Another fun weekend is finally in the books! So, i bet you’re wondering what page owner Matt Tolbert thought of this year’s events, eh?

One of the first things i noticed right off the bat Friday afternoon upon arriving was the improved “wristband system”. As many of you know, there were a lot of counterfeit wristbands being made last season which caused Aramis Ramirez to leave his autograph session before his time slot was up. This made a lot of people upset, but the Cubs did a great job this year putting a better system in place so that nobody goes home empty-handed.

Everyone got a scratch & win sticker upon checking into registration, which was good for an autograph opportunity with a former or current Cub! I actually won & drew Starlin Castro, but made a deal with a friend of mine which left both parties happy!

This year was the first time that i decided to eat meals inside the hotel, and while i wasn’t totally blown away, i didn’t leave disappointed either. Funny enough, Todd Ricketts was spotted while me & a few friends were having lunch, so we asked him about a potential Kerry Wood signing for this weekend. He declined to comment, but one of my friends had a gut feeling that “something would be announced tonight.”

The interview that i had set up with WCIU-TV got a bit wacky. The reporter (Aly Bockler) who i was interviewing with texted me earlier in the day saying that it would happen around 3:45 or so. I texted her back around 3:30, and she sent me an update saying it would be more around 4. So 4 o’clock comes, and no text from Aly. For about a half-hour, i tried to decide “should i wait, or should i text?” before she texts me again. Turned out that she was actually in the grand ballroom without me knowing so, as i was waiting near the front entrance for her arrival!

So, i dashed upstairs to the Grand Ballroom where the Opening Ceremonies were being held at, and frantically looked around for Aly. After a few texts, i finally found her and we got the interview done very quickly. I did not feel any nervousness at all while on TV, it was more anxiousness more than anything else for the moment to finally take place. I was asked questions regarding this year’s Convention, and we both also got a few laughs in on the air. After the interview was done, Aly was nice enough to let me take a picture with her, which you can see below:

Now, onto my favorite event of the entire weekend, the Opening Ceremonies! WGN Radio’s Pat Hughes came out and introduced all the former Cub players first. Bill Buckner is still much appreciated among Cub fans, but i was also surprised at how much Todd Walker is still well-liked (especially among females!)

Shortly after the former players were introduced, Theo Epstein came out to loud cheers! It’s clear that his presence alone has already made an impact in this town without even having a single game played. Cub fans also seemed very receptive towards Anthony Rizzo, as the team will most likely not choose to pursue free agent slugging first baseman Prince Fielder.

Among the newest Cub players, David DeJesus & Chris Volstad received the most cheers. I think all 4 guys (Travis Wood & Paul Maholm) could make an positive impact for our team in 2012, as starting pitching was an area where we lacked a lot of depth last season. No longer will you see guys like Doug Davis & Rodrigo Lopez sign in hopes of extending their journeyman careers by being back end of the rotation starters. The Cubs have made a definite statement this offseason by going with younger pitchers, so that they can get longer value out of them. Hopefully, we will no longer have to depend on Casey Coleman as a starter!

So onto the moment of the evening. The current Cubs were introduced one by one, and Starlin Castro did receive a nice applause from the crowd despite recent sexual allegations against him that had been a big storyline leading up to the Convention.

Before the final player was announced, Pat Hughes announced that “We have Breaking News!”

From that moment, i could only say three words.

We Got Wood!!!!!!!!

Kerry Wood was indeed in the building, as he was able to agree to terms on a 1-year deal to remain a Cub for 2012 before Opening Ceremonies took place. He received an amazing reception from the crowd and it was a moment i will never forget.

From there, i participated in Cubs Bingo where nobody from our group of friends won, but there was a gentleman sitting directly behind us that DID win! Maybe i need to change up the seating location for next year.

Onto Day 2..

Saturday started out with a bang, as the much-anticipated “Getting to know Theo Epstein” seminar took place in the Grand Ballroom. To noone’s surprise, Theo came out to a standing ovation as he sat down with the host, WGN TV’s play-by-play man Len Kasper.

Epstein talked about his first gig in the majors, which was an internship with the Baltimore Orioles at just 18 years old. Theo said that he tried to help out often and also assisted the team with work regarding their drafts.

He did talk about some of the offseason moves made thus far, which included the Sean Marshall trade to the Reds. While Marshall has been the MVP of the Cubs’ bullpen for several seasons, he felt that it would make more sense to deal for a younger starter in Travis Wood, who offers more long-term value. As many of you know, Marshall will be a free agent in 2013 and there’s no guarantee that he’ll remain a Cub, so Epstein felt a deal needed to be made now to get something in return for him rather than nothing at all.

Theo also had high expectations for Anthony Rizzo, who he expects to be in the heart of the Cubs’ batting order when he’s ready for the big leagues again.

The Cubs also announced a new business partnership with Bloomberg Sports, which will allow them to develop a new player evaluation system that will be top of the line compared to the other 29 teams around baseball.

Epstein has a lot of confidence in new manager Dale Sveum, who he described as “Hard working & comfortable under his own skin.” He thinks that Cub fans will love him.

Theo did deny a statement regarding a Jumbotron that would replace the manually operated scoreboard in centerfield. However, there WILL be a new Budweiser patio in the right field bleachers beginning next season at Wrigley, which will include a 70-foot LED display. A replica image of it can be seen below:

I darted out of the Theo Epstein session about 10 mins prior to it ending to attend another seminar that featured Jed Hoyer, Dale Sveum & Randy Bush. This was mostly a Q&A feature where fans got to ask the Cubs’ management team questions, and there were some good ones that were included.

Sveum was asked whether he would build two different lineups (one for the cold months & one for the summer months), and he said that he would really put some thought into it. Dale also added that everytime the Brewers visited Wrigley Field for the past 6 seasons, the wind was blowing in.

He did continue to display the no-nonsense attitude that was talked about during his managerial press conference, and said that if a player hot dogs his way to first base, he “won’t be able to get past me in the dugout.” Sveum also denied saying that the Cubs were rebuilding, as he went with the term “building” to describe the 2012 team.

Dale hinted that David DeJesus will most likely be the everyday lead-off man, but Tony Campana will be in the mix as well. He also said that Bryan LaHair will be the starter at first base, as Anthony Rizzo is still “waiting in the wings.”

Inbetween seminars, i was able to check out the Best Buy Experience where you could play games such as Madden ‘12, MLB The Show ‘11, MLB Baseball2k12 & NBA Jam among others. I played about 6 innings of MLB The Show ‘11 & was able to hit a couple of longballs with Starlin Castro & Kosuke Fukudome.

However, my pitching wasn’t top notch as i was trailing 8-3 to the White Sox at the time play was stopped.

Following that video game session, i settled on Epic Burger for lunch along with fellow CubsHub writer Richard Garcia and i just have one word to describe their food….DELICIOUS!

After lunch, we headed back to the hotel for the Ricketts’ Family Forum seminar in the Grand Ballroom. Most of the fans who talked offered high praise for the Ricketts (two of them offered their resumes for job openings with the team), and expressed excitement among the hiring of Theo Epstein.

During this seminar, it was learned that Crane Kenney actually started up the Theo-to-Cubs talks, with everything being done “secret” except for Epstein’s infamous trip inside of a Chicago Starbucks, where he was spotted by a Cub fan.

We were able to witness an AMAZING playoff game between the Saints & 49ers, as the bar went crazy once San Francisco scored the game-winner with just 9 seconds left! The second game between Denver & New England got out of hand so quickly, that i decided to go upstairs for a bit to check out the big dance party in the contintenal ballroom.

Boy, was i disappointed. It actually got so boring that i decided to go with friends across the street to buy beer, then successfully stashed it into my coat & into the party.

That wrapped up this year’s Convention, as Richard & myself both chose to skip today’s action. Overall there were some new additions that i really enjoyed, and we got a clear vision of what the 2012 team will bring to the field from the seminars attended on Saturday. Now, we await February 18th to arrive, which is when pitchers & catchers report to Mesa!

Again, please tune in to WCIU-TV tomorrow morning between 6-8am CST for page owner Matt Tolbert’s interview with Aly Bockler. If you cannot catch the interview at that time, a link will be posted on our site before the day is over. Thank you, and Go Cubs!!!!!!!!!!

On the 2nd day of the Cubs Convention, things kick off with Cubs president of baseball operations Theo Epstein.  He talked about the start of his baseball career behind the scenes, growing up a Red Sox fan, and also becoming successful in the front office.  He also discussed both fan bases of the Cubs and Red Sox along with the passion.

He also discussed the new partnership with Bloomberg Sports who will help the Cubs develop the new software.  Other things mentioned were recent trades and signings overall which were very well liked.  Theo seemed on the level with many of his answers.  Helps to see a team president that knows what he’s talking about.

2nd seminar was held by GM Jed Hoyer, assistant GM Randy Bush, and new manager Dale Sveum.  Sveum said that he does expect his players to respect him and play the way the game is supposed to be played.  It seems from his view that some players last year did not give their all and were let go.  Seems that there are a few unlikely who no longer wear the Cubs uniform and are elsewhere.  Didn’t stay that long for this one however.

The Ricketts family today announced a new bleacher patio in right field which will debut this year.  It will feature a 75 ft wall with an LED screen with stats, speed pitch and the type of pitch that’s thrown.  There will be no video replay involved.  More in game information will be included.  Tickets will be sold to groups or can be sold individually.  Well tomorrow is the last day of the Convention and we will be just over a month away from Cubs spring training in Mesa, Arizona.

Today’s Cubs Convention not only brought excitement due to the new regime and manager but at the end a new twist was added at the end of player intros as many speculated the signing of a fan favorite.

When Pat Hughes took the podium it kicked off a new era in Cubs baseball.  This was the first time Theo and the band would be introduced to the Cubs faithful.  Soriano was booed which was a bit of a surprise.  Starlin Castro who was appearing for the first time since the sex allegations received a very positive response from the Cubs faithful.

During intros of the current and former players some Cubs fans noticed Kerry Wood’s wife on the upper floor of the ballroom.  It lead to speculation from this administrator that Kerry Wood once again would be announced as the new acquisition and would be the last person introduced.  Not surprisingly it did happen and the whole ballroom erupted in a loud cheer which even topped the one that Ernie Banks received.  Well finally the Cubs Convention not only kicks off but introduces a new era in how Cubs baseball will be played as in the Cubs way.  More to come tomorrow as once again Cubshub will have another busy day at the Cubs Convention.

As we’re one day away from the Cubs Convention at the Hilton, the one question from Cubs fans and us administrators at Cubshub is when will Wood re-sign with the team.  Since then there have been rumors of him being close or not.

All I say is please bring him back.  As Theo has stated before if he’s not back that would be a problem.  Cubs have offered as it’s termed a “substantial” raise to Kerry.

My guess is that he will sign if not today probably tomorrow which coincidentally will be the Cubs Convention.  Pretty much many have said that he should retire as a Cub.  He makes his home here in Chicago with his wife (who is a native Chicagoan) and kids.  He also has his charity which will be tomorrow night attended by some Cubs players along with Cubs president Theo Epstein.

Stay tuned to Cubshub.com for updates when official word comes that Wood will come back to the Cubs.  I will agree that Cubs management along with owner Tom Ricketts would like to see Kerry in a Cubs uniform.  He is the only holdover from the team that won the wildcard in 1998 and the Central Division champs in 2003.  I have always been a huge Kerry Wood fan.  I would literally jump out of my shoes when the signing is announced.