Bartender Banter: Riding the Storm Out

Yuck. That image says it all. What a crappy way to end the weekend. No matter. The Cubs are still a game and a half ahead of the Brewers, who now sit at .500. Starting tomorrow the two teams will face each other for the last time this season in a three game series at Miller Park. If everything goes right, we could be putting the Brewers to rest for good, leaving only the Cards to worry about*.

Just in time for the pivotal series, Alfonso Soriano will return to the lineup. Hopefully his presence alone will give this team a nice confidence boost.

Hurricane League Update
Well we had two storms make some noise recently. My first round pick, Erin reached Tropical Storm status before making landfall near the Texas-Mexico border. Not a bad performance as I netted 85 points from her.

The big winner though was Chaim, who's first round pick Dean kicked some ass in the Caribbean. Becoming the first hurricane of the season, Dean wreaked havoc on the Lesser and Greater Antilles before hitting the coveted Category 5 mark before slamming into Mexico. The official score on Dean: 235 points. Well done Chaim.

So here's how standings breakdown.

1. Chaim Witz - 230 points
2. Chip Wesley - 90 points
3. Brant Brown - 60 points
4. Chi-Town Girl - 0 points
5. Governor Gray Davis - 0 points

The Govenor and Chi-Town haven't had any storms yet, but that should change soon. The Gov took Felix and Gabrielle with his first two picks and Chi-Town took Humberto in the first round.

Time for Football
I have to admit. With the Cubs still very much in the playoff hunt, I really haven't devoted much time to the fast-approaching football season. Not that I would have any idea what was going on had I tuned in anyway. Every time you flip to ESPN it's all about Michael Vick. Apparently he did something to a dog and now people are mad. I don't know, I haven't heard much about this.

Anyway, you can look forward to some sort of a football preview this week from us. Also I updated my fantasy football cheat sheets a while back, so check them out if you've got a draft coming up. The latest update now includes IDP as well. If you don't know what IDP is, you probably don't have it in your league, so don't worry about it.

TMS Radio Revival
I'm working on getting this going again. The plan is to make it an ongoing feature with various playlists put together by the bartenders. I'm working on a separate site that will serve as the home for TMS Radio and archive all the playlists we create, so readers can check them out any time they please. Stay tuned.

They're All Wasted!
Out here in the fields
I fight for my meals
I get my back into my living.
I don't need to fight
To prove I'm right
I don't need to be forgiven.
yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah

Thanks to everyone who voted on our Cubs Theme Song Poll. Baba O'Riley by The Who was the winner, beating out Don't Stop Me Now by Queen by 4 votes. So what now? Did our lowly poll really matter or change anything? Probably not. But you can do your part. Wherever you are, at a bar, at home with friends, at work, or by yourself. Anytime the Cubs finish victorious, crank up Baba O'Riley on your stereo, iPod, computer, parent's hi-fi, or bar jukebox. Maybe, just maybe we can create a trend. Hell, the trend may already be starting. Check out this email we got from TMS regular Nick V.

True story, I kid you not. I was at Cortland Garage in Bucktown tonight. As soon as the Cubs beat the D-Backs, they blasted "Baba O'Riley." This only has one of two explanations... (And NO, I did not request it, nor did anyone that I saw)

1) They are frequent visitors to the Thunder Matt blog and adhered to the poll wishes and blasted Baba O'Riley
2) Fate. Fate. Fate. And the Cubs will win it all in 2007.

You decide. I just work here.

Cheers,

Nick V

Honestly, I'm hoping for all of the above.