Rooting Against Cardinals Doesn’t Improve Cubs

October 16, 2014 @ admin → No Comments

Thursday thoughts (or about as close as we come to those things around here) while wondering whether there will be a parade or any sort of celebration in Wrigleyville after the next St. Louis Cardinals loss (provided that it comes against San Francisco):

A photo of Wendy Trent. Just because. Good enough reason for us.

* Rooting against a team to lose is not anywhere near as much fun as rooting for a team to win (and having the team win). A concept a fair number of Cubs fans might not be familiar with.

* Leadoff walks lead to trouble. The Cardinals found out Wednesday night. As if Cubs fans couldn’t have told them.

* Speaking of Cubs fans, having the Cardinals eliminated from the playoffs is about as close to postseason euphoria as they should expect for the next few seasons — unless, of course, just about every Cubs prospect turns out to be a legitimate big-league ballplayer and unless the Cubs actually go out and spend big bucks on top-tier talent (especially starting pitching). Stranger things actually have happened, but generally not things that actually help the Cubs.

* Speaking of the postseason, the Giants will continue their quest for a World Series crown in Missouri. The only question is whether the Giants, who took a 3-1 National League Championship Series lead with a 6-4 victory at home against the Cardinals, will be going to St. Louis or to Kansas City. The Royals beat Baltimore 2-1 to win their American League Championship Series 4-0. Meaning the teams with the top two won-lost records in the AL (Baltimore and Los Angeles Angels — both victims of the Royals undefeated postseason performance) will be at home, while the wild-card Royals will be in the Fall Classic for the first time since 1985.

* The Royals’ success means there is hope for small-market teams. So that should be some solace to Cubs and White Sox fans. Chicago isn’t a small market? Merely a city with two teams that seem to act like they are.

* If it’s any consolation to Sox fans (and it possibly might be to some), Ned Yost would seem proof positive about the value of a major-league manager. They generally don’t matter a whole lot — if the players perform they way they are expected to.

* Speaking of Sox fans, former Sox catcher A.J. Pierzynski had a run-scoring single in the Cardinals’ defeat. Plus a little theatrics when he was hit in the head by a Giants batter’s backswing. Still the same, old lovable A.J. OK, not necessarily lovable. But generally entertaining.

* NBA stars LeBron James and Dirk Nowitzki say the regular season should be shorter. They do realize that if that were to occur, their paychecks would be smaller, right? Unless they think their income should stay at current levels, while team revenues would be reduced.

* Speaking of shrinking, the Boston Celtics and Brooklyn Nets are scheduled to play a game that will be 44 minutes rather than the regular 48 minutes. This is not exactly the way to shorten the season. Maybe the reasoning behind this experiment is to appeal to the short-attention-span fan. Because 12-minute quarters are soooooo long, and 11-minute quarters would be … 11 minutes. A 60-second difference? That’s a solution to what exactly?

* If the NBA really wanted to make the season seem shorter (at least to the players), it would eliminate back-to-back contests.

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