Wow! I'm almost left speechless after watching the Cubs undergo yet another amazing collapse.
Cubs fans can't completely give up on their team until the final out is recorded, but the squad's sudden lack of character and confidence is stunning. The Dodgers look like the far superior team in every facet, and the events of the first two games of the series offer very little hope that the Cubs can come back. Unless the Cubs suddenly regain their swagger, this season is over.
With Lou's crew 27 outs from another crushing postseason loss, it's never too early to begin reflecting on the latest promising season that ended in flames.
This 2008 campaign was a wild one and won't soon be forgotten. The Cubs thrilled their fans and made the whole baseball world believe that this could be the year by rolling to a 97-64 regular season record. I'll take a season like that over a 70-92 season any day. Being in the mix from start to finish is far better than wallowing in mediocrity.
But as much fun as the regular season was, this year was always going to be judged by how the Cubs performed in the postseason. The bar was set at an all-time high, and anything less than a World Series title wouldn't be acceptable.
That the Cubs might not even win a postseason game is an incredibly telling sign of just how disappointing and embarrassing this latest failure is for the entire organization and all of its fans.
Some heads need to roll after this. Something needs to be shaken because such poor play in crunch time can't be tolerated. The Cubs remain close to the promised land, but losing in the NLDS for the second straight year is not a sign of progress. Becoming a winner takes time, and more patience is needed from Cubs fans. Watching this year's incredible choke job is a sign that the Cubs still have much work to do before they become a champion. Being a loser still defines this organization, no matter how many division championships it collects.
If any lesson can be taken from the last 100 years, it's that the Cubs are never going to catch lightning in a bottle like the 2006 Cardinals and they are never going to "get all the breaks" on the way to a title like other teams have in recent years. The Cubs are going to have to earn their championship the right way. It will take a perfect season with the perfect team, and this year was far from perfect.
Striving for excellence isn't such a bad thing. In fact, it's much better than the alternative. But when you want to be the best, it makes finishing anywhere but the top all that much tougher to swallow, and that's the paradox all Cubs fans are dealing with for the 100th year in a row.
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