The second-guessers -- Phil Rogers, Jay Mariotti, Gordon Wittenmyer, Melissa Isaacson, Rick Morrissey, Mike Downey, Mike Imrem, and Barry Rozner (talk about group think) -- were out in full force this morning after the Cubs' 3-1 loss in Game 1 of the NLDS. All of them consider Lou Piniella's removal of Carlos Zambrano to start the seventh inning in favor of Carlos Marmol to have been the cause of the Cubs' loss.

The real cause, of course, was Brandon Webb's mastery of the Cubs' hitters, the particular angle of some line drives off Cubs' bats, and Marmol's inability to locate his pitches in the 7th inning. But not to the aforementioned writers, who have created a new Zambrano in their mind, some unstoppable force who would of course not allowed any runs going forward. Either that, or they just could not come up with another angle on this game.

In making their judgments, they ignore the information Piniella had to go on when he made the decision, namely, that Marmol is a better pitcher than Zambrano over a 1-2 inning stretch.

There will be no CubsNet.com NLDS preview. After all, who am I to outwrite the previews proffered by Nate Silver, David Pinto, Al Yellon, and Marc Hulet / Bryan Smith? (For my money, Silver's is the best. Come to think of it, it is my money, as I'm paying for the BP subscription.) So, instead, what you get from CubsNet.com is a NLDS foreward. I am not the writer of the main story. I am merely anticipating the next page like the rest of you.

The Cubs outscored the Diamondbacks and gave up fewer runs than the Diamondbacks.

The Cubs have just an average offense (8th in the NL), but it is significantly better than Arizona's. As Silver wrote, "The Diamondbacks . . . have one of the worst lineups ever for a team that reached the playoffs, a group that resembles the 1988 Dodgers sans Kirk Gibson."

The Chicago Cubs have ended their nine year relationship with the West Teen Diamond Jaxx and will have a new AA affiliate next season, the Tennessee Smokies, reports the AP. West Tenn has had some ownership issues, and attendance suffered this season. The Smokies had been the Arizona Diamondbacks' AA affiliate. Arizona wanted to keep them, but the Smokies wanted the Cubs' national fan base.