Greetings, I've shadowed this site for a few years now... thanks Al; great work; I read often.

As spring wraps up, and the beginning of the 2010 season comes about, I have one request, let's keep it positive.

My wife and I sat armed to teeth for game 3 of the 2008 NLDS in LA, and after that debacle, as we drove home and listened to the sports show pundits describe what was wrong with my Cubs, I thought... "let's just run it again".

Alas, we traded away fan favs and long time heroes. We went ahead and signed folks who summarily are no longer with the team today. A waste of 2009 perhaps; but still a winning record.

I'm excited for this year! Our starting rotation is solid, plus we have "The Ted" coming back in April. Our bullpen is fresh with young arms who have the heart to fight; not the Howry's and Gregg's of recent history. Our starting 8 are solid; and hopefully our "billion dollar" left fielder and "no longer a sophomore slump" catcher can help with the offense.  And, we have young kids who can contribute... as much as I liked Murton / Cedeno, Colvin / Castro have such a better upside.

I specifically remember the 500-pound gorilla; the storm cloud, that seemed to hover over each Cub during the 2007 & 2008 NLDS series'. What I really like about this team, this year, is that they seem to have gotten beyond that. Even if we keep a Millar in the house for that reason alone, we should embrace it.

Solid TEAM construction... that leads to success. Cubs having fun as they play through the year; awesome!

I've been a fan for quite some time, and I long for the emotion of the big win, just like you all do. Do you remember Sosa's 9th inning homer off FLA's Urbina in game 1 of the 2003 NLCS? Sure, we dropped that 9-8, but it was frigging awesome, I cried a bit. We forget that feeling. We complain. And.. I think we add negativity where we wish it wouldn't be.

Cheer... for every Cub this year. I will see you on the 1st base side in July.