Sitting here at the Times-Union newsroom, I've decided that I'd like to begin to write a weekly column. So, here it goes.
I had thought about doing this throughout the day, but now, on Friday night, it's time to get to it. But what do I write about?
With so much going on in the world of sports, there's a bevy of topics to choose from.
The Tour de France? Nope. I can't think of anything much more boring, and I don't care what Lance Armstrong is doing.
Tiger Woods failing to make the cut at the British Open? Nah. Once again, I find that as boring as the casual golf fan now finds the Open without Tiger. Although, seeing Tom Watson perform well would be kind of cool.
There's also the story of Jeremy Mayfield failing a drug test, getting suspended, appealing the suspension, being re-instated, failing another drug test and once again NASCAR looking to suspend him. Buuuut, nah.
My interest in college basketball was also piqued today after reading a story on the Slam magazine Web site about local product Mason Plumlee as he prepares to push Duke back to the nation's elite.
This interests because I find it cool the kid is from this area, and he may be able to match up with my Kentucky Wildcats in the Final Four this March. But that's so far away, it's not really worth mentioning right now. Besides, talk about him seems to get folks a little agitated in these parts.
Soooo, since I'm sitting on the office with the Chicago Cubs game on, what do you say I stay in my wheelhouse and write about them?
Well sports fans, what can I say? The Cubs really know how to irritate me.
I know, I know, a fan's supposed to be there through thick and thin, and maybe that's the problem.
I've been there all along the way. Even when friends and family have told me to walk away, I just can't. We have had some good times.
However, this year's been kinda rough.
It all started in the offseason after the 2008 team was swept out of the playoffs by the Los Angeles Dodgers.
This offseason, general manager opted to part ways with the likes of Mark DeRosa, Kerry Wood, Bob Howry and Jim Edmonds.
Okay, okay, that's cool, but to bring in Milton Bradley, Aaron Heilman and Kevin Gregg?
Those moves - those moves made me a little nervous.
And rightly so.
Heilman is as bad as he was with the New York Mets last year, Bradley's struggled all year and Gregg is just what the doctor ordered for anyone with low blood pressure.
Coupled with the suspect new guys, my favorite player Alfonso Soriano has completely embarrassed me with a .234 batting average, Kosuke Fukudome has been highly inconsistent hitting just .251 and Carlos Zambrano has obviously forgotten to take his "chill pills," carrying a 6-6 record.
Also shortening my life have been injuries, as Aramis Ramirez missed the majority of the first half with a dislocated shoulder, Ryan Dempster is missing time with a broken toe, Geovany Soto has a strained oblique, and now, Ted Lilly has a knee problem.
And despite all this, my team sits just three games behind the first place St. Louis Cardinals in the National League Central Division.
With that, I feel cautiously optimistic - as always.
I'd like to think they can't play as bad as they did during the first half of the season, and by opening up with a four-game series against the league's worst in the Washington Nationals, thing's are off to a good start.
As we speak, the Cubs have won the first two games of the series, which means they're undefeated in the second-half of the season, and I can see no reason why they'd lose a game the rest of the way. Seriously.
I also fail to see a reason why republicans and democrats can't come together.
Anyways, just like any other summer, the Cubs will be my soap opera for the next two-and-a-half months. There will be no way of telling how it will end, but that's why I watch each episode I can.
Sure, there's a great chance they'll come up short in the end, but there's that slight chance that they could make it happen, and that's why I love sports. Because, unlike a movie, sports are completely unpredictable.
If you've seen enough movies, you always know how it's going to end, even the Al Pacino-Robert De Niro flick I watched today. Yeah, there was supposed to be a twist at the end, but I spotted it from a mile away.
In sports there's no way of seeing who's going to win the big game, who's going to come up with the big hit or who's going to hit the game-winning shot at the end of a basketball game.
So whenever I see a Cubs game on, no matter how much I know they may break my heart, I just have to say, "What the heck?" and plop down and watch.
