Below is the link to a nice Oped piece by former Cub/Phillie Doug Glanville. One nice thing about the article is that instead of going all critical on the steroid users, he tries to humanize them. While he may not have taken their road, he understands perhaps why they did what they did.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/16/opinion/16glanville.html?ref=opinion

Hey all, I know some of you have met up before, I believe at a bar called Standings in the Village somewhere. I was just wondering if there will be a nice contingent of people watching the game somewhere on Wedensday for Game 1 v. 'zona.

Post your thoughts here. Let's try to get something going.

(or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Crunch Numbers....well, and still worry)

Going into the Nats series, Lou said that he was afraid that this could be a trap series. Meaning, the Cubs won two out of three at home from the league leader and were riding high, then they would go into the cavernous RFK stadium against one of the worst teams in the league and could very well choke.

They did not.

However, the Brewers went into fun PNC Park in Pittsburgh and they lost three out of four. And I started wondering why. My immediate answer was that the Cubs have a really good squad of vets. And then I started trying to figure out who are the vets on the Brewers. Sheets. Jenkins. That's all I could think of. And you know what? Neither of those guys has ever been to the postseason.
It is said that veteran players help. But more so it's the veteran players who have postseason experience that help the most. They've been there. They know the road and can help the kids who do not.

So, without further ado - some numbers.

(Note: these numbers are from the current 25-man rosters for the Cubs and Brewers)

Number of players to have been to the post-season
Brewers: 4 (Johnny Estrada, Damien Miller, Craig Counsel, Tony Graffanino)

Cubs: 14 (Eyre, Howry, Lilly, Marquis, Zambrano, Bowen(!), DeRosa, Izturis, Lee, Aram, DWard, Floyd, Jacque Jones, Soriano)

Number of total post-season games played by the current rosters:

Brewers: 86
Cubs: 147

Number of World Series won by players on current rosters:

Brewers: 3 (Miller with DBacks in 2001, Counsel with '97 Marlins and '01 DBacks)

Cubs: 2 (Lee with...well you know. Floyd with '97 Marlins)

It is not just the fact that the Cubs have 61 more games of experience in the post-season, but it is that so many of their players have been there.

Oh, and even our kids have been there. Theriot and Fontenot won the College World Series.

Okay, I do not like to be overexcited -- okay, maybe I do, but I think this is all very telling. And it could make for a very interesting second-half.

I don't know if this has been posted yet, but the Cubs just signed Wade Miller to a 1 year deal, $1 million contract.

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2303134

Pesonally, I see this as a pretty good deal. He is coming off surgery and probably won't be ready until May. But he came cheap and has a 62-43 lifetime record. I assume he will be used in long relief and spot starter.

Not a blockbuster by any means, but a solid pitching improvement.

Well, this weekend I will make my annual pilgrimage to Shea Stadium to watch the Cubs hopefully not choke against the Metropolitans.  I've got UD box seats all three games, the last two right behind the plate, which I think are some of the best seats in the house. Great bird's eye view and nice chance for a Burnitz foul ball.

I went to the first two games of the Yanks-Cubs series and found it quite warm and friendly. Yankee fans generally respect the game and respect the history of the Cubs. I believe they also appreciated the fact that we were not jerks like Met or Red Sox fans can be.

I can say with certainty that Met fans are not the same. And I would really really like to beat the living crap out of them this weekend. I recall two years ago when the Cubs were up by about 10 runs on opening day (and Patterson hit 2 homers off Glavine), that I was taunted by several teenagers behind me who compared being a Cub fan to being a homosexual, though they did not use that word. Finally I informed them that if they wanted to taunt someone, questioning their sexuality is one of the least creative avenues. Besides, I questioned, exactly how many of them had even slept with a girl. I said that a good starting point would be a hearty "1908" chant.  They didn't understand the reference and I turned away in disgust.

It appears that the pitching matchups should be:
Hill v. Glavine
Maddux v. Ishi
Zambrano v. Zambrano.

Hill has pitched well and Glavine has been the epitome of inconsistency this season. Or should I say Maddux has been the epitome of inconstancy.  He either blows you out of the water or gives up 7 runs in 4 innings. But he is lights out against the Mets, having shut them out once this season.  Ishi is 3-9 and should be easy pickings for the middle of the lineup.
ZvZ is the match up I have been waiting for a year now. Probably Jayson Stark has too. Let's see, our Zambrano pitched 8 scoreless innings last night. They're Zambrano gave up 6 runs in 1.1 innings. That included 4 homers.

Of course I cannot count on anything. These are the Cubs anyway. With our dumb luck Victor Zambrano will throw a no-hitter and Carlos Zambrano will be out in the third inning. So goes Cubbie Blue. But I have my hopes up. Hey, at least we don't have to face Pedro.
I hope to see as much blue there as last year. Go Cubs!