So what do I want to talk about today as it is the last day of the month of May 2007. I watched that so called Cubs game last night and was appalled that the game wound up as bad as it did. To loose to none other than Florida 9-0 is just not acceptable. The worst part is the yesterday and Tuesday's pitchers were former Cubs players that are doing better. Well actually Dontrelle Willis has been lights out for Florida for a while and Sergio Mitre actually looked like a true major league pitcher against his former team. Do not know what the hell happened to Ted Lilly yesterday other then the fact that he was killed by the Marlins. I just wonder what this team is ever going to accomplish in my life time. I have tasted the playoffs five times in my love of them and have been disappointed every time. Now this team is for sale and there is no word yet on who should own this team. I just hope that who ever takes over ownership cleans house and brings in true baseball people to put this team on a winning tract. Will this ever truthfully happen, I am not sure and unless something happens sooner rather than later I do not expect it to ever change.
Then there is my basketball team, the Chicago Bulls. I am still surprised that the team actually won a round in the playoffs and actually defeated the defending world champion Miami Heat. Then reality set in and they lost to the Detroit Pistons once again in the second round. John Paxson better start planning on continuing the transformation since his former back court partner retired from the NBA. John has done well in making the Bulls a playoff team however, it is still far too short for making them a world championship contender year in and year out. What will this off season bring to the Bulls? Who knows for sure however things start to change supposedly on June 27th with the next version of the NBA draft.
Then it is time to start thinking about Training Camp which should get underway approximately July 26th. Will the Bears be able to avoid the last six Super Bowl Runner Ups down slide and actually return to the Big Game on February 3rd in Glendale Arizona? What will become of Lance Briggs the malcontent who thinks his pay increase from less than half a million dollars to a guarantee of $7.2 million is insulting. Please let someone insult me that way. Remember Lance, you are successful because of the system that you are in and receiving the benefits of playing with one of the best linebackers in today's game. I remember Wilbur Marshall leaving after Super Bowl XX and not really doing that much in Washington. The only linebacker you still hear a little about is Roosevelt Colvin in New England however, Rosey has been hit with the injury bug far too ofter to matter.
Not to mention the instability that is the quarterback position. Too many people are still putting their faith and trust into Rex Grossman. Rex will never be the man and the sooner that Jerry Angelo and Lovie Smith realize this and make significant changes the better off this team will be. Then of course there is the new question at running back. How in the hell do you 1. draft a kid and think he is going to be the next running back sensation in Chicago and not play him from the get go. Then the proven running back who just basically ran for over 1, 000 yards the last two seasons, you trade away and really get nothing in return except a draft pick that is just a prospect versus a proven contributor. There are a lot of questions to be answered coming out of camp and time will tell how great this team is going to be.
Then of course there is the Blackhawks. The hard part is that I really do not have much to say except that Bill Writz needs to sell this team so someone that cares about all the fans and Gary Bettmen needs to be fired as commissioner of the NHL. Until this happens, do not expect too much from the United Center's other tenant.
31 May 2007
17 May 2007
Frustration
I watched that so called Cubs game at New York today and thought wow, the Cubs seem to be able to win this game and gain a series split with New York on this road trip. Then Angel Guzman was pulled and Michael Wuertz came in and pitched pretty well. Then after one out in the seventh inning, Michael gets yanked and Wil Ohman comes in and God it seems that this team is going to wind up loosing this one. Surprisingly Ohman some how does well and the Cubs survive to the 9th inning with a four run lead. Then we enter the ninth inning and all hell breaks loose.
I have said it before and will continue to say it, Ryan "Crybaby" Dempster is not a closer and is a disgrace in our bullpen especially being assigned as the so called Closer. What is a closer you may be asking yourself and wondering what I am thinking. I'll tell you what a closer is to me. A closer in baseball is someone who wants the ball everyday no matter what is happening. Is reliable and consistent in their approach that the opposition is fearing versus thinking what is going to happen next. A closer is someone who comes in and gets the final outs to a game and there is no drama in regards to the ending. Whether it is a closing situation, or like today just getting the closer some time on the mound to keep him sharp. The Cubs have had quality closers in the past that include Bruce Sutter, Lee Smith, Goose Gossage, Randy Myers and Rod Beck just to name a few. Sutter for one was one of the more special closers because he usually pitched more than just one inning. Now we have to deal with a player who does not get mad at the fact that his team eliminates a save opportunity for him and still goes out there, a bit steamed and mows down the opposition.
I have talked about it before and Ryan Dempster does not impress me. I spoke with him while the Cubs were in Los Angeles in 2005 and apologized for the fact that the team eliminated the save chance. Ryan was more than relieved that he did not have to work on a save and had extra runs to get through. A true closer would have been a bit pissed off and would have gone in and worked even harder to remind the opposition that he was in the game and would make you quake in your boots. Crybaby just does not get it and neither does the fool the signed him to be the closer, Jim Hendry. I am still miffed how this so called general manager still has a job with this team, as he continues to make more bone headed decisions versus intelligent decisions to help this team. I am only able to hope that the new owner of this team who ever it is, comes in and cleans house completely and brings true baseball people in to turn this beloved franchise into a legitimate contender.
I have said it before and will continue to say it, Ryan "Crybaby" Dempster is not a closer and is a disgrace in our bullpen especially being assigned as the so called Closer. What is a closer you may be asking yourself and wondering what I am thinking. I'll tell you what a closer is to me. A closer in baseball is someone who wants the ball everyday no matter what is happening. Is reliable and consistent in their approach that the opposition is fearing versus thinking what is going to happen next. A closer is someone who comes in and gets the final outs to a game and there is no drama in regards to the ending. Whether it is a closing situation, or like today just getting the closer some time on the mound to keep him sharp. The Cubs have had quality closers in the past that include Bruce Sutter, Lee Smith, Goose Gossage, Randy Myers and Rod Beck just to name a few. Sutter for one was one of the more special closers because he usually pitched more than just one inning. Now we have to deal with a player who does not get mad at the fact that his team eliminates a save opportunity for him and still goes out there, a bit steamed and mows down the opposition.
I have talked about it before and Ryan Dempster does not impress me. I spoke with him while the Cubs were in Los Angeles in 2005 and apologized for the fact that the team eliminated the save chance. Ryan was more than relieved that he did not have to work on a save and had extra runs to get through. A true closer would have been a bit pissed off and would have gone in and worked even harder to remind the opposition that he was in the game and would make you quake in your boots. Crybaby just does not get it and neither does the fool the signed him to be the closer, Jim Hendry. I am still miffed how this so called general manager still has a job with this team, as he continues to make more bone headed decisions versus intelligent decisions to help this team. I am only able to hope that the new owner of this team who ever it is, comes in and cleans house completely and brings true baseball people in to turn this beloved franchise into a legitimate contender.
30 April 2007
The Weekend of April 26-28 2007
I am reflecting on this past weekend in Chicago Sports and it was pretty interesting to see what happened with three of the four teams that I love the most.
Starting with the Bulls, I am pleasantly surprised that they have swept the defending World Champion Miami Heat out of the playoffs. That is a pretty good accomplishment for a team that I was not sure would do well in the playoffs. I was thinking that it would be another one and done playoff season for the Bulls and they have proved me wrong. Unfortunately everyone has to wait until the entire first round is complete before starting the second round. The Bulls second round opponents are the hated Detroit Pistons. Unfortunately the Pistons have earned Home Court Advantage throughout the playoffs which means that the Bulls have an uphill battle to win this series. I am able to envision that the Bulls will be able to steal one of the games in Detroit which will allow them to possibly win the series. I will not count my chickens before they hatch, as the games need to be played and Detroit is not the best in the Eastern Conference for nothing. I will go out on a limb though and say that Da' Bulls win in Six.
The let's talk about the struggling Chicago Cubs. After the horrendous home stand the Cubs headed to St. Louis to continue this intense rivalry. It was pretty nice to see that on Friday the Cubs won a squeaker, beating St. Louis 5-3 with Carlos Zambrano winning for only the second time this year. One thing that I did find funny is that during the Fox Pregame, either Joe Girardi or Kevin Kennedy mentioned that Big Z started out last year 0-2 and will be fine. That is all good and fine however, Z is the one who went out on a limb and stated emphatically that he was going to win the Cy Young Award as the best pitcher in the National League and the Cubs were going to win the World Series. At this point, it does not appear that Big Z will even come close to winning the Cy Young and the way the team is playing who knows if they will be any better than the 66-99 that they were last year. I still hold out hope that this team will be at least .500 however, I am not sure that they are personally committed to playing fundamentally sound baseball thereby not winning enough to warrant the honor of wearing the uniform that they all put on.
Then of course I have to mention the Bears and the 2007 NFL Draft. I do like the pick of Greg Olsen a Tight End out of Miami. I hear that Greg's short comings revolve around his blocking ability however, I think Greg will turn into the type of player that we have wanted to shine since Da' Coach played the position. Time will tell what truthfully will happen for young Mr. Olsen. Then Jerry Angelo went with Central Michigan's Dan Bazuin, a defensive end from a smaller Michigan university, followed that up with Chicago native and Northern Illinois prospect Garrett Wolfe. What do you say about Garrett except that he definitely shows that he has heart however, at 5'7" I am not sure that Garrett will excel in the NFL. The other third round pick was Michael Okwo, a small sized linebacker out of Stanford. I really do not see how this will help the Bears, as Michael does not appear to have the size nor strength to pull of playing LB in the NFL. The fourth round provided Josh Beekman out of Boston College. Beekman is an interesting case as at one point, Josh was considered one of the type linemen available in the draft. Falling down to the fourth round and 130th overall makes me wonder how well Josh will do to learn and step in to replace one of the aging offensive line eventually. The we get Kevin Payne out of Louisiana Monroe. Will the Bears get lucky with another defensive back out of this small school. The Bears are hoping that Kevin will be similar to Chris Harris. Then there is Corey Graham, a DB from Hampshire. Will Corey be able to make the jump from I-AA to the NFL as well. Only time will tell if that is a possibility. Starting the seventh round there is Trumaine McBride out of Ole Miss. Not sure about this pick either and it appears that we are now starting to go crazy with defensive backs at this point. The final pick that the Bears made was Aaron Brant out of Iowa State. Hopefully Aaron will become a better player in the NFL then Iowa State was as a team last year.
I still wish that Da' Bears would have used their 2nd round pick when it was still at number 37 in order to pick up Michigan State Quarterback Drew Stanton. Mark my words, especially if Drew survives in Detroit and moves on in four years, that Drew is going to be one helluva NFL quarterback and will win at least one Super Bowl. Beyond that we will have to see what kind of shrew talent evaluation Jerry Angelo did this year in about 2010 when this class should turn into something special hopefully.
Starting with the Bulls, I am pleasantly surprised that they have swept the defending World Champion Miami Heat out of the playoffs. That is a pretty good accomplishment for a team that I was not sure would do well in the playoffs. I was thinking that it would be another one and done playoff season for the Bulls and they have proved me wrong. Unfortunately everyone has to wait until the entire first round is complete before starting the second round. The Bulls second round opponents are the hated Detroit Pistons. Unfortunately the Pistons have earned Home Court Advantage throughout the playoffs which means that the Bulls have an uphill battle to win this series. I am able to envision that the Bulls will be able to steal one of the games in Detroit which will allow them to possibly win the series. I will not count my chickens before they hatch, as the games need to be played and Detroit is not the best in the Eastern Conference for nothing. I will go out on a limb though and say that Da' Bulls win in Six.
The let's talk about the struggling Chicago Cubs. After the horrendous home stand the Cubs headed to St. Louis to continue this intense rivalry. It was pretty nice to see that on Friday the Cubs won a squeaker, beating St. Louis 5-3 with Carlos Zambrano winning for only the second time this year. One thing that I did find funny is that during the Fox Pregame, either Joe Girardi or Kevin Kennedy mentioned that Big Z started out last year 0-2 and will be fine. That is all good and fine however, Z is the one who went out on a limb and stated emphatically that he was going to win the Cy Young Award as the best pitcher in the National League and the Cubs were going to win the World Series. At this point, it does not appear that Big Z will even come close to winning the Cy Young and the way the team is playing who knows if they will be any better than the 66-99 that they were last year. I still hold out hope that this team will be at least .500 however, I am not sure that they are personally committed to playing fundamentally sound baseball thereby not winning enough to warrant the honor of wearing the uniform that they all put on.
Then of course I have to mention the Bears and the 2007 NFL Draft. I do like the pick of Greg Olsen a Tight End out of Miami. I hear that Greg's short comings revolve around his blocking ability however, I think Greg will turn into the type of player that we have wanted to shine since Da' Coach played the position. Time will tell what truthfully will happen for young Mr. Olsen. Then Jerry Angelo went with Central Michigan's Dan Bazuin, a defensive end from a smaller Michigan university, followed that up with Chicago native and Northern Illinois prospect Garrett Wolfe. What do you say about Garrett except that he definitely shows that he has heart however, at 5'7" I am not sure that Garrett will excel in the NFL. The other third round pick was Michael Okwo, a small sized linebacker out of Stanford. I really do not see how this will help the Bears, as Michael does not appear to have the size nor strength to pull of playing LB in the NFL. The fourth round provided Josh Beekman out of Boston College. Beekman is an interesting case as at one point, Josh was considered one of the type linemen available in the draft. Falling down to the fourth round and 130th overall makes me wonder how well Josh will do to learn and step in to replace one of the aging offensive line eventually. The we get Kevin Payne out of Louisiana Monroe. Will the Bears get lucky with another defensive back out of this small school. The Bears are hoping that Kevin will be similar to Chris Harris. Then there is Corey Graham, a DB from Hampshire. Will Corey be able to make the jump from I-AA to the NFL as well. Only time will tell if that is a possibility. Starting the seventh round there is Trumaine McBride out of Ole Miss. Not sure about this pick either and it appears that we are now starting to go crazy with defensive backs at this point. The final pick that the Bears made was Aaron Brant out of Iowa State. Hopefully Aaron will become a better player in the NFL then Iowa State was as a team last year.
I still wish that Da' Bears would have used their 2nd round pick when it was still at number 37 in order to pick up Michigan State Quarterback Drew Stanton. Mark my words, especially if Drew survives in Detroit and moves on in four years, that Drew is going to be one helluva NFL quarterback and will win at least one Super Bowl. Beyond that we will have to see what kind of shrew talent evaluation Jerry Angelo did this year in about 2010 when this class should turn into something special hopefully.
19 April 2007
Here We Go Again
It is just my imagination or is it probable that the Cubs are doing the same to "Sweet Lou" that they did to Dusty Baker. The Cubs again lost a game that they could have won however, this bullpen so far is proving that they are not worth a damn to start out the season. Never mind the bullpen, Carlos Zambrano who is wanting Barry Zito and Jason Schmidt type money continues to look worse with each successive outing. Of the four starts that Zambrano has had, "Big Z" has only managed one victory and the last two outings has been terrible at best. This from a player who states that he is going to win the Cy Young award this year and that this team is going to win the World Series. Great ambition for a person who is not being the man at this point in time in the season. I know that we are not even through the month of April and yet it appears that this team is no better than it was last season when we finished 66-96. Poor Lou has to be scratching his head at this point and wondering what the hell he got himself into. I guess Lou is definitely learning first hand about the Curse of the Billy Goat. So much for his thought, just like Dusty, that there are no such things as curses. How else do you explain that this team is once again underachieving. To think that John McDonough has allowed Jim Hendry to remain in place after Andy MacPhail stepped down is just mind boggling. The sooner that the new owner is in place, the possibility that this team may be better off the better.
Then let's talk about the Chicago Bulls. How in the hell do you loose a game to a team you should be able to beat. I'll tell you that this team is not as good as they were all hoping that they were. The Bulls stumble once again at New Jersey and have a repeat of a first round playoff match up against the Miami Heat. Expect Shack and D. Wade to step up their game once again and eliminate the Bulls most likely in six games. Then you have to ask the question once again, is John Paxson the right person to be running this team? Another trading deadline came and went and there were no changes made to this very young roster. Then think about whether or not Scott Skiles is the right coach to lead this team. Granted Scott and John got the team back to the playoffs however, three consecutive one and done is not acceptable. The bar was set extremely high in the 1990s and it is now 2007 and we are no closer to another NBA World Title then when Jerry Krause destroyed this team after the 1997-98 season and the completion of the second Three-Peat. What will the off season mean for this team, probably the same as it will be for their United Center co-tenants, Not A Damn Thing.
Then let's talk about the Chicago Bulls. How in the hell do you loose a game to a team you should be able to beat. I'll tell you that this team is not as good as they were all hoping that they were. The Bulls stumble once again at New Jersey and have a repeat of a first round playoff match up against the Miami Heat. Expect Shack and D. Wade to step up their game once again and eliminate the Bulls most likely in six games. Then you have to ask the question once again, is John Paxson the right person to be running this team? Another trading deadline came and went and there were no changes made to this very young roster. Then think about whether or not Scott Skiles is the right coach to lead this team. Granted Scott and John got the team back to the playoffs however, three consecutive one and done is not acceptable. The bar was set extremely high in the 1990s and it is now 2007 and we are no closer to another NBA World Title then when Jerry Krause destroyed this team after the 1997-98 season and the completion of the second Three-Peat. What will the off season mean for this team, probably the same as it will be for their United Center co-tenants, Not A Damn Thing.
10 April 2007
Three Up and Five Down
Now from what everyone in the Cubs organization was saying after the miserable end to the 2006 campaign, that the attitude to be adopted is "Win Now" for the great Cub Fans. To start the season after five games at 3&5 is just a reminder at how far this team is really going to fall before someone within the organization decides to get their collective heads out of their collective asses. Jim Hendry continues to be employed as his former boss is completely out of baseball. Why in the hell Hendry, or should I Blundry continues to take chances on damaged products just to save a buck or two is beyond my comprehension.
John McDonough is the whacked job in charge of this failing franchise now until the new owner is established and maybe just maybe the Cubs wind up with a person running this team that is not an after thought and does know something about baseball and is truly able to evaluate talent. Jason Marquis and Wade Miller need to be given their unconditional release and the Cubs need to find some quality pitchers that will be worth a damn in the show. I am still partial to Sean Marshall and yet he is not on the Big League Roster as of yet. Rich Hill did well in his first game and hopefully will continue to produce. Ted Lilly is still a mystery at this point, one game is good and the next is bad. Then of course is Carlos Zambrano. Big "Z" will be find and probably wishes that there was someone to discuss pitching with like he had the last couple of years in Greg Maddux.
We'll just have to wait and see what happens as the season rolls on. At this point we will be able to start saying once again, "Wait Till Next Year." Imagine going one hundred years without winning a championship. That is what the reality is that Cub Fans must face. The worst part is that the Southside won in 2005 and the hated Cardinals won in 2006. Add in the fact that a team that has been a part of major league baseball for less than 25 years has already won the title twice, makes me think that this will never be corrected in my life time nor my children's. We'll see what happens during the off season of 2007-08 to hopefully make the Cubs contenders versus pretenders. Who am I kidding, they will always be pretenders.
John McDonough is the whacked job in charge of this failing franchise now until the new owner is established and maybe just maybe the Cubs wind up with a person running this team that is not an after thought and does know something about baseball and is truly able to evaluate talent. Jason Marquis and Wade Miller need to be given their unconditional release and the Cubs need to find some quality pitchers that will be worth a damn in the show. I am still partial to Sean Marshall and yet he is not on the Big League Roster as of yet. Rich Hill did well in his first game and hopefully will continue to produce. Ted Lilly is still a mystery at this point, one game is good and the next is bad. Then of course is Carlos Zambrano. Big "Z" will be find and probably wishes that there was someone to discuss pitching with like he had the last couple of years in Greg Maddux.
We'll just have to wait and see what happens as the season rolls on. At this point we will be able to start saying once again, "Wait Till Next Year." Imagine going one hundred years without winning a championship. That is what the reality is that Cub Fans must face. The worst part is that the Southside won in 2005 and the hated Cardinals won in 2006. Add in the fact that a team that has been a part of major league baseball for less than 25 years has already won the title twice, makes me think that this will never be corrected in my life time nor my children's. We'll see what happens during the off season of 2007-08 to hopefully make the Cubs contenders versus pretenders. Who am I kidding, they will always be pretenders.
05 April 2007
Bears Tenth Annual Fan Convention
I attended the Bears 10th Annual Fan Convention held at the Hilton & Towers Hotel at 720 S. Michigan Ave for the first time. I must say that as much as I liked being there, it was definitely disorganized and left a lot to be desired.
I arrived to the Hilton and checked in and received my placard for attending and received another Scratch & Win ticket to see if I would get either Richard Dent or Gale Sayers signature later on that evening. Considering I won Ernie Banks when attending the Cubs Convention back in January, I did not think I would get lucky. Sure enough I wound up with Gale Sayers on my game piece and was glad, as I wanted Gale to sign my authentic throwback jersey. I walked around the basement of the hotel where a majority of the convention was to be held and waited in line to get into the 2 Minute Drill. This is an area that has authentic souvenirs from the Bears locker room for sale at a discounted price. As I have more jerseys, I knew that the wife would kill me if I bought anything. I finally got into the room where the 2 Minute Drill was being held and looked at the vendors who were there. I actually stumbled on Gale & Richard both signing mementos and attempted to have both men sign things I had brought with me. Then I found out from some extremely rude people that you had to purchase what they were selling in order for Richard or Gale to sign for you. Man that sucks!!!!! I talked with Gale from a short distance and double checked with him about the new Hall of Fame being opened in Omaha NE, as he is one of the inaugural members being inducted. I also talked with Richard to remind him of the time we met in San Francisco and I showed him the picture we took. Richard said to find him later when he was signing for free as he was working supposedly right now. I agreed to look for both of them later during the convention.
At this point I started to make my way to the Grand Ballroom for the opening ceremonies. Having attended the Cubs Convention, I learned that if you want to be inside, you must get there early enough to make sure you get a spot picked out for yourself. I got in and talked with some other fans as we waited for the start of the show. Finally former players started walking across the upper balcony without being introduced. That I did not understand. Do the people who organized this event believe that the former players deserve to be introduced one at a time and walk in to the reception of the fans versus just having them walk in and sit down? The ceremonies continued and Lovie Smith of course received a thunderous round of applause. Really not much was said other than the fact that Lovie still has not met all of his goals which was to consistently beat Green Bay (Lovie is doing that well), winning the division (2005 & 2006 North Champions), NFC Championships (2006 & 2007 defending) and yet the Super Bowl was elusive this time. After every thing was over for the ceremonies, I attempted to catch the players coming off the balcony and was told by the rented police that you had to have a media pass in order to get close to the players. I found that outrageous as I know that there were regular fans getting autographs from the players who were not members of the media.
I proceeded back down stairs and found my way back into the autograph hall and got in line for Gale Sayers. I finally got up to Gale and had him sign my jersey for me and let Gale know once again that I will do everything I am able to in order to attend the induction ceremonies for the HOF in Omaha later this year. I was attempting to figure out how to get into Richard Dent's line and waited patiently until I saw my opportunity. I convinced the girl that was working the line to let me in so that I would be able to have Richard sign my photo. Got up to Richard who recognized me and chuckled that I was able to work it to get to him.
So for the day on Friday on my autograph hunt I did pretty well. I had got Jack Johnson who played for the team back in I believe it was 1953, then I caught Patrick Mannelly, our current long snapper as he was walking into the hotel, then I stumbled upon Anthony Adams, who is a defensive lineman that was just recently signed. Plus Gale Sayers and Richard Dent as well. I think I did pretty well and headed back out to Palatine where my family and I were staying with some friends.
Saturday morning I headed out early to get downtown once again. Found a family at the train station in Palatine who were heading to the convention as well and volunteered to help them get started. Got to the hotel and got started once again on my quest for autographs. I did well to start the day. I got in line for Allan Ellis, Kurt Becker and the honorable Bob Thomas. It was great to meet each of these players and to talk with the all for a quick minute. Allan had actually worked for the company that my dad ran and Allan remembered the name and company. I told Bob that my brother just got appointed to the bench of the Superior Court in San Bernardino CA and Bob was glad for me and my brother. Then of course Kurt was a member of that incredible 1985 team that won Super Bowl XX. After getting these autographs, I was able to get in line for Jim Osborne, Ronnie Bull and Dan Jiggetts. It was pretty cool to meet two former players that I remember from when I was a child and another legend that was a running back for Da' Bears in Ronnie Bull. As I attempted to work my way around for some other autographs, the security teams were telling everyone that unless you have a wrist band, you were going to be escorted from the autograph hall. Man what kind of bullshit was this that these clowns were spewing? As the day continued I heard members of the Bears staff state that they were not prepared for a sell out to the convention and things were extremely chaotic at this point. Man to say the least I was pretty pissed off about this circumstance.
So after I grabbed some lunch, I actually found Walter Payton's family signing their book "Payton" for the fans. I actually have the book however, did not think that they would be in attendance. Found out from other fans that they announce that the Payton Family would be in attendance on Thursday which was the day I was driving from Omaha to Chicago. I worked it out to get Jarrett to sign my Bears football that I was having most players sign. I also found out that Jarrett will be playing Canadian Football this year for the Montreal Alouettes. So now there is a good reason to pay attention to the Canadian league this year.
After getting Jarrett's signature, I made my way to head out and found a long line of people waiting in line to get wrist bands for the 1:30 pm signings. I had be told earlier that they were all given out and yet the fans I was talking to all were convinced that there were still wrist bands to be had. I asked a member of the security/Bears staff what gives and they worked it out so that I was able to get in line for James "Big Cat" Williams to sign for me as well. Patrick Mannelly was with Big Cat, so I just had Patrick sign my copy of the 2006 year book. After this was done, I looked around and decided it was too much of a mess to want to wait any longer, so I headed out. I just hope that someone in the Marketing Department for Da' Bears gets their shit together for next year and will learn to always prepare for a sell out versus not being prepared so that fans will have a better experience. I am not sure I will go back again and hope that if I do decide to go, that there will not be the problems that I had encountered.
I arrived to the Hilton and checked in and received my placard for attending and received another Scratch & Win ticket to see if I would get either Richard Dent or Gale Sayers signature later on that evening. Considering I won Ernie Banks when attending the Cubs Convention back in January, I did not think I would get lucky. Sure enough I wound up with Gale Sayers on my game piece and was glad, as I wanted Gale to sign my authentic throwback jersey. I walked around the basement of the hotel where a majority of the convention was to be held and waited in line to get into the 2 Minute Drill. This is an area that has authentic souvenirs from the Bears locker room for sale at a discounted price. As I have more jerseys, I knew that the wife would kill me if I bought anything. I finally got into the room where the 2 Minute Drill was being held and looked at the vendors who were there. I actually stumbled on Gale & Richard both signing mementos and attempted to have both men sign things I had brought with me. Then I found out from some extremely rude people that you had to purchase what they were selling in order for Richard or Gale to sign for you. Man that sucks!!!!! I talked with Gale from a short distance and double checked with him about the new Hall of Fame being opened in Omaha NE, as he is one of the inaugural members being inducted. I also talked with Richard to remind him of the time we met in San Francisco and I showed him the picture we took. Richard said to find him later when he was signing for free as he was working supposedly right now. I agreed to look for both of them later during the convention.
At this point I started to make my way to the Grand Ballroom for the opening ceremonies. Having attended the Cubs Convention, I learned that if you want to be inside, you must get there early enough to make sure you get a spot picked out for yourself. I got in and talked with some other fans as we waited for the start of the show. Finally former players started walking across the upper balcony without being introduced. That I did not understand. Do the people who organized this event believe that the former players deserve to be introduced one at a time and walk in to the reception of the fans versus just having them walk in and sit down? The ceremonies continued and Lovie Smith of course received a thunderous round of applause. Really not much was said other than the fact that Lovie still has not met all of his goals which was to consistently beat Green Bay (Lovie is doing that well), winning the division (2005 & 2006 North Champions), NFC Championships (2006 & 2007 defending) and yet the Super Bowl was elusive this time. After every thing was over for the ceremonies, I attempted to catch the players coming off the balcony and was told by the rented police that you had to have a media pass in order to get close to the players. I found that outrageous as I know that there were regular fans getting autographs from the players who were not members of the media.
I proceeded back down stairs and found my way back into the autograph hall and got in line for Gale Sayers. I finally got up to Gale and had him sign my jersey for me and let Gale know once again that I will do everything I am able to in order to attend the induction ceremonies for the HOF in Omaha later this year. I was attempting to figure out how to get into Richard Dent's line and waited patiently until I saw my opportunity. I convinced the girl that was working the line to let me in so that I would be able to have Richard sign my photo. Got up to Richard who recognized me and chuckled that I was able to work it to get to him.
So for the day on Friday on my autograph hunt I did pretty well. I had got Jack Johnson who played for the team back in I believe it was 1953, then I caught Patrick Mannelly, our current long snapper as he was walking into the hotel, then I stumbled upon Anthony Adams, who is a defensive lineman that was just recently signed. Plus Gale Sayers and Richard Dent as well. I think I did pretty well and headed back out to Palatine where my family and I were staying with some friends.
Saturday morning I headed out early to get downtown once again. Found a family at the train station in Palatine who were heading to the convention as well and volunteered to help them get started. Got to the hotel and got started once again on my quest for autographs. I did well to start the day. I got in line for Allan Ellis, Kurt Becker and the honorable Bob Thomas. It was great to meet each of these players and to talk with the all for a quick minute. Allan had actually worked for the company that my dad ran and Allan remembered the name and company. I told Bob that my brother just got appointed to the bench of the Superior Court in San Bernardino CA and Bob was glad for me and my brother. Then of course Kurt was a member of that incredible 1985 team that won Super Bowl XX. After getting these autographs, I was able to get in line for Jim Osborne, Ronnie Bull and Dan Jiggetts. It was pretty cool to meet two former players that I remember from when I was a child and another legend that was a running back for Da' Bears in Ronnie Bull. As I attempted to work my way around for some other autographs, the security teams were telling everyone that unless you have a wrist band, you were going to be escorted from the autograph hall. Man what kind of bullshit was this that these clowns were spewing? As the day continued I heard members of the Bears staff state that they were not prepared for a sell out to the convention and things were extremely chaotic at this point. Man to say the least I was pretty pissed off about this circumstance.
So after I grabbed some lunch, I actually found Walter Payton's family signing their book "Payton" for the fans. I actually have the book however, did not think that they would be in attendance. Found out from other fans that they announce that the Payton Family would be in attendance on Thursday which was the day I was driving from Omaha to Chicago. I worked it out to get Jarrett to sign my Bears football that I was having most players sign. I also found out that Jarrett will be playing Canadian Football this year for the Montreal Alouettes. So now there is a good reason to pay attention to the Canadian league this year.
After getting Jarrett's signature, I made my way to head out and found a long line of people waiting in line to get wrist bands for the 1:30 pm signings. I had be told earlier that they were all given out and yet the fans I was talking to all were convinced that there were still wrist bands to be had. I asked a member of the security/Bears staff what gives and they worked it out so that I was able to get in line for James "Big Cat" Williams to sign for me as well. Patrick Mannelly was with Big Cat, so I just had Patrick sign my copy of the 2006 year book. After this was done, I looked around and decided it was too much of a mess to want to wait any longer, so I headed out. I just hope that someone in the Marketing Department for Da' Bears gets their shit together for next year and will learn to always prepare for a sell out versus not being prepared so that fans will have a better experience. I am not sure I will go back again and hope that if I do decide to go, that there will not be the problems that I had encountered.
Baseball Is Upon Us
It is frightening that baseball season has started and my beloved Cubs continue to under perform on a daily basis. With today's game, I watch online on the game channel and "Sweet" Lou Piniella decided to pinch hit for Angel Guzman. I understand this move however, I do not understand after Cincinnati made a pitching change, Lou had Cliff Floyd sit back down there by losing him later in the game if necessary and have Ronny Cedeno pinch hit instead. Ronny proceeded to pop out to the Reds third baseman and thus killed a two out rally that may have won this game. Granted in reading the story about the game, Michael Barrett who is 0 for the season in batting committed a passed ball that lead to some runs. All I know is that it appears very early in the year that the Cubs are no better then they were at the end of 2006. I understand that there is still 159 games to go in this season however, if things do not turn around soon, then it will become 100 years since the Cubs have won it all. It still hurts and bothers me that the White Sux and hated Cardinals won the last two series and the Cubs continue to struggle mightly. I just hope that the Cubs will win one in my twins life time versus my life time, as I do not think the Cubs will ever get it right before I die and I still have at minimum another 40-50 years before I hope to pass on.
14 March 2007
Lance Briggs The Loser
I am not able to fully fathom what the hell Lance Briggs is complaining about in regards to being franchised tagged by the Bears. Being franchised tagged guarantees Lance at minimum the average of the top five salaries for linebackers in the NFL which appears to approximately $7 million per year and yet this is not enough money for a player who may not be as good as he has been for another team. I have said this before and I will say it once again, professional athletes should be paid via incentive laced contracts and should have to earn what they all think that they are entitled to. Joe Blow Public has to meet job criteria in order to obtain raises or promotions in everyday life of the work force, yet elite athletes are basically just given lump sums. Until the owners and unions of all professional sports decide to have the balls to use incentive laced contracts, there will always be malcontents in professional sports that will continue to tarnish the images of all professional sports. Professional sports at this point in many ways has a very tarnished image and it is not getting any better. At this point, find an offer for this loser of an individual and get him the hell out of Chicago. Chicago is a very proud blue collar town and players need to understand that and behave accordingly so as not to alienate the people who really pay their salaries, the fans. Fans expect and deserve the most out of an athlete and people like Lance Briggs need to shut the hell up and be pretty damn grateful for the talent that they have and the opportunity to play professional sports.
25 February 2007
Random Thoughts
It is just my imagination or does it seem that to some extent, the teams of Chicago seem to loose focus and are not completely present for the games that they play day in and day out.
I watched most of the Bulls game today against the Pistons in what was billed as Ben Wallace's return to Detroit. The Bulls were at one point up by 16 points midway through the third quarter and give it all away once again. Is this team still way to young to know the difference between winning and just skating by. What ever is going on with this team just makes me wonder what kind of future will this team ever have if they are not able to finish the kill when they have an opponent by the jugular. Granted there are those who will say Detroit is now the team to beat in the East with the injury to Dwyane Wade. There is simply no reason nor acceptable excuse for a loss against one of the top teams in the NBA.
I have kept and eye on the Blackhawks as well and wonder what more Denis Savard needs to do to get this team to the next level. To constantly be that close and only to come up short time and time again is perplexing. To go into Detroit and play well against the Redwings in their arena is good however, to wind up losing in the end and not being able to make something special happen is just completely heartbreaking. I am listening to the game today against the Blues and was surprised to find the Hawks leading 3-0 after one period. We get a crack once again at the Redwings on Tuesday and yet I am not sure what will be the probable outcome. The Blackhawks get shut out at home against San Jose on the 22nd and appear to be winning against the Blues today and ideally a win on Tuesday as well would be nice.
Then you have my beloved Cubs. A disastrous 2006 season and having the worst record in the National League. How many more managers will it take to make sure that this team is competitive year in and year out? Everyone is enjoying the honeymoon of the hiring of "Sweet Lou" Piniella as he keeps saying that this is his last go around as a manager of a major league team and that he does not believe in the Curse or any other problem that the Cubs have put the Cubs nation through since 1908. Time will tell whether or not 2007 will be something totally different then the last 99 years or will this be another year like 2006 and 100 years since the last Cubs World Championship.
Of course I am not able to leave my beloved Bears out of this rampage. The Bears play well enough defensively to wind up the regular season with a record of 13-3. Some how survive the Seahawks in the divisional game and then destroy the feel good story of the 2006 football season in New Orleans. Only then to get to Miami and wind up stumbling all over themselves in a loss to Indianapolis in Super Bowl XLI. I think that it was a mistake to allow Ron Rivera to leave as the defensive coordinator. I understand that Lovie Smith wants to mold this team into what Lovie feels will win a Super Bowl however, having blind faith in Rex Grossman and even more in the lack of positive play calling by Ron Turner is just not comprehensible.
So what would I like to see at this point and time with my teams. For the Bulls, another person who is able to provide leadership and something in the forward position in order to maybe do better in the playoffs versus one series and done. For the Blackhawks, I want a team who is hungry and wants to learn what Denis Savard has to teach in order to return to the playoffs and start another long playoff streak like the Blackhawks once has previously in my life. For the Cubs, a way to break the Curse of the Billy Goat and wind up being successful in the playoffs and bringing a championship to the North Side and really seeing what it would be like for a City starved for a champion to celebrate. For the Bears I would love to have an inventive Offensive Coordinator who will work with the entire offense to be successful. I want a quarterback who is a true franchise player that will not be as wishy washy up/down as Rex Grossman. For all those who still believe Rex is worth a damn, I again pose the question, "Name One Quarterback Out Of Steve Spurrier's program that was successful in the NFL?" You are not able to as Spurrier's system works wonders in college and does not completely prepare a quarterback for the reality of the NFL.
I watched most of the Bulls game today against the Pistons in what was billed as Ben Wallace's return to Detroit. The Bulls were at one point up by 16 points midway through the third quarter and give it all away once again. Is this team still way to young to know the difference between winning and just skating by. What ever is going on with this team just makes me wonder what kind of future will this team ever have if they are not able to finish the kill when they have an opponent by the jugular. Granted there are those who will say Detroit is now the team to beat in the East with the injury to Dwyane Wade. There is simply no reason nor acceptable excuse for a loss against one of the top teams in the NBA.
I have kept and eye on the Blackhawks as well and wonder what more Denis Savard needs to do to get this team to the next level. To constantly be that close and only to come up short time and time again is perplexing. To go into Detroit and play well against the Redwings in their arena is good however, to wind up losing in the end and not being able to make something special happen is just completely heartbreaking. I am listening to the game today against the Blues and was surprised to find the Hawks leading 3-0 after one period. We get a crack once again at the Redwings on Tuesday and yet I am not sure what will be the probable outcome. The Blackhawks get shut out at home against San Jose on the 22nd and appear to be winning against the Blues today and ideally a win on Tuesday as well would be nice.
Then you have my beloved Cubs. A disastrous 2006 season and having the worst record in the National League. How many more managers will it take to make sure that this team is competitive year in and year out? Everyone is enjoying the honeymoon of the hiring of "Sweet Lou" Piniella as he keeps saying that this is his last go around as a manager of a major league team and that he does not believe in the Curse or any other problem that the Cubs have put the Cubs nation through since 1908. Time will tell whether or not 2007 will be something totally different then the last 99 years or will this be another year like 2006 and 100 years since the last Cubs World Championship.
Of course I am not able to leave my beloved Bears out of this rampage. The Bears play well enough defensively to wind up the regular season with a record of 13-3. Some how survive the Seahawks in the divisional game and then destroy the feel good story of the 2006 football season in New Orleans. Only then to get to Miami and wind up stumbling all over themselves in a loss to Indianapolis in Super Bowl XLI. I think that it was a mistake to allow Ron Rivera to leave as the defensive coordinator. I understand that Lovie Smith wants to mold this team into what Lovie feels will win a Super Bowl however, having blind faith in Rex Grossman and even more in the lack of positive play calling by Ron Turner is just not comprehensible.
So what would I like to see at this point and time with my teams. For the Bulls, another person who is able to provide leadership and something in the forward position in order to maybe do better in the playoffs versus one series and done. For the Blackhawks, I want a team who is hungry and wants to learn what Denis Savard has to teach in order to return to the playoffs and start another long playoff streak like the Blackhawks once has previously in my life. For the Cubs, a way to break the Curse of the Billy Goat and wind up being successful in the playoffs and bringing a championship to the North Side and really seeing what it would be like for a City starved for a champion to celebrate. For the Bears I would love to have an inventive Offensive Coordinator who will work with the entire offense to be successful. I want a quarterback who is a true franchise player that will not be as wishy washy up/down as Rex Grossman. For all those who still believe Rex is worth a damn, I again pose the question, "Name One Quarterback Out Of Steve Spurrier's program that was successful in the NFL?" You are not able to as Spurrier's system works wonders in college and does not completely prepare a quarterback for the reality of the NFL.
24 February 2007
My Latest Banter Column about the Cubs Convention
I was very happy on December 24th to open an envelope that my wife had put in our Chanamus Tree. That envelope advised me that I was on my way home to Chicago the weekend of January 19th – 21st to attend the 22nd annual Cubs Convention at the Chicago Hilton. Needless to say I was pretty happy about that and starting thinking about what I wanted to make sure that I had with me when I was going to be heading home to attend this annual event.
Finally the weekend had arrived and I was up early on Friday to catch a flight to take me home to Chicago. The good thing for me though was that I had talked with Banter’s wonderful publisher/editor Stephanie Leathers about meeting up and was looking forward to seeing Stephanie again since I had last seen her back in July. I made my way to the Hilton and meet Stephanie for lunch. I think I surprised her when I bought lunch. It was just a way for me to say Thanks for meeting up with me and allowing me the honor of having a column in the Banter. Stephanie introduced me to her friend Sue who is a real nice person. Sue introduced me to Pam, another sweet heart of a person and some of her other friends while we were there and it made it a lot more fun for me. Stephanie and I went down to the convention check in and Stephanie said hello to some more people that she knew who worked for the Cubs. We both received our programs and our Scratch & Win tickets to see if we would get autographs from certain players that the Cubs had designated. Stephanie would up with Derrek Lee and I was lucky enough to have the honor of getting Mr. Cub himself, Ernie Banks.
Stephanie then advised that we needed to head up to the Grand Ballroom to make sure that we had a spot for the Opening Ceremonies for the Convention. Glad I listened and followed Stephanie, as had I not been there I may have not gotten in for the pomp and circumstance of the event. Pat Hughes from WGN was the MC for the ceremonies and did a fantastic job. All the various sponsors were recognized and Pepsi and the Hilton organization both made donations to Cubs Care at the start. As time when on, various people were introduced, then the Cubs of the past were introduced. It was great to see a lot of the old players being there to participate in the convention. Of course the players who received the loudest ovations were; Ryne Sandberg, Billy Williams, Ron Santo, Ernie Banks and the one who was still on his way; Mark Grace received loud thunderous applause from the fans when his picture was presented stating he would be here tomorrow. It was pretty cool to be surrounded by so many Cubs fans and be a part of a tradition that has taken place now for almost a quarter of a century. Everyone talked about the new win now attitude and left people believing in the future for 2007.
At the conclusion of the ceremonies everyone was given a treasure map to find various players scattered around the convention to obtain autographs. I stayed just outside the Ballroom and almost had Ron Santo on a baseball and Ryno on a collage photo that I had brought with me to have him sign. Unfortunately it did not work out for me to obtain either signature that I was aiming for at that point. I walked around the downstairs banquet facilities were most of the convention was at and I finally stood in line to obtain Randy Huntley’s signature on a baseball. The hard part for me is that Randy was signing with Gene Oliver, who I do not remember and it was awkward for me as I only really wanted Randy’s signature. I would up having Gene sign my program instead of a ball. That pretty much took the rest of the time that the convention was running on Friday to complete and I was diligently planning my Saturday return.
I returned on Saturday and wandered around until they opened the doors to all the rooms at 9:00 am. The hall that was housing various players through out the day had opened early and there was a huge line for Kerry Wood & Carlos Zambrano. Both players were not signing until much later in the morning. I made my way into the hall where the food court was and had my breakfast of champions, an Italian Beef & Sausage Combo Sammich. Man that really hit the spot. After eating, I stopped by Fergie Jenkins booth for his foundation and made a donation so that I would be able to have Fergie sign a ball for me. For me it was a good way to start my quests for autographs that day. After thanking Fergie I went back over to the hall with all the fans and got in line to get autographs. The second one I obtained on Saturday was that of Lee Smith. Rod Beck was supposed to be there with Lee however, Shooter was a no show and there was no explanation as to why. I then went to join the line for Carlos Zambrano figuring that people who were waiting for Kerry Wood would be almost finished if not done already. I stood in line for over two hours and never made it back into the room where the autograph was available. When I finally gave up on my quest for Carlos, I left the line and headed for the line to get Ron Santo. Glad I got there when I did because as the time went on, it was getting pretty close on whether or not I would get to see Ron. Besides wanting Ron to sign my jersey, I had wanted to apologize to Ron for being an immature jerk a few years prior when I had gotten his autograph in San Diego and did not realize that it was Ron who was going to sign my t-shirt that I was wearing. Ron was ever gracious and said that he thought nothing of it and was flattered that I made such an effort. Ron signed my jersey, shook my hand and off I went for another autograph. At this point there was really only time left for one autograph that I needed to make sure that I was in line for and that was Mr. Cub himself Ernie Banks. I had to wait close to another two hours before I finally got up to Ernie and obtain his autograph.
As it was getting later and later into the evening, I wanted to make sure that I saw Stephanie once more. I headed back to Jay Butler Tours booth where I expected Stephanie to be and there she was. I thanked Stephanie for showing a convention rookie around and adding to my experience. We talked about that with the convention being 22 years old and counting; that maybe they would have a better way for more fans to obtain autographs that would not take up most of your day. There were many programs that I did want to attend however, I had to choose between the talking conversations or getting the few prize autographs that I wanted and I chose the autographs. I would have preferred to attend Lou Piniella 101 and the Boys of Zimmer, a discussion about the 1989 Cubs with Ryne Sandberg, Mark Grace and a couple of other members of that team. Maybe next year if I decided to go, I will concentrate on the programs versus the autographs. Who am I kidding; I know that I will be back in line with everyone else hoping to add to my collection.
If you have not attended the Cubs Convention before, it definitely is a must. It is really a lot of fun to be surrounded by other die hard fans and meeting them to discuss the one thing that we all have in common, our beloved favorite baseball team. April 2nd is not too far away and all I know is that it is next year once again. I just hope that the Cubs will be better than last year. I always tell my friends that I will be happy if the Cubs get back to .500 baseball and anything beyond that is just icing on the cake. We’ll see what happens once spring training is over.
Finally the weekend had arrived and I was up early on Friday to catch a flight to take me home to Chicago. The good thing for me though was that I had talked with Banter’s wonderful publisher/editor Stephanie Leathers about meeting up and was looking forward to seeing Stephanie again since I had last seen her back in July. I made my way to the Hilton and meet Stephanie for lunch. I think I surprised her when I bought lunch. It was just a way for me to say Thanks for meeting up with me and allowing me the honor of having a column in the Banter. Stephanie introduced me to her friend Sue who is a real nice person. Sue introduced me to Pam, another sweet heart of a person and some of her other friends while we were there and it made it a lot more fun for me. Stephanie and I went down to the convention check in and Stephanie said hello to some more people that she knew who worked for the Cubs. We both received our programs and our Scratch & Win tickets to see if we would get autographs from certain players that the Cubs had designated. Stephanie would up with Derrek Lee and I was lucky enough to have the honor of getting Mr. Cub himself, Ernie Banks.
Stephanie then advised that we needed to head up to the Grand Ballroom to make sure that we had a spot for the Opening Ceremonies for the Convention. Glad I listened and followed Stephanie, as had I not been there I may have not gotten in for the pomp and circumstance of the event. Pat Hughes from WGN was the MC for the ceremonies and did a fantastic job. All the various sponsors were recognized and Pepsi and the Hilton organization both made donations to Cubs Care at the start. As time when on, various people were introduced, then the Cubs of the past were introduced. It was great to see a lot of the old players being there to participate in the convention. Of course the players who received the loudest ovations were; Ryne Sandberg, Billy Williams, Ron Santo, Ernie Banks and the one who was still on his way; Mark Grace received loud thunderous applause from the fans when his picture was presented stating he would be here tomorrow. It was pretty cool to be surrounded by so many Cubs fans and be a part of a tradition that has taken place now for almost a quarter of a century. Everyone talked about the new win now attitude and left people believing in the future for 2007.
At the conclusion of the ceremonies everyone was given a treasure map to find various players scattered around the convention to obtain autographs. I stayed just outside the Ballroom and almost had Ron Santo on a baseball and Ryno on a collage photo that I had brought with me to have him sign. Unfortunately it did not work out for me to obtain either signature that I was aiming for at that point. I walked around the downstairs banquet facilities were most of the convention was at and I finally stood in line to obtain Randy Huntley’s signature on a baseball. The hard part for me is that Randy was signing with Gene Oliver, who I do not remember and it was awkward for me as I only really wanted Randy’s signature. I would up having Gene sign my program instead of a ball. That pretty much took the rest of the time that the convention was running on Friday to complete and I was diligently planning my Saturday return.
I returned on Saturday and wandered around until they opened the doors to all the rooms at 9:00 am. The hall that was housing various players through out the day had opened early and there was a huge line for Kerry Wood & Carlos Zambrano. Both players were not signing until much later in the morning. I made my way into the hall where the food court was and had my breakfast of champions, an Italian Beef & Sausage Combo Sammich. Man that really hit the spot. After eating, I stopped by Fergie Jenkins booth for his foundation and made a donation so that I would be able to have Fergie sign a ball for me. For me it was a good way to start my quests for autographs that day. After thanking Fergie I went back over to the hall with all the fans and got in line to get autographs. The second one I obtained on Saturday was that of Lee Smith. Rod Beck was supposed to be there with Lee however, Shooter was a no show and there was no explanation as to why. I then went to join the line for Carlos Zambrano figuring that people who were waiting for Kerry Wood would be almost finished if not done already. I stood in line for over two hours and never made it back into the room where the autograph was available. When I finally gave up on my quest for Carlos, I left the line and headed for the line to get Ron Santo. Glad I got there when I did because as the time went on, it was getting pretty close on whether or not I would get to see Ron. Besides wanting Ron to sign my jersey, I had wanted to apologize to Ron for being an immature jerk a few years prior when I had gotten his autograph in San Diego and did not realize that it was Ron who was going to sign my t-shirt that I was wearing. Ron was ever gracious and said that he thought nothing of it and was flattered that I made such an effort. Ron signed my jersey, shook my hand and off I went for another autograph. At this point there was really only time left for one autograph that I needed to make sure that I was in line for and that was Mr. Cub himself Ernie Banks. I had to wait close to another two hours before I finally got up to Ernie and obtain his autograph.
As it was getting later and later into the evening, I wanted to make sure that I saw Stephanie once more. I headed back to Jay Butler Tours booth where I expected Stephanie to be and there she was. I thanked Stephanie for showing a convention rookie around and adding to my experience. We talked about that with the convention being 22 years old and counting; that maybe they would have a better way for more fans to obtain autographs that would not take up most of your day. There were many programs that I did want to attend however, I had to choose between the talking conversations or getting the few prize autographs that I wanted and I chose the autographs. I would have preferred to attend Lou Piniella 101 and the Boys of Zimmer, a discussion about the 1989 Cubs with Ryne Sandberg, Mark Grace and a couple of other members of that team. Maybe next year if I decided to go, I will concentrate on the programs versus the autographs. Who am I kidding; I know that I will be back in line with everyone else hoping to add to my collection.
If you have not attended the Cubs Convention before, it definitely is a must. It is really a lot of fun to be surrounded by other die hard fans and meeting them to discuss the one thing that we all have in common, our beloved favorite baseball team. April 2nd is not too far away and all I know is that it is next year once again. I just hope that the Cubs will be better than last year. I always tell my friends that I will be happy if the Cubs get back to .500 baseball and anything beyond that is just icing on the cake. We’ll see what happens once spring training is over.
11 February 2007
Da' Bulls
It has taken me a while to decide to post something about the Bulls since I have started this blog. I look at the results of the last couple of games that the Bulls have played in and I am disappointed by the outcome. To go into both Sacramento and Golden State and loose to both of these teams is a bit disheartening. Both of these games should have been games that the Bulls had victories in. From what I am seeing, I wonder again whether or not John Paxson has done enough to help this team make the playoffs for the third year straight or even win a first round series.
To play so differently on the road is not acceptable and I lay blame at the hands of John Paxson and his recent decisions. Granted I know that he has molded this team into an image of himself however, there seems to be some fundamental mistakes that are being made. That in turn also falls onto John's choice as head coach. I do like Scott Skiles a bit from when I watched him as a player for Michigan State and I was at Western Illinois however, Scott lost his job in Phoenix for some reason and it may be time for Scott to loose his job in Chicago.
So who would I want to take over this team as the head coach, I am not sure. There needs to be a change made in both players and coaches. Something again needs to be dramatically done for this team and before it gets too late. It is nice that the Bulls are above .500 basketball however, with the road play this year the Bulls may just wind up 41-41. Not really an acceptable record for a team that on paper had so much potential.
To play so differently on the road is not acceptable and I lay blame at the hands of John Paxson and his recent decisions. Granted I know that he has molded this team into an image of himself however, there seems to be some fundamental mistakes that are being made. That in turn also falls onto John's choice as head coach. I do like Scott Skiles a bit from when I watched him as a player for Michigan State and I was at Western Illinois however, Scott lost his job in Phoenix for some reason and it may be time for Scott to loose his job in Chicago.
So who would I want to take over this team as the head coach, I am not sure. There needs to be a change made in both players and coaches. Something again needs to be dramatically done for this team and before it gets too late. It is nice that the Bulls are above .500 basketball however, with the road play this year the Bulls may just wind up 41-41. Not really an acceptable record for a team that on paper had so much potential.
06 February 2007
Super Bowl XLI
So what do I say about what happened in Super Bowl XLI? The game started sensationally with Devin Hester doing what he does best, taking the opening kick-off 92 yards to the house to give the Bears an instant lead at 7-0 with only about 20 seconds off the clock. It definitely looked like Da' Bears were going to prove the so called experts wrong and wind up winning the game.
The game really remained close until Bad Rex decided to show up and make an ill advised pass that was intercepted and returned for a touchdown to create the final score at 29-17. If that pass was not thrown, who knows how the rest of the game would have gone. I know that the weather seemed to play right into the hands of the Bears however, something along the way made it impossible for the Bears to repeat in Miami what they did against New Orleans in the NFC Championship Game.
For the many that have talked directly with me, you all know how much I despise Rex Grossman. I understand that there are people who state that Rex was injured his first three years in the league and season four was the best that Rex has been able to do so far. I still have a problem with the fact that Rex played for Steve Spurrier at Florida and to continue to make basic fundamental mistakes are crucial times in unforgivable. Rex is truthfully a journeyman quarterback at best, and why Jerry Angelo and Lovie Smith are so smitten with him, I will never understand.
There were other problems as well with this team and the game. It seems that as the season went on again, the defense lost what it had to start the season. Granted Tommie Harrie and Mike Brown went down with injuries however, this is supposed to be professional football and the other members of the defense needed to step up more to produce what everyone witnessed at the beginning of the season. Why in the world Adrian Peterson has fallen into the dog house of Lovie Smith and Ron Turner is beyond my comprehension. With Cedric Benson getting hurt in the first quarter and being out of the rest of the game, AP should have relieve Thomas Jones a couple of times, or AP should have been used as a power back. What were the coaches thinking.
Speaking of coaches, Ron Turner has once again proven to me that he lost what ever he once had in his tenure at Illinois. To give up on the running game as quickly as he did just does not make sense. I also do not like having Wade Wilson as our quarterbacks coach as well. Wade Wilson is a Minnesota Viking and will always being a Viking, who in his playing career was a journeyman at best. Let Wade go back to Minnesota or back to his real home of Texas and attempt to do something there. Then there is the issue of Lovie Smith's contract. Ted Phillips has made a mistake in not extending Lovie's contract already and better pony up the big bucks to retain Lovie as head coach. I am also concerned about Ron Rivera possibly going to Dallas to work for Jerry Jones. Granted Jones may have more money to throw at Ron however, would you really want to work for that jackass? I know I would not, and to have to deal with the problem that is Terrell Owens, there just is not enough money that Jerry Jones would be able to come up with in order for me to even think about wanting to deal with that problem. Why do you think that Bill Parcels walked away from Dallas, because he is tired of coaching? No way, The Tuna is to proud to go out with the way the Cowboys went out in the playoffs. The Tuna never wanted Terrell and Jerry shoved Terrell down the Tuna's throat.
We'll have to see how things play out over the next couple of months. Will the Bears keep the key pieces of the puzzle together or will they stumble mightily? All I know for sure is that the NFL Draft is probably the weekend of April 28th & 29th and that training camp starts up once again around July 27th. Until then I have the rest of the NBA season to start writing about, the NHL season to write more about and about 10 days or so for Spring Training to get started. We'll see what happens next.
The game really remained close until Bad Rex decided to show up and make an ill advised pass that was intercepted and returned for a touchdown to create the final score at 29-17. If that pass was not thrown, who knows how the rest of the game would have gone. I know that the weather seemed to play right into the hands of the Bears however, something along the way made it impossible for the Bears to repeat in Miami what they did against New Orleans in the NFC Championship Game.
For the many that have talked directly with me, you all know how much I despise Rex Grossman. I understand that there are people who state that Rex was injured his first three years in the league and season four was the best that Rex has been able to do so far. I still have a problem with the fact that Rex played for Steve Spurrier at Florida and to continue to make basic fundamental mistakes are crucial times in unforgivable. Rex is truthfully a journeyman quarterback at best, and why Jerry Angelo and Lovie Smith are so smitten with him, I will never understand.
There were other problems as well with this team and the game. It seems that as the season went on again, the defense lost what it had to start the season. Granted Tommie Harrie and Mike Brown went down with injuries however, this is supposed to be professional football and the other members of the defense needed to step up more to produce what everyone witnessed at the beginning of the season. Why in the world Adrian Peterson has fallen into the dog house of Lovie Smith and Ron Turner is beyond my comprehension. With Cedric Benson getting hurt in the first quarter and being out of the rest of the game, AP should have relieve Thomas Jones a couple of times, or AP should have been used as a power back. What were the coaches thinking.
Speaking of coaches, Ron Turner has once again proven to me that he lost what ever he once had in his tenure at Illinois. To give up on the running game as quickly as he did just does not make sense. I also do not like having Wade Wilson as our quarterbacks coach as well. Wade Wilson is a Minnesota Viking and will always being a Viking, who in his playing career was a journeyman at best. Let Wade go back to Minnesota or back to his real home of Texas and attempt to do something there. Then there is the issue of Lovie Smith's contract. Ted Phillips has made a mistake in not extending Lovie's contract already and better pony up the big bucks to retain Lovie as head coach. I am also concerned about Ron Rivera possibly going to Dallas to work for Jerry Jones. Granted Jones may have more money to throw at Ron however, would you really want to work for that jackass? I know I would not, and to have to deal with the problem that is Terrell Owens, there just is not enough money that Jerry Jones would be able to come up with in order for me to even think about wanting to deal with that problem. Why do you think that Bill Parcels walked away from Dallas, because he is tired of coaching? No way, The Tuna is to proud to go out with the way the Cowboys went out in the playoffs. The Tuna never wanted Terrell and Jerry shoved Terrell down the Tuna's throat.
We'll have to see how things play out over the next couple of months. Will the Bears keep the key pieces of the puzzle together or will they stumble mightily? All I know for sure is that the NFL Draft is probably the weekend of April 28th & 29th and that training camp starts up once again around July 27th. Until then I have the rest of the NBA season to start writing about, the NHL season to write more about and about 10 days or so for Spring Training to get started. We'll see what happens next.
25 January 2007
Super Bowl XLI February 4, 2007
I never thought that Da' Bears would win another playoff game and they win two in spite of the quarterback that we drafted out of Florida in 2003. I have to admit that I was pleasantly surprised when Da' Bears beat Seattle for the second time this season and waited with baited breath as we were going up against New Orleans for the NFC title.
The hard part for me is that I was actually in Chicago attending the 22nd Annual Cubs Convention at the Hilton & Towers on South Michigan Avenue. I had seriously thought about heading out to the game however, having spent most of the last nineteen years living in SoCal, the cold wind did not do well for me. I actually had to scramble to get home from Chicago as United had cancelled my flight from O'Hare to Omaha NE where I now live. Fortunately I found a flight on Southwest and headed to Midway to make sure that I got on the flight.
People were gathered all around the airport watching the game. I unfortunately had missed a good part of the third and fourth quarters traveling from the DePaul area to Midway Airport. Once I had gotten through security, I joined the crowd that had gathered outside of the Harry Caray Restaurant inside the airport. There was one thing that we all had going for us, Da' Bears were leading 32-14 and time was running out for New Orleans. I in turn started calling my friends all around the country to see if what I was watching was true, Da' Bears were apparently headed to Miami. Then Thomas Jones took of on another run and proceeded to score another touchdown for Da' Bears. That was the final nail in the coffin of New Orleans and Da' Bears won 39-14. It was great to see that Da' Bears had put a hurt on New Orleans and that we all had to get ready to head to Miami. There definitely was a lot of hooting and hollering going on and Bears fans were congratulating one another on the seemingly impossible, a berth in Super Bowl XLI.
It is amazing that Da' Bears have gotten to the Super Bowl because it is in spite of our quarterback. We have just over ten days until the party gets started again in Miami and if all goes well, we all will be celebrating a second Super Bowl victory. I just hope that Good Sexy Rexy shows up to play and that the defense again bends however, does not break. We'll have to see what happens on February 4th to know for sure. All I know is that it is time to break out the Super Bowl Shuffle and hope for the best. Bear Down Chicago and Let's Go Bears!!!!!
The hard part for me is that I was actually in Chicago attending the 22nd Annual Cubs Convention at the Hilton & Towers on South Michigan Avenue. I had seriously thought about heading out to the game however, having spent most of the last nineteen years living in SoCal, the cold wind did not do well for me. I actually had to scramble to get home from Chicago as United had cancelled my flight from O'Hare to Omaha NE where I now live. Fortunately I found a flight on Southwest and headed to Midway to make sure that I got on the flight.
People were gathered all around the airport watching the game. I unfortunately had missed a good part of the third and fourth quarters traveling from the DePaul area to Midway Airport. Once I had gotten through security, I joined the crowd that had gathered outside of the Harry Caray Restaurant inside the airport. There was one thing that we all had going for us, Da' Bears were leading 32-14 and time was running out for New Orleans. I in turn started calling my friends all around the country to see if what I was watching was true, Da' Bears were apparently headed to Miami. Then Thomas Jones took of on another run and proceeded to score another touchdown for Da' Bears. That was the final nail in the coffin of New Orleans and Da' Bears won 39-14. It was great to see that Da' Bears had put a hurt on New Orleans and that we all had to get ready to head to Miami. There definitely was a lot of hooting and hollering going on and Bears fans were congratulating one another on the seemingly impossible, a berth in Super Bowl XLI.
It is amazing that Da' Bears have gotten to the Super Bowl because it is in spite of our quarterback. We have just over ten days until the party gets started again in Miami and if all goes well, we all will be celebrating a second Super Bowl victory. I just hope that Good Sexy Rexy shows up to play and that the defense again bends however, does not break. We'll have to see what happens on February 4th to know for sure. All I know is that it is time to break out the Super Bowl Shuffle and hope for the best. Bear Down Chicago and Let's Go Bears!!!!!
09 January 2007
Hall of Fame Joke
Today they announced the 2007 induction class for the Baseball Hall of Fame. I am extremely happy to see that both Cal Ripken Jr and Tony Gwynn were easily selected to the Hall. Both of these players had stellar careers and played their entire careers for one team.
Cal Ripken Jr is one helluva an athlete and should be what future shortstops are compared to when being selected for the Hall. Cal was a true ironman of a player and played the game the right way. When the big money contracts originally started being signed, I only thought that two players were worthy of receiving those sort of big money contracts. Ryne Sandberg was one and was elected to the Hall last year, Cal Ripken was the other and now Cal is joining Ryno in the Hall. Tony Gwynn was the San Diego Padres from 1984 until he retired at the end of the 2004 season. The only negative thing that I am able to say about Tony Gwynn was that in 1998 when Sammy Sosa had also reached 62 home runs, the San Diego Padres acknowledged the achievement prior to the Cubs at Padres game that following Monday in San Diego. Tony said that he was offended by the ownership of the Padres should not have made such a big deal out of what Sammy had done. I for one thought what John Moores & Larry Lucchino did for Sammy was a very classy act.
I am again disappointed that some high profile individuals did not make the Hall of Fame once again. Rich "Goose" Gossage fell 21 votes short in his eighth year of eligibility. Gossage being one of the men who helped define what a closer was should have been a first ballot Hall of Famer and it is disgusting that the Baseball Writers Association of America still will not allow him to be enshrined. Another glaring omission once again is Andre "Hawk" Dawson. Andre was the epitome of what a baseball player should be and had a magnificent career for teams that really did not do much making the post season. Andre started in Montreal, the came to my beloved Cubs in 1987 with a blank contract and wound up winning the league MVP that year. What the BBWAA has against both of these individuals I do not know. I do know that both of them deserve to be there.
Of course there is always the the biggest omission that the BBWAA that still has not been corrected and I am not sure if the veterans committee is smart enough to correct the mistake. Ron Santo of the Chicago Cubs should have been in the Hall of Fame a long time ago. I was watching the broadcast of ESPN's coverage of the announcement and Karl Ravech talked about the criteria of being selected. Everything that was mentioned including integrity, professionalism, and how the game was played epitomised what Ron Santo did in his career day in and day out. Ron Santo deserves to be in the Hall and I just hope that one day Ron will be in Cooperstown before too long. Most every Cubs fan that I know agree with me completely on this and some of the talk around the league shows that people are dumb founded that Santo still is not in the Hall.
I hope that one day the BBWAA decides to change its ways and alters the 75% of the 545 ballots gets changed to make sure that players who deserve to be in the Hall make it. Those that do not deserve to be there no matter what will never be able to make it. One day some of the wrongs that the BBWAA has made should be corrected. Of course I am dreaming here on that thought. Just like I continue to dream that maybe one day in my life time that the Cubs will be World Series Champions. To the Baseball Gods, I say Please in my life time correct some of the mistakes that Major League Baseball and the BBWAA have made so that more fans will be happy. Wait a minute, I dreaming here. The reality says that the Cubs won't win in my life time and the BBWAA nor the Veterans Committee will never correct the blatant mistakes that have been made.
Cal Ripken Jr is one helluva an athlete and should be what future shortstops are compared to when being selected for the Hall. Cal was a true ironman of a player and played the game the right way. When the big money contracts originally started being signed, I only thought that two players were worthy of receiving those sort of big money contracts. Ryne Sandberg was one and was elected to the Hall last year, Cal Ripken was the other and now Cal is joining Ryno in the Hall. Tony Gwynn was the San Diego Padres from 1984 until he retired at the end of the 2004 season. The only negative thing that I am able to say about Tony Gwynn was that in 1998 when Sammy Sosa had also reached 62 home runs, the San Diego Padres acknowledged the achievement prior to the Cubs at Padres game that following Monday in San Diego. Tony said that he was offended by the ownership of the Padres should not have made such a big deal out of what Sammy had done. I for one thought what John Moores & Larry Lucchino did for Sammy was a very classy act.
I am again disappointed that some high profile individuals did not make the Hall of Fame once again. Rich "Goose" Gossage fell 21 votes short in his eighth year of eligibility. Gossage being one of the men who helped define what a closer was should have been a first ballot Hall of Famer and it is disgusting that the Baseball Writers Association of America still will not allow him to be enshrined. Another glaring omission once again is Andre "Hawk" Dawson. Andre was the epitome of what a baseball player should be and had a magnificent career for teams that really did not do much making the post season. Andre started in Montreal, the came to my beloved Cubs in 1987 with a blank contract and wound up winning the league MVP that year. What the BBWAA has against both of these individuals I do not know. I do know that both of them deserve to be there.
Of course there is always the the biggest omission that the BBWAA that still has not been corrected and I am not sure if the veterans committee is smart enough to correct the mistake. Ron Santo of the Chicago Cubs should have been in the Hall of Fame a long time ago. I was watching the broadcast of ESPN's coverage of the announcement and Karl Ravech talked about the criteria of being selected. Everything that was mentioned including integrity, professionalism, and how the game was played epitomised what Ron Santo did in his career day in and day out. Ron Santo deserves to be in the Hall and I just hope that one day Ron will be in Cooperstown before too long. Most every Cubs fan that I know agree with me completely on this and some of the talk around the league shows that people are dumb founded that Santo still is not in the Hall.
I hope that one day the BBWAA decides to change its ways and alters the 75% of the 545 ballots gets changed to make sure that players who deserve to be in the Hall make it. Those that do not deserve to be there no matter what will never be able to make it. One day some of the wrongs that the BBWAA has made should be corrected. Of course I am dreaming here on that thought. Just like I continue to dream that maybe one day in my life time that the Cubs will be World Series Champions. To the Baseball Gods, I say Please in my life time correct some of the mistakes that Major League Baseball and the BBWAA have made so that more fans will be happy. Wait a minute, I dreaming here. The reality says that the Cubs won't win in my life time and the BBWAA nor the Veterans Committee will never correct the blatant mistakes that have been made.
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