The Hapless Cubs

I'm one of those rare individuals who supports both the North Side Chicago Cubs, as well as the South Side Chicago White Sox. Pretty much always have. I tried to be strictly a fan of one or the other, but it never made sense. Back in the day, before inter league play, and contests between the two were only exhibitions, my position was that Chicago was lucky to have representation in both leagues and as they did not play each other for real, it made sense to support both teams. Still does. To me, to do otherwise would be like an American supporting the efforts of the Army, but not the Marines. They are both our teams and they battle against teams from other nations. Da Sox and da Cub are both our teams and they battle teams from other cities. What do I do when they DO meet in inter league play? Well then, in such a case I pull for which ever team needs the wins most, either to gain ground in their respective divisions, or to maintain the ground they've already gained, which ever need is greater. (At this point, backing da Cub in such circumstances is futile with less than 60 games to go. They're toast.) If I live to see them both in the World Series, I'd simply sit back and beam, with a slight lean toward da Cub, since it would likely be their first chance since dinosaurs walked the earth.

*sigh*

And that's the problem. Da Cub can only seem to be good enough to disappoint. Every once in awhile they make the playoffs and then they're gone. And now the worst has happened two games in a row. Nothing hacks me off more than to see a record broken or a rare achievement happen against a team I support. A running back posting a career best against da Bearss. A shooting guard hitting a record number of treys for a quarter against da Bullss. I hate that. And now, two games against the Colorado Rockies (what the hell is a "Rockie", anyway?---"Hey! I'm a mountain range, dude! Watch out now!") has produced two fantastic achievements against da woeful Cub. On Friday they broke the record for most consecutive hits in an inning, amassing 11 with two outs (as I understand it). The final score was something like 17-2. Then, on Saturday, as if we were not sufficiently embarrassed, Carlos Gonzalez hits for the cycle. (For the uninitiated, that's hitting a single, a double, a triple and a homer all in one game.) And here's the kicker from the AP story: "Gonzalez became the sixth Rockies player to hit for the cycle and the first since Troy Tulowitzki did it last Aug. 10, also against the Chicago Cubs." (boldface mine--sad face mine,too). I'm glad I hadn't the sorry misfortune of seeing either game.

Now for those who are strictly Cub fans, this really sucks despite how freakishly typical. For me, I at least can take solace in the tenuous half-game lead of da first place White Sox in the American League Central over the surging Minnesota Twinkies. But I am a die-hard either way, and hurt more deeply if both teams are suckin'. Fortunately, that isn't the case.

But da Cub? Some say they're cursed. I ain't much for curses, but they seem to play the part well. I can definitely wait to see what's next.