left field outs transforma long swing short on long hitsdouble the troubleAstros 4, Cubs 3

on the dirt pulpitmanifest vindicationfor grade-school mistakesAtros 2, Cubs 7

back and forth leads swayout-blowing wind falls shortof miscue cure allBrewers 8, Cubs 6

silence chased awaythe joy catching the despairthe riot beginsBrewers 6, Cubs 7

souvenirs rain downdented Waveland hope takes flightis it all thumbs up?Brewers 5, Cubs 9

gray surround the moundin a fundamental fogeight Cubs left on base Cubs 1, Reds 3

seven strong from Zsecured by long ball flurrybasepath errs don't hauntCubs 4, Reds 3

sterling Silva starttarnished by walk, walk, grandslamfour runs fall short Cubs 4, Reds 5

Hope springs eternalas new Cubs carry the loadall stars disappointCubs 2, Braves 0

Rust-covered defenseturns three-one fastball intolosing souvenirCubs 2, Braves 3

Zambrano's rage waitsas runs grow like summer grasson pre-season hopesSeven hundred andfifty six Bentlys or getone Soriano?Cubs 5, Braves 16

Apparently Z has a "Grade 2 tear in the belly of [his hamstring]" caused when he tried to move his other belly up the first base line to leg out a bunt against the the Marlins Sunday.And I say, good for him! So he got hurt running. Apparently our marquee players can't run to first base (or third base, Milton) without pulling something, but at least they were trying.Instead, let...

Reason 10 Why We'll Never WinApparently Fukudome HAS been on his game this whole time. All those majestic pirouettes at the plate. Technically flawless spins, effortlessly executed at the very front of the batters box while hard objects whiz by at 80 mph. That would be like asking Mikhail Baryshnikov to execute a perfect routine on sand while an angry crowd throws vodka bottles at...

No. 9 Why We'll Never WinIt's pretty bad when a statue associated with losing and fried chicken is pulled out of a river half the world away and the first thing those foreigners think of is "Hey, Give it to the Cubs!" Even worse is having PETA - those fine folks who can read the thoughts of animals (but only the negative ones) - send an "urgent" letter to your front office threatening...

I wasn't going to say anything.After seeing the latest SI cover highlighting Fukudome and the Cubs proclaiming that "It's Gonna Happen" I decided to keep my mouth shut. Ignore it. Don't even pick the damn thing up! Maybe the jinx wouldn't land on the Northside.After all, the Cubbies had been on a hot streak since Alphonso Soriano hopped onto the DL and Reed Johnson took over centerfield...

I did some quick math in my head and decided that Soriano has to hit 4 HRs AND steal at least one base for every fly ball he drops.IF he was still hitting homers - he got one the other night and IF he steals bases - he stole one today and IF he gets on base in the lead-off spot - no signs of this BTW - then he can open up a lemonade stand in left for all I care.That's a lot of ifs...

Cub fans care more about the announcer than the teamCan you blame us? After 1o1 years of getting excited about trades and signings that didn't make a bit of difference, we have developed a curious attention to who talks us off the ledge.Currently, the giddy excitement of Ron Santo's triumphant shouts and dejected sighs in place of Bob Brenly has The Cub Fan more excited to hear This...

Reason 2: Why We'll Never WinYou'd think the one thing Cub fans could part with easily is the past. But the past seems to be the main factor in fielding the team year after year. I love my old Cubs but Hendry needs to let go. Take today for instance.Derrek Lee was 0-1 with a walk. That's fine. It's the first game of the year and he laid off a close pitch to take that walk so i'm...

Reason 3 Why We'll Never WinMilton Bradley left the game today with tightness in his leg after earning a walk in his first at bat. Wow. I know we didn't expect 162 games out of the man but one at bat?On the bright side, we beat the hapless Brewers. Their pitching looks even worse than it does on paper. Our young pick up Gathright got things going around the basepaths and 1B Jake...

Reason 4 Why We'll Never WinIf you count Lee, Soriano, Ramirez, Bradley, Soto, Theriot and Fukudome as already on the team, then that leaves probably 6 spots left. I ranked the rest of the guys at spring training so far on their batting/other and it's interesting to see that everyone doing well (besides Fontenot) are OF/1B. I guess that's what we need. Hopefully one of these 1B...

Reason 5 Why We'll Never WinOne week into Spring Training and we've already got the rotation set - save the 5th spot - and it looks really, really good. After his performance today, facing only 9 batters in 3 innings of work, LHP Sean Marshall made great strides and seriously made up for his last lackluster outing. Being as how he's a lefty AND younger AND been around, this has...

Reason 6 Why We'll Never Win ... Unfortunately the new Cub record was for Consecutive At-Bats by Milton Bradley Without An Injury. The previous record of one at-bat is now three at-bats.OTHER NOTES Chad Gaudin didn't help his cause today though he has plenty more chances. He gave up three doubles and a homerun in his three-inning performance. Still a shot for Waddell yet!

Reason 8 Why We'll Never WinIt took our wrinkled-wrapped manager half a coronary to get our third-highest paid team in the majors to win 1 of their last 7 games. Lou has maybe 10 more good outbursts in him before something gives out so we can't afford to waste these precious-few remaining jolts ...

Reason 7 Why We'll Never Win Micah Hoffpauir will be from now on known as HOFFpower! Here's why... 1. He's old, just like the real Hoff - David Hasselhoff - but is still a "rookie."2. He is batting almost .500 in spring training so far and has waaay more power than DLEE. 3. I can't spell his ...