Be careful what you ask for...

So, for about, oh, 6 months now, the Cubs have clinched their division and not had any real challenges in their (what I believe and the numbers show) inferior League.

This cannot be debated with anyone intelligent because overwhelmingly the American League beats the daylights out of the National League in every head-to-head venue (inter-league play, All-Star Games, and Series). Nevertheless and proving the first point, the Cubs fans continue to try to excuse, explain, or change the facts regarding this.

I contend that the best teams in the National League are on par with the 2nd-3rd place teams in the American League. Again, the numbers don't lie.

So I've endured listening to Cubs fans rant on and on about their record being so good (couldn't be a lower class of competition), 1st place, and other things. My Sox, as has been detailed on this blog, have been struggling just to make the playoffs. We may get it handed to us now that we're there, but you can't win the Series if you don't make the playoffs.

Tonight, the Cubs got a bit of a comeuppance against a very good team, the LA Dodgers. The intelligencia have put the Cubs in the World Series since May. What they have forgotten is nothing is handed to anyone.

Cubs fans are the most abused, taken for granted, simple, faith-filled fans in all of baseball. By simple, I mean easy to read, not mentally (though there is a lot of that in the bleachers at Wrigley. I've seen it...). They just want their team to win. Finally. After a 100 years of futility and misery, they finally thought they had their team. They still might, by the way....they're not out of anything yet. What I saw was a group expectation of failure by their fans. Dempster gave up a Grand Slam that put the Cubs down by two runs in the 6th. What's the big deal? It's not the end of the world, right? Not if you saw what happened at Wrigley. The term "air out of a balloon" could never have grasped the depths of the lack of oxygen in that place.

Contrast that to last night. That Sox game was electric. If the pitcher got down, the fans cheered them to success. Every strikeout was like the last out of a big game. When there was a man on third with one out, the place was exploding and the team came through.

I couldn't help but wonder if the Cubs were wishing for their own "black out" tonight. Not physically, but enthusiasm-wise. I, deep down, don't think that the Sox fans are better fans than Cub fans as fans. I think we are just different. Were we before the '05 season? Probably not. We needed our team to prove us wrong and the Cubs need to do that for their fans as well. Then, all the goats, cats,and Bartmans in the WORLD won't matter.

It's OK Cubs fans. Eventually your faith will be rewarded. Go back at it tomorrow and let the Dodgers have it.

By the way....GO SOX!!!!! BEAT THOSE RAYS!!!!!