DBAHO

QUOTE (SHIPPS @ Jul 7, 2009 -> 06:02 AM) Hey I meant to ask you...why are short skinny persons such bad people? Because it's in our nature Fatty (I know I'm almost 4 months late with this, but I just saw it and couldn't resist).

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Oct 30, 2009 -> 02:36 PM) I want another shot at the Celtics if we make the playoffs. Just so that Hinrich can throw that little **** of a point guard into the scorer's table again. I'll be very interested to see what happens to Rondo this season. He'll be a FA come the off-season, and it sounds like KG, Doc and Ainge are getting sick and tired of his act. But he'll be motivated to put up some real nice numbers also. Does he chase the $$$$ come the off-season?

QUOTE (Tony82087 @ Oct 30, 2009 -> 03:18 PM) Mixed groups I agree. Basketball is just out for public consumption more than the NHL is, so chances are when you are in a group, people are just more exposed to basketball. However, right now, there is just more of a want for hockey than basketball in the city of Chicago. And I suppose the Hawks are definite Stanley Cup contenders, while the Bulls will be fighting just to make the playoffs, so that's obviously going to make a difference right there.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Oct 30, 2009 -> 06:28 AM) If they win 43 games, they will play someone like Boston, Orlando, or Cleveland in the first round, and they will be lucky to win a game against them, let alone a series. That's going to be a key for those playoff contenders who aren't "The Big 3". They've got to try and get that 4th or 5th seed so at least they have a chance of getting thru to the 2nd round.

Anyone going to get DJ Hero?

Unfortunately events like this are all too common around the world. There's been a pack rape incident over the w/e down here where as many as around 15 teenage boys pack raped 2 girls at a party apparently. It's wrong, and if it wasn't consensual, then I hope they throw the book at them.

QUOTE (iamshack @ Oct 29, 2009 -> 12:28 AM) Priest Holmes had some serious hip injury, didn't he? Running back is an absolutely brutal position to play physically...the magic number seems to be about 30 years of age when they begin declining... And that's why you see so many teams needing 2 good RB's in this day and age. And some teams like the Cowboys, need 3, considering the injury problems that Barber and Felix Jones have had.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Oct 28, 2009 -> 02:20 PM) If nothing goes wrong for the Celtics injury and chemistry wise they have to be the team to beat in the east. This of course includes Glenn Davis injuring his hand in a fight and getting himself hurt and suspended. We'll see. Right now I'm predicting a Magic vs. Celtics Eastern Conference Finals. But there's pro's and con's for each team. The Cavs obviously have LeBron, best player in the NBA. But they also have to work Shaq into the system, and are very reliant on Mo Williams to take pressure off LeBron. The Celtics have the big 3. Down low they're extremely hard to score against. But they are also pretty old now, and Ray Allen isn't the player he used to be IMO, so they are a little susceptible there. The Magic have Dwight, will hopefully have Nelson for a full season, and Carter upgrades the SG spot. And they're probably the deepest team out of all 3, they go legimantly 12 deep. On the negative, they'll miss Hedo on the pick and roll's, and if the outside shot isn't going down, they can get clogged down offensively. Should be great to watch as the season unfolds though.

Cavs lose home opener, I love it. Lot of questions around Delonte West's future with that team also.

QUOTE (The Critic @ Oct 26, 2009 -> 01:27 AM) Which is why, despite a good showing against the league's worst offense, I'm still leaning towards "not". I need to see good things from him consistently and against better competition to become a believer. The Hawks just need to him to get hot at the right time, and that's obviously in the playoffs. Right now, the West is more wide open than it probably has been for at least a few seasons, so if the Hawks are ever going to make a Stanley Cup, this is probably going to be the year.

QUOTE (bmags @ Oct 27, 2009 -> 12:50 AM) Jebus, fwiw, dbaho, i've always been supremely impressed with how knowledgeable you are about things happening a hemisphere away. You are truly a model for me. Eh I do my best. The Bears season is still salvagable obviously. They just need to get on a run, and they've got time to do that. And they should get better offensively as the season goes along as Cutler gets more in sync with this offense, and Forte can only get better. Defensively, if they can get Adams worked into the rotation, and get some stability back at the LB spot, then they should pick up there also, but all in all, they need to stay healthy to get back into it, as they have the talent to compete for a wildcard spot still. Hell as a Cowboys fans, I should be brimming with confidence after beating a top 5 team yesterday, but it doesn't mean jack what we do in the first 12 games of the season, because of our terrible record down the stretch which has cost us so damn much over the past couple of seasons.

QUOTE (lostfan @ Oct 27, 2009 -> 12:26 AM) No, but none of the OLs the Bears had were top-notch either (Ruben Brown used to be, but not when he was with the Bears). Basically, don't sign FAs like Frank Omiyale. The Bears need to sign a Kyle Kosier type of FA for their LG spot come the off-season. The Cowboys got him from the Lions about 3 seasons back on a 15/5 deal, and when he missed some time and Corey Proctor had to play, you could see how much of a difference that made up front. And all of the teams that are doing well now, e.g Denver, Indianapolis, Atlanta they are successful because of their great O-Lines and that they allow for Ryan, Manning and Orton to make plays.

QUOTE (lostfan @ Oct 27, 2009 -> 12:26 AM) Rivera is nothing special in San Diego, either. That's got more to do with injuries than anything else I'd argue. They rely so much on Jamal Williams, and he's out for the season, while Merriman's a shadow of what he used to be. You lose that kind of production in your front seven, it's going to hurt your whole defense obviously. They're pretty much the same as the Bears defensively this season though FWIW.

Anyone see this sick bump that Doug Williams took on TNA?

QUOTE (ZoomSlowik @ Oct 26, 2009 -> 03:08 PM) It's scary to think of how much better they could have been if they had someone like Paul Allen or Mark Cuban as their owner. They let Joe Johnson and Shawn Marion go and flat-out sold picks that could have added guys like Iguodala, Rondo and Rudy Fernandez. It's sad really, because they just haven't been the same since the Colangelo brothers left, and I think the Phoenix Suns is one of the better American Sport Franchises in America today. The Marion trade was more him whining about his role, and Kerr's insistence on bringing in Shaq. The Johnson move, well that was just bad.

QUOTE (lostfan @ Oct 26, 2009 -> 08:38 PM) There's still free agency for the OL. The last good line the Bears had (2006) was made mostly of free agents. It's less than ideal because it's expensive, but it's not at all impossible to fix an offensive line in a relatively short amount of time. Just replacing Omiyale and Kreutz (yes, Kreutz sucks now) with average talent is a big improvement. Are there any top notch lineman hitting FA this off-season FWIW?

QUOTE (whitesoxfan101 @ Oct 26, 2009 -> 03:44 PM) I agree with those who think Lovie Smith's message might be starting to fall flat with this team and thus a new coach could be in order soon, but why isn't Jerry Angelo taking more heat? Yes he brought in Jay Cutler, but he didn't fix a single hole on this team other than QB this offseason. Both the offensive and defensive lines are trash, the lack of LB depth is being exposed since there are injuries there, the secondary is a joke, the WR's are a pile of crap that Cutler makes look decent at times, Forte is starting to look like Anthony Thomas 2.0. This team has a major talent deficiency problem, and even though the Cutler move was OBVIOUSLY the right move and maybe Gaines Adams will work out as Adewale's replacement, a team that doesn't draft well at the top of the draft as is and has a lot of holes to fill is missing quite a few draft picks. There aren't enough picks to fix all the holes on this team, and we know not to expect a spending spree in free agency (and those don't always work either). It's a mess right now, the hardest thing to find is a QB and the Bears have a good one, but besides that, so much needs to be fixed. The schedule is favorable for the Bears to put up a decent record, but it's going to be very hard to finish ahead of Green Bay and even harder to catch Minnesota. My response to this would be how would you expect to fill all of those holes that you've mentioned in 1 off-season? From an outsider's point of view, when the Bears were a real succesful team, it was because of their defense and especially the strength of their defensive line. I think the Bears D-Line is still probably in the upper echelon in the NFL especially when you compare it to other teams, but they haven't lived up to potential so far. That says more about the coaching IMO. I still think they really miss Ron Rivera for all of the heat that he got in the end, because they certainly haven't been the same since Babich took over.

QUOTE (MHizzle85 @ Oct 26, 2009 -> 11:10 AM) Let's talk about something positive here. Miles Austin is on his way to becoming legit. Mike Jenkins also stepped up today & had a good game. Crayton with a great game. Pass rush was off the hook. Last, but not least...Romo got it in today. That's how you do it. How 'bout them Cowboys? *raises roof for a Cowboys victory* Probably the best win we've had in a while, and it's certainly the best that Romo has looked all season. Let's hope it's a momentum builder.

QUOTE (ZoomSlowik @ Oct 26, 2009 -> 02:04 PM) I can't see Phoenix taking on what could be almost $100 mil in future commitments to Deng and Thomas after this season. Yeah Robert Sarver's always trying to save money with that franchise so I agree with you there on that proposal.

Best he's looked all season so far. When it's all said and done, Huet is the guy that will determine if this team is a legiminate Stanley Cup contender or not.

QUOTE (danman31 @ Oct 24, 2009 -> 02:16 PM) You forgot Detroit. Also, what makes you think the Thunder will be 9th? That's a big jump, even for a team with a lot of young talent unless you talking a big drop off from Phoenix. I'm bullish on the Thunder, think somewhere around 35 wins is certainly possible for them, especially with Scotty Brooks coaching them. Durant, Westbrook and Green should naturally progress, Kristic you'd expect to be a little better this season, but they also need more depth and don't have much beef down low.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Oct 24, 2009 -> 01:42 PM) For 15-20 million, I can see the Sox being interested. For the 40 to 60 range, no way. Absolutely. But here's another scenario. With Jenks' a couple of seasons away from FA, if the Sox signed Chapman, would they groom him to be a their closer of the future possibly? Or do you leave him as a starter, and only move him to the bullpen as a last resort?

QUOTE (danman31 @ Oct 24, 2009 -> 07:40 AM) I thought it was weird to see that many teams with winning records, but your records are extremely far from possible. Every division has a combined winning record. The entire league is 206 games over .500. Take several wins from every one and you are getting closer. I knew someone was going to say that.

I'll go for the whole thing. Tie-breaker b/w Toronto and Washington for the 8th spot. Atlantic; Boston* - 66-16 Philadelphia* - 50-32 Toronto - 43-39 New York - 32-50 New Jersey - 25-57 Central; Cleveland* - 65-17 Detroit* - 46-36 Chicago - 40-42 Indiana - 35-47 Milwaukee - 26-56 Southeast; Orlando* - 67-15 Atlanta* - 54-28 Miami* - 49-33 Washington - 43-39 Charlotte - 42-40 Southwest; San Antonio* - 58-24 Dallas* - 53-29 Houston* - 43-39 New Orleans - 42-40 Memphis - 20-62 Northwest; Portland* - 59-23 Denver* - 58-24 Utah* - 51-31 Oklahoma City - 39-43 Minnesota - 15-67 Pacific; LA Lakers* - 61-21 Phoenix* - 52-30 Golden State - 36-46 LA Clippers - 30-52 Sacramento - 16-66 MVP - Lebron James (CLE) Coach of the Year - Stan Van Gundy (should have won it last year instead of Mike Brown). Rookie of the Year - Blake Griffin (LAC) Most Improved Player - Ryan Anderson (ORL) 6th man of the year - Paul Millsap (UTH) 1st coach fired - Byron Scott (NOL) Biggest player traded suring season - Stephen Jackson (GLD) Championship - Magic over Lakers in 7 games.

So I'm actually going to apply for a Green Card this year. The application has to be done within a month, but it's pretty simple all round actually, probably easier than it was to apply for a trainee visa actually.