The point of Ivy Envy is to provide readers with a variety of opinions and observations regarding Chicago Cubs baseball. Our writers are from different generations and locations, which adds to the uniqueness of each blogger. Our current writers are Andy, Manstrength, adeadcat, cubfan1452 and Corey.
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I've been over to Ivy Envy a few times since they first emailed me in early June. They're a solid blog that's updated pretty regularly. The writing is solid, the design is interesting, and they're Matt Murton fans. What more could you want?
Matt Murton shows off his arm in a game against the Giants. Image courtesy of The Cubdom Photo Gallery
Are you interested in placing a Cubs Trivia widget on your site? Go ahead and check it out. To place the widget on your site, click the 'get this widget' button and copy the code into your page where you want the widget to show up. As easy as pie, my friends.
There's an exciting opportunity to win 2009 Cubs season tickets at the All-Star Game home run derby this year. Here's the promotion as it was explained to me by a State Farm marketing specialist. I've already signed up and am hoping to win. The Chevy Tahoe would be nice, but the season tickets would be unbelievable.
Here's how the promotion works: Fans can enter the promotion daily through June 24 at www.sfCallYourShot.com/2008. The grand prize winner of Call Your Shot will win:
* All-expense paid trip for four to the All-Star Game and State Farm Home Run Derby
* First class hotel accommodations in New York
* Tickets to a Broadway show
* $1,000 MasterCard gift card
The grand prize winner will also get the chance to pick a spot to which two of the Home Run Derby players must compete to try to hit a ball. If the first player hits the ball to the called spot, the promotion ends. If either player succeeds, the fan receives a 2008 Chevrolet Tahoe hybrid vehicle and a 2009 season-ticket package for any team.
Additionally, 10 fans will win first place prizes consisting of a $300 MLB.com gift card and 25 second place prize winners will receive $100 MLB.com gift cards.
Got an email a few weeks back from Jay, the sole writer at Bush League Times, who kindly requested admission to the CBA. I've been giving his Cubs blog a look-see every once in a while and it's definitely up to the task. Go see for yourself.
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Here's what he has to say for himself:
I guess the reason that I’m starting this site is because I just got fed up with the coverage of the Cubs in the newspapers and local radio. I’m convinced that Jay Mariotti only writes with the intention to annoy his readers. Barry Rozner has also recently started to piss me off with all of his Soriano bashing. Mike Murphy, for being the self-proclaimed “biggest Cubs fan,” is one of the most annoying people on the radio. This is pretty much my forum to call B.S. on the craptastic coverage that lands on my doorstep every day.
Jay has a fairly well developed sense of humor. I think my favorite part of his site is the following graphic he's worked up in response to Paul Sullivan's picks from earlier.
Alrighty then... Tonight, the Cubs return from a west coast road trip to play tonight. Yeah. I'll be at the game... in a skybox. :^)
Went to the game today. The Cubs are awesome! I know I'm bringing new news to some of you, but I just can't keep it in. I should've bet on the Cubs making the playoffs before the season. It's got something like an 80% payoff probability right now.
Anyhow, got a request a while ago... I'm a few weeks behind on some stuff, so those who've emailed me with requests, please know that I'll get to them in a bit.
Chicago Cubs Baseball
Some blogs used up all the creativity in their names, so others will naturally be a bit... er, predictable. Anyhow, Ken was nice enough to email me, so I'll stop making fun of him long enough to drop a link to Chicago Cubs Baseball. His writing is actually pretty good, and his latest article is a humorous take on a Sun-Times typo.
It never ceases to amaze me the number of combinations of Cubs and nation that can be worked into a blog title. Unfortunately, most of the previously tried combinations have had short half-lives, so here's hoping Cubbie Nation makes it through life with plenty of vigor and staying power.
Cubbie Nation - by Damen Jackson
I'm sure that you hear it often, but I think you'll genuinely find my site to be unique. First off, I'm a long-time network engineer with significant Internet experience, so not only have I built it, but I maintain the site as well. And it is a site, not a blog in the classic sense. There is an editorial blog, Notes from the Front Office (cubbienation.net/blogs/ntfo), however we'll be introducing our Op-Ed blog for valued guests and posters on the site to share their views in a more expanded forum soon, and look to offer a small hosting environment for bloggers by the off-season.
Additionally, we have a host of other tools currently, with others in development. These include forums, and media galleries full of content. As a Chicagoan -- and this as a semi-professional venture -- I attend a fair number of Cubs games, and exchange photos and videos with other that do as well. The bottom line is we're working to be a definitive source for all Cubs news and fan views, and I think you'll find that to be the case as well.
Cubbie Nation can be found at http://cubbienation.net/. Go ahead, give it a looky.
I wouldn't wager on the Cubs for today's game. Jim Edmonds is going to be wearing blue... and that's just weird... or maybe horrific is the right word for it. VFTB reacts in a manner similar to most of the Cubs Blog Army... only with fewer lassie references.
Finally, I am remiss in missing this a few days ago. The Cubs signed Korean shortstop Lee Hak-Ju, who is being favorably compared to Derek Jeter. I'll believe it when I see it.
I got a tip from a reader a while back about an excellent post describing some of the best and worst seats in the house at Wrigley Field. So, when I was trolling for tickets on Craigslist, I thought to go check it out and see if my seats were likely to be obstructed.
Here's the link, give 'em a look see before you buy your next set of tickets (from one of the brokers that advertises with me on the right. Yeah, you see those links you ignore? Well they pay the bills around here and you should give them a look-see too.)
I've resumed blogging at The Cubdom. The goal is to cover the off-field aspects of the Cubs, such as tips for attending games at Wrigley and the business happenings around the Cubs.
Finally, a check of one of my favorite pages, the Baseball Prospectus post season model, indicates the Cubs have playoff odds of 54% compared to the Cardinals' 45%, despite the fact that we're 2.5 games back in the standings (before games played on May 6.)
Regardless of your feelingstowardRyanTheriot, we all occasionally stand up and cheer when he comes through big for the club. Thus, for all you Riot Lovers out there, I've unearthed an enjoyable blog called Turning Two.
Turning Two - by Kyle and Rob
From their site: Not since Ryne Sandberg (23) or Mark Grace (17), have we been as excited and dedicated to a Cubs player as we are to "The Riot" (2). His determination, character, grit, and skills make us huge fans!
So go check out their Ryan Theriot blog, and remember to return the next time he does something to help the Cubs win.
