I think their payroll was in the $150 million range in 2017-18 after they signed Encarnacion and when they were paying decent money to Kluber and Carrasco. That was coming off the money they made off three playoff series in 2016, so I would expect payroll to go up a wee bIt next year. I don't think Guardians fans expect a payroll near the top of the league, but asking them to spend like peer cities such as Milwaukee doesn't seem unreasonable to me.

I tend to agree that we'll be fine for getting into the playoff with two losses, but where Forde has a point is the committee is going to look at not only who you lost to, but who you beat. It reminds me of the way fans of.unsuccessful March Madness teams like to argue, "But look at how good all the teams that beat us are!" You'd much rather be calling attention to big wins.

I tend to agree that we'll be fine for getting into the playoff with two losses, but where Forde has a point is the committee is going to look at not only who you lost to, but who you beat. It reminds me of the way fans of.unsuccessful March Madness teams like to argue, "But look at how good all the teams that beat us are!" You'd much rather be calling attention to big wins.

As if losing last week wasn't bad enough, I regret to inform you that the state of Ohio is discontinuing sales of Quality House. It really is excellent as bottom shelf bourbons go.

You know how people here will sometimes post the comical reactions from MGoBlog after an awful game or.recruiting setback for TTUN? Well, that's other fanbases reacting to these comments. Another team found a way within the rules to get the better of us. Crying about it is absolutely pathetic.

"...and a DC who hadn’t yet figured out how to limit big plays." LOL.

Arvell Reese has reliably raised hell all season. But as always in big games, Knowles plays 2 linebackers exclusively.

I think it's an excellent offense too, but we've had two straight games now where we've chosen to bog ourselves down with ineffective sideways passing for a stretch. Can we knock that off? The five star wideouts aren't coming here to be Danny Amendola.

"..as the Ducks switched from their usual quick passing game to a more downfield-oriented attack that may have caught the Buckeyes off-guard" -- anyone remember the last time the opposition came away feeling the Buckeyes caught them off guard?

To be honest, I'm going to be interested to see Oregon going forward, because the first part of their season, which included a 24-point outburst against Idaho, did not give any indication they could do whatever they wanted against the Bucks. If they can't score 60 on Purdue, then I'm going to have further questions.

Complaining about field rushing is like people who whine when a team already leading scores late. For all the scolding around here asking fellow fans to be happy with losing yet another big game, there sure is a lot of policing of the winning side to go along with it.

The incredible thing is that it wasn't penalized on the spot. The spitting incident in our game was a lot less obvious, but was still noted and severely punished immediately.

That's one opinion, but calling Buckeye players "trash" will always = automatic down vote from me.

The amount of overcompensating and coping I'm seeing in here is hilarious. Now we have literal arguments that losing is better than winning.

I'm basically the man from Missouri now when it comes to the defense. Don't make promises, show me.

The problems with this are 1. The Buckeyes scored their last touchdown with 25 minutes left in the game. 2. With that much time left, it's really hard to predict how the rest of the game is going to play out. Example: when the Bucks were up 31-29, they were in a position where another touchdown gives them a 9-point lead. If they had tried for 2 earlier and missed, the option to take a 2-score lead isn't there. I think Day did what most coaches would do there, considering the game situation and the opponent.

If someone is asking, "I don't know why fans of a team with a growing reputation for not winning big games are upset about losing a big game," they're either a troll or fundamentally non-serious.

I think maybe you run there with a timeout to play with, but I didn't see what we did as an especially risky call. And openly playing for a field goal when you're outdoors and the kick would be at least 45 yards is not what I'd advise. This isn't the NFL, where everyone can make that kick 90 percent of the time or they're unemployed.

There's a reason it's called home field advantage. If we ever have a defense capable of making a big play in a big game in the fourth quarter, this sort of thing won't matter as much.

I'm not giving you a downvote, but topics like this are extremely tiresome.

JT Barrett and Billy Price were freshmen taken to school against VaTech. They got better as the year went on, thankfully. This is almost certainly the most veteran team we've ever had. Sure, maybe everything is sunshine and cotton candy from here. But why should anyone believe in them? It's gonna get ugly for Day if they lose to the Nits, in a way we haven't seen here since 2000.

This is first rate coping, congratulations.

I have no idea what Lou Holtz is thinking right now, but it's probably something like "the tougher and smarter team won the game, and the Buckeye coaching staff are the people you call when you need to beat a MAC team by.49 points, not when you need to win any big game or make even one big fourth quarter defensive play when protecting a lead."

Oregon is missing its pass rusher. Gotta be able to survive less than perfect health.

Jim Knowles and company have GOT to step up. The Ducks scored 24 against Idaho, FFS. Too bad about the injuries, but it's football. Unimpressed with the preparation. Good thing we've been able to score almost in spite of ourselves, what with the constant sideways passes vs a faster D.