The Chicago Cubs Pep Talk

(Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)

Bradley, I am gonna sum this up as cleanly as possible, and if you have some tears to shed afterward you know where the bathroom is: The umps aren’t out to get you, not having “friends” in the dugout is NO EXCUSE for your poor play, Gatorade coolers don’t fight back, and for the love of god a professional player should ALWAYS, ALWAYS know how many outs there are in a game.

I don’t wanna hear about your recent success, you do your best work in July historically; let’s add a couple of more months to that; August and September sound good.

Lou, let’s keep the talk about pot to a minimum okay buddy.

Bench guys, I said it before I’ll say it again: Your job should be playing a cut above the rest, not mediocre and sufficient.

As a team guys, you have too many loose bolts and not enough wrenches to go around.

You guys are way too good for this hands down. YOU ARE the best team in the division, not Milwaukee and not St. Louis. They have been slipping as of late, and if it weren’t for that, we would probably not even be in the race right now.

Is that how you want to remain competitive, through other team’s slipping performances and hiccups?

The Cubs that I know play with heart and grit. They play for nine straight innings. They support each other. They back each other up and give each other a pat on the rear when things are going bad.

They are, always, the best team on the field. They are the team that no one wants to face.

But you know what? It’s over okay? What is behind us should stay there like a road in the rear-view mirror. I want what has happened thus far to be as far back in the recesses of your minds as it can go.

I don’t want to hear guys saying things like: We have to figure out what went wrong and work through it.

I don’t want to see you fellas hanging your heads three feet in the sand. And I sure as heck don’t wanna see any moping around.

I wanna see guys talking about when they can get back out there and kick some butt. I wanna see guys working out their own problems with the guy NEXT to you.

Rose pedals and popcorn gentleman not dead ivy and curses.

I’m not just blowing steam through your pipehole guys I mean it; you are the best damn team out there and you ALL need to start playing like it NOW. There is no eventually.

Fellas I can sit here all day and talk about what the greats would’ve done in this position, but it’s not about them it’s about you. It’s YOUR time. They already found their way through the forest and now it’s your turn.

Forget about the Cardinals, and the Brewers. Hell for that matter forget about the whole damn conference, the miscues, the poor play, the damn goat, that stupid cat, and that bonehead in right field who we won’t mention—NONE of that matters.

The ONLY thing, the only thing that matters is what you do from this day forward. Become what EACH and EVERY one of you is capable of: The next great Cubbie.

Become the World Series team that I KNOW you already are. You guys are the best damn bunch of kids I have had the pleasure of watching. Now it’s your turn to get out there after this break and prove it!

Not to the league or the naysayers and not even to the fans—god bless every single one of them—but to YOURSELVES!

You have the talent.

You have the pieces.

Deep down inside every one of you guys lies that little fire waiting for a spark.

It may be corny to say, but it’s time to light this candle and take control of what belongs to us—the 2009 season.

Awaken the champion inside fellas, cause each one of you were a champion before this season ever got underway and as far as I’m concerned that hasn’t changed a bit!

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