"MLB Playoffs: Cubs Go Home; Brewers Stay"

Today was a heartbreaking day for the Chicago Cubs... they lost Game 3 of the divisional playoffs to the Los Angeles Dodgers. Yes, for the second straight year, the Cubs were swept in the first round. Not good. Especially for the best team in the National League. They won a league-high 97 games this season (seven more than the Brewers), beat up on the Crew whenever they played each other, and clinched the Central Division title with ease. Yeah, they were THAT good.

However, this will be yet another season in which the Cubs fall short of a championship title. They haven't been to the World Series since 1945.

The Brewers on the other hand -- the scrappy underdogs of the National League -- are still clawing their way through the first round against the Philadelphia Phillies. They lost their first two games (best-of-five series), but came back to win today with a very well-played contest. They stay alive, and play again tomorrow in front of another sold-out hometown crowd. If they win, they play a decisive Game 5. If they lose, they go too go home. The forecast is hard to tell at this point.

Earlier in the season, the Cubs were the team favored to do well into the Playoffs. The Brewers were predicted to fizzle out before even getting there. But, surprises abound, and here we are... three games in. The Cubs have been swept, and the Brewers play Game 4. The critics have been proved wrong; it's the Brewers who lasted longer.

I do feel for my rival fans to the south, though, I really do. However, I also find great vindication in being a life-long Brewers fan (even through the crappy years). This year we have a young team, an extremely fan-friendly team (one player even bought 5,000 tickets last week, and, as a thank-you, gave them away for free on the team website!), and we have a team determined to give this city it's first successful postseason since 1982. Even if we don't force a Game 5 with Philadelphia, this'll still have been a miracle season -- and one worth talking about for years to come.

These scrappy young underdogs don't get to win the glory very often. But this year -- 2008 -- this is the exception. This year we're good. This year we made it into the Playoffs. And this year we were better than the best team in the National League! That, my friends, is pretty darn cool!

"Hardy, Brewers stave off elimination with NLDS win"

"Wait 'til next year, again: Cubs eliminated by LA"

-Jon
posted by Jon at 11:45 PM  I   I  0 comments