He has physically never looked better to me. He's probably 10, 15 pounds lighter than last year and is just in great shape. He's done as much precautionary preparation work as anyone could. He has already been throwing and gotten ahead of where he usually would be at this time.

Some of the things written about Dusty and him wanting to leave the Cubs a year ago were completely unfounded. I think people had him in two or three different places he certainly never had any interest in going.

I know physically, he probably wouldn't tell you this, but his knee was bothering him last year. He's added 10 to 15 pounds in his lower half this year, and his legs are a lot stronger.

I feel alive now, if you will, in comparison to how I was before. I'm 33 pounds lighter with everything I do. Good stuff.

I think I'm better all around as a skater. Physically, I think I'm definitely stronger. I'm lighter, I'm leaner, I know a lot more about my body.

We played them twice this year and on both of those occasions we were able to physically dominate them inside. We did a tremendous job last Saturday, won by 18 points and dominated them again. They turned the tide on us tonight. They physically dominated us in every aspect of the game.