LittleHurt05

QUOTE (HickoryHuskers @ Nov 15, 2012 -> 02:33 PM) No, you see a lot of teams that Top 25 teams schedule as their non-conference games. So the worst teams on ND's schedule are beating the snot out of the worst teams on everybody else's schedule. That's what makes ND's schedule strength so much higher. Plus factor in that every conference has 1-3 teams like Indiana that they get to play on top of the weak non-conference opponents. Even in a year where Oklahoma, Stanford, Michigan, Michigan State, and USC were all worse than anticipated, ND's schedule is still going to rate as tougher than KSU or Oregon. Navy doesn't drag the schedule strength down nearly as far as all those directional schools. I realize how strength of schedule can be worked in your favor by avoiding FCS teams. I still don't see how Navy is any more respectable than playing a directional MAC school. They essentially play the same schedule as those teams do.

QUOTE (HickoryHuskers @ Nov 15, 2012 -> 02:17 PM) Yes, Navy is beating the teams that are on the schedules of other Top 25 teams. Shows exactly how weak those other teams' schedules are. I don't see very many Pac-10 or Big 12 or SEC or Big 10 (Indiana doesn't count) teams on that schedule.

QUOTE (HickoryHuskers @ Nov 15, 2012 -> 02:04 PM) Look at the records of Navy & BYU over the last 10 years. Those teams are NOT comparable to the lower half of the MAC, CUSA, WAC, or any of the Sun Belt or FCS teams that other schools play. If Navy and BYU are second tier, then those other teams are third or fourth tier. Have you ever looked at Navy's schedules? Including Notre Dame, they average maybe 4 games a year against BCS conference teams. Look at their wins the past 3 seasons, not exactly a murderers row. 2012: VMI, Air Force, Central Michigan, Indiana, East Carolina, Florida Atlantic 2011: Delaware, W. Kentucky, Troy, SMU, Army 2010: Georgia Southern, LA. Tech, Wake Forest, SMU, Notre Dame, East Carolina, C. Michigan, San Diego St., Army

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Nov 15, 2012 -> 09:59 AM) Purely my opinion here, but when the players union hired Donald Fehr, I gave up on the hockey season. I agree. Fehr strictly cares about his clients getting what the want, not about the sport of hockey, which does not bode well for the season to happen. All of the owners are rich anyway, and some of them apparently lose money during the hockey season, so none of them are in a rush to start the season.

QUOTE (ewokpelts @ Nov 15, 2012 -> 10:17 AM) No. i see them easily averaging more fans per game. they are finally positioning themselves as a viable alternative to cubs games at wrigley. lower prices, better team, and a facilty that is not falling apart. Unfortunately, people prefer the "historic" facility that is falling apart over the Cell. With the Cubs rebuilding it could be a time to strike for the Sox, but if Theo does turn it around, the majority of fans in Chicago will gravitate back to the North Side in the end. Much larger fanbase, famous stadium, neighborhood full of action. Some things are more important then price.

Interesting stuff about the helmets, thanks. For some reason, the design of the helmets never crossed my mind.

QUOTE (HickoryHuskers @ Nov 15, 2012 -> 09:45 AM) It's not just about next year, but long term. The first step is to make season tickets more affordable by lowering prices and more desirable by fielding a winning team. Then, once you get a season ticket base built up, single game tickets (especially good seats) are in shorter supply which drives demand. Good point, I didn't look at the grand scheme of things. I guess I just don't see all the people who complained about prices, running out to go to way more Sox games in 2013.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Nov 15, 2012 -> 09:18 AM) Toews is just NOW feeling recovered from his last concussion. http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/hocke...0,4958451.story Why is it that hockey concussions tend to be way more severe than NFL concussions? Or is the NFL just way more lenient on when a player can come back?

Does anyone else think these price decreases will only have a minimal effect on attendance next year? I can see them maybe getting up to 26k a game, but nothing more. Knowing Sox fans, I can see them talking the talk about prices, but not walking the walk once they actually drop.

QUOTE (flavum @ Nov 14, 2012 -> 09:17 PM) I think Trout deserves it, but Cabrera will win it and it won't be that close. The Triple Crown will clinch it for too many voters, and I think to an extent, a lot of voters will rationalize it by thinking, "Trout is so good that he'll probably win it some other year where he's played a full season on a playoff team in a year where there wasn't a Triple Crown." If there are 28 voters, I'm predicting 18-10 in favor of Cabrera. Well said, my thoughts as well.

QUOTE (Quinarvy @ Nov 14, 2012 -> 11:45 PM) Ozzie is the worst fit for KC. I don't know, Ozzie would have his #1 fan just 45 miles away, I think that's a great fit. Baseball-wise it would not make sense, but it's all about entertaining the fans!

QUOTE (Felix @ Nov 14, 2012 -> 05:58 PM) You're f***ing crazy if you think a professional sports team is intentionally going after white players to sell tickets. It's incredibly racist to make the assumption that Minnesotans only would buy tickets to see a white team, and considering the vast majority of the white players on the team are INTERNATIONAL players, it's an even bigger preposterous statement. Winning sells tickets. It's as simple as that. The two most beloved Minnesotan athletes in history are Kevin Garnett and Kirby Puckett (OH MY GOD BLACKIES!!!). The claim is ludicrous, and anyone that wastes their time believing it or even considering it needs to get a life. I heard that most Vikings fans are demanding that they trade Adrian Peterson for Peyton Hillis.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic with the most amazing goal you will ever see: (not sure how to embed it)

QUOTE (2nd_city_saint787 @ Nov 14, 2012 -> 03:07 PM) So grabbing the #2, 5, & 7 prospect from the best farm system in baseball isn't doing the same thing? I think you missed the competitive every season comment. Loria doesn't care about winning every year. He wants to make as much money as possible, while he might run into a good season or two. I agree he did make his team better for the future, but it's not part of some grand plan to be a great baseball organization. The Cubs are trying to clean out the previous regime's mess and create their own system so that they can win every year.

QUOTE (2nd_city_saint787 @ Nov 14, 2012 -> 02:50 PM) What exactly are the Cubs doing? Putting a bad team on the field in 2012, 2013, & 2014 and possibly later years, so that Theo can build the organization his way from the bottom up. Then the Cubs will be competitive every single year, or so he claims.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Nov 14, 2012 -> 01:30 PM) The Marlins moved everyone in one deal, which is exactly what they wanted. They didn't want to drag the bad press out over a winter and sell the team off piecemeal. And there is no way in hell the Sox could afford all those pieces.

QUOTE (ChiSox_Sonix @ Nov 14, 2012 -> 12:45 PM) Never, or this year? Never since 1978 when Division 1 football split.

Random fact I saw a few weeks ago: Notre Dame, USC, & UCLA are the only three schools to never play a FCS opponent.

QUOTE (Athomeboy_2000 @ Nov 14, 2012 -> 12:14 PM) Why do the BCS computers have ND ranked #1? Every team they have played is a BCS school, so that helps. Even if they are weaker BCS teams, it's still better in the computers than non-BCS or D-2. Also, I believe they don't allow margin of victory in the computer rankings.

QUOTE (2nd_city_saint787 @ Nov 14, 2012 -> 12:16 PM) Whats to say Miami doesn't plan on spending more massive amounts of money this offseason?? Um, because their owner is Jeffrey Loria.

Great piece from Grantland: There's Shrewd, There's Genius, Then There's Marlins Owner Jeffrey Loria

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Nov 14, 2012 -> 11:28 AM) Good for him. Apparently winning is important to him, because I can't imagine any other reason why you'd want to play in Detroit. I can think of 26 million other reasons.

QUOTE (Marty34 @ Nov 14, 2012 -> 11:10 AM) Hunter to Tigers, 2 years per Rosenthal. I found this interesting: Hunter's career slash line: .277/.335/.466 Hunter's career vs. CWS: .267/.318/.476 Because of the Twins ownage of the Sox, he seemed like a major Sox killer. Truth is, he didn't do anything extra vs. the Sox, he was just the same good ballplayer.

QUOTE (59th street @ Nov 14, 2012 -> 10:17 AM) Miami went for it all BIG TIME last year and it failed so they refuse to continue with the same plan. Everybody predicted that half or more of their big named free agent signings would never be around to the end of their back loaded contracts. They would either win now and sell the team or blpow it up if it failed. this is exactly what is happening. News flash: Sports teams cannot predict the future so do not believe the hype. I won't even comment on the "honesty" of the northside ownership over the years, but we disagree. What does Cubs ownership over the years have to do with their current owner? Ricketts have only been there for a few years.

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ Nov 14, 2012 -> 09:31 AM) I'm sure he can wipe his tears with piles of cash. Maybe Toronto is more lenient on pit bulls. Buehrle will live, let's all cut the s***. Exactly. And let's not act like Buehrle was blindsided and never would have expected this. The Marlins have done this numerous times in the past, they don't offer no-trade clauses, and they backloaded his contract for this exact reason.