jersey cubs fan

Weird. About 5 seconds after I read this post, I got a call on my office phone and when I answered it was a recording, "Hi, this is Lisa from Dish Network. We have you scheduled for a free satellite...." When I got directv I specifically got it because they had sunday ticket and when I moved I specifically looked for places where I could still get directv. You should look into your other service provider options.

I thought last year it aired on ESPN during the day, and it was the first time they put that much effort into airing it. They want it to become more of an event, and you have a better chance of doing that if it's in prime time. The NFL wants to move their first round to prime time as well.

Buy extra innings. The bottom line is the Cubs grew their fan base and profited from having a generation of pre-internet kids watch their games on WGN. But that opportunity is more or less lost now. The fan base is there, and WGN America is going to have relatively little to do with it. If you want to be able to watch every game without living near Chicago, pay the $150 (less than a dollar a game) or so to watch the season. If you aren't in Chicago and you are getting WGN, you are already paying for cable, so you are clearly willing and able to pay for television entertainment. If you are bitching about it on the internet, odds are you are paying for that privilege. If you don't live in Chicago but want to watch the Cubs play, you can, and it's really not all that expensive when you consider how many games you get. Sure it can be harsh to accept that when you've been getting it for "free" for so long. I've been in NY for over a decade and they stopped getting WGN on their cable systems before that. When I switched to directv it was a godsend to once again get WGN, although they still didn't have all the games. But as somebody who grew up in Chicago, then moved away, I was more than willing to pay for the privilege of watching Cubs games.

So who do I want the Cubs to draft? And who should I be annoyed at if they take him instead?

Yeah, because he couldn't practice with his team. Doesn't matter, none of these could walk into a huddle and have immediate success.

What a ridiculously arbitrary disctinction. The only reason he doesn't list Cutler as a franchise QB is because he is now on the Bears. If Palmer or Rivers were just traded to Chicago, he'd have to ask the same thing, whether they can produce with the Bears wide receivers. He tries to say it doesn't have anything to do with the team but makes it very clear that he thinks it depends heavily on the team. And the whole notion that any of these guys could step right into any huddle and have immediate success is laughable. Manning stepped right into the huddle of the team he ran for a decade to start last season and sure didn't have success. I like how he says, sure Manning had success with Wayne, but he also had success with Harrison, and somehow that is supposed to explain how Manning can work with any WR.

I still don't understand why this story seems to revolve around a HR shot that was measured a year after the fact by having a couple guys look for a dimple in the desert.

There is a history of guys like this totally NOT living up to expectations and fading away or going down in flames. Todd Morinovich, LaBradford Smith, and Brian Taylor come to mind. On the other hand so do Tiger Woods, Derek Jeter, and A-Rod. Jeter wasn't in this class though, was he? I mean, he was good, but he was not a no-doubt number 1 overall pick good.

Correct, Turner played a role, as did Angelo by letting the line deteriorate. But it sure as hell wasn't the fans' fault that Grossman crapped the bed, especially when so much of that defacation was on the road. Hell, he couldn't handle or execute basic QB - get the snap from the center - on a consistent basis. That has been a problem with multiple Bears QB's, with the one connection being Kreutz.

there's no way that's true. sorry. you're essentially saying that pitchers KNOW they can get soriano out by throwing sliders in the dirt, but their cockiness (?) for some reason, leads them to throw him fastballs that he hits 400 feet. come on. You got it wrong. Pitchers believe in their fastballs.

Correct, Turner played a role, as did Angelo by letting the line deteriorate. But it sure as hell wasn't the fans' fault that Grossman crapped the bed, especially when so much of that defacation was on the road.

They are the better ones, who are more worthy of being cocky. But yeah, I wouldn't be surprised if some guys make decisions about pitches differently in the playoffs than if they were in the regular season.

If Soriano goes on one of his hot streaks during October he could carry a team to a World Series title. I'm not convinced that Soriano has "hot streaks" so much as he has streaks where pitchers are giving him a lot of good pitches to hit. That won't happen very frequently in the playoffs, so the chances of him getting on a "hot streak" are very slim. so if all you have to do to get him out is not throw him "good pitches to hit," then why doesn't every pitcher do that to him all the time? Because pitchers are cocky bastards who believe their stuff can get anybody and they can't necessarily put it where they want it every time.

Dickie Thon is an underrated all time great baseball name.

This is something I can't stand about fandom. We don't know anything about his head. There's no basis for judgment there. I suspect his height was always his biggest problem. There's plenty of basis. I'm not talking about some silly notion of toughness or anything. He very clearly crumbled under defensive pressure. Not emotional pressure, or fan insults. He fell apart midgame far too often when teams started getting to him. His INTs were clearly mental F ups. That's not ridiculous fandom talking. It's just the facts. Sure, his height probably played a part, but his height was not the determining factor. You can be a successful relatively short QB.

Why? Bradley was always going to have a wide range of potential numbers. Two months of numbers not that far outside the realm of possibility should not surprise anybody. If he was healthy all year at at 722, yeah, I'd be surprised. But why do you have to be surprised that he's been banged up and had an OPS 100 points below his career? If that was an option before the season, would you really say, "no way that happens." Guys struggle when switching teams/leagues all the time. Plus, again, it's 2 months. 2 months of banged up subpar peformance by Milton Bradley should not be a surprise to anybody.

I think you are overly critical of Bears fans dealing with QBs. They may have given Grossman poor treatment, but he brought all of that upon himself. He was given every chance, and just crapped the heck out of the bed. If anything, they should be credited for pointing out the team was winning without help from the QB. The Bears would be no better off today if fans were just a little nicer to Rex. Other than how rabidly they reacted to Rex's every mistake (which happened far too often), where's the irrational behavior? They hated everybody else because just about everybody else sucked. Harbaugh was decent, but if anything Ditka should be blamed for his career not lasting in Chicago. Any other fan base with QB issues is going to act similarly. You think Green Bay would be thoughtful and analytical about their QB situation if they didn't spend the last 20 years with Favre? You think Giants fans would be hunky dory with Eli's missteps if they didn't have multiple SB titles, including a recent one, to think about? I'm not so sure about that (we'd be in the same position if the fans were nice to Rex). I agree Rex crapped the bed, but his treatment in my view was extraordinarily bad, especially for a team that had just gone to the Super Bowl. You can say "he should be able to take it" but it became unbelievably personal. I still think Rex has talent -- possibly backup QB talent, but at this point there would be no way for him to play in Chicago, even as a backup. Of course he has talent, he just doesn't have the head. I think it's ridiculous to suggest, as you appear to be doing, that he would have been better with the Bears if they treated him better. Rex fall apart all on his own. The Arizona game was on the road. The weak play in the Super Bowl didn't involve Bears fans. Rex couldn't handle the pressure of opposing defenses, the home crowd had nothing to do with it. Maybe they made things a little worse than they would have been in a game or two, but Rex's ultimate failings are the result of Rex, and Ron Turner. It's not the fans' fault. And again, Rex was one of dozens of QBs who failed in Chicago. That's not the fans' fault. The Bears have been poor in identifying, acquiring and developing QBs. It's not like Rex was some can't miss prospect. He was a short Florida guy with a lot of people who expected him to fail, and that was long before Bears fans got on his case. Now they have actually bypassed the identify and develop stage of the game, by simply acquiring an established quality pro.

If you think Subway is too expensive you should see other sub places. The remaining $5 footlongs they have are one of the best deals in 'cheap' food. Guaranteed fill-up every time. Filled up with a whole bunch of light airy bread and extremely low quality meat. If you just buy a $5 footlong, it's cheap, yes. But there aren't many $5 subs on the menu. My favorite deli where I live sells something called the Super Hero, with amazing hot ham, homemade mozzerella and, now I can't remember the 2nd meat. But anyway, it's a billion times better than anything you can get at Subway. And up until last year it was $5, now I think it's $5.50.

I think you are overly critical of Bears fans dealing with QBs. They may have given Grossman poor treatment, but he brought all of that upon himself. He was given every chance, and just crapped the heck out of the bed. If anything, they should be credited for pointing out the team was winning without help from the QB. The Bears would be no better off today if fans were just a little nicer to Rex. Other than how rabidly they reacted to Rex's every mistake (which happened far too often), where's the irrational behavior? They hated everybody else because just about everybody else sucked. Harbaugh was decent, but if anything Ditka should be blamed for his career not lasting in Chicago. Any other fan base with QB issues is going to act similarly. You think Green Bay would be thoughtful and analytical about their QB situation if they didn't spend the last 20 years with Favre? You think Giants fans would be hunky dory with Eli's missteps if they didn't have multiple SB titles, including a recent one, to think about?

Trent Dilfer did not get all the credit when things went well in Baltimore, in fact, he barely got any. I think Romo is a good example here, he gets fellated by the media when Dallas wins, and when they lose, he gets criticized up the wazzoo. During the 2000 season Dilfer was getting quite a bit of love, it seemed. Even now, the "game manager" QB type is attributed to him and people talk about it like it's something for a quarterback to strive toward. I agree with Testaverde and Romo, though. Those two are definitely better examples than Dilfer. If Cutler puts up very good numbers in Chicago, I think he'll be judged a bit less harshly by many fans, but the "he can't win" tags and the like will be placed on him, much like they were on Peyton until he finally won a Super Bowl. Dilfer was credited with being a game manager and that is all. He did not receive "all the credit". Nobody gives him "all the credit". He is barely given any credit at all. Everybody gives the credit, rightfully, to the defense. The whole concept of the game manager is that you are taking the power out of the QB to win or lose, and nobody talks about striving toward being Trent Dilfer. People only use him as an example of how it is possible to win with a QB who doesn't do much of anything.

That's the downside of being a quarterback. Right or wrong, the QB gets all the credit when things go well (think Trent Dilfer on the 2000 Ravens) or all the blame when things don't go well. Trent Dilfer did not get all the credit when things went well in Baltimore, in fact, he barely got any. I think Romo is a good example here, he gets fellated by the media when Dallas wins, and when they lose, he gets criticized up the wazzoo. On the other hand, somebody like Vinny Testeverde, who was okay as a Jet, but nothing special, is beloved there. Then, Chad Pennington was absolutely worshipped up until he started winning 10 games a year, then everybody nitpicked his shortcomings and eventually hated his guts. Very weird. I think fan bases, including the Bears, take circumstances into account with how they treat the QB. Rex Grossman won a lot in Chicago, but he was dismissed by most fans because he played far too poorly, far too often, even in wins. Kyle Orton was accepted, because he was pretty simple and less error prone. There wasn't much passion in either way with him, people who did not like him didn't hate him like they hated Grossman, and people who liked him didn't like them as much as those who likely Grossman. Cutler will be fine in Chicago as long as he plays well personally. There will be fans that will complain no matter what. There will be those who will want him dead if he fails to win a SB. But Cutler is probably going to play fairly well. If the team fails it will be because the defense failed to slow the decline and the WR were non existent. He won't get unfairly blamed for losses, unless he himself plays poorly.

When you think about baseball, you think a player is going to hit no matter where he goes. It's just a one on one matchup. And whether he's a Cub facing the Astros or a Red facing the Astros, the results are going to be the same, over time. That's assuming he doesn't have a manager pressuring him to sac bunt or swing early and often. But football is on the exact opposite end of that spectrum. A WR's production depends on the team he's on. It depends on his teammates.

I'm no Mort fan, and these early summer practices don't really tell you much, but this is what I'm expecting out of the receivers. I've had my differences with Angelo's decisions, but he's absolutely right when he talks about it starting with the QB. Everybody loves Brandon Marshall, but he was a 4th rounder. You think Brandon Marshall would be Brandon Marshall if he was drafted in the 4th round by the Bears in 2006? I sure don't. Do you think Eddie Royal comes close to the rookie season he had if he's playing for the Bears last year? A QB absolutely can make a WR. I know for a fact Royal wouldn't have had the season he had for any other team in the NFL, especially not the Bears. But Brandon Marshall is one of the top 5 WRs in the league. You can't tell me one of the best WRs in the league is only great because of his QB/system. That's like saying Emmitt wouldn't have been a HOF without the great line. Rice wouldn't have been the best ever w/o Montana, Young, Walsh. Talent is talent. Great players are great at all times in all systems. I'm not saying Brandon Marshall is "great" yet, but with 206 catches and 2600 yards in his only 2 years as a starter (and the first one was Cutler's 1st year as a starter)....I'd say he's on his way. I guarantee you he would not be considered a top 5 WR in the league if he was drafted by the Bears. No way, no how. Receivers depend heavily on the system/qb. They come out of nowhere and have success. I think a RB can do a lot more on his own than a WR, absolutely. But yeah, Emmitt wouldn't have been the same RB with a lesser line. He might be HOF still, but all-time leading rusher? Rice is an all-timer, there are exceptions, like Moss. I'm not saying Marshall would suck elsewhere, but the guy was a 4th rounder who owes a great deal of his success to the system he was in and great QB that threw to him. There's no way he would be considered the same player he is now considered had he been drafted by the Bears and played with Grossman, Griese and Orton. No way.

I love the phrase "(name your sport) activity".

http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/prospects/prospect-hot-sheet/2009/268290.html That's impressive? That was a typo. Obviously if he's walking in 15.5 percent of his plate appearances his OBP wouldn't be that close to his average. His current line is .284/.400/.483 That's impressive You stole my line.