Cubby-Blue

2019 Cubs Convention GIF.

Pretty much everything I heard about happening is touched upon in the gif.
Except Marla Collins, of course, wasn't really there.
She'll just remain a fond memory from the Harry days.

Kris Bryant said some stuff during the Ryan Dempster "talk show" that was taken seriously by Yadier Molina, stuff that made fun of St. Louis. 
Honestly.
I get if Bryant said bad things about St. Louis anyplace but a Cubs Convention, that it might be douchey.
But come ON, Yadier - it's fun silly talk show entertainment during a Cubs Fan-only event.

I can't wait to see what this new Cubs (and partners) tv channel is going to be.
I'll just warn Crane Kenney that if it costs more $ to watch... that is NO way to communicate with Millennials.
Which was a whole other thing.
Learning to communicate with Millennials?
As in Joe and Theo and everybody learning this skill.
I guess as a subject, it's way better than listening to Lou and Jim Hendry saying (with confidence), "We need to get more left-handed."
But if I were there when they started talking about that communication, I mighta just hauled over to Lizzie McNeill's.

I know you're sick of me saying this stuff, and one day I'll be able to be more open about it, but it's Sunday night and I have to make storyboard frames and I GOTTA RUN!
Hope you got a laugh out of the gif.
And GO CUBS!

 

No matter the Cubs FA pickups or trades, Carl Edwards Jr. could be the biggest bullpen piece.

Rick Reuschel was 6'3" and weighed 235 pounds.
Anthony Rizzo is 6'3" and 240 pounds.
It says Carl Edwards Jr. is 6'3" and 170 pounds.

He musta put on some weight, because that dude is skinny.

His stuff is soooooo good.
When he's "on".
He's the Cubs' answer to the Josh Haders and the Andrew Millers in the central.
Stuff that overwhelms batters and if they're lucky enough to make contact, it's weak.
Last year he had a late season forearm thing, but what was worse?
His head.
Sing it with me now:
The head bone's connected to the mechanic's bone, the mechanic's bone's connected to the strike zone.
It got to the point where... if I was watching and Edwards came in and threw a first pitch ball I'd scream GET HIM OUT OF THERE NOW!
He'd immediately lose confidence in where the ball was going.
Not the yips, but like if he missed that first pitch, he'd hit a patch of black ice.
Anyway, if you read here you know how much I love this guy - his background, his makeup, I even love the dancing in the bullpen.
And mostly I love when he mows down the 3-4-5 hitters on any team 1-2-3.

Remember when the Cubs lost that last game to the Rockies?
Like, the most painful definition of why winning in April is as important as winning in September, right?
Next year, the microscope on this team early in the season will be... "uncomfortable" is probably the word.
And Brandon Morrow's elbow won't be on the mound til May (if it all goes perfectly).
So the bullpen will be missing it's closer, and the guys that Joe trusts are going to be throwing more pitches right off the bat.
Because if Joe has a bad April, there could be more changes with the club than we care to think about.
He needs the wins.
And Carl Edwards Jr. is a huge part of that scenario.

Next, the Cubs Convention starts Friday night, and Joe Maddon already changed the narrative of what was about to be the "Cubs Harperfest" when he said simply that Harper was, "Not gonna happen."
If you've ever been to or seen video of the convention, you know that any more even 8 year olds ask super pointed, uncomfortable-for-management questions, and Harper was going to be the noun in each of them.
I'm sure there will still be plenty of Harper chatter, but at least the askers already know he's not coming.
It'll be nice to just concentrate on the actual Cubs rather than some people's idea of the Cubs.
And I'm thrilled that the Harper thing is in the rear view.

I've been on production for a... while.
And while I was gone, my wife: took my car to the emissions testing place, hung new smoke detectors, organized a company of plaster-fixer guys to come fix all our cracks and then paint the house, took care of our ancient dog and our daughter's cat, got the flu, and shoveled snow.
Among other things.
She's literally been taking care of our lives while in the house.
If she were more of a Cub fan, then asking if she wanted to go to the Convention with me would be SUCH a good idea.
But since she's not, how does this sound coming from me: "Darling, I know you've been doing so much while being stuck in the house, but do you mind if I spend the weekend at the Cubs Convention?"
In the words of Joe Maddon, "Not gonna happen."
Plus, it's supposed to snow in a more traditionally Chicago style this weekend.
So, sorry I won't be illustrating guys walking around in public wearing Cubs pajamas or comparing my thighs to Tim Stoddard's calves.
I really would like to hear Saturday's Come to Jesus with Theo, Jed, Jason and Joe.
There really is nothing better than an 8 year old asking Joe a tough question.
But... not gonna happen.
"26 days til pitchers and catchers report," said the smiley face emoji.

I'm ready for Hot Stove to be over.

I'd like to think of this period of time as just sort of unsatisfying rather than a failure of ownership to give management the cash to do something huge in this Hot Stove of 2018-19.
So many people want this Bryce Harper thing to happen for the Cubs, I really can't wait for it to happen for whoever it's going to happen for.
Because right now it's literally ALL anybody talks about when it comes to our favorite team.
Hey it's awesome that the Cubs signed all their arbitration guys, now if only they'd sign Bryce Harper.
Oh the Sox are gonna get Machado, how's that make you feel?
Somehow... less?
The Bears were SO PERFECT as a distraction, and now football is just... ugh do I have to watch Tom Brady again?
I mean... that's wrong... of course it's FABULOUS that the Pats and the Rams and the everybody but the Bears have a chance at the Super Bowl.
I am so happy for them, really. 
Whoops I just threw up my breakfast again, excuse me.
How can the 1st place Bears LOSE with a lame ass kick in the same year the 1st place (whoops! I mean 2nd place) Cubs LOSE a lame ass one game playoff?
IT'S REVOLTING!
I think I may... I'm pretty sure I have some anger issues about 2018.
Maybe way bigger than I thought.
Football is what I do, it's not who I am.
Did Parkey really say that?
Good luck, dude, I hope I never see you in a Bears uni again.
Had the Bears lost before New Years I would have had a big profane champagne toast to the end of this year.
Nothing is good right now.
Bryce Harper?
Whatever man, I don't really care.
I JUST WANT HOT STOVE TO HOT FOOT IT OUT OF HERE.
Bring me baseball, please.

Bears lose the last game of the season they learned to win.

Remember the awesome first three days of the Titanic's maiden voyage?
Me neither.
Poor Cody Parkey.
He's only gonna be remembered for one thing.

Even with the slow mo video evidence of the Eagles' Treyvon Hester tipping the kick with his hand, we'll all just remember the shock of the double klanger off Parkey's foot. 
The agony of defeat.
Gut punch.
Kick in the nads.

I was with my brother at Erc's tavern in Manhattan Beach, the place he watched the Cubs win game 7 (you might remember this painting from a picture someone took of him after Rajai Davis hit his homer off Chapman):


The place was packed and I only saw one table of Eagle fans.
"Confident" was the low end of how I felt.
You know what's weird about this season?
The mental turnaround that happened: I actually thought it impossible that the Bears could lose.
Not this game.
Not with this D and an Eagle's QB with sore ribs.
With the Bears up 6-3 at the half, my brother said the game would come down to Parkey.
But we'd just watched the weird fumble slash "incomplete" pass from Trubisky to Miller and even though every kid who ever played organized football can tell you that if the ball is on the ground you JUMP ON IT no matter if there's a whistle or an earthquake, I still felt like they were so close to getting in sync that the next half would belong to the Bears.
"Naaahh," I said.
Besides, Cohen hadn't done his Cohen thing yet, and no way the Eagles line could keep Foles from getting smacked around.
But that stuff didn't really happen.
We had to wait til the 4th for Trubisky to finally connect on a TD pass to Robinson.
And when they missed the 2-pointer pretty much everybody was thinking about Parkey.

Anyway, you know the end.
I'm sure everyone's on the Parkey warpath, and I don't see how he stays a Bear.
It's surely impossible, but can you imagine this same kind of thing happening again?
Ryan Pace can't.
I mean, even people who weren't really Bear fans around me brought up Robby Gould.
Why DID the Bears let that guy go?
Whatever, I hope Parkey doesn't get the Bartman treatment.
The ball was tipped and the Bears lost and that's the end of 2018/19.

Even though we all think the Bears could have gone further, this was a pretty special season.
We watched a young team learn to win.
The billion Bear holes have been nicely filled, and if they keep this talent (PLEASE STAY VIC FANGIO!) and have luck with injuries, they should be right back here next season.

I'm out in Los Angeles wearing my Bears hat.
You wanna give me a hard time, I'll smile and say, "You just wait."

Sorry I'm on production and no time for a painting.

Bears v Eagles. Wonder what Nick Foles has been thinking about all week?

You can't tell me that when an opposing QB with tender ribs puts his head on his pillow at night, he doesn't see the Chicago Bears defense lining up there on the ceiling. 
And still be there when he closes his eyes.
A nightmare that can't get any worse for Nick Foles.
This Bears vs Eagles topic is huge and everywhere, and surely you can find smarter people who write smarter things about it.
But I'm here to tell you that there is nothing - not making all the green lights on Michigan, not successfully grilling the perfect prime rib roast for Christmas Dinner, not winning 400 million dollars in Mega - that can possibly make me happier than a Chicago Bears defense being the NFL's best. 
At a time when every city in the country wants the next young genius O coordinator to be their head coach, we have to worry about 60 year old Vic Fangio taking one of those jobs.
It's like Buddy Ryan all over again.
Whatever, it is a glorious time to be a Bears Fan.
And be able to root for black and blue style football again.
Don't get me wrong, the O is way fun to watch, too.
But to me, my joy is defined by what the Bears do on the other side of the ball.
And this Sunday, I'm gonna be in heaven.
It's real, honest to goodness playoff football for us again.

Go Bears.

ps: just sharing... I actually did have a pretty spectacular rib roast come off the grill this year.

HAPPY... HARPY... HARPER New Years, Cubs.

Sorry.
Except for the Bears, this Bryce Harper thing seems to be the Headline of the End of 2018.
I'm actually still all in on let's just update the bullpen and I'll be plenty happy with that.
There is some real anxiety and anger out there about this Hot Stove being sort of... WE'RE BEING LEFT BEHIND THE ONLY THING THAT CAN SAVE US IS HARPER. 
Sometimes I miss the days before the internet and the off season was just called "Football Season".
"Hot Stove" was something general managers talked about.
If an important trade happened, it showed up in about two column inches of black type on page 7 of the Sports Section.
If someone along the lines of Kendall Graveman signed, you wouldn't hear about it until Harry said something like, "... here comes Gruh... Grave-Man. The Cubs picked him up over the winter. He used to be on the A's and now he's here. Hey, Graveman spelled backwards is Name-Arg!"

But it's not then, it's now, and like I said there's Harper Angst all over the place.

Oh well, how 'bout them Bears?
I could not be happier for any human than I am for Kyle Long.
His first season, 2013, was Marc Trestman's first, and the 8-8 record that year would be the best on any Bear team Long played for.
Until now.
It was so painful to see him head to the DL at the start, and extra super sweet to see him come back just in time for the playoffs.
Yesterday's impressive 24-10 W to knock out the Vikings was amazing.
Yeah I was screaming at the tv when Trubisky was running with the ball at the end there.
Had he gotten hurt, I can't imagine the Collective Scream.
The injuries that did happen were to wide recievers - Anthony Miller with a shoulder (he dislocated it in September, didn't need surgery and was back after a week off), and Taylor Gabriel with a rib injury (luckily that's not painful or anyth... WAIT IT IS TOO!)
And the defense is just so damned good.
It's so great that the offense has the great line, amazing backs and an actual QP with talent, promise and brains.
But nothing makes me happier than this Bears D.
I just looked at the Pro Football Reference Bears Team Encyclopedia page.
See the top 12 players with their pics up top?
7 are from the '85 Superbowl team.
Then Butkus, Urlacher, Briggs, Forte, and Olin Kreutz.
Hard to argue with those names, but I bet there's a re-structuring of that list in the near future.
And I've got nothin' but confidence in their chances come next week.
When they play the Eagles at Soldier Field in the Wild Card game.
Playoff football.
I completely forgot your face.

Okay.
Happy New Year everyone.
And Go Bears!