cabiness42

Playing absolute s*** for a non-conference schedule is what cost Baylor and TCU, not the lack of a 12th game.

http://www.villanova.com/sports/m-footbl/n...ootbl-body.html http://butlersports.com/sports/m-footbl/index Anything else you'd like to be wrong about today?

Brian Anderson had some amazing defensive metrics IIRC.

ND tries to load up the schedule so that one or two teams being down doesn't ruin it. Even with this year's schedule having Texas and Georgia Tech being much worse than expected, it still has Clemson, USC and Stanford. Plus ND is willing to play top teams outside their region on the road regularly. Also, the thing about ND's schedule that most people overlook is that they never play FCS teams and rarely play teams from the very bottom of FCS, so even when the marquee name opponents have down years, the overall schedule strength is rarely worse than 30th. Even Navy, who always used to be the "easy" game has developed a really good program recently. Schedule is never going to be the reason ND doesn't make the playoff. Either they're one of the four best teams or they aren't.

Teams practice that (at least they should). Seven seconds is plenty of time to get the job done, but if you really want to be picky, probably should have called the TO with 8-10 seconds left.

The power 5 conferences (and ND) have such massive football TV deals that even schools like Iowa St, Kansas, Kentucky, Duke, etc, make far more from football than basketball. Schools like Butler and Villanova probably make more from basketball than football.

Not worried so much about a blocked kick as a botched snap. If there is a botched snap, the extra few seconds gives the holder enough time to get the ball, get up, and then throw an incomplete pass near the feet of one of the ends. Then you get to try again.

The only year ND was in the NC talk was in 2012, when they were the only team to go undefeated during the regular season.

ND is capable of creating a 12 game schedule that is more than challenging enough to make up for the lack of a 13th game. Just happens that sometimes big teams that get scheduled (Texas) turn out to not be good. Also the ACC slate will rotate, so some years Florida State or Clemson will be on the schedule and other years neither will. There is a home and home with Georgia coming up in a few years, MSU is getting back on the schedule, and regular opponents USC and Stanford are usually both top 20 teams.

http://www.umpqua.edu/resources-and-servic...ll=&start=4 Yes, technically, not a gun free zone so long as you ask for and receive written authorization. I wonder how many times written authorization has been granted?

Thompson A+ Eaton A Abreu A- Soto B- Shuck C+ Ramriez C Melky C- Flowers C- Garcia D+ Sanchez D+ Saladino D+ Beckham D- LaRoche D- Sale A Quintana A Albers A Rodon B+ Robertson B Duke B- Carroll B- Samardzija C Danks C Petricka C Jennings C- Putnam D+

OK, my offseason plan: Give Samardzija the QO. If he refuses it and also won't take a 4-year deal from the Sox, then the starting pitching is probably going to have to come from in-house. The only FA pitchers that excite me are Happ and Zimmerman but they are going to get far more from some other team than I would want the Sox to offer them. If for some reason Samardzija does take the QO or re-sign, then eat as much of Danks' salary as necessary to move him. Pencil in Johnson for the 5th spot with possible competition from Adams or Montas. Sign at least one of AJP or Soto for catcher. If you can get both signed before the tender deadline then non-tender Flowers. Go really hard after Ben Zobrist or Howie Kendrick and pick up Alexei's option. As much as I like both Sanchez and Saladino defensively, you just can't have both their bats in the lineup, and Anderson is probably a year away. More playing time for Thompson in the OF. Make LaRoche and Garcia a DH platoon, with Garcia getting some OF time in addition if he improves at the plate.

Brian Kelly is an excellent recruiter, but his in-game strategy and playcalling are atrocious. Twice he's decided to go for two when it was not warranted and cost his team wins. Several other times he's made it more difficult and/or impossible for his team to win due to playcalling. I know that he's never going to get fired with his record, that's why I'd love to see him take an NFL job. I think Mark Stoops would be a great fit for ND.

The person I know who claims he lives two houses away from him lives off Gumwood between Brick and Cleveland.

Forgot about super 2 status. Putnam and Avi qualify because of that. Also forgot about Jennings.

I've yet to find a source with definitive lists of players' option status, but the best I can tell the only years he used options were in 2012 and 2013, which would mean he has one left.

He has a Granger address, but actually lives much closer to Mishawaka than to Granger. Still Penn's school district though.

I'll be his driver.

Five days after the end of the World Series (Nov 5-9): Deadline to make a qualifying offer (1 year/approx. $15.5-16M) to potential free agents. Of the four Sox players in this category (Albers, Beckham, Samardzija, Soto), Samardzija is the only one who could realistically receive such an offer and despite his awful year, the Sox are almost certain to make such an offer. This date is also the beginning of free agency. Twelve days after the end of the World Series (Nov 12-16): Deadline for players who received qualifying offer to accept/reject qualifying offers. Last year, all players who received qualifying offers rejected them. In this case, the signing team loses their second round pick if they draft 1-10 or their first round pick if they draft 11-30. The losing team receives a compensatory pick in between Rounds 1-2. Since the Sox draft 10th, if Samardzija were to turn down a QO from the Sox and the Sox were to sign a player who turned down a QO from another team, the draft pick the Sox would gain would be at least 10 spots higher than the one they would lose. November 20: Last day to add players to the 40-man roster in order to protect them from the Rule 5 Draft. Any player who was 18 or under when signed must be protected within 5 years of signing and any player 19 or older when signed must be protected within 4 years of signing. Adding players to the 40-man roster protects them from the Rule 5 Draft but also means they start burning option years in 2016. A team also has to have enough 40-man roster spots available for the players they add (Sox currently have one open spot) and often must remove players from the roster to make room for the ones they want to add.[i don't follow the minors as closely as others, so if somebody wants to post a list of Sox players at risk to Rule 5 exposure, I'll add it in here.] December 2: Last day to offer contracts to unsigned players on the 40-man roster. This is where the decision gets made on arbitration-eligible players. This is often a tough call because you have to decide whether or not to commit to certain players before you've been able to sign or trade for someone who might be an upgrade. This year Tyler Flowers and Nate Jones are the only abitration-eligible players. Jones will be kept for sure. Unless an upgrade can be secured before this date it's hard to see letting Flowers go, no matter how much we hate him.

No manager is bad enough to be the reason you miss the playoffs by 10 games.

Yes, 4th OF, occasional starts, frequent late-inning PR and/or defensive replacement.

If Mark wants to retire, that's his choice, but he certainly isn't getting forced out. A 3.81 ERA, 1.24 WHIP, and a 2.76 K/BB ratio over almost 200 innings is good enough to be at least a 4th starter on most teams.

Avi put up a .759 OPS vs LHP, compared to .661 for Shuck, .648 for Eaton, .600 for Cabrera and .383 for LaRoche. There is definitely a spot for him in the lineup vs LHP, probably starting at DH. I'm not saying you don't trade him if you get a nice offer, but there's no way I DFA him or trade him for nothing more than a lottery ticket.

The Dolphins should hire Brian Kelly.

So the Sox ended up tied with the 10th worst record. Will they pick 10th or 11th?