Trent Dilfer, Elvis Grbac, Chris Redman, Kyle Boller… the list of recent signal-callers is not a very talented one. It’s kind of unfortunate that the one great quarterback that the Ravens acquired (Steve McNair) was washed up by the time he arrived in Baltimore. Flacco could have had help transitioning from a FCS school to becoming an NFL star. Now he’s going to have to learn the hard way.. Night and Day.  Dark or Light.  Up or Down.  Chicago Cubs at home, Chicago Cubs on the road.  Anyone know what thesedescriptions have in common? Nothing. Louis Cardinals capitalize on our road woes and pass us up in the NL Central?Here are my solutions:1. Play the younger guys more often.  The players that struggle on the road this year are the experienced veterans.  Derrek Lee can’t hit outside of Wrigley this year, Aramis Ramirez has struggled, and so have other key players.  So, give them a break for a game or two and play youngsters like Micah Hoffpauer, Ronny Cedeno, or Mike Fontenot. 2. Get better pillows on the road.  Many of the players have complained of neck and shoulder cramps on the road and it has effected players’ performance.  One example that comes to mind is Carlos Zambrano having to miss a game on the road because of a cramp in his shoulder and neck. 3. Lou needs to kick the players in the ass.  If his players can’t be motivated to play well on the road, or to be patient at the plate and quit swinging at pitchers’ pitches, then he needs to fix the problem.  He needs to motivate his players, which is the number one job of the manager. He also needs to talk to his players after they strike out on a pitch bouncing in the dirt.  Why are they swinging at those balls?These are a few suggestions I have for fixing the problem.  Don’t beat yourselves up too much.  The Chicago Cubs are still the best in baseball.  If they keep struggling on the road, however, we could go from the best in baseball to a Wildcard contender.  Talk about a tough NL Central!Go Cubs!.

 The Anaheim Ducks season ended all too soon after their first round loss to the Dallas Stars. With a great team already under contract for the most part, I have a sure fire checklist to put the Ducks back in contention not only for the Pacific title, but the Western Conference and Stanley Cup.I’m not exactly saying I could manage better than Brian Burke. I would like to think I could, but if Burke and the Ducks follow my checklist, I can promise all involved a good season.1. Locking Up Scotty and Teemu:Everything for the Ducks right now revolves around keeping, or losing, Teemu Selanne and Scott Niedermayer.

These two players will determine in a large part what position the Ducks will need to add to.With no real rumor one way or another regarding these two, we will break it down in every way. Regardless of them staying or retiring, the Ducks must improve goal scoring and keep the physical nature they are already making popular in Southern California.With the return of these two, the Ducks will have a lot less pressure on filling these positions for the future via the draft this offseason. Even with their return, it would not be a bad idea to begin prep work now for their eventual retirements.2. 2008 NHL Entry Draft in Ottawa, Ducks Select 12th Overall:I would suggest the Ducks drafting either Zach Boychuk or Kyle Beach in the first round (See player links for more details). In the later rounds, the Ducks should primarily focus on rough, grinding-type forwards, with a good scoring touch to keep the style the team has established going. A couple defensemen should come in the early rounds as well, but with the already great depth on the blue line, I don’t feel the Ducks have much to worry about immediately.3. New Affiliation Established:The Ducks already have established the new home for prospects in Iowa.

The new logo and such regarding the Iowa franchise is expected to be released between now and July.4. Signing Free Agents.Even with a slight increase to the salary cap, the Ducks will still probably not have much room for any major additions Trades are certainly a possibility. I wouldn’t completely rule out the idea of the Ducks signing and trading Corey Perry (very unlikely) for a key forward from somewhere else I don’t expect the Ducks to worry about free agency. Rather, primarily only on signing the players whose contracts have expired, primarily Corey Perry and Jonas Hiller .5. Looking Ahead to Training Camp:Dates have not been established yet for training camp and preseason games. The schedule will probably not come out until free agency begins in July Last year’s training camp began Sept.