Midterm Madness!

We're a little more than halfway through the semester and I am relieved.

Again, this semester has had its fair share of peaks and valleys, but I am surviving. That is where the difficulty lies in these semesters. Sometimes, they feel long and frustrating--while other times they fly by and you don't even know what hit you.

Midterms have come and gone here at Southern Illinois University Carbondale, and I am feeling good about myself. I have not missed many classes, though my goal of perfect attendance for the semester is unreachable now, I'm not hurt by the handful of classes I have missed.

CLASSES I LIKE

JRNL 311: Reporting & News Writing with William (Bill) Recktenwald

• This has been my absolute favorite class, so far. Mr. Recktenwald is a Chicagoland native who wrote for the Chicago Tribune in his heyday, and his experience in the newsroom is one of the reasons I like that class so much. Someone that can teach to you from experience is more valuable than anything a book can tell you. I could honestly gush over this class for days, but won't. Bill is the type of teacher (and this is the type of class) that helps me enjoy my journalism major.

JRNL 332: Journalism in Law with Professor Hlavich

• My "Journalism Law" class was one of those classes that worried me as the school year started, mostly because of my fear of the legal system. But Professor Hlavich does so much so her students understand what is going on, and it really makes the class interesting too. I've been quite successful in that class, which surprises me to be honest. It's educational and informative...AND can be applied to stuff I will need in the future.

CLASSES I DON'T LIKE

ZOOL 115: General Biology with Prof. Nsofor

• I'd like to preface this by saying I hate science. Not as much as I hate math, but I hate science nonetheless. I'm not fond of the lecture in this class, though I'm doing very well in my lab section. But the lecture is quite unbearable. Nsofor's lectures are long winded, making paying attention difficult. Having the notes online is great, however, there is no substitute for a teacher that is well spoken and can simplify science for non-science people like myself.

JRNL 335: Graphic Communication with Tommy Xie

• I am finding this to be the most difficult of my journalism classes, mostly because in this class I am unable to use my writing abilities to save my grade. The focus of this class is design--and that is not my strength. Everyone knows I can be sloppy and the fact I have no graphic design experience is of no help. I don't mind the lab with Heather Lose, who really simplifies things to the point where an idiot like me can make sense of the InDesign program. But Tommy, our lecturer, isn't on my happy side. Mostly because of the difficulty of the questions on his test and his lecturing abilities. He's not terrible, but he's not great either.

ENGL 382B: Creative Writng: Inter. Poetry with Alberta Skaggs

• Shocked? So am I. Everyone knows how much I love poetry, and that if not for poetry I'd likely be in an isolated mental state. My two poetry classes last year help me vent about my sophomore and junior year's at SIU in the best way possible. So maybe it's because I'm not the motivated mind I was last year (albeit motivation due to frustration.) Maybe because I've resolved some (but unfortunately, not all) of my issues that go back to sophomore and junior year. Maybe it's that prolonged writer's block that has been going on since June. Or maybe it's the fact that my teacher really ahsn't done anything to motivate me. In any case, I'm not happy with my poetry class (for several reasons.) I'm not motivated, the class is unorganized, it's taught by a teacher who had never taught a poetry class before....among other reasons. Still, the poetry is coming (though not at the pace it did last year.)

LET'S TAKE A TIME MACHINE, SHALL WE?

Now that I've got "Midterm Madness" off my brain, I decided I'd take a look back at what I was writing about this time last year and lo and behold we've got ourselves something that is worth a damn. As of now it's 11:56 p.m. on 10/17/07, and on this date last year I wrote this blog found at my old site.

In summary, I took a look back at a blog from 11/15/06 in which I referenced a conversation I had with my (now former) roommate. I referenced that note only because of what happened only hours before that post.

The Chicago Bears beat the Arizona Cardinals 24-23 on Monday Night Football behind three turnovers that turned into touchdowns and a game-winning punt return by Devin Hester. That game would go on to be known as "The Monday Night Miracle" and afterwards came my response:

"2007 JUST MIGHT BE THE YEAR! Maybe then MAYBE this can be my year too."

The next night, I would write about my epiphany. Unfortunately, that World Series Championship never came to fruition. Though technically I never said World Series--I said "championship." Damn! I should have been more specific!

So anyway, the point of that whole mini-rant was to prove how much I have changed. Even though those two posts aren't the biggest pieces of supporting evidence, there has been a significant change in my life.

No longer am I the bitter, frustrated young man that some people loved (while others hated.) No longer am I throwing my computer chair around my room in disgust. No longer amI beating my bed senseless with a baseball bat (mostly because I don't have my bat anymore, but that's besides the point.)

The point is that I feel like I'm moving forward in my life. And I'll be honest, sometimes I back-track. Sometimes I'll get into a state of mind where I'll just sit lonely and thing about "what could have been" or "what should have been." Sometimes I fall into the traps that got me down in the first place.

But then I'll have a happy moment, and all is right with the world.

IT DOESN'T GET EASIER

In closing, I'd like to take a short look at what I have ahead of me. (Hint: it's not gonna be pretty.) In order to graduate in Fall 2008, I'm gonna have to pull off the following miracle: 18 credit hours next semester, and 17 the semester after that.

The reason I have to do this is because of my sophomore year, which I consider the worst year in my life. It was the most tumultuous year, and what I mean by that is that I went through a period in which anything bad that could happen to me, did happen.

I honestly have difficulties finding silver linings in what happened that year. Not saying that there weren't any (because I can think of one in particular), but I say that because the bad outweighed the good--and it was a major setback.

Now I can take a look back at that and say that for the most part, I've moved on. And on graduation day I will be able to say, I survived SIU despite that. And if there is one thing I have learned from the 2007 Chicago Cubs (yay! baseball reference!) is that if you can make it through the rough times, you'll be stronger in the end because of it.

Good night folks, and sweet dreams.

Finished @ 12:13 a.m.

Congrats To The Colorado Rockies

With their 6-4 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks, the Colorado Rockies won their first National League pennant and will be representing the National League in the World Series.

As much as the media types love this story because of their hot streak, which seemingly came out of nowhere, I like this story for other reasons.

For example, the Rockies and the D'Backs were tied for last place in the NL West last year and most people projected them to be at the bottom of that division again. Instead, they were the participants in this year's NLCS.

So there's that "worst to first" storyline that the big networks will market around.

Then, there's the construction of this baseball team.

The rumor mill had the longest serving Rockie, Todd Helton, traded to the Boston Red Sox during the off-season--but talks fell through at the end. If Helton would have been traded, I don't think that the Rockies even sniff the playoffs.

As for the rest of their roster, I admire the home grown talent on that squad. That's how teams used to be built, from the bottom up. It's rare enough to get a stud like Matt Holliday, but when you get several studs on a roster(Garrett Atkins, Troy Tulowitzki and Brad Hawpe) it's special.

The Rockies front office did a pretty nifty job in constructing a pitching staff as well. Guys like Jeff Francis, Ubaldo Jimenez and Franklin Morales came up through the system and look to be Major League quality pitchers. LaTroy Hawkins, Matt Herges and Josh Fogg were picked up off the scrap heap.

You have to applaud a team like this, and admire from a distance. But then I realize, it's the Rockies.

And that's when it hit me.

Everyone and their mother knows the Chicago Cubs haven't won a World Series since 1908 and haven't appeared in one since 1945. However, I can't relate to either of those teams, so I'll take a more recent look.

I was born in July 1986, since then the Cubs have made four playoff appearances (1989, 1998, 2003, 2007.) In that time, Major League Baseball has added the Rockies and Florida Marlins in 1993 and the D'Backs and Tampa Bay Devil Rays in 1998.

Of those teams, the Marlins (1997, 2003) and D'Backs (2001) won the World Series. Now the Rockies will have their chance.

As for the Cubs, they'll continue to wait 'til next year.

Moving Forward To 2008

In 2008, the Chicago Cubs will be celebrating the 100 year anniversary of their last World Series championship. With the League Championship Series in each league underway, there is no better time to start talking about that team than right now.

The Cubs have a lot of guys under contract for next year, which makes things difficult when you're trying to improve on an 85-win division championship team. But despite the division championship, the Cubs have several holes that need to be filled.

The outfield seems set with Alfonso Soriano, Felix Pie and Jacque Jones from left to right. However, I'm not satisfied with that trio on paper. In order for the Cubs to improve (and the key word is improve) one of those spots needs to be upgraded.

Pie hit .362 in Triple-A last year and could make the big jump Cubs fans expected him to make this year. He's still young and relatively an unknown commodity, making him the Cubs top bargaining chip this off-season. More on this later.

The contract Jones signed in 2006 is up after next season and is no longer an albatross. After his .332 second half average, JJ could be used as trade bait. If not, a right field platoon of Jones and Matt Murton (who is a career .328 hitter against left handed pitching.)

Fan favorite Ryan Theriot won over manager Lou Piniella with his hard work and overall solid play. Fans will be clamoring for Theriot to lead-off next year, but his on-base percentage (.326) was lower than Soriano's (.337) and as much as I like "The Riot" that doesn't translate to being an everyday player, sorry.

The place where the Cubs could use the biggest improvement is at catcher. Six Cubs combined to bat .239 last year, providing a major hole behind the plate. Geovany Soto will likely make the squad after his .389 batting average in 18 games, but I wouldn't get too excited about it just yet.

The starting rotation is solid with Carlos Zambrano, Ted Lilly and Rich Hill at the front of the rotation. Jason Marquis and Sean Marshall are pretty solid options in the number five slot. Both were solid in the first half, but struggled in the second half. Pitching coach Larry Rothschild's biggest job will be to straighten out that duo in the second half.

Mark Prior again is a wild card, but we'll cross that bridge if we get to it.

This may surprise you, but the Cubs had one of the best bullpen's around. Closer Ryan Dempster converted 28 saves in 31 chances, despite losing the trust of the fans. Scott Eyre got out of Piniella's doghouse to post a 0.81 ERA in the second half and Bobby Howry posted a 3.32 ERA and was the Cubs most consistent reliever.

Closer-in-waiting Carlos Marmol posted "video game numbers" with 96 strikeouts in 69 1/3 innings as Piniella's bullpen ace. In limited action, Kerry Wood notched 24 strikeouts in 24 1/3 innings of work.

EXPLORING THE FREE AGENT MARKET

Last year the Cubs made major strides in improving this team in the free agent market by signing Soriano, Marquis, Lilly and utility man Mark DeRosa. Still, this team has major holes to fill, but thankfully there are free agent alternatives.

Target number one is Alex Rodriguez, who if he exercises his out clause and signs with the Cubs, could be moved to shortstop. Rodriguez has expressed his interest and man love for Piniella and his 54 homers and 156 RBIs line would look nice between Derrek Lee and Aramis Ramirez.

The Yankees hold a $16 million option on Bobby Abreu's return to the Bronx, and he would be the top right fielder available if he hit the market. Abreu is an OBP machine posting a .369 clip in 2007 while swiping 25 bases as well.

Also consider Japanese import Kosuke Fukudome as a potential right field fill in. For more on Fukudome, I'll link to MLBTR.

The Cubs could re-sign Jason Kendall and have a catching duo of Kendall and Soto. Kendall hit .270 with a .362 OBP in 57 games with the Cubs. The best free agent out there is another Yankee, Jorge Posada, who posted carer highs in batting average (.338) and OBP (.426) in 2007.

EXPLORING THE TRADE MARKET

In an attempt to not spend big money this off-season, the Cubs could look to improve via trades. Braves shortstop Edgar Renteria could be expendable with the emergence of Yunel Escobar.

For the Cubs to acquire Renteria, they would likely have to trade Marshall or Dempster and a mid-level prospect, for the Braves are looking to improve their starting rotation and their bullpen by any means necessary this off-season.

Miguel Tejada talks could resurface this off-season with former Cubs boss Andy MacPhail rumored to be shopping Tejada this off-season.

The biggest name on the trade market could be Twins starter Johan Santana, who becomes a free agent after the 2008 season. It would take a creative package of top prospects and a major league ready talent for the Twins to shop Santana.

My proposal is fair and as follows:

• Felix Pie. The Cubs top prospect is just what the Twins need. Pie would fill their center field hole at a cheap rate for a long time when Torii Hunter leaves as a free-agent.
• Donnie Veal. Veal is the Cubs top pitching prospect. Veal is a lefty in the mold of Dontrelle Wilis who projects to be a top of the line starter.
• Rich Hill. I'll pause for a moment so you can wipe that shocked look off your face. Santana won't come easy or cheap, that's why you have to throw a major league ready--or in this case--a major league starter to replace Johan in the rotation.
  
• One of the following prospects would probably put a deal in motion and help the Twins reload their minor league system: 2B Eric Patterson, SS Ronny Cedeno, SP Sean Gallagher.

That's all for now. I can't wait 'til the playoffs are over.

One last look back at the 2007 Cubs

Now that I've had some time to simmer down after the premature ending of what was supposed to be "the year" I can look back at 2007 with an even temper.

Looking at the '07 team, it was much improved over the '06 team. And there were two moves that directly impacted the change of this ballclub. The resignation of President Andy MacPhail and the signing of manager Lou Piniella.

MacPhail's resignation came as a surprise, a pleasant one at that. He had quite a long tenure in Chicago and had only two playoff appearances to show for it, and that wasn't going to cut it.

Replacing MacPhail on an interim basis was former vice president of marketing, John McDonough. And in his first press conference, McDonough made clear that his soul purpose as interim president was to win a World Series.

With McDonough in the fold, the Cubs opened up the vaults that MacPhail seemed to have locked and his first move was hiring Piniella.

A lot of people thought that Dusty Baker deserved another chance as Cubs manager. Granted, many were the types of Cardinals and White Sox fans who enjoy the suffering of Cubs fans almost as much (if not more) than their own teams success.

In the first year, the hiring of Piniella proved why he was a better choice than Baker.

Dusty said he liked young players, so did Lou. The difference is that Lou walked the walk. He turned the organization upside down in an effort to put the best 25 players on the field.

Youngsters (including, but not limited to) Ryan Theriot, Mike Fontenot, Rich Hill, Carlos Marmol and Sean Marshall made major contributions throughout the year.

Piniella also installed a sense of accountability. Michael Barrett (Padres), Cesar Izturis (Pirates) and Wade Miller (designated for assignment) were shipped out because they couldn't get the job done.

Ronny Cedeno, Matt Murton and Will Ohman were sent down until they got their stuff together.

Scott Eyre and Jacque Jones were benched for long periods of times because of their lack of production, essentially handcuffing Piniella with a 23-man roster.

Free-agency is another thing that helped the Cubs make an 18-win improvement.

Alfonso Soriano (.299 33 HR 70 RBI) brought stability to the lead-off spot, despite a less than moving .337 on-base percentage. Mark DeRosa was better than advertised. "DeRo" appeared in six different positions and managed to hit .293 with a .371 OBP.

The new Cub free agent starters were good too. Ted Lilly and Jason Marquis combined for 67 starts, almost 400 innings pitched and 27 wins.

This was a good team, unfortunately, not good enough to move past the first round.

The Brooklyn Dodgers coined it, the Chicago Cubs perfected it: "Wait 'til next year."

QUESTION OF THE NIGHT

With the NLCS underway tonight, I have one simple question: Who do you love when the Cubs break your heart? I've ranted on this site (and others) about how being a Cubs fan is like being in a relationship--and once in awhile, even in the best relationships--you get your heartbroken.

I've decided to take a stand and not watch the NLCS. I'm not sure how long that is going to last, knowing how much I love watching the game of baseball no matter which two teams are playing. And they've got the ace broadcasting crew which includes former Cubs announcer Chip Caray and current Cubs announcer Bob Brenly.

However, I'm still a little upset about the Cubs first round loss so I won't be going for the D'bags. I'm sorry, Arizona is not deserving of a baseball team--mostly because as of this morning you could buy 25 tickets together for an NLCS game. I'm sorry, if you can do that then YOU DO NOT DESERVE A F*CKING PLAYOFF TEAM!!!!

I'm siding with the Boston Red Sox. Cubs fans and Red Sox fans are a lot a like. They both have passionate fans, a heated regional rival, a classic American ballpark, and cute girls represented in their fandom. Though I'll never forget that one Boston girl I met that laughed like Peter Griffin from Family Guy. I'll admit that was kinda creepy.

Whatever---baseball season ends whenever the Cubs do.

It Didn't Happen: D'Backs 5-1 win ends Cubs season

NOTE: This is the first of a four part series which will take a look back at the 2007 Chicago Cubs.

PART ONE: Reviewing the NLDS.
PART TWO: Reviewing the 2007 season.
PART THREE: Looking forward to 2008.
PART FOUR: What the 2007 Cubs meant to me.

To me, there is nothing more eerie than a victory celebration in front of a silent capacity crowd.

That's what Cubs fans had to see as Jose Valverde recorded the final out of the Diamondbacks 5-1 victory.

In recapping this game and this series as a whole, I'm not sure where to begin because so much went wrong.

First, you have to give the D'Backs all of the credit in the world. I guess there was some weight behind those NL leading 90 wins. They beat the Cubs at all phases of the game.

Next, you have to acknowledge the tale of two advanced scouting departments. The D'Backs obviously took notice of every scouting report and used it to their advantage.

For example in game one, Brandon Webb threw a week's worth of slow breaking balls to a team that is a notorious fastball hitting team. Throughout the series, the D'Backs jumped on fastballs early in the count--notably Chris Young's lead-off, first pitch home run off Rich Hill.

On the other hand, that is where the Cubs failed. They failed to capitalize on the wildness of Doug Davis and Livan Hernandez, in two must-win games for the Cubs.

But that's only part of the reason they got swept.

Alfonso Soriano, Derrek Lee and Aramis Ramirez, the heavy hitters that carried the Cubs in September didn't hit one home run. They were out homered by Stephen Drew for crying out loud!

Drew, along with teammate Augie Ojeda will soon find themselves on the official list of Cub killers. Ojeda is deserving of the Steve Garvey Award (Post Season Cub Killing) with his .444 average, which is .212 points higher than his career average.

The only Cubs home run came off the bat of Geovany Soto--and it was the only time the Cubs scored more than one run in an inning.

Yet, another reason behind the Cubs failure.

Upon further review of this series, the only Cub to step up and do something worth a darn was Carlos Zambrano--the guy that everyone was most worried about. Think about it, Big Z was composed and dominant in the best 85 pitches I've ever seen him throw.

And now, two former expansion teams (one of which I called a sabermetrical aberration) will be competing for the NLCS, beginning on Thursday.

While the best 85-win, division championship team that $300 million could buy is sitting at home.

Waiting 'til next year, again.

Make History Or We're History!

Pop quiz: When was the last time the Cubs won three playoff games in a row?

Answer: Games two, three and four of the 2003 NLCS.

I guess it's pretty hard to remember, especially when the Marlins won the next three and went on to win the World Series.

Impossible, no. Improbable, maybe. Winning the next three games against a very confident club won't be easy. But don't forget, nothing comes easy if you're a Cubs fan. Not this year, not any year.

I, for one, am surprised the Cubs are down 0-2 in the NLDS. But maybe I shouldn't be.

The Diamonbacks first two starters came into the NLDS with a combined career record of 11-6 with a 2.96 ERA against the Cubs.

I thought the Cubs would at least come back to Wrigley tied 1-1 with a pivitol game three on Saturday afternoon. Game three is still important, in fact, more important than ever!

Game three's motto is simple: "Make history, or we're history."

The last team to come back from an 0-2 hole to win a divisional series was the 2003 Boston Red Sox who beat the Oakland A's and their aces Tim Hudson and Barry Zito in games four and five.

However, no National League team has ever come back to win a NLDS after being down 0-2.

I guess it's time for the Cubs to make history in a good way.

It's not going to be easy. First the Cubs must win the ultimate "must-win game" with lefty Rich Hill on the mound and beat Livan Hernandez and the D'Backs on Saturday afternoon. Then, on short rest, Carlos Zambrano must beat Micah Owings--who is more feared at the plate than on the mound. And finally, if the Cubs can even force it to game five they'll have to send the recently shelled Ted Lilly on short rest against last year's Cy Young Award winner, Brandon Webb.

YIKES!

Being a Cubs fan has taught me one thing over the years, and that is to expect the unexpected. And usually, when I think the Cubs are out they give you a glimmer a hope.

Hopefully the D'Backs will give an inch, and the Cubs will take the mile.

Cubs Suffer In Case Of The Ex: Go Down 0-2 in NLDS

A game like this is a microcosm of what Chicago Cubs baseball is all about.

And that's not a good thing.

The Arizona Diamondbacks 8-4 victory over the Cubs in game two of the NLDS was a pretty easy game to analyze, so this post should be relatively short.

The Cubs took an early 2-0 lead in the top of the second inning when catcher Geovany Soto hit a two-run home run off of D'Backs starter Doug Davis.

However, they gave it right back in the bottom of the second. And this is where the case of the ex strikes.

CASE OF THE EX PART ONE: Ex-Sox farmhand Chris Young hit a three-run home run off of Cubs starter Ted Lilly to give the D'Backs the 3-2 lead and gave White Sox fans the joy of knowing they are indirectly responsible for the Cubs game two woes.

CASE OF THE EX PART TWO: Former Cub utility infielder Augie Ojeda went 2-for-4, raising his NLDS average to .571. Ojeda hit .182 during his short Cubs career.

CASE OF THE EX PART THREE: Another former Cub, pitcher Juan Cruz, pitched 1/3 of an inning. That one-third of an inning--a strikeout of Alfonso Soriano.

ACCORDING TO DICK, GAME TWO: I'll keep this short and simple. Hey, TBS--FIRE DICK STOCKTON!!!! He repeatedly insinuated that Soriano was limping and that he was playing hurt. I've been watching Soriano since his return from the quad injury--and he looks better now than when he first came back. It's obvious to me that Stockton is out of place calling these games. This isn't mid-90's NFL on Fox. This isn't the 1980's NBA Finals. It's the 2007 MLB playoffs---there's no reason for Dick to be broadcasting these games.

The Cubs are on their way back to Chicago for game three (and hopefully four) of the NLDS. They'll send lefty Rich Hill against the crafty playoff veteran Livan Hernandez with this thought in mind:

"Make history, or we're history."