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    <title>SB Nation User Blog:  znohitter</title>
    <link>http://www.sbnation.comhttp://www.sbnation.com/users/znohitter</link>
    <description>Posts made by znohitter on SB Nation</description>
    <item>
      <title>The &quot;Send the Cubs some of your mojo&quot; thread</title>
      <link>http://www.bleedcubbieblue.com/2009/5/23/884280/the-send-the-cubs-some-of-your</link>
      <author>znohitter</author>
      <pubDate>Sat, 23 May 2009 05:14:50 -0000</pubDate>
      <description type="html">


&lt;p&gt;This is not a post for serious discussion of how to get the bats working.&amp;nbsp; It is a post for what you are going to do at some point before the next game to make the Cubs bust out of this skid.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;I plan on digging out my old baseball cards and finding a good group of Cubs players to carry around in my shirt pocket.&amp;nbsp; I'm also going to quietly mutter hexes at any Padres logos I see.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;And before the skeptics start in, you have no way of proving that the right combination of things isn't working until it&amp;nbsp;finally fails to&amp;nbsp;work.&amp;nbsp; (HA!&amp;nbsp; Your own scientific models turned against you!&amp;nbsp; Take that, rational fandom!)&lt;/p&gt;

  
  


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      <title>DURING the whole of a hot, humid, and winless day in the late spring of the year...</title>
      <link>http://www.bleedcubbieblue.com/2009/5/21/882100/during-the-whole-of-a-hot-humid</link>
      <author>znohitter</author>
      <pubDate>Thu, 21 May 2009 06:51:11 -0000</pubDate>
      <description type="html">


&lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot; style=&quot;margin: 0in 0in 0pt;&quot;&gt;&quot;Villains!&quot; I shrieked, &quot;dissemble no more! I admit the deed! &amp;ndash; tear up the planks! &amp;ndash; here,&amp;nbsp; here! &amp;ndash; it is the beating of &amp;ndash;&amp;rdquo;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot; style=&quot;margin: 0in 0in 0pt;&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;h3 class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot; style=&quot;margin: 0in 0in 0pt;&quot;&gt;Totally Bogus Cubs News!&lt;/h3&gt;
&lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot; style=&quot;margin: 0in 0in 0pt;&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot; style=&quot;margin: 0in 0in 0pt;&quot;&gt;Special Slumpbuster Whale-mail-bag Edition!&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot; style=&quot;margin: 0in 0in 0pt;&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot; style=&quot;margin: 0in 0in 0pt;&quot;&gt;[Ed. Note:&amp;nbsp; The team that first occupied Wrigley Field, before it was called Wrigley Field, was the Federal League team, which in 1915 was known as the Whales.&amp;nbsp; They won the league that year under the management of some guy named Tinker.&amp;nbsp; They also had this pitcher with only three fingers.]&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot; style=&quot;margin: 0in 0in 0pt;&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Well, I got such a good response from those of you who sent questions that I decided to spend the whole time answering them.&amp;nbsp; So without further ado, let&amp;rsquo;s dive in, shall we?&lt;/p&gt;

  &lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;Our first and perhaps most timely question comes to us from a Cubs fan in Kansas.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;&quot;When the [FORK] is Lou gonna break some [stuff]?&quot; &amp;ndash; dtpollitt&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;[Ed. Note: No, he did not say &amp;lsquo;fork.&amp;rsquo;&amp;nbsp; He actually said &amp;lsquo;spork.&amp;rsquo;]&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;Listen closely, Dan.&amp;nbsp; That vague exploding sound coming from the east-northeast you hear when the wind is just right?&amp;nbsp; That&amp;rsquo;s Lou.&amp;nbsp; Expect something to get broken during the game today, either a losing streak or Lou&amp;rsquo;s foot in someone&amp;rsquo;s rear.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;The next one comes from a monastery tucked away on the north side, where a Drewid asks,&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;&quot;Why isn't Neal Cotts starting?&amp;nbsp; Also, shouldn't we be able to move Soriano to second base, and also have him bat 4th?&amp;nbsp;&quot;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;Well, to be honest, I&amp;rsquo;m as surprised as you are.&amp;nbsp; With Shark coming up to the bullpen, I would have figured that Neil was a lock for taking Z&amp;rsquo;s spot in the rotation, particularly given that his WHIP is up almost a full point so far over his average from the last two years &amp;ndash;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;[Ed. Note:&amp;nbsp; His WHIP being up is bad.]&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;Really?&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;[Ed. Note:&amp;nbsp; Yes.&amp;nbsp; WHIP is a measure of walks and hits given up per inning.&amp;nbsp; As in golf, a lower&amp;nbsp;number is better.]&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;Well, okay then.&amp;nbsp; At least his ERA is... whoops.&amp;nbsp; Scratch that.&amp;nbsp; But his appearances are getting long... wait, no.&amp;nbsp; Uh....&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;Well, he hasn&amp;rsquo;t balked yet this year... and he&amp;rsquo;s only hit one batter in 7.2 IP, which is better than that one guy the other day.&amp;nbsp; So, yeah, he should be ready to start in another week or two.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;As for Soriano, word is that the Cubs are currently trying to clone him, but they want to remove the hop from his DNA first.&amp;nbsp; Check back in 2035 or so.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;From Asheville, NC, a place I know and have gotten drunk in, we have this query from a carolinacub:&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;&quot;How come when you buy a Cubs calendar it has players in Cubs uniforms who don&amp;rsquo;t play for the Cubs?&quot;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;This one took some doing.&amp;nbsp; I had to spend my entire BCB expense account (total value: $13.72 and a CTA card that expired last October) to get to the bottom of this one, but here goes.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;In July, a small group meets in the Cubs front office (in Crane Kenney&amp;rsquo;s coat closet, to be precise) and begins the arduous task of sorting through thousands of pictures to get the right ones.&amp;nbsp; As the season continues to play out, Crane tosses in new pictures and sandwiches to keep the&amp;nbsp;group going.&amp;nbsp; Sometime around mid-September, they emerge, blinking at the bright lights of Crane&amp;rsquo;s office, with about 48 possible pictures, usually of 15 or so players.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;These pictures are then sent to two groups:&amp;nbsp; the Women&amp;rsquo;s Board, which vetoes 12 pictures on the grounds that they do not contain enough eye candy &amp;ndash;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;[Ed. Note:&amp;nbsp; Since the mid 1970&amp;rsquo;s, the Women&amp;rsquo;s Board has included at least one resident of the neighborhood south of Wrigley.]&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;Stop interrupting.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;[Ed. Note:&amp;nbsp; Carry on.]&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;...and the Men&amp;rsquo;s Board, which vetoes 12 pictures on the grounds that they contain too much eye candy.&amp;nbsp; The remaining 24 or so pictures are then sent to the team for voting and final approval.&amp;nbsp; This process takes until roughly the start of October.&amp;nbsp; If the Cubs are in contention, the Final Late Approval Tactical Panel will review the photos from each playoff game as they come in, since the cut-off date for sending the project to the printer&amp;rsquo;s is in early November.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;[Ed. Note:&amp;nbsp; So is Game 4 of the Series this year.&amp;nbsp; Thanks, Bud.&amp;nbsp; Good call on that one.]&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;Riiiight....&amp;nbsp; So, once the photos are chosen, they go off to the printer and wind up on the calendar.&amp;nbsp; Reference copies are provided to team management, and then the fun begins.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;Buster Olney had a little seen report last December that Jim Hendry was using a calendar in his negotiations with some West Coast team over a pitcher no one here has ever heard of.&amp;nbsp; It also was reported that Hendry &amp;lsquo;accidentally&amp;rsquo; left a copy on the Indians&amp;rsquo; chairs, open to DeRosa... but you can&amp;rsquo;t believe everything you read on the internet.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;[Ed. Note:&amp;nbsp; The quotes around the word &amp;lsquo;accidentally&amp;rsquo; indicate the use of sarcasm.]&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;Seriously?&amp;nbsp; Go alphabetize something.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;Ahem.&amp;nbsp; Also rumored, but not proven, is that whoever is on the January picture will incur the wrath of Lou and wind up being traded once he gets back from the Chicago weather after the Cubs Convention.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;So that&amp;rsquo;s how that works.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;And for my next trick....&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;&quot;Why do people get upset when I post negative comments in game threads?&amp;nbsp; I&amp;rsquo;m entitled to my opinion.&quot; &amp;ndash; Jumpy McLedgerton, someplace that isn&amp;rsquo;t nearly as hot as where zno wishes you would go.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;Oh, it&amp;rsquo;s on now, punk.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;[Ed. Note:&amp;nbsp; This just turned into the Wail-mail-bag.&amp;nbsp; &amp;lsquo;Cause somebody&amp;rsquo;s about to get wailed on.]&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;This is a Cubs COMMUNITY.&amp;nbsp; Just because I drive through a town on my way to my weekly Dungeons and Dragons game and stop to get a slice of pizza and a Yoo-Hoo from Casey&amp;rsquo;s and mutter something to the clerk about the crappy weather while paying DOES NOT MAKE ME A MEMBER OF THE COMMUNITY.&amp;nbsp; If I look at your profile and the last dozen comments are spread out over the game threads so far this year, and every last one of them is about something the Cubs aren&amp;rsquo;t doing well, you are a troll.&amp;nbsp; You are not a member of the community; you are a sad, pathetic loser who needs to get a hobby that doesn&amp;rsquo;t involve pissing off Cubs fans, or anybody else, for that matter.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;[Ed. Note:&amp;nbsp; May I suggest Russian roulette.]&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;Try making intelligent comments in non-game threads if you want to have some respect.&amp;nbsp; You don&amp;rsquo;t have to be Shakespeare, but a little thought will go a long way, particularly if you can support your opinions with things like stats and quotes from people who are in the know.&amp;nbsp; And don&amp;rsquo;t get all &quot;the secret BCB Illuminati are ruining this for me, I&amp;rsquo;m going away and never coming back&quot; on us.&amp;nbsp; Because we will send our ninja assassins to go get Steve Jobs, who will ping your internet connection back to the twentieth century.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;[Ed. Note:&amp;nbsp; Not that zno is a member of the BCB Illuminati.&amp;nbsp; Or that there even is such a group.&amp;nbsp; You should probably just forget you read this.&amp;nbsp; Fnord.]&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;Oh, and for the sake of tradition...&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;Dear Jumpy:&amp;nbsp; SHUT UP.&amp;nbsp; That is all.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;Next?&amp;nbsp; Oh, Dan has another one.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;&quot;What ever happened to Al's son's haircut?&quot;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;I have no idea what you&amp;rsquo;re talking about.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;[Ed. Note:&amp;nbsp; Search function, dumbass.]&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;Oh, right.&amp;nbsp; Uh... wow, going back to 2007, are we?&amp;nbsp; It seems he got the haircut.&amp;nbsp; Personally, I think haircuts are overrated, as can be seen in the photo below.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://cdn0.sbnation.com/imported_assets/159072/l_76d31fde1eda4a7883052dafbb570286.gif&quot;&gt;&lt;img class=&quot;photo&quot; src=&quot;http://cdn3.sbnation.com/imported_assets/159072/l_76d31fde1eda4a7883052dafbb570286_medium.gif&quot; alt=&quot;L_76d31fde1eda4a7883052dafbb570286_medium&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;
&lt;p&gt;via &lt;a href=&quot;http://c3.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images02/99/l_76d31fde1eda4a7883052dafbb570286.gif&quot;&gt;c3.ac-images.myspacecdn.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;(Yes, that is me.&amp;nbsp; Yes, I wear that belt every day.&amp;nbsp; No, I am not still a virgin.)&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;[Ed. Note:&amp;nbsp; I really have nothing to add on this one, other than the fact that he isn&amp;rsquo;t a virgin is generally considered proof of the existence of a higher power.]&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;Our penultimate question comes from one of the friendliest posters here, Cubbie-Tim.&amp;nbsp; He writes:&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;&quot;Recently Manny Ramirez was caught using fertility drugs, and suspended.&amp;nbsp; When his 50 game suspension is completed, will he be allowed to play if he was successful in becoming pregnant, or does that force him onto the DL until after giving birth?&quot;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;According to Rule 41 of the Major League Rules, which is a secret document that also contains the formula for Coke and the real copy of the Warren Report, a player who becomes pregnant during the season may be placed on the 270 day DL and be replaced by the other parent, provided the player and partner have a legally recognized relationship in the club&amp;rsquo;s home state.&amp;nbsp; In the event that the two are not in some sort of civil union, however, the partner must be placed on waivers and clear the League, and may then be returned to the parent club for a payment of $25,000 and a box of cigars.&amp;nbsp; If another club claims the partner, that club pays the parent club the $25,000, but gets to keep the box of cigars and has the option to send the partner to a minor-league affiliate&amp;rsquo;s primary hospital&amp;rsquo;s maternity ward, unless the partner is out of options, in which case they are required to keep the partner on the 25 man roster for the duration of the player&amp;rsquo;s stint on the DL.&amp;nbsp; If the partner drops off the 25 man roster for a reason other than injury, they are immediately returned to the parent club, with the box of cigars, and the parent club must spend the $25,000 on baby clothes and a college savings account.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;[Ed. Note:&amp;nbsp; What?]&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;And our final question comes once again from Dan, who asks,&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;&quot;Can I trade Milton Bradley for a lifetime supply of Milton Bradley board games?&quot;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;At this point&amp;nbsp;in the season, Dan, all you would get is a Yahtzee set with only four dice.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;Well, that&amp;rsquo;s all the time for today!&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;[Ed. Note: Slacker.&amp;nbsp; Not even any fake news stories, you hack.]&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;Choke on it.&amp;nbsp; And to the rest of you, until next time, Go Cubs Go!&lt;/p&gt;
  


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  &lt;h5 class=&quot;poll-title&quot;&gt;I can haz cheezburger?&lt;/h5&gt;
  
    
&lt;div id=&quot;poll_container_41745_461787732&quot; class=&quot;poll_container&quot;&gt;
  
    &lt;div class=&quot;poll_option clearfix&quot;&gt;
      &lt;div class=&quot;poll_option_percentage&quot; style=&quot;display:none&quot;&gt;19%&lt;/div&gt;
      &lt;div class=&quot;poll_option_result&quot;&gt;
      &lt;h5&gt;Yeff&lt;/h5&gt;
      &lt;div class=&quot;poll_option_bar&quot;&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;vote_count&quot;&gt;4&lt;/span&gt; votes&lt;/div&gt;
      &lt;/div&gt;
    &lt;/div&gt;
  
    &lt;div class=&quot;poll_option clearfix&quot;&gt;
      &lt;div class=&quot;poll_option_percentage&quot; style=&quot;display:none&quot;&gt;4%&lt;/div&gt;
      &lt;div class=&quot;poll_option_result&quot;&gt;
      &lt;h5&gt;Oh noes!&lt;/h5&gt;
      &lt;div class=&quot;poll_option_bar&quot;&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;vote_count&quot;&gt;1&lt;/span&gt; votes&lt;/div&gt;
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    &lt;/div&gt;
  
    &lt;div class=&quot;poll_option clearfix&quot;&gt;
      &lt;div class=&quot;poll_option_percentage&quot; style=&quot;display:none&quot;&gt;33%&lt;/div&gt;
      &lt;div class=&quot;poll_option_result&quot;&gt;
      &lt;h5&gt;Looks like you need to lay off the cheeseburgers there, slim...&lt;/h5&gt;
      &lt;div class=&quot;poll_option_bar&quot;&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;vote_count&quot;&gt;7&lt;/span&gt; votes&lt;/div&gt;
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    &lt;/div&gt;
  
    &lt;div class=&quot;poll_option clearfix&quot;&gt;
      &lt;div class=&quot;poll_option_percentage&quot; style=&quot;display:none&quot;&gt;42%&lt;/div&gt;
      &lt;div class=&quot;poll_option_result&quot;&gt;
      &lt;h5&gt;All your base&lt;/h5&gt;
      &lt;div class=&quot;poll_option_bar&quot;&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;vote_count&quot;&gt;9&lt;/span&gt; votes&lt;/div&gt;
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  &lt;p class=&quot;poll-total-votes&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;21&lt;/strong&gt; votes
      
    | &lt;span class=&quot;poll-has-closed&quot;&gt;Poll has closed&lt;/span&gt;
  
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      <title>Somewhat OT: Request for &quot;Mailbag&quot; questions</title>
      <link>http://www.bleedcubbieblue.com/2009/5/19/880061/somewhat-ot-request-for-mailbag</link>
      <author>znohitter</author>
      <pubDate>Tue, 19 May 2009 17:20:59 -0000</pubDate>
      <description type="html">
&lt;h3 class=&quot;link-title&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sbnation.com/users/znohitter&quot;&gt;Somewhat OT: Request for &quot;Mailbag&quot;&amp;nbsp;questions&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/h3&gt;
&lt;div class=&quot;description&quot;&gt;&lt;p&gt;The above link should take you to my profile page, from whence you can e-mail me &quot;questions&quot; to include in my next &quot;Totally Bogus Cubs News,&quot; which I feel coming on &quot;sometime&quot; in the &quot;next few days.&quot;  I figure &quot;some of you&quot; can come up with &quot;more interesting questions&quot; than &quot;I&quot; can.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;And in related news, I'm going to be putting &quot;air-quotes&quot; around &quot;a lot&quot; of &quot;things&quot; today, &quot;it seems.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
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      <title>If you think Judd Sirott is painful to hear, then click here.</title>
      <link>http://www.bleedcubbieblue.com/2009/4/28/857009/if-you-think-judd-sirott-is</link>
      <author>znohitter</author>
      <pubDate>Tue, 28 Apr 2009 05:00:05 -0000</pubDate>
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&lt;p&gt;I don't like Judd Sirott as a PBP guy.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I'm sure he's a wonderful person, and he loves his family very much, and he gives to a number of important charities.&amp;nbsp; But he is not a good play-by-play man.&amp;nbsp; And he and Ron don't really have any chemistry together, at least not like Cory.&amp;nbsp; In fact, Judd seems pretty one-dimensional on the radio.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Now, I appreciate that the guy is new.&amp;nbsp; But he's been doing AHL games for 12 years.&amp;nbsp; He should be able to turn it on a bit more when he needs to.&amp;nbsp; And this is the Cubs, for Ernie's sake.&amp;nbsp; We couldn't have gotten someone a bit more natural?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;As a result, I would like to inform all of you of the formation of the Judd Sirott Anti-Fan Club.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;First meeting is tonight during the 5th inning in the Game Thread (or overflow, as applicable).&amp;nbsp; BYOB, snacks provided.&amp;nbsp; A smoking area will be provided.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Agenda consists of the following:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Come up with an acronym.&amp;nbsp; And then a backronym.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Take nominations for a logo.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Elect representative to SABR (Society for Abolishing Bad Radio)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Write to BCB Store for sponsorship.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Quantify the level of bad Judd exhibits.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Take items for next meeting's agenda.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Nominate Moon Laser Feasibility Study directors (if we have time).&lt;/p&gt;

  
  


 	&lt;fieldset class=&quot;poll-box&quot;&gt;
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  &lt;h5 class=&quot;poll-title&quot;&gt;Do you dislike Judd Sirott as an announcer?&lt;/h5&gt;
  
    
&lt;div id=&quot;poll_container_40482_56313893&quot; class=&quot;poll_container&quot;&gt;
  
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      &lt;div class=&quot;poll_option_percentage&quot; style=&quot;display:none&quot;&gt;10%&lt;/div&gt;
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      &lt;h5&gt;Yes&lt;/h5&gt;
      &lt;div class=&quot;poll_option_bar&quot;&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;vote_count&quot;&gt;10&lt;/span&gt; votes&lt;/div&gt;
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    &lt;div class=&quot;poll_option clearfix&quot;&gt;
      &lt;div class=&quot;poll_option_percentage&quot; style=&quot;display:none&quot;&gt;2%&lt;/div&gt;
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      &lt;h5&gt;Yes&lt;/h5&gt;
      &lt;div class=&quot;poll_option_bar&quot;&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;vote_count&quot;&gt;2&lt;/span&gt; votes&lt;/div&gt;
      &lt;/div&gt;
    &lt;/div&gt;
  
    &lt;div class=&quot;poll_option clearfix&quot;&gt;
      &lt;div class=&quot;poll_option_percentage&quot; style=&quot;display:none&quot;&gt;58%&lt;/div&gt;
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      &lt;h5&gt;Oh hell yes&lt;/h5&gt;
      &lt;div class=&quot;poll_option_bar&quot;&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;vote_count&quot;&gt;54&lt;/span&gt; votes&lt;/div&gt;
      &lt;/div&gt;
    &lt;/div&gt;
  
    &lt;div class=&quot;poll_option clearfix&quot;&gt;
      &lt;div class=&quot;poll_option_percentage&quot; style=&quot;display:none&quot;&gt;8%&lt;/div&gt;
      &lt;div class=&quot;poll_option_result&quot;&gt;
      &lt;h5&gt;Yes&lt;/h5&gt;
      &lt;div class=&quot;poll_option_bar&quot;&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;vote_count&quot;&gt;8&lt;/span&gt; votes&lt;/div&gt;
      &lt;/div&gt;
    &lt;/div&gt;
  
    &lt;div class=&quot;poll_option clearfix&quot;&gt;
      &lt;div class=&quot;poll_option_percentage&quot; style=&quot;display:none&quot;&gt;19%&lt;/div&gt;
      &lt;div class=&quot;poll_option_result&quot;&gt;
      &lt;h5&gt;Absolutely&lt;/h5&gt;
      &lt;div class=&quot;poll_option_bar&quot;&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;vote_count&quot;&gt;18&lt;/span&gt; votes&lt;/div&gt;
      &lt;/div&gt;
    &lt;/div&gt;
  
  &lt;p class=&quot;poll-total-votes&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;92&lt;/strong&gt; votes
      
    | &lt;span class=&quot;poll-has-closed&quot;&gt;Poll has closed&lt;/span&gt;
  
  &lt;/p&gt;  
&lt;/div&gt;

&lt;script&gt;

  FastInit.addOnLoad(function(){
    new SBN.Poll('poll_container_40482_56313893').animateResults({renderImmediately:true});
  });

&lt;/script&gt;

  
&lt;/fieldset&gt;

      </description>
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    <item>
      <title>ALL STAR BALLOTS UP</title>
      <link>http://www.bleedcubbieblue.com/2009/4/22/849146/all-star-ballots-up</link>
      <author>znohitter</author>
      <pubDate>Wed, 22 Apr 2009 19:48:44 -0000</pubDate>
      <description type="html">
&lt;h3 class=&quot;link-title&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20090420&amp;amp;content_id=4352132&amp;amp;vkey=news_mlb&amp;amp;fext=.jsp&amp;amp;c_id=mlb&quot;&gt;ALL STAR BALLOTS&amp;nbsp;UP&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/h3&gt;
&lt;div class=&quot;description&quot;&gt;&lt;p&gt;DLee, Fontenot, Theriot, Aramis, Soto, Bradley, Fukudome, and Soriano are on the ballot.  You get 25, so vote early and vote often.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
      </description>
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    <item>
      <title>Cards' Carpenter out with L rib cage strain</title>
      <link>http://www.bleedcubbieblue.com/2009/4/14/838207/cards-carpenter-out-with-l-rib</link>
      <author>znohitter</author>
      <pubDate>Wed, 15 Apr 2009 03:49:26 -0000</pubDate>
      <description type="html">
&lt;h3 class=&quot;link-title&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20090414&amp;amp;content_id=4274388&amp;amp;vkey=news_mlb&amp;amp;fext=.jsp&amp;amp;c_id=mlb&quot;&gt;Cards' Carpenter out with L rib cage&amp;nbsp;strain&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/h3&gt;
&lt;div class=&quot;description&quot;&gt;&lt;p&gt;(to mlb.com) No timetable until he gets looked at tomorrow, but not good news for the soon-to-be 34 year old recovering starter. This was only his 8th appearance in the past 3 seasons, and, counting tonight's 3 innings, he has only 31.1 innings in those games.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
      </description>
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    <item>
      <title>THIS IS NOT A PARODY POST.</title>
      <link>http://www.bleedcubbieblue.com/2009/4/14/837603/this-is-not-a-parody-post</link>
      <author>znohitter</author>
      <pubDate>Tue, 14 Apr 2009 20:14:43 -0000</pubDate>
      <description type="html">


&lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot; style=&quot;margin: 0in 0in 0pt;&quot;&gt;Oh, wait, yes it is.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot; style=&quot;margin: 0in 0in 0pt;&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;h3 class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot; style=&quot;margin: 0in 0in 0pt;&quot;&gt;Totally Bogus Cubs News!&lt;/h3&gt;
&lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot; style=&quot;margin: 0in 0in 0pt;&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot; style=&quot;margin: 0in 0in 0pt;&quot;&gt;(Now 98% content-free!)&lt;/p&gt;

  &lt;h4 class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;Ted Lilly, Chuck Norris to Swap Names&lt;/h4&gt;
&lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;The Cubs&amp;rsquo; most tenacious starter, Ted &amp;lsquo;Bulldog&amp;rsquo; &amp;lsquo;You&amp;rsquo;ll take what I give you&amp;rsquo; &amp;lsquo;That&amp;rsquo;s my home plate and don&amp;rsquo;t you forget it&amp;rsquo; Lilly revealed plans to strike even more fear into the hearts and minds of opposing players today when he announced that he and long-time internet meme Chuck Norris would exchange names for the rest of the season.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;&quot;I think this is a unique possibility to highlight our pants-crappingly effective rotation,&quot; Lilly said at the press conference, held on an in-use L track half a block north of the Addison station.&amp;nbsp; Trains were re-routed out of fear that Lilly and Norris would derail them for fun.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;Lilly went on to detail his plans for perfecting what he termed the &amp;lsquo;Roundhouse in your Wheelhouse,&amp;rsquo; a fastball-slider-curve combination with a gyro ball delivery that travels to the plate at 105 m.p.h. before breaking three directions at once, simultaneously causing the hitter to leap out of the batter&amp;rsquo;s box in abject fear and swing late in an attempt to protect the plate.&amp;nbsp; &quot;Chuck has been a big help with the mechanics of the pitch, as well as reminding the crew chiefs that this pitch is always a strike, even if I throw it as a pickoff.&amp;nbsp; Sometimes it also counts as another strike when the catcher throws the ball back.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;&quot;As a long time fan of intense athletic competition, I&amp;rsquo;m very pleased to use Ted&amp;rsquo;s name for the remainder of the season,&quot; said Norris, who finished off his comments by roundhouse kicking a Sox fan, who had gotten lost on the way to The Alley, back to 35th Street.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;Carlos Zambrano was on hand, and this reporter got a few minutes to talk to him after the announcement.&amp;nbsp; &quot;I was going to change my name to Bruce Lee after Lilly told the team, but Lou came up to me and said, &amp;lsquo;Look, you can&amp;rsquo;t change your name to Bruce, it&amp;rsquo;s... they wouldn&amp;rsquo;t let the Hulk do it in the 70&amp;rsquo;s... well, listen, we already have a Lee, and besides, you&amp;rsquo;ve got a whole letter of the alphabet to yourself,&amp;rsquo;&quot; Zambrano said, finishing the statement with his well-known impersonation of the Cubs&amp;rsquo; skipper.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;Kevin Gregg was reportedly considering changing his name to Fred Rogers.&amp;nbsp; When told that the long-time children&amp;rsquo;s show host had, in fact, never been a Marine sniper, he replied, &quot;I know.&amp;nbsp; I just want to lure them into a false sense of security.&quot;&amp;nbsp; He would have continued the comment but was too busy trying to get his head out of the atomic wedgie just given to him by Carlos Marmol.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;--&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;Fun Fact #1:&amp;nbsp; When Ted Lilly cuts himself, onions cry.&amp;nbsp; No one has ever seen this happen because Ted Lilly&amp;rsquo;s skin is harder than diamond.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;--&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;h4 class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;WGN Radio Fax Machine Breaks, Remains Unsponsored&lt;/h4&gt;
&lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;According to comments made by Pat Hughes on the WGN Radio broadcast of yesterday&amp;rsquo;s game, the fax machine in the home radio broadcast booth at Wrigley Field&amp;nbsp;has broken.&amp;nbsp; Furthermore, due to the inoperability of the machine, sponsors have shied away from the opportunity to attach their names to the oldest fax machine in the NL, which is only two years younger than Boston&amp;rsquo;s fax machine.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;Inquires to the front office revealed that the fax had a rough off season.&amp;nbsp; &quot;The persistent rumors of a trade to the Padres during and after the Winter Meetings left the poor thing frazzled,&quot; said a source close to Jim Hendry who wished to remain anonymous.&amp;nbsp; &quot;Then when that deal collapsed, he felt betrayed by the constant inclusion on the list of expendables.&amp;nbsp; At some point early this spring, he just stopped caring and started hanging around with a bad crowd &amp;ndash; dot matrix printers, handheld scanners, other unsavory types.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;The wear and tear of this hard lifestyle eventually took its toll.&amp;nbsp; The machine was rushed to Percussive Computer Maintenance and Repair Center following yesterday&amp;rsquo;s&amp;nbsp;home opener&amp;nbsp;but, despite fervent efforts to find replacement parts, was pronounced obsolete at 11:32 pm last night.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;&quot;Oh, boy, I can&amp;rsquo;t talk about it right now.&amp;nbsp; I mean, gosh, Pat and I had a working relationship with that fax for, geez, months, and, you know, it&amp;rsquo;s kind of like losing a family member, maybe a third cousin twice removed,&quot; Ron Santo was quoted as saying.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;Cubs Chairman Crane Kenney offered his condolences to the many fax machines with no one to call during yesterday&amp;rsquo;s game.&amp;nbsp; He stated that the search for a successor would begin, &quot;after an appropriate grieving period, probably once the stores open this morning,&quot; but with no sponsorship and the sale of the team still uncompleted, coming up with the funds for a replacement could be difficult.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;&quot;Clearly we think this is a great opportunity for a company or organization to get involved with the Cubs a little more, but in this economy, it&amp;rsquo;s hard to find a sponsor who wants to shell out that kind of money.&amp;nbsp; But we&amp;rsquo;re hopeful that the right group will step forward and commit to preserving this rather antiquated but enjoyable tradition.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;Applications for replacement fax machines, or bids for sponsorship, should be faxed to... wait a minute.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;--&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;Fun Fact #2:&amp;nbsp; Albert Einstein once discovered a parallel universe where Ted Lilly was even more of a bad-ass.&amp;nbsp; He then made the mistake of telling Ted about it.&amp;nbsp; Today we know Albert Einstein as Stephen Hawking.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;--&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;h4 class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;Analysis of Peavy Trade Rumors&amp;rsquo; effect on Internet&lt;/h4&gt;
&lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;ICANN, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, released the internet traffic statistics from December of 2008 today.&amp;nbsp; According to data from the following table,&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://cdn0.sbnation.com/imported_assets/137382/banquet_table.jpg&quot;&gt;&lt;img class=&quot;photo&quot; src=&quot;http://cdn0.sbnation.com/imported_assets/137382/banquet_table_medium.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;Banquet_table_medium&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;
&lt;p&gt;via &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ares-online.com/catalog/pics/Banquet_Table.jpg&quot;&gt;www.ares-online.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
Peavy rumors accounted for nearly 20% of all internet traffic from Monday to Wednesday, December 8th to the 10th.&amp;nbsp; This is greater than the sum total of all information involved in web-based financial transactions carried out those three days.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;The following chart, from ComEd,&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://cdn2.sbnation.com/imported_assets/137388/l337-eye-chart.jpg&quot;&gt;&lt;img class=&quot;photo&quot; src=&quot;http://cdn1.sbnation.com/imported_assets/137388/l337-eye-chart_medium.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;L337-eye-chart_medium&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;
&lt;p&gt;via &lt;a href=&quot;http://daviddoctorrose.files.wordpress.com/2008/02/l337-eye-chart.jpg&quot;&gt;daviddoctorrose.files.wordpress.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;shows that, on Tuesday morning (the 9th) from 6 am to 1 pm, the estimated electrical consumption of bloggers and journalists on the north side of Chicago would have powered the new CERN superconductor for a month, or even more when it&amp;rsquo;s not running right.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;And this pie chart&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;a href=&quot;http://cdn2.sbnation.com/imported_assets/137394/663342.jpg&quot;&gt;&lt;img class=&quot;photo&quot; src=&quot;http://cdn3.sbnation.com/imported_assets/137394/663342_medium.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;663342_medium&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;
&lt;p&gt;via &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.dkimages.com/discover/previews/1012/663342.JPG&quot;&gt;www.dkimages.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
looks very tasty.&amp;nbsp; If sabermetricians used more of these types of charts, I would know what OBPA+ is.&amp;nbsp; Or something.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;--&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;h4 class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;And now it&amp;rsquo;s time for Cubs Mailbag!&lt;/h4&gt;
&lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;Now, I know Carrie Muskat went all high-tech with the Cubs Inbox after New Year&amp;rsquo;s, but let&amp;rsquo;s face it, times are tight.&amp;nbsp; We&amp;rsquo;re passing the costs on to you by making you purchase postage stamps.&amp;nbsp; Think of it as doing your part to stimulate the economy!&amp;nbsp; Plus, who does Carrie think she is?&amp;nbsp; Al Gore?&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;Etiquette is the topic of this week&amp;rsquo;s mailbag.&amp;nbsp; Be sure and include your name and address, since I have a carton of eggs that&amp;rsquo;s a month past date in the fridge and no plans for this afternoon (Miss Manners was going to join me, but reluctantly had to cancel)!&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;I run a successful Cubs blog that is part of a larger sports blog network.&amp;nbsp; Recently, I have noticed many of my posters making duplicate posts on topics already covered, or posting poorly written rambling rants about their ledge jumping abilities, or (horrors!) cutting and pasting the badly written posts into parodies repeatedly, beating a dead joke like some sort of Family Guy episode.&amp;nbsp; How can I attract a better class of posters, and encourage my regulars to improve their posting habits? &amp;ndash; A.Y., Chicago&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;Well, A.Y., I would start by reminding your users of the standards you have for posts on your site via a front page post.&amp;nbsp; The more conscientious of them will change their behavior simply because you ask them to.&amp;nbsp; Once you have thinned the herd a bit, you should find that the posters will self-police many of the questionable posts.&amp;nbsp; I would also encourage keeping a few wise-asses around, at least one of whom should be skilled with Photoshop, in case of trouble; an occasional bone should be allowed to slip through so they don&amp;rsquo;t turn their withering gazes upon well-meaning but rookie posters in the farm system.&amp;nbsp; If you have an individual who refuses to cooperate, try trading them to Milwaukee; I hear they&amp;rsquo;re hard up for content.&amp;nbsp; (Banning may also be effective, though devious users won&amp;rsquo;t let that stop them, will they, Mike?)&amp;nbsp; Hope this helps!&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Jerkface, did you not see the post today about no more parody posts? i&amp;rsquo;ve already seen six other parodies this week, next time, try using the search function before you post, it only takes seconds and saves me from having to experience the same thing more than once because my attention span is non-existent, also, you are a moron and an idiot, and probably need to lose weight&amp;nbsp; &amp;ndash; Better author than Hacky &amp;lsquo;Zno&amp;rsquo; McHackington, Mom&amp;rsquo;s basement, Peoria&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;Dear Better:&amp;nbsp; &lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;SHUT UP&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; (or, if you prefer the internet parlance, &lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;STFU&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;).&amp;nbsp; That is all.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;My name is Billy.&amp;nbsp; I am in third grade at Hoover Elementary in Marshalltown, Iowa.&amp;nbsp; All my friends say the Cubs suck.&amp;nbsp; But I know they don&amp;rsquo;t.&amp;nbsp; How can I tell them the Cubs don&amp;rsquo;t suck? &amp;ndash; Billy, Marshalltown, IA&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;Dear Billy:&amp;nbsp; I&amp;rsquo;m glad you asked this.&amp;nbsp; There a few ways to let your friends know that the Cubs don&amp;rsquo;t suck.&amp;nbsp; One is to point out that the team has won the NL Central two years in a row.&amp;nbsp; Another is to ask them which team they root for and compare records over the past few years.&amp;nbsp; (If they answer White Sox, set them on fire.&amp;nbsp; No jury in the Midwest will convict you.)&amp;nbsp; Also be ready with stats like total runs scored versus runs against, team ERA, and other broad indicators of team performance.&amp;nbsp; If you have a father figure who is mechanically inclined, have him help you build a hot dog gun, and shoot people who make fun of your team with increasingly dense tube meats (working from over-boiled mystery franks to whole pepperonis).&amp;nbsp; And remember that the sports media are all idiots who care more about getting a ratings hike than content; they will all get theirs in the afterlife, when they are forced to listen to Joe Morgan calling women&amp;rsquo;s basketball.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;--&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;Well, that&amp;rsquo;s all the time for today, Cubs fans; tune in again soon for another educational and entertain-ful issue.&amp;nbsp; Until next time, Go Cubs Go!&lt;/p&gt;
  


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    <item>
      <title>Opening Day Payrolls</title>
      <link>http://www.bleedcubbieblue.com/2009/4/12/832034/opening-day-payrolls</link>
      <author>znohitter</author>
      <pubDate>Sun, 12 Apr 2009 21:27:24 -0000</pubDate>
      <description type="html">
&lt;h3 class=&quot;link-title&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://bizofbaseball.com/index.php?option=com_content&amp;amp;view=article&amp;amp;id=3160:inside-the-numbers-mlb-opening-day-payrolls-for-2009&amp;amp;catid=26:editorials&amp;amp;Itemid=39&quot;&gt;Opening Day&amp;nbsp;Payrolls&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/h3&gt;
&lt;div class=&quot;description&quot;&gt;&lt;p&gt;Hadn't seen anyone else post this yet.  (Not that we have a problem with duplicate posts around here.)&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Overall, total payroll is down a little over 1.5%, not surprising given the times we live in.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;16 of the 30 teams saw decreases in the opening day payroll.  The Padres (down 40% to 29th in the league), Cards, Blue Jays, Tigers, Mariners, and Dodgers all saw decreases of over 10%.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;The largest increases were the Marlins (up over 65% from opening day last year, but still last in the league), Rays, A's, Royals, Astros, Phillies, Cubs (up 13.67%), and Diamondbacks.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Only 5 teams saw changes of less than 1.5% (all declines), including the Brewers, Reds, and Pirates.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;And the Yankees... are spending 3.65% less than last year.  Go figure.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
      </description>
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    <item>
      <title>Fukudome out of Japan's starting lineup for WBC game today</title>
      <link>http://www.bleedcubbieblue.com/2009/3/19/804330/fukudome-out-of-japan-s-st</link>
      <author>znohitter</author>
      <pubDate>Fri, 20 Mar 2009 01:16:53 -0000</pubDate>
      <description type="html">
&lt;h3 class=&quot;link-title&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/gameday/index.jsp?gid=2009_03_19_jpnint_korint_1&quot;&gt;Fukudome out of Japan's starting lineup for WBC game&amp;nbsp;today&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/h3&gt;
&lt;div class=&quot;description&quot;&gt;&lt;p&gt;No indication that anything is amiss, but Kosuke started on the bench today for the game vs. Korea.  Link goes to Gameday.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
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    <item>
      <title>How to torque off a Cubs fan (without really trying)</title>
      <link>http://www.bleedcubbieblue.com/2009/3/18/803244/how-to-torque-off-a-cubs-f</link>
      <author>znohitter</author>
      <pubDate>Thu, 19 Mar 2009 02:59:17 -0000</pubDate>
      <description type="html">


&lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;A guide for broadcasters (some of whom we will only listen to this time of year because there isn&amp;rsquo;t always a WGN feed).&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;[Note:&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://hotlink.myspacecdn.com/images02/9/38dbb4ee81cb460596f7d34ea02ee767/m.gif&quot; /&gt;&lt;a&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Thank you.]&lt;/p&gt;

  &lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;1.&amp;nbsp; Talk about the curse as much as possible.&amp;nbsp; Remember, there are several to choose from; make sure and cover them all!&amp;nbsp; Accuracy isn&amp;rsquo;t as important as pointing out that your team has been to a World Series in the last 64 years (or didn&amp;rsquo;t exist).&amp;nbsp; High points include:&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;--1945:&amp;nbsp; Some guy brings a goat to the game.&amp;nbsp; He gets refused entry, or thrown out, or the goat eats PK Wrigley&amp;rsquo;s hat and throws up on the ivy.&amp;nbsp; Or something.&amp;nbsp; Seriously, it was 1945.&amp;nbsp; Cubs lose.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;--1969:&amp;nbsp; A cat crosses Ron Santo&amp;rsquo;s path at Shea.&amp;nbsp; As a result he contracts diabetes.&amp;nbsp; Cubs lose.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;--1984:&amp;nbsp; Bowie Kuhn tells the Cubs that they have to install lights to play in the post-season.&amp;nbsp; After a group of irate Cubs fans torch his car, Kuhn resigns, handing the reins over to Peter Ueberroth and secretly traveling to San Diego to ensure a Cubs loss in the NLCS using his ninja skills obtained from the secret training given to all Commissioners of Baseball (how else do you explain Bud Selig?).&amp;nbsp; Also, there was some thoughtcrime or doublespeak or something.&amp;nbsp; Cubs lose.&amp;nbsp; (Ueberroth finally forced the Cubs to install lights in 1988 by threatening to make them play their post-season games at Comiskey.)&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;--1989:&amp;nbsp; The Cubs, like many animals, were thrown off by the impending earthquake when they got to San Francisco.&amp;nbsp; Cubs lose.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;--1998:&amp;nbsp; Three words: &amp;nbsp;Smoltz, Glavine, Maddux.&amp;nbsp; Cubs lose.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;--2003:&amp;nbsp; Some @$$#0!&amp;euro; with a seat on the line... too soon?&amp;nbsp; Too soon.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;--There are also some theories that involve events before 1945.&amp;nbsp; Feel free to totally B.S. your way through those.&amp;nbsp; Bill Veeck&amp;rsquo;s name can be brought up liberally.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;2.&amp;nbsp; Be sure and paint the Cubs fans as unemployed alcoholics.&amp;nbsp; After all, they attend a ton of day games, so they must all be losers, right?&amp;nbsp; And the parking is awful, so clearly no one is doing well enough to drive, right?&amp;nbsp; And have you seen the bars around Wrigley?&amp;nbsp; They&amp;rsquo;re everywhere!&amp;nbsp; It&amp;rsquo;s like having an AA retreat next to a Bierhall.&amp;nbsp; During Oktoberfest.&amp;nbsp; In Munich.&amp;nbsp; If you&amp;rsquo;re broadcasting tee-vee at Wrigley, be sure and get a few shots of the local establishments.&amp;nbsp; Preferably one with a drunken horde standing around smoking.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;
&lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;3.&amp;nbsp; Any Cubs fan you interview or show on tee-vee that isn&amp;rsquo;t hammered should be a Chad or Trixie wearing 87 different pieces of paraphernalia that make it painfully obvious that they are some once a season attendee that drives to the Skokie park and ride &amp;ldquo;because taking the train to Wrigley is so cool&amp;rdquo; but does not know who Ron Santo is.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;
&lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;4.&amp;nbsp; Mention Ron Santo&amp;rsquo;s repeated failed bids to get into the Hall of Fame.&amp;nbsp; Bonus points for interviewing a current HoF&amp;rsquo;er about it.&amp;nbsp; Double bonus points for Joe Morgan or Mike Schmidt.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;
&lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;5.&amp;nbsp; Attempt to convey that failure in the post-season is somehow offset by &amp;ldquo;Beautiful Wrigley Field.&amp;rdquo;&amp;nbsp; Remind everyone that this is the NL&amp;rsquo;s cathedral, and how nice it is to play here, even if there hasn&amp;rsquo;t been a new gonfalon to hang since 1945.&amp;nbsp; Also try working in the word &amp;lsquo;gonfalon&amp;rsquo; as much as possible.&amp;nbsp; It&amp;rsquo;s fun to say!&amp;nbsp; It&amp;rsquo;s even more fun to win (or so I&amp;rsquo;ve been told)!&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;
&lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;6.&amp;nbsp; Mention HWSNBN (woo!).&amp;nbsp; Just once.&amp;nbsp; Then make sure you can hear him in the background for the rest of the game.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;
&lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;7.&amp;nbsp; Steal one of our radio guys.&amp;nbsp; (Thanks, Uecker.)&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;
&lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;8.&amp;nbsp; Complain about how the NL doesn&amp;rsquo;t use the DH.&amp;nbsp; Because everyone in the NL loves hearing about how the DH makes for better baseball.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;
&lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;9.&amp;nbsp; Spend an entire half-inning showing close-ups of people on the rooftops across the street.&amp;nbsp; Also the AC sign.&amp;nbsp; We love being reminded of that.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;
&lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;10.&amp;nbsp; Use the phrase &amp;ldquo;Loveable Losers&amp;rdquo; as much as possible without being repetitive.&amp;nbsp; (Aw, hell, go ahead and be repetitive.)&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;
&lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;11.&amp;nbsp; Try to do anything for the 7th inning stretch.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot;&gt;12.&amp;nbsp; Spend all your time smack-talking and fail to mention that the Cubs have won the NL Central TWO YEARS IN A ROW.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;/p&gt;
  


 	&lt;fieldset class=&quot;poll-box&quot;&gt;
  &lt;legend&gt;Poll&lt;/legend&gt; 
  &lt;h5 class=&quot;poll-title&quot;&gt;I prefer to follow the Cubs:&lt;/h5&gt;
  
    
&lt;div id=&quot;poll_container_37725_374771490&quot; class=&quot;poll_container&quot;&gt;
  
    &lt;div class=&quot;poll_option clearfix&quot;&gt;
      &lt;div class=&quot;poll_option_percentage&quot; style=&quot;display:none&quot;&gt;30%&lt;/div&gt;
      &lt;div class=&quot;poll_option_result&quot;&gt;
      &lt;h5&gt;On the TV&lt;/h5&gt;
      &lt;div class=&quot;poll_option_bar&quot;&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;vote_count&quot;&gt;123&lt;/span&gt; votes&lt;/div&gt;
      &lt;/div&gt;
    &lt;/div&gt;
  
    &lt;div class=&quot;poll_option clearfix&quot;&gt;
      &lt;div class=&quot;poll_option_percentage&quot; style=&quot;display:none&quot;&gt;13%&lt;/div&gt;
      &lt;div class=&quot;poll_option_result&quot;&gt;
      &lt;h5&gt;On the radio&lt;/h5&gt;
      &lt;div class=&quot;poll_option_bar&quot;&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;vote_count&quot;&gt;54&lt;/span&gt; votes&lt;/div&gt;
      &lt;/div&gt;
    &lt;/div&gt;
  
    &lt;div class=&quot;poll_option clearfix&quot;&gt;
      &lt;div class=&quot;poll_option_percentage&quot; style=&quot;display:none&quot;&gt;2%&lt;/div&gt;
      &lt;div class=&quot;poll_option_result&quot;&gt;
      &lt;h5&gt;On MLB.com's awesome Gameday -- In play, run(s)!&lt;/h5&gt;
      &lt;div class=&quot;poll_option_bar&quot;&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;vote_count&quot;&gt;12&lt;/span&gt; votes&lt;/div&gt;
      &lt;/div&gt;
    &lt;/div&gt;
  
    &lt;div class=&quot;poll_option clearfix&quot;&gt;
      &lt;div class=&quot;poll_option_percentage&quot; style=&quot;display:none&quot;&gt;1%&lt;/div&gt;
      &lt;div class=&quot;poll_option_result&quot;&gt;
      &lt;h5&gt;On Gameday Audio&lt;/h5&gt;
      &lt;div class=&quot;poll_option_bar&quot;&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;vote_count&quot;&gt;6&lt;/span&gt; votes&lt;/div&gt;
      &lt;/div&gt;
    &lt;/div&gt;
  
    &lt;div class=&quot;poll_option clearfix&quot;&gt;
      &lt;div class=&quot;poll_option_percentage&quot; style=&quot;display:none&quot;&gt;4%&lt;/div&gt;
      &lt;div class=&quot;poll_option_result&quot;&gt;
      &lt;h5&gt;On MLB.TV&lt;/h5&gt;
      &lt;div class=&quot;poll_option_bar&quot;&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;vote_count&quot;&gt;17&lt;/span&gt; votes&lt;/div&gt;
      &lt;/div&gt;
    &lt;/div&gt;
  
    &lt;div class=&quot;poll_option clearfix&quot;&gt;
      &lt;div class=&quot;poll_option_percentage&quot; style=&quot;display:none&quot;&gt;3%&lt;/div&gt;
      &lt;div class=&quot;poll_option_result&quot;&gt;
      &lt;h5&gt;On BCB (duh!)&lt;/h5&gt;
      &lt;div class=&quot;poll_option_bar&quot;&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;vote_count&quot;&gt;16&lt;/span&gt; votes&lt;/div&gt;
      &lt;/div&gt;
    &lt;/div&gt;
  
    &lt;div class=&quot;poll_option clearfix&quot;&gt;
      &lt;div class=&quot;poll_option_percentage&quot; style=&quot;display:none&quot;&gt;30%&lt;/div&gt;
      &lt;div class=&quot;poll_option_result&quot;&gt;
      &lt;h5&gt;On my butt in a seat at Wrigley&lt;/h5&gt;
      &lt;div class=&quot;poll_option_bar&quot;&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;vote_count&quot;&gt;123&lt;/span&gt; votes&lt;/div&gt;
      &lt;/div&gt;
    &lt;/div&gt;
  
    &lt;div class=&quot;poll_option clearfix&quot;&gt;
      &lt;div class=&quot;poll_option_percentage&quot; style=&quot;display:none&quot;&gt;0%&lt;/div&gt;
      &lt;div class=&quot;poll_option_result&quot;&gt;
      &lt;h5&gt;On my feet from Sheffield or Waveland&lt;/h5&gt;
      &lt;div class=&quot;poll_option_bar&quot;&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;vote_count&quot;&gt;1&lt;/span&gt; votes&lt;/div&gt;
      &lt;/div&gt;
    &lt;/div&gt;
  
    &lt;div class=&quot;poll_option clearfix&quot;&gt;
      &lt;div class=&quot;poll_option_percentage&quot; style=&quot;display:none&quot;&gt;0%&lt;/div&gt;
      &lt;div class=&quot;poll_option_result&quot;&gt;
      &lt;h5&gt;Onwards and Upwards&lt;/h5&gt;
      &lt;div class=&quot;poll_option_bar&quot;&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;vote_count&quot;&gt;4&lt;/span&gt; votes&lt;/div&gt;
      &lt;/div&gt;
    &lt;/div&gt;
  
    &lt;div class=&quot;poll_option clearfix&quot;&gt;
      &lt;div class=&quot;poll_option_percentage&quot; style=&quot;display:none&quot;&gt;7%&lt;/div&gt;
      &lt;div class=&quot;poll_option_result&quot;&gt;
      &lt;h5&gt;On to Victory!&lt;/h5&gt;
      &lt;div class=&quot;poll_option_bar&quot;&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;vote_count&quot;&gt;29&lt;/span&gt; votes&lt;/div&gt;
      &lt;/div&gt;
    &lt;/div&gt;
  
    &lt;div class=&quot;poll_option clearfix&quot;&gt;
      &lt;div class=&quot;poll_option_percentage&quot; style=&quot;display:none&quot;&gt;5%&lt;/div&gt;
      &lt;div class=&quot;poll_option_result&quot;&gt;
      &lt;h5&gt;On Rye (no tomato)&lt;/h5&gt;
      &lt;div class=&quot;poll_option_bar&quot;&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;vote_count&quot;&gt;22&lt;/span&gt; votes&lt;/div&gt;
      &lt;/div&gt;
    &lt;/div&gt;
  
  &lt;p class=&quot;poll-total-votes&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;407&lt;/strong&gt; votes
      
    | &lt;span class=&quot;poll-has-closed&quot;&gt;Poll has closed&lt;/span&gt;
  
  &lt;/p&gt;  
&lt;/div&gt;

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&lt;/fieldset&gt;

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