Controlled Chaos

My bad...section 350...I think 1 has sold. Sorry we have a big group and everyone put the word out so our buddy doesn't have to eat the tickets.

Not sure if there is a special location for selling tickets anymore, but I have 2 Club level tickets Sec 305 available for tomorrows home opener. Face value- $74 per ticket. If you haven't sat in club level before...opening day is the time to do it. Food and bathroom lines are worth the cost alone. Let me know if interested.

Sup all, Anything entertaining happening with the Sox?

For anyone interested in an excel spread for an offline draft. http://www.soxtalk.com/forums/index.php?s=...t&p=2857288

Link to current Fantasy Draft spreadsheets. You won't be able to preview, so just download and open in excel. You'll have to enable editing because I have a macro in there for a timer at the top. There is a 10 team 16rd and a 12 team 16 rd. https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0B3x...amp;usp=sharing

One of the better articles I've seen on the strike. Replacement refs, NFL both risk game's integrity By Jim Gray Published September 26, 2012 | FoxNews.com advertisement Monday night in Seattle, in the final moments of a game between the Seahawks and the Green Bay Packers, a controversial call by replacement referees awarded a touchdown to the Seahawks. After what we saw, I think that many fans all over America are sleepless. Fans are worried and disappointed with the game they love. I don't blame them. They deserve better. The fans watch the games, they follow their teams, pay their money, and they don’t like what they are seeing. Regular referees are involved in a labor dispute with the NFL and are locked out. There have been a number of controversies surrounding officiating in all sports over the years, and it becomes part of the legend of the game. In the NFL, "the holy roller," "the immaculate reception," and "the tuck rule," are all etched in the minds of football fans. How long of a life Monday night's episode will have remains to be seen. My guess is that this too shall pass. But the fact of the matter is, it should have never happened. The league said as much Tuesday in their press release which stated offensive pass interference should have been called, therefore ending the game. The replacement officials on the field are doing their best, but this is not what they do, and they are overmatched by the speed of the game, the voluminous rule book, and lack of experience. [pullquote] Monday night was the culmination of a very bad weekend for the replacements who made a number of mistakes, which has lead to considerable frustration and anger from all corners. There is a lack of respect for the replacements by the players and the coaches who know that they are not up to the task, so they seek to take advantage of the situation. This lack of respect is only making matters worse. The player and coaches who are creating more chaos are the same ones complaining about the lack of policing. As for the league's position on the lockout, here is the basic summary of their position, as put out Monday in a letter to the teams: “Game officials on average earned almost $150,000 in 2011. Prior to the start of the lockout, we proposed a 7-year deal that would have increased average game official’s compensation more than 7 percent to just over $161,000 in 2012, and further increase that average to more than $189,000 by 2018. In addition, we have offered a generous defined contribution retirement plan, with average contributions of $16,500 in 2012, increasing to more than $22,300 per game official by 2018. Officials also receive numerous other benefits, including severance equal to one year’s game fees and postseason bonus, a period of guaranteed ‘time off’ from the end of the season through mid-may of each year, first-class air travel, and partial reimbursement for medical insurance for officials who do not have insurance through their other jobs.” The league sees this as a very fair offer. And with all of the economic problems that our country is suffering with, what is so bad about a $161,000 dollars for part time work which entails only 20 weekends, a little prep time, as well as a pension and benefits? Do you know how many people would love to have this job? But that’s a large part of the problem. All of the regular officials hold full time jobs, so they can afford to holdout with no sense of urgency as their main pay checks continue to flow. This puts the league in a difficult position, of having to negotiate with a group that is not dependent on the work. However, as we have seen the last seven weeks, not just anyone is capable of performing these tasks at a high level out on the field. So the officials are valuable. They are missed and they are needed. But the regular officials need to get realistic and remember they are being very well compensated for a part time job. The officials seem to be saying that, because the league is generating billions and billions of dollars in revenue, they should be sharing in that. And they are. But the officials are not the game. Not to diminish them, but to be fair, no one has ever paid one penny to go to a game to watch the guys with the yellow flags. A few days ago I read the NFL players association letter to the NFL owners, which stated that there is, " a deterioration of order, safety, and integrity to the game." While it deals in much rhetoric, the element of integrity is what is most important. The integrity of the game is sacrosanct. It is the pillar of what makes the games legitimate. That’s why there are so many rules in place that insure that the games are honest and fair. The second that the public thinks the games are not, is the moment that the fascination that people have with the NFL will end. I also heard DeMaurice Smith, the head of the players union, talking in an interview about how awful things are regarding this lockout. He may be right. He also has the power to do something about it. Smith is not permitted to call a strike unless he feels that federal law, which allows employees to strike due to "dangerous work conditions," is being broken. The letter the players association sent to the owners says that player safety is a problem. So why doesn’t he order the players to strike, to take a stand, since it is so dangerous and safety is such an issue? Let’s see how many players are willing to stand with their referee brethren and miss a few pay checks. I imagine that there would be zero support for that, and my guess is at that point, the replacements will do just fine, however flawed they maybe. It is not as if the regular officials don’t make errors. They do. All the time. And when they return, they will have an even finer microscope on them. After 15 hours of mediation over the weekend failed to bridge the gap, as well as a session on Monday, perhaps what happened in Seattle will open the eyes on each side that damage is being done to the game we all love. All concerned should keep one thing in the forefront of their minds: the fans deserve better. Everyone needs to take a step back, and end this self inflicted wound. Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2012/09/26/...t#ixzz27bBiWL00

QUOTE (GoSox05 @ Jan 10, 2012 -> 12:47 PM) ESPN's Adam Schefter reports the Raiders have fired coach Hue Jackson. Reggie Mckenzie is not messing around. I can't understand why a GM cares about having that kind of authority.

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Jan 5, 2012 -> 11:48 AM) Fisher is a tremendous head coach and is one guy I would be completey on board with hiring over Lovie. Note: There aren't many guys I'd replace Lovie with in the league. I do think if you brought in a GM like the Ravens guy (who is the top candidate in the league) and the Bears loved him and he was in with the exception that he needed to have a shot to bring in his coach, than I'd probably do it. There are probably 5 coaches better than Lovie in this league: 1. Bellicheck 2. Sean Payton 3. McCarthy 4. Tomlin 5. Reid I think anyone else and you can make an argument Lovie is better. The next list, which includes Lovie, also includes Mike Smith, the Harbaugh Brothers, Shanny (I might include him in the top group), and Rex Ryan (who I happen to hate). You could also argue for Kubiak (who I'm a huge fan of). Which means, if you agree with my list, at worse, Lovie is the 11th or 12th best coach in the league. I happen to think he rates on par with everyone else on the list of this group of candidates and most definitely ahead of Rex. Please tell me what you see in Lovie. Here's my thoughts : http://www.talkbears.com/forums/index.php?...ost&p=99599

QUOTE (Quinarvy @ Nov 16, 2011 -> 11:53 AM) The Moore and Cutler helmet attacks were just wrong. And Fairley. That was just all out trying to hurt someone. Speaking of...any word on fines at all?

My Lovie take...some of this is from the beginning of the year, but still holds true. He's had some success recently because he is surrounded by good assistants. Martz, Tice, Marinelli. These guys have changed the identity of the "Lovie Smith" team. A good head coach creates a tree of assistants that go on to other jobs and take the identity or mental approach they learned, with them. The head coach passes on his wisdom to the subordinates, who then copy them and go on to success themselves. In the Bears case, the new coaches came in and implemented their strategy, wisdom and identity to the piss poor one that Lovie had out there. Rivera tried pushing some of his own strategy and identity and even though it worked, he was run out of town. Lovie wanted this team, especially on the defensive side of the ball, to be about him. Well he certainly got it…he put his puppet in charge(Babich) of the defense and watched him fail as he pulled the strings. He then came out from behind the curtain and pulled the strings himself. What we saw wasn't pretty. A stubborn coach who showed no passion or aggressiveness in his calls. A coach who lacked the creativity or the ability to adjust a scheme, not only on the fly, but also from week to week. A coach who had the balls to say 'trust me' yet didn't have the balls to hold lazy, senseless penalty taking and unproductive players acccountable. The positive is I think Lovie learned something and now realizes his lack of tenacity, lack of accountability and lack of overall leadership with the players is not the way to go. What Lovie can do and to his credit, what he is doing, is allowing his assistants to grab the reigns and lead a little. The players are taking on the assistants identity instead of Lovie's. Those 4th down calls last year….that's all Martz. Lovie has the power to overrule, but the call to go for 6 instead of 3 is coming from the OC who brings the mentality of "you can't stop us" That mentality is not Lovie's…never has been and never will be. The cutting of players...benchings of starters, not in Lovie's character at all. We have seen that over the past 7 years. Only when Marinelli took the reigns of the Defense and Tice/Martz of the offense did we start to see any semblance of accountability. The problem is, there's supposed to be a happy median between letting your Assistants run rampant(Martz) and meddling so much as to undermine their authority(Rivera). Lovie needs to know when to put the brakes on his OC and make the smart play. It seems pretty clear he won't do that unless forced. It took the whole city screaming before Martz changed his ways last year. We can assume Lovie was the one who finally talked to him about this, but when push came to shove Martz would do what he wanted. Martz started off the same way this year, did he change because of Lovie or Tice or just because it was the right thing to do?? Who knows? I honestly think Lovie has zero input right now with regard to the Offense and very little with regard to the Defense. This defense is different than it was when it was all Babich and Lovie. They are doing different things. Different looks. Some press coverage. Rivera wanted to implement some of that stuff and was run out of town. Lovie is simply the face of the team… the guy in front of the mic on interview day, the guy in charge of the red flag on game day, the guy in charge of clock management and the guy to give the speech after the game. That's it. I'm not sure how he is at after the game speeches...but the players love him, so let's give him an A+, so we can average off the D's he's getting on his other responsibilities. Not sure that's worth the 5.5 he's getting paid. I don't think any of these guys are HC material, but they might be able to succeed like this, cause I think they all see each other as equal, regardless of title. That's why they wouldn't let Tice interview with Titans last year. So, if it can work collectively with this 4 headed monster, than let's roll with it. They all should have the same amount of time on their contracts and when it fails...they're all gone! But let's not put Lovie in the coaching hall of fame. In his tenure here we've had 3 OC's, 4 DC's, and countless position coaches. This is the Chicago Bears and the fans deserve more than on the job training. In 7 full seasons he has a whopping total of 3 playoff wins. I'm hoping they get it done collectively and if they do, it should be acknowledged as that.

Anyone know a good bench coach?

Would love to see some of Marks numbers in this thread and other accomplishments.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Sep 27, 2011 -> 10:26 AM) I don't think it was just Ozzie not fitting well with the roster. I think that Ozzie is a different person these days too. This is the appreciation thread so I'm going to stop there. Is there a non appreciative thread so I can review all things bad ozzie?

Quake Listed at 5.9 Rattles East Coast From North Carolina to New York http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/earthquak...ory?id=14364643

If anyone is interested. The viewer won't load these because I didn't convert to google docs. Just choose download and open in excel. Fantasy Football Draft 2011 10 team 18 rd.xls - https://docs.google.com/leaf?id=0B3xUoNbpvK...Q3&hl=en_US Fantasy Football Draft 2011 10 team 16 rd.xls - https://docs.google.com/leaf?id=0B3xUoNbpvK...Rm&hl=en_US Fantasy Football Draft 2011 12 team 18 rd.xls - https://docs.google.com/leaf?id=0B3xUoNbpvK...Ay&hl=en_US Fantasy Football Draft 2011 12 team 16 rd.xls - https://docs.google.com/leaf?id=0B3xUoNbpvK...Vh&hl=en_US