Did You Hear the One About the No-Hitter?

As a Cubs fan, going from Jack Brickhouse to Harry Caray was an amazing time for me. Jack's voice, knowledge and exuberance for the team introduced me to Cubs broadcasts, and Harry, well he became something bigger than the game while still allowing the game to be bigger than him. Following Harry's death, Chip Caray took over and never grew on me. I understand that first season had to have been hard for him, replacing his iconic grandfather in the booth, but he went way over the top in trying to find his niche and in over-over-over-dramatizing things.

When longtime color man Steve Stone took his Ryno sabbatical, we had to deal with "That's tit for tit," Joe Carter, who, thank God, left as fast as he came.

When Chip and Stoney left following the 2005 season, a season in which both announcers were physically threatened by Cubs players for their criticism of a team that played poor baseball, I was sad. Not as much for Chip, who honestly has grown into a decent play-by-play guy, but more for Stoney, who now does color for White Sox radio.

Their exit ushered in a new team of Len Kasper and Bob Brenly--Brenly having done the radio side for the Cubs some years ago. It took a couple seasons for Kasper to grow on me. He's kind of nerdy, could blow away in a 15-mile-per-hour breeze, speaks more innuendos than a high shool drama team and defends the Cubs, until this year, at every turn. He knows the game, its ins and outs, ups and downs, what makes players tick, how they should be positioned, etc. He has made this known on several occasions when asking Brenly pretty good questions, rather than, "What do you do here, skip?"

So with all that baseball knowledge, how could Kasper regularly break the Golden Rule of not talking about a no-hitter during the game. This hasn't happened once or twice; it's been a handful of times the past two seasons, the most recent being Rich Harden's outing August 19, against the Reds. Harden had a no-no heading out of the fourth inning and Kasper just had to keep dropping his hints, including an "Atta boy, Mark!," when De Rosa made a great play at second to end the inning--Jack made a similar call in Kenny Holtzman's no-no in '69. He's also gratuitously pointed out the box scores between innings, drawn attention the the 'H' columns, etc., during other no-hitters way too early in the game.

Len, we understand that some people don't believe in jinxes, so if you want to have that mantra, fantastic. Just keep it off the air. Cubs fans are not idiots. We watch the game and understand what is going on. We also know not to ever talk about a no-hitter until we can all jump up and celebrate it.

You're trying to make yourself bigger than the game, and also the fans. Let the story be told on the field and no matter how excited you may be about something, respect our history of misery. Maybe coming from the Marlins, who doused our fire in 2003, you just don't get it. If there is a time for you to get it, now is it. And if you can't, let's move Pat and Ronny to a TV/radio simulcast with Brenly.

If you're looking to spoil something, go ask Plesac about the guys he's blown. Woo-woo!

Hm? Hm? Alright!

Judge Elihu M. Smails