My Dixie Normus

I could root for two Chicago football teams. If the Bay area can support two teams, Chicago can. One would be in the AFC. But that isn't going to happen until the LA market gets filled. It only makes sense that the Saints move to the NFC West, in LA and the Rams move to the NFC South with the Carolina, TB and Atlanta. Right now there is perfect balance in the NFL. 4 Divisions per conference and 4 teams per division. Since no team would move to Chicago with markets like LA, San Antonio and Las Vegas open all to themselves, that would mean that the NFL would have to expand. That would be bad for football.

QUOTE(nitetrain8601 @ May 16, 2006 -> 11:13 AM) I think that's too far south in the city. I'm pretty sure they want to keep it centralized. Once the Ryan expansion is done, you could be there via the Sky-Way in 20 minutes. If they expanded LSD South like they have LSD North, you could be there from the loop in 15 minutes. It would be exactly what the whole So. Shore needs to revitalize that whole stretch from McCormick Place to US Steel.

They could build it on the south shore where the old US Steel plant was. This is an area that could use a huge shot in the arm. They could rebuild LSD So. and run water taxis in and out of down town. If this was the proposed site, I would be all for it. This part of Chicago could use it. By the times the games rolled around the entire area would be as happening as Lincoln Park. All the way up and down the So shore there are old buildings that would make an awesome investment. US Steel.

I tailgate for every game I go to but I am not going to Friday's game. I will be out there on Saturday. I wonder if they will find a reason to put an end to tailgating after this year. With a huge payroll, they may want to draw that food revenue inside. It would be a shame if they did but if it means another year of quality players, I would give it up.

Great day for a ball game. Note to self; pack sun-block from here on out.

QUOTE(Linnwood @ May 7, 2006 -> 04:44 PM) I just got back from the game... What happened with Crede's double in the bottom of the 4th? I was in 163 and it bounced in to the row in front of me... fireworks went off and a lot of people thought it was a home run... but they never showed a replay on the Jumbotron. Did it hit the warning track and bounce in? Wha Happen?!!? I was not too far from you. I thought I heard it (I was that close) hit the padding on the top of the fence. I know the reason they don't replay crap like that on the board is so that the umps don't have to take hell from the fans but if a pitcher has to watch his mistakes sail over the fence in 40'x50' high def, the umps should have to take thier medicine too.

QUOTE(Cuck the Fubs @ May 6, 2006 -> 10:30 AM) That's not true. They boo all the time. At least that's what I've seen when watching the games on the idiot box Silence is deafening. More so than boos.

Thursday night I am having a conversation with a die-hard Cub fan when he made the best reach to explain the Cubs woes I have ever heard. We started out talking about the injuries the Cubs are suffering and the overall roster. In a nutshell, here is how the conversation went. Cubs play poor fundimental baseball. > Cubs are riddled with injuries. > Cubs make poor roster choices > Cubs make poor management choices. > Cubs sell thier best tickets to a shell company of Trib. Co. > Trib Co is an unethical company because the inflated distribution numbers to jack up ad revenue. > The Bush administration is responsible for creating a culture in which CEOs lie to up stock prices. > GWB is responsible for the Cubs poor performance. It took almost an hour to weave through conversation but that is where this genius ended up was that Bush was to blame for the Cubs current situation. I was stunned. He was dead serious. Talk about running out of s*** to blame....

QUOTE(fathom @ Apr 28, 2006 -> 12:37 PM) The Cubs payroll has been in the 90 to 100 million range for the past few seasons. Just because we shot past them one season, it doesn't mean we're going to be a higher payroll team over the next few seasons (as much as I'd LOVE to see it). Yes, the Cubs could have been more active on the FA market. However, if you listen to Cubs fans, you would have thought they had a payroll similar to the Brewers over the past few years. I definitely don't think they've put together a mediocre team over the past few years. They're a very talented squad, who's had a lot of injury issues, as well as a bad manager. Salary as a percentage of revenue is somewhere in the middle of the league, I would be willing to bet. They have three more years before they hit the century mark without a WS win. If they don't spend every dollar they have to win it before that happens, there should not be an ass in the seats. They give Chicago a bad name.

QUOTE(bardsroom attendant @ Apr 28, 2006 -> 12:40 PM) I used to not believe all that stuff about Hawk putting Wimpy out, but as the years stroll by it seems more and more plausible. It's little things, like the other night on the broadcast - early in the game Hawk brings up Don Drysdale in a story and refers to him glowingly as "My former partner Don Drysdale". Then later on, the Aflac trivia question answer happens to be Tom Paciorek. And DJ says, "Tom Paciorek...the Wimpster....good ballplayer." To which Hawk replies with zero emotion, "yes, he was". Then he went right away to solicit more emails. And as far as Wimpy's work now - yes, he is with the Nats and is partnered with Bob Carpenter. It is an excellent listen if you have MLB Extra Innings, it's worth your time if they've got a good matchup going on. Drysdale is probably the only guy who could match egos with Hawk. DD got it done on the field which is what he always could hang over Hawks head. I never got Drysdale as the Sox guy though. He was a Dodger, not even the same league.

QUOTE(easyw @ Apr 28, 2006 -> 12:16 PM) My Dixie Normus - well said... Regarding ownership, you may recall that the Sox owners nearly moved the team to Tampa in pursuit of almightly dollar. So, both Cub and Sox owners are evil... I remember it well. There were very legitimate reasons for the Sox to do what they did. A) The old ball park was falling apart. It had to be replaced. B) The Sun Dome was going up or was already complete. C) The fan base would not support sky rocketing salaries. The Sox would never have a chance in the situation. I don't think it was all about money. The Cubs greed is unmatched by anyone except Bill Wirtz, the worst owner in professional sports. Cub faithful should be outraged over the ticket broker thing, the green screens to block out the roof tops and the BS with the 2000 new seats in the bleechers. Remember the fans who got knocked out by falling concrete and the Cubs got in a big go with the building inspectors? The Cubs don't give a crap about thier fans. They know they would draw 1.5 avery year if they only ran a bus from O'Hare to Wrigley. The high payroll means jack. They over pay a few marquee names to draw in fans and the rest of the team sucks.

I have seen over 700 baseball games in Chicago since 1980. From 1980 through 1987, I rarely missed a Sox home game. 7 have been at Wrigley but none of them are Crosstown games oddly enough. I saw Prior's first game as a Cub against PIT. I think he struck out 10 that night. I have seen games in LA-A, LA-D, SF, Sea, AZ, MN (including 2 WS games), Atl, KC, NY-Y, NY-M, Bos, Mil., St. L. and a HOF game (Sox vs. Mets '82). In August of 1994, the Sox lead the AL central by a game lead by Frank Thomas and many felt they would go deep into the playoffs, if not take it all. On the 12th of August, the players walked out because the owners were pressing for a salary cap. The World Series was cancelled. The strike ended in April of the following year. Many fans stayed away, I was one of them. I didn't come back in earnest until three years later. I was that pissed. But I never really came back to the levels I was in the 80s. Partly because of the life changes that had happened during that period (Wife, kids and a serious job) but also I just did not want to invest (not $) that much of me into it again to get kicked in the teeth again. The famous 'white flag trade' confirmed for me that I made the right decision. Since then, the organization has undergone a major turn around, IMO. I think it began when KW was hired but he was horrible at first. It wasn't until Roland Hemond came back that KW got wind under his wings. Last year was long over due. But as bad as the Sox have treated fans, the Cubs are worse. The are absolutley content with losing. The whole thing with the roof top owners and the extra seats are just a few examples but owning a ticket broker right across the street and selling that broker tickets the fans never had a shot at is reprehensible. I could never root for them as long as they are owned by the Trib.

The Hawk would never let his ego get in the way. Regards, Tom 'Whimpy' Paciorek.

QUOTE(southsideirish71 @ Apr 27, 2006 -> 10:06 PM) Rock, This one is for you. Remember the 2005 Pride Crew and their contributions to the championship season. Funniest thing about that picture is 'ol boy on the right striking the thinker pose. I wonder what he is thinking about. I think in the second picture he is headed for the john to finish that thought.

It was a good article and I like the guy even more now than I did before but I could have done without all of the 'second choice' stuff about the Cubs. He is a great fit here and the trade seems to be a win/win for both teams.

QUOTE(Heads22 @ Apr 25, 2006 -> 06:07 PM) There was a thread about this before....searching for merging Thanks. I just saw it today so I thought is was new news. It makes more sense that it was published on 4-10 or so. But still doesn't excuse the fact the Sox got snubbed again by S/I.

Apparently, S/I has published some type of top ten pitching duo list. Anyone see this in the Sun~Times today? Buehrle and Contreras were not on the list but Carlos Zambrano and Mark Prior were. Um, Prior has yet to pitch and inning and Zambrono is 0-1. They have no business on the list. But to add insult to injury, not only should Buehrle and Contreras be on the list, they should be on top of it. I have not been able to find the list on line. Anyone have it? But Sports Illustrated should change their name to just plain Illustrated. I had no respect for S/I to begin with but this is just poor work for a sports magazine. What are they thinking?

I think it is great that we can have both a team to love and hate right here in our back yard. It makes the beer taste better when you can trade barbs up and down the bar with a rival. A lot of other cities have to go to another state to get what we have right here. Just keep it good natured, be informed and laugh about it as much as possible. Cubs fans are people too. Losers but people.

How many infield pop-ups is that now?

QUOTE(Felix @ Apr 24, 2006 -> 11:54 PM) Yea. He wasn't brushing the plate. What did he say, I wonder. Fisk was great at that. He would never give the ump hell so that the fans could see. He would bark at him with the mask on and never look at the guy. He got tossed from a game once for doing it.

Did the ump just walk around to the front of AJ, squat down and say somethign to him?

What the hell are those whistles? Must be boats in the sound.

This umps outside pitch on the third base side is a lot tighter than his outside pitch on the first base side.

What the hell did Rivera just swing at?

Man, he needed that. I hope he start to settle in at the plate and put up some good numbers.