Bananarchy

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Oct 6, 2015 -> 02:01 PM) It's amazing how Theo is great, Maddon is great, the Cubs, the Cubs, the Cubs... Theo was hired in December 2011. This is the first year since 2009 the Cubs have won as many games as the 2015 White Sox. Now, the future is promised. No chance of failure. They were 3rd in their division. Their lowest total attendance during this stretch would be top 5 all time for the White Sox. This board is seething with Cubs envy. Theo said they would be bad for a few seasons, he built the best minor league system in baseball, he brought up four rookies to start in one season, and finished with the 3rd most wins in the NL. Do you have any idea how f***ing bad we all want to be where they are now? They're absolutely incredible. They finished 13 games ahead of the Giants for the wild card. 13 games. They had 97 WINS. You're darn right the Cubs are great. Maddon is 97 wins great, Theo is 97 wins great, Bryant and Rizzo and the rest of the team are 97 wins great.

Astros and Cubs for me. I don't hold grudges against teams that don't matter.

QUOTE (SoxPride18 @ Oct 6, 2015 -> 02:12 PM) You worry about that later, like in 5 years as you bolded. You don't worry about that now. You do that now, they'll end up like Morin, Clendending, Stanton, Pirri, Dahlback. What do all of these players have in common? None of them could crack the lineup because there are simply better players in their positions at this very moment. I dunno. Letting Seabrook go after next year and managing to keep Brandon Saad would have been preferable, IMHO.

QUOTE (knightni @ Oct 6, 2015 -> 11:05 AM) Sox: Bad/mediocre for the last 7-10 years at least. Bears: Worst team in the NFL Bulls: In a rut. Good enough to be in the playoffs, not good enough to win the title. Notre Dame sports: Basketball was decent last year, but they're in rebuilding mode. Football always teases, but is never there at the end of the season. Cutler is good enough they're not the worst in the NFL. Between coaching staff, starting quarterback, and running back play, the Bears look a lot better than I expected. When he has played, Cutler has looked better than his has in a number of seasons.

QUOTE (LDF @ Oct 6, 2015 -> 02:06 PM) with everything you posted aside, i am going to talk about this bolded part. the hawks, imp should be looking to replace the older players with younger ones. the hawks can't expect the level of performance to be elite as they get older. And don't get me wrong, Kane and Toews are still reasonably young. The defense is what gets a little sketchy. Seabrook in particular is just a bad contract.

QUOTE (LDF @ Oct 6, 2015 -> 02:02 PM) totally not related to anything mention this morning. Viktor Svedberg was sent to rockford. due to salary cap reasons. the last pairing of the dman, can they be really dependent on. You know what you get when you can't depend on your D-men? Dallas

QUOTE (Y2JImmy0 @ Oct 6, 2015 -> 12:56 PM) Bowman has 3 championships with the Hawks and fans still question him. Ridiculous. It's not so much "questioning" as much as it is the following: Stan is not great at knowing the value of a player. Examples: He gives Bickell that ridiculous contract He turns Patrick Sharp and Stephen Johns into two really bad players He overpays Brent Seabrook He moves Saad to keep Seabrook. Seabrook is over 30 He fails to negotiate Kane and Toews separately, when Kane is a behavioral problem and Toews isn't. He's fortunate as it almost blew up in his face. He won three Stanley Cups. That's fantastic, but the fact of the matter is there are better rounded GMs. In 5 years, I'm concerned the Hawks will be old and bad. If the Hawks were interested in longevity, they shouldn't lose Saad for essentially nothing and they should have done everything to keep Johns. He gave up the future star defenseman to overpay a post-prime defenseman. And Bickell is STILL killing us.

It kind of sucks when your best team is in the least culturally important league. Illini are a pretend 4-1 Bears are playing for draft picks Sox haven't been good in years The Bulls are good but not good enough The Blackhawks are excellent but don't really matter. Also, the only hockey team on TV here (The Stars) look great on paper, but suck. Center Ice it is, then.

QUOTE (HickoryHuskers @ Oct 6, 2015 -> 10:54 AM) If TCU had played an FBS team, even a mediocre one, instead of Samford they would have jumped OSU without the 13th game. While that may be true, a team like Notre Dame gets as much credit for beating Texas as TCU should get for beating Samford. Neither of those would replace a conference championship game where ND could theoretically rematch with Clemson.

QUOTE (LDF @ Oct 5, 2015 -> 07:25 PM) what i am going to say is really weird but the GM has really assembled a real nice group of players. now my crazy opinion. this uncertainty of the players, the success of the lines, is really exciting. all the unanswered questions will be answered when the season start. then watching them gel and get to the mid seasons. now and i am not going to say anything bad, but the loosing of all that stats this offseason. that too will be exciting, b/c the expectations will be huge. can't freaking wait for the beginning of the season. Stan Bowman would be a pedestrian GM if it wasn't for drafting. It seems like he gets played over and over again by other GMs, and yet he manages to find talent.

QUOTE (HickoryHuskers @ Oct 6, 2015 -> 10:48 AM) Playing absolute s*** for a non-conference schedule is what cost Baylor and TCU, not the lack of a 12th game. A championship is a guaranteed quality game. If Baylor and TCU had played, the winner would likely have jumped OSU.

QUOTE (HickoryHuskers @ Oct 6, 2015 -> 09:13 AM) 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. Tell that to Baylor or TCU. No championship game puts you at a major disadvantage. Maybe if Notre Dame were like Alabama, the independent thing would make sense, but they're not. They're now just a "good" program like a Texas A&M or maybe Florida. Although, now that I think about it, I'm pretty sure Notre Dame and Arkansas would spar for last place in the SEC West.

QUOTE (HickoryHuskers @ Oct 6, 2015 -> 08:58 AM) 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. I know Villanova doesn't have football. Does Butler?

QUOTE (Hatchetman @ Oct 5, 2015 -> 08:04 PM) #1 in TWTW. POTW

QUOTE (CaliSoxFanViaSWside @ Oct 6, 2015 -> 10:33 AM) So if the profits are true that begs the question . Is ownership in it for the money or would it anger them to have a winning product but the profit margin goes down ? I don't think there is any situation where a winning profit would drive margins down. Revenue goes up with a competitive product year in and year out. If the Sox would have made the playoffs in 2006 and were competitive in 2007 and 2008 still played out like it did, the culture would be completely different.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Oct 6, 2015 -> 08:55 AM) Then Reinsdorf's legacy won't end up that much better than Comiskey's... Taking a World Series team and running it into the ground when they were recently 8th-12th in the Forbes valuations isn't very easy to do, especially with that team and owner-friendly lease deal. Reinsdorf's legacy was solidified in 1996. Resolidified in 2005. His legacy won't change at all.

QUOTE (captain54 @ Oct 5, 2015 -> 08:47 PM) The TV numbers are in and they aren't pretty http://espn.go.com/blog/chicago/jon-greenb...ox-lowest-rated Numbers this bad are pretty remarkable for the third largest metro area in the country….Keep in mind, CSN covers SW Michigan and NW Indiana… So to all those that have Sox fans pegged as "whiners and complainers"…. I suggest Reinsdorf pay a lot more attention to making his franchise relevant to all those whiners and complainers.. as it slips further into irrelevancy… Also, the handwriting is on the wall for Reinsdorf and the his majority ownership of CSN.. only a matter of time before the Cubs get the wheels moving in developing their own network, similar to the Yankees.. YES Network… Right now here's the split with CSN NBC 20% Cubs 20% Hawks 20% Bulls/Sox 40% The Sox and Cubs both receive equal shares per game.. around $450K… all of this while the Cubs ratings have doubled and White Sox are watched by only the die hards of die hards Down the road, with the Cubs out of the CSN picture, that leaves Hawks, Sox and Bulls, and NBC contributing other forms of programming.. You'd have to wonder if Wirtz, as well, would consider a separate Hawk network.. Leaving Reinsdorf holding the bag on this shell of a TV sports network.. Now the deal with the Cubs runs till 2019, so the ownership of the Sox could change by then, but something tells me it stays in the Reinsdorf family... Most fanbases are like this, too. If you want people to watch, put a viable product on the field. As far as a Hawks TV network? I doubt it. The Blackhawks still aren't profitable so there is no reason to be thinking about that kind of investment. Also, there's just not a lot of hockey interest outside of Canada, Buffalo, and Chicago.

QUOTE (Rowand44 @ Oct 5, 2015 -> 10:24 AM) You can't if you're Notre Dame but you can't be rewarded for it either. One could argue ND is shooting itself in the foot by not being in a conference and getting a potential championship game.

QUOTE (knightni @ Oct 5, 2015 -> 03:49 PM) How is he a continued failure at Notre Dame? He's 49 and 21. He had his first two seasons with Weis' mediocre guys. Sorry, I thought this was Notre Dame we were talking about. Fame alone is what keeps them in the NC talk every year.

QUOTE (HickoryHuskers @ Oct 5, 2015 -> 11:04 AM) The Dolphins should hire Brian Kelly. That would be a heck of a parachute considering his continued failure at ND.

QUOTE (Hatchetman @ Oct 4, 2015 -> 07:07 PM) no name needed on home jersey. I dunno. It looks kind of bad and way too much the Yankees

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Oct 5, 2015 -> 01:23 PM) There are more important things than baseball. Good luck to CC, and his family. Great post, and I echo this sentiment 100%. I'm glad CC was strong enough to admit he had a problem and is now looking to turn his life around.

He's still calling 81 too many games. I liked Hawk back when, but years of bad baseball have made him increasingly unlistenable.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Oct 4, 2015 -> 02:35 PM) That's because he CHEATED. No Hall of Fame for any of these bums, please. I want success without cheating in my sports. I agree with this sentiment 100%. As White Sox fans, we should probably all feel this way, seeing as the 2005 White Sox were the one team in that decade without any real steroid abusers (Maybe just Pablo Ozuna) and Frank Thomas lost out the 2000 MVP to the juicebox edition of Jason Giambi.

QUOTE (Chilihead90 @ Oct 5, 2015 -> 01:33 AM) Just wait until they sign Johnny Cueto this offseason. David Price