First things first: I will never catch Cubs fever, not this year, not next, plain and simple. I will only catch it when hell freezes over. No, it's not all because I'm from Wisconsin. Sure, a little of my apprehension relates to the bitter border battle between the cheese state and the Land of Lincoln. However, my absolute aversion of the Cubbies centers on pretty much two things:??the eternity of suffering experienced by Chicago fans and a certain hall-of-Famer perched out in right field.
95 years this and 95 years that. Seriously... We've all heard it enough. It would not have been this long had Cubs management actually decided, even for one season, to respect the loyal fans of Chicago with a team worthy of competing in one of the worst divisions in baseball. But no, they could not. So don't gripe to Wisconsinites about it every offseason, because our management was comparable if not worse.
It would not have been this long, as well, had the owners and managers decided not to continuously trade and acquire players from the Brewers for the past decade. The number of players that have played in both uniforms is undoubtedly in the double digits, but how many of them are still in the league? Even then, it's of no matter because none of them are of any significance, except maybe Jose Hernandez who is the king of strikeouts. Now, seriously, don't even think Wisconsinites haven't felt the pain.
Outside of the constant yapping and whining of all the self-indulgent Cubs' fans out there about how much they have suffered and put up with for the past infinite years, the bulk of my disliking towards the organization relates to one guy, right fielder, No. 25, Sammy Sosa.
Does anyone remember that he committed one of the biggest sins in baseball this year? Now, I am all about forgiving and forgetting, to some degree. He is the game's biggest ambassador and all he did was crap on the fans. What he did to a game that is already fragile in the hands for the next generation is disheartening. It is something I will never forget and it's something even the media won't as well. He is the only player for which the camera still checks every broken bat, to see if maybe, just maybe there is cork in it.
Overall, I am sick of Cubs fans whining, sick of the talk about the drought, sick of the guy that's crapping on me and, all in all, sick of the Cubs.
But for all you diehard Cubbie fans out there, congrats. It took you 95 years to win a playoff series, its only too bad it'll take you 95 more to win another.
Arvind Gopalratnam is a senior majoring in journalism working on his celebration moves for the upcoming newspaper football game.
