Final Thoughts on Chicago Sports

Little Things Kill

MikeJ — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 03:06:00 GMT

There's very little to complain about in Cubland these days, so this will definitely sound a bit cavil. (Especially if you're a Pirates fan - man, they're godawful.) But I was watching the Cubs game today, and I was getting annoyed by the little things. I mean, this is the best Cubs team I've ever seen, and I really am enjoying the heck out of this season. I just can't stand watching when the Cubs screw up the easy plays and/or not hustle.

Case in point: Alfonso Soriano. I love watching him when he's hot, and when you come down to it he's the lone super-duper-star on the team. But yesterday, he took his eye off the ball for a split-second, mid-hop I might add, and dropped the most routine of flyball outs. This ultimately caused the Cubs to cough up the lead (temporarily). I honestly think that even I would have had a 50% chance of making that play. But for a major leaguer to drop it? Without sun in his eyes? Almost unheard of. You might see one drop that bad in an entire season of watching baseball, and even would probably be because the guy was playing out of position.

Then today, he had two more brain freezes. In the first, he hit a double off the wall...which is great. But had he even remotely hustled, it would have been a leadoff triple. I wouldn't say that he was jogging, but he was definitely giving less than 75% effort on his way to first. So frustrating. A half inning later, Jack Wilson hit a weak liner to left, except he was running hard to first. Soriano jogged over and bobbled the ball for a second, and that was all Wilson needed to make it to second. (Aramis, of all people, benefited from a similar hustle play last week.)

And Soriano's not the only one. I've found that Ryan Theriot routinely doesn't have his head in the game either. Case in point, he got thrown out at third today (on a grounder) for like the 5th time this year. That's Jacque Jones bad, and he hasn't gotten 1/100th of the crap that the much-maligned Jacque got. I should know, I maligned Jacque very much. Plus The Riot's been caught stealing almost as many times as he's been successful. Rule is, if you're not successful at least 75% of the time stealing, you're actually hurting the team more than helping. Don't steal, especially third, when you aren't positive you'll make it.

And I don't even want to get in to Zambrano's recent struggles. Once a head case, always a head case. I don't want to overreact on this, because he's always been prone to mid-season mini-slumps. Ultimately, I think he'll be fine by the time September rolls around. But how long will it be before he breaks a bone punching dry wall or busting a bat over his leg? Talk about an avoidable injury.

All in all, I'd much rather have one Soriano giving 80% than a hundred Jack Wilsons giving 110%. I'm not stupid. I'm just saying it can be incredibly annoying to watch. If one of those little plays causes a postseason series to be lost, the player in question will go down in infamy with Leon Durham, Bill Buckner, Alex Gonzalez, Fred Merkle, and the rest. Hustling and playing smart would avoid half those problems.

Of course, the Cubs ended up doing the little things right in the 7th with the squeeze play and some smart baserunning. And, of course, they ended up sweeping the Pirates for about the ninth time this year. And they're the best team in baseball, thirty-three games over .500 for the first time since 1945. So I really have no right to complain in the slightest. I'm just saying....

Stuff I Like: Sports! (not the album by Huey Lewis)

MikeJ — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 02:02:00 GMT

This might be the most obvious "Stuff I Like" post imaginable. Of course I like sports, I write a freaking sports blog. What prompts this post is the fact that the Olympics are over, and I must admit that I'm not that much of a fan and I'm glad its over. Sure, seeing Michael Phelps win eight golds and setting eight world records in the process is awfully impressive. But really the whole thing is just a two-week reality TV show that takes place every two years, and I honestly could care less. Will anybody care one iota about swimming or track & field over the next 200 weeks? No, not really. Can anyone name who won the lesser events this year like synchronized diving to say nothing of events like handball or equestrian dressage? Give me regular season baseball any day of the week and twice on Sunday. In fact, here's how I rank the sports, in terms of my interest, 10 to 1 with 10 being the highest:

10. NFL - It's an incredibly close call between Football and Baseball, because I honestly can't pick a favorite between the Cubs and Bears. It makes my brain bleed. So I put NFL first because I'll watch pretty much any NFL game televised, and I don't watch a whole lot of complete baseball games outside of the Cubs.

9. MLB - Really, on a scale of 1-10, I'd give the NFL about a 35 and MLB about a 34. I love baseball. The only reason I don't watch every game televised is because I already spend 20 hours a week following the Cubs. Seriously. And now that I think about it, I only catch maybe 12 hours of football a week. Maybe I should switch them.

8. College Football - As previously discussed, there's a huge gap between MLB and College Football for me, but I'd still put it 3rd on my list. This sport has been rising fast for me. As recently as five years ago I barely had a passing interest. (Understandable because I went to NIU). The lack of a true champion and all the Youngstown State cupcakes that the powerhouses face always pissed me off. But after further thought, the bowl system ain't that bad. It makes every regular season game mean a whole lot more. And who doesn't love rivalry week?

7. NBA - Back in the Jordan heyday, this sport very well have been number one for me. But the post Jordan years were such a disaster that they forced me to care a little less about basketball. I can watch the Bulls when they're competetive (ie. close to .500), but I can't stomach when they're slogging through 15 or 20 win seasons. I still catch a lot of the playoffs, though. So I guess you could say I'm a bit fair weather on basketball.

6. Golf with Tiger - Here's another sport I wouldn't dream of watching back in the old days. When it comes to Golf, I generally only watch Majors. And when Tiger's not playing, I tend to watch them a little less. But Tiger is so transcendent, he demands your attention. He's insanely good and has that Jordan magnetism.

5. College Basketball - March madness is cool. Final Four is must see. Regular season is a good time waster.

4. NHL Hockey, Golf without Tiger - Hockey looks great in HD, and the Blackhawks are really coming on strong. I wouldn't be surprised if Hockey moves up this list in the next year or two.

3. Olympics, Arena Football - Ah, the impetus of this exercise shows up at numero 3. Basically, I care about the Olympics about as much as I care about Arena Football. It's entertaining enough when its on, but I don't exactly check the box scores after its over.

2. College Baseball, Soccer - When it comes to Soccer, I'm a typical American. The fact that it rates lower than the Olympics should tell you something.

1. Tennis, Softball, Little League WS, Bowling, Fishing, Strongest Man, Lumberjack Competitions - I've been known to land on channels showing all of these sports and hang out for a good 15-20 minutes. But that's about it.

Another thing that gets me about the Olympics, is that its not always the best athletes. For one thing, some countries (USA! USA!) are overflowing with capable athletes, and other countries can barely scrape up five people that have ever seen an Olympic-sized pool, let alone swam in one. So they "borrow" our guys. Would it be as interesting if there were five Americans, two Chinese guys, and a German in one competition? Maybe not, but at least the best eight guys would be duking it out. Plus, I'm a firm believer that the true "best athletes" in the world are pretty much all in the NFL or NBA (or playing Euro Football). If you dangle a $20 million dollars a year at guy like Devin Hester and tell him to train like hell for four years to do nothing other than "run real fast," do you think he could win a gold? He might not beat that Lightning Bolt guy, but I'd sure as hell like to see what would happen if he'd try.

Check that, I don't want him anywhere other than running crossing patterns for the Bears. Actually, I don't even see the point in him doing that. (What the hell are you thinking, Turner!?) Send him deep. Every play.

Till next time...

Something Positive for Bears Fans

MikeJ — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 03:37:00 GMT

Tonight was the third, and most important, preseason game of the season. The Bears still lost to the Niners, making them 0-3 this year, but the starters actually found the end zone a couple of times and managed to put twenty points on the board in a single half. Kyle Orton looked downright good, making Lovie Smith look like a genius for a day. He hit his receivers, threaded the needle, hit some long passes, stepped up in the pocket, and threw a pair of touchdowns to Rashied Davis (who also dropped a third.) Not that it will necessarily carry over into the season nor does it mean much in the grand scheme of things, but it does give us a tiny shred of hope that this year might not be the worst season in Bears history.

Really, the whole starting offense did well. Forte made some nice runs and the line was awesome, giving Orton all day to throw. Sure, it was San Francisco and it was the preseason. But after last week, when I didn't think they could block a pee-wee team, this was a refreshing change. And there was a Kevin Jones sighting. He looked damn good.

Also, the special teams return units were stellar. Danieal Manning had two 70-yard returns (one of which was on a reverse), Earl Bennett had a nice return, and the Bears blocked another pair of kicks. Good game all around for everyone on special teams not named Gould or Wolfe.

The elephant in the room that I'm avoiding is the defense. The starters were flat out awful. They made J.T. O'Sullivan look like Joe Montana and Alex Smith look like Steve Young. They made Frank Gore look like, well, Frank Gore. Just a horrible job all around by the defense. Mike Brown didn't look so hot tonight either. He looked like a guy that missed 48 games in the last four seasons. I'm hoping tonight was just a blip.

Back on offense, Rex Grossman looked like shit. As usual, I think he was trying to hard to make something out of nothing. He scrambled around the pocket and generally looked like his deer-in-the-headlights self. Could the Bears possibly pull a Chad Hutchinson and cut Grossman before the season starts? He was pretty bad, and I think he'd make a lousy backup. Maybe the Bears can give Tampa a sixth rounder and get Griese back. (Just kidding on that. But there will be a veteran or two available to back up Orton should he get hurt (or more likely suck.)) Hanie didn't do much tonight, either, except for the last play of the game, so I doubt he's the answer.

Anyways, that's about it from me. The D was bad, but I'm not too worried. The O was good, but I'm not too impressed. Till next time.

I Can't Believe it! Cubs Win!

MikeJ — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 02:59:00 GMT

I had some things to do this evening, so I DVR'd tonight's game. Once I got done with my chores, me and the fam retired to the basement, sprawled across the Cubbie blue leather couches, and watched some baseball. Before I could really get into the game, Z was getting rocked and the Cubs were down 5-1. DeRosa homered cutting the lead to 5-3, but inning after inning this game turned into the yucky general malaise that has plagues every game against these scrappy, dead stadium, Marlins. I knew the Cubs were going to lose. They got a few runners on, but no matter. It just felt like a loss, and I started to zip through the batters, courtesy my 30-second skip. Out...Out...Out...Commercial...Out...Out....Out...Commercial.

Then, all of a sudden, the Cubs get a few runners on with the slumping Daryle Ward up in the top of the 9th. I suddenly got a tiny feeling that something might go right. Three-run moon shot and the Cubs got the lead! Family goes berserk. I can't believe it. My throat is gnarled. Then Wood comes in. Wood's numbers since coming off the DL have been good, but personally I feel he's been getting lucky with a lot of those outs as they were all seemingly hot smashes right at people. He hasn't been the same Kerry that earned the All-Star birth. I was just thinking today that I bet he blows his first save opportunity. Sooner or later those rockets will catch up to him.

Not on this night, though. He made it interesting, with a seemingly 50-pitch walk to Ramirez before getting two strikes on but ultimately hitting the next batter. Two on, two out. All through the bottom of the ninth, the tension was so thick I couldn't stand it. I had to cheat and hit FFW a few times before I had a heart attack. 0-2....strike 3, Cubs win! Holy cow!

I knew they'd win all along.

Cub Road Woes Over as they Sweep Braves

MikeJ — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 02:59:00 GMT

You know that the Cubs have had a bad century when they do something mildly impressive and Len Kasper says "that's the first time the Cubs have done that since 1945." Eight road wins in a row yielded that faint praise. They also swept the season series from the Braves for the first time ever, which also doesn't sound all that impressive considering the teams have been matching up for 100 years; but apparently it is. Strong work.

Not much analysis needs to go into this series as the Cubs simply pounded the crap out of the ball and got some pretty good pitching. Howry still sucks, Aramis bruised his hip, and Soriano showboated his way to a face-high fastball; but that's really the only thing that went wrong for the Cubs. So much went right that I can't even list it all.

The Marlins are up next, and this series should be decidedly tougher. They've got great young pitching and a nice collection of some of the best young hitters in the majors. Did I ever mention that I hate the Marlins? Not the players themselves, as its pretty hard to hate a dynamic young talent like Hanley Ramirez. No, I hate their organization, their extreme lack of fans, their owners, and their stadium. I also, of course, hate how they beat the Cubs in the 2003 NLCS but I especially hate the fact that they've won two World Series in the last eleven years. For an expansion team (with virtually no fan support) that seemingly only tries to win once every five years to win two titles while its been a hundred years of anguish for the millions of Cubs fans is simply ridiculous. Sure, the Marlins have been rewarded for their "smart baseball management," but that doesn't mean I have to care. When they win, its like that old line about "the tree falling in the forest". Did anybody notice you won those trophies? No. So there.

Petulant rant over.

Nice to see that the Brewers lost today. I've been anxiously awaiting their collapse since the Cubs swept them and Fielder smacked Parra around in the dugout. That, of course, didn't happen to the tune of eight wins in a row. Luckily the Cubs have kept pace. At this point, winning the division doesn't seem quite as necessary because its looking more and more like the Wild Card will come out of the Central. Still, I want to win it. Don't want sneak in and win a World Series like the Marlins.

Check that. I don't care how the Cubs get in. Winning the division would be nice, but the World Series is all that matters. Stay the course. Win it all.

Till next time...

Who's in Center for the Cubs?

MikeJ — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 03:15:00 GMT

This year, obviously, it's Jim Edmonds and Reed Johnson. Johnson's performance, I understand. But to say I was leery of the Edmonds signing would be bit of an understatement. He's just crushed the ball and played great D constantly. On Friday, after Edmonds smashed his second home run, I labeled him a Cardinal Killer, and that statement blows my mind. Between Johnson and Edmonds, the Cubs have one of the most productive Center Fields in the league. But it hasn't always been this way.

Since I started watching the Cubs on a daily basis, roughly 1984 or so, the Cubs have not had a regular Center Fielder. Well, they've had a few capable Center Fielders, but they have yet to have a good one last more than three years. In fact, Corey Patterson has logged the most games there since 1984 and that alone tells you all you need to know.

Here's a list of the best Cubs Center Fielders since '84. You look at this list and wonder...what the Hell happened? For all the talk that Third Base got A.S. (After Santo), the sinkhole in Center Field has been virtually ignored by the local media. And really, this isn't even just a "last 25 years" thing for the Cubs. Really, since Andy Pafko in the 1940s, only Rick Monday was really any good for more than a year or two. But I don't have the patience to go through teams that played before I was born or before I was "baseball aware." So here's a crack at the last 25 years or so. And remember, these are the best.

1. Kenny Lofton - I told you this list sucked. Kenny played only a half a season for the Cubs, but this potential Hall-of-Famer was so awesome that he tops my list. (.327 BA, .380 OBP) If the Cubs somehow picked him up in 1993 rather than 2003 I wouldn't be writing this post.

2. Brian McRae - McRae was pretty solid for two seasons and he got traded half way through a lousy third. But he hit .280 with 75 stolen bases and 35 homers in his 2.5 seasons, and that's far and a way the best body of work for a "regular" Center Fielder in the last 25 years.

3. Bob Dernier - I like Bobby Dernier, and this is no knock on him. But he really only had one good season for the Cubs. He set the table for the 1984 team and stole 45 bases. Other than that, he hit .240 for a pair of injury plagued seasons. And he's my number three.

4. Corey Patterson - Ugh. By the time he left the Cubs, I hated Corey. But for sheer counting numbers, he's number one on this list. Most games, most homers. He only had one and a half decent seasons, out of five with the club. And this third overall pick in the draft was supposed to do a whole lot more. I will say he was decent on D, at least.

5. Jerome Walton - Everyone knows his story. 1989 Rookie of the Year; 1990 and beyond Bust of All-Time.

6. Dave Martinez - He had a decent year in 1987, hitting .292 with a .372 OBP. Then he was traded for Mitch Webster, who just misses the cut on this list.

7. Juan Pierre - His final numbers in 2006 looked like typical Juan Pierre numbers. .292 BA, 58 steals. But those numbers don't tell you what really happened. He hit less than .250 until August on perhaps the biggest clusterf*ck of a team I've ever witnessed. And he had a noodle arm.

8. Lance Johnson - Two injury plagued years, but the veteran did his job for 120 games I guess. I guess. </shakes head>

9. Jacque Jones - He mostly played right for the Cubs. Hit a bunch of bombs there but was universally hated. Then he shifted to Center for a half a season, lost all his power, and was generally well liked. I didn't get it then and I don't get it now.

10. Tuffy Rhodes - He had one good day. Nobody will ever forget his three homers off Doc Gooden on Opening Day, 1994. Total homers in 1994? Eight.

Honorable mention: Doug Dascenzo, Damon Buford, Mitch Webster, Gary Matthews Jr, Willie Wilson, Brant Brown, Felix Pie (the Future^TM)

I'm pretty confident that neither Jim Edmonds nor Reed Johnson is a long-term solution in Center for the Cubs, but as it stands now they've probably already earned their way up to number five on this list. Unreal.

Till next time...

Bears Preseason Opener and the loss of Chris Williams

MikeJ — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 03:57:00 GMT

The Bears lost the preseason opener to the Chiefs tonight but the real news was the Bears revealed that Chris Williams had back surgery yesterday. He had a herniated disc, and the Bears are ~~lying~~ saying that it's the easiest and most routine of all back surgeries. I don't know what to make of all this, but his career is off to a rocky start to say the least. Back injuries are, if anything, chronic. There is no timetable on his return. How many 22-year-olds with bad backs go on to long and productive NFL careers? This has Marc Columbo written all over it.

With that and the latest news of Terrance Metcalf getting his knee scoped, I heard on Mac, Jurko, and Harry today that Fred Miller's agent was contacted by the Bears. Yes, that Fred Miller. It's funny, the last few days people were speculating that Ruben Brown (or LeCharles Bentley) might get a call. But then the Bears go out and contact the worst of three unemployed veterans. I'm not good at predicting the future, but I do know that if Fred Miller has a large role on the 2008 Bears that the team is doomed to 5 wins at best.

As for tonight's game, neither Kyle Orton or Rex Grossman really did much. Orton was his usual efficient, safe self. Got some first downs, though only three points. Rex made a pair of nice throws, though otherwise he was his usual self...tripping over his linemen's feet and making poor decisions/throws. Caleb Hanie looked as good as both starters, though against severely inferior competition. I can't say I'm too enthused about the quarterback situation right now. If only there were a veteran available with a Super Bowl ring, 275 consecutive starts, and a desire to play in the NFC North.

Elsewhere on offense, Matt Forte looked decent in his first action. Nice to see a runningback catch some balls and not dive right into his offensive line's derriere after a one-yard gain. Garrett Wolfe showed some nice burst that was really missing from his game last year, though again it was against all backups.

Can't complain about the O-line tonight. St. Clair and Beekman looked good. None of the quarterbacks got touched (when they weren't fumbling the ball, that is.) No receiver really stood out this evening, though Mike Hass made a nice catch and rookie Kellen Davis looked awfully good for a third string. Booker stood out as old looking, if anything. Meet the 2008 Bears offense - adequate runners and awesome tight ends. Who could ask for more than that?

On defense, the starters looked mostly good. Except for the first drive, which thanks to some key third down conversions led to a touchdown. But after that they forced several 3-and-outs in a row. That's not much to brag about, as it was Brodie Coyle and company, but its better than a stick in the eye.

Some of the backups made plays, including rookie Craig Stelz (he looks like a player) and special teams ace Rod Wilson.

And that's really about it. Really, it's Williams or bust for the Bears.

Lollapalooza 2008 Review

MikeJ — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 19:38:00 GMT

This past weekend, I went to the massive Lollapalooza festival in Grant Park. Three long days and dozens of bands later, I am completely and utterly wiped out. No matter, it was a great time. What follows is a recap of my virtually sports-free experience.

Before I went to the show, I went over the schedule and visited the myspace page for practically every artist on the bill. Myspace is a great, legal way to sample full songs from pretty much any artist out there. (Has been for years, apparently. Welcome to 2003!) So I went over the bill, circled some "must sees" and crossed out the bands didn't immediately fall in line with my musical tastes. It might be a bit brutal to eliminate a band after 30 seconds, but there's only so many times you can trek across Grant Park in a day, right? On with the show.

On Friday, I decided to go to work and save my "day off" for Monday. (This no-longer-21-year-old needs at least a day to recoup.) So I didn't get to the festival until 3:30 or so, or just in time to see The Black Keys. The blues-rock two-piece band from Akron, Ohio, didn't disappoint. I enjoy their earlier albums, in particular "Rubber Factory" from 2004, but their new one really elevates them into new territory. Produced by Danger Mouse, "Attack and Release" is like the Black Keys on steroids. Since Gnarls Barkley was on the bill this weekend, I was hoping for a cameo. No luck in that, but honestly they didn't need him. Their sound was full enough.

From there, I caught some Cat Power on my way to and from the beer tent. This indie rock veteran was a pleasing enough diversion while I waited for the next act. Did I mention it was blistering hot on Friday? The sun was just brutal. A giant, dark cloud went over for a few minutes and it received a standing ovation.

Also, AT&T was having massive problems with their cell service Friday (which is sort of ironic considering they sponsored the main stage). I consistently averaged "one bar", sending text messages would take at least 3 or 4 tries, and often messages would go undelivered for hours. There was no internet service, either, which means I had to wait several hours before I found out the Cubs got shut out by the Pirates. The horror.

Anyways, next up were The Raconteurs. Jack White's side project is one of my favorite bands on the bill, and I loved every minute of their show. White is just a magnetic performer that completely owns the stage. You can't help but stare at him wide-eyed during every second of his blistering guitar solos. Every modern rock fan should make it a point to see The White Stripes or these guys at least once before they die.

Finally, Radiohead. I'm not the world's biggest Radiohead fan, but I do like them a pretty fair amount. I was pretty far from the stage for this one, as the place was absolutely mobbed. Nevertheless, they put on a good show and played a healthy amount of tunes from their new album, "In Rainbows". In my opinion, it's their best work in years.

On Saturday, I got downtown just in time to watch The Gutter Twins at 2:30. This is the new band featuring the former frontmen of Screaming Trees and the Afghan Whigs. I've always dug Mark Lanegan's voice, whether it was Screaming Trees, solo, or his work with Queens of the Stone Age. This band makes dark, melodic, raspy rock; and they were stellar live.

Next I saw parts of Devotchka and MGMT, both of whom were at the very least interesting. Since I have nothing else to say about these guys, I'd like to point out that the weather was fantastic on Saturday. 80 and sunny with a nice breeze and zero humidity. If only Friday and Sunday were like that.

Explosions in the Sky were next on my list. This instrumental band is at varying times beautiful, melodic, and extremely intense. Excellent mood music, and I definitely have to look a little deeper into their catalog.

We took a little break after this, and when we got back we immediately headed south to find a decent spot for Rage Against the Machine. While waiting, we heard the end of Lupe Fiasco's rap set and 90s grunge wannabes The Toadies do their little revival. Neither one was particularly inspiring. By the time Rage started, we were packed in there like sardines. They ripped into "Testify" and pandemonium ensued. Rage is one of my all-time favorite bands, but during the second of Zach de la Rocha's pleas for peace I moved back to where the adults were watching the show. They played a pretty good set, but they seemed a little too distracted by the crush up front to really get into it. Since I just saw them eleven months ago at Alpine Valley (where they were really into it) and they were essentially playing the exact same set, we decided to cut out a little early to check out Chicago's own Wilco. I'm not really a fan of Wilco at all, but I appreciate their musicianship and they were a little more my speed at the end of a long second day. What can I say? I'm old.

On Sunday, we got down bright and early in time to see The Whigs. I had wanted to see The Blakes, too, but Metra made sure that I wouldn't. Oh well. I did get to see a little of What Made Milwaukee Famous, as apparently it's not beer, cheese, and brats. They were solid. As for The Whigs, they're a new band out of Athens, Georgia and I dig them a lot. It's hard to classify them, as their songs are all over the map. Southern-tinged punk garage pop rock, I guess. Check out the tracks "Like a Vibration" and "Mission Control" to see the different ends of their spectrum.

Next there was an extended stretch of bands that I had little or no interest in. The John Butler Trio was the most memorable of that bunch if I had to pick one. At this point, we decided to check out Perry Farrell at the Kidzapalooza stage and I was glad we did.

Kidzapalooza is pretty cool. They have a bunch of tents set up with kids music-related activities, and a stage with people singing with and for kids. If I had a ton of money to burn and...well, no I'd still probably not take my kids to a place with so many drunk hooligans. I mean, I saw a lady pushing a stroller around during Nine Inch Nails. I just don't get that. But as an isolated event, Kidzapalooza was pretty cool and my kids would have enjoyed it.

So Perry Ferrell came out and sang a few songs with the kids in School of Rock All-Stars. (Remember that movie? It was based on these guys.) Perry brought out a special guest, too. Slash, from Guns N' Roses. And they proceeded to play four songs, including "Knocking on Heaven's Door", "The Mountain Song", and "Jane Says". I would have never thought in a million years that I'd see Perry Farrell doing Jane's Addiction songs this weekend. It was a nice, unexpected bonus.

Iron and Wine and Flogging Molly were next. I was pretty dead-ass tired at this point, and I just didn't have the patience for the former. I like Iron and Wine, but I have to be in a certain kind of mood to enjoy their brand of mellow indie folk music. Molly, on the other hand, was perfect. Highly energetic, Irish-punk drinking songs. What could be better?

The weekend catching up to me, I was hesitant to trek back to the South end (roughly a mile away) to watch Gnarls Barkley. But I figured when would I find myself in position to see them again and said what the hell. I'm glad I went; they were great. The aforementioned Danger Mouse is a musical genius and Cee-Lo has an awesome voice. They've got at least a dozen ipod-able tracks, and they played them all.

I next found myself in a mob of wall-to-wall flesh by the Gnarls exit. Everyone was there to see Girl Talk. It's just a DJ spinning tunes, but he takes literally dozens of recognizable samples per song and mashes them up into an infectious dance beat that's really popular with the ladies. So popular, in fact, that at least fifty were on stage partying their asses off. I wasn't complaining at the site of that.

Having been zapped of all energy hours ago, I parked my ass in the beer garden and drank Stellas while I waited for Nine Inch Nails to take the stage. I took this time to read about the Cubs fantastic win on my phone. Go, Reed Johnson! (There, sports thoughts!) Then, I caught Nails. I'd never seen NIN before, though I consistently have enjoyed their albums for going on 20 years now. By far, they had the best sound and most elaborate light show I had seen all weekend. Pitch perfect performance, too. So good that you almost think that they're pulling a milli-vanilli up there and faking it. (Doesn't appear so, but I had to throw that out there.) At one point they played behind this electric fence and the band members faded in and out of a sea of white noise. Being in Chicago, I couldn't help but think, "Chicken wire?" But it was very cool and totally unique. Aside from a 25-minute trance set that practically begged people to go check out Kanye West, Trent and company made me forget how much my feet were hurting. Just a stellar performance all around.

And so ends my Lollapalooza experience. I saw a lot of good music, drank a lot of water, got a lot of sun, and generally had a great time. I'm tired as hell, but it was an experience that I'll never forget.

7/31/2008: Quick hits on MLB, the NFL and the NBA

MikeJ — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 03:40:00 GMT

Ain't nothing like random thoughts by a faceless dude on the internets, so here goes:

Today was the MLB Trade Deadline, and this might have been the most active trade deadline in terms of star power ever. Three first ballot hall of famers (Pudge, Junior, and Manny) were traded in the last 24 hours, along with one borderline hall of famer (Kyle Farnsworth). The Manny Being Manny deal is pretty easy to understand from every team's perspective, so I'll just give quick thoughts on the other two deals.

I understand why the Yankees acquired Ivan Rodriguez, but what on earth do the Tigers think they'll get from Kyle Farnsworth? He blew ten years ago, he blew five years ago, he blows now. I can understand dealing Pudge to cut some costs and start looking towards 2009. But to get a 30-year-old head case middle reliever is mind-boggling.
I have similar reaction to the White Sox' acquisition of Ken Griffey, Jr. The dude's a statue in the outfield, he's a fraction of his former self at the plate, and he frankly doesn't seem to care anymore. (Five years in Cincy will do that to you.) That said, he's a slight upgrade over the massively slumping Paul Konerko at the plate. So I guess it makes a sort of sense if Paulie ends up on the bench with Griffey in Center and Swisher at first. But the problem is I've seen Junior up close and personal this year, and he can NOT play Center. He can barely play Right. He looks like an older version of Barry Bonds in the outfield. If he hit like Steroid Era Barry, you'd put up with it. But he's hitting .235. This can't end well.

The Cubs completed their sweep of the Brewers today, and they outscored the Brew Crew 31-11 (with 3 of those Brewer runs in a meaningless 9th when the score was 11-1). After the recent stretch of losses, I wasn't very optimistic about this series. In fact, on Monday morning, I'd have happily taken a 2-2 split. But to sweep them in their home park, after them being en fuego for a month? Just a punch in the mouth to the people up north. And I love it.
The Favre saga drags on and is getting more and more bizarre by the day. I can't believe the Packers offered Favre $20 million to stay retired. That's "I spit on your grave" insulting. Can you imagine Jerry Reinsdorf offering such a deal to Michael Jordan? While Jordan may have been eased into the general direction of the door, the Packers have decided to take a dump on Favre's scrapbook. This is the ultimate no-win situation for the Aaron Rodgers and the Packers now. It's so bad, they're considering trading Favre to the NFC North. I don't blame them there. At this point, you have to a) end it, and b) maximize your value because you're screwed either way. If the Vikings have made the best offer, it's the best offer and you have to take it. There's no sense worrying about the 2-4 times you might face him in the next 1-2 years, and it's a good way to stick it to your enemies in the long run. You deal with him. This whole thing could have been avoided, though, and both sides are to blame:

The Packers shouldn't have been so pushy to get his decision in the first place. Immediately after last season ended, they should have gone to Favre and said, "You're a big part of our future and we absolutely want you back. Take your time" Even if they didn't mean it, that's how you take the high road. Favre comes back -- everything's fine. Favre retires, you're fine with Rodgers. Favre flip-flops, you appear eager to take him back and none of this stuff happens.
Favre has made it all infinitely worse. Supposedly he told the Packers that he was considering coming back in March. The GM and President went down to Mississippi, offered him a deal, and tried to get him to officially commit to coming back. He changed his mind again. Then whining to every Jay, Chris, and Peter makes no sense in the slightest,

All I know is, I'm glad it's happening to the Packers. It couldn't happen to a finer nemesis. What would really be awesome now would be for Aaron Rodgers to demand a trade. "Screw you guys, I'm outta here. You can have your Favre and stick him up your you know what." Oh man, would that not be a perfect ending to this whole debacle.
Everyone's happy in Bears camp. Hester signed a big contract, and Bourbonnais is now completely free of "off-the-field" controversy for probably the first time since Lovie Smith took over. No holdouts, no Tank Johnsons, no DUIs, no nothing. All that's left is football, and that's all there should be.

The Bears cut Nick Hill before the first preseason game, letting Perry know exactly what they think of his talent evaluation. Could they be making room for another Quarterback? Hmmm....
Ricky Manning Jr's days are numbered. I didn't think he was that bad, but he's like 80th string on Lovie's depth chart. (I think Scott Eyre is even higher). Expect a trade for a 6th rounder (Chris Harris style) before the season starts.

Is Luol Deng really worth $71 million dollars? Not even close. Really, after last season, he's just a tick better than Jud Buechler on the Bulls list of all-time great forwards. All kidding aside, I just don't see Deng ever making an All-Star team, let alone being the best player on a championship team. He's good, but not great. A role player. A second or even third banana. But he's no star worthy of such a large bag o' cash.

And so ends the month of July. What will August bring?

Cubs take Two from Brew Crew

MikeJ — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 03:12:00 GMT

Every time somebody asked me about the Cubs dwindling lead last week, I basically replied that I wasn't really worried. Every team goes into slumps, and every Cub hitter not named "Mike Fontenot" had been struggling since the all-star break. All it takes to start winning again is the big three to heat up, I was saying. Since then, Soriano, Aramis, and D-Lee supplied the heat, and whaddya know the Cubs have started winning again. And with the "as critical as a series in July can be" series with Milwaukee half-way over, it couldn't come at a better time.

Tonight, behind Carlos Zambrano and Aramis Ramirez, the Cubs easily dispatched the Brewers by a score of 7-1 just one night after winning a nail-biter in what might have been "the most intense mid-season game of the year." Beating Sabathia and Sheets on consecutive nights in Milwaukee cuts the Brewers deep. They were so looking forward to this series, to have it start like this has got to be devastating for the Brewers fan base. But there's a lot of baseball left to be played so there's no time for sucking each other's popsicles just yet.

I've got a lot more thoughts on the Cubs lately, so here goes.

Soriano is at full speed, and I love it. That broken hand didn't do much for the Cubs in the standings, but Soriano's legs are finally 100% healthy and he's no longer running like a man with a rock in his shoe.
Aramis had four hits tonight and his post-all-star break batting average is finally better than Ted Lilly's. He was awful the last few weeks, but now he's starting to pound the ball. Lee's looking a lot better lately, too, though that "botched double play ball" really saved him. He's been hitting into mad DPs this season, and Reed Johnson's slide into second quite possibly saved the Cubs last night and Lee in particular. All hail the scrappy Reed, who himself has been hitting the ball hard lately.
How about Jeff Samardzija? I was at his debut on Friday versus the Marlins and let me tell ya, the dude throws fire. Filthy fire. A lot of people are throwing around K-Rod comparisons on how The Shark might be able to do what Francisco Rodriguez did for the Angels in 2002. I'd love for it to happen, but please...let's not put all our eggs in that basket. Let some tape of him get around the league and let the batters adjust before we start etching his likeness into the Cubs Walk of Fame. Until he's got 20 innings under his belt, lets pretend his name is Kevin Hart and go on with our lives.
Just kidding about the Kevin Hart thing. Samardzija is awesome, even if his name is impossible to spell. It's also impossible to root against the guy. I mean, he must really be a special talent to be considered first round material in two sports. (I know he wasn't first round for the Cubs, but that was only because people thought he'd choose football. On pure stuff, he was a first rounder.)
Harden's going Thursday, and you wanna talk about special talent, the line forms behind Rich Harden. Three starts, 30 strikeouts, unfortunately no wins. It'd be nice to see him go a little deeper in games but really, who in their right mind would complain. They should keep Marshall fresh in the pen to close out Harden's starts on a weekly basis. Collectively you're looking at a sub 3.00 ERA and theoretically a lot of wins. Doesn't hurt to try.
Bob Howry, you're officially on swiffer duty. When he came in the tie game in the ninth on Friday, I just sat back and said, "go ahead: give up your run, get three outs and let us proceed to the bottom of the ninth so we have a chance to score." Of course Hermida hit a 500 foot homer to ultimately win the game. Then last night, Cubs scratch out a 4-3 lead and he near immediately gives up another 500 footer. Howry was a good signing that for the first two years of his deal performed about as well as could be expected. But this year he's turned into Mike Remlinger over night. Disturbing.
Marmol looks better, but he's still shaky. And who knows when Wood's blister will heal. That injury is pretty infuriating. I mean, can't they just pop the sonofabitch, put a band-aid on it, and have him pitch in two days? I don't get it. So with all that going on, Hendry would be best served in finding another arm for the pen. I like Gaudin and The Shark, but can you really count on these guys? Marmol's showed signs of snapping out of it, but they're still short one arm.

And that's about it. Two more against the Brewers before "home sweet home" August kicks in for the Cubs. Time to really build up that lead, because as everybody knows, September is almost sure to suck. Till next time...

Busiest. Training Camp Opener. Ever.

MikeJ — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 03:48:00 GMT

Lots going on at Bears camp, and the players arrived just 24 hours ago. Here's two cents worth of free analysis:

Chris Williams signed just in time to participate in the first practice. It's quite a relief to see all draft picks signed and ready to go, and Chris should be right on schedule to start the opener.
Brian Urlacher signed an extension. One of my concerns about camp was how Urlacher would handle his contract situation, and how his back and neck are doing. There should be nothing to worry about with the contract now, unless he pulls a Briggs and is unhappy about it a week later. The Tribune said it best with their headline: Time to Put Up.
Devin Hester is holding out. I'm surprised, but then again I'm not surprised. The Bears have shown that they're willing to cave to a star player's contract demands, and Hester is only the best kick returner in NFL history. And while he IS the best kick returner in NFL history, he's only played two years, he's making $445,000 and gas is $4 a gallon. The fans don't want to hear it. I understand where he's coming from, though. Football is a demanding sport. If he blows out his knee this year, he gets nothing. The only thing he can do to gain leverage is to hold out, so he's doing it. Still, the timing isn't the best. The Bears have spent the last few ~~days~~ weeks negotiating with Urlacher and Williams, and Hester is under contract for two more years. The Bears know he wants more money, they just didn't have time to negotiate. He should have come into camp on good faith. Oh well, I'm sure he'll sign a long term deal within the week and two years down the road when that bonus money is gone he'll sit out again. Good times!
Kreutz and Dvoracek are hurtin. Kreutz is leader of the offense, and his presence is a necessity to fully integrate two new starters on the line. I'm hoping his injury is nothing and they're simply being extra cautious. And what's the deal with Dvoracek, man? He's been an absolute beast the last two preseasons, but he's only played two single quarters in his career due to injury. That's less than Mike Brown even! I'm afraid he'll end up in the dustbin of "what could have been".
Grossman won the coin flip. Your opening day starter.

Let's see what happens on Day 2!

Questions to be answered in Bears Training Camp

MikeJ — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 04:24:00 GMT

The Bears are heading to Training Camp this week, and unlike last year there are LOTS of questions. I, along with everyone else in the free world, (John Clayton, anyone?), was delusional heading into the 2007 season and described a team that had "no holes." Uh, can I have a mulligan on that one? A big, fat, disgusting 7 and 9 later, let's get to the questions for 2008:

Who's the starting Quarterback? Rex Grossman or Kyle Orton? Or is there a wild card out there we don't know about? And I'm not talking about Nick Hill or Caleb Hanie. (I'm not talking Brett Favre, either.) I'm talking Chris Simms. Simms is the odd man out in Tampa, and he's shown just enough moxie to make himself attractive to the Bears. Will Jerry bite? As for Grossman and Orton, without seeing a snap I'd give the ball to Orton. But Grossman's amazing practice performance will probably win him the job. Joy.

Who's the starting Receivers? I would think Marty Booker is about as close as there could be to a lock. He didn't do a whole lot in Miami, but then again he did have 50 catches last year with dog feces throwing to him. After that, I think Devin Hester, Brandon Lloyd, and Rashied Davis are the favorites, with Earl Bennett and Mark Bradley as dark horses. If Hester has an amazing preseason, I don't see how they can keep him out of the lineup. He's a playmaker, though third downs may still be best for him. Despite his lack of production in Washington, Lloyd has a pretty solid resume. Davis knows the plays and he was a solid enough #3 the last few years, so he might have the inside track for at least the first few games. I'm curious to see how Bennett will do.

Who are the two new starting offensive linemen? I would like to think that Chris Williams will be one of them, provided he signs within the next two weeks. Man, he better sign. After last year's draft, they need massive production from this draft class - starting at the top. (Really, it'll be interesting to watch all the rookies this Summer.) I guess Terrance Metcalf and John St. Clair are the steady-but-underwhelming choices for the last spot on the line, though it'd be nice to see Josh Beekman come out of nowhere and grab the job.

How's Urlacher look? Coming off the neck surgery, the bad back, the mini-camp/OTA holdouts, and the massive amounts of bad press; he's got a lot to play for. And if he doesn't look good, the pressure will only get worse.

How's Tommie Harris look? When he's not 100%, the team struggles. The Enforcer needs to be healthy, period.

How's Mike Brown recovering? This question has been asked at every camp for the past five years. I guess I should be asking, how's Mike Browns backups doing? Kevin Payne looked good before his injury last year, and many people think Craig Stelz was a steal in this year's draft. And I really can't crap on McGowan much, as he was pretty solid the last four or five games last year. Danieal Manning needs to step up as well. But back to Brown a minute. Over the last two years, when Brown played (along with a healthy Tommie Harris), the Bears defense flat out dominated. (Yes, in 2007 the dominance only lasted for three quarters of the opener against San Diego, but I'm thinking 2006 when they started 8-0 and were winning games by 40 points. Remember those heady days? Seems like eons ago.)

Will Mark Anderson return to 2006 form? I think they need to make Alex Brown the starter (like they did towards the end of last year), and let Anderson as a third down specialist. Nothing wrong with having another Simeon Rice around, is there?

Will Dan Bazuin make the team? He looked OK in the preseason last year, I thought, but was PUP and the word on the street is he's out. That's a 2nd round pick, my friends. I really want to see him make it, if for no other reason than he went to a MAC school.

Garrett Wolfe, same question. Now that Kevin Jones has signed, and Peterson seemingly entrenched on Special Teams, I don't see a spot for Wolfe. He showed a few flashes last year, but not nearly enough for a 3rd round pick. As much as I loved him at Northern, a third-down back should not be drafted in the third round. Period.

And that just scratches the surface. Coming off a season like last year, everybody on the team should be looking over their shoulder. And when they look over their shoulder this year, they'll be looking at me. I'll be filing my report from Training Camp next week for the third year in a row, and I won't be as soft as I was last year. Till then....

BEAR DOWN

Cubs First Half Grades

MikeJ — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 03:26:00 GMT

Easiest and most obvious post in the world, so lets get to it. Here's how I grade:

A - Greatly exceeding expectations
B - Meeting the higher end of expectations
C - Getting the job done, barely
D - A disappointment
F - A disaster

Dempster, Wood, Soto, Theriot

Dempster's the only guy truly exceeding my wildest expectations on the team. And his performance in the All-Star Game was awesome. Wood's been mostly great, except for a handful of games. Of the eight guys that made the All-Star, Soto was by far the most deserving. He's the only guy that I would really have complained about had he not made the team.

Zambrano, Marmol, Cotts, Lee, Ramirez, Fukudome, Soriano, DeRosa, Edmonds, Johnson, Fontenot

No complaints about any of these guys, as they're all basically doing what about as well as we could have possibly expected. Marmol's been shaky, but hopefully his good appearance in the all-star game will right the ship. I guess Cotts is a pretty big surprise amongst this group. I never thought we'd see him again after last year. Edmonds deserves props, too, for the same reason. And what a nice pickup Reed Johnson was. None of these last three guys were expected to be on the team, let alone contribute as much as they have. Fukudome needs to start hitting again.

Lilly, Marquis, Marshall, Lieber, Howry, Eyre, Ward, Blanco, Cedeno

All of these are getting the job done, though none have exactly dominated at any point. I expected a little more from Lilly. Him and Howry are the only real guys they were really counting on among these "barely adequate" guys. Can't really complain, though. Even about Marquis. I mean, he still sucks, but he's been his usual occasionally great but mostly shaky self. Cedeno has been mostly worthless since his blistering hot start.

Wuertz, Pie

Both guys are now in AAA, if that tells you anything. I think Wuertz simply needs to pitch more. Once a week generally doesn't cut it for relievers. When he's on, though, he's pretty great. But he deserves this D. And Pie...well, there's always next year. Hopefully he'll have a ring on his finger.

Hill

The one true disaster in the group. Can you imagine if he had his head screwed on right and did what we expected him to do? I expected somewhere in the neighborhood of 15 wins, and all I got was 15 walks in 15 innings. Horrible. And there's virtually no way he comes back this year. He's done.

Incomplete

Harden, Gaudin

Harden's here for one reason only: the postseason. All the experts analyze the trade and say that he'll make a 3 or 4 game difference in the standings this year. That might not sound like much, but it's pretty good. But really, I think they could have won the division without him. The Cubs made the trade simply to increase their chances of winning it all. The postseason is a different animal than the regular season, if Harden's healthy then the Cubs have two aces. Two aces, along with Dempster (if he can keep it up), and this team will be really, really tough to beat in October. I think Gaudin's going to pay huge dividends as well. In fact, it wouldn't shock me if he was the 2nd best reliever down the stretch, even better than Howry and Marmol.

Lou

Lou gets an A. He's already the best manager the Cubs have had in my lifetime. That's with just one playoff appearance under his belt (and he got swept to boot.) There's so much I can add here that it probably deserves its own post. So be on the lookout for that in the coming months.

And now, we wait. Till next time.

Would I want Favre on the Bears?

MikeJ — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 03:19:00 GMT

Brett Favre is up to his annual "me, me, me" shenanigans, though instead of the world asking, "are you going to retire?!", the world is asking, "are you coming back?!" He just retired a few months back, and the media bent over backwards to basically kiss his ass as he walked out the door. Now he supposedly wants to play, and supposedly the Packers don't want him. I don't know what to make of all this, but I gotta say that you must be pretty big shit if the fact that you sent a text message makes "the crawl" on ESPN.

The Packers are ready to begin the Aaron Rodgers era. It's obvious that they don't want Favre back. What a bunch of stooges. This reminds me of Jerry Krause being so anxious to rebuild the Bulls after MJ's (second) retirement. Krause had been waiting for years to build his own team from scratch. (MJ was there when Krause got there, and justly got all the credit.) Krause was so eager to build his own team, that he and Reinsdorf more or less pushed Phil Jackson out the door after the last championship in '98 and the dynasty disintegrated over night. Can't blame Krause, though, as his master plan worked out well. (Next time you're at the United Center, make sure you check out the Tim Floyd and Marcus Fizer banners up in the rafters.)

Anyways, back to Favre. It's all the rage these days to speculate on what's next for Favre. Most people figure that he'll be on the open market, provided the Packers "release" him. A lot of people think the Bears are a legitimate destination for Favre. A lot of people are wrong.

Favre wouldn't sign with Chicago. Too much respect for the Packers fans. We're not talking MJ coming back with the Washington Wizards, this is the best rivalry in football here. It'd be like Edmonds signing with the Cubs or Chelios signing with Detroit or Johnny Damon signing with the Yankees. Wait a minute...
The Bears wouldn't sign him. They don't need a Quarterback. If they needed one, they would have drafted one, right? They don't need a runningback, either. If Angelo thought they needed a runningback, they would have scouted a veteran like Kevin Jones, right? What a bunch of fucking idiots. Scouts, Inc ranked all the teams by position, and the Bears have the least amount of talent on offense in football. Every position (other than Tight End) is bottom of the barrel. 5-11 this year. You watch.

Anyhoo, the title question of this post is, "Would I want Favre on the Bears?," even though we already know that the Bears don't. I wouldn't be against signing Favre because he wore Green and Gold and terrorized the Bears since I was playing Tecmo Bowl in High School. I don't give a crap about that. In fact, I'd be more inclined to sign him because of that. Just to stick it to Wisconsin. No, I'd give second thoughts to signing Favre purely for football reasons. Prior to last year, he had back-to-back seasons of pure crap. By the end of last season, he was crap. All that talk of him "playing within his limits" this year was crap. Same old Brett, he was just luckier with his dumb plays for a stretch at the beginning of the year. The Bears already have a QB on the roster that's reckless with the football. No, Grossman probably won't outperform Favre this year, (though its not completely out of the question). I'm just saying the team isn't close enough to win a championship to roll the dice on Favre. You saw what I just said about the offense, right? Is Favre going to turn Brandon Lloyd into Donald Driver? Is Garrett Wolfe going to turn out to be a diamond in the rough like Brian Grant?

Back in the day, Favre alone was worth 8 wins per season. Any talent around him at all, and they strolled into the postseason. Now what's he worth, 2 wins? Great, you're 7-9, the QB position is set back yet again and you're drafting a QB next April. Oh, and as an added bonus you have to deal with all the "will he or won't he" bullshit next spring. (Let me stick my head in the microwave now.) Might as well give Orton and Grossman one more shot, and save that 3rd roster spot for one of the undrafted rookies. I'll take the 1-in-20 chance that one of the rookies is worth something over the 1-in-100 chance that Favre can lead the Bears to the Super Bowl. The Bears aren't going anywhere this year anyways. See if Orton can stay sober or Rex can pull his head of of his ass.

UPDATE (7/15/2008): The Bears signed Kevin Jones today. Sweet. This post was exactly the kick in the pants that Angelo needed. Yeah.

Further thoughts on "The Trade" and a look at the rotation

MikeJ — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 01:13:00 GMT

The more I think about the Rich Harden deal, the more I like it. What really settled it for me was the Oakland reaction. I surveyed some A's blogs and the San Fran papers and I'd say the reaction is almost universal. Probably 85% of A's fans hated the move. Oddly enough, most of them hated the move because Gaudin was included. Plus there's a high level of dissatisfaction for the prospects they got in return along with the fact that Billy Beane is more or less giving up on the season. I can't help but agree with them. Gallagher looks good. Possibly a #2 starter but more likely a #3 or #4. Certainly not an ace.

There's not much short term risk for the Cubs. The worst case scenario for the Cubs is Harden getting hurt and making only two starts this year. Gaudin in 2008 is the equivalent of Gallagher in 2008, so there's no immediate loss there. I suppose it would hurt, too, if Soriano and Fukudome land on the DL at the same time (and thus Murton's loss would be felt). But really, in the short term, that's the only potential negative. If the Cubs miss the playoffs and Gallagher eventually becomes the next Dan Haren, then this trade will be considered a loss. But the reward is just so massive, and it's gotta be considered a win for the Cubs unless Harden's already hurt. (And to tell you the truth, that's in the back of my mind. Why else would the Cubs be able to get him for so little? What's the catch?)

Now it's time to think about the rotation. If I had to guess, I'd say Marshall will go to AAA and Marquis will stay in the rotation. However, I heard Hendry was on the radio yesterday talking about the rotation, and he mentioned Marshall but not Marquis. Interesting. That, of course, is what I would prefer to see but I would have guessed that Marquis' contract would have prevented that.

They can't put Marquis in the pen because they already have a long reliever. They can't demote him, and he's paid too much to sit around and do nothing as insurance. (Don't need it anyways with Gaudin and Lieber around)

He's going to be awfully hard to trade because he's owed 13 million dollars. He only made 5 mil last year, and 6 mil this year, but next year he's scheduled to make 10 million. Who the hell is going to pay Marquis 10 million? (incidentally, a lot of Cubs contracts are severely backloaded like that. It's Hendry's price to pay for turning around the team quickly.) I guess they can cut him, but he's gotta be serviceable enough for somebody to roll the dice in a trade. The Cubs will just have to pick up a bad contract in return and/or send a lot of money with Marquis. I bet they'd have to eat 6 or 7 million to dump Jason. If anyone can do it, Hendry can. He found takers for Todd Hundley, Sammy Sosa, and Michael Barrett, and I never thought he'd be able to move any of those guys.

I anxiously await Hendry's next move.