Cubs Convention Day 2

Another amazing day at the Cubs Convention. You should have seen the lines for autographs today! I didn't bother with waiting in lines, but instead spent most of the day watching Cubs sessions.

The first session I saw today was Cubs Jeopardy. The 1984 Cubs battle with the 2009 Cubs answering Cubs trivia questions. The host was Pat Hughes. Pat is a very funny guy. Today he retold the story about the time Ron Santo's hairpiece caught on fire at Shea Stadium. The 1984 team was made up of Keith Moreland, Rick Reuschel, Tim Stoddard, and Steve Trout. The '09 team was mad up of Kevin Gregg, Koyie Hill, Milton Bradley, and Neal Cotts. The 2009 team came out on top. Hill was the only guy who knew a lot about the Cubs. Gregg only buzzed in once and got it wrong. Bradley got a few right, and Cottsy only buzzed in once, but at least got his question right. The '84 team had to take the mic and bell away from Trout because he kept buzzing in with wrong answers. Several "official protests" were made by the '84 team and judge Dave Otto (former Cubs pitcher) had to make a call. After the session, the guys signed autographs and I was lucky enough to get Milton Bradley, as well as Gregg and Hill. The categories included; Cubs MVPs, Gold Gloves, 2008 Cubs, and 7th inning stretch singers. The Cubs jepordy was awesome, one of my favorite sessions of the day.

The next session I went to was called "Game Day Experience" hosted by Cory Provus and Nick Digilio with guests Ted Lilly, Mike Fontenot, Kevin Hart, Koyie Hill, and Joey Gathright. Joey shared that he has tried to jump over a car before and failed. Hill and Fontenot shared a story about a strange superstition they had in AAA. I'll have more details on my full recaps of the WGN Radio shows later this coming week.

From 1-2 was the "Welcome to Wrigley" session. The voice of the Cubs Pat Hughes hosted this session where Cub fans welcomed Milton Bradley, Aaron Miles, Kevin Gregg, and Joey Gathright. All 3 of these guys are exited to be in this great city, with these great fans. Gregg mentioned that they don't get near as many fans in Florida and they do at Wrigley. Miles talked about how much bigger Cubs Convention is than the Cardinals' Winter Warm-Up. Gathright seems to enjoy all the attention from the faithfull.

After lunch, we headed to "The Magic of '84" segment". Host Wayne Messmer chatted about that magical season with Ryan Sandberg, Jody Davis, Bob Dernier, Lee Smith, Scott Sanderson,
Steve Trout, and Tim Stoddard. Ryno also talked about the possibility of being the next Cubs manager. The "Ryan Sandberg Game" was also a hot topic.

"Making History" was a phenomenal sessions. Cub fans got the opportunity ask Carlos Zambrano all about his No-No at Miller Park on Sept. 14, 2008. Big Z said that he was hoping that Lilly would get his no hitter the next day. When asked, he said that the Cubs fans had a impact on his remarkable night. Larry Rothchild was also on this panel to talk about that night. Larry said that he was the only guy who would talk to Carlos in the dugout when he hadn't given up a hit later in the game. Len Kasper, the host of the session, argued with a lady about whether or not Len should annoucne that Carlos had a no-hitter on the broadcast. The lady said it was bad luck. Len argued that he was paid to inform viewers who were just tuning in. Z said he's not superstitious. Carlos also talked about the thing he does in the dugout where he hits Fontenot on the head like he's the hammer, and Little Babe Ruth acts like the nail. Geovany Soto was scheduled to be there, but he could not make it to the convention. The "Making History" session was a great one. Carlos refused to sign any autographs afterwords.

No good Cubs sessions after 5:00 however, the only thing going on is the "Rock 'n Roll Revue from 8-midnight. Things wrap up tomorrow at about noon, I'll have the recap of Day 3 when I get back home. Really the only session tomorrow is the "Down On the Farm".

BTW: Milton Bradley gave Cubs fans a good first impression by signing tons of autos today.
I'll keep you posted.