Balta1701

"Swing and a high fly ball. Deep Left Field, he looks up and you can put it on the board, Y-ES"

NFL looks likely this offseason to expand postseason, adding 1 more team and 1 more game per conference (only the #1 seed would get a bye week presumably).

QUOTE (HickoryHuskers @ Jan 8, 2014 -> 09:17 AM) Yes, Gurnick is an idiot, but there are five others who didn't vote for Frank, and Frank getting fewer votes than Biggio and Morris is obscene. That upset me even more than Gurnick. Do you mean "Writers voting for Morris and BGO but not Frank"? Because every list I've seen posted in here, Hurt beats them both.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Jan 8, 2014 -> 09:14 AM) I typically do not believe in harrassing or making personal attacks against people - in person or online - but I think I can make an exception on this one. Gurnick is an absolute f***ing douche tool. Clap.

QUOTE (OsweGo-Go Sox @ Jan 8, 2014 -> 09:07 AM) Really? I was able to get it in Iowa City pretty okay, and even in Pittsburgh I could vaguely make out the play by play. Was this after sunset? AM radio waves tend to travel farther at night.

QUOTE (thxfrthmmrs @ Jan 8, 2014 -> 08:50 AM) C'mon really? I know we hate the Heat, but these posts are pretty biased. On top of my head, the bigger name signings that didn't work out for them the last few years: Eddy Curry, Mike Bibby, Rashard Lewis, Greg Oden. But there are other guys who signed who also performed over the value of their contract: Ray Allen, Mike Miller, Shane Battier, Birdman, and even Beasley this year. And yea, they also made it to the Finals three straight years, so I think things are working out pretty well for them. Didn't Miller sign a very large, larger than the MLE contract the same year the big 3 assembled themselves?

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Jan 7, 2014 -> 10:02 PM) I know most everyone in this thread bailed on SHIELD, but I just caught the episode where they show (and somewhat explain) Agent Coulsons resurrection/Tahiti memory and it was pretty wild. I can't quite explain what they did to him though It was definitely meant to be a little vague as to exactly how they did everything but still make it incredibly wild. Yeah that shot of him on the bed was more than a little creepy.

Eventually it will. In 2015. When the next one starts.

QUOTE (DukeNukeEm @ Jan 7, 2014 -> 10:08 PM) Hmmm would Chicago, IL do something catastrophically stupid with serious long term ramifications if it can score some political points in the present? I read this post as my evening news was mentioning parents asking M&Ms to change their formula because they believe the coloring affects their children's behavior and immediately thought "well that explains this post".

QUOTE (DukeNukeEm @ Jan 7, 2014 -> 09:21 PM) You can't trust CPD stats outside homicides and even when it comes to homicides you kind of wonder if there was pressure in the department to classify as many deaths as possible as natural causes to soften the stat sheet. Also, 420 homicides is not an accomplishment in the slightest and the city should still be f***ing humiliated by it. Seriously, you're alleging the CPD covers up unsolved homicides to improve statistics and no one notices?

QUOTE (Stan Bahnsen @ Jan 7, 2014 -> 06:11 PM) Some guys ride a rocket to the majors. Huddy went through 4 or 5 levels in a single season and wasn't mishandled. Granted, he was 22, not 19. I trust that the org promotes their Ps appropriately, not so much their hitters. I couldn't possibly fathom them pushing him that hard this year with everything they did to protect his arm last year.

QUOTE (Stan Bahnsen @ Jan 7, 2014 -> 05:58 PM) Well, somebody, or two or three will be gone by the end of ST. Unless we're going to keep more guys at AAA than I think - Davidson, LGarcia AND Semien? And Sanchez, so that no one plays everyday.

QUOTE (lord chas @ Jan 7, 2014 -> 04:35 PM) When will Mirotic realistically come to Chicago? Everything I'm hearing is saying he will stay in Spain next year as well. It's either this year or next. He's under contract through next season, so if he comes over beforehand he'd have to sign a contract including money for a buyout. Most people thought when he was drafted that the 2014 offseason made sense - his buyout declines steadily as his contract gets closer to its end. The question is whether a contract structured around the Bulls mid-level exemption will be enough. It might be, it might not. But one thing worth noting is that Mirotic does have some leverage here too...if he says he is considering staying for the next year unless the Bulls put together a good enough contract for him to come over...that makes sure the Bulls can't skimp on his contract. He might well lose some of that leverage next year because he won't be under contract...but then he'd also have to play another year, risk injury, etc. But in that case he could also get the money that had gone to his buyout.

A whole bunch of people threw boiling water into the air to watch it freeze and burned themselves.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Jan 7, 2014 -> 03:41 PM) HEY GUYS GUESS HOW MANY TIMES THE BILLS MADE THE PLAYOFFS DURING THAT STRETCH Frank Wycheck is a b****

QUOTE (ZoomSlowik @ Jan 7, 2014 -> 03:37 PM) I really doubt that the GM's that told Zach Lowe they wouldn't sign him to the MLE would be convinced by 12 games of decent play. Only takes 1.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Jan 7, 2014 -> 11:57 AM) some background on what's causing this record weather http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2014_North_Am...an_polar_vortex Here is (I'd hope) a more readable/accessible version.

QUOTE (ZoomSlowik @ Jan 7, 2014 -> 02:40 PM) Um, they already signed Cousins to an extension. He's on the books for $13.7 mil next year. Gay would also have to be incredibly stupid to not pick up that option. Given the general disdain for his game at the moment, that might be 3 seasons worth of pay on his next contract. They've also still got quite a bit of money tied up in guys like Marcus Thornton, Carl Landry, Jason Thompson and Derrick Williams if they decide to keep him around ($21 million to the first 3 plus another $6.3 million if they choose to keep Williams). In other words, not really any space to work with. Ok, Cousins doesn't show up on Hoopshype. In that case, no they don't have cap space next year and could be pushing the tax line if they hit a high draft pick and use the MLE. However, they'll have Gay as an enormous expiring contract next year if they want to trade him for anything, and they'll still have enough to make a major offer in 2015 if they are willing to move around a couple guys and pick up the option on Williams. HH has Landry, Thompson, and Williams still under contract for 2015 but not Thornton.

QUOTE (scs787 @ Jan 7, 2014 -> 02:28 PM) Looking again at the bottom of the standings, you may be right. Didn't really notice how bad the bottom of the league is...Just 3 games from the 11spot. How sexy would it be if the kings and bobcats finished 11th and 12th then the Bulls get a top 5? Then they still have the money to bring in Mirotic?! Oh sweet baby Jesus, make it happen NBA Gods. I don't know this draft class well enough but let's throw out the hypothetical since we're imagining. Would you swap that for the #1 or #2 pick? All 3 of those I mean?

QUOTE (scs787 @ Jan 7, 2014 -> 02:19 PM) Cousins, Thomas, and a top 5 pick could be pretty nasty. How does their cap situation look? Gay a FA next year? If so, sans Cousins, who are they paying big money too? Thomas-Mclemore-Wiggins/Parker-Cousins-? or Thomas-Mclemore-?-Cousins-Embiid or Thomas-Mclemore-?-Randle-Cousins all look scary id they got the $$ to add a good piece into those question marks. As for this year, ya, they're not getting that pick. Assuming that Gay picks up his nearly $20 million player option (he might not) they'll be at about $61 million once they offer a Q.O. to cousins. If Gay doesn't pick up his option then they'll probably have $10 million or so to play with. The year after that they have around $20 million committed, probably closer to $25 counting this year's draft pick. They could up that to just over $40 million by offering Cousins a Max deal and be in a position still to sign a max level FA that year.

QUOTE (ZoomSlowik @ Jan 7, 2014 -> 12:54 PM) I wouldn't assume either way, but I'm not exactly warm and fuzzy about the Kings' chances. They're the 4th worst team in the league in a year where a lot of teams are trying to lose (or at least not actively trying to win). They're not much better with Gay either, they're only 6-12 in games that he's played. They look good as a fantasy team, but not so much as an actual team. They're a horrible defensive team, 29th in the league in defensive efficiency. You have to have a top-5 type offense to compensate for that kind of ineptitude, and they don't. They really only have three useful players, maybe 4 with McLemore eventually developing. It also doesn't help that they're in the West, which is a much tougher conference. They have to be quite a bit better to get over 30 wins than if they were in the East. Since they lost the last of their solid roster in 08, they haven't had a WPT above .341. Basically, it's going to depend on what they get in the draft. If they hit a homer or two doubles between now and then, the Bulls probably get a pick. If they do what they normally do, it's going to come down to the wire. So if we were to loan them Tom Thibodeau for the rest of the season we get another top 20 pick this year?

QUOTE (HickoryHuskers @ Jan 7, 2014 -> 01:55 PM) Fun NFL Trivia: Which team has made the playoffs the most times (13) in the past 15 seasons, current season included? Colts

QUOTE (ptatc @ Jan 7, 2014 -> 01:31 PM) This is another case where the city will make money on the taxes from parking, tickets, concession and since it's soccer fines from the police arresting all of the people fighting in the stands. Except for the fact they already blew a ton of money on the last empty parking garage.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jan 7, 2014 -> 01:42 PM) I never have understood what is taking Raines and Lee Smith so long. Here's one version of the case against smith.