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

Geovany Soto will be signing autographs at Legends of the Field (inside Gurnee Mills mall next to Circuit City)

June 23rd- 6-7:30pm (next monday night!!)

Call for tickets.... they have about 100 left!!

Price is very reasonable

847 855 2000

Go Geo!!

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.

Bush League Times

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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. :^)

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.

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.

For now, the deal to sell Wrigley Field to the state is dead. Thank the good Lord, because if the Cubs had gotten their way and received a tax-increment deal like Crane Kenney wanted, taxpayers would have lost over $3 million in the first year of the deal.

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.

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.)

The Cubdom's RSS feed (syndication) is available at: http://www.thecubdom.com/index.xml

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In the spirit of off-field intrigue, here's a few links:
• The Cubdom - Cubs settle with holdout rooftop owner.
• Bleed Cubbie Blue interviews Crane Kenney.
• Ivy Chat reacts to the BCB interview

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.)

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.

Five Outs to Go

Five Outs to Go is dedicated to the experience of being a Cubs fan. While we may touch on the players and the games every now and then, the purpose of the blog is to lampoon the ridiculousness that comes from spending 5 months a year immersed in Wrigleyville-the ups and downs of the team, sure, but also (and more importantly) the goofy and sometimes surreal experiences that make up the fans' own "Cubby Occurrences." We don't claim to know more than anyone else about the games, players, or coaches. But we know what being a Cubs fan is like and try to present that in all its absurdity every day.

The Brickyard becomes 'The Cubs Brickyard'

In other news, update your blogrolls! The Brickyard has a new URL and the old one is being phased out. It also got a name change so you don't confuse it for an Indy 500 blog, but the Cubs blog it rightfully is: http://www.thecubsbrickyard.com/.

Clark & Addison Blog

CubHub.net was created as a place for fans of the Chicago Cubs, by a fan of the Chicago Cubs. This is a living site which will change often, growing in content as the 2008 season goes along. There is a blog, original photos, real-time Cubs news updates, and more every day! Check us out, link to us, comment on blog entries, and generally hang with like-minded, die-hard fans of all things Cubs!

Finally, a guy named Alex sent me links to these posts on his blog, Rumors and Rants. (It's not necessarily a Cubs Blog, but Cubs related material is always welcome here.)

• The best sign in a long time.

• Marty Brennaman - despised by Cubdom.

Second Base: CubNut at TCR presents the Tale of the Tape: Lou vs. Dusty

Third Base: Colin Wyeth examines just how much better Soriano is than Matt Murton.

Home Plate: Charlie Wilmoth of Bucs Dugout is trying to determine who the worst GM in baseball is. Jim Hendry's pitted against Omar Minaya.

Random Cubs Fact: On August 23, 1989, the Cubs lost to the Reds in Pete Rose's last game as a manager. The following day, Pete was banned for life for betting on baseball.

There are some things in this world that should never be bothered. The Statue of Liberty, Mount Rushmore and Chicago style Pizza are just some of the things that deserve to be handled by God. A new greedy Cubs ownership have laid it on thick as they want to do the unthinkable; rename Wrigley Field for money. We here at KeepitWrigley.com are determined to do our part to stop this ridiculous idea. Wrigley Field is Wrigley Field and should be forever. Please sign our petition to show your support of not renaming Wrigley Field. This is not just for Cub fans, this is for all baseball fans and fans of life. We need to start spreading the word so God's home field keeps its sacred name.

I'll say, for the record, I express no opinion on this, but check out KeepItWrigley.com

The Cub Reporter - presented by Motorola - Rob G. even sent out a press release for this one, and my first reaction was unbelief. I suppose I wasn't thinking about the day, and my only thoughts were: What could Motorola possibly gain by sponsoring a Cubs blog.

Barry Bonds signs with the Cubs at Cubs Hub. This news was a little more welcome. Even though I was well aware of the unlikely nature of the news, I still popped over to Cubs.com to check it out. The scary thing: I was kind of hoping it was true.

And then the hoax that wasn't. Kurt really thinks the Cubs are going to win 120 games this year. Deadspin thought it was funny enough that they linked to it.

And I'll close with a good one that CubsNet linked to from OnMilwaukee.com