Just North of Wrigley Field

2010-07-18T16:03:00.004-05:00

July is over.

OK, there's two weeks left, but it always feels like it's over at the end of the World Series of Poker.

I would like to take this time to combat any feelings of 2010 of being a down year for poker. If you actually followed this WSOP, it's already been a year full of moments of controversy, achievement, surprise and heartache.

Now, I shall hit thee with a list. Mind you, this is just from the WSOP.

Tom "Durrrrr" Dwan went heads up for a bracelet and almost bankrupted the High Stakes community.

Phil Ivey did win a bracelet, for the second-straight year. I don't know how close HE got to bankrupting the high-stakes poker community, but Howard "the Professor" Lederer tweeted it best when he said, and I quote, "Gulp...".

* Ivey also final tabled a WPT event which ran the same time as the WSOP Main Event, but that's a different list. *

Shaun Deeb made a spectacle of himself by entering the yearly LADIES ONLY WSOP event and coming up with multiple, lame, hindsight excuses why he did it... while wearing a dress. His actions, and that of his fellow classless men who joined with him, ignited an unnecessary controversy in a time where players, fans and media should have better things to focus on.

Michael "The Grinder" Mizrachi took down the Inaugural $50k Pro Player's Championship. He's now made two more WSOP Championship final tables. It's to my detriment I haven't mentioned Mizrachi before this, but there will be plenty more chances for Mizrachi sightings in this list.

Gavin Smith joined him in removing his name from the "Best Player Without a Bracelet" list, by winning his first in a mixed-limit Hold'em event. Not a dry eye in the house in a moment made even sweeter when his good friend Chris Bell joined him that very same week.

I can't talk about firsts without mention Phil Gordon taking down the Ante Up For Africa Charity Event for his first WSOP victory. I'm sure he'll tell you the chance to contribute to a great cause, as he did by donating 100% of his first place prize and continued support of the PreventCancer.org Bad Beat on Cancer Initiative, made up for winning a watch and not the bracelet, which still eludes him. On other news, he also celebrated his 40th birthday. Yeah, I'm going to move on before I ruin any chance of being his BFF.

John Juanda had several great results, and Allen Kessler almost broke the record for cashes in a single WSOP. Men "The Master" Nguyen, ever-controversial, won yet another bracelet and made a strong run at WSOP Player of the Year.

Huck Seed bested a stacked field to win the first Tournament of Champions voted on by the fans.

Annette Obrestad came away with a big ol' goose egg in her first WSOP.

Finally, the Main Event had several great story lines for those who followed it from the start. Kudos to the WSOP staff for avoiding last year's troubles with the final first day flight filling up. The numbers for most events were way up.

Among the most high-profile deep Main Event runs was Johnny "F'n" Chan, returning to the tournament that made him famous. He's also famously been absent from the WSOP the last few years while keeping his level of fame quite high. He didn't really need it, but his success in the Main and TOC voting should keep him among the elite when it comes to poker fans.

Several name pros flirted with a final table appearance including Alexander "PostFlopAction" Kostritsyn, Adam "Roothlus" Levy and Hasan Habib. Of course, Michael Mizrachi (one of four Mizrachi brothers to cash) made the final table with a decent-sized stack to make a run at the title in November.

The biggest story from the ME (unless John Racener or Mizrachi win) will be Matt Affleck. The 80th-place finisher from the 2009 ME made the final 2 tables of this year's event. Most notable will be the way he departed, building a $42million chip pot by the turn with AA vs his opponent's JJ that had only an overpair and an up-and-down straight draw filled by a dastardly 8 on the river.

When we finally see the emotion involved in the aftermath, that bustout will forever be part of WSOP lore. If he makes another deep run next year, his three-year stretch will be a historical ME accomplishment.

I didn't even mention yet Frank Kassela locking up the WSOP POY with a fantastic showing in Championship stud events. Well, locked up unless Mizrachi takes it down in 4 months.

There were plenty of great stories in this WSOP, and I'm looking forward to the ESPN broadcasts to see even more.

So, July is over... but that doesn't even mean the poker year is over.

There's still lots of WPT, NAPT, EPT and WSOP Europe action coming up. The WSOP Main Event Final Table in November. All the while, there will be several tournament grinders going after all of those Player of the Year races and flying all over the world to do so.

My advice: Don't ever let a year disappoint you until it's over.

2010-07-03T04:01:00.002-05:00

Just read an article by up-and-coming online and live poker player Randy "NaNoNoko" Lew. Go read it and get to following him and learning from him. His article inspired me to the following insight I posted as a response and now here for your perusal.

I struggle very similarly with poker in this regard. As mostly a tournament player, I don’t think I play nearly the volume I should. These feelings you describe are a big reason when I look back on it. When I’m not getting wins (no matter what my ROI looks like), I’m not pleased (even worse when I completely bust)… always feels like a kick to the jewels. Even though I realize that’s standard, and you can’t really tell anything about your results from one tournament, or one session, or a month of sessions, really… I tend to shut it down if I make a horrendous decision or get bit by variance, rather than make the adjustments and put in the work.

When I pick up that big win, or even just a small win that gives me any sense of accomplishment, I tend to similarly shy away from returning to the tables. Even though a tournament win is hardly a new event for me, I still get that sense of euphoria and endorphine high from winning or reaching a new high in my bankroll. Afterwards, I look back and wish I had played more (I don't believe in rushes, but I do highly believe in environmental factors in poker that can effect your results - the way you're playing, the opponents available, your body chemistry).

I realize how irrational both of these are... but usually only after the moments have passed. I've been playing for three years now, and I still haven't broken this feeling (even though I believe it is progress that I realize it happens). I don't like losing... and like losing what I've won even less.

2010-04-10T22:47:00.001-05:00

Another couple scores. Both in Absolute Poker freerolls sponsored by the No Deposit Bonus League. In the first one, got totally owned heads up... had a 50k to 13k lead. Villain had KK twice to my top pair and then suited ace... nothing left to do but cry after that.

Next up, got it in QQ vs 1010 and a 10 came on the flop, took me out on a "bubble" where I would have moved up at least another $1. I set myself up to win a lot more than that, either way.

Took a huge lead 4-handed in another tournament on Cake where 3 paid... and everybody started moving in on me and doubling through me when I had them. 77 vs AJs with the 7s on the flop and he turns the nut flush, and I didn't improve. AQ vs KQ, hits full house on river after we both hit trips on flop. A10 vs KQ and catches a K on the flop. I might post my bust hand on here and see if anybody thinks I should have done something different on the off case somebody would bust... 3rd place was a pretty monster payday with all the money added in the tournament.

Still, this was a very profitable day. I even made a pretty big score in Rush Poker on Full Tilt. Played .02/.05 for about 20 mins... turned about $6 with reloads into just over $20. I think it almost erased my losses from the other day, when i severely went on tilt after/during going 0-5 with and against KK. Boy did I run good though, cracking AA twice and chopping a couple pots I shouldn't have.

I know I sound like a noobfish who never makes money in a cash game (oh wait... that's exactly what I am), but I should have taken a screen cap of the dollar amount I had at that table. That made me really excited, and the $25 bonus I'll get from FullTilt's Take 2 promo AND the FTP Academy credits are cherries, man... cherries.

Here's a trick I picked up today... until I get my stack over the max buy-in, I make sure to click "sit out next hand"... that way I can reload. Even if it's a few cents, that's a few cents I'm not afraid of losing, but why not get the most possible if you double through someone?

I'd also like comments from anyone with experience playing Rush Poker... should have kept going when I was up? Should I have just rebooted my table and re-bought in with the max buy-in? Where should we place the threshold to re-buy? When our stack is doubled? tripled? What other factors should we consider when deciding whether to press on with our stack in Rush Poker? Should the average stack of the other "rushers" be a consideration?

2010-04-09T21:47:00.000-05:00

Made another run at a big guarantee on PowerPoker. This time, it was a $6 Bounty Tournament with a $2K guarantee. I avoided the final table bubble by taking 6th place out of 431, plus a couple bounties. I added $74 or so to the bankroll and also got a bunch of points for the leaderboard over at PokerBRB. In fact, I think I pretty much crushed it for the month, but it's still really early. I just don't think there's anybody else even playing the buy-ins that qualify, and you can't really make that many points through their freerolls.

Not complete without a bad beat story, right? Had 90k at the start of the hand at 3k/6k... short stack at the table stuck between two huge stacks who were just gobbling everybody up. KK on button, and I did something I never do... I limped. Didn't think I could get paid off if I open shipped or even just raised. I really wanted to have someone raise from the blinds and then ship it over the top of them. Big Blind made my wish come true and made it 36k to go... really odd given he didn't have much more than me and that was just a redonkulously huge raise. I shipped the 90k over the top, and he snap called with... wait for it... wait for it... QJo!

I'm really ok with him calling at that point because he's so wickedly crushed, but I just don't get it. Of course, in my bewilderment, I barely comprehend how a JJ4 flop comes out. Still ran pretty good today. Got caught in a steal twice... ok, maybe 4 times, but i don't count the times when I suck out on them anyway. In my opinion, they were trying to steal from me... they just didn't realize it at the time. I didn't play a lot of hands, but I made it count when I did.

2010-04-08T23:47:00.000-05:00

Made a deep run in a $20k guarantee on PowerPoker. Out in 11th on the final table bubble. Really big ouch. I saw two all ins at second table... mid stack had AK, short stack had K7... so I pushed from sb with J8s to pick up blinds and antes (5k pot=more than 1/7th of my stack)... didn't think I'd get a caller. Big Blind had me covered by about 12k and woke up with 66, which I'm still even against. K7 pulled it out with 77 on flop and Ak caught his A too to stay in against big stack (didn't see what he had).

Still $360 is my biggest online score to date... for a tournament I got in at last second. Logged in to PowerPoker and saw I had a ticket for some tournament starting in 30 mins. Don't know where it came from or how I ended up with it. I wasn't really in the mood to play anymore after having just a breakeven session of rush poker on FTP, but I wasn't sure the ticket would be good for another time either. Then, I saw the value of the ticket was $162! I can't pass up a chance to play in a tournament like that. So, I bit the bullet and got in.

When I got in, it was a few short of the minimum to start, but it filled up a couple minutes before it started. Late Registration continued until the player pool swelled to 126, with a generous 25 players getting a payout.

I played really well early on, just keeping it very tight, since it was a deep stack starting at 5k in chips with 250 bb stacks. Now, they said it was a slow structure, but that was pretty much bupkus early on. It was the same jacked up structure every PowerPoker/Cake tournament has. I'm sorry, but going from 50 to 100 to 150 to 200 to 250 to 300 does not constitute a slow structure no matter how many blinds you give me to start. Methinks there's a few levels missing in there... I will say though the structure did get better later, which probably contributed quite a lot to my ability to stay patient through the middle stages.

After hovering around 8k or so, I dropped down to about 5k after getting value-towned when a big stack minraised my bb with AA and I had KQo, with a caller inbetween. The flop came Q-high with 2 clubs, and he curiously never raised me when I bet out on the flop, nor did he bet when I checked the turn, which completed the flush draw and paired the board. I had no idea what he had, but I didn't want him to just bluff me off the hand, so I made a smallish bet of 1200 into a 3300 chip pot. I'm pretty proud of that play, since I highly doubt he would have made it less than 1200. However, it is possible he might have not bet at all on a board with so many possibilities. I'm not sure I could have bet him off the hand with a bigger bet, but it's possible.

With blinds at 125/250 and the antes kicking in, I then started my string of double ups with, shall we say, less-than-premium holdings. I open raised to 750 from the button with A7s. The big blind reraised me to 2150, which I then shoved the rest of my 5k. He had plenty of chips to fold, but still decided to call with Q10d. An A on the turn ended any drama about my first double up to 10k.

I was moving my chips around pretty well at this point to keep myself afloat, but was still hovering around that 10k or just below. At 400/800 with a 75 ante, that meant going all in to have any chance at picking up chips. When I found 97h in the hijack, I pushed my 11 bbs in the middle. When the chip leader min raised from the button, I knew I was in trouble. However, I was relieved when he flipped over just AKo. lol Even though he had a heart, at least I was live and not up against a made hand. Of course a 7 came right on the flop with a 4 on the turn (THE JAMES!!!) to move me up to 19k.

Yeah, I can't say I really kept those long. Two hands later, I had A10o on the big blind, and the button shoved for just over 10 bbs. That could have easily been a steal with a weaker ace or two face cards, so I called it. He had 77, and I lost that race. I probably could have folded there, but I can't really say it's that bad of a call, even if the result knocked me back down to 10k.

Even though I was sure my image was shot by now, I just couldn't help myself. A few hands later, I had A3o and shoved my chips in from the hijack once again. The cutoff pretty much snap called me for half of his stack and everyone else folded.

If he was going to have a pair, he had the only one (other than deuces) I'd want him to have as he turns over pocket threes. The flop came down great for me with a pair of Kings and a 5, giving me 3 fives to go with my 3 aces. The A on the turn left him with only the one out to catch up to me, and up to 20k I went again! My opponent would lose the rest of his chips on the next hand with AJs against QQ, sealed by a Q on the flop.

The money bubble was fast approaching as the blinds went up to 500/1000 with a 100 ante.

As tight as I was playing and wanting so badly to cash, I still couldn't help but fast-play a couple of cowboys from the small blind even though the big stack at the table raised from the cutoff. I popped him up 3x his raise, and he folded. I picked up a nice 7100 chip pot for my efforts, while wondering if I could have extracted a little more value from my 17 bb stack.

With the bubble burst a few hands later, the push to solidify my stack into a final table possibility began. Picking up JJ from the big blind with no small blind didn't hurt... and a button 3x raise from the preceding blind stealer was superb medicine. I popped him another 3x up to 9k, which he then shoved over for 34k. With half of my stack already in, it was an easy call, and a delight when he turned over AJo. The board came out no sweat, and a 42k pot came my way.

Play really slowed down after that as there were mostly big stacks on my table and small stacks on our adjacent table. I think I played two hands until my eventual bust hand. I take absolutely no solace in the fact that my conqueror ended up winning the whole shebang. That's just not how I roll.

I am however pleased to continue my success and know if I keep getting this far, my big score will come.

2010-02-17T15:50:00.001-06:00

I'll be playing the below event in honor of my Grandmother, who will go into surgery on February 24th to remove a cancerous tumor. If I win, I will donate a portion of the proceeds to the cause... and urge everyone to commit to the same.

Help Put a Bad Beat on Cancer!
On February 21st, 2010 the Twitter Poker Tour is teaming up with Bad Beat on Cancer to raise money to benefit the Prevent Cancer Foundation. Join the TPT and a host of Full Tilt Red Pro’s starting at 6PM ET on Sunday the 21st to raise money and awareness for cancer prevention!

For more information visit the Bad Beat on Cancer Charity Event page.

2010-02-15T15:59:00.001-06:00

Check out what FullTilt Pro and WSOP bracelet winner Eric Froehlich thinks about Cash Out tourneys here.

After reading this, I'm going to try a few, because his strategies about it make sense. How many times have you dominated a tournament and played like a champ, but then the only player with more chips than you busted your AA with 72o on the bubble and you win nooooothing?!?!?!

That sucks soooo bad. Well, this way, you can mitigate against this happening by cashing out to at least guarantee yourself break even or a little profit.

What I keep thinking about is how few times you as a player even make the final table, much less finish in the top 3 places. While this is the ultimate goal, it can't be the benchmark you judge yourself against. The only thing that matters is profit and return on your time (and honestly as long as you're profitable who cares how much time you waste getting there). So, it's possible you're sacrificing some value, but how often do you get that some of that value as an MTT player? It's the same concept to me as agreeing to pay some money back to a couple more places. It just cuts your variance way down, right?

Let's face it... most of us have had to work on our short stack games because of our bad plays... well this way you can work on it and make a profit at the same time!

I think maybe you shouldn't cash out if you're not pretty good with your reads on when to shove over the top of a light raiser when you have a short stack. There obviously still is great value in making the final table... but sometimes you have to be realistic as a player and realize you're just not going to get there most of the time, so take the value when you can get it.

Anyway... might be time to give this format a shot, when before I thought it was a horrible idea.

2010-01-27T10:05:00.001-06:00

Well... PokerStars asked me to voice my concerns, so I did. Here was my submission to them about the ails of the ongoing WBCOOP.

Very upset... finished deep but out of the money both days. Horribly upset at the format. If they were going to do this ridiculous pre-registration, they should have made the tournaments buy-ins.

Yesterday, I was crippled and then knocked out by a player who shortly thereafter said, I gotta go and didn't return and was blinded out before the bubble. That is the lowest form of disrespect you can show another poker player.

I was expecting a better run series from PokerStars. I'm not going to bother promoting them for the rest of the series, regardless of the extra value I could be giving up. I won't be seriously playing them. They're just too much time invested for not enough return.

I'm more upset at PokerStars for promising an interesting series and then getting us all to promote not only PokerStars, but their upcoming SCOOP... and then not delivering on all of our efforts.

I know this is a freeroll, but my time is not free. Every second I spent and still am spending typing, blogging, tweeting, etc., about this and playing in these is valuable time I'm giving up. My time is much, much more valuable.

Extended pre-registration ruined these events. When I promoted this series and advocated to others they play as well, I was expecting a competition worth winning for more than just tickets... which also have absolutely no value unless you can win an event against the best in the world. Even with my track record, I don't expect to be able to do that.

This should have been a fun competition, with the winner feeling like he or she accomplished something. However, currently there are too many players for too few tickets, which isn't even the biggest problem.

There are players getting handed 9x and 10x stacks to start this tournament simply because they were placed on a table with a bunch of players who pre-registered and didn't show up. How is that equitable when other players have to grind it out? This is borne completely from the longer-than-necessary registration period.

"Luck of the draw", "To each his own"... I don't buy any of that. It in no way excuses PokerStars mishandling of the execution of what could have and should have been a great idea. An idea worth the time and effort to have so many people promoting PokerStars and SCOOP without any guaranteed tangible value whatsoever in return.

You might convince the players desperate for a freeroll. Unfortunately, you've run into somebody who doesn't take kindly to having his time wasted.

If you wanted to run a great competition with the extended pre-reg, you should have included a small buy-in for the event. Adding the 153 SCOOP tickets on top of the money, while still paying at least 10% of the field. This would have kept those who played interested in actually winning the event, and cut down on players registering and not showing up.

In the first event, I had a player knock me out and several others, while knowing he wasn't going to be around to see the event even to the bubble. Now, PokerStars can't be held responsible for someone's actions, but this is the lowest form of disrespect you can show a player.

However, a buy-in might have kept that player from registering for the tournament at all, or at least compelled the player to play like he actually cared about winning. He sent me a message the next day apologizing and saying it was ok because he left to go to a casino and win money.

The other thing you could do in a freeroll format is restrict the number of tickets each player has, so the player would only have so many chances to cash in on this opportunity. Maybe cashing in each event could give a player another WBCOOP entry.

I'm very disappointed by the lost opportunity to do something great for all of poker with this event, while also getting great promotion for PokerStars and SCOOP. This is just another freeroll for me, and there are better ones out there, even if they aren't as potentially-lucrative.

I have worked very hard over the year I've spent as an internet poker player to graduate from freerolls if I so choose and play for value instead of desperation.

PokerStars obviously can't fix the problems with this series now, so I will look elsewhere for the return in the investment of my even-more-valuable time. If the series shows improvement next time, I will consider rewarding PokerStars with the effort in promoting the site and the series. Thank you for reading this and good luck.

2010-01-26T23:37:00.000-06:00

Very upset... finished deep but out of the money both days. Horribly upset at the format. If they were going to do this ridiculous pre-registration, they should have made the tournaments buy-ins.

Yesterday, I was crippled and then knocked out by a player who shortly thereafter said, I gotta go and didn't return and was blinded out before the bubble. That is the lowest form of disrespect you can show another poker player.

I was expecting a better-run series from PokerStars. I'm not going to bother promoting them for the rest of the series, regardless of the extra value I could be giving up. I won't be seriously playing them. They're just too much time invested for not enough return.

I'm more upset at PokerStars for promising an interesting series and then getting us all to promote not only PokerStars, but their upcoming SCOOP... and then not delivering on all of our efforts.

I know this is a freeroll, but my time is not free. Every second I spent and still am spending typing, blogging, tweeting, etc., about this and playing in these is valuable time I'm giving up. My time is much, much more valuable.

2010-01-26T21:09:00.000-06:00

Ben Sheets finally stepped up to the altar today and uttered those magic words... I sign, agreeing to a contract today with the Oakland Athletics for the 2010 season. The deal has a $10 million base with another $2 million in incentives, according to the Athletics official website.

This sounds like an astounding figure, but truth is the Athletics have had the money to spend... and very few takers for it.

This doesn't mean the Athletics haven't been active. In fact, they've been one of the more active teams over the winter.

They got their hands in the Cliff Lee blockbuster, acquiring Michael Taylor - a possible impact outfielder - for INF Brett Wallace, who they really didn't have a place for regardless of his potential hitting prowess.

They added Coco Crisp to their glut of defensive-minded, yet offensively competent outfielders. They also acquired Jake Fox and Kevin Kouzmanoff to give their team plenty of options in the infield and at DH.

They did all of their positional acquisitions without sacrificing any value from their current roster OR dipping much into their available money.

So they then turned to their very-young, potentially-explosive (in a good way) pitching staff. They re-signed two-time All-Star Justin Duchscherer to an extremely team-friendly, incentive-laden deal, leaving them with money to burn and nobody to spend it on.

...until Ben Sheets astounded all who watched in his throwing session last week. With rotation slots open in Chicago, Seattle, New York and Los Angeles (ok, every rotation could use him), Oakland GM Billy Beane put together a guaranteed offer no other team would... an offer born from Beane's previous frugal acquisitions. His owner gave him that $10 million to spend, so even in the lowest end of his value, which could happen with Sheets' injury history, the A's lose nothing.

If he's healthy in July and the A's are out of contention, Sheets becomes a valuable commodity to easily get back the cost of his acquisition. If the A's young rotation is as good and deep as possible, they could deal Sheets regardless of their place in the standing.

Beane sees an incredibly weak AL West. The Mariners are improving, but still flawed in the lineup. They should be the front-runners, but every game will be precious for them to win. Any team with an offense can beat them on every given night. Texas is young and improving, but also similarly counting on an injury-prone pitcher in Rich Harden and an overflowing-bucket of unproven youth. The Angels are so desperate to hold on to their past success, they're over-committing huge money to mediocre relievers for the second year in a row, and hoping Joel Pineiro isn't just another Dave Duncan special, while seeing their competitors successfully court away their organizational bedrock (Chone Figgins - Seattle, Vladimir Guerrero - Texas, John Lackey - Boston).

Beane combines his philosophies with opportunism, which is why his teams reach his goals more often than not.

2010-01-25T01:08:00.000-06:00

"retribution isn't always required, but sometimes offered because you understand a indescretion, forgiveness is peacefulness!"

A wise person said this to me... ok, so it was really a wacky Canadian degenerate poker player who tweeted it. I don't know where he got it from, but I would love to be offered retribution... restitution. It does make forgiving easier... but I'm still not sure about the last part. I'm not sure I want to be peaceful. I think there are too many out there that give up on fighting for themselves and continually roll over for others. I don't want to be that guy... anymore.

2010-01-24T09:01:00.000-06:00

My Aunt Lolly's birthday would be today if she were still with us. I can't celebrate it with her, but I can sure celebrate her. I made sure the last song I sang tonight was U2 - One. I wanted to make it the first song after midnight, but I knew I would barely make it through the song as it is.I'm not the most religious man, but everyday I pray for her peace and the strength of the family she left behind, and happiness in a world that needs more people like her. Happy Birthday, Lolly. I miss you so much. I love you.

2010-01-21T15:48:00.000-06:00

There's a lot of discussion out there about what the Seattle Mariners should do with the rest of their offseason after signing ace Felix Hernandez to a long-term deal, which was pretty sweet for all sides. They've already been buZy, buZy beeZ (the capital Z is for Zduriencik) setting up their team to take another step in 2010, following a shocking improvement in 2009.

The team still needs help in the lineup, the bullpen (just for depth really and getting left-handed batters out) and the back of the rotation.

How much each area really NEEDS improvement is up for debate, but they have money to spend and a playoff-calibre team right now. Even marginal improvements over what they have would be worth the money spent.

Unlike some, I don't limit the Mariners potential options to what might "fit." Sure, you can treat a roster like a jigsaw puzzle... but you really can just jam the pieces in to a baseball team and make it work as long as you get the production you're looking for.

For example, common thinking has the Mariners needing more right-handed hitting in the outfield to platoon with Ryan Langerhans and Milton Bradley or Casey Kotchman at first base. I'm not looking past options such as Hank Blalock, because I'm not at all certain what the Mariners have at first base and DH to overlook a player that can help them where other options fail. He didn't play but one game at third base last year, but he has for most of his career and could help the Mariners there if they had to move Chone Figgins around to compensate for other injuries. Sure, it wouldn't be an ideal situation, but we're talking about the 24th roster spot (Junior Griffey is 25th, if we're going for full-blown honesty). It doesn't have to be ideal to be a good fit.

Johnny Damon is another left-handed hitter who would be a tough fit for the Mariners with Ichiro, Bradley, Langerhans and prospect Michael Saunders as left-handed outfielder options, but he is coming off his best offensive output in many seasons, would hit great in SafeCo Field and could come cheap with the Yankees spurning him after he led them to their first World series win in nine years. He's also not going to hurt the team if he were giving Franklin Gutierrez or Ichiro an occasional day off.

I'm not going to advocate signing just anybody just because he's the best offensive option regardless of handedness. If I were, Jim Thome is obviously that guy, but disaster would have to happen for them to have anywhere to play him.

A right-handed hitter would be the best fit for this team whether it's backing up the infield or part of a platoon in left. Former Yankee Xavier Nady could fit in a little of both.

He's coming off a lost 2009 season, but he made great strides offensively in the two seasons previous and has always hit left-handed pitching pretty good. He's played every outfield position and has experience at first base. He's probably the top of my list to complement Kotchman in a platoon at first base while getting time in the outfield and maybe DH, too. he wouldn't be too expensive, and the Mariners wouldn't miss him too much if he took a while to come all the way back from Tommy John surgery on his elbow.

Jermaine Dye has put up numbers I'd like to have on any team for a long while. Sure, he's benefited from playing at New Comiskey, but he's going to hit left-handed pitching where ever he plays. He's probably the worst defender of all the options, but he could really add punch to the middle of the lineup a few times per week and as a pinch hitter. He might even get some time at first base, if he was serious about getting more time on the field.

Miguel Tejada is also an interesting name when you consider the fragility of incumbent shortstop/defensive drool inducer Jack Wilson. Having him back up short and third (second even?) could prove invaluable, but I worry about his bat away from some of the comfier home parks he's had to hit in since he left Oakland. I would still want him the lineup far more than Josh Wilson if Jack Wilson were to continue his injury maladies.

Fernando Tatis has a strange career I won't really get into here. I suppose he could play more positions than Tejada (although probably not shortstop) and hit better at a fraction of the price, leaving more money to improve the pitching staff.

It's surprising there are still many starting pitching options out there worth committing a chunk of payroll to. But the Mariners now have a chunk of payroll to throw around, so they get to look at it where other teams can't.

Ben Sheets is getting a long look from some teams, and the only reason he doesn't have a contract already is his continuing health problems. He sure can pitch when he's healthy, though. He'd be a fool to not sign with the Mariners and take advantage of the deep rotation and pitcher-friendly environment and defense. If he can stay relatively healthy for a whole year, he'll be able to cash in next year.

Erik Bedard... ummm... moving right along.

No, seriously, nothing to see here. If they're even thinking of Bedard (for reasons other than having to take names off the backs of all those jerseys so they can sew someone else's name on it), they should just throw more money at Sheets and get that done.

Jarrod Washburn, Chien-Mien Wang, Jon Garland... I'm fine with all of these guys. They would all shine in SafeCo and in front of Gutierrez and Ichiro.

It's not that I think any of these guys would be much better than Ian Snell, Doug Fister, Jason Vargas or Luke French... but getting one of the above pitchers would open up your room for error greatly and provide a lot of depth should one or more of them go down with an injury.

I have absolutely no idea who they'd get to help their bullpen. I've heard Wil Ohman's name, but I don't have a great impression of him from his days with the Cubs. Just means he'll come to Seattle and be great.

Just in case you're wondering, I'm deliberately talking about the Mariners so I don't have to think about the Cubs.

2010-01-19T21:45:00.001-06:00

I do spend a lot of time railing the high-limit games. I've never asked a pro for money, nor will I ever. But when I want a break from my own grind, sometimes it's fun to watch them... and interact with some of them occasionally. My favorite two to rail are David Oppenheim and Gus "The Great Dane" Hansen. I often write down some of the quotes when they start in on each other, because they're priceless. Last night, I watched "Oppey" and "Gussy" go at it in a nosebleed 7-game mix heads-up match. David treated Gus pretty rudely in the time I watched them, at least as far as the money went... and here's the part that had me rolling.

David Oppenheim: does it bother you that im sitting in front of my comp
David Oppenheim: with a fat smug face
Gus Hansen: does it bother you that you are fat
David Oppenheim: not really
Gus Hansen: then we are good
Gus Hansen: I have had some problems lately, but when I see your fat face it just gets me going
Gus Hansen: kind'a tickles my balls
David Oppenheim: as does your bald strangely shaped head for me

2010-01-19T21:29:00.000-06:00

Today Full Tilt Poker debuted their newest patented poker innovation: Rush Poker. There's no doubt they created this game for players who love NASCAR races with all the wrecks but no caution flags; snowboarding down a mogul run with all the wicked jumps, but not having to lift back up to the top; and filming a blockbuster movie without ever having to say cut. Action! Action! Action!

You can click the above link to find out more, but quickly... It's a ring game set up (currently .05/.10c - .50c/$1.00 limits) where each hand you play starts at a new table with up to 8 new players (5 if you're playing the 6-max version). Every time you fold a hand, you're whisked away to a new table. If you can already tell you don't want to play the hand, you can click the "Quick Fold" button and you don't even have to wait for the action to be on you before you see the next hand you'll play. You pick the pool you want to play, and then can play up to four tables with the players in that pool.

It definitely can be a rush when you're flying from table to table looking for the hand you want to play. Some aren't feeling that rush though. Every time FTP does an update, players speak out about the features they rather would see and their favorite hot-button upgrades... usually, they just can't help accusing FTP of trying to jack up the rake on us poor, oft-abused low-limit players.

I don't really get that part, though. Rake is only paid by the players that play... and pay. Don't want to pay rake, don't play. It's pretty much that simple. When they're making a ton of rake off of us, just means players want to play that game/format/whatever. More players also means more bad players. Sure, an oppressive rake can take some or most of the profitability away. But if you can win enough to make it work for you, don't hate... just count your money. And if you can't, then pick a different game. Don't put down an idea just because FTP found a way to profit while adding a new wrinkle to the often robotic game of poker.

I did play it for a short while earlier this afternoon. After about 400 hands per table on two Rush tables in about an hour and a half (yes, you read that right), I was spinning and had to quit. However, I did make a profit... a few buy-ins, in fact. But boy was I on tilt at the end of it... and before I logged off I lost big pots on my last hands on both tables when I knew I should have folded.

I went back and looked at my hand histories for both "tables". The hands jump around a lot when you're rapidly quick folding. It's not too bad when you go to analyze your own play, but it makes real-time assessment fairly difficult... which reeks of awesomeness! HUDs and Data Miners can't keep up with you. This gives a huge advantage over just multi-tabling for us that don't like to cheat.

To expound on the advantage of Rush Poker over multi-tabling... The benefit of multi-tabling is increasing your win rate while not moving up stakes and risking more of your bankroll. You also cut down the wait time between hands while establishing an image you can exploit on as many tables as you can handle (Holdem Manager and PokerTracker users also cull stats on your play while they're off on one of their other 12 tables, but I've already established I consider that cheating).

However, it doesn't completely cut out your down time... at least it doesn't guarantee it. Rush Poker sure the heck does. While you've found the hand you want to play on one table, you can be "rushing" through the garbage on another looking for your spot. I haven't tried more than two tables yet, but I can't even fathom how many more hands you'd see than if you just had your normal complement of ring games open. You should never find yourself in a spot where you missed a hand on a table because you were too busy with another. If you end up with a connection hiccup or other computer malady, your hand never started... just start clicking and see another 50. You don't have to worry about losing the big blind you've been stealing constantly, making up most of your profit for the session.

As far as picking your spot goes, this transitions nicely to what might not be so great about this format... or at least what you lose. Just because you picked a spot... it doesn't mean you got the right one, and you'll have no way of knowing it until it is too late. You'll rarely know some key factors leading to your profitability in ring games. You won't know who you're raising/three-betting, etc., and they won't know you, for better or worse. You don't know how they got their stack, lost their stack, when they bought in, how many hands they're playing at the time, and so forth. You'll have no stats on the group of players as a whole... Table selection is totally out the window, and you can have many profitable sessions of poker based on that alone. You will see some of those players again on other tables, and there will be many, many times you'd wish you could see a hand play out after you've folded to a big bet. (Here's a tip I did pick up to help with that though. Anytime you think you're making a big lay down and want to see any action left before you zoom over to another table, click "sit out next hand" before you do so. You won't go on to another table until the hand is completely over.)

To get back to the good stuff... I'm obviously not an expert on this yet. I've only played one session. I don't really know how much more I'll play... but a couple things stand out to me.

There's a lack of embarrassment factor, and it goes both ways. You don't have to worry about your image or being embarrassed when you suck out (you shouldn't anyway) because a guy raised your steal from the button (and you should be doing so liberally) and you went with the hand anyway. You'll be at a new table with a new set of player in a nano-second anyway.

Similarly, be aware your opponent won't worry about embarrassment either. This means he'll most likely not care about pushing with a small pocket pair or AQ, maybe even less... so expect some weird hands at showdown when you have big hands... and relish in it. Sure, you'll be on the bad end of a cooler quite a bit, but it will be worth it for the amount you'll probably get paid off when you win.

I alluded to this before... steal from late position a lot. Heck, maybe even middle position. You will never, ever know who has "quick folded" behind you, or not. Most of the time you'll pick up their blinds, and be happy about it. And when they haven't "quick folded", you know they have a hand they want to play. When they haven't made it too expensive with a three-bet from the button or blinds, call with your small pocket pair and suited connectors and dump your easily-dominated hands. Stack the hell out of those over-playing fools!

They're going to over-play top pair-top kicker... they sure as heck won't be folding it. They're probably going to smooth call your continuation bets with big hands like a flopped set or two pair, even some monster draws. Take advantage of the fact that folding is easy. Find that fold button and use it liberally (good advice for any game, really), but if they're going to slow play their big hands, thank the poker gods for the bounty you're about to receive when you suck out on the river. Meaning make sure you have redraws against a monster when you continue past the turn.

I normally prescribe to the Ferguson and Gordon restrictions on my bankroll... even tighter in most cases. I haven't really got a good handle on what will work best for Rush Poker sessions. I could see a lot of games where you'd go through a few buy-ins at your normal level really quick before you even get going. I'm thinking you shouldn't buy-in for 1% of your bankroll with each rush "table" you play. That might be a little too tightwad for most, but there are going to be days where it's just not your day... and you don't want that to burn through most of what you've worked so hard for.

Also... I pay a lot of attention to how much of my bankroll I have out there in any one session... especially when I'm winning! There will be people who have been playing hours and have amassed ridiculously big stacks. Don't fall into that trap! You could lose a huge chunk of your profits, if not every dime. If you get above 10-15% of your entire bankroll (what you have in play included) on any one table, I'd cash that out. Sure, start another table up if you want, but don't risk too much trying out this format.

I'm a big advocate of the FTP Academy, as you know, but I still am not sure how playing Rush Games factors into the FTPA. I do know there are a lot of players out there racking up huge amounts of FTPs in extremely short amounts of time. If you've ever wanted to rack up some bonuses or complete an iron-man month, this is the perfect way to do it.

Of course, you can do this even easier if you're using my method of playing around 00:00 server time. This limits you to ~15 nights of playing good-sizes sessions of online poker, for those who have a life. I'm thinking you could clear most of your iron man goal with Rush Games about a half hour on either side of midnight (9 pm Pacific). Happy Hours will also be really good for this too.

This is only after a couple hours of play of course. If there are any other quirks to this new format, I'll make sure to keep everyone updated... and send all of your thoughts over to me. As always, good luck out there.

2010-01-09T19:24:00.000-06:00

Go, read this article... here's my response:

I agree with Michael, and I agree with Nichole... and that drives me extremely crazy.

People... stop trying to equate online poker with "live" poker. It's just not the same thing. Unless they let you play in a different mask each week, you see your opponent. It doesn't matter what name he chooses to call himself each week. You see him. You know him. You know what he did last week. You know how comfortable/uncomfortable he looked last week. He was there saying it was his first tournament and playing all crazy, now he's at this other place the next day looking like a shark. He might not play the same, but if you can't adjust, that's your deficiency... and there are probably 8 other players at your table owning you.

If you wanted online poker to be like "live" poker, you'd want people to not be able to change their screen names. But, I'm betting the same people are using all the PokerTracker, HoldemManager, HUDs, PokerTableRatings, etc... while they're playing. That's definitely an advantage you won't get in a casino.

I guess I agree with Nicole more, because I only slightly care about my screen name. Sometimes, I think it gets me the right kind of action in the regular games I play where people have respect for me and are intimidated by my previous accomplishments... but usually I'm playing with people I've never played before, so having a screen name tied to my previous exploits just leaves me wide open to those who use software and databases.

I'm on record multiple times as considering their use cheating, at the very least dishonest. Poker shouldn't be about how much money you can spend on a program that will let you cull information on 20 tables without actually paying attention to all of them. If you can boil down someone's play to a pretty number or a letter grade, then go ahead and do that... on your own. I know these programs are "legal", well most of them, but if you dispute they're cheating, I dare you to inform players you are using one next time you play a ring game. See what happens, then come back and tell me how many players will play with you.

These enablers are killing the profitability of low and middle-stake games online. Progressing through the ranks takes forever since you never know when the last speed bump you hit was the cause of someone using an advantage like this and not just better play on their part. And when you give actually talented players access to this kind of info (i.e. Brian Hastings), watch out!

The money is always going to rise to the top of the food chain, I understand that and respect it. However, too much money is being siphoned off on the way by players who haven't earned their profitability.

I say ok to changing your names and down with cheating poker software.

2010-01-08T18:09:00.001-06:00

I have registered to play in the PokerStars World Blogger Championship of Online Poker! The WBCOOP is a free online Poker tournament open to all Bloggers, so register on WBCOOP to play.

Registration code: 638568

2010-01-08T15:04:00.002-06:00

A projected look at the hall of fame and possible future voting...

2011

holdovers
Blyleven
Alomar
Morris
Larkin
Martinez
Trammell
Raines
McGwire

new
Bagwell
Walker

Alomar, Blylevin, Larkin get in

2012

holdovers
Morris
Martinez
Trammell
Raines
McGwire
Bagwell
Walker
Smith

new
Williams

Williams, Morris, Raines, Bagwell get in

2013

holdovers
Trammell
McGwire
Walker
Martinez

new
Piazza
Bonds
Clemens
Biggio
Schilling
Sosa

Piazza, Biggio, Schilling, McGwire, Sosa get in

2014

holdovers
Trammell
Walker
Smith
Martinez
Clemens

new
Maddux
Thomas
Glavine
Mussina
Bonds

Maddux, Thomas, Glavine, Bonds get in

2015

holdovers
Trammell
Walker
Smith
Martinez
Palmeiro
Clemens
Kent
Mussina

new
Johnson

Clemens, Johnson, Martinez get in

2016

holdovers
Trammell
Walker
Smith
Palmeiro
Kent
Mussina

new
Griffey, Thome

Griffey, Mussina, Kent get in

2017

holdovers
Trammell
Walker
Smith
Palmeiro
Thome

new

Thome, Palmeiro, Trammell, Smith

2010-01-06T15:56:00.000-06:00

I'd have to look but I think I've blogged about Andre "the Hawk" Dawson before, but recent events have me wanting to do it either way.

Andre Dawson was one of my first baseball heroes. His enshrinement in the Baseball Hall of Fame is a shining moment for all Cubs fans from this era, who have suffered for a long time. Sandberg and Dawson are really all we have after Maddux left for Atlanta and Sosa left for insanity.

I’m very disappointed in the fans of other teams and players who didn’t get in. I support Blyleven and Edgar Martinez’s case above Dawson’s as much as I love him. And I am sad they did not get in, as well as Roberto Alomar, who is even a superior 2b to Sandberg.

But I am sickened by their fans bashing Dawson because their guy did not get in without even acknowledging and congratulating Dawson for his achievement and honor. It won’t affect what I think of the player, but it will affect what I think of their fans.

Congratulations, Hawk! Today was truly a great day that brought joy to my heart… much like getting to see you play.

2009-10-22T16:10:00.000-05:00

I just got a potentially crazy idea. We're all accustomed to games where the two players to the left of the button are putting in money before they get to see their cards AND know what anybody else will do AND they'll have to act out of position on all streets after the flop is dealt. I'm not really trying to question the foundation of our poker games, but does that really make sense? That we load the situation against those two positions?

Wouldn't it be interesting to see the blinds reversed? Make the cutoff and button post the small and big blind respectively. Still start the hand under the gun and have the two players directly left of the button act last pre-flop after all other players and be able to fold their hands without investing anything and avoiding have to play from such horrible position post-flop. The "blinds" are automatically paying for their right to have such great position and anybody attempting to steal from them would have to factor in their advantage when doing so.

Again, this could be a completely crazy idea and may be better placed in a different forum, but I'm interested in your thoughts.

2009-10-09T16:13:00.000-05:00

Here's a couple snippets about books I would recommend to new poker players:

Read Daniel Negreanu's Power Holdem Strategy... for Evelyn Ng's section on beginning play. Not necessarily because it's the absolute best advice (somebody earlier hit it on the head with Phil Gordon's Little Green Book... best book for beginners), but her chapter will let you know what other people at your level and below are trying to do and will help you play accordingly against them. At your level, you need to know how to identify and beat those players before you try to take on the players who are actually better than you. Good Luck!

Super System is a must read... although it can be too advanced for newer players, BUT it does a great job of setting up the basic structures of the various poker games before moving on to tougher and tougher concepts to master. IMO, you can get a lot more out of a book like Gordon's, Negreanu's... even Harrington's, than Super System... at least for a beginning player.

I was remiss earlier not to mention Harrington. If you're getting to the point where you're making final tables, but not breaking through to big wins consistently... then you read Harrington on Hold'em II. Fantastic advice and strategy for taking down tournaments.

I started with Online Ace, because I was mostly an online player to start (at least for money, otherwise just playing with my friends or in leagues) and then moved to Little Green Book and Little Blue Book. I also read quite a lot online and CardPlayer articles and columns. Honestly, there's more information out nowadays than you'll find in any books. Books are still great! Please don't misunderstand me on that. But between the forums and the training videos and the quizzes and magazines... there's so much more out there these days. If you're still just reading books, you're missing out on so much.

2009-08-26T16:57:00.000-05:00

For those who visit the Full Tilt Poker Academy regularly, this is probably no news to you, but it might be. If you play for cash on Full Tilt Poker, you should be visiting the FTPA on a regular basis and participating in their challenges. Even if you don't actively pursue them, you'll probably luck into some credits you can spend in their store, whether you're playing in SNGs, MTTs or cash games... even low-limit ring games!

That's right! If you haven't been over there yet today, they just released their latest FTPA challenge, lesson and Sit-N-Learn: Playing Micro-stakes with Eric Froelich. Oh, boy, does this make The Bear happy to have yet another lesson FTPA geared towards my level of play. I'm admittedly a very bad ring game player. I rarely have winning sessions, so I'm very interested to see if this will improve my play while giving me the added bonus of building up credits I can use alongside my other bonuses to offset any losses I may incur, which I hope will be lessened with my FTPA learnings.

Of course, I've gotten some great mileage out of Allen Cunningham's challenge Medium-Stack Play, as I am mostly a MTT player, and took advantage of the last SNG Madness promotion to knock off a couple rounds of Aaron Bartley's SNG By the Numbers and Howard Lederer's Mastering the Bubble.

I haven't yet delved into Erick Lindgren's The Final Table Challenge yet, but the reward looks to be great for the difficulty of not only making a final table in a MTT, but encountering the situations necessary to complete the challenge. Of course, being in those situations is something all of us Podsters strive to achieve, yes?

Also, it's getting towards the end of the month, which means, if you haven't already, you're running out of time to qualify for September's $5k SNL Freeroll. Not that it is very difficult... and i've copied over this "tutorial" from another post I made here on The Pod. If you're interested in padding your bankroll with very little risk, there are few easier ways to do it than this promotion.

With every lesson on the Full Tilt Poker Academy, there's a "Sit-N-Learn Quiz" that goes with it. All of the challenges you may be participating in have a lesson and a quiz. The lesson's take between 10 and 20 minutes to review and the quizzes are all seven questions and take no time at all. They set you up for a ridiculously juicy $5k freeroll.

1) Take and complete the quiz. Even if you just randomly answer the questions, just make sure you take at least one quiz every month. Everyone who takes a quiz qualifies for that satellite. The easiest for me seems to be the Rebuy quiz or Online Tells quiz... very little turn out for those quizzes so it's very easy to qualify. However, you can do all of them if you like. They're very instructive.

2) On the day of the satellites, register for one or as many as you like... it doesn't really matter as long as you register since everyone who registered last month qualified for the freeroll! Top 100 qualify and most were lucky to get 50... although that might change now with Podster turn out next month. HA! For some reason, they play to the end, so you can stay around and play them for practice, get reads/tells on your possible opponents, your mileage may vary. Back when it was a more popular and more difficult promotion, I had 10 of these satellites open at once. I think I took down 8 of them. It was an interesting experience. The next round of satellites are Sept. 12. Mark it on your calendars, set a reminder on your iPhone. Ask your brother to remind you, whatever.

3) Show up for the $5k freeroll the next day. Last month there were only 333 qualifiers!!! 90 got paid!!! $20 bucks for a min cash!!! I hope I don't have to use any more exclamation points to make sure there's some maximum Podster representation next month, but here's a few more!!!!!!!!

Yeah, I'm pretty sure the people who were going to do this already knew about this, but just wanted to spread the word a little more, just in case. That is really one of the more ridiculously juicy promotions Full Tilt has ever done and I would love for them to keep doing it, but I really can't see how they can keep dumping 5k per month when nobody's showing up to play.

2009-08-22T18:01:00.000-05:00

Hello out there... After a couple trying months in my life personally, I've been more active online, but in the community and on the felt. August has already been a great month for me, so expect big things as I round out the year. Good luck!

2009-05-11T16:04:00.001-05:00

The eulogy I wrote for my aunt... maybe someday I'll be able to find the inspiration and drive to be more like her.

Laura Jean Lieberenz... she really did touch a lot of people's lives... not a brushing touch... she's not leaving anyone in this room with just a flesh wound. We are all going to feel this for the rest of our lives.

I don't know anyone in this room as well as I'd like to. Certainly not as well as I should. I'm going to work a lot harder to try and change that. That's what Our Lolly would have wanted.

I heard a lot of people yesterday tell stories about Laura Jean Lieberenz... about her name. Some people spent a lot of their lives not knowing her name was Laura. I don't know whether the people who worked with her are among them. I can tell you I wasn't one of them. And I would like the reason to stand up right now... my grandfather LeRoy Lieberenz.

Excuse my candor... but all of this really sucks for me. But I cannot and hope I never will know what this really feels like from your perspective. You've always been the strength of this family... you always will. Laura Jean will always be the backbone. We will always look to her for inspiration to be the rock that makes everything work when we need it most.

I knew her name because I can still vividly remember you saying Laura Jean, Laura Jean, Laura Jean... whenever you talked to her. When my mom called you last week and you could only tell her "We lost Our Lolly." We're going to lay Laura Jean into the ground today and wish every day we can provide foundation for others as she did for us... but we will never, ever lose Our Lolly.

Everytime I look in a mirror I think of her. She was always the voice in the back of my head judging me. Telling me I needed to pluck my eyebrows... cut my hair. Cut my hair... CUT MY HAIR. I used to have hair that would reach past my shoulders. Three years ago, for my birthday I decided to get it cut off.

I was finally going to make my Auntie Lolly proud of me. And that was so wrong... so very, very wrong... because my Auntie Lolly loved me and was always proud of me. She loved all of her nieces and nephews. She was so proud of all of you.

Kyle, Megan, Noah, Jack, Makanda, Cole, Cory, Jordan, Isaiah, Kala, Ryan, Sarah...

She loved all of you so much... as if you were her own... and there is nothing she wouldn't have done for any of you.

I want you all to make two very important promises to me. This is going to be so hard for us. We're all going to deal with this in our own way... but I want you to be there for your cousins and your brothers and sisters and your families and extended families... like Auntie Lolly would have been.

Second... you are all embarking on amazing parts of your lives. You're all so capable of great things in all that you choose to do. Lolly saw that in me... and she sees it in you... and she'll continue to see it in you for the rest of your lives. The next time you set forth to do some of these great things... your next varsity football game, track meet, dance performance, second grade, your first spelling bee, your next starring role... I want you to keep your Auntie Lolly on your mind and go make her proud one more time.

I hope I've left enough time for many others, because I'm looking forward to hearing how she touched the rest of your lives. We've got long lives ahead of us. We'll carry our memories of Lolly with us forever. Don't ever lose Our Lolly.

2009-05-09T16:52:00.000-05:00

For the last few months, I've been participating in a great community called The Poker Pod. And after my successes this month, they've seen fit to name me their Podster of the Month for April 2009.

I'm really honored. It's been a great experience to be a part of the Pod. I had a loss in my family this week, so I've been away from the tables and might be for a little while. There are many more important things, but this is really great.

2009-04-30T16:50:00.000-05:00

Some of you can hate on freerolls all you want... but if Full Tilt wants to spread some money around, I'm going to line up to try and get a piece of it. Well, the Full Tilt Poker Academy is handing out both free advice and free money... and I can't tell which is more valuable, honestly. Most of their info is kinda basic, but they have lessons for all skill levels, and I've been through them all a few times now, and I'm not going to dismiss their role in the successes i've seen lately.

If you go through the lessons and take the quizzes at the end and score in the top 1,000, you qualify for a satellite sending the top 100 of that tournament to a $5000 freeroll. There are 20 different lessons you can go through. They start in a staggered nature, about every 10 min or so. Yes, this does get a little scary when they all start popping up on you. And since we're all powered by the Pod, that means you'll be deep in a lot of them, giving you ample time to work on your multi-tabling skills. lol

Now, you won't need all 20 shots to get into the freeroll. There are a ton of sitouts... most people don't even realize they're entered in the satellites... and as soon as you get to the top 100, you're done. You'll probably get in on your first one, but the practice is good and there's some marginal benefit to keeping players out of the 5k freeroll (every addition seat you win is one less player in the final) and learning some of the players you might be playing with in the final. But as soon as you win your first one... you can just quit the rest, which is up to you.

Anyway... today is the last day to qualify by watching the Sit-N-Learns and taking the quizzes... and apparently you can do it every month... and they don't change the quiz answers. I've found the easiest quizzes are the PLO Quiz with Brandon Adams, the Power of Position Quiz on cash games with Bill Edler, the Rebuy Tournaments Quiz with Michael Gracz and the Sit N Go quizzes by Aaron Bartley and Howard Lederer. Most of the quizzes at the current time don't even have 1000 entrants. So, just completing the quiz will qualify you for the satellite.

Everyone here should get in on the Full Tilt Academy while they can. If you're a cash game or SNG player, they're basically rewarding you for what you're already doing. I still can't believe they're just doing all of this completely for free.

2009-04-29T16:47:00.001-05:00

I finally hit my fifth different MiniFTOPS Satellite to qualify for the final freeroll... and I did it in PLOEOB! Are you freaking kidding me? I didn't even realize that's what I had signed up for, but it was just $0.75+.15, so i just went with it. And I took that sumbitch down! I had never even played the game in more than a freeroll before... It's so party time!!

Update: I just looked and only 123 people have qualified for this so far... How freaking cool is that? Only 2 other players that I've played with have qualified as well. And 45 of us are going to get a payout from this freeroll. Pretty good extra little bonus.

Update 2: Isn't that just how it is... when it rains it pours? It took me quite a while between my fourth satellite and my fifth satellite to qualify for the final freeroll... and then I picked up two more today. One in a NHLE 1r1a and then Stud 8/b. I've only played a Stud 8/b tournament maybe twice for money... and both of them I've cashed in. This one was a big time grind... we were four-handed for 30 minutes with only 3 seats awarded. I was short stacked going into the final table and then into four-handed play with two players extremely deep (20k+). One of them played like a complete renob and ends up busting in fourth while the other just sat out and let me third-base him, which kept me afloat for quite a while.

2009-04-28T16:43:00.000-05:00

I have high respect and praise for Barry Greenstein... even though I was calling myself The Bear long before I knew who he was... I'll give him props for being THE Bear of poker. Here's a great interview from pokernews.com with him... pay attention to the bolded statement.

PN: On a recently-aired episode of “High Stakes Poker”, you alluded to a phrase that had come up over on Joe (Sebok)’s PokerRoad podcast -- “math is idiotic.”

Greenstein: Yes.

PN: The phrase is mostly tongue-in-cheek, but back in Ace on the River [Greenstein’s 2005 autobiography and poker strategy guide], you tell an interesting story about a hand you once played against a philosophy professor back when you were a student at the University of Illinois. It actually comes up in a section called “Misusing Mathematics.” It was a stud eight-or-better hand, where he had calculated it to be over 1,000-to-1 against for you to have had precisely the right cards [three low diamonds] in the hole to scoop him...

Greenstein: Yes, mathematically, with random cards, I shouldn’t have him beat. But of course, in that particular case, there wasn’t anything random about it. I had to have the hand I had, pretty much, to be able to raise him all in, because it was obvious that he had something like possibly a six-high straight, as I recall. I wouldn’t have called his bet with one card to go without a low and flush draw, and I made it and scooped him.

PN: It was funny rereading that, and thinking of the phrase...

Greenstein: Yes, I think of it more as not that “math is idiotic,” but that math is misused a lot in poker.

PN: It makes idiots of us. Or it can.

Greenstein: Right. So many people cite the math. And we have this all the time. If you go on the Red Pro forum, I had a big argument over there with... I’ll call them the “internet kids.” You know, sharp kids, good players. Daniel Kelly, Jimmy Fricke... real respected, obviously smart kids, and good players. And they will all do some mathematical figuring of when things are plus-EV and my whole argument is to say, “You guys are missing poker things that can allow you to give yourself a greater EV than your mathematics is giving you.”

And I see this recurrent theme among the young players who think they’ve figured the game out, but a lot of times it’s getting in their way. Because in live poker there’s so much more that you can go on beyond the mathematics, especially when you are playing against weak players where you can exploit them. I think a lot of the young players are missing this, and I think that we’ll see over the next couple of years, as they get better, the better ones will wake up to not be hampered by their mathematical models which are actually getting in their way sometimes.

2009-04-27T16:38:00.001-05:00

Somebody asked me about short stack play in tournaments, here was my advice. You should send me your thoughts as well as any other topics you'd like to discuss.

When I'm in a tournament where I'm short stacked... and I've been in tournaments where I'm one of the leaders but everyone is short basically, such as a turbo... I try to pick off limpers... especially limpers who have medium stacks and can afford to fold. A guy limps from early position or middle position and i'm in late position, sometimes I don't even want to see my cards. I just want to shove... not get cute, not care what I have. Just shove and pick up not only the blinds, but the antes and that limp... don't understimate how much value there is in those pots. Any player with a premium hand in that situation isn't limping with a medium stack, they want to get as much value as possible and limping won't do it.

Also, if they make a sizeable raise and they have a stack where they still could fold... and you have a big hand 1010+-AQ+... You also want to shove there. Lock out any action after you and put yourself at a good position to pick up that pot with as little confrontation as possible or either double up or eliminate a competitor.

2009-04-27T11:40:00.000-05:00

By the virtue of quick fingers and low players on FT ATM, I was able to register for a 180-man Main Event Round 1 Satellite... and I took that sumbitch down! Made a mockery of the final table. Hit a full house with my favorite hand and got a guy with a top 3 chip stack to bluff at me for all his chips. The 7-4, baby! Come on, you know you want to play The James!

2009-04-25T16:32:00.000-05:00

I don't know if anybody actively tries to complete the Iron Man Challenge, either by qualifying for a certain amount of FTPs per day over a certain amount of days, or by earning at least 1 FTP every day for a month. I'm interested to know what people think of this. I play usually at night after I get home from work, so i've found it very easy to accumulate a point a day since I just make sure I play on FTP every other day right around midnight on server time. I did the same thing when FTP did their Take 2 promotion and was able to make an easy ~$25 or so when I'm a horrible cash game player. I basically played two tables from 11:55 to 0:05 every other day and cashed out when I was done and racked up way more than the amount of points necessary.

I have another issue that kinda goes along with the Daily Dollar I played yesterday. I looked at my Iron Man calendar and it shows that I earned 200 yesterday. I'm just wondering if they give that to the people who make the final table in this tournament or something? I really have no idea. The only other thing I could think of is that they did that because of the system crash from the night before. I'll include a screen capture so you can see what I'm talking about.

I'm interested to see if anybody from here has actually paid attention to doing this to qualify for the One-a-day Iron Man 2k freeroll. If you are a West Coast player, this because even easier because of the day switching over at 9 pm and not having to stay up until midnight. I'm almost certain I will take the freeroll entry over the medals unless something comes up where I couldn't make the tournament.

2009-04-25T16:29:00.000-05:00

Making another Daily Dollar run tonight... already cashed 35k avg=27k... 191 out of 737. Just put a sick beat on a guy who flopped bottom set when I had top two and I rivered a fh.

Out in 35th... $20 cash... made a bad play... still almost got there, but he hit a four-card flush to cripple me. Another deep run without a huge score... but I keep getting deep in it. Thanks for the people who sweated me.

2009-04-24T16:22:00.000-05:00

Sorry, but I kinda wrote this in two parts...

So close... yet so donktastic... finished 9th in the Daily Dollar on FTP tonight. I wish I had said something here... I was twittering my butt off, but it was hard to keep up with everything and play my game... which I was doing pretty successfully... until the end.

Made the final table. Third in chips to start... got into a hand with the chip leader and I was done. He had a nut flush draw on the flop and he called my all in with it and hit his kicker to beat my pocket pair. Yeah, I turned $1 into $110... but I don't need to tell anyone in here how much money I left on the table. Amazed by my play until the end... I was down to 700 in chips when it was 60-120 and made amazing moves the whole way through... moves i usually don't have in my arsenal... but I can't be satisfied by this.

I have this ridiculously bad feeling that this is just another hot streak I'm on, but even when I've done that I've come up with a couple massive victories. Right now, I'm getting lots of medium-sized wins and deep runs in massive multi-tables that only lead to mediocre returns comparatively. I'm kinda worried that it's not going to last much longer, and I won't have the big score to show for it.

I feel a lot better about it this morning than I did last night. Also... I had been trying to complete the Chris Ferguson Bankroll Challenge on Full Tilt Poker Academy and the win put me over the "Increase your bankroll by 25%" requirement! So, even though I swear I should have been over that a long time ago with all the satellites I had been winning and HU SNGs as well, the 9th-place finish definitely pushed me over that. So, now I can move on to a new challenge!

In case anybody hasn't discovered the Full Tilt Poker Academy, if you're a SNG or Ring game player and you're not using it, you're missing out. They reward you for what you're already doing. If you play ring games and SNGs enough, you can easily earn Tournament Tokens through playing there as well as all other kinds of merchandise, etc. And if you were looking to take a stab at playing ring games, they'll definitely teach you good strategy. Unfortunately, they don't have any that are geared toward MTT or satellite players, but I would think they would in the future.

Some other advice that I'm seeking... the win definitely pushed up my possibilities as far as bankroll management. I've always been content to grind at the lower levels, but I've always known I've been playing well under even uber-conservative bankroll restrictions (i.e. playing in the Daily Dollar, which is just ridiculous value). Do I loosen that up and play a little bit higher now just with a restriction on how much I could lose before I return to the lower levels again?

It's always hard to want to change something that is working so well. And I'm not sure I would be ready for the jump in play level from freerolls, $1-$2 MTTs and SNGs, occasionally $4 after rebuys are considered, to say $8-$10 MTTs and/or $5 SNGs.

Also, something I found hilarious... I follow my progress on sharkscope often... and my ROI graph always used to go from the lower left corner to the upper right corner in a straight line from my $1 ROI to my $2 ROI. I haven't played at enough other levels to have them on there... and now this morning, it goes from the upper left corner to the lower right! Just interesting to look at.

2009-04-23T16:36:00.000-05:00

I am almost exclusively playing the satellites on FTP right now. Whether it's the 750k, Brawl, Double Deuce or miniFTOPS sats... the play in them is so very, very weak to where you can even make it in games that aren't your best. And since in some of them you can make it to the end without ever even getting put on a short handed table. If you can acquire a big stack by the end of the tournament, I've yet to find any player in these games that can handle any type of aggression from a big stack. You just brutalize them after that.

When you combine the FTOPS sats with the Satellite challenge where you get freerolls for how many different FTOPS events you qualify for... the satellites are the best value on FTP right now.

I've been able to build up quite a few T$s because i always cash out right after I win one of these and if I decide to go back later and play, then I can do that... but no reason to keep putting cash out there in the mean time when I've got the value of that satellite I can use.

2009-04-22T16:19:00.000-05:00

This is something I've thought would be interesting for the sites to do... maybe once per year open it up so we could see the notes other players wrote about us... not revealing the ids of the players, just what the notes say and when they were said. I think it might help players who play a lot, especially at lower limits, get better and see whether your image, or the image you want others to have of you matches up... and make necessary changes to your game. It's something I've been thinking about for a very long time.

2009-03-19T15:01:00.000-05:00

Everybody knows that they just got rid of the rebuy tournaments for the 2009 WSOP... I'm not that happy about that, but it's not the end of the world. I do pretty good in rebuy tournaments online. It's not like the WSOP was the only place to find a rebuy tournament, but I was hoping that maybe someday I would participate in a WSOP rebuy tournament with a bracelet on the line. I hardly think it would be far from the optimal event for me to enter, unless someone else was staking me.

I do think it was kind of hypocritical of the proponents to eliminating rebuys from the WSOP, mainly Daniel Negreanu. It hasn't changed my opinion of him as a player or my respect for him, but I think his motives are dubious at best. He's often called an ambassador of poker, and for the most part he performs this function admirably... however, his attitude has shifted to someone who is very protective of his "spot".

He released his book (which is an amazing read, especially his and David Williams' chapter... both should be required) and found out how many people enjoyed the way he played poker and implemented some if not all of his strategies into their play. Now, this hasn't stopped him from being wildly successful over the last year... winning his home country's B.C. Open and his second $2k Limit Hold 'Em WSOP bracelet (fourth bracelet overall). I'm sure he also made quite a lot of money off the book itself, which is why I found it very curious when I read a blog on his website lashing out at everyone using his concepts, claiming he was done writing books, writing columns and "teaching". *http://www.fullcontactpoker.com/poker-journal.php?subaction=showfull&id=1230241291&archive=&start_from=&ucat=&*

It left a really bad taste in my mouth to read that. He then followed with spearheading the movement to get rid of rebuy events in the upcoming WSOP to "protect the sanctity of a WSOP bracelet" (not a direct quote, but that's pretty much it). It's not because people don't enjoy the events... if they didn't, there wouldn't be so many players putting so much money into them. There's no way anyone should consider it "buying a bracelet".

Daniel gets a lot of pub for his antics in WSOP rebuy events, however he's never won one. In fact, he's only made one final table, with one other cash. It's possible this is the main motive for his desire to eliminate these events. If that's the case... he's only cashed in the main event once... yes, just once. Does he want to get rid of that, too? The winner of the Main Event is usually reviled a amateur, donk-ish luckbox as it is.

Oh wow... this got off topic really quickly. I'm supposed to be asking our resident Ace, Mark Radoja, a question. It's really easy to tear things down/take things away. How about what we could add to the WSOP? What ideas could help grow poker, not only during our Mecca, our pinnacle... our WORLD SERIES, but also online and in casinos on our continent and all over the world.

I'd like to see the WSOP capitalize on the popularity of Sit and Gos. There's so much for websites and casinos to take advantage of when it comes to SNGs. Availability, immediacy, getting a pretty good cut out of every single one that gets played. They don't require any more overhead than you already have... every casino offering poker (or any table game for that matter) could announce they were starting a SNG right now and see what happens. At best, a game gets started, the house gets their cut and 2-3 players go home happy, and the rest at least got a game in... at worst, you kept the players in the casino for a while longer buying food, drinks, dumping money into worthless slot machines or pai gow tables (you real poker players... please don't be that guy).

SNGs are a skill and a mastery all their own, just like any other form of poker. Some institution should crown a definitive SNG world champion in 2009, but in a live setting. Now, I know what you're saying... there's already a Shootout World Championship at the WSOP, and that's kinda like a bunch of SNGs strung together... but it's not the same. Once you're out of a shoot out, you're done. When you're out of a SNG, you go get in another one. A SNG World Championship would have to capture that environment.

I don't play them often, but the Matrix SNG format offered at Full Tilt is something they could bring to a casino setting. It would probably take quite a bit of manpower and an attentive staff, but that's why the WSOP isn't hosted in my basement. We already assume that about tournaments with $1,500-40,000 buy ins.

Players would play in a set number of one-table tournaments and would gain points depending on where they finished in each tournament and how many players they knocked out (this would be optional). Each tournament would have a small cash prize to the winner, maybe down through 3rd place. This is important to keep every player as interested in possible during the later SNGs, even if they didn't have a chance at finishing near the top of the overall points leaderboards. There would be a large cash pool divided among the top 10% of the leaders, with a bracelet also awarded to first place. They could also spread the event over multiple days quite easy. For a large buy-in event, they could have the top 10 (or 9 or 6 depending on the type of SNG) come back on a separate day and play a one-table SNG for large cash pay outs to the top three and a bracelet to the winner.

SNGs are great for poker. I hope their popularity never fades, and the frustrating moments where you're chasing after the next open seat in a juicy SNG full of fish and just miss out... never goes anywhere. The availability of a poker tournament at any hour of the day, no matter where I am, has not only increased my enjoyment of poker, but made me much better along the way. I think it could do the same for my casino play as well... if I could get my local casinos to go along with it. Maybe a WSOP event along these lines would help that come together.

Other ideas: A heads up stud or Pot Limit Omaha event.

I wrote way, way more than I thought I would... looking over it, I'm still ok with that... and I look forward to hearing your thoughts.

2009-02-17T15:03:00.000-06:00

Ugh... As a Cubs fan living in Seattle, I just want this all over with. Yes, I grew up in Seattle watching Griffey in his first 11 years as THE BEST baseball player I've ever seen in my lifetime.

I hated seeing the Mariners trade him to the Cincinnati Reds for pennies on the dollar, really... but I didn't realize just how much I would hate it until I saw him play at Wrigley Field. And boy, can he surely hit the ball at the Friendly Confines... and out of it too, onto both Sheffield and Waveland. Yeah, he killed the Cubs at GAB too, but everyone can hit there.

Yes, he's a flawed baseball player at this point in his career - can't do much with the glove and lefties murder him, but he still can bring it against right-handed pitchers. Last I checked, that's pretty much all the Cubs have (yes, I know... Ted Lilly says hi to you, too).

He's probably going to choose a team this week, and I really wouldn't mind him going to a team the Cubs don't have to compete against next year. Today's reports have him signing with the Atlanta Braves, after this weekend's reports had him signing with his original club, the Seattle Mariners.

This would not be a smart move for the Braves, who are trying to figure out their young talent in the outfield and have no dh to keep his legs from failing him. I can't blame him for wanting to play there. He has some ties to the Atlanta area through his son, and he could hit a baseball from his home to the Braves' spring training complex (probably not that far from it, actually).

I also heard someone mention the St. Louis Cardinals as still being an option... and I sure as hell would hate that. Talk about a complete nightmare. I would sure hate if he became their Jim Edmonds, because they could actually use a left-handed hitting outfielder to go with Ankiel, Ludwick and Schumaker, maybe Duncan if he's healthy. It would also allow them to move Schumaker to 2b occasionally, since they have a hole left from losing Miles to us and letting Kennedy walk.

I'm not sure Junior's heart is telling him anything right now, I started to question whether he had one long before he bullied his way out of Seattle before the 2000 season. Signing with anyone other than the Mariners would sure drive a stake through it, especially after the emotion of his last return to SafeCo Field where he said he wanted to end his career as a Mariner.

As we Cubs fans know from the Heilman fleecing, the Mariners have hired a shrewd and capable GM out of the Milwaukee system, so for all we know, he's not actually going as hard after this many think. It might take an "Out of Left Field" book to figure that out after several years down the road, but he's probably not offering the money Atlanta is or the security Atlanta is. The Mariners new GM seems like the kind of guy who is offering Junior very little base salary, with a ton of incentives and not guaranteeing he'll get off the bench if he's hobbling or not hitting.

Either way, I personally know a lot of people who are holding their breath and hoping they get up in the morning to hear he's coming "home". He won't get that in Atlanta. They wouldn't care if it's him or Garrett Anderson playing the outfield next year.

I just want him out of the National League. I wouldn't mind not having to root against him.

2007-01-07T18:08:00.000-06:00

Skippy... you know what they say. If you don't start nothin', there won't be nothin'.

And by the looks of the Philadelphia-New York game, Chris and I are currently watching, it looks like there's going to be a whole lotta somethin' next weekend.

The Eagles currently have a touchdown lead over the Giants with just under ten minutes left. If the current score holds, Chris' Seahawks will find themselves reliving earlier nightmares of this season with a trip back to Soldier Field and a rematch with DA CHICAGO BEARS!

I'm not going to say much until it actually happens, especially with the Bears sporting half the defense from the previous game and the Seahawks having Shaun Alexander healthy. I'm firmly confident in the Bears' ability to beat either team they might play next weekend... but there are no sure things in this year's NFL.

While I play poker, I firmly deny that I am a poker player... much less a degenerate poker player... but then again, Chris would know one if he saw one. He does look in the mirror every once in a while.

After all, it is ALL HIS FAULT!!! But the winning at poker is all me.

Yes... I've left the Friendly Confines of Wrigleyville. I've returned to the Pacific North West and brought a pretty harsh winter with me. I miss Wrigleyville, but I love having my brothers back.

I'm still living and dying with my Bears and Cubs. As of late, they've given me reasons to cheer and cry, and I'm never sure how they'll make me feel tomorrow.

Until next time... Onward Bears!!!

2007-01-07T14:08:00.000-06:00

Welcome Back, Sports Fans!!!

First, let me discuss a few rumors floating around about James, David and myself.

No, James is not in a mental institution because the Cubs hired Lou Piniella as manager.

Nor is he hiding in a cave somewhere waiting for the sky to fall because of the bad karma that Da Bears have hanging over their heads (4th and goal and you go for it when you are winning by 21... come on guys, really!).

James has moved back home to the great state of Washington. He has become a degenerate poker player, so you can't get him away from the table long enough to type a word on here. But don't worry fans we are trying to get him help.

As for David, I heard he got lost at sea... But no, he just works even more retarded hours than me, so he shows up whenever there is a threat of Slurpees. So don't fear I will get on him to make another Waste of Space post soon.

Someone told me they heard I ran off and joined the circus (Like Heather's sister once did). I can't believe anyone would believe that. Like I would ever do anything to embarrass myself. Oh wait, I do that all the time.

I also heard the people think I went into hiding thinking the Super Bowl Loser's Curse, the Madden Curse and the Chunky Soup Curse might effect all of us Seahawks fans as well. But never fear everyone, I am alive and well. In fact, Heather and I are expecting our first baby. Samantha Marie Bacon is due right around the Super Bowl. So it might be a Hospital Super Bowl for me. That's ok, though they'll have a TV in the room.

Ok, let's talk some sports now.

HOW ABOUT THEM SEAHAWKS!!!

That was the greatest game I have ever seen. I can't believe Tony Romo botched the hold on the field goal. The Seahawks had someone watching out for them because there was no reason they should have won that game. Dallas should have kicked the field goal, and we are planning vacations. But, sports are like that. You really never know what is going to happen. So for now, it's on to next week. Bring on Da Bears. GO HAWKS!!!

Well, I will discuss the rest of my sports world in my next post. I promise it won't take us another five months to post again, and I will get the other guys posting again soon.

But for now... this has been Skippy from Just West of Seahawks Stadium.

2006-07-31T15:41:00.000-05:00

Howdy, strangers!

Since the mecca of Cubs blogs isn't operational right now and I don't have a poker tournament to go take down at the moment, I feel compelled to come out of hiding and comment on a trade deadline hot tip concerning our Blue and Red Beloveds.

Now, this is definitely on the QT and very hush hush... but I have from a very reliable source received information the Cubs have traded four-time Cy Young Award winner and future Hall of Famer Greg Maddux to the Los Angeles Dodgers of Los Angeles for INF Cesar Izturis.

If this turns out to be wrong, I'll flog my source later, because neither parties have announced its officiality at the present time (1:30 PM Pacific), but I don't think he is.

With the Cubs trading INF Todd Walker to the Padres for a 19-year-old pitcher earlier today and the Dodgers acquiring (stealing?) INF Wilson Betemit from Atlanta a couple days ago, Izturis is extemely expendable to the Dodgers and a commodity to the Cubs.

At this moment, I'm on the fence about this trade. I have taken an admittedly irrational stance concerning Greg Maddux finishing his career in a Cubs uniform. He never, ever should have left in the first place. I'm not blaming him for leaving for greener pastures in Atlanta after winning his first of four conesecutive NL Cy Young Awards. The Cubs didn't do what it took to keep him then, and he went on to win a World Series. He obviously wasn't going to get that here.

I'm not convinced Izturis is worth the negative publicity of giving up Maddux a second time, this time actually getting something for him, and seeing him succeed or fail somewhere else. The Dodgers aren't going to care that he's Greg Maddux. If he doesn't pitch more to the form he had during the first month of the season, they'll get someone else and maybe send him to the bullpen.

Whether he had a 3.00 ERA or a 5.00 ERA, he was going to get to choose his own road with the Cubs, a team going nowhere fast. He could take the ball out to the mound anytime he wanted, or take the ball and go home too. He's Greg Freakin' Maddux... and that's the way I wanted it.

I wanted him walking off a mound at Wrigley Field, sometime this year or maybe next year with all 40,000 or so in attendance crying their eyes out, knowing this is the last time they'll see Greg Maddux in a Cubs uniform.

If he retires after this year and never makes it back to Wrigley Field, I'll feel cheated out of this whether Izturis goes on to win Gold Gloves and man shortstop for the next five years.

I know this is irrational, but I don't give a damn. It's not like they're going to win anytime soon... so we might as well squeeze all the positive emotions out of this team we can.

Maybe I'll get into the possible impact of Izturis on incumbent shortstop Ronny Cedeno and the infield for 2006 and 2007 after I get comfirmation of this deal later... but I've got about 500 fantasy baseball teams to try to pull out of last place.

Catch ya all later, Cubs fans.

2006-04-10T17:57:00.000-05:00

Oh, happy day in Wrigleyville!!!

ESPN.com has reported 1B Derrek Lee will spend the next five years in Cubs pinstripes!

I could not be happier about this, since he has retained his status as my NUMBER ONE FAVORITE CUB since GM Jim Hendry acquired him before the 2004 season for squat and less-than-squat.

Even though he greatly contributed to the demise of the Cubs World Series hopes in 2003, greedily winning the Florida Marlins' second trophy since their way-too-recent inception, I think I liked him instantly because of his on-basiness and his defense, how Cubs fans couldn't get over his strikeouts and how it took Triple Crown stats for Manager Dusty Baker to move him above sixth in the batting order.

Since he'll have spent seven years with the Cubs at the end of this deal which includes a complete no-trade clause, I'll match this trade against any of the past great Cub trades including the ones fitting Ryne Sandberg and Sammy Sosa for a Cubs uniform.

Now that Hendry has followed his own extension with his most-important acquisition's extension, Baker becomes the next focus for an extension. I'm not going to hold my breath waiting for it, because he hasn't convinced me he's worth it over the last three seasons.

How he treats my other sources of joy right now - Cubs youngsters OF Matt Murton, SS Ronny Cedeno and LHP Sean Marshall - will go a long way towards convincing me he should stick around next year, much less two or three years.

The credit for alerting me to the good news goes over to the diligent Goat Riders, but still no word where they got the scoop on this. As I posted on their site, I can assure you it did not come from me and it did not come from the bum who lives on the Southeast corner of Clark and Addison. Though, he did confirm for me the Cubs had scheduled a press conference for tomorrow morning, so maybe he knew more than he led on.

2006-03-27T13:53:00.000-06:00

It's time for some March Madness... no, not that silly college basketball tournament that nobody on earth could predict. It's time for some fantasy baseball.

The Just North of Wrigley Field fantasy baseball league is looking for some able-minded baseball enthusiasts to participate in a draft at 8:30 pm CST, Tuesday, March 28th.

All you need to do is get to yourself to Yahoo!, input the league id (273086) and the password (gocubs), pick an interesting team name and then prepare to get schooled!

After the conclusion of this draft, I'll post an update on the state of my fantasy baseball offerings for the 2006 season. I've already made one small trade that I'll be interested in following throughout the season.

Enough with the fantasy, on to the reality of the Chicago Cubs, where it was a fantasy to think they could keep "stud pitchers" Mark Prior and Kerry Wood healthy.

The Cubs are getting some good returns on Wood's recovery, but who knows what's going to happen with Prior. This means there could be some unfamiliar names in the Cubs rotation to start the year... well not to the Cubs fans who constantly look to the farm system to save them from 100 years of torture.

I'll get to that in a second, but right now we'll focus on the two hold overs from last year's pitching staff who get bumped up a few notches in the short term.

Even though they moved him in and out of the rotation last season when he really wasn't effective in either role, the Cubs still brought back LHP Glendon Rusch during the winter and gave him a two-year deal. I had a problem with it when they signed him, and I still have a problem with it even if they need the depth now.

If thought they needed to go after depth then, and committing multiple millions and multiple years to a player with his kind of track record didn't cut it for me. Remember, two years ago he was coming off four-straight, double-digit-loss seasons with ERAs only a Brewer pitcher or Met pitcher would love.

I'd feel a lot more confident about counting on him if the team didn't royally screw up his role last year, pitching him out of the bullpen and Ryan Dempster in the rotation after after preparing for the opposite the entire spring. Not having Dempster at the back-end of the bullpen and the Rusch in the rotation, cost this team any chance of competing last year.

The only bright spot about Rusch is he finished the season with four wins in five starts in September, proving he can be a competent pitcher with a defined role, but I have no confidence in this being the case, and I sure wanted the Cubs to do better than Rusch as a fall-back plan for the inevitable injuries to Prior and Wood.

Rusch has struggled this spring, but had a strong, five-inning performance last week.

The other holdover is RHP Jerome Williams. What can I say about Jerome other than I'm happy he's here and LaTroy Hawkins isn't? Ok, I have more to say than that, but anybody who tried to survive a Hawkins performance at the "Friendly Confines" knows what I'm talking about.

If the Cubs show GM Jim Hendry the door tomorrow, we'll still be thanking him for this deal years from now. Not only did Hendry fill a need on the team last year, and acquire another outstanding, nearly-ready young arm in David Aardsma, but he rid the team of an outright cancer in Hawkins.

I've talked about Hawkins here before. I don't hate him. I fully supported his signing for the 2004 season, but Hendry let Coach Dusty Baker abuse and misuse him. Once that ship left port, it was time to sink it. Hendry let Baker ruin what should have been the best signing of that offseason, and he owed it to us to make something out of it.

Williams started 17 games for the Cubs with a sub-4.00 ERA. I worry a little because he doesn't have a deep track record in the majors. He's never started more than 25 games in a season and his K/BB ratio doesn't inspire me, and his spring numbers are showing that as well. However, he's pitched much better in his last two outings and is stretching out his arm. At least for the first month of the season, he's going to be more than just a back-end starter. He's going to have to be on the mound for 6+ innings for the Cubs to be successful.

Unfortunately, these are the most experienced and entrenched options to fill the three rotation slots behind Carlos Zambrano and Greg Maddux. The Cubs won't need a fifth starter until April 15th, but when they do Wood, Prior or former Houston Astro Wade Miller have very little shot at being ready. This means a rookie is going to make that start, if not a sooner one.

I'm going to evoke my list fetish to illustrate my point of who should open up the season in the Cubs rotation.

Carlos Zambrano rhp
Mark Prior (DL)
Kerry Wood rhp (DL)
Greg Maddux rhp
Wade Miller rhp (DL)
Glendon Rusch lhp
Jerome Williams rhp
Rich Hill lhp
Angel Guzman rhp
Sean Marshall lhp
Jae Ryu rhp

Trips to Mark O'Neal's office notwithstanding, that's 11 names and one of the last four will make April starts for the Cubs if they don't acquire another arm.

Rich Hill has the benefit of starting four games for the Cubs last year, impressing in his first two starts before he figured out you need more than just hit-and-miss control of a baffling curveball to get MLB hitters out... at least I hope he did.

Angel Guzman has tantalized Cubs faifthful for many, many rotations around the Sun. This could finally be the year he puts his health issues behind him and makes his major-league debut. On Saturday, he pitched four hitless innings, with two strike outs and as many walks...

in relief of Sean Marshall, who despite having only four professional appearances above the single-A level, hasn't given up squat to opposing hitters, including pitching four no-hit innings of his own (the Cubs would lose the no-hitter in the 10th inning, but go on to win the game 1-0).

The 6-7, 23-year- old lefthander is the talk of spring training. As good as Rich Hill's curveball is, Marshall's might be just as good, and he knows where it's going and has other complimentary pitches.

Marshall has given up only three hits while striking out nine batters in 10.1 innings without giving up a run. He struggled with his control on Saturday, giving up four of his six spring walks, but he also struck out five. And it impressed me, he did it against Oakland major-leaguers Eric Chavez, Jason Kendall, Milton Bradley, Dan Johnson and Jay Payton, not a split-squad or, even worse, Kansas City.

I'm trying to temper my excitement. Everyone from John Sickels to Baseball America will tell you, Angel Guzman is a top-five prospect with a sound, healthy, stable arm and Sean Marshall ain't far behind him, even with a scant amount of AA experience to draw on. These are the kind of young pitchers that can set an organization up to succeed for many years with high-level production on the cheap.

...but take a look at the above list. They're, at best, behind seven guys who are going to get a chance to start for the Cubs at one point or another. The Cubs have committed to them as long as they're healthy. My point... is it worth it to jerk around these 23-year-old pitchers who haven't pitched a single inning at AAA or finished a full season of AA, risking their fragile arms and egos?

If they're not willing to give them a full-time rotation slot from the start, barring complete, abject failure, they should give make Hill the fifth starter, since he's pitched on a major-league mound, dominated AAA (6-1, 65 IP, 53 H, 92/14 K/BB!!!), and would probably make an even-better lefthander out of the pen when Wood, Prior, etc comes back.

I would love to see what Guzman and Marshall got, but seeing it in Iowa would be probably be best for the Cubs' future, and if they stayed there the whole season that would probably be best for the Cubs' present.

2006-03-21T23:53:00.000-06:00

Hey there, guys. Skippy here.

Just wanted to stop by and make a quick post about the band I saw the last two nights. Hollywood U2 played at the Suquamish Clearwater Casino, and they were absolutely amazing. You won't find them selling out world tours, but you will find them rocking your local casino or small venue bars.

If you couldn't have guessed by the name, they are a U2 cover band. They sound and even look like the real thing (see picture above). This was an especially thrilling weekend because one of my best friends, Scott, is not only a huge U2 fan, but an amazing singer as well. So I talked to a few people working with the band I knew (Casino management is more than willing to help out someone who has lost as much money as I have. Let's just say they knew me well a few years ago) and convinced them to see if the band would let Scott join them. The guys were all for it. About halfway through the third set, they pulled him up on stage and handed him the microphone to sing to a packed house. The place went CRAZY, the dance floor was jumpin' and the band was rocking (Like I said Scott is an amazing singer).

If that had been the end of the night, I think everyone we were hanging out with would have gone home with a smile and a great memory of this band that let our friend live out his dream, but the night didn't end there. The band came over to our table after the show was over and said hello and thanks for coming to everyone. Then when I asked if I could get some pictures of Scott with the band, they invited us to the dressing room and we all hung out and shared U2 experiences and random stories for well over an hour (not having any U2 experiences myself, I mostly listened and made small talk with Sherise, the drummer's wife who had spent most of the show sleeping in the dressing room).

When we realized it was approaching 3 a.m., we called it a night. Before we left, the band made sure we were coming to the show the next day (or later that night, depending on how you look at it). We were all for continuing the fun, and they said they would love to bring Scott back up on stage to sing with them (plus Sherise said she wanted someone to hang out with instead of sleeping through the show again).

When the Band hit the stage the next night, we were all there (plus about 10 people that hadn't seen the show the night before). The band had even reserved us front-and-center seats. As promised, they brought Scott up on stage and let him rock the house again. The show was great and the band was again very appreciative of our support. We hung out for a little while after the show to exchange phone numbers and addresses so we can keep in touch, but the night had to end there for me because I had to work the next morning. They asked if we wanted to stay and drink with them (which is hard for me to turn down), but I had to get some sleep. After two hard nights of partying, my 12-hour shifts only seem to get longer. So I said my goodbyes and headed for home. On the drive home, I rocked out to the newest, Grammy-winning U2 album "How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb" and thought about the great new friends I had met and the weekend of memories I will always have.

I just want to say again THANK YOU to the guys in Hollywood U2 for the great show and great experiences this weekend. You guys are the best (Oh yeah, Hi Sherise). Thanks for making Scott as happy as you have (I'm sure he will make me watch the DVD of the show over and over again).

Ok now back to Skip to my Sports!!!

2006-03-13T16:23:00.000-06:00

Just call me a Posting Machine!!!

I know I complained last week about how nothing was going on in my sports world. Boy was I wrong. It was just the calm before the storm. With free agency starting in the NFL, NBA teams hunting for playoff spots, MLB giving us some suprisingly interesting baseball with the WBC and my feeble attempts to fill out NCAA brackets... my sports world is crazy.

So, let's Skip To My Sports!

NFL free agency
What a amazing first week! Some major talent changed teams. Arizona signed the big name running back, they've tried to get for years in former Indianapolis Colt and multi-time Pro Bowler Edgerrin James. The Edge should add another weapon to a Cardinals offense with an already-good, young recieving corps. This could make them a real threat in the NFC West. It doesn't help Seattle seems to be losing more than they are gaining through free agency.

Yes, the Seahawks signed RB Shaun Alexander to the contract he deserves, but they have lost many players who played major roles in getting them to the franchise's first super bowl. WR Joe Jurevicius will play for the Clevland Browns after signing a four-year contract. S Marquard Manuel is now a Green Bay Packer. Pro Bowl LG Steve Hutchinson signed a huge offer sheet (7 years, $49 million) with the Minnesota Vikings. The Seahawks designated Hutchinson as a transition player, which means they can match the offer, but would receive no compensation for letting the former first-round pick go.

Of all of these signings. I really hate to see Jurevicius leave Seattle. I really thought he was a huge part of the team's run to the Super Bowl. The Seahawks should have locked him up to a multi-year extension before free agency started and used his experience and talent to solidify the reciver position.

Seattle now has to find pieces to fill all the holes left by cuts and free agency. It should be interesting to see how things shake out.

I will talk more about the other subjects later but I have to finish the Honey-do list. Yeah, married life is great!!!

2006-03-13T16:04:00.000-06:00

Ok, so I was told I needed to comment on the latest drama unfolding in the Utah Jazz Management offices and spilling onto the floor of the Delta Center.

Anybody who saw last Monday's Utah Jazz victory at home over the Orlando Magic, or watched ESPN SportsCenter saw Jazz owner Larry Miller berate his players on the court and then later in the locker room.

Larry, buddy, pal o’ mine… SHUT THE HELL UP! As the Rock once said, "KNOW YOUR ROLE AND SHUT YOUR MOUTH!" You own the team, but if you don’t like the players on your team or the way they are playing, walk your big fat ass down to GM Kevin O'Connor's office and tell him to do something about it. That's what you pay him for. If you think he won’t or hasn't done a good job, fire him and get one who will do whatever crackpot thing you want him to do.

But under no circumstances should you ever… and I mean EH-EH-EH-EEEEEEEVER... walk your big fat ass onto the court and into Coach Jerry Sloan's huddle and yell at his team. That's what you pay Sloan to do, and if you've ever sat courtside at a Jazz game, you know he does a good job of it. If you don’t like the job he is doing, fire him. (Just a side note... if you do, you are the dumbest S.O.B. I have ever met.)

You aren’t the reason the people of Utah have supported the team over the last 20 years. Stockton, Malone and Sloan are. I advise you to stay out of the huddle or, better yet, just stay out of the arena completely if you can't keep yourself in check.

Skippy out!!!

2006-03-09T18:05:00.000-06:00

When we should be acknowledging the loss of one of the greats, getting ready for the upcoming season, drafting our fantasy baseball teams and enjoying the great baseball the WBC is giving us right now, I'm not going to waste much time on my favorite subject of steroids in baseball and Barry Bonds. So, this will be it regardless of how many articles and books come out.

The Chicago Tribune has an article running right now saying MLB Commisssioner Bud Selig is thinking of suspending Bonds for the revelations SI detailed in their article about a soon-to-be-released book by two San Francisco Chronicle reporters. As if the myriad allegations against Bonds and the Grand Juries and Congressional hearings to this point shouldn't have been enough to get Selig to look into this a little closer, now he's going to bring the big Silver Hammer down on him.

Some are applauding him because a significant suspension or retirement coersion could protect the sanctity of Babe Ruth and Hank Aaron's home run records without the messiness of an asterisk.

But there's something bigger here than just numbers. My problem with Bonds and Palmeiro and Giambi has always been the deception. They've lied and lied and lied and it took a Grand Jury to come close to coming clean. MLB should suspend them not just for the use of something legal for most of their careers, but for damaging the integrity of the game by lying about it.

I applaud MLB for taking control of the supplements (some of?) their players are going to use, but they also need to provide a list of who's using the supplements to anybody who wants to read it. For example, if a guy adds 40 lbs of muscle and the list says he's not taking anything, that's something to look into.

As far as the records go, Palmeiro and Bonds are probably still in the Hall, because there's no proof who was and wasn't using during that time, including the pitchers they faced.

...but how far should we go with this protection of records? Should we start testing AROD right now? He's well on a pace to eclipse Babe Ruth and Hank Aaron.

To come close to satisfying me, they should test everybody. The players union should shut up about it, because they never got out in front of this issue. None of their players can look me in the face and tell me their clean without the clean urine sample to back it up. They should random test everybody, and have a baseline test for every player done the second they put on a major-league uniform.

If I want to watch a sport where I question the validity of the performance I'm seeing, I'll watch professional wrestling... and even they've announced plans to do just what I've said above.

I sincerely hope I have better things to write about on this blog this year... or think about writing about, but get around to doing it two weeks later, but by that time I don't really care so I'd rather spend two hours fiddling with my 30 fantasy baseball teams.

2006-03-09T16:44:00.000-06:00

Kirby Puckett (1960-2006)

It was obvious he was the best player on the field from the second he ever stepped on one. Not just in the way he played, but the way he carried himself and led his teammates. I vehemently argue with anybody who wants to trivialize his hall-of-fame credentials. It's unfortunate the '94 strike cut short two of his best years, and then his career was over.

I took notice of him in the mid '80s when I was heavily into baseball card collecting. My dad had bought me the 1985 topps set. That was really when my love affair with knowing everything about baseball started. I knew how valuable this set was because of the Mark McGwire USA Baseball card, and the Darryl Strawberry card, Wade Boggs, Don Mattingly, Roger Clemens... the list goes on and includes Puckett. Even with its value, I still risked it and went through every one of the cards... very often. I wanted to immerse myself in all of this baseball knowledge (remember this was before baseball-reference.com existed). I would sort them by team and then alphabetically and then back to numerically... shampoo, rinse and repeat, always repeat. Even though the back of his bubble gum card didn't have any really impressive numbers on it going into just his second big-league year, getting to Puckett was always one of the highlights.

You just had an instant connection with the guy, whether he went 0-4 or killed the team he played. It didn't hurt that I got to see him impressively win two World Series in a five-year span. These days, it takes gaudy power numbers to catch a fan's eye or to even keep your team from replacing you, but Puckett hit only four homers in his first two years and didn't even touch a .400 SLG%.

Yes, he would explode in 1986-88 with 83 homers, but there were many years after that where he didn't have great power. Power wasn't really his game. He finished his career with only a .477 SLG% and it took two of his best power years in the final two years of his career to get it to that point. He's proof if you just concentrate on putting bat on ball, you're going to get extra-base hits and some of those are going to be doubles and some of them are going to find their way over the wall. I can only name Wade Boggs as a guy who I watched put bat on ball better. He was well on his way to 3,000 hits, but he might have only barely cracked 300 homers.

But unlike some Hall-of-Fame revisionists, I've never counted his lack of longevity against him. Even though his career ended too soon, he still had six gold gloves and 10 all-star appearances (1993 MVP) and led two teams to a World Series title. I don't care what your weight was. I don't care what your reputation off the field AFTER your playing days was. If you can say you did that, you're a hall of famer. And the fact he did that in only 12 seasons after being a #3-overall pick means there was never a doubt.

I'll end this with my favorite Puckett experience, which illustrates how loved he was. I went to the final game of the 1989 season for the Seattle Mariners - Ken Griffey, Jr.'s first big-league season - as they faced the Minnesota Twins. Puckett had battled with Oakland A's 3b Carney Lansford for the AL batting title up until the final day, and Lansford had already came up hitless in four plate appearances with a walk, clinching the title for Puckett. When he took the field for the first time, they announced his accomplishment to the Kingdome crowd of almost 12,000 (which was pretty good for the late 80s Mariners). The crowd gave him a round of standing applause and repeated before and after every at bat. Of course, he still went out with two doubles in five at bats with an RBI in the loss to the Mariners.

Kirby Puckett is the first player inducted into the Hall of Fame who's career I saw and remember in its entirety (Sandberg and Boggs are close, but I was too young to remember their early years, Junior and Clemens to follow).

There may be reason to tarnish some of his legacy because of his post-career indiscretions. He is paying for those now everytime his obituary includes the laundry list of substantiated and unsubstantiated claims against him, and the irresponsible respect he had for his own health alongside all the good he accomplished in his career. I'm choosing not to dismiss or give more weight to either, but he didn't owe me an apology or explanations for actions he may have felt remorse or atoned for. He was engaged to be married for the second time, which doesn't fit the mold of a man who's life is continuing to spiral downward. We may never know where Kirby Puckett's life may have taken him, because it ended far too early.

2006-02-22T17:47:00.000-06:00

In David's defense... I cant post stupid links either!

Ok, now on to Skip To My Sports...

Sorry I haven't posted in a long time, but let's just say I wasn't in the best of moods as far as the sporting world is concerned. The Super Bowl was a letdown and the Jazz are just one episode of Boozergate after another. Heck, I can't count on the Mariners to help me through the summer. It's pretty sad I am already looking forward to football (six months away) to see some real winning, and that's not a sure thing with the uncertain labor situation and the Super Bowl losers have a less-than-stellar record the year after the big game.

The only real sport where I can see someone I root for winning is the Olympics, and the US (with 18 medals as of Wednesday afternoon) isn't doing nearly as well as expected. Plus with teammates fueding and everything Bode Miller says getting airtime around the world, we really look like losers.

So this leads me to start thinking...

Is it possible I am the reason for all of my beloved teams never winning the big one? I have never been able to say any of my teams are World Champs (except for the Colorado Avalanche, but I don't follow them as much as I should).

The Utah Jazz make it to the NBA Finals and run into one of the greatest players and teams in the history of the game... TWICE!!! (I still can't watch the shot Jordan hit over Bryon Russell without shedding a tear or two.)

The Seattle Mariners tie a MLB record by winning 116 games and don't even make it to the World Series. From that season on, let's just say the M's have been less than spectacular. 'Nuf said!!!

Then there was Super Bowl Get Jerome a Ring (Oh, I mean XL). I have to say the Steelers did just enough to win this game... nothing more. The Seahawks just couldn't seem to get over the hill the Refs built for them. We had more than a fair chance to win, but just didn't show the killer instict we did in the previous playoff games and the regular season. As I look forward to the season to come, there are some serious questions determining whether I will celebrate our first Super Bowl victory next Feburary.

First... is Shaun Alexander going to run the ball for the Hawks or down their throats for another team? I can only hope the Seahawks can put something together to make Shaun happy. I also hope Shaun can be considerate enough to know he isn't the only big piece of the Super Bowl puzzle we need to re-sign and give the only team and the only fans he's ever played for a break on the salary.

Second... what are the Seahawks going to do about signing Joe Jurevicious, Rocky Bernard and the rest of their NFC Champion free agents?

Third... Welcome to Seattle, Mikki Moore!!! What does that have to do with the Seahakws? Absolutely nothing, but I loved the guy with the Jazz and can't wait to see him when the Jazz come to Seattle in a couple weeks.

Well, the wife is home, and I should finish doing the laundry. Until next time, this is Skippy reporting from Just West of Seahawks Stadium. Back to James and David in the studio.

2006-02-14T23:50:00.000-06:00

And I'd like to congratulate David on being the only blogger I know who can't post a link. HA HA! Keep up the good work, my friend.

This part of most years is the post-NFL sports doldrums, but the 2006 Winter Olympics of Torino, Italy are saving us a little bit. Of course, I always have wrestling (except when it's preempted by the Westminster Dog Show... thanks USA Network) and I can get into some NCAA Basketball sometimes (damnit Huskies! Stop losing to the effin' Cougars!) and Skippy always has the Utah Jazz (currently ninth in the Western Conference, 1.5 games behind Los Angeles for the final playoff spot), but I usually try to sleep through most of February.

This year we have some great action happening on the other side of the planet worthy of much TiVoing (yay... no commercials, figure skating or curling!) led by U.S. stars Bode Miller, Apolo Anton Ohno and Michelle Kwan... oh wait.

I'll take that in reverse order. Michelle Kwan didn't even deserve to be there. I don't fault anyone for wanting to represent their country, but she needed to not pursue a spot when she couldn't physically meet the demands... not only that, but she took a lot of advertiser's money to show up at the opening ceremony and take tv time from other athletes who actually deserved it, and then she doesn't even stay to support the rest of her team.

On the other hand, Emily Hughes has said all the right things and stayed ready to go just in case, missing out on her chance to walk into the Olympic Games under the banner of her country and enduring a massive snowstorm. Maybe she'll become the story of Torino, much like her sister, Sarah, was the talk of Salt Lake City for winning gold in the same event.

Now, let that be the last time I ever discuss figure skating here again.

On to Mr. Ohno... TiVo's been very good to me. Because of TiVo, I get to see all of my favorite events such as the luge, the snowboarding and skiing and speed skating. I can watch speed skating. Heck, it might be because of what Ohno did in 2002 in Salt Lake City and the City of Seattle treated him like the greatest hero to ever hail from the Emerald City... but he proved himself a bonehead in this year's Olympiad.

He cruised through his first heat into the semifinals, where he found himself securely in second place with about one lap left to go, guaranteeing him a spot in the finals. He then proceeded to try to pass the leader on the outside catching his hand on a skate, a barrier and a pretty woman in the first row (ok I made that last part up) completely losing out on a medal chance for the event. He then made a spectacle of himself by almost missing the consolation heat.

Finally, there's Bode Miller. There's a lot I appreciate about Miller. He's very American. Brash. Risk-taking. Ambitious. The media appreciates him a lot too. It's not his fault they put him on every major magazine cover before the games started. It's not his fault they made way too much out of him getting drunk before events. However, it is his fault he got drunk before events real people do every year. And let's not forget skiing isn't as safe as doing snow angels as far as winter sports go. Earlier this year, somebody died in the Cascade Mountains just for skiing too close to a tree and falling in its "well". I know people drink when they ski, and it's great Miller can do it while taking tight turns going 40 m.p.h, but it's not the safest thing someone can do and glorifying it makes it even worse.

Like I said before... not really his fault, though. Unfortunately, skiing in his first two events as good as he possibly can and having only a 5th-place finish and a DQ to show for it are his fault. If I were him, I wouldn't have anything to be ashamed about. He really did ski well in the downhill... four other skiers were just better... and he was on his way to gold in the combined when his skis straddled a gate. I don't even know what most of this means, but I do know he was nowhere to be found when his teammates were hoisting Ted Ligety on their shoulders after he won the combined event... and then he comes out and says, he's glad he got DQ'd so he wouldn't have to schlep off the mountain to Torino for the medal ceremony. Here's the link.

It's one thing to be calm and confident you'll get another shot, but what are you there for if even winning an event for your country would be an inconvenience? I'm hoping he was joking, but it wasn't funny. He should want to go to Torino, if only to support his teammate.

You can't extole the virtues of being an Olympian and representing your country, if you're only there for yourself.

Thankfully this Olympics has starred the Incrediblly Gold Duo of Chad Hedrick and Joey Cheek, the dominating U.S. Snowboarding Half Pipers and Down The Mountain Ligety Split instead of the Law Offices of Miller, Ohno and Kwan.

Ok... that's my last attempt at being funny.

I'm also very happy baseball gave me something to chew on today, as they released the rosters for Team USA's entry into the inaugural World Baseball Classic. I've looked forward to this for three years now, keeping track of what most of the North and Latin American teams would look like (I couldn't really predict they'd stretch it to include a team of Italian- and Greek-heritage players). I also didn't expect so many of the American players would bow out because of injuries. It doesn't really matter because they'll still field a strong team, but their pitching won't be as strong.

The big news for Cubs fans comes from Derrek Lee and Michael Barrett's inclusion on the U.S. team. Lee should see the majority of the time at first base (Rangers' up-and-comer Mark Teixiera will back him up and could start as the designated hitter) and bat fifth behind Yankees 3b Alex Rodriguez and Cincinnati cf Ken Griffey, Jr. and in front of the likes of Braves 3b Chipper Jones (who could see time in right field or at dh) and Teixiera.

Barrett will serve alongside Nationals c Brian Schneider backing up Boston c Jason Varitek. He'll probably see quite a bit of time, because USA Manager Buck Martinez has already said that very few players will play the full game, and Schneider is there more for his defense.

I would like it if Cubs players would focus the entirety of their spring efforts on winning a World Series. The spectre of losing Carlos Zambrano, Aramis Ramirez or even Michael Barrett to injury in this exhibition would haunt me the whole year.

But I'm a big fan of this event. It's good for baseball. It's good for the globalization of the sport, hopefully opening up further revenue and talent streams in Asia and Europe, necessary since the Olympics has rejected the sport for the next two games. Hopefully, the Cubs can benefit from the improved talent and recenue pool... and we fans get games that "matter" in March.

If I had to pick a winner right now, I'm going with Venezuela. Their pitching towers over Puerto Rico and probably even the Domincan Republic, and their offense isn't bad either. Cuba and Japan are major wild cards.

Venezuelan right-hander and Cubs ace Carlos Zambrano is already in mid-season, spitting-fire form, lobbying to pitch the WBC opener against Pedro Martinez and the Domincan Republic ahead of his left-handed teammate and former Cy Young winner Johan Santana.

As long as Zambrano keeps it under control, this is the Zambrano I look forward to taking the hill and the pill for the Cubs. He is what makes the difference between fourth place and a playoff team.

How about that, guys? Looking forward to the Cubs playing. Something I can honestly say I haven't said all winter.

2006-02-12T21:03:00.000-06:00

Well... My faith in pro-football is restored. There's just something about watching a bunch of grown adults playing a game like a bunch of little children that just brings back fond memories. Between all the gaffs, fumbles, picks, goofy-plays, laterals, mid-interception handoffs and other chicanery, I managed to laugh away a poorly refereed Superbowl.

It's for this reason I applaud the NFL for having their all-star competition at the close of their season. It allows one to brush back the trials of the regular season and watch some fan-favorites try to do silly things with a bunch of their teammates and rivals. It is a refreshing exercise I try and finish every season with.

No matter how bad the regular season, I often find enough to laugh about in the Hawaii special to make me smile again.

I feel like a posting machine. If I keep putting out garbage like this with consistency, I'll be arrested for littering... If I'm lucky.

Take it easy guys, and don't mind that this is a Waste of Space.

2006-02-07T01:59:00.000-06:00

David here.

I'd like to congratulate Pittsburgh on their victory in Superbowl XL. I wish the 'Hawks could have put a bit more effort into their game. Note to Holmgren: Sometimes, even when times are dark and you feel injustice has been done, you have to look deep inside and find your sportsmanship. Suck it up and congratulate your oppenent... even if you don't mean it.

As far as the game itself goes, I'd just like to point out that I'm biased, being a Seattle fan. So, instead of posting my own commentary on the game... I would just like to link a couple of things for the readers at home.

http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/5310192

http://forums.espn.go.com/espn/thread?forumID=821&start=0&threadID=3134345&sortBy=null

http://www.petitiononline.com/mod_perl/petition-sign.cgi?nfl12006

I stumbled across these while trying to find a neutral fan's perspective on the game. They speak for themselves... at some points with questionable spelling and colorful language. Use due caution if you decide to peruse the forums.

*Comment about dubious eyesight censored by author.*

This has been a Waste of Space

2006-02-04T22:03:00.000-06:00

Let's see... why haven't I talked much this postseason? Whose team is still playing? Whose team jobbed themselves out of a spot in the NFC Championship game with piss-poor personnel decision. My pain and outrage still has not met it's limit.

I tried not to jinx it by coming on this here blog and pumping up the Bears, but I decided to go the calm and quiet route. I could sit her and say that was a mistake, but I'm not going to take one ounce of credit for the Bears' poor showing. Besides, you could just take my prediction for the Panthers-Giants game and apply it to the Bears debacle and the Seahawks win... all you have to do is not let Steve Smith beat you. The Bears let him own them and the Seahawks made him bankrupt.

Of course, now I've had to endure the constant kudos from everybody telling me how happy I must be that the Seahawks are in the Super Bowl. I'm happy for the city of Seattle. I really am. The Seahawks finally gave Seattle their first Super Bowl or World Series team... they're the last city with an NFL and MLB franchise to get there.

But I am a Bears fan... I have always been a Bears fan. I've been a Bears fan since birth. I can't quite figure out how anybody who ever saw Walter Payton run isn't, no matter where they lived.

Like David, I'm happy this year's Super Bowl features two teams with a lot to play for and all the tools necessary to give us fans a tight, hard-fought game.

It's just too bad ESPN can't stop talking about Terrell Owens, Donovan McNabb, Brett Favre, the Hall of Fame, Jerome Bettis' homecoming story and those disrespected, forgotten Seahawks... which ticks me off since they're the one's doing the disrespecting and the forgetting. They have complete control over whether the rest of the world knows guys like RB Shaun Alexander, QB Matt Hasselbeck, OT Walter Jones, etc. Instead of telling us how disrespected they are... just start showing them some freakin' respect!

Right now, they're showing clips of Bettis rumbling for a touchdown... in high school. Where are the clips of Alexander demonstrating his overwhelming greatness. He's only the MVP and single-season record holder for rushing TDs.

How about show me the unending reel of Hasselbeck's pin-point accuracy? He's only the NFC Pro Bowl starter.

Nope... but please show me more of Ben Roethlisberger pimping Fat Heads. Done!

I'll admit I have no idea who's going to win the game tomorrow... but I'd be shocked if it were a blowout on either end or to see the Seattle offense score less than three TDs, as I've seen in a couple other predictions.

I'm not going to get out of this post without giving a prediction. As much as I want to say it will come to the play of the respective QBs, I just don't see Alexander vs Bettis and Willie Parker as an even matchup. The Seahawks defense I've watched play over the last half of the season will be able to contain Parker and keep the pressure on Roethlisberger. Alexander's ability to make adjustments even against a tough defense will make the difference.

James' Super Bowl XL Prediction: Seahawks 34, Steelers 30

Enjoy the game, everybody!

2006-02-03T12:25:00.000-06:00

David here with a special rant!

Just North, you are one of the slackingest slackers since they invented slacking. After all of your grandiose talk; You STILL haven't done any follow up posts for the playoffs. Well I have something to talk about. Yes it *IS* related to the fact that Superbowl XL is in a couple of days.

I have rooted for the Seahawks ever since I knew what football was. I watched when they won their division back when Dave Krieg would throw the ball to Steve Largent, who would then trip over a stegosaur. It was all good fun. I personally loved it when they would release the Wooly Mammoths during halftime. I've been a fan of the Hawks since most people viewed them as Jobber Team number 5 in the AFC West.

The only problem is... people still do. They finish with the best record in the NFC. They have the NFL MVP, all-time season rushing TD leader and a Pro Bowl starter at QB. They have one of the most versatile offenses in the NFL, and their defense lead the league in sacks. And they're going into the Super Bowl as underdogs to the No. 6 seed from the AFC that barely made the playoffs.

This doesn't bother me.

The Stillah's have a long-standing reputation as a contender. They are going to be playing with home-field advantage for the first time since the playoffs started. They have a terrific defensive squad, and a solid core group to move it down the field. They have a burger on a bus... Who could ask for more?

When I saw the matchup for the Superbowl, I was excited. Two solid, well-matched teams playing in a Super Bowl. Even the commercials haven't carried the Super Bowl in recent years, with the games lacking in interest, hype, etc. "This year will be a great matchup," I thought. "And we might get to see one of the best championship games in the history of the NFL."

Then the media coverage started.

Mostly, I blame the psychic friends network... most people call them ESPN (Extra Sensory Perception Network). They have pretty much declared there is no way some wussy team of coffee-drinking, computer poofters has any chance against the STEEEEEEEL curtain. (That was for you wrestling fans out there... Football might not have ladders and chairs...but they have CURTAINS! Gotta love the NFL.)

Anyway, for the last two weeks, I've been listening to a media network controlled by the east coast, in some places referred to the "First" coast, bash on the Hawks and push the yellow and black. I know black is a much beloved color and all, but I don't enjoy having my team spat upon by 70% of the nation's sports news coverage.

Heck, the only time during the season that the Seahawks get any mention it goes something like this.

Announcer 1: Wow, can you believe that?!? Three fumbles in one game. And speaking of fumbles, there's a clip from the Seattle game we'd like to show you. Check this out.

Announcer 2: Yeah, not only can't they seem to navigate a minivan, but Alexander has problems navigating a sea of arms here. * Show's clip of the NFL leading rusher fumbling against the Redskins *

Announcer 1: Wow, did you see that ball fly out? Maybe he forgot his glasses by his computer before drinking that quadruple latte this morning.

Announcer 2: I prefer Mocha's myself.... er.... Dang. I was supposed to insult the Pacific Northwest again... can we shoot that over? LIVE? NOOOOO! My career is over.

Well, in order to close this up, I'd just like to say this. My dreams have changed. No longer do I want my Hawks to just go to the Super Bowl and have a good game against a quality, but slightly-inferior opponent. If they do, they will likely be referred to as lucky, and there will be complaints about some call made by the officials. (The line judge that left his helper monkey in the locker room perhaps.) My only remaining hope is that the 'Hawks don't just bring a good game. I hope they can play with divine fury the likes of which hasn't been seen since the dinosaurs blew up their nuclear facilities and had to become birds and take up ninjitsu to survive. It seems that in order to gain ANY modicum of respect from the east-coast biased media, they will have to wash the steel curtain and hang them out to dry. (I know a machine they can do that with... they use it for cleaning anchor chains for aircraft carriers.... yes. They use a BIG coin-op laundry facility. No... you can't use it for your convertable... sicko.)

This has been a Waste of Space

2006-01-14T02:17:00.000-06:00

First off let me say that I appreciate the players that get in there and put themselves on the line to help win a game, but what about the fans? Less than a week after Hernia Surgery (yeah, just take a second to think about that), I will be upping the dose of pain killers (Drugs are good... MMMMkay) to make sure I don’t miss a second of the Seahawks vs. Redskins tilt on Saturday.

I've had nothing better to do this week other than lay in bed and recover (Thank God for the Food Network and ESPN, oh yeah, and don’t forget TiVo) so I have heard every analysts pick for every game this weekend.

But enough about me, let’s talk about some football. Let's get the obvious game out of the way first.

NFC West Champion Seattle Seahawks vs. NFC Wildcard #1 Washington Redskins

Could this be the season us Seattle fans have waited for? Could the Hawks really win a playoff game? OF COURSE THEY WILL!!! Seattle will win this game easily if the Washington offense looks like the team that showed up in Tampa last week. They tried to lose that game, but the Buccaneers wanted to lose even more.

Seattle has caught all the breaks this year as opposed to years past where they went to the other team. This year when we needed a break, we got it. Thanks, Mr. Feely.

However, the one team we didn’t get a break against was the Washington Redskins, who beat the Hawks back in Week 4 only because Josh Brown doinked a 47-yard field goal as time expired. In overtime, Washington got the ball drove down the field and kicked a field goal to win the game without the Seahawks ever touching the ball. I don’t think this game will come down to a last-second field goal though. Seattle wins 27-16.

AFC East Champion New England vs. AFC West Champion Denver Broncos

This game really could go either way. I personally have reasons I would like to see both teams advance in this game. I really want to see the winner of this game in the Super Bowl.

My late Grandfather (We’ll miss you, Grandpa) is a huge Broncos fan and I know he would love to see his Broncos get to another Super Bowl. On the other hand, I would also love to rub it into all of my friends and family in Utah (most of which are Broncos fans for some reason) if the Seahawks play the Broncos in the Super Bowl.

As far as New England goes, how can you not root for this team? It seems every year there is some reason why they shouldn’t play well and yet they seem to find a way to win. I think New England has the edge in this game, but this should be the tightest and the most exciting game of the weekend. I pick New England to win, 24-23.

I will cover the other two games of the weekend later. The Percocet is kicking in and I’m beginning to see two screens. Go Hawks!!!

2006-01-07T11:38:00.000-06:00

Hey... whenever someone calls my ass down to the ring, I respond, as Skippy knows too well from the number of lumps I've given him over the years. * Flying elbow off the top rope *

But David's right in that these games don't mean much to me, except to see which team the Bears are going to anihilate in the second round, en route to a NFC Championship showdown against the Seattle Seahawks... if they make it.

Let's get this started, because I'm at work and I'm sure I'll get kicked off this computer soon enough.

Game 1: Washington (10-6) at Tampa Bay (11-5)
This is the game which will determine who the Bears play, after their week in sunny... like it matters, I would just hope they wouldn't have stayed in this frigid sumbitch if they didn't have to.

The Bears played both teams, losing to Washington in week 1 without giving up a touchdown and beating Tampa Bay, but they didn't have RB Cadillac Williams running on fresh tires at the time.

If Washington wins this game on the strength of RB Clinton Portis and resurgent UW-alum QB Mark Brunell, who may not play, the Bears won't have to worry about the improvement of QB Chris Simms and Williams and the humungous chip on DE Simeon Rice's shoulder since his snub at the Pro Bowl... but I don't see that happening.

James' prediction: Tampa Bay 19, Washington 17

Game 2: Jacksonville (12-4) at New England (10-6)
I thing Dave's scenario of a last second touchdown to Smith is extremely plausable, but who is this guy Smith and when did he put on a Patriots uniform?

Ya see, my prediction has more to do with who's throwing the ball... Jacksonville will start a QB who hasn't played since November. If they played David Garrard instead of Byron Leftwich, I'd give them a better shot. However, the Patriots did what they've done four out of the last five years, find a way to make the playoffs and look impressive doing it, and their QB hasn't lost in nine playoff games.

Yeah, there's a first time for everything, even for Tom Brady, but it won't be this week.

James' prediction: New England 27, Jacksonville 20

Game 3: Carolina (11-5) at New York (11-5)
If I wanted an easy matchup for the Bears, I'd say go with Carolina. The Bears dominated the entire NFC South this year, but I've already predicted they'll face Tampa Bay, so I'm getting what I wish for anyway (be careful what you wish for, I know).

The Giants have the formula: great defense and RB Tiki Barber, running and passing and racking up huge chunks of turf.

Without a full-strength DeShaun Foster or Stephen Davis, the Panthers have little running game of which to speak... and they've pined for a complement to Steve Smith in the passing game all season. QB Jake Delhomme will have his hands full with the Giants pass rush coming at him without fear.

The Panthers could still win if Steve Smith takes over the game and Giants QB makes mistakes.

James' Prediction: Giants 34, Panthers 26

Game 4: Pittsburgh (11-5) at Cincinnati (11-5)
I sure hope the Bengals used their time off well, because that's what the last two weeks amounted to for them. The Buffalo Bills and Kansas City Chiefs stomped a mudhole in them and walked it dry... and those ain't exactly playoff teams. I feel worse about that since the lack of production from Rudi Johnson pretty much torpedoed any hopes of winning my two fantasy leagues.

I'm not bitter though. I'm open minded about the Bengals chances, but they haven't been tested in five weeks since they last played and beat the Steelers.

This is by far the hardest game of them all to call, especially after watching them both dominate the Bears, even though when the Steelers did it they ended the Bears' eight-game winning streak.

With the Bus finishing his career with a bang instead of anything resembling a sputter, I see them making it to the second round to face the Indianapolis Colts.

James' prediction: Pittsburgh 27, Cincinnati 21

That would give us Bucs at Bears, Giants at Seahawks, Steelers at Colts and Patriots at Broncos... that will be one hell of a football weekend.

2006-01-06T21:31:00.000-06:00

So, James gives me a call today about doing a blurb for the opening week of the NFL playoffs. The dialogue went somewhat as follows.

James: "You know Dave, I haven't been writing anything for my own blog lately. I think that it may have something to do with the fact that I'm lazy... or baseball season's over... or 'insert lame excuse here'."

Dave: "I see."

James: "Well, I was wondering if you wouldn't mind doing a blurb for the opening of the playoffs. I figured that Chrispy or I could do it... but things would end up a little biased with our love for the Seahawks and Bears, respectively. So I figured you could do something neutral and funny."

Dave: "Sure. I just have one question. Who's playing?"

James: "See, off with the funny already. Thanks for the help."

Thusly are you poor people subjected to a WoS entry for the opening round of the NFL playoffs. I guess since Chris is a Seahawks Supporter to the core, and James is a Bear Backer through and through... it falls to me to take care of Wildcard Weekend to cover the games they don't really care about.

I figured since I've either been busy working overtime or dying in a sickbed... the least I can do is comment on the matchups this weekend.

Game 1: Washington (10-6) at Tampa Bay (11-5)
-The number in parenthesis represent the hours their offices are open EST to take phone calls.-

Both teams emphasized defense down the stretch. Tampa bay going with the "I'm washing my hair" defense, and Washington with "I have to work". Everyone knows washing ones hair is a woman's ultimate defense. It's both a blatant call of buzz off, AND a legitimate excuse. Well... the former anyway.

The last time these teams met it was a wild west shootout as their defensive squads got lost in the airport security luggage check...and then wound up in Tahiti. I'm thinking playing at Raymond James stadium might give the Buccaneers the advantage...but Washington can counter with the motivation of NOT going back to... well... Washington, the District that is.

Dave's Prediction: Tampa Bay 24-21

Game 2: Jacksonville (12-4) at New England (10-6)
This game is going to be played in Foxborough, which is a might bit north of Jacksonville. The Jaguars have played a light schedule this year, still having to come from behind many times to win their games. (I'm avoiding the doggie style comment as they are felines.) The Patriots still managed to get into the playoffs despite a rocky start filled with numerous injuries.

The bookies are favoring the Patriots in this matchup. I think if I wanted to watch the wallet, I would too. I think Jacksonville will surprise some people by actually showing up... and mabye even showing some people how to play football. Their road record is impressive...and they ARE the last team to beat the Pats in a playoff game. I'm going out on a limb here and saying the Jaguars by one on a last minute touchdown to Smith.

Dave's Prediction: Jacksonville 28-27

Game 3: Carolina (11-5) at New Yawk (11-5)
New York has a strong winning streak at home. Not that I'm saying there is anything shady going on in New Yawk, but they did acquire Plaxico Burress this year, and I've heard things. (If Burresss sicks his mafia thugs on this post... well, you won't really know will you?) But there *IS* a lot of coastline around there. And no one in the city itself would really notice or care if 'Bruno' took an uncooperative ref 'fo a wauk on da coast'.

Long storym short... The Panthers have a slightly-stronger team, but the Giants are surging at the moment. I think Plaxico is going ta guarantee da win in dis game. Capiche? joo understand when Plaxico axes you da questions right?

All kidding aside, mostly it goes down to home field, and the Giants NOT coughing the ball up 5 times in da rematch. (You ain't callin' THAT a fumble is ya ref?')

Dave's Prediction: New York 31-21

Game 4: Pittsburgh (11-5) at Cincinnati (11-5)
Dis matchup... er... *Cough* Sorry. This matchup pits the Steelers, who've been on a good run the last few years, against the Bungles, who haven't. However, Cincy had a strong start at the beginning of this season. I think some people reminisced about the days of Icky and Boomer. (No... those names aren't from a UPN sit-com.) But as the season began to run on, the Bengals started showing their version of Seahawkitis (ed. note: If I could link to that fabulous post, I would. But maybe if you google it, I doubt anybody else came up with Seahawkitis.), which is to say that the Bungles started taking their place.

Now, if the Bengals actually show up, they're going to win. Right now though, it looks to be the Steelers and the Bungles. If that's the case, Rothlser...makeme a burger? will lead the yellow and black to victory. The fact the game is taking place in Cincinnati will just help the Bungles lose less badly. If things go as predicted, the Stillahs will win 35-10. If the Bengals show up, the score will be more like 21-24. I can't wait to sleep through this one when my meds kick in. WooT. Sometimes being sick is Bonus Time!

Dave's Prediction: Vicodin, baby.

If you have any problems with the scientific nature of this playoff preview... then you're probably an intelligent person that just lost 8 IQ points just by getting to this point. For those of you who know me, remember, all characters portrayed in this Blog are purely ficticious and NO I DON'T HAVE THE EXPRESS WRITTEN CONSTENT OF THE NFL.

Either way... this is a Waste of Space.

2005-11-17T16:49:00.000-06:00

Yeah, I've been very quiet. I haven't had any good reasons to make noise, and several reasons to keep my mouth shut.

To keep it brief... the other Chicago baseball team won a World Title. I have nothing to say about that except, congratulations to our "kindred" fans who waited so long... and WHERE'S MINE???

In the last week, I lost a very important entertainment figure in my life. I enjoyed his work when he was just starting his main-stream career... then as he flourished becoming more than just another member of his storied family... through his dark times and all-too-public battles with personal demons I know we all have faced at one time or another... to his even brighter successes. It's still too new for me to be over it, and I hope I never am.

And I lost an even more important member of my extended family, someone who meant so much to the people I care about. She loved my family, and my family returned that love to her family to the point where there really was only one family. That's how my family works, and she is a big reason why. Even though she has gone on to better things and better places, what she left behind will remain.

Thanksgiving is coming up next week... and I've never been more thankful for the people I've lost... not thankful that I've lost them, but for the time I spent with them.

This was supposed to be a precursor to talking about the Cubs and how they're not giving me reasons to talk about them... but I think I'll let this stand for a little bit and then give it a go.

2005-10-25T01:48:00.000-05:00

Welcome Playas!!!

Long time, no see... So, what's new Just West of THA STADIUM, you ask? Well, as I'm sure most of you have started to notice, my Seattle Seahawks are finally showing the dominance they've lacked the last three seasons.

The Defense, led by defensive end Grant Wistrom and defensive back Jordan Babineaux, looked amazing against the Dallas offense in the win on Sunday. As a season ticket holder since Seahawks Stadium opened, I have to say it was the best game I have ever seen from my perch in the South End Zone. After Josh Brown nailed the 50-yard field goal for the win, the place went crazy!!!

It was also the first time that I had ever had the pleasure (and it was a GREAT PLEASURE) of watching a game in the rain. That's right... since the Hawks moved outside of the dry confines of the Kingdome to open-air Seahawks Stadium, it had never rained during a game until Sunday.

It was just sprinkling for most of the game, but it came down pretty hard there for a while during the third quarter. Needless to say, I was soaked by the time Babineaux picked off the Drew Bledsoe pass with less than 15 seconds to go in the game to give Brown the shot to display a pathetic victory celebration only possible from a kicker... and we love him for it! Go Hawks!!! Get Well Soon, Hammer!!!

The NBA Season starts this weekend, the Utah Jazz have me excited to see how they can bounce back to their form of two seasons past. As long as the injury bug doesn't bite forwards Andrei Kirilenko (who I affectionately refer to as AK) and Carlos Boozer (who I affectionately refer to as... well, Boozer. What else?) again, I expect Utah to contend for the playoffs and maybe finishing atop the Northwest Division.

As for the other contenders, in order of their predicted finish behind the Jazz...

Denver should give the Jazz their best competition for the NW crown. George Karl took over this team midstream last year and led them to the playoffs. If Karl can control this young, talented team the way he did with Seattle in the late 90s, leading a young Sonics team to the NBA Finals, they could be a great team, winning possibly 55-60 games this season. Is that going to happen? HELL NO!!! Karl is great... in little doses. No team can take him for more than a season or two, which is why he hasn't lasted at any of his post Seattle jobs (including TV announcing). Karl can bring out the best in a club, but like Tom Coughlin of the New York Giants football team, who almost had a mutiny on his hands last year, he needs to relax and coach these young players to greatness.

With Nate McMillan out of Seattle, it leaves a large emotional gap to fill. Seattle still has Ray Allen and Rashard Lewis, but we will have to see how they handle losing the face of their organization since Woolly Mammoths roamed the planet.

Minnesota has more issues than I have time to talk about on this blog. They have Kevin Garnett and... Latrell Sprewell? Nope, got rid of him. Kevn Garnett and... Sam Cassell? Nope, got rid of him too. Kevin Garnett and... Exactly. KG... take the cash and. get out while you can.

Portland... Oh, lovely Portland. Where do I start with this team? The last time Portland was relevent, they had this guy named Rasheed Wallace. Even before they traded him to Detroit so he could lead them to two NBA Finals, they have had more issues on and off the field than any other team in the NBA. Guys... stop importing the good stuff from BC and play ball. Rebuilding means rebuilding the roster, not making up for losing the Vancouver franchise to Memphis.

Well, Playas... time for me to take care of the Honey Do list, which does not include this blog! Until next time... GOOO JAZZ!!!

2005-09-15T12:34:00.000-05:00

I know I'm extremely late this year, but I've just created the Just North of Wrigley Field Fantasy Football League. All CBA members and readers of this blog are welcome to come compete with me and my compatriates. E-mail me for sign-up information.

The league drafts on Saturday night in time to start scoring for week 2. There will be a three-week, six-team playoff structure. Depending on how many teams sign up, I may change that, but I hope to keep as many teams as possible interested in the league up until playoff time.

I've already got off to a great start in my other fantasy league with a Week 1 victory even though my tandem hoss running backs, Shaun Alexander and Ahman Green, went practically scoreless.

I'll use this space to provide updates on this team, the league that will start on Saturday and my newest league champions I'll draft on Saturday.

It's not like I'll have much else to talk about in the next couple months, especially with October right around the corner.

I'm still looking for evidence that the Bears will give me something worth talking about.

I'm at the point now as a sports fan where it's not about hope or faith anymore. I'm so tired of waiting and excuses why I should continue waiting with undeserved patience.

The Cubs. The Bears. Even the Washington Huskies... It's about success and failure. I want to see more of one and a heck of a lot less of the other.

If there is such a thing as a bandwagon, I'm not jumping off it. I am in no way less of a fan than I ever was or ever will be, but they're ruining the experience with their bad choices, poor efforts and paths which are diverging from greatness.

I'm not a fan because I demand no less than ultimate success, but I'm also not a fan because I'll accept abject failure in any of its forms.

I want to see results, gentleman. On the field, off the field. Between the lines, outside the lines. At the top of the standings, and moving up from the bottom.

It's time I started expecting as much from my real-life teams as I do from my fantasy teams.

2005-09-01T13:35:00.000-05:00

This from today's Chicago Tribune from our fearlessly inane leader about the playing time of Matt Murton and Ronny Cedeno:

"We're trying to win and observe at the same time," Baker said.

Well you won with them on Tuesday and observed getting one hit without them on Wednesday.

GAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

I take back anything I might have inferred about Baker keeping his job in my previous post.

2005-08-31T00:54:00.000-05:00

Make no doubt about it Cubs fans... 2006 is here now. Well, 2005 was over quite a while ago (losing a series to the Colorado Rockies immediately eliminates any team from playoff contention... it should be some form of post-season probation like they have in the NCAA), we just couldn't get 2006 started until we got rid of the slag from the roster such as Todd Hollandsworth and Matt Lawton.

My good friend and yours, Kurt from Cubs Fan Nation looked into the free-agent class for 2006 and made a list of the Cubs' options.

Go ahead and peruse the list and come back. I'll catch up on some TiVo, while I wait.

Now that you're back, I'll start by saying the Cubs are definitely going to look inside their organization and at non-free agents outside the organization to fill some of the gaps in the major league roster next year.

But they'll have a stack of cash to spend and they better get out there and spend it.

I want Rafael Furcal to play short and leadoff, Johnny "Captain Caveman" Damon to play center (maybe then, people would stop telling me to cut my hair), with Pie, Murton and Hairston sharing time at the other two OF positions.

I'm giggly at the thought of this lineup:

1. Furcal ss
2. Murton rf
3. Damon cf
4. Lee 1b
5. Ramirez 3b
6. Walker 2b
7. Barrett c
8. Pie/Hairston lf

ok... this might be a pipe dream to get both Damon and Furcal and still provide the necessary pitching upgrades for next year... but if we can only get one of them and re-sign Nomar to play either leftfield or short... I'm happy with that as long as our fall-back plan isn't Neifi Perez.

But the Cubs will have a left-handed hitting problem in the middle of the lineup if they don't acquire someone or bring back Burnitz.

Until I see concrete evidence to the contrary (like a video tape of someone leaving the GM Meetings early), I have no problem with Jim Hendry making the decisions with this year's team. My beefs lie with Dusty and Cubs ownership. I love the moves Jim Hendry has made.

The acquisition and development of players such as Matt Murton, Jerry Hairston, Ronny Cedeno, Rafael Novoa, etc., gives me ample confidence in Jim Hendry in this area. It's their use on the field (see also Dempster, Ryan) that pisses me off.

I don't see anything that Hendry's done that I disagree with. The ownership forced his hand with Sosa, and if I'm a team who needs a guy who can get on-base with some speed and pop I trade for Matt Lawton every time... it just didn't work out for us, but that's not Jim Hendry's fault.

He made the best move at the trade deadline that any GM made and he might have made the second-best move by trading him and Hollandsworth to, hopefully, force Dusty into playing Murton.

Every bit of success the Cubs have had over the last three years, I attribute to Jim Hendry, and I place my confidence in him.

It's funny that my birthday (Sept. 2) coincides with what I hope is a rebirth of the Cubs as a playoff contender.

There would be no better birthday present than to have the Cubs to show me that I can keep my hope alive... even if it just for next year.

2005-07-04T00:25:00.000-05:00

Let me recap for you the games I've been to this year.

Game 1, Monday, April 11: San Diego 1, Cubs 0

This is the game where Jeromy Burnitz blew two balls in right field accounting for the only run of the ball game and struck out three times, twice with runners in scoring position and two outs. Now, I never advocated his immediate release or an appearance before "the booing squad," and I'm glad I didn't because he's given the Cubs exactly what they expected from his acquisition, probably more. You'd think Derrek Lee would see a pitch above his shoetops about once a week, but he's obviously getting some hittable pitches and part of that is due to Burnitz's production.

Speaking of mvD, in this game he batted sixth and had two hits in four at-bats. Thank god he hit Dusty Baker over the head with Triple Crown-level production or he'd probably be batting behind Corey Patterson and Neifi Perez on a regular basis... Oh wait...

Game 2, Monday, April 25: Cubs 10, Cincinnati 6

Yeah, the Cubs won the game, but they paid for it for the next three weeks, losing 11 of 17 games.

It started off so well too. Mark Prior dominated early, scattering two runs, eight baserunners and 10 strikeouts over six innings while winning his third game in as many starts after coming off the DL for the first time.

The Cubs offense had done their part giving Prior a 5-2 lead - he decided not to push it after 106 pitches - and extending the lead to 7-3 going into the eighth inning.

Dusty decided he couldn't trust such a lead to Mike Remlinger and Glendon Rusch (the two pitchers who were available after he burned through Cliff Bartosh, Michael Wuertz and LaTroy Hawkins to get through the eighth inning) and got Chad Fox warming up in the bullpen to pitch the ninth the day after he closed out his first save of the season.

Now, I'm convinced that Chad Fox has about three people's arms pieced together to make an arm capable of doing a 12 oz curl, much less hurl a baseball past major-league hitters.

Yet that didn't stop Dusty from using him in three-straight games April 15-17. What does that have to do with April 25? After those three games, Fox had given up a total of one earned run in eight appearances. St. Louis slugger Scott Rolen torched him for a homerun four days later to extend the Cardinals' lead to 4-0 going into the top of the ninth, which didn't really matter since Chris Carpenter pitched a CG shutout.

Three days later he picked up his aforementioned lone save, needing TWENTY pitches to secure Kerry Wood's first win.

On the fateful last Monday in April, the Cubs piled on three more runs in bottom of the eighth, which didn't stop Dusty Baker from throwing Fox out there with a 10-3 lead. He faced five batters and retired only one of them, throwing THIRTY pitches... the 30th will probably be the last pitch of his career... another Dusty Baker-brand eulogy.

Well... at least mvD batted third.

The Cubs never fully recovered until they gave the closer job to Ryan Dempster and shipped LaTroy Hawkins off to someone else's disabled list in the best trade I've seen since Milwaukee got half a baseball team for Richie Sexson, with new and improved lemon scent.

Game 3, Friday, May 6: Philadelphia 3, Cubs 2

Speaking of LaTroy Hawkins... no, actually I'm not going to. I promised myself I wouldn't talk about this game anymore. Except to say...

Bad Friday... Bad, Bad, Bad Friday.

Game 4, Sunday, July 3: Washington 5, Cubs 4, 12 innings

Yeah, this brings me to today's game. Some of my favorite things happened in this game: A home run in the ninth inning to tie the game with bonus points because it was Aramis Ramirez. More bonus points for Aramis hitting it off everybody's favorite, straight-brimmed closer du jour Chad Cordero.

Jerry Hairston hit a leadoff homerun in the eleventh to cut the Glendon Rusch-provided deficit in half... and started in center. He also started in center in the lone Cubs win I've witnessed.

Yeah, he misplayed a ball in center which probably led to an extra Nationals' run in the 11th, but he also got on base three times in six plate appearances. If Todd Walker hadn't done his best Jeromy Burnitz impression, coming up empty in six PAs - twice with Hairston on base - and throwing a ball into short left field after misplaying a ball in the 11th, they'd be flying a white flag right now. Still, I don't know what got into Dusty, but let's hope it stays there if it means Hairston and Walker will be at the top of the lineup as we know it now.

Some of my least favorite things happened in this game as well: I like aggresive baserunning. If you have speed, use it. If you have limited speed, make sure you use it when you can. That doesn't mean you don't be careful when you're facing the most dangerous catcher's arm in the National League.

I thought when Dusty sent Corey Patterson out there to pinch run for Michael Barrett in the 10th, that was the only way he was going to keep from Corey hearing deafening boos even with the stadium half-empty. I was wrong. Not only did pinch running for Barrett result in an at-bat for Henry Blanco with the bases loaded in the eleventh, it ensured that Ronny Cedeno would be the only player left on our bench. This drew my ire immediately... then Corey broke for second. I couldn't even look... Nationals C Brian Schneider would have none of that...

Then he scored in the 11th... then he hit the game-winning home run in the 12th off Sergio Mitre.

When Dempster left the ball game after two practically-perfect innings, I railed on on Dusty's decision to pitch Rusch and Mitre, our long relievers, instead of Michael Wuertz and Mike Remlinger. And my worst fears came true when Rusch could only retire one batter and Mitre couldn't even finish off a full inning without giving up the deciding run.

Yeah, my record's not so good. However, I do feel like I've got my money's worth this year, even on Bad Friday where I got to see MVD solidify his MVP status with a go-ahead home run off Billy Wagner before the unpleasantness I won't talk about every again. So, I'll keep going to games, but maybe I'll hang out with Al in the bleachers instead, since that's where I sat the only time the Cubs won in my presence.

I'm not going to say I'm losing faith, but it is severely damaged. Losses like this make it easy to see the Cubs are far short of contenders for a playoff position. At one point I did have high expectations, but those expectations will not return until the Cubs make some impact acquisitions.

They should do it soon too to prevent anymore losses like this from happening. They need one more bullpen arm. They need more depth on the bench and another bat in the every day lineup... two birds we can kill with one stone by acquiring a centerfielder who can cover enough ground to make up for having Hairston in left and move Todd Hollandsworth and Jason Dubois, if we don't have to trade him, to our bench.

At this point, everybody is available except mvD, Prior, Zambrano and Aramis. Even if it's only incremental improvements, do it! We have the talent available on the major league roster. We have the talent available in our minor league system. And we have the cash to get something done (don't think I've forgot about the Sammy Sosa money you guys haven't spent yet).

My dream scenario would getting Carl Crawford and Danys Baez from the Devil Rays. Neither player would be cheap, and we'd have to give up a load of prospects because they have so many outfielders that they'd have no interest in Corey. It would probably take Sergio Mitre, Rich Hill, Todd Wellemeyer and a position player such as Matt Murton, Brandon Sing or maybe even Hairston.

I would give this up in a second, and I would look into trading Corey and Rafael Novoa to the Rockies for Brian Fuentes.

I have serious interest in Brian Fuentes. I'm familiar with him from his days in the Seattle Mariners system. They traded him and two other pitchers for the third baseman who will not be named. He's their only all-star this year, but he's been very effective as their closer. Over the last two months, he's held batters to under a .200 batting average with 30 strikeouts in 26.1 innings and 9 saves. Fuentes has actually been untouchable at Coors Field with 7 of his 10 saves, an ERA under 2.00 and only 1 home run in 23 innings.

He's the guy I really want to the Cubs to target. Would Baez and Fuentes be overkill, yes? Have a problem with that, son? Didn't think so.

With these two trades, we'd have a lineup that could look like this:

1. Crawford cf
2. Perez/Garciaparra ss
3. Lee 1b
4. Burnitz rf
5. Ramirez 3b
6. Walker 2b
7. Dubois/Hollandsworth lf
8. Barrett c

When Nomar comes back... this lineup would kill people. Our bullpen would look like this.

Rusch lhp
Ohman lhp
Remlinger lhp (who's really a right hander)
Wuertz rhp
Fuentes lhp
Baez rhp
Dempster rhp

Maybe you'd demote Ohman or DFA Remlinger to open up a spot to pick up another bench player, but if you can handle a bench of Hairston, Hollandsworth/Dubois, Macias, Cedeno/Perez and Blanco, our bullpen would be just as stacked as our lineup. How's that for a change?

This team is losing it's chance to stay in this race and there are players available who can help. It's up to them now. mvD and Aramis did their job as all-stars. Kerry Wood and Mark Prior did their job coming back from injury. And we've done our part supporting the team.

It's up to the front office to get something done and get something done soon.

They're the faith healers.

2005-05-06T23:56:00.000-05:00

"Booed while jogging to the mound as he left the bullpen, Hawkins was jeered roundly after blowing a save opportunity for the 11th time in 18 chances since the start of the '04 season.

I'm not going to make any comments about this afternoon's game... in fact, I'm trying to forget the whole last week happened, but the Tribune has provided me with the perfect opportunity to make me feel better about myself by making fun of their stupidity.

I'm talking about the above sentence from this Tribune article of course. If I had a red pen, I'd be opening up a vein on this sorry excuse for filler... but I don't think the gorgeous wife would appreciate me ruining another monitor in this fashion since the paper of version of this story won't be here for a few more hours. Oh, but then the party starts!

First, a herd of oxen could be staggered in its tracks by the amount of passive voice in that sentence written by Paul Sullivan. Booed by who? Jeered roundly by who?

I sat in the first row of seats behind home plate after the section the Cubs added last year... Section 26, row 1. This is just to the right of home plate as you're facing the pitcher's mound. If I were just to the left of home plate, I don't even want to think about the raunchy vocabulary I might have picked up from these crazy fans who were practically hanging over the dugout to give LaTroy Hawkins an earfull.

Secondly... 11 blown saves in 18 chances since the start of the '04 season? uhhh... he had 25 saves last year. I don't know how many saves he blew last year, but I'm guessing he had more than 25 chances last year alone if he saved 25 games. If not, there's some crazy closer voodoo going on I'm not privy to.

Looking over LaTroy's stats (yeah, fancy that. I call it fact checking.), there's something obvious about the difference between Hawkins in '04 and '01 and Hawkins in '02 and '03.

I was going to make you guess... but interactivity isn't this blog's strong point at the moment. Yes in '04 and '01, Hawkins was the closer, albeit ineffectively, so his save numbers are remarkably higher. And in '02 and '03, Hawkins wasn't the closer, with the Twins giving the job to "Everyday" Eddie Guardado (a converted left-handed setup guy) creating one of the best one-two, righty-lefty punches in the American League. They also won league titles in both of those years.

...but there's something else there. Hawkins didn't just lose the closer's job he held in '01 and 2000. They didn't just demote him to a setup role. They took the end of the game completely out of his hands.

In 2001 with Hawkins at closer, the Twins finished in second place in the AL Central, six games back of Cleveland. Hawkins not only saved 28 games, he finished 51.

His last two years with the Twins, he saved a total of two games while cutting almost 4 runs off of his ERA. That's like subtracting a-whole-nother pitcher from your stats.

Most telling for me... he finished only 27 games out of the 139 he pitched. And like I said earlier, the Twins won AL Central titles both years.

We all know what happened for the Cubs last year, but everybody looks at his decent ERA and low number of baserunners per nine innings and assumes he wasn't horrible.

He didn't perform consistenly horrible last year. He pitched marvelously during the first two months of 2004 when he wasn't the closer. After getting the closer's job, he became extremely hittable for the next three months before finally settling down in September when it was too late.

I see a lot of promise in LaTroy Hawkins, but not in the way Dusty Baker has used him since Joe Borowski went on the DL last year.

It's very surprising to me how some hack with a mouse and broadband can click over to a well-known website and find some of these stats, but the management of a team owned by one of the biggest media conglomerates in the world can't figure it out when the problem has caused five of their last eight losses... nor have they done anything to fix a problem that has existed long before that.

2005-05-06T21:17:00.000-05:00

I want to be very clear. I’m writing this, not because I see any value in this issue whatsoever. I’m writing this because I see absolutely no value in this issue whatsoever. Over the last two weeks, I have attempted to write about issues where I do see value, but I found it very difficult (and obviously impossible) to finish the article witht he ability to see the same value I had before I started writing the article.

Cryptic enough for you? No, you say. Then check out the next paragraph.

In summation: when it comes to this blog, I suck. My ideas have sucked. And the topics I care about suck. Talking about their past sucks. Talking about their future sucks and talking about their present just makes me want to cry. And when I write about them, everything sounds like it’s coming through tears... and I don’t want the president to sound like that. I’m going to have to get over invoking Toby Ziegler one of these days sometime, but it’s not going to happen until I have stopped getting punched in the guts on a daily basis... and that’s after having scooped them off the floor and put them back in.

Now onto the topic which has no value whatsoever...

The Cubs Blog Army, where I’m proud to serve, has went on the offensive with regards to the start of 2005 MLB All-Star Player Voting.

MLB has made it even easier this year to fill the ballot Chicago Style, by letting you vote 25 times per computer... per e-mail... per day... instead of just 25 times per e-mail AND auto filling your ballot for you, so it takes no time get multiple votes in.

Of course our beloved Cubbies have made this more difficult by nominating a double-play combo that hasn’t played (and won’t play) the majority of the games alongside pathetic outfielders (except Jeromy Burnitz), while the rest of the nominees (Derrek Lee excluded) has slumped badly.

Of course, this isn’t going to deter our CBA Brain Trust from our mission to get as many Cubbies on the team as possible... even the ones that aren’t on the ballot.

The ballot contains two slots for write-in candidates... and we’re UUUUUUUsing them.

It makes sense when there are two players in the starting lineup for the Cubs making major contributions who aren’t on the ballot. Of course I’m talking about our unlikely savior SS Neifi! Perez and our Screw You, Dusty! savior 2B Jerry Hairston, Jr.

I give Dusty credit for giving Neifi! a chance to start every day after Todd Walker and Nomar Garciaparra’s injuries. He’s always had a superb glove at either middle-infield positions, but he’s given the Cubs offensive production which has far exceeded anyone’s expectations, even if Neifi! has started to regress towards his career norms (which I partially blame on Dusty screwing around with his lineups so frickin’ often).

I’m hoping Hairston has made himself similarly irreplaceable with his invaluable production as the lead-off hitter the Cubs have sorely lacked. Even when Walker’s potent left-handed bat returns, Hairston needs to be at the top of the lineup every day, whether that’s at second base or in the outfield.

Neifi! has made a big enough impression to beckon the call of the CBA’s biggest hitters.

Al Yellon of Bleed Cubbie Blue and the ever-changing and growing group of superstars at the Cub Reporter (kind of like a Beloveds Boy Band) have joined their respective garrisons in effort to get Neifi! a starting berth on the All-star team as a write-in candidate (yes, the write-ins carry over in the auto-fill portion of the online ballot).

I'm all for writing in Neifi (and Jerry Hairston)... but we need to think about this.

Who are the most popular names among shortstops on the NL All-star Ballot? There's Rafael Furcal... most famous for his rap sheet. Clint Barmes... a little time away from Coors will cure that. Alex Gonzalez... no, not that Alex Gonzalez, but not that far removed, either. And David Eckstein... only because he plays for the Cardinals, which is reason enough to not vote for him.

None of these guys are worth of starting an All-star game. And neither is the most likely candidate to win the popular vote at the position... Nomar Garciaparra.

He's still the most popular candidate available. He plays(ed) for a superstation team. And he'll get a lot of votes from AL ballots because they recognize him from his turn in Boston.

He's the Cubs' best shot at getting an All-star representative right now, especially with Aramis Ramirez struggling. Unless Ramirez gets hot over the next month, Rolen will run away with it based on his defense and fan support alone.

It would be amazing to get Neifi! in as a write-in candidate. It would show everyone just how powerful our fan base is and erase the indignity of Ramirez losing the Last Man Standing Ballot from last year's game to vanilla Bobby Abreu.

But realistically, if he actually deserves a shot at an All-star berth when July comes around, isn't Neifi!'s best shot as a reserve or an injury replacement? Getting Nomar elected - a much easier task - would increase Neifi!'s chances greatly.

If the Cubs miraculously turn it around and make the NL Central a competition instead of a redux of 2004, the NL authorities could look to Nomar’s replacement as Nomar’s replacement, especially if he’s one of the big reasons his team is in contention.

One solution I propose is writing in Neifi! at second base in place of Walker, writing in Hairston as an outfield selection in place of Todd Hollandsworth and continue voting for Nomar.

The other idea I’ve had is to join our online forces with another well-supported, tech-savvy American League team, where’d we vote for their candidates in exchange for them voting for our Cubs. Before the ranks of the CBA exponentially grew this offseason, there was a team whose support could rival ours: the Seattle Mariners. They have passionate, well-informed and extremely-diverse fans, and they practically got their whole team elected in 2001.

I agree that whatever the Army decides the marching orders should be would be the best thing, but we need to weigh all the options and scenarios to best ensure success.

Cause what's the point of having an infantry if it's not a Mobile Infantry? Service Guarantees Citizenship... or something like that.

2005-04-13T20:45:00.000-05:00

"So if you exclude the times that he gets on base, his OBP is .000. Good argument."

Somebody wrote that in a happening-more-and-more thread bashing our beloved centerfielder Corey Patterson.

Unfortunately with Corey's performance so far this season, it doesn't take that much to get such a number... small sample size ya know.

I don't care how many games he gets hits in, I'm watching what he's actually doing while he's at the plate, and he's still swinging for the fences and failing miserably.

To be a good lead-off hitter you have to take pitches (something Corey doesn't do), especially leading off the game, so the rest of the lineup gets to look at what a pitcher has on that day and get on base two times in five at-bats, no matter how you do it.

He's not productive enough to be batting leadoff for this team, especially now that there's a position available for Jerry Hairston, who has walked as many times as Corey in less than a third of the at-bats.

Right now Corey is a blind squirrel who's found a nut in less than half of the Cubs' games to this point.

Corey needs to be getting his one single per game down in the six or seven spot in the lineup. He doesn't deserve his spot in the lineup right now... actually since August of last year. And if it weren't for his defense, he wouldn't deserve a spot in the lineup at all.

Hairston, Todd Hollandsworth/Jason Dubois, even Derrek Lee would make a better 1-2 combination than Bad Corey leading to Sucktastic Neifi Perez (even though he opened up a big ol' Can on the Padres today).

Here's what I suggest, as if anyone actually cared about my lineup fetish:

1. Hairston 2b
2. Lee 1b
3. Garciaparra ss
4. Ramirez 3b
5. Burnitz lf
6. Dubois lf
7. Patterson cf
8. Barrett c

If you think it's a waste of Derrek to bat him in a position where Dusty would foolishly have Derrek sacrifice himself to advance a runner one base, then switch him with Nomar, so they can hit and run more (which will be better with a lead-off hitter who can actually get on base), or Dubois or Hollandsworth.

By the way, although I don't condone Neifi Perez playing most of the games since Todd Walker fell victim to a Milwaukee-style whacking (CUBS FANS! Let's remember this next time the Brewers are in town and when we go up there in May), I agree with Dusty that this was a completely media-fabricated story, I agree with Hairston for not liking being on the bench and I agree with Len Kasper when he said today that it wasn't a big deal Hairston came out and said just that.

Didn't we trade a guy this offseason because he didn't like being on the bench and, instead of talking about it, just left... for Hairston?

I'm giving the guy a break. Dusty's pulling his chain because he's not one of "his guys" (I still can't figure out what makes Neifi Perez and Jose Macias his guys.), and the result of starting his first game at second since Todd Walker's injury was a Cubs victory. Hopefully, this will give Dusty a reason to follow through on his promise to start Hairston more as it just changes the whole dynamic of this offense to have a top of the lineup capable of providing runners for Aramis and Derrek and Nomar.

As far as wrestling goes... I purchased WrestleMania 21. I enjoyed WrestleMania 21. And I can't say the same about the two post-WrestleMania 21 offerings.

It's like they blew out all of their good ideas and storylines just getting to WrestleMania 21... which isn't a bad thing, but they need to have something to keep interest since they have a PPV coming up this month too.

They need to hire somebody just to revamp the ending of their shows. I think the wrestling is on cruise control right now. I can't remember the last time I saw a truly horrible match that didn't involve Chris Masters... but their endings lately have given me a huge case of the huh?s.

Last Monday (yeah, I'm talking about last Monday. It's my damn blog and I'm trying to clean out the closet a little bit.), they didn't have anything going on that show, but they had Randy Orton, fresh off a loss to the Undertaker at WM, running an injury angle and challenging newly-crowned World Heavyweight Champion Batista to a non-title match.

I loved the match, even though Tommy thought it should have been a bigger squash than it was (for you non-wrestling insiders: that's when a guy beats on a guy for two minutes or less and wins without the other guy taking off his feather boa).

Batista did win quite impressively as it was, and if they didn't give the match the proper build with Orton coming back from his injury he blames Batista for, which will hopefully lead to a SummerSlam Main Event in August, the post WrestleMania Raw, normally one of the biggest shows of the year, would have been meaningless and not worth watching.

They couldn't even have a good ending to the show with Triple H coming out and golf clapping to end the show for who knows what reason... I think we could have done a better job... by we I mean me, David, Chris, Tommy or the tree he likes to piss on.

It gets even worse with the ending to the latest edition of Raw... with Batista coming out for his first interview as World Champ with Good Ol' Jim Ross in the ring. Not to be left out of any spotlight segment, Trip comes down and Batista backdrops him completely out of the ring and to the floor for his trouble, which Trip then follows by challenging... Jim Ross, the older than dirt, Bells Palsy-ridden Oklahoma Sooner, to a match for the following week.

Let's look at this... Triple H vs Jim Ross is the main event for next week's Raw. The 10-time Worlds Champion competing against a play-by-play announcer. Questions abound!

Who the hell is writing this stuff?

How the hell can Triple H just come out and say JR has to get in a ring with him?

Under who's authority?

What the heck is in it for JR? He's not a wrestler. He doesn't want to be a wrestler.

And what exactly does Triple H get out of it? We already know he's a complete ass clown... the only way this match works is if it leads to Batista jumping in to save JR and taking the Pedigree, but they'll still have to justify having the match happen at all and it kind of ruins some of Batista's coolness by making him a guy who actually cares instead of a cool, tweener type.

The worst part is the whole segment scored a 4.8 rating, and it's probably 4.8 units worth of viewers they wasted on a nothing segment.

Maybe Batista has what it takes to hold on to those kind of ratings, but even he can't overcome the weak scripts they're handing him... just ask Kevin Nash.

2005-04-01T12:58:00.000-06:00

It's Moving Day!!!

Yes, that's right everyone. Skippy is moving south about two miles! Now, I am Directly West of Seahawk Stadium. I will have to post some pictures of the view from my new place, as it is one of the best views in town.

To pile on to what David said earlier, James will have to deal with his beloved Greg Maddux mooning him (he learned from Randy Moss) from the Skippy Hits Homers team charter (David has a bus so I bought my fantasy team a jet). How do you like me know, James?

I liked the Idea of getting a bunch of stuff of my chest so here we go:

Utah Jazz: SEASON FROM HELL!!! Boozer out for the year, AK out for the year, Lopez out for the year. NUFF SAID! Okur looks great though! Can we get Andrew Bogut, please? He wouldn't have to go far. Come on, Kevin O'Connor! You have a job to do. DRAFT BOGUT!!! It's really sad, but this it the first time I can remember really caring about the draft before the playoffs even start.

Seattle Seahawks: Interesting off-season to say the least. Signing Matt Hasselbeck to a nice, long contract is a start, but we either need to lock up Alexander or trade him. I'm gonna miss Kenny Lucas this season. He was slowly becoming one of my favorite Hawks. Good luck in Carolina, Kenny! You will be missed.

Anthony Simmons... Same for you, brother, good luck!

I am very excited about one thing this season though (no not the SeaGals, but they are nice too): playing against Philly.

One of my employees is from Philly, and that is going to be a war of words all season. I would love to see the schedule masters make that the last game of the season. That would mean a whole season of trash talking. Go Hawks!!!

Seattle Mariners: Thank god for baseball. I am going crazy not having any LIVE sports to watch. If anyone wants to hook me up with Opening Day tickets, I promise I won't say no (call it a house warming gift). Hopefully the offensive fire power we acquired this offseason can make an impact, so I'm not sitting here waiting for football to start!

I, like James, went hard and heavy drafting guys from my home-town boys for my fantasy team. I nabbed Ichiro (.400 this season?), Richie Sexon, Adrian Beltre, and Joel Piniero. This should be fun because I might actually pay attention to this fantasy team! (Ed. note: FAT CHANCE! You'll be too busy drunk and passed out on the floor of your "team charter". Which you'll have to sell to pay for the chiropractic you're going to need from the crink in your neck from looking up at me all season long.)

Race Season: The Champ Car season starts in just nine days, Sunday, April 10th on NBC!!! The race starts at 4:00 pm EST (1 pm for those of us on the "Left Coast"). This promises to be one of the greatest seasons in recent history. Drivers are lining up to return to "REAL" open-wheel racing (we aren't afraid to turn right). Plus the sponsors are jumping at the opportunity to return to Champ Car.

It's only a matter of time before those whiny, little IRL head honchos are begging Champ Car to combine. Gentlemen Start Your Engines!!! Danika, come back from the dark side, sweetheart. We will miss you!

Well, y'all, that's about all from Just West of Seahawks Stadium. On a sad note... I want to say goodbye to my kitty Missy, who passed away early this morning at the ripe old age of 16. You will be missed Missy. R.I.P. Meow!

2005-03-31T17:24:00.000-06:00

You received advice from a wise man? More like a wise guy, says I. Too bad your string of Cub-ness didn't run through your own draft. :P

Folks... Betrayed by the wireless network he had come to trust, the Dietermeister, himself, found a few of his beloved Cubs slip through his fingers. It looks like in our little fantasy league that Prior, Garciaparra, and Ramirez will be waving at the Wrigleyville team from The Trappers' Bus.

I don't have much to contribute in the way of sports talk at the moment... My work schedule has been rather brutal of late. The recent focus of the world on a certain little debacle in Florida is something else that galls me. The moment shall pass without my commentary though. The last thing I want to do is embark on a political diatribe on the Internet at the moment.

So I guess I'll just sign off before I fall asleep on my keyboard.

SIA'NME

This has been a Waste of Space

2005-03-28T17:01:00.000-06:00

I know I haven't written anything on here in a while. A lot of that has to do with steroids. No, I'm not off the juice, nor was I ever on the juice... but everytime I'd start to write something, It would end up as a rant about steroids.

I'm pretty hurt right now as far as that goes. Most of the pain comes from a childhood watching these guys and I don't know what to believe anymore. They won't even answer the questions. Or if they do, they could be lying, plenty of them have lied in the past, trying to make a profit or both.

Not one cell in my body has ever trusted MLB... at least not with a car salesman at the helm. So it wasn't much of a surprise to me to find a ton of ambiguity in their zero-tolerance policy.

I have so much to say on this topic. I've said a lot of it before, so you can scour through my archives if you want.

I've got a lot to say about a lot of things right now, which is also part of the problem, maybe steroids or uppers - not covered under MLB's new drug policy - would have helped. I sit down a lot and don't know where to start and definitely where it ends.

I told somebody recently, if I was writing a book it wouldn't be a problem. I could talk about a hundred different things and just wrap it up later, but I don't really have the time, space or captive audience to do that here.

As a wise man advised me recently, here's a couple quick things to get off my chest, so maybe I can move on...

The Bears: Love them right now. I'm excited about Mushin Muhammad, Eddie Berlin and Fred Miller. Even though I'd love for them to pick Mike Williams over Braylon Edwards or trade down, I haven't heard a bad pick associated with the Bears in any of the mock drafts I've seen.

The Huskies: That would the be the University of Washington Husky Dawgs!!! WOOF WOOF WOOF!!! I went absolutely nuts when they announced the Huskies as the final #1 seed for the NCAA Tournament. I was at the bar, of course, and I was screaming and hollering like a maniac. I never expected that all. I expected Wake Forest or maybe Louisville, who eventually bested the Dawgs in the regional semi-finals, or Connecticut. I was hoping for a three seed at best, and they blew me away.

It was fun while it lasted. I sported my Huskies #1 jersey even when I was working at the bar, even as it was apparent they weren't going to beat the Cardinals. They really didn't play well, and losing Nate Robinson, a player-of-the-year candidate, for most of the first half with foul trouble killed our chances. I'd like to say they'll be back next year, but they probably won't. Sure, they'll have a shot to pull down their second-straight conference title, but it won't be for another two years when we'll see a team like this... Yes, that's right kids. The Huskies actually have a recruiting class this year. WOOF WOOF WOOF!

Brackets: Like everybody... don't even ask.

Wrestling: Dave Batista... IS GOD! That is all.

Fantasy Sports: Ahh yes... at least I have this to keep me going. My basketball teams all have a shot at winning. All of them are in striking distance, if not leading.

If you've stuck around this long, you've come to the real crux for my awakening... It's the Just North of Wrigley Field Baseball League, of course. Anybody who wants to join, e-mail me and I'll send you an invite. I'd love to just give out the league info and password to everybody, but I've had a couple bad experiences this year with guys joining up for multiple teams in a league and ruining the league by collusive trading and causing whole teams to dump their whole roster in protest.

All is not doom and gloom though. Earlier, I made reference to a "Prior Engagement" which prevented me from getting one of those wristbands on the first day. Well, that was my first fantasy draft of the season, which happened to be for an NL-only league with only 10 teams in it.

Which meant Cubs galore for me!!! Oh, I did not disappoint either. Having the eighth pick in the first round, I grabbed Mark Prior (Aramis Ramirez went the pick before, and he won't trade him to me!) and followed with Nomar!!! at pick 13. My good Cubbie fortune continued with the Zammer himself fell to me at pick 28 and Derrek Lee was astoudingly available at 33. (See, it's hard to trade for a first-round pick like Aramis, when you can't give up any of your first four picks yourself.)

Because the other teams caught on, I couldn't keep my string of Cubs going, but I did finish off the draft with Michael Barrett at catcher, LaTroy Hawkins as one of my closers and Ryan Dempster. Although I was really hoping for Dempster to come out of the bullpen, but I guess with Prior going on the DL to start the season, I might need him to fill out my innings. Without Prior and Brad Penny to start the season, my pitching has an obvious weakness, but my offense is a good mix of power and speed, and if Hawkins and Guillermo Mota don't give me the best bullpen, I'm moving to Canada where they don't care about baseball... oops, sorry Kurt.

My other teams are great too... but I don't have time to talk about the hundred teams I've drafted, but what's five more right? So everybody in the Cubs Blogosphere, hurry up and come join my fantasy league before it's too late.

To make a long post even longer... I just got one of those useless e-mails from the Cubs that popped up on my yahoo! messenger. "From: cubs.com; Subj: 2005 Insider #4 - Wood will start Wednesday".

When I saw that, I thought maybe they've moved up Kerry to start the last game of the series in Arizona, which is a Wednesday, more on that in a second.

...but of course the news couldn't be that good, or good at all. They're actually pushing back his FIRST Cactus League start since March 9 to Wednesday instead of tomorrow.

None of this is because of any setbacks, like that would be a shocking development though, it's just to have him build up his pitch count and get on a time schedule where he'll pitch his following game against Triple-A hitters on April 3, and be ready on April 8 for the home opener against the Brewers.

I guess I'm happy with whatever keeps Kerry Wood from missing a start or having to go on the DL, but I was thinking earlier how good it would be to get Kerry a start against the Diamondbacks, pushing Greg Maddux to the home opener.

It's not for any sentimental reason, I just don't want to expose Maddux to the horrors of Bank One Ballpark unless necessary. His numbers there are across-the-board worse than his numbers at the Friendly Confines. He's lost three of his six starts without a win, while averaging just over 5 innings per start. It's a homer friendly park, and he's a fly ball pitcher. It's a mix to avoid if possible.

But apparently, that's not possible. So we'll get Zammer, Mad Dog than Demp, with Wood opening up at Wrigley.

On a somewhat-related note. The Prior situation isn't as dire as it may seem, if we can believe his assertion he'll only miss two starts. Actually he says, he'll make 30 starts (instead of 32-34), which isn't the same. I have no problem believing he'll only miss two starts. As our "fifth starter", we only need him a couple times before the end of the month.

Now, I'm hoping this means he'll be back in 10 days around the 12th or 13th (if they have to DL him, it will be retroactive so he can come off at any time). If he comes back on the 12th, he actually wouldn't miss only one start and then they can follow with Wood on the 13th, effectively resetting the rotation: Prior, Wood, Zambrano, Maddux, Dempster. IF he's not ready by then, the Cubs will have to start Glendon Rusch, who's either a colossal waste of money or incredibly under-utilized, or Sergio Mitre on the 12th.

With another off day on the 14th, working in Prior to the rotation without messing with the timing of the other starts gets difficult. If he opens the Pittsburgh series, that would mean a week between starts for Zambrano, Maddux and Dempster, six days for Wood, before getting back to Prior at five. If it's not the 12th, the 19th would be the next most logical time to bring him off the DL, and shuttle either Mitre or Jose Macias off the roster, right boys?

Now, I'm kinda rambling... so I'll end with an excerpt from cubs.com, which was the real reason I'm talking about Prior.

Mark Prior will try to keep his record perfect in simulated games when he takes the mound on the back field on Monday.

Does anybody know why the heck anybody, including Carrie Muskat, would care what Prior's record in simulated games was... or even what it means to be perfect in them?

2005-03-24T14:30:00.000-06:00

Just because I haven't written in a while, this is all I have to say right now!!!

GO DAWGS!!! WOOF WOOF WOOF!!!!

2005-03-01T00:09:00.000-06:00

I love American Idol.

I have to say though that I missed most of tonight’s show. Mostly due to the fact that the Utah Jazz were playing a nail-biter game against the Los Angeles Clippers, that my homeboys actually won.

There is one other reason I was a little distracted during “Idol” but I don’t need to get into it... Ok, I was drinking. But I have to say what I saw of “Idol” was pretty good.

I am really impressed with the fact that the producers have picked the people that are a little different than what they have put through in the past.

For those of you who have avoided watching in the past because everyone is the same, I recommend you watch (it’s not like you could miss it, it’s on three nights a week).

American Idol would make a great drinking game. Here are the rules:

1: Drink every time Ryan Secrest insults Simon.
2: Drink every time Simon says that a singer was bad.
3: Drink TWO SHOTS every time Paula Abdul says she didn’t like the song selection.
4: Drink every time Ryan Secrest announces a commercial break. Hey, it’s three minutes and fifty seconds of great drinking time. What else are you going to do?

Good luck making it through a show without getting trashed!!!

Ok, this has been your drunken update from Just West of Seahawks Stadium.

P.S. Mariners tickets go on sale Sat., March 5th. Wristbands not necessary.

2005-02-27T18:06:00.000-06:00

The 2005 Oscars are tonight... 7:30 pm CST on ABC, if you're scoring at home.

Last year's Oscars were a highlight of 2004 for me with Lord of the Rings: Return of the King sweeping all of their nominations.

Tonight the field isn't so one sided. In fact, the polygonal representation of this year's Oscar categories would be a trapezoid, if it were anything.

And with Chris Rock hosting, there's sure to be controversy before they start handing out the awards.

Here's who I think will win with a secondary choice (which is often who I think should win).

Supporting Actor
Winner: Thomas Haden Church, Sideways
Runner-up: Morgan Freeman, Million Dollar Baby
My Thoughts: It would be about damn time for Freeman. I still can't believe he didn't win for Shawshank Redemption, but I love that the Academy didn't shy away from Sideways and Ned, you know who I'm talking about, deserves to get his comedic props.

Supporting Actress
Winner: Cate Blanchett, The Aviator
Runner-up: Natalie Portman, Closer
My Thoughts: Hey, I can't deny Amidala... "You will vote for Natalie Portman"... but I think Blanchett helps avoid another shutout for a Scorsese movie (Gangs of New York), if he doesn't do it himself.

Foriegn Language Film
Winner: Yeah, right. How long did it take you to question my sanity? Only major categories in this post, please.

Actor
Winner: Clint Eastwood, Million Dollar Baby
Runner-up: Jamie Foxx, Ray
My Thoughts: Let's see... Don Cheadle is incredibly underrated and probably deserves this award. Johnny Depp and Lenardo DiCaprio are incredibly overrated and probably still deserve this award. Clint Eastwood is just plain incredible.

And Jamie Foxx is incredibly screwed in both categories for his career-changing performances in Ray and Collateral.

Actress
Winner: Hilary Swank, Million Dollar Baby
Runner-up: Kate Winslet, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
My Thoughts: The last time Swank won, her acceptance speech made more headlines than her performance. Winslet could fix this problem for us by keeping her off the stage by virtue of her performance in the quirky film with the long name. I'm still not sure what Jim Carrey has to do to get more recognition for his performances of late.

Director
Winner: Clint Eastwood, Million Dollar Baby
Runner-up: Marti.... not this time (I hope I wake up tomorrow besides my wife and not a horse's head. heh.)
Runner-up: Alexander Payne, Sideways
My Thoughts: If old hands Eastwood and Scorsese find a way to cancel each other out, I think Payne has an excellent chance to take this and the Adapted Screenplay categories. This movie doesn't have the momentum of Million Dollar Baby and the Aviator will win more awards, but I'd be shocked to see it completely shutout.

Animated Feature
Winner: The Incredibles
Runner-up: Shrek 2
My Thoughts: If Shrek 2 winning foreshadows a later event, I'm alright with that. What's the point of this award if Pixar wins it every year?

Motion Picture
Winner: Million Dollar Baby
Runner-up: Sideways
My Thoughts: Ok, even I know the real runner up will be the Aviator, if it doesn't win, but I'm stumping for Sideways with absolutely no shame. It wouldn't surprise me if this category breaks the tie between Million Dollar Baby and the Aviator as far as total Oscars go.

This Oscars will have a much more contentious nature, and I'm looking forward to the tributes to Johnny Carson, etc., but just like last year there will be a major highlight for me.

Original Song
Winner: "Accidentally in Love", Shrek 2, Music by Adam Duritz, Charles Gillingham, Jim Bogios, David Immergluck, Matthew Malley and David Bryson; Lyrics by Adam Durtz and Daniel Vickrey.
Runner-up: "A Bunch of Loser Songs", A Bunch of Loser Movies, Music by a Bunch of Loser Musicians; Lyrics by a Bunch of Loser Songwriters
My Thoughts: If my Counting Crows don't win this award, I'm seriously boycotting next year's awards. The highlight of this year's awards will be seeing the Counting Crows perform the best song they've written in years.

This will also be a fitting tribute to bassist Matt Malley, who "quit" the band recently. I don't know if he'll be there tonight, but I'll be thinking about him the whole time. He signed my ticket from the first Counting Crows show I ever saw way back in 1997 at the Paramount Theatre in Seattle.

It was by total chance he was exiting the theatre as my parents and I walked past on our way to the ferry. I thought it was cool just to shake his hand, but he offered to sign my ticket as well.

He's powered a lot of the soundtrack of my life ("Mr. Jones", "Round Here", "Recovering the Satellites", etc.), and I'll miss the little guy.

2005-02-25T19:06:00.000-06:00

Seahawks Sack Sure-handed Snagger: Self-Exiled Seattle Supporter Saddened.

Although it doesn't come as a surprise, I'm still a little sad to see that the Seattle Seahawks released Jerry Rice. Perhaps it seems a little strange since he spent so little time in a Seahawks uniform, but it is based in how my views on football have changed over the past decade or two.

When I was younger, I used to watch football, and the only thing I kept track of, or remembered, were the big names. Denver and San Francisco weren’t playing... Elway and Montana were going at it with the title of Comeback King on the line.

In this era, I grew to loathe the big names that would stomp on my favorite players. I grew to dislike Rice and a certain Smith more than most. I would abhor any ‘name’ linked with a franchise team that wasn't MY team.

As I matured, I began to realize there was more to a team than just the 'Stars' of the team. I began to notice the big players were big because of the 'lesser' stars supporting them. I realized that without the five guys that were the pocket, the likes of Aikman and Favre would only be known by the particular color of stain they left in the grass.

This is one of the reasons I didn't play high-school football. My school just changed coaches... and the new players had no concept of teamwork. The team would talk trash and walk tall when they were doing well, but as soon as their selfish attitudes started to bring about their downfall the players would injure the patella of their mufshagrumbleIwannabeonthebench.

(I didn't make that word up... the physical trainer swears he heard it.)

This lack of teamwork, by its absence, helped to illuminate the fact that it was a living entity on many teams in modern sports.

So, we have come to my modern-day perceptions. I realize there will always be those showboaters making fools out of themselves, their teammates and disrespecting their opponents just get themselves some extra exposure on SportsCenter. I won't mention any names here (*Cough* RandyMoss *Cough*), but some antics of players are a bit over the top.

But even as these peacocks strut about trying to garner looks, I find myself drawn more towards the players that just get in there and do what they can for the team. One particular moment provided example of that kind of player.

Cowboys All-Pro RB Emmit Smith, a player I had previously despised, injured himself trying to sell a fake run... a play-action pass. A play that doesn’t work unless the running back plunges head first and down like he’s an eight-pound bowling ball headed for four-foot tall pins with no expectation of personal gratitude.

It wasn't his call, but he sold the play so well it resulted in a touchdown... and his injury.

This brings me back to the Jerry Rice issue. I watched him out there on the field. I was there when he played in what might be his final playoff game. He would run hard and play every moment like he hadn’t already put up numbers Hall of Famers got a neck cramp looking at.

Even in his twilight in Oakland and Seattle, he would bust his hump trying to help his team. But in both cases, I think his teams didn’t utilize him as they should have. I can't count how many times I saw Hawks QB Matt Hasselbeck throw a risky pass into double coverage... when Rice was wide open somewhere else. That happened enough for me to view him as a playmaker still.

The thing of greatest import, however, was his demeanor. If Jerry was flipping over backwards, and he just touched the ball with one finger, he was angry if he didn't catch it. The rest of the team, suffering from Seahawks’ disease would drop one that hit them in the numbers and just shrug their shoulders. And that attitude, more than anything, is what is going to make me miss Jerry with the 'Hawks having released him.

The preceding Waste of Space was brought to you by David, the Internet, and the letter Q.

2005-02-23T23:15:00.000-06:00

The Line Stretches Down Waveland at 5 p.m. - 02/23/2005

This Way to the Wristbands - 02/23/2005

I didn't get my wristband yesterday. The prior engagement (pun, intended) came through, so I got a late start on my adventures yesterday (but I'll have more on that soon). And by the time those adventures took me to the corner of Clark and Waveland, the line was longer than I had time for. No worries for me since the Cubs were nice enough to open up the Wristband Wracket nice and early tomorrow morning.

Since I have to work tomorrow as I said in the previous post, this works perfectly with my schedule. I'll be able to get my little Circle of Trust-y Baker (very bad, I know), not have to stand in line forever to do it (though that was actually a pretty fun part for me last year) and have enough time to get a work out in before I have to trudge my way back up to Casey's.

All of this was just to say I had done it and to pick up another collectible for my "Wrigleyville Scrapbook," not necessarily to try my luck for Cubs tickets on Friday... until the Cubs announced they will retire Ryne Sandberg's number this season after he's accepts induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Sandberg is my second favorite player ever to don a Cubs uniform, a close second to the Hawk, Andre Dawson. I wear an '89 model, Sandberg road jersey - which would be a "throwback" if it weren't actually a hand-me-down from '89 - proudly, and it's now a mission of mine to have my tickets for that game in hand well before, unlike my usual day-of-game M.O.

So, I'll have my wristband by tomorrow morning, and I'll wait for them to call my number on Friday, and if I happen to be working at Casey's at the time, Casey will just have to live without me for a few minutes. I don't think anyone would begrudge me.

BTW... Wrigleyville Sports is an awesome store right across the corner from Wrigley Field on Sheffield and Addison. Between that store and their website, they have everything a Cubs fan could ask for... except those damn Cubs Believe Bracelets. I say this as a PSA on their behalf...

They don't have them, and they won't until mid-March. Stop opening their door, poking your head in, getting rebuffed and turning tail without even crossing the threshold or saying hello. I'm sure the pretty damn cool staff would appreciate it.

Also, when the dumbasses their warehouse contracts to customize their authentic jerseys misspell Sandberg, it ain't their fault. Don't call and harass the store. They had nothing to do with it. Don't ask them to send you a new jersey on the spot. They're definitely not going to do that 'cause morons, they ain't. I'm not kidding, somebody actually misspelled Sandberg.

The guys there last night were kind enough to let me size up a few jerseys for fit and style... like I said, I'm working out. I can't just depend on what my shirt tag says anymore.

I'm very close to taking the plunge on my first Cubs jersey. Kurt and I have had a pretty lively discussion about this on his blog. I'm getting really close on my redesign to where I can implement comments on this version. After that, I might even reach the pinnacle of blogging that is polls (for more pole... I mean poll enlightenment visit the Sloth) where I could ask something like what I should get on my Cubs jersey.

I could always get a jersey with my name and a football number on it (I would never pick a baseball number 'cause me was really, really bad at anything baseball related, except the getting hurt part), but that would have a hard time living up to the awesomeness that is the Bears jersey my great friend David, who be re-exiled to So Cal as we speak, gave me.

I've leaned heavily towards a Nomar Garciaparra jersey ever since his acquisition, not only because he'll be a leading force on this team in production and presence, but because he means something special... a paradigm shift for the Cubs. In an otherwise dreary season, his acquisition was a major highlight. I'll never forget where I was on July 31, or who was sitting in the seat next to me on August 1 when he donned Cubs pinstripes for the first time. A Nomar jersey would be more of a collector's item for me than anything; something to symbolize and commemorate my first year in Wrigleyville and possibly frame and hang on my wall, if I don't wear it out. But to do it right, I need to get a 2004 edition instead of the new, home-model jersey for this year with just the numbers and no names on the back. And I'll have to act pretty fast on that, if my tip from the Wrigleyville Sports guys comes correct.

Which brings up other possibilities such as Derrek Lee, Mark Prior, Carlos Zambrano, etc... if the unthinkable happened, and they didn't maintain their Cubness for the long term, I don't think any of these guys will have built a legacy that would make me want to still wear one of their jerseys after they've signed with another team.

And as far as "just the numbers on the back" goes, it would be like a game of jersey roulette if, for example, Zammer vacated the number 38. I could end up with a very expensive Renyel Pinto jersey.

There is one current, short-timer who I probably lean towards most of all. Again, I wouldn't want just the number 16, but there are several reasons why Aramis Ramirez is the front runner right now.

Now kiddos, do like Skippy does when he's trying to look even more like a monkey than he already is and put your fingers in your ears, close your eyes and say, "la, la, la, la" while I say reason number 1:

HE KICKS MUCHO ASS-O!!!

Ok kids, you can stop. DAMMIT SKIPPY! THAT MEANS YOU TOO! Don't make me come over there in May.

Reason number 2: He's my wife's favorite Cub. Yes, her favorite player is still the Mariner Moose, but at least she has a favorite Cub and that's more than I could have ever hoped for.

Reason number 3: well... I'm not going to say for it might ruin the surprise. Let's just say if, again, the unthinkable happened, I'd be able to find it a suitable home with someone who'd appreciate it and still be able to wear it proudly, until this person changes their name. That's way too many hints, but I'll give bonus points to the person who figrues that out.

...but when it comes time to make your jersey decision, I implore everyone to shop at the local business instead of just shelling your money over to the Tribune Co. and MLB. We're all giving them plenty already, and they already made their money on this with the license fees. And even better, do it online where it will take shorter to process the order (with free shipping, since we're already shelling out the big bucks) and make sure to click to their site from someone in the Cubs Blog Army. That way they get a commission off the sale and everybody wins on this!

I have a lot more to come in the next couple days, but that's plenty enough of this for one night, but I stand by my declaration in the since-circulated CBA e-mail. I'll be hanging around Wrigleyville most of tomorrow and Friday. If anybody wanted to send a salute my way, send me an e-mail and I'll let you know how to get a hold of me.

Good Luck, everybody!

2005-02-23T10:57:00.000-06:00

As I'm sure everyone knows, tomorrow begins the first step to buying individual game tickets for 2005 as the Cubs will give out wristbands required to purchase tickets on Friday, unless you're gonna try your luck with that dang ol' Internet, man.

Living in Wrigleyville as I do, I'll be down there. I don't know when since I have a prior engagement (pun intended, hint hint), but they start handing out the plastic bands of power (last year they were orange) at 11 am. Thursday they'll start at 7 am.

If any fellow members of the Clark St. Cavalry had the same plans and would like to convene before, after or just stand in line and stamp our feet together, send me an e-mail and I'll provide further contact information.

Last year, the line was much longer on day two than day one, but it was still at least an hour wait.

On Thursday, I'll be at Casey Moran's, if anyone would like to stop by there... they're having karaoke, though that's not until much later.

Good luck everybody!

2005-02-11T22:18:00.000-06:00

Hello there in Bloggerland! This is Skippy coming to you from the Land of the Mormons. That's right, Salt Lake City, Utah.

I am here to introduce my fiancee to my family (she was a little scared). But I figured... why waste a perfectly good trip to Utah without seeing my Jazz play in person?

Boy, did I pick the right game to go. The Jazz whooped up on the lowly New Orleans Hornets (which shouldn't surprise anyone). The seats were awesome, as well. We actually had nosebleed seats (upper bowl, row 11), but due to the Jazz' less-than-spectacular-record, we ended up 13 rows from the court. (Ed. note: BREAKIN' THE LAW! BREAKIN' THE LAW!)

I have to say I was not impressed with the Utah fans. In a game when the home team is winning by twenty points, you would expect them to be going nuts. But the upper-bowl fans were the only ones making any real noise.

So here is my challenge to the Utah fans. Prove me wrong. Just be loud, people.

I remember back in the day when my parents and I had season tickets. The place rocked. The seats literally shook. Visiting teams used to fear coming to Utah to play the Jazz because the fans were so loud.

I know it hard to cheer when your team is losing, but it's not going to hurt is it? Let's hear it the next time the Jazz play on national TV.

OK, enough of that. So, all in all, my trip to Utah was great: A Jazz win, 12 inches of fine Utah powder and some great time with my wife to be.

Well y'all, this has been an update from Skippyland. Where the doors are always open, but the rides they ain't free...

2005-02-02T17:46:00.000-06:00

"Yes, the Cubs will pay him his "true market value" to play for somebody else next year..."

I said that in my post Saturday night... and apparently, I was wrong (I'm writing a lot like Ron White these days. I sure hope I don't get brought up on copyright charges or something). Oh, somebody will pay Sammy Sosa his true market value next year, but it's not the Cubs...

They'll pay a lot more.

When I wrote that on Saturday, I was talking purely in terms of salary. And maybe someone, somewhere could make a case Sosa is worth the portion of his salary the Cubs will pick up for 2005. But the amount of monies Sosa will "earn" in 2005 doesn't stop there.

Here's a breakdown of those monies:

Salary:

2006 option buyout:

Contractual severance pay:
-----------------------------------
Total Due Sosa:

$17 million

$4.5 million

$3.5 million
--------------------
$25 million

That's a whole lot of money, and Sosa will get every cent of it next year whether he passes today's physical or not.

Ok, funny thing just happened (it's also kinda why this post took so darned long). I'm writing about this and my Yahoo Messenger pops this at me:

1 new message: From: cubs.com; Subj: BASEBALL NEWS: Sosa goes to O's, Burnitz becomes a Cub.

So apparently, I can talk about this in a more official nature, specifically the amount of money the Cubs will "save" with this deal.

The AP has reported the full details of the transaction including the changes to the four-year, $72 million contract Sosa agreed to before the 2002 season.

First off, Sosa has waived the contractual provision stating his option years in 2006 and 2007 would vest automatically, if the Cubs traded him. He has, in effect, voided the options altogether, changing the $4.5 million dollar option buyout for 2006 into an "assignment bonus." The Cubs have to pay him this money by March 15.

The Cubs also have to pay Sosa a $3.5 million severance package by March 2.

Also, Sosa's contract runs over a 12-month period, which means the Cubs have already paid Sosa $1,307,692 of the $17 million in salary Sosa will earn this year. This will count against the money the Cubs are sending to the Orioles in this transaction.

After all is said and done, the Cubs will send $6,842,308 cash along with Sosa to the Orioles for 2b/of Jerry Hairston, Jr., minor-league RHP Dave Crouthers and minor-league 2b Mike Fontenot, the 19th-overall pick in the 2001 amateur draft.

For those still on this ride, let's recap shall we.

Total Due Sosa:

"Assignment Bonus":

Contractual severance pay:

2005 salary already paid to Sosa:

Cash paid to Orioles:
-------------------------------
Cubs payroll savings:

Amount Cubs will pay Sosa
to not play for them next year:

$25 million

-4.5 million

-3.5 million

-1,307,692

-6,842,308
--------------------
$8.85 million

$16.15 million!!!

That kind of money can buy major talent in today's market. Heck, that's more than the Cubs will pay Nomar this year, before he earns all those incentives. Of course, it's not as simple as saying the Cubs have $8.85 million more to spend this year.

In the deal, the Cubs took on $1.8 million from Hairston's salary and whatever they'll owe the two minor leaguers (whatever it is, it's not important enough to add).

And of course, Master Hendry couldn't bear to have that much money lighting up his payroll ledger, so he spent a whole bunch of it today on OF Jeromy Burnitz - $5 million of it to be exact.

To recap:

Sammy Savings:

Jeromy Burnitz:

Jerry Hairston, Jr.:
---------------------------
Total:

$8.85 million

-5 million

-1.8 million
------------------
$2.05 million

So, the Cubs essentially traded Sammy Sosa - an icon, a legend, a first-ballot Hall of Famer, who finished third on the team in homers though he played in only 126 games - for Jeromy Burnitz, Jerry Hairston, Jr., two minor leaguers and $2 million.

Now, there's a good chance Burnitz and Hairston could match or exceed Sosa's production, since it's no guarantee Sosa and the Cubs could co-exist in 2005 (THAT MEANS YOU DUSTY!). They certainly give the Cubs something Sosa wouldn't: speed, versatility and left-handed power.

But if not, that better be one happy-ass clubhouse.

2005-01-31T22:24:00.000-06:00

Say what?

So, I found this shirt on E-BAY (my newest addiction). At first, I was a little excited that maybe one of the shirts from when the Utah Jazz made the NBA Finals in '97 and '98 had slipped through the cracks. But no...

The above shirt is from the 2000 season. It took a little time and a little research, but I remembered Utah didn't even make the Conference Finals that season.

So what was I to do? I had to bid on this priceless mistake. I won the auction for a eye-popping $1345.

Oh wait, I forgot the period. It was only $13.45. My bad.

I will post more when I get the shirt, but for now I am just wondering where this came from. When was it made? WHY was it made? For now, I'm just going to revel in the fact that my Jazz won the championship.

OK, they didn't really, but hey my shirt says they did. Which one are you going to trust the NBA or my shirt???

(Ed. note: That's if the shirt is something other than a figment of your imagination... kinda like the Jazz ever winning a NBA title, past, present or future. Ooooh, Burn! Score one for Wrigleyville, baby!)

2005-01-29T11:51:00.000-06:00

Yes, just in case anyone out here in the Cubs blogosphere was wondering... that was me on CLTV all day today.

A CLTV reporter "ambushed" me at about 10:00 a.m. at the corner of Clark and Addison while I was on my way to work and asked me about Sammy Sosa.

They didn't really want to know about the trade and who we got and what I thought about the team next year.

They wanted to know what I thought about Sammy Sosa and the way he left. I got the distinct impression, they wanted me to call him a bum and say wishes had come true (camera crews from another tv station came to Casey's with the same goals in mind and found what they were looking for).

...but I didn't do that. I don't believe that. He's an icon of Chicago sports and forever will be. He's hit the most homeruns by a player in Wrigley Field history.

He's definitely in the decline phase of his career, but that doesn't erase 13 years and almost 600 homeruns.

He'll get into the Baseball Hall of Fame by the middle of the next decade. And when he does, he'll be wearing a Big Red C on his cap (ok, it will be a Big Bronze C, but you get the point).

Even battling injuries, boo birds and Cubs management, he still hit 35 homers. Most players would take that during the apex of their careers.

Yes, the Cubs will pay him his "true market value" to play for somebody else next year, but there is this matter of the $7 million left over, and the Cubs have to use that to make up for losing Sosa.

I'm waiting for them to complete this deal to analyze it. If they dont spend this windfall (is this getting familiar Mariners fans?), it's a bad move.

He's not a top-10 OF or anything, but he's still a useful player when used properly unlike last year. If the Cubs go into next season with an outfield of Corey Patterson, Jason Dubois, Todd Hollandsworth and, occasionally, Jerry Hairston, Jr., they'll have problems scoring runs, and I'll have seven million reasons why not to go to as many Cubs games as I did last year.

If the Cubs management see this as a necessary move based on Sosa being too much of a distraction going into Spring Training next month (I dare you to not smile while saying or thinking that), they share some of the blame for that.

That's mismanagement of resources... and an inability to have any control over their players.

There's plenty of blame to go around. Cubs management, Sosa, the fans for booing him, the media for blowing this way out of proportion and painting Sosa as the bad guy in this without questioning why the Cubs would want to bad mouth a player they're trying to trade...

These were the statements I tried to avoid with a microphone in my face. I'm not sure if I did since I don't get CLTV on DirecTV and therefore haven't seen my own statements or their presentation (though I'm told I get a cool voiceover of Sammy hitting a homerun or something).

I'm trying very hard not to have the last month of his last season influence what I think of him, but I can't help but thinking about Ken Griffey, Jr. in the Fall of 1999.

I guess I still harbor ill will toward Griffey for bolting the Mariners and the city of Seattle (where I lived at the time), but it's not the same since he forced the trade out of Seattle. But as far as I know, Griffey never skipped out the final game of the season either.

This should have not ended this way. It's a very sad situation. This whole exit strategy Sosa and the Cubs employed in this situation sucks for the fans most of all.

They've denied us the right we have to send off Sosa, an icon of Chicago, if there ever was one, like the Mariners did with Edgar Martinez this year.

I had readied myself for the sight of Sammy in another uniform since his 2006 option brought along an obscene $18 million payroll hit. But I never thought it would end so abruptly and ugly.

There will be no last run out to rightfield. No last hop out of the batter's box. No last curtain call.

A player of his legacy and stature deserved that. We all deserved that... and we're all to blame.

Now, the coolest part about being on TV today was the incessant ringing of my phone while I was at work. Oh wait, actually it wasn't my phone. It was my grandfather's... in Florida.

Apparently it only took a couple hours for CLTV to get my interview on the air, someone who knew me and knew my grandfather to see it and inform him that they had just saw his grandson on TV talking about Sammy Sosa (something that anybody who knows me knows I'd love to do for a living, if any large, Chicago-based media conglomerate is listening).

I have been interviewed a few times. Living and working around Wrigleyville, there's no shortage of reporters in and around Wrigley Field with nothing better to do than hang out and ask random people random questions just sniffing for a story, Cub-related or not.

But I had no idea whether they had used my interview until I got a break from work to check my voice mail where my grandpa had called and accused "the Big TV star of big timing him and not answering his phone call."

It took me a second to get what he meant, and then he laid the news on me that he had talked to people who had saw me on TV. And the more people he talked to, the more people turned on their TVs to find me.

Apparently, CLTV doesn't have anything better to do that run clips of me talking about Sammy Sosa every 40 minutes or so.

So now there are recording devices at work, conference calls planned, satellites hooking up in outer space (except mine cause I don't get freakin' CLTV and neither does the bar)... and all of them centered around a grandfather who couldn't be prouder of me.

Even if he's just saying that, I never get tired of hearing it. And I'll never get tired of giving my grandfather reasons to be proud of me. There are simply much worse excuses out there to do something.

I'm working on getting a copy of it myself, and when I do, I'll try and post a transcript of it here.

Until then, it's just another chapter of Living in Wrigleyville.

Oh yeah... how are those Jazz and Seahawks doing Skippy? heh heh.

2005-01-20T23:07:00.000-06:00

"Seahawks Disease"... who will catch it next?

Will it be the New England Patriots? (Beat Seattle in Week 6.)

You'd hope two championships in three years would be enough of a vaccination (if such a thing exists).

Will it be the Atlanta Falcons? (Lost to the 'Hawks in Week 17.)

Other than the Patriots putting a whuppin' on the hapless, headless Indianapolis Colts (Coach Tony Dungy lost a lot of points with me last weekend), no team impressed me more going into the Championship Round than the Falcons.

Both the Patriots and the Falcons have something in common... they both came in contact with six "potential carriers" of Seahawks Disease this season.

This could mean they're going to start showing symptoms OR it could mean they have built up a tolerance by now that neither the Philadelphia Eagles or Pittsburgh Steelers will have the immune system to fight off.

Either way, I don't see Atlanta being affected by the most caustic symptoms of this affliction: Stone-Handed receivers. Even if their wideouts don't catch a single pass, they're still dangerous as long as QB Michael Vick and RB Warrick Dunn can brave the harsh climates on the field and in the stands at Lincoln Financial Field.

The Patriots, however, do need their wide receivers to be productive to keep the Steelers' defense off of Tom Brady, open up alleys for Corey Dillon (GO HUSKY DAWGS!!!) to run and keep their defense off the field and out from under the tires of Jerome "the Bus" Bettis.

While I'm shocked Pittsburgh is the underdog in the AFC Championship at their home field after a 15-1 season, you get that respect when you're the defending Super Bowl Champions.

After the way Pittsburgh beat the Jets last week, is there anyway this game doesn't come down to a Field Goal with no time left on the clock?

And last time I checked, "Seahawks Disease" doesn't affect kickers.

Predictions: Patriots 34, Steelers 33. Falcons 37, Eagles 24.

Falcons vs Patriots in Super Bowl XXXIV in Jacksonville, Fla.

...but shouldn't Seahawks fans like Dave and Skippy hope not that there's a cure for "Seahawks Disease", but that they've grown immune (like that little monkey in the movie Outbreak that miraculously got better) and will therefore be virile and healthy while other teams find out what a wasted season looks like?

Because I haven't talked about the Cubs in a while, I'll finish with this.

The Cubs are taking the names off the backs of their home jerseys. I'm ok with this, but without the names and an up-to-the-minute scorecard, how the heck am I gonna know who's playing leftfield?

I mean... Kelton, Dubois, Hollandsworth... WHO ARE THESE PLAYERS?

OK... Seinfeld, I'm not. But tip your waitresses anyway.

2005-01-15T22:27:00.000-06:00

I tried to warn them; They never listen.

Due to prolonged exposure to their divisional rivals, the Rams managed to contract a fatal illness. During their divisional-round game against the Falcons, they demonstrated an advanced form of "Seahawks Disease."

This condition has symptoms such as poor hands on the receivers and key-play turnover-itis. Even the announcers managed to witness and remark upon the Rams "pronounced case" during the unfolding events at the Georgia Dome this Saturday.

I only hope despite two extended periods of contact with the Rams, who might be a carrier of the playoff-ending ailment, the Falcons will remain healthy. I would hate to see this malignant legacy of the Seahawks spread any further. (I also hope to discover a vaccine or some other innoculation to prevent a re-currence of the condition in the Pacific Northwest next year.)

This is David, and I'm Wasting Space.

2005-01-10T18:16:00.000-06:00

0-4

I have never been so wrong in my entire life. I can't believe that I got all of those picks wrong.

What happened to Green Bay??? I never expected Brett Favre to throw more picks than touchdowns. I have to say Randy Moss didn't disappoint me in proving he is a five year old in a grown man's body. His fake mooning of the Green Bay fans showed so much disrespect. I can't believe "the League" won't fine or punish him. I can't wait to see what the boys on PTI (Pardon the Interuption, 2:30 Pacific, ESPN) have to say about it.

My poor, poor Seahawks. What else is there to say about them??? I was about 100 feet away from Bobby Engram when he dropped the final pass. There is no more fitting end to this season than a dropped pass in the endzone. Our defense let St. Louis throw the ball deep down the field on multiple plays, mostly on third down. St. Louis had a 69% third-down conversion ratio. The League averages almost 38%. St. Louis also had multiple, third-and-long completions (third and 16, third and 12, etc.).

Did Denver even show up for the game??? I was right that Peyton Manning would throw for four touchdowns, though.

I think San Diego saw the rain and didn't know how to react. That was by far the best game of the weekend. A missed punt, overtime, a rookie kicker winning the game in overtime... What else could you ask for??

The only home team to win was Indy. Home field didn't mean anything this year.

I'm sorry for any of you that put money on any of my picks. I am normally so much better at picking than that this. Oh well there's always next week!!!

Tune in later for our interesting PPV commentary.

2005-01-07T15:02:00.000-06:00

For those who didn't toil around this blog last year when it was in its infancy... I suggest you check out the archives in January where I pretty much predicted correctly the outcome of every playoff game last year.

This year will be no different, so get yourselves to the nearest betting window, as I lay down my picks this year.

NFC Wild Card Games

NFC West Champion
Seattle (9-7)
vs.
#1 NFC Wild Card
St. Louis (8-8)

Headline: Redemption!?!?

Seattle has a chance to avenge the defeats that sent their season into a tail spin. The big question is: will they???
PREDICTION: St. Louis 21, Seattle 24
Seattle advances

NFC North Champion
Green Bay (10-6)
vs.
#2 NFC Wild Card
Minnesota (8-8)

Headline: Continued Domination!!!

Can Minnesota mount an attack to counter Brett Favre’s continual domination of Minnesota in the playoffs??? Hell no!!!

PREDICTION: Minnesota 17, Green Bay 34
Green Bay advances

AFC Wild Card Games

AFC West Champion
San Diego (12-4)
vs.
#1 AFC Wild Card
NY Jets (10-6)
Headline: Running Wild!!!

Which young quarterback will make the least mistakes. Can the J-E-T-S stop double-threat LaDanian Tomlinson from running all over them, or will it be the other way around? Will NFL rushing champ Curtis Martin run wild in the San Diego sunshine?

PREDICTION: San Diego 27, Jets 17 (3 Pennington INT’s)
San Diego advances

AFC South Champion
Indianapolis (12-4)
vs.
AFC #2 Wild Card
Denver (10-6)

Headline: Rematch Times Two!!!

These two teams played each other in the last week of the season and in the first round of the playoffs last year. Can Denver repeat with a second straight win? Will Indianapolis show Denver the difference between this offense run by Peyton Manning and this offense run by Jim Sorgi?

PREDICTION: Indy 31, Denver 34 (OT) (Peyton throws 4 TDs; they still lose.)
Denver advances

2005-01-06T13:46:00.000-06:00

Here's something I've posted over at Tommy's

Any slack-jawed yokel who's watched WWE for the last two years could have scripted last night's Raw, especially the ridiculous Hassan vs JR and King segment.

All they had to say to open the show was birthday and Oklahoma Sooner, and I knew for a fact he was gonna get double the beat down a guy usually gets.

They do it every time.

Too bad this time JR couldn't have had a mic so he could scream... "I'm gettin' slobberchoked. SLOBBERCHOKED. SLOBBERCHOKED!" "He's whippin my hide like a guvmint mule" "OW... He just stomped a mudhole in me and walked it dry."

I've thought of one good payoff to this angle (other than people seriously hating Hassan)... maybe it will bring Steve Austin out of hibernating for a WMXX1 match?

I think Steven's neck would handle it just fine. It would just be a five-minute beatdown, with JR getting the pin and then a 10-minute, beer-drinking session to follow. Even if he is fat and ugly (and that's just the good side of his face), I have no problem with him getting some in-ring PPV time. He's pretty much deserved it for putting up with all the McMahon's crap all these years.

This was definitely a show for the young guys... which makes me wonder whether they have a New Year's Resolution in mind at New Year's Revolution.

Giving Jericho, Orton or Batista the belt at the next PPV would start that off right.

Not that I expect it to happen.

I'm writing this from Washington where my Just North of Wrigley Field boys will be getting together on Sunday to watch the PPV and on Monday for the ensuing Raw. It's gonna be a blast, though it looks like we're gonna get pounded by some snow.

Which will be cool since I have playoff tickets to see the Seahawks play the Rams on Saturday. I'm gonna love watching them St. Louis boys freeze their butts off and get them handed back to them.

2005-01-03T14:34:00.000-06:00

I have never been the type to say I told you so (OK, yeah I am), but Andy Reid... I TOLD YOU SO!!!

Your back up players couldn’t even compete against Cincinnati??? Thinking twice about resting your starters??? Thinking twice about who your starters are going to be in two weeks when my Seahawks come to town???

You should be!!!

The reigning NFL Champions kept all of their starters in for almost three quarters of a game that meant nothing to them. But Philadelphia Eagles Head Coach Andy Reid pulled his players for the last TWO GAMES of the season (both losses). No team has ever lost the last two games of the season and made it to the Super Bowl... EVER!!!

Start looking for a job now, Andy. Just don’t expect anyone will want a coach who has consistently wasted the amount of talent you’ve had. You seem to be fine that your starters (if you can call them that) will be rusty against Green Bay, a team I’m sure remembers the Eagles ended their run in the postseason last year (in overtime).

You snuck by last year (maybe the last three years). Do you think you are that lucky, or that good, to do it again?

You lost Terrell Owens to injury, and you coached your team scared for two weeks it might happen again. At least that’s what I thought. Now I understand why you were really afraid.

Your bench players scare you more than any other team in the league. I saw the way Cincy dominated you. The rest of the league also saw it. You aren’t as scary as you were two weeks ago when no one wanted to see you in the second round of the playoffs. You have given teams the confidence you aren’t a dominating force rolling towards the Super Bowl without a challenge.

Teams know you are beatable, and you better feel lucky if you get the chance to lose your fourth-straight NFC title game.

Again, BE AFRAID ANDY, BE VERY AFRAID!!!

2005-01-03T13:52:00.000-06:00

SHUT UP AND RUN, SHAUN!!!

Let me start off by clearing up that statement. That’s the title of this post (which you already have some background info on if you’ve already read my partner’s post), and it’s also my battle cry for the 2005 postseason.

It may seem as though Shaun Alexander is the Seahawks’ only weapon, but let’s not forget D-Jack (Darrell Jackson). There’s that one guy, uh, what’s his name... that’s right it’s JERRY FREAKIN’ RICE (although not the weapon he once was, I seem to recall more than a few amazing catches).

Alexander can feel mad as he wants because the last time I checked, it’s the Seattle SEAHAWKS, not the Seattle Shauns, that are NFC West Champs. Besides, had he not got tackled in the back field three times on Sunday, he might have made it without that one-yard TD run.

Let me also point out that one-yard run would have only tied for the lead. If the defense had stopped the Falcons from marching down the field and eating up the clock on the last drive, Shaun could have got his two yards. We could also look at the dropped interception by Ken Lucas that would have given the Seahawks the ball with plenty of time for a running play or two.

I’m not going to point to any of those things as the problem though. Yes, it sucks he didn’t make it to some personal achievement, but I only blame one person: Shaun Alexander.

So many times, I have sat in my seat and watched guys weighing 50 pounds less bring himi down while he tries to break off a big run rather than taking the four-to-five tough yards. I see him take the easy way to the turf rather than spinning off of the tackler or pushing the pile forward for a few yards.

Shaun, you need to look no farther than yourself to find out why you didn’t get the title. Look at the four fumbles you lost - two potential game winners. That’s more than enough for the title right there.

Also remember that Shaun is only in his fifth year in the NFL, do you honestly think he will never have another chance at the rushing title.

Just shut up and run the ball, Shaun. Prove your point by showing what you can do with the rock not by whining about what one yard would do for your free-agency value. You will still get a butt-ton of money to play football.

I hate to say it, but I really don’t care if he gets it from the Seahawks next season. As a Seahawks season-ticket holder, I would much rather have a player willing to play his part on a TEAM to win a Super Bowl.

Place the blame where you like, but the fact of the matter is you have more important things to worry about. A.K.A. The St. Louis Rams.

So Shaun, get the tears out of your eyes and stop being a distraction before one of the most important games in franchise history.

Will a Super Bowl Ring make up for it? Well, get your ass out there and win one. We have the weapons, and we have the talent. We just need to prove it to ourselves, our critics and our fans.

2005-01-03T08:18:00.000-06:00

When I asked a couple weeks back about wide receivers potentially available in the 2005 draft, I thought the Bears would need options since they'd be picking 10th or 12th, maybe seventh at best.

Well, looks like I wasted my time looking at Braylon Edwards (like the Bears want to go get another Michigan receiver) because the Bears, by virtue of their loss to Green Bay yesterday, have landed the #4 pick.

That means one thing...

Mike Williams WR USC COME ON DOWN!!!

Get thine ass in a Bears uniform ASAP, bee-yotch!

Carlos Beltran OF HOU COME ON DOWN!!!

" Cubs uniform ", bee-yotch!!!

(Update: Here's a story on the Trib about the Bears 2005 draft outlook. David Haugh thinks they'll go after an offensive lineman with the No. 4 pick, but I'm hoping he just wanted to type the name D'Brickashaw... and apparently type it often in the coming years. Williams, you sports-writer bee-yotch!. Williams, you'll type it much more often. Trust me.)

In all likelihood, this will be my last post before I depart tomorrow morning for Seattle.

It seems like the Seahawks finally showed some fortitude in those itty-bitty things they like to call balls and secured a home-field playoff spot. Therefore, it’s quite possible Skippy (who has season tickets and has endured watching the Seahawks all year long), David and I will be in attendance.

The Seahawks reward for their successful, goal-line stand to stop a game-tying, two-point conversion is a rematch against the St. Louis Rams, who they’ve already crapped their pants against twice.

Remember back with the Seahawks were the darlings of the NFL and a sure NFC title contender? They started the season with three-straight wins, including two on the road. Then the Rams came to visit Seahawks Stadium the first time, and the Seahawks did everything they could to blow that game, including losing it in overtime after having a 24-10 lead going into the fourth quarter.

A subsequent loss to the Arizona Cardinals (yeah, the Seahawks by their lonesome almost made the Cardinals playoff contenders, barely beating them in Week 16) evened their record at 3-3.

Just when impressive wins against defending NFC champion Carolina and at San Francisco, blow-out style, may have left the doubt behind, they dropped another one to the Rams, scoring only 12 points, in a stretch of losing three out of four (Remember Monday Night in Dallas, boys?).

I give the Seahawks a lot of credit for coming back after that and even making it to the playoffs. Yes, their final three wins were against inferior competition (Minnesota, Arizona and Atlanta – who had nothing to play for), but considering two of those teams are playoff teams, that’s what the entire NFC is.

So, if the Seahawks can find some momentum in fighting hard to end the season on a strong note and get at least one home playoff game, they have a shot in the NFC.

For instance, they beat their St. Louis Rams jinx on Saturday and setup a matchup against Terrell Owens-less Philadelphia (heck, who wants to see them lose a fourth-straight NFC title game) or Atlanta, who they just proved they can beat.

Of course, beating the Rams is no sure thing, but here’s something I’d like Chris to talk about.

There’s news coming out of Seattle concerning Shaun Alexander, the Seahawks’ star running back. Apparently, he fell one yard short of leading the NFL in rushing, and he isn’t happy about it.

If you read the above column, it goes a little deeper than just a yard. Alexander, Coach Mike “Mount” Holmgren, sports writers... all are throwing around allegations about the Seahawks’ final play, where they scored a touchdown from the one-yard line on a QB sneak.

Of course, Alexander is the sole reason they ever get to the one-yard line in the first place, and this was no different. But instead of giving the ball to Alexander, they called Hasselbeck's number on second and goal, therefore denying Alexander a share of the rushing title.

Now even I know a division title is more important than a personal achievement, and the QB sneak worked, but this better not be personal between a player and his coach. That would be seriously messed up. Besides, why would Holmgren want to alienate his best (only) offensive weapon the week before a crucial game in his tenure?

Does he really want Alexander pissed off at him when he’s a free agent after the season? Maybe that’s his plan.

Speaking of plans... the plan as of right now is to get Chris, David and me together on Sunday for the first joint Just Another Pay Per View venture for WWE’s New Year’s Revolution. We’re working on a couple things, but the plan is to update this blog as the PPV goes on. We’ll update time and other info as we get closer.

This should be pretty fun since Chris and David will have nothing better to do than get boozy as I moderate it all! Fun! Fun! Fun!

2004-12-29T20:11:00.000-06:00

Tommy had some thoughts on the lastest Raw I found interesting.

As for the World Title situation? The whole Quickest Pin contest was a good way to fill a show with a common theme.

I got to thinking about it, and I don't have a clue who's coming out of the Elimination Chamber with the World Title, though I'm afraid it's going to be centered around the current and former members of Evolution, Triple H, Batista and Randy "I'm barely sentient" Orton.

I feel like the direction to go would be for those three to screw each other out of the title, and have them tussle with each other all the way to Wrestlemania. You could have them eliminating each other at the Royal Rumble, and have them trade wins all the way to Wrestlemania.

But not over the World Title.

Also, I'm thinking Edge is moving toward a Wrestlemania feud with Shawn Michaels. This is my gut saying this, more than my head. But I think you can go all the way back to Taboo Tuesday, where HBK took Edge's title shot, and HBK possibly screwing Edge again (either percieved or actual) in the Elimination Chamber.

To me, that leaves Chris Benoit and Chris Jericho without a real direction moving toward Wrestlemania XXI.

There have been rumors of a Benoit/Kurt Angle cross-promotional match at Wrestlemania. If I were Vince and the WWE, I'd do just that.

And, you give Jericho the belt out of the Elimination Chamber. He's a former World Champ who doesn't get the attention as a World Champ that others get. Give him another chance.

Also the Vince McMahon dream promo of Royal Rumble? With the Raw and Smackdown crew going to rumble Sharks v. Jets style? That was great...

And here's how I responded on his site. Yes, this is a copout as far as posts go, but it is what it is.

yes... the promo is easily the best they've ever had.

They are keeping their focus on the World Title, which isn't hard to do when six people will be fighting for the belt in two weeks.

hmmm... Jericho as champ? That would definitely be a twist. Unless they pull a major swerve, there's no way Michaels lets HHH, Edge or Orton leave with the title. Way too much history. Way too much animosity.

Benoit and Y2J have had their battles with HBK, but they're on much better terms.

Batista is the wild card. He doesn't have any history with Michaels other than his affiliation with Evolution. But I can't see them giving it to a first timer... unless it comes with a partnership with HBK... Diesel-style!

I can't say the last time I've had this much interest in a PPV that wasn't a Big Four event.

A Batista-HHH-Orton, pull-apart feud leading up to a match at WrestleMania 21 would leave the title scene thick as MO-lasses going into Backlash.

Not a bad thing from where I sit.

* hitting head repeatedly *

(Argh!!! Stop channeling J.R. It's not a good thing for a Chicago city boy to be talking like an Oklahoma Sooner, no matter how much you want his job.)

Taking those three guys out of the main event creates the question of what to do with the title belt at WM 21?

They could build to a Benoit match with Jericho to see if Benoit can do it two years in a row.

They could even throw Michaels into it, if they want to blow the roof off the Staples Center, but I'm kind of sick of Triple-Threat matches.

What to do with the SmackDown! main event at WM 21 is a-whole-nother bag of something. With the Raw main event pretty solidified, it's clear that a SmackDown! wrestler has to win the Royal Rumble, because they're going to need to have somebody new face Bradshaw. Booker T, Undertaker and Guerrero aren't going to cut it anymore.

My favorites are John Cena and the Big Show.

Yes, I'm going to be talking about wrestling and football for the near future. It's how I'm coping with the Cubs sitting on their hands right now, unless it concerns finding another way to make more money while calling themselves poor.

And if ya don't like it, I GOT TWO WORDS FOR YA...!

2004-12-28T03:10:00.000-06:00

Before I get into the comments made by Mike Tice and how I like Raw…

WHAT THE HELL IS ANDY REID DOING???

If I was the coach of the Eagles, the one thing I would think I needed to do was to show my team we can win without T.O.

Now, I understand you want to rest your starters before the playoffs, especially when they have everything sewn up nice and neat, but I would like to think you would want them to be confident they can win without Terrell Owens.

You go out and throttle a crappy St. Louis team and rest your guys on the last week of the season. That way, not only do they get the rest from that week, but they also get the rest from skipping the first week of the playoffs. Instead, you let the Rams run all over you.

Now if I’m in Philly’s locker room, I still don’t know how the game plan is going to work with out T.O.

Reed you had better pray that you make it to the Super Bowl, or I hope you have something up your sleeve because that was a bad move. I have already seen one of your wide outs run away like a baby in the face of a collision, if he caught the pass that was thrown to him.

Your team needs a little confidence. Remember, you have lost the last three NFC Championship games. How many more until you are looking for a job? BE AFRAID, ANDY! BE VERY AFRAID!!!

Now on to Mike Tice…

Brother Mike, speak your mind... and be proud of what you say! Tice is doing exactly what he needs to do to fire his team up, and that is why I would run Mike Holmgren out of town in favor of Mike Tice.

I understand the Seahawks flaws aren’t all Holmgren’s fault, but come on Holmgren show some spirit. I have had enough of your ranting and raving on the sidelines, and then when you get in front of the media it’s “aw shucks. Darn, we just aren’t playing as well as we should.” FAWK THAT.

I want to see some fire from my coach. The one thing I will always remember about coaches aren’t their records or championship rings, but if they stood up and said get your heads out of your asses and win this game.

Utah Coach Jerry Sloan is great because he doesn’t pussy foot around it, and never has whether he’s dealing with rookies or future Hall of Famers.

Who could ever forget Lou Pinella throwing his hat and bases around the infield?

Mike Martz (wow. There are a lot of coaches with the first name Mike, aren’t there?) told his team to “Get on the train…” and they rode that train right over my Hawks.

I understand Tice’s team has played poorly as of late, but they have also been without there main wide receiver and offensive weapon for four of those games (see what happens when you lose your best weapon, Andy Reid. Get ready! It’s going to happen to you).

I applaud Mike Tice and, more than ever, respect him as a coach and a motivator. I wish Holmgren would do something like this to fire the Seahawks up, because it doesn’t look like we are going to get any help from the rest of the league. So, we’ll have to win the division ourselves.

The nice thing is the Falcons should be doing the same thing Philly did in the game last night and rest Michael Vick against the Seahawks this weekend.

Mike Tice knows his boys still feel the sting from the loss to the Seahawks a couple weeks ago and knows to get a chance to avenge that loss would mean a lot to his team.

Brother Mike, speak your mind, and I will see you in week one of the playoffs on the semi-chilled grounds of Seahawks Stadium. (I refuse to call it Qwest Field). I’ll be there front and center (ok, actually it will be 13th row in the south end zone, but you get the idea).

Speaking of home Seahawks games... last week, I missed the first game in three years of having season tickets. Much to my dismay, my boss said, due to the fact we should be so busy that day (the day after Christmas, and it was insane), I wasn’t allowed to take the day off and go to the game. Understandable, but it sucked. So, I did what any Seahawk-loving fan would do under those circumstances rigged the TV in my store (meant only for playing lame, DVD music videos) to receive the game on FOX. Thank god, it wasn’t on CBS. I tried my hardest and couldn’t get that station. (Ed. Note: Uhhh... Skippy, you didn’t have to worry about that since it was two NFC teams playing.)

But rest assured, I will be in my seat this week watching the Seahawks battle the Falcons for the NFC West division title. I will also be at any home playoff games. Hopefully, James and David can join me. ;)

Now on to RAW…

I was happy with the show, but have to say I was a little disappointed in the choice of Viscera as well. He was the one person I could say really wouldn’t have deserved a shot at the title in the Elimination Chamber Match at New Year’s Revolution.

But I am getting so tired of this retarded angle with Hassan (or what ever the hell his name is). This is a bad angle and I really don’t see a point with it. He is Arab-American, but all he does is complain. Hey buddy, there’s nothing keeping you here. If you don’t like it, LEAVE!

The hype for the Elimination Chamber match has been great, and I can’t wait to watch it with David and James. It was great to see Shawn Michaels introduced as the guest referee and that should make this match even more enjoyable.

New Year’s Revolution is shaping up to be a great PPV. Let’s hope WWE doesn’t blow it like normal by having some lame ending or just giving the belt to Triple H.

This could be the resurgence of a very-stagnant World Title belt. I would love to see the belt change hands to multiple superstars over the next few months leading up to WrestleMania 21.

Take care everyone and enjoy Week 17!!!

2004-12-27T23:48:00.000-06:00

Guys... I'm having a hard time saying that wasn't the best Raw I've ever seen. Very predictable, but in a "That's what I would have done too" way... except Viscera.

That was a good challenge for Chris Benoit, but it would have been better served going to an up-and-comer (maybe even Muhammad Hassan in his debut) who could have survived the Crossface just long enough to keep Benoit from beating Orton's time. Instant respect.

Maybe it doesn't beat Rock, This Is Your Life. But I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Anyone who didn't catch it, or didn't set their TiVo can go here for a good recap of the show.

2004-12-27T23:34:00.000-06:00

"We win a stinkin' game and we're in the playoffs. Fifth seed. Probably going to Seattle. That ain't a bad thing either. We owe them."

- Minnesota Head Coach Mike Tice

Yo Skippy. Isn't this the guy you said you wanted to dump Holmgren for a couple weeks ago? And now he's downplayin' your boys, when he ain't even got his team to the playoffs yet? He's lost six of his last nine games and he's setting his sights on a playoff team that beat him two weeks ago.

What do you gots to say about that?

2004-12-27T10:31:00.000-06:00

Yeah, the Seahawks take the cake when it comes to getting hosed by narcoleptic, dyslexic gerbils in striped shirts. The game against Dallas was very kin to what happened to my Bears this Sunday against the Lions... with an exception.

They got the call wrong on the field giving Keyshawn Johnson a touchdown when he was out of bounds and then didn’t review it. Which brings up a serious flaw in the system, where if the refs are going to take the control of reviewing away from coaches in the last two minutes of the game, don’t they have to be more diligent when it comes to outcome-impacting touchdowns? Shouldn’t they be reviewing any that are even the slightest-bit controversial?

Having said that, this is where Sunday’s Bears loss comes into trouble. The refs had the call right on the field, and then got it wrong on review. They didn’t just get it wrong. They couldn’t even explain why they were overturning the original decision. Remember, there’s supposed to be something called “indisputable evidence.”

I’m not bitter. I’m just a realist. I know the refs won’t be perfect, but why did they have to nullify the one good offensive play the Bears had in 12 quarters?

"After review, as the receiver was going to the ground on his own, the ball moved when he hit the ground," referee Terry McAulay said. "It is an incomplete pass as ruled on the field."

What the heck does that mean? Seriously, when do they start sending out a referee-to-english dictionary so we can all understand what reasoning they’re using for screwing my team out of a playoff spot.

Yes, the Lions would have still had the ball with plenty of time to kick a field goal, and the Bears still had possession of the ball with a chance to score...

What the heck am I saying? Overturning the 43-yard touchdown strike to Bernard Berrian eliminated half of the Bears offense for the game. I don’t even know how that happened.

Triumphing in the face of adversity is the hallmark of great teams.

But teetering on the edge where one play can and does make the difference between a win and loss is the hallmark of a just-good-enough team.

And at their best, that’s what the Bears are this year. Their margin of victory is that small.

But even though their “competition” for the final playoff spot continued to give Bears life, I was living for next year since their Thanksgiving Day loss to Dallas. At least we can enjoy our future as a top-ten draftee in 2005. Anybody want to give me a heads up on some receivers who might be available next year?

Congratulations to my boys’ Seahawks. Not only did they do the good work of keeping the god-awful Arizona Cardinals out of the playoffs, but they secured their own post-season ticket as well.

Now, if the Rams lose either of their last two games, then the Seahawks will get to host their first-round playoff game, which is especially important to me since I’ll be in Seattle for that game.

Anybody who can pass up tickets to a playoff game in a temperate climate (i.e. not freezing your nipples off) don’t have their priorities in order.

So for one night only, I’ll be an Eagles fan, which is certainly easier since Terrell Owens will only be a sideshow. Oh, I also have one more reason to be an Eagles fan...

R.I.P. Reggie White (1961-2004)

We’re losing way too many of your kind, way too early.

2004-12-26T22:55:00.000-06:00

Sarcasm Mode/

Good thing the Seahawks never get screwed by the Zebra Corp. After all, the officials that preside over their games are always straight-laced and perfect.

/discontinue mode.

Nah. I feel ya man. There have been multiple occasions that the 'Hawks have been worked over by the fashionably-challenged out on the field. The loss to Dallas this year still gets my dander up a bit. I've seen some better calls by dyslexic gerbils on sleeping pills.

Point: The Refs aren't perfect. They're making calls based on what they see on the field. When it does come to reviews, they don't see the same angles the audience does all the time. Most of the time, the officiating corp does very well. However, you can find calls in almost *any* game that will be questionable.

Point the Second: "We were screwed by the officials," is the rally cry of the bitter. It normally accompanies a team that has performed in lackluster fashion. Most of the time, if a team deserves to win: They will win. A team that is turning in a quality performance won't be in a position that one bad call will utterly decimate them. Note: There are exceptions. This is a generality based on my experience with multitudes of sporting events.

Point the Third: Many a team will complain about "that holding call", or "That bad spot". When the shoe is on the other foot, the casual fan will just blow things off. Calls will go both ways: Good in hand with Bad. Some days the timing sucks, but it's all part of being a fan. Accept it with good graces. Remark upon the bad calls that are NOT in your favor. Be a good sport.

My empathy here has few limits. Between games at my old High School, my old College, and by local sports heroes; I can't help but feel frustrated when the whole world seems against my guys.

Remember: When your team triumphs in the face of such adversities, that is the hallmark of the great.

I'm David, and maybe this wasn't a total Waste of Space.

2004-12-26T15:12:00.000-06:00

The Bears just got screwed... Zebra-style!

If they wanted to say it wasn't a touchdown, I'm fine with that. I'm not so Bear-blinded that I think every call against my team is bull, but at least use an appropriate explanation.

I wasn't exactly holding much hope that the Bears were going to make the playoffs, but to lose out like this stinks.

A very interesting season for the Bears. They played horribly most of the season, and that's taking into account their low talent level. Even with injuries to their leaders on offense and defense and horrific losses to Dallas and Houston, I was amazed to wake up every Monday morning to find them still in the playoff hunt.

If the Bears can get some wide receivers next year, Rex Grossman returns to get them the ball and they evade the injury plague, they'll have a great shot at taking the NFC North next year.

2004-12-25T22:43:00.000-06:00

I saw this today on a blog I frequent.

I told my mother this morning that I would give away all my Christmas presents for the next five years for one of them. I hope I am thinking a little different next year (meaning the Cubs have won and I want my presents).

Cubs Fans: Welching on Wishes since 1908.

I don't know the age of the above poster, but heck I'd give that just for Carlos Beltran on the roster... which would probably bring a shiny gold trophy or three along with.

Merry Christmas to all Cubs Bloggers, their family and assorted love ones from Just North of Wrigley Field.

It's been almost a year since I started this endeavor, and it's been full of great experiences and great people.

And the best part is sharing it with my great friends, Chris and David.

I miss you, brothers.

2004-12-15T09:12:00.000-06:00

Yeah, Skippy... everyone except mine!

Do you think maybe we got a little jipped on that one? j/k David. We all know Uncle Greg sure didn't mind.

Maybe we should get together and head out to the casino again when I'm back there in January. I've heard they've done some interesting improvements out there.

Now on to the Cubbies...

The whole of the Cubs Blog Army is aflutter with the latest news that the Cubs missed out on Danny Kolb, with the Brewers sending him to the Braves for Jose Capellan, their best pitching prospect (a price I would not have wanted Master Hendry to pay).

Kolb had a pretty good last year, and I enjoyed having him on my fantasy teams, but as a closer he's overrated.

His strikeout rates are horrible. For one season, he proved he could get guys out, which is the most important thing. But it would be easier to project whether he was worth the risk, if he could do more than just get a lot of ground balls and not walk guys.

Now the Cubs have guys with great K-rates (Kyle Farnsworth anyone?) who haven't been as successful in a closer's role as Kolb, but it's not like he's had a great track record of success (just a year and a half since failing as a starter), and if Master Hendry was going to pay a premium price for a closer, it had better be a sure thing.

I thought the same thing when Armando Benitez, Troy Percival and Dustin Hermanson signed elsewhere as a free agent... too much money, not a sure thing.

Then came the ridiculous notion of putting Kerry Wood in the bullpen. This is such a stupid thing to even consider.

You don't have even the slightest need for a closer, if you can't get through the seventh or eighth inning. Now, I'll make a possibly-hypocritical argument about Ryan Dempster later, but relegating Kerry Wood to one or two innings, three times per week won't remove the problems he has as a starter (they in fact intensify them if his first-inning stats have any bearing).

While Kerry might not be Roger Clemens yet, I'm not about to trade seven innings of possible domination for six innings of possible insignificance.

Kerry Wood is what separates the Cubs from the rest of the potential National League contenders. Well, he and Mark Prior and Carlos Zambrano. At the top of their game, any one of them would make any team a force in the playoffs... and the Cubs have three of them.

They're what allows the Cubs to kick Matt Clement to the curb and allocate his money to a push for Carlos Beltran, or another top offensive talent.

Now that's out of the way, let's look at the rest of the bullpen to date:

Leicester rhp
Wellemeyer rhp
Remlinger lhp
Farnsworth rhp
Dempster rhp
Hawkins rhp
Borowski rhp

Other candidates:
Wuertz rhp
Mitre rhp
Guzman rhp
Ohman lhp
Rohlicek lhp

It's possible Joe Borowski won't be a factor right away, Farnsworth will be in someone else's bullpen next season, and Master Hendry will keep Jon Leicester or Todd Wellemeyer on the big-league staff, but not both. I mention these possibilities, because the Cubs will be short one lefthander and the early returns on Will Ohman and Russ Rohlicek are encouraging, not to mention the one lefthander in the above scenario, Mike Remlinger, isn't the model of a left-handed neutralizer.

As much as I like both Leicester and Wellemeyer, it would be worth carrying a second lefthander, who can hold left-handed batters to a .200 batting average and keep them inside the park, to give Remlinger a chance to work more of a traditional set-up role in the sixth and seventh innings.

This would leave the seventh and eighth to Farnsworth and eighth and ninth to LaTroy Hawkins and Ryan Dempster.

I'm encouraged about the possibility of using Dempster in short, high-leverage innings (instead of as a long-relief pitcher, where the Cubs have plenty of candidates).

There will be absolutely no ambiguity this spring, Dempster is needed for no other role, so he can prepare as such.

And if Rothschild is any kind of pitching coach, he will get Dempster to work on that craft, such as honing the two, or three at most, pitches he'll use the most. I would hope these would be the pitches he has the highest "strikeout ability" with and also the most control. I assume he'd go with his fastball and slider, which, by all accounts, are his two above-average pitches.

If this bears results, then it's possible he could elevate to the closer's role, and allow Hawkins to concentrate on the eighth inning, where he has a track record of dominance.

On first thought, the issue of Dempster's ability to pitch three or four times per week scared me. But if Borowski and Farnsworth come back to this team with effectiveness, the Cubs would have up to four guys to utilize in the eighth or ninth innings, with Remlinger, Leicester, and Wellemeyer available in the middle.

You'd be hard pressed to find a better stocked bullpen, even if Master Hendry doesn't make any further additions.

And let's all rejoice, because at least our bullpen isn't so bad we had to go out and sign Esteban Yan to a two-year contract.

Although I wish he would have made an acquisition last year after Borowski couldn't maintain his 2003 performance, Master Hendry has allocated his bullpen resources wisely so far, and I'll assume he'll continue to do so.

2004-12-14T14:37:00.000-06:00

Ok It’s my turn to make my return to Just North of Wrigley Field.

(Ed. note: Not that he’s ever been to Chicago to visit a certain Wrigleyville resident. Grrr.)

It’s been a bad year in Skippy’s sports world...

Where to start! Well, first and foremost, thanks to James for pointing out how crappy my Hawks are playing right now, as if it wasn’t already painfully obvious.

But hey, I’ll take what I can get in the fact that even with a 7-6 record, they’re leading the division and, barring a complete meltdown, should stay that way.

The Hawks’ toughest game left this season is this week against the NY Jets, while St. Louis plays in Arizona with back-up QB Chris Chandler, who should still be a little shaken up from last week’s loss to surging Carolina.

After throwing six (yes SIX) interceptions, Chandler ended his hopeless effort against the Panthers with a passer ratting of ZERO!!!

From there, the Rams move on to play perennial NFC Championship game loser Philadelphia. In what will be a first for me, I will be rooting for the Eagles just for St. Louis to lose. (Kind of like I am rooting for the Seattle Sonics tonight because I LOVE watching the Lakers lose).

So realistically, the Hawks could lose two of the last three games and win the division (not that I expect them to, but they could). But with a win this week and a St. Louis loss, it will all but wrap up the division for the Hawks.

On to my favorite sport: BASKETBALL!!!

Another team not living up to expectations is my Utah Jazz (by the way, if anyone is struggling with what to get me for Christmas, a Jazz jersey always works. I have AK’s, but would love a Boozer or Arroyo).

They are a sad 9-12 after losing the second game of a home and home with Portland. But they just snapped a six-game losing streak that sent them spiraling to the bottom of the Northwest division.

Without the services of forward Andrei Kirilenko until mid-January, the Jazz are going to have a tough run against the teams in their division, which realistically could have four of five teams qualify for the playoffs.

The additions of Carlos Boozer and Mehmet Okur help with losing Kirilenko, but the play of rookies Kris Humphries and Kirk Snyder have helped the most. These two have produced off the bench for Coach Sloan and have played a good portion of minutes with injuries to Jarron Collins and Curtis Borchardt.

The one great plus about this season is that we have our stars locked up for at least the next three years. What a great job GM Kevin O’Conner did just to pry open Larry Miller’s wallet to get the guys we needed to replace the holes left when Stockton and Malone left... and keep them.

Prepare for a Utah championship in the next three years (yes, I think we can be that good). And, Utah’s challenge isn’t over this year.

Hopefully, the Sonics will look in the mirror and realize they aren’t the Lakers of the last five years or the Bulls of the 90s, but, indeed, they are the Seattle Superchokers!!!

Minnesota will continue to play solid ball as they have in recent years, but distractions from Latrell Sprewell could be costly as shown in a loss the other night to the lowly Chicago Bulls.

Well sports fans, this has been another Skippy comeback article. Look forward to a lot more from me in the near future.

I have a ton going on, with the planning of a wedding (we are registered at Target and the Seattle IKEA) and Christmas in the mall (it’s finally starting to pick up). But I will try and write more as things unfold in the world Just West of Seahawk Stadium (Qwest Field just doesn’t sound right to me).

Take care and GO HAWKS!!! GO JAZZ!!!

P.S. James made a great comment to me... Has anyone else noticed that it seems every bachelor party that involves David involves the police??? Just one of those things that makes you go hmm...

2004-12-13T01:19:00.000-06:00

Gah, things have been entirely too topical around here. I guess I'll have to bring about another Waste of Space.

Recently, I was down in Corpus Christi. I was visiting a friend of mine who happened to be getting shackled for life... er... married.

I was in my rental car at one point, and I was following some directions to find the place my buddy was staying. I was cruising down the street, pacing the car in front of me, while trying to read the signs to find my next cross street.

All the sudden, a police officer ran out into the street from cover, flagging me off the road with a stop sign. I swore to myself softly, and cruised off to a little turn-around. The person I was pacing did the same.

Well, the nice lady I was following, in her white pickup, with her local plates, was immediately waved away. As she was taking off, the officer that stopped me came walking up to my car.

He was a little over six foot and looked to be a thousand years old. He had a cracked face worn by the desert winds and a pair of mirrored shades. He had a toothpick in his mouth and his notebook in his hand. All I could think to myself was... OH S&^*.

Don't worry ladies and gentleman, it gets worse.

He sauntered up and asked for my license and registration. I handed over my paperwork, but lo-and-behold, I left my driver's license in my hotel room.

So, this guy had me for speeding, and he had me for driving without a license. I'm sat there trying to explain my situation. When he heared I was following the car he already let go, he was just... "Son, If that car drove off a bridge, would YOU?"

Luckily for me, I have my license number memorized, so he left to run my record. I was left sitting there in my white rental, thinking of what a Texas jail cell would be like.

Moments later, he came back and started bawling me out. He told me that I'd better be careful. The area I was going ~15 over in was a school zone (Not currently in effect however). He told me never to follow or mimic a Texas driver again as they're "a bunch of idiots speeding everywhere." And that if I did continue to follow them it would be "entirely likely that I would end up sailing off a bridge."

At this point, he detached my ticket and prepared to hand it over to me. The whole time I was very polite, and I just had a hung-dog look. Just before I grabbed the ticket though, he pulled it back and said, "tell you what I'm gonna do."

He scribbled VOID WARNING across the ticket, and then gave me my copy. He then informed me that if I ever so much as thought about speeding around Corpus again that he would "haul my kiester into the slammer and let me sit there until after the weddin'."

So, somehow I managed to talk my way out of a ticket, in Texas, as a tourist. That, my friends, was an interesting experience to be sure.

Next up, I'll probably tell tales about my fun night at the sobriety checkpoint the night of the bachelor party. Until then, this has been a...

Waste of Space.

2004-12-10T00:45:00.000-06:00

Update: Apparently, the Tribune was reading my mind or something.

Also, I'll be attending my first Bulls game in, well, maybe forever. It will at the very least be my first game at the United Center.

My wonderful Aunt Lolly got me awesome seats, section 108, row 18. Thank you so very much! MUAH!

The only times I've been this close to a basketball game I was wearing headsets and a microphone, but that's another story.

The Bulls will be facing Allen Iverson and the Philadelphis 76ers tonight (I picked this game specifically because I knew there would be at least one player on the court worth watching). I'm actually more excited about seeing the United Center than the game.

Does anybody have any advice like how early we should get there? What we should or shouldn't bring (such as cameras, food)?

Are there any etiquettes I should be aware of that might be different from other venues (because at some venues I've found it's considered rude to stand and cheer for your team. grumble)?

Anything unique around or inside the building I should go out of my way to see, or get a picture of me in front of (I'm trying to put the Jordan statue on the top of my list)?

Any particular food experiences I should thrust my belly toward, either before, during or after the game?

Send me an e-mail and let me know.

2004-12-09T23:45:00.000-06:00

With teams throwin’ around ridiculous, multi-year, multi-million dollar contracts to middle-of-the-road, or at the very least aging (read: declining) free agents, should Master Hendry continue the trend he started earlier this week?

Call the 2005 Cubs the One-Year Wonders.

To use a poker analogy (this is right up your alley Scott and Skippy), there are way too many GMs pushing it “all in” before the flop. Which scares me and should scare you too, when it comes to thinking about whether your team can (or should) really get involved in bidding for the big free agents out there: Beltran (Hell yeah at any cost), Beltre, Drew, Pedro, Pavano, Renteria, Cabrera, Delgado, Sexson, Nomar (oh, seelee me. Master Hendry says: Bid you cannot on something that cannot be had by you)...

I used the word ridiculous before, but these contracts are more mind boggling (in the rare case when it might be justified) or downright stupefying.

I give you Exhibits A through whatever:

Omar Vizquel, Giants

Cristian Guzman, Nationals

Vinny Castilla, Nationals

Damian Miller, Brewers

Kris Benson, Mets

Paul Wilson, Reds

Jaret Wright, Yankees

Tony Womack, Yankees

(OK, the above two are just, plain guilty pleasures since it’s Yankees-brand ridiculousness, that any moron can see will backfire on them.)

Armando Benitez, Giants

Rheal Cormier, Phillies

Troy Percival, Tigers

And in the last couple days:

Dustin Hermanson, White Sox (oh will those Pale Hose ever learn)

Jeff Kent, Dodgers (more on him later)

Jermaine Dye, White Sox (see Hermanson)

Troy Glaus, Diamondbacks ($45 million? 4 years? He’s a big-time home run hitter, but he’s only played in 120 games in the last two years. Either the D-backs are serious about contending or serious about not knowing what they’re doing, especially after the Wally Backman fiasco, or it could be both.)

Steve Finley, Angels

These teams are throwing around money like green was last season’s color, and they have to unload it (I didn’t even mention the Marlins handing over $8 million for one season of Al Leiter, when guys like Woody Williams can’t even get $4 million).

Two of the most recent deals could have direct relation to the Cubs’ efforts to sign Carlos Beltran.

Finley joins an already-crowded outfield in Anaheim. They’ve got at least six outfielders, with only five positions available (and that’s including Darin Erstad playing first and one of them DH-ing). Nobody is going to take contracts such as Garrett Anderson, Tim Salmon and Erstad off their hands.

End result: Scratch one bidder off the list for Beltran.

The Dodgers shoring up their infield with Kent (at either first, second or third) could accomplish the same goal, especially if they can’t unload Shawn Green, but it might add intensity to another Beltran Bidder.

Houston could be the wounded animal of this bunch. Not only did they lose Kent, but they also don’t have a firm commitment from Roger Clemens for next year.

With aging franchise cornerstones Craig Biggio and Jeff Bagwell still on the books, not losing Beltran could end up the Astros number one priority at the Winter Meetings this weekend.

I’m saying I expect the Astros to act desperate and pay like they’re desperate, something like a whole lotta years and over $17 million per season (think AROD, circa 2000).

I don’t think the Astros are going to leave this weekend without showing Beltran an offer like this, and I wouldn’t blame Beltran for accepting on the spot.

I know I’ve gone all over the place with this post, but here’s the part you’ve all been waiting for: What then for our Cubbies?

Here comes another poker analogy for you: Everybody’s got all these middling hands (they have to be, cause they can’t all be good), and they’re putting in a whole bunch of chips.

Now, your chances of catching a hand ain’t that great either, so you could call and hope a miracle flop comes up, and you make a hand and no one else does... whereas it’s just as likely the opposite happens, and you just wasted your chips.

The price of poker at that point would be pretty high to make the call at that point.

So what should you do? Commit a whole bunch of your stack, or stay out of it and let them fight it out?

This is what I want the Cubs to do. Under this scenario, Beltran is gone and Drew’s already over-inflated market value just went higher than I want to my team to pay.

So instead of casting their lot (and part of subsequent year’s lot too) on a low-reward player such as Jeromy Burnitz, Brian Jordan or Juan Gonzalez, who are all going to be looking for a multi-year deal after what they saw Dye sign for, they look to the route they took with Nomar and sign a guy with something to prove and willing to sign for just one year.

If the Cubs can’t reel in Beltran, Magglio Ordonez is the only free-agent outfielder available I want wearing Cubs pinstripes (I SAID CUBS PINSTRIPES) next year.

He’s only two years older than Drew. Yes, he’s right handed, but he hits right-handed pitchers (.924 OPS over the last three years) almost as well as he does left-handed pitchers (.969 vs LHP).

Watching the Mariners all those years, he sticks out in my mind as one of those guys who I absolutely hated to see come to the plate with anything cooking on the basepaths.

And he could duke it out with Sammy Sosa over who had to shift over to left field, and if the new guy wins, so be it.

I’d love it if the Cubs could work out an option for 2006 included in the deal, just in case his knee isn’t 100% sound the whole season, but a base salary + incentives contract similar to Nomar’s would be very reasonable for a four-time all star, who has cracked the 30 HR-110 RBI plateau four times.

And from everything I’ve heard, there are a lot of worse people to build the core of your team around than Magglio Ordonez and Nomar Garciaparra.

...a couple of one-year wonders.

2004-12-09T01:13:00.000-06:00

Ol' Master Hendry tried to slip one through on everybody last night. As if locking up this year’s middle infield wasn't enough, he didn't stop there.

He made one of those moves where, down the road, a rival GM will think, "Hendry made a lot of good moves, but I've put together a solid team, filling all of my offseason objectives."

"Even if I didn't add All-Stars, MVPs and Cy Youngs to my team, at least I didn't leave a gaping hole at backup..."

"WHA??? When did he sign Blanco? NOOOOOOOOO!!!"

Yup, Master Hendry eradicated the production sink calling himself Paul Bako last night when he signed former Twins, Brewers, and, most importantly, Braves catcher Henry Blanco to a two-year, $2.75 million deal.

This means no more pretending our backup catcher/Maddux caddy is making an honest contribution to the team because he's lefthanded or has blood running through is veins (Bako had one or the other. I'm thoroughly convinced he didn't have both).

The Mikes over at Old Style Cubs are having fun with this.

Mike Ein:

"The fact that he is making $1.35 million this year to basically be a giant glove upsets me a bit.

Are you telling me there isn't a better backup catcher option on the market?"

Mike Zwei:

"Zero reasonable options for a backup catcher besides Bako and Blanco. Since Blanco is clearly better defensively and about equal with Bako offensively, its a pretty clear choice.

$1.35 mil isn't an outrageous amount for a guy that is excellent defensively and can keep Maddux a little happier.

I like it, and you should like it too."

I do like it, heap much.

Not only is Blanco the better defensive catcher (it's not even close with Bako dipping below a .990 fielding percentage the last two years), especially when it comes to throwing out runners where Blanco bested Bako by 20% last year, but Blanco at least contributes something offensively.

It's a given that Blanco will improve the team's defense at catcher, even if it's only in 25% (as I worship the gods in control of keeping all Cubs healthy in 2005) of the innings at catcher. And he brings some pop with the bat... 10 HRs in 2004, which I think any team would welcome from a 300-AB backstop.

Bako has just one over the last two years! I'm surprised to see Bako's career HR total has bested Blanco's 2004 season... by a whole four!

Just in case you think he found other ways to contribute, because even I know the almighty dinger ain't the only way to slay a dragon. Uh-uh! After watching him in person on several occasions last year, I'm shocked to find he managed as many RBIs as Blanco had homers!

Blanco's the best catcher Master Hendry's going to get for that price. Heck, the Mariners are shelling out more than this for Dan Wilson to be their backup, and he brings nothing positive 'cept a guest appearance to bump the annual Mariners Wives Bake Sale.

Maybe I can come up with a gripe about guaranteeing the second year, but I'm sure it's no small coincidence the length of the contract is exactly the length of time Maddux is scheduled to be here. And whatever makes Maddux happy, makes me happy.

I like it. Mikey likes it. Maddux likes it. And Master Hendry likes it.

As President Bartlet is keen to say: “What’s Next?”