WINTER MEETINGS

AHHHHH. Beautiful. Warm. Home.

Well here we are, 12 months later, deep in a recession that is slowing down activity during the GM meetings in California, and now the winter meetings in Las Vegas.
One story has come out the the agent for Rafael Furcal has been quoted as saying he doesn't believe teams don't have the money to dump on free agents. While that may be true, aside from a few of the big market teams, everyone has to be careful with money, or they may really find themselves in a huge hole if the economy is a slow healer.

That being said C.C. Sabathia reportedly will sign the most lucrative pitching contract in history with who else? The Yankees. 7 years/160 million. It seems ridiculous yes, but I feel it's a great move for them. I mean it does tie up even more money, but Yankee pitching has been terrible for them and everyone is desperate to get back to the World series and compete with the Red Sox again. Sabathia's arm might fall off, and the team could finish last in the great Al East, but it's always worth a shot to the Yanks.
Of the top ten free agents available according to ESPN, only one has signed. The aforementioned C.C. Sabathia.
Teixeira, Manny, A.J. Burnett, Derek Lowe, Furcal, Adam Dunn(Hendry loves him I think, but too expensive, and too many K's), Milton Bradley, Oliver Perez, and Pat Burrell are still waiting for the dominoes to fall.

On the Cubs front: All indications lead to the conclusion that Jake Peavy is the top priority along with a left-handed hitting outfielder. This trade is even more complicated than the Brian Roberts trade rumors of last off-season. The Cubs will be trading players, prospects and the like for Peavy. A third or forth team is to be included for this deal to happen.
Jake Peavy costs a lot of money. 4 years/63 million with an option in 2013 for 22 million.
Jason Marquis and his 9.875 million needs to go in order for this to go down, or so I've heard all this morning. Padres may seem willing to take him on if the Cubs eat a few million of his salary. The Phillies and Orioles are named as the teams involved in this 3 or 4 way trade. I hate to report what I've been reading, but one of the rumors is Cub favorite and heart breaker Mark DeRosa going to the Phillies. He was arguably one of the best players for the club last year, but it is a cost cutting move to acquire Peavy, and also make room for that left handed bat in right field.
Get it? I don't.
Personally, I would love to have Peavy and a lead off hitter. A couple of lefty's in the line-up would be nice for balance, but with all this chatter the Cubs middle infield would be Theriot and Fontenot. I'm not too hot about that. Offensively, both have been better than expected, but the defense will be shaky.
Have the Cubs soured on Kosuke Fukudome already? Hey, coach him. They spent 40 mill. on a guy who's great defensively, runs the bases well, but has a gaping hole in the swing. Are you telling me he cannot eradicate his mistakes? I don't know why we need a left handed right fielder when we just signed him. Trade him then, find someone who will take him. There's always someone out there.
Besides that, I'd still want Brian Roberts if DeRosa goes.

Long post I know, but I might not right on the Cubs for a while if activity is slow.

Second option for the Cubs is signing Randy Johnson for one year, and I repeat, a left handed hitting right fielder. The Peavy trade is the first order, and I expect this to happen before Christmas, so both teams can look elsewhere and not be left out of the rest of the free agents.
Alright, I'm done with that.

Let's wrap it up, with some trades and free agent signings that have already taken place.

Matt Holiday traded to the A's for Huston Street.
Catcher Gerald Laird traded from Texas to Detroit for prospects.
catcher Ramon Hernandez traded from Baltimore to the Reds for utility man Ryan Freel.
Javier Vasquez traded by the Sox to the Braves for prospects.(I believe I heard this morning that Ozzie said he hoped Javier dies! No kidding!)
SS Edgar Renteria signs with the Giants.
Pitcher Mike Hampton signs with the Astros. Clickety Clack.
Mike Lamb(3B) signs with Brewers. Who cares.
Casey Blake signs with the Dodgers, and Mark Loretta I think as well.
SS Khalil Green traded to the Cardinals from San Diego.
RP Alan Embree signs with the Rockies.
Dustin Pedroia signs six year contract with Boston
Closer Francisco Rodriguez signs 3 year/37 million contract with the Mets. Have fun missing the post-season K-Rod!
Kerry Wood has a deal in place, but no announcement yet with the Indians. 2 years/21 million. Good for you buddy. Good for you.

Hope you come back to read more. If you made it this far, thank-you.

Cuts Like A Knife

A report from the Chicago Sun-Times came out December ninth that Derek Rose needed stitches for his arm, from an injury he sustained in bed by a knife.

This is one of the silliest accidents you can have. Aside from sneezing and throwing out your back ala Sammy Sosa.
My only question? How high was this guy?
Do you cut and prepare food in bed? I don't. I usually leave that to the kitchen, and I almost never eat food in bed. Rose got up to get a bottle of water, and when he went back to bed, forgot the knife was there, thus lacerating himself.
I believe him, I do. I was talking to a friend who made a good point. He's 20 years old. Excited. Lively. A great rookie.
He most likely got that bottle of water, was pretending to dribble it on the way back to his room, and then jumped in bed like he was executing a slam dunk, while saying "I'm so rich bitch!".

He wasn't talking about crosschecks

This is Sean Avery. NHL. Now this will probably be the last time I talk about hockey unless we have a reunioun of sega hockey.(awesome game) I was running on the treadmill yesterday and caught this clip which made me laugh out loud, which made me an even creepier young man at the gym watching all the boobies bounce.
I've seen all the shows(i.e. pti, around the horn, Rome,) and they all hate this guy. The league kinda hates this guy. He's Dennis Rodman essentially.
I don't watch hockey. I like it, but you know....the NFL, MLB, NBA
May I be the first to say it?(although it's sounds like he's jealous and his feeling were hurt) You rock Sean Avery! College kids around the world love if now!


Well that was that. Funny huh? Sloppy seconds is a phrase uttered eternally everywhere. It's embarrasing to hear him say this, but hilarious.
Here is a montage of Avery, with a cover of "I don't wanna grow up", by Tom Waits.

Thank-You Mom!

Beautiful isn't it? The Lombard Falcons. A local Park District team for all age groups and levels. Just look at those colors. I loved them. Purple and white with a falcon on the helmet.
Like many kids my age way back when, I loved Football. I remember waking up on Sunday mornings at my Grandparents, opening up the Trib or Times, and circling all the teams I thought would win that day, while eating my eggs, sauasage and wheat toast. They still do it sometimes today, but it was usually just the helmets of teams going up against each other and some info and stats, and of course the point spread.
I was an active child. I played soccer, baseball, played football in the field all day, tag, you name it. When I saw these kids in these uniforms though, I really wanted to join the Falcons.
NO WAY! UH Uh! NEVER! Those were probaly some of the things my Mom said when I asked to play. My Grandma was in agreement. I may have cried alone somewhere, and I didn't really bother them much after that. I knew when no was no. They talked about the risk of injury, that I wasn't big enough for those other kids, etc..
Who knows if I had gotten hurt, but I do know this: Being 34 years old, my body has general aches and pains and the like. If I had played and maybe worked out like these guys do, played high school football(yeah right, that would never happen, I am tiny, my Mom was right,) I would definitley be in way more pain than I'm in now.
College and into the NFL. My Lord! Many of these players have poor quality in their lives, can't walk, diabetes, heart disease, early death. All for playing the game they love, and I can't blame them. It's awesome! As a child, it produced a lot of great times and memories, whether watching it on the television, or playing with my friends on Jackson Field.
So thank-you Mom for saying No! I love you for that.
I would not have wanted to get hit like this poor fellow.

The Crow is supposed to eat anything with fur

SEND IN THE CLOWNS

Clowns could play better.
That little girl that can dribble three balls is already a better ball handler than Ben Gordon.

Quite simply: The Chicago Bulls are a horrible team, and as I viewed last night's pounding by Portland, I wondered if we are one of the worst Franchises in the NBA.
I hate this team.
I hate watching this team.
I was there during the Tim Floyd era. My lord that was awful. Scott Skiles? He was doing well, until the team got sick of him. Now with Vinny, the Bulls are even more terrible. At this point, the first pick in the draft, Derek Rose, is the best player we have. I say we start dumping every single person on this team, except Rose, so we don't scar him with continual losing and ill attitudes. I know financially this is a pipe dream, but in hypotheticals, it makes sense.
It is time for John Paxson to exit. His drafts have been poor, and his dedication to his players is weak. Sports is the business of winning. I'm so glad Pax decided to hold onto Deng, instead of getting Kobe.
There is so much wrong with this team, where do you start really?
Ben Gordon plainly sucks. Sure, he can score 30 points every now and again, but he cannot dribble, pass, defend, and when he goes to the hole "strong", he gets mutilated.
Deng can't get to the hole. Nocioni is now scared of it, and just chucks up three pointers. Tyrus Thomas could be a beast, but where is the coaching and hard work?
Kirk Hinrich is injured, and not very good anyway, Larry Hughes and his 12 million a year is another overpaid chucker.
Joakim Noah? You're kidding me right? A bench player at best right now, whose shot is 10 times uglier than a Cartwright free throw. Florida is that way you spoiled little brat.
Thabo is nothing at all. A non-factor game in and game out.
Wow, who have I missed. Drew Gooden. A starter yes, but he can be better utilized somwhere else.
Kudos to Aaron Grey, who is getting better, and looks to be working his butt off.
Welcome Lindsey Hunter, a champion and veteran. I hope this experience doesn't make you retire mid-season.
I loved Paxson as a player, and as a person has always seemed sincere and hardworking. As a player he ran guys out of the gym. As a General Manager it is vice versa. The hiring of Vinny Del Negro is mind boggling. The Bulls don't need a first year coach on a team that has no identity, awareness or cohesiveness.
It is time for Pax to step down. He had his chance. A rookie GM tried his best, and I'm sure this run will make him way better in the future if anyone gives him another shot, because I'm sure as hell not paying a single dime until they put a team out there I enjoy watching. I actually haven't been to a game in years.
One more thing. Time to bring the hammer down on appearance. I'm not a stickler for this. I'm all about self expression and being yourself, but all the players need to clean up. They have not earned the right look like idiots, just because they play like them. Noah, Nocioni, cut you hair and trim that face. Thabo, get rid of the rows. Gooden, get rid of that shit. No one in the league takes any of you seriously.

A stat that needs to be looked at

Last night in the bottom of the seventh the Cubs have a 5-2 lead. Carlos Marmol comes in to give up three runs on a Ray Durham bomb! Then Fontenot hits a solo shot to give the Cubs a 6-5 lead. Kerry Wood comes in for the save, and Carlos Marmol gets the win? There's something wrong with that. It happens all over the league, and it's mind boggling. I believe that win should go back to the starting pitcher. Dempster in this case. Or perhaps Kerry Wood should get the win AND the save. Or shit, give the win to Mike Fontenot. Marmol did nothing to earn that win. Nothing! Any perspective on this from any readers, please share.

The Cubs have won two out of three at AT&T Park against the Giants. Can they beat Tim Lincecum? This kid(and I mean kid,) is unreal.
He's 9-1, with a 2.38 era, and 114 strikeouts to 43 walks. Opponents are batting a shabby .233 off him.
Sean Gallagher takes the mound for the Cubs. His last outing was poor, and I see a Cubs loss tonight against this young phenom for San Fran. The Cubs bats are great this year, but with Aramis away and Soriano on the D.L. still, we lose quite a bit.
Jim Hendry has been one of the better General Managers around the league as far as picking up players at the break. His off-season moves for free agents has been superb as well, considering the Cubs buy many free agents and trade for players. Right now we have Soto and Theriot playing well out of the minor leagues. Who else is there? The Cubs just can't get it together down there.
The Cubs rotation is was a mess without Zambrano in it. I feel no confidence throwing Dempster, Gallagher and Marshall in a series. You saw what the White Sox did to them! I give all the credit in the world to "Dumpster", who is still looking for his first road win. He's been great this year, and I believe he can continue his success, but if you have a series when Gallagher and Marshall pitch two of the three, you're done for. No question about it. Add Marquis in the mix? Shit man.



I've said it before, and I'll say it again. Jim Hendry is quoted as saying that he and the organization is not handcuffed by potential buyers on trades, pick-ups and spending more money. We need to get somebody in here for the second half. I don't see the end of the century of pain with this staff. Now, I understand pulling off a deal like this can be difficult, considering the Indians might not like any players we could package for him. We could give him an extension though, as opposed to let's say the Brewers. Erik Bedard might be on the block, and he has one more year on his contract, which would be more desirable.
Will we see Jeff Samardzija get a start this year?
Cubs are slumping and limping into the All-Star break. A three game series at the Cardinals ends the first half for the Cubs.
They should be healthy and ready to go after that, and I'm reaaly looking forward to the trade deadline................ Obviously.

Around Sports

Brett Favre "itching to come back"? I hope he decides soon for all us fantasy geeks. What a "fuck you" that would be to Aaron Rodgers. What a "fuck you" that would be to rest of the NFC North. Sick em' Bears!

The Seattle Super-Sonics are paying 75 Million to leave the city. They have been there 41 years, winning a championship in 1979. This whole deal was soooooo shady, with David Stern going along with it. Seattle should be furious. What a bunch of dicks. I always liked the Sonics team colors, and I'm sorry to see them go. The team of Gary Payton, Kemp, Detlef(however you spell it), Hawkins, Sleepy Sam, etc, was as exciting of a team that I ever witnessed. I am sorry to see them go, even though I am in bed for most of those games at home.

Coming Soon

Fantasy football fun!!!!