witesoxfan

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jan 8, 2014 -> 01:45 PM) Ken Griffey Jr. Thome should too This feels so awesome

Honestly, I'm really glad he got in this year, because it could have gotten tough in the next couple years.

QUOTE (Quinarvy @ Jan 8, 2014 -> 01:36 PM) It just feels like it's never mentioned. I stand by the thought that without his contributions in June, the Sox don't win the division. He hit a ton of big home runs.

QUOTE (Milkman delivers @ Jan 8, 2014 -> 01:29 PM) Wow, you can put that directly on Gurnick. He fell 2 votes short.

QUOTE (Jake @ Jan 8, 2014 -> 01:20 PM) Best photo ever. Yes, I cried.

QUOTE (scs787 @ Jan 8, 2014 -> 12:08 PM) This is my point with my original post on Bennett over Byrd. They have to fix the DL first before they look into spending money on a top flight Safety. At this point I think it's a lock that Peppers gets cut so they're going to need at least 1 starting DE, and depending on what they do with Melton they're going to need a starting DT as well. If I'm the Bears I'm getting those guys first before I think about spending big money on Byrd or Ward.....I do indeed think that is, as you put it, smart. Losing Peppers will hurt, but he's a guy that can potentially be released and brought back. Plus their line looked a lot better late in the year too, though it could obviously be better. Given the payday Bennett is probably looking at, I think aiming lower is the smart choice.

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ Jan 8, 2014 -> 11:16 AM) Yeah! http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/CH...199604110.shtml Certainly not my first White Sox memory, but it is one of the most vivid from a game almost 20 years ago

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Jan 8, 2014 -> 11:30 AM) He shouldn't have that choice. His should have his voting rights revoked. I agree 100%

QUOTE (HickoryHuskers @ Jan 8, 2014 -> 11:04 AM) Regardless of whether or not you run a Cover 2, being able to get pressure on the QB just rushing 4 is very important, given the level of sophistication of passing offenses. You need to be able to drop 7 in coverage most of the time. Robert Mathis singlehandedly covers up an absolutely terrible defense in Indy because he gets to the QB so much. To some extent, yes, but I think you can drop 6 and generally be OK. I do think massive overload blitzes are pretty much a thing of the past.

QUOTE (SoxFan562004 @ Jan 8, 2014 -> 10:35 AM) Won't argue with you about Maddux and Pedro, but I'd definitely add Randy Johnson to that. When he was at his peak he was as nasty as I've ever seen. If Jeter is the first 100% I think I would literally vomit. Definitely won't disagree with you on that, I just think Pedro and Maddux were above him even.

s*** he's still a 62 even with the -8.

QUOTE (Boogua @ Jan 8, 2014 -> 10:41 AM) They had a ridiculous pass rush and were second in the NFL in sacks. The LBs weren't very good against the run and Jim Leonhard was absolutely awful with 11 missed tackles in 634 snaps. The DL graded out well against the run though. Also, I don't know how to properly respond to all the different quotes like you did, but I was just using the football outsiders thing as an example. Safety deficiencies can easily be covered up by a DL. Using game threads of our crazy fan base seems less credible to me than an objective outsider. We all knew that the Wright and Conte were bad, but they weren't nearly as bad when we had a good DL. Wright actually had a +5 score and Conte was only -2 last year. Objectively they weren't that bad last year. I also think Byrd is a good player regardless of scheme or players, but I just don't know how much he'd help us without a good DL. There's only so much he can do. You say a great safety will make a bad defense mediocre, but when he had those bad guys up front in 2011 the Bills ranked 26th in yardage and 30th in PPG as a defense. Again, I'm not trying to diminish Byrd and I think he's a heck of a player. Right, and I didn't want to draw it out like that, but there were a lot of points I disagreed with, so..sorry about that. Anyways, no, given the cost (a huge contract and 2 first round picks, because I see no way the Bills don't, at minimum, franchise Byrd again), I don't think Byrd is a good fit for the Bears. Drafting either HaHa or someone in the 2nd/3rd is a far better option.

QUOTE (bmags @ Jan 8, 2014 -> 10:23 AM) I think Byrd is great, but I really would like Bears to try and hit on safety in draft to not overpay that position. I could be wrong, but my gut reaction is a lot of the big time FA safety signings have been busts. Doesn't mean all should be avoided, but it just seems like a position you should be able to address as long as you take it seriously in draft and not keep drafting 5th rounders and starting them. I don't know that I'd say that, but I completely understand. Then again, I think, especially with a Cover 2, you can find effective safeties for much cheaper too. Frankly, Cover 2 safeties - if they run a Cover 2 again - primarily just have to play deep zones and tackle. You can find a lot of guys who can do that.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Jan 8, 2014 -> 10:03 AM) Here's a guy who needs to be deleted from all future votes. He only voted for Jack Morris. Eliminating everyone from the steroid era because he doesn't know who did and who didn't. How does he know no one from the non steroid eras didn't use a PED? http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/10259259...-hall-selection Already fighting the good fight, bud. QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Jan 8, 2014 -> 08:14 AM) I typically do not believe in harrassing or making personal attacks against people - in person or online - but I think I can make an exception on this one. Gurnick is an absolute f***ing douche tool. QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Jan 8, 2014 -> 08:36 AM) Honestly, I don't care about Frank in this instance. I'm about 99.9% sure he's getting in. I care about Maddux. He and Pedro Martinez are absolutely the two greatest pitchers I ever saw, and I didn't even see much of Maddux in his prime. If you are only going to vote for one guy and cite "HE WAS AN ACE" as your reasoning, then GTFO and quit voting. This is like a person voting in the November election and only voting for Referendum 8, which allows the citizens to decide whether or not to bulldoze a 400 sq ft section to build a jungle gym for the community, but then again, it's not, because that person has the right to vote no matter what and their votes on the other issues don't matter at all, so, in fact, that person is better than Jerry Gurnick. Jerry Gurnick is a bitter POS who needs to have his right to vote removed by the BBWAA. I guess I'm not done. If he does not, and he submits a blank ballot next year (he would technically have to), then I fully endorse sending him a brown lunch bag filled with s***, because that's exactly what he would be submitting for his Hall vote next year.

QUOTE (Boogua @ Jan 8, 2014 -> 09:56 AM) E: I just looked at PFF scores for the Bills front 7. Sweet Jesus. Not sure if that's good or bad, but they were gashed this year on the ground. The Bears had a historically bad run defense, but the Bills were an open gate too. They also rushed the passer and forced a lot of turnovers too. Still, it was not pretty.

QUOTE (Boogua @ Jan 8, 2014 -> 09:56 AM) Then why ask the question? You can't just say who would you rather have on your team without taking money into consideration. The answer should still probably be Bennett, whether you think it's smart or not. Why am I supposed to assume money means anything? Read the original quote. QUOTE (scs787 @ Jan 7, 2014 -> 06:42 PM) My argument against that, and it might be a silly one, but in 2012 the Bears had the same 2 safeties they did this year and they finished with a top 5 D. I'm not saying they don't need an upgrade, they do, but I don't think getting "superstars" there will fix the D more than adding "superstars" to the DL will. If Michael Bennett and Jarius Byrd both hit the market I'd want Bennett. If Melton isn't resigned and the Bears are looking at HaHa or Nix/Tuit/Hageman I'd take one of the lineman....Safeties are usually the "last line of defense", I think the Bears need to fix the "first line of defense" first. Improved DL helps every level of the defense. Safety? Not so much. There is absolutely no mention of money. Of course if money is considered, it makes a huge difference. I don't disagree with this, but, again, you are talking about the importance and roles of safeties within a defense. Rarely will the safety be the most important position, but a great safety (duo) will help you shut down the passing game in the middle while helping to stop the run and occasionally rush the passer. A great safety will typically make a bad defense mediocre, a mediocre defense good, a good defense great, etc, etc, etc. If they Bears had a half decent safety duo this year, the defense certainly would not have been as bad as it was, would you not agree? You don't read this board during Bears games very often, do you? Nobody was happy with Conte nor Wright pretty much all year. Cool story. That turned out to be wrong. You don't have to get rid of them, but you have to upgrade. I'm sure he does. He was also producing when he had Aaron Schobel and Chris Kelsay and Marcus Stroud and Dwan Edwards and name a dude. He's been a stud his whole career in 3 very different schemes. He's a fantastic safety and would be a great player in any defense.

I want to burn this thread with fire.

Not sure who his agent is, but I'm guessing it's someone who is going to be working with a lot of Japanese clients in the future. Right now, the Sox are selling to him as much as they are Tanaka.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Jan 8, 2014 -> 09:42 AM) lol, how does that work? They go to jail and tell him "we are serving you a search warrant for your house we are already searching as a crime scene"? http://deadspin.com/warrant-aaron-hernande...2-dr-1497027015 Just have to advise him that you are further searching his property.

QUOTE (Boogua @ Jan 8, 2014 -> 09:30 AM) I think it really depends on the price. DL are much more valuable than safeties on the field though. I thought that was obvious. It also depends on how you run the defense too.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Jan 8, 2014 -> 09:33 AM) If Biggio and Morris (simply because it's his last year) make it ahead of Thomas, it's a complete joke. Morris isn't going to get in. I don't think Biggio finishes ahead of Thomas either.

QUOTE (GoSox05 @ Jan 8, 2014 -> 09:19 AM) Best safety in the game! Damn. I honestly have no doubt about it. I honestly think the only thing you'd want more out of him is for him to hit harder and tackle better. He still does that pretty well. I think the number I saw was that, in 11 games, he was still PFF's #4 safety this year (which is a counting stat), and that was with him adjusting and learning a new defense on the fly. The Bills have cap room (and will have $3 mill more when they release Erik Pears), so they should absolutely throw a ton of money at him.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jan 8, 2014 -> 08:08 AM) Didn't Miller sign a very large, larger than the MLE contract the same year the big 3 assembled themselves? Yes, like 5/$25. He absolutely did not live up to his value. Also, who says Bynum signs with anyone? His interest level, the money he's made, and his body seem to indicate that the dude is done, at least for now.

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Jan 8, 2014 -> 08:44 AM) This is true. It's not gonna be easy competing with Pitino for the top talent. I bet Petrino keeps it up longer.