I only moved to Chicago one year ago. But as I was newly retired and live near Wrigley, I was able to follow the Cubs very closely this year. My thoughts :

It is tough to hear lifelong Cubs fans talk about their grandfathers and fathers never seeing the team in the World Series. It is tougher yet to hear them wonder how to bring up their own kids in the Cubs tradition.

The best thing about this whole show is the day-game experience at Wrigley. The worst thing is hearing Cubs fans boo Cubs players.

The Cubs are not cursed, nor lazy, nor mismanaged. My belief is they are still one or two players away from the promised land. This team has not been trying for 100 years. It has only been together for two years since Lou Piniella got here.

I lived my whole life in the Detroit area. The last time I got this committed to a sports team was the Eighties era Detroit Pistons. The core of that bunch was formed in 1982 when Isiah Thomas, Bill Laimbeer, Vinnie Johnson and coach Chuck Daly came together. It took until 1989 before they won the NBA title. During this time, they steadily went forward by adding Joe Dumars, John Salley and Dennis Rodman. There was great satisfaction when they finally got past the Larry Bird Celtics, the Magic Johnson Lakers and the Chicago Bulls with you-know-who.

I think it is self defeating to expect the Cubs to go all the way after only two years with this core team. This 100 year thing is about the fans, not the players. We need to get a few more players. This year's MVP's were Soto, Dempster and Piniella. Let's keep going forward. Enjoy it. We can do this.