This is NOT the type of thing I live for.

But I anxiously await this postseason.

Be it sad or not, at least as an adult, I don’t think I’ve ever been this excited/anxious. Sometimes it seems ridiculous to actually CARE about something this much that none of us really have any control over…and for many people that do not follow sports in general, let alone the Cubs, the fact that we/I care so much about this is unthinkable.

 It is next to impossible to explain the feeling to one of these people I guess, and I’m sure I don’t have to explain it here…you all feel it too.

… and hope others will as well. It’s exactly how I feel, and often it’s hard to put into words… but you did, and perfectly. All of us have shared failure and know how it feels, some for longer than others.

WHEN we win this year — and I too say “we” because of the collective sense of sharing the ups and downs of the Cubs — we will all share that, too. I’ve always wondered how that would feel. In just a few weeks, we will, we all hope, get our chance to find out.

and will be in Chicago Oct. 25. I won’t get tickets to the game because I’m not rich. But I will be in Chicago where I grew up just to be at the party, and it will be way up there on the best times of my life list. I’m old, went to my first game in 1963. The Cubs ups and downs have been a huge part of my whole life. I wouldn’t miss this for the world.

When I used to play, often people around me used to really bother me since they didn’t know what I was thinking or feeling the day before a big tourney or match. (I played golf). They said I was irritable but in reality I was purposefully anti-social, because being social was a mental distraction.

I used the time to mentally front-load or project what I wanted the day and play to go….thinking through each hole almost in a meditation. I now wish I knew how to meditate then.

As a fan I kind of do the same. The Cubs, what would I do as a manager….It adds to the excitement. If I were the Cubs I would want to jump on Martin defensively right away to take him away from having it easy and concentrating on hitting for he has more responsibilities than Soto in that role.

I would run Soriano and/or Theriot right away…even on first move in the first inning if the opportunity calls for it. Place it in Torre and Martin’s head.

I would make the ump to call strikes and find out the zone right away.

I’ve found more and more that sport IS my life. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not the sort of person who obsesses over stats or needs to watch every play, or even every game. But I’ve found that when my team is doing well, the sun seems a little brighter, when they’re doing poorly, it’s a little more dreary. My association with the fans is something that I always look forward too, you understand. You all celebrate the same sucesses that I do, you mourn the losses with me. It’s comforting, knowing that we’re all together, and that makes the wins all that more joyous. And gives us collective hope when we have losses.
I’ve always felt bad for people who don’t enjoy sports. They don’t know that feeling.