The Awesome Meltdown

The Earth is going to hell.

2009-08-04T22:53:00.003-05:00

The flames will rise from the oceans and the land will turn to lava if this happens.

Peavy, Pussies and Grabow

2009-07-31T22:50:00.004-05:00

White Sox acquire Jake "the Snake" Peavy. Okay, I made that nickname up, but Jake Peavy is now a member of the White Sox. They gave the Padres Clayton Richard, Aaron Poreda, Dexter Carter, and AdamRussell.

Cubs added two lhp's as the Pirates continue to decide that they don't want their good players anymore. John Grabow and Tom Gorzelanny are now new Cubs. They sent Kevin Hart, Jose Ascanio, and Josh Harrison to Pittsburgh.

Bobby Wade says "It is what it is" in regards to the Urlacher-Cutler situation, then he called Percy Harvin a part of the female anatomy.

Buncha people got traded today in baseball - check it out here.

Another Blackhawks f*** up? Are the fans allowed to 'boo' John McDonough yet?

Tyler Hans-don't-taze-me-brough is injured, which is funny 'cause he's bad.

And last but not least --

HAPPY TRAINGING CAMP DAY!!!

Wayne and Janet Gretzky

2009-07-29T22:20:00.004-05:00

I don't really have anything to say about this, but when I showed it to Bellwether, he demanded that I share this picture with all of you. So enjoy --

Buehrle, Fonzy, Pussies and other things

2009-07-29T14:05:00.004-05:00

Vikings receiver (and former Bear) Bobby Wade says Brian Urlacher thinks Jay Cutler is a "Pussy." In response to this, Jay Cutler has officially uninvited Bobby Wade to his birthday party and Brian Urlacher is no longer allowed to sit at his lunch table.

Mark Buehrle is really good, but the Sox are still bad.

You can't see Alfonso Soriano when he hits walk off grand slams. He loves John Cena.

Bartolo Colon is bad at baseball and is now on the DL. Brought up a left-hander and I'm assuming they put Clayton Richard back in the rotation.

First Brian Anderson wanted out, and he was given a trade. Now Josh Fields has been beating down Kenny Williams door telling him that he wants out.

The Mariners throw a bunch of players at the Pirates for Ian Snell and Jack Wilson.

Tim Kurkjian talks about the pitch count.

EA released the playlists for Madden 10, NBA 10 and NHL 10.

Cliff Lee is a Phillie now.

Eagles defensive coordinator Jim Johnson dead at 68

2009-07-28T23:49:00.003-05:00

One of the most influential coordinators in NFL history. Johnson mentored future NFL coaches and coodrinators Steve Spagnola, John Harbaugh, Ron Rivera, and Leslie Frazier. You can read his obit here and another here

This week in Chicago Sports...

2009-07-27T18:38:00.003-05:00

The Cubs open up a four game series vs Houston in Wrigley starting with two decent pitching match-ups. Today is Zambrano vs Wandy Rodriguez and tomorrow the Cubs welcome back Ryan Dempster vs Roy Oswalt.

The White Sox are up in the Metrodome for a three game series vs the Twins. Carlos Quentin will test his foot on the artificial turf and will be in the starting line-up tonight.

Trade deadline is this Friday, still a lot of rumors flying around both teams.

Another thing that happens Friday is.... BEAR-BONAIS. Training camp is here, and so is Jay Cutler. Its about damn time.

Also:

Jay Mariotti adores Mark Buehrle's charm.

Rumors and Rants' Phillips thinks Alphonso Soriano is one of the top three "immovable players" in Major League Baseball.

The Sun Times' Brad Briggs does some Jay Cutler math.

Lisa Olson of AOL Fanhouse thinks Curtis Granderson is a good person, and drops the word 'altruistic' on us.

Here is Fox Sports' really bad NFL Power Rankings.

Baseball and stuff

2009-07-26T10:32:00.004-05:00

Ted Lilly on the DL + Matt Holliday is a Cardinal now + rumors of Milton Bradley going to the Tigers = one effed up week for the Cubs. It will be interesting to see if the Cubs add or subtract anything from this team to bulk up for their run at the NL Central. Rumors surrounding the addition of George Sherrill and/or Adam Dunn have been making the rounds. Of those two I would put more money on the Sherrill acquisition, but I doubt either of them happen.

The White Sox have been pretty bad lately. Leaving crap loads of guys on base. Bobby Jenks has blown two big saves in a row. Scott Linebrink is either injured and sucks or is just bad and sucks. Rumors are flying around that team as well. Ozzie has said that he thinks nothing will happen, but I don't think you can ever count out the Sox making a splash while Kenny Williams is GM. Names that have been floating around have been Roy Halladay, Dan Haren, Zack Duke, and Justin Duchscherer, but for some reason I doubt the Sox add anything of substance before the deadline.

With all that being said and with the MLB trade deadline getting ever so closer, I thought I would share these two gems with you guys:

Jerry Crasnick grades nine blockbuster trades in response to the "Roy Halladay Sweepstakes."

Sports Illustrated gives us 25 of the best deadline deals.

Bears training camp is less than six days away...

Perfection!

2009-07-23T19:49:00.005-05:00

"Never thought I'd throw a no-hitter, never thought I'd throw a perfect game, never thought I'd hit a home run. Never say never in this game because crazy stuff can happen." - Mark Buehrle

Couldn't have happened to a nicer guy.

Top 100 players in MLB

2009-07-22T14:20:00.004-05:00

The other day I posted an article from Sporting News on who, in their opinion, are the top 50 players in MLB. Well here is another one of those, except this one is the top 100 players in MLB according to Joe Posnanski from Sports Illustrated. His top ten:

1. Albert Pujols, 1B, Cardinals

2. Joe Mauer, C, Twins

3. Hanley Ramirez, SS, Marlins

4. Zack Greinke, SP, Royals

5. Chase Utley, 2B, Phillies

6. Alex Rodriguez, 3B, Yankees

7. Tim Lincecum, SP, Giants

8. Dan Haren, SP, Diamondbacks

9. Johan Santana, SP, Mets

10. Roy Halladay, SP, Blue Jays

The rest of the list includes two Sox players and two Cubs players: Mark Buehrle at #49, Jermaine Dye at #59, Aramis Ramirez at #80 and Carlos Zambrano at #92.

It was the best of times...

2009-07-22T10:53:00.005-05:00

It was the worst of times... News has come out that newly acquired Blackhawk Marian Hossa has been battling a shoulder injury since last season's Stanley Cup Playoffs. Surgery has not been ruled out.

The best offensive lineman on the Bears is?

2009-07-22T10:33:00.004-05:00

Roberto Garza apparently. According to KC Joyner of ESPN Roberto Garza scored the highest in his run-blocking metric system.

"The numbers showed that right guard Roberto Garza not only was the Bears' most efficient run-blocker last season, he was one of the best guards in the game, ranking ahead of the three Pro Bowlers whom Joyner has final numbers for: Chris Snee, Leonard Davis and Alan Faneca."

Last year's starting offensive line scored as such:

LT John St. Clair: 79.5
LG Josh Beekman: 85.7
C Olin Kreutz: 81.5
RG Roberto Garza: 88.3
RT John Tait: 84.6

New LT Orlando Pace scored 83.5 with St. Louis last season.

Check out the rest of the article here.

Also - apparently David Haugh knows 10 things about the Bears.

The Top 50 Major League Baseball Players

2009-07-21T20:33:00.004-05:00

According to Sporting News has only two Chicago ball-players, both named Carlos: Carlos Quentin at #40 and Carlos Zambrano at #48.

The top ten is as follows:

1. Albert Pujols, 1B, Cardinals

2. Alex Rodriguez, 3B, Yankees

3. Johan Santana, SP, Mets

4. Manny Ramirez, LF, Dodgers

5. Hanley Ramirez, SS, Marlins

6. Chase Utley, 2B, Phillies

7. Roy Halladay, SP, Blue Jays

8. Derek Jeter, SS, Yankees

9. Mariano Rivera, RP, Yankees

10. Chipper Jones, 3B, Braves

Not sure how much of this I agree with. The rest of the list is interesting, it can be found here.

EDIT: Alfonso Soriano is at 27th on this list. I read it eight times and I missed it every single time. Kinda Like Fonzy and curveballs ... HEY-O.

Holy Awesome Meltdown Batman!

2009-07-20T10:48:00.004-05:00

In the wake of the Bellwether's comments about Terrell Owens' asperations of becoming an A-list movie star, I thought I would bring this to everyone's attention: SHAQ VS

I will watch this TV show. Mark it.

With any luck, it will be as awesome as this

This could be the start of something awesome...

2009-07-19T21:28:00.004-05:00

or terrible, probably terrible, but I can't read this

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2009/07/19/tos-post-football-career-officially-begins-monday-sort-of/

"If I'm going to really consider doing acting after football, this a great start to let me get my feet wet," [Terrell] Owens said last year in connection with a cameo appearance on a little-known sitcom starting Flavor Flav. "For an actor trying to become an A-lister, I think I'm on the bottom of the pile. I'm a D-lister."

And not think of this:

In which Bellwether Meltdown deals with an unruly Amazon marketplace seller

2009-05-05T19:04:00.003-05:00

Prologue: I ordered Mr. Show season 4 from an amazon marketplace seller last week. It was $9 listed as new and sealed. It arrived yesterday. It was not sealed, and there were fingerprints on the discs. It was in good enough condition, so I'm really not about to spend a week or more playing etag with amazon and a seller to correct this, but it's still exceedingly shitty, so I left the seller a one star feedback.

Today I received this email:

-------------- Begin seller message ---------------------

I was sorry to read the feedback you left regarding this order. Amazon strongly encourages buyers to contact seller prior to leaving negative feedback so we may have a chance to address the issue. I apologize for the error.... I sell both new and used items. Your order may have been accidentally switched with another. If you had contacted me, I would have tried to remedy the situation. Please consider removing feedback and contacting seller directly.

-------------- End seller message ------------------------

And this is my response:

In what world governed by any sort of logic is it incumbent upon the buyer to clean up for the sellers mistakes?

Upon shipping you ostensibly had three things in front of you: a listing, a printed packing slip corresponding to said listing, and an item. If you cross check the item with either the listing or the packing slip before you ship it, you would have noticed that the condition of the item in your hands did not match the listing of the item.

Now there's two possible scenarios that could have played out

A) You didn't do this.

If this is the case, you're either lazy or just bad at your job, so kiss my ass for implying that I should reconsider my bad rating

or, far more likely

B) You intentionally listed it wrong, OR you DID check the two and rather than contact me, you thought, "eh, it's $9, he's cheap, he probably won't raise a stink about it, and if he does, I can mark it new again, resell it, and I'm only out my shipping"

Well guess what, I am pretty cheap, but not so cheap to the point that I'm going to spend several days playing email tag, waiting for a return label, driving to ship it back, then waiting for some sort of resolution that may or may not result in me getting my DVDs. Since I'm a miserable, vindictive prick I figure the one star rating is far more frustrating to you than the loss of the $9 which you would have in all likelihood recouped by reselling it with a slightly higher price to compensate for the lost shipping revenue.

I wouldn't even be responding to this email if not for the fact that the implication that I was in any way at fault was incredibly infuriating and frustrating and I find e-browbeating you to be mildly cathartic.

-Your humble servant, Bellwether Meltdown, Knight of the British Empire

Yeah I'm an asshole, the question is, how big of an asshole am I?

2009 Chicago Bears NFL Draft

2009-05-01T10:00:00.004-05:00

Okay, okay, I suck at predicting when I'll actually write blogs. For that I apologize. Now for what I told you I'd deliver. As I've already said, I think this draft was a very good one for the Bears. Props to Jerry Angelo, Lovie Smith and the rest of the coaches and scouts. Before I get into the 2009 results, lets take a quick look at last years draft to put everything in perspective.

(All pictures are links to videos)

#14 Chris Willaims - OT - Vanderbilt

Chris Willams has really yet to accomplish anything in the NFL. He will likely start off the season starting at right tackle with the option of moving to left tackle ~~when Orlando Pace has his "I'm too old to play an entire season of football" injury~~ if something completely unforeseen happens to Orlando Pace.

#44 Matt Forte - RB - Tulane

Forte was a beast last year. He was pretty much everything the Bears could have wanted in a running back. Had the second most rushing yards among rookies and led the team in receptions. A lot was asked of Matt Forte last year, and he came into town and responded.

#70 Earl Bennett - WR - Vanderbilt

The jury is still out on Bennett, having barely played last season. He is slotted to be the Bears' third receiver going into training camp. It'll be interesting to see how his friendship with Jay Cutler will affect his performance this season.

#90 Marcus Harrison - DT - Arkansas

Mainly backed up Tommie Harris last season, but played well when he was out there. I still think this guy has a lot of talent that we haven't seen yet. With the addition of Rod Marinelli as the defensive line coach, there will be more rotation with the defensive line to keep them fresh and hungry. I'm sure we'll find out more about this kid next season.

#120 Craig Steltz - SS - LSU

Craig Steltz kinda sucks. I was way off on this guy. His lack of speed is a big problem, and I don't think he possesses the instincts to play his position.

#142 Zack Bowman - CB - Nebraska

I said after last year's draft that when healthy, Zack Bowman is a great addition to any team. That's pretty much how its played out thus far in the NFL for this kid. He was great in one game last season, and then he suffered an injury in that game. Rumors have been surfacing of late that the Bears were thinking of moving Bowman to free safety. We really won't know more about him until preseason football starts.

#158 Kellen Davis - TE/DE - Michigan State

Kellen Davis was out there last year mainly on running downs and on special teams. He will continue to serve as the Bears' blocking tight end and also as their contingency plan as they stockpile good tight ends for when they become currency in a post apocalyptic world.

#208 Ervin Baldwin - DE - Michigan State

I've got nothing to tell you about him. I think he's still on the team though, so that's good, right?

#222 Chester Adams - OG/OT - Georgia

He's on the practice squad. Maybe.

#243 Joey LaRocque - LB - Oregon State

He played some special teams last year, didn't really contribute all that much.

#247 Kirk Barton - OT - Ohio State

Bad at football. I don't think he's in the NFL anymore.

#248 Marcus Monk - WR - Arkansas

Marcus Monk didn't completely rehab from previous injuries and emerged as a completely different receiver - a slower, less physical one. He was cut by the Bears before the season started. He might be on the Giants practice squad going into next season.

Okay, onto this years draft.

Round 3

#4(68) Jarron Gilbert, DT/DE, San Jose St

Boy do the Bears like this guy. He's a quick, fit defensive lineman, exactly what Lovie Smith wants. He had 41 tackles for loss and 21.5 sacks in his college career. He'll most likely play defensive tackle, however he could play defensive end in a jam.
The reason he fell so far is because most NFL teams think he lacks the size to play at this level. He's 6'6 and a slim 280, so sometimes he gets too high on rushes and loses his leverage.

#35(99) Juaquin Iglesias, WR, Oklahoma

He is a big, physical wide receiver with good hands (6'0, 204). The Bears like that he's not afraid to go across the middle and that he will also will fight for an extra yard or five. However, he is not a down field threat what-so-ever. He will look nice as a slot receiver this year and is a good compliment to Hester. I have no idea who the second, third and fourth receivers will be this year. Probably some combination of Earl Bennett, Rashid Davis, Brandon Rideau and/or Iglesias. I would not be surprised if he ends up being the number two receiver at some point this season.

Round 4
#5(105) Henry Melton, DE, Texas

I'm a little befuddled on this one. I guess the Bears drafted him to come in and challenge Mark Anderson for the 3rd and long DE. (Beltin') Herny Melton started his career as a running back at Texas and only played two seasons at defensive end. He's a good pass rusher, but he has more touchdowns than sacks in his college career.

#19(119) D.J. Moore, CB, Vanderbilt

And its official, the Bears still have the most players from Vanderbilt (Hillenmeyer, Bennett, Williams and JAY CUTLER!! WOOOO.... sorry). This being said, I had DJ Moore as the third or fourth best corner back in this years draft. He's a little too slow and is kinda too small to be a big time corner back, but he does play bigger than his size and his lack of speed won't really be a factor in the Bears defense. If everything clicks for this kid, he could become a starter right away, as the Bears aren't completely sold on Corey Graham. He will most likely become the fourth corner back coming out of training camp, leap-frogging Trumaine McBride.

Round 5
#4(140) Johnny Knox, WR, Ab Christian

OH MY GOD this guy is fast. OH MY GOD this guy is small (5'11, 180). If he has as good of hands as everyone is saying, he'll compete for a role on the offense. He's going to have to contribute on special teams, either as a returner or on kick off/punt team. The way the wide receiver position looks on this team (bad) he'll have plenty of opportunities to show that his quickness and hands are up to NFL standards. Can you say grindy?

#18(154) Marcus Freeman, OLB, Ohio St

Marcus Freeman will contribute to this team. He'll back up Briggs enabling Jamar Williams to compete with Nick Roach and Hunter Hillenmeyer for the strong side linebacker position. Marcus Freeman can play all three linebacker positions, and will be a big addition to kick and punt coverage teams. I've read a lot of reports saying that Marcus Freeman was to James Laurinaitis as Lance Briggs is to Brian Urlacher, so take that for what its worth. He lacks NFL quickness, but has a decent football IQ. That being said, he was a steal in the fifth round.

Round 6
#17(190) Al Afalava, S, Oregon St
The Bears needed a free safety.... so they took a strong safety! There's the Jerry Angelo I remember! He wasn't invited to the combine, so he must have impressed the coaching staff during a private workout. He has decent speed, and has decent tackling skills. Probably better than Craig Steltz, no promises though.

Round 7
#37(246) Lance Louis, OG/TE, SDSU
He's way too big to play tight end in the NFL (6'2, 303) but the Bears originally said they wouldn't rule out moving him to tight end. However they did assign him number 60, making him a guard. He's pretty quick, and decently sized. Having been picked in the seventh round, I'm assuming he would need a lot of work in order for him to not start this season on the practice squad, but he could be a cheap backup and never underestimate the Bears cheap-ness.

#42(251) Derek Kinder, WR, Pittsburgh
This is almost the same as last year's last pick in the draft for the Bears, Marcus Monk. Monk suffered a big injury, hindering his production in college - Derek Kinder torn his ACL his junior year. Monk was overshadowed by a run-first offense with running back Darrin McFaddin - Kinder had the same problem last season with running back LeSean McCoy. So if you're the Bears here, why not roll the dice. Maybe he'll come in and compete, if not the Bears are no better or worse.

And now we wait four months for football start. In the meantime we have Bulls and Hawks postseason to watch, and of course there is always baseball. Update on those baseball teams to come in the next week or so.

Quick 2009 Draft Recap

2009-04-26T21:09:00.005-05:00

I think this draft was a very good one for Jerry Angelo & Co. Bravo. Hopefully this all works out for everyone involved. Here's a quick rundown of who the Bears selected in this year's draft.

Notes: Bears traded their second round pick, 49th overall, to the Seahawks for the fifth pick in round four, the 68th overall, and the fourth pick in the fifth, the 105th overall.

Round 3
#4(68) Jarron Gilbert, DT/DE, San Jose St
#35(99) Juaquin Iglesias, WR, Oklahoma
Round 4
#5(105) Henry Melton, DE, Texas
#19(119) D.J. Moore, CB, Vanderbilt
Round 5
#4(140) Johnny Knox, WR, Ab Christian
#18(154) Marcus Freeman, OLB, Ohio St
Round 6
#17(190) Al Afalava, S, Oregon St
Round 7
#37(246) Lance Louis, OG/TE, SDSU
#42(251) Derek Kinder, WR, Pittsburgh

More to come on who these guys are, where they came from and where they fit in tomorrow... or sometime this week... or tomorrow... or Wednesday... definitely by Wednesday.

NFL Mock Draft

2009-04-25T00:00:00.001-05:00

AWESOME NFL MOCK DRAFT SAUCE

1. Matthew Stafford, QB, Georgia
This was easy. Stafford signed a 6 year 41.7 million dollar deal on Friday night, so it's safe to say the Lions take him with the first pick.

2. Jason Smith, LT, Baylor
The Rams need help on their offensive line, and Jason Baylor is a good offensive lineman. I think they could/should pick Eugene Monroe here, but I just have a feeling this is the way they will go.

3. Aaron Curry, LB, Wake Forest
Is he the best player in the draft? Defensively, no question. He probably will have the most impact as a rookie this season.

4. Eugene Monroe, LT, Virginia
The Seahawks get lucky here at number four and pick up the best offensive lineman in the draft. If the Rams have taken him at two, the Seahawks probably take Mark Sanchez off the board.

5. B. J. Raji, DT, Boston College
The Browns would have loved to get Aaron Curry with the fifth pick, but they'll have to settle for the best defensive tackle this draft has to offer. However, watch for them to go with Brian Orakpo with this pick instead.

6. Andre Smith, LT, Alabama
Whether this is a good pick or not all depends on attitude. If Andre Smith decides he wants to be a good NFL player and puts in the effort, he will be. If he doesn't commit to the Bengal, look for this to be a bust.

7. Darrius Heyward-Bey, WR, Maryland
This pick is made because the Raiders are dumb. And also because they don't like Michael Crabtree's attitude. And also because the Raiders are dumb. Heyward-Bey is really really fast, but also likes to drop passes. Maybe he gets over that, but then again maybe the Raiders are dumb.

8. Mark Sanchez, QB, USC
The Jets make a trade with the Jaguars here to move up and take the quarterback they so desperately ~~need~~ want. If the Jets don't get this trade done, watch for the Jaguars to take Michael Crabtree or Jeremy Maclin, even if they did just sign Torry Holt.

9. Malcom Jenkins, CB, Ohio State
At this point Michael Crabtree is still the best player on the board, however I think they're focused on upgrading their defense in this draft. Malcom Jenkins is the best DB in the draft, and this draft isn't very deep when it comes to DBs.

10. Michael Crabtree, WR, Texas Tech
And the 49ers strike gold! They get possibly the best offensive player in the draft, and the best wide receiver to come out of the draft since Calvin Johnson.

11. Michael Oher, LT, Mississippi
The Blind Side gets taken here. Bills need offensive line help, and they're hoping the talk about Oher not having great work ethic is just that - talk.

12. Tyson Jackson, DE/LB, LSU
With the first of two first round selections, the Broncos go with the hybrid defensive end. He'll probably end up playing linebacker on that depleted defense.

13. Everette Brown, DE, Florida State
He has a great pass rush but will need to get better at defending the run. The 'Skins will play him on passing downs, he'll have a big impact.

14. Aaron Maybin, DE, Penn State
Everyone loves this kid, but I personally don't see it. I don't see him as an every down defensive end. He's a third down rush specialist... and you can get that in the fifth round, but who knows how this works out.

15. Vontae Davis, CB, Illinois
This, to me, is one of those high risk-high reward situations. Vontae Davis is a work-out fiend. I think he ends up being a average-to-good cornerback with the potential to be great.

16. Knowshon Moreno, RB, Georgia
In San Diego's search for 'the next LT,' they choose Knowshon Moreno. He's the best running back in this draft. Solid pick.

17. Jeremy Maclin, WR, Mizzou
The Jags, using the pick they acquired from the Jets, get someone to put on the other side of Torry Holt. He'll battle Northcutt for the second receiver spot.

18. Rey Maualuga, LB, USC
With the Broncos getting another first round pick in their trade with the Chicago Bears, many would think that they would select a QB here. I think Josh McDaniels is too proud. He'll continue to upgrade the defense here with Maualuga.

19. Josh Freeman, QB, Kansas State
Having lost out in the Matt Cassel and the Jay Cutler sweepstakes, the Bucs go with a QB here, although I wouldn't be shocked if they went DT and Peria Jerry either.

20. Brian Orakpo, DE/LB, Texas
The Lions get their QB of the future and the best pure pass rusher in the draft all in the same round. Bravo, winless wonders.

21. Brandon Pettigrew, TE, Oklahoma State
With LJ Smith gone, the Eagles have to add some offensive help for McNabb. Pettigrew can come in and immediately upgrade them at the tight end position.

22. Percy Harvin, WR, Florida
The Vikings go with the biggest high risk-high reward player in this year's draft. They either get a good receiver or a good return man here. The former means it's successful, the latter means this pick was a bust.

23. Brian Cushing, LB, USC
The Patriots get exactly what they want here - a pass rushing outside linebacker. Cushing will come into this league ready to play that position and could learn to be a more well rounded linebacker in the future.

24. Clay Matthews, LB, USC
The Falcons get the third USC linebacker with the 24th selection. He's not as good as Mauagula or Cushing, but he'll probably end up being a decent linebacker.

25. Hakeem Nicks, WR, North Carolina
Dolphins get a weapon here for Chad Pennington. This selection will really solidify the Dolphins' position as a potent offense next season.

26. Chris Wells, RB, Ohio State
After debating with myself for a while on whether the Ravens go offense or defense here, I, for some reason, decide on offense and Beanie. If they don't go with Beanie here they probably draft James Laurinaitis.

27. James Laurinaitis, LB, Ohio State
The Colts take the best defensive player available on the board. They get a real Road Warrior here... a real Animal.

28. Robert Ayers, LB, Tennessee
The Bills, with the 28th pick, take the sixth linebacker in this draft. I didn't think six would go, but Ayers has really flown up the charts as of late.

29. Kenny Britt, WR, Rutgers
After the Giants fail to get Anquan Boldin, they'll draft a big, physical wide out. Kenny Britt is just that: he has unsure hands, but he will give you 100% everytime out there.

30. Alphonso Smith, CB, Wake Forest
The Titans add another nice piece to that already stellar defense. Smith is probably one of the last of the good cornerbacks left in this draft (DJ Moore being another).

31. Larry English, DE, Northern Illinois
I think Larry English will be a bust. Fortunately for Larry English, I don't work for the Cardinals.

32. Peria Jerry, DT, Mississippi
Pittsburgh takes a defensive tackle here. I'm not really sure they need one, but hey, why not?

That's my first round projection. My prediction for the Bears is wide receiver Mohammed Massaquoi out of Georgia. He's a pretty big and physical wide out with decent hands who needs some polishing, but he could turn into a solid receiver for years to come.

To see Bellweather's Mock Draft - Check this out.

Opening Week

2009-04-09T19:03:00.003-05:00

I was going to write a post today talking about the opening week of baseball. How the Cubs look good and how the White Sox look, well, not so good. How Dewayne Wise should not be in the majors, let alone leading off for the White Sox. How Alfonso Soriano looks great, no matter where in the line up he's hitting. However, after hearing today's news, all of these ideas feel oddly vacant. The escape of sports lost some of its luster today. Life is short, and its all we have. I'm gonna take some time today and reflect on what sports has done for me in helping me share great moments with the people that I love. No matter what team it is I happen to be rooting for, I'm sure I have a memory or ten of that team creating a sincere moment for me to share with family and friends. Today I'm going to remember what it is exactly that I'm rooting for and what truly makes me a fan.

Chicago Bears trade for Jay Cutler

2009-04-02T18:31:00.005-05:00

2009 1st and 3rd round picks, 2010 1st round pick, and Kyle Orton for this guy:

Bears also sign seven time pro-bowler and future NFL hall of famer Orlando Pace.

I can break this down six ways from Sunday and I might when I have more time, but there's one point I'd like to make right now:

The Bears have added a franchise quarterback to their team.

Teams with franchise quarterbacks are NEVER bad. This doesn't mean they're great, this doesn't mean they're going to win the Super Bowl. What this means is that given good health, Jay Cutler has put the Bears at the big boys table in the NFL for the next 5-10 years. Outside of Super Bowl 42, today is literally the biggest day in Bears history since Super Bowl 20.

"Stormin" Norman Van Lier 1947-2009: Johnny "Red" Kerr 1932-2009

2009-02-27T10:02:00.018-06:00

Funny thing about broadcasters, how they become a part of your life. Johnny Red Kerr and Norm Van Lier will always be synonymous with Chicago Bulls basketball. For years we invited them into our homes as we watched Bulls games on our televisions. Through the highs and lows they were both there with us. From Johnny screaming as Michael Jordan hits a game winning shot to Norm not being able to fathom why players these days don't play as hard as he did. Not only did we lose a coach, a point guard, and broadcasters, but we lost friends, people whose opinion we trusted on a topic that has brought this city so much joy. Johnny Red and Norm, we'll miss your stories, your laughs and your passion for life and the game. Your legacies will last and your absence will leave a void in many Bulls fan's hearts for quite a long time. Thank you for everything you gave us, because we know you gave it all.

"You wake up, put a smile on your face and go out and be the best person you can be that day. That, in my opinion, is what life is about." - Norm Van Lier

"Like us, he hung on every play those seasons we came so close. Like us he almost fell out of his seat celebrating the seasons we won it all. And like us he will never lose faith in the Chicago Bulls. " - Barrack Obama

Chicago Bears Offseason: Safety

2009-02-23T00:00:00.000-06:00

Safety

Currently on the roster:
Kevin Payne
Craig Steltz*
Brandon McGowan
Danieal Manning

*rookie

Top safety prospects:
William Moore, FS/SS, Mizzou
Patrick Chung, SS, Oregon
Rashad Johnson, FS, Alabama
Louis Delmas, SS, Western Michigan
Sean Smith, CB/SS, Utah
Emmanuel Cook, FS/SS, South Carolina
Nic Harris, SS, Oklahoma

Top safety free agents:
Jermaine Phillips
Sean Jones
Darren Sharper
Gibril Wilson
Lawyer Milloy
Yeremiah Bell

William Moore was good at Mizzou but I don't think he's the Bears best option at 18. I doubt the Bears have Patrick Chung on their board for the second round, however he is a good athlete. Rashad Johnson is the wild card of this bunch. He could be below average, he could be great. Bears should take a long hard look at him before making up their minds on this position. It'll will be interesting to see what JA does at safety. I think it is imperative for the Bears to add new (good) players to this defense, especially at the safety position. That position cost the Bears a lot last year, even with Mike Brown. I really really don't want to see Craig Steltz playing anything but special teams ever again.

Chicago Bears Offseason: Offensive Line

2009-02-17T00:00:00.000-06:00

Offensive Tackle

Currently on the roster:
Chris Williams*

*rookie

Top offensive tackle prospects:
Andre Smith, Alabama
Michael Oher, Ole Miss
Eugene Monroe, Virginia
Jason Smith, Baylor
Eben Britton, Arizona
William Beatty, Connecticut
Phil Loadholt, Oklahoma
Fenuki Tupou, Oregon
Troy Kropog, Tulane
Alex Boone, Ohio State

Top offensive tackle free agents:
Jordan Gross
Marvel Smith
Mark Tauscher
Jon Runyan
Tra Thomas
Marc Colombo
Vernon Carey

Andre Smith, Eugune Moore, Jason Smith - no chance getting them at 18. Michael Oher will be a good player and would look wonderful in orange and blue, however he probably won't be around at 18. Guys that could be around in the second round for the Bears to pick up include Eben Britton, Phil Loadholt and William Beatty. Third round guys include Fenuki Tupou and Troy Kropog. Alex Boone is probably around in the forth round. Now with John Tait's surprise retiremnt the Bears need to draft and/or sign a free agent at this position. However, what will probably end up happening is they resign John St. Claire for a lot more than he's worth, and they draft an offensive tackle late in the draft. Hooray.

Offensive Guard

Currently on the roster:
Roberto Garza
Josh Beekman
Tyler Reed^
Terrence Metcalf
Dan Buenning
Cody Balogh*^

^practice squad

Top offensive guard prospects:
Duke Robinson, Oklahoma
Herman Johnson, LSU
Andy Levitre, Oregon State
Trevor Canfield, Cincy
Anthony Parker, Tennessee
Andy Kemp, Wisconsin

Top offesive guard free agents:
Stacy Andrews
Jahri Evans*
Mike Goff
Chris Kemoeatu
Mark Setterstrom*

*restricted

Unless a team really reaches, none of those prospects are first rounders. That being said, Duke Robinson will probably go early to mid second round, so he's unlikely to be a Bear. I would look for the Bears to select Andy Levitre or Trevor Canfield in the fourth round or Andy Kemp or Anthony Parker in the fifth round. Or the Bears will do nothing and just be happy with Beekman and Garza starting and Terrance Metcalf and Dan Buenning backing up.

The Big Shaqtus Himself

2009-02-16T14:25:00.005-06:00

This was the best thing I've seen in sports in a long time.

Shaq playing scrabble comes in a close second though.

Palehose 9

2009-02-15T19:55:00.003-06:00

I love Carl Skanberg and I want you to love him too.

Also buy his book - I did.

Chicago Bears Offseason: Wide Receiver

2009-02-09T00:00:00.001-06:00

Wide Receiver

Another position that greatly underperformed last season was the wide receiver position. Among the top five leaders in receptions, only one was a wide receiver; only two of the top four were receivers in receiving yards. There is not a number one receiver on this roster, there probably isn't even a number two (one could argue that Devin Hester might turn into a number two, but he's not there yet). If the Bears add a legitimately talented wide receiver (or two) to this team it would greatly upgrade the offense. They already have playmakers at running back and tight end, so adding a down field threat would also increase the output at those two positions. Ron Turner has now come out and said the Bears need an upgrade at this position.

Currently on the roster:
Devin Hester
Marty Booker
Rashied Davis
Brandon Rideau
John Broussard^
Devin Aromashodu
Earl Bennett*
Rudy Burgess*

*rookie
^practice squad

Top wide receiver prospects:
Michael Crabtree, Texas Tech
Jeremy Maclin, Mizzou
Percy Harvin, Florida
Darrius Heyward-Bey, Maryland
Kenny Britt, Rutgers
Hakeem Nicks, UNC
Louis Murphy, Florida
Juaquin Iglesias, Oklahoma

No chance to get Michael Crabtree at 18 and Jeremy Maclin will probably go before 18 as well. Both Percy Harvin and Darrius Heyward-Bey would conceivably be around at 18 for the Bears to pick. I have this feeling that Hakeem Nicks stock is on the rise and fast, but if he's around in the second round he would be a steal there. Kenny Britt, Louis Murphy and Juaquin Iglesias will all be around for the Bears in the second round.

Top free agent wide receivers:
TJ Houshmandzadeh
Antonio Bryant
Bryant Johnson
Devery Henderson
Lance Moore*
Nate Washington
Amani Toomer

*restricted

TJ Houshmandzadeh would be an upgrade over any receiver on the roster. Lance Moore stepped up big time last season and showed he's a good NFL receiver. Both Nate Washington and Devery Henderson are play makers in the way they can stretch the field. Amani Toomer has shown over his 13 year career that he's a good route runner and can stretch the field when need be.

My Take:

TJ Houshmandzadeh is not a number one receiver, but again would be quite a large upgrade over any receiver the Bears currently have. I'm not completely sold on Housh. Lance Moore is a restricted free agent and will most likely end up staying a Saint. Neither Nate Washington nor Devery Henderson are number one receivers, and as long as the Bears aren't pretending they are I don't have a problem with either of them. Amani Toomer will turn 35 next season.

Pass on both Heyward-Bey and Harvin in the first round. If Hakeem Nicks has a great combine, debate taking him at 18. If he's still there in the second round definitely take him there, thats a steal. If not, I like both Kenny Britt and Juaquin Iglesias in round two or even three. Sign a free agent wide out. Basically sign a new receiver AND draft a new receiver.

Fixing the NFL, part 1

2009-02-05T06:01:00.010-06:00

To anyone for whom it is not abundantly clear, I love the NFL. Love it.

I will not apologize for this love, but I will never deny what it is, and why I enjoy it. The NFL is the best sport in the world. No sport on earth takes strategy (or macro-strategy) and tactics (or micro-strategy) and marries them so successfully with wanton violence as well as professional football. It truly is the closest analog to war as it was fought before the days of firearms.

For someone who deplores machismo, jingoism, and materialistic tendencies, the NFL is my one capitulation to American excess. Nothing else perfectly capsulizes our culture this well. The NFL is SUVs and Big Macs, gun ownership and tax cuts, fake tits and shitty beer, it is entitlement issues and moral superiority.

The NFL satisfies the blood lust, love of spectacle, and unbridled desire for consumption that the more cultured among us like to keep in check because we realize doing so is necessary to maintain a functioning society. The NFL is the sociological equivalent of tilting your head back, tipping over a can of ReddiWip and spraying whip cream directly into your mouth. It's morally deplorable and undeniably glorious.

It manages to perfectly mix celebrity gossip with a concession towards self-aggrandizing rural superiority and the celebration of puritan attitudes of self denial and the embrace of backbreaking labor for its own sake. From toothless farmers to Madison Avenue socialites, people from every demographic and every walk of life worship in the same place on Sundays in the Fall: in front of our televisions.

The dawn of Sabermetirics has created a plain on which baseball can be enjoyed intellectually, and its perfect symmetry - so perfect that the time it takes a ball thrown from the mound to home and then from home to second varies by only tenths of a second from the time it takes for someone standing six feet off of first base to run and dive into second - makes even the spiritual enjoyment of baseball more than possible.

That such a genuinely genteel and zen like activity could ever be considered a pastime of a culture so obsessed with action and expressiveness speaks either of a culture so warped from what it once was, or of a theory inherently flawed from the outset.

The NFL is America's real pastime. Baseball is too slow, and too pastoral. Baseball is poetic, baseball is less a sport where athletic abilities are celebrated, but rather a game at which those who possess skill, rather than talent are the most successful.

The wistful ruminations of people like Ken Burns, Walt Whitman and George Will have elevated baseball to mythical status. While baseball no doubt deserves this lofty praise, all three of these men have bent over backwards to equate this game with course of the United States. Perhaps it is a reflection of their view of the country rather than their view of the sport that has pushed them so far off the mark. Comparing baseball to America is insulting to both baseball and America, for it truly is football that represents us as a people.

Somehow I love it all. Despite how much I may hate almost every one of the things the NFL stands for individually I cannot help but embrace it on the whole. It is so striking to watch the NFL and see all of society's flaws projected back at you. I fear not of turning into a flower as Narcissus did while I gaze at my own reflection for I know that I turned long ago, and never once have I considered looking back.

Yes, indeed, I love the NFL. Given this unconditional love, it may surprise many to learn that I believe the NFL is utterly broken, but I do, and parity is the culprit.

As we step into the off-season over the next several weeks, I intend to look at what parity means in the NFL, why it exists, and how to fix it by looking at ways to improve the schedule, the draft, and the salary cap.

Chicago Bears Offseason: Defensive End

2009-02-04T00:00:00.000-06:00

Defensive End

One position the Bears definitely have a need at is defensive end. Before the Bears played the St. Louis Rams in week 12, Alex Brown and Adewale Ogunleye had combined for 5 sacks the whole season. Through 11 games. 5 sacks. 11 games. 5. Through 11 games. Not cool. At season end the Bears had 28 total sacks, good for 22nd in the NFL, thats not good enough. The Bears need a good pass rush if they want to keep running their cover 2 (which they will continue to run as long as Lovie Smith is there, and he's going to be there for every dollar of that contract). With Rod Marinelli as the new defensive line coach and token Vietnam Vet, I would think they are going to make improving that line a top priority.

Currently on the roster:
Alex Brown
Adewale Ogunleye
Mark Anderson
Ervin Balwin*
Joe Clermond*^

*rookie
^practice squad

Top prospects at defensive end:
Brian Orakpo, Texas
Everette Brown, Florida State
Michael Johnson, Georgia Tech
Aaron Maybin, Penn State
Paul Kruger, Utah
Clint Sintim, Virgina
Tyson Jackson, LSU
Conor Barwin, Cincy

The Bears could conceivably draft Everette Brown, I know Bell loves that idea however I'm not so sure he falls to 18. Michael Johnson will be there at 18. Looks as if Aaron Maybin will go early round two, but Paul Kruger, Clint Sintim, and Tyson Jackson (Clint Sintim and Tyson Jackson are both better suited for a 3-4) would be available for the Bears in the second round. Conor Barwin is probably looking at a third round selection, barring an incredible combine preformance. I heard from a little bird that Mel Kiper's hair believe's the Bears will draft Tyson Jackson with their 18th pick, so there's that.

Top free agents at defensive end:
Terrell Suggs
Julius Peppers
Kevin Carter
Bertrand Berry

I don't know if the Bears are going to go out and try to get Suggs, but who knows. I wouldn't be completely surprised if they try to sign Julius Peppers, but he doesnt want to play in a 4-3 defense. Neither Kevin Carter nor Bertrand Berry are really upgrades over 'Wale or Brown.

My Take:

If the Bears take a defensive end with the 18th pick it should be Everette Brown or Michael Johnson, if its the second round they should take Paul Krueger. Anything after that is a crap shoot until after the combine. Terrell Suggs would be nice, but he comes with a big price tag. The Bears would have to overpay for Julius Peppers to come play in a 4-3.

Take Everette Brown if he's there, if not think hard about taking Michael Johnson or move on to another position and take a defensive end in another round.

The Chicago Bears Offseason

2009-02-03T00:00:00.000-06:00

The Bears have a lot of needs. The positions that they need to address through the draft and/or free agency include, but are not limited to the following (in no particular order): defensive end, wide receiver, offensive tackle/guard, safety, linebacker, running back, quarterback, fullback. And let me answer that question for you - yes, that is a lot of needs. The Bears have the 18th pick. Mock drafts on this here thing that I call the interweb seem to think that the Bears are going to select Darrius Heyward-Bey, WR, Maryland. I've also seen a few thinking they're going to go defense and select Michael Johnson, DE, Georgia Tech. But hey, what do mock drafters know? They had the Bears taking Brian Brohm or Jeff Otah last season, Jon Beason or Tony Ugoh in 2007, and Sinorice Moss or Leonard Pope in 2006. Any of those guys Bears? No? Ok then.

Starting tomorrow I'll attempt to go through each need for the Bears, addressing who is available via the draft and free agency. A new position will go up each week. This week it begins with... Defensive End.

Not all that Super, really

2009-02-01T22:54:00.006-06:00

I'm fairly certain that Super Bowl XLIII is currently being proclaimed one of the greatest games in NFL history by every outlet that isn't spouting conspiracy theories about how the Cardinals got screwed because the refs didn't review the Warner fumble at the end of the game.

Such notions are utter garbage.

While the game did provide us with two spectacular catches and a very compelling ending, it only did so after well over 45 minutes of exceptionally bad, historically sloppy football.

The better team won, but they sure didn't look like champions. Given so many chances to assert their dominance, the Steelers consistently fell short, starting with their inability to punch it in on the first drive of the game and continuing throughout the fourth quarter while their vaunted number one in the league defense did everything it could to try and give the Cardinals the game.

Both teams did their very best to emulate preseason football throughout the first half, culminating in Kurt Warner's realization that it had been too long since he last made a horrible decision at an extremely important juncture of a game. Warner tried to force a ball into Anquan Boldin's hands, completely forgetting both how the zone blitz works and that he's facing a defense run by the guy that invented said scheme.

That 10-14 point swing lead us into the half where we were subjected to an agonizing performance from some Bruce Springsteen cover band that just happened to feature the actual Bruce Springsteen.

Determined not to make a game of it too quickly, the Cardinals came out with the ball in the second half and were unable to make anything out of their possession. The Steelers took over, marched the ball all the way down to the Arizona four yard line and were unable to stick the dagger in on three plays, settling for a field goal. When an unnecessary roughness penalty took the three points off the board, the Steelers got three more chances to close the deal, and failed again, this time the Cardinals decided that letting the Steelers double-down a second time wasn't a wise idea, and let the Steelers keep their 20-7 lead.

Still not deterred, the Cardinals kept the game on track for historic snoozer status by following up Pittsburgh's nearly nine minute drive by failing to cross midfield and punting the ball back to the Steelers early in the 4th quarter.

After waiting through nearly 50 minutes of game time for the opportunity to strike, the Steelers offensive line wasted no more time, imploding in spectacular fashion on the next drive, handing the ball back to the Cardinals.

And then... something magical happened. The Cardinals remembered that they had the best player on the field, and decided they'd start utilizing Larry Fitzgerald. After perforating the suddenly porous Steelers defense, Warner had the Cardinals at the Steelers one yard line. Warner knew just what to do, and floated a little fade to Larry Fitzgerald, who was covered like a blanket but managed to get three fingers on the football and haul in one of the most amazing catches you will ever see. 20-14 Steelers.

With seven and a half minutes to go, the Steelers took over and their offensive line wasted no time making sure Roethlisberger would not be able to remain upright long enough to keep the ball away from the Cardinals, but the Cardinals didn't seem too interested in doing anything with the ball, electing to punt with less than four minutes remaining, pinning the Steelers at their own one yard line.

Again the vaunted Steelers offensive line sprang into action, nearly allowing Roethlisberger to be sacked for a safety and then unable to open a hole for Willie Parker who barely got the ball out of the endzone.

On third down, the Steelers offensive line would not be denied.

Despite Roethlisberger's best efforts to complete a pass to Santonio Holmes for a first down that almost certainly would have sealed the game for the Steelers, the Steelers O-line rose up in heroic fashion and delivered the saftey they sought when Justin Hartwig was called for holding in the endzone.

The Cardinals took the ball back. On the third play of the drive the Steelers cut off Warner's passes to the photographers on the sidelines by spreading their safeties so wide they left the entire middle of the field wide open to Larry Fitzgerald, who proceeded to burn the Pittsburgh secondary for 64 yards and his second touchdown of the game. It was a nice play by Fitzgeraled, but it could have just as easily been Boldin, Breaston or one of the Bidwells as the Steelers gave themselves zero chance to defend a post route.

It would soon seem, however, that the Cardinals had fallen into the Steelers cunning trap by scoring "too fast." A brutal death spiral in which your offensive efficiency dooms your chance of success by placing your criminally ineffective defense out on the field, thus putting the game into their hands and forcing them to win the game for you.

Not to be outdone, the Steelers offensive line struck once more by committing yet another holding penalty, burying their offense 1st and 20 at their own 12 yard line. Forced to run for his life, Roethlisberger was somehow still able find open receivers and march the Steelers down the field.

Fortunately for the Steelers, their unwillingness to block was completely offset by the Cardinals inability to tackle.

And it's so fitting. The embarrassing abomination that was the 2008 season saw the NFL's unending drive towards parity finally water the league down to such a point that records are essentially meaningless and being more talented guarantees nothing.

This garbage ends with the supposed two best teams each failing at one of the two most important aspects of the game. Blocking and tackling. The last plays of the final game of the season and NEITHER team can play decent fundamental football. The Cardinals sliced through the Steelers offensive line, got hands on Roethlisberger, and couldn't bring him down. Aaron Francisco couldn't keep his feet, and neither team could avoid drawing yellow flags.

And then Santonio Holmes made a catch only slightly less amazing than the one Fitzgerald made on his first touchdown. Yay.

And yeah, I'm pretty sure that was a forward pass and not a fumble, but guess what, the ball hit a Cardinal offensive lineman on the way to the ground. I'm pretty sure it didn't hit a Steelers defender on the way. If that's the case, it would have been illegal touching, since the offensive lineman aren't eligible receivers. Since the offensive penalty would have occurred within the final two minutes of a half, the refs would have had to run 10 seconds off the clock, which would have ended the game anyway.

The Steelers are hardly the worst team to ever win a Super Bowl, even though that's unquestionably the worst offensive line to ever win a Super Bowl, and Ben Roethlisberger -93 rating or not- is easily the worst quarterback to ever win two Super Bowls, which may sound silly, but is no less true.

The Cardinals, for their part, did not live up to the predictions by some that they were the worst team to ever play in a Super Bowl, but they were certainly given a lot of help. Had they capitalized on a little bit more of it they might have won the game.

So yes, it was exciting, and it was fun, but it was terrible football.

Here's hoping for a better 2009.

The worst major-market sports media city in the country

2009-01-26T12:00:00.003-06:00

Chicago, of course.

I'd laugh if it weren't so sad.

We live in a town where one of our national football writers not only thinks that Tim Tebow is a first round draft pick at quarterback, he also thinks that Sam Bradford is not only the number one overall pick, he's "a slam-dunk."

We have a local football writer campaigning for Julius Peppers to become a Chicago Bear without ever mentioning Peppers' widely reported desire to play in a 3-4 defense.

We have a national baseball reporter who came up with this.

And lest you think I'm just picking on one paper, our other daily features a quixotic, verbose naval gazer who feels like he's consistently trying and failing to emulate a certain equally insipid national columnist.

That same paper gives us arguably the most shrill, overwrought, indefensible and yet occasionally still fence sitting harpy ever foisted on an unsuspecting populous.

And Jay Mariotti is gone. Say what you will about Jay (Often times wrong, abrasive, an absolute horror to work with) in a town filled with despratly milquetoast, unquestionably daft, and harmless but no less annoying sycophants at least he was relevant.

And yet, in the joke, the farce that is this town's sports media, I've yet to deliver the punch line:

Comcast Sports Net.

Stuck in bed with the stomach flu and up at odd hours I happened upon CSN's "Monsters in the Morning," the reunion of WSCR's former midday duo, Dan Jiggetts and Mike North. I have to admit I enjoyed the Monsters back in the mid-90s, although not yet having reached an age of any real reason may have been a big part of it.

Comcast has managed to bolt some new media onto the show. Text polls, email, etc, but for the most part, North and Jiggetts are doing the exact same show they were doing in 1999. In fact, there's really nothing about this show that couldn't be done on the radio. Maybe somewhere the grand plan is to syndicate this show on the radio somewhere, but I simply cannot give any operation still employing Jen Patterson the credit of explaining away laziness as foresight.

Although Jiggetts and North provided exactly zero compelling thoughts in my hour of sampling, they still manged to be the best show I've ever seen on CSN, and the truth is, I went into the show hoping to like it. I wanted to see something with some potential. Despite my strong dislike towards North and my feelings of utter indifference toward Jiggetts, this city needs more relevant voices. As it stands, the show feels like a complete anachronism.

As the recently fired Dan McNeil noted a few weeks ago in his Sun-Times column, Chicago needs North and Jiggetts to be good. Hell, right now, Chicago could really use Dan McNeil, who will be off the air because of a non-compete until early summer. I didn't really care for his show on WMVP (I greatly prefer the direct competition, WSCR's Boers and Bernstein) but I know many did, and not having McNeil on the air hurts this city.

Chicago's not the only city to suffer this fate. In fact, I'm sure most cities have begun to reach a critical mass of stupid.

It's my belief that bad sports writing/journalism/commentary is primarily the result of laziness, but if the bipeds of the forest are willing to consume bucketfuls of this tripe, then who is really at fault? Although my stridently anti-populist side would like nothing more than to point the finger straight back at the consumer, I know they didn't set the paradigm. Rather, the blame can be laid squarely at the feet of the parasitic, soul sucking, sports marketing firm that still tries to pass itself off as a news outlet and it's benign, wholly ignorant, oppressively bloviating, and downright abhorrent cast of characters

I'd like to think that sports blogs offer some amount of solace. The most compelling sports opinion I've read in the last 5 years have come from amateurs or former amateurs, but as we know, there's still plenty of miserable cretins willing to write, consume and thus propagate uninformed sports opinion on the internet. It's high time sports fans began demanding a better product.

Outdoor Hockey...

2009-01-01T22:16:00.008-06:00

Is pretty damn awesome

The Winter Classic is now a mainstay when it comes to New Year's Day sporting events. Move over Rose Bowl and Orange Bowl, you've got some company because the Winter Classic isn't going anywhere. This is exactly what the NHL needed to do to help rejuvenate this sport: create an event that people beyond your normal hockey fans will remember and want to attend and/or watch. People love outdoor hockey (see The Cold War) So let's keep this tradition of the Winter Classic going -- Next year have it in Fenway Park between the Bruins and the Leafs, or even at the new Yankee Stadium between the Rangers and Devils. Pond hockey is here to stay and I like it.

Merry Christmas

2008-12-25T00:00:00.000-06:00

Umberger meet Campbell

2008-12-22T13:26:00.001-06:00

Bears vs Saints: Live BLog

2008-12-11T19:12:00.002-06:00

Somehow

2008-09-30T22:28:00.008-05:00

The White Sox made the playoffs. I really don't know how, but hey, I'll roll with it. Johnny Danks pitched a masterpiece, and Bobby Jenks is still pretty damn good too. Oh, and how about Brian "F&*@ing" Anderson? Maybe the play of the game: Junior Griffey making a solid throw and AJ still being able to take a hit? Jim Thome's BOMB? Maybe this team can ride the Thunder through the postseason. Remember last year's NL Champs? The Colorado Rockies? Ya never know.

Oh, and the blackout was pretty damn cool. Way to go Sox fans.

Awesome Bad Song of the Week

2008-09-27T12:00:00.005-05:00

Who loves synth-pop? .... Really? No one? Hmmm, maybe I need to start reevaluating my life... However, in the meantime we have ERASURE!!!!!! The reason this band popped into my head was because while listening to the Last Letter Game yesterday, Electra played Wheatus "Teenage Dirtbag." Turns out that's a guy singing that song! So I went onto the interwebs to find out more about the wonderful band Wheatus... and I found out they had a song entitled "A Little Respect." "It can't be," I thought to myself as I searched YouTube for the video. And it was.

Anywho, to make a long story longer, here's the original, lamer version.

The White Sox

2008-09-26T13:19:00.004-05:00

Are really bad at baseball. Disgusting. They don't deserve to win the AL Central if they couldn't win ONE dag-gummed game in Minnesota. All around terrible.

However, it wasn't all bad yesterday. There is some hope. And by 'hope,' I mean 'our future is doomed.' And by 'our future is doomed' I really mean 'our present is doomed.'

During the game yesterday, I saw this.

Justin Morneau for President. SOMEHOW the fact that this person wants to vote in a 27 year old professional athlete to the presidency isn't the dumbest thing about this.

Justin Morneau - born May 15, 1981 in New Westminster, British Columbia. Bristish Columbia is in Canada.

Enter Article Two of the United States Constitution. Clause 5: Qualifications for Office:
"No person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United States, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution shall be eligible to the Office of President; neither shall any Person be eligible to that Office who shall not have attained to the Age of thirty-five Years, and been fourteen Years a Resident within the United States."

So in conclusion, Justin Morneau can never be President of the United States. Ever. Way to waste a perfectly good bed sheet you dumb sh!ts.

Alright, so what have we learned today? The White Sox are bad at baseball and Twins fans are really really dumb.

Five months till spring training.

Tampa Bay 27 Chicago 24

2008-09-22T13:05:00.004-05:00

It's going to be a long season.

State of the Bears: Week 2

2008-09-21T09:00:00.000-05:00

Uhhhhggggggggh

I...

Really....

yeah.

Ok, that game sucked, now, understand I fully expected to see that kind of game from the Bears at some point this year, and I fully expect to see more of them, but when you lead 17-3 going into the 4th quarter, you're supposed to win.

Blame whoever you want. In the end, this loss fell squarely on the Bears complete inability to develop an NFL caliber passing game. Bad quarterback, bad wide receivers, bad offensive team.

Until the Bears can consistently throw the ball with some degree of success, they will never win a Super Bowl.

NFL Quarterbacks and the Politicians they're most similar to

2008-09-19T13:08:00.006-05:00

First of all, I have to give credit where it's due, to a very good friend of mine who first compared Matt Cassel to Sarah Palin. It was absolute brilliance and without it, I never would have came up with this blog, so Eric, thank you.

So away we go:

Sarah Palin = Matt Cassel

One could be "just a heartbeat away" from being President, the other turned out to be just a torn ACL and MCL away from being starting quarterback of the New England Patriots. Both are woefully unqualified for their jobs, but garner unfailing support from partisans.

which I suppose means...

John McCain = Tom Brady

I resisted this one at first, but the longer I thought about the two together, the more the parallels stood out. John McCain was widely considered to be one of the best politicians in the country for the longest time, but never got the chance to be president, now that he's got his shot, he's following up the lamest of lame ducks, and facing a democratic buzzsaw. Along the way he's had to change a lot of his stated viewpoints so they fall in line with the less moderate side of the Republican Party.

Tom Brady was long considered a great quarterback, but never had that aura of excellence around him as a passer like Peyton Manning. Manning was the future HOF passer, Manning was Dan Marino, Brady was also a future HOFer, but he was going in as a great game manager like Joe Montana. The year Brady broke out and set every passing record known to man was the year that the Patriots national perception (fairly or unfairly) finished it's transition from "all about the team" to "wait a minute these guys are just a bunch of smug bastards who run up the score."

Charlie Crist = Jeff Garcia

Almost too easy. Both are very clearly FLAMING, but closeted homosexuals, and both have insanely attractive wives (Fiancee in Crist's case.) Both are employed in the state of Florida, and neither are great at their jobs, but both are better than they're usually given credit for. Garcia's still shooting for a job as a full time starter while consistently having the rug pulled out from under his feet, and Crist has to be angling for VP if not a presidential run of his own in 2012 or 2016.

Alan Keyes = Gus Frerotte

If Alan Keyes shows up in an election, that means that your local chapter of the GOP has hit rock bottom, and if there's a rock bottom of NFL quarterbacks who are still at least moderately established, it's Gus Frerotte. Sure you've heard of him, so that's something, and he might actually make some noise for you, but nobody actually WANTS Gus Frerotte quarterbacking their team. Once he's gone, you look back at the days he was around with scorn and embarrassment.

Todd Stroger = Koy Detmer = Luke McCown = Brock Huard

Nepotism. The only reason why Todd Stroger holds his position as Commissioner of the second-most populous county in the United States. I'm pretty sure the only reason why Koy, Luke and Brock ever got a sniff playing quarterback in the NFL is because they had brothers who were NFL quarterbacks. If any of these four jokers show up to quarterback your team or govern your county, you're completely and utterly fucked.

Therefore...

John Stroger = Ty Detmer = Josh McCown = Damon Huard

Here's four more guys that are/were awful at their job, but are/were so much better than their son/younger brothers you look at them far more fondly than you would have had other members of their bloodlines not poisoned your perception of the family name. The only thing that saved the Hasselbecks from these groups is that Matt is (or at least was) a pretty damn good quarterback

Rudi Giullani = Brett Favre

To their faithful: wunderkinds, to everyone else (Democrats, fans of other NFC North teams) really overrated. Even people that like them generally seem to find them annoying because of their larger than life public image. Both have long and storied careers. Both have their own public relations entity, only with Favre it's John Madden who operates on his own accord, where as Rudi, in case you were unaware, was the Mayor of New York during 9/11.

Favre jumped the Packers ship to the Jets in 2008 and became the darling of New York City. Rudi Was the mayor of New York City. During 9/11. Brett Favre just looks like a kid running around out there. Rudi was the mayor of New York City ...during 9/11.

Had Brett made up his mind sooner, he'd still be quarterbacking the Packers. Had Rudi decided to campaign sooner, he'd probably be the Republican nominee for president.

Michael Bloomberg = Aaron Rogers

Both took over under enormous pressure for a bombastic, larger than life, pompous blowhole, and both are succeeding with far more class their their predecessors.

Richard J. Daley = Peyton Manning

Two men who can/could do pretty much anything. Mayors all over the world DREAM of having the power Richard J. Daley held, and quarterbacks everywhere wish they had the talent of Peyton Manning. Neither would be anywhere close to as powerful without their supporting cast. Daley by virtue of the mob, had the Chicago machine. Manning is surrounded by two all pro wide receivers, has had two different all pro running backs, and one of the best offensive lines in the NFL.

On the downside, Daley had the '68 democratic convention. Manning had the divisional playoff game against the Steelers in 2005.

I know it's now painfully obvious, but...

Richard M. Daley = Eli Manning

No matter how hard they try, these two will never, ever, EVER escape the shadow of their more famous relatives. Neither will ever hold the same amount of power. But still, while you'd certainly rather have Richard J's power or Peyton's talent, if you're a mayor or a quarterback, you'll take the successes of either in a heartbeat. Richey will never completely remove the State Government thorn from his side, and Eli will probably always be dogged by the New York fans.

Barack Obama = Jay Cutler

Nobody outside of Illinois knew who Barack Obama was until his speech at the 2004 DNC, and pretty much nobody outside of Vanderbilt knew who Jay Cutler was until he threw for 3000 yards and 21 touchdowns in 2005. Both were drafted by their respective "teams" to be the savior despite their "mile wide but foot deep" track records, and both have a chance to really prove why they were picked this fall.

Between Brandon Marshall and Eddy Royal, Cutler has everything he could ever need to throw the ball. Barack Obama has the largest donor base of any presidential candidate in the history of the country, but Obama is hamstrung by the Democratic party who, historically, is really, really bad at politics. Cutler plays for a team with shaky offensive and defensive lines which are more than capable of sinking an otherwise steady ship.

Obama gave arguably the most important speech of his life when he accepted the Democratic Party's nomination in Denver at Invesco Fieldhouse at Mile High, which happens to be Jay Cutler's home field.

George W. Bush = Kyle Orton

Both are recovering alcoholics who you know are still hitting it pretty hard. Both won a seemingly bogus competition that seems to have been set up for them to win from the very beginning. Neither of them have accomplished anything as a professional, yet despite this, certain segments of the population still really like them. George Bush felt like the right guy for the job for a few weeks after 9/11 and Kyle Orton really seemed like a great option after Rex Grossman went down in the preseason in 2005. Both soon proved their ineffectiveness. Despite all logic, both inexplicably got another chance at the job.

Sorry, I can't help myself:

John Kerry = Rex Grossman

They're both annoying, pampered, they both kinda give off that d-bag vibe at times, they both say the dumbest shit at the most inopportune times, and they probably aren't all that much better than the alternative. Both also fail miserably on the big stage, but deep down, you know it should be their job.

John Edwards = Brian Griese

For some reason they both always seem like a fantastic idea when you're trying find someone to fill the position, but then you go through the vetting process and they just kinda don't make it. Then the end of the day rolls around and you are SO glad you didn't pick them.

Dick Cheney = Drew Brees

What can I say? They're both just way more comfortable with the shotgun.

Ted Kennedy = Tony Romo

Both have accomplished a lot in their professions, but both seem to have inflated public images because of their linage (Quarterback of the Cowboys/Kennedy Family) and the stuff they've done off the field/outside the chamber (the bevy of blonde beauties and the.... bevy of blonde beauties...) Both are maligned by their opposition. Ted had Chappaquiddick, Romo fumbled the snap on that field goal in the playoffs.

Bellwether's NFL musings Week 2 - 3

2008-09-19T12:00:00.004-05:00

After two weeks of football, I can't claim to have any answers. There's just too little data to go on. Still, there's some thing's we have learned.

Things I know for sure:
The Rams are the worst team in the NFL
The Packers will be good if Rogers stays healthy
The Bears never have to apologize for reaching for Forte
Jonathan Stewart is good at sports
Jeff Fisher is one of the best coaches in the NFL
The Steelers are always better than you think. Even if you already think they'll be good
The Lions are always worse than you think. Even if you already think they'll be bad
Things I'm pretty sure about:
The Giants are a good football team
The Pats are still the best team in the NFL
The Denver/San Diego rematch Week 17 will decide the AFC West
Despite several warts, Football Night in America is worth my time to see Olberman and Patrick reunited. That said, the actual Sunday night game is horribly overproduced.
I'm not going to say that Fox just conjured the "passing levels" thing out of whole cloth, but they put more emphasis on it during yesterday's Bears game than the sum of times it's been mentioned in every other NFL broadcast in 30 years.
I love the new coin toss rules. It's about time. A lot of teams are going to be deferring.
Early returns have the AFC North winning it's annual battle against the NFC East in the contest to see which division has the most mind numblingly booring games.
After all these years of transitioning from a legitimate media outlet into a marketing firm, there's been ONE segment on ESPN "programming" that I still liked, and now they've fucked that up too. SportsCenter's "Pump Up The Volume" is football highlights with local radio calls underneath. Now, about a third of the highlights have press conference or post game interview audio under them. On the horribly rare chance any of these meatheads say anything relevant, I guarentee it's important enough to play at another point in the show.

*SIGH* I hate ESPN.
Philly/Dallas did not disappoint. Any time the NFL wants to have an 75 point game, I'm there. We got one with San Diego/Denver too, and even though the Chargers got completely HOSED I picked the Broncos, so it all worked out.
I believe New Orleans will beat Denver, Arizona will beat Washington, Cleveland will beat Baltimore, and Chicago will beat Tampa Bay.

MNF: America's Team vs Filthydelphia

2008-09-15T18:06:00.002-05:00

Fellow Cubs (and baseball) fans:

2008-09-15T06:44:00.005-05:00

We get to debate it in bars for the rest of our lives

Better performance:

9.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 20 K, 1 BB, 1 HBP 30 batters faced
Vs

9.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 10 K, 1 BB, 1 HBP 29 batters faced

What an amazing night for Zambrano.

Bellwether's NFL Musings Week 1 - 2

2008-09-12T12:00:00.002-05:00

Billy McMullen, Samie Parker, Courtney Taylor, and Logan Payne.

Everyone who's heard of one of those guys, raise your hand

Now, now, keep em up so I can count...

nobody?

Yeah, me either. Those are the four active Wide Receivers on the Seattle Seahawks' roster.

Perhaps I'm basing my opinion on familiarity, but I'd take any 4 of the Bears 6 receivers over those 4 schlubs any day of the week. Arizona's going to win the NFC West.

It's funny to me that Vince Young has realized what many in the national media still fail to, that he's bad at football.

If you're New England, don't you have to feel like Hubris has come to bite you in the ass? I'm not one who actively roots against the Pats, I actually kinda like Bill Bellechek and his whole "cold, heartless, arrogant, bastard" personality. I still think they're one of, if not the best team in football, but Matt Cassel? Really? That's your backup plan? I understand you can't go out and sign a mulit-million dollar backup, but there are better options than Matt Cassel. Like Chris Simms, who they weren't interested in.

Back when the Favre saga was in the "maybe he'll take 20MM from Green Bay to go away" phase, I told a few people that if I was the Pats, I'd have called him and asked if he'd be interested in being Tom Brady's backup. If Favre had a price to go away, maybe he had a price just to stay off the field. The Patriots would have given him the BEST chance to win another title, and there would have been plenty of opportunity for him to play when they were up 55-7 in the 4th quarter.

Now realize, I don't think Favre ever, ever, ever would have agreed to this, but it would have been worth a phone call. Regardless, I'm sure the Pats can still win the Superbowl with Matt Cassel (seriously) but they could be in a much better position if they'd have signed a known commodity to back up Brady.
I'm so pissed at the Bears for resigning Fred Miller. What the hell, guys? Fred Miller blows. Keep Kirk Barton and go with it. He's a backup tackle. Offensive tackles are so expensive that your #3 is almost certainly going to be bad. It's so much better to be bad and young than bad and old.
I can't wait for MNF this week. Eagles at Cowboys? Yes sir!
Kudos to the Falcons. At no point this season did I ever think they'd look as impressive as they did on Sunday. It just goes to show, the more things change, the more they stay the same the Lions still can't win on the road.
I really enjoyed watching the Giants on Thursday night. They remind me of a late 80s early 90s NFL team... I can't fully qualify this. The Jacobs/Ward combo has a lot to do with it. The last team I remember who succeeded with Thunder/Thunder as their 1/2 combo were the Bettis/Fuamatu-Ma'afala Steeler teams. Again, though completely unqualifiable, this Giants team feels more like it would fit in Tecmo Super Bowl than any other team in the league.
I think Denver will beat San Diego, San Francisco will beat Seattle, Buffalo will beat Jacksonville and Cincinnati will beat Tennessee.

State of the Bears: Week 1

2008-09-11T12:00:00.000-05:00

Well... nobody saw that coming.

Not only did the Bears go down to Indy, while they were opening their new stadium, and beat them, they flat out kicked the Colts asses for 60 minutes.

The Bears defensive line was dominant. I'm sure the loss of Jeff Saturday had a lot to do with this, but no matter who the Bears rotated out there, they pressured Manning and stopped Addai. The Bears also did a lot of cool stuff strategically. Lots of different looks, lots of fronts, they walked the safeties up, they backed the LBs off, they stunted... they did everything possible to try and throw Manning off his game and I think they succeeded as much as one can against Peyton. This was the first time this Bears defense has been healthy since the San Diego game last season and it showed. It's a lot easier to blitz when you can trust a cornerback to be ok with only one guy over the top.

The most shocking aspect of this performance was the fact that the Bears, honest to goodness, outcoached the Colts. Babbich and Lovie came up with a way to beat that crusty old troll Tom Moore, which is more than most can say.

On the other side of the ball, it's all about Matt Forte, and that's both good and bad. I love this kid, and really, how can you not? Vision, moves, speed, durability. Four things this kid has in droves that have been hard to find in the Bears backfield recently. You can't really fault his performance. The problem is, there's not a whole lot else to be happy about. Yes the tight ends are good, but the quarterback isn't, and I don't believe either TE will be utalized nearly as often as they could or should be because of the guy behind center.

As for the guys on the ends, well... it doesn't get much worse than the 6 they trot out there on a weekly basis (though Seattle is going to give them a run for their money.) The Bears WRs caught a grand total of 6 balls for 50 yards. If I'm John Fox, I put eight in the box on every play against Forte until Orton finds a way to move the ball on his own, and if eight isn't enough to stop him, I'll go with nine. I have zero confidence in the Bears passing game, in any form, until they prove otherwise, which is why I'm still picking the Panthers this weekend.

So all in all... the state of the Bears is a hell of a lot better now than it was just last week. I still don't think this is a playoff team, but I do think we're now trending much closer to 'best case senario' than anyone could have predicted.

Who's Laughing Now?

2008-09-07T22:51:00.006-05:00

HUGE UPSET!

29-13 Bears over Indy

First star goes to the defense. D-Line owned the Colts O-Line. Peanut played like...well, Peanut. He's really good at football. Gameplan was solid, kept Peyton on his toes the whole game. Defense needed not only to stop the Colts, but they needed to score too. Gave up 13 points. Scored 9. Check and check.

Second Star --> Matt Forte. Mark one down for Jerry Angelo (don't worry +1 -3, he's still down on the season). 23 carries, 123 yards, 1 TD. Ran downhill the whole game. Made great cuts, has very solid speed. Offensive line actually created big holes for him to run through, and he saw the field well and ran though them.

also, this is hilarious

Bellwether's 2008 NFL Preview

2008-09-06T00:45:00.006-05:00

NFC West

Champions: Arizona Cardinals

The Cardinals seem to be everyone’s breakout darling every single year, this year, I think they actually will. 10 wins will definitely take this division, and I think 9 will do it too. In my opinion, the Seahawks have run out of gas, Maurice Morris is their starting RB, backed up by Julius Jones and TJ Duckett. Hasselbeck is a year older, and their best WR is Nate Burleson. I think their defense is still strong, but I don’t see them finishing any better than 8-8. San Francisco and St. Louis are going to be two of the worst teams in football.

NFC East

Champions: Philadelphia Eagles
Wild Card: Dallas Cowboys
Maybe Wild Card: New York Giants

Call me crazy, but I really believe the Eagles are the best team in the AFC, for once, they’re reasonably healthy, Brian Westbrook might be the second most productive player in football behind LdT. Their defense is one of the most well coached in the NFL, and even though you’re probably not familiar with any of their names outside of Cole and Dawkins, they’re a rock solid core. This combined with Dallas’s current cast of characters which is just begging to implode gives the Eagles an edge in my book. I think Dallas is a good team and I’m sure they make the playoffs, I just think the Eagles are better. The Giants are a very good team as well, but I think they’re yet another step below the Cowboys. They’ll fight with the Bucs for the last playoff spot in the NFC. The Redskins will be lucky to win six games.

NFC North

Champions: Minnesota Vikings

Minnesota has the best defense in the division, the best player (who happens to also be the best running back,) the best offensive line and a much improved receiver corps. Unfortunately they also have the worst quarterback (yes, even worse than Kyle Orton.) The Vikings could win 11 or 12 games if they stay healthy, if they don’t, they might only win 7 or 8. I think 9 or 10 will be enough to win the division. Green Bay is the second best team in the division, but their quarterbacks will decide their fate. If Aaron Rogers is the goods, they’ll push the Vikings. If not, they’re probably a 7 win team. The Lions are better than the Bears, but not by much. Expect both Chicago and Detroit to finish in the 5-7 win range.

NFC South

Champions: New Orleans Saints
Maybe Wild Card: Tampa Bay Buccaneers

I’ve been telling friends that the Bucs are the class of the south for several weeks now, but I’ve had a change of heart over the past few days. Tampa’s got a revolving door at QB, The combined age of their starting WRs is 68, their starting running back is Ernest Graham, and their defense is banged up. The Saints added Jeremy Shocky and Jonathan Vilma. The former gives Drew Brees yet another weapon, and the latter should give the Saints defense the anchor it’s been missing since…. Sam Mills. Carolina could end up in the mix, or they could end up 4-12, and the Falcons are on the clock for the 2009 draft.

AFC West

Champions: San Diego Chargers

I think the Broncos are better, and I think they’ll push the chargers the first half of the year, but in the end, there’s not enough talent on either side of the line of scrimmage for me to take Denver seriously. The Chargers are far and away the best team in the division and still one of the best teams in football. I think both the Chiefs and Raiders are better teams this year, but both of them still draft in the top 10 next year.

AFC East

Champions: New England Patriots
Maybe Wild Card: New York Jets

Watch the Pats go 19-0. They almost did it last year, and you know they still want to. That’d be 37-1 over two seasons, and while I think 13-3 and a Super Bowl appearance is far more likely than another undefeated run, don’t be shocked if they pull off perfection this year. Actually, be shocked, cause it’s still amazing and highly improbable, but probably less so for them than for any other team. As far as the Jets, I’ll admit, I’m buying into the Brett Favre hype. He looked the part in the pre season, and if there’s one thing I’ve learned throughout the years, it’s to never bet against the storybook ending when it comes to #4. Logic doesn’t seem to apply to him. Bills better than the Dolphins, Dolphins still really bad.

AFC North:

Champions: Pittsburgh Steelers
Wild Card: Cleveland Browns

The AFC North and AFC South are the two toughest divisions to pick in all of football, and on balance, they may be the two best. I think the Steelers and Browns have about an equal shot at the division title, and I think both end up going to the playoffs, but history tells me not to bet against the Steelers, who I consider second only to the Boston Red Sox as the best run organization in professional sports. The Steelers never seem to want for talent, they’re constantly reloading and they added two future stars in the draft in Sweed and Mendenhall. Losing Faneca is going to hurt, but when it comes to the Steelers and offensive linemen… the dude abides. It doesn’t really seem to matter what happens to the Steelers, they win 10 or 11 games a year, and that’ll happen again this season. As for the Browns, I don’t think they were a fluke. Derick Anderson probably isn’t as good as his numbers from last year would indicate, but between Braylon Edwards, Kellen Winslow Jr, Jamal Lewis, and that offensive line anchored by Thomas and Steinbach, he doesn’t have to be great on his own, because those guys will do their part to make him look really good. If he falters, the Browns have Brady Quinn waiting in the wings, which might not be the correct answer, but it gives them a nice option. Cincinnati’s probably no worse than a 7 win team, and the Ravens defense is still a force to be reckoned with, despite the fact that their offense is in as bad a shape as ever. A lot of their problems go away if Joe Flacco is good.

AFC South

Champions: Indianapolis Colts
Wild Card Maybe: Jacksonville Jaguars
Wild Card Maybe: Tennessee Titans
Wild Card Maybe: Houston Texans

Yep, I could honestly see any of these teams making the playoffs, but until proven otherwise, nothing will make me bet against the Colts. As long as Peyton is healthy, the Colts have nothing to worry about, and they’ll still find a way to win 12 games. The Jags are the second best team in the division, and they might have the best defense of the four. Questions on offense will continue to dog them, especially when it comes to catching the football, but they’ve made the playoffs with sub par receivers before, there’s no reason they can’t do it again. I still don’t think the Titans are all that good at football, but somehow they continue to surprise me year after year and play much better than everyone’s expectations. I’d like nothing better than to write them off, but their coach is the longest tenured in the NFL for a reason, and that alone prevents me from doing so. I really don’t think the Texans have enough weapons to compete with the other three yet, but strange things happen in the NFL, and the Texans are just one of those teams that kinda sticks out as a possible “team out of nowhere” (despite the fact that they went 8-8 last year, which is hardly nowhere.)

NFC Playoffs
Saints over Giants
Cowboys over Cardinals
Eagles over Cowboys
Saints over Vikings
Eagles over Saints

AFC Playoffs
Steelers over Jaguars
Colts over Jets
Pats over Steelers
Colts over Chargers
Pats over Colts

Super Bowl XXXIX rematch:
Pats over Eagles

Offensive ROY: Jonathan Stewart
Defensive ROY: Jerod Mayo

Offensive Player of the Year/NFL MVP: LaDainian Tomlinson
Defensive player of the Year: Patrick Willis

Most

Pass Yards: Brady
Pass TDs: Romo
Rush Yards: Tomlinson
Rush TDs: Tomlinson
Receiving Yards: Moss
Receiving TDs: Owens

Tackles: Willis
Sacks: Peppers

OH MY GOD!

2008-09-03T19:23:00.006-05:00

THAT IS KOYIE HILL'S RIGHT HAND

Last October Koyie Hill cut off his index, middle, ring finger and thumb. Cut them off. As in not attached. As in HE CUT OFF ALL HIS F&@%ING FINGERS EXCEPT HIS F&@%ING PINKY!

They reattached it, and now it looks all funky. However, they reattached those fingers according to the way he holds a baseball.

"I guess you could say [my hand] was built for baseball now."

Dude has a bionic hand!

Holy freaking crap. Koyie Hill is kind of a badass now.

Check out the whole story here.

Question

2008-09-01T22:54:00.006-05:00

Is Barack Obama a Muslim?

Preseason Week 4: Bears @ Browns

2008-08-28T12:18:00.003-05:00

We'll probably mix it up with some Cubs talk tonight, just cause this Bears game is going to be unbearably (pun intended) boring by the end of the first quarter, if not much sooner.

p0wn3d!!1!!1!!

2008-08-22T09:37:00.001-05:00

Preseason Week 3: 49ers @ Bears

2008-08-21T15:43:00.001-05:00

Oh... My... God...

2008-08-19T20:08:00.005-05:00

I just realized something. This is great news. I can't believe I didn't see this sooner.

Coincidence? I THINK NOT!

SUPERBEARS! SUPERBOWL! SUPERBEARS! SUPERBOWL! SUPERBEARS! SUPERBOWL!

YES! DA COACH AND DA QUARTERBACK ONE IN DA SAME!!! mmmBEARSSSSSSSSS!!!!!

So incredibly delicious

2008-08-19T09:53:00.003-05:00

Is superior to

In every single way possible.

And that's the end of that chapter.

HOORAY WE HAVE A STARTING QUARTERBACK!!!

2008-08-18T15:25:00.006-05:00

The Chicago Bears have finally named a starting quarterback. Kyle Orton.
Bears fans rejoice, for your quarterback is not named Rex Grossman.

This is going to be a long season.

Oh and for the record, Rex Grossman will start for this team sometime this season. A 600 pound boulder would get concussed while ~~getting sacked~~ playing behind this abysmal makeshift offensive line.

Who is excited for this year's Bears season?!?!!! Woooooo!!!!

*Yawn*

Chicago Bears Dead Blog

2008-08-16T21:52:00.003-05:00

Grossman bad, Orton bad, O line awful, defense not terrible, Hanie in with the 2nd string, bad bad bad bad.

Listen to me now, believe me later, this team blows. Bad bad bad smelly old dunk tired weird and bad.

Guess who's old?

2008-08-13T22:30:00.006-05:00

HA HA HA!

I hope he is terrible this season. Seriously. Hope he sucks. Bad.

Barack Rolled

2008-08-11T22:27:00.005-05:00

Look, I'm not sure who I'm voting for yet (I'll probably just vote for Bob Swerski, like I did last election) but this video is the greatest political ad I've ever seen. Ever. I know for a fact that Barack Obama made this video.* I also know for a fact that this is a video that was paid for and endorsed by the People for Barack Obama.**

That being said, I give you Barack Obama.

*Barack Obama did not make this video
**The People for Barack Obama did not pay for or endorse this video.

Legend of Neil

2008-08-10T23:37:00.004-05:00

If you like or have ever played The Legend of Zelda and have 10 minutes to kill, you NEED to check this out. If you haven't/don't, you need to go PLAY The Legend of Zelda and find 10 minutes, seriously.

http://www.effinfunny.com/legend-of-neil

Fuck the Olympics

2008-08-09T13:31:00.007-05:00

And fuck you too if you think that's harsh. Fuck you if you think I should care about some Podunk cracker's dream to win the gold in the 78 meter dildo event, or some dirt farmer's son from Eastern Bumfucksland. Fuck you if you get worked up over any of these trumped up back stories that get shoved down your throat to try and obscure the fact that this is anything more than people you don't know playing sports you don't know the rules to from countries you don't give a fuck about you jingoistic, nationalistic, isolationist, slob.

Fuck you advertisers for trying to perpetuate this myth that this somehow means ANYTHING. That a bunch of roided up freaks who would make the late 90s MLB look like an organic hippie commune who have devoted their entire life to being good at some menial task is something I'm just supposed to feign interest in.

Fuck any of you who have ever implied that woman's gymnastics is anything more than overbearing parents that would make your average hockey dad look like an upstanding citizen exploiting underdeveloped and malnourished teenage girls so they live vicariously through their children.

Fuck everyone who talks about the "amateur athlete" as if it's some badge of honor or even a legitimate concept. As if this isn't the most corporate sporting event on the face of the planet. As if anyone but the wealthiest people in the world could afford the kind of training and conditioning it takes to reach this level of competition. As if the rosters of the basketball teams aren't filled with professional athletes. As if ANY of these athletes would be "amateur" if anyone were willing to pay to see them perform.

Fuck NBC for trying to legitimize this horseshit.

And most of all, a big, BIG, FUCK YOU to the IOC, you bloated, elitist, hypocritical, Eurotrash plutocrats. Fuck you for even CONSIDERING giving the Olympic games to China so your corporate overlords could have yet another avenue to hock their wears. That a complete and utter Civil Rights wasteland like China could get the games goes against EVERYTHING the Olympics are purported to stand for.

Bernie Mac, 1957-2008

2008-08-09T12:12:00.005-05:00

Oh Bernie Mac. I've laughed with you, I've laughed at you. I've cheered for you and I've cheered with you. And for a few seconds, I thought you were going to make me cry (Mr. 3000: damn you sentimental ice cream truck story!). A fellow Sox fan has passed today, and for that I hang my hat at half staff.

Christine and I went to the last of the Sox/Cubs games this season (unless they were to meet up in a redline World Series) and you know who was there with us? Bernie Mac. He was there to throw out the first pitch (it was a strike) and to watch his beloved White Sox beat down on their crosstown 'rivals'.

Because I'm a sucker for bad movies, I've enjoyed almost everything Bernie Mac has been in: Mr. 3000, Guess Who, Head of State. I've also enjoyed the good movies: Oceans 11-13, Pride. Hell, I even liked the Bernie Mac Show. However, none of these things compare to his stand-up. I mean, come on, dude was one of the "Original Kings of Comedy."

Bernie Mac, you'll be motherf*&%in' missed, motherf*&%er.

check out Electra's take on this topic

Why the Sox acquired Ken Griffey Jr.

2008-08-08T17:28:00.004-05:00

I think the most common reaction to the Sox going out and picking up Ken Griffey Jr. right at the trade deadline was "...wuh?" On the surface, I think this was probably the correct reaction. The Sox really don't have a place to play him. Griffey is probably a DH at this point, he had been playing right, and can sorta-kinda-not-really play center field. In center, the Sox have Swisher, Anderson and Dwayne Wise. In right, the Sox have Dye, at 1st, Konerko, DH, Thome.

Playing Griffey means sitting one of Dye, Swisher, Konerko, or Thome. Despite the knee jerk reaction to just sit Konerko, the Sox aren't going to be doing that. The Sox are built to win the world series this year, and they're not going to be doing that without Paul Konerko hitting well, so they've got to play him till he gets out of his funk. Even if you're going to bench Konerko, it'd probably be for Swisher, and you'd put Anderson in center because of his defense.

The reason the Sox got Griffey is that it gives them a decent enough player to play while they sit Jim Thome, either by just playing Griffey at DH, or playing him in right and letting Dye DH for a day or two to get some rest.

Jim Thome has a buyout in his contract that let's the Sox get out of the deal in 2009 for just 3 million dollars. If Thome gets 1100 total plate appearances in 2007 and 2008, however, the option "vest" and the Sox are on the hook for 13 million.

Jim Thome has 958 of the necessary 1100 PA for his option to vest.

That means he needs 142 over the final 49 games of the season

Thome has 422 PA this year in 105 games, an average of 4.02 per game.

At that rate, Thome would amass about 197 PA in 49 games

That's 55 more than he needs for the option to vest...

...however

55 pa at 4.02 per game is 13.68 games.

In other words, If Ken Griffey Junior's presence on the team can "erase" 14 or 15 Jim Thome starts, he'll keep the option from vesting.

Buying Thome out vs paying him his contract saves the team 10 million dollars. (3 million instead of 13.)

Griffey's going to cost the Sox at most 5 million dollars. 2 million for the buyout, and half of whatever was left of his 2008 salary, which totaled 12.5 million for the entire season, so say 3 million (it is almost certainly LESS than 3 million.)

So Griffey's NET "cost" is actually "negative" 5 million dollars.

For Nick Masset and what's-his-face-the-second-baseman, the Sox got 5 million dollars, two months of a future hall of famer who could help propel the team to the playoffs, got a ton of roster flexibility next season, and probably sold a few tickets based on Griffey's star value.

Bears vs Chiefs - Orton Starts

2008-08-07T15:34:00.007-05:00

The people who work at FoxSports.com

2008-08-06T13:00:00.002-05:00

Are a pile of idiots.

The Top 10 Hotheads in Baseball Today

I'll save you the time and spoil the list for you right here. (with my comments of course being italicized)

10) Prince Fielder
"The inspiration for this list, Prince Fielder emerged onto the hothead scene Monday night, when he went after Brewers starting pitcher Manny Parra in the team's dugout. Apparently angry that Parra was going back into Milwaukee's clubhouse rather than watch the team bat, Fielder shoved Parra twice, the second time directly in the face. Teammates immediately came in to separate the two."

He's the inspiraaaation... So one incident automatically puts you in the top ten? That's ridiculous. I don't even think Price Fielder is in the top 50 hot heads in MLB. He is, however, in the top 10 fattest vegetarians in the world.

9) Pedro Martinez
"The diminutive Dominican pitcher has always pitched beyond his size. Never was that more apparent than in the incident with the Yankees when Martinez was still with the Red Sox. Pedro threw up near the head of Yankees then-outfielder Karim Garcia, who took offense to the pitch. Pedro would later deny any intention with the pitch, giving the famous quote, 'Who is Karim Garcia?'"

I thought this was baseball TODAY. Wait, what? Pedro is still pitching? Where? The Mets? Oh damn, I'd be pissed too. But seriously, who is Karim Garcia?

8) Elijah Dukes
"One of baseball's best all-around athletes (he was an all-state linebacker in high school and signed a letter of intent to play at N.C. State), Dukes has made a name for himself due to his off-the-field problems. Among the highlights -- his wife filing a restraining order after he allegedly threatened to kill her; and a 17-year-old accusing him of impregnating her."

Ok, so the only guy on this list who has actually been to jail is 8th on this list. Solid job Fox Sports. Did anyone else just read the part where it says he threatened to kill his wife? There are seven players who have done worse things than that? Oh right, I forgot that the Indians signed Jeffrey Dahmer in 1990.

7) Jeff Kent
"The all-time leading home run hitter among second basemen, Kent is as much known for his temper and poor clubhouse attitude as he is for his power stroke. His tenure with the San Francisco Giants, during which he won the MVP award in 2000, will be most remembered for his infamous shoving match with Barry Bonds in the team's dugout. He was also later accused of being a racist by fellow Top 10 hothead Milton Bradley."

So let me get this straight, Kent is a hot head because he can't get along with Barry Bonds and Milton Bradley? What a horrible person.

6) Kenny Rogers
"The 'Gambler' -- as Kenny Rogers is known -- put all his cards on the table during an ugly incident in 2005. As he walked onto the field to warm up for a game, Rogers shoved two cameramen to the ground. When one of the cameramen continued to film him, Rogers shoved him again, kicking his camera as well. The incident cost Rogers 13 games, $50,000, an assault charge and a civil suit."

This one I completely disagree with. Kenny Rogers has had over 70 hit singles across various genres of music. Wait, not that Kenny Rogers? The pitcher for Detroit? Oh, that guy is f*$%ing crazy.

5) Julian Tavarez
"Tavarez has played for 10 major league teams, and it's no wonder most clubs don't want him around for long. Tavarez has been suspended by Major League Baseball at least five times, and has a rap sheet that includes a 1996 incident in which he knocked over an umpire. He has thrown punches in bench-clearing brawls, tried to kick players during fights and broke two bones in his left hand punching a dugout phone."

Who the hell cares about Julian Tavarez? Answer: No one. Dude's been on three different teams this season. Again, no one cares about Julian Tavarez.

4) Lou Piniella
""Sweet Lou" got his nickname for two reasons: for his sweet swing as a major league hitter, and as a mocking reference to his anything-but-sweet demeanor as a manager. While the man who made kicking dirt on umpires a fashionable thing to do has tempered himself somewhat in recent years, he will still treat Wrigley fans to a classic outburst -- if you catch him on the right day."

Ok, sure, Sweet Lou has gotten tossed a few times in his career, but what about Tony LaRussa, he has more ejections than Lou. Oh yea, and what about Bobby Cox, he has the most ejections as a manager. Most ever. That should make the list right?

3) A.J. Pierzynski
"Pierzynski is the owner of one of baseball's classic hothead moments. In a 2004 spring training game, Pierzynski was hit with a pitch -- in the groin. Pierzynski crumbled to the ground as the team's trainer rushed out to check on him. When the trainer asked, 'How does it feel?' Pierzynski responded, 'Like this!' -- and kneed the trainer in the groin. The trainer also crumbled to the ground. In a 2006 Sports Illustrated survey among major league players, Pierzynski was voted the player most big leaguers would want to see beaned."

AJ is an a$$hole, not a hothead. Those are two totally different things. AJ feeds off of hotheads. He is an agitator; he's THE AJITATOR. Oh my god, I'm a genius. This must be what Hawk feels like when he thinks up an awesome nick name. Besides, I don't think the trainer story is a real story. No trainer has ever come out and said that happened. No one from the Giants have confirmed it, and AJ denies that it's true. Fox Sports doesn't have fact checkers.

2) Milton Bradley
"Of Bradley's numerous run-ins with the crazy side, two stand out above all. In 2007, Bradley suffered a season-ending knee injury while being restrained by his manager during an altercation with an umpire. Bradley accused the umpire of using a profanity towards him. Earlier this season, Bradley tried to go after a Royals TV broadcaster after the announcer said on-air that Bradley had been unable to turn his life around or be accountable for his mistakes. You sure showed him, Milton!"

Milton Bradley is completely bat-poop insane, so I get this one.

1) Ozzie Guillen
"The ever-excitable White Sox skipper is one of the easiest sound bites in baseball. Along with calling A-Rod a 'hypocrite' and former AL batting champ Magglio Ordonez something that cannot be reprinted here, he saved his best for Chicago Sun-Times columnist Jay Mariotti: 'He's a garbage. He's always been a garbage. And he will die a garbage.'"

You know what? I would agree with this, however with the reasons they picked, I'm going to disagree. Ozzie, if anything, is honest. A-Rod is a hypocrite and Jay Mariotti is garbage. Hot, steaming, wet garbage.

There are A LOT of players missing from this list. How about Brett Myers. You know, the pitcher for the Phillies who punched his wife in the face? That probably would have made my list. And what about Carlos Zambrano? I saw that dude try to take off his belt during a bench clearing brawl. Who knows what he was gonna do with that, but what I do know is that it would have been awesome! Michael Barrett is a douche and no one likes him, he would have made my list. Kyle Farnsworth is pretty damn crazy. How about Delmon Young? He threw his bat at an umpire. Um, lets see here, Shawn Chacon choke slammed his GM, Ed Wade, that's a little hotheaded. Isn't Mike Scioscia angry all the time? How about John Gibbons. He chastised Dave Bush before sending him to the minors, then challenged Shea Hillenbrand to a fight, and actually did fight (or at least shove) Ted Lilly. Scott Olsen has gotten into fights with teammates. Oh yea, and last year he got drunk and was tasered by the cops for resisting arrest.

I'm sure there are more.

Crappy job people at Fox Sports.

Gogol Bordello Lolla After Show

2008-08-05T14:00:00.002-05:00

Unlike The Awesome Sauce I was unable to attend the Lollapalooza festivities this weekend...

Ok that's a lie, you see, Lolla, despite the wonderful music, means giant masses of humanity, combined with excessive heat, two things I really despise, so I chose not to go, but I'm going to full admit that I kinda regret that now. Having seen Rage's show on Saturday, TAS is cooler than I could ever hope to be. It was one of those once in a lifetime experiences and I wasn't there for it. I could walk on the moon, cure cancer, make a 3 pointer to win the NBA title, never again slam my head on the skylight in TAS's apartment AND beat John William's Sudoku times in the redeye for a month straight and I'd still NEVER be able to reach the same level of coolness as those who saw rage, like TAS.

I DID however see Gogol Bordello play at The Metro on friday night just a few hours after they played Lolla, and that was pretty special in its own right.

Doors for the show were at 10 pm, the openers, VHS or Beta (the most average Electronica act EVER) went on at 11, and Gogol didn't take the stage till a few minutes after midnight.

Gogol's one of those bands that you can't really explain to anyone. "Gypsy Punk" is what they dub it, I usually tell people to imagine Flogging Molly, but take away all the Celtic influence and replace it with a Gypsy influence, and if you can't really hear Gypsy music in your head, just think Fiddler on the Roof minus the roof part.

^ that's probably the best Gogol video on youtube, as far as conveying what it actually feels like at a show.

They played pretty much everything you'd want to hear: Wanderlust King, 60 revolutions, Not A Crime, Start Wearin Purple, Think Locally, Fuck Globally, American Wedding, Mishto, Never Young and a handful of others in the main set. The encore consisted of Hutz solo for the first part of Alcohol with the band slowly coming back on stage and finishing the song with him, transitioning into Immigrant Punk, and then an absolutely insane room shattering, 20 minute rendition of Baro Foro/Undestructable.

This was the 5th Gogol show I've been to, and the last three had each been awesome, but less amazing than the previous show, none better than when they opened for Flogging Molly. This time, however, I can say with confidence that this was the best Gogol show I've ever been to. I was disappointed at the lack of drum surfing, and I'd really like to hear them play Though The Roof N' Underground again, but neither really mattered this time, the energy was just that amazing.

Maybe it was cause I was closer, maybe I was just that into it, maybe being a 21 and over show helped, maybe the band was just on a high after playing Lolla, but this show just felt more intense than usual. It was an invigorating experience, and I cannot wait to see them again.

Ken "Hawk" Harrelson

2008-08-04T20:43:00.007-05:00

Here is an article I recently found on the Chicago Sun Times website. Its from a series of articles entitled 'This Much I Know.' Now I use the term 'article' loosely, because really these are less like articles and more like a bunch of statements put together. Almost like an interview, except they only printed the answers.

So without further adieu - Ken "Hawk" Harrelson

(my comments will be italicized)

Ken "Hawk" Harrelson

THIS MUCH I KNOW | 66 | WHITE SOX BROADCASTER

First off, I could have sworn Hawk was like 85. Or maybe even older than baseball itself. But fine, if they say 66, I believe them.

I grew up listening to Harry Caray every night before bed in Savannah, Ga. He was on KMOX, the only station we could get baseball games. I'd listen to Harry and Joe Buck and fight off mosquitoes because we had big holes in our screens.

Of course he had big holes in his screens. Hawk was poor when he grew up. Did you know that he had to walk 13 miles to school, uphill, in the snow...wait, Savannah, Ga? Ok, so there wasn't any snow, but it was 16 miles.

In 1971, the Cubs wanted me to come over there and play, but I made up my mind. I wanted to retire and concentrate on playing golf.

Because the Cubbies just aren't worth it, doggummit!

I got to play in the British Open and won some celebrity tournaments. But when I was out there trying to make it in the PGA, I had such a bad temper, I had no chance. I'd go out with 14 clubs in my bag and come back with three or four. You can't beat those guys with three or four clubs.

Hey Hawk, you couldn't beat those guys with all 14 clubs.

Tommy Bolt had the worst temper on the PGA tour, and I broke more clubs than Thunder, I'm sure.

Hahahahaha, of course he called Tommy Bolt "Thunder Bolt." Classic Hawk!

I haven't broken a club in 25 years.

But he has eaten many club sandwiches in 25 years.

The greatest compliment I've ever been paid was by manager Alvin Dark. He said of all the players he's ever managed, the guy who would do anything to win a game more than anybody is Ken Harrelson.

But what would he do for a Klondike bar? This is boring and poorly written, not to mention poorly put together.

Some players don't agree with the idea that fans have the right to boo. Fans do have a right to boo.

I totally agree with him here.

I was the White Sox general manager in 1986. I can tell you being a general manager is the worst job in baseball. No question about it.

What about beer vendors? I bet that job sucks ass. I mean, people yell at you, and all that beer has to be heavy. Oh yea, and you don't make anywhere near what a GM makes. Just a thought.

I've called 4,500 ball games -- at least.

Cool. Congrats? I think?

I was blessed to know Howard Cosell and Curt Gowdy. In separate conversations, they both told me the same thing -- don't ever try to please everybody. And I don't. My detractors? I've been around too long to let it bother me.

Hawk, come on. You really rarely please anyone. Maybe 10% of Sox fans. The other 90% just put up with you. Luckily, I'm in that 10%.

Put it on the boooard . . . Yes! just evolved. I was playing a PGA tournament and birdied a tough par 3. The guy working the scoreboard was reading a book, so I yelled, "Hey, put it on the board." One day at the old ballpark, somebody hit a home run and I said, "You can put it on the boooard . . . Yes." That's where it came from.

He gone! Grab some bench! Can-o-corn. All the phrases from my baseball vernacular are things I said when I played.

I'm kinda surprised he knows what the word 'vernacular' means. Vernacular is definitely not a can-o-corn word.

Can-o-corn is an expression used by old storekeepers 60 years ago. They'd have aprons on and use a hook to pull the can of corn off the shelf and catch it in their aprons. Easy catch.

I've always wanted to know where the hell that came from, and honestly, that was very satisfying to learn.

The Cubs-Sox rivalry is huge. I get goosebumps just thinking about teeing it up.

I disagree. Maybe I don't like Hawk anymore.

Lou Piniella is one of my dear friends. I just want to kick his ass.

OK! Just kidding, I take it back. That is awesome and hilarious.

Piniella probably knows more about hitting than anyone on the planet. He's a hard-nosed son of a b- - - -. He loves to compete. He'd fight ya in a heartbeat.

Does anyone else want to see Hawk fight Lou? That would be awesome. I would totally pay to see that. No question.

Ozzie Guillen is one of the most powerful personalities of any manager I've ever seen. We wouldn't have won this World Series ring without him.

Ozzie is an asshole, but Hawk is right here.

Making it to the World Series in 1967 was the greatest thrill in my sporting life. We lost in seven games.

Up until '05, I never really realized the difference of winning a World Series to losing a World Series. My wife asked me which was better, '67 or '05. I got to tell you, it's '05. The difference is immense.

So wait... There's a difference between winning and losing a World Series? Who knew?

I've been married for 35 years. My wife saved my life.

How? Did she pull you from a burning automobile? Were you on drugs, and she made you choose between her and the drugs? These are the hard hitting questions they forgot to ask.

When you marry a Greek, you don't get much of a say about marriage. I haven't seen a paycheck in 35 years.

Racist.

When I say, "This ball game is ovaah," that means we won.

I am 100% sure that you've said "This ball game is ovaah" after a loss. Oh wait, maybe you say "This ball game is over." My Bad. Very different.

Look I love The Hawk, but he's ridiculous, and so was this article. Good job Sun-Times. I'm excited for the Ken 'Hawk' Harrelson vs. Sweet Lou Pinella, that's gonna be a good ol fashion slobber knocker. Sinch it up and hunker down.

State of the Cubs (7/28 - 8/3)

2008-08-04T13:13:00.003-05:00

Monday, July 28th @ Milwaukee W 6-4
Gaudin (W, 7-4), Torres (L, 5-3), Marmol (S, 5)
Tuesday, July 29th @ Milwaukee W 7-1
Zambrano (W, 12-4), Sheets (L, 10-4)
Wednesday, July 30th @ Milwaukee W 7-2
Dempster (W, 12-4), Parra (L, 9-4)
Thursday, July 31st @ Milwaukee W 11-4
Harden (W, 1-1), Bush (L, 5-9)
Friday, August 1st vs Pittsburgh L 3-0
Karstens (W, 1-0), Marquis (L, 6-7), Grabow (S, 1)
Saturday, August 2nd vs Pittsburgh W 5-1
Maholm (L, 7-7), Lilly (W, 11-6)
Sunday, August 3rd vs Pittsburgh W 8-5
Hansen (L, 1-4), Gaudin (BS, W, 8-4), Marmol (S, 6)

Satisfying baseball.

Following Monday's seesaw victory over the Brewers in Milwaukee, in what felt like a playoff game, the Cubs went on to drub the Brewers in the next three by a combined score of 25-7. The Brewers pitching was bad, defense was worse and the bats were stifled by four outstanding performances from Lilly, Zambrano, Dempster, and Harden.

Rich Harden, by the way, in 4 starts as a Cub, is 1-1, he should be 4-0. In 27 1/3rd he's given up a grand total of three runs on three solo homers. He's also struck out 39 while posting a 1.11 ERA and a 0.80 WHIP. Rich Harden is really, really, really good at sports, and when healthy, he's a better pitcher than Carlos Zambrano.

Jason Marquis took the ball on friday and gave the Cubs a quality start, while the bats were shut down by Matt Karstens. The Cubs had the bases loaded in the 4th, and 2 on in the 5th, 6th and 8th and couldn't plate a single run. I don't really go in for the whole "letdown game" concept, but if ever you're allowed one, it'd be in a game in which you're coming off a 4 game series sweep of the team that was tied with you as early as last Sunday morning.

Saturday and Sunday the Cubs took care of business, despite a not so great start on Saturday by Ted Lilly in which he worked out of a few really bad jams and got some really nice breaks. Sunday the Cubs appeared to be crusing, they took Z out to save some wear on his arm, the bullpen kinda shat itself, then, like a big brother who comes across his younger sibling playing with his toys, the Cubs simply said "not for you" and swiped the game back from the Pirates with back to back homers in the bottom of the 8th.

Carlos Marmol was able to get the save. I think I trust him again. Probably... mabye.

Good evening, we're Rage Against the Machine from Los Angeles, California

2008-08-04T10:00:00.005-05:00

Those were the words spoken immediately before one of the greatest shows I've ever seen in my entire life. It was everything you could have wanted. They played all their hits, people almost died, Zack ranted about politics. I truly pity the people who went to go see Wilco instead of RATM. Somewhere between 60-70 thousand people made the same decision I made night two of Lollapalooza. I wonder if it was the last time they play in the states. I hope not.

The second best show I saw at Lollapalooza? Nine Inch Nails. Trent was great. There was so much going on during that show. All the visuals and technology, it was truly amazing. It wasn't just rock music, it was art.

Radiohead was ok. I appreciate how good they are at what they do, but I don't know/enjoy enough music from them to truly understand how good, or not good, that set was. To me, I liked it, even if it was a little boring.

Lupe Fiasco was really really great. I missed the very beginning of his set, which I'm told was "Kick, Push." I bet it was great, because everything else he did was. There was a choir, a horn section, Matthew Santos; it was solid.

Gogol Bordello was....

Gogol Bordello. They're always awesome. And I heard they played a really solid after party at Metro Friday night.

I was late to Saul Williams (I got to see him thank the crowd, and walk off stage). However, Saul can do no wrong, so I'm going to say he was great.

Love and Rockets was boring.

I heard part of the Toadies, they sounded better than I thought they would. Glad they played Possum Kingdom, for it is the only Toadies song I know.

The National just sounded like bad screaming, but honestly, I wasn't really paying much attention to it.

Jamie Lidell sounded awesome from the gates, but I didn't actually see him.

I think thats all I've got. Did I mention Rage Against the Machine was there?

Feel the funk blast.

EDIT: Thanks to my baby for getting me tickets, and Lolla lounge passes, and for generally being awesome.

Even Weirder

2008-08-01T19:09:00.003-05:00

Weird

2008-08-01T08:29:00.003-05:00

Yet oddly awesome.

State of the Cubs (7/18 - 7/28)

2008-07-29T18:05:00.000-05:00

Friday, July 18th @ Houston L 2-1
Howry (L, 3-3), Geary (W, 3-1)
Saturday, July 19th @ Houston L 4-1
Zambrano (L, 10-4), Rodriguez (W, 5-3), Valverde (S, 25)
Sunday, July 20th @ Houston W 9 -0
Dempster (W, 11-4), Backe (L, 6-10)

Monday, July 21st @ Arizona L 2-0
Harden (L, 5-2), Johnson (W, 7-7), Quails (S, 2)
Tuesday, July 22nd @ Arizona L 9-2
Marquis (L, 6-6), Petit (W, 1-1)
Wednesday, July 23rd @ Arizona W 10-6
Lilly (W, 10-6), Davis (L, 5-5)
Thursday, July 24th vs Florida W 6-3
Olsen (L, 6-5), Zambrano (W, 11-4), Marmol (S, 4)
Friday, July 25th vs Florida L, 3-2
[Justin] Miller (W, 3-2), Howry (L, 3-4), Gregg (S, 21)
Saturday, July 26th vs Florida L 3-2
[Justin] Miller (W, 4-2), Gaudin (L, 5-4), Gregg (S, 22)
Sunday, July 27th vs Florida W 9-6
Hendrickson (L, 7-8), Gaudin (W, 6-4), Smardzjia (S, 1)

Monday, July 28th @ Milwaukee W 6-4
Gaudin (W, 7-4) Torres (L, 5-3) Marmol (S, 5)

Frustrating baseball.

That's about the easiest way to summarize the first nine games after the all star break. Bullpen bad, offense impotent, starters throwing really well with nothing to show for it. Games have never come easy for the Cubs in Houston or Arizona, or vs the Marlins anywhere, and I suppose given that 3-6 in 9 games vs those 3 clubs can almost be considered holding serve, but with the Brewers steamrolling through the national league, watching a 6 game lead evaporating to a tie while you're not getting blown out and you're giving up leads late is just eminently frustrating.

I believe baseball teams are what they are. Injuries not withstanding, teams don't get significantly better or worse. They play really well at certain points and really poorly at certain points, but things even out in the end. I also believe this Chicago Cubs team is a collection of excellent talent, coming together to form a great-borderline-excellent baseball team.

Sunday and Monday the Cubs looked and felt like the team they were earlier in the season when they were rolling off long winning streaks, crushing the baseball, and locking down leads late. Bobby Howry is probably not long for this team, but Chad Gaudin has stepped up, he may prove to be almost an important as Rich Harden down the stretch. Jeff Samardzija is probably going to be a starting pitcher in 2009, but he is going to be an invaluable cog in the bullpen if the Cubs are going to go deep into October.

And maybe, just maybe, Carlos Marmol has learned to pitch again.

Maybe.

Awesome Bad Song of the Week

2008-07-26T12:00:00.006-05:00

New Found Glory. Pop-Punk. Woooooooooo. This is a great band to listen to while you wait for your mom to pick you up from the movie theater.
So yea, this is a cover song -- "Kiss Me" originally done by Sixpence None The Richer, which was in the movie She's All That. A movie that I totally saw in the theaters when I was thirteen. After the movie ended, I listened to New Found Glory while I waited for my mom to pick me up.

State of the Sox

2008-07-25T15:08:00.004-05:00

Ok, so I admit, there hasn't been one of these in a while, but guess what -- the Sox are still in first place. The State of the Sox has not changed.

However, today starts a very important stretch of seven games for the White Sox. They start a set of three in Detroit tonight, then they go to Minnesota for a four game series.

These 7 games = Very Important

57-43, 2.5 ahead of Minn, 5.5 ahead of Det

Very Important

Also -- This just in. Crede on the dl, welcome back Josh Fields.

State of the Cubs (6/30 - 7/13)

2008-07-14T15:17:00.000-05:00

Monday, June 30th @ San Francisco W 9-2
Lilly (W, 9-5), Lilly (L, 3-12)
Tuesday, July 1st @ San Francisco L 2-1
Marquis (L, 6-5), Cain (W, 5-6) Wilson (S, 23)
Wednesday, July 2nd @ San Francisco W 6-5
Marmol (W, 2-3), Walker (L, 3-4), Wood (S, 21)
Thursday,July 3rd @ San Francisco L 8-3
Gallagher (L, 3-4), Lincecum (W, 10-1)
Friday, July 4th @ St Louis W 2-1
Zambrano (W, 9-3), Looper (L, 9-6), Wood (S, 22)
Saturday, July 5th @ St Louis L 5-4
Wood (L, 4-2), McClellan (W, 1-3)
Sunday, July 6th @ St Louis W 7-1
Marshall (W, 1-2), Wellemeyer (L, 7-4)

Tuesday, July 8th vs Cincinnati W 7-3
Harang (L, 3-11), Dempster (W, 10-3)
Wednesday, July 9th vs Cincinnati W 5-1
Cueto (L, 7-9), Zambrano (W, 10-3), Wood (S, 23)
Thursday, July 10th vs Cincinnati L 12-7
Arroyo (W, 7-7), Lilly (L, 9-6)
Friday, July 11th vs San Francisco W 3-1
Walker (L, 3-5), Howry (W, 3-2), Wood (S, 24)
Saturday, July 12th vs San Francisco W 8-7
Wilson (L, 0-2), ~~Harden (W, 6-1)~~ Marshall (W, 2-2)
Sunday, July 13th vs San Francisco L 4-2
Lincecum (W, 11-2), Dempster (L, 10-4), Wilson (S, 25)

A very special State of the Cubs double wide as we head into the all star break. Lack of updates last week can be blamed on laziness and lack of thoughts on the Rich Harden acquisition can be blamed on me being away from internet access for a period of 48 hours at the worst possible time.

Let's get the Rich Harden acquisition out of the way first:

If you think the Cubs made a mistake by dealing away the four guys they did, you're an idiot. I'm not going to bother with a long explanation of why, it's been done time and again ad nauseum on sports talk radio, in the papers, and on internet outlets that actually update in a timely manner. Suffice it to say, Rich Harden is going to make 5 starts that matter this season, and they'll all take place in October. If you'd rather have the potential that Gallagher becomes a number two starter in two years and the miniscule posibility that even on of the other three guys becoming even an average every day major leaguer over adding another number one starter who will increase your odds of winning in the playoffs and securing the first World Series title for this franchise IN ONE HUNDRED MOTHER FUCKING YEARS then you're a bad fan, and a fool.

Oh, the same deal that gave you a legitimate ace starter also added another quality arm to the bullpen. Just sayin.

Anywho, last week, the Cubs played the final 7 games of a 10 game road trip after being swept by the White Sox the weekend before. Though it pains me to type this because it's so damn hokey, this year's Giants motto ought to be "Lincecum and Cain and pray for rain" because beyond that, the Giants have Aaron Rowand and a lot of garbage. Bowker might be a decent player some day, but the team seems to be nothing more than a horrid amalgamation of quadruple-Aers and guys who were all stars back in the mid-to-late 90s.

In 29 innings vs the Cubs the past two weeks, Lincecum and Cain have given up 18 H and 4 ER, while striking out 36 and walking 8. that's a 1.24 ERA, a 0.96 WHIP and a 4.5/1 K/BB ratio.

Normally one would probably feel bad to see their team lose 3 of 7 to the Giants, but given those numbers I'm shocked the Cubs were even able to steal Friday's game. No shame in losing to either of those two pitchers, but you should beat them every time someone else starts, and that's exactly what the Cubs did even if there were some... questionable games.

Carlos Marmol was bad. Twice. Bad last week in San Fran and really, horribly, terrifyingly bad in Chicago on Saturday. Behind a sterling performance from Rich Harden the Cubs lead 7-0 after 7 and 7-2 after 8. Marmol came in and... well even with a 5 run lead the Cubs had to bat again. Sean Marshall put together an incredible performance both on the mound and leading off the 11th with a single, and the Cubs were able to scratch across a run in the 11th to win a game they had no business winning after the performances of Marmol, Theriot, and Piniella.

Sandwiched between the two Giants series were 3 game sets against the Cardinals and Reds. The Cubs took two out of three in both, highlights included Zambrano's triumphant return, another amazing start by Z, a win from Dempster and an excellent performance from Sean Marshall against the Cards. Lowlights were Wood's performance in game 2 in St. Louis and a typical wind blowing out Ted Lilly game where Reds batters tattooed the entire Cubs staff and Adam Dunn hit a ball about seven thousand feet.

As Cubs fans, we've been spoiled by the team this season, ripping off 8 wins in a row and just bludgeoning opponents, seemingly without breaking a sweat. These past two weeks we haven't seen that kind of dominance, and we probably shouldn't expect to, instead these two weeks have been a pretty accurate microcosm of what this team really is, a ballclub not without it's blemishes, but capable of winning every time out, and one that is very very capable of winning the World Series with a little bit of luck at the right times.

57-38 at the All Star Break
PECOTA expected record 97-65
PECOTA playoff odds 94%

State of the Cubs and State of the Sox...

2008-07-10T19:13:00.001-05:00

...Will return next week to recap the past two weeks of baseball, and separate looks back at the first half of the season.

Mike Fontenot or why high ISO guys make the best bench players

2008-07-03T11:50:00.008-05:00

ISO or Isolated Power is a very simple stat. Slugging Percentage minus Batting Average*. Say a player slugs at .600 and has a .300 batting average, that gives him an ISO of .300 (it also makes him one of the ten or so best hitters in all of MLB.) It also means that for every ten times up to bat he's going to generate three extra bases. That could be a homer, a triple and a double, or three doubles. Good power hitters are going to generate high ISOs almost by accident (or, more accurately, by the product of their being power hitters.) In fact, if you jump over to ESPN's stats page and check out their ISO (or as they call it ISOP) leaders, you'll see the top of the list populated with the guys you'd automatically associate as being the best power hitters in baseball. As you might guess, the highest ever to end a season belongs to Bonds in 2001 when his ISO was .536. Sosa, McGwire, Bonds and Babe Ruth all topped .400 at various points.

Now the numbers those guys throw up are just gaudy because they're sluggers and their slugging percentage is just going to be naturally high, and thus their ISO isn't going to tell you anything you don't already know. Where ISO becomes a cool little stat to measure players value is with bench players†. It's also why I really like Mike Fontenot, even given his status as a grinder, his mullet, his ties to LSU and Ryan Theriot.

An average ISO is .120, a "singles hitter" is going to have an ISO around .80

Fontenot's ISO on the year is .207 which is great for a bench player. Does this mean he's a great baseball player? No, and truth be told he should never start, but considering he can play the middle infield with some degree of competence AND hit for power in limited at bats means he actually has substantial value as a bench player.

Darryl Ward's is .229. This number is why Darryl Ward is still in baseball.

For some South Side perspective, Toby Hall's is .194

And just for my own personal amusement, Ryan Theriot's ISO is .56 and Reed Johnson's is a slightly-better-than-I-expected .116.

Like most stats for bench guys, ISO is flawed because the sample size is going to be really small, but the stat passes what I like to call the "crusty old baseball guy" test. When you sit down and think of the guys that your average"crusty old baseball guy" is likley to name if you ask them to name good power hitting bench guys, the guys that they name usually have higher ISOs. Be aware that this is horrible methodology.

*PECOTA uses a modified version which weighs Triples and Doubles equally, the logic being that a Triple is indicitive of a player applying speed to a double to get an extra base, and not actually a measure of any extra power, so PECOTA ISO numbers might be slightly lower. In general, players at the major league level for whom ISO actually matters (like my guys above) aren't going to be guys that hit you very many triples. Guys that come off the bench who are actually capable of hitting triples are guys you hope can walk or single then steal a base to get into scoring position. High ISO bench guys are guys whose main role on the team to hit pinch hit home runs....

Terry Crowley's lucky he's in fuckin baseball! We saw that Terry Crowley had the ability to sit on his ass for eight innings like any other fan the come up and break one open in the fuckin 9th! Terry Crowley's career ISO is only .125, but he had at least 3 seasons of +.170 ISO numbers.

†at the major league level, when projecting minor leaguers and prospects, ISO's value increases exponentially as it's one of the most important indicators of future performance on higher levels of baseball.

Phrase of the Month

2008-07-01T00:00:00.001-05:00

Papa Charlie
[pah-puh chahr-lee] adjective

-adjective
1. inherently Chicago: That pizza was surprisingly Papa Charlie.; That guy with the mustache wearing the Bears sweater eating the polish sausage is so Papa Charlie.

Origin: Wendy's; Papa Charlie's Roast Beef

State of the Sox (6/24 - 6/29)

2008-06-30T18:00:00.001-05:00

June 24th - June 29th

Tuesday, June 24th @ LA Dodgers W 6-1
Buehrle (W, 5-6), Lowe (L, 5-7)

Wednesday, June 25th @ LA Dodgers L 5-0
Floyd (L, 8-4), Stults (W, 2-0)
Thursday, June 26th @ LA Dodgers W 2-0
Danks (W, 5-4), Kershaw (L, 0-2), Jenks (S, 17)
Friday, June 20th vs Cubs W 10-3
Contreras (W, 7-6), Dempster (L, 9-3)
Saturday, June 21 vs Cubs W 6-5
Thorton (W, 4-1), Marmol (L, 1-3), Jenks (S, 18)
Sunday, June 22nd vs Cubs W 5-1
Buehrle (W, 6-6), Marshall (L, 0-2)

Heroes - John Danks, Jermaine Dye, Carlos Quentin
Bums - Vazquez, maybe...

Dodgers are bad, which is why the Sox took 2 of 3 from them in LA. The White Sox are good at home. Hopefully the AL will win the All Star Game (because some dumbass decided that whichever league wins the All Star Game gets home field advantage in the World Series. Its the dumbest thing ever) (ever ever).

I've been thinking... if the season ended today, Carlos Quentin AL MVP? You could make a case for him, and I think Milton Bradley and Josh Hamilton take votes away from each other. But I guess you could say the same about CQ and Dye. Oh well, fun to think about.

Interleague is over, time for the Sox to start dominating their division. Hopefully the Sox will sweep the Indians so we don't have to see Sabathia for much longer. He would look nice in north side attire, wouldn't you say?

State of the Cubs (6/24 - 6/29)

2008-06-30T14:46:00.005-05:00

Tuesday, June 24th vs Baltimore L 7-5
Guthrie (W, 1-0), Marshall (L, 0-1), Sherrill (S, 26)
Wednesday, June 25th vs Baltimore W 7-4
Albers (L, 3-3), Lilly (W, 8-5), Wood (S, 20)
Thursday, June 26th vs Baltimore L 11-4
Liz (W, 2-0), Marquis (L, 6-4)
Friday, June 27th @ Chicago White Sox L 10-3
Dempster (L, 9-3), Contreras (W, 7-6)
Saturday, June 28th @ Chicago White Sox L 6-5
Marmol (L, 1-3), Thornton (W,4-1), Jenks (S, 18)
Sunday, June 29st @ Chicago White Sox L 5-1
Marshall (L, 0-2), Buehrle (W, 6-5)

Defense: bad; pitching: bad; offense: bad; offense RISP: really really bad. Back to back really really bad blowouts on Thursday and Friday, a game that was just as unwinnable on Sunday, two games where porous defense and some shitty bullpen outings screwed the team in the middle innings on Tuesday and Saturday and a win that felt like a loss on Wednesday.

Dat' about sum dat' up.

On the bright side, the Cubs get to face Barry Zito tonight, the Giants, and hell, the NL West are a cure for what ails ya. Yes it's a road series, but the Giants blow and the Cubs should take 3 of 4. The Cubs then get 3 games against the Cardinals in St Louis. The Cubs could concieveably put the Cardinals out of the race with a torrid week this week, and we've had multiple weeks like that this season. I'm not saying it's going to happen, I'm just saying that there's really no reason to panic just because the Ebb and Flow of the baseball season gave you a low tide week these past six games.

Despite the fact that the Cubs dropped 5 of 6, they only lost two in the division, which I guess doesn't make anyone feel any better, but their post season odds only fell about 4% this team is making the playoffs, no matter how unfun this week was. If you're really upset about losing to the White Sox, 1, grow up; 2, be happy that the Sox are winning, because the more they win, the more likley the Indians are to trade CC Sabathia.

Awesome Bad Song of the Week

2008-06-28T12:00:00.002-05:00

The Fresh Prince himself. You may ask "Why Wild Wild West, Sauce? Why not Miami, Men In Black, Black Suits Comin', Gettin' Jiggy With It, Just the Two of Us, or Will 2K?" Answer - Because all of those songs suck. Okay, thats not true, actually all of those songs are awesome/terrible. Real answer - Wild Wild West is an amazing piece of art, and I'm not embarassed to say that I know all the words to this song, and I actually own this movie on dvd.
There once was a time in this country where Will Smith ruled the world. He was in blockbuster movies, he had #1 hits, albums and videos, and I'm pretty sure he was President for like six or seven months.

State of the Sox (6/16 - 6/22)

2008-06-24T15:31:00.003-05:00

June 17th - June 22nd

Tuesday, June 17th vs Pittsburgh W 16-5
Vazquez (W, 7-5), Snell (L, 3-7)

Wednesday, June 18th vs Pittsburgh W 8-2
Buehrle (W, 4-6), Gorzelany (L, 5-6)
Thursday, June 19th vs Pittsburgh W 13-8
Floyd (W, 8-3), Dumatrait (L, 3-4)
Friday, June 20th @ Cubs L 4-3
Linebrink (L, 2-2), Wood (W, 4-1)
Saturday, June 21 @ Cubs L 11-7
Contreras (L, 6-6), Marquis (W, 6-3), Wood (S, 19)
Sunday, June 22nd @ Cubs L 7-1
Vasquez (L, 7-6), Dempster (9-2)

Heros - Jermaine Dye

Bums - Everyone Else (except for maybe Buehrle)

Congratulations, you swept the Pirates. This team still can't hit. Yes, they score a ton of runs off of the Pirates, but again, they're the Pirates. The Chicago White Sox have lost 9 straight games on the road. Situational hitting always, always gets the best of this team.

Also: Jermaine Dye=On Fire. Its not even fair that pitchers have to throw to him. Hopefully he can keep this up until the rest of the team decides to hit, whenever that may be.

So next week, White Sox go to Los Angeles to play the Dodgers and then back home for the last three games against the Cubs this year, thank god. After that, interleague is over! Hooray! Back to real baseball!
But if you want to know the only good thing to come out of this year's interleague games, check out Electra's blog from Saturday.

I'd say rest in peace

2008-06-23T15:45:00.002-05:00

But I'm pretty sure he was at his happiest when he was as far from peace as possible

Thanks George.

Thanks for being with us for a little while.

2008-06-23T14:54:00.004-05:00

Thanks George.

State of the Cubs (6/17 - 6/22)

2008-06-23T14:08:00.006-05:00

Tuesday, June 17th @ Tampa Bay L 3-2
Cotts (L, 0-1), Balfour (W, 1-0) Percival (S, 16)
Wednesday, June 18th @ Tampa Bay L 5-4
Zambrano (L, 8-3), Sonnanstine (W, 8-3), Percival (S, 17)
Thursday, June 19th @ Tampa Bay L 8-3
Marmol (L, 1-2), Balfour (W, 2-o)
Friday, June 19th vs Chicago White Sox W 4-3
Linebrink (L, 2-2), Wood (W, 4-1)
Saturday, June 20th vs Chicago White Sox W 11-7
Contreras (L, 6-6), Marquis (W, 6-3), Wood (S, 19)
Sunday, June 21st vs Chicago White Sox W 7-1
Vazquez (L, 7-6), Dempster (W, 9-3)

Very few answers, a few new questions. Didn't learn anything about the Cubs this week. At home they are easily the best team in baseball, and for some reason (probably still small sample size) they're not as good on the road, that or they're just unlucky, which goes back to sample size. The Cubs haven't lost in Wrigley in over a month, they're 32-8 in that stadium. Doesn't matter what happens, two home runs early, two home runs middle, 9 runs here or there, you come to Wrigley Field, you lose.

The new questions, are Zambrano and Marmol. These are scary, your best starter is hurt, and your best reliever cannot find the strike zone. Zambrano should be back in a few weeks, but injuries to your shoulder are far more significant than elbow, forearm or hand injures for a pitcher, THANK GOD Giovanni Soto showed poise and awareness far beyond his years and called the trainers when he did. The Cubs can win the division without Z, but there is no chance they win a playoff series.

Carlos Marmol's last two outings have included five walks, five earned runs, two hit batsmen, a wild pitch, and a loss. His mechanics could be off because he hasn't been used as frequently, his arm could be injured because he's been used too much overall, or he could be turning into Rick Ankiel, and no, I don't mean a power hitting outfielder. Hopefully it's the mechanics, and the injury would still be preferable to him becoming a headcase, but regardless, that's another big, big piece of the Cubs puzzle, if it's lost, it's going to need to be replaced before the playoffs.

Still, the Cubs remain in an excellent position. They have a few chips in the farm system to deal to bolster the team, and they're now 4.5 up on the division, with the best team in baseball taking the field every day. Ryan Dempster is an honest to goodness all star, even though he's probably having a (once in a) career year.

87.6% chance of winning the division, 96.2% of making the post season

Awesome Bad Song of the Week

2008-06-21T12:00:00.000-05:00

Now, it would be too easy to pick Stayin' Alive or Night Fever, so today I'm going with How Deep is Your Love? Released in 1977 as apart of the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack, it shot right up to numero uno on the charts. That album is terribly awesome, and it was hard to pick only one song off of it to be the ABSotW, but I suppose I could have picked this song instead. But I didn't.

The Chicago White Cubs

2008-06-20T00:30:00.002-05:00

I recognize that this concept is stupid, which is why I only spent 10 minutes writing this. The following is based barely on stats and mostly on who I would rather root for/like better.

Lineup
CF - Kosuke Fukudome
SS - Orlando Cabrera
LF - Carlos Quentin
DH - Aramis Ramirez
1B - Derek Lee
RF - Jermaine Dye
C - Geovany Soto
2B - Alfonso Soriano
3B - Joe Crede

Bench
Mark DeRosa - 1B, 2B, 3B, OF
Ryan Theriot - 2B, SS
AJ Pierzynski - C
Alexei Ramirez - 2B, SS, OF

Rotation
Carlos Zambrano
Gavin Floyd
Ryan Dempster
John Danks
Jose Contreras

Bullpen
LHP - Boone Logan
LHP - Matt Thorton
RHP - Octavio Dotel
RHP - Kerry Wood
Setup - Scott Linebrink
Setup - Carlos Marmol
Closer - Bobby Jenks

Manager
Ozzie Guillen

(And yes, I know Soriano can't really play second, and Fukudome isn't a center fielder, and that the two everyday players with the highest batting averages are on the bench. Remember, there is no team called the Chicago White Cubs.)

I just threw up in my mouth a little bit...

2008-06-17T14:02:00.005-05:00

If Ryan Theriot makes the all star game over Ramirez, Tejada, Reyes, or even Christian Fucking Guzman I think I'm going to petition MLB to not distribute ASG ballots at Wrigley.

Entering Sunday, Theriot had a .311 batting average, 41 runs scored and 13 stolen bases, so the All-Star attention is well-deserved.

Ryan Theriot also has a .760 OPS, third worst among all NL shortstops who qualify for the batting title. He's also got a sub 65% stolen base conversion percentage, anything below 70% actually hurts your team, he makes stupid outs at 3rd base, gets picked off the bases, is below average defensively, has a pop gun arm and is quite possibly the most annoying professional athlete to ever play in this city.

Of course I SHOULD just petition MLB to not let fans vote at all, because if we're going to continue this retarded crap and make the game count for something, managers should be allowed to bulid the teams however they like, and that includes leaving every single San Diego Padre off the team if they so choose.

State of the Cubs (6/10 - 6/15)

2008-06-16T22:03:00.006-05:00

Tuesday, June 10th vs Atlanta W 10-5
Glavin (L, 2-3), Lilly (W, 6-5)
Wednesday, June 11th vs Atlanta W 7-2
Bennett (L, 2-2), Dempster (W, 8-2)
Thursday, June 12th vs Atlanta W 3-2, (11 Inn)
Acosta (L, 3-5), Wood (W, 3-1)
Friday, June 13th @ Toronto L 3-2
Gallagher (L, 3-3), Burnett (W, 6-5), Ryan (S, 14)
Saturday, June 14th @ Los Angeles W 6-2
Marquis (W, 5-3), Halladay (L, 8-6)
Sunday, June 15th @ Los Angeles W 7-4
Lilly (W, 7-5), Litsch (L, 7-3)

I don't really know what to say about this week. that was pretty much masterful baseball all around. Poor Sean Gallagher fell victim to the offense taking another Friday night off as he again goes 5 innings and gives up just three runs (which, though an inning shy of the official definition of a quality start, is about all you can ask from the kid.) The Cubs loaded the bases twice, once in the first, once in the sixth and managed to plate only one run in those two opportunities. Ryan Theriot found yet another way to generate outs when he tried to advance to third on a ground ball in the first.

The Jim Edmonds A.K.A. Jimmy Ballgame A.K.A. James Baseball signing continues to pay off way more than it has any right to, as Edmonds's batting average as a Cub is up to .309 and he currently sports a very healthy .857 OPS as a Cub. He is so much better at baseball than Reed Johnson it's not even funny, and he's a lefty to boot.

Speaking of good ole' Reed, big time props to #9 as his home run on Saturday finally propelled his offensive VORP to 2.8, and moving him ahead of Ted Lilly. Congratulations, Reed, your offensive run production is now greater than that of one of the worst hitting pitchers I've ever seen and it only took you 69 games to do it.

Edmonds is hitting, Jason Marquis has won three games in a row, and Ryan Dempster goes for his 9th win of the season tomorrow, with 6 more starts left before the all star game. Something is very, very wrong and I like it.

PECOTA as of Monday morning: 99-63, 89% chance of winning the division, 95.9% chance of making the post season

State of the Sox (6/10-6/15)

2008-06-16T12:38:00.010-05:00

June 10rd - June 15th

Tuesday, June 10th @ Detroit L 6-4
Contreras (L, 6-4), Robertson (W, 4-6), Jones (S, 11)

Wednesday, June 11th @ Detroit L 5-1
Vazquez (L, 6-5), Verlander (W, 3-9)
Thursday, June 12th @ Detroit L 2-1
Dotel (L, 3-3), Jones (W, 2-0)
Friday, June 13th vs Colorado W 5-4
Thorton (W, 3-1), Herges (L, 2-3), Jenks (S, 16)
Saturday, June 14th vs Colorado L 2-0
Dotel (L, 3-4), Grilli (W, 2-1), Fuentes (S, 10)
Sunday, June 15th vs Colorado L 5-3
Contreras (L, 6-5), Cook (W, 10-3), Fuentes (S, 11)

Heros - Gavin Floyd? maybe. John Danks? sure.
Bums - Yes

Here's the only guess I have. I think Ozzie Guillen flips a coin to decide whether or not his team is going to perform. Or this team actually sucks. Or this team is really good. Who knows.

Also, for the record, interleague games are a waste of my time. If it's true that you lose 60 and you win 60, it matters what you do with the other 42 then none of these games are actually in that 42, whether they are wins or losses or extra inning wins or no hitters. Sure they're fun, I guess. But so are all star games, and they don't count. Oh, right.

Awesome Bad Song of the Week

2008-06-14T12:00:00.003-05:00

Ah, Phil. I'm sure he'll be showing up in this weekly post a lot. "In The Air Tonight" was the first single of Phil Collins' solo career. Released in 1981, it reached as high as #2 on the Billboard charts. It's an (awful) anthem played in sports arenas across the country. It has also appeared in a great commercial involving a gorilla.

State of the Sox (6/3 - 6/9)

2008-06-10T12:00:00.003-05:00

June 3rd - June 9th

Tuesday, June 3rd vs Kansas City W 9-5
Floyd (W, 6-3), Grienke (L, 5-3)

Wednesday, June 4th vs Kansas City W 6-4
Dotel (W, 3-2), Gobble (L, 0-1)
Thursday, June 5th vs Kansas City W 6-2
Contreras (W, 6-3), Meche (L, 3-8)
Friday, June 6th vs Minnesota W 10-6
Vazquez (W, 6-4), Blackburn (L, 4-4)
Saturday, June 7th vs Minnesota W 11-2
Buehrle (W, 3-6), Hernandez (L, 6-3)
Sunday, June 8th vs Minnesota W 12-2
Floyd (W, 7-3), Slowey (L, 2-6)
Monday, June 9th vs Minnesota W 7-5
Thorton (W, 2-1), Guerrier (L, 3-2)

Heros- White Sox

Bums - Jay Mariotti (I don't really have a reason for this, he's just a 'heiny-bird')

All I really have to say is that if this is the real White Sox, they could win the World Series (that sounds so weird to say for some reason). Yea, so uh. I don't really have a whole lot to say. White Sox Winner.
40 runs against the Twins. 61 on the homstand.
A 7 game winning streak.

So ummm, they're good, and I'm confused.

There are 3 baseball teams in town. One of them is the Cubs. The Sox are the other two.

Bears Release Cedric Benson

2008-06-09T19:45:00.005-05:00

Old news at this point, if you want the story, you can find it in a multitude of places. That's not why I'm posting this.

Just because the Bears released Benson does not mean they're going to sign another running back.
Just because the Bears released Benson does not mean they're going to sign another running back.
Just because the Bears released Benson does not mean they're going to sign another running back.
Just because the Bears released Benson does not mean they're going to sign another running back.

Understand something. The Bears, and the vast majority of the rest of the teams in the NFL only carry THREE running backs. It was HIGHLY likely that the Bears were going to cut Benson anyway, the DUI just accelerated the process. There are currently three on the roster in Forte, Peterson, and Wolfe.

In order for the Bears to carry 4, the Bears need to carry one less backup at another position. It is possible that position could be wide receiver. Last year, the Bears kept six on the roster. Berrian, Muhammad, Bradley, Davis, Hester, Hass. Muhammad was cut, and replaced with Booker, Berrian was not resigned. The Bears promoted Mark Bradley into Berrian's role, and signed Brandon Lloyd to replace Bradley (ostensibly in the role of fast guy with so-so route skills who always gets hurt.) The Bears resigned Davis, Hester's not going anywhere. The Bears drafted Earl Bennett, which means that Hass will be cut.

The only other guy that might get cut among that group would be Lloyd, but it's unlikely as he's one of Turner's guys, this STILL doesn't account for Marcus Monk, who'd probably get plucked off the practice squad. It also doesn't account for the possibility of the Bears carrying an additional offensive linemen to help compensate for the youth of the line.

Just because the Bears released Benson does not mean they're going to sign another running back.

So please don't piss and moan if they don't go out and sign Shaun Alexander, who'd almost certainly be bad.

State of the Cubs (6/2 - 6/8)

2008-06-09T11:20:00.006-05:00

Monday, June 2nd @ San Diego W 7-6
Zambrano (W, 8-1), Baek (L, 1-2), Wood (S, 15)
Tuesday, June 3rd @ San Diego W 9-6
Marquis (W, 3-3), Corey (L, 1-1) Wood (S, 16)
Wednesday, June 4th @ San Diego L 2-1
Lilly (L, 5-5), Bell (W, 3-3), Hoffman (S, 12)
Thursday, June 5th @ Los Angeles W 5-4
Howry (W, 2-2), Saito (L, 3-2) Wood (S, 17)
Friday, June 6th @ Los Angeles L 3-0
Gallagher (L, 3-2), Kuroda (W, 3-5)
Saturday, June 7th @ Los Angeles L 7-3
Zambrano (L, 8-2), Lowe (W, 4-5)
Sunday, June 8th @ Los Angeles W 3-1
Marquis (W, 4-3), Penny (L, 5-8), Wood (S, 18)

And there you go, folks, a series win and an over .500 road trip in which the cubs managed to tally 7, 9, and 5. Hopefully that can silence some of the road trip hysteria. Looking at the 3 losses, you had a game in which Hiroki Kuroda pitched out of his damn mind, going 9 innings and allowing just 4 baserunners while striking out 11. While they're not fun, that's going to happen. You can say the same about the Maddux game (the Heath Bell W.) Then you had Saturday... well... I'll get to that in a moment.

Point is, two of your three losses this week were games in which the other teams starter just gave you an ass beating, and that's ok. The Cubs have already proven that they're one of, if not the most potent offense in major league baseball. Sometimes, you just go out and get buzz sawed. The fact that those are generally the only games they're losing right now proves that the team is just as "hot" right now on the road as it was at home.

But then you've got Saturday's game. Saturday's game reminded me of the 2004 Cubs. Zambrano was cruising, up 2-0 in the 6th when he gave up the 2 run bomb to Martin, tie game. Cubs come back and tally one in the top of the 7th. Bottom of the 7th, Z gets the first batter, Pierre gets on and is dead to rights trying to steal second, but The Scraptain, Grindy McGrinderson, Ryan Theriot can't hold onto Soto's throw, (for the second time that game, I might add) should be 2 outs. Next batter Pierre scores as Ramirez throws the ball away. It was ruled a hit and an error, but you could very well make the argument that it was E5 all the way. Either way, Pierre never should have scored.

Instead of being out of the inning, or having 2 outs and a runner on first, you now have one out, a runner on first and a run in. Z's D failed him, and at this point it was clear to apparently everyone watching the game with the exception of Lou Piniella that Z needed to come out of the game. Marmol hadn't been used in a few days, he's the best reliever in the NL, THIS IS WHY YOU HAVE HIM. Not to get 5 outs when you're up by 4 runs like Lou tried on Monday.
Howry, Weurtz, Eyre, ANYBODY would have been a better option than leaving Zambrano in at this point, and he proved it, first by giving up a 3 run bomb to Matt Kemp and then by going nuts on the water coolers in the dugout. I wish he'd stop acting like a child, cause one of these days he's going to get hurt, but I can sympathize with him. He put the Cubs in a perfect position to win the game and his defense and manager let him down big time.

If you like that old axiom "you're going to win 60 games and lose 60 games, it's what you do with the 0ther 42 that decides how your season goes" the losses on Wednesday and Friday were in the big pile of 60 losses, the Saturday game was one of the "other 42" a game right there for the taking that the team just pissed down their leg.

But... light at the end of a very short tunnel. Despite losing a game they absolutely should have won on Saturday, after being shut out on Friday, they went out on Sunday Night Baseball, with what is unquestionably their worst starter on the mound, and had him completely shut down the Dodgers to split the series, finish above .500 on the road trip, and stay out of the tailspin that would have befallen so many past Cubs teams.

As Vin Scully once said, momentum in baseball is tomorrow's starting pitcher. "Tomorrow's Starting Pitcher" was Jason Marquis twice this week, and he found a way to win both of those games. That's the mark of a quality baseball team. 97-65, 88+% chance of making the post season

Kudos to Kerry Wood. 4 saves, 7 Ks in 3.2 IP. 0.00 ERA, 0.82 WHIP for the week.

Bellwether's Sports Philosphy, Big Brown

2008-06-08T15:25:00.014-05:00

When it comes to sports, I'm a pretty irascible bastard. There's very little I won't hold back on, there's very little I'll hold back on in general, but with sports I take it to another level. I find it silly how far some will go to deify athletes and coaches and I LOVE tearing them down. You can rip on crook politicians and people will line up to echo your words, you can tear into members of the media or the profession in general and there will be no end to the support you receive, an entire industry exists around the building and subsequent breaking of celebrities. For some reason, however, going after pro athletes, especially successful pro athletes, with the rare exception of "public enemy number one" like Vick or to a lesser extent, Bonds turns adult males into screaming toddlers. If you don't believe me, bring up what an egomaniacal prick Jordan was and watch the fireworks, even prefacing the argument with "ignoring what he did on the court" won't garner any more of a reasonable response. In no other aspect of our society are heroes so protected from scrutiny and those who challenge the norm so consistently shunned.

One can go the other way too. Steve Bartman and Bill Buckner both received death threats. The concept "it's only a game" really doesn't seem to resonate with people, that, or they interpret this concept entirely wrong. It's more than a game, but the game aspect of things is treated way too seriously. I think the business aspect of sports and the conditions that effect sports off the field are as or at times more interesting than the games itself. I know a LOT about sports, the people that know me know I know a LOT about sports, but so often I am loathe to talk sports in mixed company. People are generally taken aback by how nonchalant I am when it comes to the one subject I'm more qualified to talk about than any other. Realize, I LOVE sports, I just don't let the on the field outcome bother other aspects of my life. The 2006 Bears meant more to me on so many levels than any other team that I've ever watched, and I wanted them to win the Super Bowl so badly, but 5 minutes after the game was over, I was cool with it. They pissed the damn game away, but it doesn't mean I don't enjoy every other game that season any less.

I'm not saying you're not allowed to enjoy watching an athlete, or you're not allowed to experience emotions of high and low, but for Christ sakes people, take a step back and evaluate the situation for a minute. Athletes may be fun to watch, but get one thing clear THEY DON'T GIVE A FUCK ABOUT YOU. Athletes don't care about fans. Period. They HATE you. Every one of them. Even the one who signed the ball, even the one who shook your hand at the convention, even the guy that waved at you outside the stadium, even the one that said "we couldn't have done this without the 6th/10th/12th man", even the one that your friends sister met in a bar and went home and fucked. Athletes are a marketable commodity and they are more marketable if they're likable. Most pro athletes are too stupid (or uneducated) to realize this on a conscious level, but almost all of them, with the very clear exception of Brian Urlacher, are keenly aware of it on a subconscious level, and agents are very very much aware of this.

I'm not saying there aren't decent guys, I'm not saying they all actively brood with hate, I'm just saying that Fans:Athletes::Beggars:Normal People. Even if you're sympathetic to some bum's cause, and EVEN IF you toss them the occasional buck, you STILL find them pathetic and annoying. Fans ARE Beggers, only instead of begging for spare change, they're begging for a little slice of fame, and the 30 seconds some guy takes to shake your hand is his way of digging for a couple of nickels. Autograph seekers who are in the business of ebaying memorabilia for profit take this analogy one step further.

If you've ever worked in retail, you have contempt for the customer. To a pro athlete, every one of us is a customer. It's not a personal vendetta, it's just a blanket level of contempt that serves to partially insulate you from the rampant stupidity of the public.

Given this, there's literally no reason for fans to see all of the good and ignore all of the bad, but that's exactly what 99% of them do, I don't know why. These guys are no less in the spotlight than anyone else, information is freely available, people either don't seek it, or choose to ignore it. Of course, compounding all of these problems is ESPN, who have built a media empire off of over inflating individuals to the point of insanity. I have no doubt several thesis papers have been composed on answering this very question in sociology classes world wide, but I'm not really concerned with why. I just generally relish the opportunity to be an iconoclastic prick, so commenting on sports is just natural for me.

Josh Hancock was a drunk crackhead womanizer and it was only a matter of time before something bad happened to him, how fortunate that no one else was hurt and that Josh saved everyone the trouble of calling a for a tow. Kirby Puckett once held a gun to his wife's head while she was holding their child, and I think the world is better off without him. Drinks on me the day Bobby Knight dies, ditto Gary Barnett. Leonard Little, Tony LaRussa, Pac Man Jones... the list of guys I who I love to watch fail really doesn't end.

All of this aside, there's one thing I'm above: Rooting against a horse. Sure, Big Brown was getting pumped full of winstrol, but damn it, I wasn't alive to see Affirmed. I want to see a horse win a triple crown. It's not a human, so it's ok for me to look the other way.

But now that Big Brown has lost, all I have to say is:

HAW HAW!

Fuck you, Rick Dutrow, you lying, manipulative, steroid pushing, smug, arrogant son of a bitch.

Awesome Bad Song of the Week

2008-06-07T12:00:00.001-05:00

Released in 1977, it was the first of six number one hits for the sweet combo of Daryl Hall and John Oates. The song is about a 'rich girl' who has 'gone too far.' Everytime I hear this damn song, I think about two things: 1. the fantastic Me First and the Gimme Gimme's Cover and B. John Oates' mustache is awesome!

Phrase of the Month

2008-06-05T11:16:00.004-05:00

Con Sizzle
[kon - siz-uh l] adjective, adverb, interjection

-adjective
1. wonderful; first-rate; very good: That movie was con sizzle.

2. skillful; expert: I am straight up con sizzle at this game.

-adverb
3. very well: Everything has been going con sizzle for her lately.

-interjection
4. (used to express acceptence, appreciation, approval, admiration, etc.): Con sizzle! It's nice outside

5. (used ironically or facetiously to express disapointment, annoyance, distress, etc.): Con sizzle! We just missed our bus.

Origin: Applebees; Fajitas Con Sizzle

State of the Sox (5/26 - 6/1)

2008-06-03T12:13:00.010-05:00

MAY 26TH - June 1st

Monday, May 26th @ Cleveland W 6-3
Logan (W, 2-1), Elarton (L, 0-1), Jenks (S, 13)

Tuesday, May 27th @ Cleveland L 8-2
Buehrle (L, 2-6), Laffey (W, 3-3)
Wednesday, May 28th @ Cleveland W 6-5
Floyd (W, 5-3), Betancourt (L, 1-3), Jenks (14)
Thursday, May 29th @ Tampa Bay W 5-1
Danks (W, 3-3), Jackson (L, 3-4)
Friday, May 30th @ Tampa Bay L 2-1
Linebrink (L, 2-1), Wheeler (W, 1-3)
Saturday, May 31st @ Tampa Bay L 2-0
Vazquez (L, 5-4), Kazmir (W, 5-1), Balfour (S, 1)
Sunday, June 1st @ Tampa Bay L 4-3
Thorton (L, 1-1), Howell (W, 4-0)

Heros - Alexi Ramirez .391 avg; Jon Danks 6 inn, 1 ER, 8 K; Jose Contreras 5 inn, 1 Er

Bums - Everyone else

Ozzie is right. Throw the record out the window right now, and the fact that this team is in first place in the AL Central. This team is not hitting. If this is going to need to rely on a spark from Alexi Ramirez or Brian Anderson, they won't be in first for long. If Paul Konerko is hurt, put him on the DL. If Thome is struggling at the plate, sit him down, same with Nick Swisher. Start Brian Anderson, bring up Josh Fields or Jerry Owens. Start Fields at first or DH. It is an absolute shame to waste all of this good pitching. Do whatever you have to do, but to sit here and watch Thome and Swisher look like they're batting with blindfolds on is starting to wear thin. This White Sox - Tampa Bay series was the biggest for the Sox of the first third of the season. They had great starting pitching preformances, but went something like 3-30 with men in scoring position. The White Sox should have taken at least 3 of 4 from the Bay Rays on the road, but instead they lost 2 games in the tenth, and only took 1 of the 4 games in Tampa. Are the Tampa Bay Rays really better than the Chicago White Sox? I didn't think so, but apparently they are.

AND I don't think Josh Fields is the answer for ONLY the White Sox, this dude played quarterback in college for Oklahoma State. He has the record for most touchdown passes for OK State and led them to 2 bowl games, the second of which being the Cotton Bowl vs Ole Miss where he threw from a Cotton Bowl record 307 yards. And it can't really be that hard to coach a professional basketball team, right?

JOSH FIELDS! SOX, BEARS, BULLS!

Also, I'd like to nominate Josh Fields for President, Pope and Sausage King of Chicago.

Just for Historical Perspective

2008-06-03T00:11:00.005-05:00

...and not to piss in anyone's cornflakes...

Though the Cubs have the best record in baseball at 37-21, through 58 games, they're STILL eight games off the pace of the '98 Yankees who were 45-13 after 58. They went on to win 114 and the World Series, yikes.

The 2001 Mariners were 46-12 through 58, that team won 116 games, but they lost 4-1 in the ALCS so let's not dwell on that.

And an interesting statistical quirk, both the 89 an 84 cubs, the last two cubs teams to win 90 games in a season (98 doesn't count, that 90th win came in the playoff game against the Giants for the right to be swept by the Braves.) were both 33-25 through 58. 89 team won 93 games, 84 team won 96.

Lou letting Marmol pitch at all with a 4 run lead, let alone into a second inning, has my blood boiling right now. Rest him, rest him for when it matters.