Much Written About Nothing

The National League Championship Series is almost over, only 1-game left, and with the Cubs announcing Lou Piniella on Tuesday there is going to be a lot of speculation until after the World Series. The only actual news that could possibly surface would be the Cubs agreeing to a new contract with Aramis Ramirez, so as this site continues to report reliable rumors, and to speculate on the speculation, with the hiring of Piniella came all of the reminders of almost a century of futility and all of the talk about the (insert your choice of expletive here) Curse of the Cubs.

With the 20th Anniversary of the Buckner game just around the corner, ESPN ran a new story with an old twist and the most morbid way to show your team colors....are a couple of examples of how much nothingness lies ahead for your reading (dis)pleasure....

Jerry Crasnick from ESPN was on with Charley Steiner and the two spoke about the recent hiring of Piniella. Crasnick thinks that with the Cubs hiring Piniella they are sending the message that they want to win now. He went on to say that the Cubs have a tendency to overrate their talent and try to convince their fans they are going to win with what is on the field. Crasnick mentioned last seasons signing of Jacque Jones and the trade for Juan Pierre as examples. He went on to compare the Cubs to the Baltimore Orioles and said both franchises are in disarray. Crasnick also added, "If you are going to bring in a manager of this caliber you better be prepared to win."

Rick Telander from the Chicago Sun-Times joined Charley Steiner later in the day and they of course talked about the Cubs. Telander mentioned the 98-year drought and the fact that it is the longest in all of professional sports and no team has endured the amount of futility that the Cubs have had....especially after 2004 when the Red Sox took their name off the list. They spoke about Piniella and the fact he will be the manager of the Cubs in 2008, 100 years after their last championship. Like most, neither of them figure the Cubs can win the series next year. Telander brought up his conversation with Piniella on Tuesday about the Billy Goat Curse and Piniella, according to Telander, did not know what he was talking about. He said he asked the same question to Dusty in 2002 and Dusty's response was, "I eat Goat Soup." (Note: Does Piniella not know about the so-called curse or is he choosing not to give it any more power?) Steiner brought up the famous quote from Jack Brickhouse, "Anybody can have a bad century."....they both chuckled about it. Telander continued talking about the futility and mentioned that in the 80's he had someone at the Elias Sports Bureau figure up the odds of this happening (100 years between championships) and it was 3000 to 1....then.

It had been reported here, and elsewhere, that Piniella is the Cubs' 48th manager but he is actually number 50 and according to Telander he is the 38th since 1945. He said that Piniella better enjoy the honeymoon. The two talked about why Hendry did not hire Joe Girardi and according to Telander it was because of Hendry's relationship with Marlins' GM Larry Beinfest. He said that the Cubs love Bruce Bochy but because Bochy's name does not "carry any weight" that the media in Chicago would have destroyed Hendry. Telander referred to Andy MacPhail as "MacFailed" and stated that the Cubs destroyed him like a virus and the Cubs have a failure associated with them. He brought up the infamous "Cubs Factor" and mentioned that Piniella does not understand "Cubness". They both agreed that the hiring of Piniella is just another "band-aid" and the organization is missing the boat. They discussed the fact the Cubs do not have a minor league system and the Cubs must go back to square one and rebuild the entire organization. According to Telander, Andy MacPhail went out saying 'you beat me' and a previous winner could not even win with the Cubs.

Bill Buckner....

ESPN.com ran an article about the possibility of a 'double curse' existing for Bill Buckner back in 1986. The article points out the fact that Buckner was wearing a 'Cubs batting glove' under his fielding glove on that night. Take a look, here is the link, believe what you want.

A Cubs' Fan Last Wish?

From the land of the morbid or just plain bizarre, several Major League teams have a new marketing deal with a company called Eternal Images. The Yankees, Red Sox, Tigers, Phillies, Dodgers and, of course, the Cubs are teams that you can have their logo stamped on a coffin or an urn, if you so desire. The message will say, "Major League Baseball officially recognizes the deceased as a lifelong fan of (insert your team here)." Is there any other strange last requests or tattoos that anyone would like to share?

Also, can someone please tell Tony LaRussa that he is trying to get to the World Series of Baseball, not the World Series of Poker....time to lose the shades, buddy. Corey Hart was never cool, despite what all of those infomercials try to tell us.

Remember, you were warned....

Neil

RD....I did not see the commercial and just ran an internet search. Could it have been local advertising and not National? Did anyone else see this commercial?

RD Poerce

I know Cubs are the subject of many jokes over the years. Tonight was not called for or acceptab;e. It was a complete display of poor sportsmanship by the author of a commericial @ the beginning of tonights worls series game.It's not a good for children to be taught poor sportsmanship. In Peoria a commericial aired as follows. I have no idea how many seen it. I know it was not seen in Moline,Illlinois. As follows was a black backround & white lettering. "All good things come in time," then a pause & the next screen reads "Right?" and a pause then finally the last screen reads " CUBS" I feel all baseball fans should boycott attending or watching the worldseries in protest of poor sportsmanship. Not just because it was against the Cubs, but because of poor sportmanship! It aired in Peoria on Fox.

Neil

Jim, good points on the mainstream media. Just remember sometimes they are right...like you mentioned. I agree on the A-Rod for A-Ram...why would the Yankees trade for a player that is likely to hit the market very soon?

Speaking of A-Rod, what all of the Chicago papers are missing...he has the same out option that Ramirez does after year 7, 8 and 9 of his contract...this next season is year 7. A lot to give up for uncertainty.

I liked Matthews when he was in Chicago the first time, he just never blossomed. Good defense but a career year right before free agency is always reasons to be cautious. A Dallas paper said he will command more money than Pierre, probably $10 million a year based on what Wynn signed last season with the Giants.

If the Cubs are going to trade for a player, I like the idea of Vernon Wells. Solid defense, solid offense and from all reports a good clubhouse guy...but with Matthews all it costs is money.

Jim (Tinley Park), I am in total agreement on the whole curse thing. But I had to run it. And "cubsbaseball" is right the Cubs have to make the right changes.

Jim

What does everyone think about Gary Mathews Jr. He might be an upgrage over Pierre in some areas. Although I still want Pierre signed but that will not happen.

cubsbaseball

I agree, that there is no curse. Lets face it, the Cubs have not had the right people in place either on the field or upstairs. Sometime they accidently have a good year and make it to the playoffs. Still the Cubs do not have the right people in place until Jim Hendry is gone!

Jim

i have come to a conclusion. Sports writers are like weather man. They are both right about 20% of the time. They both make guesses (weatherman probaly a little more educated) both are usually wrong. Some of the sports writers in chicago might be mentally challenged. Thats not a joke I think they really might be. Example.... Paul Sullivan. He and others are talking about this A-Rod thing like it is a done deal. Why in the hell would we trade away Aramis and Jake Fox for A-Rod. How does this help our team. Aramis and A-Rod are a push and then we would lose another prospect.

I could be a sports writer too if I was able to just make up anything that I please.

Ichiro for Jones

Cedeno for Tejada

Marmol for Dontrell

Sign Soriano and Carlos Lee and Schmit and Zito.

Man, I am good at this.

jim (Tinley Park)

A few thoughts....

* Buckner makes one error all series and it was because he wore a cub batting glove? He wore the same batting glove the entire series when he was in the field. I'm just not buying into the curse thing.

Plain and simple, Buckner didn't put the glove to the ground.

* I told my wife 5 years ago that when I die, I want to be creamated and I want a Chicago Cub emblem

on the urn. Personally, I think it is a fantastic idea and I will purchase one for myself and anyone else in the family that wants one.