Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

I like you, you’re my kind of trouble.

“Jesus paying for the sins of everyone is an insult to those who paid for their own sins.”

We’ve had enough carrots to last a lifetime. break out the sticks.

No offense, but this thread hasn’t been about you for quite a while.

I see no possible difficulties whatsoever with this fool-proof plan.

Spilling the end game before they can coat it in frankl luntz-approved dogwhistles.

The poor and middle-class pay taxes, the rich pay accountants, the wealthy pay politicians.

Republicans don’t trust women.

Republican obstruction dressed up as bipartisanship. Again.

Come on, man.

Historically it was a little unusual for the president to be an incoherent babbling moron.

A snarling mass of vitriolic jackals

I’d like to think you all would remain faithful to me if i ever tried to have some of you killed.

Come on, media. you have one job. start doing it.

Stop using mental illness to avoid talking about armed white supremacy.

The worst democrat is better than the best republican.

But frankly mr. cole, I’ll be happier when you get back to telling us to go fuck ourselves.

I’ve spoken to my cat about this, but it doesn’t seem to do any good.

Our job is not to persuade republicans but to defeat them.

Nothing worth doing is easy.

The willow is too close to the house.

Make the republican party small enough to drown in a bathtub.

Second rate reporter says what?

Some judge needs to shut this circus down soon.

You are here: Home / Open Threads / Let’s Go, Cubbies!

Reader Interactions

212Comments

  13. 13.

    Catherine D.

    Choke, Cubs, choke! Hey Chicago whaddya say, the
    cubs are gonna choke today.

    (I don’t care about sports, but after spending 12 years in Chicago, I hate the Flubbies)

  15. 15.

    Mnemosyne

    I’m doing all of the Cubs fans a favor and ignoring this series since, every time I pay attention, they lose.

    You’re welcome, Chicago.

  18. 18.

    Betty Cracker

    Ambulatory cream cheese sculpture Hugh Hewitt is an obnoxiously ostentatious Cleveland fan. If I wasn’t already rooting for the Cubs, I’d do so just in hopes that that translucent shithead would see his team go down in flames and then his candidate pummeled shortly thereafter!

  21. 21.

    eclare

    Since one of the topics is Open Thread, putting this question to the hive: has anyone given their dog Trazadone for anxiety? I lost a dog to cancer about a month and a half ago, and my other dog is having some real issues being at home while I am at work. I’ve always crated her (wow, she is destructive) so it’s not that, I’m thinking she’s missing her buddy. Started on it last night, and she is noticeably calmer, but I don’t want to turn her into a zombie. Anyone have any experience?

  22. 22.

    Villago Delenda Est

    The bottom line here is SOMEONE is going to end a very long (50 years plus!) drought in this WS.

  24. 24.

    Cacti

    Wrigley is like a cathedral of professional sports…

    If one likes their cathedrals to smell like stale urine.

  27. 27.

    chopper

    @Napoleon:

    and go redskins! also, I hear the Brooklyn Fightin’ Negroes are gonna go far this year.

    ETA: or should that be the Brooklyn Jew-boys? the Fightin’ Negroes moved to Atlanta.

  28. 28.

    redshirt

    I’m not sure who to root for. I like both teams.

    However, I hate Cubs ownership.
    On the other hand, I hate Cleveland’s mascot and team name.

    Decisions, decisions….

  31. 31.

    Mary in Ohio

    People can root for a team despite their racist as hell mascot. I do. I hope that someday the make a change but until then Go Indians!

  32. 32.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Betty Cracker:

    I have to say, my Chicago allegiance wobbled briefly and mildly this afternoon when I heard that Mike Pence is a Cubs fan. But I know a few asshole Braves fans, too. And even among Yankees fans . . . some, I assume, are good people.

  34. 34.

    Steve in the ATL

    @eclare: we gave it to golden #2 during thunderstorms after golden #1 died and was no longer there to comfort her. Definitely made her zombie-like though.

  35. 35.

    eclare

    @Betty Cracker: Thank you. It was sad, but was the right thing to do (cancer), and we had 7 great years together. But I think it has really affected my other dog.

  39. 39.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @SiubhanDuinne: Laura Ricketts is the renegade Dem in her crazy family, and I think her SIL (First Lady of Nebraska) recently announced she’s voting for Clinton. and Theo Epstein attended a Clinton fund raiser a couple weeks back.

  42. 42.

    eclare

    @Steve in the ATL: Yeah, I guess it will take some time to find the sweet spot of enough to keep her calm but not too much to knock her out. Right now she’s on the lowest dose, so there is that. Oh, and I should add before Trazodone, the vet prescribed Xanax, which had absolutely no effect.

  43. 43.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: Nebraska’s first lady is breaking with her husband — a Republican and Donald Trump supporter — to back Hillary Clinton for president.
    Susanne Shore, a registered Democrat, has donated $4,700 to Clinton’s campaign and $1,000 to the Hillary Victory Fund, The Lincoln Journal Star reported.

  47. 47.

    donnah

    Cincinnati Reds fan, but they sucked this year…again, so the other Ohio team is Cleveland. Go, inappropriately named sports guys! win for Ohio!

  49. 49.

    hueyplong

    @Betty Cracker: I have some degree of sympathy for fans of both teams, but your notation that the ACCS (Hewitt) is rooting for Cleveland resolves the issue. Go Cubs.

    Oh, wait. Is George Will a Cubs fan?

  52. 52.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    That doesn’t surprise me. I don’t care about football, either collegiate or professional, but I would expect him to be a fan of his adopted home-town team.

    And even though he’s a Southsider and an admitted White Sox fan, I imagine he’s pretty psyched that the Cubs are in the World Series.

  54. 54.

    Steve in the ATL

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    And even though he’s a Southsider and an admitted White Sox fan, I imagine he’s pretty psyched that the Cubs are in the World Series.

    He better be, or I’m not voting for him again

  57. 57.

    Darkrose

    @redshirt: I was told here that it’s stupid to hate a team for their ownership.

    But I hate the Cubs owners. Of course, I hate the Cubs for many other reasons, since I’m a native South Sider and therefore a fan of the most recent Chicago baseball team to win a World Series (which the national media has conveniently forgotten), and now the fact that they have Aroldis Chapman on their team.

    At the same time, although I really do like some of the Cleveland players, especially Davis and Lindor (who is adorkable), and I don’t care at all that Cleveland beat the Warriors because the Warriors played poorly. But seeing Chief Wahoo on their uniforms makes me cringe. So I’m mostly meh about the Series this year.

    At least I can thank the Cubs for one thing. They beat the Giants, but they also beat the Dodgers, and if the Giants can’t win, I’m always happy to see the Dodgers lose.

  59. 59.

    Villago Delenda Est

    The worthless sack of offal that is Mrs. Greenspan is whining about “eeemails” again. Then she says Drumpf is “exploiting” concerns about the ACA. Drumpf couldn’t exploit the Fulda Gap with 10 armored divisions. He’s that pathetic.

  63. 63.

    Halffasthero

    Go Twins!

    I don’t have a horse in this race, quite obviously, but I have come to expect death, taxes and the Cubs not winning the world series. It feels like it has become part of the natural world order.

  64. 64.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Darkrose:

    the most recent Chicago baseball team to win a World Series (which the national media has conveniently forgotten)

    Yup. The same way they conveniently forget that the Atlanta Braves won the World Series against the Cleveland Indians in 1995. (I know they point out the Cinderella-underdog status of the Indians this year, but they never bother to mention the dominance of Atlanta, who were in the middle of an extraordinary run at the time.)

  68. 68.

    Mary G

    OMG, not Pete Rose too. At the risk of sounding like the old fart I am, I long for the days when whoever was playing and doing TV, we got Vin Scully and Sparky Anderson on the radio. That was a pair.

  73. 73.

    BruceFromOhio

    Hilarious thread, you kids are so cute.

    Flipping the teevee back and forth between Knicks/Cavaliers and Cubs/Indians. WTAM play caller Tom Hamilton is a full 30 seconds ahead of the Fox heads, and much more entertaining, so its easy to listen to the radidio while watching the Cavs, and flip over to watch the fastball strike-outs or crashing into the cage for a foul-ball out. First inning lit the place up, now its the slow erosion of Cubs batters by Klubers fastballs.

    Now the runners are gonna start fucking with Lester’s head, watch for Indians trying to steal.

    ETA: Sheeee-it, hit submit and it happens. Not doing that again.

  86. 86.

    Gravenstone

    @Schlemazel: Old man Ricketts tried to play it both ways. He was Never Trump, until he wasn’t. Just cheer for all the money he wasted both ways.

  91. 91.

    Steve in the ATL

    @Gravenstone:

    Fucking piece of shit ump. Call the same zone for both teams.

    Indeed. We Braves fans are having painful flashbacks of umpire Eric Gregg’s supersize strike zone for Livan Hernandez. That was bullshit.

  93. 93.

    Schlemazel

    @Gravenstone:
    I am not convinced there is a decent human anywhere among the ranks of professional sports team owners (yes, I have heard of Mr. Cuban but do not trust he is really better, he still seems deeply in love with himself first). I was mostly looking for an excuse to pray for the big one.

  94. 94.

    redshirt

    @efgoldman: I have been to Anaheim, though I remember little of it. You do realize Fenway was built in 1912, right? What would you rather have then what we have now? Some multibillion dollar ginormo-stadium in the suburbs?!

    You’re speaking heresy here.

  101. 101.

    Schlemazel

    @BruceFromOhio: perhaps not but they would revel in the victory & find happiness. I wish them only unhappiness and misery since it seems to be their prolific product.

  102. 102.

    Villago Delenda Est

    @Schlemazel: A meteor is the most likely game seven victor in this series. I mean, the last time the Indians took the WS was during the Truman administration…and they’re the new kids on the block in that regard!

  104. 104.

    Cacti

    @Steve in the ATL:

    Indeed. We Braves fans are having painful flashbacks of umpire Eric Gregg’s supersize strike zone for Livan Hernandez. That was bullshit.

    Coming from the Braves, that was some high quality whine.

    Tom Glavine’s team complaining about a wide strike zone? Please.

  105. 105.

    Honus

    @hueyplong: yes, and incredibly self aggrandizingly and obnoxiously so. He has written that being a Cubs fan confers a special dignity and grace.

  107. 107.

    Darkrose

    @redshirt: It’s logical, and I understand it. I just don’t feel that way, as I said, because the Warriors played crappy basketball in the Finals. Also, while I like the Warriors, basketball isn’t my sport, so the loss didn’t sting as much as it might have.

  108. 108.

    Schlemazel

    @Omnes Omnibus:
    Which team does she own & how many poor people and/or workers did she have to screw over to make her billions – and how many millions did she screw taxpayers out of for a sports palace?

  109. 109.

    BruceFromOhio

    @Napoleon: The teevee is always gonna have their paid schmucks. I don’t even know who is calling for Fox, haven’t had the sound up since first inning. WTAM is the local RWNJ radio, but they have a lock on the Indians games, and Hamilton does a good job of meshing the moment, timely description, the tidbits and stats, and keeping it on an even keel until things get hairy.

    … and gone. Love it.

  111. 111.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @hueyplong: @Honus: I guess I’m ok with CHC winning, but only if Will dies before they finish the job.

    He’s already been mummified under that toop

  112. 112.

    Gin & Tonic

    In other sportsball news, the Knicks are still tied for first in their division. For about another five minutes.

    Hey, even tomorrow, they will still (theoretically) be in playoff contention.

  113. 113.

    redshirt

    @efgoldman: Jeepers. You’re a blasphemer. Oh but then I remember now you’ve hated the Sox for years.

    Just bandwagon when they win, I assume.

    Go root for the Yankees and their modern spacious ballpark with parking. Jeez!

  115. 115.

    Mike E

    Sweet jeebus FSM: Thanks for this pasta bowl of goodness…a chance to watch what mebbe, could be, my favorite World Series, ever. rAmen

  119. 119.

    CaseyL

    Never mind the owners – most owners are assholes, one way or another. You don’t get to be rich enough to own a team without being an asshole.

    I’m rooting for the Cubs because if they win they and their fans can stop feeling sorry for themselves, and stop insisting everyone else feel sorry for them.

    (Just tuned in and, wow, they’re already in a deep hole.)

  120. 120.

    Schlemazel

    @Omnes Omnibus:
    Ah, I can imagine the dividend check she gets must be a comfort to her. Then of course there is the depreciation. The players are considered the same as capital equipment and their salaries are deductible as depreciation.

  121. 121.

    SiubhanDuinne

    Sometimes I get all tangled up in the conversations here.

    This seems to be one of those times. SAD.

  123. 123.

    redshirt

    @CaseyL: Chicago has a lot more going for it than just the Cubs. A Cleveland win would be more important to their fans. It’s also been a lifetime for Cleveland since they’ve won after all.

  124. 124.

    BruceFromOhio

    Regarding owners. The template you might apply to normal human beings does not fit major sports teams owners. The idea behind owning a major sports team is to make lots and lots of money, and if you have to fuck over players, unions, suppliers, fans, the league, voters, the governments of the states and cities you work and live in, you will do exactly that without a moments thought or loss of a single wink of sleep. Are they completely heartless, lacking in empathy, or humanity? Maybe, maybe not. No one outside of the immediate family or franchise will likely see it though, because professional sports in America is a BUSINESS, first, last, always. And the purpose of that business is to generate every last possible cent of profit, at every opportunity, every minute of every day.

    And there is no humanity in that, so don’t look for it there.

  126. 126.

    Gin & Tonic

    @redshirt: Easier to get off at Ruggles and walk 20 minutes.

    Or, of course, drive, get stuck in traffic on the Southeast Express(Ha!)way, crawl through city traffic to somewhere reasonably close to Kenmore, pay $50 to some extortionist and still have to walk 10 minutes.

  130. 130.

    Steve in the ATL

    @Cacti:

    Coming from the Braves, that was some high quality whine.

    Tom Glavine’s team complaining about a wide strike zone? Please.

    I have no idea what you are talking about. As I recall, the Braves pitchers were simply better than others at painting the corners….

  132. 132.

    Schlemazel

    @BruceFromOhio:
    Agreed. I am finding in my old age that there are several things, this being one of the most prominent, that are sucking the joy out of sports.

  134. 134.

    BruceFromOhio

    @redshirt: This sort of makes sense. The Bears and Bulls had awesome runs in their respective days. Cleveland not so much. Chicago is frigging huge compared to the ‘mistake on the lake,’ so your per-capita fandom has a stronger concentration in Cleveland.

    Fuck it, may the best team win. PLAY BALL

  135. 135.

    Schlemazel

    @Honus:
    Charles Osgood may be the only guy I can think of that didn’t look like either a pompous ass or a weird weenie in a bow tie. With the exception of a tux I just can’t think of anyone carrying the look off.

  139. 139.

    redshirt

    @Gin & Tonic: I debate whether Ruggles is easier. Mass Ave is closer and you get to walk through the actual Fens to get to the ballpark. You could also take the Orange from Back Bay to Downtown Crossing and switch to the Green line and go to Kenmore for the 5 minute walk. Regardless, I don’t understand why anyone would drive to a game – park in a commuter rail or subway parking lot and take the train in. It’s cheap and so much easier.

    But no, efgoldman wants to see a huge modern taxpayer funded ballpark in the suburbs surrounded by a wasteland of parking because…. reasons?

  140. 140.

    Jilli Brown

    @eclare: I have used trazadone, although not regularly. Primarily used during thunderstorms and fireworks. The vet I work for does have some clients on it, and they don’t seem glazed, just normal.

  141. 141.

    redshirt

    @efgoldman:

    I was born and will die a Red Sox fan. I was going to games before you were born, before they were good, and definitely before they were fashionable. I’ve forgotten more about the team and baseball than you’ll ever know.
    Go fuck yourself.
    The ballpark still sucks.

    Pathetic. I’d insult you back but frankly your argument is too weak.

  144. 144.

    Gin & Tonic

    @redshirt: Ruggles is easier because the Providence train stops there, and you don’t have to go to Back Bay and change to the subway.

  145. 145.

    divF

    @Honus: I was an an event a couple of weeks ago, where one of the attendees was a youngish dandy wearing a bow tie. An older African-American gentleman from Oakland looked at him, and said “reminds me of bean pies”.

    It took me a moment to get it, but I did.

  146. 146.

    Honus

    @BruceFromOhio: that said, the Homestead Grays played most of their home games in the Pirates fancy new Forbes Field. The Pirates owner regularly attended Grays games and the Grays owner had a standing invitation to the Pirates owner’s box.

  147. 147.

    BruceFromOhio

    @redshirt: Sheesh, frosty. Dude is a Red Sox fan, any single one has more class than any 500 Yankees fans you can taser into silence to get them to shut the fuck up. You want to define pathetic, CSI:Miami has six back-to-back episodes on BBC America.

  149. 149.

    Gin & Tonic

    @BruceFromOhio: Sheesh yourself. I live in the DMZ, and work with both Red Sox and Yankee fans. The former are (largely) completely insufferable. Only Cubs fans approach them in obnoxiousness.

    And, no, I am not a Yankees fan, just an objective observer.

  154. 154.

    BruceFromOhio

    @Honus: Alas, a different era altogether – the Homestead of history has so many different layers, that’s one I did not know. There’s a story I’m seeking about the St. Louis franchise being resurrected to sell more beer …

    ETA: Ah yes, there it is. Seems the business of sports hasn’t changed, really, all that much.

  156. 156.

    frosty

    @Schlemazel:

    I am not convinced there is a decent human anywhere among the ranks of professional sports team owners …

    Check out the Baltimore Orioles. I’m not a big fan of Peter Angelos but his son, who’s running the team, seems to be a decent human being.

  157. 157.

    Darkrose

    @redshirt: Or you could take the Green Line, like all of the drunk obnoxious assholes from the suburbs, which is why I hated the Red Sox and grew to hate baseball in general when I lived in Allston. Getting home from work on the T on game days was a fucking nightmare.

    Now that I’ve moved away, I kind of wish I’d gone to a game or two, especially when I worked at the Phoenix and passed Fenway every day.

  162. 162.

    Honus

    @efgoldman: I edited it to Maddon. As for haberdashers, when I was a kid I thought was a cool word I wondered what it was, so I looked it up and found out I are one.

  164. 164.

    BruceFromOhio

    @Honus: Ah ha, I regret the nuance was lost on me, thank you for elaborating. My comment was based on narrow anecdotal experience, with Yankees fans forming the baseline, which really doesn’t say much. About anything.

    … and reading more about the Homestead Grays, that’s some interesting and compelling history.

  167. 167.

    Mary G

    @redshirt: Yes, they built a big fancy station used by both Amtrack and the Metrolink, which serves LA & Orange counties. It’s right on the edge of the parking lot, and there are special trains for the games. I’ve never gone, because I am a Dodger fan, but I have a lot of neighbors who do. $7 roundtrip for adults, $4 kids 6-18 and kids 5 & under free, so a lot cheaper than driving and parking.

  169. 169.

    BruceFromOhio

    @Gin & Tonic: OK, noted. My objective observation consists of altogether too many Gaia-damned backwards-Yankees-cap-wearing-pouty-when-my-team-doesn’t-win fair-weather numbskulls, which actually isn’t very objective at all. Oy, and my sympathies to your DMZ experience.

    …. and Kluber heads to the dugout. Watch the Chicago bats set the place on fire.

  170. 170.

    Miss Bianca

    @SiubhanDuinne: I’ll never forget what a friend of mine once said: “Rooting for the Yankees is like rooting for Exxon”. This at a time (mid-80s) when it seemed like both were steam-rolling over any and all opposition.

    That being said: “Fight fiercely, Harvard!”

    I mean, uh: “Go, Cubs!”

  174. 174.

    redshirt

    @efgoldman:

    My argument comes from actual experience, not from some hazy baseball unicorn fantasy land

    I lived in the Fenway for 15 years. You’re bad mouthing Fenway Park. You think you’re right about this in a smug manner. It’s weird I have to defend myself here.

  175. 175.

    jk

    @Schlemazel:

    “I am not convinced there is a decent human anywhere among the ranks of professional sports team owners.”

    Red Sox owner endorsed John Kerry for president in 2004.

  180. 180.

    BruceFromOhio

    @efgoldman: See my previous comment on sports team owners.

    “Green Bay is the only team with this form of ownership structure in the NFL, which is in direct violation of current league rules stipulating a maximum of 32 owners per team, with one holding a minimum 30% stake. The Packers’ corporation was grandfathered when the NFL’s current ownership policy was established in the 1980s.[37] As a publicly held nonprofit, the Packers are also the only American major-league sports franchise to release its financial balance sheet every year.”

    Who makes the “current league rules“? T’ain’t you or me, natch.

  184. 184.

    jk

    @Schlemazel:

    As one would expect, most owners of professional teams donate heavily to Republicans but there are some exceptions

    Not every owner is stuffing the pockets of the GOP. The NFL’s richest owner, Allen, who owns the Seattle Seahawks and is worth $13.2 billion, donated $36,000 to Democratic candidates and nothing to the Republicans. Robert Kraft, who owns three Super Bowl rings with the New England Patriots, funneled 86% of his $33,600 in individual contributions to Democrats.

    h/t http://www.forbes.com/sites/kurtbadenhausen/2011/10/07/nfl-owners-love-the-gop/#6abc5b5b5bdc

  186. 186.

    BruceFromOhio

    @Darkrose: Commentary says Francona didn’t want any of his starters going more than 7 innings. This let’s him (Kluber) recover to possibly start Game 4, when shit gets real.

    And, there’s this bullpen in Cleveland, has a bunch of guys in it that are, well, pretty good most days.

  191. 191.

    Betty Cracker

    Getting tons of Trump ads. The cheap bastard is finally parting with donor $$. Seeing at least as many HRC ads, maybe more.

  193. 193.

    CaseyL

    @redshirt:

    Chicago has a lot more going for it than just the Cubs. A Cleveland win would be more important to their fans. It’s also been a lifetime for Cleveland since they’ve won after all.

    They’re both underdogs? How did that happen?

  194. 194.

    Another Scott

    @efgoldman: J and I took a tour of Fenway a few months ago (just after some weird Notre Dame football game – the field was still set up for it). As you know, it’s an interesting place and was built-up over several decades.

    I do recall that the previous owners had plans to build a new ballpark across the street from Fenway, and keep parts of the old place (e.g. home plate) as some sort of shrine. New Fenway went over like a lead balloon, in part because they wanted $250M from taxpayers to do it.

    I’ve liked Fenway the few times I’ve been there. It has history and character that places like Camden Yards (which try to simulate an improved Fenway) lack.

    YMMV.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  196. 196.

    BruceFromOhio

    Lindor and the Cubs second baseman messing around, nice to see everyone getting along. So far.

    … and retires the side. Lots of baseball left, Betty, the Cubbies got a penchant for turning up the heat on the relievers. Ain’t over till its over…

  202. 202.

    Old Dan and Little Anne

    It would be a shame if little boy genius’ plan didn’t pan out this year. Especially with Lester shitting the bed in game 1. My only bitterness will be 6 months without baseball. Hopefully after a 7 games series.

  204. 204.

    Darkrose

    @BruceFromOhio: And his bullpen made him look like a genius.

    Sigh. I sure wish Bochy’s bullpen had been able to do that. Instead, everyone’s asking why the hell he took Moore out when he was pitching a gem.

  206. 206.

    Prescott Cactus

    Dogs sleeping with cats has been cancelled. 6 zip, Cubbies down. The curse continues. Billy Goat and his spirit will retain the ebb and floe of this series. Hollywoods fans and the rest of the band wagon’s late additions , struggling to get upon and eventually will suffer the devastating lose of their precious Cubbies.

  211. 211.

    Prescott Cactus

    They are the hapless losers. Come Sept it increases, but with a strong team the “wanna be” hordes began arriving early. They arrived in full force to put their brand spanking new Cubbie gear to use in order to show their bandwagon pride. Vedder, Toews, & Cusack likely have less 2016 ticket stubs than a weekend season ticket holder, now relegated to the cheap seats because of their “facetime”.

    Lovable losers need to choke so bad that Dr Heimlich can’t revive them.

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