Cubs hire Keith Moreland to succeed Ron Santo in WGN Radio booth

One of the few things the Cubs have gotten right over the past few years. Today, the Cubs announced that former-Cub and current Texas Longhorn baseball radio analyst Keith Moreland will succeed Ron Santo as the Cubs analyst at WGN Radio.

Moreland has filled in for Bob Brenly on occasion when he is watching his son Michael and I thought he did a great job during those occasions and really loved his knowledge of the game of baseball. He was my favorite out of all the candidates going into this search and I surely didn't want Dave Otto to get the job. Nothing against Dave Otto because he has a great knowledge of the game of baseball but I just find him boring.

My Streak for the Cash Lock Of the Day 2/16/11

Let the good time roll! We have a new longest lock of the day streak as Ohio State won by 10 last night (barely eeked it out!) as our streak is now 5. I'm 10-2 overall for my lock of the day as well. If only my picks other than the lock of the day would work out.

My lock of the day for Wednesday is to take the Louisville Cardinals on the road at Cincinnati. There are a few other picks I like for tomorrow and those include taking Vanderbilt on the road at Georgia, taking Nebraska on the road at Oklahoma, and taking the Blackhawks over the Wild.

Lock of the Day Streak: W5
Lock of the Day record: 10-2

Ozzie Guillen's speech last night

Thought I'd post this. From the Comcast SportsNet Awards last night:

My Streak For The Cash Lock of the Day 2/15/11

I just continue to roll on as the Hawks beat the Pistons in Detroit last night to improve my Lock of the Day record to 9-2 and give me another 4 game win streak.

I feel there aren't very many good props for Tuesday but my Lock of the Day is going to be Ohio State win by double digits. The reason I like this pick is Ohio State is coming off their first loss of the season and they'll be hungry for a big victory. They're also at home and Michigan State hasn't been that great of a team this year. I am usually against going for these "win by single digits/win by double digits" props because they can always go either way but I'm confident in this pick. Another pick I like is New Orleans over Golden State. Golden State has been a real Streak for the Cash killer those these past few weeks so that's why I'm not taking them for my lock of the day.

Current Streak: W1
Lock of the Day Streak: W4
Lock of the Day record: 9-2

Rumor: Cubs will offer Pujols "the A-Rod deal"

According to Jon Heyman's Twitter feed:

one competing baseball exec told me he believes #cubs will offer pujols the a-rod deal ($10 mil, $27.5 mil/yr).....sorry, that should have said 10 yrs, $27.5 mil a yr that cubs will bid on albert, one competing baseball exec predicted

Okay first off, I'll take Albert Pujols. Not going to bitch about offering him that sum of money because he deserves it and if we want to win a World Series, Pujols is a guy you want to build around. One concern I have. Is Albert Pujols really 31 like he claims? I'm worried that like some Dominican players, Pujols has lied about his age to make him seem younger. Definitely a concern for giving this guy a 10 year deal.

Cubs sign Carlos Marmol to a 3-year, $20 Million Extension

From Chicago Breaking Sports:

MESA, Ariz.- The Cubs and closer Carlos Marmol agreed to a three-year deal on Monday, avoiding salary arbitration.

Marmol, 28, was 38 for 43 in save opportunities last year and broke Bruce Sutter's franchise record for relief strikeouts with 138. The deal is for $20 million, including $3.2 million in 2011, $7 million in '12 and $9.8 million in '13.

Good signing. Really like Marmol and when he's throwing strikes, he's one of the best relievers in the game. Just concerned with the type of deal because Jim Hendry handed out another backloaded, no trade clause deal. When will Hendry learn?

And now a montage of Carlos Marmol fistpumping:

Where the national media (and John Hollinger's computer) has the Bulls in power rankings

John Hollinger's computer:
1. Spurs
2. Heat
3. Lakers
4. Magic
5. Bulls (Yay we're ahead of the Celtics somehow!)
6. Celtics
7. Mavericks
8. 76ers (What the fuck??)
9. Hornets
10. Thunder

Mark Stein (ESPN):
1. Spurs
2. Mavericks
3. Lakers
4. Celtics
5. Heat
6. Bulls

Who in the East can be higher on the MVP ballot than D-Rose heading into the All-Star break? And, yes, I'd have posed the same question even before Rose's big games back-to-back on the road against D-Will and CP3.

7. Magic
8. Thunder
9. Grizzlies
10. Hornets

John Schuhmann (NBA.com):
1. Spurs
2. Celtics
3. Heat
4. Lakers
5. Bulls

Monday's loss in Portland was the Bulls' worst defensive game of the season, but the Blazers recovered to win in Utah and New Orleans with Derrick Rose outplaying both Deron Williams and Chris Paul. They're just a game in the loss column behind the Heat for second in the East and just two behind Boston for first.

6. Mavericks
7. Magic
8. Thunder
9. Grizzlies
10. Hawks

Zac Jackson (Fox Sports)
1. Spurs
2. Celtics
3. Heat
4. Bulls

Potential MVP Derrick Rose outdid Chris Paul as the Bulls scored another impressive road win over the weekend. They've won eight of 10 overall and are riding Rose towards the top of the standings. Should Miami or Boston falter -- and there's a lot of seas

5. Mavericks
6. Lakers
7. Thunder
8. Trail Blazers
9. Magic
10. Hawks

Dave Del Grande (CBS Sports):
1. Spurs
2. Heat
3. Mavericks
4. Celtics
5. Lakers
6. Bulls

Games of the week: They did what the Lakers couldn't -- finish off a trip with a flourish as Derrick Rose outplays Deron Williams and Chris Paul in two big wins. Net result: A solid push upward.

7. Magic
8. Thunder
9. Hawks
10. Grizzlies

Britt Robson (SI.com):
1. Spurs
2. Celtics
3. Heat
4. Bulls

One of the few criticisms leveled at Chicago this season is its weakness at shooting guard. True, starter Keith Bogans not only is reinforcing his career sub-40 shooting percentage, but he also hasn't made enough of an impact as a defensive specialist, according to Basketball Value. But the other two-thirds of the platoon, Kyle Korver and Ronnie Brewer, are frequently on the court together in crunch time (they form a three-man rotation with forward Luol Deng), and the Bulls lead the league in fourth-quarter scoring margin. The rest of the NBA should have such problems.

5. Mavericks
6. Lakers
7. Magic
8. Thunder
9. Grizzlies
10. Trail Blazers

Reason #40,445 why ESPN sucks

I've been watching ESPN less and less over the past few years because of shit like this. Went through the ESPN.com polls today and saw this:


Hmm let's see. You have Rajon Rondo, Deron Williams, Russell Westbrook, and Chris Paul. Who are we missing here? How about the guy putting up 24 PPG and 8 APG? I guess Derrick Rose is just so far ahead of all four of these guys that ESPN just forgot him. Who is running this site again?

Go to the NBA section of their poll site and you get this:

Again, how can you forget Rose on your previous polls? Fucking morons.

Speaking of ESPN, Sam Smith actually writes a decent article today on why Derrick Rose WILL NOT win MVP this year. He says it's because ESPN hypes up LeBron so much, he's a shoo-in to win:

Rose seemingly has almost no chance to be MVP because of the ESPN/ABC effect... ESPN has an awful lot invested in James