Middle Buffalo

Wow! Let's view all organizations through the prism of Cubbiedom. That interview was embarrassing in many ways. They basically ambushed Hahn with the KW line of questioning, and they barely touched on the Frazier and Lawrie deals. Those two moves should help fill a couple of big holes without costing the top young prospects in the organization, and they are both pretty affordable. The Sox don't need to do a total tear down. They have good young pitching in Sale & Qintana. Rodon was pretty good and looks to be really good. And they have a few more young arms on the way. They have a few good position players at the major league level (Abreu & Eaton). If they add a few more, they can contend. They just have to be able to identify players who will play to their historical numbers. They've missed badly on Smardijia, Dunn, & LaRoche. A few guys like Avi haven't had enough time to really evaluate, yet. The idea of gutting this team is silly. 3/4 of the Sox infield looks to be good. The catcher position is probably on par with most teams. Starting pitching is decent. The bullpen is decent. They need an upgrade at one of the outfield spots, but I don't think they should be desperate and trade young talent or go overboard in paying a huge contract to Upton or Cespedes. They've had a good offseason. I think Hahn should be commended for it.

QUOTE (Brian @ Dec 13, 2015 -> 03:19 PM) You don't know the Chicago Media very well. I listen to the score interviews on podcast, and I don't think I heard anyone (host or Bears analysts) criticize him last week after missing two chip shots. I used to listen to ESPN 1000 full show podcasts daily, and Jeff Dickerson was on the Bears' beat, and he has a man crush on RG. So, like I said, I doubt they'll be too hard on him. But, it could be that I don't know the Chicago media very well.

Jay has to hit that pass to Alshon at the goal line that he under threw. He tends to short arm those for some reason. After that, he should have been rolling out on the pass that was intended for Royal. Oh well, the media likes Gould, so he'll probably get a pass again.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Dec 8, 2015 -> 05:18 PM) Marty Bennett placed on IR This guy is such a knucklehead. Good, but a knucklehead. Misses the Packers game with an injury. Says he didn't watch it. Complains about not getting the ball enough. Is limited in the game ten days later. Is placed on IR. Does he think maybe his lack of targets is a result of his inability to get open due to his injury? Maybe the defenses are blanketing him because he is the best receiver available for most of the season? Nope. Not the Purple Unicorn or whatever dumb nickname he gave himself. He's just not getting enough targets. So, by all means, complain and put it into the QBs head that you want more targets. That way he can try to force balls to you instead of throwing to the open guy. Great teammate. Brandon Marshall-lite.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Dec 5, 2015 -> 06:45 AM) That is why I feed them to our frogs I think crickets are the only animal that doesn't flee when in danger. They just jump around randomly.

Crickets are really dumb.

I've always maintained that a man needs two things to be truly happy in life. He must be in love with his work, and he must be in love with his wife.

It would have been nice to see the goal line view of the Eddie Lacy TD a time or two. Every time they showed the play, it was from a slight angle near the end zone. Replays were bad all night. I wonder if the NFL wants cooperation from TV to no show controversial plays over and over because of the amount officiating has been criticized this year.

The biggest problem I have with Cutler is when he's not having success, he always seems to have an INT where he just says "eff it" and tries to squeeze the ball in to someone. He gets sloppy. The great thing this year has been the patience. Even when they aren't converting mulitiple first downs, they've kept games close. Hopefully they rebound from the bad throw and regain the patience they've had all season. Cutler is a "win with," not "win because of" QB. But, I do believe they can win with him.

These all green ND uniforms are very ugly. I wonder what it costs to outfit football teams in new uniforms several times every year. It seems like it's a waste. I'm surprised the NCAA doesn't prohibit the number of uniforms a team uses. It seems like it might be a Title IX issue as well.

QUOTE (winninguglyin83 @ Nov 9, 2015 -> 04:21 AM) olt, turner, renteria. Quite a trail of Cubs' cast offs. Who's next -- Corey Patterson? Hopefully a petting zoo.

QUOTE (raBBit @ Nov 9, 2015 -> 08:37 PM) Seems every time there is a big college rape story it unravels and it's ultimately bulls***. Duke, Occidental, UVA and I am sure I am missing more. It's sad. I read Jon Krakauer's book "Missoula:Rape and the Justice System in a College Town" about the culture of sexual assault at the University of Montana. It was a pretty interesting book. Worth a read.

So, am I the only one who thinks the players wearing goggles in the post game celebration is dumb looking? I imagine getting champagne in your eyes isn't a great feeling, but it seems like the lockerroom celebration is over orchestrated - not unlike the cutting down of the nets in the NCAA tourney. Is there any spontaneity allowed in sports anymore?

QUOTE (GoSox05 @ Nov 2, 2015 -> 03:41 PM) @AdamSchefter This guy is such a dork at this time of year. I've heard him on radio shows on trade deadline day, and he's so distracted by trying to be the first to tweet out trade info that he can't even pay attention to the interview. Adam (I'm sure he'll read this), it's not that important to be first.n just get the right info out.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Oct 28, 2015 -> 12:58 AM) "It's the World Series," Young said. "If you were in the World Series you'd be throwing harder too." This is great.

I think I'd prefer to see the Mets, but I really don't have a preference. I like the Mets pitching, and I think their situation in NY is similar to the Sox. I'm not crazy about this Royals team, but I've always liked George Brett. Great story teller, better player. Just hoping for a good series.

I listen to Chocago sports podcasts sometimes when I'm at work, and here's a summary of what I heard this week: I downloaded the waddle and Silvy show from Tuesday (on location with Urlacher). Kaplan, Silvy & Jesse Rodgers were all pretty confident that the Cubs would win game 3. Waddle's assessment of Schwarber in the outfield was that he isn't as bad as everyone says. Silvy is upset that Sox fans were not rooting for the Cubs. He says that he was pulling for the Sox in2005. I'd love to hear those shows so I could verify that myself. On the score, listening to Bruce Levine after the series was comical. He's about as bad as the worst dumb caller when it comes to possible trades. According to him, Solef is an AL player because he's prone to injuries. Castro is a guy that a few teams really want and he can be a good SS. Schwarber is a really hard worker, so he'll improve in the field wherever that play him. The Cubs will target Shark (who Levine has a total stiffy for) because he will be much less expensive than some other guys out there. I heard him on two different shows (I listen to the score interviews podcast), and he was in full fanboy mode. I've managed to avoid mocking my Cub fan friends, but I'm so happy they lost because of all the douchebaggery in the media.

QUOTE (Iwritecode @ Oct 23, 2015 -> 06:30 AM) We completely gutted and remodeled our kitchen about 5 years ago. We made sure to get a permit because we know our asshole neighbor would call us in the second he saw a contractor's truck in our driveway. i have the same problem. Everything I do at home has to be by the book because of my neighbors.

QUOTE (bmags @ Oct 23, 2015 -> 07:40 AM) If he's going to throw off his back foot, fade routes into the end zone are the one place I'm fine with it. Right, but he tends to under throw that pass, as opposed to putting it out long where either it is out of bounds or only his guy can get it. Either way, what I find funny is the analysis of him is always based on the result. His form is often bad even on successful plays, but the announcer/analyst will often say that he's only one of a handful of guys who can make the pass.

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Oct 22, 2015 -> 01:17 PM) Really good piece from Bleacher report by the Bronco's GM who drafted Cutler. Very interesting when you read about what Mcdaniels did and why Cutler wanted out (justifiably). http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2580349...ened-from-there That was good. It was interesting to watch the draft video and reactions of the ESPN guys. Unfortunately, many of his bad habits that were identified pre-draft (eg. Throwing off his back foot) are still evident. Actually, I thought it was interesting that both of his TD passes in the KC game were off his back foot. I heard some of the experts praising him for those throws - paying no attention to his bad mechanics. But if he throws an INT (like he did on the Jeffery pass last weekend), they point out the mechanics. I've always wondered where he got the reputation as a bad guy, because other than being aloof, I've not really seen it. It seems like that comes from Shanahan pulling Plummer (who was really popular) and replacing him with Cutler. The veterans on the team didn't like that. Then he was traded to the Bears for Orton, who was similarly popular with his teammates.

July 31, the Mets were 53-50. They added Cespedes and took off. Toronto was 53-51. They added Price & Tulo. Texas was 50-52. They added Hamels. The Sox were 49-52. They did not add, but it's not inconceivable that Sale would remain dominant, Q would run into some luck and get some wins, and Shark would have a strong second half. If LaRoche, Melky and a few others play to their lifetime averages (which means getting hot for a few months), the Sox aren't as far out of it as they ended up. Going forward, you have to hope Rodon continues to improve, and maybe Fulmer shows up and is as good as 2015 Rodon. That would put the Sox staff on par with the Mets. If they can add a few dynamic bats, who knows, maybe the Sox make a run next year. Baseball, like football and hockey, seems to be about getting hot toward the end of the season and making a playoff run.

Assuming this holds up, Sox fans should make it a point to NOT gloat. That's what Cubs fans want and expect. Say nothing. It will bother them more.

QUOTE (HickoryHuskers @ Oct 19, 2015 -> 01:51 PM) I root against the Cubs for the same reason I root against the Yankees and Red Sox--their obnoxious fans don't deserve to celebrate a championship. How'd that work out for you?

I'm finding being a Mets fan very stressful. I can't wait 'till the 2015 baseball season is over.

So, are the Yankees fans supposed to be rooting for the Mets now? I don't know all the rules for fans. I guess I'll call one of the Chicago radio shows.