Is tomorrow coming soon?

PLAY LIKE THERE IS NO TOMORROW

That is the Cubs motto this season. It’s printed all over billboards across Wrigleyville, put up on El cars riding around the town, even on the poster/schedule that is hanging on my refrigerator. It is a great thought, for every player, coach, and fan to give everything they have to win today and not worry about the next day. It’s much better then the motto from the ’06 season: Play Like A Second Grade T-Ball Squad.

But maybe the motto means more then just the idea of giving 110 percent every time out. Maybe it has something to do with the announcement made on opening day that The Tribune Company, which owns the Chicago Tribune, The Los Angeles Times, and the Cubs (as well as Wrigley Field), was being sold to real estate mogul Sam Zell, who then would sell the club by the end of the year. (Zell has a minority ownership in the White Sox, meaning he has to sell the Cubs). So does playing like there is no tomorrow imply that the next day (or season) isn’t worth it? If so, what does the future hold for the Cubs?

Many of the rumors floating around is that Zell is planning on selling the team, but keeping Wrigley Field to himself. (Being a Sox owner doesn’t prohibit him from doing this.) He is a real estate man, and there aren’t many pieces of property that can bring in more money then 1060 W. Addison can. Others are saying that the stadium will be sold separately from the team, which could make for an interesting conflict if the team feels improvements need to be made but Wrigley’s owner doesn’t agree. Remember, Wrigley Field opened in 1914, meaning that is quickly approaching a century of baseball. The structure won’t hold up forever, and whoever purchases the stadium is going to have to figure out how preserve the classic parts of Wrigley (the scoreboard, the brick walls and ivy, the welcome sign) while upgrading the parts that need some improvement (the ramps, the concourse, the access to the bathrooms, the press area).

While the stadium obviously needs upgrades, whoever purchases the team is also going to have to spend some money to make some changes. They will have to give Carlos Zambrano a big contract (supposedly he has agreed to an extension, but until he signs it, it’s still number one on the to-do list), they will have to upgrade some of the starting rotation and hopefully replace Ryan Dempster at closer. The new owner would have to install a win at all costs attitude, something that the Tribune Co. failed to do in their twenty-six years as manager (It’s not like they were the only Cubs owners who failed in that respect). Some people have said that current Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban would be the perfect owner for the Cubs. And while I love what he has done with the Mavs, I would prefer a life-long Cub fan and Chicagoin to run the team, somebody who knows what the people of the Windy City have gone through.

So while the current Cub team is playing like there is no tomorrow, the ownership of the team is planning on what to do for the future of the stadium, franchise and the loyal fan base. Maybe tomorrow is when the team actually wants to play.


Some random thoughts on my favorite teams

- Opening day at Wrigley Field on Monday was amazing. Sure, it was under 40 degrees, snowing for part of the day and the Cubs lost. That didn’t stop the sellout crowd from going crazy when the roster was announced (The loudest cheer didn’t go to Piniella or Soriano, it was for D-Lee, which was nice.) and when Bears coach Lovie Smith and kick-returner Devin Hester(more on #23 below) were brought out to honor the NFC Champs. It was also quite successful for us hot dog vendors. I won’t get into specific numbers, but lets just say I never had made as much in one day selling hot dogs then I did on Monday afternoon.

- The Cubs have lost three consecutive games and are showing why it would have been nice to acquire a player with a high on-base percentage. They go three up, three down so often, and I think a lot of that is because they don’t have enough hitters who will take walks. I really have liked Cliff Floyd so far, but I wish Sweet Lou would give Matt Murton more plate appearances. He is a good hitter with enough at-bats, but I don’t see him getting them in 2007.

-The NFL once again proved why it is the greatest league in the world this week when it announced that Titans corner Pac-Man Jones and Bengals receiver Chris Henry would be suspended for a long period of time (Jones got a full season, Henry got eight weeks). The two have been in the news so often for illegal behavior and causing trouble that the league had no choice but deal with them. I don't think that Bud Selig or David Stern would have done the same thing, because their leagues cannot afford the negative publicity. The NFL knows people will watch it no matter who is on the field, so they can go out and take these kind of risks.

-Another thing the NFL does that no other league can do is make a holiday out of their league schedule being released. They have specials on ESPN and the NFL Network while analysts argue about who has the easiest and hardest road to the playoffs. It’s thrilling stuff. Anyways, I have taken a look at the Bears schedule, and without doing any research, have made an impulse pick on all sixteen games:

9/9 at San Diego-L
9/16 vs. Kansas City-W
9/23 vs Dallas-W (Sunday Night)
9/30 at Detroit-W
10/7 at Green Bay-L (Sunday Night)
10/14 vs Minnesota-W
10/21 at Philadelphia-W
10/28 vs Detroit-W
11/4 BYE WEEK
11/11 at Oakland-W
11/18 at Seattle-L (Sunday Night)
11/25 vs Denver-W
12/2 vs New York Giants-W
12/6 at Washington-L (Thursday Night)
12/17 at Minnesota-W (Monday Night)
12/23 vs Green Bay-W
12/30 vs New Orleans-W

Bears record- 12-4, first place in the NFC North. I don’t like facing Ladanian Tomlinson and Larry Johnson in the first two weeks, especially without Tank Johnson and most likely Lance Briggs. But the team has enough talent to split those two games, and then pick up their stride in mid-October to run away with the division.