Chicago Cubs Win the 2016 World Series!!!

108 years since their last World Series title, the Chicago Cubs are once again champions. Being a recovering Cubs fan, I wasn’t emotionally invested in it the way I once would have, but I do wish my late mother could have seen the series.

Game 7 was one for the ages, a hard fought 8 to 7 victory in extra innings. While the Cleveland Indians had to be defeated, it was the multiple managing errors of Cubs manager Joe Maddon that they really overcame. His pitching changes and an insane 3-2 safety squeeze that ended in a strike out killing a rally were the things of every Cubs fan’s nightmares.

However, the team did not give up and took advantage of a rain delay after the ninth inning to regroup in time to break a six all tie in the 10th. Cleveland narrowed the lead in the bottom of the inning to give heart attacks to many a Chicago fan, yet the Cubs managed to hold them off.

This may have been the best game sevens of a World Series ever in one of the best series I’ve seen. It really showcased what makes baseball such an amazing sport.

No Longer a Cubs Fan

After not following the team in any serious fashion for several years, I am officially giving up on the Chicago Cubs. The sad thing is that they could get into the World Series next year and it would not get me back. Enough is enough and I do not have the energy or inclination to invest in losing propositions any more.

So that leaves me wondering if I am going to give up on Major League Baseball altogether. About the only option is to become a Minnesota Twins fan, but there is a distinct lack of enthusiasm being felt. With the local stations being Brewers oriented, watching games is pretty much out and there is no way to afford going to the real thing.

Oh how I miss the days of the Eighties, when I used to watch Harry Caray and Steve Stone every day on WGN. The beginning of the end was when the games were moved to limited local cable in an extremely foolish move aimed at milking more money out of the fans. The ownership change has not been impressive and frankly I think the wrong consortium won.

Ah well, at least there were some good memories in there. But I realized that I do not care a whit about the team anymore and the sport itself seems to have gone downhill. Time to let go.

Andre “The Hawk” Dawson now Hall of Famer

 

Amidst all the gloomy weather and economic predictions, one ray of light for today.  Andre Dawson was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame today.  Ever since Ryne Sandberg got in I’d hoped “The Hawk” would be the next Cub MVP to get in.  Watching him play was always a delight and there are vivid memories from then.   The one that stands out is when Eric Show beaned him and knocked him out for a few horrific moments. Winning the National League MVP for a losing team was another highlight as it showed just how dominant he was that year.

But the best memory was seeing him at baseball card convention in La Crosse.  Dawson was always such a serious player and it was very rare to see him smile.  My mother took a hand sewn Cubs flag she’d made to get his autograph and when he saw it a huge smile broke out.  One of these days I’ll get the photo of that smile while he signed the flag scanned into the PC. 

Congratulations to one of baseball’s class acts!

Meanderings on a Monday

It is a tired Monday, the norm after a busy Sunday at church. Without any terribly coherent idea for a post, I decided to post a few observations on this and that.

Russia was stood up to diplomatically by most of the West, to my surprise. It looks like there are enough people left who remember the Cold War, thankfully. The forth coming arms race looks to be guaranteed, with Poland signing a deal to base US missile interceptors in exchange for Patriot surface-to-air missiles. I expect Ukraine and Georgia to end up in NATO eventually, if the Russian troops do withdraw completely. That is suspect, as their word means nothing at all. The Bear wants territory and control, with nukes being their big stick of late.

I recently received an email from ebaY titled "Dumb and poor? Here's a simple way to make MONEY!" This may be the most amusing piece of spam I've ever gotten. From capitalizing the wrong letter in eBay to insulting the recipient's intellectual capacity, it would appear to be the most ineffective come on in history. They failed to use at least three exclamation points, perhaps in a bid to look classy. But there will be thousands who will click on the thing, spam really does work, sadly.

I've been misidentifying a local woodchuck as a gopher of late and wish to apologize to the rodent. I had no intention of slandering your species and meant no ill will.

The Chicago Cubs are 30 games above .500 in a season when I've forgotten to seriously follow them. This clearly shows that they are better off without me.

Joe Biden as Democratic Party VP nominee is a gift to the Republican Party. Obama could have only done worse if he'd selected Cindy Sheehan. Watch for a lot of Hillary supporters to vote for McCain.

Democrats bashing teachers unions?! Along with the Cubs winning, this may be a sign of the end of times. Both are very unnatural.

Still don't miss satellite TV, having gone cold turkey beginning in February. Too many movies, old TV series and documentaries to catch up on at Netflix. Hopefully, I'll be able to start freeing up time for more reading. Okay, any reading.

Cubs Win Division

Last night the Chicago Cubs clinched a tie for the National League Central Division, then the Milwaukee Brewers' keg finally ran out when they lost to the San Diego Padres. It is the first time since 2003 for the Cubs to make the playoffs and did so in more convincing fashion. So why am I incapable of celebrating?

Part of it has to be that as an experienced Cub fan, I'm used to waiting for the other shoe to drop. So they got in the playoffs, where's the next Bartman waiting to pop up? Which player will go down with a playoff ending injury? Will a meteor strike Wrigley Field just as they are about to clinch game 7 of the National League championship series? Scoff if you like, all of these scenarios are possible with the Cubs.

But I think I may simply be outgrowing sports, it doesn't mean much to me anymore. Over the past several years, my interests have focused more about helping people and doing some good in this decaying society. While I've kept loose track of the team over the season, I just can't get into it anymore -- and I've tried. I suppose I'll watch the playoffs, but my mind will be elsewhere.