Cubs Con Report: Day 2
Geo helps spread awareness about the epidemic of over-manscaping in America.
This may or may not be true, because Geo also showed up with eyebrows that Joan Crawford would have envied, and I can't get past them to look at anything else.
After a sophomore slump that many blamed on his weight, Soto says he lost 40 pounds. With spiked up hair, he looked like a totally different person on Friday.
"It's weird, I feel like a 12-year-old," he said. "I have a lot of energy. I'm kind of wired all day. I have a little one now, and it has helped me at home. I give mama some rest. I'm active the whole day. I used to be a little sluggish -- like 'I want to take a nap.' Now I feel great and I just want to put myself in the best position to help the club.
You feel weird? What a coincidence. . . you also look weird.
Men of America, please understand. No matter how busy and unruly your brows may be, rest assured that women do not want you to do this. Get rid of the unibrow, keep them trimmed, and then leave them alone. Damn, his eyebrows are more waxed than mine.
I'm sure lots of other interesting/disturbing things happened at Cubs Con last night as well. Alas, I didn't get to see any of it because I was happily ensconsed in a corner at Kitty O'Shea's with flyball, baturkey, Aisle424, and a bunch of Cubs fans from Twitter. Deep conversation was tough due to the fact that we had to be ever-vigilant in our efforts to avoid Ronnie Woo-Woo, who seemed lonely last night and was looking for love in all the wrong places.
One of the higlights of the evening was the on-going group therapy amongst Cubs bloggers/reporters that took place last night. For only seconds after I had introduced myself to the guys from Desipio and Hire Jim Essian in order to ascertain what their problem was with me, Paul Sullivan showed up at our table to ask me what MY problem was with HIM.
So let me say this: Paul is a nice guy, and I have great respect for anyone who tries to hash things out with their critics in person, as it's not always an easy thing to do. I explained to Paul that I felt his reporting was less-objective than it should be, and gave me an explanation for that which, though I don't agree with, at least made me understand his point of view a bit better. I'm hoping that I can persuade Paul to discuss where sports journalism is headed in a future podcast or diary here on LOHO.
Bruce Miles, as expected, was above the fray and friends with everyone.
Well kids, I would just LOVE to continue to wax poetic about the Cubs blogosphere's night of drunken debauchery, but I have to go talk about the Cubs on the radio.
Tune in to WGN radio at 9:30 am CT to hear Alex Quigley & I discuss the state of Chicago sports.
More later.
31 Comments
Carl Heartscubs Gierhan said:
I'm glad you all could hug it out.
AndCounting said:
Heal the world, make it a better place for you and for me and . . . Paul Sullivan.
Oh, and I've always called Geo "Genie" for his, um, look. I don't know, he just looks so pretty, like somebody just rubbed his lamp.
Umbra said:
"I used to be a little sluggish -- like 'I want to take a nap.' Now I feel great and I just want to put myself in the best position to help the club."
This is a line of dialogue from Showgirls, right? Where Jessie Spano does coke?
gravedigger said:
Well, I can respect that Sullivan came up to you to talk. But still, his treatment of Bradley and other various grudges (including the one he clearly seems to want to take up with Zambrano) still look pretty chicken shit. That's not the kind of thing a beat writer should do. Period.
AndCounting said:
Yeah, it's not like he has to like everybody he covers. And I wouldn't mind if in his TV appearances, radio interviews, or even his blog, he let his personal grudges fly. But he seems incapable of making any distinction whatsoever between his opinionated grievances and what he dispenses as news as a beat writer. I know there is no such thing as purely objective reporting, but Sullivan doesn't even attempt to come close. You can't expect Sully not to have his opinions, but often he reports those as fact, and a critical reader can point to those directly and say conclusively, "What you wrote isn't true."
If readers disagree with a columnist, that can still be good controversial writing. But if a reader can point out inarguable factual errors in a beat writer's report, that's just dishonesty. When that dishonesty is motivated by personal vendettas against people who just aren't nice to the reporter . . . well, it's just a disgusting abuse of the position.
Max Power said:
The link to Julie and Alex on the WGN this morning
shawndgoldman said:
It's cool that Sullivan came over to chat with you.
shawndgoldman said:
testing...
shawndgoldman said:
Hey it worked!
Julie, it was really cool of Sullivan to come over like that. I can respect that.
And the podcast was great! The "changing hat sizes between innings" comment was priceless.
JulieDiCaro said:
hey, shawn! it's good to "see" you again.
Paul was pretty cool. I just don't understand why he cares what I think about him. I mean, who the hell am I? But I suppose we all have our issues.
gravedigger said:
I think you're pretty awesome, for what that's worth.
shawndgoldman said:
Apparently Mr. Sullivan wants to kick ACB's ass. I don't know how you kick a blog's ass, but whatever.
The guy should start acting by the golden rule. If he doesn't want people to jump all over his back in a biased way, he should stop doing it with the players.
JulieDiCaro said:
Maddog gave me some great advice when I started this blog: either get skin thick enough not to care what people think, or don't do it.
And while I have admittedly been upset by some very personal attacks by other blogs that had nothing to do with this blog or baseball, I can't argue that anything I say on this blog and the way I say it is absolutely fair game for comment and criticism.
shawndgoldman said:
Yeah nothing is sillier to me than "blog wars." Just keep doing what you're doing. You're true to yourself, have a unique take on things, and have a solid following. IMO, those are the most important qualities to have as a blogger.
JulieDiCaro said:
So @ataccini and I got a good look at Geo, and he is teeny!!!!! He is going to get bowled over back there. Maybe we should put Lilly behind the plate when he can't pitch.
AndCounting said:
Did he look as excited and edgy as he sounds? Man, this dude is all over the map. Last offseason he was laid back, taking naps, getting high, and munching. Now he's super dad, super slim, and bouncing off the walls like a super ball?
I know someone who went on some weight loss pills for awhile, and she was so hyper while she was on that stuff. She couldn't stand still, to the point that it was kind of scary to watch. Makes me more than a little suspicious of Geo's dietary tactics.
JulieDiCaro said:
his eyebrows make me suspicious of his dietary tactics. . .
JulieDiCaro said:
Also, I want to report that Geo was wearing a white sweater vest. Fashion fail.
gravedigger said:
Uh, not necessarily.
MillsChC said:
Wow... I would've bet all I own that Sully doesn't even come close to reading Cubs blogs, let alone know enough about this one to approach you in real life. Kinda weird, but somehow totally not unexpected at the carnival that is Cubs-Con.
AndCounting said:
I think his being on Twitter has a lot to do with his perception. I don't doubt for a second that he googles his name to see what people are saying about him, but the feedback on Twitter is pretty immediate (and usually negative). And Julie doesn't hide her image, either, so I'm not surprised Sully recognized her. But I agree with the general sentiment, it says something about him that he wanted to talk things over without attacking.
LostinFla said:
I listened to Cubbiejulie's comments on the radio show about the convention. Great stuff! :) However, I do find it sad that when the host asked about the spirit of Cubs fans at the convention, the response indicated that Cub fans are eternally optimistic. Argh!!
This is exactly why the Cubs are already working on a 102nd straight year of futility. Any other team, in pretty much any other sport, would have been run out of town by the villagers brandishing fire and pitchforks LONG AGO. Why isn't Wrigley field a smoldering pile of ash? Apparently, Cub fans will remain complacent until the sun goes nova. See you in 4.3 billion.
JulieDiCaro said:
Well, there's a certain. . . "type" . . of fan that goes to Cubs Con, and I don't think they're all that representative of the general fan base. You get the most diehard of the diehards there.
LostinFla said:
Yeah, I suppose that would be true. It's just frustrating. If I could ever get to something like Cubs con, I would be bringing a printout with free agents sorted by OBP and then a rubber mallet for reinforcement. The Cubs need more fans like that, even ones who forget the list and just bring the mallet...
AndCounting said:
Totally. I'd be worried if the pessimists were the ones who came out of the woodwork and shelled out their money to meet the team.
JulieDiCaro said:
The worst part about that picture of Geo is that he has a 5:00 shadow where his eyebrows SHOULD be.
baturkey said:
That's EVIL Geovany Soto. Note the goatee.
Doc said:
Ok...Julie...tell me, what is your feeling on this...
Al reported (yes, I was reading ABATT...so abuse me as you wish) that every indication was that the Cubs were planning to stay in Mesa for spring training based on everything being said at the convention. I don't feel the same...basically, I would have thought that if they really truly intended to say in Mesa, an announcement would have been made this weekend. It appears to me like the Crickets were just being nice during the C.C. to not upset all the people there.
What is your impression of the situation from the convention?
JulieDiCaro said:
I didn't hear word one about it at Cubs Con, but word is that it's up to the Rickettes and they want to move to Florida.
Ed Nickow said:
I stopped by the booth the HoHoKams had in the exhibit hall. I wished them luck (my preference is for the Cubs to stay in AZ) but they sounded kind of downhearted and anticipating bad news. When I said they should stay optimistic they said they were trying.
melissa said:
Really enjoyed your tweets from Cubs Con, Julie. It was nice to hear about what was going on without having to endure any nasty smells or unsightly appearances. Way to take one for the team.
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