MESA, Ariz. Cheap Basketball Shoes Online . -- No matter what the record says, Chicago Cubs president of baseball operations Theo Epstein insists he sees progress as he begins his third season in charge. It hasnt shown at the major league level. "The people that we have in place in this organization -- the coaches, scouts -- I believe are impact, and I believe in the processes that we have in place," Epstein said Thursday. "It takes time to turn our organization around. It takes time to build impact talent and to build requisite depth. But its happening. People in those meetings, the people in this organization, really believe that were on the verge of something special. And we understand that were perceived otherwise, and thats our fault because weve been a last-place club the last couple years. Were not protesting. We need to earn our way into a position where were championship contenders on an annual basis, and we feel like that is certainly moving in the right direction." It hasnt been an easy process, and while success might be on the horizon, it doesnt appear to be at hand. Pitchers and catchers reported on Thursday, and for the Cubs, it doesnt look like much will be different this season. They were relatively quiet in the off-season, although they did hire manager Rick Renteria to replace the fired Dale Sveum and made a run at star Japanese pitcher Masahiro Tanaka, but mostly it looks like they are in for more rough times at the major league level as they wait for their top prospects to develop in the minors. Their most recent winning season was when they went 83-78 under Lou Piniella in 2009. With four straight sub-.500 seasons, theyve matched their longest streak since 1984 to 1988. And another losing season would put them on their longest run since they finished below .500 six years in a row from 1978 to 1983. For now, the Cubs continue to sell hope, a promise that better days are coming. They tout their minor league system, and while renovations to Wrigley Field remain on hold, they can point to new facilities in the Dominican Republic along with a spring training home that just opened. As for the Cubs record, it cant get much worse. Theyve dropped 91 or more games each of the past three years and are coming off a two-year run under Sveum that produced a 127-197 record. Theyre hoping Renteria will provide the right atmosphere for young major league players such as shortstop Starlin Castro and first baseman Anthony Rizzo as well as top prospects Javier Baez, Jorge Soler, Albert Almora and Kris Bryant. They believe they have three solid starters in Travis Wood, Jeff Samardzija and Edwin Jackson, although Jackson struggled last season and Samardzija is a potential trade chip after he was unable to reach a long-term agreement and took a one-year deal. Jake Arrieta, a candidate to start, might not be ready for the beginning of the season because of tightness in his right shoulder. General manager Jed Hoyer revealed Thursday that Arrieta, acquired from Baltimore last July, experienced some tightness this winter and is being brought along slowly. Hoyer announced Arrietas injury after confirming the Cubs agreed to one-year contracts with starting pitchers Jason Hammel and James McDonald. Both could be candidates to be traded before the deadline if they succeed, considering thats exactly what the Cubs did with Paul Maholm and Scott Feldman the past two seasons. "We know we have some numbers now," Hoyer said. They also have hope that better days are coming. "Theres a real dichotomy between how the organization is perceived from the outside and how we look at it internally and the morale that we have internally," Epstein said. NOTES: Renteria tabbed newcomer Jose Veras as the closer. ... Hoyer basically dismissed the idea of moving Castro to another position even though he and the White Soxs Alexei Ramirez led major league shortstops with 22 errors last season and Baez is in the pipeline. "Castros our shortstop," Hoyer said. "We have all the confidence in the world that hell remain our shortstop and hell keep working hard and keep improving. And he knows theres (room) to improve there." ... Hoyer said reliever Kyuji Fujikawa will soon start throwing off the mound. Hes coming off Tommy John surgery to repair a torn ligament in his right elbow. ... Epstein said the Cubs will look to draft pitchers going forward, although not necessarily with their first pick. Cheap Basketball Shoes . Deulofeu injured a muscle in his right leg in Evertons 4-1 win over Fulham in the English Premier League on Saturday. Barcelona says that its team doctors will "co-ordinate" with Evertons medical staff as Deulofeu recovers. Cheap Basketball Shoes Sale . 10 Texas Rangers jersey for one last time. Young formally announced his retirement Friday after returning to Rangers Ballpark, his baseball home for all but the last of his 13 major league seasons.http://www.cheapbasketballshoesstore.net/ . Barcelonas entertaining victory ensured the defending Spanish champions retained their share of the league lead with Atletico Madrid two rounds ahead of their meeting in the capital. Real Madrid needed a late goal by substitute Jese Rodriguez to earn a 3-2 victory at Valencia to stay in third place and three points behind its title rivals.MADISON, Wis. -- Melvin Gordon darted for the end zone, carrying the lunging Purdue defender with him over the goal line. Nothing seems to stop Wisconsin running backs. Gordon ran for three touchdowns and 147 yards, James White added 145 yards and a 70-yard score, and the 24th-ranked Badgers opened Big Ten play by trampling over Purdue with a 41-10 win Saturday. "Theyre just so dynamic, their ability to make people miss and they really kind of complement each other with the running styles, in my opinion," coach Gary Andersen said. Wisconsin moved on nicely from last weeks stunning 32-30 loss to Arizona State, after officials mishandled the final seconds to deprive the Badgers of a game-winning field-goal try. No last-minute worries this week. Wisconsin (3-1, 1-0) led by two touchdowns at the half and by three scores early in the third quarter after Gordon fended off Ricardo Allens failed last-ditch effort to stop the 15-yard touchdown run. Andersen said he wanted his players to learn from the loss and move on -- but not necessarily forget about it. Thats a very sizable chip on the collective shoulders of the Badgers. They might be a field goal away from being unbeaten heading into next weekends showdown at Ohio State. "Its just getting started, its not as if were ever going to forget that," linebacker Chris Borland when asked about the Arizona State loss. "Were going to play with the idea of taking frustration out on our opponents all year." Purdue (1-3, 0-1) got walloped with decisive disadvantages in total yards (546-180), yards rushing (388-45) and first downs (22-12). Not the way coach Darrell Hazell hoped his first Big Ten game would go. "Right now, weve got to do a good job as a football team soul-searching," he said. "Obviously, thats not the way Purdue football wants to play. We need to get a lot better." Quarterback Rob Henrys 22-yard scramble for a score on what appeared to be a busted play provided one of the few highlights for the Boilermakers. Nose guard Warren Herring had a sack and three tackles, and Borland had six stops and a pass breakup at the goal line with the game still close in the first half. "We got more push today, overall. We got aa few more pressures that came clean early, forced him to escape," Andersen said.dddddddddddd "The kids rushed the passer better today and had some opportunities to make some plays, and they made them." Wisconsin tallied four sacks on the afternoon after recording just one combined over the first three games. Purdues defensive highlight came after Allen intercepted an errant throw by Joel Stave and returned it to the Wisconsin 10 to put Purdue in good shape on its next drive. But two running plays stalled, and Borland broke up the third-down pass to hold Purdue to a 24-yard field goal by Paul Griggs. That made it 14-10 early in the second quarter. Still, maybe, just maybe, the Boilermakers were going to build on their near-upset last week of Notre Dame before losing 31-24. One big problem: Purdue couldnt stop the run. Gordons 27-yard scoring run sapped Purdue momentum after Griggs field goal to put Wisconsin back up by 11. He followed with his 15-yard run early in the third quarter. "We were in the game in the first half. When the second half came, we have to find a way to win. We came out a little bit low and they ganged up on us in the third quarter," cornerback Taylor Richards said. "We have to come out in the second half and find a way to win." Its not like Purdue didnt know that Wisconsin would run the ball, though. Its as much a part of Badger football as students rocking to House of Pains "Jump Around" between the third and fourth quarters, even with Andersen in his first year calling the shots in Madison. Statistically, Purdue seemed to be in decent shape coming into the game after holding its last two opponents to less than 100 yards rushing. Instead, Gordon and White made the poor-tackling Boilermakers look silly. Gordon had 16 carries in his fourth-straight 100-yard game. White, the FBS active career leading in yards rushing (3,013), also got 16 carries. Henry finished 18 for 36 with 135 yards and an interception. He netted zero yards on seven carries. Overall, Purdues running game was nonexistent again, with starter Akeem Hunt gaining just 31 yards on nine carries. Herrings solid play early set the tone for Wisconsins active defensive front. Cheap NFL Jerseys ' ' '