Jealousy

Yep, that’s the best definition of my feelings when seeing the attached photo of my friend Don and his wife as they visited venerable Wrigley Field on Friday 8/21.

I’m glad he got to do it.  I wish it was me….

Don & Mary Visit Wrigley

What a great experience at Wrigley Field and Chicago!  It was really nippy temperature wise and we did it all:  ate a hotdog at the game and sang “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” during the 7th Inning Stretch in memory of Harry Caray….glad we did it and I can now mark off this item on my “Bucket List”!  Holy Cow!  Cubs Win!  Thought I would send these as you were interested in this really Legendary stadium…hope all is well and look forward to heading to Lubbock for the game this weekend!

Methinks The Cubs Are Toast

Well dang, they’re six games out of the division and five games out of the wild card with 45 games to go.  They play lots of their last games against teams with losing records…like the Padres…against whom they’ve just dropped two in a row.

Nah, I don’t see it happening.  Will be thrilled if it does, but it just doesn’t look good.

Shallowater football opener is less than two weeks out, and Tech the week after that.  I’m not sayin’…I’m just sayin’….

This ‘n’ That

It’s been a while since I’ve posted anything.  Summer doldrums I guess.

Hey, the Cubs are in 1st place!  Not sure how long that will last with the injuries they seem to be racking up and the acquisitions the Cards are making, but for this day at least I’ll take it!  To even be within sniffing distance of first after the year they’ve had up to this point is quite an accomplishment (Ramirez out extensively, Zambrano and Lee out for a while, Lilly and Soto and Dempster all currently on the DL, Soriano and Bradley in long hitting slumps).

Did you notice the article in the AJ on 7/27 where they mentioned the new Ag museum in Lubbock?  They have like 25 acres

Major Meltdown

Oy.  The Cubs are suffering a monumental collapse.  I thought maybe this year would be different….

Oy.  This is painful, very painful.

There is still hope, but they’ll have to pull off what I don’t believe has ever been done before.

Oy.

Sports Nirvana?

The 7th Grade Mustangs are undefeated and looking good.

The Texas Tech Red Raiders are ranked 7th in the country as of 9/28.

The Cubs won the National League Central division and have the best record in the National League.

The Cowboys….ok, so the Cowboys dropped a grumpy against the Redskins.

Still, not too bad for this ol’ sports fan these days!

Cubs Clinch!

Woo hoo!

We left for the Tech game with the Cubbies up 5-4, and I guess I saw all I needed to because that was the final.  Cubs are NL Central champs, and have the lead in the race for the best record in the NL.

Now Lou can spend this next week resting some guys when needed and setting up the rotation for the first round.  Sweet!

Cubbies Two Away, Ten to Play

Wish I could have seen the game today.  Sounds like two different strokes of luck or great play.

Down 6-2 in the bottom of the ninth and one out from ending it, the Cubs come back with four runs to tie it.  It goes 12.  In the top of the 12th, the Brew Crew have runners at 1st and 3rd with one out – and DON’T SCORE!  Cubbies must have played some good defense there.

Then Lee drives in the game winner in the bottom of the 12th.  That’s sweet, because this has not been his best year.  I hope this is a sign of things to come in the post season.

That’s gotta be a dagger in the heart of the Brewers.  If they’d won this game they had a shot, but after today they may be in it statistically but not otherwise.  They have suffered a monumental meltdown, both team and management.  Ditching Yost when you’re still in the race was unprecedented.  If he was not the guy – why did you hire him to begin with.  Fire the GM, who must be clueless.

Magic Number is 7

With two weeks to play the Cubs magic number to clinch the division is 7 after Big Z pitched the first no-no from a Cub since 1972 Sunday against the Astros…in MILWAUKEE (how ironic).  The Brew Crew is in meltdown.  Today Yost got yanked even though the Brewers are still tied for the wildcard spot.  The Astros are charging hard for the wildcard spot, but are displaced from their home field for a set with the Cubbies.  With so many Cubs fans able to make it to Milwaukee, that’s almost like giving up those home games (even though they’ll play as the home team).  The third game of that set is postponed until 9/29 and will only be played if necessary.

I don’t think it will be necessary for the Cubs by then, but it could be for the Astros.  If so, it would work in the Astros favor because the Cubs would surely rest everybody in such a game.

It Was the Best of Times, It Was the Worst of Times

Of Mustangs, Cubs, Red Raiders and Cowboys: some good, some bad and some downright awful.

Mustangs: Our boys are trying to overcome the loss of their quarterback right before the season started, and I suspect that’s where most of the attention will be focused as they have struggled offensively in the first two games.  But I think I’m seeing the same thing I’ve seen the last few years – our offensive line needs better play.  Anytime we drop back to pass we’re rolling the pocket to help but our QB is invariably scrambling away from pressure and cannot see the field.  Defensively, nothing stands out as outstanding or irreparable.  Struggling as we did as a team against Crosbyton does not bode well for the rest of the year, though.

Red Raiders: Not hitting on all cylinders.  If the Nevada game was the annual stinker, we at least got out of there with a 35-19 win.  But we’ve got to play much better to compete in this conference.  Notice we’re 2-0, some teams above us in the polls have lost, and we have not budged.  They are noticing we’re not yet living up to the billing.  Three weeks to get things fixed before conference.  Things need to start clicking before then.  An encouraging sight: the defense is playing pretty well.  Wish Leach didn’t have a penchant for giving the other team the ball on our 30….

Cowboys: Looked okay.  Sure, they didn’t blow Cleveland out but there were some pundits saying the Browns would be a contender in their division.  As first games go, not all bad.  I’m a little worried about how Barber’s ribs are, but Jones didn’t look bad as a sub.  Romo looked decent – except for his chin.    Defensively they need to get Newman back at corner because their subs out there didn’t look good.  And “Pacman”?  Plllbbbbttttt.  Looked like a bust in game one.

Cubs: The awful.  Lordy.  They’ve now lost 6 of the last 7 and gave one away yesterday after going into the bottom of the ninth up 3-1.  Woody has not looked good in any of the last 3-4 appearences I’ve seen, and with trouble for Zambrano and Hardin….this is not looking good.  The saving grace?  The Cubbies have a huge lead for the wildcard, and with the Brewers dropping games at the same pace as the Cubbies they are still in the drivers seat for the Central.  Funny thing?  After all this losing, I think the Cubbies are still tied for the best record in baseball.  Hah! 

Oh No, Five in a Row!

Say it ain’t so!  Not only have the Cubbies lost five in a row but now they may have issues with Zambrano and Hardin!  Crikey!

If it weren’t for the fact that the Brew Crew is matching the Cubs loss for loss lately, the Cubs would already be out of the division lead.  Come on guys, let’s get through September and win this thing!  And for goodness sakes, somebody wake up the bats!  It’s been really painful to watch the last few days….