You're a Cubs fan?
Yes. This has been going so well and you decide to do that?
Maybe I should wait until the end…
No‚ No‚ it's fine. It's fine. You know‚ actually‚ I got to go.
Aww.
Yeah‚ I am a Cubs fan [now audibly upset]. And you know‚ I... this has been a hard year. Like not hiring (Ryne) Sandberg as our manager‚ and going with a guy who's untested (Mike Quade) and our 4th and 5th Starters -- we were just talking Cubs on the bus. Our 4th and 5th Starters (Randy Wells & Andrew Cashner) going down on the same day at the beginning of the season (4/6/11) where we had high hopes.
It's a rough road.
We have the Baseball Package on the bus‚ so I get to watch a lot of games. In fact‚ when we get off the phone‚ I'm going to watch the game.
I have to ask you -- Carlos Zambrano called the Cubs "embarrassing" and a "triple-A team" in the media.
Yeah.
That's the verbal equivalent of a belt-lashing.
Yeah. Rightfully so.
You think he was right?
Playing like crap‚ playing like crap. Amateur errors. Rookie mistakes made by people who are not rookies. Inefficient pitching. Insufficient batting‚ batting when you need it the most‚ hitting runs when you need it the most. You know that's what I was saying… Look at our record. Look at our record.
You're getting angry.
How can you disagree with him? How can you disagree with him? Look at our record‚ it speaks for itself. It says everything. We're 7 games behind the 4th place team (Cincinnati Reds). Ha… Ha… Ha.
I apologize for bringing that up. I had to ask.
No‚ you're fine. You're breaking up this a little bit though‚ no‚ I'm kidding.
Back to playing music. Your New Year's Eve show this past year‚ you guys asked your fans to make suggestions for the set list. Were there a lot of suggestions that surprised you? Was there anything you really wanted to cover‚ but it didn't make the cut?
Yeah‚ there were a lot of suggestions that we could have tried‚ but not having them settle in. It would have been like‚ "Oh‚ Yonder played 'Bust A Move'!" Ehh‚ I think we'll go with "Althea" [laughs]. I think we'll go with that‚ although‚ people do identify with something different. Yeah‚ there was a shitload of stuff we didn't get to. A ton of stuff -- our fans have great imaginations and they'd really taken to heart the fact that we don't limit ourselves in what we play‚ like in the covers we choose. So‚ the people had fun with it and it was a good idea‚ I really liked it. It worked well.
I noticed that you didn't play either of my suggestions.
Which ones were they?
God Street Wine's "Waiting for the Tide" and Cracker's "Mr. Wrong."
[laughing] You know‚ we specifically said‚ "There's no way we would ever play those two songs‚ screw that." I remember the meeting. No‚ you know it was such a bundle of stuff -- it was such a pile of suggestions‚ but those -- shit -- God Street Wine! That was one of the first bands in this genre I'd ever heard!