North: Will Cubs win it all? 5 pros and cons
OK, OK, enough already with Chicago Cubs mania!
This is your old buddy Mike North telling everyone from the fans to the media — slow it down a little.
Even the more measured guys, like Jarrett Payton, are excited. I was on his “Sports Feed” show on CLTV recently and he was exuberant about the Cubs' chances.
I explained to the audience that Chicagoans have traveled this road several times before and come up empty.
With the baseball season now underway, I have decided to show a new side of me to Chicago! I will now be the voice of reason … no more shoot from the hip. MEASURED is my new M.O., and I am going to calm everyone down a bit.
Yes, we can all be excited, but let's slow the car down to at least 160 MPH. The positives first (I told you I was making a change).
• The team has good ownership and management.
• They have great talent and are hungry to succeed.
• They are led by a top-notch manager.
• They have a rabid fan base.
• The players are believers and don't seem intimidated by the ghosts of past.
So next stop — a World Series, right? Well, not so fast. Let's talk about some reasons to be cautious:
• This team is the hunted. The rest of the league is on high alert and it doesn't help they are being touted by just about everyone.
• It's possible that their talent overachieved last year.
• As good of a job Joe Maddon did managing this team in his first season (97-65), he still doesn't have a World Series trophy. Is he the next Joe Torre, who won four World Series titles? Or the next Gene Mauch, who was a great manager but never won?
• The New York Mets have the best pitching in the league.
• Expectations. Oh yes, that can hurt you sometimes.
I was a vendor for the Cubs in 1969 and I told my parents I would be working the playoff games in October and school would just have to wait.
Well, I am still waiting. Then 1984 was the year with Rick Sutcliffe, Ryne Sandberg and Bobby Dernier. We were so sure until we weren't.
Then in 2003 general manager Jim Hendry and the boys came so close, but they blamed a fan for their collapse.
When I say to take it slow, it's for our own good.
I saw an advertisement for a Cubs stained glass window with a light. Why a light? Because the sun just doesn't shine every single day and might not for the Cubs this season either.
My mother is 86 and asked me what I thought of the Cubs winning it all this year. I said, “It looks good.”
She said, “Well time is getting short and I'd like to see it before I turn 100!”
Program notes:
Follow me on Twitter@ north2north, and listen to Fox Sports Daybreak with Andy Furman and myself from 5-8 a.m. Monday through Friday on Fox Sports radio, and check me out on iHeart radio or Foxsportsradio.com.
• North's column appears each Tuesday and Friday in the Daily Herald, and his video commentary can be found Monday, Wednesday and Thursday at dailyherald.com. For more, visit northtonorth.com.