Oh those darn Cubs...

Most of you may know that I read ESPN.com like a madman. I go there about 18,341 times a day if I'm on the internet. And when I'm not on the internet, I think about what they have at ESPN.com. You might say I'm in love with ESPN.com. Anyway, enough about my infatuation. I was reading a story at ESPN. com by Jayson Stark, the baseball expert. The article was his year end article of "Strange but true facts" about this years baseball season. It was a great read, especially if you like weird trivia stuff, and especially if you love baseball as I do. I suggest checking it out. The reason I am commenting about this article is because those loveable losers, yes, my Chicago Cubs get mentioned quite a bit for their futility this season. Well, actually, it was mostly the suckiness of Latroy Hawkins. So glad he is gone. WORST 9TH INNING PITCHER EVER. No lead was ever safe with him coming in. Anyway, here are some of the things Stark mentioned about Hawkins and my Cubs and some of my other favorites. Check out the whole article though, it's really good. Stark article

• Momentum Is A Myth Dept.: On back-to-back days at Wrigley Field, the Cubs won a 14-0 game against Florida, then found themselves behind 15-0 the next afternoon.

• It's too bad those games don't last 26 outs sometimes. Thanks to LaTroy Hawkins' allergic reaction to the ninth inning, the Cubs lost three games in a row with two outs in the ninth inning (May 4-6).

• Don't Try This At Home Dept.: The Phillies scored two runs on a line drive back to the pitcher in their May 6 visit to Wrigley Field. Here's how that happened: LaTroy Hawkins caught it and tried to double the runner off first base (Jose Offerman) -- but hit him in the helmet. Next stop for that baseball? A trip into the stands. That allowed the tying and winning runs to score in the most unusual blown save of the year.

• Royal Flush Dept.: The Yankees got swept in a May 31-June 2 series in Kansas City by a Royals team that (a) had the same record at the time (13-37) as the '62 Mets, (b) hadn't swept any of its previous 78 series, (c) was starting three pitchers who had combined to win one game all season and (d) was facing three Yankees starters (Randy Johnson, Kevin Brown, Carl Pavano) with 523 career wins.

• Cruel Intentions Dept.: Steve Kline was charged with a June 27 intentional walk in which he threw no pitches out of the strike zone intentionally. To pull that off, he had to get ejected after the 3-and-0 pitch. After which Jorge Julio came in and was ordered to throw ball four intentionally -- a walk that will forever remain on Kline's permanent record.

• Mission Impossible Dept.: Giants reliever Scott Eyre had a May 2 outing in which he had a strikeout and gave up a run even though (according to the box score) he recorded no outs and allowed no baserunners. How'd that happen? Let's just say he owed it all to a passed ball on a third strike.

Where do they come from?

I was watching Sportscenter the other day and they mentioned that Grant Hill had just played his first game of the season. I was like, oh thats interesting, not thinking much of it because unfortunately Hill is hurt most of the time. But it was the injury he came back from that caught my attention. He had just finished recovering from a sports hernia. Sports hernia? I have no clue exactly what it is. But I know that Donovan McNabb, QB of the Eagles was pretty much shut down for the season because of it. The thing is, I had never, ever heard of a sports hernia until this NFL season when McNabb suffered one. And now it seems like everyone and their brother is suffering a sports hernia. What the hell? How is that possible? Never heard of this injury in my life, and believe me, I watch enough sports where I'm pretty sure I've heard of almost every injury. It makes me wonder if they make stuff up as they go along.

I remember back in the mid 90s when 'turf toe' became all the rage. Never heard of that injury either. That was until Deion Sanders got it. Thats all anyone talked about, Sanders and his turf toe. And guess what, almost everyone got that injury. Guys were getting it like I changed my socks. Every other day someone else had this mysterious turf toe. Curtins Enis: out with turf toe, Desmond Howard: out with turf toe, I think even Dan Marino had it.

Seriously, do athletic trainers have a convention every year and come up the the new 'IT' injury of the year? Please post any questions, comment and concerns.

Best rivalry in Chicago sports

With this weeks Bears-Packers game quickly approaching, I thought I'd comment on how this is by far the best rivalry in Chicago sports. Now I know there are certain people who disagree with me on this one, but I say this is my blog and I'm going to write what I want...lol. When Lovie Smith took over as head coach of Da Bears 2 years ago the first thing on his to-do list was "beat Green Bay." When he said that I knew he was gonna be the Bears coach for at least a decade. He realizes how important this rivalry is. It's been noted in the Tribune how 3 words change the entire feeling of a week for the Bears players. Those 3 words? "It's Packer week." You just hear that as a Bears fan and you instantly get jacked. As a player I can only imagine. There are stories of how Gearge Halas and Vince Lombardi never shook hands. Ron Rivera, current defensive cooradinator and former linebacker who played under Da Coach Mike Ditka, said that they were told by Ditka 'they should hate the Packers.' And now Lovie Smith is continuing that outward hatred. Yes, there was Wannstedt and Jauron who always said it was just another game, and look what happend to their sorry butts. But it has been reported that they told their players in the locker room how much this game meant, so even though it seemed like they didnt care, deep down, even they knew.

The other rivalries that can compare to this, but never quite attain its level of intensity are Blackhawks-Redwings, Bulls-Pistons, Bulls-Knicks (both of the late 80s and early 90s of course), and the Cubs Cardinals. The Cubs-Cardinals is the one that comes the closest. And I know I've argued this before that as much as I think baseball is the greatest sport and the Cubs are my favorite team, the rivalry with the Cards doesnt compare to the rivalry with the Packers and Bears. Maybe it's because of the way past coaches such as Halas and Ditka openly hated the Packers and made this known. Maybe it's because the entire city can get behind the Bears and root against the Cheeseheads instead of only a little more than 3/4 of the city backing the Cubs. : ) But I believe that this game on Sunday is huge. The Bears havent beaten Favre or the Packers in Chicago in 11 freaking years! We got it swinging back our way beating them in Green Bay last year, now it's time to make it complete. Bear Down Chicago Bears!

Let's Go Hawks!

How 'bout them Hawkeyes? No, I'm not referring to the football version which finished off a disappointing season in fashion with 2 wins against good teams, Wisconsin and Minnesota. But the basketball version, which knocked off Kentucky Monday night in the Guardians Classic. Now I know I've been one of the basketball teams biggest haters since 2002, but that was because of a certain piece of crap, Pierre Pierce. We all know that story and why I hated him. But since he was kicked off the team last season after ruining his SECOND CHANCE, this team has come together and become something I can sincerely root for. With Brunner and Horner and Haluska and Henderson, there is so much to root for. This team plays hard. They don't give up, they don't give an inch on the court. Teams that have to play Iowa this year are gonna learn what it means to be 'taken out to the woodshed'. They play physical and they play good D. Every guy is a work-horse. Yeah, they aren't gonna blow teams out, but that's not their style. They are going to wear teams down and just out-hustle them. It's so nice to finally be able to root for my basketball team again. Let's Go Hawks!

MOOOOOOOOOOSE!!!!!

As some of you may know, I have an alter ego when I become intoxicated. It is known simply as, MOOOOOOOOSE. Now he doesn't come out all the time, only occasionally, but when he does, you know good times are being had! Sometimes he likes to take his antlers and spear people. All in good fun of course. LOL But apparently in Sweden there really are drunken moose! And boy can they get rowdy!

From chicagotribune.com

By Associated Press
Published November 8, 2005, 7:57 AM CST

STOCKHOLM, Sweden -- They rarely have problems with drunks or rowdy animals, but residents of an elderly home in southern Sweden had to deal with both when a pair of intoxicated moose invaded the premises.

The moose -- a cow and her calf -- had become drunk over the weekend by eating fermented apples they found outside the home in Sibbhult, southern Sweden, said Anna Karlsson, who works there.

Police managed to scare them off once, but the large mammals returned to get more of the tempting fruits. This time the moose were drunk and aggressive, forcing police to send for a hunter with a dog to make them leave.

Police did not pursue the culprits, but made sure all apples were picked up from the area, local police chief Bengt Hallberg said. No one was hurt.

Link to article

This is an Outrage!

Guess what? The U.S. Postal Service is going to raise the price of postage...again! From 37 cents, it plans to increase the rate to 39 cents in January. This is going to break my bank. This increase in postage is right along the same lines as the ridiculous increase in gas prices recently. I can't take it! First, I'm paying almost $3 a gallon for gas and now I'm going to be paying the outrageous price of 39 cents when I want to mail something. I feel we should boycott the postal system. It's the only way to make sure our money stays in our pockets.

Article

Congrats, Damn You!

Well, Chicago finally has a World Series Champion. Unfortunately it's on the South Side of town. As a Cubs fan I am torn. On one hand I'm happy for the city and my Sox-fan friends. Don't get me wrong, I even like some of the Sox players; Paulie, Buehrle, Pods. But on the other hand, I am sick to my stomach. My stupid Sox-fan friends will no doubt rub this in my face forever. And maybe a small part of me is jealous. I want what the Sox have. I want to win. I want to get that pennant. I want a world series. I want the celebrations. Especially after coming so close in 2003, this really hurts. But alas, all I and every other Cub fan have right now is our famous mantra, "Wait 'til next year." Well next year can't get here fast enough. Congrats White Sox! You put it on the board!