Going to my First Baseball Game of the Season!

Cubs set to line up once more vs. Astros
Chicago (1-3) vs. Houston (2-3), Saturday, 12:05 p.m. CT

Pitching matchup

CHC: RHP Jason Marquis (12-9, 4.60 ERA in 2007)

Marquis battled all spring for this spot, competing with Ryan Dempster and Jon Lieber. Marquis worked with someone this offseason on the mental part of the game in hopes of having a good full season, not a half season. The right-hander was 12-0 in 17 starts in which he went at least six innings. He's got to go deep. Marquis is 8-5 with a 5.12 ERA in 23 games against Houston and was 1-1 with a 6.10 ERA in four starts last season.

HOU: RHP Roy Oswalt (0-1, 5.06 ERA)

Oswalt lost his Opening Day start to reigning Cy Young winner Jake Peavy, who shut out the Astros through seven innings. Oswalt said he had no feel for his breaking pitches, which forced him to use his fastball 85 percent of the time. As a result, hitters were fouling off multiple pitches, causing Oswalt's pitch count to skyrocket. It was his sixth Opening Day start. He has a career 5-4 record and 5.28 ERA at Wrigley Field.

A Cubs Fan???

My uber-Cubs fan brother (the Las Vegas King of Komps) will not call me a Cubs fan. Why? I root for both Chicago teams, although the White Sox have always been my main boys. Growing up in the southwest suburbs of Chicago, both teams were always on television., thus "dual citizenship" in my mind.

If you have never been to Wrigley Field (or whatever it might be called in the future), you are missing a big treat. The Friendly Confines isn't at its majestic best in April when the ivy is all brown, but the atmosphere is still fantastic. Let's hope for a big Cubs win!

A Little Nasty Talk at the Blogger Tournaments

Seems like BBT3 has brought out a case of the nasties in some players. It might be that some of the non-bloggers playing are creating problems, or it might be that the stakes are getting high, and the frustration from some bloggers is bleeding through. Do we just need to toughen the ol' hide a might? Maybe. A little civility also goes a long way.

I was surprised to see that one of the poker bloggers, bigpirate, mentioned me in a response to a post about behavior at the blogger tournament tables:

"All that being said, I was very happy Tuesday night to find myself seated between two of the most gentlemanly players out there, lighting36 and On_THG. I like playing against those guys and if they want to call me a donkey, I know where it is coming from."

Wow - that was a very nice, sincere compliment. I guess that I just don't see the point in saying nasty things at the table unless someone really deserves it. I hope that bigpirate -- a classy guy, I might add -- isn't around if I choose to release. My wife will tell you -- it's not pretty!