Welcome to Go Cubs Go

Are you freaking kidding me ?  I get it.  We need some left handed/switch hitters in the lineup, but seriously?  Did we need to go with Milton Bradley?  As much as I want to think that this is a good move, I have a hard time seeing the good in it.  I guess you can refer to this blog that I posted back in December.  I just have a bad feeling when I think of the attitudes that we now have on this team: Soriano and his lackluster defense, Bradley and his temper, Zambrano and his “Whatever, I’ll do what I want” aura, and I am sure that you can all fill in the blanks with the others.

Maybe I’m just really still upset that we’ve replaced the classy guys like Mark DeRosa and Kerry Wood and all that we will have to show for it is– Milton Bradley.

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).

Mark DeRosa’s days with the Cubs are no more.
On what was a busy day of transactions for the Chicago Cubs, the Cubs have decided to part ways with Mark DeRosa.  DeRosa will head to the Cleveland Indians while the Cubs acquired three minor league pitchers from the Indians: Jeff Stevens, Chris Archer and John Gaub.  I have a very hard time accepting that the Cubs would trade someone like DeRosa for three minor league pitchers.  Part of me thinks that there has to be something else going on with this deal.  Perhaps these pitchers may be used to reopen the Brian Roberts talks?  Who knows.

According to an update on the Jason Marquis trade, the news for that deal is not going to be announced until sometime next week.  I have to wonder why they would wait a week to announce this if the Cubs had no problem announcing the DeRosa deal today.

Meanwhile, the Cubs also acquired Aaron Miles today.  Miles batted .317 in 134 games for the St. Louis Cardinals last year.  Like DeRosa, Miles is also a utility man as he played in six different positions last year (seven, if you include his appearance as a relief pitcher).

Anyhow, Wrigley Field is set to be on an international stage tomorrow as it hosts the 2009 NHL Winter Classic.  Look out for photos sometime tomorrow night.  I will be there and I am very excited for this game.

I guess the Cubs listened to my post yesterday (you know, the one where I said that it has been a quiet/boring off season so far).

According to the official website of the Chicago Cubs, Jason Marquis may be dealt to the Colorado Rockies in exchange for Luis Vizcaino.  Marquis still had one year on his contract with the Cubs.  It seems as though this will help the Cubs save some money as Marquis was due just shy of $10 million, while Vizcaino will make around $3.5 million.

Vizcaino should be a good addition to a bullpen that has lost Kerry Wood, Scott Eyre, Bob Howry (am I missing anyone?).  I think it should be fun to see what the new guy brings.

Bye to Marquis.  I know that they always say how Marquis has always been on a team that makes the playoffs, so I guess this means you can get out your ballpoint pen and write in the Colorado Rockies as one of the eight teams to represent the National League in the 2009 playoffs.  LOL.

News from the Cubs’ website today:

Andre Dawson is on the ballot for the Hall of Fame.  The Cubs website is trying to pump up Dawson’s nomination by getting up the hopes of Cubs fans again.  As if we didn’t get our hopes up enough already with Ron Santo, the 2008 Chicago Cubs, I could go on and on with this one!

WGN reports that the conversion of Wrigley Field to an ice rink is currently way ahead of schedule.  They showed images of the crew putting the Winter Classic emblem on center ice, the roof top owners getting prepared, flags flying above the scoreboard, “Detroit and Chicago” up on the scoreboard, and some other cool things.  I am still waiting on those jumbotrons.  I’m really curious how big those are going to be and where exactly they will be placed.

As for the Chicago Cubs themselves, there is no real news to report as it has been for the past couple of weeks.  It has been a very quiet offseason for the Cubs so far, and I am not all that surprised.  The Cubs don’t have too many areas to upgrade, so they have no need to do massive/dramatic signings a la the New York Yankees.

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!