Technik » quarter.QUOTABLEWe fought to get to overtime but we had too

For the younger generations of Chicago Cubs fans, reaching the postseason isnt quite the novelty it was for the generations before them. For all the years that have been tacked on to the teams epochal championship drought, the Cubs have more or less been steady crashers of the playoff party in recent years.Between the Cubs most recent World Series appearance in 1945 and their 1984 NL East title, they drew a big, fat goose egg when it came to playoff baseball. Thats why that 1984 team looms so large in the collective memory of North Siders and why players such as Rick Sutcliffe and Ryne Sandburg are now folk heroes.This season will mark the Cubs seventh playoff appearance since 1984. Its not the Yankees or Red Sox or Cardinals or Braves, but once every four or five years isnt bad. Still, all living generations of Cubs faithful are united by the title drought -- and they all hope this years postseason entrant will be different.Is it different? Of course, that remains to be seen. What we know now is that as a regular-season team, this Cubs bunch was good. As it turns out, with a couple turns of the statistical screw, they were very special indeed.As we wrote the other day, the Cubs have sported a run differential that,?translated to wins via the Pythagorean formula, marks them as a 108-win team. Their differential ranks in the top 25 all time in the modern era (since 1901). Thats 2,452 team seasons. However, the Cubs is only the fifth-best run differential (per 162 games) in franchise history. Four pre-1910 Cubs teams did better, including the only two Cubs teams to win the World Series and the 1906 team that established the big league record with 116 wins.If we are to compare the postseason worthiness of the Cubs teams that advanced past the regular season, we must do a couple things. What were trying to do is estimate how strong each team was compared to the league it was in. To a significant extent, run differential does this.The problem comes when trying to compare teams over different seasons and eras. Baseball was very different a century or so ago, especially in the decades before Jackie Robinson came along. Not only was the talent pool less than what it should have been, but also, in the pre-draft era, the talent major league teams allowed in was not distributed equitably. Those early-20th century Cubs teams might well have been the best of their day, but there was a reason they clustered so many overwhelming teams together.To account for this, we can look at the distribution of wins within each season and adjust that to be era-neutral. After we apply that adjustment to run differential, we should be able to better compare teams from different years. The three years with the widest distribution of run differential were 1909, 1906 and 1942, the year so many big leaguers entered into military service for World War II. The smallest distributions, which in theory are our years of greatest parity, were 1984, 1959 and 1986. This season ranks 89th of 116, so we are very much in an era of parity.Now we can rank the Cubs postseason teams. In case youre skimming, be aware that there is a little surprise at the end. Khalil Mack Womens Jersey . Its the second straight game Bell has scored in extra time for Kelowna, which beat the Brandon Wheat Kings 6-5 on Friday, and he now has four game-winning goals on the season. David Montgomery Youth Jersey . "Theyve both been real good," said Babcock. "Havent changed our minds." A decision has seemingly been made - Sundays Group B-deciding tilt against Finland ahead - but it could not have been an easy one. Price opened the tournament with a sturdy 19-save performance against the Norwegians, yielding just one goal. http://www.chicagobearfootballauthentic.com/authentic-gale-sayers-bears-jersey/ . After taking two big hits this week -- losing at home and dropping back-to-back games for the first time all season -- Indiana struck back by playing its most complete game of the year. Mitchell Trubisky Bears Jersey . The deal is pending a physical, assistant general manager Bobby Evans said. Traded from Seattle to Baltimore on Aug. 30, Morse also can play first base and right field to give manager Bruce Bochy some flexibility in writing his lineup. Roquan Smith Womens Jersey . Having already announced that the race will start May 9 with three stages in Northern Ireland and Ireland and finish in Trieste on June 1, the rest of the route was unveiled Monday. DENVER -- DeMar DeRozan is quick to point out that his stunning scoring spree to start the season is no one-man show.DeRozan had 30 points, including four in overtime, and the Toronto Raptors held off the Denver Nuggets for a 113-111 victory Friday night.It was the 10th time in 12 games this season that DeRozan, the NBAs leading scorer, has reached 30 points -- most of any player in the league.Ive had a lot of help, DeRozan said. People have looked for me within the offense. Tonight it was JV (center Jonas Valanciunas) setting screens for me. When the defense packed it in on him, he got me the ball for shots.DeRozan also gave credit to Terrence Ross, who hit a 3-pointer with 37.6 seconds left in the extra period to put Toronto up by two.Terrence has heart and he is more than capable of making a big shot, DeRozan said. You know when you have another threat like that out there who is going to play extremely hard on both ends, its great.Denvers Emmanuel Mudiay was short with a desperation heave from halfcourt at the final buzzer.Kyle Lowry added 18 points and 13 assists for the Raptors, who swept the two-game season series.Mudiay and Wilson Chandler each scored 25 points to lead the Nuggets, who have lost five of six. Denver also was plagued by turnovers, including two in overtime.Its the story of the game and the story of our short season, coach Michael Malone said. Emmanuel throws it out of bounds and Jameer (Nelson) steps out of bounds. Unfortunate timing for those turnovers.After trailing by five going into the fourth quarter, Toronto took an 87-86 lead on a 3-pointer by Ross with 7:57 left.No more than three points separated the teams during the remainder of regulation.DeRozan hit a jumper to put Toronto up 99-98, and Valanciunas added one of two free throws moments later. Nelson answerred with a 3 to put Denver back up by a point, but DeRozan hit a jumper with 15 seconds left as the Raptors regained the lead.ddddddddddddChandler was fouled on a drive to the basket and made one of two free throws to tie it. DeRozans baseline jumper at the end of regulation went in and out, sending the game to overtime tied at 102.Behind a 38-point second quarter, their second-highest output in any period this season, the Nuggets took a 57-52 lead at halftime after trailing by as many as 12.Chandler fueled the outburst, scoring 12 points in the quarter.QUOTABLEWe fought to get to overtime but we had too many turnovers. As a team, we didnt make the screens, we didnt make the good passes. I think thats the reason we lost the game. -- Nuggets center Nikola Jokic.TIP-INSRaptors: C Lucas Nogueira did not travel with the team to Denver to remain at home with his wife, who gave birth to their baby girl on Thursday. Nogueira is expected to rejoin the team in Sacramento, where the Raptors play the Kings on Sunday. ... F Jared Sullinger and G Delon Wright remain inactive while continuing to recover from left foot surgery and right shoulder surgery, respectively.Nuggets: The highest-scoring quarter by Denver this season was 42 points in the first against Boston on Nov. 6. ... F Mike Miller was excused from the team to tend to a personal matter. ... G Gary Harris missed his third consecutive game with a right foot injury. ... F Will Barton remains sidelined with a left ankle sprain. He has missed the last nine games.UP NEXTRaptors: Make the second stop on their five-game road trip Sunday at Sacramento.Nuggets: Continue a four-game homestand by hosting Utah on Sunday night. ' ' '