 01:03 PM) CQ likes to practice his swing everywhere. Everywhere.

It amazes me this thread turned into what it did, because this is a simple story. There are crazy people out there, and as long as we have a free society, those crazy people are going to do awful things like this and what happened in Binghamton sometimes. Want to ban guns? That's your problem because that clearly isn't going to happen (and neither is the AWB), and it's ESPECIALLY your problem if you think banning or severly restricting guns would prevent things like this. Last I checked, drugs are banned in this country too and LOTS of people still buy and use them every single day. Now, obviously using drugs is nowhere near as serious a crime as killing a few cops, but my point is that if people want something, they are going to get it regardless of if it's legality status.

For a game that needed about 63 minutes to see a dent on the scoreboard AND had very little in the way of shots on goal, that was an extremely exciting game to watch, one of the best Hawks games I've seen all year and I've watched most of them.

If nothing else, I thank him for the homer he gave up to Konerko last year. It was the 15th inning, rain was starting to fall, lightning was getting closer and closer to the ballpark, and had Jimmy not shown up to save the day, all of those hours we spent at the park watching that game might not have been rewarded with a conclusion on that evening (might have had to suspend it and finish later had the game not ended at that point). So thanks Jimmy.

QUOTE (chw42 @ Apr 3, 2009 -> 01:44 PM) Let's see what he can do with actual receivers. He might backup Chris Simms.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Apr 3, 2009 -> 06:41 PM) How do we define "Franchise QB" in the first place? To me, it's a top 5 QB in the league. A guy you can build your "franchise" around, and have a chance to win the Super Bowl every year. although I'm not even sure if that last has 5 guys right now . Cutler isn't in that group right now, in fact, if Aaron Rodgers can repeat what he did last year, he's just as good as Cutler (sorry, but it's the truth).

QUOTE (BobDylan @ Apr 3, 2009 -> 06:11 PM) What makes this guy a franchise QB? His numbers so far don't scream "franchise QB" at me. But he's awfully close (they do scream "above average, young longtime starter" at me as is, which some people might think is franchise QB), he's better than anything the Bears have had in 60 years, and I think his best days are still ahead of him, in which he has a very good chance at being a true franchise QB. I think it's fair to point out this trade involved a bit of a case of overpaying, and that it could work out poorly for the Bears, but some people simply don't seem to like this trade or understand why the Bears made it (this is a general observation, not me talking about you BobDylan because I don't know your full opinion of it), and that's a bit ridiculous in my opinion.

QUOTE (Palehosefan @ Apr 2, 2009 -> 07:50 PM) NCAA can't let those kind of agreemants stand. Otherwise the coaches have ALL of the power. They can move about freely if they don't get enough money and bring their players with them. Pretty absurd. Henry should be able to attend any of the other 323 D-1 schools, but not Kentucky. As long as the coaches have control of what personnel is on their team (which they obviously do with recruiting) and are the only ones getting paid out in the open (although we all know that most players at bigger programs get something under the table), they do have all of the power.

QUOTE (Y2HH @ Apr 3, 2009 -> 09:18 AM) That's what's so sad about it and why it appears to be such a blockbuster deal. In comparison to what Chicago normally has to deal with, Cutler is heads and tails better, but he's still far from great (so far, but he at least has the tools to become great). I think this is somewhat an absolved feeling for Bears fans who were secretly envious of the Favre type gunslinger all these years, that they now, too, finally have themselves a gunslinger! In my opinion, Cutler is nowhere near as good as he's capable of being yet, which is the only reason I don't say this is a bad deal. I think Cutler is going to get noticeably better, especially if the Bears surround him with 2 or 3 talented WR's, although we'll see about that part. If Cutler were as good as he'll ever get right now, I would say the Bears overpaid and the deal isn't worth the risk. But he's only in his mid 20's and I think he's going to definitely get better.

QUOTE (nitetrain8601 @ Apr 2, 2009 -> 06:55 PM) I say Rose because you don't understand how terrible he is. He is ten times worse than Gordon was coming out. That's not an exaggeration and a lot of that has to do with him getting lazy on the defensive end. This was a problem in college and in high school. He coasts on the offensive end at times, but does it alot more on defense where at times, he just stands up and doesn't even get into the bent position. He wanted to run his full offense this year, but guys weren't getting it and eventually Paxson advised him and the assistants to strip it completely down. Well we'll see about the offense, but I am not going to argue with what you said about Rose on defense (although 10 times worse is hyperbolic). The only response I have to it is that I think you are right that a lot of his problem is he is lazy on the defensive end, which is fixable. He's one of the few guys on the team I think could be a good defender if he cared, hopefully the Bulls can find a coach who he respects enough to try on defense for.

I couldn't possibly be more surprised that this deal got done, as is made obvious by my comments throughout the process. When I said the Bears didn't have the ammo to make this deal, it was under the false assumption that Jerry Angelo didn't have the balls to make an offer like this. They definitely overpaid and this deal isn't a sure thing to work, but Jerry deserves credit for having the balls to do this and I think it's a risk worth it and necessary to take considering the opportunity presented itself. This trade should work out for both teams if Denver is smart, although I think Orton is nothing more than a stopgap for them, and I wouldn't be surprised if they use their 2 first rounders to trade up and get Mark Sanchez. I have ZERO concern that Kyle Orton was given up on, and at the end of the day this trade will be remembered based on what weapons the Bears get to help Jay and keep him happy (they still have THE WORST WR corps in the NFL) and what the Broncos do with those two 1st round picks (although with how Jerry Angelo has drafted in the 1st round, whose to say he wouldn't have screwed up those picks anyways?) I commend the Bears for doing this, regardless of how it works out, because Jay Cutler is the most talented QB this franchise has had in about 60 years, and many people *raises hand* thought it would be a cold day in hell before they made a move like this.

QUOTE (nitetrain8601 @ Apr 1, 2009 -> 05:40 PM) Apparently, Henry has an out in his LOI stating that if Calipari were to leave, he would be able to leave the school without any problems. I've heard this from different sources. The thing is though, does Kentucky even have enough scholarships with Meeks and Patterson both staying? No, but keep in mind scholarships are technically reviewed every year, so there is a way around that. It would be pretty scandelous, but it could be done. I know of one coach of a prominent collegiate team in the midwest who used this loophole to get around keeping players who he considered not good enough when he first got to his new job years ago, and I know he's not the only guy to do something like that. Then again, this was a football coach, and something like that is a lot easier to do with 85 scholarships than it is 13.

QUOTE (nitetrain8601 @ Apr 1, 2009 -> 01:28 PM) As I posted before, Read it from someone who absolutely still does not want VDN because of the whole "leader of men" thing. VDN has exceeded expectations and if it were a vet coach in here and he had the Bulls at the exact same spot, people would be ecstatic with the progress. Just because VDN doesn't have any experience, he is questioned no matter what. Hopefully next year, when VDN can make the offense more complex, and Derrick Rose actually trys to be aggressive on the defensive end or at least play the lanes for steals, we could be as good as a #4 seed IMO. To call out Derrick Rose specifically for his defense isn't fair simply because NOBODY on this team guards consistently. Rose has been very poor on defense obviously, but he's not alone at all. If VDN installs a more complex offense next year, that would help though. My main issue with him is that the offense is very bland, the out of timeout plays aren't great, and they don't try on defense. To me, if all of those things are going on and the coach has never coached before at any level, that screams to me that he's overwhelmed. Just my opinion though.

QUOTE (Brian @ Apr 1, 2009 -> 12:07 PM) Brandon Paul wins Mr. Basketball of Illinois. I think Richmond might have been the better player this year, but Paul was fantastic as well and this isn't a surprising development considering Paul is a senior and Richmond a junior. Jereme will get the award next year assuming good health.

QUOTE (rangercal @ Mar 31, 2009 -> 10:11 PM) He is not a dime a dozen. Batted passes are pretty damn important. Alright fine, a quarter a dozen because he can bat down passes.

Minnesota: 90-72 Cleveland: 86-76 Chicago: 82-80 Kansas City: 80-82 Detroit: 76-86 Hope I'm wrong!

QUOTE (rangercal @ Mar 31, 2009 -> 10:07 PM) <!--quoteo(post=1856979:date=Mar 31, 2009 -> 11:01 PM:name=whitesoxfan101)-->QUOTE (whitesoxfan101 @ Mar 31, 2009 -> 11:01 PM) <!--quotec-->Who are you, Greg Blache (who once said "sacks aren't important.) Sacks aren't solely the way to judge a defensive end, but any d end who puts up 5 or 6 a year like Alex Brown is EASILY replaceable. Most good franchises just let guys like him go without batting an eye and replace them with cheaper draft picks. Sacks are very important. There are so many intangibles. Are you willing to say Michael Strahan's record breaking sack season was the best single season ever for a DE? What is more important, 3 sacks in garbage time when your up 38-0 or a blocked fg to send your team into overtime with playoff chances on the line? This is Alex Browns game. He is very scappy and makes things happen. I'm not going to argue with this, but it doesn't change the fact that Alex Brown is a very replaceable player. He's solid against the run and "scrappy", but a guy like that who has 5 or 6 sacks a year comes a dime a dozen in the NFL.

QUOTE (rangercal @ Mar 31, 2009 -> 10:01 PM) I was on the same boat for Pax before the trade deadline. I'm ok if they both stay here next year. If we were out the playoff race I would want VDN's head. Well I'm much more concerned with VDN being gone, if Paxson stays I won't be too upset as long as Hinrich is gone by the deadline next season. And the Bulls are 36-40 in the weaker of the NBA's conferences, which isn't enough to offset all of the incredibly dumb things I've seen VDN do this year, even if they sneak into the playoffs (which is no longer a sure thing after blowing 2 games they could have won the last 3 days).

QUOTE (rangercal @ Mar 31, 2009 -> 09:58 PM) You must not watch the games. Alex Brown is underrated because most fans LIKE YOU judge a DE solely on their sack numbers. Who are you, Greg Blache (who once said "sacks aren't important.) Sacks aren't solely the way to judge a defensive end, but any d end who puts up 5 or 6 a year like Alex Brown is EASILY replaceable. Most good franchises just let guys like him go without batting an eye and replace them with cheaper draft picks.