Week 3: More of the Same

Alright, we get it. You're struggling. Why? The pitching has been a little inconsistent but not terrible. Rich Hill has been lights out so far. But it's time to get it together. Nobody, least of all the Cubs, can afford to dig themselves into too big a hole to start the season. Comebacks aren't really the Cubs style anyway. Two things stick out so far. The Cubs still aren't scoring runs, which is inexcusable with this lineup and the salaries that come with it. The other thing is that they are giving away close games. By my count, today is the sixth game they've lost by one run- the third in extra innings. That's the difference right now between being 13-6 and being 7-12. Sooner or later it's gotta turn around.

A friend of mine texted me this weekend that he was at Wrigley. I was jealous, but the game was on TV here along with the Bulls playoff game. Both teams won- a Red-letter day for Chicago sports.

Soriano's coming back and moving to left and it looks like Pie, who showed flashes of brilliance but didn't hit particularly well, will be sent back down to the minors to hone his skills a bit longer. That may not be such a bad thing considering the Cubs' depth at outfield. I'm still waiting for Matt Murton to bust out and have a huge couple of games. The redhead's got potential.

I finally hit up a handful of the bars I heard were likely to have Cubs fans in L.A. and was pleasantly surprised. Check out the
website for more. There's Old Style involved.

Week 2: Neither Sleet nor Snow

There are times when I'm very glad to be out of Chicago. This week was one of those times. Snow in April? Really? It's not like I haven't seen it before, but it still always surprises me. The Cubs had a game cancelled at Wrigley against the Astros this past week on account of snow, and the way they've been playing, it was probably for the best. It's still only the second week of the season of course, but where's the offense? A lineup with Alfonso Soriano, Derek Lee, Aramis Ramirez, Michael Barrett ought to be lighting up the old school scoreboard.

As should have been expected however, Alfonso Soriano is injured. It's reportedly not too serious though, and his absence gave us a chance today to have a look at outstanding prospect Felix Pie. Pie is lightning fast and seems to have a killer instinct. He was thinking three right out of the box on his first and only hit in his first game against the Padres. That's nice to see. Also nice to see was a rocket of a throw from center to nail a potential winning run at the plate. Pie surely has a bright future with whatever team the Cubs inevitably trade him to a few years down the road.

That's about where the good stuff ends. I finally got a chance to watch a full game today, and it was a nightmare. WGN carried it and I watched and hoped patiently for 14 innings only to see the Dubs blow it at the end. They went through nearly the entire rotation just to lose the game. I can feel Lou's anger intensifying. Bases will fly- dirt will be kicked if the northsiders don't start to pick it up. Hurry back Alfonso.

-Geoff Rynex

Week 1: Eh...not so much

The season is finally underway! We've got Lou Piniella at the helm and Alfonso Soriano in center. In the spirit of optimism we'll forgive the slow start. Soriano is bound to catch fire at some point. The guy hit 46 homers last year on a terrible team with no one around him for opposing pitchers to fear. Zambrano will be alright too. It's just early season jitters.

Look at it this way- they aren't getting our hopes up too high like usual. By this time last year they were already streaking to the division lead. Then Derek Lee ran into a second basemen that was supposed to be playing for us and fractured his wrist. Hey, we're Cubs fans. It's nothing new right? The onion had some fun at the Cubs expense last year in this article. Really, it's priceless satire. So maybe a 3-3 beginning to the season is just what the Cubs need. There are a lot of new faces out there and a whole lot of games to go.

On the L.A. front, my Comcast sportsnet has been blacking the games out and WGN just doesn't carry as many as it used to. I'd better start looking for bars with massive sattelite packages. Anyone?

If all else fails, we have some quality Lou Piniella temper tantrums to look forward to. He's the Jim Mora of baseball- ""Playoffs?! Playoffs?!?! I just hope we can win a game"

-Geoff Rynex

An Introduction

My name is Geoff Rynex, and I am a Chicago Cubs fan. Have been my entire life. I grew up cheering on Andre Dawson, Ryne Sandberg, Shawon Dunston and Jerome Walton at the side of my grandfather. By the time my grandfather was born, the Cubs had already stretched their World Series drought to 16 years. 83 years later, neither my grandfather, grandmother, mother or I have seen the Cubs win one- and yet we remain. There's something magical about the team. There's something magical about the place- Wrigley Field, tucked away in a north side neighborhood, old, comfortable, exciting, grand... brick.

The purpose of this blog will be to record thoughts, occurrences and findings by me as a Cubs fan living in Los Angeles. I'll talk a bit about what it's like to be a Cubs fan abroad, as so many of us are and I'm going to do my best to find places where Cubs fans outside of Chicago can feel at home outside of the friendly confines. Also, there will be complaining- hopefully not too much.

Coming up on 99 years now Cubs fans have justified their stubborn, and perhaps, misguided existence as fans through the simple belief that a bad day watching the Cubs get crushed is better than a good day doing just about anything else. All that is and has ever been good about baseball is manifested in the Cubs. They are classic. The hot dogs, beer, bleachers and summer weather (we almost never get to experience fall at Wrigley) all come together at Wrigley like no place else.

Being a Cubs fan is an experience unlike any other in sports. Cub fans bond over their collective misery. You can find them everywhere. No matter how bad the team is or how fast they fall out of contention, people still love them. No one gets fed up. It's an extreme and interminable test of loyalty- a torch passed on through the generations, many of which have been born and died within the span of the Cubs drought.

We've come so close so many times, only to experience wrenching heartbreak each time. We saw them blow a 9 1/2 game lead in mid-August only to lose the division by 8 games. That season, while playing a Mets team that would eventually overtake them to win the division, Cub legend Ron Santo stood in the on-deck circle, waited for his turn at the plate and watched as a black cat- AN ACTUAL BLACK CAT- crossed his path on the field. Only the Cubs. We watched a routine ground ball trickle through sure-handed first basemen Leon Durham's legs to spark a loss in a decisive game of an NLCS. We saw a 3 games to 1 lead and a 3-0 game evaporate into an 8-run outburst in another NLCS thanks, fittingly, to a lifelong and overzealous fan trying to grab a souvenir. Of course we all know it started with a goat.

Still, through all the disastrous and seemingly impossible disappointment, the fans still love their Cubs. Attendance for home games is routinely among the highest in baseball and away games even usually see a high concentration of Cubs fans. The suffering is part of the charm. It just means it'll be all the sweeter when we finally win the big one. Whether that be this year or 100 more years from now, the fans will be there, cheering on their loveable losers. Hope springs eternal. This is proven beyond a shadow of a doubt by the unwavering optimism of Cubs fans. After all, there's always next year.