It was the best of times, it was the worst of times

[ZiggyTaxi]

Now that it has all been said and done, I want to see who does, and who doesn't, feel that the 2008 Cubs season was a successful one.

 

We did win the division two years in a row. We also have lost nine straight playoff appearances.

 

Is it a success if you get to the playoffs? Or do you need actual playoff success to call it that?

[dew1679666265]

I don't want to sound too irrational here, but there needed to be some level of playoff success.

 

We won the division last year and then improved on that in the regular season. Problem is, we didn't improve a bit in the postseason. Two appearances in two years and two embarrassing sweeps.

 

I would have felt the season was successful even if we just made the NLCS, but we couldn't even manage that.

[UMFan83]

If we even won 1 playoff game, my impressions of the season would be different. Now all we are going to hear about next year, no matter how good or bad they are doing is, yeah fine but will they win a playoff game. Then if we make the playoffs, we are going to hear nonstop about how they can't win a playoff game. If you thought the fans were bad this year for the games at Wrigley, wait until next year if we make the playoffs.

[Derwood]

I was thrilled with the regular season, but the team was clearly built for postseason success and failed.

[ZiggyTaxi]

If you don't win the world series it's a bust no joke especially for a team like this who could have won it all but didn't!

[dew1679666265]

If you don't win the world series it's a bust no joke especially for a team like this who could have won it all but didn't!

 

Demanding a World Series win is a bit much, in my opinion. They certainly should have given a better postseason showing, though.

[Sammy Sofa]

The ending sucked, but I loved this season. Most fun I had as a Cubs fan in my 25 years of being a fan.

[Little Slide Rooter]

The ending sucked, but I loved this season. Most fun I had as a Cubs fan in my 25 years of being a fan.

 

The season itself was great, which made the ending even more painful. Its like theres the girl of your dreams, whose been teasing you for years. All of the sudden, she decides she wants to be with you, and you get engaged. You plan out the wedding, the honeymoon, and living happily ever. Then a few days before the wedding, she gets gravely ill all of the sudden, and dies a few days later. Wouldnt you have been happier if she never came into your life?

[Sammy Sofa]

The ending sucked, but I loved this season. Most fun I had as a Cubs fan in my 25 years of being a fan.

 

The season itself was great, which made the ending even more painful. Its like theres the girl of your dreams, whose been teasing you for years. All of the sudden, she decides she wants to be with you, and you get engaged. You plan out the wedding, the honeymoon, and living happily ever. Then a few days before the wedding, she gets gravely ill all of the sudden, and dies a few days later. Wouldnt you have been happier if she never came into your life?

 

Of course not.

[Ding Dong Johnson]

The ending sucked, but I loved this season. Most fun I had as a Cubs fan in my 25 years of being a fan.

 

The season itself was great, which made the ending even more painful. Its like theres the girl of your dreams, whose been teasing you for years. All of the sudden, she decides she wants to be with you, and you get engaged. You plan out the wedding, the honeymoon, and living happily ever. Then a few days before the wedding, she gets gravely ill all of the sudden, and dies a few days later. Wouldnt you have been happier if she never came into your life?

it's actually nothing like that

[ZiggyTaxi]

The ending sucked, but I loved this season. Most fun I had as a Cubs fan in my 25 years of being a fan.

 

The season itself was great, which made the ending even more painful. Its like theres the girl of your dreams, whose been teasing you for years. All of the sudden, she decides she wants to be with you, and you get engaged. You plan out the wedding, the honeymoon, and living happily ever. Then a few days before the wedding, she gets gravely ill all of the sudden, and dies a few days later. Wouldnt you have been happier if she never came into your life?

 

it's actually nothing like that

 

HAHAHAH

 

I disagree.

 

It's more like if someone said that you were going to kill your father and marry your mother. Crazy right? So fast forward a bit, you wind up getting into a dispute with this dude after coming across a chariot, and oops!, you kill your real father unbeknownst to you at the time. Then, after answering a complex riddle, you are given your real mother, again you didn't know at the time, as your wife.

 

But then right before you were to get married she dies but only because you got swept three games to none in the chariot races.

[NCCubFan]

I'm not happy with the way it turned out, but I don't see it as the end of the world either.

[Sammy Sofa]

The whole thing is a loaded question...of course nobody is happy with the way it "turned out," but that doesn't negate the awesomeness of the rest of the season for me.

[Tracer Bullet]

The whole thing is a loaded question...of course nobody is happy with the way it "turned out," but that doesn't negate the awesomeness of the rest of the season for me.

 

Yeah, it's pretty poorly worded.

[Ding Dong Johnson]

wow, some people take baseball way too seriously

[jersey cubs fan]

Your poll question and the questions you inferred in the first post are very different.

[ZiggyTaxi]

So?

 

This is a poll. I also asked a followup question.

 

Are you happy with the way the season turned out?

 

The follow up question is to provide some discussion. For example...

 

If you were not happy with the way it turned out, why weren't you? Do you need a World Series win to be happy with a season?

[Sammy Sofa]

Asking if one is happy with how the season "turned out" and then asking if they think the season as whole was a successful one are both very broad and arguably very different questions.

[Soul]

I only read the "happy how it turned out" part, and voted no.

[17 Seconds]

9 people actually voted other than "no"? The low standards for some people are pathetic. There's no reason anyody should be happy with this season. 97 wins means asolutely nothing when you get swept in the first round. Nothing. All it does is make the sweep even worse.

[CubColtPacer]

9 people actually voted other than "no"? The low standards for some people are pathetic. There's no reason anyody should be happy with this season. 97 wins means asolutely nothing when you get swept in the first round. Nothing. All it does is make the sweep even worse.

 

The season is way too long in MLB to always be looking forward to the playoffs. I refuse to make all my enjoyment based on what happens in a couple week stretch. Sure, it was very disappointing to come out like the Cubs did in the 3 games of the playoffs. But if I enjoyed a team more than they frustrated me, then I'm happy. And there was so much to enjoy during the whole season that 1 week of frustration does not come close to matching. This Cubs team was fun to watch. Obviously, this team still has ways to improve in the enjoyment factor by putting together some postseason success. But if you solely are looking at the postseason to see if the team was enjoyable or not, you're missing a lot of fun with games during the season.

[ZiggyTaxi]

Asking if one is happy with how the season "turned out" and then asking if they think the season as whole was a successful one are both very broad and arguably very different questions.

 

The key word being "arguably". I argue that you are wrong.

 

Who cares? There is a poll question. I asked a different question in the message after the poll question. Why don't you use that negative energy to vote no, like I did, instead of complaining about this poll?

[Sammy Sofa]

I voted "yes" because taking the season as a whole, yes, I think it was "successful." I haven't enjoyed another season in my 25 years as a fan than I did the 2008 season. Yeah, the ending was a pretty harsh buzzkill, but basically by that logic, no team except the one that wins the WS has a "successful" season.

 

And it makes zero sense to ask one question in the poll and then make your first post ask something completely different.

[ZiggyTaxi]

I voted "yes" because taking the season as a whole, yes, I think it was "successful." I haven't enjoyed another season in my 25 years as a fan than I did the 2008 season. Yeah, the ending was a pretty harsh buzzkill, but basically by that logic, no team except the one that wins the WS has a "successful" season.

 

And it makes zero sense to ask one question in the poll and then make your first post ask something completely different.

 

Relax.

 

That's fantastic. Like you said before, it's arguably different.

 

I don't think it is a successful season unless you win the World Series. So by that logic, my questions were fine. I have unnaturally high expectations because the Cubs haven't won one in 100 years, so really settling for anything less makes zero sense.

[Sammy Sofa]

So then if it's so B&W, why make such conflicting and broad questions?

 

This poll = fail.