Right Now You Are Cubbing Whether you are at Wrigley Field, discussing the baseball team at work, or reading about the Cubs-you are Cubbing. Just thinking about the Cubs-you are Cubbing. Just writing about the Cubs-I am Cubbing, and pleased you have joined me as we go Cubbing. In the 2009 season, the Cubs were in first place by two percentage points on July 31. From the start of Spring Training as related in this book, my Cubbing comments were positive as I was positive about the 2009 season. The first three months I felt that the Cubs any day would pull away from the pack. And when in late July they started making their move, actually being in first place by a percentage point, I just knew they were on their way. As Lou Piniella would say, I really knew. I said "Go, Cubs, Go" to friends and strangers alike. I placed a large placard with a W in a window. And I kept Cubbing for this book with the day-to-day games, other activities, and here and there a remembrance and comment of the Cubs in years gone by-some of them, I'm sure, never before related. And then in Florida, between the second and third innings July 31, a billy goat actually walked on the field and strutted in front of the dugout mocking the Cubs. Was this a renewal of Bill Sianis' 1945 curse? Could be. Within a week the descent had begun, the Cardinals were flying high, and the Cubs had gone into hibernation. Consider this: The month of July the Cubs won 18 and lost six. Then the goat strolled. The month of August the Cubs lost 17 and won only 11. The Billy Goat Curse of 1945, taking its toll once again. It must be real, really real. How else can you explain happenings such as the black cat strolling in front of Ron Santo in 1969, the Playoff failures of 1984 and 1989, the Bartman incident of 2003, and the more recent collapses, especially the Dodgers' sweep of the 2008 Playoffs. I have begun to believe. There is no other explanation. The words were uttered thusly by Bill Sianis: "The Cubs no win here no more." However, a one hundred-plus year of losing hasn't deterred Cubbing. So join me. Let's go Cubbing. -Russ Leonard

i PRISON is the autobiography of a veteran journalist who spent ten years under the rule of the Indiana Department of Correction. What is inherent in Hoosierland is not much different than what is found in other states. Why the small i? Because incarceration made him feel small, real small. The book is sub-titled, "The Injustice in Justice." "While in a daze as best I remember, I was grabbed by the arm and led from the courtroom. I was too stunned to cry. I was unable to turn my head and look at my loved ones. My mind became a blank as my life as I had known it for almost 72 years came to an end." to "When I walked out of the prison ingesting at long last fresh, fresh air, I broke down for several minutes in the comfortable front seat of Carole's car. I couldn't control myself, much as I tried. Six-plus years of emotions spewed forth." i PRISON is a story of "trials and imprisonment that needs to be told," according to author/book publisher Nancy Niblack Baxter, daughter of longtime federal judge John L. Niblack. "People need to know how screwed up a man's life can be by legal mistakes and laziness of a system over which an individual has no control," Mrs. Baxter stated. As you read this book, you will notice statements that seem to contradict earlier assertions. One instance is that prisoners should be educated as part of a rehabilitation program, but also that college courses are offered. I don't know the number taking courses (including G. E. D.) but, out of 25,000 inmates, the percentage is small. Thus, not much education. I have tried to be fair; however, from the inside of the prison system it is difficult not to be biased, so consequently the minuses far outweigh the plusses. To be otherwise would not be true. I hope that this is the closest to the justice system readers of this book come and that my account is both enlightening as well as interesting. I also hope that it will give second thoughts to any who might b