Harry Chappas

Didn't Max get about the same deal? Why is anyone surprised by this deal? I love the cub hype that he was going to go there yet they did not make an offer, what the hell did everyone think he would sign for?

Cub talking heads have been in full force the last couple of days in the Chicago media Basically said the contracts were looking to be too rich and the second tier guys behind Lester and Arrieta are what they need, not top of the line guys. I still think the debt and infrastructure costs are what is getting them The fact the Cardinals were going that high makes me think they are spending somewhere big this offseason

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Dec 1, 2015 -> 02:28 PM) Disagree strongly here. Chicago and Cook County are corrupt, but people don't seem to see what has and hasn't changed. Preckwinkle and Emmanuel have both done pretty good work getting their financial pictures in a better place. Oh, you say it looks bad? Well yeah, it was awful before, but has gotten better in some key areas. Emmanuel's handling of policing leaves a lot to be desired, and his work with CPS has been needlessly rocky. He's no angel for damn sure. But he was handed an absolute pile of financial poop, and he's done reasonably well with it, as opposed to Daley who drove the city to the cliff. Same with Preckwinkle, who has done a lot to fix the mess left by various Strogers. I'll get yelled at now, because people are upset with the status quo. And I agree that the current picture is ugly. But it is less ugly. I probably wouldn't vote for Rahm again, but it depends on who else runs. Preckwinkle is fine, I voted for her before and would again. They are both hamstrung in so many ways, it will take a long, long time to get the ship back in order. I'd love to see Claypool run for Mayor, by the way. I thought I liked Claypool and then I realized they are all a part of the same machine. The upcoming CPS strike will make or break him.

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Dec 1, 2015 -> 11:54 AM) It's so ingrained though. You're not getting a city council position, judge appointment, garbage collector department head job, etc. unless you know someone in the system and have paid your dues. edit: and who's our next mayor? Most likely Preckwinkle. And whose camp is she in? Rahm's. She's part of the same cog. I thought she would be a nice change but yep the county has not changed one bit under her. The county once again raised taxes. http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/p...1109-story.html The tipping point for living in this city, in this county, in this state continues to grow near.

Rahm fired McCarthy to cover his ass. I thought McCarthy did a pretty good job actually. I know the rank and file liked him which maybe is not a good thing but those are the guys that need to be appeased as they still are responsible for doing the police work. So now Rahm's Chief of Police and Superintendent of Public Schools are both fired

People need to stop thinking that he Walking Dead is anything more than an escape artist show. The mid-season finale was a disappointment because the whole season up until this episode was great. They run the risk of killing off main characters and having the show slide like what happened on the Sons of Anarchy when Opie was killed. You need to be invested in the characters in order for the show to succeed and those characters are Carol Glenn Daryl Michone That is my personal list as Rick and Carl do nothing for me.

QUOTE (Brian @ Dec 1, 2015 -> 10:40 AM) That's what Morgan Park did in basketball. They won state didn't they? Phillips entire team is the high school version of Jackie Robinson Little League. All of those players came from other programs. My problem is more with the Montini, Naz and MC of the world as they beat up on the smaller classes and like to tell everyone how great they are.

QUOTE (Y2JImmy0 @ Dec 1, 2015 -> 10:34 AM) I think the officials being full-time would help as well. Many of these guys do college games on Saturday and the rules really are pretty different. NFL guys do not work college games they only work NFL games. Being a full time NFL official would serve no purpose as there are not enough games on which to learn. Being a good NFL official requires and inane ability to understand the rules and the point of the game and interpret both simultaneously. This ability cannot be taught by doing it 40 hours a week you either know it to learn it from working games.

QUOTE (bmags @ Nov 30, 2015 -> 04:19 PM) Honestly I think the league has just made it impossible to officiate. They could increase training or incentives but until they simplify their rule book stupid stuff is going to happen. The league needs to evaluate how and who they are hiring and making certain they are getting the best possible guys.

QUOTE (Y2JImmy0 @ Dec 1, 2015 -> 09:29 AM) Harry, I do follow other sports. I coach Football in the SW burbs. Huge wrestling fan and I am aware. Montini is actually 3A for the first time this year though which is good. The 1-32 seeding was a failure in 8A but it worked perfectly in 7A. Libertyville and GW probably would have played earlier with the old system. HF jacked up the whole thing by losing week 9. WV getting NC at home and then WV having to go to Marist was the kicker in 8A, that bottom bracket was all kinds of messed up with Huntly getting the high seed with Edwardsville and neither being all that good and gone after round two I'd argue South Elgin, Palatine, Rice, HF, OPRF and Loyola were all better than any team in the bottom bracket except maybe NC and then the top also had Stevenson. I guess as you pointed out sometimes the 1-32 works and some times it does not. The MC thing irks the hell out of me as that group there is pretty smug and love to hang banners and yet most are for winning v competition that is not comparable. They won 6A and 8A once and the *A victory was simnialr to the Marist run this year. Don't get me wrong Lenti is a great coach and awesome playoff performer. I also detest the fact that every single person assocaited with that school drapes themself in MC swag.

QUOTE (Y2JImmy0 @ Dec 1, 2015 -> 08:25 AM) Nah they weren't an All Time great team. 8A was really watered down. HF/Loyola was basically the championship. These f***ing Catholic schools man. Nazareth and Montini have absolutely no business playing in 5A and 6A. It's the Tim Racki way though. He loaded up and won a bunch of 4A titles at Driscoll back in the day too. It's a joke. Not sure if you follow high school sports other than football but the mighty Mount Carmel Caravan elected to be moved down to AA in wrestling in order to avoid the power programs and essentially guarantee themselves a couple of state champs and a team championship. This would be like them moving down to 5A in football. Greg, Brother Rice would have given Loyola a better game than Marist, they would not have beaten them and palatine was probably a better match up. Marist benefited from insanely dumb seeding/home team rules to get their two tougher opponents at home and easier one's on the road. Not certain what he IHSA plan is moving forward but he sate title games except for 7A were a joke. The best 7A game was round two MC and GW.

QUOTE (Jose Abreu @ Dec 1, 2015 -> 08:03 AM) University of Chicago, not UIC. UIC student that was threatening to do this at U of C

The officiating was horrendous. The Bears lost three drives to terrible calls and green bay had a touchdown awarded to them. The best was when collinsworth and Michaels said the officials on scene said the trip was the right call and neither would agree, that was a joke of a call. After the first quarter the Bears really controlled the game.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Nov 18, 2015 -> 10:23 AM) How in the world does this make Rick Hahn look bad? BTW, December 3rd is the day season ticket deposits are due. At least the first installment. Williams comments directly stated Hahn has no off-season plan. Something he should have been pondering since August 20th. Did I misread or misunderstand something? There is no indication that things are fluid and they are analyzing the scene daily. He stated Hahn has no plan.

It is B but I feel Arrieta will win. Maddon had a good season but I think Mahany was better. There is serious cub love right now and I think it carries over to this voting. I personally think Arrieta should win MVP but not the Cy Young Kershaw was the better pitcher Arrieta was the most valuable player to his team

If all of those are truly comments from Kenny Williams both Williams and Hahn should be fired. Hahn for having no clue what to do and Williams for telling this to the media

QUOTE (Tony82087 @ Nov 16, 2015 -> 08:10 PM) I really feel like TWD is entering LOST territory. Good stuff from time to time, but WAY TOO MUCH filler. Just episodes that aren't needed. The whole show is filler, there is no real end game to it. I am not certain what the bigger picture could ever be for the series other than what is going on. It's a show about zombies and people trying to stay alive in a lawless society. I think this is the best season thus far. Each episode is pretty good.

The value of Quintana and Sale will never be higher than it is right now. Proven track records and health will not be greater next year. A lost year of cost control, 200 innings and potential health issues make it the time to do something now. You either take the steps to improve for 2016 or you move one or both of them.

The age shift in baseball has begun. The prime for players is now 25-30 as it was back when wool uniforms were in vogue through the cocaine craze of the late 80's What is now being called rebuilding is simply teams realizing that players are declining sooner and youth needs to be in the MLB by the age of 24. Frazier is declining in value and the Reds know that.

QUOTE (HickoryHuskers @ Nov 16, 2015 -> 10:24 AM) Yes it was. That is my earliest memory of a Bears game. Mine too They were talking on the radio this morning and mentioned that Bushrod is healthy enough to play but was replaced by Leno. Will be interesting to see how they handle Forte....

QUOTE (shipps @ Nov 16, 2015 -> 09:54 AM) Have the Bears ever in their history won on Thanksgiving? Wasn't the David Williams OT kick return on Thanksgiving?

QUOTE (greg775 @ Nov 12, 2015 -> 02:37 AM) Anybody going to Kentucky/Duke, Kansas/Michigan State on Tuesday? I may be coming in for the games if anybody wants to meet me in person for Sox chat in the U. Center. Hey has anybody used Uber for transportation to and from games? I know cabs sometimes don't want to go to the U. Center. In 1970's and 80's you would be correct but nowadays whitie has moved in over there so an uber is not out of the question.

QUOTE (Y2JImmy0 @ Nov 12, 2015 -> 09:33 AM) HF Toughest place to win in Illinois is at Loyola on the flip side Loyola is susceptible on the road. On top of that I think Loyola will wear down HF.

Not to change gears but out of school I worked as a server at a BBQ place. Middle of the road joint average bill per couple on a night out $50. This is early nineties in Bulls heyday. During a Bulls playoff win, a guy and his lady were having great time, drinks, food, Bulls, etc. They get the bill is about $75 he is cool with it, tells the manager how great I was and everything, He is comingg back, yada yada yada, left zero tip.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Nov 12, 2015 -> 01:44 AM) Forgive my love of Bro Rice, but can we beat Palatine and move on? Or will Rice be pummeled? If Rice minimizes their mistakes on offense, does not out coach themselves and takes advantage of their talent, they should win and have a date at home with Loyola in the semis. I am not sure if you are noticing but a couple of upsets and you could see Marist and Rice in 8A finals. Decent chance you see Marist and Loyola.