Because I was born and raised in the Chicago area, I still peruse the online suburban newspaper; I guess it’s to get my news “fix” because let’s face it – good news is boring.  The more serious or tragic the news, the more interesting it is, and my local daily newspaper just doesn’t do it for me – I mean, local news is interesting, but not in the same way.  So lately as I’ve been reading Chicago news, I couldn’t help but notice these all over the place:

So what is the deal?  What is Year 1?  It’s no secret that the Chicago Cubs are under the new management team of the Ricketts family this year, so I’m sure it has something to  do with that.  And it’s an unfortunate reality that the Chicago Cubs are also the team in baseball to have been without a World Series title the longest…  so I guess management figures that maybe if they just reset time altogether and start from the beginning, the Cubs might have a shot this year.  Two or three months from now, we will have a clearer outlook as to how the “new” team can really play.  But what if the Cubs go nowhere this year, and we fans find ourselves chanting our infamous October mantra, “Maybe next year…” – what then?  Will 2011 be Year 2?  Let’s hope we don’t have to find out.  GO CUBBIES!

With NINE STRAIGHT WINS, the Chicago Cubs are the HOTTEST team in baseball right now!  I am ecstatic about this and just had to make a remark or two.  So I’m sorry to my friends who follow MLB, choosing instead to support franchises other than the Cubs – I don’t know how your teams are doing, and I don’t mean to rub it in about how incredibly awesome the Cubs are this year, but these days, “How about those Cubs?” is not just a conversation starter, it’s a question being asked by baseball fanatics, Cubs fans, Chicagoans, and probably anyone who has ever heard of the Cubs, their ‘loveable losers’ nickname, and their awesome 2008 baseball skills.  Gone are the days it seems when the Cubs were the laughing stock of baseball; the “maybe next year” mantra and when an 8-0 deficit in a game meant certain disaster for my favorite team.  The other day, they were able to turn an 8-0 losing game into a 10-9 WIN over the Rockies!  Honestly, the Cubs have never been known for great comebacks in a game, and this was no fluke – that game was followed by 2 more games where the Cubs came from behind to save the game and declare wins for themselves.  Then again, rallies are nothing new to Cubs’ manager, Lou Piniella – no manager in history has managed more eight-run comebacks.

So could 2008 be the year for the Cubs?  Could 100, a whole century, be the magic number of years us Cubs fans have had to wait for another World Series win?  That remains to be seen, of course, it is only June, but keep this in mind: according to the Elias Sports Bureau, the last time the Cubs had the best record in baseball entering June was 1908, the year they last won the World Series.  Coincidence or fate?  We will find out come October – I know I will be glued to the Cubs website until then!

How about those Cubs?!?