Friends, how in the hell are you? I finally received the first three of my seven new songs that I recorded acoustically back on August 2nd. I'm pretty pleased with how they turned out considering how rushed the process was, so I posted them online for you to enjoy/make fun of. I'm supposed to get the rest of them back this weekend, so that will be good. I'm definitely anxious to hear the other four, because there are at least two in that batch that I think that I'll like more than these three. We shall see.
Back in 2006 I started a little project called "the skyfall" because I felt weird just calling my acoustic stuff "Matt Weber." So I think that I'm just going to keep that name (partly because I like it, partly because no one else is using it as of now). So the songs are up on www.myspace.com/theskyfall, along with a song that I recorded back in like 2005. I guess the idea from this little seven song EP that I've done is to pick three songs that I think that other people will like the most and then send them out as a demo to try and book as many shows as possible. It might be a bit of a "pipe dream," but with the thousands and thousands of bars/venues/coffee shops in the Chicagoland area that host live music every day, I'm hoping to get to the point where I'm playing some sort of acoustic set around four to five nights a week, thus making decent money all while doing something that I thoroughly enjoy. Will it work? I know that I have my doubters out there, but even if I'm playing four to five nights a month...at least I'm playing music again.
Has anyone noticed how the Chicago Cubs and the Chicago White Sox have completely flipped? Ponder this: When you think about Sox GM Kenny Williams, what comes to your mind? Probably that he is one of the best GM's in baseball considering that he finds a way to be competitive pretty much year in and year out all while having his hands tied financially (due to a fiscally responsible owner/lack of attendance/etc.). When you think about Jim Hendry on the other hand, it's a lot different feeling. You probably consider him to be a mid-level GM (still not bad, but definitely NOT a top-5 guy), who makes some decent trades/acquisitions, but has his mistakes covered up a lot more easily due to the flexibility he possesses (high payroll/high attendance/ballpark that attracts fans even when the team's losing/etc.). Man, have those roles reversed this season.
When Jim Hendry traded Mark DeRosa, everyone (including me, and probably you) thought that he was simply piling up prospects to make a run at let's say...Brian Roberts, or Jake Peavy. We ALL knew that Soriano was a bad lead off hitter, and that Brian Roberts would be exactly what the doctor ordered in that spot. A TRUE lead off hitter, that bats left handed and possesses great speed/stolen base ability. If Hendry wasn't going to deliver on Roberts, then we at least KNEW that he'd acquire Padres' ace Jake Peavy. I mean, anyone can use a former Cy Young Award winner in their rotation, so that would have definitely worked out as well. Little did we know, Jim Hendry was NOT stocking up on prospects to make another acquisition to IMPROVE on a 97 win ball club, he was simply following orders to dump payroll after the Milton Bradley signing (which obviously turned out to be a bad one). What? The Cubs, dumping payroll? The team that outbids THEMSELVES to get the guy(s) that they want? Yes. Without an owner, the team was told that it could NOT add any payroll to improve on a division champion. So Hendry, knowing that his team needed another left handed bat, signed Milton Bradley. Since that contract added $10 million to his payroll for '09, he had to dump somewhere (funny, I know). The problem is that he was loaded with bad contracts (no body's fault but his own, but remember, he was led to believe that the bank account wouldn't run out). Obviously, NO one would take on Soriano (8 years/$136 million), or Fukudome (4 years/$48 million), or Ramirez (5 years/$75 million), or Lee (5 years/$65 million), and he wasn't going to trade any pitching. So he chose to not resign Kerry Wood, and to trade the ONLY good contract that he possessed...Mark DeRosa (who also happened to be the Cubs' MOST VALUABLE PLAYER). This, along with injuries, and under performance by key players, has led to a slightly above .500 baseball team for 2009.
Kenny Williams, however, is all of a sudden Mr. free spender! He's had no problem adding guys that make a LOT of money over the last few years. Jim Thome (7 years/$95 million), Orlando Cabrera (4 years/$32 million), Scott Linebrink (4 years/$19 million), Ken Griffey Jr. (9 years/$112 million...just payed a pro-rated amount for half of a season), and then the two big ones in the last few weeks. Jake Peavy (4 years/$63 million) and Alex Rios (6 years/$64 million). Why have the roles reversed you might ask? Well, obviously the stability of ownership is key, but I think that it has more to do with Kenny's long term plan.
Over the last few years, Williams has transformed an aging past their prime ball club, into a young vibrant team all while staying competitive in the process. Just look at that pitching staff. Gavin Floyd, John Danks, and now Jake Peavy to go along with the always reliable Mark Buehrle (Aaron Poreda possibly not too far behind). Young, good, and contractually locked up. With the steroids era seemingly in the rear view mirror, teams are putting more emphasis back on speed and athleticism as opposed to guys that just bash the ball around (Konerko, Thome, Dye, A.J., etc.) Kenny Williams seems to really be leading the charge by acquiring guys like Rios and Alexei Ramirez, and drafting and developing guys like Gordon Beckham and Chris Getz. Also, when you look ahead to Jordan Danks, Jared Mitchell, Dayan Viciedo, Tyler Flowers, etc., the sky is the limit for at least the next five years or so. I think that it's his clear-cut plan that has loosened the pockets of The Chairmen (it certainly isn't their attendance).
That is why the roles have reversed my friends. Jim Hendry was told "Win, and win now!" by his bosses heading into the 2007 season, because they knew that they could get the most possible value out of the franchise if it was a winner. So Hendry signed the big name manager that was available along with some key free agents, and turned a 66 win team into the Central Division champions. Then going into 2008, he added to that ball club with guys like Kosuke Fukudome, Jim Edmonds, Reed Johnson, the development of Geovany Soto, and made a big splash by acquiring Oakland ace Rich Harden mid-season. He put all of his eggs in 2008's basket and the team cruised to a 97 win, division championship season. They of course inexplicably flopped again in the playoffs, and then the proverbial financial clamps came down on ol' Jimmy heading into '09, thus leading us to where we are today.
There are a lot of people that are clamoring for the head of Jim Hendry on the Northside. I think that that's a bit premature. The guy is probably the best GM in Cubs' history (not that that's saying much). I mean think about it. He's won three division championships in six years (and is still competing in this 2009 race). By comparison, Kenny Williams has one just two division championships in his eight years of service on the Southside. Now obviously Kenny has a World Series ring, but a GM can't get blamed for what happens in the postseason. His job is to simply build a team that's good enough to make it to October, once you get there, it's a complete crap shoot based on match ups and who's the hottest team at the time. I'm not saying that Hendry is a better GM than Williams (I don't think that he is), but I'm a little disgusted with the fact that people already want him gone. Kenny has the loyalty of Jerry Reinsdorf and the entire organization almost to a fault (and probably always will), maybe Hendry would perform a little bit better if he had a little backing as well. As far as Lou goes...let's wait and see.
Hit me up on facebook, myspace.com/theskyfall, or in the comments section of this blog. Right now I'm listening to "The City that Day" by Matt Skiba. Drinks of Choice: A&W, a summer delight.
Thanks.
Webby
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