David

See: 2007 NLDS Cubs v DBacks More relevantly, see 2008 Cubs immediately after the All Star break. They slumped badly then, and then quickly proceeded to completely dominate their way to the best record in baseball. Every team slumps, even the best ones. They'll eventually get out of it, and go back to being a great team. Seriously. Realistic Mizzou and UMFan. That's that ish right there.

lol i still cant believe zambrano skipped his MRI wtf is that??

YES YES YES WE GOT HUNTER PENCE OUT!!!

Are we gonna get Hunter Pence out here?

It's a "crappy" start according to some. At the time it was WHAT?!? Please explain because this makes no sense to me He's saying that in 5 innings, 3 ER was crappy... in 7 innings, it's a bit better.

The extra annoying thing about this likely loss is having to wait till Friday for a chance to break this streak.

lol... fwiw, wolf has always owned our hitters...it would be nice to get to him for once.

It's a "crappy" start according to some. At the time it was At the time it was 3 runs in 5 which I still don't see as crappy. One inning more without a run is a QS and two more and it's probably considered a pretty good start. For Dempster that is not that hard to do as he proved here tonight. You can't call a start crappy because he gives up 3 runs in 5 or if he gives up 1 run in in the first if the man is still pitching. Your argument would've looked a lot better if you didn't cite that terrible QS stat.

Yes, this IS sad.

It's a "crappy" start according to some. Who in the heck is saying that? I haven't given up on this game, but we better score in the next two innings because we have never been able to do anything off of Valverde. Hmmm... one poster said the Cubs had the worst pitching in baseball and that Dempster's stuff looked terrible... I'm no scout but it looked more or less the same as what I've seen all year :confused:

We've had a real slump. This is the second one. We came out of the other one tied for 1st place. Not a big deal though, as much as people would like you to think the season is over. Meh, that slump was really treading water over a 32 game stretch. They never looked this bad then. Wat? I'm talking about the 4 game losing streak and the inability to score any runs right after the All Star break... remember that?

I'm not really sure what you're arguing here. Are you saying we should worry about anything that's possible? At what point should we worry about things as a realistic possibility? Do you worry about plane crashes every time you board a plane? I mean, where do you draw the line? It doesn't happen all the time. It happens 1% of the time. Are you saying I should acknowledging it's possible? OK, it's possible (I already did that, actually). It's also one of the most unlikely things you could ever see happen. What question? I'll ask for the 3rd time. If the odds showed the Cubs had a 1% chance of making the playoffs, would you consider making the playoffs a realistic possibility? I'd consider you quite the optimist if you did.

panic responses are a sign of a weak will and a generally pessimistic outlook on lifeIf I was a fan of another team without a dog in the fight I would find this board HILARIOUS right now. It is hilarious. I know. People need to realize we've already clinched a playoff spot and losses don't matter right now. I love how you go off like this in every game thread and then at the end admit how ridiculous you were being and how in other parts of the forum you admit how ridiculous you are in the game threads, and yet, despite being aware of this behavior, you can't control yourself.

We've had a real slump. This is the second one. We came out of the other one tied for 1st place. Not a big deal though, as much as people would like you to think the season is over.

panic responses are a sign of a weak will and a generally pessimistic outlook on lifeIf I was a fan of another team without a dog in the fight I would find this board HILARIOUS right now. It is hilarious.

Actually, I'm not freaking missing the point. I'm not saying it's unlikely they'll miss the playoffs, I'm saying it's damn near impossible. You're saying it's realistic that it could happen. Of course, things with a 1% chance of happening can happen, the Bulls (supposedly) had a 1.7% chance of getting the #1 pick. But they're also damn rare BY DEFINITION. Answer my question. If the Cubs had a 1% chance to make the playoffs, would you consider the playoffs a realistic possibility? Why the hell would you worry about some insanely unlikely possibility like that? Why would I worry about it? Are you serious? I'm sorry but you're an idiot for thinking we've clinched anything. Can you find the Mets playoff odds when they had a 7.5 game lead in mid September last year? I'm sure Mets fans were saying the same thing over and over all September. The truth is we just had an 11 game cushion above the last wild card spot and it's probably going to be down to 8 after tonight. So if 3 games can dissapear that quickly, the remaining 8 games could start to vanish quickly as well. STOP ACTING AS THOUGH WE'VE CLINCHED ANYTHING. WE ARE CUBS FANS. LOL wow....so you're admitting that you're being ridiculously irrational because you're a Cubs fan, I guess. You still haven't answered my question.

That was a pretty line drive... carried too far, ugh

You know what there's a realistic chance of? Losing Zambrano for the playoffs. I'm worried about that. There's also a realistic chance (about 15% at this point, I'm guessing) of not winning the division and not having home field advantage (although the Cubs have shown they can be pretty damn good on the road, too). I'm a bit worried about that, too. I'm not, however, freaking worried about a 1/100 shot happening.

A run or two would be nice this inning, plz...

Actually, I'm not freaking missing the point. I'm not saying it's unlikely they'll miss the playoffs, I'm saying it's damn near impossible. You're saying it's realistic that it could happen. Of course, things with a 1% chance of happening can happen, the Bulls (supposedly) had a 1.7% chance of getting the #1 pick. But they're also damn rare BY DEFINITION. Answer my question. If the Cubs had a 1% chance to make the playoffs, would you consider the playoffs a realistic possibility? Why the hell would you worry about some insanely unlikely possibility like that?

What do you suggest, LLF? A code red?

David says we're okay because of run differential and stuff like that, so it must be true. We aren't allowed to be realistic, unless we're saying the Cubs are gods and couldn't possibly miss the playoffs. Dude, what the hell are you talking about.. First, that last part. You think it's realistic to think the Cubs could miss the playoffs at this point? That's more like the wild card runner up's wet dream and not even close to being close to being likely. But hey, keep spouting off irrational nonsense out of frustration. I already said that what IS worth worrying about is Zambrano. Dempster is a possible concern, but it's not like he's getting lit up. Harden - take it however you want. I'll worry about it when I see something to worry about beyond Lou saying he's got discomfort. The organization told us right when we got him that they were going to do something like this with him at some point. But yea, I'm the one being unrealistic. :roll: How can you say it's not a realistic possibilty that the Cubs miss the playoffs? It's highly unlikely, but MUCH crazier things have happened than a team blowing an 8 game lead at the beginning of September. The Mets blew that in about 2 weeks last season, so I don't think it's smart to say "oh well, we've got the playoffs clinched" when that is not at all true. Do I think we miss the playoffs? Of course not, but it's not at all impossible. a less than 1% chance is not realistic... If the Cubs had a 1% chance of making the playoffs right now, would you think it was realistic to think they'd make the playoffs? Didn't think so. Wow... I can't believe they got him.. In fact I'm not sure they did

lol i dont understand how citing a FACTUAL 99% chance of making the playoffs right now (you know, based on history and math and stuff) is being construed as blowing sunshine up people's asses.

David says we're okay because of run differential and stuff like that, so it must be true. We aren't allowed to be realistic, unless we're saying the Cubs are gods and couldn't possibly miss the playoffs. Dude, what the hell are you talking about.. First, that last part. You think it's realistic to think the Cubs could miss the playoffs at this point? That's more like the wild card runner up's wet dream and not even close to being close to being likely. But hey, keep spouting off irrational nonsense out of frustration. I already said that what IS worth worrying about is Zambrano. Dempster is a possible concern, but it's not like he's getting lit up. Harden - take it however you want. I'll worry about it when I see something to worry about beyond Lou saying he's got discomfort. The organization told us right when we got him that they were going to do something like this with him at some point. But yea, I'm the one being unrealistic. :roll:

I'm not able to watch the game. Just by listening to Pat and Ron it doesn't sound like he's pitching that poorly, but is he hanging a lot of stuff? His stuff is noticeably worse than it has been. FWIW, Joshi, I haven't noticed anything of the sort.. I've seen him pitching in the low-mid 90s consistenly and getting the movement we've seen from him all year.