In a meager attempt to create a new weekly feature, I bring you the Friday Five. Each week the Exile staff will tackle various topics and come up with five things pertaining to it. The topics could be as pertinent as the Chicago Cubs to as completely offtrack as food or music.

Well last week's topic was a cynical one, which is typical of a blog. Where else better to bitch about shit than on the internet? So to balance things out and send you into the weekend with a happier outlook, today's topic is basically the opposite of last week.

This week's topic: Five things about the 2010 Cubs that make our wieners tingle.

Goreo - Starlin Castro: Oh sure, Cubs prospects are complete dickteases, akin to Lucy pulling the football away from Charlie Brown, but Castro may finally be the guy who is "The Real Deal". The Cubs have spent the last several years shoving guys like Felix Pie, Jason Dubois, Bobby Hill, Hee Seop Choi, and Corey/Eric Patterson down our throats, but the difference between those guys and Starlin Castro is that people outside of the Cubs' organization are excited about this kid, to the point where one scout compared him to Hanley Ramirez. The Cubs always overhype their prospects, but this time around the hype is coming from more respectable sources. Like people who actually know something about baseball. Plus, if Castro can take the job away from the Cajun Scrappy Doo, I will be forever grateful to the young man. If Jim Hendry can resist trading him for a mediocre bullpen arm and yet another backup 2nd baseman, Castro might turn some heads.

John - The De-Douchening: As one who has followed the Cubs since childhood, I know better than most that raging ticket popularity is a tenuous thing. Three years removed from choking away the World Series, you could get four tickets together on the lower terrace for $30 from a scalper who just wanted to go home. Should our complete lack of roster movement yield predictable results, I'm looking forward to seeing less suburban assholes taking the Metra in from Fox River Grove to get blackout drunk and buy "Cardinals Take It In the Pujols" t-shirts.

Goreo - Carlos Zambrano: Those 9 wins in 2009 haven't sat well with El Toro Loco, who's come into camp as fit as he's ever been. He even trained in the offseason this year! Zambrano may finally deliver the year that Cub fans have been waiting for and reclaim his status as team ace. Granted, the season hasn't started and Big Z could easily give way to Fat Z if the big man becomes frustrated and moody. Right now, he seems more focused than he's ever been and more to the point, he's embarrassed about his weak performance last year. I could see Zambrano being a big story this year.

T.R. - Sticking it to Milton Bradley: Chicago is the problem, huh? I can't wait to see the Cubs contend for the NL Central title, while the Mariners flounder in the AL West. I want so badly for the Cubs to succeed in his absence. I know I should put my distaste for Bradley aside and move on, as the players in the Cubs clubhouse have seemingly done. If Derrek Lee can't tame his attitude, will Ken Griffey Jr. really be able to? I just hope the Mariners fans turn on him when he fails to produce in that lineup. I would love nothing more than to see that team hover around .500 with rumors of a divided locker room and in-fighting. Then we'll finally know what the problem truly was.

Goreo - Make or Break Time. This is the first year under the ownership of the Ricketts family. There's always pressure in Chicago for the Cubs to succeed, but it just got ramped up a notch. The window is closing rapidly on this team's chance to win it all. This is Pinella's final year as manager. Lilly and Lee are in the final year of their contracts, Ramirez could opt out of his contract, and there's a ton of salary committed to Soriano, Fukudome, Dempster, and Byrd. If the Cubs blow it this year, look for Ricketts to possibly clean house. We might possibly be looking at AAA talent manning all the infield positions, along with a few stopgap veteran signings until the big contracts finally come off the books. This could be a good or bad thing for the current team. Maybe they'll rise to the occasion and deliver big time, going out on top. Or they crumble like a bunch of pansies under the added pressure. Either way, this season will be interesting.

Thanks to the Exiles who contributed this week, especially Goreo who apparently has more optimism than the rest of the us. Have a topic for The Friday Five to tackle? Email it to us at exileonclark@gmail.com.