Get Out Your Sweep Brooms!

As I sit here 2 hours before game time writing this post, on the verge of winning a 4th straight game against possibly the worst team in the NL, I can't help but hope, and hope hard, that the Cubs can pull this one out and sweep this Marlins team. Why should I care so much about this battle for the basement? Because this Cubs team needs to feel what winning is like. Get used to it. And keep doing it.

The Cubs are to losing what the Yankees are to winning. We are the Lovable Losers. Fans entertain themselves at Wrigley Field whether we win or lose the ball game. We have just as much fun, or at least I do, making fun of this team losing, as reveling in the wins. We have got to change that culture surrounding the team, And expect to win. The players need to do the same. Some of these kids on the team weren't born to watch the Cubs lose in 1984. Many of them were still in grade school in 2003. And there's no reason the Cubs past failures should reflect on the present team. It's all in our head. So lets keep it off the field. And even out of the stands.

I read a recent article where Andre Dawson, one of my boyhood heroes, was quoted as saying that the Cubs need to spend money to win. Everybody knows that. And he's disappointed that this major market team has a payroll half of the Yankees and Dodgers, and even less than the Whitesox. With so many fans nationwide, the Cubs draw well all over the country. Don't we deserve to watch some superstars play? Not to mention the Cubs have the 3rd highest ticket prices in the major leagues. Ricketts has 500 million to spend on a giant advertising screen and some renovations. But not enough dough to buy some decent players for the team. I for one will give them one more year for this "rebuilding" but next year, all bets are off. I want to win.

Andre Dawson and I are right about this. The Cubs need to spend to win. There is no reason they aren't contending now. And there is no reason they shouldn't contend every year. I think we are in the right track with these young guys. But it's hard to know. We spent some dough on Edwin Jackson. But he's been our 4th best starter so far. So of course it's not just about spending money, it's about spending it right. The Cubs have never done that too well. Think Sorianos contract. So we are gonna have to have faith in this wonder boy Theo Epstein. Should we?

Wouldn't it be great if we were buyers at trade deadline? Wouldn't it be great we could sweep the Marlins and Padres and get to .500? Wouldn't it be great if we made a run like the Pirates did last year with a team about the same caliber as our Cubbies?

Lets start by expecting to win. Every day.

Let's sweep dem fish!
Go Cubbies!