SB Nation User Blog: Worf

Booing or not booing and why

Worf — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 12:45:23 -0000

This was in the game thread and Al touched on it in the last paragraph of his game post. I figured it belonged in its own thread and not as a hijack.

To boo or not to boo?

I personally try not to boo unless I am perceiving a real lack of effort or I see a flat-out stupid play.

An outfielder making a bad throw after hustling to get to the ball is NOT boo-worthy to me. That same outfielder throwing to the wrong base IS boo-worthy.

I try not to boo failure when there is effort. But in general, I am pro-booing, or at least, pro-choice booing.

I think the fans pays their money and deserve to see a product. At the end of the day, this is entertainment. If you went to a rock concert and saw a shoddy show, you'd be upset.

I am anti-cursing, anti-invective and certainly anti-racist comment, but good old-fashioned booing? Bring it on.

I get most of the arguments against it. It's lame. It can be disruptive to other fans and the average fan, after 6 beers, wouldn't know a smart play from a dumb one. Fair enough.

But there is one argument that burns my ass and that is the reason for the thread.

"The player knows he failed! Why boo?"

Folks, we do not boo to provide information. We do it to vent. By that same logic, D. Lee should not have been cheered when he hit the grand slam, since he is an intelligent baseball player and knew he just hit a homer.

"Booing doesn't help!"

It is not MY job to make the player hit, field or pitch better. There are highly-paid coaches armed with state-of-the-art video equipment to do that.

I am not there to serve the player's needs. They are there to entertain me and provide me with a nice distraction to my day. I have a job, a wife, several dogs and a baby on the way. At any one time, I am stressing out over something.

The Cubs (and Bulls and Packers and Blues and Illini) provide release from that.

And if that means booing, even when it is illogical, ill-conceived and against my own rules, is part of that.

OT -- Whose Sports Death Would Affect Us?

Worf — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 18:53:31 -0000

In the wake of the media frenzy surrounding Michael Jackson's death, who in the sports world -- I mean the entire sports world, not just our little corner of it -- would send the nation and even the world into a tizzy like this?

If just about any prime of life athlete dropped dead tomorrow, it would be newsworthy, if only for the "Oh man, what a waste" mentality. And it won't be a real shock when someone like Bob Feller dies.

For the current athletes, imagine them dying at age 50. Would they still be relevant enough to take us over like this? For the ones already over 50, imagine them dying tomorrow. Would they still be relevant enough?

My choices are these:

Baseball -- Obviously, when Mickey Morandini dies, it'll affect us, but to the outside world, it'll mean very little. I can think of no Cubs on this list. Santo will take over Cubdom for an entire season, but outside of that, he'll be a "Huh, too bad" moment.

* A-Rod

* Jeter

* Pete Rose

Football --

* Jim Brown

* Tom Brady

* Peyton Manning

Basketball

* Jordan

* LeBron/Kobe

* Shaq

* Magic

* Barkley

Other sports

* Gretsky (Maybe)

* Ali

* Tiger

That's really all I have. Who have you got?

Worf has returned!

Worf — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 02:35:23 -0000

I was in Rockies country for the last week. I had a wedding to attend in Breckenridge, Colorado. (A friend of my wife's family)

Had a great time hiking and seeing the beauty of the country. You quickly realize that Central Illinois is some of the fugliest land God ever greated. The rest of my companions (preggo wife and in-laws) were a bit flattened by the altitude change, so I set out on my own.

The locals aren't quite sure what to make of the Rockies (the team, that is -- they lurves their mountains)

I got the impression that they are more interested in Kyle Orton than any Rockie. (And by the way, the message they asked me to pass on to my Bears fan friends was to enjoy Jay Cutler because he will rip out your heart, put it in a blender and hit 'frappe')

Anyway, back to our team. You guys did wonderful the first few days. A sweep of the Indians! A complete destruction of Kerry Wood and hopefully an end to THAT nonsense. Comeback wins! Walk-offs! A real sense that the game isn't over when the team goes down 1-0!

What the heckfire happened?

I figured the 2-0 loss to the Braves, which I learned about while watching my credit cards try to throw my driver's license and library card under the bus to escape my wallet at the outlet mall (They had a Carter's Outlet, a Gymboree, an Osh Kosh B'Gosh AND a Baby Gap outlet - my wife didn't have a chance) was a bit of propeller lag.

But now two straight to the Tiggers???? This is what I return to????

Clearly, you needed me on that wall! You want me on that wall! I will not leave again. (With a baby on the way, I can't afford to!)

I am going on vacation tomorrow and here's what I want to see when I get back

Worf — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 22:05:19 -0000

* Aaron Miles -- gone from my life, either to the bench or somewhere else

* Fukudome in the 2 hole permanently

* Zambrano having a clean bill of mental health

* Reed Johnson finding his mojo again

* Sammy Sosa out of my life permanently

I will return next Thursday. I will be in Rockies country, but I doubt I will see any games.

That is what I want. The last time I went away, the team lost quite a bit. Frankly, I blame all of you. Do better for me this time.

Lou rejects notion of "Fired Up"

Worf — Fri, 29 May 2009 11:52:28 -0000

Manager Lou Piniella, who didn't meet with the media after the game, would prefer the behind-the-scenes straight talk Reed Johnson recently gave a slumping Bradley over a made-for-TV meltdown.

''Well this is not the WWF,'' Piniella said. ''You know, this is professional baseball. I understand that the fans like a little -- I don't know what you call it, emotion, outburst. They've always liked that, especially by the seventh inning when they've had [a few drinks].

''But, look, baseball has always been a sport where there's been disagreements. But at the same time, you voice your disagreement and you walk away from it and you get back to do what you're getting paid to do.''

http://www.suntimes.com/sports/baseball/cubs/1597588,CST-SPT-cub29.article

My favorite part is where he basically says it is drunken fans who most want to see this garbage.

This team wasn't FIRED UP last night and contrary to the wishiest of wishful thinking by some out here, the Dodgers had no reason to be scared.

With all the ninth-inning drama, this may very well be the most exciting team to score 1.381 runs a game or whatever the hell it's been lately, but they still don't score.

So, who's got the next bright idea to FIRE UP the team?

Should Lilly reach in to Juan Pierre's chest and rip out his heart?

Z Ruling Expected today or tomorrow

Worf — Thu, 28 May 2009 19:22:54 -0000

According to Trib and S-T.

I'm tired of wading through 560 posts on one thread and 430 on the other, and we need a poll on this situation.

This is poll is what you think WILL happen, not what you think should happen.

So, drew if you don't post that the ump should be fired, I won't post that Z should be traded? Fair?

I say he will get 10 games and they will knock it down to 7 or 8, so he misses one start and a whole bunch of chances to strike out as a pinchhitter.

I say the ump gets a private rebuke.

The poll is structured as a zero-sum game. The worse it is for Z, the lighter it is for the ump and so on. There is an option at the end for equal punishments.

Poll

What will Zambrano AND the ump get?

11 or more days for Z -- Nothing for ump

11 votes

6-10 days for Z -- Media ferrets out private rebuke for ump

68 votes

5 days for Z - Public rebuke for ump

34 votes

Less than 5 days for Z - One game for ump

10 votes

Fine for Z -- Multiple games for ump

1 votes

They both get equal suspensions/punishments

3 votes

127 votes | Poll has closed

IT IS ALIVE !!!! The Return of the Roberts Rumors

Worf — Wed, 27 May 2009 02:14:53 -0000

IT IS ALIVE !!!! The Return of the Roberts Rumors

Down to the bottom. Dayn Perry of Fox advocates Shark and Cashner for Roberts.

Up top, he has his Peaviness going to the Mets

Growing SOOOOO weary of Zambrano's clown act

Worf — Sat, 23 May 2009 04:21:23 -0000

Don't bring me the crap that he's a baseball player. A baseball player sees a man on third with two outs and tries to choke up and put one over the infield.

A baseball player doesn't waste the gutsy move Hill made to get to third.

Zambrano is a sideshow. His at-bats are jokes. Peavy made him look like a Little Leaguer and Zambrano is too stupid or stubborn to get it. It is no longer cute.

There are 20 pitchers in the NL (and probably 5 in the AL) that would have done a better job there, so don't bring me this Silver Slugger garbage.

We always talk about selling high around here.

If I'm Hendry, I'd ask around.

I grow weary of the clown show.

Oh, and by the way... I'm sooooooooo thrilled with that Hoffpauir move. 4Ks... Nice job Micah. Go back to AAA where defense doesn't matter.

The time has come! Soriano to 2B

Worf — Fri, 22 May 2009 12:00:28 -0000

Today's Sun-Times reports that Lou is reaching for his nuclear option.

Soriano in 2B and the Hoff in LF.

The story doesn't say, but presumably, Fontenot/Freel platoon at 3B and Miles is taken out behind a barn and shot.

Dear sweet mother in heaven, I fear for the infield defense. If D. Lee gets yanked or gets hurt, we get Jake Fox at 1B and that will lead to a six-error game.

Seriously, who in this lineup would you even consider average defensively? Fukudome in CF, Lee at 1B and Soto as catcher?

Hold me.

Things I hate -- Therapy for a Slump

Worf — Fri, 22 May 2009 01:07:23 -0000

It's the 4th inning and the Cubs look to be on their way to a 2-0 loss.

So... in order to get people's minds off the mid-May slump, I propose making a list of things we hate besides the Cubs being in a slump.

Yes, we hate watching Bradley flail and Soriano reach and the Little League infielders make errors and we hate the fact that we can't be optimistic about Fukudome and we all hate the Cardinals.

But let's go non-baseball related.

Here is what I hate:

* Soggy cereal

* Those nasty wounds you get when you bite your nails -- which I do -- and you get a millimeter too far

* Roger Moore as James Bond

* When your dogs still have energy even after you've walked them three miles and played enough fetch to kill your rotator cuff

* The first day back at work after a long vacation

* Hangovers

* Kate from Jon & Kate Plus 8. I absolutely want to put my fist through that woman's face. She is the only woman I've ever felt that way about. (I don't count Ann Coulter because I'm not sure that's a woman)

C'mon, add to the list! Don't hate on the Cubs. Hate the rest of your life! The Cubs will turn it around!