Going for the Green: Some Cubs fans are living in a fantasy land

Let’s get this straight from the start — I’m a Chicago Cubs fan. It’s not anything like my love for Iowa State —that’s always at the top of the list — but if I’m going to cheer for a professional sports team, it’s going to be the Cubs. I’m not a veteran Cubs fan by any means, but my heart has been broken by the northsiders enough to know to keep expectations low in the postseason, if they’re in it. This past season, I knew the Cubs were doing rather well, but I didn’t pay that much attention. It doesn’t matter how you start a season, it’s how you finish. And this past season for the Cubs finished rather disastrously. The Cubs flopped in the first round, being promptly swept by a mediocre Los Angeles Dodgers team. The Dodgers had the least amount of wins of any team entering the postseason. But the Cubs were at fault when it came to why they weren’t moving on — scoring just six runs in three games, hitting .240 as a team (Alfonso Soriano was just 0.71) and Dodgers starting pitchers combined for a 1.00 ERA in 19 innings. All of those pathetic numbers helped continue the streak of last winning a World Series to 100 years, and counting. This continued as a cursed city, Philadelphia, won its first title in 25 years. It was the longest wait of any 13 metropolitan areas in the United States with all four major sports teams. Since their last title, Philadelphia had to endure 9,029 games, 47 postseason teams and seven title game failures. Now, you’re probably wondering why I’m bringing up all this pain and suffering for Cubs fans in December? Well, a guy from Ames named Rick Brimeyer has written a book about this season, but with a strange twist. It’s a fictional account of the 2008 season, with the Cubs winning it all titled “Every Hundred Years ... A Typical Cubs Fan Chronicles an Atypical Season.” Really? Is this what it’s come to for Cubs fans? I’ll give credit to Brimeyer for one thing — he’s writing the book for a good cause. His brother-in-law has been battling Multiple Myeloma, a cancer of the plasma cell, and Brimeyer is donating proceeds of book sales to his cause. I commend him for doing something like that, but I just feel like the book topic is a silly idea. A fictional book with the Cubs winning the World Series? Come on. I’m kind of at a loss for words. It just doesn’t make any sense to me. I might just buy it as a joke, but it’s really a waste of paper. I know we live in a world where self-gratification and feeling good is king, but let’s face it — the Cubs didn’t win the World Series and won’t for at least another year. Get over it. So, when Iowa State blew chances for Big 12 North Championships in 2004 and 2005, I should have written a fictional tale on Iowa State beating Missouri and Kansas those years, and shocking the Big 12 in the title game? It just seems absurd to me that you’d even write a book about this. I was upset for about a day after the Cubs lost — I’d kind of prepared myself that the inevitable would happen — and then I moved on. It’s what you do as a Cubs fan — you wait for next year. With a streak of 100 years since a World Series title, what else can you do? I guess write a fictional book? What’s next — the movie?