Chicago Cubs: On 2nd Thought, Everything Is Rosy with the Future of This Team

I have recently written several critical articles about Cubs owner Tom Ricketts. But thanks to some of you, the loyal Cubbies fanbase, I have changed my mind.

Everything is fine. No problems here. Nothing to see, keep moving along.

Thanks for opening my eyes, those of you who are blind to the obvious poor record and lack of organizational leadership, philosophy and success in player development.

Oops, there I go again. Shame on me, that's being negative and we all know that I should write positive articles about the Cubs. I am truly sorry.

Because when you really take a deep dive, you see an owner with a wonderful baseball pedigree. You see someone who has the expertise to make baseball decisions like evaluating the talent of Oneri Fleita and other front office personnel.

Yep, this is a man who knows his baseball. Furthermore, how dare I offer a critical viewpoint to such a proud and winning franchise? Now, I know what you're thinking, "Bob is being sarcastic again."

But no, I'm totally serious. Jim Hendry should never have been fired. After all, his track record was better than any other GM in the last 50 years of Cubs baseball. He is the only GM to oversee consecutive first-place finishes in the division.

Never mind that we didn't win a single game in the playoffs either of those two seasons, that's fodder for negative thinkers—for haters, like I used to be.

No sir, I have seen the error of my ways, Cubs fans. So, starting today, I vow to take this pledge and I urge you all to do the same. I call it the "Loser's Lament" and it goes like this:

I promise to always look past the wins and losses and focus on what's truly important—beautiful Wrigley Field, sunshine, day baseball and Old Style.

I promise to ignore the folly of long-term contracts with no-trade clauses given out like lollipops and instead think about butterflies, fairy tales and going to bars around Wrigley Field.

I will always strive to remain positive by thinking about the wonderful tradition of this proud ballclub: Pop's Flop, Durham's Gatorade glove, Bartman, the Goat and more than a century of lovable losing.

Ah, that seventh-inning stretch, now there's a tradition that hasn't run its course!

When times get tough, I vow to think about just how difficult it is to go that many seasons without winning a World Series. I mean, that is a record to be proud of. I'm serious. And I vow to never take that for granted.

But most of all, I vow to ostracize writers who dare to take a sideways glance at the Cubs, for those people cannot possibly be true fans.

Because, above all, true fans don't want to know the truth—true Cubs fans.