I have to admit, I'm optimistic

[wastra]

It's the first time in three years that I have a good feeling going into an offseason.

 

A lot has to do with today's personnel changes. It seems like FINALLY the team has decided that losing is not acceptable for the organization or with fans any longer. I'm only GUARDEDLY optimistic about our future, given tha Jim Hendry is our GM, but I'm at least mildly optimistic that changes are brewing.

 

I am optimistic because I beleive Juan Pierre wants to leave since Dusty is gone. I am optimistic that Jaques might also leave (via trade) since he cited Dusty as the reason he came here in the first place, making it easier to upgrade our offensive outfield without dealing or benching Murton.

 

And maybe I'm just naive to think it will be different this time. I don't know. You'd think with all the management changes we've been through, I'd learn not to get hopes up, because one incompetent group jsut seems to replace the next every time we go through this. But I think thinngs have changed from the Trib's perspective since the last whoelsale management changes we've had. They're investing more in the franchise now, and paying a higher and higher payroll every year. And with the pressure they're getting to sell the team (which is as much a PR asset to the trib as a financial one), they have to realize that "loveable losers" isn't goign to cut it any longer.

[C.C.]

It's the first time in three years that I have a good feeling going into an offseason.

 

A lot has to do with today's personnel changes. It seems like FINALLY the team has decided that losing is not acceptable for the organization or with fans any longer. I'm only GUARDEDLY optimistic about our future, given tha Jim Hendry is our GM, but I'm at least mildly optimistic that changes are brewing.

 

I am optimistic because I beleive Juan Pierre wants to leave since Dusty is gone. I am optimistic that Jaques might also leave (via trade) since he cited Dusty as the reason he came here in the first place, making it easier to upgrade our offensive outfield without dealing or benching Murton.

 

And maybe I'm just naive to think it will be different this time. I don't know. You'd think with all the management changes we've been through, I'd learn not to get hopes up, because one incompetent group jsut seems to replace the next every time we go through this. But I think thinngs have changed from the Trib's perspective since the last whoelsale management changes we've had. They're investing more in the franchise now, and paying a higher and higher payroll every year. And with the pressure they're getting to sell the team (which is as much a PR asset to the trib as a financial one), they have to realize that "loveable losers" isn't goign to cut it any longer.

 

I wouldn't be. You'll only be let down.

[illiniguy]

It's the first time in three years that I have a good feeling going into an offseason.

 

A lot has to do with today's personnel changes. It seems like FINALLY the team has decided that losing is not acceptable for the organization or with fans any longer. I'm only GUARDEDLY optimistic about our future, given tha Jim Hendry is our GM, but I'm at least mildly optimistic that changes are brewing.

 

I am optimistic because I beleive Juan Pierre wants to leave since Dusty is gone. I am optimistic that Jaques might also leave (via trade) since he cited Dusty as the reason he came here in the first place, making it easier to upgrade our offensive outfield without dealing or benching Murton.

 

And maybe I'm just naive to think it will be different this time. I don't know. You'd think with all the management changes we've been through, I'd learn not to get hopes up, because one incompetent group jsut seems to replace the next every time we go through this. But I think thinngs have changed from the Trib's perspective since the last whoelsale management changes we've had. They're investing more in the franchise now, and paying a higher and higher payroll every year. And with the pressure they're getting to sell the team (which is as much a PR asset to the trib as a financial one), they have to realize that "loveable losers" isn't goign to cut it any longer.

I concur, the last two days I have felt way more upbeat. Now they need to do the right thing today and get Rammy resigned. Then lets get fixing.

[waffle]

I have to admit...

 

I feel like a worked over chew toy in a holding pen for pit bulls.

 

This version of the cubbies has really taken it out of me. I cannot feel optimistic. If they bring in Gerardi and give him some actual power, It'd help.

[Banedon]

I feel like we've been in a car wreck this season, and now we're putting on bandages. The process of healing may have begun, but there's still a lot of pain to go through.

[C.C.]

It's the first time in three years that I have a good feeling going into an offseason.

 

A lot has to do with today's personnel changes. It seems like FINALLY the team has decided that losing is not acceptable for the organization or with fans any longer. I'm only GUARDEDLY optimistic about our future, given tha Jim Hendry is our GM, but I'm at least mildly optimistic that changes are brewing.

 

I am optimistic because I beleive Juan Pierre wants to leave since Dusty is gone. I am optimistic that Jaques might also leave (via trade) since he cited Dusty as the reason he came here in the first place, making it easier to upgrade our offensive outfield without dealing or benching Murton.

 

And maybe I'm just naive to think it will be different this time. I don't know. You'd think with all the management changes we've been through, I'd learn not to get hopes up, because one incompetent group jsut seems to replace the next every time we go through this. But I think thinngs have changed from the Trib's perspective since the last whoelsale management changes we've had. They're investing more in the franchise now, and paying a higher and higher payroll every year. And with the pressure they're getting to sell the team (which is as much a PR asset to the trib as a financial one), they have to realize that "loveable losers" isn't goign to cut it any longer.

I concur, the last two days I have felt way more upbeat. Now they need to do the right thing today and get Rammy resigned. Then lets get fixing.

 

Right now it's just words. I've lost hope that Hendry nor the TRIB know how to win...

[illiniguy]

It's the first time in three years that I have a good feeling going into an offseason.

 

A lot has to do with today's personnel changes. It seems like FINALLY the team has decided that losing is not acceptable for the organization or with fans any longer. I'm only GUARDEDLY optimistic about our future, given tha Jim Hendry is our GM, but I'm at least mildly optimistic that changes are brewing.

 

I am optimistic because I beleive Juan Pierre wants to leave since Dusty is gone. I am optimistic that Jaques might also leave (via trade) since he cited Dusty as the reason he came here in the first place, making it easier to upgrade our offensive outfield without dealing or benching Murton.

 

And maybe I'm just naive to think it will be different this time. I don't know. You'd think with all the management changes we've been through, I'd learn not to get hopes up, because one incompetent group jsut seems to replace the next every time we go through this. But I think thinngs have changed from the Trib's perspective since the last whoelsale management changes we've had. They're investing more in the franchise now, and paying a higher and higher payroll every year. And with the pressure they're getting to sell the team (which is as much a PR asset to the trib as a financial one), they have to realize that "loveable losers" isn't goign to cut it any longer.

 

I wouldn't be. You'll only be let down.

Dude give it a rest. Does every post have to be attacking the cubs? Yeah things are bad. But, hey thats why the allow trades and free agents.

[goonys evil twin]

It's still too early to tell if it's time for optimism. Andy leaving is a good start, but when power is removed the important thing is filling that vacuum with better leadership, not just the next guy. Simply toppling a bad regime does not guarantee improvements. You have to fill the void with better leaders.

[Banedon]

I wouldn't be. You'll only be let down.

Dude give it a rest. Does every post have to be attacking the cubs? Yeah things are bad. But, hey thats why the allow trades and free agents.

 

You really don't understand why there would be skepticism after this season?

[C.C.]

It's the first time in three years that I have a good feeling going into an offseason.

 

A lot has to do with today's personnel changes. It seems like FINALLY the team has decided that losing is not acceptable for the organization or with fans any longer. I'm only GUARDEDLY optimistic about our future, given tha Jim Hendry is our GM, but I'm at least mildly optimistic that changes are brewing.

 

I am optimistic because I beleive Juan Pierre wants to leave since Dusty is gone. I am optimistic that Jaques might also leave (via trade) since he cited Dusty as the reason he came here in the first place, making it easier to upgrade our offensive outfield without dealing or benching Murton.

 

And maybe I'm just naive to think it will be different this time. I don't know. You'd think with all the management changes we've been through, I'd learn not to get hopes up, because one incompetent group jsut seems to replace the next every time we go through this. But I think thinngs have changed from the Trib's perspective since the last whoelsale management changes we've had. They're investing more in the franchise now, and paying a higher and higher payroll every year. And with the pressure they're getting to sell the team (which is as much a PR asset to the trib as a financial one), they have to realize that "loveable losers" isn't goign to cut it any longer.

 

I wouldn't be. You'll only be let down.

Dude give it a rest. Does every post have to be attacking the cubs? Yeah things are bad. But, hey thats why the allow trades and free agents.

 

Attacking the Cubs? I always thought I was the more positive posters on this board. And quite honestly what have the Cubs done to generate any postive posts?

[illiniguy]

I wouldn't be. You'll only be let down.

Dude give it a rest. Does every post have to be attacking the cubs? Yeah things are bad. But, hey thats why the allow trades and free agents.

 

You really don't understand why there would be skepticism after this season?

Yeah I do, but hey we all have said we need to clean house. Well in an hour two of three will be gone. They are at least doing what we all think needs to be done.

[Banedon]

I wouldn't be. You'll only be let down.

Dude give it a rest. Does every post have to be attacking the cubs? Yeah things are bad. But, hey thats why the allow trades and free agents.

 

You really don't understand why there would be skepticism after this season?

Yeah I do, but hey we all have said we need to clean house. Well in an hour two of three will be gone. They are at least doing what we all think needs to be done.

 

Sure, it's a start. But if Hendry is still in place, are you really confident the moves that need to be made, will be? I'm not. And I have a hard time blaming those that don't believe that he will.

[illiniguy]

I wouldn't be. You'll only be let down.

Dude give it a rest. Does every post have to be attacking the cubs? Yeah things are bad. But, hey thats why the allow trades and free agents.

 

You really don't understand why there would be skepticism after this season?

Yeah I do, but hey we all have said we need to clean house. Well in an hour two of three will be gone. They are at least doing what we all think needs to be done.

 

Sure, it's a start. But if Hendry is still in place, are you really confident the moves that need to be made, will be? I'm not. And I have a hard time blaming those that don't believe that he will.

I think he has made some good moves in the past and if he doesn't see the writing on the wall then he won't make it out of his contract. I really don't believe we are going to win next year at that great a clip without becoming the nl yankees and getting all the big free agents anyways. SO what is one more year when you have already waited 100?

[goonys evil twin]

I wouldn't be. You'll only be let down.

Dude give it a rest. Does every post have to be attacking the cubs? Yeah things are bad. But, hey thats why the allow trades and free agents.

 

You really don't understand why there would be skepticism after this season?

Yeah I do, but hey we all have said we need to clean house. Well in an hour two of three will be gone. They are at least doing what we all think needs to be done.

 

Sure, it's a start. But if Hendry is still in place, are you really confident the moves that need to be made, will be? I'm not. And I have a hard time blaming those that don't believe that he will.

I think he has made some good moves in the past and if he doesn't see the writing on the wall then he won't make it out of his contract. I really don't believe we are going to win next year at that great a clip without becoming the nl yankees and getting all the big free agents anyways. SO what is one more year when you have already waited 100?

 

This sounds an awful lot like, "we're going to suck anyway, you shouldn't complain about it."

[goonys evil twin]

I wouldn't be. You'll only be let down.

Dude give it a rest. Does every post have to be attacking the cubs? Yeah things are bad. But, hey thats why the allow trades and free agents.

 

You really don't understand why there would be skepticism after this season?

Yeah I do, but hey we all have said we need to clean house. Well in an hour two of three will be gone. They are at least doing what we all think needs to be done.

 

It's not just cleaning house, what matters is who is brought in to occupy the house. Until I find out the answer to that question, I know I will remain skeptical.

[C.C.]

I wouldn't be. You'll only be let down.

Dude give it a rest. Does every post have to be attacking the cubs? Yeah things are bad. But, hey thats why the allow trades and free agents.

 

You really don't understand why there would be skepticism after this season?

Yeah I do, but hey we all have said we need to clean house. Well in an hour two of three will be gone. They are at least doing what we all think needs to be done.

 

Firing (or letting them walk) someone is the easiest thing a organzation can do. It requires no plan or thought process. It's what they do after is what counts, and I can honestly say I don't have a warm and fuzzy feeling it'll be constructive in building a winner. It's just a opinion.

[illiniguy]

I wouldn't be. You'll only be let down.

Dude give it a rest. Does every post have to be attacking the cubs? Yeah things are bad. But, hey thats why the allow trades and free agents.

 

You really don't understand why there would be skepticism after this season?

Yeah I do, but hey we all have said we need to clean house. Well in an hour two of three will be gone. They are at least doing what we all think needs to be done.

 

Sure, it's a start. But if Hendry is still in place, are you really confident the moves that need to be made, will be? I'm not. And I have a hard time blaming those that don't believe that he will.

I think he has made some good moves in the past and if he doesn't see the writing on the wall then he won't make it out of his contract. I really don't believe we are going to win next year at that great a clip without becoming the nl yankees and getting all the big free agents anyways. SO what is one more year when you have already waited 100?

 

This sounds an awful lot like, "we're going to suck anyway, you shouldn't complain about it."

Well you could still suck and win the division, especially in the central. I just think as messed up as this thing got it is going to take a little bit of time to fix it. There are some makor question marks. Now if we do decide to go get CLEE, Soriano, the Japanese ace, Zito, and Schmidt then I could seee us being pretty good.

[goonys evil twin]

Well you could still suck and win the division, especially in the central. I just think as messed up as this thing got it is going to take a little bit of time to fix it. There are some makor question marks. Now if we do decide to go get CLEE, Soriano, the Japanese ace, Zito, and Schmidt then I could seee us being pretty good.

 

That's cool. But I just don't see where this thinking means it's inappropriate for others to express doubt in the team.

[illiniguy]

I wouldn't be. You'll only be let down.

Dude give it a rest. Does every post have to be attacking the cubs? Yeah things are bad. But, hey thats why the allow trades and free agents.

 

You really don't understand why there would be skepticism after this season?

Yeah I do, but hey we all have said we need to clean house. Well in an hour two of three will be gone. They are at least doing what we all think needs to be done.

 

Firing (or letting them walk) someone is the easiest thing a organzation can do. It requires no plan or thought process. It's what they do after is what counts, and I can honestly say I don't have a warm and fuzzy feeling it'll be constructive in building a winner. It's just a opinion.

No the easiest thing they can do is allowing the crap to continue while injuring great, young pitchers. Like they did the last three years.

[illiniguy]

Well you could still suck and win the division, especially in the central. I just think as messed up as this thing got it is going to take a little bit of time to fix it. There are some makor question marks. Now if we do decide to go get CLEE, Soriano, the Japanese ace, Zito, and Schmidt then I could seee us being pretty good.

 

That's cool. But I just don't see where this thinking means it's inappropriate for others to express doubt in the team.

I mean you can express doubt, but some of these posters are just ripping into everything and anything right now. One fan posted in transactions that he heard on the radio Macphail resigned. He prefaced it with saying he hadn't seen it posted, but thought it was interesting. The second poster had to make a point or rolling his eyes and being all sarcastic. Why are we all turning on each other and everything cubs related. We had a really bad year. It looks like a lot of the factors that went into that are leaving. Let's enjoy that if only for one day.

[Banedon]

Well you could still suck and win the division, especially in the central. I just think as messed up as this thing got it is going to take a little bit of time to fix it. There are some makor question marks. Now if we do decide to go get CLEE, Soriano, the Japanese ace, Zito, and Schmidt then I could seee us being pretty good.

 

That's cool. But I just don't see where this thinking means it's inappropriate for others to express doubt in the team.

I mean you can express doubt, but some of these posters are just ripping into everything and anything right now. One fan posted in transactions that he heard on the radio Macphail resigned. He prefaced it with saying he hadn't seen it posted, but thought it was interesting. The second poster had to make a point or rolling his eyes and being all sarcastic. Why are we all turning on each other and everything cubs related. We had a really bad year. It looks like a lot of the factors that went into that are leaving. Let's enjoy that if only for one day.

 

It's hard to enjoy taking out the trash. Especially if we don't know that it's not just going to get replaced with more trash. That's just my opinion.

[illiniguy]

Well you could still suck and win the division, especially in the central. I just think as messed up as this thing got it is going to take a little bit of time to fix it. There are some makor question marks. Now if we do decide to go get CLEE, Soriano, the Japanese ace, Zito, and Schmidt then I could seee us being pretty good.

 

That's cool. But I just don't see where this thinking means it's inappropriate for others to express doubt in the team.

I mean you can express doubt, but some of these posters are just ripping into everything and anything right now. One fan posted in transactions that he heard on the radio Macphail resigned. He prefaced it with saying he hadn't seen it posted, but thought it was interesting. The second poster had to make a point or rolling his eyes and being all sarcastic. Why are we all turning on each other and everything cubs related. We had a really bad year. It looks like a lot of the factors that went into that are leaving. Let's enjoy that if only for one day.

 

It's hard to enjoy taking out the trash. Especially if we don't know that it's not just going to get replaced with more trash. That's just my opinion.

Oh I agree, if they do bring in Lou then yeah this meant nothing. But, I will cross that bridge when we get to it. Until then I am going to remain optimistic.

[C.C.]

Well you could still suck and win the division, especially in the central. I just think as messed up as this thing got it is going to take a little bit of time to fix it. There are some makor question marks. Now if we do decide to go get CLEE, Soriano, the Japanese ace, Zito, and Schmidt then I could seee us being pretty good.

 

That's cool. But I just don't see where this thinking means it's inappropriate for others to express doubt in the team.

I mean you can express doubt, but some of these posters are just ripping into everything and anything right now. One fan posted in transactions that he heard on the radio Macphail resigned. He prefaced it with saying he hadn't seen it posted, but thought it was interesting. The second poster had to make a point or rolling his eyes and being all sarcastic. Why are we all turning on each other and everything cubs related. We had a really bad year. It looks like a lot of the factors that went into that are leaving. Let's enjoy that if only for one day.

 

That was me because I honestly thought he was joking. I mean there were plenty of threads saying MacPhail resigned.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

I'm glad that if only 2 of the three are gone, that it's the two that have already gone. At the very least Hendry has shown an ability to change philosophies(although recently he's changed them to more and more krazy ideas), Dusty's not going to stop abusing pitchers and MacPhail hasn't shown any ability to shift focus either.

[goonys evil twin]

Well you could still suck and win the division, especially in the central. I just think as messed up as this thing got it is going to take a little bit of time to fix it. There are some makor question marks. Now if we do decide to go get CLEE, Soriano, the Japanese ace, Zito, and Schmidt then I could seee us being pretty good.

 

That's cool. But I just don't see where this thinking means it's inappropriate for others to express doubt in the team.

I mean you can express doubt, but some of these posters are just ripping into everything and anything right now. One fan posted in transactions that he heard on the radio Macphail resigned. He prefaced it with saying he hadn't seen it posted, but thought it was interesting. The second poster had to make a point or rolling his eyes and being all sarcastic. Why are we all turning on each other and everything cubs related. We had a really bad year. It looks like a lot of the factors that went into that are leaving. Let's enjoy that if only for one day.

 

It's hard to enjoy taking out the trash. Especially if we don't know that it's not just going to get replaced with more trash. That's just my opinion.

Oh I agree, if they do bring in Lou then yeah this meant nothing. But, I will cross that bridge when we get to it. Until then I am going to remain optimistic.

 

That's fine, but I think you should allow those who don't feel optimistic to express that feeling. You can't force optimism. If you feel the team will let you down, there's nothing you can do about it. It's a feeling. Personally, I'm skeptical, and withholding judgement. I'm not sure they will screw it up but I'm not convinced they will do the right thing either. If you feel they will get it right, great. But if somebody feels like it'll be a disaster, they have the right to say so.