Soxbadger

In 2-3 years things may change, but right now it feels so premature to be saying Weber needs to go. Last year Wisconsin tanked for a variety of reasons at the end of the season, but I cant remember 1 Wisconsin fan say anything about replacing Bo Ryan. I guess I just cant understand how you can seriously consider firing a coach who has had the success level as Weber for a bad year. Down years are going to happen, but I dont see any reason why Illinois is not going to be one of the top 3 Big 10 programs for the next few years.

Thats pretty unfair especially if Pruitt does not play tonight. I doubt Indiana would be faring any better with the type of injuries Illinois has had. Some team that does not have a fanbase who is so hell bent on recruiting will get a great coach in Weber if he is fired. When I look at Weber I think of guys like Bo Ryan, who may not be the sexiest recruiter in the world, but know how to win basketball games. Weber has won 11 more games than Self did over a the same 3 year span, he also took Illinois deeper into the NCAA tournament than Self. Maybe it will be 2-3 more years before Weber becomes a destination coach, but unless Illinois has some dynamite replacement lined up, I think Weber has proven himself where it counts, and that is winning games.

I think Rivera has added something to Lovie's d. I also like the fact he coached with the Eagles and learned from Johnson there. Lovie is a nice coach, I just dont think he is one of those irreplaceable coaches like Bill Walsh. I like Lovie but if the Cowboys start talking crazy money ($5mil +) I have no problem with seeing Lovie leave for a first rounder or 2. And its not like Lovie created thet Tampa 2, I believe Kiffin did.

Instead of saying "some bears fans" either point out if your talking about me or not. Because Ill be glad to explain why I posted, and Ill be glad if you are to afraid to call me out directly to go on my merry way. And your right, I dont care about Belicheck or his b**** antics. I do care about the quality of posts on this board. So if I see something that I think I saw differently, then I am going to point it out, and I am going to give my opinion.

My guess is that Manning didnt want to be a dick and say: "I tried to talk to Belicheck and he stood me up." Especially after all the hits LT took for saying what he did about the Pats. Also he probably realized people saw what happened on the field and if he didnt mention Belicheck by name they would write whatever they want. Im not saying Manning is a liar, Im just saying I saw what happened and I feel that Manning is trying to be better than others by not b****ing about Belicheck. What would he gain? If anything it would take away from his moment, why should he stoop to Belicheck's petty bulls***?

Damn, Badger fans need an Illini win against the Hoosiers. Plus Pruitt looked outstanding against Wisconsin and I was hoping hed be able to build on that, because if he could have the same game against IU as he did Wisconsin, Illini had a good chance.

Ah okay. That makes more sense. I would not pass on 2 first rounders for lovie. Id hire Rivera and bring in Mike Singletary as the DC.

Some patriots players did congratulate and talk to Manning after the game. I was specifically saying Belicheck did not. REdandwhite seems to disagree and say that Belicheck did congratulate manning right after Dungy and Belicheck spoke. We must have had different feeds in Chicago. But whatever the case, Manning went up to Belicheck and Belicheck did not have the time of day for Manning. I cant imagine Lovie, Dungy, Sean Payton, doing the same type of thing.

Why do people keep saying this isnt the NBA in reference to getting draft picks for Lovie. Last I checked the Raiders got a boatload for John Chucky Gruden. I believe it included 2 1st rounders and 2 second rounders. Not sure why Lovie would not command atleast half that deal if some one is hell bent on him coaching.

Well you can go back and watch it with your own eyes if you dont believe me. I have no reason to lie as I dont care either way, and I know what I saw because I remarked about it immediately. The game was over, Dungy and Belicheck met in the middle of the field, Manning is waiting outside of the group of reporters. Once Dungy and Beliechek stop talking Manning immediately goes to Belicheck. Belichek does not even raise his head in acknowledgement. ::shrugs:: So as for "nobody really knows" your right, no one knows what happened after the field. But I do know what happened prior because I was actually watching the game, and watched manning/belicheck from the minute the game ended because I wanted to see what would happen. Maybe Belicheck congratulated Manning before the game ended? I dont know, but I do know what I saw. So you can believe me, or you can believe whatever you want. Wont make any difference in my day.

He could have shook Manning's hand. I dont really like or dislike him, but I think what a man would do in that situation is shake the other opponents hand. Now if the Colts had lost and Manning did not want to shake the Pat's hands it would be different. That would be years of emotional losses. But here the Pats won a lot more than they lost, Belicheck could have shook his hand and said good luck, even if he didnt mean it.

Especially considering peyton waited just to be able to talk to Belicheck. Youd think that after 3 Super Bowl wins Belicheck could take a loss with a litte bit of dignity. (I guess its possible that Beliechek later congratulted Manning, but after the game Manning was waiting for Belicheck after he talked with Dungy and Belicheck did not even raise his head up to acknowledge Manning.)

I guess my prediction of 27-10 for the Bears wasnt to bad. Especially if you compare it to most of the experts. If only I could get paid.

And the Bears kicked more fg's: Gould: 32/36 Carney: 23/25 The Bears settled for FG's in many more games beause of the leads they had. Because if you look at XP's both Carney and Gould kicked 47. We shall see on Sunday though. Either Ill look really stupid, or really right.

Well if you take away all the turnovers by Rex Im sure that our defense has given up less points. The problem is that you cant just compartmentalize the game. The Bears have scored more points and been scored on less times. There are a variety of reasons for this, turn overs, field possession, defense, etc. Its just people act like the Bears can not score points, when through out the season including the playoffs the Bears have scored more points than the Saints. Last week without 1 defensive or special teams td the Bears scored the same amount of points as the Saints. They even had 1 negated for a block in the back.

Its because experts want to feel good and pick NO. They get a happy feeling when they see on their little sheet that they picked NO to be in the Super Bowl. Thats why atleast on ESPN the only expert without a heart (computer) picked the Bears. Im glad we are the underdog, and my score prediction is a bold 27-10. I think the Seahawks were a better team than the Saints. If the Saints played any games without Brees they would not be in the playoffs, if Duece went down maybe they arent the 2 seed. Seahawks over came injuries to their top 3 offensive players, and then played the Bears at full strength. I dont know maybe Im just to big of a Bears fan to understand. But I feel like im pretty fair in my critiques, and I just dont see where these experts are coming from. Its a home game in an outdoor stadium, its supposed to snow. And I dont get how you knock the Bears defense when they are playing the Saints. Maybe they are not the #1 defense anymore, but all they have to be is better than the Saints defense. PF PA A. 427 255 B. 413 322 Team A has the most points scored and the least points against. Team A has to be the Saints right?

haha When I was at Madison there was some new federal legislation all the smoke shops were worried about so they had all these crazy sales. The Pipefitter (on state street in madison) started with all glass pieces at 25% off and by the end of the week it was at 75%. And in the end it never even mattered because the store is still there and selling glass pieces. It was just one of those great weeks in college.

That ones okay, but if I had ever been to one, not that I have been, I would say that Secrets is the best. Especialy if you get the 20% discount, if they had one, not that I would know.

They sell em at all the local smoke shopes. For those of you in Chicago that means places like Secrets, Smoke Dreams, and whatever other places are in the Belmont/Halsted Area. They are supposed to be safes, and I dont think that they are a great idea for smuggling.

I was just going to post that every expert picked the Bears. The more this stuff comes out, the more confident I get. Worst case scenario for the Saints, was the Bears coming in feeling like underdogs and the pressure all of a sudden being on the road team.

The problem I feel Indiana will have is matching up against big teams. DJ white and Ben Allen will be significantly undersized against a team like Wisconsin. Hard to guard the paint with 1 6'9 guy and 1 6'11 guy when Wisconsin can pull a line up with Butch, Chapelle, Landry, and thats not even adding Steisma to the mix. Against Iowa I felt Indiana looked a little small. We will see how it all plays out, but right now I think Wisconsin and OSU are the 2 best D's (both have only given up 70 points 2 times) and IU a close 3rd (also has only given up 70 points only 2 times just not as big so may have problems with some teams.) But we will see what happens. Im not all that confident in the Wisconsin v Indiana game because Wisconsin struggles against small teams. If you look at the NU and Purdue games both teams effectively played small line ups and packed the paint. I expect Sampson to have DJ White as the biggest player on the floor and try and use speed and quickness to get at Wisconsin. If Bo Ryan does not realize bounce passes are to dangerous against small line ups Wisconsin will struggle against teams like NU who are willing to play an unorthodox style and try and frustrate Wisconsin. In ththe Indiana game the biggest match up I believe will be DJ White versus Landry. Right now he is Wisconsin's best defender and generally is the stopper when it comes to big men (even defending Oden). Should be interesting to see how Wisconsin starts to change their philosophy because teams are really trying some different strategies to win. First they have to beat Illinois and Wisconsin has not faired well against them since the Weber take over. It really is still early in the Big 10 season and almost anything can happen. I think Wisconsin has enough quality wins to make the NCAA unless they really unrival so at this point its all about a championship and seeding.

If Iowa and Indiana are the best 2 defenses, I guess Wisconsin isnt in the picture. http://bigtenwonk.blogspot.com/ Some interesting Big 10 stats there. Im sure that there was no disrespect ment by the posts, but its hard to really believe that Wisconsin does not have 1 of the top 2 D's in the Big 10.

I think OSU is presently better than Indiana. And these posts about OSU never winning a NC in basketball are just out there. Yes I know IU has won 5 NC's, unfortunately not 1 of them has been since 1990. As a Wisconsin fan, Im more afraid of OSU this year and the coming years, as compared to Indiana.

Rock, No one really knows what Indiana has. The biggest game for them may be the game against Wisconsin because Indiana only plays both OSU and Wisconsin 1 time. It is feasible that Indiana beats Wisconsin (the game is at Indiana) and then has a very good chance at the Big 10 title. That being said, we will know much more about the Hoosiers in 4 games. At UConn, At Illinois, vs Michigan, vs Wisconsin. If they can go 3-1, 4-0 in that stretch they are for real. As long as they go 2-2 and the losses are to Uconn and Wisconsin they still have a very good chance at a nice seed in the NCAA as they almost by default will be the 3rd best team in the Big 10. But I really dont think losing at Indiana by 10 is something to hang your hat on for SIU.

I can guess some theories, but from what Ive read the directions came from pretty high up. I also dont think it was because of Barry, but for other reasons, thats why I figure the Prosecutor pissed some one off.