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Cubs Biggest Nightmare?

Phil Rogers has an interesting column today. Here is the link http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/cs-080827-phil-rogers-chicago-cubs-white-sox,0,4183191.column.

In it, I think he talks about what some of us have been secretly dreading...What happens if the Cubs and Sox play in the series. Personally, the 2 annual series are always pretty hard on me. I dread every game they play together and hope upon hope that the Cubs come out on top. With all the back and forth between fans of either team...to play the Sox and if 1906 repeats itself and the favored Cubs lose to the Sox, it would be worse than 2005.

I don't know. Maybe it's just that little nagging voice that prevents me from even trying to calculate the magic number and was watching to see when we went over 81 wins to ensure a .500 season (and when we made 82 wins, celebrated that)that makes me a bit nervous, but this column just hit a nerve with me.

Kasey

See my Pictures of the 2008 Cubs at http://ignarski.tripod.com/cub-pics-2008.html
Also, see the Cubs 2008 schedule with game results and TV schedule at http://ignarski.tripod.com/sched2008.html

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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Worry about it IF it happens

Too many ifs between now and then to waste any energy on it.

Current temperature in hell: 44 degrees F - and falling!

by wnielsen on Aug 28, 2008 10:55 AM CDT reply actions  

+1

This stuff is getting way, way to far down the tracks. I guess it makes for compelling reading, but the chances of playing the Sox are pretty slim. Besides, I like our chances against the Sox and I don’t fear a series with them It would be great for the city and the exposure would be off the charts. As far as losing to them in a series, we’ve survived 100 years of nothing so I think we could survive that.

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

by willie mays hayes' gloves on Aug 28, 2008 10:59 AM CDT up reply actions  

Outstanding attitude, sir!

You’re so right – one of the great things about Cub fandom is that, yes, we really CAN survive anything. What-EV-er!

"Eighty-five percent of the world is working. The other fifteen percent come out here." - Lee Elia, 1983

"The only thing that bothers me is that I would never want to destroy the love and what the fans of Chicago are to the Chicago Cubs. I mean, God knows. If there's one pure thing in baseball, it is the fans of Chicago." - Lee Elia, 2008

by CaughtInTheVines on Aug 28, 2008 2:35 PM CDT up reply actions  

People are forgetting that the Angels are in the AL.....I think we are safe from that scenario

"Okay, just so I understand it...in your wildest fantasy, you are in hell. And you are co-running a bed and breakfast with the devil."- Jim Halpert

by ryanbrixenivy on Aug 28, 2008 2:35 PM CDT up reply actions  

Oh, those Sox...

(tongue in cheek of course) I thought you were talking about the RED Sox.

I’m not worried a bit about it. Should it happen the Cubs would be prohibitive favourites. Look at it this way, which team (owner, GM, manager, some players and thousands of fans) has the inferiority complex?

Sweet Lou for Mayor in '11.

by blackhawk24 on Aug 28, 2008 10:59 AM CDT reply actions  

Uh, your paragraphs look fine to me.

And I don’t really see this possibility as a nightmare per se. It would be total chaos, a heretofore unwitnessed media feeding frenzy and an event capable of forcing Mayor Daley to declare martial law within the city limits for the remainder of the calendar year. But a nightmare? Nahhhhhhh.

Yes, sir!

by daver on Aug 28, 2008 11:03 AM CDT reply actions  

Plus, a certain columnist who would certainly grate on the fans of both teams

won’t be around. So I’d say we all would avoid a nightmare.

I love to play baseball. I'm a baseball player. I've always been a baseball player. I'm still a baseball player. That's who I am. - Ryne Sandberg

by Bill Potter on Aug 28, 2008 11:29 AM CDT up reply actions  

Odds

I think I read somewhere on BP that the odds of a Sox-Cubs WS are currently at about 5%. This was based on current postseason odds and the likely odds of each team advancing in the playoffs.

by cubfan2201 on Aug 28, 2008 11:28 AM CDT reply actions  

Yeah those odd were

based on any two teams meeting in the WS randomly. If you take into account past performances, the odds have to be about 1000 to 1.

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

by willie mays hayes' gloves on Aug 28, 2008 11:32 AM CDT up reply actions  

Phil Rogers:

“If the Cubs and Sox reach the World Series, the Sox will win because they have nothing to lose! I don’t deserve to be writing about sports because I only write complete nonsense!”

I can’t read the Tribune sportswriters anymore.

CUBS WIN! CUE THE ORCHESTRA!

by Keith on Aug 28, 2008 11:40 AM CDT reply actions  

What an idiotic statement.

Some of the stuff he comes up with is right out of left field.

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

by willie mays hayes' gloves on Aug 28, 2008 11:43 AM CDT up reply actions  

Seriously, I mean what team in major league baseball...

…has “nothing to lose” in the World Series? IT’S THE FREAKIN’ CHAMPIONSHIP! Yeah, so we just slogged through a 162-game regular season and then hacked and slashed our way through two playoff series, but now that we’re here…meh…who gives a rat’s ass? The Sox would have everything to lose – and, yeah, even moreso if the Cubs were their opponent.

By the way, Phil, according to coolstandings.com, the Sox currently have a 58.6% chance of making the playoffs. The Cubs? 99.4%.

Yes, sir!

by daver on Aug 28, 2008 12:03 PM CDT up reply actions  

I believe his calculations were based upon the in-season acquisitions of Rich Harden and Ken Griffey, Jr. Therefore the Cubs get a guy with a not-so-well known name to the average fool, so +0.5 points to the Cubs. KG Jr? Everyone knows him +2.0 to the Sox. White Sox win.

Disposable dixie cup drinkin... I'm hiding out in the big city blinking...

by N Oakley on Aug 28, 2008 12:34 PM CDT up reply actions  

Ole Phil...

…comes up with another winner.

When you haven’t been to the series in 63 years, who gives a shit who you play.

"I don't like them fellas that drive in two runs but let in three" Casey Stengel

by MPH73 on Aug 28, 2008 11:46 AM CDT reply actions  

+1

Yeah, like lou is sitting in his office witha cocktail saying " I want to play the Angels, no no, how about the Rays, no no, the Twins yeah yeah, that’s it the Twins".

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

by willie mays hayes' gloves on Aug 28, 2008 11:51 AM CDT up reply actions  

Remember early in the season...

…when Rogers came up with that ridiculous numerical system for rating which teams have upgraded themselves and which ones haven’t? That was some classic lunacy right there.

Yes, sir!

by daver on Aug 28, 2008 12:05 PM CDT up reply actions  

just saw this after my post above.

Disposable dixie cup drinkin... I'm hiding out in the big city blinking...

by N Oakley on Aug 28, 2008 12:34 PM CDT up reply actions  

You mean the one

whose logic stated the Cubs losing Jason Kendall in favor of Geovany Soto was a minus?

For your information, the Supreme Court has roundly rejected prior restraint.

by Less is Walrond on Aug 28, 2008 1:00 PM CDT up reply actions  

Rogers is an idiot

However, there is no WS match-up with the Cubs that I’d like to see less, win or lose. The Cubs / Sox rivalry is the dumbest rivalry in baseball because it has NOTHING to do with baseball. Too much of what surrounds the Cubs is already completely irrelevant to the game. I’d hate to see a precious trip to the WS watered-down by a mountain of Cubs/Sox bs.

by Ikcelaks on Aug 28, 2008 11:52 AM CDT reply actions  

Exactly...

It revolves more around these socio-economic stereotypes that probably only apply to 10% of the fanbase anyway.

"Remember each day this year, where you were, what you were doing, who you were with, how you felt as the Cubs win their way through it. Because if this does turn out to be the promised land we have all been waiting for, you will want to remember, savor, cherish every moment..."

by CubsBullsBears on Aug 28, 2008 12:01 PM CDT up reply actions  

Not unlike Marriotti...

…but in a different way, Rogers really brings the sports writing profession down.

He has absolutely no feel for the game for someone who has been around as long as he has and he comes up with ton of stuff that makes no sense.

There are still some good writers around, but they sure seem to be a dying bread in my eyes.

"I don't like them fellas that drive in two runs but let in three" Casey Stengel

by MPH73 on Aug 28, 2008 1:12 PM CDT up reply actions  

Mmmm dying bread (beer).

Disposable dixie cup drinkin... I'm hiding out in the big city blinking...

by N Oakley on Aug 28, 2008 1:13 PM CDT up reply actions  

I guess...

…it could have been subconcious

"I don't like them fellas that drive in two runs but let in three" Casey Stengel

by MPH73 on Aug 28, 2008 1:18 PM CDT up reply actions  

I thought that...

That Jay Mariotti resigned from the Suntimes and was now writing for the Tribune, but alas, it was our buddy Phil Rogers.

"Remember each day this year, where you were, what you were doing, who you were with, how you felt as the Cubs win their way through it. Because if this does turn out to be the promised land we have all been waiting for, you will want to remember, savor, cherish every moment..."

by CubsBullsBears on Aug 28, 2008 11:59 AM CDT reply actions  

IF it happens

Does anyone doubt that if it happens the utter stupidity radiating from the papers, radio and tv will reach a level never reached before.

That article dropped my IQ 50 points. I used to watch Masterpiece Theater. Now Barney goes over my head.

Go Cubs

by puckishcubsfan on Aug 28, 2008 12:08 PM CDT reply actions  

We're all collectively dummer after having been exposed to Rodgers' article.

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

by willie mays hayes' gloves on Aug 28, 2008 12:10 PM CDT up reply actions  

Apparently...

It’s dumber. Sorry, couldn’t resist.

I agree, playing the White Sox in WS is not our biggest nightmare. It might be for the CPD, though.

by 10 14 23 26 on Aug 28, 2008 12:24 PM CDT up reply actions  

I'd say our biggest nightmare

is not making it to the World Series.

"Destiny is a matter of choice, not chance"

by MerlinDog on Aug 28, 2008 12:27 PM CDT up reply actions  

Biggest Nightmare: Another D-Backs Sweep

I do not want a repeat of last year’s NLDS sweep at the hands of the Diamondbacks with the Cubs having a much better regular season this year than last.

"The big possum walks late." - Harry Caray

by memphiscub on Aug 28, 2008 12:44 PM CDT up reply actions  

Yeah, the Dodgers aren't exactly...

…helping us out in that regard. They’ve lost six in a row. So much for Manny being Manny.

Yes, sir!

by daver on Aug 28, 2008 12:46 PM CDT up reply actions  

See...See, I told you.

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

by willie mays hayes' gloves on Aug 28, 2008 1:14 PM CDT up reply actions  

Mr. Rogers,

what you’ve just written is one of the most insanely idiotic things I have ever read. At no point in your rambling, incoherent column were you even close to anything that could be considered a rational thought. Everyone in this room is now dumber for having read it. I award you no points, and may God have mercy on your soul.

"Why does that man drop his club before he runs? I would bring it with me." ~Stewie Griffin

by Goodie1969 on Aug 28, 2008 7:14 PM CDT up reply actions  

As far as I'm concerned

Playing the white sox in the WS wouldn’t mean anymore or less then playing the angels or the rays. Since I don’t live in Chicago, I don’t have to deal with white sox fans. You can find Cubs fans all over the country, but you very rarely see white sox fans outside of Chicago.

"Destiny is a matter of choice, not chance"

by MerlinDog on Aug 28, 2008 12:23 PM CDT reply actions  

The Cubs' biggest nightmare

Is losing to ANYONE in the playoffs this year, regardless of what round it happens in or whether or not Ozzie Guillen’s involved. Losing to the Sox might be a Cub fan’s biggest nightmare, if it means the meathead portion of Sox fans becomes even more insufferable, but for the team anything less than a WS win is equally bad.

This is the classic example of a “Crap, almost deadline, what do I write?” article. It requires no research, is highly speculative and manages to play off people’s emotions. And I should know because I’ve written many of them myself.

by SplintChesthair on Aug 28, 2008 12:49 PM CDT reply actions  

Welcome to my latest endeavor.

by SplintChesthair on Aug 28, 2008 3:19 PM CDT up reply actions  

Hey, you said baseball writing...

…was all about Web sites these days, so welcome aboard! I think you’ll find a kindred soul here. I’m not going to tell you his name, but his initials are M.D.B.N.I.U. Enjoy!

Yes, sir!

by daver on Aug 28, 2008 3:36 PM CDT up reply actions  

The Cubs' worst enemy down the stretch....

is themselves.

The Cubs should completely block out the whole “100 years of losing” out of their heads. When they start thinking about that they will start to press and try to do too much. They just need to go out, relax, and play the beautiful game of baseball.

If this is meant to be (which I sure as hell hope it is) things will allign and fall in to place on their own.

DeRosa: And who is the best and who is the worst card player?

Dempster: I think the best is yourself. [ . . .] I think the worst player is D-Lee. I think he bets every time just to bet.

by EJThunder on Aug 28, 2008 2:34 PM CDT reply actions  

LSA

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

by Al Yellon on Aug 28, 2008 2:44 PM CDT up reply actions  

Since I don't live in

Chicago I may see things differently than those who live there. If the Cubs are fortunate enough to make it to the WS I don’t want to share the spotlight with the Sux. I want it to be all Chicago Cubs all the time.

by sue369 on Aug 28, 2008 2:40 PM CDT reply actions  

I don't care...

…if they play a team from Mars. Just get there and win it.

IMO, getting to the series is going to be the hard part for the Cubs. If they make it, I believe the team will be more relaxed than they would in either the NLDS or the NLCS and really go to town.

"I don't like them fellas that drive in two runs but let in three" Casey Stengel

by MPH73 on Aug 28, 2008 4:53 PM CDT reply actions  

LSA

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

by Al Yellon on Aug 29, 2008 8:18 AM CDT up reply actions  

I WANT them to play the white sox.

I do not want the Cubs to have to play in any of those awful AL rollerdomes like Minnesota or Tampa. Remember they got swept in Tampa in June. Anaheim is also tough with all the monkey wavin white people and the constant videogame atmosphere that never stops. Bring on the Sox.

"Hitter-ish is a good word,."- Lou Pinella

by tedinSoCal on Aug 28, 2008 6:02 PM CDT reply actions  

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