I'm Not Ready For This

For months I've been looking forward to October. Since May, when the Cubs looked like they were going to be the real thing this summer, I've had October 1st circled. For those of you who know me, I've dubbed 2008 "The Year of Sami." I think I may have alluded to this idea in an earlier article, but if not I'll clue you in now. The year started with the Giants winning the Super Bowl on February 3rd, then Chelsea finally made the jump to the Champions League Final in May. I graduated college, got a real job, and a decent car. The Cubs have been fuego, and look like one of the best teams in baseball. Now everything is coming to a head. The Giants are widely thought of as one of the best teams in football. Chelsea look like Brazil 1970 reincarnate, and the Chicago Cubs' magic number is down to 2. Carlos Zambrano just threw a no-hitter. They will probably clinch this weekend IN St. Louis (what more could we ask for in this, the Year of Sami).

Well, as glorious as all this sounds, I'm not ready. I'm simply not ready to face what October means. I'm not ready for the stress of playoff baseball. I'm not ready for the potential collapse of the Chicago Cubs. And I am definitely not ready for a meltdown ala 2003. ESPECIALLY if it comes at the hands of the New York Mets. There is nothing I fear more than the potential of playing the Metsies in the NLCS, and losing, and having to watch the fans celebrate everywhere around me. It would ruin and destroy everything the Year of Sami (YoS) has stood for. My personal opinion, and I'm absolutely convinced of this, is that everything will spiral out of control around the same time. The Giants are playing a cupcake schedule until the end of October when they go to Pittsburgh. I have a nagging feeling that that game will just happen to come around the same time as the latest Cubbie catastrophy.

The thing that is painful about baseball is that there is no real middle ground. Unless you're the Twins or A's, there is no moral victory just for making the playoffs, or for advancing to the Championship Series. It's not like football or basketball where there is round after round, and there is something to be said about advancing. In baseball, it doesn't really matter what you do unless you win the Series. I just don't know if Cubs fans can handle another failed year. Playoff baseball is nice, but I'd rather go 70-92 than lose in the NLCS or World Series. I physically and mentally cannot handle that this year. It would just put such a damper on what's been an otherwise great year in my life. There was no real rhyme or reason to this article, just a few things I felt I needed to put out there. These are the random thoughts that circle my head at work, two weeks before the biggest month in my sporting life.