CurleyQ

As a Bear's fan I don't care for the deal as is. My biggest problem is that they are letting Drew baby in fact be the GM. The Bears have 5 other players that Drew represents. If they let Briggs dictate their course of action, where does it end? Briggs is not a free agent able to go out an just take the best offer. The Bears played by the rules and tagged him. Supposedly, when Drew and Briggs passed on he contract extension this past summer, Angelo told them it was a real possibility, thety would tag him. Since the Bears do not use the tag often (ever?), Drew called their bluff and he lost. He probably made a mistake and now he is going to the media to cover their miscalculation. The Bears should do what is best for them and it may not make sense to do this trade unless they are over-whelmed. Have the Redskins give us their #1 this year and a #2 next year without the bears giving their pick up and I think it is a fair deal for the Bears. I am sure most of these points were made above, but I could not read thru all the posts.

I thought the rumor I heard had the Bears trading Briggs AND their #1 pick (31) for the #1 pick of the Redskins (6). As a Bear fan, this trade does very little for me if I have to give up our own #1 pick.

Bought and sold quite a few properties. I am not an agent. Anything is negotiable. Odds are you will haved to attract at least a Buyer's agent, so you are at least going to have to pay 1/2 a commission, imo. Sure you could get lucky selling to someone w/o an agent, but..... There are some services that will allow you to get your asset listed in the MLS (Multiple Listing Services) for a fee, but you will have to offer the Buyer broker at least the commission they would normally be entitled to. The real issue if you sell by owner, is then you are in charge of lining up appointments, running credit checks, etc. In addition there is the saftey factor. YOU or your wife will have to be around to show the house when someone calls and that may make your wife nervous if she is home alone with two small children. Interview 3 agents and tell them all that the commission rate is one of your critical factors. In selling, you can do a lot worse than selling with an agent and paying a commission. It could cost you a lot more to have your house sit for 6 months. Perception is everything in a sale. Get the best agent regardless of rate. Also, depending on where you live and the market and the number of houses for sale in the area, you may want to offer a bonus commission to the Buyer's agent so that you make sure YOUR house receives the maximum interest. It is all about the money and if an agent can make $5,000-$10,000 more selling your house than the one on the next block, they are going to do everything they can to have their clients consider your house.

Comparing what your refund is as compared to someone else is very difficult. It really depends on your withholding as well as your income. Do you declare 1 or 2 on your withholding forms where soemone else is using zero? That could be your answer. It is not necessarily bad to owe at tax time. Do you use a tax program like TAXCUT or TURBOTAX? That might catch your mistakes for you, if you indeed made a mistake.

Have a 50" Sony LCD, bought one year ago. Very happy with the picture. I view it slightly from the side and the picture is fine. Yea if the angle is too much it can be an issue, but that would be a hard angle. When I was at the store a year ago the Mtsubishi DLP (I think 52") was right next to it. The pictures were virtually identical. I basically paid a couple hundred more and went with the Sony, cause we have other Sony's and have been happy. Not much to go wrong with an LCD other than the lamp burning out. I was a little woried about all those mirrors within the chips in the DLP. It may not be a concern, but I had to make a decision and I wanted as few possible issues going forward as possible.

I understand DrJ's point, but I disagree that it's "not fair" - what is happening to Lance Briggs. Maybe it is just a matter of semantics. The Bears are complying with the contract with the players union, so it is fair within the rules, imo. As someone brought up in one of these threads, Lance should maybe be pissed at the player's union for agreeing to this years ago. Lance and Rosenhaus can complain through the media and wreck his perceived market value. That is their right. I think it is the Bear's right and maybe in their long-term best interests to let Lance sit, if he wants and I think they should tag him again. He can sit again and then he can be a free agent again after forfeiting $14M dollars over two years. If Lance and Drew think that is in their best financial interest, then so be it. I can't stand the McCaskeys, but in this case, I think they are within their rights. Just my $.02.

I don't know what the Bears will do, but I hope Angelo does not cave to Rosenhaus who is orchestrating the whole thing. If he decides to sit, then let him sit and tag him again the next year. Briggs is hurting his market value for the Bears if they were to trade him, so I would throw it back at him. I guess that is why I am not a football GM.

I dare him to sit out the entire year!

I am going to be surprised if he is dealt. The Bears would want more than a 1st, imo, and that is probably not what people want to pay. The Jones situation was a little different. They had a big money guy behind Jones and they were never gonna give Jones equal money. Briggs has no leverage in reality. Yea he can hold out, but he could pay give up a lot in fines, significant to what he has earned the last few years. I just don't see him doing that. The Bears could then tag him again (I think at a higher cost). I think the situation is what it is.

I am pretty sure you can use it 2 years in a row. Maybe one of the more expert guys know the answer for sure. I am just repeating what a lot of the articles/talk shows have said over the last couple months.

The Briggs situation is merely a negotiation. This happens with a lot of stars in the NFL who get franchised. $7.2M is nothing to sneeze at and to be honest, the Bears hold the cards. Sure he can sit out and throw away a lot of money, then the Bears could franchise him the next year. I don't like the fact he is mad, but the Bears are playing ball within the system set up by the union and the league. Don't forget, the Bears offered Briggs a huge contract thia last summer that was about $5.5M per year. Rosenhaus and Briggs turned it down. That's fine, but it seemed to be a pretty fair offer for a linebacker that does not rush the passer. Any team that lets Rosenhaus run their team is in trouble. Bears had no choice but to do exactly what they did.

I don't think Bennett is that slow. He has decent speed to get deep, although he will be used more for the underneath routes, I am sure.. Great signing for the Rams.

I am not convinced Jones will be gone from the Bears, but depending on what happens with Jamal Lewis in Baltimore, wouldn't Baltimore be a pretty good fit for Jones?

Very fun game to watch. Excellent team defense by both. My Badgers lost, but they accounted for themselves very well. Hopefully, both teams will do well in the tourny.

My uncle beat it in his 60's.....so will you! Good luck man and hang in there !

I have invexted in mUtual Funds for years, with pretty good results. I am in a myriad of funds. A few pointers to do with what you want: 1) Vanguard is pretty much accepted as charging the lowest fees. When the market is booming, this is not an issue, but in more volatile/slower markets, they make a lot of sense. 2) Consider dollar cost averaging rather than investing all you have at once. 3) Diversify across types (ie. Foreign; Midcap; Large cap; REm etc., etc)

I am in one keeper auction with a cap. There is a lot more prep work and yearly maintenance, but the cap function makes it possible to turn over your team if you are crummy and compete the next year. The first year I won 3 or 4 games. The next year, with some shrewd off season acquisitions and in season trades I won the whole thing. You have to manage the cap intelligently and it is different. The auction is fun and gives everyone an equal chance to get the top player(s). It can take a long time to do the auction so allow more relative time for the auction.

Congrats Colts fans. YOu deserved it over my Bears. Defense was not good and Rex and the playcalling was pretty bad also. The sports talk radio here in CHI town is toasting them....which is pretty entertaining. The INDY game plan was excellent and I was impressed with Addai and Rhodes. If they had to lose, I am glad it was to the Colts. Should be a sports talk radio feast this off season.

I really am not sure who will win. I like the Colts a lot, even though I am a Bear's fan. Wheneber I read definitive statements like, "Grossman is terrible" or "the Colts will hammer them". I want to go to Vegas and lay down a juicy bet. And...........................most Bear's fans on this site are not delusional (maybe a couple). The Bears are not the Steelers of the 70's, but the Colts are not the 49'ers of the 80's, either. I will be a close game, not a blowout

I am a Bears fan. Although Grossman will never be confused with Peyton Manning, he is good enough and makes plays when necessary. He basically is in his 2nd season and he is doing better than a lot of other guys on other teams with the same relative experience. Not sure who will win the Superbowl, but I think the Bears can pull one out with their running attacck and Grossman making the necessary big throws he can make. I do think the Superbowl could be pretty high scoring. Should be a fun game.

Dirty play is leg whipping a guy or punching a guy when the ref isn't looking. Playing good defense is not dirty play. That type of defensive play also causes them to miss tackles and give up extra yards, but Lovie's philosophy is to get the turnovers. Not sure the complaint has much merit.

Hey, everyone has to rate their own needs. Sounds like most of the negative comments reflect jealousy, because their financial reasonings seem misguided. Leasing is a viable alternative and over the first 3 years, the actual cost is probably just a little higher than owning. Plus, by doing this every 3 years, the family has at least one reasonable new car with no maintenance costs. Curious...might need to get rid of the 10 year old 4-Runner this year. Was looking at the XC90. Why didn't you like it? It seemed bigger than the Lexus which I may need because I have a couple kids.

Addai and Kevin Jones are both top ten RBs in my league. When guys like McGahee, James, J Lewis and Dillon have off years or start slipping, that is what happens.

The SCORE in Chicago just reported that the Bears said Tommie Harris is going to see a "specialist" about a hamstring issue on top of a sprained knee. He is definitely out this week, but given the Bears secretivity over injuries (much like other teams) it probably does not bode well for the Bears looking toward the playoffs. Although the Bears did not say this, the radio guys seem to think this has all the earmarks of Harris being gone the rest of the year. We will see.

I didn't see any over the top complaining compared to other QBs. I did see Delhomme checking on the injured Eagle player in the first half and calling out the trainers, when nobody else was around the guy! He seems like a pretty classy guy.