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Everyone else getting condolences ?

I don't know about the rest of  you but I  got and am still getting a lot of sympathetic and worried phone calls and e mails from friends , business associates and  strangers. Now I probably get a lot more since I live in New York where  being a Cubs fanatic is not the norm and many if not most of my customers and colleagues know how insane I am. My family was worried when I slept in on Saturday because I did not pick up the phone ( just tired and not directly related to the Cubs believe it or not). I got e mails from a college friend who works at the UN, a number of librarians around the country who know me through work, film programmers ( ditto), old friends from Chicago etc . I think the nicest thing that happened though was on Sunday as I was walking past Penn Station wearing my Cubs jacket and a young woman looked at me and said  in very sweet voice,  " Sorry, Cub fan". I genuinely appreciate all the concern and reaching out. I think I tend to take this better than others because I try not to get my hopes up to high but I do appreciate the empathy from people especially many that only know me via internet /work and or not at all.

This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of SB Nation or Al Yellon, managing editor (unless it's a FanPost posted by Al). FanPost opinions are valued expressions of opinion by passionate and knowledgeable baseball fans.

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Yeah

It was a little stranger than last year for some reason.

by StevenABQ on Oct 6, 2008 5:28 PM CDT reply actions  

yes

people feel sorry for cubs fans. This was supposed to be the grand year, everything was lining up for us, then everything was crushed in 4 days. I wear my cubs hat every day around my college campus and i have actually been given hugs by people i dont even know

Dinosaurs? "Didn't exist. You can't say there were dinosaurs when you never saw them." -Carl Everett

by NDcubsfan on Oct 6, 2008 5:46 PM CDT reply actions  

Yes

I have two extremely cool co-workers, one a Cardinal fan, the other a Met fan, who both came over and patted me on the back and told me they felt for me. There’s quite a melting pot of fans in the DC area, and it helped quite a bit.

Sunday was excruciating, today was miserable, and tomorrow I’m hoping I’m all the way up to “crappy”. My buds joked that they looked up on the roof this morning, half expecting to see me up there with a bucket of chicken and a sniper rifle.

McCain / Palin: The POW / WOW! Ticket

by Goat Whisperer on Oct 6, 2008 6:37 PM CDT reply actions  

I feell lucky

I feel lucky because I’m going to have a nuts couple of weeks right now. In fact to be perfectly honest I was having trouble figuring out game schedules around my activities.

Thngs of worth are worth fighting for regardless of the odds.

by puckishcubsfan on Oct 6, 2008 8:18 PM CDT up reply actions  

Not condolences, exactly but...

I happened to be wearing a predominantly black outfit to work today and one of my co-workers only half-jokingly asked if I was in mourning for the Cubs. She’s a Cubs fan too.

"Pinky, are you pondering what I'm pondering?"--The Brain

by brook on Oct 6, 2008 6:47 PM CDT reply actions  

My brother

My brother called his secretary and asked her to take the Cubs stuff off the wall and put it in a box before he came in.

Thngs of worth are worth fighting for regardless of the odds.

by puckishcubsfan on Oct 6, 2008 8:19 PM CDT up reply actions  

I've gotten a few condolences

but I’ve also gotten a lot of “What happened?” Everyone expects me to explain why they lost so badly.

"Destiny is a matter of choice, not chance"

by MerlinDog on Oct 6, 2008 7:17 PM CDT reply actions  

Only a couple, but of course where I live

most people are Tigers and Lions fans and they are the ones who truly need condolences. One friend did give me a hug saying she was so sorry. Of course on the radio its either the “curse” continues or endless jokes about the Cubs and their fans. I figure they deserve it for flopping so badlyand so do I for falling for the “This is the Year” crap when my memories go back past 1969. I knew better and I won’t fall for it again. Plus, I don’t want condolences, I want a world championship.

I was thinking of making a comeback until I pulled a muscle -- vacuuming.
-Johnny Bench

by collies-n-baseball on Oct 6, 2008 7:42 PM CDT reply actions  

Yeah,

It kinda stinks. Then again, I don’t mind from friends. They know and get it.

But the wind blew me back via Chicago, In the middle of the night

by N Oakley on Oct 6, 2008 8:03 PM CDT reply actions  

From my Cards fans friends and family

After Game 1, I got ’Ha! Not going to be so easy," but they thought the Cubs would come back.

After Game 2, I got “Whoa…what the hell is going on?” and we talked about something else.

Before Game 3, I got a lot of people saying, “I hope they win tonight…for your sake”

Now, we don’t talk about it.

The worst beer I had was pretty good.

by Worf on Oct 6, 2008 8:16 PM CDT reply actions  

Me

I belong to a few very close knit internet groups. Got tons of emails the last 2 days. I JUST WANT TO COME HOME ONE DAY IN OCTOBER and have tons of happy emails. Guys the day after we win the world series my phone will be busy for 24 hours straight.

ANd also had 2 close friends who never really followed baseball who got into it this year partially because of me who are POed at me because they really wouldn’t have given a darn otherwise,

And a very dear friend who is getting our local friends together to take me to lunch on Saturday.

Thngs of worth are worth fighting for regardless of the odds.

by puckishcubsfan on Oct 6, 2008 8:17 PM CDT reply actions  

Look on the bright side...

…at least you won’t be facing indecent exposure charges in a downtown lockup.

So this is how it ends.

by daver on Oct 7, 2008 9:39 AM CDT up reply actions  

I got a brief but sympathetic e-mail on Saturday night...

from a co-worker who is, of all things, a die-hard Padres fan.

One rather clueless friend asked me on Sunday night how the Cubs were doing, and was quickly shushed by another friend who knows how I feel about the team. It took me a couple of moments to compose myself before stating flatly that the series was over. In his defense, it wasn’t done out of malice.

by yajohn on Oct 6, 2008 8:40 PM CDT reply actions  

Hmmmm

Since I am a friend that didn’t send condolences, I had to give this some thought.

What I came up with is that if the Cubs had lost in the World Series, or the NLCS, or even in game 5 of the NLDS, I would have sent them.

But when you get swept in the NLDS, they don’t seem to be in order. The best analogy I can come up with is this: If your friend crashes his new Mercedes, you send them condolences. If he can’t get it out of the garage, you don’t.

Side bar comment as I am watching Game 4 of the ALDS between the Angels and the Red Sox: Sometimes when I am watching a game at Fenway on TV, it feels like I am watching two major league teams playing in a Little League ballpark.

by azjazzman on Oct 6, 2008 9:08 PM CDT reply actions  

Well...

… your analogy isn’t quite correct. The NLDS loss wasn’t “not getting out of the garage”, it was smashing the car into the door without opening it.

Still worthy of condolences, I think. And yes, I got quite a few.

"That's my opinion and if you don't like it, well, I have others." ~ Groucho Marx

by Al Yellon on Oct 6, 2008 10:00 PM CDT up reply actions  

Not really

I have friends who Bleed Dodger Blue and I haven’t felt the need to send them Congratulations either, although I certainly will if they make it to the World Series.

And I still think my analogy works. The Cubs held the lead in only 2 1/2 innings in the last 2 NLDS and never after the 5th inning in any of the 6 games. If that isn’t the very definition of a non-starter, I don’t know what is.

by azjazzman on Oct 6, 2008 10:25 PM CDT up reply actions  

No, I agree with you...

… it was a non-starter. But it was more like crashing into the garage door trying to get out, rather than not leaving at all.

"That's my opinion and if you don't like it, well, I have others." ~ Groucho Marx

by Al Yellon on Oct 6, 2008 10:29 PM CDT up reply actions  

Or maybe stepping into the cold, dark, closed garage...

…and finding your brand new Mercedes has four flat tires and a dead battery.

So this is how it ends.

by daver on Oct 7, 2008 9:41 AM CDT up reply actions  

yeah people have been

saying their sorry to me. People notice me without my Cubs hat on. And I told them whats the f’n point.

Someday we'll go all the way.

by Cubbinstrongsince86 on Oct 6, 2008 9:40 PM CDT reply actions  

Im not getting any

But ill be sending some too my “unfortunate” Sox Fan co-workers

by Galvan316 on Oct 6, 2008 9:40 PM CDT reply actions  

This about sums up the season.

My wife and I deliver newspapers in Peoria and we ran across a homemade Cubs sign that looks like it was taken to Chicago for a NLDS game and it said:

“Next year is FINALLY here!”

It was sittiing at an angle…in a garbage can for pick up.

"Man, this is fun!" - Len Kasper

by ryno HOF 2005 on Oct 6, 2008 10:50 PM CDT reply actions  

Yeah right.

It’s been a 20-year daydream of mine that the people that surround me day in and day out would have some kind of knowledge of anything baseball related… let alone how the Cubs are doing.

Nope… the only sports question I got today was “How bout Vandy takin’ down dem Tigers?”

Living in the South stinks.

by MillsChC on Oct 6, 2008 11:57 PM CDT reply actions  

College Football Season In South

More people in Tennessee are interested in a mediocre Vols football team than a 5-0 Titans team. Heck, Vandy is getting a lot of press being undefeated. If the Cardinals and Braves aren’t involved in postseason, there’s not much interest in October baseball in this part of the country.

"The big possum walks late." - Harry Caray

by memphiscub on Oct 7, 2008 7:53 AM CDT up reply actions  

I've received several as well

i think they are just checking if I’m ready to “jump off of the ledge”

Cubs Win!! Cubs Win!

by Ihatethecards on Oct 7, 2008 7:55 AM CDT reply actions  

Yes,

from everyone I know were dishing out condolences. With all the media attention to the latest flop, everyone feels it I guess. I love the Cubs and the game of baseball and will be right back when pitcher’s and catcher’s report in Feb.

You ARE freaking out MAN!

by crw89 on Oct 7, 2008 8:44 AM CDT reply actions  

Yeah

but it’s kind of nice because it’s coming from the girls I work with who know nothing about baseball except the futility of the Cubs….I’m definitely riding this sympathy card out!

by walsh2317 on Oct 7, 2008 8:54 AM CDT reply actions  

You can tell by my name

what I’m going through. I still live in a town where the baseball team is alive. Everyone keeps asking me if I’m going to root for the Phillies. I tell them I’m indifferent. The worst part is reading the papers here and listening to the sportstalk radio hearing how the Dodgers didn’t really play anybody and the Cubs gave them that series. I can’t argue with that, the Cubs didn’t show up in the NLDS. The only Cubs fans in a worst situation then I am are the Cubs fans in LA. Can’t imagine what it is like for you out there!

The kicker for me is that I’m going, with a group of friends, to the Eagles game out in San Francisco this Sunday (Don’t get me started on the Eagles!!!). All of my friends have made it clear that we are going out to some bar to watch the NLCS. Even if I wanted to, I couldn’t escape this series.

I’m sure the bar where we watch these games will have enough Anchor Steam for me!

by PhillyCub on Oct 7, 2008 9:07 AM CDT reply actions  

Have a buddy back home

in San Diego who’s a die hard Dodger fan. Him and I went back in forth before the series started. Had to swallow my pride and send him a congrats. Both of us are avid baseball fans so It’s a mutual respect thing between teams. I’m rooting for the Dodgers the rest of the way.

"What a great call! Your doing a fantastic job, but people expect me to come out here and be upset. So I'm gonna kick some dirt, you understand?" - Lou Pinella

by Lou In Blue on Oct 7, 2008 9:19 AM CDT reply actions  

I got more after Thursday than I did yesterday.

Friday was the day of mourning and coming to terms with everything. I’d already accepted the loss before Game 3 and people around me reacted accordingly.

make*art

by neverAcquiesce on Oct 7, 2008 9:39 AM CDT reply actions  

I got a bunch of condolences on Sunday.

Let’s see…my neighbors (who caught me bringing in my gnome), my wife’s friend, my in-laws. None of them are particularly big baseball fans, so I’m not sure they fully realized the pain I was in. But it was nice of them to mention it. I was a zombie that day. An absolute zombie. I think I’m just starting to wake up now.

So this is how it ends.

by daver on Oct 7, 2008 9:44 AM CDT reply actions  

Aint' being a Cub fan grand?

"Hats for bats.....keep bats warm." - Pedro Cerrano
"Hey bartender, Jobu needs a refill !!!!!!!" - Eddie Harris

by willie mays hayes' gloves on Oct 7, 2008 9:49 AM CDT up reply actions  

That it is.

I especially love the little glint of pity in their eyes. As if to say, “Dave seems like a relatively intelligent person. Why does he pour so much energy into following this team that never really wins anything?”

So this is how it ends.

by daver on Oct 7, 2008 9:55 AM CDT up reply actions  

They just don't get it, do they?

"Hats for bats.....keep bats warm." - Pedro Cerrano
"Hey bartender, Jobu needs a refill !!!!!!!" - Eddie Harris

by willie mays hayes' gloves on Oct 7, 2008 9:56 AM CDT up reply actions  

I did send one.

I just made and sent a card to my brother with a picture of Charlie Brown on the mound screaming “AAUGH!” with a note about how I feel his pain.

by katie casey on Oct 7, 2008 10:44 AM CDT reply actions  

Cheering the Cubs is akin to cheering Charlie Brown.

You just know Lucy’s gonna pull that damn football out from under him, but, dammit, you’re gonna root for him anyway.

make*art

by neverAcquiesce on Oct 7, 2008 10:57 AM CDT up reply actions  

Most condolences

Many friends and family members know I live and die with the team, though many also stated I should be able to recover given the ’Hawks recent uprising.

But one jackass – let’s call him Gregory – who’s as self centered as you can be and allegedly a converted-to-sox-fan-from-the-flubs as he puts it, was all over me just yesterday, before the Sox got eliminated.

Suffice to say after a few bitter emails back and forth I told him to shove it. I used to think of him as a decent acquaintance and decent friend. But after yesterday and the fact he’s gone out of his way to rub shit in over the past few years, I’ve had enough. If I ever see or hear from him again, it will be too soon.

Sweet Lou for Mayor in '11.

by blackhawk24 on Oct 7, 2008 12:46 PM CDT reply actions  

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