The Brain Leak

The Brain Leak (Week of 6/16/08 - 6/22/08) Another week, another seven days worth of sports-related drivel. With not much more than the yearly push towards the Mid-Summer Classic to bide my time, you'll notice I have instituted some fresh (some might say seedy) perspectives to the already multi-faceted Leak. In addition to serving up heaping servings of the usual BS, TBL [read more...]

Mars-Wrigley deal not sweet enough for Cubs fans

It's been over a couple decades since the Wrigley family sold the Cubbies to the Tribune Company -- and there haven't been any Life Savers for Chicagoans or anything as sweet as a World Series title during that time; or for the last, say 100 years. So now that Mars Inc. is buying Wrigley Jr. Co., [read more...]

What We Expected (And What We Didn’t)

While this baseball season is still in its infancy, this fact does not prevent us who follow the Cubs from forming opinions, rational or otherwise. Here are my initial thoughts on the first week of the 2008 season: WHAT WE EXPECTED; VALIDATED: *Derrek Lee is back. Remember the guy who wore out right and lefthanders in 2005? They guy who drove the [read more...]

Getting ready for fantasy baseball-First Basemen

While first base is often the deepest position in fantasy baseball, there can be a lot of pressure in that distinction. If you wait too long and get stuck with Todd Helton or Kevin Youkilis, you'll spend the entire season trying to find another source of home runs. Then again, if you take Albert Pujols in the first round and [read more...]

Forget and Forgive

As Frank Thomas prepares to again leave town after this series, it's worth again recalling the degree to which things went beautifully upon his return. The only real awkward moment I felt was watching the massive slugger walk by his former GM on the way into the Sox batting cages behind the home team dugout. And perhaps that was a sense [read more...]

Could Sox Envy Be the Way?

George Will was talking Cubs and Sox baseball last night. Well, he was actually talking to an audience of us at the Milton Friedman Freedom Awards about the wonders of liberty and the foundations of free societies. That might be oversimplifying it, but because Will is an admitted baseball guy to go along with being one of the countries finest political [read more...]

Clueless Cubs Falsely Mimic Sox

There's no point in comparing the talent level of the Cubs and Sox because, well, there's no comparison. But it might be worthwhile to compare the philosophies of the two teams … to understand why one is on its way back to the playoffs and the other is headed for a second straight sub-.500 year. The conventional thinking about the '05 [read more...]

No-Trade Clause is No Scare Tactic

If you've ever been asked to sign a prenuptial agreement, perhaps you can feel what the Cubs feel today. No-trade clauses in baseball are one of the more peculiar constructions in sports contracts, because, like the pre-nup, they mean everything, and nothing at all. When Derrek Lee and agent Casey Close finally were able to come to a deal with the [read more...]

Signing Maddux: Wisely or Unwisely?

Several of my friends, all Chicago White Sox fans, have something to smile about this week.My friends have been glum since last summer with the hated cross-town Cubs winning the NL Central Division while the White Sox foundered just short of the playoffs. Their angst was only placated by the Steve Bartman foul ball incident and the Cubs loss to [read more...]