weis21

Off topic to the subject at hand, but the Wright brothers first took flight at Kill Devil Hills, NC. Not sure why Dayton, OH keeps trying to steal our thunder... :-k congrats north carolina for being windier than dayton. that's all north carolina provided. all the hard work was done in dayton. So it is true that they are bitter in OH. Sorry, in NC we got wind, water, hills, mountains, beach, plains, valleys, etc. You see we have whatever it is that you're looking for. I just think it's funny that OH tries to take credit for the first flight, that's all. Our soil, our credit. Carry on.

Plus, I don't trust him.

unacceptable. I officially unaccept Bob Howry.

Off topic to the subject at hand, but the Wright brothers first took flight at Kill Devil Hills, NC. Not sure why Dayton, OH keeps trying to steal our thunder... :-k

Well it was reported that the ball hit him in the head. If a 90 MPH ball hits you in the head w/o a helmet and your fine then you are extremely lucky regardless. But I understand what your saying, lucky nonetheless. It seems to be a terrible situation that turned out OK by the grace of God. PS - I haven't read the last few posts but I'm having a hard time giving any blame to Ryno in this. It's one thing to facilitate aggression with your players, it's another thing to motivate a player to do what Castillo did. That is an isolated incident with an imbalanced player. I find it hard to blame Sandberg.

Thank you. My thoughts exactly. The offense is too talented to keep this pace. It's encouraging that there have been 7 of 8 QS since the ASB. Another encouraging note would be that the cubs had 15 base runners tody, if that holds true tomorrow, they'll get 5+ runs...at least.

Yeah, Gaudin is better than average for a starter, much less a reliever. He should be the top set-up guy until wood comes off the DL (or we get a closer via trade)

but Erik216wttn told me that the Brewers would be tied with us today? :-k

Cubs lose. After all, they are the cubs. They are a terrible run franchise, a horrible bunch of guys, and a disgrace to mankind in general. Oh wait, that's right I'm one of those rare optimists that isn't ready to throw in the towel yet. ... Cubs win 4-1.

That's called a strawman. You restated my argument to be something I never said and mocked it. And this is an equivocation. You are trying to make things seem equal that aren't. Every team has strengths and weaknesses, sure, and every GM makes good and bad decisions. But that doesn't mean the net results of either are equal. They aren't. Right now, the Cubs will probably continue to be a great team and that will probably be enough to make the playoffs, where fortunately you don't have tobe the best team to win. But given what I see from this team and what I've seen from past Cubs' teams that *do* have connections to this team, I think it is uncomfortably possible (though improbable) that we may not be a great team from here on out, or that we may be but variance will leave us outside the playoffs. OK. I restated your implied argument, not your actual argument. I didn't have to put words in your mouth, they were read between the lines. Your implied argument was that the Cubs have sucked before, are in a bad stretch, and will implode down the stretch because they are in fact the Cubs. By your definition, "the Cubs" are a poor franchise because of bad decision making by the GM and other executives. My rebuttal was that all teams make some good and some bad decisions. After all, unfortunately not all of us can predict the future. I am by no means a Hendry apologist, but his tenure IMO has been average. He has pulled off some great trades (Lee/Ramirez/Harden) and some bad trades (Pierre), some good signings (Derosa) and some bad signings (Marquis). However, in hindsight, the same can be said about any GM in baseball. How is this not equal for all teams? You are using hindsight to determine the magnitude of the decisions by GM's. If Ted Lilly throws a CG SO in last years playoffs and the cubs go on to take the series then perhaps your impression of Hendry changes. Hendry, by my own admission, has not been a great GM, but he has done OK to the point he didn't run this franchise into the ground and he has put this team in a position to win. I'm not going to try to defend the Soriano signing, but Hendry, to his credit, has done all that he can to win this year. The next part of your post befuddles me. You say that the cubs are a great team, but there is an "unlikely" chance they won't be from here on out. Isn't that true of all teams? Especially given the caliber of SP that the cubs employ. Sure, Lou has made some bonehead moves regarding the pen, but overall he hasn't been that bad, especially in regard to our biggest threats' manager. It seems your splitting hairs for the most part. The Cubs are obviously not a perfect team, nor do they have the perfect manager. They are going through a rough spell, but it is painstakingly obvious that it will not last considering the talent level of the players that are currently in an extreme slump. Plus, I'm hardly sold that Hendry won't upgrade the pen, but even without an upgrade it's hardly in shambles. Overall: Is there a chance we miss the playoffs? Sure. Is the chance great enough to justify this long drawn out post, considering I've wasted most of my buzz? Probably not.

I see no problem with using the past to evaluate possible futures. Every member of this ballclub was picked by the same people as those who picked previous ballclubs. Every executive of front-office member was picked by previous ones, as well. Each edition of the Cubs team is not an independent simulation of a baseball team. It is a continuation of an organization that has shown time and again it is capable of failure from almost any situation. Just because someone was "picked" to play for the cubs, that does not make them a choke artist. They are different players, playing in a different time, against different opposition. I expect, given those factors, that results may vary just a tad from previous years, no? I'm not sure what to make of the executive point, other than they obviously pick players that fold? How about a more concrete example, then: The same GM that did not smack Dusty Baker in the head and say "Hey, stop being an idiot with Mark Prior's arm. Every inning you waste him with now is an inning we might wish his arm still had in it later." Is the same GM that did not smack Lou Piniella in the head and say "Hey, stop being an idiot with Carlos Marmol's arm. Every inning you waste him with now is an inning we might wish his arm had later." Andy MacPhail is the guy who refused to accept age-based concerns about Sosa in the summer he was almost traded, which would have been much better for the team, and instead kept him at an age for too long. Andy MacPhail is the guy who hired Jim Hendry, presumably because he liked and agreed with his views on building a baseball team. Jim Hendry is the guy who thought Alfonso Soriano would be a great investment at his age (and with middle-infield miles on his legs, which is never a good thing long-term) and wasn't concerned that both of our other star hitters are also entering the age where skill drops are quite possible. Alfonso Soriano's legs and the possibly skill drops of our two best hitters have been a drag on the team to this point in teh season. See how little bad decisions build on themselves and become detriments to winning? Ah. Your right. Thanks for the heads up. I'll just skip the rest of the season since we know exactly what will happen. Seriously though, every team has strengths and weaknesses. Every GM makes good decisions and bad ones. I don't the Cubs will fold down the stretch because they lost a few years ago. I've got to run now but all I'm saying is that it's not a valid comparison to me. If you can make it work for you though, knock yourself out.

Howry's just in a rough stretch. He'll pull through. Just like the Cubs as a team. Just gotta take our lumps (and losses) until the ship rights itself. Was that supposed to be your impression of Lou? I don't even think Lou is dumb enough to put him in an important situation for a little while at least. It's obvious he has little to nothing right now. Please don't prove me wrong Lou.

I see no problem with using the past to evaluate possible futures. Every member of this ballclub was picked by the same people as those who picked previous ballclubs. Every executive of front-office member was picked by previous ones, as well. Each edition of the Cubs team is not an independent simulation of a baseball team. It is a continuation of an organization that has shown time and again it is capable of failure from almost any situation. Just because someone was "picked" to play for the cubs, that does not make them a choke artist. They are different players, playing in a different time, against different opposition. I expect, given those factors, that results may vary just a tad from previous years, no? I'm not sure what to make of the executive point, other than they obviously pick players that fold?

The encouraging sign is that we actually had 15 baserunners, just couldn't come up with a timely hit.

No kidding. What did some of these posters do the years the cubs actually had a bad team? Accepted the fact that we had a bad team. Its alot more frusterating when you have the kind of team that weve put together. I can deal with the frustration of a temporarily underachieving team. I can't deal with the frustration of a bad team.

Yeah, I did. At first I thought it had a chance to find the hole, but it was just more bad luck. He'll come out of it soon, hopefully tomorrow.

No kidding. What did some of these posters do the years the cubs actually had a bad team?

You'd think they were in a brutal slump and losing ground so fast it's hard to keep track or something. Hey, guess who has the better track record? The people predicting doom for the Cubs or the people telling them not to? So what past cubs teams have done is a precursor to what this team will do? News to me. We're in an offense slump. Ramirez is terrible right now, a bunch of other guys are below average, and we've also had our fair share of bad luck. The Brewers will not win every game the rest of the year! Relax! There is still a TON of baseball left.

:lol:

Score: Universe 8 million, Cubs -2 Going on: Another disappointing Cubs season only an 88% chance of making the playoffs, WE'RE SCREWED Don't put it past the Cubs to make even the seemingly surest of things an impossibility. Yep. Losing is what this team does best! Now you're learning. green font

C'mon and set this thing up for us Ryan!

Score: Universe 8 million, Cubs -2 Going on: Another disappointing Cubs season only an 88% chance of making the playoffs, WE'RE SCREWED Don't put it past the Cubs to make even the seemingly surest of things an impossibility. Yep. Losing is what this team does best!

Depends. Can he hear me from NC?

Surely this is the final straw for Howry

The 2 outs thus far were VERY hard hit balls