Cubby-Blue

Ryan Dempster: "The Shoveler"

When you think about it, there are really only a few guys who aren't shovelers.
Guys with I'm not kiddin', for real, honest-to-God command.
Of the Cubs, the only recent one I can think of is Greg Maddux.
But for most pitchers, it seems, pitching is a series of digging holes and getting out of them, digging holes and getting out of them, digging...
The 1-0 count?
Hole.
Men on 1st and 3rd with 1 out: big hole.
Giving up 6 runs in one inning: Journey To The Center Of The Earth.
I like Ryan Dempster.
He's funny, doesn't hide from anybody when things are tough.
But he's really a shoveler.
After this last performance, I figure Ryan's still down at the bottom of that giant hole.
So GET OUT OF IT, RYAN.
You're the freaking 3rd starter.
Quit freaking me out.

Kosuke Fukudome models the new Cub uniforms for April

I don't know if you've noticed, but in April the warmest place the Cubs play just might be...Chicago.
Lets see: Milwaukee, Colorado, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Cincinnati, and Washington.
These are not places you and I will go to get a tan, but rather places that Kosuke Fukudome might wish he had this nifty looking uniform.
Why do you think Lou's making a big deal about moving Soriano down in the order?
The answer would be quads.
Maybe we are getting Roberts, I don't know.
But if not and we end up with Theriot leading off, well, blame it on the schedule.
I'll also say that if we get through April without a semi-significant injury I'll be totally amazed.
(I'm managing my own expectations so that if it happens I won't have a heart attack).

Okay, I'm looking at the "live" box score, and the Cubs are losing to San Diego 2-1 in the 7th.
Now I'm looking at the Spring Training standings and I see the Cubs are in 14th place in the NL at 5 wins and 10 losses.
Yeah...nothing counts here, but I'm with Lou.
You still want to win some of these games.

Poor Felix Pie

Now, this isn't life threatening, this surgery Felix will undergo.
And I'm imagining that afterwards his team-mates will do what team-mates do, which is make fun of one another.
He has a twisted testicle.
Should be out 3-5 days (I quote from the TRIB) after, "sewing the outer layer of the testicle to the scrotum wall."
Ouch E Wawa?
No, try Man-Scream.
Felix, if you happen to read this I wish you nothing but a speedy recovery, a liberal dose of a really powerful local anesthetic, and that we all forget about this later when you're the starting center fielder for our Chicago Cubs.

Okay, speaking of surgery, welcome back Mark DeRosa.
I didn't see anything yesterday, but watched most of the Kansas City "game" on Sunday.
Wish I coulda said, "wow! look at those Cub bats!"
But in all fairness you had to be thinking, "man, glad I'm not a Royals fan."
"Stinky" is the word that comes to mind.
There are 20 days til the home opener vs. the Milwaukee Brewers, and today Carlos Z takes the mound.
Go Cubs.

The Chicago Blackhawks are the Next Big Thing

I had the good luck to get invited to the Hawks game on Friday night.
Giant Hawks fan Bill Cimino asked a couple of us at work to go.
I had no idea that the night's festivities would include a tribute to Bobby Hull and Stan Mikita, in fact I hadn't even been in a year or two.
Last time I went it got loud when a fight broke out, otherwise it was quiet and dull.
Friday night begins with an introduction to the Stadium Club bar, which is a pretty nice place to start.
And the tribute - all I know is that Bill Wirtz wasn't the best owner, no home games on tv, bad teams, and somewhere along the way he must have gotten in some kind of spat with Hull and Mikita...
I really don't know why two of the most famous faces in Blackhawk history were ostracized, but apparently they were.
So Bill passes away, son Rocky takes over and hires John McDonough away from the Cubs.
McDonough's roots are in marketing - he started with the Cubs in '83, and he's responsible for so many things Cub that it's mind boggling.
You can easily make the argument that he's responsible for making the Cubs such a gigantic brand.
(It certainly wasn't Hector Villanueva or Leon Durham or Keith Moreland.)
Anyway, Rocky and John put the home games on tv, they're gonna figure out a way to play outdoor hockey in Chicago, the young team is truly exciting to watch, and they invite Hull and Mikita back to be sort of ambassadors of the team.
I guarantee they're going to make Chicago a hockey town again.
Maybe this is blasphemy, but these kids Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews are not unlike Hull and Mikita coming up at the same time and being the default leaders of the Hawks at really young ages - all of them started pro hockey at 18 or 19.
Remember in '04 how the Cubs season tix suddenly sold out?
I bet that happens with the Hawks pretty quickly too.
Meanwhile, the game Friday ended with an almost-miracle, but a goal was disallowed and the Hawks lost.
I totally got my share of goosebumps though, and my voicebox is still a mess.
Like the old Stadium, man.
That was fun.

Lou Piniella's Spring Garden In Arizona

Did you see the second inning yesterday?
5 hits, 4 runs, seemed like everybody hit, Pie gets the big 2 RBI single, Lieber lays down a perfect bunt...all while Len and Bob are having a liesurely conversation with Lou in the dugout.
Like they were talking about the weather.
It was so cool.
While Pie is batting, Lou says that what Felix needs to do here is make contact...like that.
It was magic, that hit.
When Lieber comes up, Lou goes, "Should we bunt Lieber, Bob?"
Cool as a cucumber.
Brenly says yes, and Lieber lays down the perfect bunt.
Just beautiful.
It was, for me, the first time I really got to sit and watch the Cubs.
The Cubs look pretty damn good.
And hopefully, everything Lou's planting right now turns into big W's later on...