Laments of a Broken Fan

Once again it's fall, weather is cooling (in normal parts of the country), leaves are turning (again not here in CA but this is fall stuff stay with me), and the cubs are giving me that sinking feeling in my gut that lets me know it's time for another postseason collapse. My highly touted loveable losers have entered the playoffs with the best record in the national league and constant talk about this being the year that they will end the 100 year world series drought. The story has been beaten to death on ESPN, TBS and any other tv or radio station that even mentions sports. So what do the Cubs do with all those expectations they lose game one to the Dodgers by a score of 7-2. The Dodgers enter the postseason with the worst record of all the playoff teams and are only there because they play in the worst division in baseball. I do realize that the team found new life and has played fairly well with the acquisition of Manny Ramirez at the all-star break, but come on these are not World Series contenders. They have an average pitching staff that is over-achieving at the moment, a beat up bullpen, and a bunch of young underachieving power hitters surrounding Manny. This team is built not to go very far, yet they still steal game one in Chicago. All that said I am not the least bit surprised. I could talk about the frequent cold streaks that the bats have had or the pitching that either looks great or attrocious depending on the night (this includes the bullpen), but none of that really matters. They are the cubs, this is what they do. They get to the postseason, remember they havn't won anything in forever and proceed to show why with their anemic play, no matter how good they looked in the regular season. I know it's not over yet, they could get it together and start winning, but even if they do that how long is it til some fan gets his hand on a catchable foul ball or a black cat runs on the field and the team reverts back to that same old cursed psyche. I'm only 24 years old and I must be one of the most jaded, pessimistic baseball fans ever. I now realize why in 2003 when the Cubs were 5 outs away from the World Series and blew it, my dad told me, "you'll get used to it." I am now, and I'm going to have to learn to say, "call me when you get to the World Series," every time the loveable losers from the North Side of Chicago get my hope up.