I am happy to say that I have avoided watching the entire dnc this year. As I read the morning news, I see that this thing is now more infomercial than it ever has been before. Why the hell do all of these media outlets cover this thing like it's news? There is now news being made there. This is a fucking staged event. The MSM eats this shit up though.
So while our junior Illinois Senator, who has spent nearly the last two years in a fulltime campaign for the presidency--as opposed to doing his job in Washington, makes his "historic speach" tonite I won't be watching. I'll be doing what the "beautiful people" do drinking beer and watching my "not so serious" baseball club the Chicago Cubs. LOL.
With the Cubs 30 games over the .500 mark for the first time since 1984, now is probably as good a time as any to post what the postseason schedule will look like for the Cubs.
NLDS: Game 1--Wed, Oct 1; Game 2--Thur, Oct 2; Game 3--Sat, Oct 4; Game 4*--Sun, Oct 5; Game 5*--Tue, Oct 7.
NLCS: Game 1--Thur, Oct 9; Game 2--Fri, Oct 10; Game 3--Sun, Oct 12; Game 4--Mon, Oct 13; Game 5*--Wed, Oct 15; Game 6*--Fri, Oct 17; Game 7*--Sat, Oct 18.
WS: Game 1--Wed, Oct 22; Game 2--Thur, Oct 23; Game 3--Sat, Oct 25; Game 4--Sun, Oct 26; Game 5*--Mon Oct 27; Game 6*--Wed, Oct 29; Game 7*--Thur, Oct 30
* the asterick is for the obligatory if necessary games.
The Cubs at this point have the NL homefield advantage. They will have to finish the regular season with the best record in the league to have this. The only team that looks to challenge them at this time is the wild card leading Brewers. So at this point it looks like either the Cubs or Brewers will have home field advantage in the first two rounds of the playoffs. The oddity of this is the fact that the team that wins the NL wildcard will probably have the second best record in the league and they will go on the road.
Bud Selig's "this time it counts" will again play a factor as the AL will have homefield in the World Series. It's amazing that an exhibition game gets that type of importance, but of course this is Selig we are talking about.
The first Cub team that I followed on a day in and day out basis was the 1979 club with Dave Kingman, Bruce Sutter, Billy Buckner, Rick Reuschel and Mike Krukow. I was 7 years old and in 2nd grade. The manager of the squad was the great Herman Franks. That team finished 80-82 which in those years was considered a decent season for the Cubs. The only reason that I bring up the 1979 Cubs is to say that 2008 marks my 30th season following the Northsiders.
So why do I bring this up? Well the other day on wpbc's Twitter page I asked this question: "I have been watching this club for 30 seasons. Is this the best cub regular season in that time?"
I normally don't like labeling teams with "the best of my lifetime" or whatever until after a season is finished. I should probably maintain that policy on this question, because in this sport you just never ever know. But up until this point there are 5 playoff teams that we point to as Cub fans as magical seasons. There was also a real talented team in 2004 that collapsed the final week and missed the playoffs. So where were these teams 124 games into the regular season?
1984 -- the 1984 Cubs would finish 96-65. The most Cub regular season wins since 1945. Up until 2008, I have considered the '84 season as the best Cub regular season of my lifetime. 124 games into the season the Cubs were 73-51.
1989 -- the last Cubs team to win 90 in 162 games. This team finished the season 93-69. I loved the Boys of Zimmer. They overachieved like nobodies business. At 124 games they were 71-53.
1998 -- following the 89 Cubs we waited until 1998 for the Cubs to get back to playoffs. That year will always be remembered for Sammy Sosa's home run record chase with Mark McGwire and a rookie RH flame thrower from Texas. This Cub team caught lightning in the bottle and in game 163 won their 90th game to make the playoffs. Through 124 games their record stood at 68-56.
2003 -- the 2003 Cubs enjoyed the most playoff success of any Cub team since 1908. They actually won a series and took the NLCS to 7. But this is about the regular season. The 2003 Cubs were only 64-60 at this point in the season. It would take a 19-8 September to push the clubs into postseason. The team finished with 88 wins and the NL Central.
2004 -- maybe the biggest regular season disappointment since 1969. The 2004 Cubs had injuries to starters Wood and Prior most of the year, but as they got healthy for the stretch run it was thought they would push the team to the NL Wildcard. At 124 games the team was 68-56. They finished the season with 89 wins, but didn't make the playoffs.
2007 -- last year the Cubs struggled out of the gate. By game 124 they were tied with Milwaukee for first place at 64-60. The team would have a monster finish and wind up with an 85-77 record. Enough wins to win a very weak NL Central.
2008 -- that brings us to this year, and record speaking the 2008 club is ahead of all those teams. They are 28 games over at 76-48.
Sp, I guess if I had to answer my question from a few days ago, I would give the conservative answer that with 3/4 of the season played, up until this point this is the best Cub regular season I have ever seen. Of course the last 1/4 of the season and the playoffs will be important play important rolese in determining if this is the best Cub team of my lifetime. I hope it is, but I'll let the games play out before I make that statement.
Well, this morning the Tribune had a really good article about the tax avoidance game that Sam Zell is trying to play with the sale of the Chicago Cubs. His plan is called a leveraged partnership.
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Instead, he wants to create what's known as a leveraged partnership between the buyer and Tribune to own the team. The partnership would borrow money to buy the team, and the proceeds from the loans would go to Tribune. The media company would retain a small stake in the partnership, less than 5 percent, giving it some exposure to the loans.
Under the terms of a leveraged partnership, only borrowed money can be distributed tax-free. Consequently, in some of these deals as much as 90 percent of the purchase price is financed with debt to maximize the cash payout, Willens said.
"When you set up a structure like that, it's costly," said a source close to one of the five remaining bidders who asked to remain anonymous. "The more debt you put on it, the more expensive it is. The more leverage, the more scrutiny you get from baseball."
For the Cubs transaction, a new owner also would have another hurdle: The buyer could not start paying down debt until Jan. 1, 2018. That's the 10th anniversary of Zell's Tribune acquisition, in which he converted the company to an S corporation from a C corporation. In the 10 years after a conversion, an S corporation must pay taxes on asset dispositions. After 10 years, the capital-gains requirement expires.
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Wow, why would anyone actually want to get into this sort of agreement? It looks to me like the only way the Cubs will compete under such a plan will be through personal seat licenses and other revenue scams that suck it out of the paying fan. $500 box seats anyone? $300 bleachers? $200 grandstand? That is where we are heading if a deal of this kind goes down.
Now the technical aspect. Cub fans like me who have been holding out hope for the sale of this team for a long time well...you may not want to read this:
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Technically, a leveraged partnership is not considered a sale, even though the seller receives cash upfront. If Zell can defer the sale of the Cubs for 10 years, Tribune will avoid having to pay capital-gains taxes on the deal.
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Only TribCo could actually be a worse seller of the Cubs than they were an owner for 27 miserable years.
The plot thickens and this story ain't gonna go away once the IRS gets involved with Mr. Zell. Stay tuned...
The USA Today takes a look at the great baseball weekend we had in Chicago. The Cubs took 2 of 3 from the Redbirds and the White Sox have so far taken 2 of 3 in their 4 game wrap around series with the Red Sox. It was a great weekend in Chicago.
Now the Cubs head toward the August heat in Atlanta and South Florida.
BALLHAWK.NET had a very cool video on the storm that blew through Chicago on Monday night.
I have to confess, I just didn't understand what Jim Hendry was doing back in mid-May when he added Jim Edmonds to the Cubs. From what I had seen of Edmonds last season with the Cardinals and early this year in San Diego, it just didn't look like he had anything left. Boy was I wrong. Another example of how wrong I was came this afternoon at the Friendly Confines when Edmonds two solo homeruns led the Cubs/Cardinals game into extra innings where Henry Blanco (I'm not making this up!) won the game with a bases loaded single in the eleventh.
For Edmonds it was his third two homer game since joining the Cubs in mid-May. Edmonds has homered twice against the Sox (in the same inning), against the Brewers and now against the Cardinals. It would be hard to come up any bigger with the longball than Edmonds has in his short stay with the Cubs. Edmonds OPS in his 57 games with the Cubs is an AMAZING 1.005!
Edmonds has played a big part in the Cubs building the 5.0 game lead that they have here in early August. Along with Reed Johnson, Edmonds has made up one of the best platoons I can ever remember the Cubs having. At his age, a platoon is probably a real good thing for Edmonds. Hopefully the platoon will keep the 38 year old Edmonds fresh for September and October.
The latest round of so-called PR negotiations between the Cubs and Alderman Tom Tunney's 44th Ward became very public in Saturday mornings Chicago Tribune. Cubs beat reporter Paul Sullivan, reporting on a flat Cubs offense Friday afternoon at the Friendly Confines, slipped into his game wrapup the fact that the Cubs are going to ask the city to let them play night games on Friday and Saturday nights, as well as increase the total number of night games per season to 40, or half of the Cubs home schedule.
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As the team prepares for next Friday's 20th anniversary of the first scheduled Wrigley Field night game, the Cubs plan on asking for a change in the city ordinance prohibiting Friday and Saturday night home games, according to club sources.
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Sullivan gives a history lesson and the Cubs reasoning for more night games:
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In February 1988, when the City Council gave its approval for a limited schedule of Cubs night games—eight in '88 and 18 games through 2002—it did so on the condition that no night games be scheduled on weekends. The idea was to curb rowdiness and ensure local residents an easier time finding parking. Sunday night games are allowed to accommodate national TV and postseason play only.
The Cubs will argue the influx of bars and restaurants in Wrigleyville the last two decades has changed the area so drastically that parking would be an issue regardless of whether the Cubs are playing at night. And many residents have permit parking on their streets anyway.
In 2004, the Cubs won city approval to increase the number of night games to 22, then 26 in '05 and 30 in '06. Eventually the Cubs would like to have as many as 40 night games a year.
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For full disclosure, I am old enough to remember all of this happening. I watched as the Cubs fought with the neighborhood and won to install lights. I have watched this number of night games increse from 8 in '88 to 30 today. I have also heard the Cubs make many promises to the neighborhood in negotiations that they have not held up there end of the bargain on.
Remember back in 2005 when the Cubs got their deal for bleacher expansion pushed through. There were several promises made to the neighborhood about building the 'triangle building' at Waveland and Clark, where the carwash used to be. Included in that promise to the neighborhood were wider walkways, more parking that would be available to residents and local businesses on non-game days, more green space around the ballpark and neighborhood, and a 4-way stop light at Clark and Waveland. How much of this plan have the Chicago Cubs under Tribune ownership lived up to? ZIP, NONE, Nothing.
In case you don't remember this is from the Cubs very own press release on the plan:
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Fans will have access to a themed restaurant, additional restroom facilities and an open-air pedestrian parkway available to the public on non-game days between the new building and Wrigley.
Fans and neighbors also will benefit from wider sidewalks on Clark Street, a multi-level parking facility with parking available for residents and businesses on non-game days, and modern lighting outside the bleachers to enhance aesthetics and safety year-round.
"The addition of open space and green space around the ballpark will significantly improve the look of Wrigley Field from the outside," Lufrano said. "The new parking spaces respond to an issue we've heard consistently in our community."
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Now I am by no means the politician that Mr. Tunney is. He has done a wonderful job creating a working relationship between the Cubs and the neighborhood. It is unfortunate that the Cubs under Tribune ownership has decided to not live up to their side of agreements. But that is how they have handled things with the neighborhood for years.
If I were Mr. Tunney, I wouldn't negotiate with the Cubs under lame-duck ownership. I just wouldn't. They have not negotiated with the neighborhood in good faith through the years, there is no reason to get burned on another agreement with the Trib. Tunney and the city should wait for new ownership to take over. If it's Mark Cuban, I imagine that will be good for the neighborhood. When Cuban was on ESPN1000 a month ago, he mentioned responsibility to Wrigleyville. I hope the next Cubs owner is a better neighbor than the Tribune has been to Wrigleyville.
Business Week has a great article this week titled "Sam Zell's Deal from Hell". The whole article gives a real nice picture of the challenges that face this old media company. I am sure Zell was aware of all this, but things have not turned his way so far.
Next Allan Sloan in the Washington Post outlines that Zell may try to beat the tax man on the sale of the Cubs. It's always interesting.
Jay Sorgi from the Brewers flagship radio station WTMJ in Milwaukee is more concerned with the number of Cubs fans in the seats of Miller Park than he is the results on the field. Well I guess you have to vent anger at someone. The Cubs fans, that actually follow their team, are an easy target. So here is what Jay proposes to stop Cubs fans from getting tickets:
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How Can The Brewers Stop This?
There's only one way to possibly curtail it, and it's a method the Buccaneers taught Wisconsin sports fans in 1997.
When the Packers played at Tampa Bay the year after Green Bay won Super Bowl XXXI, the Buccaneers used source-of-purchaser controls on who could buy tickets.
They basically had to live in Florida to get tickets to that game.
No matter, the Packers still won, but it was a lot more pro-orange and white crowd. (Nevermind the ugly citrus-colored uniforms they used to wear.)
The Brewers can take that lesson, and perhaps give the five counties still paying the sales tax a break on getting these tickets first.
For example: for the first month tickets are available, if you want tickets to any package involving a Cubs game, whether it's season, 20-pack, nine-pack or otherwise, you must prove (by credit card or other means) that you live in Milwaukee, Waukesha, Racine, Washington or Ozaukee County.
Kenosha's not included. Too many Cubs fans there.
Give Brewers fans who live in those areas one month's advanced notice on buying those seats before the grubby Cubs fans get their chance.
Additionally, give those season ticket and multi-pack fans the additional first dibs on buying more Brewers-Cubs tickets before Chicago fans can get them.
That might not guarantee a completely blue-and-gold Miller Park when the North-siders invade, but it could make enough of a difference to at least guarantee a pro-Brewers majority in their own home ballpark.
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Whatever.
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