On Big Z's shoulder and Cubs hysteria

Carlos Zambrano is going to miss his next scheduled start according to the Chicago Tribune. Sean Marshall is likely to take his spot.

Interesting that the Trib says Big Z's injury has tempered 'North Side Hoopla' the same day that ESPN runs this story. Sorry, but you're a bit late to jump on that bandwagon, ESPN. It's really a full orchestra, which has been blaring since the 2003 team bungled a run at a World Series berth. Anyone who lives in the Chicago area knows this. Cubs hysteria has been on the rise ever since. In a typical year 70 percent of the baseball fans in Chicago will claim to be Cubs fans. Of this 70 percent about 35 to 50 percent actually care and watch the team on a regular basis. The rest is a massive orchestra-wagon of crazies who are either disliked or open-arm welcomed by the constant fans. It's a strange phenomena. I don't know if you'd get it unless you lived there.

One more note on ESPN. Not sure if anyone else ever caught this, but Stuart Scott used to always refer to the White Sox as the Chi-Sox, which is a friendly and accepted nickname for the Chicago American League ballclub. Scott, however, pronounced the nickname as "Chai-Sox" (like the tea) rather than "Shy-Sox" (which is the correct way). Sorry, just a Chicago native venting.

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