Fool me once, shame on you ...
The Chicago Cubs have become another sitcom that has "jumped the shark."
Just as TV's "Happy Days" lost its hold on viewers when it stooped to an episode where Fonzie and his motorcycle vow to jump a shark tank, the Cubs have run out of losing scenarios and simply reran that sad finale from last year when Fonzie and the Cubs' other big hitters go into the tank for the playoffs.
The greatest Cubs team in a generation, the one that finally was going to end the 100-year drought and drive a stake through the heart of all those curses, got swept by the L.A. Dodgers - a sorry franchise berated by announcers for not winning a World Series since way back in 1988.
Cubs seasons, like "Gilligan's Island" episodes, always have the same outcome, but in previous years, the crushing losses were fresh. There was the 1969 episode when the Cubs collection of three Hall-of-Famers, a handful of All-Stars and the heel-clicking Ron Santo ran out of steam in Shea Stadium with the appearance of a black cat. There was the one where Babe Ruth called his shot in 1932. There was the goat jinx of 1945. There was Leon Durham's gaffe in 1984. There was the monumental choke of 2003. All of them with their own perverse charm.
But Episode 2008 was a rerun of 2007. Sure, the Cubs (like many failing sitcoms) added a new character from Japan and made the starting pitcher and the closer change roles, but the same cast put on the same show. The hitters didn't hit (Say it ain't so, Alfonso). The pitchers weren't sharp. The fielders lost their edge.
Fans who truly believed "This is the year" and "It's gonna happen," now aren't so sure next year will ever come or anything good will ever happen. Wile E. Coyote never did catch that roadrunner, you know.
"I don't believe I will ever go through another season with optimism and high expectations," longtime Cubs fan Debra Hruby of Wheaton says while mourning this latest debacle. "No matter how sunny it is in the bleachers, no matter how hard the wind is blowing out, no matter home many times I see the W flag go up after a game, I think my hopes will always be reined in by the memory of 2008."
For writer/lawyer Bruce Steinberg, 50, of St. Charles, the answer is simple.
"The problem with the Cubs? No matter how good a team they have, they are still the Cubs," Steinberg writes. He does, however, come up with a new plot twist by predicting a season, maybe 2057, when Carlos Zambrano's granddaughter will be the ace of the staff.
Comparing the Cubs to the Titanic, longtime Cubs fan Don Mitroff is ready for new owners, a new skipper and a new crew.
"Playoff icebergs have taught this Cubs fan a lesson far too well," Mitroff e-mails. "Wait till next year? I say no. This year was enough. I've had enough. Cast away. Cast away."
Even though he was "embarrassed" by the latest of the four Cubs playoff disasters he has witnessed in his short life, 12-year-old Kevin Riemer of Wheaton embodies the spirit of youth.
"I do see them winning, either next year or the year after that, as long as they keep the same players and they keep Lou Piniella," Kevin says. "You've gotta believe that they can go all the way."
Apparently, that is what we Cubs fans do.