CUBS, AS IN SHLUBS

My blogs are generally about politics and social issues, but this one is going to be different. This one concerns sports--baseball, to be exact. And to be more exact, the Chicago Cubs.

I have been a Cubs fan for 60 plus years. I've seen them in first place, I've seen them in last. What I haven't seen is the Cubs playing in a World Series. I'm already in my sixties, time is beginning to run out. That's why I thought this year was going to be THE year. They won their division and had the winningest record in the National League. Considering the entire 25 man roster, this was the best Cubs team I ever saw.

Then came the post season.It has been exactly 100 years since their last championship. This had to be the year. They had home team advantage and faced the Los Angeles Dodgers in the friendly confines of Wrigley Field. No way this would be a repeat of the 2007 playoffs in which the Cubs dropped 3 straight to the Arizona Diamondbacks. Guess again.

They ended up dropping 3 straight to the Dodgers, looking pitiful in the process. For whatever reason this ballclub has a split personality. They have swagger and fire during the regular season, but in the playoffs, their demeanor undergoes a transformation. They look stiff and tentative. The surehanded fielders boot routine grounders, while the patient hitters swing at anything within five feet of homeplate.
Starting pitcher Ryan Dempster walked 7 in the opening game. It took the entire month of September for him to walk that many during the season. Every man wearing Cubby blue has that "deer in the headlights" look.

Do we blame it on the billygoat curse? I don't believe in curses and spells. What I do believe in is chokers, and the Cubs were suffering from severe ligature marks around the throat. I, for one, have had it. I've suffered through 6 decades of disappointment and frustration. Enough is more than enough. The Cubs will no longer get my money or attention. What they should get is about thirty-five thousand empty seats for every home game.

Come to think of it, maybe we can fill those seats with goats.