It was bound to happen....

The writing was on wall last year, even though I didn't want to believe it. Steadily as the calender flipped from January into February and February into March, the demand for Alabama Basketball tickets suddenly began to go through the roof of Coleman Coliseum as the Tide ran to a perfect record at home. All the while 'Bama sold out 6 of its last 7 SEC home games boasting raucous crowds of 15,383 on a nightly basis.

Following the disappointment of not reaching the NCAA tournament, Alabama hosted 3 straight NIT games at home and the crowds continued to grow for each successive game. I don't think it would have mattered who Alabama was playing, but people were having such a fun time that I think they could have continued playing Sisters of the Poor in the middle of April and another huge crowd would have come out to see the Tide.

So with a preseason top 15 ranking coming for the Tide, the return of the three headed monster of Trevor Releford, Tony Mitchell and Jaymichael Green, a highly touted incoming freshman class, Alabama is poised for another break out year. Expectations are high, but so is the demand for tickets, so much so that I was unfortunately told that my current seats are now being put into the Tide Pride program for basketball.

What this basically means is I will have to give a $100 donation for each of my current seats and then buy my season tickets at $200 for each set of tickets, bringing the grand total to $600 for this season. Some may say that is a high price, but it includes almost 20 home games, which basically puts the cost of attending games as being the same price and if not cheaper then attending a movie.

Trust me, I'm not complaining about the increase because it didn't take a rocket scientist to see this coming, but it is disappointing. I've had season tickets for Crimson Tide hoops for almost a decade now, even kept them when I lived in Atlanta. We had great seats in about row 25 right behind the basket and by the Alabama bench. I gave those tickets up when we had our first two children, but still attended several home/road games a year & SEC Tournaments over that time. When we purchased our seats again in 2006, the demand for season tickets reached an all time high as Alabama was pre season top 5 team, much like this year. We were stuck up pretty high in the nosebleeds as a Tide Pride for basketball was instituted at some point during our 2 year season ticket hiatus.

But as Alabama Basketball floundered to a disappointing end of the Mark Gottfried era, fewer and fewer people renewed their tickets and we kept moving lower and lower to the point that we sit on the foul line, directly across from the Tide bench. There great seats and have been there for 4 straight years going on 5 and we know all the regulars/loyal supporters around us.

Its disappointing that our loyalty of buying tickets during those awful campaigns under Gottfried are not being rewarded, that we have to pony up more cash to keep our seats. But its understandable and good for the program that there is such a buzz about Alabama basketball in a football crazed state.

Several years ago at an important SEC home game for Alabama that had NCAA tournament/SEC Title implications, I was complaining about the lack of a big crowd on a Wednesday night when there needed to be a huge crowd there. A wise man told I wouldn't complain about the lack of a crowd, because its that kind of fan apathy that let's those who really love 'Bama hoops to continue to not have to fight for tickets to big games, etc, etc. Its nice too not always have to fight crowds for concessions, parking etc.

You know what, he was right. It was a different take in regards to basketball at the Capstone. Those who go to the games know how much fun the hoops games can be, their isn't a drunk sitting behind me calling for the back up quarterback or other yahoos there. Its not too hot or too cold, its not sitting out in the rain like a football game. Its having a cushioned seat and being with knowledgeable basketball people who like the sport and Alabama, who enjoy the games and thats that. Its our secret and so I stopped worrying about the importance of basketball at Alabama and just enjoyed it. Since that point, I never worried about the crowd size at Coleman. If it was huge, great, if not, I'm having a good time with my family and we're enjoying what we do together.

Its great that basketball at Alabama is getting the attention it deserves. For the fans that have stuck through the thin years, its a fun time. But in a way its somewhat bittersweet from the ticket standpoint and that my family's little secret of fun times & enjoyment might be somewhat threatened.

Its Prediction Time....

With just two weeks till kick off, time to make the yearly prediction on Alabama Football. Of course the Tide is in position to start pre season top 5 in almost every major poll, so the expectations are in place to make another run to the BCS Title Game. Of course, 'Bama plays in the SEC West, which is more competitive and tougher then the NFC West, so even a 1 loss SEC team like an Alabama or LSU could make it to New Orleans in January. Alabama should be loaded on Defense as the biggest questions surround the D-Line and the who will be the quarterback. If qb questions linger into SEC play, that could be a problem.

Game 1-Kent State- the most competitive thing about this contest will be to see how many fans can withstand the 11:21 am kick-off and not dehydrate on a hot Labor Day weekend morning/afternoon. Bama wins easily but Saban won't run the score up on the alma mater, 34-7.

Game 2-at Penn State- The Lions have a white out planned (ask Georgia & Mississippi State how they're gimmick colored shirt things worked in 2009??) to help their team to victory. Alabama is a 9 point favorite on the road in State College but the bigger issue here is how will either of Tide's new quarterbacks handle their first road game. Despite reports that say PSU is going to be horrible, I refuse to buy that and believe this will be a nail biter, Alabama 17-16.

Game 3-North Texas-another no contest, 'Bama 41-6.

Game 4-Arkansas- The Hogs had Alabama dead in the water until Ryan Mallet self destructed and Mark Ingram saved the day. Everybody is in love with Arky's QB because he threw a couple of TD against Auburn to keep them in that game, but all I see is another Garret Gilbert from Texas when I watch him. Meaning he got lucky and hit a couple of deep routes as freshman pressed into action, but is still a very unproven commodity. 'Bama 24-14.

Game 5-at Florida- Road game in the Swamp on a Saturday night has the makings for upset potential. But unless Steve Spurrier is coaching or Tim Tebow is playing at Florida, and neither of those are happening so the Gators won't be winning this game. 'Bama 20-13.

Game 6-Vanderbilt- If this game was played at Memorial Gym, Vandy would win, but its in Bryant-Denny. Alabama 38-10.

Game 7-at Ole Miss- The Rebels always give Alabama fits in Oxford, but unless Archie or Eli Manning is the quarterback, they have a hard time beating Alabama. Tide sweats out a close one, 24-20.

Game 8-Tennessee- The Vols will be improved but Derek Dooley is still a year away from being competitive against the SEC heavyweights. Make it 5 in a row over the Vols, 'Bama 27-10.

Game 9- LSU- after a bye week, the most physical game on the schedule takes place. Alot of people have LSU playing for a National Title, but I don't see it. Alabama 20-10.

Game 10-at Mississippi State- This game has upset written all over it as MSU is improving quickly and gets 'Bama & LSU at home this year. This will be a difficult task for the Tide to win this one a week after LSU. Miss State 24-16.

Game 11-Ga. Southern- a win but closer then expected due to GSU's offensive system. Alabama 38-17.

Game 12-at Auburn- The Tigers will struggle this year to have a winning season, but they'll be "all in" vs Alabama. Close game but 'Bama escapes 27-23.

11-1 when we're all said and done. As for the SEC West, I believe Miss. State is a real player in this race along with LSU and 'Bama. The Penn State game scares me as that could go either way but won't affect SEC play though. Should be a fun season as 'Bama tries to rebound from a "disappointing" 10-3 season.

Jim Delany and the demise of the Big 10

Sometimes when things change, its hard to grasp ahold of what just happened, what caused it to happen or worst yet, when did it actually happen?

That has to be what Big 10/11/12 Commissioner Jim Delany wonders on a daily basis. Just when did my once powerful conference become an also ran in the NCAA? Why did the SEC overtake the Big 10 in football and become the innovators of modern college athletics?

Jim Delany reminds me of warden Samuel Norton in Shawshank Redemption. He has to look out his window and wonder just how did the SEC and Mike Slive overtake the Big 10 in the athletic circles of the NCAA like Andy Dufrense got over on the warden.

To me, the tipping point of this collassal shift in power is a combination of factors that have taken place in the past 20-40 years. The first being the changing demographic/population shifts in the United States. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to see that the states with the most population are changing. The Rust Belt/northern states having been losing populations and jobs for much of the past 40 years and overtime that has taken people, money and power to the southeast and southwestern United States. Things may go back in the other direction at some point, but places that were large cities in the 1980's like Cleveland, Detroit, Pittsburgh have consistently dwindled in population while Atlanta, Houston, Dallas, San Antonio and Phoenix continue to grow.

If you don't believe it, look at pro sports. 25 years ago, Memphis, Charlotte, Orlando, Jacksonville, Nashville did not have pro sports franchises while Miami and Tampa only had the NFL. Now several of these cities have multiple teams in numerous sports while Tampa and Miami support 3 and 4 pro sports teams. Leagues expanded where the people are and in some cases teams relocated to the the growing southeast.

Also, look at the electoral map and our census. Pennsylvania, Michigan, Ohio and New York are consistently losing seats in the House of Representatives while Florida, Georgia, Texas and numerous other states in other regions are gaining power. The trickle down effect is that more people have moved to a region that also places more emphasis on the pigskin, even more so then traditional places in the north (more on that in a minute).Philadelphia and New York are still huge cities, but there not hotbeds of high school football and don't produce the players that an Atlanta, Birmingham or Miami produce.

The second factor in Delany's demise has been conference expansion. The announcement of Penn State to the Big 10 and Arkansas/South Carolina emerged in the same time period of the early 1990's, with the SEC going to 12 teams in 1992 and PSU fully joining the Big 10 in 1993. Logic would think that the the Big 10 would have added a 12th team to form a conference championship game like the ultra successful SEC Title Game, except that it took the Big 10 just 18 years to add Nebraska. And now the Big 10 has joined the 21st century with a title game of its own, only problem is its ridiculous legends and leaders divisions (two questions, which one was Jim Tressel and does anyone know who is in what division???). But should we have expected the Big 10 to move faster on the expansion/championship game issue, this coming from a conference that took 200 years to add a conference tournament in basketball?

The Big 10 cannot compare to the SEC in terms of athletic facilities. They have fallen behind the times in the college arms race of practice structures, workout facilities, etc. The SEC is second to none, one walk into Tuscaloosa, Gainesville, Auburn or even a Texas and its night and day compared to the Big 10. Instead of working to fix the situation and help his member schools, Delany wines and complains about how unfair the NCAA softball and baseball tournaments are and that they should be regionalized to prevent the SEC, Big 12, Pac 10 or ACC from dominating. Instead Delany should be working to improve those programs in his conference, but then again what can we expect from a conference that shares its football championship in a three way tie? He should encourage his teams in those sports to play powerhouse schools in the early spring when baseball/softball in unplayable in the north. Schedule up and it will pay off in due time. When John Chaney took over Temple basketball, he didn't complain about playing Duqense and Rhose Island, instead he played anyone, anytime, ahywhere like a UNLV, Georgetown, etc. and earned his way into the NCAA tournament, if anything he became the blueprint for John Calipari to follow at UMass and Memphis.

A final problem Delany faces is the faltering of his football programs. Two of his bellcows, Michigan & Ohio State are headed for probation. Couple that with what is now an 0-6 showing on New Year's Day (0-3 in the SEC) it is some dark days for the Big 10. A bigger reason for the lack of success of the Big 10 vs the SEC, I believe starts at the junior high level. People in the south live for football 24/7/365. They don't up north. Its a way of life to the point the junior high and high school players go through 10-15 spring practice per year compared to none in Ohio, Pennsylvania, etc. Spring football in non existent in the north and thus a player growing up in Altoona, PA comapred to a player in Opelika, AL will have anywhere from 60-90 less practices in their careers. May not seem like a big deal, but when serious players are working on something repeatedly, when they are forming their practice/work habits, it becomes, in my opinion one of the defining reasons you see the SEC as such a dominant player in college football. I'm not sure there is much Jim Delany can do on this issue other then encourage the athletic associations of his states to join in the party.

You couple all these factors togther, along with Delany's refusal to be proactive in the Ohio State situation (think warden Norton's shocked look when he heard the sirens go off while opening Andy's shoes), you currently have the SEC being light years ahead of the Big 10. Michigan and Michigan State were just pounded by Mississippi State and Alabama, Ohio State had its win vs Arkansas stripped, little sisters of the poor TCU beat Wisconsin in the Rose Bowl. Only Northwestern and PSU were competitive in their games. Add in the fact the SEC has won 5 straight National Championships, its become a no contest between the two. You might see PSU beat Alabama this year, won't be the biggest upset of all time, but expect the Tide to be a double digit favorite in that game that should show you how far the seperation is between two of the top tier, tradition rich programs in each conference.

This shift started years ago, was a dead heat in the early to mid 1990's, but now its completely off the charts into the differences between the two conferences and sadly, the argument can be made that the Pac 10 or Big 12 is ahead of the Big 10 too. How does Jim Delany still have a job???

Sorry O's, it just wasn't worth my time or dime

The Baltimore Orioles, my childhood baseball team that I lived and mostly died with, made their once in every so often interleague trip to Atlanta. For the first time since interleague play began in 1997, I did not make the trip up I-85 from Montgomery to see The Birds.

In previous seasons, I would attend atlest one and sometimes all the games in a series in Atlanta. Of course, it did also help that I lived 20 minutes from Turner Field during some of those years, but 2K11 was a no show for me.

What are the reasons why I did not go this time? In no particular order A) too much money for tickets, gas, food etc. even though I usually stretch my dollar pretty good, just didn't want to spend the money, (Cars 2 was a better option with the fam)B) its baseball and I really don't watch it at all. Its too boring and the season is too long C) its too hot to sit and sweat at a game D) my son wouldn't sit and watch because of previous reasons E) maybe a lack of interest in the Orioles as a whole, even though I do follow if they win or lose each day. But most importantly F) they just aren't that good and not worth the time.

At some point, baseball lost me as a fan, or more specifically, the Orioles have lost me as a fan. Yeah I care about them, but how much am I willing to go forward with them. Wife, kids, family, job take more precedent now as I get older then following the trials and tribulations of baseball's demise in Charm City.

But there was a time the O's were all that mattered and other teams I cheer for (Alabama Crimson Tide, Temple Owls, Boston Celtics, Detroit Lions) didn't come close to moving the barometer. But my how things change. Maybe it was the baseball strike of 1994, even though I routinely skipped college classes and work in 1996 & 1997 to watch the Oriole's afternoon playoff games. Even 0-21 in 1988 didn't do it to me. Niether did getting rid of Jon Miller as the radio voice or Davey Johnson as a manager. Maybe it was Cal Ripken's retirement, but I still made trips to Turner Field in 2003 & 2005 to watch the O's, even have taken my wife and my oldest daughter to Camden Yards during the post Ripken era.

But at the end of the day, its the last 13 years of losing seasons and the inept ownership of Peter Angelos that have probably ultimately driven me to this point. He's killed baseball in Baltimore and has hung me and numerous others out to die a slow and painful death as an O's fans. He's driven us away in droves and lost generations of fans as I've written about before.

If anything, at this point I seem to have just as much interest in the Tampa Bay Rays since I work part time in the summer for their double A affiliate the Montgomery Biscuits and have seen several of the Biscuits work their way up and have success for the Rays as they challenge for the AL East each year.

As I worked outside on Friday, ESPN's Doug Gottlieb was talking about a coded level for a fan, much like we have codes for air quality, national security, etc., he was trying to apply one to sports fans. A D-1 being a guy who likes the team, may even go to games, but its not like and death, doesn't know all the histroy, etc. to a D-5 being the guy that runs a message board, knows all the history, team's prospects, the pitching rotation/batting order even in the really bad years.

At one point, I might have been a D-4 with the O's, from attending games to knowing who all the players were, even the obscure O's, but now I'm a D-1 at best on the Gottlieb Scale. I don't know all the players, haven't been to a game in several years, I keep up the wins and losses, I know the bullpen sucks but can't name anyone besides Keving Gregg (only cause he's blown 3,000 saves this year) but thats ok too.

So as I watch the O's lead the Braves here in in the early parts of Game 3 of this series (they'll blow this lead before its over), I'll still hold a soft spot for the O's in my heart, but I just won't be puttin forth extra effort to watch, or plunk down hard earned money to follow the team until they make it a little more worth while.

Just how bad is the Penn State Basketball Program?

The words Penn State and Basketball just don't mix well for some reason. I for one have never really understood why the major land grant university in the Keystone State can't not only consistently win, but is basically one of the most irrelevent basketball programs from a BCS Conference (joined by Northwestern, Auburn & Colorado).

Think about it for a second, but their are 14 Division 1 basketball playing schools in Pennsylvania, with many of these schools being small, qaint, private liberal arts schools consisting of less then 4,000 students compared to the over 50,000 that roam the State College campus. But yet nearly everyone of those schools has had more success on the hardwood then Penn State.

So my question is why can't PSU win at basketball?

Is the situation so bad that PSU alum and head coach Ed DeChellis decided to bolt Happy Valley for the basketball hotbed that is Annapolis and the Naval Academy just after leading the Lions to their first NCAA Tournament appearance in 10 years? A PSU Alum basically went to a school that prohibits anyone from being taller then 6'7 from entering. In the words of Rick Pitino, David Robinson isn't walking through that door!

This doesn't make any sense to me, thus is their an underlying problem with the administration, athletic department or another coaching legend at the university?

Pennsylvania has some of the best high school basketball in the country, they have to in order to have 14 D-1 schools and we haven't even gone into the D-II PSAC or D-III schools? Its common knowledge that PSU has never recruited the state well but why? To me its a lack of effort or charisma by the staff. The PSU coaches in the last 25 years have been good guys (Bruce Parkhill, Jerry Dunn & Dechellis), decent coaches but no knock your door down salesmen to get recruits in the fold.

Another problem may be that basketball seems to be # 3 in the sports pecking order behind football & wrestling. It may be # 4 behind volleyball and very soon # 5 behind hockey??? PSU has always had a hard time selling its program, but the move to the Big 10 in 1992 was supposed to solve that along with the opening of the Bryce Jordan Center. These were supposed to be the spring board for PSU hoops but its never materialized. The Big 10 has had an adverse effect on PSU Basketball because instead of taking kids from DC, Philly, Baltimore and playing games in those cities, players now travel to Minnesota, Indiana & Wisconsin. Again, kids want to play in front of friends & family, not empty seats on a cold wednesday night in January vs Iowa.

Who can PSU get this late in the year? No way a coach from another BCS school comes to Happy Valley in what is basically June. So do you turn to a Larry Brown/Bobby Knight type to make a splash? Personally, the best person to hire would be Carlisle's native son Jeff Lebo. He is an excellent x and o coach who has had success everywhere except at Auburn, which nobody wins there consistently. His dad still helps out as an assistant coach and he would instantly bring some much needed good favor for the program with the state's high school coaches.

In closing, let's compare Penn State with the other 14 Division 1 schools in the state. We'll compare the modern era of the last 30 years (1982-2011) since this is when college basketball really exploded as a sport, its during the CBS era of covering the sport & the 3 point line/shot clock have used in some form for most of this time period.

Scoring system: 3 points for an NCAA berth, 1 point for advancing in each round, 2 points for a conference torunament title and 3 points for a regular season conference championship. The numbers of how good the level of basketball is in the state may surprise you. **(Ivy League does not have a conference torunament, so Penn's number is adjusted )

1. Temple-132 points ( 21 NCAA tournaments for 63 points, 14 2nd round appearances, 5 Sweet 16 & 5 Elite 8, 9 Resgular Season Conference titles for 27 points & 9 Conference Torunament titles for 27 points)

2. Villanova-104 points (19 NCAA torunaments for 57 points, 8 2nd round appearnaces, 6 Sweet 16, 5 Elite 8, two Final 4 & 10 bonus points for the 1985 NCAA Championship, 1 Big East Tournament Title & 4 Big East Regular Season TItles)

3. Penn-97 points (14 NCAA's for 42 points, 14 conference titles, 1 2nd round appearance, 7 tournament titles **, 5 bonus points for winning with smart guys)

4. Pitt-86 points ( 17 NCAA's, 5 2nd Rounds, 5 Sweet 16, 1 Elite 8, 3 Big East Tournament titles & 6 regular season titles)

5. Robert Morris-63 points (7 NCAA's, 9 regular season titles, 7 conference tournament titles)

6. St. Joe's-52 points (7 NCAA's, 2 2nd Rounds, 1 Sweet 16, 1 Elite 8, 3 A-10 tournament titles & 7 regular season titles)

7. Bucknell-42 points (5 NCAA's, 2 second round appearances, 5 conference tournament & 5 regular season titles )

8. La Salle-39 points (5 NCAA's, 2 2nd round appearances, 3 regular season titles, 4 conference tournament titles & 5 bonus points for the Lionel Simmons era)

9. Drexel-36 points (4 NCAA's, 4 tournament titles, 4 regular season titles, 1 2nd round appearnce, 3 bonus points for the Malik Rose era)

10. Lehigh-29 points ( 4 NCAA's, 3 regular season titles & 4 confernece tournmanet titles)

11. Penn State-18 points (4 NCAA's, 2nd round twice, 1 Sweet 16, 1 A-10 tournmanet title (1991))

12. Lafayette-16 points (2 NCAA's, 2 conference tournament titles & 2 regular season titles )

13. St. Francis-6 points (1 NCAA & 1 conference tournament title)

14. Duqense-0 points (never made a NCAA tournament during these 30 years)

Anthony Grant runs a picket fence around the Yellowhammer State

Sign, Sealed, Delivered.

Alabama Basketball has taken a major step towards regaining national prominence when Anthony Grant was able to land in state, high school hoops legend & two time Mr. Basketball, Trevor Lacey from Butler High in Huntsville to sign his letter of intent to Alabama.

This is Big Time because Alabama beat out John Calipari & Kentucky along with Bill Self and Kansas for Lacey's signature. With all due respect to Tony Barbee and his unsigned contract at Auburn, they never had a chance.

No more will a Eric Bledsoe or Demarcus Cousins slip up to Lexington and onto the NBA or a Stanley Robinson head to UConn. That highway has hit a detour and runs directly through Tuscaloosa.

Lacey's signature caps a superb recruiting class that also brings in the highly touted Levi Randolph from 6A Bob Jones and Rodney Cooper from 5A Russell County. All three of these guys can defend the perimeter and shoot the rock, something Alabama could not do well last year. Add in a 6'8 power forward from suburban Atlanta & and a 7 foot JUCO transfer, Anthony Grant will be set to run his full court, hard nosed defense for an entire game instead of in spurts.

On the court, this signals the end of double teams on Jaymichael Green, allows Tony Mitchell to be a slash player & the ungardable Trevor Releford to be the mistro on a nightly masterpiece in Coleman Coliseum. No more having to stop the pressure due to a lack of depth. No more is the best offense a missed shot leading to an offensive rebound.

Off the court, it signals the end to instate plucking from the Kentucky's North Carolina's, UConn's etc. for the states top talent. Grant has basically sealed off the state to the outside and shown if he wants a player, he can get him. Tony Barbee is on the way to possibly to doing the same thing in Auburn.

This might be Alabama's biggest recruiting coup since Antonio McDyess in 1993, even though Alabama landed a Ronald Steele in 2005 & a Richard Hendrix in 2006 or the one and done year of Gerald Wallace in 2001. Its definently the best class since Erwin Dudley, Rod Grizzard, Terrence Meade & Kenny Walker became the backbone of Mark Gottfried's 2002 SEC Championship team.

The news of Lacey's signing also brings some much needed good news to the area in the wake of the tragic tornadoes from April 27th. The football and gymnastics teams have won national championships in the last 2 years and softball is currently the # 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament. People are not thinking it can happen but believing that the same kind of sustained success on the hardwood will happen for the Tide.

All I know is I can't wait for my basketball season ticket renewal form to come in the mail and for December 1st to get here when Alabama will lay a beat down on Georgetown in Coleman.

Holy Cow, Cubs Win, Cubs Win!!!

They said this day would never come. Some thought it might mark the end of the world. But if Auburn can win a national championship (for the time being), why can't the 5/6 year old Millbrook Cubs win a game??? They were so close the week before, losing 6-5 to the Red Sox in a game filled with controversial calls and rulings.

But the unthinkable happened Tuesday night in Millbrook as the stars in this universe alligned just right. The team that could not scratch the win column defeated the Mets 10-0 just a few weeks after getting manhandled by the the Mets on opening day.

Things started off beautifully for the Cubbies as Tyler Bullard and Luke Young led off the game with back to back singles. Then following an Earl Weaver prescription, the Cubs dialed up a 3 run homer off the bat of Kal Ingram to race to the 3-0 lead.

The offensive onslaught coninued when Cole Drummond and Hunter Atkins reached base and the score worked itself to 5-0. But the damage was not done yet as the Cubs loaded the bases. In so many instances the Cubs could never get that big hit to break a game open as they have struggled with runners in scoring position. But this time, the order worked its way back to the top and Tyler Bullard cleared the bases with a grand salami enroute to a 9-0 lead.

A stifling defense continued to blank the dreaded Mets and the Cubs would add another run to win 10-0, thus breaking the longest lsoing streak in the MYDBL. Thankfully, the 10 run rule was invoked just before the power outage occurred at the MYDBL fields. Rumor on the street is that a car accident caused a power outage but I think it was the offensive explosion by the Cubbies that blew that transformer. Maybe the Cubs are poised to make a run in the 2nd half of the season after the Easter Break, time will tell.

But if you're a gambling man, Tuesday was the night for you. You should have played the lottery because you would have won, gone in all in at the Blackjack Table or bet it all on red. If not, you missed your chance. 20 years from now, people will ask where you were when this event happened, will you remember where you were you heard, "Cubs Win, Cubs Win?"