As I sat in my comfy cubicle at work today, I overheard one of my co-workers ask another one of my co-workers if he had watched the game last night. I immediately thought to myself, what game? And then I remembered, oh yeah Game 5 of the World Series was on last night. I completely spaced it considering Game 5 actually started on Monday and ended on Wednesday.
I did some research and found that the longest World Series game of all time took place on October 24 2005, between the Houston Astros and the Chicago White Sox. These two squads played for 5 hours 41 minutes. Looks like it’s time to update the record books after Game 5 was played on Monday night for 6 innings before it was suspended due to heavy rain. Then they finished up on Wednesday for a couple more innings where the Phillies won the longest, most boring, irrevelant World Series of all time. Pity. It could have been saved.
If only my Cubbies made it, things would have been different. Here’s why.
- According to figures from Nielsen posted on the Baseball Almanac Web site, Fox drew the lowest TV ratings ever for the World Series. This year’s pathetic showdown drew an average rating of 8.4. The previous lowest rating was 10.6 in 2006. I attribute this to the fact that no one cares about the Tampa Bay Rays. It’s always nice seeing the so-called Cinderella team advance on to the World Series, but once they are actually there no one cares. Now if the Cubs made the World Series, it wouldn’t have mattered who they played. After 100 years, it’s gotten to the point that more than just Cubs fans want to see them win. Whether it’s because others are tired of hearing about the century of losing or just sheer belief that it’s their time, people agree it’s their time to shine.
- The ratings and the complete lack of a satisfying finish to the World Series was greatly affected by the horrible weather. Therefore, I was curious. I know Chicago isn’t exactly Oahu, but something told me Mother Nature was good to Wrigley Field while the World Series was going on. I was right.
Chicago Weather Forecast
Game’s 3 through 5 would have been played October 25-27. If you look at that Precip. field, you’ll notice something. There was only 0 to 0.01inches of it. Philadelphia had 0.64 in. on the 25th and 0.42 in. on the 27th. I still believe this was the year for my beloved Cubbies, and I’m determined to find the flux capacitor from Doc Brown so that I can make time travel possible and prove it. Until then all I have are statistics that favor what I say.
Filed under: Cubs | Tags: 100 years, Carlos Zambrano, Cubs, curse, Diamondbacks, Dodgers, error, grand slam, Mark DeRosa, next year, playoffs, Ryan Dempster, sweep
The post season started off promising. The fans were believers. The Cubs knew what not to do after flopping last year in the post season in a first round sweep to the Diamondbacks. Heck, even though most personnel within the organization don’t believe in curses, they had Rev. Father James L. Greanias spread holy water in the Cubs dugout anyways several hours before Game 1. No curse, no lack of playoff experience and no lack of faith from Cub faithful. Then the game actually started.
(AP Photo/Kelvin Ma, Pool - ESPN.com)
I almost lost my voice after our second baseman, Mark DeRosa, hit a 2-run blast early in the second inning. But then I really lost my voice yelling and cursing after I watched our starting pitcher, Ryan Dempster, walk 7 guys and give up a grand slam before exiting in the 5th inning. It didn’t take long before this game was out of reach and over with a final score of 7-2. As upset as I was, TBS was kind enough to inform me that 85 percent of the teams that win Game 1 of the NLDS have gone on to win the series. It’s not like we didn’t have 100 years of losing as another number to squash. So thanks.
(AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh - ESPN.com)
Enter Game 2. Our ace, Carlos Zambrano, looked passionate and it appeared his energy was rubbing off on the fans and the team. Everyone seemed to be louder and more encouraging for this game. However, this was before I learned that the entire Cubs infield was playing with gloves with holes in them. I don’t even care to tell you about the details of the errors committed because I refuse to type a post in all capital letters to display how angry I am. Plus when I was little I got terms of service violation upsetting my parents from AOL for using caps in a chat room. Apparently I was coming off as yelling at someone. Go figure. Anyways, all you need to know is our first baseman, our second baseman, our shortstop and our third baseman all committed costly errors on plays that even I could make. If you read my about me page, I do not have large hands, so now put that last statement in perspective. The Cubs ended up losing game 2 by a final score of 10-3 and I still have a migraine from getting so upset. The Cubs need to win the next 3 games to advance on in this best of five series. Let’s just say I’m dreading using the words “next year.”
Filed under: Cubs | Tags: 100 years, black cat, Carlos Zambrano, Cubs, curse, goat, Lou Piniella, next year, Rich Harden, Ryan Dempster, Steve Bartman, World Series, Wrigley Field
http://itsgonnahappen.com/images/cubsnextyearsmall.jpg
When a team hasn’t won a World Series for 100 hundred years, it’s only natural that excuses will be made as to why that is so. However, for this historic franchise, their excuses have some merit. The team has been cursed. From the goat to the black cat to the infamous Steve Bartman. This team has seen it all throughout this century. It’s amazing that Cubs fans have been able to stay optimistic and anually utter the Cubs mantra, “There’s always next year.” But next year is here and the feeling in the air is different from year’s past.
The Cubs playoff run officially begins tomorrow for a five-game series versus the Los Angeles Dodgers. I’m nervous. I’m psyched. I’m ready. This is probably the spot where someone should remind me that I’m just a fan, but I think it’s too late for that anyways. Ryan Dempster will take the mound for the Cubs to start off the series. Is her our best pitcher? No, Rich Harden is. Is he our highest paid ace of the staff? No, Carlos Zambrano is. He simply is our best pitcher when it comes to pitching at home in Wrigley Field. He’s 14-3 at home with a 2.36 ERA and those are statistics you can’t ignore when choosing who to start at the Friendly Confines. After closing for us for the last 3 years, Dempster got converted back to a starter this year in a move that makes our coach, Sweet Lou Piniella, look even more like a genius. Especially when the guy earned the nickname “Dumpster” for throwing some garbage games as a closer. But the past is in the past and the stars have aligned for my Cubbies. Things don’t have to make sense to know I believe in this team. Go Cubs!
Filed under: Cubs | Tags: 100 years, Bears, Bulls, Cubs, curse, Diamondbacks, Dodgers, Eddie Vedder, Ernie Banks, Mets, White Sox, World Series
since this is the first blog, i wanna take a second to explain what this blog will be all about. i was born and raised in chicago and am a die-hard chicago sports fan. well everyone in chicago except the white sox. reason being…i’m from the north side. if from you’re from the north, you’re a cubs a fan. if you’re from the south, you’re a sox fan. and if you like both, you’re really not a sports fan because that’s a sin. so each time i blog i’m gonna discuss some aspect of chicago sports and my biased feelings. for now till the end of october when i believe the cubs will win the world series, i’m gonna focus on my beloved cubbies. but look for a lot of mentions of da bears and da bulls after that time period. oh “da” is “the” in chicago talk just like everyone’s dad’s name is bob in chicago.
so anyways, my cubbies only have a few games left in the season and are guarenteed to finish the best team in the national league. the lovable losers actually are the best not only in my heart but in the standings for once. it’s been 100 years since they lost won the world series, and like a true cubs fan… i believe this is the year. i still don’t know who the cubs are scheduled to face yet but it will be either the mets or the dodgers. we have history with the mets so it would be nice to play them and get revenge on them for the cursed season of 1969 but i really don’t care who we play. i know we’re better than both of them. but i’m only gonna take this one series at a time. last year we got swept in the first round by the freakin dbacks, so i’m just gonna try my best to stay level-headed. for now i’ll leave you with a new popular song sung by pearl jam’s eddier vedder. former cub great ernie banks urged him to write a song for the cubs since vedder is a huge fan. i just heard it the other day and it’s stuck in my head. so here’s the youtube video for eddie vedder “all the way.”
