iamshack

These NBA PA announcers have to be among the most annoying personalities on the face of the earth.

QUOTE (SOXOBAMA @ Jan 16, 2012 -> 11:43 AM) I'll take 3200 passing yds, 17 TD's and 5 int from Alex. The Saints made those turnovers because of our great defense and special teams. We play all 3 parts of the football game very well. The Saints haven't a face team that hits harder than us all year. No offense, but 3200/17-5 is nothing this year...he's vastly improved this year, but he's still a qb you're just going to ask to manage the game unless the situation demands otherwise (such as when trailing with less than 2 minutes remaining).

QUOTE (The Gooch @ Jan 16, 2012 -> 11:31 AM) Their offense looks as good as ever, but their defense is at the bottom of the league. The big difference for me this year is that there are a lot more high powered offenses than usual. I think a lot more teams had the capability to keep up with NE than in the past, but most of them have been eliminated already. Yes they have...and New England's offense is a little different in my opinion...Gronkowsi and Hernandez are just insanely talented players at a position where defenses are not usually going to be able to matchup, no matter what scheme you employ against them. I'll be very interested to see how Baltimore tries to slow them down.

QUOTE (The Gooch @ Jan 16, 2012 -> 09:58 AM) I know that 49ers vs Baltimore would be the best story (Harbaugh vs Harbaugh), but what two teams do you all thing would make for the most interesting Superbowl to watch? My favorite team left is the 49ers and I want them to go, but I think NE vs Giants would be the most interesting. I think the Giants have the best chance of keeping up with NE and I like the fact that it would be a Super Bowl rematch from when NY spoiled NE's perfect season. Its funny the way the NFL works, I like New England's chances and this is not one of the better teams they have put out there in the past 7 or 8 years. I'm not sure about that...their defense is definitely a vulnerability but this offense of theirs rivals almost any they have had other than the 2007 one...

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Jan 14, 2012 -> 07:40 PM) Vernon Davis Jimmy Graham Rob Gronkowski Aaron Hernandez The stars of today's games, yet Mike Martz has no use for a TE in his offense. Genius. Now to be fair...Martz was the guy who made the incredible innovations 15 years ago. Now there have been new innovations. He's failed to adapt and adjust, which isn't all that uncommon. However, this is certainly a major fly in the ointment for him... I'll be interested to see if he realizes that he needs to incorporate some of the newer trends into his offense at his next stop (probably in the NCAA, if I had to guess). I don't have a problem with Mike Martz, however. The Bears offense this year was as good as it has been since the '95 season with Erik Kramer under Turner.

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Jan 14, 2012 -> 10:50 PM) Harbaugh vs. Harbaugh? The ESPN coverage of that might be worse than the Tebow-thon. WHo's got it better than us?? Nobody!!!

Through Phase 1...on to Phase 2 Monday! Very happy with the results thus far, and highly recommended...

QUOTE (DirtySox @ Jan 13, 2012 -> 07:38 PM) JonHeymanCBS Jon Heyman montero is traded for pineda 33 seconds ago Favorite Retweet Reply Wow. Your other thoughts?

The DirecTV thing is interesting. You guys just got this update today? My update seemed to occur like a month ago?

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ Jan 13, 2012 -> 10:19 AM) Have you read the books? I find it oddly surprising that you'd seem it strange that people would cheer on Lizbeth Salander. She's a pretty badass character and only gets cooler throughout the series. As for the gratuitous nudity... again, what did you expect? I mean, Fincher wanted to tell the story accurately, and a ton of the "Girl" franchise revolves around lust, sex, and yes rape. Expecting anything else surprises me. I want to see it again in the theater, and will. Hell, the intro with the remix of the "Immigrant Song" is worth the $10 alone. I didn't find it odd that people were cheering her on...I was responding to Caufield finding her character to be frightening...she is definitely a bit crazy, but not so much that normal people have a hard time identifying with her plight. As for the nudity, Fincher really didn't show any more than the Swedish version showed. I guess I was more surprised it was in that version than this one...although I guess I do find it surprising that Mara was cool with it.

I thought it was fairly good, although I agree it would seemingly get old fast. I have enough faith in Cheadle though that he wouldn't agree to do some piece of s*** show. I have reasonably high hopes.

When I was at SIU, my roommate's dad was a distributor, so I went on a special version of the tour. Was quite interesting...but still not a huge fan of AB. That said, St Louis is ok...it has nothing on KC though...

QUOTE (WHarris1 @ Jan 13, 2012 -> 11:38 AM) http://nba-point-forward.si.com/2012/01/13...s-all-to-death/ This doesn't seem to account for the possibility of offensive rebounds, either...

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jan 13, 2012 -> 08:57 AM) The second season hasn't been as good as the first for sure, but this episode was decent. I just wish they had better "investigators," or whatever you want to call them. Buddy with the notepad, and the engineer lady with her awful haircut, and the obvious product placement with "the Lincoln." I watch almost everything on the History Channel, but that show is pretty lame.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Jan 9, 2012 -> 12:30 PM) Read they're going to do a sequel potentially without Kristen Wiig. http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/brid...niversal-277792 Big mistake. Like doing the Bourne without Matt Damon. We'll see how well that one works out for them. Yeah, Kristen Wiig is my favorite female from SNL since Gilda Radner....she's brilliant.

QUOTE (pittshoganerkoff @ Jan 13, 2012 -> 07:01 AM) Good point. I held off from buying a Kindle for a long time. I didn't think I'd like it. I like the feeling of a real book in my hands. But once I decided to buy one I wondered why it took me so long to do it. Convenient and immediate. Plus, I've found quite a few authors with books for less than $3 or even free. Now even libraries are starting to lend e-books. It's funny...one of the reasons I enjoyed my iPad was because in my condo I was running out of storage space for all my books...well now I bought a house and I made the sellers leave these huge bookcases for me...and I have nowhere near enough to fill them...

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jan 12, 2012 -> 12:49 PM) mikecwright Michael C. Wright According to an NFL source, Greg Olson, the offensive coordinator for the Buccaneers is interviewing in Chicago TODAY. I'm assuming as the "passing coordinator"? Didn't Olson work for us before?

Pretty ironic how far off many of us were in our assumptions of Danksy's willingness to sign long term here. Not only did he sign a fairly reasonable deal, but he agreed to this goofy arrangement in the first year.

QUOTE (WHarris1 @ Jan 12, 2012 -> 10:37 AM) I'm feeling a little bit better about the chances of the Bears actually going outside of the organization than I was a few days ago. Good to finally see a list of guys coming in for interviews. Everything I have read on Marc Ross from New York sounds encouraging, would be happy with him as the guy. Below are the Giants drafts with Ross as Director of College Scouting. Strong 1st rounders. 2011: Prince Amukamara, Marvin Austin, Jerrel Jernigan, James Brewer, Greg Jones, Tyler Sash, Jacquian Williams, Da'Rel Scott 2010: Jason Pierre-Paul, Linval Joseph, Chad Jones, Phillip Dillard, Mitch Petrus, Adrian Tracy, Matt Dodge 2009: Hakeem Nicks, Clint Sintim, William Beatty, Travis Beckum, Andre Brown, Rhett Bomar, DeAndre Wright, Stoney Woodson 2008: Kenny Phillips, Terrell Thomas, Mario Manningham, Bryan Kehl, Jonathan Goff, Andre Woodson, Robert Henderson Jimmy Raye was the Chargers director of college scouting from 2000-2007 in that time some highlighted draft picks 2001: 1: LT, 2: Brees, 2002: 1: Jammer, 3: Ben Leber 2004: Eli-Rivers, 2: Igor Olshanky, 3: Nick Hardwick, Nate Kaeding, 4: Shaun Phillips, 5: Michael Turner, 2005: 1: Shawn Merriman, Luis Castillo, 2: Vincent Jackson, 4: Darren Sproles 2006: 1: Antonio Cromartie, 2: Marcus McNeil Phil Emery only has one draft under his belt as Chiefs director of college scouting but it was pretty damn good. 1-Eric Berry, 2-Dexter McCluster & Javier Arenas, 3-Jon Asamoah & Tony Moeaki Thanks for this post!

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ Jan 12, 2012 -> 10:23 AM) Well, let's be honest. The Bears are bumbling that and you can only b**** and moan about nothing happening before you stop talking about nothing happening. There has been virtually no discussion of the rumored candidates. You and others can say all you want that they are "bumbling that," but IMO, there has not been anyone hired since the season ended that I have been upset we didn't get. At first I was excited about McKenzie, but after seeing the Presser, I can understand why he just took a job with the Raiders (no offense, Sqwert). There has been no case presented for why the Bears will "bumble" this hire other than an underserved implication that they have done so in the past, and therefore, will do so again. For all we know, they are exercising due dilligence and acting with prudence.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Jan 12, 2012 -> 10:19 AM) The thing about it that I hate is that ESPN is putting him on the dial. Deadspin took a 1 hour segment of Sportscenter last month and broke it down into each time they said his name, they said Tebow 88 times in one hour. That isnt the kid generating interest, that is them forcing him down our throat. It is true, he has surprised a lot of us by being a part of the Denver turnaround, but like we all have been saying the Denver D is a much bigger part than Tebow. I just want it to be reduced by 150 percent so I can see that there are other quarterbacks in the league doing much more awesome things. Like Brees and Rodgers I have no interest in debating how much is too much or how much is enough, or "the Tebow Phenomenon." All I know is I come into this thread looking for discussion about the Bears GM search and it's basically one or two posts from you and me and Murcie and Lost, and the rest is a bunch Tebow nonsense. I just think this thread is an example of how much people really do want to discuss him, even in the face of more relevant and drastically more important events occurring simulataneously.

How can any of you blame ESPN, honestly? We've got the Bears in the midst of hiring a new GM, which is a huge decision, and look where the discussion in this thread has been this week. Tebow is a polarizing figure and he "moves the dial," including in this thread. What do you expect ESPN to do?

White Sox/Bears/Bulls. For many years, my best friend and I have lamented the fact that we have no favorite college football team. I grew up during the Notre Dame/Lou Holtz glory years, but never learned to love them like our Chicago teams. This year though, I have decided to undertake an experiment: I am going to make every attempt to make the Oregon Ducks my favorite college football team. While I have admired them for several years now, I am going to make a point to keep up with Ducks' news, watch every game, and even purchase some apparel. I want to see just how much I can make myself care about college football by doing so.

QUOTE (MurcieOne @ Jan 12, 2012 -> 12:47 AM) Link Care to provide any insight into Raye? I'm unfamiliar with him. Oh, I don't know much more about him than you, I'm sure. Jimmy Raye III has been with the Chargers for 16 years. He spent 4 years as a scout, and 8 years as Director of College Scouting. He's been Director of Player of Personnel since 2007. He is not to be confused with Jimmy Raye II, his father, and the 49ers coordinator who was fired by Mike Singletary last year. What I do know is that the Chargers, for the last 4-5 years, have been amongst the most talented teams in the League from a personnel perspective. Raye seems to understand how to identify both defense and offense, as well as good special teams players. I'd be floored if we hired him.

QUOTE (bigruss22 @ Jan 11, 2012 -> 03:44 PM) Yea I had half a day of nothing at work and felt like I was posting left and right. The thing is, no side is fully right, you can't build from FA primarily (Yankees are the prime example) mostly because the pitching level and depth a team needs just doesn't reach the open market enough. The development only side doesn't work because you do have to wait a few years for the prospects to reach the majors, but also really excel in the majors, and we have seen how those 2 can never truly happen in many cases. The best organizations identify this and they strategically split their resources to cover the pros of each side while minimizing the cons. These organizations realize the Law of Diminishing Utility applies to baseball very well. They know that if they invest $3mm in the draft, they can expect to get X quality of players. Im sure teams look at it this way: Where Income or Worth is X quality of players. At some point, the amount of money you invest just isn't worth the return you get, but investing a few million more than presently could mean huge returns. Finding that sweet spot of what the team can afford (or in other words not taking so much from the MLB payroll it kills the ability to resign or sign players) and what delivers a large investment return is vital. In other words, subtracting a salary like Teahen and investing $4-5mm more into the draft could be HUGE for the Sox. I am curious if these exist too, and if they are open to the public. In terms of sustaining attendance with a development model, I think that would be extremely difficult if you constantly lose your top players to FA or forced trades (like less than a year left under team control). I think it's possibly but it would be more of an exception to the rule, especially with the draft cap being implemented so teams cant just overspend to get top 5 round talent through the first 20 rounds. Thanks for the reply, Russ. I'm convinced the development model is more complex than most would admit. Consider Gordon Beckham and Brent Morel, for instance. While we often hear about the benefits of cost-controlled young players, we rarely hear about the opportunity costs involved when they fail to live up to their potential. Secondly, I will watch with much interest some of these franchises that have implemented a heavy develop-from-within model, as I think it will be intriguing to see how their fanbase weathers losing homegrown players to FA or via trade, as this is sort of an unintended consequence of that model.