Ben's suspension

Alright so im gonna go a little off the topic of chicago sports and talk about Ben Roethlisberger's 6-game nfl suspension handed down last week. First off, I dont like rapist and in no way do i support rape. I think thats a no brainer. But, dont agree with Ben's suspension. Look, i think he probably raped the girl or forced her to have sex with him. I dont like him and think he is a douche bag and deserves a good punch in the nuts. But, with all that said, how can we justify a 6 game suspension??? He wasnt convicted of any crime. He wasnt even charged with any crime! As someone who has studied criminal law, the laws are pretty lenient/easy to charge someone with rape even when its just a he-said/she-said situation. But there are no charges.

He just got suspended for a 1/3 of the season because of allegations against him. In this country, our justice system operates under a presumption of innocence. But not Roger Goodell. He rules the NFL with an iron fist. I'm all for holding players to a high standard but what has that standard become. If Roger has now taken to suspending players for actions that arent criminal, for me that goes too far. If Ben's employer, the Steelers want to suspend him thats great. But for the NFL to step in and suspend a guy for something that happened outside of the game of football and in his personal life and something that he will never been charged or convicted for, that goes too far.

Roger, what type of precedent does this set? Not only are your treating a star player differently which is patently unfair but you have now placed yourself and your judgment above the law. Where the law didn't want to go (not pressing charges), you stepped in and brought down the hammer. Is there a line anymore that Roger wont cross? What about players who have mishaps from college pending coming into the league? I hate what Ben probably did but probably shouldnt get you suspended from any job.

3rd week in april right?

Did i miss the entire summer? where did all the panic come from? Its 3 weeks into the season. The cubs have played 15 games!!!! And the cubs have put their ace in the bullpen???? Has lou gone senile?

Really lets look at what is going on here. Right now, the cubs have 2 starters in silva & gorzelanny who have had 3 good starts. I love that. Thats awesome. Except the list of people that have 3 good starts and then fall off the planet is endless in MLB. Teams play top dollar for guys who you can pencil in for 200 ips a year. Carlos Zambrano is one of those guys. Every year since 2003 he has pitched atleast 188 ips except last year in which he pitched 168. There is almost no question he is the cubs ace pitcher and has the best and most dominant stuff on the staff. And we just put this guy in the bullpen??? Unless this guy pitches every day, i want him to start and give my team the best chance to that day. I want hiim to pitch 6+ ips the game he is in because he has the chance to win the game on his own that day. What if the cubs go 4 days without a close game. What has Zambrano resting in the bullpen won you then. Bullpen pitchers have value and are important to the team but there is a reason they dont make the money that starters do. When they get in the game, some starting pitcher has already determined how the game is gonna go. Very good relief pitchers pitch 70 ips in a season. Starters pitch 200+. Starters get hurt and most wont make 30 starts a year yet we just put one that has made 30+ starts in 7 straight years in the bullpen. He pitches every 5th day and gives you a chance to win that day!!!!

Yes, the cubs bullpen has been bad. yes, it most definitely is better with zambrano in it. the problem is that they are a worse team without him pitching every 5 days and having him pitch less innings.

The desparation shown by Lou is saddening. Arent managers suppose to have the big picture, the whole season viewpoint? Arent they in charge of doing what is best for the team over 162 games? Does this make sense to anyone?

Bob Brenly comes out firing!

Every year i think Bob Brenly gets better as a cubs announcer. He makes listening to cubs games on TV very enjoyable. He also tells it like it is. BB's target today was none other than the cubs' 18 million dollar man and his lack of running on a fly ball. In case you missed it, Soriano hit a ball last night in NY that hit the centerfield wall. After hitting the ball, he trotted his hr trot and watched the ball except that the ball didnt get out and Soriano was only able to get a double and didnt score. Here are some BB quotes on the subject:

discussing Ted Lilly's attempted steal during a rehab start in Peoria. Brenly then interjected: "Wouldn't it be refreshing if we could get our left-fielder to run as hard as Ted Lilly does?"

As for Soriano's comment that the "important thing was I made a very good swing at the ball," Brenly said: "That's all true, but that's a very selfish attitude to take. This is about winning ballgames. It's not about how I can pile up my numbers or how cool I look when I hit a ball hard."

Asked on WSCR if he would've benched Soriano, Brenly said he's not in the clubhouse, but added: "From what I've seen from the press box, I think it should've been done a long time ago."

Thank you BB for saying what has been on every cubs' fan mind since the start of the season.

Do I have to watch?

I dont have much to say about the Bulls-Cavs series otherwise then I'm not sure i want to watch. I just dont see anyway the bulls can win this series. The Cavs are better than the bulls in every aspect. They have more skill, more size, probably more athleticism and speed. Many the bulls can win a game but i doubt it. We are only gonna have to endure watching Bron dance for 4 games. Bring on the FA summer of 10.

CAVs in 4 games.

Hawks Prediction

All the experts seem to think that this playoff series will be a hard and long fought battle between the hawks and the predators. The hawks took the season series 4-2 but the teams havent played since december so im not sure how much you can tell from that. The predators are a veteran team that plays great defense and doesnt score much. They seem to play the ultimate team game and get the most out of their players but dont really have a whole lot of individual talent. This can be seen in the fact that their special teams, penalty kill and power play, ranks them atleast 24 in the league or below. So, they are a good team when they can play with all their parts. I see the hawks speed and skill causing them problems and getting them to commit penalties and if the hawks can capitalize, it will be a quick series. I hate to say it but i think the hawks know they can turn it on when they want and they will similar to their performances in the olympics. Expect to see the puck in Kane's hands more and i think Kane, Toews, and Brower will be back on the same line before the end of the series.

Hawks in 5.

2 man enter. 1 man leave.

Pax v. Vinny. I've got my money on Pax & in real life. Coach & team president get into a fight?? sounds like the bulls will have some tv producers pitching a reality show that takes place in their front office. This is a fucking mess and embarrasses the bulls across the league. It is just stupid that executives and coaches could act like this over the playing time of a player.

I now want the bulls to lose tonight. Lose so they dont make the playoffs. Get this joke over with. Making the playoffs only makes this story last longer and makes bulls fans have to see more of Bron dancing (getting to the point where i hate Bron, by the way). Everyone knows Vinny is gonna be fired whether or not he is a bad/good coach. So get it over with. making the playoffs only prolongs this stories and the questions to the bulls players about this. Come on, Bulls. Lose!

Opener thoughts.....

- Yep I was at the home opener for the 4th straight year. did i notice any differences at the park? nope besides the posters on the outside of wrigley. my bathroom still has no urinals (i dont care, i dont mind the troughs) but i do think they might have put more lights in the bathroom which is kind of awkward.

- cubs offense showed life. thats good. but they cant be a team that scores just on hrs. they will never win consistently like that.

- soriano, if possible, looks worse/more confused in real life. from my seats, down the right field line above the bullpen, you can tell how not close he is to breaking balls and how off balance he is. why would you every throw this guy a fastball. it would be hard to bench a guy making 18 mill but if something doesnt change soon i think Lou will have to.

- ryan braun will torment cubs fans and NL baseball fans for years to come. he might be the best hitting young player no one talks about. prince fielder is still fat and i hate him.

- im not worried about the bullpen. yes there will be some bumps. but these young kids have live arms and there are enough them to have a couple become solid bullpen guys. the russell kid looks like he has a live arm and might be very solid. could the cubs really have 3 dependable lefties in the pen?

- baseball season makes everything better in life!

Best BB line in a while

In case anyone missed listening to len & bob on the cubs TV broadcast last night, they are getting better every year they are together. This was a gem from Bob last night commenting on "the wave" by the fans & the fans themselves..........."from the looks of it, this is about the exercise these people get"

As to the game, it was a tough loss but grabow is an experienced pitcher and wont do that much. Tip your hat to chipper and congratulate dempster on a great game and move on to the next one. No need to worry yet.

A new/old face for the bulls???

So yesterday during the national championship game, i found myself thinking what does Coach K have left to prove in the game of college basketball??? (Besides making his name spellable.) He has now won 4 championships and has established the program as the most sought after scholorship in college BB. He has coached the national team to a gold medal. Would he consider a move to the NBA? It would seem that is the only basketball arena he hasnt tried/conquered yet.

Previously i have thought (and im not the only one) that who is coaching your team wont influence free agents at all. But the more i thought about it, the more i could coach K being the exception to that rule. The Olympic players raved about him & his coaching style. Most of the players who went to college wanted to play for him or atleast consider it. Bosh, Wade, Bron, Boozer, and David Lee all played for coach K in the Olympics and i would have to assume that joe johnson would be considered for the team in the future. And they listened to him and won a gold medal because of it. He has the name to be a draw for some of these guys to a team he is coaching.

So, could he be a possibility to coach the bulls next year? Definitely. He is a hometown chicago guy and big cubs fan. The bulls would be an appealing team to him because of their young nucleus that plays defense and the chance to sign a big free agent. Now it would cost the bulls probably i would think 10+ mill a year. would they do it?

The bulls under paxson have been all about drafting players from winning college programs. How bout a college coach that has built a winning program for their next coach? The bulls have done everything they could to make their team appealing to a free agent this summer, why not take the extra step and hire the most appealing coach too?

How there will be baseball in October

Alright so I'll post a lot about the cubs this season so ill try and make this preview short & sweet. These are things the cubs need to have happen in order to be playing in october (i figure they need to win 88 games to win the division or wild card).

55 victories between Zambrano, Lilly, Dempster & Wells - that is around 13-14 W's a man. This will mean that they all stay healthy & make 30+ starts each.

450 ABs for Aramis Ramirez - It became evident last year that A-ram was the most feared & consistent hitter in the cubs lineup & it is drastically different w/o him. I expect atleast 1 trip to the 15 day DL but him missing anymore than 20 games will cripple the cubs lineup.

250 batting average & 35 hrs for Soriano & Soto - I dont expect great things from either of these guys but i would think they could produce these #s. Sadly these are pretty average numbers but much better than what they produced last year. It would be a decent season from the cubs #6 & 7 hitters.

4.20 ERA & 30 saves from the bullpen - I think marmol will be the closer the whole year but the rest of the bullpen is unsettled. Its young but with a lot of talent. With a solid starting staff the cubs dont need the bullpen to be lights out but just average to above average. A combined 4.2 ERA would be average.

300+ at bats for Castro & Colvin - This isnt because i think they are gonna hit the crap out of the ball. Its because they make the cubs a better defensive team and with that win more games. Colvin is by far the best defensive outfielder the cubs and Castro is a better defensive SS than theriot. I dont care how it happens whether it be through poor performances by veterans, stellar performances by these young guys, or injuries, these 2 young kids make the cubs better now.

Like i said above, i think the cubs need to win 88 games to be playing in October. Thats only 5 more games than they won last year. They dont need to re-invent the wheel to get those extra 5 games. They need improvement in a few areas and performances similar to 2009 from most of their team. If these 5 things happen, I will gladly buying old styles for everyone in october.

Jerry Angelo, how i loathe you!!!!

This blog might get renamed to Fire Angelo now! The bears released alex brown today. yep for nothing. no trade, no chance to compete for a job, just straight up released him. And I am furious with this move. Furious!!! Now you might be saying that i am over reacting. this could be the case because after all alex brown was a good solid player but nothing special as a DE. I'll concede that point. But my question is, do the bears have someone better on their roster? Idonje, who hasnt played DE fulltime ever. Mark Anderson, who was handed a starting job 2 years ago and couldnt cut it. Maybe either Melton or Gilbert, draft picks from last year. oh wait, melton didnt play a snap last year and gilbert might have played 2.

Was brown set to make 5 million this year? yep and that will affect the bears salary cap............wait, there is no salary cap this year. So either the bears were too cheap to keep brown or they wanted to hand the position to young guys who haven't earned it. so instead of making the young guys that have all this potential earn the snaps, they are just being handed to them. Does any other organization operate like this? I mean seriously?? Can anyone give me a winning organization that works like this????

Bears fans havent we seen this before. Didnt the bears hand a starting position to one unproven cedric benson and dump thomas jones? how did that one work out?

This move doesnt help the bears get better next year so ultimately it will hopefully help Angelo get fired. Thats the only reason i can find to like this move!

http://www.chicagobreakingsports.com/2010/04/alex-brown-on-pending-release-by-bears-im-in-my-prime-still.html