danman31

QUOTE (zenryan @ Sep 27, 2014 -> 10:07 PM) SEC West might just form their own conference. SEC is pretty overrated this year compared to what they've been in the past. A lot of teams living off of the reputation of the conference. I cant wait until that phony Ole Miss starts playing conference games so they can sink out of the top 25. It's hard to say the SEC is overrated when it's still the best league thanks to the West. I agree Ole Miss is overrated, but that's about it. Every team in the West is good and some of them very good.

The SEC East blooooooows

Northwestern is legitimately not much better than Western Illinois. Yeesh, this team is awful.

We'll have a post advertising it on the blog soon, but if you're subscribed to the FutureSox Podcast on iTunes it's available right now.

QUOTE (SoxFan562004 @ Sep 15, 2014 -> 10:20 AM) The article sums up my complaints except not really mentioned how he would manufacture his fake "start yelling" when something was close. That was my biggest complaint with Gus. Other things he probably would have gotten better at with time, but it's just not that type of sport. You need to feel the build up gradually in anticipation, you can't just yell suddenly like he would.

Plenty of teams are having success with the spread in high school. Why do you think there are so many college QBs coming in so ready at such a young age? You need to have the personnel to run a pass-heavy spread, but plenty of the big schools have that and Illinois isn't even that good when it comes to high school football.

QUOTE (Chilihead90 @ Sep 13, 2014 -> 06:34 PM) I'm sure no one watched the Ball State/ISU game, but let me fill you in on how it ended.... Ball State down by 7, they have the ball at the 50 with about a minute left. They drive down the field, get to about the 10 yard line. The QB Ozzie Mann runs the ball and gets stopped at about the 1 yard line, with about 8 seconds left and no timeouts. All the players rush to the line to get the last play off, and as the ref is running to the line with the ball, he gets bumped in to by a lineman, and drops the ball, which bounds a few yards away, and the clock expires while the ref if corralling the ball.........Game over, no last play of the game, the refs immediately sprint off the field to boos by the crowd. Can't make that s*** up. I had to watch the replay of that on ESPN3 after reading this. While it's crazy, the QB simply can't run the ball there. That's the risk when you stay in bounds.

QUOTE (Boogua @ Sep 13, 2014 -> 04:16 PM) So I got banned on illinoisloyalty for saying this in week 1, but I'll say it here again in week 3. Wes Lunt is terrible. I haven't seen enough of him to comment, but he did get beat out at OK State so it shouldn't be that shocking that he isn't a world beater as a first-year starter.

QUOTE (chw42 @ Sep 12, 2014 -> 02:57 PM) I feel like the way the players dribble feels a lot more refined and realistic. It's not as fast as it was last year, which I like. Yeah, I'm starting to pick up on that subtlety. It seemed easier to turn defenders the wrong way, but I don't think it was a high difficulty level. From what I could see, there was no way to change the difficulty so I'm not sure what I was playing.

QUOTE (chw42 @ Sep 10, 2014 -> 12:16 AM) FIFA 15 demo is out for Xbox. It feels like a different game this year, really liking it so far. I have to say the presentation blew me away. They've always done well in this regard, but, man, what a step forward this year. Gameplay felt pretty much the same though. Felt like there were some more animations at work, but almost identical so far. That's fine, subtle changes are all that's needed.

QUOTE (shysocks @ Sep 4, 2014 -> 11:19 AM) Didn't notice anybody mentioning No Man's Sky. The hype has cooled off considerably since E3 - once people started wondering if anything in the game will actually be fun - but I'm still irrationally excited for it. I love open-world games; Minecraft was my jam for like a year and a half. I'm excited for it, but it's probably pretty far away still so I'm not getting too worked up about it. It looks phenomenal. The art style and the presentation look so good.

QUOTE (chw42 @ Sep 1, 2014 -> 03:09 PM) ManU now have 3 top-tier strikers in Rooney, Van Persie, and Falcao along with a great distributor in Di Maria. They've only scored one goal so far in the Premier League. If they don't start scoring some more with a front line of Rooney, Falcao, Mata, and Di Maria, then Van Gaal will surely be on the hot seat. I won't argue with that overall, but I really don't think Mata is all that good. He certainly isn't on the same level as the company listed there.

Man, South Carolina put one of the worst defensive performances you will see last night. They were beat at pretty much every position. They didn't get much pass pressure and everyone in their secondary got beat seemingly every play. Hill was very good, but made a few mistakes early that didn't cost them because the offense was so dominant. He ran that offense very well though.

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ Aug 27, 2014 -> 01:03 PM) IGN is the worst. "After the letdown of Madden 25 last year, Madden 15 feels like a mostly fresh start for the series. The increased emphasis on defensive play, a great new play-calling system, and the return of long-time favorites makes this year's Madden one of the best in recent memory, even if it could still use work in regards to its stale commentary and longstanding bugs. As a lifelong Madden and football fan, I'm impressed. This year's game is both exciting and reassuring that EA Sports isn't wasting opportunities to improve the series." Their rating for Madden 15? 8.7 Their rating for Madden 25? 8.5 Yet last year was a letdown (true), but this year is supposedly amazing? IGN seems to struggle with reviewing the annual titles, especially EA Sports games from what I've noticed. Games like that can seem great for ~10 hours, but the more you play them the more the little problems can become game breakers. It's very hard to discover those things in a pre-release review.

QUOTE (chw42 @ Aug 17, 2014 -> 02:10 AM) They need RVP back. Maybe they can still make a move for Vidal or another good midfielder. That was the problem last year, too. RVP carried them the year before. He missed half the season under Moyes. When your backline is Phil Jones, Chris Smalling and Tyler Blackett (who?) it's no wonder you're going to struggle though.

QUOTE (Quinarvy @ Aug 16, 2014 -> 10:53 PM) Not saying you can't, I mean the people that said people who pulled for losses aren't real fans. Rooting for losses is unquestionably a s***ty thing to do. I don't care to question your fandom. The Sox still shouldn't have landed Rodon. He probably shouldn't have slipped. Would the losses be worth it then? It's just an ugly argument. I'd rather just play the ignorance card when the team isn't in contention (like now) and then be pleased to see a high draft pick after the fact. Rooting for losses would feel really dirty.

QUOTE (Ozzie Ball @ Aug 9, 2014 -> 01:18 PM) So Barcelona have spent around £30m on Jeremy Mathieu and Thomas Vermaelen. 2 aging, kind of average CB's. Seems an interesting/odd move. Would you rather they spend that much money on an 18-year-old left back? The transfer market is inflated and Barca has tons of money. The money isn't really a factor. I will be interested to see how Barca does this season. They don't appear as deep as they've been.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Aug 7, 2014 -> 04:12 PM) Oh, there's some arguing. Not a lot though. On most guys, all six of us were close, like within 3-4 slots or less of each other most of the time. In case people are curious, the players who had the widest differences between voters (standard regression, if you will), and might be the hardest to evaluate: Adams (4 to 11) Adolfo (11 to 18) Rondon (8 to 19) May (10 to 26) Fry (12 to 25) Thompson (13 to 24) Barnum (16 to 29) Not surpisingly, most of those guys are on the raw side. Thompson not so much, but he's just a tough guy to project right now. QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Aug 7, 2014 -> 04:13 PM) Actually now that I look at it, Carlos Sanchez also had a wide range. Anywhere from 5th to 13th. Yay, I'm a bunch of those end ranges. Adams at 4, Adolfo at 11, Rondon at 19, May at 26, Thompson at 13, Sanchez at 5. That means I'm the weird one in the group.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Aug 7, 2014 -> 03:37 PM) Not sure if anyone else will, but I have no problem posting my top 30 for others to see and rip apart. Ha, now we're politicians with transparency issues. 1. Rodon 2. Anderson 3. Micah Johnson 4. Adams 5. Sanchez 6. Danish 7. Hawkins 8. Davidson 9. Michalczewski 10. Montas 11. Adolfo 12. Ravelo 13. Trayce Thompson 14. Snodgress (although seeing him get rocked in AAA last night makes me regret this) 15. Fry 16. Wilkins 17. Jordan Guerrero 18. Beck 19. Rondon 20. Kevan Smith 21. Dykstra 22. Antonio Rodriguez 23. Recchia 24. Saladino 25. Olacio 26. May 27. Barnum 28. Brett Austin 29. Wendelken 30. Bassitt

QUOTE (Ozzie Ball @ Aug 4, 2014 -> 10:47 AM) You're probably right but I think Griezmann is an excellent signing. Mandzukic has been a top striker the past 2 seasons, and Atletico have had great success signing/developing strikers with Torres, Forlan, Aguero, Falcao and Costa, so I wouldn't bet against him being a success. Oblak, though still very young, has a chance to be a top GK. Siqueira should be at least an adequate replacement for Filipe Luis. I wouldn't expect them to repeat last years achievements but they shouldn't be too far off. Good points, and third place in La Liga last year probably would have won the Premier League by a wide margin last season. The top two are just so strong, although Barca's new roster doesn't impress me as much as Real this season, that it's a high standard to compete with those two. They likely take third.

I like Wendelken and starts like this draw attention. Good for him.

QUOTE (Feeky Magee @ Jul 27, 2014 -> 09:59 PM) Hopefully Dykstra isn't long at WS, should really be finishing the year at Birmingham given his age. It's his first full season as a pro, I'm good with him finishing in High-A. Next year he can go to AA and hopefully earn a push for AAA by the end of 2015.

Anyone who throws a punch as a player in a minor league baseball game is a total ass. Suspend anyone who threw a punch for the rest of the season. You're embarrassing both clubs, their organizations and turning away some of the fans in attendance. It's one thing to have benches clear, swear at each other and have guys hold you back, but all out flailing of arms really isn't acceptable.

QUOTE (SoxAce @ Jul 26, 2014 -> 08:32 PM) Austin 3-4, 2B, RBI. Would love to see him get hot. IMO, He's the best catching prospect in our system (although I do like Barazza alot too). He's actually been productive in Kanny after a slow start. K rate is gigantic (27 K in 97 PA), but he's hitting for a decent average and walking. Not bad for going straight to Low-A.

Anybody catch that Jeffry Santos was the PTBNL in the Doran trade? He's played 8 games in the Appy League affiliate for Houston and I just noticed that lol.