seems pretty darn insignificant.

Actually, I worry the offseason will feel that way, too.

And I’m Suffering

It’s very selfless of you to give your time and share your experience and insight with us. No matter if we’re new to the Cubs & new to the site or are seasoned Cubs fans & site contributors, we all learn from you and certain other contributors (SWL, Emelie, etc.) on a daily basis.

See you in March.

I truly LOVE baseball and I am really looking forward to watching the rest of the post season. I guess I was the only Cub fan after the
03 disaster to watch and cheer hard for the Marlins. Dodgers/Phillies is tough for me as overall I like the Phillies but as long as certain party is on the Dodgers I will root for them ( except when the play the Cubs). I actually still like the Red Sox A LOT but will have to root for Tampa Bay for the underdog in me. Baseball is wonderful game and I will watch till the end of the season ( except in years when Cardinals play the White Sox).

That’s success. The Pirates? THAT’S futility.

I would really enjoy a run like the Braves had. I know we’re all supposed to be fixated on the World Series because that’s what our Great Media Overloards keep telling up – it’s been dawning on me that it really wouldn’t make me feel any better or worse about things if the Cubs had won the Series in ‘45 or pretty much any year prior to about 1990 or so (I was born in 1981). The 100-years monkey is someone else’s problem.

So my focus – the direction I want the Cubs to go in – is in building a dynasty like that. I’d love a World Series win along the way, but the Yankees have shown us that you can’t just go out and buy one. Let’s run off another three straight playoff seasons (easier said than done as well) and see where that takes us.

the only WON the world series once….I believe they won the 95 series, lost to the yankess in 96 and 99…lost to the Blue Jays in 92,

Then I hope the Cubs can pick up some of it next year.

… I had some of those feelings myself after last night. If you put baseball aside for a while, I suspect you’ll hear it — and the Cubs — calling your name in the spring.

later I will feel pretty much like this:

Much appreciated.

great post CaliCub

This has been a great place to be for the past two years. I used to only read, then last year decided I wanted to join in and Al kindly e-mailed me a new password since I had forgotten it. I’m far away from Chicago now, but reading Al and the other posts is the next best thing to sitting at Wrigley talking to other fans. You’ve created a nice little community here, and I appreciate it. This morning I took my Cub flag off the front porch, folded it up and shed a few tears. I’m washing all my t-shirts and my lucky crocs—they’ll be ready in the Spring!

I am really grateful for the fun I’ve had on here that couldn’t have happened without you running the place as well as you have. I am also grateful for the fellow Cub fans on here who have shared a great season with me. It truly made the season a lot more fun than it would have been otherwise to get to talk to real Cub fans.

As for the recently completed NLDS, I have one word that sums up my feelings.

SOB!! (The crying kind that is, not the cursing kind).

I’ll look forward to sharing more Cubs moments (and Cubbie occurrences) with you all.

I agree. This site is so well run, that I was actually a bit shocked to learn about the “other” BCB and the vile things that go on there. When I was new to this site, I thought that all the SBNation blogs were run this way — not so, and it’s been a lot of fun to participate.

I don’t know that I will be as active on here next year. Part of that is the emotion of the last week, part of it is the realization that I do need to put a little less emphasis on, as someone said, 25 men over whose actions I have no control.

I’ll always be a Cubs fan, and I suspect that I’ll continue to actively enjoy this site — even if I do dial it down a bit.

Thanks for the good reading, entertainment and the comaradarie that the site promotes.

just with that one post, CaliCub. Nice work, and I couldn’t agree more.

Al, this site is the best, and your elegy today almost moved me to tears.

Since 1971, when I attended my first game (Paul Popovich grand slam, I believe, and the Cubs beat the Cardinals), the Cubs have been involved in the longest love affair of my life. I just wish that once in a while, in October, the Cubs would love me back.

I used to belong to another blog-type site for a hobby I have which is not sports-related, and I have to tell you that I have all but abandoned that other site in favor of this one.

I used to only read here for the last year-plus, so although as someone else said of me last night, I don’t feel I am a “Johnny come lately” particularly because everyone here makes you feel welcome and like a part of the family.

I have found a new favorite hobby – being able to sit and watch a Cubs game with my laptop and feel like I am in a room with 200+ other hard-core Cub fans watching the game. It sharpens your mind, wit, and baseball knowledge in general.

Thank you once again for the experience – and for making me cry. I feel better now, and next year will be here before we know it.

Going to the Blackhawks game now – so I will see you guys later.

I’m a noob here, but I’ll be back. I love the people here, and I enjoy reading Al’s eloquent, passionate, and funny posts and recaps during the next season. I enjoyed myself here in ‘08 and I can’t wait to enjoy games here in ’09.

Used to read another blog…got tired of the negativity and “holier than thou” smugness. It was great to find BCB and enjoy following the season with lots of other down to earth diehards.

plus it is very unorganized and confusing now. I like this blog much more!

with BCB and this site made the season even more enjoyable than it would have been otherwise. I live out of state, so there are not too many Cub fans around to enjoy the team with.

Despite the ending, thank you all for this wonderful season. Al, your ability to bring reason and withstand the emotional roller-coaster (seemingly at least) makes it a joy to read your recaps on a daily basis.

I agree with your sentiments. I recently checked out some other Cubs blogs and was pretty disappointed in both the content and the maturity of the posts. This is the best, and I appreciate all you guys/girls who are a part of this community even though I wouldn’t be able to pick any of you out in a crowd. Even now, only two days removed from hell, I feel better and come January I will be looking to book a flight to Sky Harbor for you know what.

Clearly, this collection of players has talent and ability — they wouldn’t have dominated the NL all year if they didn’t.

They needed the mental toughness to get past the next obstacle. They didn’t have it. Can this group get it? Maybe. Or, more likely, they need a couple of key additions to make it that “unique” group that can end the drought.

The good news appears to be, that once the drought DOES end, the next group of players in (Red Sox, I’m referring to) doesn’t seem to have the same set of problems.

sorry. My guess is that there is more pressure to play in Chicago (and NY, Philly annd Boston, too)…..but the media and fans are tough everywhere. I some ways Cubs should be less pressure than the Yankees because “they do have nothing to lose”

… but what would that accomplish with MLB? Would they say, “Gee, no one’s watching now that the Cubs are out, we better make sure we have them win next time!”

…this year the players and a lot of fans thought it was the year, and there may have been additional pressure. When they are “resigned” to the fact that they will always choke, maybe that’s when the players begin to take it more easy in the postseason….

….but in the meantime, get Sori out of the damn leadoff spot, and get a good shortstop (I’m not dissing Theriot, I like him, I just want someone with a better range, better arm, and more OPS).

Being a Cubs fan is the perfect analogy for LIFE. We all go through hard times; life throws us the proverbial curveball that all of us has swung away at like Kosuke spinning in circles, but we choose not to give up.

Plus, if it does ever finally happen while we’re alive, all this pain an hurt will be worth it.

I can turn away for a while, which is what I did when they let Maddux go in ‘89. I really thought that did it, since it showed management didn’t care about winning.

However, like so many have said, once they start playing again, I can’t help myself. And if they are good (and remember folks, they are the favorite to win the Central Division again next year), I can’t help myself. I’ll watch and cheer.

To have one thing in life that remains constant, to have one thing that you stay with all of your life, is not such a bad thing.

Go Cubs!

It’s part of who I am. All the pain and the disappointment doesn’t detract from the good memories that I’ve had in 25+ years of following them. It’s by no means the only bond that I have with my father, but it is a strong one that I would never want to give up.

None of us wants to hear about “someday” right now, including me, but if the Cubs ever do finish the job, the angst will have been worth it and it will be that much sweeter.

And, let’s take a step back for a second. Yes, this sucks. We thought this was the year — but — for those of us old enough to remember 1984 and the years in-between, the thought of contending nearly every year was a pipe dream and now it seems like reality. There are those here that go back further, and the thought of contending one year in a row was a pipe dream for them. As hard as it may be to see right now, things ARE better than they have been in a long, long time for the Cubs. Granted, you never know when you’ll be back to the post-season, but there is a commitment there that never used to be.

No, I wouldn’t give this up. I’m in it until I’m in the ground — even if the Cub baseball is what puts me there.

at least I hope it is!

Baseball has been going on for nearly 150 years, and there have been some great stories and traditions involving the other clubs. There’s the Red Sox and the quest to end their championship drought…the hapless Phillies who are the only team to have lost 10,000 games and just one lone World Series title since the 1870s…the Athletics and their dynasties of the late 20s-early 30s, the mid 70s, the late 80s, and the early part of this decade…and now the Cinderalla story of the Tampa Bay Rays.

So the baseball historian in me has come to appreciate and cheer for these other teams. Maybe not with as much zeal as the Cubs, but seeing them do well helps take the sting out of the Cubs’ misfortunes.

See ya soon.

I think the ‘69 team had more great individual players, and you’re right about the camaraderie and loyalty.

But up to this week, 2008’s TEAM was better.