Brief Appearance In Post Season No Longer Enough For Cub Fans

The mourning period is in full force here in Chicago, and it's not for the team you would think. But if your Cubs fan we should of expected it.

The expectations were high. The players were confident that this was the year. The fans chanted  every game and cheered and gained a little bit of hope with every win. All 97 of them.

The season wore on with more up's than downs. By mid season it was becoming clear this team was for real. This team could possibly end the drought. We saw moments of  brilliance; no-hitter and one-hitters. Smashing offense and strong defense.

But here's the thing going into the playoffs there was a sense of cautious optimism. As a fan you wanted to be excited. You wanted to make bold predictions but we are talking about the Cubs. We are talking about a season in which the Cubs played there best baseball in nearly 80 years.

So watching the Cub's drop game one and game two and then the dagger game three, you  could only be disappointed.  Those three losses deflated the Cub nation. Still leaves us wondering, if not this year when?

I watched a woman on the news cry over the fact that what was once a historic season quickly became a major disappointment. There were no 'Cubbie Occurrences" as Manager Lou Pinella calls them. There were no freak on field incidents. Just poor pitching and poor defense and a anemic offense.

This year is different, the usually kind cub fans are a little bit more angry than past playoff disappointments.Many coming out and  bluntly saying "they choked" The anger Cub fans carry this year is right on the sleeve. And why shouldn't it be.

Year after year we set record attendance at Wrigley, faithfully follow them on the road. We have watched great teams  stumble late in the season and fall short. We sat through Moises Alou temper tantrums, teammates punching each other out, pitchers suffer injury after injury.

And we stand by our beloved team, because that's what true fans do. But at some point its not about the curses or the  tough luck. it's not about  the media expectations or even the fans. it's about focus and doing what got you to the postseason in the first place.

It's no longer good enough to win the division. It's no longer good enough to make a brief post season appearance and bow out. Not with the talent this team carries. not with the pitching staff that led the NL with strikeouts. Not with an offense that dominated opposing teams.

Cub fans couldn't believe what they were seeing, instead of looking like the best in the National league, they looked like a mess. They were outplayed, outscored and out managed. I can't blame Lou Piniella, he  mixed the lineup for the final games. He pulled pitchers when they were struggling. All he could do is watch as  his team self destructed inning after inning.

Now come spring us Cub fans will be online buying tickets for as many games as possible. We will have the same passion and the same optimism but with a little anger and disappointment of what could have been.