I want to introduce everyone to CubsNet.com. CubsNet.com allows anyone to register and have their own Cubs blog, hosted by CubsNet.com. Each person’s blog will have its own RSS feed. Additionally, well written posts and posts of timely news will be promoted to the CubsNet.com front page. The site is still undergoing some additional tweaks, but is otherwise live and ready to go. If you don’t already have a Cubs blog (and, really, who doesn’t?; the list keeps growing and growing), start yours at CubsNet.com, and begin contributing to what will hopefully eventually be a top-notch collaborative Cubs news and commentary source.
The Cubs Chronicle web site will stay up here, but all of my future postings will be at CubsNet.com.
After a few weeks of experimentation, I have decided to scrap the previous design of this site. It had been powered by PostNuke, which allowed for some nice user interaction. However, it had some limitations that I decided I did not want to live with:
It created dynamic pages, which Google, Yahoo, and other search engines have a hard time indexing, which means people weren’t finding the site in searches, except for the main page.
People couldn’t comment at the site without registering. Too many internet sites require you to register with them to gain full access. I’m sure there are many people who wouldn’t want to take the time to register at another internet site.
PostNuke didn’t have easy tools for inserting HTML into posts. WordPress, which is now running this site, does.
I apologize to those who did register and now can longer submit stories. But I hope a return to a true blog style format will both make the site easier to run and easier to comment on.
I have added some Google Ads to the site. Perhaps they will help me cover the costs of running the site a bit. I hope they are not obstrusive. Please let me know if their location bothers you.
I like the name I chose for this blog, but I think there’s something about the name that makes some people think I actually live in Chicago. This happened just recently, when a MLB producer contacted me about possibly interviewing me about the Cubs for an upcoming ESPN program. Of course, she was going to be in Chicago, and she hadn’t realized that I didn’t live in Chicago. That sort of thing has happened before. I suppose given how newspapers are named, that’s an easy mistake to make. But the name of the blog just refers to the fact that I talk about what happens at the corner of Clark & Addison. I don’t actually live near Clark & Addison; I live in eastern Iowa, closer to the Iowa Cubs than the Chicago Cubs. What do you think, is the name of the site deceiving?
I started a job on Tuesday. And just two days into it I realize that writing regularly about the Cubs isn’t going to be possible, at least for the foreseeable future. I think I’ll have a hard enough time reading everything I want to about them, let alone writing about them. Going to school (and even studying for the bar) is much more conducive to blogging than working is. (For those curious, I don’t know whether I’ve passed the bar or not yet. My employer is just assuming that I’ll have passed. I hope they’re right.)
I still plan on writing, just not as frequently. That is, I don’t plan on pulling a Bryan’s Baseball Banter, whose banter is greatly missed, though it’s probably gone for wonderful reasons.
If you’d like to know just about right away every time I post something new, there are a couple of different things you can do. One, sign-up for e-mail notifications on the left. Or two, subscribe to the RSS feed using a newsreader. (Using a newsreader makes reading blogs that provide RSS feeds much faster and easier, as you can easily find out if a blog has posted anything recent and can quickly scan the headline and an excerpt to find out if you want to click and read the rest.)
I received an email from a reader using Internet Explorer saying that this site didn’t load properly for him 30-40% of the time, that the templates didn’t load so all he got was the text and pictures (so not the title bar and none of the links to the right, etc.). Anyone else having a similar problem?
“I’d say there’s a chance we’ll see a note in tomorrow’s Tribune or Daily Herald saying there’s no truth to rumors that the front office will seek to have Kim replaced as third base coach . . . .” – The Clark & Addison Chronicle, 8/8/2003
“The Cubs disputed a published report that Wendell Kim will be replaced as third base coach next season.” – Chicago Tribune, 8/9/2003
UPDATE (9:45am): The Daily Herald and even the Sun-Times, which ran the original story (with Mike Kiley writing both items) also ran notes denying the speculation today. The DH is the only paper to get a quote from Jim Hendry, though (the other two just quote Dusty Baker):
“I’m very pleased with the coaching staff,” Hendry said. “At the all-star break, I told them they had done a good job of keeping us in it. Dusty and I have not had any discussions about the coaching staff.“
Maybe they haven’t had any discussions about the coaching staff yet, but that’s not what Kiley’s report said. It said there will be discussions after the season.
Thanks Derek for the well wishes. Yes, I have been busy studying for the bar exam. But I’ve also kept up this site. I use it as a welcome study break. But with just three more study days left, I likely won’t post as much until it’s over, which will be next Wednesday (it’s a 2 1/2 day exam). After all, I need to make sure I’m prepared to fulfill my role in the Cub Blogger Army.
I have added some code to this site that now allows everyone to link to specific comments in the comments section of the posts. So, for instance, if you needed to, you could link directly to this comment from “CubFanSteve” in which he provides us with some information he got from Daytona Cubs GM Buck Rogers regarding Bobby Brownlie.
Interested in receiving a notification via email each time I post something new on this blog? If you are, just send me an email letting me know that you’d like to be added to the list. Put “subscribe to Cubs blog” in either the subject line or the body of the message.
UPDATE (7/9/2003 7:25pm): If you would like to be removed from the list, just send me an e-mail asking to be removed. If you need to change the e-mail address where you receive notifications, send me an e-mail notifying me of both your old address and your new address.
I have switched how this blog is powered from GreyMatter to Movable Type. That’s why the site currently looks different – it’s the default MT template. I’m going to be working on changing the look of the site back to what it was. In the meantime, everything should be working properly, meaning you can continue to comment on the posts. Let me know if something isn’t working. And thanks for reading.
UPDATE: I’ve got the site pretty much how I want it, though there are a few things I still need to do, such as create categories and assign them to posts.
I will be in Kansas City Saturday and Sunday attending the Cardinals-Royals games. Check back for new posts on Monday.
I am also planning on changing the look of this site again. I like how it looks now, but 1) I think it lacks a Cubs feel; and 2) I think it loads slower on a dial-up modem than I like (one solution is going to be removing the support links at the bottom of the page to a separate page). If you have any suggestions, leave them in the comments section, or email me.
In the meantime, feel free to use this post to comment on anything Cubs-related that you like. And thanks for reading!
