World Series Here to Wipe Away the Bad Memories

Rather than providing excitement, drama or (god forbid) hope for a franchise I love, the start of the World Series instead once again simply signifies the beginning of the end.  It puts us on the doorstep of the offseason, though Philly and Tampa fans obviously fill differently.

Not to take away from their moments to shine, but forgive me for still dealing with another season lost for the Chicago Cubs.  I will always appreciate the spectacle of the World Series, with the teams playing in front of frenzied packed houses knowing the ultimate goal is so close from being realized.  I just wish it were my team doing it.

With that, I pass along a few quick parting thoughts regarding the most recent round of the playoffs.  Good riddance, LCS.

• Thank God the so-called curse of the Cubs didn’t pass through one fan and onto that of another franchise.  Yes, I was nervous when I publicly put my support behind the Phillies.  In the wake of my meaningless endorsement, Philly promptly lost Game 3 of the NLCS and fell behind in Game 4.  I was prepared to deal with the backlash had the tide of the series flipped for good.  But I’m certainly happy it didn’t.
• Thank God the Red Sox are out of it.  Is there a more annoying franchise in all of sports?  Well, probably, depending on your personal allegiances and your region of the country.  But that team annoys me to no end.  Sure, their ability to fight back from the brink of elimination has been pretty amazing.  It”s also amazing how quickly the Red Sox’ recent winning has erased the memory of their snatching defeat from the hands victory at Shea Stadium in 1986.
• When they were together in St. Louis in the late 1990s, did Dennis Eckersley and Tony LaRussa make a pact that they would each maintain the same hairstyle for the rest of their lives?  Seriously, what year is this?
• Wasn’t Frank Caliendo a lot funnier when he was only on the Fox NFL Sunday pregame show?  I’ve never even watched him on a regular weekly basis on Fox, and that won’t change now that he’s apparently attempting to impersonate every major news/sports/Hollywood personality … during every commercial break.
• Anyone still on the fence trying to decide who to root for?  Here’s a tiebreaker:

You don’t really want to side with Dickie V, do you?  Oh, and by the way, the Backstreet Boys just sang the National Anthem.  How does that make you feel about Tampa, men?

Finally Ready to Talk about the Playoffs (Kind of)

This wasn’t the context in which I expected to talk about the MLB playoffs during the second weekend of October.

I don’t believe in curses, and I’m not one of the people my brother describes as “self-loathing Cubs’ fans.” My Chicago-residing brother talks of that breed a lot and says there are many of them in his part of the country — in the media and among the public. These are the folks who claim to be pulling for the Cubs but are clearly just waiting for the collapse, knowing that there’s no way the Cubs will actually win. This sad group of so-called fans, says my brother, is lost when the Cubs do achieve success.

Of course, the ultimate measure of success is league championships and World Series titles, and we all know how long it’s been since either has been achieved by my team of choice.  But that honestly wasn’t in my mind when I travelled from Kansas to Chicago on October 1 to witness Game 1 of the National League Division Series.  It only took a couple of days to grossly derail my hopes. 

Still, the Ryan Dempster walkathon, followed by the Game 2 infield errorfest didn’t make me believe at any moment that my team was doomed for long-term failure and may, in fact, never win another World Series.  No, the NLDS simply pissed me off, prompting living room tirades, elevated blood pressure and the general feeling that much of the energy I’d spent over the last six months had been flushed down the toilet.

So now the “Wait Til Next Year” kids are left to do just that.  There should be high expectations again for Lou Piniella and crew come Spring 2009, and hopefully they’ll earn the chance to show a little more fight in October.  Is there more pressure on the Cubs than on other teams when the playoffs roll around?  Well, they’re the Lovable Losers, so why should they feel pressure to win?  But when the stands are so often filled with signs that read “It’s Gonna Happen” and “This is Next Year” it’s clearly more than just the weight of the North side on your shoulders.  It is indeed the weight of 100 years.

*****

And where does that leave me, the jilted fan who has to watch yet another MLB Final Four that doesn’t include the Cubs?  While I’ve been led to believe that all of the baseball world wants to see Manny vs. the Red Sox, I’m hoping for the opposite.  Yes, it would be awfully painful for a Cubs’ fan to see a team so young as the Rays to reach the World Series, but the alternative is the Red Sox.  And to that I say “No thanks.”  Frankly, the Rays have earned it.  The team has been built the right way, relying largely on its on system and making a few savvy moves to bring in the likes of Kazmir, Garza and Pena to help lead the way.  It’s not like the front office has spent its way to the top.

But when it comes down to it, I go back to the National League.  Watching Game 1 of the NLCS, just one electric inning of it actually, made me pine for more postseason action at Wrigley Field.  Although it can’t be at Wrigley, I can at least take sides against the Dodger Blue.

Color me a phanatic.