Our Long National Nightmare is Over

Brett Favre finally made up his mind. No more pointless hostage drama. Bears fans used to fear him, but with the Bears on an upswing (and having swept the Packers last year), this news means next to nothing in a football sense. He'll end his career on New Year's Eve in Chicago. Great scheduling there...cold night, traditional boozehound holiday (aka Amateur Night). It could get ugly.

The Pollard show in Philly was probably the best of the three I saw. The traditional Keene/Pollard photos were also probably the best, but I won't be posting any of them. Critics of my appearance will just have to imagine how bad I looked.

Ibid.

Derrek Lee? Sub him in for Mark Prior, and I ask again: Why am I a Cubs fan?

Fish in a Barrel

The Onion weighs in on the Cubs' decent start to the 2006 season (nice sidebar about Mark Prior, too).

Picking on the Cubs doesn't require much skill, but it's easier to take when it's amusing.

Death of the Party

Sneak preview of a track from the upcoming Keene Brothers record:

Death of the Party

I'm way biased, but this album exceeded my expectations, which were pretty lofty. If anyone bothers to listen to this track, I'd like to hear your opinion.

POSTSCRIPT: Come on, people. I know there are at least two of you who check in here every once in a while. Listen to the song, even if you don't like/care about Pollard or Keene. I want some feedback on this.

Make it Stop

From today's Chicago Sun-Times:

"This is not the greatest game to be short-handed at the one, two and three spots because that's our strength,'' coach Scott Skiles said before the game. "From a statistical standpoint, you can see the stats that are gone from the game. [Deng] is also a better-than-average wing defender.

"But it is what it is. There are a lot of teams short-handed right now.''

The scourge continues.

It Continues

Cubs' outfielder Jacque Jones, after last night's HR (from the Chicago Tribune):

"I was getting booed [Saturday] when I was the worst player in the league," he said. "Now I'm the best. I just go out and play hard."

On Saturday, after his third strikeout in three at-bats, the boos came. On his next at-bat, a walk, the crowd cheered him derisively.

"It is what it is," he said. "If I'm going to [go hitless], I'd rather do it now. We've been winning and that's all I care about."

Always nice to sweep the Cardinals, too. Praise Michael Barrett!

Postscript to Friday's home opener: The rain stopped well before heading to the park, but it was brutally cold. We made it through "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" before splitting for some warmer environs.

I've Seen the Rain

And it's here in Chicago today, which will put a crimp in the Cubs' home opener festivities.

This is why I generally avoid April games at Wrigley. But, as usual, I look forward to spending the day there. In my winter coat. Nice.

Band on the Fun

As expected, the Robert Pollard show -- the conclusion of Marchapalooza -- was a lot of fun. Simply put, this band, led by Tommy Keene and dubbed the Ascended Masters, is amazing. As fun as GBV always was, this is the best combination of musicians Bob has ever played with. It looks like I'll be going to Philly for the finale of this part of the tour. They'll be playing more shows later in the year. A couple of photographs are here for my friends to abuse. Enjoy.

Oh, and tomorrow sees the release of Keene's new album, Crashing the Ether. Highly recommended. (And check the thank-yous.)