Soul

Really? I'm probably the most hopeless Bear fan on the planet. But what exactly did we win last year? I'm certainly not satisfied with a division championship and a quick, unceremonious exit from the playoffs. look at the context of my statement and put 2 and 2 together. I for one didn't think the Bears would make the playoffs until after beating Tampa on the road, despite beating Carolina the week before. I think alot of Bears fans would have agreed. and I am having a difficult time reconciling your statements. are you a hopeless Bears fan or are you an unsatisfied Bears fan? if you thought the Bears were hopeless, shouldn't you at least be somewhat satisfied with winning the division? or is it just a case of wanting to bitch no matter what happens? for clarification, the difference is Bears fans didn't think their 'make no mistake' quarterback play was going to get them to the playoffs until late in the season. thus, most Bears fans were wrong as the Bears did in fact get into the post season, with the second best record in the NFC. the fact that you consider the division championship irrelevant or apparently 'not getting it done' has nothing to do with my point, and your interjection inexplicable. I think you're having trouble reconciling my statements because you're having trouble picking up the correct meaning of them. Hopeless Bear fan = HUGE Bear fan. Any Bear fan for life, like myself, should not be satisfied with winning a division and then getting raped in the playoffs. Sorry, but I use colorful language sometimes and that's just not going to change.

"How to Throw Away a Football Game," by S. Moore DB, UK.

No Defense

Never thought a Charlie Weis team would lay down, but I can't think of a better way to describe this. Quinn: most mentally fragile QB in the country. Guy can't throw so much as a screen pass right now.

Might need to have an alternate closer waiting in the wings, though. If his arm can't handle the pounding having 5 days of rest, how will it handle having to pitch, say, every day for 3 days and then another 2 after 1 day of rest in between? That's the life of a closer at times. Not that I don't want him. Just saying.

@ NY, I believe.

my thoughts exactly. I agree in principle, but I struggle to conceive of how a new owner could perform much worse than the Trib in terms of on-field performance of the ballclub under their tenure. The Trib has definitely done a fantastic job at preserving the Cub history, making Wrigley one of the most sought-after sports destinations in the world, and generally promoting the team nationwide. I'd sacrifice a good portion of that for a Championship though.

Really? I'm probably the most hopeless Bear fan on the planet. But what exactly did we win last year? I'm certainly not satisfied with a division championship and a quick, unceremonious exit from the playoffs. The deficiencies of the Bears last year eventually caught up with us, and we lost. Turns out, those Bear fans were right, IMO. Good to see we have some offense this year, because if we play Carolina with this offense? We don't go 3-and-out every possession of the 1st quarter and get down 13 points before we can blink. And the secondary....jury's still out, but I like our position at safety and our depth overall better now. Hopefully that all plays out and we continue with those strengths-----put teams down early and dare them to try and come back against our defense. That's more of a formula for Super Bowl success than last year's "we can't score, but neither can you" philosophy. Believe me. Because good teams in big games? Often times, yes they will score. And sometimes you just have to be able to match fire with fire when that happens.

Watching this PSU / OSU game, I'm not sure if I'm seeing OSU play bad or PSU play good. I think it's a little of both. Penn St.'s defense looks pretty good. OSU seems to be starting to take control now though.

Dunno. What's the alternate they are showing?

I understand your point. This year though----there's got to be a drop in revenue. Those stands are looking pretty empty these days. Who knows how many hot dogs are going cold, replica jerseys remaining unsold.....advertisers complaining about the dropping viewership. Trib will never tell us. But some of that has to be happening. Fan interest in this team has dropped through the floor this year.

Yes, I think it would take some time to complete a deal. I'm just doubting that the GM/Managerial situation would hurt the chances of selling the team. I mean, the Cubs are already real bad on the field. Any buyer is going to know this coming in. Any additional value the Cubs might have garnered by being a winning franchise has got to be out the window at this point anyway. So you muddle along for 6 months before you can mandate wholesale changes.......I don't see that as a real deterrant when you're talking about a possible lifetime commitment.

Since the underlying management would presumably stay the same (at least momentarily), I don't think the start of a season would have much bearing on it. Someone go ahead and correct me if I'm wrong. I mean obviously it would be nice to be able to start with a clean slate for your first season, but MLB ownerships are incredibly scarce. If you get the chance to buy in, I don't think you are going to nix a deal just because it doesn't fall in-between seasons.

Fred, Cedeno's #'s post ASB please? :D .233/.262/.342/.604 07/14 - 09/20 AB R H 2B 3B HR TB RBI BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS Cedeno 193 19 45 7 1 4 66 17 6 46 0.233 0.262 0.342 0.604 Someone told me last year..... "He couldn't possibly do worse than Neifi." Insanity. Here's one for your DB to crunch on: what players have had OBPs as low as Cedeno's and then come back to post, say, .350 or better?

Baseball and basketball are so different though. Even a winning Pittsburgh doesn't bring in the revenue that a losing Cubs does. The market is just different. The A's win all the time, but they still have to have a smaller payroll than say San Francisco or LA. Basketball has a salary cap, and that help make all the team compete on the same level. You don't hear a lot of about market disparities in the NBA, because it's just not the same issue. Some of that also has to do with basketball being an indoor game, and playing half as many games as baseball does. I simply don't think Cuban is going to view the Cubs and Pirates as having the same long term potential. You might be right. I'd take Cuban in a heartbeat. Dramatic change is exactly what the Cubs need, and switching to Cuban would be a very, very dramatic change. That's if the other owners would want to deal with Cuban. He isn't exactly liked in the NBA and baseball is much more conservative. Stipulation: Mark will stay in his luxury box, where he may yell, shout, scream to his heart's content. Deal done. 8)

Bruce, put me down as willing to accept somewhat less likable people in the front office if it means winning a World Series. I can't speak for anyone else. I, too, like Andy as a person but I've been a fan of this ballclub for almost 4 decades and would like to see what only my Great Grandfather witnessed: a Cubs World Series.

They also may be protected by the Shield Law. I'll be interested to see what the 9th Circuit has to say. It was a federal grand jury. There is no federal shield law. I believe it is being appealed though. I, too, will be interested to see what happens the next rung up.

Seriously, every single one of his suggestions were completely superficial and non-baseball related. 6 were strictly fan related. Not only did he fail to mention anything specifically baseball related (ie, fire Dusty), he couldn't even list a general baseball comment (get better pitchers). And to top it off, it wasn't even funny. Pitchers? Bah...that's so trivial. But that Zambrano billboard behind home plate is critical to the future success of the Cubs. It takes real guts to attempt to argue that flying the "L" flag is a reason for Cub failure. Amazing. I think Sully must have written this article on his napkin at dinner the night before.

Baseball and basketball are so different though. Even a winning Pittsburgh doesn't bring in the revenue that a losing Cubs does. The market is just different. The A's win all the time, but they still have to have a smaller payroll than say San Francisco or LA. Basketball has a salary cap, and that help make all the team compete on the same level. You don't hear a lot of about market disparities in the NBA, because it's just not the same issue. Some of that also has to do with basketball being an indoor game, and playing half as many games as baseball does. I simply don't think Cuban is going to view the Cubs and Pirates as having the same long term potential. You might be right. I'd take Cuban in a heartbeat. Dramatic change is exactly what the Cubs need, and switching to Cuban would be a very, very dramatic change.

Excellent article. I can't emphasize this enough. Has there ever been a club who produces less position talent in their minor league system? We're talking Mark Grace here. How can this go unpunished for so long? Here's all you really need to know about MacF.A.I.L (and, indeed, the entire Cub franchise over the past 10 years) He's a bozo. We should have dumped him years & years ago. But then again, the Trib doesn't care about baseball, only profits and Andy has presided over an era of big profits for the team.

But the revenue would be SO much more for the Cubs. Cuban's all about winning. I think he can see that Chicago's major market would afford a better opportunity for that in the long run. Perhaps. I think the Mavs were basically thought of on the same terms as the Pirates are right now before Cuban bought them, though. It's just a matter of whether he wants to go through it all again, but this time in the withering spotlight of Chicago sports, which let's face it, is much much more intense than Dallas. We care about our baseball here----half of Dallas didn't even know they had a basketball team before Cuban arrived. I have no clue what Cuban would do, if anything. I only know I've seen 25 years of Trib-owned Cubbie baseball, and looking back, they have come up short again & again & again. The era of the Trib has basically been painful, filled with losing and incompetence, and unfulfilling. I'm ready for a change. Hope it happens.

Good. I'll consider the game won and not worry about it! 8)

They do look impressive, don't they? BTW, thx for posting the run-downs each week. I really enjoy it. Saves me from scrolling through my guide a little bit---and I probably would have missed that Northwestern game tonight if you hadn't posted it (yes, it's sad.....I'm a NW fan).

Jaws and Salisbury will pick the Bears. All 6 of sportsline.com's guys have us not only winning, but beating the spread. http://www.sportsline.com/nfl/features/writers/expert/picks I'm in the minority on this one. I just see this game as a heck of a tough battle. I think we can win if we play well, but I am expecting a dogfight. Hey-----here's to me being wrong :wink:

That Ramirez thing is scary. Anyone know if he is leaning one way or the other? For all the criticism he's received, I just don't see how this team competes in '07 without his bat in the lineup---outside a massive overhaul with multiple top-FAs being acquired, which I don't think will happen.