whitesoxfan101

QUOTE (Soxbadger @ Sep 1, 2012 -> 10:44 PM) It was odd, they ran a bunch of empty sets as well which kind of prevents the other team from even playing the run and opening up the passing game. Just not sure what he was thinking. We went empty a lot too, but our QB ran for 1,400 yards so the threat was still there. Can't do it without a very mobile QB, and O'Brien isn't a mobile QB.

QUOTE (Soxbadger @ Sep 1, 2012 -> 09:03 PM) Michigan sucks, I hate SEC hive mind mentality. Wisconsin was terrible today, not sure what the new OC was thinking but they ran very few regular play action plays, hilariously the 1 they ran went for a TD. Its early but brutal play calling. That's really strange. Your OC was our OC last year and he ran a ton of play action.

QUOTE (kev211 @ Sep 1, 2012 -> 09:26 PM) Iowa played like s*** today. That Jordan Lynch guy has a chance to be really good in the MAC, if he can figure out how to throw it. I'm pretty optimistic about this season for NIU considering we nearly beat Iowa without a passing game of any kind today and with several critical mistakes. Today still hurts though because the game was there to be won. Hopefully, we don't lose again this year, because the schedule suggests it's possible. I'll be bemoaning the game today if such a scenario occurs, but whatever. Our defense is pretty good, but I'm not sure how Iowa's offense is going to do in Big Ten play if they can only put up 3.4 yards a play against us.

I love upper box seats behind (or close to) behind home plate. You can find good deals for these seats (below typical face value) pretty frequently if you keep your eyes open in a few places, and it's an absolutely awesome, full view of the game. I don't have the trouble that I saw a few people mention judging the depth of fly balls either, but maybe I'm just used to it because I've sat there so many times. As I also saw previously mentioned, the lines upstairs tend to be reasonable, even if the crowd is close to capacity.

I wonder what our record is the last several years when Dick Stockton does the game. It seems like we always win, to the point where it is now a running joke with me and my friends.

Gary Bettman has spewed a lot of bulls*** in his career, but his claim today that shootouts have a 70 to 80 percent approval rating among fans might top the list. I honestly can't think of a single hockey fan I know that likes them and I know quite a few.

Any Colts fan cheering at the end of the game tonight is an idiot. Why are you cheering? And congrats to the Texans, who blew the inside track to a bye by losing to the Panthers at home and then at the Colts.

Five year show cause for Tressel=he will never coach again at the college level. And quite frankly, deservedly so.

QUOTE (Heads22 @ Dec 20, 2011 -> 02:54 PM) Hahah I've heard about some Gene Smith shenanigans. Apparently he liked volleyball players. That can be hit and miss. There are a lot of hot ones and they're tall, which is nice. But I've found that often times, they end up being a bit psycho. Oh, back to your point, how much did he like them? And re: the last post, I'd imagine witnesses refuse to testify on stuff like this for fear of their own safety a lot. College sports fans and boosters are a bit crazy, as we all know.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Dec 20, 2011 -> 02:51 PM) Outside of the fact the media reported what size dumps OSU employees took during their "investigation" OSU got a FTM charge as their harshest penalty, just like Boise St got this year. Gene Smith gambled on a bowl game we arent even making money on and lost. He's a dumb s*** and wil be fire. Luckily the recruits Urban is getting wont really be too effected by this but i feel for the juniors and sophs that did nothing wrong. So stupid of the OSU brass to not impose a ban this year. If I were Ohio State, I'd redshirt as many guys as humanely possible (aka who will agree to do it) next year. The schoarship thing is basically 3 a year, that is nothing when you recruit as well as Urban Meyer does. And I don't think any recruits will be lost due to this either, unless they had their hearts set on a Big Ten/National Title as a true freshman.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Dec 20, 2011 -> 02:33 PM) Gene. Smith. Punishment was overly harsh considering the precedent of FTM charges never brining a bowl ban, but just to be safe why wouldnt you decline the f***ing Gator bowl. My guess is he is let go within the month. Looks like 2013 for our real run. I don't know enough about the case to know if the penalty was overly harsh, but exactly what you said, there's no harm to turn down the Gator Bowl and be overly safe. Really, this punishment does nothing to Ohio State outside of the postseason ban, and they'd be fine had they just declined to play in it this year. I'm amazed Gene Smith isn't gone already, but this has to be the last straw. He just made a year of Urban Meyer irrelevant outside of what he does in recruiting.

http://www.cleveland.com/osu/index.ssf/201...otball_p_4.html Ohio State loses 9 total scholarships and gets a one year postseason ban. The big thing that comes out of this, for me, is how AMAZINGLY arrogant, stupid, or both Ohio State was to not decline a bowl bid this year. I hope they think that 6-6 Gator Bowl trip with an interim coach was worth it next year when they are sitting home after 12 games.

QUOTE (fathom @ Dec 8, 2011 -> 09:26 PM) Am I the only person who thinks it's bogus that the Honey Badger is one of the five finalists for the Heisman? When is the last time a Heisman finalist was suspended a game during the season due to drug use? Is character supposed to be taken into consideration for the Heisman? Because if it's not, Honey Badger should be in New York IMO. To me, he and RG III were clearly the two best players in the country this year.

QUOTE (iamshack @ Dec 9, 2011 -> 01:09 PM) Yep, I understand. How many years do you think we had the best roster? What I think doesn't make a difference. I'm just a fan, and even if we say I'm a fan with a ton of knowledge, what I think about the Sox talent level is irrelevant. Hell, what anybody THINKS about it doesn't matter. All that matters is where the team is after 162 games.

QUOTE (iamshack @ Dec 9, 2011 -> 01:04 PM) Wait a second here...the 2006 team won like 90 games...and that was not his fault that they failed down the stretch...they had the second best record at the ASB. Obviously in 2005 there was a WS... The 2008 team won a division... The 2011 team had every chance to win and the players and the manager just s*** themselves... That's 4 teams in the last 7 that I felt very good about, and honestly, the 2009 team had every chance to win. The 2010 team KW and JR agreed to let Ozzie have things his way. I can understand the discontent and the desire for change...but I'm not ready to turn my back on KW just yet...I want to see him function with someone that isn't bats*** crazy for a year or two... Two playoff appearances in eleven years. I understand some of those other nine years had good teams that missed the playoffs, but this is a bottom line business and we're not even in the best division in the AL.

I went to as many Sox games a year as I could (sometimes even more) until last season, so don't blame me. But, you can blame me now, because I refuse to go to The Cell as long as Kenny Williams still has his job. I'll try to go to Sox/Cubs game at Wrigley and a road game or two every year beyond that (and I'll obviously watch on television), but the Sox aren't getting my gate money as long as Kenny Williams continues to not be held responsible for sending our team down the s***ter since it won the World Series. You can't defend 1 playoff appearance and 1 playoff game victory the last 6 years with the payroll we've had. And you shouldn't support it in person, either.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Dec 9, 2011 -> 08:50 AM) Dude it is Illinois football. Who do you think is lining up for this job exactly? I would normally agree with this, but everything I've heard says Illinois would have given the right guy 3 million a year. So that should've led to a pretty good and deep list of candidates right there.

QUOTE (IlliniKrush @ Dec 9, 2011 -> 12:21 AM) He's coached zero games. I don't give a f*** about buzz, I care about winning games. We'll see if he can do it or not. Judging it now is stupid. BTW, Ron Zook was a "big name" or "buzz" hire. I'm not going to get all pissy just because it's not one of the big names being thrown out. Only time will tell. I hope Illinois plans to keep Koenning around because Beckman is not exactly great coaching defense. The only time he held NIU under 63 points was when Harnish was playing most of the game on a leg injury that literally almost ended his career. With that said, and also considering the fact that I expected Illinois to do better, this isn't some sort of terrible hire. Beckman runs a clean program, recruits very well, and was 14-0 in non-NIU league games the last 2 years. I've seen many worse hires on paper than this work. I'm glad Illinois got him out of the league, and I hope he does well.

So the NBA has a long lockout, and it comes back an even bigger joke? Nice. You can't just stop a completely reasonable trade on paper because it makes a team good. This sounds like wrestling nonsense (again).

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Dec 8, 2011 -> 04:13 PM) I saw last week where Northern had their 5th shooting since their big incident recently. Just to clarify, most of that has been OFF campus. There was a shooting at one of the dorms a couple years back in which a kid got shot in the leg (he was fine), but it's been all off campus stuff besides that in terms of crime issues. Not much the school can do about that, unfortunately, as it is a city issue. In general though, people are just messed up. You can't assume absolutely safety anywhere anymore. I feel terrible for the police officer here, but am also glad this didn't get totally out of hand.

QUOTE (Rex Kicka** @ Dec 7, 2011 -> 02:01 PM) Posted without comment. I'm a Christian too, Rick, yet this is still the dumbest political ad I've ever seen.

The playoff system would be easy: 11 conference champions and 5 wild card teams. Shorten the regular season to 10 or 11 games if you have to, and do that. Very similar to what 1-AA did before expanding their playoffs last season. The system would make such an incredible amount of money, and in that sense, I'm amazed it hasn't happened yet. I can tell you this much, if NIU were getting ready to play at Alabama in the 1st round of the tournament right now, I'd be incredibly excited. Even with the knowledge that we had absolutely no shot at winning the game. In the meantime though, I'll just hope for a plus 1. Baby steps.

QUOTE (IlliniKrush @ Dec 4, 2011 -> 05:52 PM) I can't believe you're serious. Of course, you don't watch much college football anyway. Iowa St > LSU? Oklahoma State played a better schedule in a better conference and has better wins. The only tangible argument for Alabama is their loss is better, but their loss is to a team they don't deserve a rematch with anyway. Alabama didn't win (or tie) for their conference, they didn't win (or tie) for their division. To have them in the national championship game is hilariously stupid. And I'm tired of people saying "Alabama is the second best team". How do we know? Because they played well against Arkansas at home and won at an overrated Penn State outfit? Oklahoma State absolutely destroyed Baylor and Oklahoma, who are both far better than anybody Alabama beat short of Arkansas. I can't say for sure they are better than Alabama, but I can't say for sure they aren't either. So I have to go on resumes, and theirs is clearly the better of the two. Luckily, for ESPN, their promoting the Alabama/LSU National Title game last night because it serves their personal best interests helped keep Alabama high enough in all of the polls to play in this imaginary title game. Quite frankly, LSU should get a share of the title even if they lose. They would be 13-1 to Alabama's 12-1, have a 1-1 record against them (with the win on the road), and have a far better overall resume.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Dec 2, 2011 -> 06:44 PM) One of the more underrated parts of the bowl season is that those teams get an extra month or more of practice time, which is totally invaluable. For young teams who expect those players to carry their teams the next year, bowl season is a MUST. This times a million. The people at NIU will swear by it, or at least the people in the football program I've talked to will. In 2008 and 2009, they had very young teams that both barely made bowl games (both were at-large bowl bids, not MAC ones because they were middle of the pack in the league) and they in fact lost both games. But they got a ton of extra practices. The last two years with a lot of those guys upperclassmen, they should have won conference and did win a bowl in 2010 and then did win conference this year (thank God). Obviously a lot more goes into that than the extra practices, but they really do help.

I always root against Wisconsin in the NCAA Tournament just because I can't stand to watch them. I give them credit though, they've made abominationball into a very successful form of "playing basketball."