"People ask me what I do in winter when there's no baseball. I'll tell you what I do, I stare out the window and wait for spring." - Rogers Hornsby

:: Saturday, December 20, 2003 ::

Oh, Well.

It was a lovely dream, Colgate University being only the second nonscholarship team to reach the NCAA I-AA championship game since I-AA was formed in 1978 (the other, Lehigh in 1979), a dream that a small, 2800-student school could beat the big guys.

It would have been at least easier to take if it hadn't been a blowout.

Delaware beat Colgate 40-0 last night and won the 2003 I-AA football championship.

If you're a Delaware student, alum or fan, this was great for you. It was the first shutout in the history of this game, and the biggest margin of victory, and it was pretty clear in the first quarter that Colgate's defense couldn't stop Delaware's All-American QB Andy Hall, and that Colgate's offensive weapons, QB Chris Brown and RB Jamaal Branch, couldn't get any sort of rhythm going. Brown, in fact, had to leave the game for a quarter with a minor wrist injury.

Coach Dick Biddle said, and he's right, that this was the best team in Colgate history. Branch will be back for his senior season, and after that, I'd think you'll see him in the NFL, just as Colgate running backs Marv Hubbard in the '60s and Mark van Eeghen in the '70s made their marks with the Oakland Raiders.

I'm still proud of everyone there, and it was cool to see Colgate on national TV, even if I did wind up having to avert my eyes for a good portion of the game, and by the fourth quarter I drifted away from the TV entirely.

And now, on toward thoughts of baseball. 75 days till the Cubs' spring opener!

:: posted by Al at 1:58 PM [+] ::
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Movie Review: "Mona Lisa Smile"

You won't know what the title of this film means till late in the movie, when it will become pretty obvious.

It's set in 1953; hard to believe that was 50 years ago. It's at Wellesley College in Massachusetts, and I immediately thought of Wellesley's most famous alum (if you don't know who it is, I'll reveal it at the end of this review. Suffice to say that supposedly, the screenwriters based this loosely on her experiences there).

In 1953, Wellesley's not much more than a "finishing school" for upper-class WASPy women whose main idea is to get their "Mrs." degree, marry a wealthy Harvard lawyer, and settle down and raise a family. Keeping in mind this is just before the sexual and social revolutions of the 1960's, Julia Roberts enters the scene, playing Katherine Watson, a bohemian-type from California who doesn't dress or act in the prissy ways of the '50s, to become a professor of art history to these young women.

There's a few stereotypes among the students; Ginnifer Goodwin plays Connie, the not-so-cute girl who can't get a man, and though it sounds sexist to say so, it breaks your heart; Julia Styles is Joan, the girl who could breeze through law school at Yale if she wanted to, only to remind us that in those days, there were still quotas for accepting women into law school; Maggie Gyllenhaal (who is rapidly becoming the star of her generation for taking on roles that are challenging and fun) is Giselle Levy -- and I mention the last name given to the character only to point out that she appears to be the token Jewish woman admitted to Wellesley -- the class slut who turns out to have the biggest heart of all.

But the show-stealer is Kirsten Dunst, in a fabulous role as Betty, the ice princess (Gyllenhaal's Giselle even calls her a "bitch" right to her face at one point) who marries while still in school, only to learn that her husband's "business" trips to New York aren't really for business after all, and that the mold her parents want her to follow isn't really what she wants either. Donna Mitchell ("The Ice Storm") plays Betty's mother, a woman raised to certain expectations, which she is putting on her daughter, only to learn that the world is changing.

Roberts is great in her role, though she seems somewhat out of place even for a bohemian in the '50s. She's got a California boyfriend, but he seems irrelevant. She falls for the hunky Italian professor, but finds out he's a slick liar. She challenges the students to think outside the box (after they destroy her first lecture by knowing every single art slide she shows). She challenges the administration, especially the president, played with nasty-looking eyebrows by Marian Seldes. There's even a small comment about lesbians made when the obviously-lesbian (her "companion" has just died) school nurse (Juliet Stevenson, who was so good as the mother of a girl she thought was lesbian in "Bend it Like Beckham") is fired for providing diaphragms to the girls.

You might be surprised to find out that this film was directed by a man, Mike Newell ("Four Weddings and a Funeral", "Donnie Brasco"), because men are treated as nothing more than window dressing here. Sure, it's a chick flick, but there's a point to be made here too. The men are the ones treating the women as strictly homemakers without brains (one of the Wellesley classes is about table setting, taught by Marcia Gay Harden, who wears some of the cat-eye glasses that made women so unattractive in those days), but we also see clearly that Roberts' Katherine Watson isn't an aberration, as the college would like her to be, but just ahead of her time.

Oh, yes, Wellesley's most famous graduate? Hillary Rodham Clinton, who started school there only ten years after this film was set, in 1964.

AYRating: ***

:: posted by Al at 3:35 PM [+] ::
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Miscellaneous Cub Acquisitions and Other News

Yesterday, the Cubs signed left-handed-hitting outfielder Todd Hollandsworth to a one-year contract for an estimated $1 million.

Apart from his name taking up way too much room on a scorecard, Hollandsworth can play all three outfield positions and supposedly, he is going to work on first base in spring training so that he can back up his teammate last year at Florida, Derrek Lee, on occasion.

Like the Mercker signing, this isn't a big deal, and for the price, it's reasonable. Hollandsworth isn't a great player, but he's better than Troy O'Leary, whose 2003 roster spot he essentially takes, and he sure wore out Cub pitching during the NLCS. So this is also a case of "if you can't beat him, then have him join you".

In a bit of a head-scratcher, the Cubs traded a 25-year-old minor league pitcher named Wilton Chavez, who was probably never going to make the major league roster, to the Expos for 29-year-old journeyman utility infielder Jose Macias.

Macias does pretty much the same things as Ramon Martinez, only not quite as well. This may indicate that the Cubs aren't going to re-sign Martinez. Macias is a .255 lifetime hitter who rarely walks. He did hit .306 against the Cubs in 2003 and has a .353 lifetime average against the Cubs, his highest against any team except the Cardinals.

The Cubs also signed three players to minor league contracts and invited them to spring training: Gary Glover, Jamey Wright and Bill Selby. Glover might have a shot at making the major league bullpen, as he has had some success in that role with the White Sox. Selby, likely, will be the starting third baseman at Iowa.

Wright's an interesting case. He was once the best pitching prospect in the Rockies organization, and like so many pitchers who come through Coors Field, he got all screwed up. I saw the Cubs beat the living daylights out of him last spring training when he was with the Padres, and he landed for four starts late in the year with the Royals, where he pitched OK. He's 29, and will, I suppose, get a shot at the fifth starter's job.

Finally, Grant DePorter, a friend of the late Harry Caray and managing partner of his eponymous restaurant, bought the infamous foul ball from NLCS game six for the ridiculous price of $106,000, and he says that on February 26, 2004, when Harry Caray's downtown Chicago restaurant has its annual toast to Harry, they will destroy the ball with great ceremony.

That's an awful lot of money to pay for your proverbial 15 minutes of fame, but hey, whatever floats your boat.

:: posted by Al at 1:07 PM [+] ::
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Cubs Sign Kent Mercker

The Cubs filled the spot in the bullpen which last year was held by Mark Guthrie, by signing the well-traveled lefty Kent Mercker to a one-year contract, with the usual "terms not disclosed".

The Cubs will be Mercker's ninth team (Atlanta, Baltimore, Cleveland, Cincinnati, St. Louis, Boston, Anaheim, and Colorado the other eight, with two stops each in Atlanta and Cincinnati). He was always on the fringes of the great Atlanta pitching staffs, and they always had high hopes for him, but he never quite made it. His lifetime ERA is just about league average (4.27 to a 4.30 league average), and he will be 36 in February. I guess the Cubs have reserved a bullpen spot for a "veteran lefty", and he's it.

What worries me most is that he walked a ton of batters last year (32 in 55 1/3 IP, and 7 in 17 with the Braves), so despite having a gaudy 1.95 ERA (ERA's almost always being a misleading stat for relievers), he wasn't all that effective in 2003.

The Cubs could have done better, but they could have done worse; Mercker, unlike lefty Mike Remlinger, seems to be reasonably effective against left-handed batters, as well as righties (Remlinger is generally more effective against right-handed batters, odd for a lefty reliever).

For the fifth or sixth guy in the bullpen, this isn't a terrible choice, especially if the money isn't too much.

:: posted by Al at 1:38 PM [+] ::
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Forgot One!

Got an e-mail from Chris Yarbrough this morning and I am remiss in not mentioning his Yarbage Cub Review, which is currently featuring comments he asked a number of us blog army members to give him, regarding Cub blogging and blogging in general.

Also added to the sidebar!

:: posted by Al at 1:11 PM [+] ::
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The Cubs Blog Army

I've added some more Cubs Blog Army links to the sidebar; by my count there are now 24 blogs (including mine) which are updated with Cub (and other) news on a regular basis; I've found some other Cub-related blogs that haven't been updated in several months, and those aren't on the list, but if those blogs wind up getting updated more frequently, I'll add them to the list.

Enjoy!

:: posted by Al at 4:11 PM [+] ::
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They Got Him!

No, this isn't about Saddam Hussein, but about someone just about as evil, in a different sort of way.

Former Illinois Governor George Ryan was indicted today on 36 felony counts ranging from racketeering, obstruction of justice, mail fraud, tax fraud -- an incredible gamut of charges, which, according to US Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald, led to only one conclusion:

"Ryan sold his office."

If you're not from Illinois, here's a quick recap.

This began long before Ryan was elected governor in 1998, when he was still Secretary of State, the officer in charge of the motor vehicle division. Many of these charges stem from what's called the "Licenses for Bribes" scandal, in which Ryan and his underlings had a scheme to sell commercial drivers licenses to unqualified people.

They might have gotten away with it except for this: in November 1994, there was a horrific accident on I-94 near Milwaukee which killed six children of Scott and Janet Willis. Investigators found that the truck driver who caused this accident couldn't even speak English (which by state law you must be able to do to get such a driver's license), and had paid bribes to get the commercial driver's license. Joe Power, attorney for the Willis family, began digging, and found that this was a pervasive illegal practice, throughout the Secretary of State's office.

Ryan stonewalled through all of this, and it appeared that this story was about to break in October 1998, just before he was elected governor. But somehow, it never came out then, and he was elected; that's where I suspect some of the obstruction of justice charges are coming.

Ryan's single term as governor was tainted with this scandal, and realizing he couldn't be re-elected, he didn't run last year, and this scandal took down nearly every statewide Republican officeholder, save Judy Baar Topinka, state treasurer. Ryan's taint was so bad that it may have prevented Republican JIM Ryan, the state's attorney general, from being elected governor -- people just heard the name "Ryan" and assumed there was scandal attached to it. Jim Ryan himself was scandal-free, but he couldn't escape this taint.

Over 40 people have already been convicted and sent to prison in cases related to this scandal, including Scott Fawell, once one of Ryan's closest aides.

My opinion is -- as the headline says here -- "they got him." Ryan is 69 years old and likely to be sentenced to a prison term.

That's a sad commentary on the state of politics in Illinois, which has been tainted by scandal many times. Ryan wouldn't even be the first former governor to do prison time -- Otto Kerner served time for similar offenses in the 1970's -- but maybe this time, with new people in office, and with the obvious very high profile this trial will have, Illinois politics will be cleaned up.

Naaaaaaaaah. Who am I kidding?

:: posted by Al at 3:13 PM [+] ::
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Cubs Trade For Michael Barrett

This afternoon, the Cubs acquired Michael Barrett from Oakland for a PTBNL, one day after the A's acquired him from the Expos for a similar price.

I don't know what to make of this, only that it means that either Damian Miller, or more likely Paul Bako, will be let go. Miller is under contract and could be traded, but it seems that the most probable thing is that Bako will be non-tendered this weekend.

If Miller and Barrett are the two catchers, that makes the Cubs an even more extreme right-handed-hitting team than they were before the acquisition of Derrek Lee.

Barrett is a former first-round draft pick who was once one of the top prospects in the Expos organization. He had a decent year in 2002, then regressed badly last year, although, to be fair, he spent a fair amount of 2003 on the disabled list. He has also played third base at the major league level, though not very well, and not at all since the 2000 season.

He is only 27, and this could be a "lightning-in-a-bottle" type of move, depending on:

a) how much it costs to sign Barrett; he made $2.6 million in 2003; and

b) what kind of PTBNL this will cost the ballclub.

One thing this certainly does is preclude any possibility that the Cubs are still after Javy Lopez or Ivan Rodriguez. There is apparently still money in the budget to upgrade some other positions, notably fourth outfielder and a bullpen spot or two, in addition to re-signing Ramon Martinez to back up 2B, SS and 3B, and getting Kerry Wood under contract for three or four years beyond 2004.

This is a low-impact move and if it doesn't cost too much, I suppose it'll work out all right.

(Note: just posted on the Cubs newsgroup that WSCR radio in Chicago is reporting that Damian Miller will be the PTBNL, providing that Barrett signs a 2-3 year deal to keep him out of arbitration. I take this with the usual grain of salt that I take most sports radio reports, but I post it here for interest's sake; if true, it means Barrett becomes the starter, with Bako as backup.)

:: posted by Al at 5:18 PM [+] ::
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Movie Review: "Big Fish"

This is a Tim Burton movie.

And I say that in the nicest possible way, because films directed by Burton can be an acquired taste, and if you don't like his style ("Batman", "Edward Scissorhands", "Ed Wood", "Mars Attacks") you are not going to like this film.

It's based on a novel which I have not read, so I can make no comparisons. But I note that Steven Spielberg was the first choice to direct this film, and it would have been a very different film under Spielberg. Apparently he turned it down because it conflicted with his schedule for "Catch Me If You Can". That was a decent film, but he should have taken this one.

It's a total fantasy ride, and it's for you to decide what is real and what is not, because not only is it not clear in the film, that's really what the movie is about.

Albert Finney is Edward Bloom, a dying old man whose son, Will (Billy Crudup, from "Almost Famous"), is grounded in reality, so much so because he has heard his dad tell fanciful tales of his childhood throughout his life, when Will only saw him as a traveling salesman. At one point the two don't speak for years because Will thinks his dad embarrassed him at Will's wedding.

This is one of the few movies I have seen where much of it is told in flashback, requiring different actors to play the same character at different ages, yet you can totally accept Finney as the older version of Ewan MacGregor's young Edward, or Alison Lohman as the young version of Edward's wife Sandra, played as an older woman with great grace by Jessica Lange. Someone who plays both a younger and an older character is Helena Bonham Carter (Jenny), whose story will break your heart.

There are fun tales of giants and witches and a town called Spectre which either really is or really isn't, and at one point you find yourself thinking it's "heaven", but it winds up being something else entirely. It's laden with Burton mainstays like shots of a cookie-cutter suburban street in primary colors, with Danny DeVito as a circusmaster who at first seems cruel, but shows his heart, and with cars in trees and vines taking over houses and even a homage of a sort to "Edward Scissorhands", as Burton winks at his own history and life.

Lessons are learned, of course, especially by Will, who is the only one who doesn't want to accept and really love his father, as even Will's French wife (who is expecting a baby) has done.

And it really is up to you to decide what's real and what's fantasy, and perhaps that is a tale of what life is all about. The title refers both to an actual fish (or is it a fantasy fish? We are never sure.) and to the proverbial old saying of being a "big fish in a small pond".

This is another film that is currently in limited release in NY and LA (in order to meet Academy deadlines for Oscar consideration) and will be released nationwide after Christmas.

It was shot in gorgeous country in and around Montgomery, Alabama, and if you see this film and it makes you more interested in the area and how the film was made, the Montgomery Advertiser has this special page with dozens of linked articles about the making of the film.

This is turning out to be a special year for movies; I can think of several films that in any other year would easily win "Best Picture".

AYRating: ***

:: posted by Al at 5:03 PM [+] ::
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Movie Review: "Cold Mountain"

Here's another film that won't be in general release till later this month -- Christmas Day, in fact -- so perhaps this is the first you've heard of it, and surely the first review.

Seven years ago, Anthony Minghella directed the Oscar-winning "The English Patient", for which he also won "Best Director", as well as the DGA's Best Director award for 1996. Ladies and gentleman, here's your Best Picture of 2003.

I read the novel by Charles Frazier, and so was anxiously awaiting this film. The book is a rich portrait of the South during the Civil War, and the cast is absolutely filled with big names, which, I have to say, gave me a bit of pause, especially considering the most recent bit of miscasting of Nicole Kidman in "The Human Stain". Would I buy her as a southern belle from Charleston who became a tough farm girl? Could I buy pretty-boy Jude Law as a Confederate soldier? And neither is American-born (Law from the UK, Kidman raised in Australia, though she's usually terrific at accents), so would they sound natural doing Southern accents?

None of these things turns out to be important, and though those actors are wonderful in the roles, the star of this show is Renee Zellweger, who plays Ruby, a real tough farm girl who shows up unexpectedly on the farm of Ada Monroe (Kidman) when it appears she's about to starve to death because she can "only arrange flowers, not grow them".

But wait, I'm ahead of myself. Law plays "Inman" (he's generally known only by his last name), a laborer who, like many in the South in 1861, finds himself compelled to join the rebel army and go off to war. He doesn't really believe in the cause, and just before he leaves, he meets Ada, who seems far too "refined" and "upper-class" for him. She's just moved to town (in the "cold mountains" of North Carolina, thus the name of the town and film) with her father, a minister played with great grace by Donald Sutherland, and Inman won't even come inside when they host a party, even though he's been welcomed. There's obvious chemistry between the two, but they only spend a few moments together, with one stolen kiss, before Inman leaves, yet they both vow to stay with each other through the war, which is supposed to be over "in a month".

Three years later, we find Inman at the battle of Petersburg in Virginia, where a huge explosion kills many and wounds him. The battle scenes are graphic, so if you're squeamish, avert your eyes here.

He recuperates, but having seen these horrors, and not really believing in the cause, he decides to escape from the hospital and make his way home. On foot.

In the waning months of the war, there are bounty hunters out and about looking for "deserters" like this, either getting money for them or killing them, and Inman runs into some of these on his walk, in addition to all types of people -- describing them would ruin some of the charming and also horrifying surprises of the film, so I won't.

Meanwhile, Ada is starving after her father dies, and other farms in town are harboring deserters, and you'll nearly cry when you see what happens to the family of Sally (an almost-unrecognizable Kathy Baker). That's when Ruby (Zellweger) shows up, and as I said, the rest of the film is hers. This is a certain Best Supporting Actress nomination; she's terrific. At first she is almost unrecognizable, and that's a credit to her great talent, as someone who has played the sexy Roxie Hart in "Chicago", and the frumpy bachelorette Bridget Jones, and Dorothy in "Jerry Maguire", but can play a character like this, a rough-and-tumble girl who was abused by her father, yet comes to love him (he's a minor but important character in the film too), and fiercely defends those whom she loves. Zellweger is, perhaps, the best actress of our times.

The ending is both ineffably sad, and carries great hope and love. Of this no more should be said. Go see this film when it opens in a couple of weeks. It's the best movie I've seen this year.

AYRating: ****

:: posted by Al at 1:13 PM [+] ::
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More on Colgate Football

Could Colgate be the best college football team in the country?

Click here to find out how -- and this article was written before yesterday's semifinal win.

Thanks to Dan Lichtenstein for sending me the link.

:: posted by Al at 11:29 AM [+] ::
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