I'm sure this will raise some vitriol here, but I'm honestly a bit baffled about all the yelling and screaming about Bradley yesterday. To me here's what has happened this year:

-Bradley, like many Cubs, has had a disappointing year at the plate. Not completely horrible as his OBP has still stayed pretty good (.355, good for 3rd on the team behind Fukudome and Lee), but obviously very little power. I have no doubt that he will hit this year, as he has always hit when he's been in the lineup throughout his career.

-He has been an adventure in the field (although other than the ridiculous bone-headed play, not horrendous) and been injured and on the bench quite a bit. Neither of these are surprise. His reaction to the throwing the ball into the stands was flippant and useless and annoying, but in the grand scheme of things the reaction isn't a big deal, I care about what happens ON the field.

-He has shown frustration with his own play. This is understandable. As he has said, he's under a lot of pressure here, he finally signs a big contract and is dramatically underperforming, as the entire team is having a disappointing year. I see no problem with this. In fact, many Cubs fans have been frustrated with Lee over the last couple of years because he doesn't "show the fire" of disappointment. So which one is it?

-He threw his helmet and hit a Gatorade cooler yesterday after he was having another bad day at the plate, while the Cubs were in an extremely frustating 4 game losing streak, all close games, and the game was looking very much like the Cubs might lose another close one.

I'm not saying that Bradley has been an angel; he hasn't been and we all knew that when he was signed. For this all to be categorized as "selfish" though is a bit silly to me...he's far from the only one who does these kinds of things when he's struggling...I know that Kevin Youkilis for one got some criticism last year because he was throwing stuff in the dugout when the team was up big in the late innings. To me that is much more selfish (i still don't really care, but it's "worse" i guess), but again that just goes to show that "chemistry" in general is crap, and that when you're winning it doesn't matter. It's a pretty natural reaction for a competitive individual, which just about everyone in MLB is.

I enjoy Lou as manager very much and have been a fan of his over the last two years. His moods and his moves often seem just right. But for him to go out of his way to call Bradley a "POS" as reports are saying is ridiculous. The manager is supposed to keep things at least slightly under control.

The calls to get rid of Bradley, by Al and many in Cubs fandom, are ridiculous to me. This team is short on bats, and selling a guy who has a very good career stat line while he's at his lowest point is the typical short-sighted kind of decision that has killed the Cubs over and over through the years. He WILL hit this season. He won't play in 140 games, but that shouldn't be a huge surprise to anyone. Keep him healthy, give him his days off, he will come around and when he does, adding him along with a healthy Ramirez will give the Cubs the offense that this pitching staff deserves. I was glad to hear Piniella say that he does plan to put him back in the lineup today. Many Cubs fans need to realize that that is the right move, and that dumping him now does not help the Cubs one bit. I'm curious to see what you think, and hear why people might disagree.

I do have to start lining up my social schedule for the next 10 days or so!....and to do that I need the schedule of the next series!! please post here once anyone finds the dates/times

i would guess that game one will be thursday or friday...but i want to know NOW!!! a little suprised the NHL hasn't already come out with this since the West is all set and they know that the two East series are obviously done tonight.

I would imagine/hope that game 2 is on Saturday or Sunday and then wouldn't have to be super late....I would appreciate not falling asleep at work for 4 days....3 would be just fine.

1) why the hell is saturday still TBD?? there aren't any series that can end early....it's not like the bulls are going to be at home that day....maybe they want bulls/hawks playoff games at different times but it's not like chicago is the only city with playoff teams in both sports...this is baffling to me. when are they going to announce it? nothing is really going to change between now and saturday. confused.

2) 9:00 chicago time start for game 5? on a saturday? wow that will be a madhouse....i have standing room tickets and will start the drinking early. gonna be loud.

3) it's too bad that calgary will end up with 4 days off before the playoffs start, as they were really limping with injuries....i believe they only dressed 15 skaters on friday night. would have prefered a wednesday start for this reason, and the reason that i CAN'T F-ING WAIT FOR PLAYOFF HOCKEY TO BE BACK IN CHICAGO.

4) we are the only series with early games still TBD. this is really point #1 but i'm pretty baffled by it. not just game 2 but also game 4. any ideas?? Bueller?

Yes Hawks fans, we won't be subjected to the snoozing (and this year, failing) style of his Minnesota Wild. I just saw that he will not be back next year and the Wild will have to find someone else, as he is their only coach in franchise history.

It will be interesting to see if they stick with the same style or if they try to make a splash in free agency for some higher scoring power.....certainly with Backstrom you can get into contention very quickly, and that division isn't all that scary.

with the wings loss in OT last night, the blackhawks control their own destiny to be tied with the wings after the winter classic. if they win tonight at minny, tuesday at detroit and then Jan 1 at wrigley, they will have 51 points, tied with SCUM, and the winning streak would be at a ridiculous 11. a tall order to win these next three, but why the hell not??

....and they would still have TWO games in hand. wow. what a month.

i've got a little group heading to the game with me (yes, introducing more and more people to the hawks) on friday and am trying to find a place to hang out to get some cheap food and drinks before and/or after the game (although probably after)...any thoughts in the UC area?

westend (seems like the typical new-ish sports bar)

billy goat (classic dive, walking distance)

other ideas?? go hawks, get loud for philly.

quick question....does anyone know exactly where you are supposed to stand if you have standing room only tickets at the UC? i can't picture where it would be, and with the increase in popularity this year i might have to actually buy some of these for games later in the year.

glad to see that there is actual content (and good content) on this site now! thanks, keep up the good work and you'll get readers, and GO HAWKS!

i have bought many standing room seats this year at wrigley. about halfway through the season they started the "must enter wrigley immediately if you buy day of game tickets" and built a little corral system outside the first base side on addison.

i drove by wrigley today and saw that the corral is gone. not a bad decision; with all the people in the area for playoff games more square feet of sidewalk is a good thing.

however, does this mean that standing rooms are not going to be sold day of game for the playoffs? have they already been sold? are they going to allow people to buy them and then come back later? (that one seems unlikely)

anyone with any info/ideas on the subject, (for example, if you already bought SRO that means they're probably selling none on the day of game) please let me know. i am going to try to go tomorrow but have no idea what the deal is and would prefer not to spend my time wandering around wrigleyville to try to find out.