jersey cubs fan

I see it more like 2005 on the upside, and 2004 on the downside. I don't see anyway they finish 2008 as the 2nd highest scoring team in the league. Perhaps they won't rank as low as 2005 did offensively, but it will be closer to the mid-point than the top, and I really doubt they win 13, even on the upside. The line would have to be fantastic, not decent.

that would be stupid Yea, i guess it would be silly to pay more attention to a baseball game(while at one) than just get wasted. Yes, it would be stupid to purposefully curtail your drinking (ie, fun). Well, if you can't control your bladder, maybe you should(or if you drink so much while at a game where you fill your bladder, you obviously have had way too much anyways). If you wanna get really drunk and watch a game on the side, i'd recommend going to a bar. The drinks would be cheaper. I guess i'm old fashioned in the way that if you are going to a baseball game, you should probably pay a bit of attention to it. Aren't you the one complaining about the troughs? I'd recommend you worry about yourself and get off your high horse. Going to the games should be fun, if people like drinking at games fine. If you want to sit on your butt for 3 straight hours, great, if others don't mind getting up every once in a while for the 3-4 minute task of pissing, why do you care? You aren't being old fashioned, you're being ridiculous.

I don't care very much about numbered designations for receivers. 3-4 WR sets and frequent rotations/replacements can make such distinctions all but meaningless. The rookie RB is fine. And Grossman is probably going to be the starter with Orton ready at any given time. The real problem is the line, and that is mostly on Williams' shoulders now. If he does the job, the line should be okay, if he doesn't the line could be a disaster.

that would be stupid Yea, i guess it would be silly to pay more attention to a baseball game(while at one) than just get wasted. Yes, it would be stupid to purposefully curtail your drinking (ie, fun).

that would be stupid

They have the 40-man spot available, so I would be fine with them adding Hill again. He's perfectly functional as a defensive catcher. He probably holds some value to the franchise to keep around in case of emergencies. Perhaps giving him a Sept call-up makes him consider signing with Iowa again next year. An emergency C's only real value is the off chance that he'll need to catch a couple innings in extra innings at some point. I think I'd rather have that guy be a solid glove with no bat, so as to not lose that game by bad catching.

Yes, it's hard to judge after a week. But the problem I have is that the line is in shambles. Kreutz and Williams have missed a week. Kreutz himself should be fine, but he's already shown signs of decline, and with a new RT and LT, there's been no chance for the assumed starting five to practice together yet. And the offensive line is the most crucial component for determining how well this offense runs. This, by no means, ruins any chance for the team. But it definitely makes things more difficult. The Bears coaches have a tough enough time figuring out how to make an offense work, I don't like their chances of figuring it out with spare parts on the offensive line.

Well then you're an idiot for not preventing yourself from reading the columns.

I am of the opinion that no middle relievers are worth 3-year contracts. Howry was good the past two years, but the contract was no doubt ill-advised. It appears that Jim is becoming more and more attached to cheaper bullpen labor, so hopefully he avoids these silly deals in the future. At the moment he was signed it was very much needed. Because the 2006 team was in desperate need of a veteran presence in the bullpen to prevent a 100-loss season?

I felt the ump started getting a little generous with Marmol on the mound.

I am of the opinion that no middle relievers are worth 3-year contracts. Howry was good the past two years, but the contract was no doubt ill-advised. It appears that Jim is becoming more and more attached to cheaper bullpen labor, so hopefully he avoids these silly deals in the future.

Built-in excuses for Lou? Yes, it's stupid to keep a reliever on the active roster but not use him, in part because it's easy to get rusty over those long breaks. Why would he be wrong for criticizing Lou about Eyre being rusty?

I don't think people are assuming he won't make it, if you read the posts, most are saying something along the lines of, "If he doesn't progress into a #1 or #2..." Personally I highly doubt he'll turn into a #1 - meaning he won't be catching 90+ passes for 1000+ yards. But he doesn't have to in order to still be a very big threat and worth every penny spent.

The best thing they could do is convince Howry to take a DL stint. But I could see him wanting to avoid that right now.

Did he really do a curtain call on a game tying HR in the 6th inning? what? i was outside during that moment, if true, thank god i wasn't watching Wait. A guy isn't allowed to do a curtain call on game tying HR in the 6th inning? I don't recall that happening, but considering the roll he's been on, I could easily see Cubs fans calling for a similar player to do a curtain call.

Umm, what? if he doesn't develop into a #1 or #2 WR, then his value is limited to returns, where most teams will kick the ball away from him or, on punts, just kick it out of bounds Except we've already seen that doesn't really work. And he'd still have value as an offensive weapon even if he's not going to be a #1 or #2.

this thread should not exist

Jay or Teddy?

Because thankfully, management isn't kneejerk or hyperbolic. Kneejerk? There is a whole seasons worth of stats that show Bob Howry has been a pretty terrible pitcher this season. Hes giving up hits at an alarming rate all season, and he has now turned into the Ryan Franklin of the Cubs. Regardless, an outright release probably is not the answer. Howry has had stretches where he's sucked throughout his ill-advised contract. There is some reason for hope that he can have another stretch of effectiveness soon. He looked okay against the bad RH bats, Lou never should have let him face the tough lefty. The Cubs have other minor league arms, but none of them are surefire bets. They are probably better off keeping Howry in a mop-up type role, or when needed in 6th/7th innings, which also keeps those minor league arms available in case of injury. I havent advocated releasing Howry. However I have advocated for quite awhile now that he needs to quit being used in crucial situations, but Lou hasnt stopped. I really hope Howry can get turned around as he makes the bullpen really really damn good, but outside of 1 month hes really shown no signs of it this year. Lou seems to think hes going to just turn it around and hes been hoping for it since spring training. I just worry that if Howry is there to be used( which the way our bullpen is set up right now its pretty hard to avoid) Lou will keep putting him out there in meaningful parts of the game. Okay, but I think the point of the post you quoted was revolving around the release of Howry. It makes all the sense in the world to demote him. It probably isn't a great idea to release him though.

Yeah, especially with Kosuke on deck and no RH pinch hitters on the bench(we weren't going to use Blanco), I thought that was a pretty bad move on his part. It's not like Ward is a threat. He hasn't done much the past month, and he's done very little against RHP this year.

He's already developed into a decent threat, the question is whether he can develop further into #1 WR status. And teams don't just kick it out of bounds when he's back there. You can't do that on kickoffs, and if you do it on punts, it's going to hurt as well. The money guaranteed to Hester is not going to be a waste even if he never gets any better as a receiver.

Because thankfully, management isn't kneejerk or hyperbolic. Kneejerk? There is a whole seasons worth of stats that show Bob Howry has been a pretty terrible pitcher this season. Hes giving up hits at an alarming rate all season, and he has now turned into the Ryan Franklin of the Cubs. Regardless, an outright release probably is not the answer. Howry has had stretches where he's sucked throughout his ill-advised contract. There is some reason for hope that he can have another stretch of effectiveness soon. He looked okay against the bad RH bats, Lou never should have let him face the tough lefty. The Cubs have other minor league arms, but none of them are surefire bets. They are probably better off keeping Howry in a mop-up type role, or when needed in 6th/7th innings, which also keeps those minor league arms available in case of injury.

Well, relievers are overvalued, so somebody might budge. And the Cubs do have three lefties in the pen, so there's no reason why they should be buyers there.

I'm tired of propaganda. Under his last contract, the Bears and the us fans could be patient with Hester developing into a NFL WR. But given the new contract there is no patience. He must developed. Tired of propoganda? What does that even mean? Whether you want to or not, there's really no choice but to be patient with Hester's transformation. WR take a while to develop in general, and that's even with 1st round draft pick WR who have played WR throughout college. Hester has put a very minimal amount of time in at the position. I assume you mean, at his current pace. That may be true, if he keeps doing what he's done for 8-10 years. But it's going to be very difficult for Hester to make the HOF without any sort of impact at WR. Well, about a week in and from what I can tell, training camp has been a disappointment. The offensive line, a huge problem for well over a year, does not appear to be any better yet, and they are missing important parts - with no clear idea when those parts will return. I just hope this offense isn't as bad as it looks like it could be.

(For the original poster) Giordano's is good. There's a million good pizza joints in Chicago though. Aurelio's is great too. If you like super thin, D'Agostino's on Southport and Addison 3 blocks west of Wrigley is a nice one. Asking what some of the best restaurants in Chicago are is like asking who some of the better looking chicks in LA are. You can literally trip over about 5 or 6 great restaurants on every block between Wrigley and downtown. Inside Wrigley, go with the Calzone (a fancy name for a pizza puff) if you can find it. One of the stands on the third base line and the one in the upper deck close to home plate on the 3rd base side has em I think. It will probably stop your heart, but at least you'll die with a smile on your face. (For Bernie) The bathrooms are fine. Grow a pair. You're right, peeing in a trough without ice is totally fine and sanitary. My bad. :lol: Peeing in a trough is extremely effiicient and as sanitary as one can expect in a setting where thousands of people are chugging beer. Don't wear your Sunday finest or plan on eating in there.