Two years ago, having been conceived in the minds of commiserative suffering and gestated in the womb of indignant hope, Obstructed View was born. We celebrated the cerebral union of four great genius prize-winning semi-literate minds (operating under our noms de plumes, mb21, aisle 424, berselius, and yours truly, and counting) the way any intellectual quadrumvirate would: with a series of poorly crafted photoshop images. We were the Beatles. We were the cast of Seinfeld. We were the master impressionists. We were South Park.
I was Kenny, because, oh my God, I have a habit of dying every week, most recently for good. But I got better.
If writing about the Cubs were an art form and Cub wins were our payment, we'd be considered starving artists. Not counting the postseason, the Cubs are 132-192 since we launched this site. Fortunately for us, writing about the Cubs is a soulless bed of commercial extravagance, and we're all the sort of rich that makes any sell-out adopt a false sense of dissatisfaction with material possessions.
But before wealth spoiled the innocence of our organic grassroots blogging origins, we never got into this for the money, the fame, the notoriety, or the women. No, we did it on the simple premise that baseball, even Cubs baseball is good. And talking and writing about baseball is fun. And talking about baseball is most fun when done with people who know what they're talking about, people interested in getting it right and willing to admit when they get it wrong . . . hell, even hoping to discover they're wrong. More, better information . . . people who are fans of that and Cubs baseball? They're fun to talk to. Absent that, it's still nice when those who know nothing are at least somewhat entertaining, and absent that, the boring dumb folk who are good sports about their mind-numbing stupidity are pretty cool to discuss baseball with, too, hence my inclusion in this beautiful mess.
Okay, maybe that's not the simplest premise, but it's not exactly genetic engineering. Were it actually genetic engineering, it would still be germaine to most posts on this blog, because we have always welcomed discussions on just about anything. Tongue in cheek, face in palm, mind in the ether, Obstructed View is and always has been a place where discussion both thoughtul and mindless is more or less welcomed.
It's a good place. It's a good blog. I don't mind saying that, especially since I am by no means responsible for it.
The beginning of the baseball season has reminded me, as perhaps it has you, that baseball is good. It is more than a pasttime. It's a hobby. It's a field of knowledge and culture and passion that allows us to witness and measure and analyze the performance of men doing the stuff of which we dream.
Even the worst of teams (and the Cubs just may be that) is comprised of elite baseball players. The team we like, playing the game we love, cheered on by the friends we've made along the way . . . who we may or may not care to meet in real life ever. For two years now, we've been documenting our travails in this hobby, this pasttime, this sick and fruitless love affair, right here on Obstructed View. We've been fans for much longer than that. We'll be pretend Internet friends for much longer still. But nothing compares to the length of time we'll have to wait for a World Series crown on the north side.
In the meantime, we'll enjoy the ride. We'll continue to comment on this sport that distracts us from real life, and we'll continue to comment on the various pursuits that distract us from this shitty team. And I'll continue to intend to post more. But for now, I just want to say thank you to everyone who reads, comments, and writes on this blog. It has been an interesting couple of years. I hope this one surprises us.
Go Cubs. Happy birthday, OV. Thanks, everybody.
Comments
Tim McCarver wrote:
I don’t know what you mean, but it had the cadence of a joke, so I laughed.
Perd HapleyQuote Reply
*thumbs up*
Rice CubeQuote Reply
False.
Aisle424Quote Reply
Perd Hapley wrote:
Is that like when a game is broadcast on a television channel?
Aisle424Quote Reply
(dying laughing)
dmick89Quote Reply
(dying laughing)
Bravo, sir.
GBTSQuote Reply
Whoa.
GBTSQuote Reply
@ Aisle424:
I got into it for the women.
By the way, if you and your wife ever decide it is time to write your own obituaries as we (her) did this last weekend, take it more seriously than I did. I learned that it was not the time to make jokes and I’m still paying for that mistake.
dmick89Quote Reply
I have to admit, I had a lot of fun not counting the postseason.
AndCountingQuote Reply
@ AndCounting:
Welcome back (again), sir. Also Happy Birthday to the site that brings crotchety Cubs fans together. How old is 2 years in snarky asshole years anyway?
mikeakaleroyQuote Reply
mikeakaleroy wrote:
288.
Rice CubeQuote Reply
uncle daveQuote Reply
uncle daveQuote Reply
uncle daveQuote Reply
That last one is kind of disturbing. Sorry about that…
uncle daveQuote Reply
@ uncle dave:
(dying laughing) did that kill her? She’s not moving at all.
dmick89Quote Reply
@ uncle dave:
It is, but it had to end well. Didn’t it?
dmick89Quote Reply
424 and dmick started OV for the women and all they got was SVB’s Dr. Quinn avatar.
SVBQuote Reply
@ dmick89:
I dunno, but it she might be a candidate to spend some time in the Marian Hossa quiet room over at Northwestern Memorial.
uncle daveQuote Reply
dmick89 wrote:
dmick, I just want to remind you that you promised me a few threads ago that OV wasn’t going anywhere for at least a few more years, so I don’t have to try to find a new online community I like and want to participate in. This exercise of you and your wife’s better not be a prelude to something serious…
Don’t get me wrong, I’m sure B, Myles, 424, and occasionally AC can keep the content flowing, but none of them is going to be able to rearrange the forum every 6 months or fix my screen name. (dying laughing)
SVBQuote Reply
Re: Atlanta baseball and my 6-yr-old daughter.
Hadn’t thought about the Tomahawk Chop. Ugh. She’d totally be into that, seeing it as a dance move. Guess I’ll have to think about how to explain how that is rude, bigoted, etc. in 6-yr-old logic.
I’d be pretty upset that I’ve had to shift my plans from Pitt to Atl next week, if it weren’t because the change is the result of a job interview.
SVBQuote Reply
@ dmick89:
She may have got a candle in the eyeball
WaLiQuote Reply
@ WaLi:
That’s probably better than death.
dmick89Quote Reply
@ SVB:
The need to write our obituaries, I think, was just about planning ahead. Unless she plans to kill me pretty soon, I’m guessing it won’t be used for some time. Well, I’m guessing the one I wrote will never be used, which is too bad because I had a ridiculous amount of fun writing it.
dmick89Quote Reply
Feldman is working wonders tonight. Who knew KC had such an awesome offense?
SVBQuote Reply
Cubs tie!
Rice CubeQuote Reply
@ dmick89:
Can you give us a snippet? It sounds glorious
WaLiQuote Reply
SVB wrote:
I’ll be interviewing in the Atlanta area soon as well (Newnan). Great idea to try and catch a game there!
WaLiQuote Reply
@ WaLi:
My wife would be pretty pissed.
dmick89Quote Reply
@ dmick89:
Does she read OV? (dying laughing)
Suburban kidQuote Reply
So when I go to the forum to log in, I put in my password associated with WaLi and it says not the right password. I read every word so I saw you put something about this a few threads ago, but I forgot what it said, and since I don’t go back and re-read every word I need help.
WaLiQuote Reply
@ SVB:
Feldman has been pretty shitty every time I’ve looked at a box score in which he’s been involved.
dmick89Quote Reply
@ WaLi:
You’ll need to reset your password associated with the forum. All the users had to be imported over so the posts would have the right author. Passwords couldn’t be read so they were given random passwords. In order to link your OV account with the forum account, you’ll need to reset the password for the forum at the link below. I’d go with the same password that you use for this site just to make it easier. Once it’s reset, you should have no problem linking the two accounts.
http://obstructedview.net/ov-forums/entry/passwordrequest
dmick89Quote Reply
@ Suburban kid:
I don’t think so, but she was pissed off. I shouldn’t even be discussing it, but I’m not going to post it because I know how pissed she’d be. Just because she may not read it doesn’t mean it would be right. I felt bad for having so much fun when I was apparently supposed to take it ultra-seriously.
dmick89Quote Reply
@ dmick89:
How long should that email take to get to me? I did the magic form the other day, and didn’t hear anything back, and just did it again, and am waiting.
mikeakaleroyQuote Reply
@ dmick89:
Thanks!
@ dmick89:
Everytime I read “Feldman” my mind automatically fills in “from across the hall”. Then I chuckle a little bit inside.
WaLiQuote Reply
@ mikeakaleroy:
Have you checked your spam folder?
dmick89Quote Reply
@ mikeakaleroy:
If it’s not in your spam folder, send me an email.
dmick89Quote Reply
dmick89 wrote:
I hate those moments (dying laughing)
WaLiQuote Reply
@ dmick89:
Not in spam, and I don’t have your email address.
mikeakaleroyQuote Reply
@ mikeakaleroy:
That’s weird. Is the email you signed up with here, the email you use?
dmick89Quote Reply
@ mikeakaleroy:
I manually reset your password. You should get an email, but if you don’t, the password I chose is ovblog
Log in and change the password.
dmick89Quote Reply
@ dmick89:
I did for him. His password is now mikakeleroy or mcelroy or seabiscuit or whatever
WaLiQuote Reply
@ dmick89:
Thanks. I’m in now.
@ WaLi:
I changed it quick because I knew you bastards would try to screw with it. (dying laughing)
mikeakaleroyQuote Reply
New Aside
MylesQuote Reply
@ dmick89:
I’m only messing. Wouldn’t want you to end up in Mrs. MB21’s doghouse. Although I am a little puzzled by the whole exercise. I understand writing a will, but not really an obituary. Unless it is some sort of therapeutic visualization exercise intended to make you focus on your life more. Sure, you must have at least another five or ten years left to live – how could you include that?
Suburban kidQuote Reply
@ Suburban kid:
I was equally puzzled. I’m all for planning for the future, even one in which I’m not here. I’ve had a will for more than a decade now and it’s been updated a number of times.
Truthfully, I think it had to do with some deaths that we’ve each had in our families over the last few years. We’ve each written an obituary and it is a pain in the ass. There’s a lot you don’t know about someone, even if you’re married. My wife is from Rhode Island. She knows where I graduated high school, but in a way that’s like, “that’s right, I knew that.” We didn’t grow up together, we didn’t meet until we were adults.
So to be fair, I think it was just a way to make the process easier. Many of the names and dates and places that we might have to look up are right there in a little document. I still have to write mine so I’ll let you know how it goes. (dying laughing)
dmick89Quote Reply
That or she intends to kill me. Could go either way.
dmick89Quote Reply
@ dmick89:
I’d start removing sharp objects from the house, but that’s just me…
Also, I haven’t gotten those emails, so I’m guessing that the blog is sending to some dude named Elroy. I’m in, so it matters not.
mikeakaleroyQuote Reply
Happy birthday, fagets.
RynoQuote Reply
For you football fans, I have a discussion question: If you could add one player in the NFL to your team’s roster, who would it be? Don’t worry about salary.
RynoQuote Reply
@ mikeakaleroy:
That’s weird.
dmick89Quote Reply
@ dmick89:
If she does kill you, it’s been nice being pretend internet friends.
Suburban kidQuote Reply
In lieu of writing your pretend internet obituary. I’ll just post this:
Suburban kidQuote Reply
@ Suburban kid:
I wish my obituary could be a gif.
dmick89Quote Reply
@ dmick89:
mikeakaleroyQuote Reply
dmick89 wrote:
You could just take out a 90 page ad and have people flip through.
gbts22Quote Reply
@ dmick89:
I advise against taking a wait and see approach on that MB.
26.2cubfanQuote Reply
@ Ryno:
As a Bears fan, I would have gone with an elite LT before they signed Bushrod, who is more than serviceable. I think I’d go with someone like Mike Pouncey, because then you could shift Garza back to G where he is substantially better. Two birds with one stone.
Or Calvin Johnson, cause wow.
gbts22Quote Reply
I high school our teacher made us write obituaries for ourselves and draw tombstones. Parents were PISSED. And the teacher was surprised when a bunch of high school guys wrote shit like we were the first ones to cure cancer in space (dying laughing)
I guess it was supposed to make us see our own mortality..?
AkabariQuote Reply
@ 26.2cubfan:
How do you go about asking someone if they plan to kill you? Should you expect an honest answer? I’ve watched enough 48 Hours Mysteries to know that these people are lying. Either that or all the people they’ve had are actually innocent.
It always cracks me up when one of them asks the guest, in a most serious tone, “did you do it?” (dying laughing)
dmick89Quote Reply
aside: http://obstructedview.net/projections/pecota-percentiles-are-live.html
dmick89Quote Reply
New mini-shit
http://obstructedview.net/commentary-and-analysis/2013-cubs-overview-at-the-outside-corner.html
BerseliusQuote Reply
@ Akabari:
Please tell me someone wrote an obituary for the teacher.
dmick89Quote Reply
dmick89 wrote:
Who is going to inherit your share of OV?
WaLiQuote Reply
@ WaLi:
I think it’s pretty clear that Mrs. MB is planning MB’s demise so she can inherit a piece of the intellectual property rights of the Hope Monster.
gbts22Quote Reply
dmick89 wrote:
BerseliusQuote Reply
@ Ryno:
Probably another pass rusher, or a free safety as good as Nick Collins was before he got hurt.
BerseliusQuote Reply
dmick89 wrote:
I think Ryno could help you with that…
WaLiQuote Reply
@ gbts22:
That’s why I asked. My first thought for CHI would be OL, but the OL should be less of an issue in the WCO.
Novorro Bowman was another thought, but not much positional value there.
Can’t go wrong with Calvin Johnson.
RynoQuote Reply
@ Berselius:
Not a fan of Nick Perry? If 3-4OLB, I’m guessing you would like Von Miller or Aldon Smith. If S, I’m guessing Eric Weddle?
Honestly, I think a 5-technique would make Perry look a lot better. Segue…
That’s the route I’d go with SF. The front 7 is awesome, but a LOT of that hinges on the aging Justin Smith. My selection for SF would be JJ Watt, and it’s not close.
RynoQuote Reply
@ WaLi:
I could…
RynoQuote Reply
Ryno wrote:
I keep forgetting that GB drafted him, since he was injured all season (dying laughing). Clearly JJ Watt is the best choice on defense for just about any team.
BerseliusQuote Reply
So the Miami Dolphins got a new logo:
RynoQuote Reply
@ Berselius:
JJ Watt is the default answer for any 3-4 team. Geno Atkins should be for any 4-3 team.
I think Adrian Peterson and Calvin Johnson are the default answers for offense.
RynoQuote Reply
I was just kidding about the logo. IoI
Here it is:
RynoQuote Reply
@ Ryno:
I think, for the Bears, I would take Aaron Rodgers just to shut everybody the fuck up about Jay Cutler.
Aisle424Quote Reply
@ Aisle424:
And what’s the problem with Jay Cutler again?
RynoQuote Reply
@ Aisle424:
I rather have that guy on the 49ers. He is younger and more agile, although Rodgers was my first though.
WaLiQuote Reply
@ Ryno:
He doesn’t smile enough
Berselius37Quote Reply
@ Ryno:
Other than the fact that he’s a roughly average NFL starting QB…
RynoQuote Reply
@ WaLi:
Kaepernick?
RynoQuote Reply
@ Berselius37:
Probably because he’s been terrible since coming to CHI. He was a Top-10 QB in DEN and I had no idea how much he’d regressed since being traded:
http://www.footballoutsiders.com/stats/qb
I like DVOA because it it takes into account houses with more than two television sets…and other things of that nature.
RynoQuote Reply
And I was still kidding about the MIA logo. IoIoIoI
RynoQuote Reply
This is the real logo:
RynoQuote Reply
@ Ryno:
That logo reminds me of the Miami Marlins for some reason.
dmick89Quote Reply
BerseliusQuote Reply
Holy shit, Ryno, just realized we’ve been pretend internet friends for nearly a decade.
dmick89Quote Reply
@ dmick89:
I wonder if he read your real life obituary if he would even recognize you.
Suburban kidQuote Reply
@ Suburban kid:
Point being, I doubt your real obituary will include blog wars and statgasms.
Suburban kidQuote Reply
@ dmick89:
He is the most qualified to create your life obituary.gif then.
WaLiQuote Reply
@ Suburban kid:
Unless it specifically mentioned the blog, I highly doubt it. And if the blog is mentioned in my obituary I’ll kill myself. (dying laughing)
dmick89Quote Reply
@ dmick89:
Wow. That’s fucked up.
RynoQuote Reply
@ WaLi:
I have a feeling it would be unpublishable if he did that.
dmick89Quote Reply
@ Ryno:
Yeah, it’s weird.
dmick89Quote Reply
@ Ryno:
I don’t know why, though…
RynoQuote Reply
dmick89 wrote:
I’d be pretty impressed to see you come back from the afterlife just to kill yourself (dying laughing)
BerseliusQuote Reply
Suburban kidQuote Reply
@ dmick89:
MIA’s new logo?
RynoQuote Reply
So 10 years ago, I was about to begin my most enjoyable season as a Cubs fan. (dying laughing)
RynoQuote Reply
So last year, Alex Smith (10th) was slightly more productive then Ben Raplessburger and slightly less than Tony Romo according to DVOA.
Kaepernick (3rd) was slightly more productive than Aaron Rodgers, but there was quite a dropoff from Manning and Brady (playoffs not included).
Cutler (27th) was just behind Hasslebeck and ahead of Vick.
RynoQuote Reply
This is the playoffs not included thread.
dmick89Quote Reply
49ers reportedly looking to move up in the draft. Hopefully by that, they mean trade 1.31 to OAK for their 1 next year. #Clowney
RynoQuote Reply
dmick89 wrote:
Isn’t that kind of the Cubs’ thing?
RynoQuote Reply
MB, do you think your wife was upset because of your opening line?
SVBQuote Reply
Tigers will open with closer by committee. GW and I have an unstated bet that Leyland won’t be able to hold to it, and will take the easy way out by just riding one of these guys the whole time.
SVBQuote Reply
@ SVB:
Aww crap. I just stated the bet.
SVBQuote Reply
@ dmick89:
My grandmother asked me to write my grandfather’s eulogy about 15 years before he died. Not, “will you do Grampa’s eulogy when he dies”, but “will you write Grampa’s eulogy now?” He was 80-ish at the time. Probably easier to write a eulogy in advance than an obit, but still…
SVBQuote Reply
MIA’s new logo:
RynoQuote Reply
@ SVB:
My grandmother walked into my house once and asked me to be a pallbearer in my grandfather’s funeral…..as I was hugging my grandfather hello….
mikeakaleroyQuote Reply
@ Ryno:
mikeakaleroyQuote Reply
SVB wrote:
What is considered “riding him the whole time”? 70% of the save opps?
WaLiQuote Reply
New Shit
I hit italics on accident, and am just leaving it.
MylesQuote Reply
MIA’s new logo:
RynoQuote Reply
@ mikeakaleroy:
RynoQuote Reply
@ Ryno:
(dying laughing)
(dying laughing)
What is this I don’t even
GBTSQuote Reply
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PoollaTizQuote Reply