Archive for the ‘Episode Notes’ Category

As mentioned in today’s mini-episode (download – mp3), Sheps and I will return with a full-fledged episode of Cubscast on Tuesday morning, August 17th. We’ll been quiet these last couple weeks dealing with a technical matter largely outside of our control.

It’s been an interesting season to say the least. Who thought Darwin Barney would be on the 25-man roster before September? We’re looking forward to discussing him as well as Carlos Zambrano’s return to the rotation (finally!) on Monday.

We can’t wait to get back to ‘casting even if the 2010 club is in full rebuilding mode.

Anyway, have a nice weekend, and as always, thanks for listening,

Lou

Hi all,

Sheps and I experienced some technical issues on Friday, which is why there was no episode published that day. We plan to return on Tuesday May 25th with an episode that discusses the Bob Howry signing along with news from the winning weekend in Texas. Thank goodness the Cubs pulled out the victory earlier today!

As always, thanks for listening and Go Cubs!

Lou

Our favorite part of the baseball season every year is our annual Spring Training trip to Mesa, Arizona. Nothing beats seeing the Cubs close up in beautiful warm weather in a fantastic destination, particularly in March when most of the country is just trying to thaw out. This year’s trip was extra enjoyable thanks to the fine folks at VisitMesa.com who allowed us a very special glimpse at the new Play Ball Exhibit at the Arizona Museum for youth.

This exhibit, officially known as “Play Ball! The Cactus League Experience” is kind of like a Cactus League Hall of Fame, a mini-Cooperstown West if you will, complete with memorabilia, interactive exhibits, info on all 15 current Cactus League teams, and plenty to look at and enjoy for baseball fans of all ages.

The following video clips will give you your own look at this impressive exhibit, a must for anyone visiting Mesa or the Phoenix area for Spring Training, or anytime in the next several months. The exhibit will be housed at the Arizona Museum for Youth at 35 N. Robson in Mesa until November 7, with hopes of a permanent home to follow. Our tour guide is Mr. Robert Brinton, Cactus League Association and HoHoKam President, and all around great guy.

Our thanks to Mr. Robert Brinton and to Michelle from the Mesa Convention & Visitors Bureau for treating us so well. We hope you enjoyed this mini-tour, and encourage you to see the exhibit in person, as this really is just a glimpse.

For more info on the Play Ball exhibit, you can call (480) 644-2468 or check out playballexperience.com. And for everything Mesa, be sure to visit visitmesa.com.

We just wanted to thank everyone who participated in Tuesday’s #Dawson4TheHall campaign. I’ve been on the road this week and hadn’t had a chance to share the results and I know some of our listeners have e-mailed us and inquired.

The raw stats are in the graphic above for those curious “numbers people” out there, but there’s somewhere else that I’d rather take the discussion if you’re game. We received this e-mail from Jason, a listener from Lafayette, IN:

Jason’s halfway right. No Hall of Fame voter is going to see a Twitter campaign and immediately decide to change a “no” for Andre Dawson to a “yes.” That would be silly, and I think I did a poor job of explaining my perspective on this before we started the campaign. I liken #Dawson4TheHall to a highway billboard that thousands of people glance at as they pass it going 70 mph. No matter what each person personally thinks of The Hawk, if anything, now they’ve seen and processed that someone cared enough to put the billboard up.

This kind of subtle marketing is just about impossible to measure, but the biggest companies in the world use it constantly. I call it “tiny positive moment” marketing. Keep an eye out when you watch a movie over Christmas break. Every company that has a product appearing on screen paid for the privilege of you seeing their product for a split second. If the camera moves and then focuses on their logo, you’ll know they paid even more. And that concludes the lesson for today, and I’m sorry I assigned homework.

My hope is that a few ballot holders drove by and glanced up on Tuesday. We’ll probably never know, but either way we had a lot of fun painting the billboard with everybody.

Thanks again,

Lou

Next Episode Note: Sheps and I will return with a brand new Winter Meetings recap episode this Friday afternoon. Hopefully we’ll have a certain outfielder trade to discuss!

NOTE: We’re organizing #Dawson4TheHall Day on Twitter, which will be Tuesday, December 8th. Please tell all the Cubs fans that you know, we’ll need everybody involved. The Hall of Fame needs to see our support. Help make #Dawson4TheHall a trending topic that day. More details to come.

As mentioned in today’s episode (download – mp3), the voting body of sportswriters will commence voting over the next month and an official results announcement from the Hall of Fame will be made on Wednesday January 6, 2010. Last year my favorite all-time Cub, Andre Dawson, received 67% of the vote, and it’s ludicrous that he wasn’t elected in any of his first 8 years on the ballot. Cubs fans including myself obviously want to see The Hawk elected, and there’s a couple things we can do.

There’s an online petition going that was just started recently. It’s a little pathetic right now (only about 100 signatures), so please show your support!

Also we love it when Cubs fans are so passionate about something that they create a website. Enter Charley, the guy behind Hawk4TheHall. Be sure to check out this great site for some awesome posts regarding Dawson’s career and Hall of Fame credentials. We just found it this morning and it’s been bookmarked.

Check back soon for more details on the Twitter blitz on December 8th.

Several listeners have sent us Cubs songs that they’ve heard (or sang) over the last few months and it took us awhile to edit everything together, but today we’re proud to release a special music episode (download – mp3) today on Thanksgiving. If you enjoy lame parody and auto-tuning, this is a gold mine for you. If not, you still might enjoy it so please take a listen. Sheps screams “Word to your mother!” and that’s definitely worth the price of admission. Yeah, it’s free.

The songs included are:

1. World Series Champions – Kevin Henrickson
2. Milton Bradley and Jim Hendry at Dinner – Lou
3. I Guess That’s Why I Bleed Cubbie Blue – Danny Rockett
4. Ricketts Man – Lou
5. Get On the Big Blue Train – Ted Norstrom

In case it was hard to understand, here are the lyrics for Ricketts Man:

I blocked the view last night – that’s right
1060. Addison.
But Horseshoe rollin high as a kite by then
I hate that roof so much it causes strife
It’s phony, Cubs ad space
In such a timeless fight

And I think it’s gonna be a long long time
Till Cub fans know it ain’t about the sign
I’m not the man they rent the roof off home
Oh no no no I’m a Ricketts man
Ricketts man says Binionaires will never own

Boxcars ain’t the kind of place to raise your kids
Those books, are old as Zell
And there’s no pun there to save them if you did
Child homelessness I don’t understand
It’s just my job five days a week
To be a Ricketts man—, Ricketts man

And I think it’s gonna be a long long time…

Have a Happy Thanksgiving!

Lou

Just wanted to post a quick note — due to some scheduling issues we are going to record Wednesday’s episode later tonight for release on Thursday. It should be a good one what with the Cubs working their way back into the Wild Card, pretty much against all odds (and reason). Still trying to keep my hopes down, if that makes any sense.

Be sure to enter this week’s photo caption contest. We’ve only received a handful of entries so far.

Speaking of entries, check out this awesome email last night from C Lake Dave. I was saving it for the Mail Sack, but instead, here it is:

I’m LOVING the Cub’s little streak recently; it could be a little more fun this weekend if they can finish off the sweep….GO GIANTS!!!

C.Lake Dave

I love the term BIG MO. Hopefully the Cubs will continue their winning ways tonight vs. the big-jersied Brew Crew. Have a good one and Go Cubs!