22 SEASONS OF FRUSTRATION CONTINUES FOR ME!

ANOTHER SEASON OF BASEBALL IS WELL UNDERWAY AND I FIND MYSELF FEELING THE NORMAL FRUSTRATIONS THAT I NORMALLY DO. I WAS TELLING A FRIEND JUST THE OTHER NIGHT HOW I AM CURRENTLY WATCHING MY 22ND SEASON OF CHICAGO CUB BASEBALL. SOMETIMES I CANT FATHOM HOW LONG I HAVE BEEN A FAN OF THEM. IN THOSE 21 SEASONS PRIOR I HAVE ONLY SEEN THEM MAKE THE POST SEASON 3 TIMES. IN 1989 THEY LOST IN 5 GAMES TO THE SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS. IN 1998 THEY REACHED AS THE WILDCARD AND LOST TO THE ATLANTA BRAVES IN THE NLDS. 2003 WILL ALWAYS BE THE ONE THAT I WILL NEVER FORGET AS THEY WERE 5 OUTS AWAY FROM THEIR FIRST WORLD SERIES APPEARANCE SINCE 1945, AND THEY ENDED UP LOSING IN 7 TO TO THE EVENTUAL WORLD CHAMPION FLORIDA MARLINS. I AM NOT GOING TO GET INTO THE STEVE BARTMAN DEAL. EVERYONE KNOWS ABOUT IT SO THERE IS NO NEED TO STRESS ABOUT IT MORE NOW. AS MUCH DISAPPOINTMENT AS I HAVE SEEN, I AM STILL ONLY 27 YEARS OLD. HOW ABOUT ALL THE CUB FANS THAT ARE SO MUCH OLDER THAN ME? THE CUBS HAVE NOT WON A WORLD SERIES SINCE 1908. I WAS NEVER MUCH ON BELIEVING IN CURSES AND ALL THAT, BUT SOMETIMES I JUST HAVE TO WONDER, WHEN WILL IT EVER HAPPEN AGAIN? THE CURSE OF THE BAMBINO FOR THE BOSTON RED SOX WAS EVENTUALLY LIFTED, SO WHY CANT IT BE LIFTED FOR THE CUBBIES. AT THE PRESENT TIME THEY ARE 23-31 AND 7 GAMES OUT OF FIRST PLACE. BEING IN THE WORST DIVISION IN BASEBALL, THEY ARE FAR FROM OUT OF IT, BUT THERE STILL ARENT MUCH SIGNS OF HOPE FOR THE TIME BEING. IN THE OFF SEASON THEY SPENT MORE THAN 300 MILLION DOLLARS AND BROUGHT IN LOU PINELLA TO TURN THIS THING AROUND. LOU IS OLD SCHOOL AND A NO BULLCRAP KIND OF GUY. AS YOU CAN SEE BY THE RECENT PICTURE FROM ABOVE, HE HAS FINALLY BOILED OVER. THE CUBS HAVE BEEN AWFUL AS OF LATE. THEY HAD LOST 6 IN A ROW, WHICH INCLUDES THE ALREADY FAMOUS FIGHT BETWEEN CARLOS ZAMBRANO AND MICHAEL BARRETT, AND LOU PINELLA GETTING TOSSED A COUPLE OF DAYS AGO AGAINST THE BRAVES. HE BROUGHT OUT HIS ANTICS OF OLD BY KICKING DIRT ON THE UMPIRE. HE DID HOWEVER LEAVE THE BASES AS THEY WERE. PEOPLE ARE TRYING TO FIGURE OUT WHO TO PUT BLAME ON HERE. RUMORS ARE THAT THE PLAYERS ARE NOT ENJOYING LOU PINELLA AT ALL. THEY DONT LIKE THE FACT THAT HE CALLS PLAYERS OUT IN PUBLIC. HE IS A NO NONSENSE GUY AND HE IS ALWAYS GOING TO TELL IT LIKE IT IS. I AM SORRY BUT I HAVE TO TAKE LOU'S SIDE ON THIS. WHEN HE WAS BROUGHT IN, HE WOULD ONLY MANAGE THIS TEAM IF THEY WOULD GO OUT AND SPEND THE MONEY AND GET SOME TALENT IN HERE. ON PAPER, THEY DID THAT, BUT THESE GUYS ARE NOT PLAYING LIKE A MAJOR LEAGUE TEAM. RIGHT NOW THESE PLAYERS ARE WHINING LIKE LITTLE BABIES. I LIKE THE FACT THAT LOU CALLS THESE GUYS OUT PUBLIC AND HE IS WILLING TO SIT A SUPERSTAR DOWN IF HE IS NOT PERFORMING UP TO PAR. THESE GUYS ARE GETTING PAID MILLIONS AND MILLIONS TO WIN BALLGAMES. I AM SORRY, BUT WHEN I AM AT WORK, I AM GETTING PAID TO DO A JOB AND DO IT WELL. IF I AM NOT DOING A GOOD JOB, I AM GOING TO BE TOLD THAT I AM NOT. IT IS VERY SIMPLE. THE CUBS CAN HAVE ALL THESE PLAYER ONLY MEETINGS ALL THEY WANT, BUT EACH AND EVERYONE OF THEM NEEDS TO LOOK IN THE MIRROR AND ASK THEMSELVES WHAT THEY CAN DO TO GET BETTER AND HELP THIS TEAM WIN. THERE IS ENTIRELY TOO MUCH TALENT ON THIS TEAM TO BE IN THE POSITION THEY ARE IN. MAYBE THE FIGHT, AND PINELLA'S ANTICS THE OTHER DAY WILL FINALLY BE THE WAKE UP CALL TO EVERYONE IN THE CLUBHOUSE. I SURE AS HELL HOPE SO ANYWAY. I SERIOUSLY LOOK AT THE CENTRAL DIVISION AS A WHOLE, AND THEN I LOOK AT THE NAMES IN OUR LINEUP AND JUST WONDER HOW IN THE WORLD WE ARE NOT IN FIRST PLACE BY A LONG SHOT. THERE ARE 108 GAMES LEFT IN THE SEASON, BUT THEY HAVE THE 1ST PLACE BREWERS FOR A 3 GAME SET IN MILWAUKEE STARTING AS WE SPEAK, SO THE SEASON HAS TO START NOW. LOU WILL BE WATCHING THESE 3 GAMES FROM HIS OWN TV AS HE FINISHES HIS SUSPENSION, SO HOPEFULLY HE CAN CLEAR HIS MIND AND FIGURE OUT WHAT ELSE TO DO. LOU IS WORKING HIS ASS OFF, I WILL GIVE HIM THAT. A MANAGER CAN ONLY TRY SO MANY THINGS. THESE PLAYERS MAKING THE MILLIONS ARE THE ONES THAT ULTIMATELY NEED TO MAKE THE PLAYS AND DO WHATEVER IT TAKES TO WIN. I HOPE THEY REALIZE THE EMBARRASSMENT THEY HAVE BROUGHT TO CHICAGO FANS ALL OVER THE COUNTRY OVER THE LAST MONTH OR SO. CUB FANS ARE ARGUABLY THE MOST LOYAL FANS IN MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL. AT THIS POINT, THEY DESERVE A LITTLE BIT MORE THAN THIS.