Texsox

Mercifully I forgot he was ROY.

Thankfully most of us got in before the standards were raised.

It's the city's program to encourage residents to use public transportation. Brilliant. No Texas cities. I wonder if allowing anyone in the state to carry affects that number?

I'm not optimistic either. I'm not certain we really know at this date the areas that will ultimately be the core issues. Two months ago I would have guessed details surrounding free agency were going to drag out. It still seems like the owners are touching the line of not bargaining in good faith. Until they really show a willingness to end this I'm remaining pessimistic about a full spring training.

I think they are closer. Each new agreement will continue to level between players and others. I just don't care if it takes over year or fifty.

The owners could have accepted any of the offers the players made and still made money. It's b.s. they are still dragging their feet trying to win every petty point.

Of the major sports I think football is the sport where coaching, and especially play calling, has the most impact. I'm excited for the first time in a long time for the Bears.

Agreed.

Good point.

What do you think the impact of increasing payrolls and getting their players to free agency quicker will be for those teams?

It's an interesting idea in a time when we don't have much else to discuss. Would having a three or four day break during the regular season be such a bad thing? A 16/14 split could work but the balanced schedule would look different in both leagues. Which I'm ok with, I liked it when each league had a distinct feel.

Housing shouldn't be this complicated. Agree on a stipend and move on.

How do 15 teams play at the same time? One team would not have an opponent. You need an even number of teams in each league.

Exactly. That's says a lot.

Group think can be dangerous.

@The Beast I agree. I'm hoping for a Phil Jackson / Tex Winter type situation.

I'm interested in knowing how many were great at their first stop versus that first stop is a stepping stone.

So the 36 year old GM with no previous GM experience hired the 51 year old finalist with no previous HC experience. A couple names that are being bounced around for OC have no previous OC experience. When did the Bears become a starter franchise? I like seeing an opportunity to bring new, fresh ideas and perhaps reinvent how organizations function. But, it also seems like a risk.

I'm predicting he winds up as a MLB coach someday.

Yes it is about money. The per player/personel share is close to $300,000 most years. That's a nice check for most players and members of the organization. But I can see the point that the players are already earning a lot of money so why pay them more by adding teams into the playoffs.

I'm underwhelmed, but a lot really depends now on who comes in as OC.

Lol. But you are still in favor of expanded playoffs?

And the players on that 85 win team can go to hell instead of playing in a playoff series. Better they tank and win 60. Drop eight games from the regular season, they are meaningless anyways, and add another round of playoffs. I'd much rather watch playoff baseball at the end of September than meaningless regular season crap.

I thought we had playoffs to determine who the better or lesser teams are. It seems if a "mediocre" team wins a playoff series from a "superior" team, one of those team's ratings were wrong.

Great point about being experienced in being interviewed. Hopefully someone in the organization can adjust for that. It is a different skill set than actually being a head coach. Having someone on the hiring side with experience could help.