Bananarchy

QUOTE (Jose Abreu @ Oct 7, 2015 -> 08:14 PM) Lmao, you admire Tom Brady with everything that's going on right now? Like winning 4 Super Bowls? Yeah, I do.

QUOTE (Quinarvy @ Oct 7, 2015 -> 08:12 PM) Guys, there's no questioning AustinIllini is a Sox fan. He just holds extreme admiraton for the Cubs. I don't like the Patriots but I admire Tom Brady? I'm a lifelong Bears fan. You need to readjust your definition of fandom.

QUOTE (Mike F. @ Oct 7, 2015 -> 08:09 PM) This isn't the first time I've seen you post Pro-Cubs stuff on here. Are you sure that you're really a Sox fan? I'm a White Sox fan. It's agonizing. I want the Sox to be good. They're trash from the top down. The Cubs are the model we need to follow.

Hopefully, if the Cubs are good enough, it will convince our FO to go in that direction. You know, drafting and developing our own talent.

QUOTE (Mike F. @ Oct 7, 2015 -> 08:06 PM) Hey Cub fan, shouldn't you be on a different forum? I don't question your fandom. Don't question mine, Cub fan.

QUOTE (fathom @ Oct 7, 2015 -> 08:05 PM) Just going to get worse the next few weeks if this continues. 2003 was crazy It's going to "get worse" indefinitely. This is twice the organization we have.

QUOTE (Mike F. @ Oct 7, 2015 -> 08:04 PM) This game f***ing sucks. The bandwagon is exploding and I HATE it. It has NOTHING to do with you.

I just get the feeling the Cubs aren't out of the woods yet.

I'm convinced defense will be a problem. Trevor Daley is not a defenseman.

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Oct 7, 2015 -> 04:25 PM) I hope he turns into a beast of a center. Would be great. I've always felt championships and top teams are built at the lines. It's hard not to be bullish with Pace picks at this point. Adams and Goldman look like they're progressing nicely. The first pick is out, though, so I guess we'll see.

QUOTE (chw42 @ Oct 6, 2015 -> 04:40 PM) Yeah, I don't think that's the case at all. It's not that there's not many Cubs fans, it's that there's much more Rangers and Astros fans here. I don't think Austin much cares about sports, but there's no doubt in my mind if the Astros/Rangers are 1, 2, without a doubt the Cubs are #3. The Chicago following here is enormous.

QUOTE (CanOfCorn @ Oct 6, 2015 -> 03:27 PM) LDF and Austin Illini, We...as fans...have the luxury of looking back on every signing, contract, trade or non-trade with 20/20 vision. Well, it's OUR 20/20 vision. We see things the way we want to. For instance, having to deal Saad to keep Seabrook. Signing Bickell to 4 years, whatever the total is. Trading this player we love for that player we don't love as much. But there are things we don't see. Trades that are agreed to but pulled at the last minute because of injury or owner doesn't like it. Signings based on progress. Signings based on performance. Signings based on potential. Signings based on market. Here's a stat. For this coming year. Brent Seabrook is the highest paid Blackhawks D-man. He is also the 13th highest paid d-man in the league. PK Subban is first at $9 m. This is just this year. Let's say Seabrooks contract kicked in this year. He'd be the 9th highest paid d-man in the league. Right behind Zdeno Chara. So, now, let's look at the d group, cap hit and league rank: Seabrook: $5.8 (13) Keith: $5,538,462 (20) Hammer: $4.1 (65) Daley: $3.3 (94) Rundblad: $1.05 (150) TVR: $925,000 (157) By the way, I got all of these at http://www.spotrac.com/nhl/rankings/cap-hit/defenseman/ You should see the murderers row of horribly paid defensemen above ours on that list. Even the ones that may have earned the contract haven't won a damn thing (Subban, Weber, Suter, Phaneuf, Pietrangelo, Karlsson). You sign players like Keith and Seabrook and Hossa to those long but slightly undervalued contracts for two reasons...one for their service so they know they are going to be taken care of and two, other players notice this and want to play for your team, not oonly because you win, but because you are protected by your org. But then, you would say, what about Bickell? Well, at the time he was extended, he just had a monster post-season. That's one. He's a power forward, something the Blackhawks don't have a lot of. That's two. That was the market rate for those types of players, coming off that season/playoffs. That's three. The cap was supposed to have gone up more than it has by now. That's four. Let's go to trades. Sharp needed to go because he's getting older, the issues in the locker room, AND you have players ready to step up and take that role. Sure it sucked to lose Johns, but this is the old argument of how do you view minor leaguers? Are they tradeable until they prove they can play at the big league level? OR are they someone you need to hold onto because they are going to be awesome? Pros and cons to both, I would say. But, for me, Johns hasn't done anything until he does something (RIP Yogi). Saad wanted to get paid. The Blackhawks couldn't afford him at what he wanted. If he would have taken a little bit of a discount, he would still be here. But, as is his right, he wanted the most he can get. So you get what you can. And to be honest, I think the FO did pretty damn well for themselves. So what if Dano isn't here to start the season. Teuvo wasn't either, but he was up when it mattered and won a Cup. It won't be long for Dano. AA is a serviceable 2C or 3C who should be pretty good on a line with Kane and Panarin. Oduya waited as long as he could. He's more expensive and older than Kruger, so he had to get as much as he could. The Blackhawks couldn't meet his demands in his time frame. So, he found a team that could. Be well. But the fact that Kruger probably could have gotten double his salary, and maybe more, but opted to stay with the Hawks is pretty incredible. My point with all of this isn't to prove you are wrong. Because you aren't wrong. But you aren't right either. And neither am I. Johns could be awesome and we could regret that trade. Sharp may score 40 or he may show his age. Dano might never pan out to be anything. Or he may be 75% of what Saad was. We could go through this with ALL of our players. So, let's just not. The Blackhawks have won 3 Cups in 6 years and are poised to do it again in the next few. That's pretty incredible and Stan deserves credit for it. One more thing. Sure Bickell's contract sucks now. I think we can all agree on that. But think of this...when he gets traded or sent down, there is so much depth, I wouldn't feel nervous about who would take his place. And honestly, other than Rundblad, I don't worry about the D depth either. Sure there are some green d-men in Svedberg, Pokka and Gustaffson, but one of those three should be able to step up when called upon. Whew. This is a great post and I appreciate the time you took to write this. I just feel like Stan is a top ten GM but there are certainly better ones.

QUOTE (pettie4sox @ Oct 6, 2015 -> 03:14 PM) Hawks fans are bloody assholes that's why. They totally disrespect other teams. I can't tell if you're sarcastic or not, but if you have been to a road game in a city like Dallas, the Blackhawks fans (of which I consider myself one) are completely jerks.

QUOTE (Buehrle>Wood @ Oct 6, 2015 -> 02:47 PM) Yeah sorry but that's an awful post. The cubs directly impact our fanbase. Can't believe anyone would deny that. You don't have to hate the cubs or anything but don't deny reality either. The reality is there is room enough for two baseball teams in Chicago and each can be successful regardless of the success. Who made the Sox horrible this year? The White Sox. The Cubs have nothing to do with this. Any fans we lose we deserve. We're garbage.

QUOTE (Chicago White Sox @ Oct 6, 2015 -> 02:31 PM) Lol what? Cubs don't matter? Guess we aren't competing for the same fans. You're really not. 1) Cubs fans are a more nation wide fanbase. There are nearly as many Cub fans in Austin as there are Astros or Rangers fans here. You're never going to make those people White Sox fans. 2) When the White Sox were good, you know a huge portion of the people watching were Cub fans. Also, they don't affect our organization. Period. If the Sox are good, they have enough fans to go. If they're bad, no one bothers. Cubs have nothing to do with it.

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ Oct 6, 2015 -> 02:29 PM) Ours does, too. They're going to try to remain competitive every year, without ever "going for broke." And it's fine -- the team has zero market-rate financial obligations beyond 2017 and the farm system continues to improve. The difference is the White Sox don't deliver at all. They're bad every year. They can't draft position players, either.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Oct 6, 2015 -> 02:27 PM) And a year ago, Theo was getting ripped left and right. It was reported the Cubs had no money, they spend it all paying down their debt, their TV ratings were horrible... Now nothing in the world is wrong with the Cubs. Theo said this would happen. He was right. The smart people knew what the plan was.

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.