IS 100 YEARS ENOUGH, FOR THE CUBS?

Novelties, like the car, phones, indoor plumbing, radios and the home run were first coming to the people, one hundred years ago. World War I had not begun, the last time the Chicago Cubs won the World Series, in 1908. Defying imagination, the Chicago Cubs have been the "darling losers," in all of sports, for one hundred years. Some blame a goat ("The Curse of the Billy Goat"), others blame fate, and still others feel every year, "this is the year, we are going all the way."

Coming into June, this year, the Cubs have the best record in all of baseball. The last time they had the best record, in the big leagues (coming into June), was in 1908. Mordecai Brown was the staff ace (29-9, 1.47 ERA, 27 Complete Games, 9 Shutouts, 312.1 Innings Pitched, & 5 Saves) and Joe Tinker (SS) was the "offensive standout" (157 games, .266 avg., 146 hits, 6 home runs, 67 RBI's, and 30 stolen bases). Pitching was the 1908 Cubbies strong suit, but "team attitude and team gel" was what won them a World Series.

In 2008, the Chicago Cubs have many high profile players and some all-stars. Carlos Zambrano is a dominate force on the hill, barring a huge set back/injury, he has a legitimate shot at being a hall of fame pitcher. Ted Lilly, Dempster, and Kerry Wood (who is turning out to be a savior and a solid closer) in the pen, make up a very good rotation, for playoff contention. Offensively is where the Cubs will excel and separate themselves, from most teams. Alfonso Soriano, Derek Lee, and Aramis Ramirez anchoring the lineup, things are very bright offensively. Throwing in the position and role players, of Soto (C), Fukudome (Of), DeRosa and Theriot, they have versatility.

World War I, World War II, The Korean War, Vietnam, Civil Rights, Woodstock, and countless other things over one hundred years, but the Cubs have not won the big prize, a World Series Ring. It almost defies comprehension, when looking at dynasties and common place winners: the New England Patriots, Dallas Cowboys, Celtics, Lakers, Dodgers, Yankees, Tigers, Edmonton Oilers, Duke Blue Devils and North Carolina Tar Heels (NCAA basketball), the Cubs could not win, even one, World Series. Even, the Red Sox broke out of their own "jinx." Fluke teams, like the Royals (1985), Cardinals (1983), and the other "one season wonders" have managed to put it together, to win their respective titles.

In an age of sports, where teams can buy a title (Yankees, Red Sox, Lakers, Patriots), the Cubs still fail. However, the Cubs do have several things on their side this year. They have offense, defense, young and veteran talent, a rotation that is more than solid (plus, in a five and seven game series, would dominate), a bullpen that is second to none, and lastly they are playing and have a lightness about them. In the hundred years of failure, they have experienced (on the South side) "The Black Sox Scandal," the "Steve Bartman" incident (in the playoffs), and possibly a "billy goat jinx." Yet, in 2008, maybe one hundred years, a great baseball team and coaching staff, and a little bit of luck will make this year "the year," for the Cubs first World Series Ring. The "lovable losers" will become, the lovable winners, of the North side of Chicago?

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STOLEN BASES FOR K's & BASEBALL'S LINES BLURRED

Major League Baseball has undergone a huge change in just ten to fifteen years. There is the obvious reasons, that have kept everyone's ears ringing for about five years now: steroids, HGH (human growth hormone), and other things like "beaning up," "greenies," or "speed" (a legal form of speed, in pill form). Obviously, these drugs and the performance enhancing aspect of them, are a huge boon to Bud Selig and the game, itself. However, when the average and some of the above average people following the game, saw the signs, really they did not know what they were actually seeing, or did not care to look.

Before the 1992 season, there was a form of baseball, called "station to station" and manufacturing runs. The majority of teams had a guy, or a group of guys, who were fast and had knowledge of the base paths. They were stealing machines. From the beginning of the game, itself, there was not a lot of people who actually hit a lot of home runs, but there were always players who had speed and stole a lot of bases. The usually were shortstops, second basemen, and centerfielders, but even a catcher could run (John Wathan, Ivan Rodriguez, Yogi Berra even stole a couple of bags), at times. However, from 1980 to around the 1986, there were a lot of players who prided themselves on the stolen base, so much so, the standard for a season was around one hundred stolen bases. Players like Willie Wilson (Royals), Ron LeFlore (Expos, Tigers), Vince Coleman (Cardinals, Mets), and Ricky Henderson (A's, Yankees, many others) were all hundred base stealers, or close to it. Plus, players like Ozzie Smith, Harold Reynolds, Omar Mereno, Tim "Rock" Raines, and even as late at 1992 Kenny Lofton stole over seventy bags. Although, there are still players like Carl Crawford, Jose Reyes, Rollins, and Chone Figgins, who may still steal one hundred (it isn't like a hallowed number, like hitting in fifty-six straight games, like DiMaggio), the art is basically gone and teams do not "draft on speed," or at least stolen base speed. The term "five tool player" (hitting for avg. hitting for power, fielding, throwing arm, and speed) still exists, but the speed part of the equation is more toward the fielding part of the game, not necessarily stolen base speed. Although, players like Crawford, Figgins, and Reyes are great stolen base guys. The consideration for "a threat to steal," is taken up by men like Julio Lugo (Boston Red Sox), who had around thirty thefts last year, far from the seventy to one hundred of years past.

Symmetrically, over the past fifteen years (roughly), the same is the going rate for strike out ratio, for hitting. Striking out over one hundred fifty times, in a season, was once a dubious and shameful feature. It possibly earned a player, a demotion to the minors. Very few good players and only the most "all or none" players, like Rob Deer (Brewers), Sam Horn (Red Sox), Ron Kittle (White Sox), and older players Bobby Bonds (multiple teams) would fan this many times in a season. With the exception of Mike Schmidt and Reggie Jackson, both Hall of Famers, there are no players who struck out more than 140 times in a season, without a very short career (until the change, around 1997, when Sammy Sosa struck out 174 times). The change over, to excepting a huge amount of strikeouts, like the limited stolen bases, happened around the same time. However, stolen bases are a positive stat, but the statistics of K's, are the most hurtful thing to a team. They brutalize the line up, are a "negative stat," in the sense, there is no positive outcome (other than a possible passed ball, letting an advance of a runner). Striking out one hundred and fifty times, to close to two hundred, in a season is not part of most great players careers and most past great teams. They did not want players who could whiff, in that amount. The change in the last ten years, has afforded players like Jose Hernandez, Mike Cameron, Jim Thome, and Ryan Howard (who is now on the cover of the newest baseball PSP/Playstation 2 & 3 game), the option to make a career hitting .250, with 30 home runs, but striking out one hundred and fifty to two hundred times, in a season.

Baseball is the only game, where you can fail 70% of the time, and still be a Hall of Fame player and/or a star. It is also a game, where speed is a lethal weapon, most say "there is no substitute for speed." However, there is a rise in strikeouts and a deep fall in steals, over the same period of time. General managers and owners have given way, in drafting and training their players, for hitting for power and being fast in the field, rather than stolen bases and fundamental hitting (putting the ball in play). After the 1994 strike shortened season, where there was no World Series, and all of America was fed up with both the players and the owners. It was the lowest baseball had been, since the "Black Sox Scandal" of 1919 (where the Chicago White Sox teamed up with the mob, to throw the World Series, getting "Shoeless Joe Jackson" banned from the game, for life, along with seven other players). Whether it was the owners showing a blind eye, or the players taking advantage of a blossoming situation, in stepped steroids, HGH, and "little green pills." The game was transformed from being a paria (after the 1994 strike), to a game filled with huge and larger than life players, crushing monumental, moon shots, out of every park, but Yellowstone.

Couple "the juice" and a huge crop of big time talent "up the middle" (at shortstop, second base, catcher and centerfield), with players like AROD, Jeter, Garciapara, Omar Vizquel, Andrew Jones, Ivan "pudge" Rodriguez and a young crop of five tool players, and there was a change in the game forever. The "new crop" was fast enough to speed to thirty, maybe forty steals, but their power numbers and solid speed in the field (plus glove work), transformed the game. Then, came the home run race of 1998, between Sammy Sosa and Mark McGwire (two obvious 'roid guys), and that was the beginning of the end, of the American past time, or the way it was played. It was not just at the major league level, either. The players in college, at the same time period, during the college world series (in Omaha), were also not "typical baseball players" anymore. Players like JD Drew (Arizona State), Lance Berkman hitting 40 Hr's (Rice), Pat Burell leading the nation in hitting as a freshman (Miami), and even pitchers, like Braden Looper (Clemson) and Kris Benson (Clemson), all looked like they were cavemen. As a test, feel free to check out Todd Walker's (LSU) home run, to win the CWS, to Stanford star Carlos Quentin. After games, they came out of "Rosenblatt Stadium" with power mandibles and Major League Baseball bodies, in college. Therefore, when the players came out of college, they were major league ready. When they came out of high school and the Dominican Republic, they needed some extra "seasoning." For whatever the formula, they "Pro Ready" before the usual stint, in the minor leagues.

The Bottom Line: I am a true blue, 100%, unwavering baseball player and a life long fan. I am not looking to put another black eye on the sport, blaming steroids, or looking to pin anything else on the players. The only thing I blame, the sport I love so much for, is for players choices to due the drugs. Changing it before I could have shown my kids the way the game used to be played, to bring them up with an equal shot (by playing true to their performance and talents), and most of all, to allow them to blossom without worrying about the "business of baseball," rather than the game of baseball. I still love the game, all it's pure form and impurities, and all it has to offer. However, I do hope and pray the game gets cleaned up, because without it going back to it's roots, MLB will never surpass the other professional sports (the NFL & NBA, maybe in time MLS), and become "America's Past Time," once again.

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TO BOYCOTT, OR NOT BOYCOTT, CHINA'S OLYMPICS

There are more than a few people with the perception and opinion of; "I am not distancing myself from the world's problems or ignore the plight of Tibet and it's people. I like sports and I love the Olympics. Therefore, simply saying that this is purely about sports, not politics, so we shouldn't make it about politics."

This is one of the most non-thought out/backwards views, people could take. Wanting to enjoy a "Sporting Event" and not see politics, is understandable. However, when the politics are, some of the most heinous, on record, not just about "Monks/Tibetans," but also about: Taiwan's fight with China's rule over them in trade, politics, and overall living, Christians being thrown to the lions/in jail (almost like "Daniel Days"). Plus, countless of things and maybe backlashes, China's buying of almost all natural resources possible (worldwide), polluting the earth in ways the US could only hope to (joke), the fact that the COMMUNIST CHINA REGIME could tank the US dollar and economy, sides with RUSSIA blocking all UN substantial stuff, and is the biggest problem (even over middle east countries) in the future of America, over the next 20 years.

The athletes do not have to boycott and should not boycott the games, but they could where arm bands, "Maroon athletic jump suits & Uniforms" with RED, WHITE, & BLUE stripes down the side, or countless statements to the press after each win. HOWEVER, President Bush, even though he will be "talking to the Chinese under the table, in private," but there isn't any amount of talking that will achieve anything, with China. Which the rest of the world, seems to understand. France, Italy, Germany, England, Several African Nations, and other EU Nations are not sending their leaders/Presidents/Ministers, to the opening ceremonies, so Bush should not go either.

Whether anyone has seen, the Black Panther Fists on the podium, the boycott in ’80, or any other past Olympic political thing. Remember this, in 1972, Palestinians bombed and killed 11 Israeli (SP?) Olympians (actually, just 200 yards away from Bruce Jenner, the USA Gold Medal Hero). Is that a big enough political statement? When is enough, enough? When does the American community and government stand up for the righteous? When does sports, idols, and other non-sequators take a back seat, to doing the right thing? We used to be, "The land of the free, home of the brave." When does the United States people, government and athletes look at those words, thru the correct lens? The US should be leading the world, in these events, not falling suit/not participating at all. Right?

Olympic players should not boycott the Olympics, but make a statement with their uniforms, jump suits (during the opening ceremonies, being Maroon ’for the Tibetans’ with Red, White, & Blue Stripes), and using their mouths to speak up (to see if the Chinese will filter/surpress/or altogether censor, their words) after winning events, or any other time with the press.

What do you think about that?

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"JAPAN'S BASEBALL FANS, SHOW US THE WAY BACK TO OUR ROOTS"

Watching the Boston Red Sox vs. the Oakland A's, at 5 a. m. (CST), there were massive differences in the Japanese crowd(s), compared to the majority of fans, in the United States. Even the announcers, one of whom played his career in Japan in the 1990s, agreed that the Japanese fans have a love for the game, that goes beyond the glitz and glamour, but a love for the fundamentals of the game, what the teams and players bring into their lives, and a love that extends into their lives, not just when it fits into their spare time.

Filling the stadium, over 50,000 Japanese fans, to watch the Red Sox battle the Oakland A's was very different, indeed. Even though, there the may have still been matting in my eyes, in the wee hours of the morning, to see the second game, of Major League Baseball season, I could see subtle and huge differences in the game and it's fans. There was a stadium filled with fans cheering more, during the players batting (than the usual defense cheering, in order to distract the players in the field), which showed respect for the game, as a whole. The stadium was "standing room only," for the whole game. No fans were blazing up the stairs to beat traffic, get another beer (before sales ran out), and continued to banter thru the ninth. The cheering was in waves and coordinated, with the fans using all kinds of implements (like blow up tubes, towels, et. al). In America, fans have a tendency to root for their team, some are die hard fans, and some are at games for the good of the sport and not for beer, fights, and spewing out loud cuss words, in a "family environment." However, in Japan, even when the MLB teams have long gone, and the Yamori Giants are playing another Japanese team, there will still be 50,000 strong, whether at 1:00 p.m. on Monday, or at 9:00 p.m. on a Sunday (as the announcers pointed out this morning). The only baseball in America, that stands out like this, is at the NCAA College World Series, in Omaha. It is all, but gone, in the MLB crowds and some minor league stadiums.

In Japan, baseball is revered. It is revered, the way it was back in the 1950s thru the late 1980s. The fans are screaming and cheering (although, their chants are usually regulated, like actual cheerleaders at a high school football game), for their favorite players, teams, and for the opposite players and teams, when the fundamentals and great plays are executed. Personally, I long for the times when my mom and dad took me and my brother to the MLB games. When I was younger, from the age of four thru fourteen (I am 35), the MLB experience was so very different. Going to "Royals Stadium," in Kansas City, to see the Royals, meant seeing George Brett, Frank White, Willie Wilson, John Wathan, and Amos Otis, most not "All-Stars," but they were the "home team." In those trips, to the stadium, before the name change, to "The K," it was not about booing the other teams, but rooting for your team and favorite players. In the rosters of incoming teams, I learned about the other teams in advance, collecting their cards, memorizing statistics, watching on Saturdays "This Week In Baseball" and having the privilege (of my parents' taking my brother and I) of watching players like Wade Boggs (Boston), Paul Molitor (Brewers), Don "Donny Ball Game" Mattingly/Rich "Goose" Gossage/Craig Nettles (Yankees), and two players who will never make the hall of fame, but where "Royal Killers," (who oozed fundamentals, power, and were modest great ball players) Lou Whitaker and Alan Tramell (Detroit Tigers). Of course, this was before the three league split, the switch in teams to the National League/American League (depending), and mostly it was before the 1994 strike, shortened season. However, before these changes, the game was strong, the players were revered and truly loved (like the stories we heard from our fathers and grandfathers about Ruth, Gehrig, Mantle, Mays, and Duke Snider). It was the last time, I can remember kids and their parents seeing the game, like I remember seeing it, when I was young.

I do not blame the strike (either people are baseball fans, or they are not), because some people were upset and should have been, but baseball fans are fans for the sport, not fans looking for a reason to turn their back, on the sport they love. The strike season gave an excuse, for the fans who didn't love baseball, but were more happy complaining about the game. Besides, 1994 was a long time ago. I do not blame the other sports, football and basketball, being a quicker way for student athletes to get big dollar deals, and the inner city youth not having a place to play baseball. Simply, because kids were in the inner city, as far back as the depression, but kids still loved the game, playing stick ball in the streets, as far back as sticks, balls, and streets. I am not in a position to blame any one thing, any one type of person, or any direct choice(s) that has taken the game from "America's Past Time" to "America's reason to complain" (for some people). As a matter of fact, I am not in any position to judge anyone, or anything, period. I just miss the American game people used to love, the fans who loved it, and the fact baseball does not have the power to put "the stamp" on our lives, as it once did, for whatever reason.

It boils down to watching the fans and people of Japan, holding up a mirror to America, to see what baseball used to be and mean to our great country. Who cares how much money a player wants, to play for a certain team? Who cares what a general manager does, trading a player for a group of younger players, in hopes to make a team better? There are so many reasons for people to turn away from the sport of baseball. However, if America was to take a look in the mirror, the Japanese are holding up to our country, during the Red Sox vs. A's games. Baseball is life. Baseball, in so many ways the game is played, the strategy it has thru it's heralded lineage, and it mirrors all of the facets of our lives. Baseball is life. The Japanese fans love the games for what they are, a sporting event with spectacular athletes, who play the game with grace and love for the chance to play the sport they devoted their lives to, and who are humble for the gifts they have. The Japanese revel in their team, they came to root for, but they also know about the alternate team and give them equal respect. The majority of Japanese fans worship the game of baseball and are the epitome of what fans are about. They are showing the United States baseball fans, not only how to watch, cheer, and see the game of baseball for what it is, but they show us the way back to our roots. Roots, in America kids playing in the streets (emulating their favorite baseball players), in the family going to the park to root on the team they want to watch (without a group of men and women, spewing out hatred and foul language, at the top of their lungs), and finally the roots of America being all that is good thru, "America's Past Time."

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"THE WRONG IN MARCH MADNESS, COLLEGE B-BALL"

"Bracketology" for the "March Madness" season, is not just a game, but for some it is a major investment, a source of income, Las Vegas' second biggest gambling event, but make no mistake it is not just a set of games. How do people pick teams, analyze players, and come up with, the ever so crucial formula, of a winning bracket?

The people that play brackets for fun, as a game, usually just look at the records of the teams, who they will play against, and what stars, a team has on their rosters. However, this is usually a failing strategy. Games played during the regular season, pre-conference and in conference, thru the conference tournaments are not comparable to the National Championship Tournament. The six game gridiron, with little time for preparation and overall scouting of teams, from all over the states, is what the Tourny is all about. The teams built with "playground" players (like Michigan's Fab 5, the UNLV Runnin' Rebels short one game, of a perfect season, and the countless other teams, built around players looking for the short term millions and NBA glory), will never win the big prize.

The teams win national championships with fundamentals, a great coaching staff, one great player (to lean on and score), one inside presence, one ball controlling guard, and finally the will to play for the team, rather than individual performance. However, the college trend of "play two years and go the NBA," is killing the game. On the Michigan "Fab 5" team, Chris Webber, Jalen Rose, Juwan Howard could have won the Tourny alone (if they had some unity, but didn't). The UNLV Runnin' Rebel team, with Larry Johnson, Stacey Augmon, and Greg Anthony went 30-0, but lost in the last game, to Duke (no championship, for them). These two teams, had all of the talent in the world, yet could not bring home the trophy. Other teams, N. C. State (under Jim Valvano) 1983, Villinova 1985, Louiseville 1986 (with "Never Nervous Pervis Ellison"), Indiana (with Keith Smart's jumper at the buzzer over the heavily favored Syracuse) 1987, and finally the Kansas Jayhawks are one of the best examples, last winning in 1988.

"Danny and the miracles" (dubbed by the media), led by player of the year Danny Manning, had little chance of winning the Tourny, before the tournament began. Kansas, in a down year, entered the tournament as a six seed. The bracket they entered into was laden with talented teams, such as, Purdue (the #1 seed), Kansas State (with Mitch Richmond, a seasoned NBA star out of college), Pittsburgh and N. C. State. However, Kansas made it thru the bracket, on the heals of Manning, but thru K-State in the final eight game. The team was composed of Danny Manning (the only stand out player), Milt Newton, Piper, Kevin Pritchard (the only other player, to play in the NBA), and Jeff Gueldner. However, they triumphed as a team, with fundamentals, led by Larry Brown, over an Oklahoma Sooner team (led by NBA players, Stacey King, Harvey Grant and Mookie Blaylock). The Jayhawk team thrived with team work, one star player (who was NBA bound, but was first bound by team and school, not money and individual accolades), a strong guard (in Pritchard), Piper and Newton as good supporting "team players," and a whole lot of heart.

In today's NCAA teams, there is less and less heart, fundamentals, and true basketball "team" skills. In the place of what was the college game, most players are straight from the playground, influenced by little coaching (just wooing from scouts and dreams of shoe deals). For every Kevin Garnett and Kobe Bryant, there are hundreds of players coming out of college and high school early, to be the next Telfair, Jaron Rush, Michael Beasley, or flash in the pan, like Brendan Heywood. There are countless examples of players who play for themselves, not the team at the time, and love "Skip to My Lou," rather than "sweat in the gym." Look at teams like Davidson, Gonzaga, Western Kentucky, and the others who continuously make the "big teams" go home, come Tourny time. The obvious reason isn't more talent, but they do have players that stay in college, for three to four years. George Mason's final four run, last year, was not a fluke. It was good scouting, coaching, and fundamentals, thru the team.

Watch Memphis get upset, before the Final Four, this year. They are the quintessential "street team" and have no shot of going to the Final Four, much less winning the Tourny. The final four teams, in this year's Tourny, will be teams like Kansas, North Carolina/Louiseville, Texas/Stanford, and possibly Xavier. Tennessee, Memphis, and UCLA all have young, out for themselves players, who make the games to close. They do not have the team spirit, depth (or depth, with purpose), or overall concept of what it takes to win a tournament, set up like this. A gridiron Tourny, where only depth, coaching, and overall team dynamics will prevail. It is not an individual mission, but a team concept.

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