Hey all,
I realize I have been absolutely awful at updating my blog lately. With the semester starting, work has been piling up a bit. And to think that I was the one that used to always get mad at the people who didn't update their blog because of work or school.
Anyway, I've had a lot of thoughts lately about the Cubs, just gearing up and getting ready for Opening Day. And while that's on topic, pitchers and catchers report to camp in 22 days now, on Valentine's Day. Since the Cubs Convention just passed, I thought I'd leave you with a few thoughts.
1. I don't think any big deal is going to be worked out, even with rumors still flying about acquiring Eric Bedard and Brian Roberts.
2. If any deal is made, it'll be to acquire a right-handed hitting outfielder (lots of people have been saying Marlon Byrd from the Rangers). With that acquisition, it basically moves Felix Pie into a platoon, which I honestly do not like. If he's your top prospect, you have got to let him prove himself, he has done everything he can in the minors. Now is his time.
3. The rotation is going to look like this: Zambrano, Lilly, Hill, Marquis, Lieber. Ryan Dempster, you'll get your shot at some point in the season. Same goes to you, Sean Marshall and Sean Gallagher. Seriously thinking that Rich Hill is going to have a real big year. Also, I really like Sean Gallagher, I think he can make a big impact on the team this year. I won't bother speculating with the lineup because Lou has posted his "If the season started today" lineup that can be found on Cubs.com, and the fact that it will change about 100 times over the course of the season.
4. As much as I love the way Ryan Theriot plays, if he does not start the season well, I realllllllly want to see Ronny Cedeno get a shot. He's a former high ranked prospect, and when the pressure was on last September he only went out and had tons of successful at bats for the big league squad, hitting .391 with an 1.113 OPS, albeit in limited at bats. Another guy with nothing left to prove in the minors. Plus, I don't mean to be mean, but Ryan Theriot is just not the starting shortstop on a championship team unless he makes some serious improvements on his game.
5. I love Geovany Soto. Period, this guy makes great contact with the ball, not to mention his ability to throw baserunners out at a rate that we haven't seen since Vietnam.
6. I realize there is no place on this team for Matt Murton, but don't sell low on him Jim. This guy is very talented and if put on the right team would make a perfect #2 hitter in an order. The guy flat out gets on base, and the power will develop to make him a 20 HR guy. The only way I really see him getting a lot of reps is with an injury or severe slump out of Pie, moving Fukudome to cover Center, or (gulp) an injury to Soriano.
7. I honestly like this team. Last year I picked them to closely miss the playoffs and I was almost right, but they gave me a great run and I couldn't have been happier in the regular season. This year I fully expect them to increase in wins...if that will be enough to win the division is still up in the air. You'll get those predictions sometime during Spring Training.
Well, now that I've wrote more words tonight than in the past 3 weeks, I'll wrap it up. But in the meantime, if you have the ability to go out and listen to a newish album, go out and listen to Cassadaga by Bright Eyes. Granted it's new in the terms of past 9 months. But upon re-listening again, I'm more blown away now than ever. Key song is definitely Four Winds.
Oh, one more note, go see Cloverfield. Real cool movie...and then get into the whole viral advertising they have online. Enjoy!
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
Sunday, January 6, 2008
Moments of Terrible Decision Making
I'm not sure what I did last night can be classified as. It was truly one of the dumbest things I've ever done, no joke. You see, I've been doing quite well with my sports picks, and in the process making a little cash. So occasionally, I decide to play Blackjack and have a little fun and try and make a few bucks. Well, last night, I was up about $50, a little over $500 total, and I say to myself, "I should stop, call it a night." Well, I didn't do that, and after losing 8 straight hands where I raised my bets, I had effectively lost it all...all the way down to $1.98.
At this point I'm suicidal, thinking to myself that this is the dumbest shit I've ever done, blowing $500, but also saying to myself, somehow, someway I can come back. Well, after about 30 minutes of grinding it out, I magically made it all the way back to where I started, + $.50. Take a minute for that to set in...what in the hell was I thinking? Truly one of the dumbest and most amazing things I've ever done with money involved. I may honestly be the stupidest person in the country.
Oh, I almost forgot, to top that off, I came back down to school yesterday and happened to stop in a gas station on the way. I bought a drink and made some mention of my back hurting to the lady at the counter, and she passed me a bottle of unlabeled pills and told me they were Aleve. With absolutely no regard or thought, I took two, not even possibly expecting that I may have taken anything along the lines of rat poison, ecstasy, Viagra, etc; I mean, who knows. Everything ended up okay, but still I have enough evidence just yesterday to prove that I am seriously getting dumber and dumber as every day goes by.
At this point I'm suicidal, thinking to myself that this is the dumbest shit I've ever done, blowing $500, but also saying to myself, somehow, someway I can come back. Well, after about 30 minutes of grinding it out, I magically made it all the way back to where I started, + $.50. Take a minute for that to set in...what in the hell was I thinking? Truly one of the dumbest and most amazing things I've ever done with money involved. I may honestly be the stupidest person in the country.
Oh, I almost forgot, to top that off, I came back down to school yesterday and happened to stop in a gas station on the way. I bought a drink and made some mention of my back hurting to the lady at the counter, and she passed me a bottle of unlabeled pills and told me they were Aleve. With absolutely no regard or thought, I took two, not even possibly expecting that I may have taken anything along the lines of rat poison, ecstasy, Viagra, etc; I mean, who knows. Everything ended up okay, but still I have enough evidence just yesterday to prove that I am seriously getting dumber and dumber as every day goes by.
Friday, January 4, 2008
Back to School
Well, I finished up my winter break today. I'm headed back down to Bloomington tomorrow after the Arizona/Oregon game, hopefully the Cats can start Pac-10 season well. Over break I got offered my summer job again, and I decided to take it and work a few days a week to make money. Just wanted to let all those guys and gals at Bekan Insurance Group know that I enjoyed my time, since they do make up my entire group of readers at this point. But for now it's back down to start my second semester, and anyone who knows me knows that I am real fired up about it. We'll probably have a little bash down there with all the folks I haven't seen in awhile.
Anyway, thought I'd share a couple things that have kept me busy on Youtube during my work hours. Maybe someday you'll get a chance to see my favorite Youtube videos, since that's almost necessary for favorites lists these days. This first one is a spoof on the NBA's Where Amazing Happens commercials, which by the way has a piano being played like it should be by Carly Comando. The tune being played makes you feel like you're watching something epic, so if you enjoy, put it on your iPod and do a daily task and I'm sure you'll feel like you're saving the world. Here's another NBA spoof, this one done by Bill Simmons, who by the way writes some of the best stuff around over at espn.com. Now that we're off the NBA commercials kick, here's a link for the new season of LOST, and I must say it looks good. Between this show and the one I'm about to talk about, there's nothing better on TV. For those of you who have not yet started watching Heroes, here's a promo for the series pilot. Just remember, this is only for the pilot, it only gets better. I even went out and bought the Season One DVD for my mom and she's hooked now. My goal is to have everyone eventually watching this.
Finally, thought I'd mention I finally splurged and bought a Slingbox. I've been meaning to buy one of these things for a couple years now since they came out and I finally got myself to do it yesterday. This will effectively give me all the Cubs and Blackhawks games that are televised in the Chicago area but not in Bloomington, which over a two year period will save me more money then buying NHL Center Ice and MLB.TV. Looks like those guys should have a gripe over this soon huh? Just wait until spring when Bud Selig figures out where all his multimedia sales are going and watch the lawsuits follow.
That's it for today, guess I didn't have my writing juices working because this is obviously not funny or enjoyable. I'll try to top it sometime next week. 'Til then, enjoy life and jam to some tunes.
Anyway, thought I'd share a couple things that have kept me busy on Youtube during my work hours. Maybe someday you'll get a chance to see my favorite Youtube videos, since that's almost necessary for favorites lists these days. This first one is a spoof on the NBA's Where Amazing Happens commercials, which by the way has a piano being played like it should be by Carly Comando. The tune being played makes you feel like you're watching something epic, so if you enjoy, put it on your iPod and do a daily task and I'm sure you'll feel like you're saving the world. Here's another NBA spoof, this one done by Bill Simmons, who by the way writes some of the best stuff around over at espn.com. Now that we're off the NBA commercials kick, here's a link for the new season of LOST, and I must say it looks good. Between this show and the one I'm about to talk about, there's nothing better on TV. For those of you who have not yet started watching Heroes, here's a promo for the series pilot. Just remember, this is only for the pilot, it only gets better. I even went out and bought the Season One DVD for my mom and she's hooked now. My goal is to have everyone eventually watching this.
Finally, thought I'd mention I finally splurged and bought a Slingbox. I've been meaning to buy one of these things for a couple years now since they came out and I finally got myself to do it yesterday. This will effectively give me all the Cubs and Blackhawks games that are televised in the Chicago area but not in Bloomington, which over a two year period will save me more money then buying NHL Center Ice and MLB.TV. Looks like those guys should have a gripe over this soon huh? Just wait until spring when Bud Selig figures out where all his multimedia sales are going and watch the lawsuits follow.
That's it for today, guess I didn't have my writing juices working because this is obviously not funny or enjoyable. I'll try to top it sometime next week. 'Til then, enjoy life and jam to some tunes.
Wednesday, January 2, 2008
Opening Day
Loyal readers,
I just thought I'd introduce myself to my huge fanbase today to get things started. I'm a junior at Indiana University, majoring in Marketing, which to say kindly isn't the most of fun. Needless to say, I love college and will write about it frequently down our journey together. I am also a huge Chicago Cubs fan, and will also toss a few notes together about my thoughts on the team. The rest of this blog will be whatever comes to mind: good times and bad, my music choices, sports, TV/movies, and anything that may intrigue me at the time. So, hopefully this catches on and we have a little bit of fun along the way.
I just thought I'd introduce myself to my huge fanbase today to get things started. I'm a junior at Indiana University, majoring in Marketing, which to say kindly isn't the most of fun. Needless to say, I love college and will write about it frequently down our journey together. I am also a huge Chicago Cubs fan, and will also toss a few notes together about my thoughts on the team. The rest of this blog will be whatever comes to mind: good times and bad, my music choices, sports, TV/movies, and anything that may intrigue me at the time. So, hopefully this catches on and we have a little bit of fun along the way.
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