Steve Rosenbloom's Recent Blog Entry Saying the Season is for Naught without a Series Victory.

without a WS victory is a litle bit too strong for me. It’s been an incredibly exciting, sometimes frustrating and very memorable season regardless. That being said though, I also have to admit that I’ll feel something of a letdown if they don’t at least MAKE the Series.

you should take things in stride, given the source. This guy is one of the biggest hacks in Chicago journalism (if you can call his writing that—he writes the bridge column!!) history. Let it slide.

But look back at the poll on memorable games — 19! October can’t erase March 31 – September 28.

Rosenbloom’s Mariotti-lite. He used to be in the paper during the Trib’s “in your face” sports page era. It was bad then, it’s bad now. Fortunately, the paper realized that didn’t sell and they got rid of him, Bayless moved on, Joe Knowles, etc. Anyway, I take whatever Rosebloom says with a grain of salt,

could ever be truly satisfied without winning the WS. No fan nor any player starts Spring Training thinking “Gee, I hope this is a memorable and exciting year”.

Every season has memorable moments such as comeback wins or no-hitters or milestone HRs, but without a championship (not merely an appearance), it’s all for naught – especially this year, with this team, and especially 100 years since the last one.

stuff that has happened this year but would be put on the pile of prior should have won it years. I look back on ‘69, ’84, ’89 etc. and sure there were good games to remember but then I think of what the end result was and feel bad all over again. I’m tired of that feeling as I know all of you are, so in a way this year is for naught, if we do not win it all.

and that’s the nicest thing I can say about that hack.

On the radio.

And why is that? Because he is a nasally voiced, nearly unemployable polemic who should stick to poker (there’s a “sport” for ya!), and stop being so plain in his efforts to annoy Cubs fans.

pale in comparison to winning the WS. This seems to be a particularly touchy subject with many Cub fans who don’t like to admit that the season will be minimized without a World Series win.

The fact is, the reason we go through this exercise every year is to win the championship. I don’t feel it somehow taints the efforts of the team to admit that. Cub fans seem to be sensitive to this because we haven’t won in 100 years and it’s tough to admit that that much time is wasted.

The thing to ask yourself is “Do other successful teams accept anything other than winning it all?” I know we don’t like being compared to the Yankees, but they are the standard by which other teams are measured. Like it or not it’s a fact. Replace Cubs with Yankees and think how their fanbase would react to the statement. That should be your answer. Aspire to be the best. Anything less is unacceptable.

…the best Cubs team/season I’ll have ever seen. The only damper that can be put on this team would be another NLDS sweep. If they win the NLDS, I’ll officially brand this season a complete success and anything else they do is just extra-special.

That being said, I want a World Series and I’ll be a bit disapointed if they dont make it that far. They’re the best team in the NL and as such the expectations are a bit higher, especially if they can get past the NLDS, which is a lot of luck and a little talent. One bad game and you could sink the series.

Here’s the thing… the playoffs are a crapshoot. A few bad days and your season is over. It can happen. I have spent the last 6 months watching the Cubs get to this point. The 1-in-30 chance is about to be down to 1-in-8. Better, but still a longshot.

So, yes, I would be disappointed if they don’t win it all, but it won’t ruin the season for me. I have had too much fun.

The Cubs are undisputedly the best team in the National League, and anything less than a World Series appearance would be a failure IMO. If they lose the WS I would still be disappointed, but its tough to say that they are clearly better than the Angels, Rays, or Red Sox.

to make the post-season two years in a row, to be dominant without anybody hitting 30 homers or batting .350 or having a 20-win season, and to find a way to get everybody in the clubhouse involved and hot at different times so they prop each other up is (to me, at least) far too impressive to be blemished by a poor post-season performance, end of debate. Yes, I want to see the team make the series and break the 63 year absence, and a win over the AL would be bender-worthy. But as much as those would mean, think about what having a team that makes the playoffs EVERY YEAR for a decade or more means. Not only did we get a shot last year, and not only do we get a shot this year, but next year we are going to have the biggest glut of talent at spring training of any NL team (and maybe any team in the majors). Thanks to Mr. Hendry and Mr. Pinella, this is now a THE model organization from top to bottom, and poised to be the next great dynasty in baseball.

Do I want my team to win the series? HELLS YEAH! Will I be upset if we don’t? Of course. But do I feel better about the team’s future now than I have at any point in the past? Absolutely. And no matter what happens in October, I will still spend the winter dreaming of the beast slumbering beneath the vines.

That’s just the way it is and should be at this stage. The Cubs are uniquely poised like they have never been before. They are blessed with one of the absolute best managers in the game, core players in their prime, dominant power pitchers, good health and a down era for the National League.

This has got to be the year.

They are blessed with one of the absolute best managers in the game, core players in their prime, dominant power pitchers, good health and a down era for the National League.

At least three of those statements could apply to the teams from the 1906-1910 era. And I would argue against ‘a down era for the National League’ being a.) true and b.) a blessing. But the fact remains that this is the best Cubs team for decades, at least.

And because of that, I wince at the use of the term ‘crushing blow.’ Disappointing, frustrating, vexing, annoying, irritating, deflating, etc. perhaps, but hardly crushing. Lou has already managed to do something with this team that hasn’t been done in one hundred years by getting them to the post-season twice in a row. Getting to the series would indicate the negation of nearly every curse on the list and would leave only Wrigley itself as the likely source of any remaining bad mojo. This doesn’t have to be the year. It sure feels like the year, we all want it to be the year, large-round-number-ology says it should be the year (as do all the Cubs hats; bet you thought the ‘C’ = 100 thing was just a coincidence!), but remember…

There is ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS going to be next year.

I’ve been thinking about this for a good part of the day.

Rosenbloom is a horse’s ass. What he appears to say is that, if the Cubs don’t win the Series, all that transpired before is nothing. And many folks here have pointed out that you just can’t say that about the shining magical year we’ve had, regardless of what happens in the playoffs.

But there’s another thread of thought here, which is more in line with Rosenbloom, i.e., that it’s nothing if we don’t win it all. The two threads aren’t mutually exclusive, though. The people (like me) who think it’s been a great season regardless of what happens aren’t being defeatist or unduly pessimistic. We’re just not willing to throw out all that has happened based on the result of the playoffs.

If we don’t at least make it to the Series, or if we do make it, we don’t win, I’ll be on the floor, flatter than a piece of paper for a long time. I want us to win so bad, I can taste it.

There’s something different about this team. It’s the feeling that this wonderful season is not magical, but is just inevitably good. It’s the feeling that this team (and it’s manager) is not just happy to be in the playoffs. It’s the feeling that this team isn’t going into the playoffs politely, but is there to take major league baseball by storm. They didn’t get here by luck, but got here by skill and guile (thanks for the latter part, Lou).

What’s different this time is that the Cubs are respected. They’re not a miracle (ALL of the other great years felt somewhat miraculous). And maybe that’s what got me about Rosenbloom’s blog. It was a lack of respect for what’s been accomplished. He wants to sweep away and minimize the Cubs’ success as much as possible. Well, screw you, Steve.

Go Cubs!

You play to win. You strap it on to win a championship. Thats the goal, but the fact that you’re a “failure” if you don’t is pretty ridiculous to me. Yes you’re disappointed and I imagine I’d be heartbroken.

But the regular season was everything it could be and I’ll cherish that.

During this great season, I have been thinking about how much better the Cubs are than they were in 2006, 2002, 2000, and 1999. Oh, yeah, we could go further back and find more terrible seasons. I have truly enjoyed 2008 and hope the Cubs never go back to the way they were in the early 1980’s or late 1940’s and early 1950’s.

Cubs win the World Series and Lou Piniella announces his retirement shortly thereafter. With Alan Trammell being tagged his successor. If Cubs don’t win the World Series then Sweet Lou hangs around for another season. But it is starting to become pretty clear he’d like to go back home to family in Temple Terrace, Florida.

..it’s a complicated response.

I will have fond memories of the regular season but I won’t look at it as a huge success. Luck plays a big part in baseball playoffs so you can’t just call the team horsecrap if they don’t advance, but if we show as poorly as we did against a mediocre team like the D-Backs last year, then I will consider this season to a total and complete 100% failure.

If we compete, show well and have to tip our hat to the team that outplayed us or even out lucked us then I can accept that.

The level of expectations is rising for the Cubs and that’s good, who wants to accept the crap that this organization has put out on the field and in the front office for year-after-year-after-year?

I have to be realistic about this, we could get out lucked out of a World series appearance and that’s just the way it happens some times, but to not how up at all? I won’t accept that anymore.

but it will be a significant disappointment. This team is built to win this year. With all the off-season and in-season movement, this team is built to win.

This would not be the same disappointment as in other years where there were glaring flaws. Those years sucked and we all were disappointed however this year there was/is that feeling they could go all the way, realistically, not looking through the blue sunglasses or drinking the koolaid but a legitimate shot.