Random Musings (Cubs, Tom Izzo, Hawks, USC)

Heading into this week's series, the Brewers were the only NL Central team the Cubs had any success against. Let's take a look at the Cubs record against the other four teams.
Reds (2-4), Pirates (2-6), Astros (2-4), Cardinals (1-2). Amidst that 7-16 travesty, the Cubs managed to handle the Brewers pretty easily, winning 5 of their first 6 against them.
To my amusement, I've taken to calling the Brewers the little brother of the Cubs. Every once in a while they bother you, but you know they're not a legitimate threat. They also try so hard and come off so pathetic that you can't help but love them. With this in mind, I was hoping we could at least take 2 of 3 and salvage what is left of our terrible division record. Despite a barrage of walks, the Cubs managed to take Game 3 to 10 innings, and preceded to lose there, on what is sure to be one of many Bob Howry blown games. I knew my intuition after the first game of the series wasn't failing me...

I think all Bulls fans should be slightly concerned about Tom Izzo's supposed "strong interest" in the Cleveland Cavaliers job. I couldn't imagine Izzo being interested in this job if LeBron isn't coming back. Izzo has a great thing going at Michigan State. He's the best coach in the Big Ten and top 5 in college basketball. He routinely recruits excellent players, both from Michigan and abroad, who fit into his system. Currently he makes 3 million a year, which will surely be chump change compared to whatever the Cavs offer him. I don't know, it just doesn't make sense that he would leave everything at Michigan State to coach a LeBronless (i like that word, that should be in the dictionary) team that would be around .500 competing for the 8th spot in the East every year.

Congratulations to the Blackhawks, who won their first Stanley Cup since 1961. Is it just me, or was that the most anticlimactic championship celebration of all-time? Everyone except Patrick Kane was looking like an off-color joke was just told. Do we laugh at that? Do we celebrate? A scenario like this could only happen in hockey. Hockey is by far the most difficult sport to determine if a goal has been scored or not. I'm not going to lie, I never know if the puck goes in the net, I just wait for the siren and the player's sticks to go up.
I also have to congratulate members of the Hawks who just fell asleep a few hours ago after an extensive night of partying. I'm not one to automatically praise a long night of drinking, as I've been there a few times. But when you can body can sustain a ten hour marathon of drinking after playing an extremely physical, emotion-filled hockey game, I give credit where credit is due.

USC's football program received a 2-year bowl ban, and has been stripped of 30 scholarships over three years after the NCAA determined Reggie Bush received improper benefits. USC also has to forfeit 14 victories during Bush's time there, and there's talk that his 2005 Heisman trophy may be stripped from him as well. Hasn't the man suffered enough?
I mean, Bush has recently upgraded his girlfriend to an equally attractive, younger, smarter, and less annoying version. He has a laundry list of sponsorships, most of which allow him to appear in commercials with his shirt off. He just won a Super Bowl masquerading as a feature back. Leave Bush alone and allow him to try and get his life back on track, I'm sure he's suffering a great deal from the NCAA's ruling.

Random Musings (Cubs, Strasburg, World Cup, Hawks)

I had one of those moments yesterday that I've been dreading since the beginning of the MLB season. It usually takes until at least July, sometimes late September if I'm lucky. The moment I'm of course referring to is when I realize that the Cubs just aren't very good and won't make the playoffs. I know, it's one of those it's-too-early-in-the-season-to-feel-this way type of feelings, but it hit me yesterday.
I was flipping between the Cubs-Brewers game and the NBA Finals. The game went to halftime sometime in the bottom of the 7th, and I was hoping the Cubs could pull it off before the start of the second half. Didn't happen, so I continued to flip, when all of a sudden, the video feed goes out on the Cubs game. This should have been my first warning: The baseball Gods did not want me to witness the end of this game.
Being stubborn, I continued to flip and made it back to the Cubs game, which was now just audio. Carlos Marmol came in with a 2-1 lead, and when I returned, men on second and third, 2 outs, Casey McGehee at the plate. Len Kasper says, "You get the feeling that with this pitch the Cubs are either going to win or lose this game." You can guess what happened.
My girlfriend was on my computer, and I walked into my room and threw my hat against the wall. This is the type of behavioral pattern consistent with a fan who has just eliminated his team from the playoffs in early June. Funny thing is, she didn't even flinch, and didn't have to ask, she knew by the trajectory of the hat what had just occurred.

Nationals fans are probably in a better mood today after Stephen Strasburg's debut. Strasburg's stat line: 7 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 14 K. Oh, and the Nats won too, which looked to be in jeopardy for a while. My hat goes off to Strasburg, there's no doubt he has incredible stuff and is good for the sport because of the fans he puts in the seats. His Tuesday debut sold out, and he's already created a boom in ticket sales for his next start in Cleveland. I don't want to take anything away from him, but excuse me for being skeptical. Remember, I was there for Mark Prior's debut, which was pretty encouraging as well. Let's also put this in perspective and remind ourselves that the Pirates have a .236 team BA (30th), 183 RBI (30th), 455 H (29th), and average 3.2 runs per 9 innings, tied for worst in the NL. In other words, call me when he faces Philly.

The opening match in World Cup play kicks off Friday morning when South Africa faces Mexico. Here's my dilemma: Do I get up and watch this game, or do I get up and watch this game at a bar? I'm not sure that I should pass up the chance of being around a bunch of rowdy Mexican fans this early in the morning drinking Modelo and Corona. Here's the other thing, the bar I was thinking about going to has been promoting the hell out of the World Cup and has even started serving breakfast because of the early start times.

So let me ask you this: would you eat pancakes, or a breakfast burrito from a bar? I probably wouldn't, but add this thought to the equation. Would you eat pancakes or a breakfast burrito at a bar, while drinking your Mexican beer of choice at 8 in the morning, watching the opening game of the World Cup with people who take soccer a lot more seriously than you? That sounds like an ideal situation to me. I got next round!
The other great thing about this World Cup is that North Korea is in it? Really? North Korea has a soccer team? According to the US media, the only things in North Korea are Kim Jong-il, his collection of American movies, poverty, nuclear weapons, and a powerful army. Call me unpatriotic, but how amazing would it be if North Korea made it to the 2nd round? I know, not going to happen, but I would love to see how they'd be covered.

Last but not least, the only Chicago team worth talking about is set for Game 6 in Philly tonight. As I've stated before, I can't just jump on the bandwagon like that, but hopefully they can close out the series tonight. I would kind of feel obligated to buy a shirt commemorating the event, but surely would feel sleazy afterwards. The truth is, I've been treating the Blackhawks like that hot girl from high school (who wasn't hot at the time) that I chose not to date. I stuck with the Bulls instead, who've gotten fat, disinterested, and don't tell me they love me anymore. I could have had the Blackhawks, and now I feel jealous about all the attention they get, and how good they're looking nowadays. *Sends Facebook friend request* Hey Hawks! Remember me? Just wanted to congratulate you on all your success! Wanna grab a drink this weekend?