Chicago Cubs: We Get It, They’re Due
The Chicago Cubs have dominated national headlines all season, and it’s getting old.
This is going to be difficult for some people to hear. When an entire sport’s fanbase is rooting for a particular team, no one wants to listen to their detractors. The Chicago Cubs are the lovable losers of Major League Baseball. They haven’t won a World Series in 108 years, are built around a core of exciting, young players, and have a manger that keeps the team loose and fun.
The Cubs are everyone’s favorite team this year, and I’m sick and tired of it. They had the most games featured on national broadcasts by a wide margin. If Kris Bryant so much as sneezed, it made headlines. ESPN even created a weekly poll called the “Cubs Confidence Meter” that asks readers about their level of certainty that Chicago closes out October with a World Series victory.
Fans call them lovable losers, yet they’ve won 97 games or more two years in row. Yes, it’s been a very long time since they won a championship, but what about the other three teams still left standing? The Blue Jays haven’t won a World Series since 1993. Los Angeles hasn’t taken a shot at the Commissioner’s Trophy since they won it in 1988. And the Indians? Try 1948.
The blame for all this extra attention should by no means be directed at the Cubs themselves. They won 103 games this year and have a ball club that might be discussed among the best all-time once everything is all said and done. It is the national media that has been hyping them up, seemingly forgetting that 29 other teams also played baseball this season.
Since the start of the century, sixteen teams (including Chicago) have won 100 or more games. Only one of them, the 2009 Yankees, went on to win the World Series. The Cubs may be favorites, but don’t go naming them champions just yet. A stifling Dodgers team that also happens to sport a few young, exciting players is standing in their way.
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I tip my cap to the success that the Cubs have seen on the field this season. If anyone is to be heralded for their success, it’s them. The Northsiders are clearly the best team in baseball, and that’s okay. I just don’t need to be reminded of it every time I turn on the TV.