Jenksismyhero

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Nov 16, 2011 -> 08:30 AM) No, I think we all agree that he is not a good in-game coach, not that he's a terrible in-game coach. Where we disagree is your insistence on discounting every single positive quality about Lovie in order to make your argument. Tell me what Lovie is even decent at in games. t.o. usage - terrible challenges - terrible clock management - atrocious adjustments - terrible game planning - average

QUOTE (MexSoxFan#1 @ Nov 15, 2011 -> 09:08 PM) To even try to argue that the Lovie Smith teams are anywhere as deep talent wise as the Ditka teams is just...asinine. No one is doing this and i've repeatedly argued that Ditka SHOULD have won more with what he had and ISN'T some great coach like people think. BTW SS, in the last 2.5 seasons including this one, Gould has increased his range, hitting longs of 52, 54 and 51. 10 of his 12 career 50+ FG's happened during this time. That's not Janikowski range, but it's not exactly amateur hour either.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Nov 15, 2011 -> 08:58 PM) Other coaches implement schemes and fail. Other coaches preach tackling and generating turnovers but don't have the same sustained success that Lovie as had. In-game decisions aren't the only or even necessarily the biggest responsibility a coach has. Your arguments here have relied on hand-waving away every one of his positives. Right, and Lovie does that pretty frequently on the defensive end of things. There's also roster and personality management. Has he gone through an abnormal number of coaches? What's funny is that we all agree he's a terrible in-game coach. But because he has a good defense and because he brought that scheme here, he must be great! Guess who was the Bears defensive coordinators during the good runs (Ron Rivera - 2005, 11-5, 2006, 13-3; Marinelli 2010, 11-5) . Guess who was the D-coordinator when the Bears were bad/average? Lovie (2007, 7-9, 2008, 9-7, 2009, 7-9) He's gone through 3 offensive coordinators (Shea, Turner, Martz) and three d-coordinators (Rivera, himself, Marinelli) in 6.5 seasons. That seems abnormal to me, but maybe not.

QUOTE (Rex Kicka** @ Nov 15, 2011 -> 02:30 PM) In a way, they both balance each other out - so I don't know that I have too much of an issue with that. However, I will say that attending a dinner hosted by the legal firm arguing before the supreme court in arguably the most important case of the upcoming judicial session is really really amateur hour on the part of Scalia and Thomas. How about a Justice "working" in the past for a firm? http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/jus...er_confirmatio/ Come on guys, it's not that big of a deal.

QUOTE (ZoomSlowik @ Nov 15, 2011 -> 05:16 PM) You do realize that there's only one player that did nothing but kick in the Hall of Fame, right? There aren't any guys there solely on the strength of their returning ability either, and putting Peppers and Briggs in is a bit of a stretch as well. Keep in mind that guys like Chris Carter and Charles Hailey aren't even in yet. Hmm, alright fine. Still one of the best kickers in the league the last 3-4 seasons.

QUOTE (HickoryHuskers @ Nov 15, 2011 -> 02:09 PM) I want to add that the Bears' dominance on special teams is much more than just Hester having fallen to them in the draft. Aside from returns, the Bears are near the best in the league every year in FG kicking, punting, and KO and punt coverage. The franchise has made it a point to be excellent on special teams, and in a salary cap league, that's a very good strategy, since, apart from Hester and Gould, the people that do such excellent work don't cost a whole lot. It also blends well with a defensive scheme that forces you to move down the field in small chunks, since as long as the offense isn't turning the ball over, the special teams are making you go a long way to score. Hey you're right, add another HOF candidate in Gould. One of the most accurate kickers of all time. I'm sure Lovie really coached him up to be the kicker he is today though right?

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Nov 15, 2011 -> 02:19 PM) A few years ago I was on the "Lovie sucks!" bandwagon but have completely changed my mind on that. He's good, not great. He is awful as clock/TO management (though not getting the plays in is a different matter this year) and his challenges are generally pretty terrible. He sometimes gets out-coached in the 2nd half of games, failing to make the necessary adjustments at halftime. But, more often than not, he's been successful in developing and implementing his defensive schemes. He's gotten fantastic support around him (minus Martz) and gotten the most out of the cast of players he has. This just proves my point. He's terrible at making COACHING decisions, but because he implements a scheme (like other coaches don't) and because he preaches tackling and generating turnovers (as if other coaches don't) he's good. GMAB guys. PLAYERS make the plays. Coaches make the right game management calls. You cannot give Lovie credit for coaching hires because he goes through them like crazy. For every guy like Marinelli we get stuck with Ron Turner. It's a joke. It's people covering for an incredibly average coach.

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ Nov 15, 2011 -> 04:43 PM) McQueary claims to have both stopped the sexual assault he witnessed AND alerted the authorities. So many more wrinkles to this story... Paterno should have contacted the FBI!! Raise the pitchforks! Start the fire! Rabble, rabble, rabble!

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Nov 15, 2011 -> 12:47 PM) He got a team full of Hall of Famers. A lot of people win Super Bowls like that. Smith has accomplished a lot more in a relative sense., with a significant amount less talent than Ditka had. For what it's worth, Ditka "only" had 3 HoF's on his roster - Hampton, Payton and Singletary. I think Lovie's got 2 with good shots (Urlacher and Hester) and maybe three (Briggs, though probably a stretch).

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Nov 15, 2011 -> 12:39 PM) No one here has said that either. The position is Lovie Smith is a good coach, not a Hall of Famer. No one has said Ditka should be a HOF Coach here either. At the end of the day, it is impossible to argue that the Ditka teams had less talent than the Smith teams. Who's making that claim? My only point was that Ditka took a bad franchise and in a few seasons created (with the help of others, i'm not saying Ditka is some God of coaching or anything) one of the best teams ever and won a SB.

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Nov 15, 2011 -> 12:37 PM) And he only managed to make one Super Bowl appearance with one of the greatest teams ever. There was no excuse for not winning another NFC championship at the least. Agree completely.

QUOTE (GoSox05 @ Nov 15, 2011 -> 12:35 PM) Yes when Charles Tillman forces a fumble it is total luck. It has nothing to do what Lovie Smith preaches and teaches in every practice. So for every Tillman fumble he's got what, like 5-6 missed tackles. Is that also part of coaching? And do you really think that coaches for other teams just ignore the importance of turnovers?

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Nov 15, 2011 -> 12:34 PM) Wait, so Ditka has a team full of Hall of Famers, and he had a crappy team. Lovie has maybe two(if you count Hester), and he is lucky? Excuse me while I LMFAO. I'm not arguing Ditka was a hall of fame coach so my position isn't really inconsistent.

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Nov 15, 2011 -> 12:30 PM) So Lovie gets no credit whatsoever for producing a top 5 defense? The guy emphasizes special teams more than nearly any other coach in the league, but gets no credit for when they succeed? What's your opinion of the Ray Lewis led Ravens of the past 10-15 seasons? They only win because of their defense, do you consider them a fluke? All those defensive touchdowns Ed Reed scored, just a fluke? I'm not saying he's a bad coach. I'm saying if you give this franchise another average coach they wouldn't be any worse off. They'd get the same timely turnovers (and scores) and the same timely special teams plays (re: hall of famer Hester) However, I do think having a GOOD coach would have helped this team win even more the last 6-7 years. Pretty sure the Ravens have stayed pretty consistent despite the coach in charge. That's my point here. Billick wasn't some great coach, and neither is Harbough. That franchise wins because they have hall of famers up and down their defense.

QUOTE (GoSox05 @ Nov 15, 2011 -> 12:29 PM) Defensive TO's are not flukes. You're right, only good coaches tell their teams to create TO's and score defensive TD's. Come on...

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Nov 15, 2011 -> 12:11 PM) Bears fans would still call it a fluke. Ditka took a crappy team and molded into one of the greatest teams ever (if not the best). He's always going to be loved for that, though I do think the praise is a bit much. He pretty much flamed out the last few years. Speaking of, the NFL Network's special on Ditka was great, if anyone hasn't seen it.

This Lovie "love" is freaking hilarious. The guy is incredibly average at best. His in-game decisions are right up there with Andy Reid. Remove Devin Hester and a top 5 defense for the majority of his tenure and this team misses the playoffs every freaking year. Lovie is the luckiest coach in the league, no one else is even close. Look at some of the impressive wins this year against Atl and now Det. Defensive TO's into points and special teams. Fluke, fluke, fluke. That's the story of the Bears' success during his tenure. That's true for the SB run (mostly fluke) and last years NFC Champ run (all fluke). Re: Luck. This is turning into the Bush v. Williams debate, where 6 months of talking about it has made Bush (Luck) into a 100% guarantee. How'd Bush's career turn out? I'm sure Luck will be a good NFL QB, potentially great as all signs point to him being ahead of the curve at his age. But this crap about trading away a Hall of Famer is hilarious. There's no other option for the Colts. You draft him and you keep him. PERIOD. You cannot take the chance of Luck being a bust (happened before) and Manning still having some years left. Take the best of both worlds - hall of fame qb for another 3-4 seasons with his replacement waiting in the wings. Two of the best QB's right now - Brady and Rogers - both said this was a huge part of why they're as good as they are right now.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Nov 15, 2011 -> 09:11 AM) Seriously? They're not even trying. I assume you have a similar issue with liberal justices attending ACLU luncheons/events? As to the argument time, that's a ton for each side. My experience is only here in the Illinois appellate court, where you're giving a maximum of 15 minutes, and they could conceivably cut you off before that. Reports are coming out too that Justice Kagan had some...choice words...concerning the passage of the bill. Wonder if there will be a fight for her to recuse herself. Should be an interesting case.

QUOTE (bigruss22 @ Nov 15, 2011 -> 10:07 AM) My guess is that the zombies in the barn are the family members they lost. Simple writing from simple writers. That was my guess too - friends/family they're trying to keep around until a cure is found. I still want to know how the survivors aren't hearing/smelling those zombies since they're sleeping in tents 20 feet away.

God, if they're doing that on purpose it would be one of the dumbest story lines in TV history.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Nov 15, 2011 -> 08:49 AM) I'm glad to see someone else hates that show as much as I do. 30 Rock blows.

Finally caught up on some shows last night - Walking Dead - another boring episode, but at least it focused on the only interesting character the show has left. At this point this show has become a huge failure IMO. Whoever said the first 6 episodes from season one were all fantastic is crazy. The writing in the wall has been there for a while, even in the first season - absolutely amazing zombie sequences, followed by long and brutally boring character sequences. I don't care about any of these characters, except maybe Glen and Daryl. That's a problem if you're going to force me to watch 6 hours of conversation about stupid issues (love triangles, problem pregnancy, suicide issues, racism/redneckism, etc) with about 20 minutes of action sequences. DO SOMETHING. For the love of God. This show is an episode, maybe two, away from me being done with it. If you haven't already, I recommend reading http://videogum.com/413492/the-walking-dea...loft/tv/recaps/ Hilarious recaps showing how dumb the show is getting. Homeland - agreed it's the best new show by far, and becoming one of the best on TV period. I was getting to the point where I thought Carrie's relationship with Brody was becoming completely unbelievable - putting the Carrie character question aside, I was beginning to think that the show would have to create some ridiculous scenario for Carrie to not be outed for the gigantic intelligence mistake. If they're eventually going to arrest Brody as a terrorist, wouldn't he out her at some point? Luckily the writers were ahead of me and wrote that awesome scene where it all comes out. Problem solved.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Nov 14, 2011 -> 02:17 PM) If this step happens, the answer will be "That is an issue for either the courts to decide or for the players and owners to collectively bargain in the future." It's basically totally up in the air. If both sides could agree to it, they could have everyone start off as a free agent & just let the league sort itself out anew. Not extremely likely, but there is no restriction left on anything if preexisting contracts are voided, unless the courts step in. You have to think that there are owners who are drooling over the idea of getting out from under some of these contracts, and they will take full advantage of it. Are you sure? This doesn't make any sense to me. The NBA is still an entity with it's own rules and contracts. I'm guessing that when a player is drafted/signed there are two contracts/agreements signed - one between the player and the franchise, the other between the franchise and the NBA.

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ Nov 14, 2011 -> 02:15 PM) So here's a question. If all contracts are voided, what does that mean if/when the league comes back? Will teams still hold restrictions on players who were under contract previously? I'd imagine so. No different than drafting a guy without signing him. You still hold the rights, but no contract exists.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Nov 14, 2011 -> 11:15 AM) It is entirely logical for you to be sure that someone accusing Cain of sexual harassment muxt be making it up... even though you have zero way of knowing whether or not its true? Seriously? That is the definition of an illogical, emotion/partisan driven judgment with no support in fact. Now, if you are saying you are sketpical of the claim, or that her background is fair game as part of the discussion, or that you suspect some or all may be lying... that I can understand. Saying you know for sure? Absurdity. This has nothing to do with my political beliefs. I think Cain is a moron and would never vote for him. I have no dog in this fight. And have I ever said that I was 100 certain? I'm pretty sure i've said it's my belief that she's making a bulls*** claim here and she's doing it for an ulterior motive. I don't see how given the context of this whole thing that's so unreasonable.