Like I said, I wouldn't call it a "curse". The implication of a curse is that some supernatural force is at play.

_________________
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 water supply, soil conditions, the earth's magnetic pull, celery salt.

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I don't remember half the time if I'm hiding or I'm lost

So, if Alou's relative futility in the playoffs that year was due to some undefined "pressure," what accounts for Eric Karros setting the world on fire and hitting way above his averages? I guess the pressure only affects some people?

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His numbers in the 97 WS for Florida and the 03 NLCS are comparable. He got pissed in the heat of the moment. Its not his fault Gonzalez couldn't turn a double play.

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Certainly it affects some people more than others. And as you mentioned, the samples are so small we can't really be sure if it was pressure or not. May the team just had a bad week.

I'm just telling you I'll be shocked if the Cubs win, and anyone who has felt that way has been right for the last 108 years.

_________________
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

_________________
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

If you don't think they can win the WS in THIS season, just say why. If the only reason is because of the uniform they wear, then you are being irrational. I agree that there are multiple reasons why they may not win. Bad performances against great pitchers and poor hitting with guys on base. I don't think the reason they wont win is because they haven't won in the past.

Casinos make billions on guys thinking exactly like this because that type of thinking is wrong.

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Well said.

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There is no human factor in casino gambling. There are simply percentages that will grind the player up.

Players don't lose championships. Organizations lose championships.

_________________
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

too busy FOCUSINGGG,,,...

The fact of the matter is that "Cub pressure" is a completely unprovable hypothesis and, as such, it's really a circular argument. I could say that the White Sox are historically bad because the hookers and drug dealers around the park hurt morale, but I couldn't prove it so it doesn't matter.

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It doesn't matter because it's a faulty premise. White Sox aren't historically bad. That would be the Cubs. Sox are just bad.

_________________
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

You realize the White Sox went 90 years without a World Series win, right?

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Yes. Do you understand what the term historically bad means?

_________________
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

tallest midget award?

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Ба́бушка гада́ла, да на́двое сказа́ла—то ли до́ждик, то ли снег, то ли бу́дет, то ли нет.

Except the White Sox aren't "historically bad". They had seventeen straight winning seasons in the 50s and 60s, were one of the best teams in baseball throughout the 90s, and then there's 2005.

Just because something cannot be proven doesn't mean it doesn't exist. There is 108 years of evidence staring us in the face.

_________________
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

Isn't that your reason for believing managers don't matter? That even if it's true, it's not quantifiable?

And there are not 108 years of evidence staring us in the face that Cubs players had more "pressure." There is simply 108 years without a World Series title and thousands of variables that could or could not play into it.

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A vast majority of those 108 years the Cub were a poorly run organization. I don't think there's much more to it than that.

None of the NL teams the Cubs will face particularly scare me . I just think they'll find a way to lose.

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Proud member of the white guy grievance committee

It aint the six minutes. Its what happens in those six minutes.

It's not that I think managers don't matter. I know I've said that and I'm sure I've explained that it's just shorthand for saying that you never know how a guy is going to fit a team. Ventura is the same guy as he was when they had that surprising winning season his first year. And Jimmy Leyland was under .500 for most of his career. The effect a manager has is negligible. Joe Maddon is considered great, but there are real quantifiable stats that show his bullpen management is average at best. Maybe that doesn't matter because he has won a lot of games. If players play well a manager looks good.

_________________
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

We may see mass suicides if the cubs don't win it this year.

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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!

not Hank !

That sucks.

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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!

http://www.espn.com/mlb/playoffs2015/st ... b-playoffs

Cake walk.

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Rick Hahn is the best GM in baseball.

IMU = good cubs fan

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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!

I did say when the sox fans were hailing their early success that they would nosedive and come back to mediocrity and even predicted they would fall below .500 and predicted the exact week it would happen. But I thought the pretenders (not contenders) would rebound a bit and finish a couple games over .500 But I was spot on, predicting their fall, as Sox fans were claiming they were contenders and thinking they might join the Cubs as a playoff team.

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Go Cubs!!!!

Too many years I have seen the Cubs operate very similarly to the manner in which the Sox have in the past several years. They tried signing older, 2nd tier free agents, trying to catch lightning in a bottle after yet another bullshit patchwork job by the GM. Theo did it very differently, by trading established players for younger prospects and using great draft choices (while tanking) wisely, to sign difference making young players. He's signed a couple free agents that are easy to be critical of (Jackson and Heyward), but has made far more good moves than mistakes.

Yeah, wait till next year.......it might be as great as this year and end in a Championship as this one may yet. it's nice to know that this season is just the beginning of a sustained period of excellence.

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Go Cubs!!!!