Little Blue Bear's and a Wall of Green Ivy

Many will read this blog title and wonder what I've been smokin' today.

When you find out that today's blog is devoted to my beloved Chicago Cubs you'll really start to wonder what I'm smokin'. Yes, I am one of the millions of baseball fans out there who have given their heart to luckless wonders from the Windy City.

For as long as I have loved baseball (which has been the majority of my 28 years) the Chicago Cubs have been the focus of my passion. Sure I've shared some of that love with other teams like the Cleveland Indians and Toronto Blue Jays but never with the same kind of zest that I've bestowed upon the Cubbies.

Recently I've read a few articles about the trials and tribulations of the south-siders. Now that the Red Sox have ended their World Series drought the Cubs have been thrust into the lovable loser spotlight to an even greater degree than ever before. Having gone some 97 years between World Series victories in one of the greatest baseball cities will do that to a franchise.

I'm sure that there are just as many people who have given up on cheering for the Cubs as there are those who still pledge allegiance to the team that has a harder time getting lucky than the 40-year old virgin (which looks like a very funny movie btw).

This season has been no different as it looks like the Cubs will go through another 162 games with virtually nothing to show for it. Barring a major hot streak over the last 7-8 weeks of the regular season the Cubbies chances of earning the wild-card spot seem pretty slim. No way will they catch the St.Louis Cardinals despite taking 3 of 4 games from the rival Cards this weekend.

And yet there is still a sense of hope that perhaps something will click and the Cubs will make a magical run for the last playoff spot and then turn in a Florida Marlins-esque Cinderella run in the playoffs. If that should happen the first thing that should be done is the first 5 rows of seats along either baseline should be taken out so that another Steve Bartman incident doesn't occur.

The pieces are there for the Cubs to compete. Derrick Lee, Aramis Ramirez, Nomar, Prior, Wood, Zambrano and Maddux. Trying to answer the question of why this team can't put it all together is like trying to figure out how they get the caramel inside the Caramilk bar.

Injuries, bad luck, goats, Bartman's, whatever it is, something continues to work against this team.

I continue to hold out hope though that one day Cubs fans everywhere will be rewarded for their patience by an historical run in the playoffs capped off by a deliciously sweet World Series victory. Against who? It doesn't really matter. Although it would be nice to see us beat the Yankees or Red Sox, but it really doesn't matter.

And so continues the plight of a Cubs fan. Forever cursed to walk this earth (ala the Incredible Hulk) wondering when our pain will be eased. Maybe it's not that the Cubs and their fans are unlucky. Maybe it's just that we're all nuts.