I just lost all respect for Bruce Levine

[FightingBillini]

I was watching Comcast Sportsnight, and they had Levine on talking about the Cubs signing Burnitz. When they showed a possibly lineup, he said "this line-up is just like the line-up of the 2004 Red Sox." I am lucky I wasnt drinking anything at the time, because I would have spit it all over the TV. What an absolute joke. The Flubs line-up is maybe half as good as the powerful Red Sox last year. Its not even close. He then went on to explain that they wont strike out alot (BS) will have a very high OBP (BS) and that they are loaded with power (once again, BS).

To me, Bruce just humiliated himself with such a ridiculous comment. I respected him up to this point, and he had seemed unbaised to me. But a comment like that shows that he is a kool-aid guzzling Cub fan, who refuses to face the reality that:
1) This is a third place team
2)They went on the cheap and dumped over $30mil this offseason.
3) "Carrie" Wood is a mediocre pitcher
4) Don't have a closer, and
5) Burnitz wont replace the production os Sosa, Patterson blows, and Hairston wont replace the production of Alou.

[Jabroni]

Don't forget that they lost Matt Clement and Kent Mercker and are replacing them with Glendon Rusch and Stephen Randolph!

[DrCrawdad]

Originally Posted by FightingBillini

I was watching Comcast Sportsnight, and they had Levine on talking about the Cubs signing Burnitz. When they showed a possibly lineup, he said "this line-up is just like the line-up of the 2004 Red Sox." I am lucky I wasnt drinking anything at the time, because I would have spit it all over the TV. What an absolute joke. The Flubs line-up is maybe half as good as the powerful Red Sox last year. Its not even close. He then went on to explain that they wont strike out alot (BS) will have a very high OBP (BS) and that they are loaded with power (once again, BS).

To me, Bruce just humiliated himself with such a ridiculous comment. I respected him up to this point, and he had seemed unbaised to me. But a comment like that shows that he is a kool-aid guzzling Cub fan, who refuses to face the reality that:
1) This is a third place team
2)They went on the cheap and dumped over $25mil this offseason.
3) "Carrie" Wood is a mediocre pitcher, and
4) Don't have a closer, and
4) Burnitz wont replace the production os Sosa, Patterson blows, and Hairston wont replace the production of Alou.

Ah, Bruce LeVineLine! Um, Bruce please remove your nose from Jim Hendry's ass.

[HebrewHammer]

You had respect for Bruce LeVineLine?

[MRKARNO]

If the Cubs had signed Beltran AND Magglio, I still dont think I would have taken that comment seriously.

[Sox Laundry Guy]

He won't get away with the "don't worry, be happy" crap, as the Dark Tower Tribune windows will be watching.

Dusty, can you keep Burnitz from 110 Ks (or injury)
Or keep No-More from getting pouty?

The team has more holes than Hickory Hills CC.

81-81, and Prior goes 10 and 12.

[MUsoxfan]

Levine is right again as always:

Hairston = Ramirez
Patterson = Damon
Barrett or even Blanco > Varitek
Todd Walker is at least as good as Ortiz, but probably at least 3x better


He's out of his mind. There's very little on the Cubs that can be compared to that murderer's row of last years Red Sox.

[Chicago83]

Originally Posted by Sox Laundry Guy

He won't get away with the "don't worry, be happy" crap, as the Dark Tower Tribune windows will be watching.

Dusty, can you keep Burnitz from 110 Ks (or injury)
Or keep No-More from getting pouty?

The team has more holes than Hickory Hills CC.

81-81, and Prior goes 10 and 12.

I agree that this has been a bad offseason for the Cubs, but I see them winning at least 85-90 games, remember they do have the highest payroll in the NL(Maybe second to Mets after Sosa trade), although they have not spent their money well at all. Prior is an Ace and I see him winning at least 15 games if he's healthy. I think their rotation is overrated, Prior may be one of the best in the game, but after that you got an injury prone Wood, an incosistent Zambrano, an aging Maddux, and Glendon Rusch(Let's laugh as the northsiders are the ones with the fifth starter problem this year.)

I also had respect for Bruce Levine, as he seemd to be one of the few unbiased reporters in Chicago, but his comment about the cubs being the 04 Red Sox is an absolute joke!! He always seemed to be so smart about baseball, but where does he get this idea?? What have they done this offseason that is going to change them into a patient team? The only way that team is like the Red Sox is because of their annoying fans and an obsession with a losing curse.

[Jerome]

Originally Posted by DrCrawdad

Ah, Bruce LeVineLine! Um, Bruce please remove your nose from Jim Hendry's ass.

[Levine]See, normally I would. But unlike other human beings, it doesn't smell bad at all down here. But I get all the Cubs news stories before other reporters.[Levine]

[34 Inch Stick]

Overrated Pitching? Prior has undeniable 20 win ability. Zambrano received Cy Young votes last year. Maddux just keeps on winning 15 or more games a year. Wood is the ace of a lot of teams.

I think that lineup will be bad this year but the starting pitching staff is very, very good.

[DrCrawdad]

Originally Posted by 34 Inch Stick

Overrated Pitching? Prior has undeniable 20 win ability. Zambrano received Cy Young votes last year. Maddux just keeps on winning 15 or more games a year. Wood is the ace of a lot of teams.

I think that lineup will be bad this year but the starting pitching staff is very, very good.

The Cubs pitching staff has the potential to be very good this year. Of course last year they had that same potential too. Not to be overlooked is the fact that they lost Clement, one of their best pitchers last season.

People talk as if it's a lock that each Cubbie pitcher will pitch up to, and beyond, expectations. They did the same thing last year too. Wood, Prior both had injuries and failed to live up to the hype. The Cubbies finished in 3rd place.

[Jerko]

Guys, you didn't let Levine finish. He didn't mean BOSTON Red Sox, he meant the Chicago Red Sox of Donovan Park Little League of Illinois. Nah, even then he'd still be wrong.

[mcfish]

Originally Posted by DrCrawdad

The Cubs pitching staff has the potential to be very good this year. Of course last year they had that same potential too. Not to be overlooked is the fact that they lost Clement, one of their best pitchers last season.

People talk as if it's a lock that each Cubbie pitcher will pitch up to, and beyond, expectations. They did the same thing last year too. Wood, Prior both had injuries and failed to live up to the hype. The Cubbies finished in 3rd place.

Wood is still the best 14 game winner in baseball. Maybe someday he'll get over that 15 game hump, but I wouldn't be on it. (He still had 22 starts last year with only 8 wins, so don't try to say that he would have made it if healthy. 10-11 more starts was all he could have gotten and he wouldn't have won more than 6 of them.) I can't wait until Spring Training when every Chicago sports writer/talk show analyst declares him an automatic 20 game winner like they did last year.

[SOXSINCE'70]

Originally Posted by Sox Laundry Guy

The team has more holes than Hickory Hills CC.

They may have more holes than the Chevy Chase CC
in Wheeling.

[ND_Sox_Fan]

Originally Posted by 34 Inch Stick

Overrated Pitching? Prior has undeniable 20 win ability. Zambrano received Cy Young votes last year. Maddux just keeps on winning 15 or more games a year. Wood is the ace of a lot of teams.

I think that lineup will be bad this year but the starting pitching staff is very, very good.

The starting pitching was good last year too, but their offense couldn't score any runs for them. Now we can expect even less offensive production - let's get ready for a lot of 2-1, 3-2 losses for the Cubs this year, and I am not crying about it!!!