http://www.dailyherald.com/article/2012 ... /706119682

BYLINE: Mike Imrem


Cubs president of baseball operations Theo Epstein would categorize what I’m about to say as noise.

Anything that dares doubt the Cubs’ deliberate rebuilding process is a cacophony of cuckoo to them.

The Cubs’ day off Monday provided a break to ponder why this team irritates me even more than the franchise’s other embarrassments of the past half-century.

Epstein took advantage of the idle time to make another splash by signing Cuban defector Jorge Soler.

Great move, I guess. So apparently was trading for Anthony Rizzo over the winter. For now we’ll take the Cubs’ word for it.

These are transactions for the future. The future isn’t now, but it is everything for the Cubs.

That’s fine, except, how many more lifelong Cubs fans will die before the team’s future arrives?

I understand the rebuilding process. It’s going to take time. It’s going to take work. It’s going to take more time. It’s going to take smarts. It’s going to take more time. It’s going to take energy. It’s going to take more time.

But could anyone have imagined while waiting that this season’s Cubs team would be as bad as any in memory, if not in history?

In the past there was Roy Smalley throwing the ball into the first-base stands. There was Andre “He Boots It” Rodgers booting it. There was Leon Durham’s glove dripping Gatorade. There was Hector “The Calorie Collector” Villanueva. There was, of course, blaming Steve Bartman for a typical Cubs flop.

Yet this year’s flubfest is more irritating than the others that contributed to the Cubs’ 104-year championship drought.

Part of it is that this looks like the worst collection of Cubs ever assembled during my lengthy lifetime. Part of it is that bleacher fans don’t pay 50 cents to witness incompetence now; some pay way more than $100. Part of it is that ownership is requesting tax dollars to renovate their house of horrors.

Probably it’s all of the above and more, more being more fans dying every day without ever seeing the Cubs win a World Series. Patience might work for the younger but not necessarily for the older.

Thirty years ago I sat in the Wrigley Field office of Dallas Green, then the Cubs’ general manager in charge of busting curses, jinxes and hexes.

Green emphasized that Cubs fans were impatient for a winner, and I reminded him that those were the most patient fans in the world.

Thirty years later Epstein pleads patience, and I feel compelled to remind him that Cubs fans today are more impatient then ever before.

To middle-aged men like Epstein, this is just another lost baseball season, just as others were for other Cubs operatives. They come and go, while Cubs fans are here for the flaming duration.

On the way to confirming himself as a baseball legend, Epstein is taking his time building the Cubs the right way. On the way to their grave, myriad Cubs fans endure this rebuilding without much more time left.

Epstein is paid a lot of money to take his time turning around the Cubs. Fans pay a lot of money to watch the Cubs flounder this season, probably next season, maybe a few more seasons before Jorge Soler even arrives at Wrigley Field.

How many more Cubs fans will die before the process is completed, which I always predict won’t happen in my lifetime?

Too many.

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favrefan said:"Chris Coghlan isn't gonna pay your rent, Jimmy."

Sounds like somebody's got a case of the Mondays.

"The future isn't now"....I must ponder...

Damn you, Theo!!!! People are dying while you sign prospects!!!!

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You know me like that.

I'm not 100% sure that Theo isn't to blame for the deaths of Cub fans over 80.

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That is a stupid piece of writing. Imren might have an aneurysm when the fire sale starts.

While I understand his frustration, but I do think Ricketts owes somewhat of an explanation to the fans.

Big Money is coming off the Books this year. Big Z and Demp, thats another $34 mill. And if you cant move Soriano right now for maybe $6 mill a year (Costing you $32 mill), then you will never move him. But this EXPENSE should have been planned for. This did not bite anyone in the ass, this was expected and what he is doing is better than can be expected.

BJ Upton, 28 years old.

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"That's what the internet is for. Slandering others anonymously." Banky
“Been that way since one monkey looked at the sun and told the other monkey ‘He said for you to give me your fuckin’ share.’”

He writes, "I understand the rebuilding process. It’s going to take time."

But does he really understand? This is not his first column on the subject. The team has to let the old crap run-off with mainly Soriano and Marmol left after this year. We need an entirely new roster since the current version only has a couple of good major league level players. I would rather this path than endless years of signing overpriced free agents and just hoping we can win before they get too old. Instead, they are going to build a deep organization that wins every year. Yes that will take time. And it will be worth the wait.

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Hawaii (fuck) You

Keep hope alive.

Trust us.

These are the themes lead to tyranny and ruin.

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O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

I remember the 1981-82 club with a rotation that included Fergie Jenkins on his 2nd tour with the club (way past his prime) Doug Capilla (rag-armed lefty) Lynn McGlothen (not sure about the spelling of the last name) and Randy Martz. Martz was the lone starting pitcher with a winning record and he was 11-10. He never pitched in the major leagues after that season either. They did have Bill Buckner, but little else unless Mel Hall does something special for you. So saying it is the WORST team in his memory only means his memory is not great. This season (and next) are necessary evils. In order to get really top draft picks, the club must have a bad record. It's the top picks that are the difference makers/impact players. If the club is bad in 4 years rather than being contenders, it will be fair to call for Theo and Jed's jobs. But now is the time for patience. Yes, some Cub fans will die before another Championship is won, but that fact should have no bearing on how the club goes forward. No deviation from the plan for the future should occur.

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Go Cubs!!!!