Ron Santo Scaling Back Broadcasting Duties

[Derwood]

I'm reading "Fever Pitch" right now, so I'm getting a kick out of this thread

[abuck1220]

the more you believe the cubs won't win a world series, the better fan you are. because then when someone is like "hey, i like the cubs, i think they'll win the world series this year," you can be like "oh no, you naive young man, I KNOW the cubs and i have been a fan for a billion years and watched all their games and I KNOW they won't win the world series and that's because i'm smarter than you about the cubs and you don't understand all the suffering i've been through." your self pity gives your life purpose.

[rocket]

the cubs will most likely win a world series within the next 50 years. and it will be glorious.

[abuck1220]

see there you go not knowing the cubs as well as i do (and thus being less of a fan than me). not only do i know the cubs won't win a WS in the next 50 years, i can accurately call "GAME OVER" in the second inning of 1 run games. that's how great of a fan i am.

[jersey cubs fan]

Whenever they get close, all they hear about is the curse, and how will you blow it this time, and yada yada.

 

It's got to have an effect, though I can't put a number on it.

 

The same thing was said about the Red Sox.

[SouthSideRyan]

Whenever they get close, all they hear about is the curse, and how will you blow it this time, and yada yada.

 

It's got to have an effect, though I can't put a number on it.

 

The same thing was said about the Red Sox.

 

You don't understand man, I've seen it too many times!!

[Sammy Sofa]

It shouldn't add more pressure, but there's no doubt that it does. The crowd, the players, they all seemed to have the wind torpedoed out of them the minute that Loney slam left the yard in Game 1 in 2008.

 

Yeah, but that's playoff baseball pressure. That's not unique to being a Cub.

 

It just strikes me as really ridiculous to think that players will fail or succumb to pressure because of the simple fact that they are playing for the Cubs. Again, look at the Yankees: do those players not face incredible pressure every time they make the playoffs despite how many WS their team has already won? What team DOESN'T face (at least faces significantly less than the Cubs) incredible pressure to perform in the playoffs?

[davearm2]

There's no question that the 100+ year thing creates a different dynamic than any other team in baseball faces. The situation is unique to the Cubs now that Boston has ended their "curse".

 

Whether that adds additional pressure on the players is open for debate, but to characterize their situation as no different than any other team is just wrong.

[UMFan83]

Whenever they get close, all they hear about is the curse, and how will you blow it this time, and yada yada.

 

It's got to have an effect, though I can't put a number on it.

 

The same thing was said about the Red Sox.

 

Yeah but they were able to Cowboy Up. What could we possibly do to match that?

[SouthSideRyan]

Whenever they get close, all they hear about is the curse, and how will you blow it this time, and yada yada.

 

It's got to have an effect, though I can't put a number on it.

 

The same thing was said about the Red Sox.

 

Yeah but they were able to Cowboy Up. What could we possibly do to match that?

 

Not stop believin?

[jersey cubs fan]

Whenever they get close, all they hear about is the curse, and how will you blow it this time, and yada yada.

 

It's got to have an effect, though I can't put a number on it.

 

The same thing was said about the Red Sox.

 

Yeah but they were able to Cowboy Up. What could we possibly do to match that?

 

Not stop believin?

 

A simple plastic bracelet with a clever saying should suffice.

[Sammy Sofa]

There's no question that the 100+ year thing creates a different dynamic than any other team in baseball faces. The situation is unique to the Cubs now that Boston has ended their "curse".

 

Whether that adds additional pressure on the players is open for debate, but to characterize their situation as no different than any other team is just wrong.

 

Nobody "characterized their situation as no different than any other team." The discussion is over whether people honestly believe that players on the Cubs face what apparently amounts to crippling pressure in playoff situations simply because they play for the Cubs (as if that is the overriding factor over how the teams match up, how the team was constructed, who is injured, who is hot, etc., etc.).

[Hairyducked Idiot]

the more you believe the cubs won't win a world series, the better fan you are. because then when someone is like "hey, i like the cubs, i think they'll win the world series this year," you can be like "oh no, you naive young man, I KNOW the cubs and i have been a fan for a billion years and watched all their games and I KNOW they won't win the world series and that's because i'm smarter than you about the cubs and you don't understand all the suffering i've been through." your self pity gives your life purpose.

 

Finally! Someone who gets it.

[Soul]

There's no question that the 100+ year thing creates a different dynamic than any other team in baseball faces. The situation is unique to the Cubs now that Boston has ended their "curse".

 

Whether that adds additional pressure on the players is open for debate, but to characterize their situation as no different than any other team is just wrong.

 

Nobody "characterized their situation as no different than any other team." The discussion is over whether people honestly believe that players on the Cubs face what apparently amounts to crippling pressure in playoff situations simply because they play for the Cubs (as if that is the overriding factor over how the teams match up, how the team was constructed, who is injured, who is hot, etc., etc.).

 

Not impossible, just additionally difficult until they get it done. Which, as you'll remember, I don't believe they ever will! :hello:

[Sammy Sofa]

How does it make things additionally difficult? Are you saying that people believe that Cubs' players feel significantly more pressure in the playoffs (to the point it causes them to fail) than the pressure all players are under when their team is in the post-season?

[jersey cubs fan]

How does it make things additionally difficult? Are you saying that people believe that Cubs' players feel significantly more pressure in the playoffs (to the point it causes them to fail) than the pressure all players are under when their team is in the post-season?

 

I would say there is definitely an additional difficulty, but I don't believe it can be all that significantly bigger than the one every playoff player deals with.

[Sammy Sofa]

How does it make things additionally difficult? Are you saying that people believe that Cubs' players feel significantly more pressure in the playoffs (to the point it causes them to fail) than the pressure all players are under when their team is in the post-season?

 

I would say there is definitely an additional difficulty, but I don't believe it can be all that significantly bigger than the one every playoff player deals with.

 

Yeah, I agree. Obviously, it's going to be something on their mind since it is such a unique situation in professional sports at this point, but if a player is going to buckle under the pressure of that then they were going to buckle under the playoff pressure to begin with.

[davearm2]

There's no question that the 100+ year thing creates a different dynamic than any other team in baseball faces. The situation is unique to the Cubs now that Boston has ended their "curse".

 

Whether that adds additional pressure on the players is open for debate, but to characterize their situation as no different than any other team is just wrong.

 

Nobody "characterized their situation as no different than any other team." The discussion is over whether people honestly believe that players on the Cubs face what apparently amounts to crippling pressure in playoff situations simply because they play for the Cubs (as if that is the overriding factor over how the teams match up, how the team was constructed, who is injured, who is hot, etc., etc.).

The pressure of being a Cub is different than the pressure facing guys on other teams because of the 100+ year thing.

 

That would be in addition to what you're describing as "standard" postseason pressures faced by all players/teams.

[Sammy Sofa]

Again, nobody is disputing the basic difference. What I'm pointing out is that it's tremendously unlikely that the "Cubs pressure" isn't going to weigh significantly more on a player than typical playoff pressure to the point that it impacts their play differently. Like I said, if a player is going to fold under the "pressure of being a Cub" then odds are they'd fold under the pressure of postseason play in the first place. It's like saying that someone would be able to kick ass in the playoffs when playing for the Yankees, but if they went to the Cubs then the odds of that player buckling under the pressure increases dramatically.

[SouthSideRyan]

In the past 20 years, the teams with the 3 longest pennant droughts are 8-0 in world series games.

 

I guess the weight of the world gets off their shoulders once they win their league.

[davearm2]

Again, nobody is disputing the basic difference. What I'm pointing out is that it's tremendously unlikely that the "Cubs pressure" isn't going to weigh significantly more on a player than typical playoff pressure to the point that it impacts their play differently. Like I said, if a player is going to fold under the "pressure of being a Cub" then odds are they'd fold under the pressure of postseason play in the first place. It's like saying that someone would be able to kick ass in the playoffs when playing for the Yankees, but if they went to the Cubs then the odds of that player buckling under the pressure increases dramatically.

Playing for the Yankees brings another unique set of pressures.

 

This is so esoteric and unquantifiable that the best we can say is that players on these teams have more on their plate than your typical Diamondback or Tiger or Marlin player would be dealing with. Whether it can be the proverbial straw that broke the camel's back is purely speculative.

[UMFan83]

In the past 20 years, the teams with the 3 longest pennant droughts are 8-0 in world series games.

 

I guess the weight of the world gets off their shoulders once they win their league.

 

This is confusing....the teams who had the longest pennant droughts in 1990, have gone 8-0 in world series games once they got there?

 

The Cubs (0-0), White Sox (4-0)...and who else? The only other team to make one WS appearance between 1990 and 2010, or sweep their first WS appearance post-1990 was the 1990 Reds, who went 4-0 after a 14 year drought (1976) inbetween pennants. Were the Reds really the 3rd longest pennant drought in the league in 1990?

 

Edit: no, the Indians went from 1954-1995 without winning the pennant, and the Braves went from 1958-1991

Edited June 22, 2010 by UMFan83

[Sammy Sofa]

Again, nobody is disputing the basic difference. What I'm pointing out is that it's tremendously unlikely that the "Cubs pressure" isn't going to weigh significantly more on a player than typical playoff pressure to the point that it impacts their play differently. Like I said, if a player is going to fold under the "pressure of being a Cub" then odds are they'd fold under the pressure of postseason play in the first place. It's like saying that someone would be able to kick ass in the playoffs when playing for the Yankees, but if they went to the Cubs then the odds of that player buckling under the pressure increases dramatically.

Playing for the Yankees brings another unique set of pressures.

 

This is so esoteric and unquantifiable that the best we can say is that players on these teams have more on their plate than your typical Diamondback or Tiger or Marlin player would be dealing with. Whether it can be the proverbial straw that broke the camel's back is purely speculative.

 

That's completely subjective. It could easily be argued that every team has a unique set of pressures that are compounded on a player in addition to "typical" playoff pressures. How could one accurately say that they KNOW that Cubs players are facing significant more additional pressure (to the point that it can impact their play) versus, say, a Pirates player who is under the pressure to win one for a long-suffering franchise and fan base that has had dwindling attention as years go on?

 

My point is that players in the playoffs are facing a ton of pressure regardless of which team they're playing for. The details and the contexts change, but there's always a ton of pressure weighing down on a player no matter what team they're on.

[jersey cubs fan]

In the past 20 years, the teams with the 3 longest pennant droughts are 8-0 in world series games.

 

I guess the weight of the world gets off their shoulders once they win their league.

 

This is confusing....the teams who had the longest pennant droughts in 1990, have gone 8-0 in world series games once they got there?

 

The Cubs (0-0), White Sox (4-0)...and who else? The only other team to make one WS appearance between 1990 and 2010, or sweep their first WS appearance post-1990 was the 1990 Reds, who went 4-0 after a 14 year drought (1976) inbetween pennants. Were the Reds really the 3rd longest pennant drought in the league in 1990?

 

I figured he was talking about the Red Sox and White Sox, not sure why he is using a 20 year time frame, an 8-0 record and a 3 team grouping.

[SouthSideRyan]

In the past 20 years, the teams with the 3 longest pennant droughts are 8-0 in world series games.

 

I guess the weight of the world gets off their shoulders once they win their league.

 

This is confusing....the teams who had the longest pennant droughts in 1990, have gone 8-0 in world series games once they got there?

 

 

The Red Sox didn't have a drought after they swept in '04, so all that enormous pressure they felt with the curse was gone, allowing them to sweep the '08 world series