Another Year, Another Beer: The 2007 Chicago Cubs

On the eve of an off-season that brought with it an unprecedented-in-sports 300 million dollar spending spree, I need to take time and ponder just exactly which direction things are heading. I should be excited, maybe even optimistic because we've taken the steps needed to be competitive. But be careful, my good friend, because it's a slippery slope out there. It all starts out innocently enough, you're acquiring high priced talent in free agency and you start winning a few baseball games, THE NEXT THING YOU KNOW, YOUR FAVORITE TEAM IS TRADING FOR A-ROD, YOUR PAYROLL SWELLS AND THE VALUE OF THE TEAM SKYROCKETS INTO THE STRATOSPHERE SO ONLY MARK CUBAN IS ABLE TO SWOOP IN AND BUY IT. MEANWHILE, YOU SPEND THE NEXT TWO YEARS WATCHING A SOAP OPERA OF A BASEBALL TEAM, ADVERTISEMENTS NOW SPRAWL WHERE IVY ONCE GREW AND WHILE CUBES IS ALL OVER THE T.V. HANGING OUT OF HIS OWNERS BOX, YOU CAN'T AFFORD THE NEW TICKET PRICE HIKE SO YOU’RE STUCK AT HOME ON YOUR COUCH POUNDING YOUR HEAD ON THE WALL WHILE WATCHING "FEVER PITCH II: THE FRIENDLY CONFINES" STARING JEREMY PIVEN AND KATE HUDSON.

Sorry, I just had to get that out of my system.

I'm optimistic. Not the adorable floppy-eared optimism that is usually associated with Cubs fans as in, "Oh, look at him, he thinks a 12-7 record is something to get excited about. Whoops, D Lee is out for three months! Another year down the drain!"

No, you won't find me boasting, because we don't have anything to boast about. I'm not going to walk around and talk big and act like money equates to success. To be honest, I think we may struggle for a while before we figure out what works. After all, this whole production has been cobbled together in just the past five months. What I am glad about is that the Cubs are not reliant on Wood or Prior anymore. I think leaving them in Arizona when the team travels north, letting them figure out whatever independent "genetic looseness" issues they have in the desert is the right move. I think Ted Lilly is another AL East pitcher (much like Bronson Arroyo last year) that will feast on NL Central hitting early on. I think the lefty bats of Cliff Floyd and Jacques Jones as two potential middle-of-the-lineup beasts are being majorly overlooked. I think the bullpen's success (especially Dempster, Cotts and Wertz) will have a direct relationship with the 'W' column. I think we'll honestly finish above .500 but just how much I'm not sure. Baseball, it's a very simple game if you think about it, you throw the ball, you hit the ball, you catch the ball. Well, it's easy for the fan. All we do is sit back and wait for another emotional rollercoaster of boxscores and drunk sunburns. Either way, it always amounts to a good time.