vance_the_cubs_fan

I'm going to offer my two cents. First of all, I think a lot of the boom of this site coincided with the Cubs becoming increasingly popular. In 2003, I started looking to the internet for a Cubs message board and first found ESPN before gravitating here. At the same time, NSBB benefited from having people who were located and later were able to gain access to some of the minor league teams and build relationships there. DJaxxfann(Chris) was probably most influential in this. To my knowledge, the relationship we developed there which led to some Q&A's with Cubs players and really nice access was coincedental, but it was focused on Chris and his efforts. Once the Cubs moved affiliations and life or whatever led Chris away from the site, that access dried up without someone who could push it on a local level. That was one of the things that made the site unique. Having personalities like Len Kasper stop by and do a Q&A along with the minor leaguers was great. I agree with JR when he says a lot of times fans flock to message boards to get first hand accounts of spring training games and Cubs Convention. That however takes a lot of resources to make sure happens. Some of it happening here was just by chance. Posters went to these events and shared. We had posters who attended games in minor league cities who shared what they knew and those relationships led to access and information that wasn't readily available elsewhere. I don't know if there's a way to get all that back without a comprehensive plan that would require a great deal of time, effort, and resources. Fact of it remains, what NSBB was it may never be again. As a poster, we can either accept that and continue to post or move on elsewhere. So, the reason the site has changed is probably a combination of things. Some of these could likely have been avoided...others not so much.

Sorry that I'm just now posting in this thread, but I had to clean the [expletive] off my Dirk autographed basketball.

I want to say that collisions at the plate aren't allowed at any other level (i.e. college and below), in which case I don't think it would be hard to weed out. I can't remember seeing it at any UCD games I covered in the past (though that doesn't mean it didn't happen) and I remember seeing a guy blow up a catcher in high school and he was ejected immediately. So if it is outlawed at all other levels, it means that guys aren't taught to drill the catcher until the pro ranks and it seems like it would be easy to just not teach them to do it. Are catchers allowed to block the plate without the ball at those levels? I can't speak for all levels, but in Louisiana at the HS level, the catcher is not allowed unless he has the ball. The runner must attempt a slide and is out (and can be ejected) if he lowers his shoulder or initiates excessive contact with a catcher. On the other side, if the catcher obstructs the plate without possession of the ball, the runner will be called safe and the catcher can be ejected within the umpire's discretion.

Ricketts should just criticize the whole team ala Wippon. That would be great.

Yeah that post was totally unreadable. It's still not as bad as trying to watch the current Cubs team play. This team's play in on the level with trying to read a Levin Black Oped piece.

Talking to yourswlf, Fred?

Alright. Help me out. I'm one row behind Astros dugout. Send me heckling suggestions.

Dear Cubs, Don't suck. Thnx Plz, Vance

Imagine witty game thread with excellent graphics. Ok. Done. I'll be in attendance, Cubs. Please win!

I just watched the play on mlb.com. A couple of notes: 1. First Posey never has the ball. The ball beats the runner, but Posey never catches it. 2. The runner collides with him, but it isn't a particularly viscous hit. It seems more a freak injury caused by the collision and the fact that Posey is in the way and trying to plant his feet and turn without the ball that causes the injury. So, if if I'm going with Posey's agent's way of thinking...I think the fault of injury lies more with Posey than the runner here. He was impeding the runner without possession of the ball, which he never had. The hit didn't jar the ball loose. Posey never caught it.

Bring on the Heat!

4 pt Mavs lead! Let's go!

Bob Strum's take on the Mav's great comeback. http://www.dallasnews.com/sports/dallas-mavericks/headlines/20110524-sturm-miracle-comeback-shows-why-mavericks-can-win-it-all1.ece

Vitters and Barney for Wright. I'd throw in more, but that's as far as I go for someone who isn't a superstar. I might give them Brett Jackson. I really like Wright. Wright could slide into Ramirez's spot, sign Pujols and that's a nice middle of the order.

If that's how he feels, I'd love to be trying to swing a deal fro Wright this very minute.

That's how I feel about the Pujols deal. When you sign a big money FA, you always pay too much. But if you get the production you want, you can live with it. Go elite, but stay away from the near elite because those guys will make almost as much as the elite guys without coming close to the guarantee of production. Pujols is elite. Pay the man.

I still can't get over how Dallas came back. With five minutes left, my wife banished me to my office to watch the rest of the game because I wouldn't stop shouting profane words at the TV. As they chipped away, I watched in disbelief. That was such an awesome win. I hope the Mavs can put it away at home tomorrow night. I'd love to be there, but alas I can't take Wednesday and Thursday off work.

I'm buying the Indians. There's no one else in that division that impresses me. They should win around 90+ games which would be enough to take the division. I'll admit, I haven't seen them play except for on highlights, but that will change in a week when I can spend my days and nights sitting around watching baseball or whatever else I choose.

I thought for sure Dallas had lost that game. Dirk is amazing. I'm going to break dress code and rock out this shirt at work tomorrow. http://cache0.bigcartel.com/product_images/36001710/300.jpg

Dirk is the best player in the NBA right now.

Absolutely! It's worth the 20 minute drive from New Orleans. I have been known to time my trips to New Orleans so that I'm traveling through there at meal times. They also have pretty good gumbo. They've expanded quite a bit over the years, but I know many people who do not make a trip from Monroe to New Orleans without stopping there. It's been over a year since I've been and need to make another trip.

More on the guy who poisoned the Toomer's Corner trees. Link By the way, I've eaten several times at the catfish place they held the interview at in Manchac, LA. It's Mittendorf's and they have the best paper-thin catfish filets anywhere.

Gonna be in section 324 tonight at the AA Center! Go Mavs!

The problem with waiting for the exact perfect free agent is that free agent doesn't exist. If you sit around and pass on each major free agent because there are some flaws or questions, you'll never make a big free agent signing and you'll probably never win a World Series. The Cubs are in a position right now where we have some good, young major league talent and we have a ton of prospects on their way up who look like good major leaguers. However, we have no real starpower in the minors or on the team. The potential is there for a very good supporting cast, but no core for that cast to support. We also don't have much money committed beyond 2012 and the third highest payroll in the MLB. Given all of that, one of the best players to ever play the game may just hit the open market this offseason and would give us that core player we don't have in the system. If we pass on Pujols and Fielder in the hopes that the perfect free agent falls in our lap, we'll see a lot more of the type seasons we saw in the 2000s (good teams that weren't great because they lacked a great player) in the coming years. Signing Pujols is a gamble, but sometimes you have to take gambles to win championships and if I'm going to take a gamble, I want to take one on the best player in the game. This is exactly how I feel. There are certain FA worth taking the gamble on and then there are those that aren't. In reality, you almost always overpay for a free agent. Unless a guy has a breakthrough after signing his contract, there are few values in free agency because you usually pay for past performance and by the time a guy usually hits free agency, he's already in his peak years. That being said, to build a contender, you usually have to go after a guy like that every now and then. Look at what we had to pay Soriano. He was the best FA that year, but he wasn't nearly worth what he got. The same could be said though about most FA contracts. Anyway, Pujols won't be worth his contract, but I know we have to go get someone at sometime, I'd rather it be the best player in baseball.

I do find it funny when the Heat implodes. But, I did want the Mavs to get to beat the Heat....but the Heat losing now is good too.