If there’s one thought that causes me to wake up in the middle of the night and worry, it’s this.
“What if the raccoon who lives on the roof falls through the attic and lands on me?”
No, wait, that’s not the one. Though, it’s a little disconcerting, now that I think of it.
It’s this:
“What if the Cubs aren’t really as good as we think they are? What if we just need them to be this good?”
Gasp.
I know there are pessimistic Cubs fans (and optimistic Cardinals fans) who think the Cubs will find a way to suck this year. But I don’t see it. They can pitch, they can hit and for the most part they all catch the ball. If they were anybody but the Cubs you’d feel comfortable picking them to win the pennant.
But, what if we’ve just deluded ourselves completely because of the horror of the end of last season? What if it’s all a big mirage?
I don’t want to crawl my way through a desert like season only to rub my eyes and find the Cubs don’t really have a good team, but instead have re-assembled the mess that went 0-14 to start 1997.
So let’s do this. Let’s go back a year and list the guys on the team who we had confidence in. Not just “I think they’ll be good”, but “I know they’ll be good this year.”
2003
Sammy Sosa
Mark Prior
That’s about it. Moises was terrible in 2002, Kerry was all over the place, hell, we thought Mark Bellhorn could play.
Now, fast forward to 2004
Sammy Sosa
Mark Prior
Kerry Wood
Carlos Zambrano
LaTroy Hawkins
Regular Joe
Derrek Lee
Corey Patterson
E-Ramis Ramirez
OK, I feel better now.
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I’m not even going to get into the whole publicity stunt at Harry Caray’s last night. You know the one. This was the kind of the thing we needed when we sucked. Now? Not so much.
One observation about Dutchie Caray, as she gets older, her glasses get thicker, in fact, pretty soon, she’ll just grab some of Harry’s out of a drawer somewhere and put those bad boys on. That’ll be a look, huh?
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I’d be remiss if I didn’t comment on Survivor last night, especially considering that it included the demise of Dick Hatch. I hate to admit it, but the smug, arrogant, overconfident way that he played the game made him almost likeable. He was having fun just being an ass.
The most troubling part of the show was obviously when he took his shorts off during the immunity challenge and then Sue Hawk rubbed up against him. I nearly went blind just thinking about what happened behind that “blur.” Eww.
Also, it was fun to see Boston Rob hammer both Ethan and Quattro Boy, Colby, off the bridge and into the water. He tackled Ethan into the boards on the side of the “pit.” Boston Rob then bodyslammed Colby. Nice work.
Is it just me, or is Jenna actually cute when he has a hat on? She’s not without it, that’s for sure. This is either some sort of phenomena or I need to stop sniffing liquid paper after dinner.
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Rosie O’Donnell got married in San Francisco yesterday, and for me, the most absurd part of this wasn’t the Rosie got married, or that her partner is actually kind of cute, but that in this picture
It’s pretty clear that Rosie thinks she’s the wife. Uh, I don’t think so manly girl.
However, she is wearing black, so maybe she thinks she’s the groom? Uh, I have no idea. Nor do I care.
I, for one, have no problem with gay marriage. If gay people want to have a wedding and get married and then divorced like 58% of straight people do, go for it. I have a problem with a government who thinks they can tell people who they can’t marry. But then, I have a problem with a government who thinks it’s not OK for me to drive my car on the sidewalk. But that’s a whole other story for a whole other time.
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I’m not linking to anything that deals directly with the ball, so the links are going to be painfully short today.
The Cubs expect to better in 2004. That’s nice.
Can I just say I HATE Ronnie Woo Woo. He’s a moronic, toothless embarassment. Was that too harsh? Because really, I don’t care.
Dusty thinks Derrek Lee is Rodan. Huh?
Is that a compliment?
The Sox defensive middle isn’t experienced. Or good.
Paul Konerko got hurt in batting practice. There’s an omen if I’ve ever seen one.
Carlos Lee’s an MVP candidate. Yeah, so’s everybody else.
The Cubs won’t “panic” if Remlinger’s not ready on opening day. I will panic if fat tub of goo Jimmy Anderson makes the team in his place, though.
Mariotti puts down the doughnut to talk about how wonderful Sammy is. Sort of. The stuff about Kenny Lofton not getting along with Sammy shouldn’t surprise anybody. There were plenty of guys on the Indians’ teams in the ’90s who thought Albert Belle was easier to get along with than Kenny. And the reason Kenny only lasted a year in Atlanta was because Bobby Cox couldn’t stand him.
Notre Dame and UCLA are hooking back up for hoops, and nobody really cares.
What time yesterday do you think Terrell Owens fired his agent?
I’ll bet Kenny Lofton had something to do with this, too.
Stewey says ten preps might make the jump to the NBA next year. Yikes.
They’re already re-doing Dennis Miller’s show. That’s not a good sign. But honestly, for what it is, it’s a pretty decent show.
Jessica Simpson might steal the Daisy Duke role from Britney in the Dukes of Hazzard movie.
Vlad Lenin: Dead and loving it!
America’s finest news source says the Massachusetts supreme court has ordered everybody to have a gay marriage.
Can someone put up a link to a sabregeek site giving the expected runs or wins of this year’s Cubs given their various additions, a full year of E-Ramis, etc.? I haven’t been able to find one and would be interested in an empirical treatment of where they are likely to end up, particularly compared to the Astros.
And by the way, a few years ago I wound up seated at a table across from Ronnie Woo Woo at a local establishment after a Cubs game. He was trying to get the last four digits of a young co-ed’s driver’s license number, saying that he had friends at a radio station who could help him get her telephone number with only that information. She was not drunk or foolish enough to comply. Offering to stalk someone is probably not the way to impress a girl 30 years younger than you if you’re a toothless, bearded hag. Here’s a quote fom the article about Ronnie:
"He’s not at all polluted by all the stuff in our society," Hoffman adds. "He’s pure. Innocent. The innocence that comes out of him, you can’t find that anywhere."
Trying to nail drunk chicks 30 years younger than you based on your questionable fame is pure and innocent! Who knew?
"The event you have requested is experiencing very high demand."
…3 hours and counting…
Hopefully, some of that innocence will come out of me, too.
You heard it here first, Babe Ruth used steroids. For those wondering, my source on this is Albert Pujols, the last living teammate of the Babe.
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=1745899
Yeah, Jeff. Thanks for the help.
I got in, I got mine, after about 15 minutes in the Waiting Room. Screw the Wristband!!! Viva la Internetta!
Sat in the waiting room for 3 hours, left to grab lunch, came back to find out that I could’ve bought ticket but my session had timed out due to inactivity.
Whom do we have confidence in in 2004?
Not:
Kerry Wood – 100 walks.
Corey Patterson – 130 Ks and 10 outs oversliding second
E-Ramis Ramirez – .753 OPS for his career. When does Koskie become available?
"He’s more machine than man now."
Get bent, Darth.
Kerry Wood has agreed to a 3-year, $32.5 million dollar contract extension according to Cubstalk.com and WSCR-AM. The deal includes a $3 million signing bonus and there is a mutual option for 2007.
Andy, your baseball previews are so much better.
This excerpt from John Donvan’s AL East preview "Watch the Yanks’ Gary Sheffield, a seven-time All-Star who is with his sixth big-league team, but his first in the AL"
Ummmmm. Just because the Brewers are in the NL now, doesn’t mean they weren’t in the AL in Sheffield’s days.
According to espn.com, in the Wood signing story, Lee is expected to sign an extension this weekend…
Lee signed, 3 years, $22.5 milion…
Opinion is ultimately determined by the feelings, and not by the intellect. by texas holdem
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