What a waste

So much hope. "This is the year!" We kept hearing it on the radio. We saw the signs at Wrigley. Eternal optimism rigned supreme in spite of all the years of disappointment. Even Ryan Dempster and Ronny Cedeno fearlessly proclaimed this would be the year the Cubs win the World Series.

I don't really care that it has been 100 years since the last World Series. I have only been alive for about a third of that time. But what does matter is that the Chicago Cubs in my lifetime are 1-6 in seven playoff series. They currently have a 9 game losing streak in the playoffs going strong.

Maybe it is not so much about the fact that they lose, but it's the way they lose. They are 0-6 when being one game away from the World Series. In 1998, 2007, and 2008 they didn't even sniff a win. To win 97 games, over 6 months, the most in the National League, rendered meaningless in four days is more than a little disheartening.

I will admit that I did not watch an inning of the game last night. I couldn't bear to watch. I listened to part of the game on the radio, but it made me so sad to hear Ron Santo. I was asleep long before it ended.

I don't think I ask for much. Just one team that is competitive in the playoff that doesn't totally collapse. I can handle 1989. That year the Cubs were over-matched. They didn't win the series, but they didn't break any hearts like they did in so many other years.

I have to say that this is the most deflating playoff series I ever watched. Second on my list is 1984. Third is 2003. I rank 1984 ahead of 2003 because 1984 was a better team. 2003 they at least won one playoff series, but they were not as dominate that year as they were this year in 2008 or in 1984.

In the end, there is so much more to life than baseball. I will have trouble watching any regular season game next year. Let me know when they get to the playoffs again (if they make it). Then maybe I will tune in.