Full Court Press

why hazsent this just happened already?

ugggghhhhhh

its a no brainer.

is Prior still in the league?

I've said for a long time that Wood has a closer's stuff, and the nasty, killer mindset necessary for the job -- the guy just can't stay healthy regardless of where he pitches. If he stays healthy, he could be a top-tier closer. If if & if.

Marmol could probably use a little more seasoning, so having him as the 8th inning guy for now works on two fronts: gives him opportunities, and has him knocking on the door in case -- mysteriously, surprisingly -- Wood somehow finds himself on the DL this season.

I hate the idea of relying on 'Kid Disabled List' for anything more than a setup role. Especially since he hasn't earned this spot. Marmol has all the ability and is more durable. Kerry will be on the DL by mid season.

Oddly enough, I have a good feeling about Wood this year.

Keep in mind; I also liked the Bears and the Bulls last summer.

kid k gotta love it if you are a cubs fan. we have guys ready to step up if he falters..... yeah i remember i was driving a straight truck around lake in the hills delivering big screen tvs about 75 lbs ago.....great stuff thanks 4 the memories roman

And, oddly, you like Villanova in the the tourney.

He's the best choice. He's throwing the ball the best. He's got the stuff and the mentality. Let's hope he is the next Dennis Eckersley.

You all realize Lou Pinella is our Manager, right?...this isn't the LovieSpeak JerryMandering BS we get in the fall....

Pinella knows what he's doing....big difference....

If Wood stays healthy he will be an All-Star closer this year!!!! If not Marmol and Howry are both qualified.

When Kerry struck out 20 10 years ago I was in the hospital while my wife was having false labor pains and I watched it on the TV there.

What's wrong with having them both? Save the wear and tear on Wood, have Marmol set him up and never let Wood pitch more than one inning. And if Marmol's smoking 'em in the 8th let him pitch the ninth and keep Wood on the bench. And if (when) disaster strikes you can always pull Dempster out of the rotation. Wood is a true closer, he reminds me of Gossage. Uh, Gossage with the Yankees, not with the Cubs...

Momentum wise, it's the right move. Let the veteran lead the way. If he falters in April/May, there's still over 100 games to start working in Marmol or anyone else. I know these guys are all professionals, but, I'd like to to believe that seeing Wood come back from where he was (particularly given his great beginnings) will be a psychilogical boost to their own ability to perform.

Wood will hurt his arm.

Dempster will be looking for a middle relief job by the end of May.

Lilly's blow up/melt down in the playoffs will linger into this season.

Marquis will become a clubhouse cancer, but the Cubs can't afford to eat his $16M salary, so he will sit and mutate.

Zambrano will start a fight ... with the clubhouse manager.

Fukudome will be batting about .220 by the end of May.

Cubs will be under .500 at the end of May.

They will still be in first in the incredibly weak NL Central Division, but they and everyone in baseball will know that for all the millions they spent, the Cubs suck.

Happy day after St. Patty's Day everyone.

Kerry wood, before his injuries...and before he "stopped eating mcdonalds" was on track to be one of the best pitchers of all time.

Better than Clemens!

..and when Wood threw 20...I was watching it at home in Phx...only thing weird about it was I watched the whole game and didn't fall asleep for part of it...

and since Roman may have been driving...I'm glad he didn't fall asleep, either

10 yrs ago I was stuckinRockford. My how times change. gooooooooooooooooooooo Cubbies.

Seedy..I think the Cub's clubhouse manager is Mr Miaggi from Karate Kid...Carlos Macchio will get his azz kicked....then Jay "wax off" Mariotti can write about something he knows about...

that was wrong...funny as he.. but wrong.. and I apologize

Go Cubs

Yeah stuck...but the per capita houshold income hasnt changed much from place to place though...so...somethings I guess always stay the same.

Yeah stuck...but the per capita houshold income hasnt changed much from place to place though...so...somethings I guess always stay the same.

and I mean that in general...not you of course. You obviously would be the exception to the Kenosha rule!

Wood will be fine -- until his arm breaks off at the shoulder.
Just remember what Steve Stone said last June:
Marmol will be the Cubs closer.
And Eyre is useless.
And when will the Cubs realize that Dempster is a waste
of time and money? The only thing about using him as
a starter is that they can pull him out of games quicker
when he really starts to hemorrhage runs.
Four million? This guy ain't worth four thousand.
Billy Crystal could hit the cycle against him.

If I could make a suggestion, (without getting bitch slapped into the next millennium) there would be a lot more posts to this blog if it was updated more than once or twice a day, and the dialog had more of a "real time" feel to it.

As it stands; most of the stuff we post is old news by the time it actually hits Full Court Press, and many a topic dies a premature death due to the fact that we've all come to this realization.

It's hard discussing today's hot stove topics when there's no one in the kitchen stoking the fire.

Roman responds: Here's the deal brother, this isn't my main priority at work. I manage our sports Web site, and I'm writing more lately. For instance, I covered the Bulls game last night and will do a thread on that in a minute and I also have a two-page spread on a former Olympic boxer from Chicago. There's no one devoted solely to a blog. So be patient. Plus, one thing I've noticed is that now that Rick is helping me post comments, I don't have as much of a conversation with you guys as I did before. I'll look into it. And there's also a new program where comments can get posted to stories almost immediately and automatically. Not sure if that can work with blogs. I'll look into it. There, is that answer long enough?

Roman:

Your reply was informative, and greatly appreciated.

I understand that "real time" posting would be hard with a family publication, due to the fact that immature participants would undoubtedly pepper their replies with four letter words, and inappropriate comments.

Being used to the free for all that exists in the other discussion groups I belong to, it's just hard to get used to the traing wheels / restrictions. However, I do enjoy the product.

Rome...dont worry about Mark...the last thing any of us need is to have to check this blog more than a couple times a day.

I dont really want to hear up to the minute thoughts from him or anyone else, and im sure, they dont want to read mine.

Your doing fine, Ricky is good, especially his anything goes attitude...i think my censoring ratio goes way down when Ricky is at the helm.

Anyways.....no need to explain yourself or your busy schedule to us dregs. We know you have a life, and you are busy, and its obvious you are feeling a bit left out.

You should put up your POST #s like, how many people are posting on average threads or how many HITS this site gets...I bet its staggering.

Also, everyone should know that there are about 1 BLOGS that I know of, where the actual blog owner and psuedo celebrity actually RESPONDS to your posts.

Thats amazing actually!

This blog has allowed many of us...and especially the chicago transplants to feel like we have a voice or a pipeline to the heart of Chicago sports. I wouldnt be surprised if this blog is monitored by all the cities sports owners, either directly or indirectly.

Power is Knowledge!

Roman responds: Jesus, Culzie, you made me laugh with the "cheese slippage from one's cracker'" post earlier, now you're about to make shed a tear. Thanks.

Ricky/Roman (I suspect you might be the same person with a split personality): I like this blog. You do a fine job managing it. One of you actually responded to me once with the phrase, "good post."

I haven't been the same since.

Mr. Culz, you are wrong, I do hang on your every word. However, your head size is too big for my pink sox hat. Sorry.

I even like Stuckinwisconsin's posts, who is really stuckinkenosha, my hometown.

To the point of the blog - Kerry Wood has had at least nine lives with the Cubs. I can't believe they still have him. If the closer thing works, and it might, then good for him.

Note to Bubba's Mom

Hanging on every word of Culzie's... why you sound just like Julie B. You best keep looking over your shoulder, Julie B is one ultrasensitive, ultraprotective former ice skater now yoga diva who's trying to avoid marriage proposals from Stuck and others, while openly pining to ride Shotgun on Culzie's "Rex-randragon."

As far as this blog goes, it's groovy. Although occasionally, I would like a drop down translation menu for some of Hitman's posts -- or a glossary like in A Clockwork Orange. (Hey, just kidding HMan! Only five more months until football.)

However, could we have just one post on rythmic gymnastics? Keylan has been complaining.

I was like an Obama speech today...I made you laugh...cry...there was a little something in it for everyone.

Speaking of that...by the way...

i want to break a BRAND NEW conspircy theory here...

OK....

When you use the SpellChecker for MicrosoftOutlook's email...

when you type out Obama ....the spell checker...tries to change it to Osama...

No kidding...go check it out.

Now, who is a huge Clinton supporter?...GATES!

BAMM

You thought Hannity breaking the story about UnityChurch was crazy....www.CulzReport.Com

Romie...

You dont have to post this...but I wanted you to see this....check it out...no bs. Peep the Date.

Am I good or what?

=====
From: bc [mailto:bculzxxxx)
Sent: Thursday, January 04, 2007 8:40 AM
To: 'Jeremy M'; 'Jeff H'
S
ubject: Uh oh...

Hey…for what its worth, how come Obamma is part of an extremely militant Pro-black /anti- Israel Church…?

Trinity United Church of Christ

Wright & Sabeel (church founders) are engaging in blatant propaganda that seeks to isolate and delegitimize the existence of the Jewish State.

All that glitters…..????

“The More you know “

Brian

Funny CD-/]\ except JB and BBSM are not alone. The Pink Hat is big enough for everyone!!!!!!!!!

Still not sure about the Grasssmo...er uh..Grasshopper stuff though!

Yup, 10 years since the 20-K game, May 6, 1998. And I sure do remember where I was, I was sitting in the bleachers, first row in center field in front of the scoreboard. What a fantastic game that was! And that one "hit" should have been scored as an error and it shoulda been a no-no. I recall that it started raining late in the game, but the umps didn't stop it, obviously knowing that history was going to be made. Still gives me goosebumps thinking about it. That was the greatest game I ever attended, even better than being in St. Louis when Mac hit #62.

who doesn't like opening up the page to hear Hitman talking about the left side of the menu at Wafflehouse?? Funny on so many levels....if you ever drove to florida....Whether you are coming from Wisconsin or Illinois....the scenery is the same once you get past Atlanta: Outhouses,Cathouses,and Wafflehouses (as Long as ESPN let's Lou Holtz slur the 's' in Illinois....I can mispell the plural of 'houses'.). Real time posting will kill a thread faster than Kenny Williams can kill a broadcast(please never let that man be a guest again WGN!). What is wrong with Marmol anyway??? What the he** is Wood gonna do? Why is Dempster still on the team? If only we had Jermaine Dye........we would have better things to debate.

Wood should be the closer because of his expierence, not to mention his stuff is pretty good. Wood know how to get hitters out. Marmol on the other hand is still a question mark. How is the N.L. central going to adjust to him? Then how is he going to adjust? These are questions you don't want your closer to have. What if its a season long adjustment? Wood is polished and his stuff is as good if not better.

US TROOPS KILLED IN IRAQ
Percentages by ethnic group: White: 75 percent; Hispanic or Latino: 11 percent; Black or African American: 9 percent; Asian: 2 percent; multiple races, pending, or unknown: 1 percent; American Indian or Alaska Native: 1 percent; Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander: 1 percent