Dick Allen

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Mar 13, 2013 -> 08:26 PM) Exactly, try to win the Super Bowl now, worry about the rest later. Plus, guys get hurt, upset, slow, etc. Some of those roster decisions take care of themselves. That's right. If they play well enough to garner huge contracts, you've had a few nice seasons. And attrition is a huge part of the NFL.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Mar 14, 2013 -> 08:48 AM) Check his years. He said Konerko's inconsistent "2004" season. He hit 40 HR and drove in 100+ runs in 2004. I know. He was off a year. Paulie wasn't too popular in 2003. Talk radio was abuzz with calls for his release.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Mar 14, 2013 -> 08:09 AM) You need to review your years. Konerko was done and needed to be released in 2003. If you listened to Soxtalk, he needed to be gone after his age 32 season in 2008. Wrong side of 30, declined a few straight years. Since then he's only averaged about 30 homers 100 rbi and a .380 OBP. Ramirez has his flaws, but its not inconceivable to believe he could do better offensively than last season. A rookie as the replacement isn't going to do any better, and if his contract is so terrible, wouldn't you think other teams that actually would have to pay it would think the same thing? The problem with many posts when getting rid of players is they say so and so sucks, trade him and get back some great prospects. In what world do bad players owed a lot of money net you good prospects? One big concern I have with Ramirez is his age. We really don't know if his listed age is accurate. I would think it's almost impossible to 100% verify a Cuban refugee's age. If he's several years older than listed, the downward trend would be harder to snap. If he's 31 or 32, I would think there would be some sort of rebound to get close to a .725 OPS.

QUOTE (lasttriptotulsa @ Mar 13, 2013 -> 12:47 PM) Thing is, if he waits until he's at the point he was before and without any discomfort, he'll be out for 18+ months. He's never going to know until he actually plays. I tend to agree with you. It's kind of like not wanting to jump in a pool because it's cold when you know you will have to anyway. Just get in. If he's good to go medically, he might as well play. That's the quickest way he will get back to full strength. It will also be the easiest way to see exactly where he is at and how far he needs to go over the summer. Sitting the rest of the year, IMO, would be doing himself, not even considering the Bulls, a disservice.

QUOTE (lasttriptotulsa @ Mar 13, 2013 -> 11:47 AM) Do you know Derrick personally? Because I know I don't. I've always heard he was a class act and family man and blah, blah, blah, but then he did have somebody take the SAT for him so he could get into Memphis. So honestly I really don't know what to think about his moral fiber. Bottom line is that I'm just getting sick and tired of this crap. He really needs to ass out there and play. He's to the point of no higher risk of re-injury and he says he has no limitations. What the hell is the problem? He's never going to have his confidence back until he actually gets out and plays. I think he's just afraid to fail and I don't like that. He's the biggest superstar in Chicago since Jordan, and if I were to ask myself would Jordan being playing by now if all circustances were the same, I know the answer would be yes. I agree he needs to play, but let's face it, you asking if someone knows Derrick personally because of their opinion is no different than asking if you know him personally considering you said anyone who thinks Reggie is not Derrick's puppet is a fool. From all accounts, Reggie is the dominant one in their relationship. Also keep in mind, BJ Armstrong is Derrick's agent. Considering his Bulls connection, I really doubt he would advise having Reggie spout something like what he did off, and if the Bulls aren't about winning and all about making money, why didn't they ask Reggie considering Adidas is paying DRose somewhere around $200 million, why they signed a max contract when taking less could have helped with the talent level around him. Reggie is an idiot. Most people know this. Derrick doesn't, or at least won't publicly acknowledge it. It's sort of like Ozzie and Oney. It could be you are right and Reggie is just saying what Derrick says in private. I just think there's a better chance its Reggie Rose trying to be significant.

QUOTE (DukeNukeEm @ Mar 13, 2013 -> 10:54 AM) I lean towards agreeing with you there. Garza never struck me as being any good just better than the absolute filth we've surrounded him with. Only guy I'm confident with going into the season is Bushrod, and if Louis' rehab is going well him too. I still think Carimi can be good. He has yet to be healthy. He was awful last season, but who knows. There have been several NFL people who expect some sort of leap from him next season. If Louis rehabs well and Carimi comes around, the line should be really solid. That's several ifs though, and chances are a lineman or 2 or 3 will go down.

QUOTE (lasttriptotulsa @ Mar 13, 2013 -> 10:50 AM) Thing that bothers me is that while Derrick did come out and say that those were Reggie's opinion he never said that Reggie was wrong. He did say he was and the Bulls goals were the same. Reggie mentioned the Bulls were all about selling tickets: “I have always felt that the Bulls organization’s goals have been the same as mine and that is to bring another championship to this city.” Derrick is never going to throw his brother under the bus. I wish he would, and maybe Reggie has a point, at least with Asik and Korver . They are the guys they could have kept and paid more luxury tax. Hindsight says Asik probably is now worth the money. I don't think many thought he was worth the money, let alone the extra tax when he left. But how much better would they really be? Could Noah and Asik play at the same time?

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Mar 13, 2013 -> 09:37 AM) If it really bothered Derrick, he'd threaten to cut Reggie's ass off, and we wouldn't hear from him again. I don't know. Reggie has always had influence on Derrick. The other thing is, how do you know Derrick didn't say exactly that after the comments? If Derrick's real reason he hasn't come back is because of the roster, why doesn't he say that, and what purpose does having Reggie say it serve? The Bulls are over the cap. It's not like they can go out and sign whoever Reggie wants them to sign. Derrick is a playing basketball genius. I don't know if he really is intelligent enough to be as calculating as some are suggesting. He might think his brother is a smart guy. Smarter than him, and just defer.

QUOTE (2nd_city_saint787 @ Mar 13, 2013 -> 12:22 AM) We already have a guy we took last year who has drawn comparisons to Aaron Hernandez, I'd have to pass on Eifert. If Cooper and Warmack are gone then I'm hoping for Ogletree at 20. If Ogletree is gone too I would go WR just for the hell of it. The Vikings have a huge need at WR (right now anyway) and they pick behind the Bears so taking a WR of the board would make the offense even more dynamic and hurt one of our competitors. Pollian thinks the Bears need a burner. He thinks that's all that is missing now on the offense.

QUOTE (lasttriptotulsa @ Mar 13, 2013 -> 08:04 AM) Derrick's the one with the money. Reggie works for Derrick. Reggie may have the I.Q. of a piece of construction paper, but I think he's at least smart enough to realize he can't risk pissing Derrick off or the gravy train is over. Logically that would make sense, but Reggie Rose has always been sort of a jerk. He's not going to change now. Derrick said he has his back because they are brothers. I have a brother who I don't always agree with but I have his back and he has mine. Sometimes blood is thicker than money, and I also doubt Derrick is really running the show. All the reporters talk about his "handlers". Derrick is a great basketball player, but as everyone knows, if you needed someone to take the ACT for you, he's not your guy. If Derrick isn't playing because the team around him isn't strong enough, do you really think that would be something Derrick would come up with and would tell Reggie to get it out? I think it is far more likely it would be something Reggie would plant in Derrick's head. Derrick is living Reggie's dream. Reggie is going to try to be as significant as he can be.

QUOTE (lasttriptotulsa @ Mar 13, 2013 -> 06:44 AM) Agree with you 100%. Anybody that doesn't think Reggie is Derrick's puppet is a fool. You can call me a fool, but Reggie and Derrick have had totally different reputations forever. It is entirely possible Reggie is taking advantage of Derrick's fame, thinking his opinion matters and spouting it to anyone who will listen to him. Derrick is the little brother. He defers to Reggie. It doesn't necessarily mean what Reggie says Derrick thinks. It seems Reggie tells Derrick what to do and say, not the other way around.

QUOTE (GoSox05 @ Mar 12, 2013 -> 02:19 PM) @TomPelissero BREAKING: #Vikings just released Antoine Winfield. Lot's of dudes getting released. Yes. It looks like Loadholt is going back to the Vikings.

QUOTE (Soxbadger @ Mar 12, 2013 -> 01:05 PM) No it really is the same game. Its understanding the market, understanding demand, understanding players ability, etc. The part that is interesting is you think that time would hurt Boras, a time crunch would help Boras. You get the best deals when people are in a rush and panic. That is why in baseball you usually see a guy sign really quick or wait, because once the initial free for all hits, then people reassess. In football there is no time, so Boras would be able to use his tricks "Oh 49ers are offering X, if you dont offer Y we are signing now" and get the same deals. You have to remember its about the players. If Boras lands A-Rod type NFL clients, he can do what he wants. Its the best player who sets the market. I bolded a part because that has nothing to do with agents, it has everything to do with rules being in place to prevent players from getting the maximum possible salary. Even further in the NBA where you have a MAX salary, you just cant negotiate for more money, regardless of how good the agent is. In a way, but he can't stretch what they are able to pay. He can't play one team off of another as much as he can in baseball. If he makes an outrageous counteroffer, the way free agency works in the NFL, teams will just move on to the next guy. There isn't time for drawn out bidding wars. Listening to Bill Pollian and Bill Parcells on ESPN the other day discussing the salary cap was fascinating. One guy they were asked about was Revis. Both said they wouldn't trade for him until he showed he was OK to play, and both said they wouldn't give a corner the type of money he is looking for no matter how good he is. It's not like baseball where signing the right guy gets you x number more people through the turnstiles and helps you make money. I think agents impact baseball salaries far more than they impact those in the NFL. NFL teams' hands are tied. A big contract and an injury or lack of performance could mean years of dead cap space.

QUOTE (Soxbadger @ Mar 12, 2013 -> 11:43 AM) Boras would be fine. Hed get the best deals first. He just uses the baseball system to his advantage. If if he was NFL, hed use their system to panic teams into offering money quick. Its the same game. Salary cap/ no salary cap....totally different game. All teams already offer the money quick. Once its gone, its gone. Boras is a master negotiator who thrives when his players become free agents. In the NFL, his tactics wouldn't work, and obviously he would change, but he really couldn't be unique. MLB would love to have the NFL-style cap and free agency and non guaranteed contracts. It takes most of guys like Boras' leverage away.

I just like the speed of the major signings. Its like musical chairs. These guys want to sign before the available money runs out. Boras would be lost as an NFL agent.

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ Mar 12, 2013 -> 09:15 AM) So you see Alex Rios playing well again, Tyler Flowers matching AJ's 2012 output, Paul Konerko staying healthy, and Adam Dunn hitting 40 jacks? This offense is going to be horrific. Pretty much everything went right last year and they were still painful. Everything went right? 3B put up a .600 OPS. Konerko got hurt. Ramirez had his worst offensive season. Beckham hit .230. Viciedo is still learning. Dunn hit .204 and struck out an ungodly amount of times, and they still scored the 4th most runs in the league. Rios and AJP were definitely better than anyone could have expected, and the Sox should expect less from those positions this year, but I think there are places they can improve.

NFL free agency is awesome. No messing around. Guys sign quickly before teams run out of cap room.

QUOTE (Boogua @ Mar 12, 2013 -> 08:35 AM) They really don't have to sign Long. Especially at 11 mil per year. If they can swing it financially I obviously won't object, but he graded out slightly above Webb last year and is an injury concern. Webb wasn't nearly as bad as people think he was last year and there are really good RTs out there (Winston and Andre Smith come to mind) that could still let the Bears fill other needs. You may get your wish. Brad Biggs says the Bears want Loadholt.

How much basketball coaching is allowed by the NCAA during the offseason. I think improving is up to the player.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Mar 11, 2013 -> 03:14 PM) I honestly dont understand your point at all. Are you saying he didnt have a disappointing year considering the expectations? I think IU overall underachieved even with the regular season title. Not really. The kid also had a target on his back. His presence made the other guys better, and he came up huge yesterday. The Big Ten was as competitive as ever this year. If a team wins the Big Ten and still underachieves, Crean's recruiting is beyond off the charts, and that probably is the most important aspect of a college coach. Big Ten basketball is going to be really good for a while, and if expansion nets them UNC, it's going to be sick.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Mar 11, 2013 -> 03:07 PM) Zeller was the preseason NPOY favorite and isnt even in the conversation. I would say that he had a disappointing year for what was expected. Team wins the Big Ten, is ranked #3 nationally and because Zeller isn't going to be POY, Crean is to blame?

QUOTE (Boogua @ Mar 11, 2013 -> 02:48 PM) Jordan's percentages did go up from his Freshman to Junior year. From 53.5% to 55.1% and he went from 13.5 PPG to 20.0 and 19.6 (on less minutes and better %s than the 20 PPG season). There was a pretty drastic improvement there. I don't think that's the best example. The whole thing about Crean being a better coach than other Big Ten coaches because he won the conference is silly. His roster is clearly more talented (which I know is part of being a coach) than every other roster in the B1G. Because Valpo won the horizon league in 2011-2012 does that mean Bryce Drew is a better coach than Brad Stevens? You'll probably say he was for that season, but come on, that's silly. 1.6% higher shooting percentage and 6 points a game without James Worthy around is drastic? Cody Zeller's shooting percentage went up 5.3% over last season. I really wonder how Brad Stevens would do with a historically middle of the pack Big 10 team. I think people would be dissappointed. He has a great gig at Butler. I bet Todd Lickliter wishes he never left.

QUOTE (ZoomSlowik @ Mar 11, 2013 -> 02:18 PM) Unless it's defense, improvement will generally show up in the stats. Production might dip with a better team, but you usually see it reflected elsewhere in the percentages or in reduced turnovers. Also, I never argued that none of these guys got better at all. I'm saying that outside of Oladipo, they're pretty bad examples of why a guy is a great developer of talent. Rock can easily point to Evan Turner, Lenzelle Smith, Deshaun Thomas and a bunch of other comparable players. Back when people thought Bruce Weber was good, you could point to every player on the 2005 team improving greatly over the course of their career (okay, Dee Brown not so much). Badger could probably list 20 players that sucked for Wisconsin as freshmen but turned into All-Conference players. Saying a bunch of names of players on a good team doesn't really help with evidence for great player development. The greatest player who ever lived had numbers that didn't drastically improve percentage-wise between his freshman and junior seasons. I wouldn't say Dean Smith was a horrible developer of talent. Indiana is hated. I get it. I don't like them either. But they won. They get the credit. People just sound like Cubs fans pointing out White Sox attendance when they want to discredit Crean. If I were an Indiana fan on here I would just tell all the haters, "you're right, he can't develop players and he's a horrible in game coach. Your guy is far better. Enjoy 5th place." He won the Big Ten. Just give him his due and move on. A college coach is the Coach, GM and Chairman of his team. For this season, up until now, Crean has been better than all the other Big Ten coaches if you base it on results.

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Mar 11, 2013 -> 01:39 PM) Stubhub has $5 tickets for Thursday's sessions. For the rest of the weekend, it's at least $60-$75 to get in the door. doesn't Stubhub charge a minimum $5 fee per ticket, plus delivery or pick up charge?

QUOTE (ZoomSlowik @ Mar 11, 2013 -> 02:06 PM) A lot of those are terrible examples. Oladipo okay, the rest haven't exactly made the leap. Zeller averaged about 16-7 on 62% shooting as a freshman. This year he's averaging 17-8 on 57% shooting. WOW, HUGE difference! One of the main strikes against his draft stock is that scouts don't think he improved his game much. Watford's numbers have been fairly consistent since his freshman year. Sr- 12-6, 43/82/48 shooting Jr- 13-6, 42/81/44 shooting So- 16-5, 42/84/38 shooting Fr- 12-6, 38/80/32 shooting Basically his 3-point shooting got better. Improved, but not exactly off the charts. You can do the same thing with Hulls. He got more minutes and his shooting percentage went up from his freshman to sophomore years, but other than that his numbers have been virtually identical. Sheehey, it's really hard to say how much he's improved the last few years given he's still a role player. He's solid, but doesn't strike me as a potential All-Conference guy with more PT. Ferrell, way too early to say he's made massive improvements. He's still putting up single-digit point games a lot and isn't exactly putting up 7 assists a game. I suspect he'll be very good next year, but that'll have a lot to do with an increased role. I wouldn't put those types of developments anywhere close to what Bo Ryan does on a regular basis at Wisconsin. You can't say I'm biased either, as a Northwestern fan I only hate God. Like was mentioned earlier, sometimes numbers alone won't tell you how much a player has improved or "developed". When you start playing with better players, many times individual numbers will flatten out. It seems people don't want to grade Crean on wins and losses.