As Al and others know, I'm not the upbeat, positive Cubs fan that most are.

Due to the mobility of both our children and my increasing age, Cubs baseball has gone waaaay down on the priority list.  Sleep for me is more important right now.  I've watched less baseball this year then in any other year.  I would follow in the papers and on sports radio and listen to a large number of games, but actual viewing has been spotty.

Sadly, I chose the first two playoff games to jump back in.  And what did I see?  A repeat of the Arizona series.

Lee, Ramirez and Soriano?  Not a lot to talk about there. 

The new "ace"?  Chooses game 1 of the playoffs to have his worst performance of the year.  I read that he walked the same amount of runners in game 1 than he did in the month of September.

The solid defensive squad?  Inexplicably, each of the infielders commits an error. Even Derrick Lee, increasingly known more now for his glove than his bat, botched a grounder.

The run-scoring machine of the regular season?  It's non-existent to this point.

How can all this happen at the most important time of the year?  The brighter the lights shine on this team, the more they seem to wilt.  It's unexplainable at this point.  The odds would say that somehow, someway, eventually the Cubs would win a World Series.

But it's not going to be this year.

Disappointment for me regarding this team doesn't exist anymore.  Performances like the ones in game 1 and 2 are not the exception, sadly they're the rule. 

I can only hope that perhaps playing at Wrigley in the postseason is something this team can't quite master.  Maybe the road trip will help.

I talked to a fellow Cub fan friend of mine in Florida before yesterday's game.  He said "I think this is just one of those things that isn't meant to be". 

I think he's right.