Nearly Next Year

Kerry Wood Gone For Good

Thu, 13 Nov 2008 15:37:31 -0600

Nearly Next Year

How was this not The Year?

Mon, 06 Oct 2008 18:09:51 -0500

It's been more than 24 hours since the biggest, quickest and most pathetic letdown of my sports fan life, but the anger, pain and confusion are still as fresh as they
were when Alfonso Soriano ended the Cubs' World Series chances with a half-hearted half swing. (Give him some credit, though. I'm pretty sure it was the first pitch of
the NLDS that he actually tried to take.)

Unfortunately for all of us, we now have a painfully long
offseason to nurse our wounds and decide what can be done to make a team that won 97 games more successful in October.

But let's not think about the future just yet. Let's wallow
in self-pity and linger over the questions a bit longer. It's our Cub-given right.

Nearly Next Year

Postseason Predictions You Can Bet Your Dwindling 401k On

Wed, 01 Oct 2008 17:06:56 -0500

You can't have a legitimate sports blog during the playoffs without making a few predictions. It's just not allowed.

Nearly Next Year

Cubs Looking to "Keep It Surreal" Through November

Tue, 30 Sep 2008 16:54:57 -0500

It was a throw-away line in a pre-game interview on WGN radio a few weeks ago, but it sums up the feeling Cubs players and fans have had all season long.

“It’s been surreal,” said Cubs rookie catcher Geovany Soto, responding to a question about his unprecedented success and the team’s drive to the playoffs. “Let’s keep it surreal.”

Let’s keep it surreal.

That’s a pretty good slogan for a team that has won the division title in back-to-back seasons for the first time in 100 years. And that’s a pretty good mantra for a team that needs just 11 more wins to stop an even more significant 100-year drought.

Nearly Next Year

More Cubs Music: "Take Me Out To A Cubs Game"

Sat, 20 Sep 2008 00:40:03 -0500

With Eddie Vedder's recent addition to the ever-growing canon of Cubs devotional hymns, I thought it might be a good time to review a collection of these songs that came out at the beginning of the season.

Nearly Next Year

Eddie Vedder Releases Cubs Tribute Song

Wed, 17 Sep 2008 17:53:12 -0500

THIS JUST IN:

Now that we're on the verge of a Cubbie Clinching as early as Thursday, Pearl Jam frontman and lifelong Cubs fan Eddie Vedder has written, recorded and released his tribute song, "Someday We'll Go All the Way." (Apparently it's a live version. I don't think there is a studio version yet.)

I haven't actually heard the song yet, but two Chicago radio stations made reference to having played it this afternoon.

Nearly Next Year

Play It Again, Ump: Replays Bad For Baseball

Thu, 28 Aug 2008 23:13:42 -0500

The Cubs didn't install lights at Wrigley Field until 1988, but they were on the cutting edge of baseball technology tonight, as the instant replay made its Major League debut at the Friendly Confines.

And baseball may never be the same.

Nearly Next Year

The Shock of a Century Is 31 Games Away

Tue, 26 Aug 2008 17:18:40 -0500

It's the age-old Cubs fan question that is too often rhetorical by this point in the baseball season: What if this year really is The Year?

Nearly Next Year

Up on the (Wrigleyville) Roof

Tue, 05 Aug 2008 16:41:33 -0500

With the Cubbies pounding the competition on a regular basis at Wrigley Field, tickets are harder to come by than ever before.

Gone are the days when you could show up to the park at 1:19 and catch an afternoon ballgame in the shaded comfort of the upper deck. Even the worst seats in the house were sold out by April this year.

Nearly Next Year

Blogosphere sounds off on Cubs/Cards movie cast

Thu, 10 Jul 2008 11:17:09 -0500

Monday's post on my picks for who would play certain Cubs and Cardinals players in a movie about their rivalry bounced around the blogosphere quite a bit over the past few days, leading others to try their hand at the Cubs/Cards casting game.

Nearly Next Year