Cubs GM Search Update: Day 77, Still No Update

In News And Rumors by aisle424Leave a Comment

Holy mother of God, would something just happen? The way things are going, I assume man will be living on Mars before the Cubs have a new GM.

They have been without one now for almost 3 months.  Sure, we’ve only known about the vacancy for 2 months, but that is just semantics.  It doesn’t change the fact that every damn thing this team does lately can be measured on a geological scale.

It all started with the sale from the Tribune.  That was announced on Opening Day 2007. The housing market was booming.  The Dow was soaring.  Barack Obama was trailing the presumptive Democratic Presidential nominee, Hillary Clinton by a wide margin. iPhones hadn’t gone on sale yet. MySpace was still being used.

Granted, it’s not like Nixon was still in the White House or anything, but things move fast these days.  Except for the Cubs. The rest of the world is Tony Campana and the Cubs are Hector Villanueva.

I get the feeling the Cubs have spent the last 3 months arranging GM candidates names on color-coded post-its and having a meeting everyday to decide if the order of the post-its is current as of the latest news cycle.  In fact, they probably had a month long exploratory committee that’s main purpose was to determine which color post-it belonged to which candidate.  Meanwhile, Todd sat in the corner playing with crayons.

The sales process took over two years, and now it has taken almost two years for Ricketts to start disassembling the Tribune structure that was left behind. Everybody, and I mean EVERYBODY who followed this team in even the slightest way over the years had come to the basic conclusion that Hendry had run his course, that Crane Kenney was a retarded greasy weasel in a suit, and the best thing about the sale is that the Cubs could start fresh.  But not the uber-fan Tom Ricketts. Oh no.  He needed to see the team go on a 100-game losing pace before acknowledging that maybe the Cubs weren’t the contenders he had supposedly bought with Dad’s money.

So did he make any sweeping changes then? No, he stuck with his new frat buddy in the President’s job, and let his general manager hire his 3rd manager in 6 years. Nobody let’s their GM hire three different managers. After the 2nd manager, it is usually understood that maybe the on-field manager isn’t the problem. So the Cubs parted ways with a team legend, which in and of itself isn’t the worst thing in the world for his sake, but nevertheless completely unnecessary.

Finally when his 30-year journeyman manager couldn’t wrangle a winning record out of the flotsam and jetsam of the organization, Ricketts came to the conclusion that Jim Hendry was not going to be able to untangle the mess he had made with Zell’s money under the financial restrictions they now found themselves. It’s not like they had much choice after amassing so much debt that they violated MLB policy. Money wasn’t going to fix it this time, or at leat, there wasn’t any money available to fix it.

So Ricketts secretly pulled the trigger. Even if they didn’t have a short list made of the colored post-its on July 22nd, when they actually fired Hendry, they could have easily had it together a month later when they announced it to the press.  So what’s the hold-up?

Oh our top candidates work for teams that are still vying for the playoffs.  Well, Theo’s plate suddenly got a lot lighter at the end of September.  That was almost 2 weeks ago.  Hell, Friedman hasn’t had much going on since Tuesday night, and now Cashman is done.

Can we finally have a new GM already since every single presumable candidate is done with their season? Can we at least know whether the Cubs have talked to anybody?

No.

There will almost assuredly not be any news this weekend because of Yom Kippur and the Cubs wouldn’t want to make an announcement about their prized candidate who happens to be Jewish during a Jewish high holiday. So now even God himself is slowing the Cubs down.

Of course, it will turn out that Theo has merely been using the Cubs as leverage to gain more power and money in his current job, so the Cubs will have to go back to their post-its to figure how who they should call next.

Meanwhile on the other side of town, Kenny Williams needed a manager, so he threw a dart out his window and happened to hit Robin Ventura who was in town for a card signing.  If he had thrown it 10 seconds sooner, it would have hit Milt Johnson, CTA bus driver extraordinaire (who was passing the Cell on his way home from work) and he would have been the new White Sox manager.

I’m not saying Kenny’s way is better, but at least it is something.

If the Cubs expect us to wait on Ricketts for two years to get his shit together just to get STARTED on the process of building a competent organization, I can’t imagine how long he will be content to take our money in ever increasing sums as the process occurs.  We could be on the forefront of a bold new 30 year plan to win a World Series.

It’s getting to the point where I wish Ricketts would just use the dart-throwing method. I noticed Ned Coletti has been hanging around outside Ricketts’ office window just in case.


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  1. Rice Cube

    Maybe part of the delay is that they’re shooting for the moon and the potential prize needs a lot of perks to be put in place. That might be one hell of a thick contract.

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  2. Aisle424

    [quote name=Rice Cube]Maybe part of the delay is that they’re shooting for the moon and the potential prize needs a lot of perks to be put in place. That might be one hell of a thick contract.[/quote]Yeah. They would have known that 3 months ago when they fired Hendry. They would have known that BEFORE they fired Hendry. I understand the legalese might take awhile, but you have a basic pitch put together and it shouldn’t take 3 fucking months to put it together.

    It also shouldn’t take the Red Sox or Theo this long to debate it. It’s not like Theo was surprised the Cubs called. This wasn’t Robin Ventura thinking Kenny Williams was just touching base when he picked up the phone. If Theo didn’t have a pretty good idea the Cubs job was going to come open, and that he would candidate 1A at the time Ricketts was slack-jawed for the whole interleague weekend at Fenway, then he isn’t terribly bright and I don’t want him as the Cubs’ GM.

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  3. The Wreckard

    [quote name=Rice Cube]Maybe part of the delay is that they’re shooting for the moon and the potential prize needs a lot of perks to be put in place. That might be one hell of a thick contract.[/quote]Agreed. And he’s clearly targeting established GMs, which involves a second layer of negotiations – you need to negotiate for the privilege of getting to negotiate with the GM candidate. It also means it couldn’t start until the season was over – or in Friedman’s case, until their team was eliminated.

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  4. Rice Cube

    I guess there are ways to circumvent tampering, but I doubt they could tell the public a lot about their hypothetical hush-hush conversations.

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  5. Berselius

    http://espn.go.com/blog/chicago/cubs/post/_/id/6727/chess-game-continues-in-epstein-saga

    The descrepancy here is that the Red Sox are adamant that they did not let the information out about Epstein, and Cubs chairman Tom Ricketts is also on record saying they were not going to talk publicly about their GM search. Therefore the assumption is that Epstein is the one who leaked the information to establish his position and force the Red Sox’s hand to either re-sign him past the one year remaining on his contract or let him go.

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  6. Rice Cube

    [quote name=Berselius]http://espn.go.com/blog/chicago/cubs/post/_/id/6727/chess-game-continues-in-epstein-saga[/quote]So…it could go either way?

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  7. melissa

    [quote name=Rice Cube]So…it could go either way?[/quote]
    I’m taking a wait and see approach. Ricketts should have had contacts talking to the guy he wanted back in July. There are back channel ways to get these things done. As soon as the season was over for that guy, a deal should have gotten done. The longer this lingers the less likely you get the guy you want. The Cubs look indecisive here, don’t know if they are or not. John Henry said they’d only let Theo talk if he was being offered a higher position. Are the Cubs not telling them what they want to interview him about? This makes no sense. I liked that Henry said Theo is his guy but the job has a short shelf life and blah, blah, blah, he might be gone. Ricketts needs to pounce before the Red Sox come to their senses and say no fucking way.

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  8. Berselius

    [quote name=melissa]I’m taking a wait and see approach. Ricketts should have had contacts talking to the guy he wanted back in July. There are back channel ways to get these things done. As soon as the season was over for that guy, a deal should have gotten done. The longer this lingers the less likely you get the guy you want. The Cubs look indecisive here, don’t know if they are or not. John Henry said they’d only let Theo talk if he was being offered a higher position. Are the Cubs not telling them what they want to interview him about? This makes no sense. I liked that Henry said Theo is his guy but the job has a short shelf life and blah, blah, blah, he might be gone. Ricketts needs to pounce before the Red Sox come to their senses and say no fucking way.[/quote]
    I think the back channel way to do it was for Ricketts to announce that they were looking to shell out for a GM and listed a bunch of attributes that just coincidentally exactly lined up with Theo Epstein without naming any names. I think the message was loud and clear.

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  9. Rice Cube

    [quote name=melissa]I’m taking a wait and see approach. Ricketts should have had contacts talking to the guy he wanted back in July. There are back channel ways to get these things done. As soon as the season was over for that guy, a deal should have gotten done. The longer this lingers the less likely you get the guy you want. The Cubs look indecisive here, don’t know if they are or not. John Henry said they’d only let Theo talk if he was being offered a higher position. Are the Cubs not telling them what they want to interview him about? This makes no sense. I liked that Henry said Theo is his guy but the job has a short shelf life and blah, blah, blah, he might be gone. Ricketts needs to pounce before the Red Sox come to their senses and say no fucking way.[/quote]Maybe this is on Theo and not on Ricketts. Sometimes you offer someone a buttload of cash and they still won’t budge (see: Billy Beane) so there’s only so much one can do. Not absolving Ricketts of anything, just playing Devil’s advocate.

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  10. melissa

    [quote name=Rice Cube]Maybe this is on Theo and not on Ricketts. .[/quote]
    The Red Sox said they will grant permission “if” he’s being offered a higher job, so why hasn’t this occurred? It’s not on Theo. The onus is on Ricketts to tell them he wants to interview him to be club Pres. Apparently this has not occurred based on what Henry said today. This is bullshit. It hasn’t even gotten to the point of talking to Theo yet and there is no excuse for that.

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  11. Berselius

    [quote name=melissa]The Red Sox said they will grant permission “if” he’s being offered a higher job, so why hasn’t this occurred? It’s not on Theo. The onus is on Ricketts to tell them he wants to interview him to be club Pres. Apparently this has not occurred based on what Henry said today. This is bullshit. It hasn’t even gotten to the point of talking to Theo yet and there is no excuse for that.[/quote]
    Cashman + Friedman = leverage. Plus it’s not like anything is going to happen that those guys have to deal with for another month or two.

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  12. Rice Cube

    [quote name=melissa]The Red Sox said they will grant permission “if” he’s being offered a higher job, so why hasn’t this occurred? It’s not on Theo. The onus is on Ricketts to tell them he wants to interview him to be club Pres. Apparently this has not occurred based on what Henry said today. This is bullshit. It hasn’t even gotten to the point of talking to Theo yet and there is no excuse for that.[/quote]I think we only know as much as the Red Sox and Cubs want us to know. There are so many conflicting reports out there that it’s difficult to piece it together, at least in my view.

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  13. Berselius

    [quote name=Rice Cube]…and Nyjer Morgan will be insufferable (dying laughing)[/quote]
    The first rule of tautology club is the first rule of tautology club

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  14. Aisle424

    [quote name=Berselius]Cashman + Friedman = leverage. Plus it’s not like anything is going to happen that those guys have to deal with for another month or two.[/quote]That’s only true if the Ricketts had shown the least bit of interest in either of them. Have they even called Friedman yet? It’s fairly obvious that Theo is their #1, #2, and #3 target.

    There is a possibility that this whole Theo thing is a huge dog and pony show to determine how serious Cashman or Friedman are about wanting to stay where they are. Maybe they make like they are throwing the world at Theo and one of those two guys makes it known they are also very interested in the position. That doesn’t make a ton of sense to me, but I guess it is a possibility.

    I just haven’t gotten the sense that Tommy is all that smooth when it comes to negotiations. He was hornswoggled by Zell on the sale, and both Kenney and Hendry succesfully sold him on the idea that they were the best guys to fix the problems that they themselves had created. It doesn’t build a ton of confidence in Tom from me.

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  15. Rodrigo Ramirez

    And Henry’s recent quote that protocol is to grant permission for non lateral moves has to make you wonder if the Cubs even offered that. Seems like they’d be at least talking if President was on the table.

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  16. Rice Cube

    [quote name=ACT]http://www.insidethebook.com/ee/index.php/site/comments/worst_managing_ever/

    I can buy that taking Carp out of the game is technically the right move, but is anyone really going to take him out when he’s pitching a shutout? Would anyone rather watch Motte or some other reliever than watch Carpenter finish the game? Sometimes “bad” decisions by managers make the game more entertaining.[/quote]Carpenter hadn’t even reached 100 pitches at that point though they were getting to the fourth time through the order. Despite the percentages, sometimes you just go with the gut and see what happens I guess.

    I actually expected TLR to go to a reliever with lefties due up, but the complete game shutout in a clincher was pretty badass. I don’t see how even the most spreadsheety-mother’s-basement types can’t appreciate that.

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  17. ACT

    Yeah, I’ve resigned myself to the fact that sometimes you have to turn off the analytical part of your brain and enjoy a good show.

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  18. Rice Cube

    I kind of want to see the Brewers win just for novelty, but Albert Pujols is awesome so I don’t really care if the Cardinals win.

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  19. Berselius

    [quote name=ACT]http://www.insidethebook.com/ee/index.php/site/comments/worst_managing_ever/

    I can buy that taking Carp out of the game is technically the right move, but is anyone really going to take him out when he’s pitching a shutout? Would anyone rather watch Motte or some other reliever than watch Carpenter finish the game? Sometimes “bad” decisions by managers make the game more entertaining.[/quote]Winning > entertaining

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  20. ACT

    [quote name=Rice Cube]I kind of want to see the Brewers win just for novelty, but Albert Pujols is awesome so I don’t really care if the Cardinals win.[/quote]I’d rather see more Lee, Halladay, and Utley. I see (more than) enough Pujols during the regular season.

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  21. Rice Cube

    [quote name=ACT]I’d rather see more Lee, Halladay, and Utley. I see (more than) enough Pujols during the regular season.[/quote]I guess we should leave our personal lives out of this…

    (I kid, I kid)

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  22. Rodrigo Ramirez

    [quote name=Rice Cube]I guess we should leave our personal lives out of this…

    (I kid, I kid)[/quote]
    (dying laughing)
    (dying laughing)

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  23. Rodrigo Ramirez

    While I’m not a huge fan of either the Cards or Brewers I like when divisional foes face off in the CS. Usually there’s a high level of dislike between the two. High rivalry factor.

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  24. ACT

    That was a bizarre ending to the game. The Cardinals were all jumping with joy while Ryan Howard was being helped off the field in considerable pain.

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  25. Mish

    [quote name=Berselius]Al Davis ————–> dead[/quote]Oh. I didn’t know walking corpses could be double killed.

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  26. Rice Cube

    [quote name=Mish]Oh. I didn’t know walking corpses could be double killed.[/quote]Did they remove the head or destroy the brain?

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  27. shawndgoldman

    I honestly don’t mind the delay. I’d rather them get the “right” candidate then get one sooner. And it wasn’t until two days ago that the best candidate was made available. With the three day weekend coming up and the Yom Kippur holiday this weekend, I wouldn’t expect anything to have happened quite yet.

    As long as they hire someone by the end of the World Series (I think they will), they’ll be in good shape.

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  28. Berselius

    [quote name=shawndgoldman]Ryno ——> bad day[/quote]
    Not a great day for me either. Ok St knocking off OU doesn’t help me as much.

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  29. shawndgoldman

    [quote name=Berselius]Not a great day for me either. Ok St knocking off OU doesn’t help me as much.[/quote]I think you get in over a 1-loss Oklahoma. If Boise St., Wisc., and an SEC team run the table I think we’ll see a rematch of that awesome Fiesta Bowl a few years ago.

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  30. cdw

    [quote name=shawndgoldman]This is a dominate performance.[/quote]Looks like another punch to the throat. Looking forward to the Iowa v PSU game. Though neither team looks good particularity good. If Iowa does any of their no huddle (seriously, did I just write that?) I’m expecting plenty of turnovers. Dilemma, if I want to watch this game I have to go to a sports bar.

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  31. Berselius

    [quote name=shawndgoldman]I think you get in over a 1-loss Oklahoma. If Boise St., Wisc., and an SEC team run the table I think we’ll see a rematch of that awesome Fiesta Bowl a few years ago.[/quote]My worry would be OSU leapfrogging UW after beating OU

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  32. shawndgoldman

    [quote name=Berselius]My worry would be OSU leapfrogging UW after beating OU[/quote]Gotcha. Yeah that could be an issue.

    Can’t believe the only thing Texas has gotten so far has been a “devin hester”

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  33. shawndgoldman

    [quote name=cdw]Looks like another punch to the throat. Looking forward to the Iowa v PSU game. Though neither team looks good particularity good. If Iowa does any of their no huddle (seriously, did I just write that?) I’m expecting plenty of turnovers. Dilemma, if I want to watch this game I have to go to a sports bar.[/quote]The PSU-Iowa game could end up being a big one for both teams. The winner could contend for 2nd place in their respective division.

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  34. cdw

    I’m just not confident Iowa can win at Nebraska or beat UM at home. I think UM & UNL finish 1&2 in the horribly named division.

    I thought PSU would have an easy route to 2nd with a win here but that UNL matchup could be a problem. Of couse I’m sure Illinois will find a way below 2nd place (dying laughing)

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  35. shawndgoldman

    [quote name=cdw]I’m just not confident Iowa can win at Nebraska or beat UM at home. I think UM & UNL finish 1&2 in the horribly named division.

    I thought PSU would have an easy route to 2nd with a win here but that UNL matchup could be a problem. Of couse I’m sure Illinois will find a way below 2nd place (dying laughing)[/quote]Yeah the Iowa-UM and PSU-Ill matchups are much more important in that regard. I don’t think much of Michigan… but maybe I’m misunderestimating them.

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  36. shawndgoldman

    [quote name=cdw]I’m just not confident Iowa can win at Nebraska or beat UM at home. I think UM & UNL finish 1&2 in the horribly named division.

    I thought PSU would have an easy route to 2nd with a win here but that UNL matchup could be a problem. Of couse I’m sure Illinois will find a way below 2nd place (dying laughing)[/quote]More relevant to this game, I think the loser has a big, uphill battle for 2nd in their division. That’s why I think the winner is a “contender” for 2nd, not a lock (or even a likelihood).

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  37. Aisle424

    [quote name=shawndgoldman]I honestly don’t mind the delay. I’d rather them get the “right” candidate then get one sooner. And it wasn’t until two days ago that the best candidate was made available. With the three day weekend coming up and the Yom Kippur holiday this weekend, I wouldn’t expect anything to have happened quite yet.

    As long as they hire someone by the end of the World Series (I think they will), they’ll be in good shape.[/quote]The longer this drags out, the longer I believe Epstein is simply using the Cubs for leverage. Nothing about any of this is a surprise to anyone involved. Nothing about this except the “official” time when they could talk openly happened 2 days ago.

    I believe that one team can keep this stuff secret, but two teams keeping two different sets of beat reporters completely in the dark over the progress is disconcerting since I have no trust at all that the Cubs know what they are doing, so my assumption is that there truly is no progress being made.

    If they get this done, I’ll be shocked and thrilled.

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  38. Mish

    Nice to see the Illini playing well. I’m sure they’ve won more games this season than the 4 years I was there. (dying laughing)

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  39. Rice Cube

    [quote name=Rice Cube]One surmises that Verlander will not be able to complete the no-hitter at this pace.[/quote]No longer an issue.

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  40. Berselius

    [quote name=cwolf]He’s been getting squeezed the whole game by the HP ump.[/quote]
    If he were a leader he wouldn’t be squeezed.

    /Chicago Media + Jay Cutler

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  41. cwolf

    [quote name=Berselius]If he were a leader he wouldn’t be squeezed.

    /Chicago Media + Jay Cutler[/quote](dying laughing). I was just about to make a similar comment.

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  42. Rice Cube

    So Ryan Howard definitely has a ruptured Achilles and needs surgery and is probably going to be lost for most of 2012. So not awesome for Philly.

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  43. cwolf

    [quote name=Rice Cube]So Ryan Howard definitely has a ruptured Achilles and needs surgery and is probably going to be lost for most of 2012. So not awesome for Philly.[/quote]That just sucks for him and the Phils.

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  44. shawndgoldman

    [quote name=GW]Hey Shawn, I didn’t realize you owned a gym…

    [/quote]Awesome. I might use that in a slide show for an upcoming talk.

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  45. shawndgoldman

    [quote name=Aisle424]The longer this drags out, the longer I believe Epstein is simply using the Cubs for leverage. Nothing about any of this is a surprise to anyone involved. Nothing about this except the “official” time when they could talk openly happened 2 days ago.

    I believe that one team can keep this stuff secret, but two teams keeping two different sets of beat reporters completely in the dark over the progress is disconcerting since I have no trust at all that the Cubs know what they are doing, so my assumption is that there truly is no progress being made.

    If they get this done, I’ll be shocked and thrilled.[/quote]Could be. But if that’s the case, it’s not the Cubs fault this isn’t done yet.

    I know when you’re following this on a minute-by-minute basis this seems ridiculously drawn out. But it’s been fairly reasonable. The quiet is disconcerting, but only with respect to our chances of getting Theo and not anything related to the Cubs handling of all this.

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  46. shawndgoldman

    Oh, and I’m happy that PSU FINALLY beat Iowa. Somehow they managed to do that even though they still can’t score against Iowa.

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  47. cwolf

    [quote name=Rice Cube]What’s with all this random rain?[/quote]Not only is it interrupting a good game, but it’s allowing Fox to showcase their large stable of douchebags.

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  48. Smokestack Lightning

    Also, it was reported Allegedly Theo ordered a banana. If that doesn’t prove it nothing will.

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  49. Rodrigo Ramirez

    [quote name=Smokestack Lightning]Totally true RR, here’s a picture

    [/quote]
    (dying laughing)
    (dying laughing)

    It must be true.

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  50. Berselius

    (dying laughing), Sullivan is so good at what he does. In an article about secondhand reports of seeing Epstein, he managed to get in a dig on Z.

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  51. cdw

    [quote name=Berselius](dying laughing), Sullivan is so good at what he does. In an article about secondhand reports of seeing Epstein, he managed to get in a dig on Z.[/quote]This was my favorite part of the article (dying laughing). The banana purchase was a close second. I think Zambrano is permanently in PoS’s kitchen. Oh what a sad life he must lead.

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  52. Berselius

    [quote name=Bruce Miles]If Theo was at Starbucks, maybe all it meant was Ricketts wouldn’t spring for coffee.[/quote]
    (dying laughing)

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  53. Rice Cube

    [quote name=Smokestack Lightning]Totally true RR, here’s a picture

    [/quote]If they had Godzilla in there too they could be raining fire and destruction upon Wrigley Field…

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