The 2003 Cubs had a great month of September and entered the playoffs on a roll. I think that makes a difference too. The 2008 Cubs really struggled at the beginning of the month, righted the ship a bit, then that last week with nothing to play for....they just kind of muddled about. And they probably did play looser too. Not only the Dusty factor but heck, the first round they faced an Atlanta team that won over 100 games. The Cubs had what, 87-88 wins? I mean people did give that team a chance based on Prior and Wood but they were generally the underdogs and also a hot team.