the week that was, and cubs in 2007!!!

dearest all-

the cardinals finally cleaned up the ghost of detroit past a little while ago and of course, that means 1 thing: CUBS IN 2007!!!!

despite:

1) the fact that both me and good friend and sports authority nara w. of los angeles, ca agree that the cubs pitching staff is cursed, overworked, and destined to captain the titanic.

2) the cubs haven't won a world series in... 98 years. and with 30 teams in the major leagues, their technical odds are 1:30 or around 3.33% in any given year. that they haven't won since 1908 probably lowers those odds a bit. and, to paraphrase rick pitino: "mordecai brown isn't walking through that door. johnny evers isn't walking through that door..."

2a) on a positive note, the NL-central has represented the world series for the past three years (winning once), and have had at least one team in the NL championship since 2002. so, with 6 teams in the NL-central (stl, hou, cin, mil, pit, chi), the odds seem a bit better! hence the optimism.

2b) on a further positive note, when you boil it down, large-markets are helpful, and so in that regard, the cubs have a leg up on everyone except the yankees and red sox. and maybe the dodgers or mets. of course, if you notice, the cubs managed to be eliminated before the 4th of july this year, so maybe they don't have as much in common.

2c) on a final positive note, there's no way that the cubs can go through all those injuries again. can they? (please say the answer is no.)

so anyhoo, congrats to the st.louis cardinals. for a team cubbies hate, you looked a lot better than that high school team perfecting the 3-error inning representing the city of detroit. not to mention, as always when i discuss the cards, my dad does like stan "the man" musial.

on to other great and not-so-great moments in sports from this past week:

great moment #1: i FINALLY beat eugene in 8-ball this past sunday without the benefit of his sudden loss of skill due to consumption of bridgeport ipa (a great beer from portland, oregon!) over time. in fact, i beat him twice on the same night before the game got ugly and trick shots were simply not missing the cue. of course, we did learn that long pool sessions are best played on the early weekend days rather than sunday when the 9am monday geographic philosophy class rears its intellectual head. OI!

not-so-great moment #1: with an off week for usc, we were forced to watch brutal big-12 football. when 2 channels are both showing the HUGE baylor-kansas game, you know you are stuck in a provincial backwater. of course, baylor is in waco, texas (which is a pretty big town north of here on the way to dallas), but more importantly: IT'S BAYLOR!!! that's like being forced to have one channel devoted to army football... oh... wait... that'd be channel 123 on suddenlink cox cable here. never mind. fortunately, the trojans are back on the tube this weekend, which means: BRATWURST!

great moment #2: earlier this week, there was some concern about a potential lost bet with a classmate on a GIS project where we had to design the future super-highways for texas and i had a free coffee riding on a better grade. and who brought their A-game and got the only 10/10 on the assignment? can't wait for the java!

not-so-great moment #2: while succumbing to a cold/fever on tuesday, i went to the gym (of course!) and, roughly 15 minutes into my workout, i left with what i would describe as an evil headache. so i texted the great dr. carr of guam and he assured me it was neither an aneurysm nor a migraine, but more likely a focused-point headache. which is good to know i guess.

anyhow, happy halloween. my costume? we don't know yet. hope yours is better!

the three-second shout-outs:

1st second: shout-out to my cousins brenna and scott for the homecoming photos that somehow made it to my inbox. you two are catching up to me! and to think i can recall when you two were knee-high to my knee! congratulations: you are my first "i remember you when you were a baby!" story. thanks. my AARP letter should be arriving any day now.

2nd second: shout-out to good friend and airline pilot T3 of jersey city, nj, for the nice false alarm today. AFTER i drank 3 cups of coffee and was afraid to walk down the hall from my office to the powder room. it was very nearly a not-so-great sports moment #3 this week. but, thanks to my iron bladder, i survived!

3rd second: congrats to the wondertwins for winning the "cutest" costume award at the guam hospital halloween party.