Dear Tom,

As most people who know me will attest, I have been one of your most vocal critics for well over a year now.  I watched you take over amid great anticipation and expectation only to be frustrated by the perception that you were taking a disappointingly "status quo" approach to things.  In my case my frustration boiled over to the extent that, for the first time since the mid-70's, I did not attend a single Cubs game last season.  It wasn't so much that the team was bad.  I've weathered that storm countless times before.  Rather there was an air of hopelessness last summer that made me seriously wonder about how worthwhile it was to continue devoting my heart and soul to the Cubs.

Fast forward a few months and now, as I briefly turn my focus from the Blackhawks, I see that not only have you made a move, you've made THE move.  Of course I realize that there are no guarantees in this life, especially when it comes to the Cubs, but by hiring Theo Epstein  you've shown that, after all, you're in it for the long haul and your commitment to creating a winning organization isn't just lip service.

And so I can also assure you that I will be back at Wrigley Field next season with a renewed sense of excitement and hope.  I'm not expecting instant results and I don't believe in miracles.  But I'll have no problem spending my hard earned money to watch losing baseball as long as I know that better times are on the horizon. 

Like most Cub fans, I've had high expectations in the past that were, perhaps inevitably, dashed along the rocks of reality.  No matter what the final result is here though, you've taken your best shot and for that I applaud you.

.

Another training camp fest is in the books.  After a long, ugly and thoroughly depressing season of baseball on the north side (and the south,for that matter), leave it to the Hawks to be there to remind me what I love about sports.  As advertised, Rocky, McD, etc., did a terrific job of showing the fans a good time at very reasonable prices.  I mean, seriously, who DOESN'T believe that the Old Man is spinning in his grave right now over things like 5.00 general admission tickets and, get this, FREE parking.  And, yes, I know it's only a practice, etc., etc., but, in an increasingly greedy sports world, it's the thought that counts and the fact that I could give my niece and nephew (ages 6 and 9) their first up close view of the team that I've been shamelessly brainwashing them to love since forever, for under 50.00 is a day well spent.

As for the practice itself, allowing for things like small sample size and occasional distractions that come from constantly having to attend to the kids, a few things stood out (I'm sure I'll think of more later):

1) Count me in on the "Dave Bolland is primed to have a breakout year bandwagon".  He was all over the ice like a guy eager to show off the results of his off season training regimen.  The added bulk is pretty obvious and I love the swagger.  Note to the rest of the NHL: Beware the stronger, faster, better Rat.

2) Duncan Keith is actually starting to look like Duncan Keith.

3) Somebody should take Ray Emery aside and remind him that he doesn't have the back-up role locked up just because he's a veteran.  I know timing and positioning don't necessarily come on the first day but, geez, at least show me some energy out there.

4) Scrimmage Game #2  was a lot more fun to watch than Game 1.  This will happen when you combine Dan Carcillo with a bunch of kids eager to kick some veteran ass.  Lots of hits, a few scrum,s a Bryan Bickell penalty (not an easy thing to accomplish in the fist minute or two of a scrimmage), and Kaner burying one in the shootout. What more could you ask for.

5) Marcus Kruger should feel free at anytime to start doing SOMETHING to live up to his hype as the Hawks' top prospect and, in a perfect world, potential #2 center.

But I'm quibbling here.  All things considered, it was a great day on the West Side.  I have high hopes that, soon, my nephew will be more interested in having his picture taken with the Ice Crew than with TommyHawk. 

And, finally, "Brian Noonan", is the answer to the future family trivia question, "Who was Maggie's and Tommy's first Hawks' autograph"?

Thank God it's hockey season again.

Like most of us, I've been counting the days since early July (nothing like the Cubs being the Cubs to get me thinking about hockey in mid-summer) for when the boys take the ice for the first time.  This is the first year I'll be attending Training Camp Fest and I've raised the stakes by taking my niece and nephew (ages 6 and 9) along.  I've been completely shameless in brainwashing them into Hawks' fans and I really want they're first experience at the UC to be special (and thus cement the conditioning once and for all).

So my questions, for anyone who's attended before, are, should we plan to go inside as soon as the doors open (in order to get the best possible seats AND the Sharpy bobblehead) or is there going to be stuff going on outside that would be fun for kids?   Also, assuming we need to go in right away, how far ahead of time do we need to be there BEFORE the doors open? 

Any info or pointers from Training Camp Fest vets would be appreciated.

I've never attended a training camp festival before but I'm very anxious to do it this year (a summer of suffering through the Cubs has left me counting the days until hockey season).

My main question is this: I'm thinking of taking my niece and nephew (ages 6 and 8), both HUGE Hawks' fans, and I was wondering if anyone could tell me how "kid friendly" the event is-specifically would young kids have a good time? 

I appreciate hearing any tips, etc. that anyone more familiar with the fest could send my way.

Okay, as anyone who's bothered to pay attention to my online ramblings can attest, I don't always live up to my nickname.  In fact, as the years have passed I've found myself, sadly, taking my "kool-aide"  in increasingly smaller doses.

And so imagine my surprise yesterday when I found myself passionately (and not always accurately) defending the Cubs and their record to my increasingly impressionable nieces and nephew.  Their father, you see, is a lifelong Sox fan and, up until recently, has been content to keep any criticisms of our "Boys in Blue" to himself.   As cynical as I've become over the years, there was something about my six year old nephew telling me that the Cubs always lose...the Cubs are losers....they aren't any good...that got the kool-aide flowing again.  And so, while babysitting them yesterday they were forced to watch a steady diet of Cubs' videotapes...dvd's, etc., (all edited, of course, to make the Cubs look exactly like the exciting, winning franchise that I imagined them to be as an equally impressionable seven year old in the early 70's).  

Along the way (and against my better judgment), I found myself getting excited about Opening Day.  Sure, I still have HUGE problems with the corner outfield...Byrd as a #3 hitter...the gigantic sinkhole that is 2nd base...but, on the other hand, I actually LIKE our pitching...Wood should bolster the bullpen...Castro looks like the goods and Soto's already exceeded my expectations (Rick Wilkins be DAMNED!).    And if Pena can rebound from the broken foot...maybe this really WILL BE THE YEAR!1

And so, thanks to a White Sox fan, hope has, at least momentarily,  been restored which, I suppose, is evidence enough that, in nature,  everything really DOES have a purpose.

I debated for awhile about whether or not to write this fanpost.  I tend to be of the belief that sites like this should be, above all, about temporarily escaping the harsher realities of life.  But something that happened here last night changed my mind.

I published a reply to a fan post that I never expected to be taken critically or controversially.  It was a simple attempt to explain my love for the Cubs.  It led however to an attack by one poster-not a regular on this site-someone I'd never noticed before.  Among his words was a nauseating comment about cancer that, while I understand that he couldn't have known my circumstances, had an affect that I'm still feeling.

This past weekend my beautiful, nine year old niece Molly, was diagnosed with Leukemia.  To say that this has been a shock to our family is an understatement.  A few days ago she was getting ready for her basketball playoff game.  Now, as I write this,  we're awaiting word on her bone marrow biopsy that will determine her course of treatment.

I wish I could do justice to just how strong and courageous she has been through all of this but, suffice it to say, her 47 year old uncle is learning from her every day.

What's happened to her is terrible but it's also a part of her journey...what will, inevitably, form the special person we know that she's going to become.

I've had my differences with some posters on this site but I've never doubted that the vast majority of the fans here are people with good  hearts.  It's unfortunate that the occasional exception to this has to cast such a negative shadow over the rest of us.

This also happens to be "Leukemia Awareness Week".   If you get a chance, temporarily trade in your "Cubs blue" for orange to show your support for all of those suffering from this terrible disease (and for the amazing doctors and nurses who have dedicated themselves to curing it). 

And please keep an incredibly brave little girl in your thoughts and prayers.

Thanks for taking the time to read this.  Go Cubs!

Okay, as much as some people are going to disagree with me, I believe that, barring a miraculous turnaround destined for the baseball history books, this team is headed for one of the most disappointing seasons in its history.  So now, as Jim Hendry's career as a baseball GM is hanging by a thread, I thought it would be interesting to speculate on how he'll be thought about when we look back on his tenure.

As for me, I tend to believe that the worst thing that ever happened to Hendry was when MacPhail was let go and he was given control of the checkbook.  As much as I despised "Andy the clown",  I wonder if his stubbornly conservative ways were good for Hendry in that it made him have to search for solutions that didn't involve spending like a drunken sailor.  After all, Hendry was the guy who brought us players like Lee, Ramirez, Grudzielanek, Karros, etc., for next to nothing.  And let's not forget Kenny Lofton, a virtual throw-in in the Ramirez deal who became the best lead-off man (and a key to the second half surge in '03) that we'd had in years.

 Hendry is the ninth Cubs' GM of my life; looking back the only one that really stands out among that lot is Dallas Green and even he doesn't have three division titles to show for his tenure.  So, I think when I look back, I'll pobably have a tendency to be kind to him and remember the positives more than the negatives.  He did, after all, get us within five outs of the world series.  That's more than can be said for Salty Saltwell. 

I'd be interested though, to hear what thoughts the rest of you have about how we'll eventually come to view the "Hendry years".  Discuss.

Mark Fidrych, as colorful and charismatic a pitcher as baseball has ever seen was found dead a few hours ago at his farm in Mass. at the too-young age of 54.

I still have fond memories of watching him pitch on Monday Night Baseball in 1976.   His antics, which included talking to the baseball and rearranging the dirt on the mound in between innings, helped to demonstate to my then 12 year old self that baseball was, after all, about having fun.   He was, at the same time though, a very good pitcher who won 19 games as a rookie, started for the AL in the all-star game and was a near unanimous ROY selection.  Unfortunately, pre-pitch count era  arm problems derailed his promising career.

It's unfortunate that, in today's game, there doesn't seem to be much room for "characters" like him.   He was a true original though and I'm glad that I still have the memories of watching him during his magical summer.  at the same time though, I suddenly feel a little bit oldsr than I did a few hours ago.

I just read on Yahoo that the organizers of the upcoming National Sports Collector's show in Rosemont have offered Steve Bartman a 25,000.00 payout if he shows up on the 31st at 1pm and signs ONE picture of himself "interfering" with Moises Alou.  Now I don't want to start another argument about what he did or didn't do at the infamous game-those arguments have been done to death.   

But one thing that's always impressed me about the guy is that he's always shunned any publicity and, presumably,  opportunities to translate his "five minutes" into some quick cash.   So here's hoping that he doesn't go along with this cynical pr stunt on the part of the show's organizers.   I'd like to think I wouldn't go for the easy cash either but, then, it's easy for me to say that since I don't have somebody waving 25G under my nose.

Anyway, I'd be really interested in knowing what other Cub fans think about all of this?  Will he turn down the money and continue to shun publicity?   Would you?  Here's hoping.

Okay, I admit that I have a possibly unhealthy, slightly sadistic fascination with Dusty Baker's current tenure in Cincinnati.    After suffering through four seasons with him here, I'm still completely amazed that

1)He still somehow got another managerial job

2)That he got another job and is following exactly the same stubborn, clueless patterns that marked his days in Chicago.

So the next time you're feeling stressed or pessimistic about how things might be going with the Cubs, take a look at some of the Dusty posts on Redleg nation.  Reds fans already seem to be collectively pulling out their hair over things like his stubborn insistence in batting Corey Patterson (he of the .268 OBP) lead-off, his lack of faith in rookies and a general funk that's fallen over the clubhouse-does any of this sound familiar?  And he's only been there a few weeks really.  I mean, it took most of us at least a year or more to get to the same cliff.

I don't always agree with  Lou (why he used Marmol yesterday is still beyond me and, I hope, won't come back to haunt us tonight) but, at the same time, I have faith that he's a smart, savvy baseball guy who will get us over the rough patches even if it means sacrificing his popularity in the clubhouse.    I once read about how Lou cut a veteran reliever (I think it was Mike Schooler) during his first year in Seattle.  Schooler angrily told a reporter that "All Lou Pinella cares about is winning".   

It's about time we had somebody like that on the top step.

I was just reading Barry Rozner in the Daily Herald and he managed to pump me up with his prediction that, despite th erough patch, the Cubs would still win the division by 5-10 games so, in the spirit of this, here are my own reasons to keep the faith;

1)Derrek Lee; I know it's been said before but I'm still incredibly pumped by the return of his power stroke.  he's back to being one of the most all around dangerous hitters in the league and that. combined with his gold glove defense and team leadership bodes very well for this team.

2) The emergence of Geovany Soto; I admit I was very nervous during his eight strikeout spell last weekend but he's shown that that was more of an abberation than anything else.  What I really love about this kid is how well he bounced back after the rough patch-it says a lot about his mental toughness and maturity. He'll no doubt have more bad streaks as the season goes on but I'm now very confident that he has the mental makeup to get through them.

3)Bob Howry should significantly improve as the season goes on.  like they say in Vegas, "the trend is your friend" and each year his fast ball has improved significantly starting sometime in May.   We'll need him more than ever in mid-season.

4)Big Z; we have to be happy with his strong start.  Maybe last years's contract talks were more of a distraction than we thought.  whatever the reason though, he's finally showing signs of being a true ace.

5)Aramis Ramirez; I know he bugs people with his perceived lack of hustle but, say what you want about him, once he starts to heat up, he's money in the clutch.

6)Lou Pinella; He's the best possible guy yo bring this team home; a savvy baseball man who'd rather win than make friends.  This team has more than a few holes and questions but I'm very confident that if anybody can figure it out, it's Sweet Lou.

Of course there are a lot of other reasons besides these to get pumped up; Ronny Cedeno's apparent emergence, Carlos Marmol's "filthy" stuff, Kosuke Fukodome, etc.

Anyway, let's all forget about yesterday and send out some positive energy in the direction of St. Louis.

A week ago I was thinking about him as a genuine r.o.y. candidate and now, suddenly, visions of Rick Wilkins are dancing in my head.

I know it's only two games and, hopefully, it doesn't mean all that much but is anybody else as worried about Soto as I suddenly am?   The last couple of games he's looked completely lost up there.  I'm wondering if the league's already caught up with him which would be kind of discouraging considering the season's not even a month old yet.