The other "curse" is broken. Next year it's our turn. All we need is a bull-pen that can close a game and an offense that plays like it wants to be in the Series. Or maybe the Bambino needs to go kick the crap out of that damn goat. Seriously. You would think the players would stop and think for a minute that they make more for a single game than many of their fans make in a year. How many people out there scrimp and save to bring their family to one game a year and watch guys, who wouldn't notice losing that family's entire yearly income, play a kid's game. Any player who doesn't go out there and give everything they've got shouldn't be out there at all. They should be working at McDonald's. When I watched Boston (and St. Louis) play, they played every play like it really mattered. That's what we need. Hopefully next year we'll see it happen.
EAMUS CATULI AC016097

Now who do I root for? Growing up in central Illinois, the big rivalry was always Cubs/Cardinals. My mother's family, being from Chicago, was firmly in the Cubs camp. Being a Cubs fan teaches you many valuable lessons about life, but that's a topic for another post.
But, there's a part of me that has trouble pulling for those DH using sissies in the American League. I mean seriously... what is this? Football? The pitcher's a player, he should bat. But anyway, I think a lot of us Cubs fans have a soft spot in their hearts for the Red Sox. We've both got a "curse" we've both got a huge cross-town rival. And the loyalty and hope of both sets of fans is almost mythical. Also there's the issue that despite the fact that TBWITWW doesn't really understand... I just can't root for the Cardinals. I'd rather root for the White Sox. I almost rather root for the Yankees. (Almost.)
But the part of me that secretly believes in curses, and secretly believes they can be broken, wants to see the Red Sox win. I still believe that the Cardinals worked hard and deserve much success. I still believe that if the divisions were set up so it was possible, the Cubs, Astros and Cardinals would have all won divisions. I still believe that we play in the hardest division in Baseball. I still believe that Pitchers should have to hit. And I still believe the Cubs will go to the Series next year. But in the mean-time. I'll say words that under ordinary situations would never cross my lips.
Go Sox!

I'm a Cubs fan. Always have been, always will be most likely. We Cubs fans have our sacred traditions, among these is the singing of "Take Me Out To the Ball Game" during the seventh inning stretch. And a Wrigley, we use "Root, root, root for the Cubbies" rather than "Home Team." Variation from this is not tolerated... usually. But tonight, Bob Uecker, long time announcer for that team that plays at Wrigley North (otherwise known as Miller Park), was the guest singer tonight, and when he got to that part of the song, he sang:

I'll root, root, root for the Brewers... You do the same for the Cubs.

In this case, it's not only something that I'd tolerate, but in fact, I find it quite classy. I've always felt that I have more respect for a Cardinals or Brewers fan who is true to their team than the Lincoln Park Trixieswho claim to be Cubs Fans. So... Rock On Bob Uecker.

Today was baseball day. After a good breakfast with some great friends we headed down to the ball park. It was a beautiful day for baseball. And it was one hell of a game. The Cubs got 7 runs in the second inning, which in most cases would mean smooth sailing. But for a Cubs/Cards game, you can't predict anything. There's a reason that the rivalry between these teams is as big as it is. They feed off of each other, when one team plays well, the other somehow takes off and steps it up a notch more. The Cardinals fought their way back, and thanks to some fairly poor relief pitching on our part, they got the lead. It was good baseball. It's why I watch the game.
And then, at the end of the top of the ninth inning, things got a little strange. Yadier Molina was up, and the bat went sailing out of his hand down the first base line. The next pitch... his bat went flying out of his hands again, this time towards the pitcher's mound. It seems strange to me that a professional ball player would lose control of the bat like that twice in a row. Not to say that it looked like he threw the bat at the Cubs players. It really did look like he just plain lost his grip on it. Our pitcher, Hawkins, apparently had some questions for the umpire about this, and while everything appeared to be civil at first, it quickly escalated and Hawkins was being bodily dragged off the field by Dusty Baker and others from the Cubs dugout. At one point it even appeared that Hawkins made an attempt to take a swing at the ump. This, of course, was very, very stuipd and Hawkins deserves at least a fine, if not a suspension. I in no way condone the idea of players in any way threatening the umps. But... But... why in the hell do the umps follow a player in that situation to the dugout? Why, when the player is clearly being removed by their own team mates, is it okay for the ump to continue to get in the player's face? If the ump stayed at the plate, the situation would have been over. Hawkins would have been in the clubhouse, the ump would have been on the field and the game could go on. But not only the home plate ump, but the other three were on the dugout side of the third baseline, two of them right in with the Cubs team members who were trying to get Hawkins off the field, the other two stalking up and down in front of the Cubs dugout, glaring into the dugout. At least that's how it appeared to me in the stands. Still... I've never heard of an ump being fined or suspended for fighting. If a player touches an ump the player is automatically suspended, but there doesn't seem to be anything to prevent the umps from following a player and instigating the fighting. To use a cliche, with great power comes great responsibility. On a babseball diamond, the umpires' power is unquestionable. But with that power, is there not a responsibility to do whatever they can to diffuse a situation, not prolong it?
Obviously, I was not on the field, I did not hear what was being said. But from my point of view, the situation could have been better handled if the ump had just walked away... or even just stood still. It's crazy.
After this interlude, the bottom of the ninth progressed to get our hopes up and then cruely dash them upon the rocks of reality. But as a Cubs fan, I've learned to roll with those punches. During the game, I found out that I'll also be able to go to the game on Thursday.
After the game, we decided that ice cream was needed to soothe the pain of the loss (actually, since I went to the game with TBWITWW, and two White Sox fans, I guess I'm the only one with pain to soothe), so we headed to the Diner around the corner. Where I had buffalo wings and a rootbeer float. (also consumed were a milkshake, a banana split, some assorted fried food and a hot fudge sundae). So, despite the loss... it was a good day.

Some people are real fans... some are not.
I'd like to thank one of the real ones. Watching the Cubs game this evening, we saw a guy catch a foul ball. He then held the ball up while the person he was with took his picture. This is, of course, standard proceedure when catching a foul ball, however what came next was what makes baseball, and the fans that love it truly great. After the picture was shot, he turned around and passed the ball to a young fan a couple rows back. The guy who caught the ball will have a picture and great story to share over a couple beers, but the young fan will have a great souvenier, and (hopefully) a life-time love of The Game.

So, I got the machine up and running with Kernel 2.6.3 and Debian testing working well. I'll start trying to get apache and such all set up later.
Also, the Cubs insist on toying with my emotions. But we pulled it out and are back at 5 over .500
So, I'm off to bed. Geeze.

Well... the season is off to a good start. A sloppy game, but in the end what counts is that we won. there's one in the Win column... not other National League team can say that right now. Hopefully, we'll stay at the top all summer.