Bananarchy

QUOTE (knightni @ Oct 5, 2015 -> 09:20 AM) Ga Tech was #14 at the time and considered a good team. ND never plays FCS teams and they had to play ACC teams due to their new contract. I really think that calling a schedule made 5 years ago a "joke" is overstating things. Ranked "at the time" is meaningless. They're just not that good. And that Texas win might as well be FCS.

No offense to the Notre Dame fans on this board, but I'm glad Clemson put an end to the Notre Dame playoff mirage. ND is such a tough team to measure year in and year out.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Oct 5, 2015 -> 08:45 AM) Do you think it has more to do with the downgrade in talent around him, or are defenses starting to catch up to these types of QBs? IIRC, he made his first start vs. the Bears, and the Bears had no chance against him. I just don't know that he was ever that good. The talent around him isn't helping and that coaching staff is a joke, but he's still not that good.

QUOTE (SoxPride18 @ Oct 5, 2015 -> 08:19 AM) No way. That offense is so easy that NFL teams would pick it apart. You really don't see many NFL players come from Baylor on offense because they can't read a defense or run routes properly. Someone asked draft scout Matt Miller last night if Bryce Petty is 1 to 2 years away to maybe play. Matt Miller said he's that far away from reading an NFL defense. Not all players are like that, but Baylor's system is so easy that you really don't need to think at all. Spot on analysis of Baylor. They take 3 star recruits and win big games. At the end of the day, though, the blue chips are going to continually move towards programs with pro style offenses.

This win reinforces my belief that the Bears will draft the best talent available in the draft regardless of position and not risk taking a quarterback first overall.

Our organization "invented" it, so we should stick with it. I think it looks great on the Sox uniform.

QUOTE (soxfan49 @ Oct 4, 2015 -> 08:26 AM) I think it has more to do with his repeated legal issues The Hawks would have considered moving him if they didn't have the young talent. Sadly, some of this young talent is going to be lost as a result of Bowman overpaying Brent Seabrook.

QUOTE (bigruss22 @ Oct 4, 2015 -> 09:44 AM) Cubit will NOT be the Illini coach next year, They need a clean slate from the allegations. Cubit was OC and most of the players were from his side, you think he wasn't involved at all and won't be named? Golesh and Bellamy are the only 2 id consider keeping but I would understand if the new coach wants his own people. This is really smaller picture. The reality is, I don't want Mike Thomas hiring another coach. Illinois would be wise to fire him first.

It was definitely good for the sport at the time and the low scoring now is getting a little absurd. However, in lieu of bringing back PEDs, we should just automate the balls and strikes. Way too many "in the dirt" strikes in the MLB.

QUOTE (Jordan4life @ Oct 3, 2015 -> 02:26 PM) He probably won't get it. But he's the MVP, imo. Take him away from the Cubs and they're (gross) the White Sox. Kris Bryant and Anthony Rizzo would disagree. We have Abreu, who is a little better than either, but we don't have two players that equal the two of them.

QUOTE (Buehrle>Wood @ Oct 3, 2015 -> 09:42 AM) Of the 30 most accurate kickers of all-time, 19 are active players right now, so that's not really true. The other 11 are relavtibrly recent amd could still be had right now really. Kickers have all become so good that there's little difference in between them these days. The value of a kicker was never incredibly high, but it is deteriorating quickly. You can draft any kid from any school that can kick. The Bears have every tape of every game, so no talented kickers will fall through the cracks.

QUOTE (SoxPride18 @ Oct 3, 2015 -> 07:56 PM) Panarin just stick handled around 3 stars players at center ice to set up a scoring chance. World class. Between him and Teuvo, you know why the Hawks were taking offers for Patrick Kane.

QUOTE (SoxPride18 @ Oct 3, 2015 -> 09:41 PM) I feel like they are more disciplined without Beckman. If Cubit somehow gets to 7-5 or 8-4 before a bowl game, I think you have to take the interim tag off him and make him the permanent head coach. I would be concerned he can't recruit. If we're unable to recruit, we might as well hire a system coach like an Art Briles type to coach our team and get the most out of 3 star guys.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Oct 3, 2015 -> 05:05 PM) Even after pedaling Peavy and Rios ? Sox talk did get what they wanted in 2013. Tyler Flowers. The fact is, the reason the team was bad wasn't coaching or managing. If Joe Maddom was the 2013 White Sox manager with the same roster, are they a playoff team? No, but they wouldn't look so terrible losing those games. The fact is, Robin is NOT the only reason why we were terrible. A huge part of that is on the players, but there is a ton of room for improvement in the managerial ranks.

QUOTE (fathom @ Oct 2, 2015 -> 08:34 PM) Next year should be do or die for Ventura and Hahn. They clearly want to go for it again, so there needs to be good transactions and Ventura needs them ready out of the gate. This year should have been do or die for Ventura. Hahn should have hired his own guy in the first place.

QUOTE (lord chas @ Oct 1, 2015 -> 08:48 PM) Trestman will be lucky to not get fired mid season Back to Canada, I think.

Ravens have a terrible OC. Steelers win this.

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Sep 29, 2015 -> 03:19 PM) Big difference between the previous regime and the current regime. We suck terribly in both regime's (won / loss), but the current regime clearly is setting a tone that it is unacceptable and we will find new people until we right the ship. Words cannot describe how confident I am in this GM.

Vereen waived. That's 8 Emery guys gone from the lineup. It's not hard to figure out why we're so bad.

QUOTE (HickoryHuskers @ Sep 29, 2015 -> 07:42 AM) This is the fatal flaw with the NFL right now, and it's why it's much less fun for me to watch. 1) The game has evolved to where you need an elite QB, or at least a near-elite QB along with an elite defense, in order to win a championship 2) There is a large talent gap between the #1 and #32 QB in the NFL The net result of those two facts is that about half the teams start each season with absolutely no chance to win the Super Bowl, and of those half, at most three will get the chance to draft a QB in the next draft that will get them out of that bottom half. The Trent Dilfer 2000 Ravens don't compete in this era. The 2010 season showed that the Bears can win with Cutler IF everything else falls into place perfectly, but things aren't going to fall into place perfectly anytime before Jay's age gets to him. The Bears also picked a really bad season to be this bad because I don't see a franchise QB out there. Number two is definitely true. There is a huge talent gap between Cutler and quarterback #20-#32 in the NFL. There is a huge dropoff where players picked are no longer starters but veteran journeymen or career backups. As far as half the team having no chance to win the Super Bowl, that's probably not true. There's a middle of the pack blob that can make the playoffs in a Wild Card or a weak division.

QUOTE (Y2JImmy0 @ Sep 29, 2015 -> 08:07 AM) You could always move back into round 1 for a QB. If they pick in the top 5, it'll be defense or LT Agreed on all of this. Getting a defensive player in the top of the draft seems to be more of a lock than any poential quarterback in this draft.

QUOTE (LDF @ Sep 28, 2015 -> 10:01 PM) yeah you are calling it. i kind of sad now. Meh, that's like seasons away, and the Hawks will still be good, but we all need to enjoy this team while they're still there. I wouldn't be surprised if in years the Blackhawks are a bit more like the Detroit Red Wings of late. QUOTE (LDF @ Sep 28, 2015 -> 10:03 PM) you know, you brought something up, i wonder how long Q can keep that excellence of what he brings out in the players going without getting burn out. Q's coaching will be critical over the next couple of seasons. He likes to rely on veterans to fill holes, but the Blackhawks have enough talent in the minors that you would almost rather they be a little worse but set the foundation for the future.

Cutler isn't going anywhere. Pace has too many holes to fill. If he thinks he can get a franchise guy this year, I may be wrong, but I don't see it.

QUOTE (LDF @ Sep 28, 2015 -> 09:51 PM) this was an excellent conversation going on. i really hated to jump in.... but now it seem to be coming to end. i will say, i am in the group who thinks that he deserves the value of that contract. but i also agree it is too long. it should have been a 4-5 yr extension starting at the end of this season. i just hope it is not another bickell contract .... It's probably not that bad, mostly for the fact that this team will be exiting its window by the time this contract is up. The only thing this contract does is really emphasize that this "dynasty" has a definitive expiration date.

QUOTE (illinilaw08 @ Sep 28, 2015 -> 04:09 PM) Here's the thing I don't get about the Cutler hate. Bears fans, as much as any NFL franchise, know how difficult it is to find even a decent NFL QB. Cutler, for all his flaws, is the best QB the Bears have had in my lifetime (one Erik Kramer season in '94 notwithstanding). The Bears had their chances with Cutler. The NFC Championship game being the obvious example. But when the defense was good enough to win titles, the weapons weren't there and the o-line wasn't there. Flacco, to me anyway, is the best case scenario for Cutler. Flacco caught absolute fire for one postseason and got his Super Bowl. Cutler has the tools to put a stretch like that together, but those opportunities are gone with the current state of the defense. As to the contract stuff, average and better NFL QBs make bank. Period. End of story. Yeah, Cutler's contract is for a lot of money, but so is just about every other QB not on a rookie contract, so it's hard to hold the money against either Cutler or the Bears. Great post. And honestly, with the huge holes Pace has to fill, I don't think quarterback is that high on the list. We have a luxury the normal rebuilding team doesn't have.