Cubs Update

[TheSportsPredictor]

Re: The 100th Annual Cubs Watch Thread

Poor Cubs. Since 2003, only one NL team has won the division series after losing the first game.

 

[21]

Re: The 100th Annual Cubs Watch Thread

And yet. I sat in Wrigley Field in 1984, and watched them win 13-0 and 4-2, and believed all those stats about who wins first, blah blah blah.

Joe Torre knows better, too.

It's the Cubs. Did you think they'd make it easy??

 

[Tom Petty]

Re: The 100th Annual Cubs Watch Thread

let's go dod-gers. clap, clap, clapityclap.

 

[Ben_Hecht]

Re: The 100th Annual Cubs Watch Thread

Know this is a "house money" game for the Dodgers, but Billingsly's been pitching very well. I wouldn't jump all over the Cubs, today.

 

[Bob Cook]

Re: The 100th Annual Cubs Watch Thread

Also, Lou Piniella and the players have to stop pretending there is no such thing as curses. Maybe there isn't. But there is such a thing as players tightening up under the pressure of hearing about a 100-year drought (how else to explain Ryan Dempster) and a crowd reacting to every bad break like their dog just got run over by an ice cream truck. I wonder if he and the players would be better off acknowledging it, and reminding fans (and players) that one grand slam doesn't mean it's time to abandon ship.

Players generally don't give a **** about curses or, for that matter, any of a local club's history. In this case, these guys play for the 2008 Cubs and a good many didn't play for the '07 team and a good many won't play for the '09 team. They will go home to Phoenix or Japan or the Dominican Republic or California in the off-season. So they stay pretty focused on the present. That curse crap is something for the fans and the media to talk about.

True, but I think players do feed off the energy in the crowd, and they can't help but be affected by the pressure of IT'S-BEEN-100-YEARS and a year-long boisterous Wrigley crowd that suddenly turned silent, and never got its mojo back! And when I say the players and manager should be aware, I don't mean bringing a Greek Orthodox priest to sprinkle holy water in the dugout. (Greek Orthodox, of course, being the religion of the Sianis family of goat curse fame.) I mean being aware that the home crowd and everyone on the bench is going to take every bad break hard, and getting it your head that don't have to panic when the going gets tough. Or getting it in your head that you don't sit like a statue, Dusty Baker-style, when your pitcher is screwing the pooch.

 

[ScribePharisee]

Re: The 100th Annual Cubs Watch Thread

The goat talks?

To quote him:
"Naaa-a-a-a-a-a-h"

 

[Bubbler]

Re: The 100th Annual Cubs Watch Thread

Have I landed in an alternative universe? A_QB has my former sig. Next thing you know, we'll see Frank Stallone show up too.

 

[goalmouth]

Re: The 100th Annual Cubs Watch Thread

Or getting it in your head that you don't sit like a statue, Dusty Baker-style, when your pitcher is screwing the pooch.

Bingo. Game 1 of the DS is like an elimination game, but Piniella must have missed the memo.

 

[Armchair_QB]

Re: The 100th Annual Cubs Watch Thread

Have I landed in an alternative universe? A_QB has my former sig. Next thing you know, we'll see Frank Stallone show up too.

I doubt it. It's not far from over.

 

[Big Buckin' agate_monkey]

Re: The 100th Annual Cubs Watch Thread

When will this ****ing team learn?

http://www.pjstar.com/sports/x1929475655/Curses-Goat-left-at-the-gate

I'm a Cardinals fan. I've been brought up to despise the Cubs and all that is Cubs blue. I will raise my children to have disdain for the Cubs and all that is Cubs blue. But I can appreciate baseball history and wouldn't mind the Cubs finally ****ting in the pot and not down their leg.

 

[Armchair_QB]

Re: The 100th Annual Cubs Watch Thread

When will this ****ing team learn?

http://www.pjstar.com/sports/x1929475655/Curses-Goat-left-at-the-gate

I'm a Cardinals fan. I've been brought up to despise the Cubs and all that is Cubs blue. I will raise my children to have disdain for the Cubs and all that is Cubs blue. But I can appreciate baseball history and wouldn't mind the Cubs finally ****ting in the pot and not down their leg.

If they want to stop this **** they need to shoot the next guy who brings livestock to the ballpark.

And if they don't want to stop it they should just shoot him on general principle.

 

[Armchair_QB]

Re: The 100th Annual Cubs Watch Thread

[quote author=Mike Royko]
SINS OF THE FATHERS MAKE FANS SUFFER
Oct. 6, 1989

They were walking about 20 feet ahead of me, a youngish father holding the hand of his son. The boy was about 8. Both wore Cubs caps. They had just left Wrigley Field after the first-game slaughter.

We were several blocks from the ballpark and the crowd had scattered, so there were few others on the quiet street.

Suddenly the father and son stopped. The boy had his head down and a hand over his eyes. As I caught up with them, I could see that he was sobbing.

The father dropped to one knee, put his arm around his son`s shoulders, and said: ``Hey, it`s okay. Come on, it`s not over yet. They can come back tomorrow. It`s just one game. You watch, they can do it.``

For a moment, I considered stopping and saying something. Then I decided not to intrude on so private a moment, and I kept walking toward the neighborhood corner bar.

Over a cold one, I thought about what I might have said if I had stopped. Not to the boy, but to the father. I would have told him:
``What kind of father are you, lying to your son? For that matter, why did you bring him here in the first place, causing him to suffer?

``You should be prosecuted for abuse and neglect and jailed for inflicting what will probably be a lifetime of suffering, depression and
disappointment on a helpless child.

``For shame! You are no better than a drug pusher. And you must forever bear the guilt of having placed the terrible Cubs monkey on that innocent lad`s frail back.``

Of course, the father might not be entirely to blame. Chances are that his father did the same thing to him. This type of cruelty is usually passed along, from generation to generation.

Take my late father. He was not without vices. He sometimes drank, gambled, brawled and had an eye for a shapely leg. I could forgive him these minor character flaws.

But to this day, I cannot forgive him for taking me to Cub games at an impressionable age, hooking me on Herman, Hack, Jurges, Nicholson and Cavarretta. And telling me tales of Grimm, Hornsby, Wilson, Stephenson and other earlier heroes.

He didn`t tell me that I was going to have to live through Smalley, Jeffcoat, Miksis, Chiti, Dave Ding Dong, `69 and `84.

That`s why, while I made mistakes as a parent, I did one thing right. I didn`t raise my kids to be Cub fans. When they were tiny, I would point at the TV and say: ``See those vines on the outfield wall? You know what`s in those vines? Big, black, mean spiders and other crawly things.``

So today, as young adults, they wouldn`t dream of skipping a Beethoven concert or an Eric Clapton performance for a Cub game. What the heck, Beethoven is already dead, so what`s there to cry about?

Oh, they have a casual interest. But when this season ends, they will not have shed a tear or lost a night`s sleep over a ball game.

Some might say I deprived them of the thrills, excitement and suspense of a baseball season. Maybe. But unlike hundreds of thousands of other Chicagoans, when they awoke Thursday morning, they weren`t suffering from melancholia, mumbling about Will Clark, or praying for a West Coast earthquake.

No, that man was not doing his sobbing kid any favor. And if he happens to read this, I suggest he heed this song (with apologies to Willie Nelson):

Daddies, don`t let your babies grow up to be Cub fans.
Don`t let them get snared into lifelong nightmares,
Let them play guitars, go bowling or such.

Daddies, don`t let your babies grow up to be Cub fans,
`Cause they`ll never lose hope and it`s worse than most dope, even with one out to go.

So I say to that young father and to others like him: It`s probably too late for you. But it isn`t too late for your kids. Wean them away or don`t let them get started. When they grow up, they`ll be grateful.

I know it isn`t easy. But isn`t it better than seeing a small boy standing there, heartbroken and crying?

For that matter, as the bartender said as he dabbed my nose with a bar rag: ``It ain`t easy seeing a grown man cry.`` He also said: ``Hey, there`s still time. They can do it.``

The fool. Of course, if Dawson gets hot, and Sutcliffe comes through, and. . . .

Pa, see what you did to me? [/quote]

 

[playthrough]

Re: The 100th Annual Cubs Watch Thread

Also, Lou Piniella and the players have to stop pretending there is no such thing as curses. Maybe there isn't. But there is such a thing as players tightening up under the pressure of hearing about a 100-year drought (how else to explain Ryan Dempster) and a crowd reacting to every bad break like their dog just got run over by an ice cream truck. I wonder if he and the players would be better off acknowledging it, and reminding fans (and players) that one grand slam doesn't mean it's time to abandon ship.

Players generally don't give a **** about curses or, for that matter, any of a local club's history. In this case, these guys play for the 2008 Cubs and a good many didn't play for the '07 team and a good many won't play for the '09 team. They will go home to Phoenix or Japan or the Dominican Republic or California in the off-season. So they stay pretty focused on the present. That curse crap is something for the fans and the media to talk about.

True, but I think players do feed off the energy in the crowd, and they can't help but be affected by the pressure of IT'S-BEEN-100-YEARS and a year-long boisterous Wrigley crowd that suddenly turned silent, and never got its mojo back! And when I say the players and manager should be aware, I don't mean bringing a Greek Orthodox priest to sprinkle holy water in the dugout. (Greek Orthodox, of course, being the religion of the Sianis family of goat curse fame.) I mean being aware that the home crowd and everyone on the bench is going to take every bad break hard, and getting it your head that don't have to panic when the going gets tough. Or getting it in your head that you don't sit like a statue, Dusty Baker-style, when your pitcher is screwing the pooch.

Seriously. That crowd in the final innings last night was embarrassing. You'd have thought they were losing 20-0 in Game 7 of the Series with the team scheduled to fold operations the next day.

Just adds to my disdain of Cubs fandom. Sack up and do better tonight, even if God forbid, the Dodgers take an early lead.

 

[Captain_Kirk]

Re: The 100th Annual Cubs Watch Thread

Jeez, a little rough on the crowd, aren't we?

I mean, the people sitting there just want to experience, just once, something last witnessed by their grandfather's grandfather.

Something that seemed well in reach in '69 and '84 and '03, only to be yanked away like the football from Charlie Brown.

And they stroll into last night with arguably the best team in baseball and the favorite to win it all.

I can where that would be more than just a little deflating when that bubble bursts.

Along the lines of we've seen this movie before.

 

[Armchair_QB]

Re: The 100th Annual Cubs Watch Thread

Jeez, a little rough on the crowd, aren't we?

I mean, the people sitting there just want to experience, just once, something last witnessed by their grandfather's grandfather.

Something that seemed well in reach in '69 and '84 and '03, only to be yanked away like the football from Charlie Brown.

And they stroll into last night with arguably the best team in baseball and the favorite to win it all.

I can where that would be more than just a little deflating when that bubble bursts.

Along the lines of we've seen this movie before.

That's not going to change until this sack of **** team stops ****ting its pants in the postseason.

And I don't think it should. Unless, of course, it changes from dejection to rage and the fans start setting **** on fire.

 

[Captain_Kirk]

Re: The 100th Annual Cubs Watch Thread

Jeez, a little rough on the crowd, aren't we?

I mean, the people sitting there just want to experience, just once, something last witnessed by their grandfather's grandfather.

Something that seemed well in reach in '69 and '84 and '03, only to be yanked away like the football from Charlie Brown.

And they stroll into last night with arguably the best team in baseball and the favorite to win it all.

I can where that would be more than just a little deflating when that bubble bursts.

Along the lines of we've seen this movie before.

That's not going to change until this sack of **** team stops ****ting its pants in the postseason.

And I don't think it should. Unless, of course, it changes from dejection to rage and the fans start setting **** on fire.

Do you want them to walk about 60 blocks south before starting to set things on fire?

 

[Armchair_QB]

Re: The 100th Annual Cubs Watch Thread

Jeez, a little rough on the crowd, aren't we?

I mean, the people sitting there just want to experience, just once, something last witnessed by their grandfather's grandfather.

Something that seemed well in reach in '69 and '84 and '03, only to be yanked away like the football from Charlie Brown.

And they stroll into last night with arguably the best team in baseball and the favorite to win it all.

I can where that would be more than just a little deflating when that bubble bursts.

Along the lines of we've seen this movie before.

That's not going to change until this sack of **** team stops ****ting its pants in the postseason.

And I don't think it should. Unless, of course, it changes from dejection to rage and the fans start setting **** on fire.

Do you want them to walk about 60 blocks south before starting to set things on fire?

Let me get back to you on that.

 

[playthrough]

Re: The 100th Annual Cubs Watch Thread

Jeez, a little rough on the crowd, aren't we?

I mean, the people sitting there just want to experience, just once, something last witnessed by their grandfather's grandfather.

Something that seemed well in reach in '69 and '84 and '03, only to be yanked away like the football from Charlie Brown.

And they stroll into last night with arguably the best team in baseball and the favorite to win it all.

I can where that would be more than just a little deflating when that bubble bursts.

Along the lines of we've seen this movie before.

The bubble didn't burst. They lost a Game 1.

 

[Bob Cook]

Re: The 100th Annual Cubs Watch Thread

Jeez, a little rough on the crowd, aren't we?

I mean, the people sitting there just want to experience, just once, something last witnessed by their grandfather's grandfather.

Something that seemed well in reach in '69 and '84 and '03, only to be yanked away like the football from Charlie Brown.

And they stroll into last night with arguably the best team in baseball and the favorite to win it all.

I can where that would be more than just a little deflating when that bubble bursts.

Along the lines of we've seen this movie before.

Grow up, Cubs fans! It's the first game of a five-game series! This is not the ball rolling through Leon Durham's legs in the deciding game five after the Cubs had gacked a 2-0 lead! This is not Dusty Baker and the Cubs made catatonic by the Bartman play when a series victory seemed imminent! It was one ****ing bad pitch that put your team down by a lousy two runs in the middle of the first game! And for that it's time to fold up shop? Every Cubs fan told me this year's movie was a scrappy team that always fought back, in large part due to its fans never giving up. Did someone change the reel?

If that's really the way Cubs fans are going to react with the slightest bit of a setback, then you're never going to see a World Series, ever. In most cases, Cubs fans, teams don't enter the playoffs and sweep the whole freakin' thing. You might lose a game or two on the way. As Pallister would say, JFC.

 

[Big Buckin' agate_monkey]

Re: The 100th Annual Cubs Watch Thread

Jeez, a little rough on the crowd, aren't we?

I mean, the people sitting there just want to experience, just once, something last witnessed by their grandfather's grandfather.

Something that seemed well in reach in '69 and '84 and '03, only to be yanked away like the football from Charlie Brown.

And they stroll into last night with arguably the best team in baseball and the favorite to win it all.

I can where that would be more than just a little deflating when that bubble bursts.

Along the lines of we've seen this movie before.

Grow up, Cubs fans! It's the first game of a five-game series! This is not the ball rolling through Leon Durham's legs in the deciding game five after the Cubs had gacked a 2-0 lead! This is not Dusty Baker and the Cubs made catatonic by the Bartman play when a series victory seemed imminent! It was one ****ing bad pitch that put your team down by a lousy two runs in the middle of the first game! And for that it's time to fold up shop? Every Cubs fan told me this year's movie was a scrappy team that always fought back, in large part due to its fans never giving up. Did someone change the reel?

If that's really the way Cubs fans are going to react with the slightest bit of a setback, then you're never going to see a World Series, ever. In most cases, Cubs fans, teams don't enter the playoffs and sweep the whole freakin' thing. You might lose a game or two on the way. As Pallister would say, JFC.

You tryin' ta say Jesus Christ can't hit a curve ball?