06/28 CUBS (Zambrano) @ white sox (Danks) 1:05 CDT, WGN TV

[Tryptamine]

If any of you actually hated being Cubs fans, why not just stop?

 

Hmm, why didn't I think of that? ](*,)

 

I ask it all seriousness. It's not like crappy Cubs teams are a surprise to anyone who is a Cubs fan and over the age of, say, 15. Yes, this team obviously had huge expectations and the Cubs being bad is never going to not "hurt," but the repeated bemoaning that being a fan of this team is so horrible just seems pretty hollow when people could easily just stop being an active fan if they wanted to. It honesly seems like some prefer being able to complain about the team and players doing poorly and wallowing in self-pity.

 

It's so much harder to quit being a fan than you make it sound. There have been times when I've been absolutely disgusted by this team and I've made it a week or even two, but the same thing inevitably happens. I'll be flipping channels and stumble on the game; the addiction begins all over again. I just wish I could stop following them so closely that their level of play affects my mood.

[UMFan83]

Man, I bet Zambrano wishes there wasn't an article on the front page of Chicagosports.com that is titled "Big Z out to show Sox pitching coach". Show him what exactly?

[UMFan83]

White Sox! White Sox!

Go-Go White Sox!

Let's go Go-Go White Sox!

We're with you all the way!

You're always in there fighting,

And you do your best.

We're glad to have you out there in the Middle West.

[Little Slide Rooter]

If any of you actually hated being Cubs fans, why not just stop?

 

Hmm, why didn't I think of that? ](*,)

 

I ask it all seriousness. It's not like crappy Cubs teams are a surprise to anyone who is a Cubs fan and over the age of, say, 15. Yes, this team obviously had huge expectations and the Cubs being bad is never going to not "hurt," but the repeated bemoaning that being a fan of this team is so horrible just seems pretty hollow when people could easily just stop being an active fan if they wanted to. It honesly seems like some (not saying you) prefer being able to complain about the team and players doing poorly and wallowing in self-pity.

 

Real fans want results. Were not going to jump ship no matter how much of a mess the team is, but were going to piss and moan and wallow in self pity all the way. The 2003 and 2008 bandwagoners are the ones who will just shrug it off go away with these kinds of seasons.

 

Ive been a fan all the way since 1984 when I was 8. Ive sat through a lot of crappy, crappy Cubs incarnations, with a few bright spots in 1989 and 1998, but 2003 was the first time I really felt that this team was capable of doing that wining thing that other teams do, and since then, the bar has been raised, and back in the 90's and ealry '00s, something like this or even 2006 would be acceptable. Damn those expectations Ive developed.

[Sammy Sofa]

If any of you actually hated being Cubs fans, why not just stop?

 

Hmm, why didn't I think of that? ](*,)

 

I ask it all seriousness. It's not like crappy Cubs teams are a surprise to anyone who is a Cubs fan and over the age of, say, 15. Yes, this team obviously had huge expectations and the Cubs being bad is never going to not "hurt," but the repeated bemoaning that being a fan of this team is so horrible just seems pretty hollow when people could easily just stop being an active fan if they wanted to. It honesly seems like some prefer being able to complain about the team and players doing poorly and wallowing in self-pity.

 

It's so much harder to quit being a fan than you make it sound. There have been times when I've been absolutely disgusted by this team and I've made it a week or even two, but the same thing inevitably happens. I'll be flipping channels and stumble on the game; the addiction begins all over again. I just wish I could stop following them so closely that their level of play affects my mood.

 

So you're addicted to...what? Unless you're very young, you've experienced far more bad Cubs teams than bad. Are you just luckily tuning in when they have a winning streak or an amazing game?

[Sammy Sofa]

If any of you actually hated being Cubs fans, why not just stop?

 

Hmm, why didn't I think of that? ](*,)

 

I ask it all seriousness. It's not like crappy Cubs teams are a surprise to anyone who is a Cubs fan and over the age of, say, 15. Yes, this team obviously had huge expectations and the Cubs being bad is never going to not "hurt," but the repeated bemoaning that being a fan of this team is so horrible just seems pretty hollow when people could easily just stop being an active fan if they wanted to. It honesly seems like some (not saying you) prefer being able to complain about the team and players doing poorly and wallowing in self-pity.

 

Real fans want results. Were not going to jump ship no matter how much of a mess the team is, but were going to piss and moan and wallow in self pity all the way. The 2003 and 2008 bandwagoners are the ones who will just shrug it off go away with these kinds of seasons.

 

Ive been a fan all the way since 1984 when I was 8. Ive sat through a lot of crappy, crappy Cubs incarnations, with a few bright spots in 1989 and 1998, but 2003 was the first time I really felt that this team was capable of doing that wining thing that other teams do, and since then, the bar has been raised, and back in the 90's and ealry '00s, something like this or even 2006 would be acceptable. Damn those expectations Ive developed.

 

Expectations are one thing, but the complaining some do that being a fan of a team is somehow a burden to them is just ridiculous, melodramatic nonsense. I'm mad as hell at how this team is playing, much as I was at the very end of 2004 and over 2005 and 2006, but that's just part of being a fan. Maybe it's because I'm an all-Chicago fan when it comes to sports and I'm 30, so all of my teams have been bad more often than not (I guess only the Bulls close to being an exception). I guess I've just come to accept it that my teams are more likely to let me down when all is said and done. That doesn't mean I like it, but it's just part of the fan experience. I would never question my fandom over a crappy team like this. They're not worth such a reaction.

[Schwarber Fan]

Another missed opportunity to gain ground. I can't wait to be at tomorrow's game!

[illiniguy]

If any of you actually hated being Cubs fans, why not just stop?

 

Hmm, why didn't I think of that? ](*,)

 

I ask it all seriousness. It's not like crappy Cubs teams are a surprise to anyone who is a Cubs fan and over the age of, say, 15. Yes, this team obviously had huge expectations and the Cubs being bad is never going to not "hurt," but the repeated bemoaning that being a fan of this team is so horrible just seems pretty hollow when people could easily just stop being an active fan if they wanted to. It honesly seems like some prefer being able to complain about the team and players doing poorly and wallowing in self-pity.

 

It's so much harder to quit being a fan than you make it sound. There have been times when I've been absolutely disgusted by this team and I've made it a week or even two, but the same thing inevitably happens. I'll be flipping channels and stumble on the game; the addiction begins all over again. I just wish I could stop following them so closely that their level of play affects my mood.

 

So you're addicted to...what? Unless you're very young, you've experienced far more bad Cubs teams than bad. Are you just luckily tuning in when they have a winning streak or an amazing game?

If you've only been following for 10 years you had 6 good years and 4 bad.

1998, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2007, 2008 were all good

1999, 2000, 2002, 2006 were bad.

2005 was just kinda bleh.

[Little Slide Rooter]

If any of you actually hated being Cubs fans, why not just stop?

 

Hmm, why didn't I think of that? ](*,)

 

I ask it all seriousness. It's not like crappy Cubs teams are a surprise to anyone who is a Cubs fan and over the age of, say, 15. Yes, this team obviously had huge expectations and the Cubs being bad is never going to not "hurt," but the repeated bemoaning that being a fan of this team is so horrible just seems pretty hollow when people could easily just stop being an active fan if they wanted to. It honesly seems like some prefer being able to complain about the team and players doing poorly and wallowing in self-pity.

 

It's so much harder to quit being a fan than you make it sound. There have been times when I've been absolutely disgusted by this team and I've made it a week or even two, but the same thing inevitably happens. I'll be flipping channels and stumble on the game; the addiction begins all over again. I just wish I could stop following them so closely that their level of play affects my mood.

 

So you're addicted to...what? Unless you're very young, you've experienced far more bad Cubs teams than bad. Are you just luckily tuning in when they have a winning streak or an amazing game?

 

 

Between 1984-2003 there was little to get excited about, but we followed the team anyway, but once we got that taste of real winning in our mouths, we want more and wont accept garbage. Why is that so unbelievable?

[illiniguy]

 

 

Between 1984-2003 there was little to get excited about, but we followed the team anyway, but once we got that taste of real winning in our mouths, we want more and wont accept garbage. Why is that so unbelievable?

1998 gave a lot to be excited about. Sosa hititng 66 homers. Wood coming up and being dominant.

[Little Slide Rooter]

If any of you actually hated being Cubs fans, why not just stop?

 

Hmm, why didn't I think of that? ](*,)

 

I ask it all seriousness. It's not like crappy Cubs teams are a surprise to anyone who is a Cubs fan and over the age of, say, 15. Yes, this team obviously had huge expectations and the Cubs being bad is never going to not "hurt," but the repeated bemoaning that being a fan of this team is so horrible just seems pretty hollow when people could easily just stop being an active fan if they wanted to. It honesly seems like some (not saying you) prefer being able to complain about the team and players doing poorly and wallowing in self-pity.

 

Real fans want results. Were not going to jump ship no matter how much of a mess the team is, but were going to piss and moan and wallow in self pity all the way. The 2003 and 2008 bandwagoners are the ones who will just shrug it off go away with these kinds of seasons.

 

Ive been a fan all the way since 1984 when I was 8. Ive sat through a lot of crappy, crappy Cubs incarnations, with a few bright spots in 1989 and 1998, but 2003 was the first time I really felt that this team was capable of doing that wining thing that other teams do, and since then, the bar has been raised, and back in the 90's and ealry '00s, something like this or even 2006 would be acceptable. Damn those expectations Ive developed.

 

Expectations are one thing, but the complaining some do that being a fan of a team is somehow a burden to them is just ridiculous, melodramatic nonsense. I'm mad as hell at how this team is playing, much as I was at the very end of 2004 and over 2005 and 2006, but that's just part of being a fan. Maybe it's because I'm an all-Chicago fan when it comes to sports and I'm 30, so all of my teams have been bad more often than not (I guess only the Bulls close to being an exception). I guess I've just come to accept it that my teams are more likely to let me down when all is said and done. That doesn't mean I like it, but it's just part of the fan experience. I would never question my fandom over a crappy team like this. They're not worth such a reaction.

 

I agree with what much of what you're saying, but this consumes me 12 months a year, hell ask my wife, ask anyone I know. It literally drives me out of my effing mind, as Im sure you've figured out in my 2 years on this board. I know Im noit the only person who feels that way, becasue I know others.

 

If I could turn it off and wait until September, believe me, I would, but I physically cant. Thats what an addiction is.

[Sammy Sofa]

Between 1984-2003 there was little to get excited about, but we followed the team anyway, but once we got that taste of real winning in our mouths, we want more and wont accept garbage. Why is that so unbelievable?

 

So don't accept it. Stop watching the games. Stop buying merchandise and tickets. If it's so miserable being a Cubs fan now, then don't be one because odds are against them (and any other team) actually winning it all even if they have a bunch of worldbeaters out there during the regular season.

 

I get being pissed off by a crappy team/management/owners/etc.. What I don't get is acting like it's a horrible thing being a Cubs fan and then staying a Cubs fan.

[Little Slide Rooter]

Between 1984-2003 there was little to get excited about, but we followed the team anyway, but once we got that taste of real winning in our mouths, we want more and wont accept garbage. Why is that so unbelievable?

 

So don't accept it. Stop watching the games. Stop buying merchandise and tickets. If it's so miserable being a Cubs fan now, then don't be one because odds are against them (and any other team) actually winning it all even if they have a bunch of worldbeaters out there during the regular season.

 

I get being pissed off by a crappy team/management/owners/etc.. What I don't get is acting like it's a horrible thing being a Cubs fan and then staying a Cubs fan.

 

I explained in the post 2 above this 1.

 

People are going to get crazy and complain, and you cant police that just because you tell us to stop being Cubs fans. Those capable probably did after 2006.

[UMFan83]

Some people absolutely hate taking heroin, but they are addicted so they keep doing it.

[coldsteel]

Ron's Kumbaya multi-inning meltdown should stand as a classic.

 

If you're .500 at the Break, you have a shot.

[Sammy Sofa]

People are going to get crazy and complain, and you cant police that just because you tell us to stop being Cubs fans. Those capable probably did after 2006.

 

I'm not trying to police it, I'm trying to understand it because some people seem to REALLY hate this team more often than not.

[Sammy Sofa]

Some people absolutely hate taking heroin, but they are addicted so they keep doing it.

 

But we're talking about being a baseball fan.

[Little Slide Rooter]

People are going to get crazy and complain, and you cant police that just because you tell us to stop being Cubs fans. Those capable probably did after 2006.

 

I'm not trying to police it, I'm trying to understand it because some people seem to REALLY hate this team more often than not.

 

Its hard to explain. Id probably be happier if I werent a Cubs fan, or at least have a lot less stress in my life. Yes, I hate this team at this moment. I hate they way the team is playing. I hate Lou Piniella. I Hate Jim Hendry. I hate Milton Bradley, but no matter what, Im going to keep crawling back like a little dog. I dont hate the Cubs, but I really hate the way the team is playing. I cant explain why. Its just the way it is. During games, yeah, a lot of us get irrational. and its a lot easier to say I hate the team than it is to say I hate the way the team is playing at this time.

[illiniguy]

People are going to get crazy and complain, and you cant police that just because you tell us to stop being Cubs fans. Those capable probably did after 2006.

 

I'm not trying to police it, I'm trying to understand it because some people seem to REALLY hate this team more often than not.

 

Its hard to explain. Id probably be happier if I werent a Cubs fan, or at least have a lot less stress in my life. Yes, I hate this team at this moment. I hate they way the team is playing. I hate Lou Piniella. I Hate Jim Hendry. I hate Milton Bradley, but no matter what, Im going to keep crawling back like a little dog. I dont hate the Cubs, but I really hate the way the team is playing. I cant explain why. Its just the way it is. During games, yeah, a lot of us get irrational. and its a lot easier to say I hate the team than it is to say I hate the way the team is playing at this time.

What makes it worth it is the payoff. If they ever do win it all could you imagine if you had walked away?

[Little Slide Rooter]

People are going to get crazy and complain, and you cant police that just because you tell us to stop being Cubs fans. Those capable probably did after 2006.

 

I'm not trying to police it, I'm trying to understand it because some people seem to REALLY hate this team more often than not.

 

Its hard to explain. Id probably be happier if I werent a Cubs fan, or at least have a lot less stress in my life. Yes, I hate this team at this moment. I hate they way the team is playing. I hate Lou Piniella. I Hate Jim Hendry. I hate Milton Bradley, but no matter what, Im going to keep crawling back like a little dog. I dont hate the Cubs, but I really hate the way the team is playing. I cant explain why. Its just the way it is. During games, yeah, a lot of us get irrational. and its a lot easier to say I hate the team than it is to say I hate the way the team is playing at this time.

What makes it worth it is the payoff. If they ever do win it all could you imagine if you had walked away?

 

Which is why were not bangwagon fans. Im sick of the cliche that real fans dont boo. Real fans do boo. Fake fans go away, and come back when the team decides to do better.

[illiniguy]

People are going to get crazy and complain, and you cant police that just because you tell us to stop being Cubs fans. Those capable probably did after 2006.

 

I'm not trying to police it, I'm trying to understand it because some people seem to REALLY hate this team more often than not.

 

Its hard to explain. Id probably be happier if I werent a Cubs fan, or at least have a lot less stress in my life. Yes, I hate this team at this moment. I hate they way the team is playing. I hate Lou Piniella. I Hate Jim Hendry. I hate Milton Bradley, but no matter what, Im going to keep crawling back like a little dog. I dont hate the Cubs, but I really hate the way the team is playing. I cant explain why. Its just the way it is. During games, yeah, a lot of us get irrational. and its a lot easier to say I hate the team than it is to say I hate the way the team is playing at this time.

What makes it worth it is the payoff. If they ever do win it all could you imagine if you had walked away?

 

Which is why were not bangwagon fans. Im sick of the cliche that real fans dont boo. Real fans do boo. Fake fans go away, and come back when the team decides to do better.

Yeah, at this point I think it's much worse to sit here and be ok with what has happened over the past 7 months. Hendry took an awesome team and gutted it. Any other profession he's fired. Hell in some he's facing criminal charges. Yet because of our team in limbo, he gets a pass.

[Sammy Sofa]

It's probably best to not straddle the line between fandom and unhealthy obsession.

[Little Slide Rooter]

It's probably best to not straddle the line between fandom and unhealthy obsession.

Too late for some of us. run while you can.

[UMFan83]

Some people absolutely hate taking heroin, but they are addicted so they keep doing it.

 

But we're talking about being a baseball fan.

 

Obviously the chemical addiction of a drug compared to being a baseball fan is quite an exaggeration, but the fact is people are unhealthily addicted to a baseball team and cannot break said addiction even if they hate the fact that they are a fan of such a lousy team. It's like saying, if you hate being a fan of a team that's perpetually bad (historically) like the Cubs, why don't you just be a Cardinals fan?

[Bryants Disco Ball]

I've sometimes wondered if we are all weird for being grown men and women and being so passionate and crazy while watching grown men playing a game. Those grown men don't know most of us nor do they care about most of us.

 

Even if the Cubs or any other person's favorite team wins a World Series, what the heck does that even mean? What the heck do we even REALLY get out of it? We don't get a fat bonus. We don't get a nice, new car. We get to jump up and down for a few minutes, and then realize that our lives really don't change the next morning when we have to get to work and pay our bills.

 

Sometimes I hate thinking like this. It's kind of a downer.