Chicago Baseball in October: Over and Done

After losing two games against the Brewers, the Chicago Cubs did a rare thing since the playoff format changed some time ago: they forced a Game 5.  I did not expect that to happen and actually had a reasonable belief they might be able to pull it off.

Alas, they did not.  Milwaukee won and moved on.  But I'm grateful that the Cubs gave us fans 8 more games beyond the regular season.   Next Year.

Meanwhile, I was able to watch the Bears on MNF and they similarly beat the Commanders to how the Commanders beat them last year.

I'm beyond annoyed that I cannot watch this week's game against the New Orleans Saints.  New Orleans is closer to Olive Branch/Memphis than either Philadelphia or Minneapolis.  But the networks are forcing us to watch that game.

Bathroom Renovation Project Finished

The long renovation project is completed.  Demolition began on July 28th, and the final touches were completed on September 17th.  There was some idle time in between because it took longer than anticipated to receive the tile, the vanity, the shower door, and other items.  Some of that was supple chain issues.  Some of it was our own, sitting on our butt instead of making a decision.

Nightingale basically let me manage this project though I did consult her for most of the aesthetics.  I wanted a kick ass shower with a pleasing bathroom attached to it and I believe we achieved that.  We scoped two extra items:  first, we moved the toilet to where the old shower was and made it a de facto water closet (no door, but still).  And I had them install some updated lighting in the living room.  All in this project came to about $25K.

The hardest part of this, besides the money, was the decision-making.  Moving the shower to the old tub and the toilet to the old shower was easy.  But where do you want towel racks?  Where do you want new outlets?  Where do you want shower heads?  It can be nerve-racking because some of these decisions are irreversible.  

As far as contractors go, the crew at All Around Renovation were great.  They cleaned up every day (as best one can during demo and construction) and they did their best to keep me apprised of things like when they were turning off the water.  The fact that my frady cat Elsa didn't shy away from them tells you that they are good people.  

That's not to say things were flawless.  my contractor was rather annoyed that we didn't have our tile and everything else picked out when the project began.  Not the worst scenario by far.  You can see the before pictures here.

Chicago Baseball in October: Wild Card Done and Won

The Cubs managed to win the series 2-1.  The latest MLB playoff format had every wild card game occur at the ballpark of the team with the best record.  This meant all 3 games were at Wrigley Field.  And I got to watch all three of them.  

Now they move on to the Divisional Round against the Brewers.  This is a best of five format, with the first two games at Brewers, then the next two at Cubs, and the last, if needed, is back at American Family Field.  

Since the Cubs seem to be doing a good game, bad game pattern, they need to win this first one.

The Aftermath of Still You Gotta Try

I wrote about three opportunities that arrived in my LinkedIn message box in early August.  

It should come as no surprise that none of them panned out.  I cannot say what legitimate shot I had at any of these but for a hot minute, it looked like either Big Bank or Consulting Gig would have hired me.  I was feeling a little randy so I emailed the guy who went on vacation 2 hours after contacting me and he said the position was still open.  We spoke and I sent him my resume but no news.  Not unexpectedly, he is not a follow-through guy, and for recruiters these days, right or wrong (it's definitely wrong), they cannot expend any more time on a candidate the client isn't interested in.

Jeepers Creepers

The recruiter for the consulting job did follow through and it feels like he was more upset than I was about not getting the job.  The reason, I suspect, is that it is hard to fill some roles and when you have a candidate that is good on paper, what is the reason for not going with them if they do okay on the interview?  The reality is this was a case of the recruiter didn't understand the assignment.  They were looking for someone with a skillset that included a range of software tools that the last place I worked produced.  But I only had skills in one of them.  

This happened years before whe No-Name Software Company was acquired by a bigger company.  I'd get calls from recruiters saying I'm perfect for a role but if they had just spent 5 seconds reading my profile, they would see it was for the other side of the business.  Think Samsung TVs vs Samsung Washing Machines.

I have absolutely no way of knowing but I suspect the position at Big Bank went to a candidate who lived in one of the preferred cities.  

2025 Bears Predication Update: First Quarter Results

The NFL season is already 1/4 over, and the Chicago Bears are 2-2.  I had them at 3-1, and they would have been had they not melted down in the 4th quarter of the first game against the Vikings.  And they almost lost Sunday against the lowly Raiders.  

Instead, the Bears win on a blocked field goal and they are 2-2 going into the Bye Week.  I suspect the early Bye week is due to the Chicago Marathon -- the NFL ensures that home games are not scheduled during that event.

It's interesting to note that the NFC North "could" have had all teams at 2-2 this weekend.  The Vikings barely lost.  The Bears bearly won.  The Packers ended in a tie with Dallas.  Only the Lions played lights-out football. On the other hand, I have a 3-1 record in my predictions.

The good news is the Bears are still very alive in any playoff hunt.  The bad news is they have already lost to two division rivals and they have a history of losing tie-breaker scenarios.  

For their next four games, I predicted the following:

I stick to my predictions but note that the Commanders are maybe having a sophomore hangover in their overachieving starting QB.  The Ravens on the other hand seem to be losing games they should be winning.  That Bengals game is looking like it will be a Trap Game.  This time of year, good teams and coaches make adjustments so we will see.  The Bears may be 2-2 in these next four games, but just not in the way I've predicted. 

That would make them 4-4 with 9 games to go.  Down that stretch, I think they need to go 5-4 to make the playoffs as a wild card.  

As a side note, I've only been able to watch the first game because it was MNF and the 3rd game because it was a late afternoon against Dallas who is still considered America's Team by the Old Farts that run broadcast TV.

I should be able to watch the MNF against the Washington Commanders and I might be able to watch the following week against the Saints because New Orleans is in Louisiana, and that's the South.  I could be wrong about both of these things.  Most of their remaining games are Sunday Noon games which generally don't get shown here.  They do have a Friday game after Thanksgiving so I should get to see that one at least.  

stay tuned

Chicago Baseball in October

I never intended for this to be a Sports Blog but lately I haven't had much else to write about.  I do have to post an update to the bathroom remodel (it's finally completed and looks great). and I might have some other news to share this week.

I generally don't pay attention to baseball until at least after the All-Star Break and usually not until August.  I don't remember when I discovered Cubs Magic Number but I have been following it closer since moving down here.  In 2023 the Cubs outperformed so well in May and June that the owners couldn't justify cleaning house.  They faded in August.

So the Cubs fired the manager who made that happen and hired Craig Counsell, the coach of the Milwaukee Brewers.  The next year, they faded a little bit later in the season.  This year, they were better out of the gate.

After sweeping the Pirates, the Cubs got swept by the Reds, who squeaked into the playoffs, edging out the Mets, whom I would have preferred.  The Cubs have won 92 out of 162 games this year and swept the Cardinals (serves them right for intentionally walking Busch instead of letting him try to hit for the cycle). 

But here's the thing:  once the playoffs start, everything resets.  That's what the insufferable Baseball Purists hate about the changes to the baseball playoff format.  Over a 162 game season, teams have winning and losing streaks.  A team like the Reds, who are barely over .500, might just catch a team that had over 90 wins in a slump during the playoffs.

My hope is that the Cubs beat the Padres this week and move on to the next round.  I don't expect them to do much beyond that, but there is always hope.

It's gonna happen

 As of Wednesday evening, after sweeping the Pirates, the Cubs secured a playoff spot for the first time since 2020.  

When it was 4 games to go, it really felt like it would drag out. Then it was 2 games, and that felt doable.  It took them winning each game on their own because the other teams are giving up, but that actually makes it sweeter.

Now the challenge is to get the Top Wild Card Seed.

The top Wild Card seed doesn't just get home field advantage in the Wild Card Series, they get to host all of the games in that round. The top two division winners get byes in the Wild Card round.

The Cubs hold a five game lead over San Diego for the top Wild Card seed and sit six games behind Milwaukee in the Central.

The Top NL Wild Card Seed CMN drops with any Cubs wins or Padres losses.

In a way, the Cubs were in the playoffs all along.  First to get a WC berth.  Now to get the top seed.  My prediction is they will make it to the division round.  Beyond that is hopeful but not completely impossible.  I do doubt they will go much farther than that.

With not much else going on in my life, besides recruiters dangling carrots only to pull them away, I have to admit this has given me something to look forward to.  I usually don't pay much attention toe the Cubs until August, but this year the Magic Number was dropping at a steady pace.  It almost mirrored the 2016 pace.  The people over at CMN are fun to chat with, and they are very helpful in filling me in when I cannot watch a game because it isn't on free TV.

I also predict the World Series will be between Philadelphia and Toronto, with Canada winning because we deserve that schadenfreude right about now.