Sosa21MVP

Forget Bartman, has anything gone right since Alex Gonzalez booted the potential inning ending double-play ball which would have allowed the Cubs to escape that inning with the lead intact? Sure the Cubs have had some bad luck since then. The 2004 team seemed poise to make it back to the postseason and we even made a huge deadline pickup in Nomar which is something the Cubs aren't know for doing. But LaTroy blew a sure win in New York and the roof caved in. The 2005 Cubs at least were in the race for part of the season. Overall, my experience with the Cubs has led me to believe the 2004 & 2005 seasons weren't the worst thing in the world. The team was competitive at least. The 2006 Cubs are a huge disaster but not the biggest one. The 0-14 start of 1997 still rings clear in my mind. One thing about the Cubs in my lifetime, usually the good seasons kind of appear out of nowhere. The 1989, 1998, 2001, 2003 teams stand out to me as examples of that, although in fairness the '98 team did have some positive hype out of the gate with some of the offseason moves. The success of the White Sox only gives me hope. I don't hate them. The fact the Red Sox and White Sox could win the World Series in back-2-back seasons should be encouraging. Curses are BS, winning a title just takes the right combination of talent, luck and timing. Turnarounds in baseball happen quite quickly with the right moves. Look at Detroit, they were 43-119 in 2003 and now they are 35 games over .500. This too shall pass. The Cubs will have their chances again. Whether they convert those chances into the long awaited goals of a NL pennant and world title, I don't know. But I have no doubt the Cubs will get back in that position. They always find a way to do it, even for one season. It's not like the Cubs have lost 90+ games and never made the playoffs since 1945.

Regarding BBTN overall, my only use for the show has been getting highlights of the days games. I certainly don't tune in for "expert" analysis. Really it's the same with ESPN's football "experts", I think most of them are pretty much worthless. So I never put much stock in the quality of analysis per se but a guy like Harold, he just seemed like a good guy and someone I did not mind listening to between highlights. So you can critique his analysis and say he was no better than Kruk or whomever else but I never watched that show for insight. Give me my highlights and people that I stand to listen to. :lol: Out of all the analysts, the only ones I ever listen to are the TNT/ESPN guys for the NBA. Especially TNT; it's the rare case where I honestly as a fan of the game can find myself agreeing with the analysis more often that not. Regarding Pedro Gomez, did he volunteer to be Barry's personal stalker or did ESPN assign him that job? :lol:

The Cubs did come within a game of the World Series in 2003 and Hendry's decision to trade for Kenny Lofton & Aramis Ramirez helped the team with the stretch drive. The guy gets bashed quite a bit anymore so it's only fair to point out the whole story. But in any case, to me the goal of deadline deals isn't to transform the Cubs into title contenders for 2007. The goal would be to expand the base of younger talent and add pieces which could contribute to a title team down the road, perhaps 2008.

Althought I don't condemn Scott's optimism, I do agree that the best time to make some hay on trades is at the 7/31 deadline. The Cubs do have some guys whom contenders may covet and I think consumating deals at the deadline will yield better results for the Cubs organization.

I always liked Harold on BBTN. Thanks to ESPN, I now have zero reason to ever watch that show again.

Read the article, sir. The EMail was sent to my site, to Desipio, to View from the Bleachers, to 1060, and to Bleed Cubbie Blue, among others. A strong majority of people who read the EMail thought that the "feel free to boo Dusty" comment was in bad taste. I was not the only one who voiced my opinion on the matter, but for whatever reason, my column was picked up by Deadspin, a second EMail was quickly sent out by ESPN, they soon began to deny the very existence of the EMail, Teddy Greenstein picked it up for the Tribune, and here we are. I just expressed my opinion on the subject and, feeling sorry for Baker, gave someone a heads up. I didn't call up the radio stations, I didn't EMail the news papers. I think the situation speaks for itself, and if you actually took the time to read any of the columns, you would see that I am not trying to set myself up as some "hero." I posted info about it here because it's an interesting topic. If it wasn't interesting, you wouldn't be discussing it still. I think you did the right thing.

I guess for me, it is tough to know the Red Sox won it in 2004 and White Sox in 2005. Makes me think even more 2003 was supposed to be The Year for the Cubs. :?

There are seldom few guys on this team that I would not root for. Honestly right now the only guys I truly despise all that much are Neifi Perez and Glendon Rusch. Doesn't mean I love all the remaining players but typically there are only one or two bums on a given Cubs team that I dislike. :wink:

I've seen so many things that I had never seen in 20 years as a baseball fan thanks to the 2006 Cubs. 2 grand salamis in one inning - check!

Man he didn't get cheated on that swing! :shock: 8)

I like that at-bat by Aramis. He got down early but ran the count full and fouled off some pitches to stay alive.

Good job Michael! :D

Anytime the Cubs have a winning season/playoff berth it raises the bar of expectations and makes subsequent losing seasons more disappointing. And that is the way it should be. A well run organization should find ways to build upon success rather than slip back into mediocrity.

Good ole Dusty, always good for a quote which gives me a headache. :?

Odd thought as I watch replays of old All-Star games...how many people here either remember the 1945 World Series or have a living relative who remembers it? My dad is 76 and he recalls that series. I guess it gives me a wee bit of hope that my pops has seen the Cubs in the World Series. :)

Cubs win 3 of 4, cool.

Sure, let's run off ARAM for being frustrated. Makes perfect sense. :roll:

Try to contribute but always ignored.

Bless my heart, I'm going to now attempt to watch this team sober tonight. Pray for me. :? :lol:

He did very good work. I saw them on a NFL board. :wink:

Used to be someone's sig. Should be revived. Most definitely!

http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h228/sebennett99/rudy-m.jpg http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h228/sebennett99/neifi.jpg

http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h228/sebennett99/dusty_dice.jpg

It's great that Prior had a good start in AAA, but until he is back with the big league club and racking up quality starts I think it is premature to say "in your face" to anyone although I think most Cubs fans do hope for the best for Mark. I don't sense hate, just some doubt.

My buddy is a Reds fan and I was on the phone with him during the 9th inning. Once the bases were loaded, he assured me that the Reds were just as capable of blowing a game as the Cubs. :lol: