Shitty Sound, Great Cubs Talk
Dan's Blog
3/6/10
Hey everybody!! Lately I've been living out of a van, but not down by the river, I parked in a cave. Since baseball season's right around the corner, I've decided to drive back on into civilization, so here I am. Of course the big news of the day is the Bears agreeing to terms with Julius Peppers on a 6 year deal. Hmm...it's almost like the Bears front office decided that they might actually have to make some good moves to keep their jobs!? Anyway, it is a great move, but being the pessimistic Bears fan that I am, I still have my doubts.
First of all, I still don't feel this is a Super Bowl caliber team. Is this a step in the right direction? Yes, a huge one! But do we have what it takes to win a championship now? No. Let me tell you the 2 mains reasons why I'm still trying not to be too excited.
Reason 1. Mike Martz. I do think that he was the best and most experienced OC the Bears could've picked up. My problem is not with Mike Martz or his system, it's with most of our offensive players. I don't believe that we have the wide receivers or the offensive line that a team needs to be successful in Mike Martz's system. Devin Hester had enough trouble trying to learn the Turner offense, and I see no reason why he won't struggle now. I'm really hoping they finally realize that trying to make him a WR is a huge mistake, and we'll see if they finally give up on their experiment. Jay Cutler is also going to need a lot more protection, and we all saw how that went last year. I've said it before and I'll say it again. No team can win anything without a strong offensive line.
Reason 2. The safety position. As long as Lovie Smith is here, we will run the Cover 2. In order to do that, we need to greatly improve over Daniel Manning and Kevin Payne. Our defense will never be close to what is was a few years ago if we don't find a way to upgrade at both safety positions.
This is going to be huge for our defensive line though. I mean absolutely HUGE. I can't wait to see what it will be like if we can actually put pressure on quarterbacks now, and I'm excited just to see that the McCaskeys are actually spending some money so far!
Moving on to the Cubs, just keep your fingers crossed that Ted Lilly can come back quickly and be the Ted Lilly we've seen for the length of his contract. I like most of the deals we've made so far, but I still am waiting to see what they can do to build up our bullpen a little bit. We all knew the Kevin Gregg deal was a horrible move, and now it's over, which is good, except that one year later we no longer have our closer of the future, and we have nothing to show for the trade now. Let me be the one to say, it should be a written rule that the Cubs aren't allowed to trade with Florida anymore. There's a reason they can win with no payroll- it's because THEY KNOW WHO IS GOOD AND WHO IS NOT. IF THEY WANT ONE OUR YOUR PROSPECTS, THERE'S A REASON FOR IT. STOP FUCKING DOING THAT. dzy4awvrw45enu4res7n5ewkmugdlks. Ok I have calmed down now. Marlon Byrd seems like one of those guys that might thrive in Wrigley Field. I hope I'm right. I also hope that Starlin Castro is the real deal, unlike how many other of these "star prospects" we've had lately, because I don't think I want to see another season of Ryan Theriot at SS. If Geovany Baseball and Z can stay healthy and not be enormous fatties, I think we're in for a pretty good year.
Hopefully I'll get back on the air on of these days. Until then, stay classy, Chicago!
7/20/09 - Err on the Side of Caution
Let me start by saying, I really despise the All Star Game. That's all I have to say about that for now, I'm sure we'll touch on that much more in our upcoming podcast.
Well friends, this was indeed a good start to our second half of the season. I will give the Cubs credit, they took all 4 games of the Nationals series. Problem is, this is exactly what they should have done! You have every right to be excited, as was I. Sure, Soriano [finally] hit a couple home runs, but let's get surrious (the gangsta word for serious) for a minute. Play me in a 4 game series and I bet I'd drive in a run or two against them. Be happy, my friends, yet don't get too excited yet. We have a hell of a series starting TONIGHT!! against the Phils.
Going into the Phillies series, we have Ted Lilly up against Rodrigo Lopez Monday- I'm calling Cubs win. Tuesday is Rich Harden vs. Joe Blanton- I'll call a draw. Harden has been lights out on the road at night, but I'm not so sure the Cubs will hit Blanton more than the Phils will hit Harden. Wednesday will be Z vs. Jamie Moyer. I don't care that Moyer has an ERA somewhere around 6, he seems to destroy the Cubs, in fact he's never lost to them, so we'll go with a Phillies win there.
Bottom line- As good as it was to win 4 games we should've won, let's not get too carried away. If the Cubs can take at least 2 of 3 the next few days, then I won't be so much of a Debbie Downer. Honestly though, I think this team still has some work to do. Let's just hope the second half is more injury free, and the Cubs can get down to business. I hope to join in for a podcast early this week, so stay tuned, and stay classy Chicago!