This recording took place at our annual Ivy Envy Weekend at the Lake. We talk about the events of the weekend so far and the events we have planned for the rest of the weekend.

We talk about the need for Cubs fans to be comfortable with talking about the playoffs. That leads us into a discussion about if we’d like to see the Cubs play the wild-card game, if they have the opportunity to participate in that game.

We answer some listener questions that involve the Cardinals roster, Cubs throwback jerseys and the players currently on the Cubs roster that will be free agents at at the end of this season.

There was only one Cubs game between our last episode and this one, so we answer some questions about Cubs players sent in by Laura. She asks us what Cubs player we think the Cardinals would swipe from the Cubs. We consulted a few Cardinals fans to get their input and their answer was not surprising.

Laura also brings up they hypothetical situation of an MLB expansion draft, similar to the 1997 draft when Tampa Bay and Arizona came into the league. Each existing MLB team was able to protect 15 players, organization-wide. We read Laura’s list of the 15 players that she would protect and then share our own.

At the end of the episode, we play a song by Cubs fan, Katie Day. This is Katie’s song “By the Lakeside” with words and Cubs images that may or may not make you tear up.

It was yet another exciting week in Cubs baseball. The Cubs only lost one game, today’s game against the White Sox. We give a lot of respect to Sale, who pitched a spectacular game, but don’t have many other nice things to say about the White Sox, especially Hawk Harrelson.

We look at the hot-streak the Cubs have been on since the Phillies series and look at a few team and player stats that have helped facilitate the winning streak. Corey talks about a benefit of Joe Maddon managing this team like they’re in the playoffs…and it’s not all about just getting wins.

Somehow, in the midst of this stretch of incredible Cubs baseball, Kurt finds a negative scary stat. We also share a few internet muscle flexes, one of which calls for the dismissal of Joe Maddon.

On this, the 338^th episode of The Ivy Envy Podcast, we talk about the Cubs being the 4^th best team in baseball and the 3^rd best team in the division. We actually allow ourselves to talk about the 2015 playoffs. Are we ready to write off the NL Central and hand it over to the Cardinals?

After taking care of the Giants with a 4-game sweep, we have a little bit more confidence in a wild card spot and look at the lead the Pirates have. How amazing would it be for the Cubs to host the 1-game wild care play-in game?

Starlin Castro gets time at 2^nd base. We also answer some listener questions on Jorge Soler, Chris Coghlan, Javier Baez, Mike Olt and Kris Bryant.

continue to roll and this week, they swept a 4-game series with the Giants. On this episode, we talk about the series and the game that we saw with our bus trip. We talk about the benching of Starlin Castro. We answer several listener questions, Kurt gives us his Scary Stat of the Week and we read an Internet Muscle Flex.

After a 2-5 stretch before our last episode, the Cubs managed to turn things around and perhaps save their season. We recorded this episode during Wednesday’s Cubs game against the Pirates when the 6-game winning streak was still intact.

We look at the trade deadline and discuss the Cubs activity and inactivity at the deadline. What do the actions of the Cubs front office tell us about how they view this 2015 team?

The Cubs playoff odds went up 30% in the last week and we talk about what led to the winning streak with pitching and offense. We also talk about where Cubs fans heads should be heading into the last two months of the season. We also answer a number of listener questions.

On this, the 335^th episode of The Ivy Envy Podcast, we try to pick up the pieces from a 2-5 week of Cubs baseball that could have easily been 0-7. The Cubs struggles are impossible to ignore now. The offense didn’t produce but a strong performances from the pitching staff helped keep things rolling. But now, the offense is still struggling and those strong pitching performances are coming back down to earth and it hasn’t been enough to keep the losses off the board.

We discuss everything going on around the Cubs right now, from these offensive struggles to the upcoming trade deadline. We answer listener questions, Kurt gives us a scary stat of the week and we read some internet muscle flexes.

On the 334^th, we talk about Rizzo and Bryant in the All Star Game festivities, Miguel Montero’s thumb injury and the promotion of Kyle Schwarber.

We share our predictions on the Cubs’ post-All Star break record and answer listener questions. Kurt gives a Scary Stat of the Week and we read a few Internet Muscle Flexes.

On this episode of the podcast, we recap the first half of the 2015 season and look ahead to the 2nd half.

On this mid-week episode of the podcast, we talk about the ups and downs of the Cubs series against the Cardinals this week. In the 4 games in 3 days, the Cubs gave us a lot to be happy about and were one strike from taking 3 of 4 from the Cardinals.