The Bears’ sixth training camp at Olivet Nazarene University is underway and although they entered with little drama, some interesting things have happened in the first few days of camp.
Two years ago, I had a trip to Seattle scheduled for a wedding. As organizer of the bachelor party, I planned, among other things, a trip to a Mariners’ game against Baltimore. I also bought tickets for the game the day before the wedding just for fun.
Well, on the plane, an engine blew on the runway, sending smoke into the cabin and delaying us several hours. Unfortunately, I was on a tight schedule. (I would have missed rehearsal, the ballgame and, probably the wedding itself depending on how long it would have taken us to get there — there was no scheduled direct flight to Seattle until after the wedding, so we would have had to take some lay-overs. It was a nightmare I wish not to relive.). So, after careful consideration, I just took my refund and went home, eating the cost of the tickets for the bachelor party and apologizing profusely to the folks in Seattle.
Well, I still had time to Ebay the tickets for the second game, which, as fate would have it, looked like a strong candidate for Rafael Palmeiro’s 3,000th hit.
I sold the tickets for just about face value, shipped them overnight to the buyer and, lo and behold, Palmeiro did in fact get his 3,000th hit in that game. I offered to pay the buyer some cash for one of the stubs (I wanted the keepsake for my kids), and he was nice enough to actually let me have it at no cost.
The stub currently sits in my 4-month-old son David’s room and there it will stay hopefully for a long, long time. Maybe someday I’ll find a way to get it autographed.
Still, a big part of me wishes I could have been there in person. Sure, with all the steroid drama surrounding him now, it seems kind of silly, but I still would have liked to have been there.
Now, I have a fresh opportunity to witness a historic moment and I’m not going to let it slip away. A friend of mine lives in Milwaukee and, with the Giants in town to face the Brewers this weekend, he bought four tickets in the left field bleachers for Sunday’s game at $20 a pop. He invited me to see the game and I took the offer in a second. I’ll be there bright and early, hoping to see Bonds tie or break Hank Aaron’s record. (I’d prefer he not break it at all, but since he is going to break it sometime, I just hope I’m there.) So I’ll be there with bells on.
Unless my engine blows and sends smoke into my car.
In the wake of the news that Tank Johnson was under the legal limit when he was pulled over in June in Arizona, the question on everyone’s mind seems to be: Were the Bears wrong to cut him before finding out all the facts about the incident? (Note: Michael W. Smith, filling in for Jim Rome on Rome is Burning, used the term “jumping the gun” twice. He did it with all seriousness, not as a pun. I just thought that was funny.)
It’s an intricate issue, and I’m not sure what I think of it. Since Tank was not drunk, the Bears essentially released Tank for speeding. Sure, he was driving around, at 3:30 a.m., after he had something to drink. But, when you break it down, he was just speeding. That’s it. Speeding. And he was cut.
Looking deeper, we don’t know what exact parameters were set when the Bears and Tank sat down to discuss their situation. Sure, there was a zero tolerance policy set, but I doubt the team would have released Tank had he been pulled over at 3:30 p.m. with a 0.0 alcohol rate. The two key factors were, obviously, 1.) it was 3:30 in the morning and 2.) there was suspicion of DUI. It’s doubtful, especially considering the term “to the slightest degree” was used in the initial police report, that the Bears would have cut Johnson simply on suspicion of DUI without getting the results of the blood test. Also, it’s doubtful the Bears would have cut Tank for simply being out late at night, unless there was curfew set by the team, which is certainly possible.
The team took a chance on Tank, not cutting him after multiple weapons charges, including one infamous occasion in which he allegedly told a police officer “you ain’t the only one with a glock.” They didn’t cut him when his home was raided. They didn’t cut him when he went out partying shortly afterwards and his friend got killed. They could have cut him at any point during the last half of last season and no one would have said a peep.
But they didn’t and instead decided cut him for speeding.
Perhaps I’m getting a little ahead of myself after the Cubs’ recent winning surge, but today I did something not many fans have done since around 2004 — I checked the September schedules of both the Cubs and a key opponent (in this case, obviously, the Brewers) to see which one was more favorable.
The verdict was that the Cubs have the slight advantage - more on that a little later - but what was more interesting to me was the schedules of the Cubs and Brewers in the 6-7 weeks following the All-Star Break.
They’re exactly the same. Following a three-game home stand for each team on the weekend following the All-Star Break (for Milwaukee, it’s Colorado; for Chicago, Houston), the two teams basically take turns playing the same foes. Take a look.
- July 16-22: Chicago - SF, SF, SF, SF, Ari, Ari, Ari. Milwaukee - Ari, Ari, Ari, Ari, SF, SF, SF
- July 23-29: Chicago - off, @StL, @StL, @StL, @Cin, @Cin, @Cin. Milwaukee - @Cin, @Cin, @Cin, @Cin, @StL, @StL, @StL, @StL.
- July 30-Aug. 5: Chicago - Phi, Phi, Phi, Phi, NYM, NYM, NYM. Milwaukee - off, NYM, NYM, NYM, Phi, Phi, Phi.
- Aug. 6-12: Chicago - @Hou, @Hou, @Hou, @Hou, @Col, @Col, @Col. Milwaukee - @Col, @Col, @Col, off, @Hou, @Hou, @Hou.
- Aug. 13-19: Chicago - off, Cin, Cin, Cin, StL, StL, StL. Milwaukee - StL, StL, StL, Cin, Cin, Cin.
- Aug. 20-26: Chicago - StL, @SF, @SF, @SF, @Ari, @Ari, @Ari. Milwaukee - @Ari, @Ari, @Ari, off, @SF, @SF, @SF.
- Aug. 28-30: Milwaukee at Chicago (3-game series)
This week? The Cubs have four at Washington and then three at Pittsburgh, so you’d think the Cubs could gain some ground. The problem is, the Brewers have four at Pittsburgh then three at Washington. Of course they do.
For home stands, this makes sense. Basically, when teams travel to Chicago or Milwaukee, they can then simply jaunt over to the other city, which is just a short bus drive away. Simple enough. But it doesn’t explain the identical road trips the two teams make. It’s hard to tell if this is an odd coincidence or done intentionally on the schedule-makers part. Probably a little bit of both.
One thing’s for certain, though. If the Cubs are going to gain ground on the Brewers after the All-Star Break, they’re simply going to have to earn it, straight up, against the same exact schedule. That’s certainly better than 2004, when we were trying to catch the Cardinals by constantly playing the White Sox while the stupid Cards were pounding the Royals. Man, I hate the Cardinals.
As for September, when it really gets down to the nitty-gritty, the Cubs seem to have a slight edge. The schedules begin to deviate finally from one another and though they’re still similar in terms of quality of opponents, the Brewers’ schedule seems more grueling. Beginning on Sept. 14, they play on 16 straight days, including a road trip that takes them from home to Houston, then to Atlanta and back home, where they take on St. Louis in a three-game series before a season-ending four-game set against San Diego.
Meanwhile, the Cubs have two off days during that same stretch, with two of their final four series coming against Cincinnati and the other two against Pittsburgh and Florida.
