I was speaking with a family friend over the weekend who attended a special GE event that featured Walt as the guest speaker. Apparently, to the suprise of all in attendance, he spoke very candidly, and mentioned amongst other things, that the Reds are working to sign Votto to a life-time contract. My source is highly reliable; I hope Walt's words are as well.

Interesting Cubs and Reds fact

So in a heated debate between me and my roommate last night, I proclaimed that the Reds have "had it worse" over the last 20 years than the Cubs. He of course, disagreed. So I did a bit of research, manipulated my data a bit, and found a pretty cool answer: Beginning with the 1991 season (I argued that this was a fair year, since I was five and first began following the Reds. I somehow conveientely left out the 1990 season:) ): So since 1991, the Cubs and Reds have won THE EXACT SAME AMOUNT OF GAMES. What are the odds.. Cubs- 1469 wins, 1540 losses 4 playoff appearances Reds- 1469 wins, 1544 losses 1 playoff appearance Reds edge out the worse record due to total games played. I wouldn't mind if the Cubs passed us up this year. source: Baseball Reference.com

My Chat With The Cubs New Owner

The Cubs held their regular season ticket sale today via a random wristband drawing. I pulled a lucky wristband and was within the first 50 in line at Wrigley. While waiting to buy our tickets (all of which I will flip for a profit except the Reds games, dont worry guys) the new Cubs owner Tom Ricketts came around handing out free coffee, and personally thanked each fan for coming out today. Ricketts became a millionaire through his inheritance in the family-owned TD Ameritrade, and then became a billionaire as the CEO of an investment bank. Here's how our conversation went down: Tom: Thanks for coming out today, you excited for the season? Me: Honestly, I'm a Reds fan, so I'm hoping your new investment doesn't work out as well as your other ones have. Tom: Ouch, didn't expect that today. But I can appreciate that, haha. We talked a bit more, and apparently he grew up as a Reds fan out in Omaha, NE. It was a simple gesture, but the fact that he stood out there in the freezing cold with us common folk really impressed me. Of course, if you've won nothing in over 100 years, I guess you've gotta pull out all the stops.