TWiB 6/26 - 7/2

[naiwf 0]

The Cubs haven't won a title in almost 100 years. They haven't been good in at least half of those 100 years. Yet, they sell out or come close to doing so for almost every home game, every year that I can remember. Only fans who don't care if the team is any good continue to support it by going to games.

 

Again, Czech and Bruiser do not represent most Cubs fans. I think there's a special place in heaven for guys like those who can continue to torment themselves simply for the love of the game, but they're not typical fans of that team.

Do you live remotely near Lake Michigan? Do you interact with lots of Cubs fans? Do you read our papers? Where are you coming up with these judgments?

 

You're saying that the majority of Cub fans don't care about losing because people come to the park. Apparently it's a virtue now to quit on your team when they're losing. Last I checked, you're supposed to support your team through thick and thin. (I mean, that was the slogan on all the local Chicago Bulls season ticket commercials for the six years that Jerry Reinsdorf did fuck-all with the team.) The majority of Cub fans really love this team, want to see them do well, and don't mind spending a day at Wrigley Field when they can, because it's a great place to see a game. Why hold that against fans? Not going isn't going to make the team better. (And neither is tearing down Wrigley, for that matter, like some idiots seem to think. As if getting rid of that pesky tourist destination will finally let the Cubs concentrate on winning. What happens when they don't? The Cubs would suck ass, and they wouldn't even have a nice park to see them suck in.)

 

Of course Wrigley brings in some meatheads in pink dress shirts, but no, they do not represent the majority of the fanbase. But hey, you know us better than I do, so I'll defer to you.

 

Supporting a team that's terrible just sends management the idea that they don't need to improve the product. A couple of years where the stadium isn't at or near capacity MIGHT just get them to change their mentality. One of the main reasons the Knicks won't get any better is that they still turn a profit. If people stopped going to the games because of the dreadful product, then it's possible the team won't turn a profit and the "powers that be", might actually have to do something to change that.

 

There's a difference between being a fan of a team and not caring whether they win or lose. You're a fan. A lot of the people that root for the Cubs are just happy to see the Cubs, they don't care if they lose 100 games a year or not. I look at it like this, anyone who keeps renewing season tickets for the Knicks deserves the shitty product they get because they're willing to pay 100s or 1000s of dollars per game to watch a team that wins about 35% of their games and charges the most per ticket in the league, or at least close to it.

[Guest StylesMark]

The only team I could see him doing well for that could afford him would be the Cubbies. Their fans don't care if you win or lose.

You dumbfuck, do you even read TWIB threads? Half of them are me and Bruiser having temper tantrums.

 

 

EDIT: Porter beat me to it. Seriously, though. As for people being at Wrigley, what do you expect? They bought their tickets in February, when nobody could've predicted being 20 under .500. What are they supposed to do? Sit on them and eat the $40 or whatever? They could scalp them, since there will always be people willing to see a baseball game on a nice day in Chicago. Don't turn that into a bad thing.

 

Heh. Half of the sports world predicted it.

[Bruiser Chong 0]

The only team I could see him doing well for that could afford him would be the Cubbies. Their fans don't care if you win or lose.

You dumbfuck, do you even read TWIB threads? Half of them are me and Bruiser having temper tantrums.

 

 

EDIT: Porter beat me to it. Seriously, though. As for people being at Wrigley, what do you expect? They bought their tickets in February, when nobody could've predicted being 20 under .500. What are they supposed to do? Sit on them and eat the $40 or whatever? They could scalp them, since there will always be people willing to see a baseball game on a nice day in Chicago. Don't turn that into a bad thing.

 

Heh. Half of the sports world predicted it.

No, people thought they'd be average, but not AWFUL like they have been.

 

After Bill Hall slammed a two-run shot in the 8th, the Cubs have some how put together a five-run inning, triggered by a Derrek Lee homer. Jacque Jones also scored from first on a bloop hit down the rightfield line. I've come down on the guy's baserunning and defense, but his reaction after sliding into home safely lets you know how into the game he is.

 

And while I don't necessarily agree with naiwf, I will concede that selling out Wrigley sends the wrong message to the higher-ups. But what I think you're missing is the amount of tourists and casual fans that fill the park. That's never going to change as long as they play in Wrigley. It doesn't mean the real fans don't take losses and bonehead organizational moves as hard as any fans in the sport. Go read around sometime. There are a TON of Cubs fans that make Czech and I look like rational, level-headed fans.

[Guest StylesMark]

The BOO'ing inside Yankees Stadium can stop now.

[bob_barron 0]

A-Rod was due I guess

[Guest NYankees]

AROD HITS A BOMB TO WIN THE GAME FOR THE YANKEES. Somewhere Bob Barron is crying in the corner of his room.

[Hawk 34 0]

I can't wait for the reds to blow another game tonight. Is it possible to trade the whole fucking team except Bronson and Harang?

 

Yeah that team with that atrocious 41-36 record, 1.5 games back in the division and in the drivers seat for the WC really should just abolish the entire team after a loss to the KC Royals.

 

Cincinnati isn't a fanbase that should be acting like New York/Boston fans. You can't get spastic after one blown game (regardless of how shitty the other team is this season).

 

You really give the Cincinnati market a bad image with this idiotic comment along with that braindead statement regarding Carson Palmer and Ben Roethlisberger a couple weeks ago.

[bob_barron 0]

AROD HITS A BOMB TO WIN THE GAME FOR THE YANKEES. Somewhere Bob Barron is crying in the corner of his room.

 

So now everyone likes A-Rod!

 

I don't really care, since our bullpen always blows it. It's just going to be funny to see how people treat A-Rod now.

[Guest StylesMark]

He'll be treated well in NY for the next few days, until his bat quiets down again.

[naiwf 0]

And while I don't necessarily agree with naiwf, I will concede that selling out Wrigley sends the wrong message to the higher-ups. But what I think you're missing is the amount of tourists and casual fans that fill the park. That's never going to change as long as they play in Wrigley. It doesn't mean the real fans don't take losses and bonehead organizational moves as hard as any fans in the sport. Go read around sometime. There are a TON of Cubs fans that make Czech and I look like rational, level-headed fans.

 

I'll admit that I wouldn't be able to tell how many tourists or casual fans go to games at Wrigley. As someone who has lived in NYC my whole life I can always know whether the Mets or Yankees are doing well based on how many people go to see the games. Yes, there are millions of bandwagon types here as evidenced by Yankee Stadium drawing about 1.5 million per season in the '80s to nearly 4 million per now, but they don't continue to go see games if the team sucks. It's possible that because Wrigley is one of those three parks everyone tries to visit (Fenway and Yankee Stadium being the two others) that on any given day a huge amount of people in the stadium are just there for the atmosphere, but I still think the Cubs have a national reputation for being some of the most forgiving fans out there. I didn't make that up, and I can see how people outside of the city would think that going to a Cubs game is more important than going to see the Cubs win, or going to see a successful Cubs team for a lot of people. It's kind of the same rep that Lakers & Dodgers fans have where it's jus cool to say you went to the game without really caring about the outcome or what you saw.

 

New York teams just don't have that same kind of support. All you have to do is look at how mercilessly they boo the "best player in MLB" here on a daily basis. As I said before there used to be a decade long waiting list to gets Knicks season tickets, now you can go up to the ticket window and buy packages. For teams like the Cubs and Packers I don't think you'll ever have that kind of about face because the fans think differently.

[Cheech Tremendous 0]

A-Rod's homer will be downplayed be Yankees fans and then completely forgotten in a few days when he comes up short again. It happens everytime he has a game-winning hit.

[Hawk 34 0]

Yankee fans: Jeter would have done it in 9th. Pretty boy needed 3 extra innings to finally do something. He sucks.

[devo 0]

The headling in the New York Post tomorrow will read "'BOUT TIME".

[Guest Felonies!]

Hey, Prince Paul, whenever you wanna give me like at least ten articles that predicted the Cubs being twenty games under .500, just let me know.

[MarvinisaLunatic 0]

The Os Bullpen tried to blow a 7 run lead but Chris Ray came in and got the save and the Os won 7-4.

 

Now they need to win tonight and sweep the dblheader.

[Guest StylesMark]

Hey, Prince Paul, whenever you wanna give me like at least ten articles that predicted the Cubs being twenty games under .500, just let me know.

 

Really, if that's all you have, just stop.

 

I can recall NUMEROUS idiots banking the Cubs season on the health (please, don't laugh) of Wood and Prior. As if those two have ever given any analyst a reason to believe they'll do anything other than drag the hopes of their fans down.

 

To ANYONE who thought the Cubs could hang with the top NL teams, for shame.

 

Let 2003 go, Czech.

[vivalaultra 0]

Great, I missed a JUAN PIERRE homer. Even in Wrigley that's amazing.

 

Astros got blanked again, but it's okay, since they've got Roger Clemens now.

 

Yeah, I don't get how Roger was supposed to turn the Astros around when they can't score a run. I guess they plan on making a run at some bats at the trade deadline.

 

I doubt we make a trade for a bat and I don't think the need for a bat is as great as analysts would like to lead people to believe. We do have the ML leader in RBIs and our offense has actually been worlds better this year than last year (which helps because our pitching hasn't been nearly as good this year). We've got some really good hitters in Chris Burke, Mike Lamb, Preston Wilson (streaky though he may be), Lance Berkman, and Morgan Ensberg (presuming he comes out of his slump). As far as getting shutout, this is only the 5th time this season we've been blanked, compared to about 15 at this time last year, so the offense isn't as bad as some people seem to think. I think we need bullpen help more than we need another bat. And I wouldn't take the last two series as indicative of how the team performs offensively, as the AL Central has been giving the NL Central Hell this whole interleague part of the schedule. St. Louis went 0-6 against the Sox and the Tigers. At least we went 1-5.

[bob_barron 0]

Hey, Prince Paul, whenever you wanna give me like at least ten articles that predicted the Cubs being twenty games under .500, just let me know.

 

Really, if that's all you have, just stop.

 

I can recall NUMEROUS idiots banking the Cubs season on the health (please, don't laugh) of Wood and Prior. As if those two have ever given any analyst a reason to believe they'll do anything other than drag the hopes of their fans down.

 

To ANYONE who thought the Cubs could hang with the top NL teams, for shame.

 

Let 2003 go, Czech.

 

Come on, no one predicted the Cubs to be this bad though. I don't think anyone expected them to be .500, but to be 20 games under 500- no I don't think so

[Bruiser Chong 0]

That win was the Cubs' first home win in June. With it being the 28th, that's scary. That was only their fifth home victory since May 2nd, to boot.

[Guest StylesMark]

Hey, Prince Paul, whenever you wanna give me like at least ten articles that predicted the Cubs being twenty games under .500, just let me know.

 

Really, if that's all you have, just stop.

 

I can recall NUMEROUS idiots banking the Cubs season on the health (please, don't laugh) of Wood and Prior. As if those two have ever given any analyst a reason to believe they'll do anything other than drag the hopes of their fans down.

 

To ANYONE who thought the Cubs could hang with the top NL teams, for shame.

 

Let 2003 go, Czech.

 

Come on, no one predicted the Cubs to be this bad though. I don't think anyone expected them to be .500, but to be 20 games under 500- no I don't think so

 

Well, when you have a mediocre team (at best) and the few GOOD players you have start getting injured, you're fucked. It's not something you can plan for. But you can predict that with their current roster at 100%, they would have been below .500, than none of this should shock you at all.

[Guest Smues]

Damn A-rod. Of course he's un-clutch so that must not have been him but really Jeter in his skin.

[Bruiser Chong 0]

I guess the Red Sox are also Pedro's daddy. Giving up a longball to Alex Gonzalez should automatically mean the hook.

[the max 0]

8-0 Sox in the third.

 

Pedro is looking like he's not mentally into this game. He fucked up on the Ortiz comebacker in the first, which resulted in the first two runs and he's just given up a homer to Gonzalez. He's through three now, but he's not looking good.

[CanadianChris 0]

Deep down, Pedro's just a big Sox fan.

 

Marlon Byrd just made a really dumb play to give up an extra run to the Jays, possibly two. Diving for a ball in centre you're probably not going to get to is not smart.

[Guest StylesMark]

Deep down, Pedro's just a big Sox fan.

[Bruiser Chong 0]

I don't like the Sox, but they are impressive most the time. Down 3-0 with a mere three hits through six innings, DJ points out it takes a couple of cheap hits and a blast to tie it. Within minutes, the Sox hit three singles and a triple to tie it up with nobody out. And to top it off, after leaving the runner at third by burning through their first two outs, Podsednik drives him in.

[MarvinisaLunatic 0]

Hernandez just hit his 2nd HR of the day and it put the Os up 9-3 in the 4th after a rain delay.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

What a disgusting performance from the Phillies this month. 8-16, now 11.5 games out of first place. Worse, we're now mere percentage points better than the Marlins. That's inexcusable. We fire our GM because he managed "only" 88 wins, and our new GM can't even keep us above a team openly holding a firesale?!

 

I mean no disrespect to the Marlins here. It's just frustrating to see a team like that turn out better than what should have been a legit contender.

[Bruiser Chong 0]

What's Hamels' deal? He's been awful since coming back.

 

Cards are looking like the Cubs right now. Non-plays just led to three runs for the Tribe in the 8th. I don't expect their pen to hold the lead, but the Cards still haven't been playing good fundamental baseball.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

What's Hamels' deal? He's been awful since coming back.

I have no clue. Myers has been awful though (even before the domestic assault). Madson's been awful, Eude Brito got hammered, Floyd got crushed, Lidle's been bad, and Jon Lieber's hurt. Scott Mathieson got smacked around for the first time today. NO ONE who starts for this team can get the job done. These have been awfully frustrating games to watch because it seems they're down 4-0 or something like that within the first three innings. They were never in either game today.