Once Again

My apologies for being late with this. Well, not really, because when you think about it, apologizing for not writing is quite the presumptuous thing to do, since it's latently saying that me not writing is depriving others of something good, when really, I highly doubt anyone's emotional well-being is riding on me cranking out 7 snarky paragraphs in a semi-timely fashion. And if that is, somehow, the case, then that person has problems, because no one's emotions should be tied up in something so trivial. Which segues nicely into why I've been a bitter, bitter man over the past month.

I hate the Chicago Cubs. I hate everything about them, a hatred which has expanded to include baseball, and by extension all competitive sports. To illustrate: Isaac (my brother) told me he was cheering for the Rays, and I said I wasn't. He asked who I was cheering for, and I said no one, and that I hoped they all lost. He said that didn't seem possible, to which I responded "Well, then I'm not going to be happy." And I'm not, although the possibility of rainouts extending the World Series into November is somewhat positive for me, since at least the members of the winning team will have suffered for their success. I hate winners.

As I look back over my first blog post, I said on August 7 that the Cubs were likely to come away empty handed unless they scored runs with any sort of consistency. They were absolutely shut down in the playoffs by a very average Dodgers pitching staff. I really wish I wasn't right. It's such a burden, not being blinded by my fan's passion. I wish I could have drank from the Cubby Blue Kool-Aid like so many bloggers, fans, and writers (Not to mention ESPN) when they predicted a Cubs World Series victory. Instead, back in August, I was already talking about how it'd be more impressive if (when) they didn't win. Ah well. I now have ZERO expectations for next year. And I'll be doubting everything they do all regular season, as will many others, which will lead to a bunch of stories about how the Cubs are tired of everyone not believing in them, which will lead to stories questioning whether they can finally translate their regular season success into postseason success, which will lead to a bunch of pressure before the playoffs (though not from me, as I once again will not be sucked into the hype), which will lead to them failing again. These things are too easy to predict.

Actually, the only thing that would keep that from happening is if they change the roster, significantly. And if they get an actual manager. Lou's not the right man to win in the playoffs. At least not last year's version of Lou. Unless he reinvents himself, they're not going anywhere. So that's my post-mortem, as well as a season preview, as well as next year's post-mortem. Which gives me license to not write again until next October, really. But I'll be back before then. I think. (In fact, I know, since I have another idea, but I'm too tired/busy to write it now. Be back soon.)