Welcome to Go Cubs Go

According to a recent article from the Chicago Tribune , it looks like Wrigley Field may play host to a football game.  Wrigley Field used to be the home of the Chicago Bears until scheduling conflicts with the Cubs became too great.  The game would be a battle of the Big Ten: Northwestern v. Illinois.  While I think this would be a cool idea, I have a hard time finding such an event being popular in other states.  I think the midwestern states would tune in, but outside of Illinois, Wisconsin, Iowa, etc… no one would really care about the teams on the field.  According to the tone of the article, it sounds like this will definitely happen sometime be it 2010 or 2011.  I just hope both teams get really good by then!

Has anyone watched the MLB Network?  I don’t get this channel on my TV, so I am wondering what people think about it.  I have checked out their website and it seems like it might be a little lame.  Today’s lineup features every game from this years’ World Series.  I don’t know if maybe the network is just not exciting in the off-season, or if it is going to always be like this.  I think I read somewhere that during baseball season, the MLB Network would feature one live game per week on Thursday nights.

I noticed that one upcoming program might be of some interest to Cubs fans— on January 28th, the network will show hightlights from the 1945 World Series; the last World Series for the Chicago Cubs.

What do people think about the World Baseball Classic?  I have never actually sat down and watched it.  I just know enough that the United States is not that great, and they even lost to Canada a few years ago.

I get the idea of the World Baseball Classic, I guess that I just think it gets so tricky when they have American players going to play for their home country.

I found this website for the World Baseball Classic and found out that the event begins on March 5.  I am a bit confused how this works as far as Spring Training goes.  Does playing in the World Baseball Classic count the same as Spring Training?  How are managers able to track the progress of certain players, and play around with different line-ups without all members in Spring Training?  I guess these are stupid questions, but I also don’t see why baseball in the Olympics is not enough of a World Baseball Classic event in itself.

It seems as though the event will take place in the United States this year.  Perhaps that’s why I have been more aware of it than in years past.  According to the website, the semifinals take place in San Diego and Miami, while the finals appear to be at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles.

Hi everyone,

I am finally back and thawed out from being out at Wrigley all day.  I did not have a ticket, but just being a part of the atmosphere was pretty awesome.  I enjoyed the heckling, the new look for Wrigley Field… it was a really great experience.

Here are a few pictures of Wrigley Field, all dressed up and ready for the hockey game.

So it is unfortunate that the Hawks lost, but I think the experience itself far outweighs the result of the game.  I must admit that standing out there for the National Anthem was quite awesome.

The crowd was deafening and the flyover was pretty awesome also.  I was kind of disappointed when I watched the replay of it on youtube… it sounds so quiet and calm, but you could hardly hear the guy singing… you didn’t even know it was over until the planes flew over.

Overall, quite the event to be at.  I can’t believe that it is over!

I wanted to write a quick post before I head out to Wrigley Field for the 2009 NHL Winter Classic.

Wow.  I can’t believe this day has finally come.  I have been so excited for this game ever since back in July when they announced that the Blackhawks would play this historical game at the Friendly Confines.  It seems like it has been a long time, and now the time has finally come.  I was barely able to get any sleep last night because I was so excited about this game.  I was thinking about how great it was going to be just to be back in Wrigleyville, to hear the organ playing, to see 40,000 fans in the stands.  I imagined what it was going to be like when the National Anthem is sung, how loud it would be when they dropped the puck, and how crazy fans would get if they did a “seventh inning stretch.”  This is going to be a great day.

I saw the pictures of Wrigley on the news last night.  It seems as though the green scoreboard will feature all NHL action around the league.  There were two large video board jumbotrons that were added on each foul pole.  Different sayings were spelled out amongst the seats that spelled: “Wrigley Field” “Winter Classic” “Chicago Blackhawks” and “Detroit Red Wings.”  The brick walls in the outfield were adorned with fake ivy and the “Winter Classic” logo written in the ivy.  The front of Wrigley Field is decked out with the “Winter Classic” logo and the red marquee sign read: “Chicago Blackhawks v. Detroit Red Wings… Tomorrow.”

More to come (mostly in the form of pictures).

Taking a slight shift from the usual Cubs talk and the latest on the NHL Winter Classic…

As I am sure many of you have started to get the sense, I am a big fan of all Chicago sports team.  Therefore, I feel that it is only appropriate to mourn the end of the Chicago Bears season today.  I think that the Bears were a mediocre team as evidenced by their late collapses early on in the season (see: Carolina Panthers, Tampa Bay Bucs, Atlanta Falcons, and close wins against Minnesota and Detroit).  I think many of us should be surprised that the Bears were still in this thing in the last week.

Sure, it’s easy to go back and point at specific plays, games, or moments that defined the season.  I still think that the amount of games that we lost in the final seconds is very balanced to the games we won in the final seconds.   Basically, the Bears were pretty much a .500 team and managed to win some close games and lose about the same amount of close games.

I think that it is unfair for Chicago sports fans to be upset with the Bears after today.  Obviously, the Vikings won so the Bears could not have won the NFC North.  Assuming Dallas wins this afternoon, the Wild Card would have been closed off as well.  I think that the bottom line is that the Bears really made it an entertaining season… and that is what these players are paid to do.  Of course, it sucks we are not in the playoffs, but I will admit that I was more excited about the Bears in the last few weeks than I have been all season— why?  Because of the intensity and importance that was placed on each of the games in the final weeks.  I won’t forget that game last week against Green Bay and how exciting it was after winning that game.

Anyway, call it a “loser mentality” if you must, but I enjoyed the ride.  I hope that you did too.

Now all that is left is the Chicago Bulls (who have nothing likeable about them besides Derrek Rose) and the Chicago Blackhawks (who have a lot likeable about them) until late February when Spring Training begins!

I just saw this commercial and thought it was amazing… It is the commercial spot for the NHL Winter Classic game at Wrigley Field.

I think it’s awesome to hear Harry Caray and it gets me even more excited for this game.  Wouldn’t it be something if they played “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” while the zamboni makes its rounds between periods?  I think that would make it all the more fun.  Maybe the Cubs players can lead the Wrigley faithful in the singing of the old past time.

I also found this article that mentions that there will be NHL sponsored events that will take place over on Waveland and Clark.  So even if you don’t have a ticket, go check out those festivities.  They begin at 9:00AM.

Five more days til the Winter Classic!  It’s gonna be great!

I drove past Wrigley Field tonight and noticed a large bulldozer and huge pile of what was once the Sports Corner on Sheffield and Addison.  I don’t think that Bacci Pizzieria was effected… but I’m still unsure why Sports Corner was razed.   I thought that place was always packed during Cubs games and I figured it would be packed for the Winter Classic as well.  I can’t seem to find any news stories on it, so I am wondering if anyone else knows what happened.  I wouldn’t think it went out of business seeing as the building has been completely destroyed and it was still standing last week when I passed by.

I can’t believe the Winter Classic is so close!  This is going to be great!

I just checked out the NHL webcam that’s inside of Wrigley Field and I saw that the hockey rink seems to be finished.  The only part that needs to be installed are the Plexiglas boards around the rink.  It’s pretty cool.

Speaking of the Blackhawks, they are doing really well right now.  They have won their last six games and are on their way to the top spot in their division.  The Detroit Red Wings currently hold first place in the Central Division of the Western Conference.  The Hawks have 41 points while the Wings are at 46.  The San Jose Sharks is the only team that is ahead of the Hawks and Wings… It looks like this is going to set up as a very great matchup on New Years Day.

The Hawks play at Vancouver tonight while Detroit hosts Los Angeles.

Biggest Cubs headlines of the day:

-Ryne Sandberg is moving up.  He will leave the Cubs A Minor League team (Peoria Chiefs) for the Cubs AA Minor League team in Tennessee.

-The hockey rink construction continues its progress today despite a major snow storm heading into Chicago later tonight.  The NHL has posted a link where people can view a live webcam inside of Wrigley Field so that you can watch the progress.

-The Cubs caravan has posted its schedule for their stops in January.  The information is listed here .

Really, there is not a whole lot about the actual Cubs team right now.  Most of the news is coming from Wrigley Field and the preparation/anticipation for the Blackhawks/Red Wings game.