thundercleetz

Jason Heyward gets 8-years $184M from the Cubs. Supposedly he rejected $200M deals from the Nats and Cards because the Cubs gave him insane player opt-out clauses after three and four years. Risky contract for the Cubs. Heyward is only 26-years old and plays outstanding defense, as well as gets on base at a high clip. However, he is an enormous guy that hits for no power. The Cubs are going to place him in CF because Solar and Schwarber are awful defensive players. You know Heyward's defense will decline over time because he is a big guy who hasn't grown into his 6'5" frame yet. Take into account there is no power premium (and it will likely even decline worse because of his awkward swing), and this has the makings of a bad contract. I think he is a similar player to Nick Markakis or Carl Crawford, and not a Bryce Harper or Mike Trout.

I love Brown's game as a WR. Great hands, excellent body control and he is strong high pointing the ball in the air. We don't have any other receivers who play like that. He should be getting all the opportunities for us.

Boras knows what he is doing. Someone will pay Davis if we don't.

Got a $3.5M signing bonus plus he gets his complete $3.5M annual salary for 2015.

Two contracts! Power to him!

Dee... Same thing happened to me when I played through Ground Zero. It wasn't until I nearly beat the game that I realized you could choke people out. Looking back at the game, it's probably possible to beat it in less than an hour. However, it took me over five because I didn't know what to do lol.

Hargreaves got killed yesterday by Ridley who went for 8 receptions for 102 yards.

DC I completely agree with you. It is a low risk, potentially high reward hire (low risk unless you count time value of the opportunity cost of hiring someone of Chip Kelly's stature). I am not a Terps fan, however, I spoke with a Terps fan who is heavily invested and the problem seems to lie with Kevin Anderson. He set the expectation that this would be a big hire, and went as far as comparing UMD to an East Coast Oregon alluding to Chip Kelly all but in name. I was told the consensus among Terps fans is that Anderson botched the Sean Miller negotiations after Gary retired, and botched negotiations with Richt. I don't know how true any of it is, but Anderson is not a popular guy apparently among boosters. So I think it's nothing personal against Durkin. However, a coach like Durkin if he does well at a school like UMD, there's always the threat he bolts to OSU, Texas, LSU, Alabama down the road. But I guess that's a good problem to have?

Butler's upside is probably what Kamar Aiken is now. Great effort, but there's a reason Harbaugh says he needs to play faster, he has limited speed.

Maybe they did that and Kelly wasn't interested? I would have to think USC would have waited had there been a chance of hiring Kelly instead of promoting internally. Rutgers goes the same route as UMD and hires Chris Ash, OSU's DC. Between Ash and Durkin, OSU and Michigan are sure to lose some other coaches, which is good for the rest of the division.

I guess a silver lining for bad drafting is you have less of your own players to re-sign

This seems to be the consensus among UMD fans. I think that is because Kevin Anderson set the expectation that this would be a big time hire. However, when you fire your coach midseason you put yourself in a purgatory. Signing day is in February, so waiting for the NFL season to end to see if Chip Kelly or Bill O'Brien will be available would essentially wreck this recruiting class. If you are positive you can get a guy like Kelly or O'Brien, that is no big deal. However, waiting that long not only are you risking Kelly or O'Brien not being available, but you are risking a hot prospect like Durkin not being available as well.

Who would you have liked the Terps to hire? Outside of Richt, I was not impressed with the candidates out there. Unless you consider waiting to see what happens with Bill O'Brien or Chip Kelly and take that risk.

Max, I am with you. I don't think Trestman has been as bad as everyone gives him slack for. Ravens got what they asked for. Trestman was a known pass happy OC. On top of that he is used to having big, strong, tall receivers who can go up for balls thrown downfield and in the redzone. Don't give him the weapons, it's not realistic to think his offense will work. I don't mind the pass happiness. Redzone inefficiency and coming away with threes as opposed to sevens have been our downfall, especially considering the close games we've had. We've always had a poor redzone offense under Harbaugh.

Happy bday!

@jcrasnick: Expectation in the industry is that Darren O'Day lands a 4-yr deal at slightly under Andrew Miller money. Maybe $32-34M.

Prototypical Oriole hitter! He'll fit right in! If Chris Davis leaves we should sign Pedro Alvarez who was recently DFA'd by the Pirates. He's another high K, low OBP, plus power guy who would probably do well in Camden.

Everything I've read about Richt says he's a great guy and good with the media. Outstanding hire for Miami. With how weak that ACC division is he should be competing in no time.

ESPN posted a good article about what you mention: Saban's effect on coaching in the SEC: http://espn.go.com/college-football/story/_/id/14259323/nick-saban-impact-mark-richt-les-miles Amazing that Miss State's head coach Dan Mullen interviewed for the Miami job. After seven years it's almost as if he knows he can't beat Saban and it will only be a matter of time before he's let go. Might as well go out on his own terms. Richt is also rumored to be in play for the Miami job (he played QB for them). Btw that Miami job is not a good job. Bad conference, private school with high academic standards, a terrible sports town, bad facilities, and a stadium that's forty minutes from campus and doesn't get good student body support. But then again, Miami is a great place to live...

Probably not, but I don't think that's a slight against Richt moreso as it is a testament to guys like Nick Saban and Urban Meyer. Amazing LSU would even consider firing Les Miles with the winning percentage he has, much less $15M to leave. Same with Nebraska and Bo Pelini a year ago. The line between a solid coach and a national championship is very difficult to cross. It's like you said, you know a guy won't be able to get you over the hump. But do you take a risk of replacing him when the new coach will likely not even be as good as the old coach? It's tough, but a risk you must take if you want to win a championship. Kind of like a good QB vs. an elite QB in the NFL. UMD at this point needs a guy who can win 9 games, maybe challenge for a Big Ten title down the road. Richt would be perfect for that. I think for a program without a rich football history like Maryland to win a national championship (much less a Big Ten title), the program will have to be built up more first regardless of who the coach is.

Richt would be a homerun hire for the Terps. IMO Georgia is making a big mistake letting him go. With what's out there, the next guy they are going to hire won't be as good as Richt.

The WR Carroo for Rutgers is a stud.

I heard the gameplay for MSG5 is awesome, but what I loved most about MSG early in the series was its in depth storyline. Reviews said MSG5's story was weak, which disappointed me. The production value for the game is so high, with a solid voice cast, that one would expect a movie-type story. I will not be getting MSG5.

Gave in and bought the Witcher 3. It was $40 on Amazon, as a fan of the second games and books, I couldn't resist. I plan to get started this weekend after my exams.

Off topic, but I saw this tweet and thought you'd like to hear this: @Olsen_Don: I have heard the NFL is trying to get the Ravens into Dublin, due to the city's large Irish population, and possibly 2018. I know Dan Rooney was U.S. ambassador to Ireland. I wonder if the NFL would do a Steelers-Ravens game in Dublin?