"Errors??? You can BANK on this!"

POOR William Wrigley! It seems as though that damn billy goat from The Billy Goat Tavern's curse runs a heck of a lot deeper than we originally thought. The Cubs passed the 100 year mark with no World Series and make it only far enough to have homeplate yanked from under their shoes! Yeah, "Yadda, yadda, yadda", we've heard a lion's share of excuses and numerous cracks at breaking the curse have all but failed. It's like going to Earl Shibe with your '73 Oldsmobile for a new paint job...it's gonna look shiny and nice, but it's still going to be a shitty car underneath. That's what you get when you unwrap the stitching from this Cubs baseball. Let's put their record loss of a century to the side for just a minute and focus on the other oddities abound on this franchise. Take the great Hall of Famer, Ernie Banks. The first strike against him was being a black man in a white ballclub. He overcame that one! So, he makes it to the Hall of Fame and the Cubs decide the guy finally deserves a statue in his honor...that's strike two! Strike three is putting up the statue on public display along with a televised tribute to the former great complete with a missing apostraphe! After a day of finger pointing came up empty as to who was at fault for this, it was fixed this morning and life goes on. Now let me point out that the statue STILL isn't fixed. Does Mr. Banks have copper skin? Oops! Seems like this artist goofed!

Now let's talk about Wrigley Field being named an historic place. What's in a name? Nothing. Chicago based United Airlines could have also bought the rights to the joint and slapped their name on the new United Field. Nope. That wouldn't seem right. How about a name that has true meaning? I think renaming the park as The Field of Dreams is a perfect fit. Don't look for James Earl Jones and Kevin Costner to come strolling out of a cornfield either. This is the type of dream that doesn't just doesn't come to fruition. So, the 2008 season is once again off to a doomed start that will be played under a dark storm cloud. There's really nothing a red faced, pin-striped Lou Panella can do about that but take his nitro glycerin and pray for next year!

"40 Fans and Flair...Fireworks everywhere!"

If you were a ticket holder to this years Wrestlemania in Orlando, FL, you may have been lucky enough to leave the event with all kinds of memories that ran the gamut from "saying goodbye to a longtime great", or "going to the closest hospital's burn unit in an ambulance". For starters, there's this Nature Boy "Wooooo!" Ric Flair. It doesn't matter if you think that frappling in the squared circle is a bunch of bunk or not, Flair ended a lifetime commitment to the sport with class, and dignity as he bid a tearful goodbye to millions of fans around the world. An emotional Flair broke down weeping as he delivered three "goodbye" speeches over the three day weekend after 36 years of bumps and bruises. Sorry to say, this was not your typical made for tv storyline taken verbatum from a script... this was definately a heartfelt "goodbye" to fans and fellow wrestlers, the good, the bad and the ugly, who for tthree days showed their respect to him through love and loyalty. He's still gonna "style and profile" without walking that aisle, and he'll still be a "Jet flyin' limousine ridin' son of a gun!" This is founder of the elite "four horsemen" back in the day, is one character whose art imitated life. Having been the "Dirtiest player in the game" his persona as either face or heel in the ring came straight from 'Natches roller coaster ride through three marriages, heavy partying, and womenizing were a result of everyday struggles. He's one guy that deserves my thanks as I wish him a well deserved retirement. As I even wiped a tear from my eye following a giant farewell at the finale of Monday Night Raw and wrestlers from TNA and WWE gathered outside the ring, it is true... there's only one Ric Flair. According to the media coverage of Wrestlemania, there was the usual hijinks in the crowd from drunken fans slugging it out in the stands to the unexpected glitches of doing a live show where pyrotecnics go haywire. For some 40 fans, there stay was cut short early on in the evening as they were zoomed away in ambulances to an Orlando hospital. There's no comment as of yet from CEO Vincent McMahon on any pending lawsuits at least for God's sake, ticket refunds for those injured. Stock in the WWE dipped slightly on Monday morning more than likely due to the firework mishap. Other than that, attendance once again reached record numbers topping all previous annual events. Fireworks or not, this one's in the books folks!