There is no curse. If they lose it will be because they couldn't hit with RiSP. Playoffs are crazy, I'm just excited that its here.

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Steve didn't mention that he thought the sox would have a winning record.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

That's belief in a curse. There's no other way to look at it.

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no

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Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

Yes, it absolutely is. Belief that the past affects the present nothing more than superstition. It's akin to saying that someone is "due" for a hit (aka the gambler's fallacy). JORR doesn't really believe that, anyway. He knows that in any given year, saying that one team won't win it all has about an 85% success rate.

But yeah, what he described is belief in a curse or a superstition because it has no logical or mathematical basis.

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It definitely doesn't have to be tied to a superstitious belief, and saying so is plainly wrong. Whether it's logical or not, it's hard to blame someone for looking at it and saying well, they haven't won in 108 years. Probably not gonna this year either.

_________________
Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

They're probably not going to win it this year because they are one team out of 12. The fact that they haven't won in the past has ZERO to do with it; this is a fact. However, if you believe that the 1969 Cubs outcome impacts this year's team, then you absolutely believe in a superstition.

superstition: a belief or notion, not based on reason or knowledge, in or of the ominous significance of a particular thing, circumstance, occurrence, proceeding, or the like.

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Yeah, you're just wrong here. It's possible to be irrational without believing in curses.

_________________
Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

So, you agree that the belief that past outcomes have any bearing on a completely different team is irrational, correct?

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http://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/201 ... edictions/

Smooth sailing, boys!

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Rick Hahn is the best GM in baseball.

For the most part, but I think you're misrepresenting jorrs opinion. I believe JORR has said in the past that he believes the history can create doubt in the minds of current players and adversely affect them. I don't know if I agree with that, but it's different than saying the Cubs are going to lose BECAUSE they have always lost.

_________________
Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

Yes, however, there may be common factors among the 1969 team, the 2003 team, the 1957 team, etc. and the current team that make it near impossible for them to win.

_________________
Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Matthew, Tulsi, and Don

Well, I don't know what he's said in the past, but what he said in this thread was "because it's the Cubs." Pretty hard not to draw the conclusion that he thinks there is some common theme that keeps the Cubs from winning, and I don't see how you wouldn't call that a "curse." There's clearly no rational explanation for thinking that they're going to lose just BECAUSE they're the Cubs. If it is the belief that the current players will get nervous because of past Cubs teams, that's nonsense. These guys likely aren't even aware of all the Cubs history.

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And what would those factors be? Wrigley Field? The fan base? Singing "Take me out to the ballgame"?

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Come on! The main narrative of this postseason is going to be whether Water-Walkin' Theo can break a second curse.

_________________
Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Matthew, Tulsi, and Don

I think you're projecting. That doesn't matter to them. These things are deep-rooted for you and me and Chicago fans. They aren't for kids who grew up in Vegas playing semi-professionally at age 12.

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The schizophrenic ballpark and heavier schedule of day games may be good things to look at to start with. Maybe the childlike uniforms drain a man's power. I don't know. But 108 years years is a long time. You'd think they'd have gotten lucky some time in there.

_________________
Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Matthew, Tulsi, and Don

It's like a broken record with the fuckin' Cubs. Every time they have a decent team, the players claim they know nothing about the past and it doesn't effect them. After they inevitably lose, a couple guys will usually say something like, "There was more pressure because of the history." I'm looking for more of the same. I actually think to expect otherwise is irrational.

_________________
Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Matthew, Tulsi, and Don

The players aren't aware of the history?

_________________
Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

Not necessarily. Baseball is the one sport where this could easily happen, IMO. I mean, you have the Red Sox and White Sox not far behind. The Cubs are just the last holdout, but the Sox were at least close to 100 years, right? And the Red Sox were, too. I don't think it's that big of an anomaly in a sport that has so much variance in small sample sizes.

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More pressure in what? The NLDS? The NLCS? How could there possibly be more pressure? If they've ever said that, it's an excuse. There couldn't possibly be any "more" pressure than what they and the other team are already facing on a national stage.

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Well, on the one hand Cub fans love to point out how the Cubs are a grand "heritage" franchise, a charter member of the National League and a "national team". It just so happens that that same franchise hasn't won a championship in anyone's lifetime. Are you saying that there isn't more pressure when that's one of the main story lines for them and no one else?

_________________
Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Matthew, Tulsi, and Don

That's exactly what I'm saying. There's diminishing returns on "pressure." If you're already playing in the playoffs on a national stage, I don't buy that playing for the Cubs adds more "pressure." Kris Bryant isn't going to strike out with men on base in the 8th because the Cubs have historically sucked.

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If the pressure is the reason why the Cubs will lose, why don't the Astros, Padres, Mariners (or any other number of less popular franchises) just kick ass in the playoffs every year. You don't think the Yankees teams feel pressure in the playoffs? You have to live up to the standards of a franchise that has the most titles and some of the best to ever play the game...

Every player in 2016 feels the pressure to win the World Series this postseason. Some players will handle it better than others. The fact that you have a Cubs logo on your hat does not make you more susceptible to crumbling under the pressure.

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Probably true. He's done that all year anyway.

_________________
Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Matthew, Tulsi, and Don

the pressure may exceed the pleasure here

I think when guys put on that Yankee uniform they expect to win. The Yankees have a mystique. They're actually the anti-Cubs. The first time a Cub player makes a mistake, it's gonna be like "Here we go again". You'll be watching thinking that and don't think for one second the guys on that field aren't gonna be having the same kind of thoughts.

_________________
Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Matthew, Tulsi, and Don

Cubs fans probably do. I can pretty much guarantee the players don't. Do you realize that in 2003, Addison Russell was nine years old and living in Florida?

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So you believe in the curse then?

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Yeah, and in 1969 Moises Alou was three years old and his uncle was a big league All-Star. That didn't stop him from melting down under the playoff pressure in Wrigley Field 34 years later.

_________________
Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Matthew, Tulsi, and Don