Sammy Sofa

1) Definitely the team was going to be pretty bad this year no matter who the gm or the owner due to the roster from 2010. But if he cleaned house immediately we probably could have gotten a gm in there who could have actually made some moves in offseason 09 to make the roster better. Explain what another GM would have been able to do before the 2010 season that Hendry couldn't have. I'm not talking not doing something stupid but ultimately irrelevant like overpaying for Grabow...explain what feasible moves that could have been done to actually make the team significantly better than how the 2010 season played out. I definitely wish Hendry had been out at that point, but no GM was going to make the Cubs much different than what we actually got last year and so far this year. I want Hendry out, but this last offseason was one of his best, all things considered. There wasn't much to be done about 2011, though it was largely Hendry who handcuffed himself. The first few months of this offseason will say much more about the Ricketts ownership than the preceding two years. Definitely. Hendry should have been gone already, but this offseason marks the first real test of the Ricketts' era ownership. Everything else up until then has largely been riding out what was inherited from the Tribune era.

generic or not, all of these things have blown up in his face will possibly hamper the team's success and growth going forward. Nothing has "blown up in his face." No, things have gone about as they could have expected. I think people are confusing wheat they hoped would happen when the Ricketts took over with what they assume the Ricketts expected. Some people probably expected they would (or could) come in and turn this thing around on a dime, which is painfully naive. These same people probably expect the ownership to echo their own reactionary opinions publicly, which would be terrible business. I've always been amused by people who think they can derive what owners/GMs are thinking just from what they see and hear. You don't conduct your business out in the open just to make your meatball fans feel better. We're not privy to that stuff, nor should we be. Besides, their actions, including announcing plans for extensive renovations and lobbying the state for part of a large sum of money to implement them, says they knew what had to be done. Unless one thinks they didn't know the extent of the needed renovations until after they took ownership, which is just a laughable thing to assume. And lobbying the city/state for funds only seems logical, given the restrictions the team is put under when it comes to renovating/upgrading the facilities. Exactly. I understand what questionmarkgrace is doing, which is wanting the owners to think and act like he wants them to do...but it's simply not realistic.

1) Definitely the team was going to be pretty bad this year no matter who the gm or the owner due to the roster from 2010. But if he cleaned house immediately we probably could have gotten a gm in there who could have actually made some moves in offseason 09 to make the roster better. Explain what another GM would have been able to do before the 2010 season that Hendry couldn't have. I'm not talking not doing something stupid but ultimately irrelevant like overpaying for Grabow...explain what feasible moves that could have been done to actually make the team significantly better than how the 2010 season played out. I definitely wish Hendry had been out at that point, but no GM was going to make the Cubs much different than what we actually got last year and so far this year.

And I highly doubt that the relative few more people you'd get buying tickets during a crappy season would exceed or even match the money made off of the increased ticket costs. They key to the lowered attendance is the awful team, not the prices. For better or worse the Cubs will sell ridiculously expensive tickets like they're dirt cheap if the team is good.

generic or not, all of these things have blown up in his face will possibly hamper the team's success and growth going forward. Nothing has "blown up in his face." Basically your arguments are ridiculous, because they hinge on the idea of the Ricketts family being complete idiots who just bought a baseball team and were somehow clueless of very basic, obvious things that you, questionmarkgrace, realize but that they somehow unaware of when it comes to the financial status of the Cubs and Wrigley and what type of investment they were getting in to. Think about it for a few minutes.

I'll take a wild guess and say it has something to do with playing amongst terrible baseball players. Also consider that he has hit leadoff most of the time so that means lots of Koyie Hill, pitcher, and a mix of montanez/colvin/campana/whatever not getting on base in front of him. Oh also baseball is a long season and that pace will certainly change and probably soon. Right. It's indicative of him actually hitting where he should have been all along...and being on a bad team.

Man, this has to be a gag. Even when he rebounds and starts making a real argument he caps it off with winning percentage.

Unfortunately they only hire people with no-assed economics degrees. Really a poor decision in hindsight.

Yeah, it's really bizarre. The whole psychological aspect of all of this, from the team/situation he chose to the heel-turn to the 4th quarter issues is fascinating to me.

http://chicago.cubs.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20110608&content_id=20203006&vkey=news_chc&c_id=chc ... A bleacher bums poster posted the following, based on comments by randy bush in a pregame radio interview: http://bbf.createaforum.com/general-discussion/2011-draft-52/525/ Seems to confirm/reinforce what Wilken said. Pretty exciting and encouraging. I also think that Ricketts having enough interest to sit in for all three days is encouraging. I imagine that as a fan it would be fun, and as a boss trying to get to understand the process and to get to see a bunch of his important employees in action also smart. The three days of draft and the half-week of organizational meetings in October are perhaps the best opportunities to see a lot of the personnel in action. We'll see how that encouragement plays out in terms of actual signings. But I'm pretty encouraged. Really encouraged. Nice. Thanks for the links.

This was glorious.

*Dreams about playing as Jordan and Pippen instead of [expletive] Pippen and Grant*

*Shatters backboard* *Throws controller down*

HE'S ON FIRE.

Wow. Miracle of miracles, Davis only gives up 1 run in an inning where he gave up 3 hits and had the bases loaded with only 1 out.

Really hope the Cubs have more in them besides 3 runs, because this is looking ugly.

Nice start. Will they have enough to escape the vortex of blech that is Doug Davis?

Yup, no other team ever does this.

Really? You don't think the idea that the Ricketts family, billionaires, severely underestimated the financial situation of the Cubs, but YOU could see it clearly when they couldn't...is up for debate? yes. Anyone with a half-assed economics degree could have seen this coming. And their direct actions show that they underestimated the costs of being a team owner. No, they really don't. Your expectations for owners that have owned the team for a season and a half and inherited a bloated, mis-spent payroll (that's only now finally going to start coming off the books en masse after this season and the next) are unrealistic. That you think what's happening now is something that has taken the Ricketts by surprise, or could have been avoided, is absurd. Yes, Hendry should be gone already...but here's the reality you need to face: this season would be little different, if at all, if Hendry had been fired after last season. And to think that they had no idea of the issues of Wrigley itself is even more ridiculous. And ticket prices aren't the problem. No, they're not helping, but the crappy team is far and away the reason they're not selling tickets. Put a good team on the field and people will, for better or for worse, pay the higher ticket rates. Once the team is competitive again the higher ticket prices are moot. If the tickets were significantly cheaper this season than what they are the stands would still look half-empty.

Well, to be blunt, you're wrong. The place is literally falling apart and it's largely inadequate to deal with the demands placed on it when the Cubs are actually drawing in sellout or near-sellout crowds. Improving Wrigley would ultimately mean making more money down the line, which helps the team. In what way is it inadequate? Perhaps your expectations are higher than mine. The seating capacity is too small, there's too many terrible seats, the various amenities are too spaced out and/or too few and, most importantly, it is literally falling apart.

When you have a GM who just loves to re-sign non-productive former Cubs each year just to give them a paycheck, who could be surprised. Wood isn't productive? What are you babbling about? Reading is fundamental. 1-3 record for an overpaid non-productive thrower is what I'd expect. Try to keep up. This is a joke, right?

Well, to be blunt, you're wrong. The place is literally falling apart and it's largely inadequate to deal with the demands placed on it when the Cubs are actually drawing in sellout or near-sellout crowds. Improving Wrigley would ultimately mean making more money down the line, which helps the team.

When you have a GM who just loves to re-sign non-productive former Cubs each year just to give them a paycheck, who could be surprised. Wood isn't productive? What are you babbling about?

Really? You don't think the idea that the Ricketts family, billionaires, severely underestimated the financial situation of the Cubs, but YOU could see it clearly when they couldn't...is up for debate?

Burning a bunch of one's clothing isn't an opinion.