CUBS mourning thread

I'll be here for a little while, drinking and smoking my last, doing a little dance to "Sweet Home Chicago". I love my old town, and I love this team.

To all the Cubs fans & supporters...THANK YOU. You are truly what baseball is all about.

And to Steve Bartman...you have my pity. Good luck, and keep your head about you from now on.

(I posted this in another thread also)

Fox will lose millions of $$$$ because there is only about 12 people who give a shit about the Marlins.

:nuke:

are going to be partying this weekend. Go fishies! You may think that the Cubs deserve a shot because they have been so bad for so long but I can't rememeber when the owner of the Cubs dismantled the team months after winning a championship. That move killed South Florida as a baseball "town" until today.

Poor Marlins fans. 6 long years of World Series-less baseball. ;-)

Count your blessings. You never know when you will have a 58-year drought yourselves. Maybe the Marlins next World Series after this year won't be until 2061.

:shrug:

--Peter

My interest in the World Series was, for the first time in years, really spiked because there was a possibility of a Cubs-Red Sox matchup. I'm a lifelong, diehard Cincy Reds fan, but I was pulling for all you Cubs fans and I mourn with you today!

Now that the Cubbies are out of the equation (and who gives a rat's ass about the friggin' Marlins, anyway?) the only way I'll tune in for the WS is if the Red Sox are there. I'm so damned sick of the Yankees and/or Braves every stinkin' year I could puke. No wonder baseball's ratings have gone down the tube.

You have it all wrong. 15 million people tuned in to see the Cubs lose.

is it pretty?
:-)

Beckett Pwned some Cub ascot.

And I am not in a bar neighborhood.

:cry:

Must... drink.... beer.

That poor bastard.

this is sad. My sister is depressed about it too. This is terrible. :pals::pals::pals::pals::pals::pals::pals:

DAMN!

Come on
Oh baby don't you wanna go
Come on
Oh baby don't you wanna go
Back to that same old place
Sweet home Chicago

Come on
Baby don't you wanna go
Hidehey
Baby don't you wanna go
Back to that same old place
Oh sweet home Chicago

Well, one and one is two
Six and two is eight
Come on baby don't ya make me late
Hidehey
Baby don't you wanna go
Back to that same old place
Sweet home Chicago

Come on
Baby don't you wanna go
Back to that same old place
Sweet home Chicago

Six and three is nine
Nine and nine is eighteen
Look there brother baby and see what I've seen
Hidehey
Baby don't you wanna go
Back to that same old place
Sweet home Chicago

Oh come on
Baby don't you wanna go
Come on
Baby don't you wanna go
Back to that same old place
Sweet home Chicago

Ah, shucks.

I guess we're just going to have to find another sign of the end of times. Like a Republican winning an election honestly.

Seriously, I know its not as long of a drought but Dusty did this same act with us last year.

People who don't live in a big league town don't know what its like during the post season. It is incredible. Everybody talks about the game. Productivity slows. Strangers speak to each other. And then the whole town mourns together.

You guys have proven why a franchise team can be winners.

Blame Bartman all you can. Thats your only excuse.

Here's word's you never hear from a fan like you: Thanks for a great series.

Just try ruining my Blues Brothers high, bastard. :D

to be champs, sometimes you gotta beat champs.

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

can someone tell me just how I dissed this dude? "to be champs you have to beat champs" does anyone not understand that I was giving props to the Cubs?

Dude, are you that white house spokesman guy or something?

:beer:

But I'm pretty sure I don't have to be drunk to know it was garbage.

Don't you know you're showing up as "ignored" now, dumbass? Time to get a life.

Now thats how rumours get started!

I would be telling you tonight that the Yankees will squish the fish!

I'm not a hardcore Cubs fan, but I sure wanted to see them get to the WS. I really feel for the Cub fans. They are incredibly loyal fans, and deserve a championship season.

no really. Damn...

:cry::cry::cry::cry::cry::cry::cry::cry::cry::cry:
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But the Cubs wouldn't be the Cubs if they won...
would they?

Steve Goodman - RIP.

:cry: :cry: :cry: I was on your side.

after all the vitriol and blaming of the poor guy in the stands. In fact, their losing is no longer tragic to me.

Ignoring is FUN!

loudmouth assholes do not constitute the majority of fans for the Cubs or any team. Please refrain from generalizing.

cuz the placement thing is kinda hooty

.

Moments after the play, thousands of fans at Wrigley chanted a profane insult at Bartman. In the grandstand sections near Bartman, angry fans pointed at him, shouted curses and hurled cups of beer and bags of peanuts.

As security guards struggled to impose order, the din around Bartman grew louder and meaner. Many in the stands shouted they wanted Bartman dead, and one later shouted "Lynch him!"

In the bottom of the 8th inning, Cubs' officials opted to remove Bartman for his own safety. Escorted by off-duty Chicago police officers, Bartman covered his face as he was led to the security office amid a chorus of jeers and insults and thrown objects. A few minutes later, guards let him go and he left, unrecognized, through the stadium's front gate.

By Wednesday morning, Bartman was the subject of intense ridicule across the country, on Internet sites, on national television, on talk radio, on the lips of Cubs faithful far and wide. Even Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, a lifelong Cubs fan, piled on, calling Bartman's attempt to catch the ball "stupid."

http://www.bayarea.com/mld/mercurynews/sports/7023555.htm

I was rooting for the Cubs until this, now I simply didn't care. Go Sox!

did not throw beer, etc... in the moment, you and I both know that every team's fans would have chanted something, however. On the street in Chicago, the Bartman haters were few compared to those who looked upon them with disdain, feeling sorry for Bartman and putting things into context. So, yes, it was a few by comparison to the many fans.

for being an enthusiastic fan. Ignore me if you want, but the behavior of a lot of those fans was apalling. The fan didn't cost the Cubs the series-- a choke job did.


If the Cubs (with a 2 game lead) pitch to a mediocre level, field the ball, or hit in the clutch, we aren't having this conversation.

Not a curse. Simple choke.

But those bashing Bartman are the minority by a long way. Anyone on the street in Chicago yesterday knows that.

heart breaker -

I was hoping so much for a Cubs/Red Sox World Series. As disappointed as I am, I can't even imagine how broken hearted the Cubs fans in Chicago are right now.

All the REAL DUers and humans here on the board...I love ya! :loveya:

such a (EDIT: REAL) good sport ;)

The fans will grieve the loss of the playoffs, and may well have to wait another 50 years for another chance. Steve Bartman, the hapless fan that interfered with Moses Alou's catch yesterday, his entire life lies in ruin. No matter what he does, he will always be remembered as the fan that screwed up the Cubs out of the Series.

I don't think any of us would like to see ourselves immortalized in Baseball's Hall of Shame.

Bartman better take Jeb Bush's offer of political assylum in Florida.

Dammit I knew shouldn't have watched. It all started when I tuned in in the eighth last night. It was like watching a train wreck and I couldn't turn away. I tried not to watch tonight but I couldn't stop myself. Oh well, I won't watch next year either.

On a lighter note: tonight's local news reported that Josh Beckett tried to make reservations for 10 at a restaurant here in Chicago last night under his name. He was told they didn't have any tables. Heehe. Serves him right. Or not.

I could just eat a meal of the Italian bread at that place. Mmmmm...

What a staggering, monumental collapse.

This was next year for the Cubs. This team was not another variety of 'lovable-loser' Cubbies "happy to be there". They had the team that could have won it all.

The Cubs had three - count them one, two, three - chances to eliminate the gamefish when they were up three games to one.

Blame Bartman for the shift of momentum last night. Don't blame him for eight runs. Good teams - winning teams - get over minor setbacks like a foul ball not converted to an out.

Gonzales' error, Sosa not hitting the cutoff man (runners move up), Baker bringing in a pitcher who tends to be wild and right off calls for an intentional walk. Heck, even Bernie Mack singing 'Let's all root for the champs' in the 7th-inning stretch was probably as much an inspiration for the gamefish as getting five outs and free bases in the 8th inning of game 5.

I can't underestimate the Cub fans who bleed Cub-blue - yet I'll be truly amazed if the chasm of their heartbreak mends by next year, or the year after that.

I was at Game five of the 2000 World Series (Yankees -v- Mets). I still haven't quite gotten over seeing the Yankees celebrating a championship on my teams home field.

<charlie brown voice>
Can anybody here beat the Yankees?!
</charlie brown>

Bartman deserves the blame for the change of momentum...one of our own stabbed us in the back. I have never once blamed him for the rest of the garbage that happened afterward.

Beauty is...we'll be back next year. Like always. :D Hopefully with a better bunch of relievers.

was take one game out of three - with two of those three games happening at Wrigley?? Last night, the Cubs were winning with 5 outs to go. And tonight, the Cubs came back fron a 3-run deficit and were leading 5-3 at one point.

Sorry, but your pitching let you down...not to mention shabby fielding. You had your chances, but you couldn't close it out. Watch the US Open (tennis) and you'll see the same thing over and over - players who can't close it out and win the match.

I wish the Cubs had made it, but they didn't. Blame the Cubs.

The interferring fan is a footnote, nothing else.

...could let Bartman off the hook by publicly admitting he either

A) has no clue when to replace a starting pitcher
or
B) has nobody in the bullpen he can trust.

When your two aces have the highest and third highest pitch counts in the league, you have a problem....

Later,
JM

These are paid professionals, they can keep their composure and focus, well at least that is what they are paid to do. They are supposed to make plays others can't which is why there is the minor league system because most of those players can't make plays MLB players can.

There's sparse foul-ball territory in Wrigley. The fans are right there. There's no room to stuff in VIP boxes for post-season games. In last year's ALCS there was a foul ball hit by some Angel that some Yankee (Posada the catcher, likely) was able to catch because the Angel fans (may have been in Disney VIP boxes) arched away. But there's tons of foul-ball territory in most parks.

Not Wrigley. Heck, I saw Pudge chase a foul behind home plate and sorta 'ugh' when his belly hit the brick wall - with his protector on.

Anyone who knows Wrigley - fan or player - knows the risks of charging towards a brick wall to make a catch. The left and right field walls curve in towards the outfield - there's practically no foul territory - if the ball hits the grass it's fair. If that was Andre Dawson (in RF) it's a certainty the regulars would back off and Hawk would make that play. Heck - Griffey JR would have been given way, I reckon, in LF - during the regular season. I've never seen a fan swat a ball (if it's in the stands it's their right) though I've seen plenty of catchers make daring dives into dugouts where the bench-warmers all backed off (sometimes they help).

That fan ought to have known better - and indeed it was clear Alou and Prior were extremely pissed off that a fan gave the gamefish another out. They lost confidence in the 10th man. And themselves.

1986 World Series - Game Six. Two outs, bottom of the ninth. Mets trail by three.

Gary Carter hits a little looper...

...so hard on that poor guy who deflected the ball in the stands last night. People stopping by his house, threatening his life, stuff like that.

Congrats to the Marlins. They did the job and had fun doing it.

This one hurts, though. Much more than 1984. We had pitching to beat all this time. And it didn't beat anything. Damn.

Again, Congrats to the Marlins!

Cheers!

I had my fingers crossed for them tonight.

found a way to lose, Cubs fans could always take some satisfaction in the fact that they were the best fans in all of sports.

Now Bartman has ruined even that conceit.

Thanks, Bartman.

Never did like that school. Didn't think much of its graduates. Now I am beginning to notice some real case study material.

I said it in another thread, but this guy actually took his vacation to go to Arizona and watch the Cubs practice. The guy coached for youth baseball. Really, it's time to give the guy a break. He didn't lose it for them, the Cubs did it on their own.

What he lost for all Cubs fans was our conceit that we were the best fans in all of sports.

As it turns out, even diehard Cubs fans like idiot headset boy are just as big of complete losers as the Cubs themselves.

Sorry if you don't understand.

If you mean that the irrational reaction alone that some Cubs fans are having are destroying that illusion, and "idiot headset boy" did nothing wrong. If so, then I apologize. I'm just sick of all the blame the poor guy is getting, and I may have had a knee-jerk reaction.

Again, I'm sorry if you don't understand that it is definitely and unconscionably wrong for a fan in the stands to interfere with a player on the team he is rooting for.

It's worse than screaming while your brother is trying to make the putt to win the US Open.

I can only hope this will be a learning experience for the entire nation that fan behavior DOES actually matter.

Somehow, given the reactions here, I doubt it.

it was his fault the greatest fans in the world were hurling objects at him and sending him and his parents death threats. :eyes:

Being reasonably upset and being physically abusive and threatening are two different things.

Sorry that you can't tell the difference.

For example, when some fan is too selfish to throw back an opposing home run, bleacher fans like to chant "THROW IT BACK, THROW IT BACK" and then boo loudly if the greedy uncouth bastard doesn't comply. That is what I'm doing. I'm "booing" an idiot for being an idiot.

I'm not advocating or supporting anyone else who does anything worse to the guy, so please set up the strawman in somebody else's garden.

Florida hit alot of home runs during this NCLS and didn't hear one fan cheat throw it back or see a fan throw it back for that matter. My point is if they are the greatest fans in the world why are they taking what this very smart young man did very seriously. After all it was JUST a foul ball. I am convinced he had no idea Alou was even near him or the ball was playable, I don't think he is an idiot and I am saddened you feel that way. :evilfrown: I can tell the difference but the greatest fans in the world do not hurl objects at a fan who done nothing wrong or sends death threats or call him names. The greatest fans in the world've not made a big deal about and root for the Cubs to get 5 more outs.

especially not when they are trying to make incredibly critical plays.

Period.

Sorry you didn't see any home runs thrown back. Try paying attention next time.

Kipling wrote this for Cub Fans....

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you
but make allowance for their doubting too,

If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies,
Or being hated, don’t give way to hating
And yet not look too good, nor talk too wise:

If you can dream - but not make dreams your master,
If you can think - but not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two imposters just the same;

If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build them up with worn-out tools

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it all on one turn of pitch-and-toss
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breathe a word about your loss;

If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on, when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: “Hold on!”

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings, yet not lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;
If all men count with you, but none too much,

If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run
Yours is the Earth and everything in it,
And, what is more, you’ll be Cub Fans, my friends

(And wait, hope and believe in next year)

Dear Cub Fans,

We're saddened by your team's loss in such tragic fashion. Just when you thought a Chicago baseball team couldn't break your heart any further, they go and do it again. I know...I live in Chicago, too. I saw '69, '77, '84 (and the collapse of '85), '89, '98 and now '03. Let me add the White Sox of '67, '72, '77, 83, '93, '94, '00 and '03 to that list.

Overall, now we are looking at over 180 seasons (1908 for the Cubs, 1917 for the Sox) without a pennant and nearly 100 just to get to the World Series (sheesh...Florida does it twice in a decade?). So, yes, there is no real gloating here at all...just the common sense that what doesn't kill you makes you stronger.

To my ailing DU Chicago Cub fans...cheer up and let's go beat up a Blackhawk fan!

Jebbie is welcoming him with open arms and a 3-month paid vacation.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2003/baseball/mlb/specials/postseason/2003/10/15/marlins.reaction.ap/index.html

In high school, he won academic achievement awards, served on the student council, acted in plays and was a member of the National Honor Society.

After college, Bartman worked as an associate at the Lincolnshire office of Hewitt Associates, a global human resources outsourcing and consulting firm. He is among thousands of employees who handle calls from employees about their benefits.

Melchior, his college friend, said Bartman worked for Hewitt in large part because the company was sympathetic to his youth league coaching schedule, which often took him out of state.

Known to players as "Coach Bart," he was one of two coaches of the 13- and 14-year-old Niles-based "Renegades," an elite youth league baseball team on which Bartman also had played. The squad went 49-25 last year and team members described him as a dedicated coach who was intense, yet nurturing.

"Most of us are upset about this," said former Renegades' player Anthony Sperindeo, 16. "We all look back at this and say, `Why did this happen to such a nice guy?' "

Added Roger Shimanovsky, whose 15-year-old son, Matt, was coached by Bartman, "He's really not a dummy; he's a victim of circumstance.... He didn't give up eight runs."

Peter Stubbs, a college classmate and baseball teammate on the Keenan Hall dormitory league baseball team, said the hearts of many former classmates have been aching for Bartman, especially because of Bartman's love for the Cubs.

http://www.bayarea.com/mld/mercurynews/sports/7023555.htm

He is not an idiot, he is someone I actually admire and baseball is only game. I am glad most of the Cubs fans on DU realize that, troops are dying an Iraq everyday, civil liberties are slipping away if they haven't already, this world is turning into shit everyday and fans ridiculing him over stupid shit doesn't help. Congrats to the Marlins, they won the series and congrats to the Cubs for making it this far.

I could easily forgive him if he were mentally retarded or autistic.

And he almost had me convinced. Too bad you had to post his life story. Now I'm furious at him again.

It could have happened to anyone.

He won't have any assaults over this.

He won't be shot.

HE'll get on some talk shows and probably make a few bucks out of the deal.

All of that for being reviled for two innings in a playoff game. He'll do just fine.

Wait until next year....

As for "The fan" well I feel for him....

The Cubs and ANY team that beats the Marlins.

Join us, Sox fans, and together we will rule the world!

:argh:

The Plaid Adder

Yeah, I'm kind of heartbroken, but the team gave me more this year than I've gotten in 35 years--two full weeks of October baseball. How great is that? Add to that that we weren't relying on a dozen veterans that are on their way out, and I've got a lot to look forward to. My wish list for next year is a heck of a lot shorter than it's been, like ever.

1984 felt to me like a lightning strike. This feels like the beginning of something great.

As for the fan -- he now enters Cub history. I only wish it had been under a more favorable circumstance.

All I will say is this: At some point there, during this season, during the playoffs, if only for a split second, I actually believed.

Not that they shouldn't or that they did deserve to but it was just odd. The place was stone silent and you could feel the wind go out of about 90% of the people watching sails.

The Marlins are a VERY good team and that Beckett kid is unbelieveable.

We Red Sox fans know how it feels.

Mankind's great asset--or is it his curse?--is that he believes in hope.

Wait til next year!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

The Cubs didnt lose. The Marlins won. The action of SOME Cub fans is disgraceful, but by an large the grown-ups all realize its just a game.

I congratulated the Marlins and their fans, but you're a nasty one, so I rescind my congratulations to you.

;)

And you are, too. It's called kicking a dog when it's down AND piling on.

Not that I'm surprised, given your pedigree.

Next year? Oh, no. We're not even talking about next year.

How they beat the Giants and now how they beat the Cubs, they sure know how to give everyone heart attacks.

I wish teams I rooted for made so many comebacks. Alas, the teams I root for (e.g., the Cubs) always seem to be the ones that blow those late leads.

Congrats to the Marlins. They have never lost a post-season series yet. 1997 and 2003. 5-0.

I just wish they didn't have to do it to the teams I love.

:-(

--Peter

:-)

You know what, though, I regret nothing. It was a great ride. We should have won Tuesday; but the sports gods switched allegiance. Last night's loss was ugly and without glory, it is true. But they still ought to be proud of how far they got.

In the spirit of gallows humor, I bring you:

Top 10 Upsides To The Cubs Loss Last Night

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=105&topic_id=293281

C ya,

The Plaid Adder

Kerry Wood's home run!

Although it was a nice bit of ring composition. However...that would have been a nicer bit of ring composition if they had WON THE @#$! GAME!

Oh well. Thanks for the PM, chiburb, I am sure I will bounce back. After all, being on the left has given me plenty of practice in rebounding from disappointment.

C ya,

The Plaid Adder