It's Happening - The 2016 Chicago Cubs

Picking the Cubs to win the World Series is a bit like picking Willy Loman to win a sales competition. We know how this is going to end. 

And yet...it's happening.  

There's 107 years of history to prove me wrong. I'm not going to list it. We know it. It's the reason Cubs fans are skeptical of warm days in March, tax refunds, and free samples in grocery stores - we know the bottom is going to drop out and that tiny slice of whole grain brownie is going to give us salmonella and that 60 degree day is going to be followed by 6 inches of snow...Being a Cubs fan also means you think, "maybe"... Maybe tomorrow will be 65 and that brownie will lower my cholesterol and the government won't send me a letter in June asking for that refund back. It's the same reason we'll go back and get another free sample the next day even if it did give us salmonella.

And yet...it's happening.

There are plenty of reasons 2016 isn't the year. The Mets are still pretty damn good. It's an even year in the 21st Century, so the Giants will be there. The Nationals have the best player and arguably the best 1-2 pitching combo in the league. The Dodgers still have Clayton Kershaw. There's still that annoying rash on the back of your leg that is too far down to be covered by shorts but too high for socks known as "The Cardinal Way." And the Pirates. It would be very Cub-like to lose to the Pirates...or Diamondbacks (again). Playoff baseball is unpredictable and the best team doesn't always win a short series. Plus there's that whole other league.

Jake Arrieta cannot possibly duplicate last season's success. Jason Hammel has to pitch beyond June. John Lester can't throw to first base - it seems like the season is setting up for Lester to blow the World Series on a routine throw to first base. John Lackey is 37. Ben Zobrist is 34. Somebody who cannot catch fly balls is going to be playing left field. There are sophomore slump candidates up and down the lineup. Somebody(s) is going to get injured. They don't hit well in cold weather. The NL Central is top heavy.

And yet...it's happening.

Why? Well, we know about the talent. We know about the balance. We know they've finally figured out that having a bunch of guys who hit .234 with 17 home runs and play terrible defense isn't a winning combination. We know Theo and Jed will make a prudent move at the trade deadline to fill any holes. And we know about Joe Maddon, who seems like he was designed in a lab to manage the Cubs to their first World Series in a century.

But that's not why.

You know that moment when your kid looks at you for the first time and realizes you're a fraud? You don't? That's just me? Cool. Well, it sucks. Being a Cubs fan in 1985, 1990, 2004, and 2008...and pretty much from 1909-2015 was different. We didn't want to admit that maybe Dad couldn't beat Michael Jordan in a game of one-on-one - maybe Mike wins 9 out of 10, but on one magical day Dad is taking him down.We didn't want to admit that maybe deep dish pizza isn't that good - I mean it's good, but it's not that good. We didn't want to admit that maybe Ditka was an average coach (I mean, the whole defense acted like Buddy Ryan was the head coach...and how does that team not win multiple Super Bowls and don't talk to me about Jim McMahon's injury...). But in our hearts we knew it - in our hearts we just wanted to eat a thin crust pizza and admit the 49ers were better. Just like that moment when your kid realizes you won't be able to stop bad things from happening to him. Or that you can't figure out common core math to solve his second grade math problem. 

Being a Cubs fan in 2016 is admitting failure. And that's why it's happening. It feels like the past is finally in the past. The curses, the chokes, the jokes - they don't matter. Even if they don't win this year, it seems inevitable now that they'll win in the next five years. The words "Cubs," "inevitable," and "win" have never gone together. Yet now they do. I can't do common core math. My son knows this. He's teaching me - I'm not faking it anymore.

It's happening.

---