DBAHO

Pods gets the walk. Looks like our hitters have just got to lay off on Curt's splitter for the majority. Big AB here for Iguchi. Can't GIDP.

Oh boy, that's a lucky triple.

QUOTE(fathom @ Sep 6, 2005 -> 02:36 AM) He might be only throwing 88-92 mph, but our hitters are making it look like 96 with their swings. Has McCarthy thrown a change-up yet? Yeah a few, they're around 78MPH.

B-Mac needs to get em out of this inning here. Nixon just turned on that fastball.

And now Quincy Morgan has been released.

Onto San Antonio?

QUOTE(ottawa_sox @ Sep 6, 2005 -> 02:33 AM) What is McCarthy's fastball topping out at? About 91 so far.

Well Schilling seems to be getting the majority of the calls on the outside corner. Doesn't bode well for the rest of the day, unless B-Mac can keep pitching well.

And there is that very nice curveball.

Wow on a totally unrelated topic, this is like the first ever White Sox game I've been able to watch at 2:15 AM in the morning. But ummm carry on.

Schilling hasn't been good at all since he's been starting again, real chance for the Sox to do some damage here with the way they've been swinging the bats in the last week or so. Let's hope B-Mac can give us some good innings again.

Yep that's the Neal we all love (well at least only a HANDFUL at best) did at the start of the season. Always had faith though, and shows why you shouldn't give yourself a heart attack screaming if he doesn't perform straight away........ (I was always knew he was better than that Kevin Walker though, although some people didn't think so).

Could the rock have something to do with the Right Field Wall at the Dome perhaps?

Yep Baton Rouge makes the most sense. What are some other cities that could be possible for relocation besides Los Angeles and San Antonio? What about Las Vegas, Portland etc.?

QUOTE(southsideirish71 @ Sep 4, 2005 -> 03:31 PM) Best non national team soccer moment. Watching my Celtic team beat the Rangers live and hearing 60k people sing the Fields of Athenry. You should talk to Soxy, she's a big Celtic fan as well. Personally, I'm a West Ham fan, who are rivals with Charlton the team Spector is playing for this season. And oh for mismatch of the year, Australia beat the Soloman Islands 7-0, in the 1st leg of the Oceania Final for Qualfying. The winner will play the 5th places South American Team in a 2 leg playoff. No wonder Australia wants to move to Asia.

QUOTE(The Ginger Kid @ Sep 4, 2005 -> 03:13 AM) That's awesome! If he adds a few more mph to that fastball over the next two years, he's going to be wicked. Mid to hi-90s heater with that change up? They're not even his best pitches, he's got a Zito like curve, which is gonna be huge if he makes it. Really got high hopes for him.

QUOTE(nitetrain8601 @ Sep 4, 2005 -> 01:12 PM) Well for anyone who's still interested, the Bears weren't in it for Price. It was between, my Cowboys, the Dolphins, Saints & Patriots. Well the Cowboys signed him to a 1 year, 2 million dollar contract today. http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=2151065 Yep being one of Drew Bledsoe's favorite targets probably sealed the deal. He's got Terry Glenn as well, so Drew's set - up to have a good season, if the protection's there. You can say goodbye to Quincy Morgan now, which shows how bad the Antonio Bryant trade was. He's the #1 receiver in Cleveland now, and yeah he's a headcase, he only wanted to be a starter, which he didn't get the chance behind Johnson and Glenn. But the Cowboys have got 3 capable receivers now. In a previous post I said Price was probably done. Well he still did have around 45 catches last year, if he can do that again as the 3rd WR, that'll be huge for this offense.

QUOTE(GASHWOUND @ Sep 4, 2005 -> 08:46 PM) Its nice that you anointed just about everybody better then Orton(most likely they are, and you're giving to much credit to some of those QB bytheway) But all of it is moot .. nobody knows how bad or good Orton is..I actually like to see him play a few games in the reg season so i can see how good, or how horrible he is.. then maybe we can see if he's capable like Roesthlisberger or crappy..simple as that.He won't be great..best he will be is capable... and that's all I'm askin for and as for the injuries..it depends on what one or two, or 3 are injured..Maybe losing Boone or Johnson on the D-line won't be so bad cause their deep there..but losing pro-bowl caliber players all at the same time is gonna cripple alot of teams..Those type of players don't grow on trees..so that many injuries to pro-bowl type players(Urlacher, Tillman, M.Brown, Ogunleye,) is alot worse then losing Vasher, Boone, Hunter..serviceable players who do a great job but aren't in the top of their positions.. Ok I'd just like to see how you rated all of those QB's then, just FWIW. Yeah Orton deserves time to step in and get used to the NFL, which is why Bears fans shouldn't be expecting to throw 300 yards with a high completion rate straight off the bat. But Roesthlisberger's season last year was almost an anomaly for rookie QB's. How many have you seen over the past say 5 years, come in, start straight away, and have instant success like Ben did? David Carr didn't. Joey Harrington didn't. I don't know if Tillman's a Pro Bowl player, yet. Yeah he's got the size and speed you need, but he's got to put it together for a whole season (without getting injured). But if he can stay healthy and perform, he will be. The Bears still had a decent pass rush without Ogunleye, with Brown and Harris. He'll add another element to the D-Line, if he can stay healthy though. But in a previous post, I wondered if the Bears are big enough to stop the run up front. You've got 2 pass rushers as the DE's, and Harris and Boone / Scott / Johnson. They're not huge guys, like your Ted Washington's etc. But all teams have dealt with injuries to their good players, some moreso than others. The Cowboys last season didn't have Darren Woodson at all, Terry Glenn got injured, Julius Jones missed half a season, so it happens.

QUOTE(GASHWOUND @ Sep 4, 2005 -> 07:45 PM) Stop comparing the recently cut Terrell to Muhammed..That's a HUGE upgrade over Terrell, i don't care what anyone says..And Orton is a hell of alot better then Krenzel, rookie or not..Krenzel couldn't throw more then 10 yrds down the field..at least with Orton he has that threat of going down field which will open it more for the RBs. And of course he's going to make mistakes..have you've seen some of the QB teams are startin around the league..half the teams have border-line Avg QBs.. I don't think Orton is soooo much worse then the junk that's out there right now.. Obviously injuries are gonna happen again, but they had their best LB, best CB, supposedly best pass rusher hurt, and best safety out for a majority of games last year..all at the same time some games.. If we can limit the injuries of our best D players I don't see why we can't win 7 or 8 games. There deep at the D-line, but not so much on CB and LB..so we gotta hope they stay relatively healthy..if not we're not gonna win more then 5 or so. I know someone is gonna get injured, but still gotta stay hopeful its not multiple players out at the same time like last year. the team is better then last years..favorable schedule again this year..D talented enough to keep us in games and hopin the depth at RB can somehow intertwine to take some of the load of of Orton... But obviously you and everyone sayin their gonna suck, and I saying their gonna be Avg is all conjecture of course. Nobody sayin their gonna be good, but that's why they play the games..So instead of me saying I know for sure the D is gonna be great of Orton is gonna be at least serviceable, or you anointing Muhammed 'Terrell lite' there's no way of knowing how things are gonna turn out. Maybe you're right, and I'm being blinded by Bear light..fine..whatever.. I just know it can't get any worse then the mess we had last year with injuries and Krenzel...Ughh reiterating, just gotta hope we stay relatively healthy on D.. Muhammed. Yes he's an upgrade. How much? He had 93 receptions last year, being Jake Delhomme's go to guy. The last 3 seasons before that though, 50 receptions, 63 receptions, 54 receptions. With the Bears not willing to throw the ball as much as Carolina, and Orton a rookie starting, it's naive to think Muhammed is going to go close to the numbers he put up last season. He'll be closer to Terrell's numbers than his own last season. He's hardly a spring chicken at 32 either. Sure Orton could throw the ball more than 10M, if Ron Turner gives him the green light to do so. Is he going to make passes over that distance consistently though? I would doubt that very much, since the Bears WR corps is hardly near the top of the league. Krenzel couldn't throw the ball more than 10M probably because he didn't get the time to do so, plus Terry Shea wouldn't let him. Ok let's have a look at each starting QB in the league compared to Kyle Orton. Buffalo - J.P Losman. Struggled in pre-season, but has had a year to learn the system, and Mike Mularkey is a great QB - offensive coach. Better than Orton. Miami - Gus Freotte. He's a veteran, and Scott Linehan will utilize him well. Borderline pretty close to Orton this year. New England - Tom Brady. Not even close. New York Jets - Chad Pennington. Not even close. Baltimore Ravens - Kyle Boller. Yet he ain't too great. Probably pretty close to Orton, unless he finally gets it. Cincinatti Bengals - Carson Palmer. Better than Orton. Cleveland Browns - Trent Dilfer. Yep another veteran, borderline close to Orton. Pittsburgh Steelers - Ben Roesthlisberger. Better than Orton. Houston Texans - David Carr. Better than Orton. Indy Colts - Peyton Manning. Not even close. Jacksonville Jaguars - Byron Leftwich. Better than Orton. Tennessee Titans - Steve McNair. Not even close. Denver Broncos - Jake Plummer. Not much of a brain, but better than Orton. Kansas City Chiefs - Trent Green. Better than Orton. Oakland Raiders - Kerry Collins. Hick..... hick, but better than Orton. San Diego Chargers - Drew Bress. Better than Orton. And so is his backup for that matter, who could be wearing a Bears uniform in 06. Dallas Cowboys - Drew Bledsoe. Looked good in pre-season, if he has time, he'll do the job. Better than Orton. New York Giants - Eli Manning. Yeah he's better than Orton. Philadelphia Eagles - Captain Dry - Heave... uhhh Donovan McNabb. Yeah he's better. Washington Redskins - Patrick Ramsey. Not used well enough, if he was in the right system, he could be a top 10 QB. But he's better than Orton. Detroit Lions - Joey Harrington - Yeah he's probably slightly better than Orton, needs to step up this year, I think he will. Green Bay Packers - Brett Favre. Not even close. Minnesota Vikings - Daunte Culpepper. Not even close. Atlanta Falcons - Michael Vick. Not even close. Carolina Panthers - Jake Delhomme. Gees didn't teams miss the boat here on him when he was a FA bout 2 or 3 years ago. Easily better than Orton. New Orleans Saints - Aaron Brooks. Yeah he doesn't really get it, but his athletic skills make him better than Orton. Tampa Bay Buccaneers - Brian Griese. If he throws as well as he did the 2nd half of last season, he's better than Orton. If not, probably not. Arizona Cardinals - Kurt Warner. If he gets protected, better than Orton. St. Louis Rams - Mark Bulger. Better than Orton. San Francisco 49ers - Tim Rattay / Alex Smith. Right now Rattay's the starter. Smith struggled mightily in the pre - season. On this season alone, they'll probably be pretty close to Orton. Seaatle Seahawks - Matt Hassellbeck. Not even close. So on count of that, I counted 5 maybe 6 teams that have a QB situation around the Bears mark, but at least the majority of those teams have veterans. Hence my point on Orton, about expecting too much from him, too soon. As for the injuries, well if the Bears D is so good, one, two or 3 injuries shouldn't be that huge for a team. There's more important spots were injuries can happen, like the QB spot, e.g the Titans last year with Steve McNair. Benson's gonna take a while to get used to the pace and the playbook etc. With Jones not being a power runner which is what Ron Turner wants, it's gonna be interesting to see how they move the football early on in the season. My guess is they'll probably struggle, with Washington who probably had a top 3 if not the best D in Football last season 1st up.

Thank You Detroit. Thank You.

QUOTE(Dam8610 @ Sep 4, 2005 -> 05:32 PM) Patriots fans would tell you differently. Bruschi may not have been to the Pro Bowl, but that doesn't mean he was the leader of their defense. Maybe it's time for somebody else to step up then. The Patriots have a great knack at finding no - name players, stick em in a position, and they get the job done. I'm expecting they'll be able to do it again.

QUOTE(GASHWOUND @ Sep 4, 2005 -> 04:47 PM) So how many games do ya think the Bears will win? Cause if not for a blown call last year against the Lions they would have won 6 games. Why do i bring this up? Cause they won 3 straight games with f'n Craig Krezel startin...If they could win with that blowhole...I think they can win with Orton and to boot we had Jonathan Quinn and Hutchinson start the other games with Urlacher, Brown, Tillman, and Azhuma out for a bunch of games last year and Ogunleye playing with a bad heel. plus the additions that we added in the off season to improve the O-line, added a Pro-bowl receiver, drafted another RB and WO plus Harris and Johnson with a year under their belt and guys on the D healthy..We should be able to add 2 or 3 more wins to last years total.. I said they finish 8-8, so I'm not penciling them for the playoffs..but am I being unrealistic here when they could almost win 6 games last year with the mess they had with QB changes and injuries? I don't think I am. Those games the Bears won with Krenzel were against the 49ers, the Giants (when they were really struggling) and Tennessee (who were terrible last year). Orton and Krenzel, hate to say it, don't think there is going to be much of a difference through the season b/w those 2. Orton's a rookie, and yeah he's better than Krenzel, but he's still a rookie, and he's gonna make mistakes. Everyone says how much of a diff. Muhammed is going to make compared to Terrell, well Terrel had what 45 receptions last season, Muhsin might only have around 50 with the Bears QB situation, that's not a pro - bowl like receiver. Injuries are going to happen again, it's a fact of life. The key is can the Bears keep winning if it happens, last year they couldn't.

QUOTE(The Ginger Kid @ Sep 3, 2005 -> 05:03 PM) He reminds me of Pedro. Realistically, how far away is this guy? Could he be like Hernandez (Seattle) and get a call up next year, or even get invited to spring training? He's probably another 2 years away, but he's got perhaps the most upside to any of our pitchers in the minors at the moment. I really rate him highly, I think he's right on the bubble in our top 3 prospects behind McCarthy and Young and around with Anderson.

QUOTE(knightni @ Sep 2, 2005 -> 04:45 PM) If 2-4 for 60yds and an INT is God, then there is no God. But he completed 2 passes, so in terms of previous Chicago QB's, yeah that probably makes him a God.

QUOTE(Kid Gleason @ Sep 3, 2005 -> 01:57 AM) When I think of Australia I think of: An Aborigine (sic?) in a loin cloth telling me a bat tastes like chicken. Paul Hogan spinning a weird thing on a rope over his head. AC/DC Lots of sand. And people who could probably easily kick my ass...and everybody looks and sounds like Donk. Yeah, music and Crocodile Dundee (both 1 and 2...but mainly 2) are all I think of. My wife REALLY wants to go their someday though. I usually say "but that's all the way on the other side of the world". It is though...ya know? Yeah 15 hours on a flight from LA to Australia, wouldn't really recommend it. And what no Wiggles in your list (or is it Jim who loves them, I always get confused between you 2)?