jersey cubs fan

I'll be there you sob's so make my free tickets worth it.

Reyes at SS and Theriot at 2nd or Theriot to somewhere else? I definitely think Reyes is at the head of the line of Mets stars who may get traded.

The broadcast is great. But nothing beats the all day feast of meats and beers and football on a Sunday. There's plenty of days when I can't even make it to halftime of the night game. And then there's work on Monday. If you can have a day of partying as big as what happens on most Sundays, but still get 8-9 hours of sleep that night, it's a win-win. But now I'm going to have to pace myself all day, probably not fully enjoy the football during the day, and maybe even do some work around the house.

Another reason why I would be trying to get someone from the Red Sox chain in here. No way anyone from an organization that treasures OBP. is going to let Milton go. But, if Hendry is still here that will happen. Just like after '04 when we had to get rid of both Moises and Sammy. Then we will repeat '05 next year. With '06 not too far away. I'm absolutely convinced Bradley is gone at this point. Under normal circumstances I think you are right, but the wild card is Ricketts. There's no telling if he would squash any notion of paying Bradley to play somewhere else.

I have no problem with Brenly ripping when necessary, I just have a problem with Brenly being too much of a meathead to realize Bradley hasn't just been doing it for a month. Between Tim Sassone's idiotic statement that Bradley hasn't done anything since June and Brenly's nonsense about him only performing for one month there's just too many stupid comments out there about Bradley. Bradley is a jerk. He treats people like crap and causes friction where there doesn't need to be any. He started out this season horrible. But overall he's been fine on the field, and in July and August he's been pretty close to excellent. He's been batting 2nd behind a fairly useless Theriot for much of that time and he's never been a big HR guy so the RBI totals can't be expected to be high. Bradley brings on a lot of the criticism himself. He's not some innocent bystander. But the paid professionals who are handing out that criticism should really try paying attention.

I dislike Sunday Night games very much, and I hate having to wait until week 4 for the first Sunday 1:00 start (noon for you central folk). But [expletive] am I ready for this season to start. Bears are 3.5 point dogs and the o/u is 44.5, I'd take the points and the over. Although in my mind I've chalked this up to a loss. A win here on the road against a division contender would be a huge start to the season.

I don't see how anybody can reasonably call that beautiful. It's hideous.

They were a good baseball team that lost in the playoffs. The teams I talked about were an embarrassment by spring training. If I was going to be ashamed to be a Cubs fan, it was in the 90-97 timeframe. A) I was young enough to maybe be so irrational that I would be ashamed of being a Cubs fan, B) They were an embarrassing and god awful team.

It was a great article and very informative - and I'm not even a Bears fan. It actually reminded me of a show on ESPN that I used to watch all the time called - I think - "NFL Playbook" or something like that. It was a 30-minute show with, usually, Merrill Hodge and Ron Jaworski breaking down different plays from games as a means of previewing upcoming games (for instance, if the Bears played the Titans, they'd break down how Cutler might attack the Tennessee secondary based on how the teams had run plays previously). It might've been the best show on ESPN, but it was on at like midnight or 1 a.m. I haven't seen it in some time, though. NFL Matchup?

You must have only been a Cubs fan since last November then. May 1972 when I took my first breath. At least that team last year actually made the playoffs before crapping themselves. There are so many better examples than 2008 or 2009. 2005/2006 come to mind as obvious examples. But the vast majority of the 90's fits in there as well. Not to mention both follow up seasons to the two 80's bright spots. At least this year they are probably going to finish above .500 and be in a position to contend next year with some moves. There was almost no reason to follow the Cubs from 1990-1997. The most noteworthy things from those teams was they made Ryno the highest paid player in baseball for about a week, Ryno quit, Ryno came back and then he sucked and quit again. Since 98 they've been pouring money into the team every year and providing hope, and some more meaningful bright spots. But pre-98 was abysmal.

Two years ago nobody would have said Fontenot and Theriot should be the starting middle infield for a major league team, let alone one that spends $140m on personel. The fact that the Cubs are getting piss poor production from a middle infield of Theriot, Fontenot, Miles, Blanco, etal should not be some shocking revelation that poor old Jim Hendry could never have foreseen.

And Fontenot was a nobody. He did a nice job as a role player and failed as an everyday guy. Too freaking bad, don't build a team where you need to count on a midget like Fontenot to maintain surprisingly high production that was built around being Mark DeRosa's backup.

He's not getting nearly enough. He put this crap show together. And the media is focused on Bradley's personality. When you have a bunch of 30+ year olds with injury histories you can't blame a season on flukey injuries. They've had 2 guys underperform reasonable expectations. You have to assume some guys are going to struggle. What you can't do is pay superstar money to non-superstars and expect to cruise. He's spent a ton of money on this team and it's been a big waste. Fontenot, Miles, Gregg, Marmol, Soriano, Soto, Bradley, and that's without touching injuries. Who forsaw Fontenot, Marmol, Soriano, and Soto struggling so much this season? Letting go of DeRosa and adding Miles is the only mistake you can blame Hendry for, but it's a huge one. HE BUILT THE WHOLE FREAKING TEAM!!! Don't give me this "who could foresee" nonsense. He decided to build a team of 30-something nonsuperstars with injury histories making superstar money.

He's not getting nearly enough. He put this crap show together. And the media is focused on Bradley's personality. When you have a bunch of 30+ year olds with injury histories you can't blame a season on flukey injuries. They've had 2 guys underperform reasonable expectations. You have to assume some guys are going to struggle. What you can't do is pay superstar money to non-superstars and expect to cruise. He's spent a ton of money on this team and it's been a big waste. Fontenot, Miles, Gregg, Marmol, Soriano, Soto, Bradley, and that's without touching injuries. Soriano and Soto have performed below reasonable expectations, but you can't go into a season assuming you can avoid such things. And you can't touch the injuries because guys who gets injured a lot and are old got injured. Ramirez may have missed more time than expected, but Bradley played more than you could expect. If you insist on building the team as inefficiently as Hendry has done, you have to live with the consequences. You can't just say "well when these guys are all on the team is great". Gregg has done what he's usually done. Bradley has done what any reasonable person would hav expected. Marmol has been ridiculously wild and hard to hit, same as always. Miles sucks ass and never should have been signed. Soriano was a disaster waiting to happen, it just happened earlier than expected.

That was weeks ago I can't even remember.

Iglesias wouldn't pass waivers and I don't really knokw about Rideau's situation. Has he spent too much time on a practice squad?

I mean, you can agree to disagree if you want, but you're definitely wrong. Most everyone here would be very unlikely to go 1-25. The only hope many of us would have would be drawing walks or guessing the exact location for a straight fastball or changeup. I guarantee the vast majority of people here would be struck out on three pitches literally every time by major league breaking pitches. There is no way of proving this, so therefore how can I be wrong? Its a matter of opinion and my opinion is that most everyone here could go 1 for 25. It's an opinion based on a lack of understanding of the abilities of people involved.

He's not getting nearly enough. He put this crap show together. And the media is focused on Bradley's personality. When you have a bunch of 30+ year olds with injury histories you can't blame a season on flukey injuries. They've had 2 guys underperform reasonable expectations. You have to assume some guys are going to struggle. What you can't do is pay superstar money to non-superstars and expect to cruise. He's spent a ton of money on this team and it's been a big waste.

I never said he was great. My point is he hasn't been nearly as bad as he could have been, which, given this team's position, is kind of a bright spot.

Fukudome took a pretty big step forward. And Dempster wasn't nearly as bad as he could have been. Dempster's ERA Plus is worse than Z's. I am so tired of him getting a pass from people. But he hasn't been nearly as bad as he could have been. He's been a bit more hittable, but not anymore wild, than last year. His last 30 start season before last year his WHIP was over 1.5 and ERA over 5.

Fukudome took a pretty big step forward. And Dempster wasn't nearly as bad as he could have been.

So yeah...Morris won't be around long me thinks. I just remember watching his opening press conference and coming away completely unimpressed. He sounded like a high school coach.

How do you hire such a guy?

The only thing dumber than the contracts he hands out would be walking away from his own guaranteed contract.

I'm not sure either, because I don't think the tradition is rated all that highly.