Bob Lobel: Beware the Price of Winning, Cubs Fans

By Bob Lobel (@boblobel)

Stop Cubs, before you ruin everything you have worked so hard for over the last century!  

You're going to tell me that you are desperate to win it all. I'm telling you, it will be like being stuck on a boat in the middle of the ocean with no water to drink. You're going to come back with the logic that saltwater will be just fine. 

Ok, go for it, but I'm here to tell you that, if your dreams of a Chicago Cubs world championship come true, EVERYTHING will change! 

And not necessarily for the better. 

The altered state of the Boston Red Sox and their fans is example number one. The ownership that has delivered three world titles to Boston is constantly being vilified. Why is that? Well, I think it's because they wiffed on the other 11 seasons. 

It's called the "never let us be satisfied with anythings." Especially when a long time erases any memory of what the last one was like. A smattering of Red Sox fans remember. Nobody remembers the last Cubs title. All they remember is a stupid goat, which serves as a match for Dan Shaughnessy's  “Curse of the Bambino.” 

If you talk to Red Sox fans, they will tell you things have changed since 2004. Not the usual frustration or panic moments. Failure is only a word and not a force to live by. Losing was not necessarily expected, but losing in crushing fashion was what we lived for. 

It was the fuel for the engine of the Red Sox fan. 

Cubbie fans, pay attention. It really isn’t worth it. You will never feel the same about yourself and your buddies. Strength came from failing. Because of this, many people across the land want to be Cubs fans. There is a certain sense of pride when you wake up a loser and go to bed a loser. 

Believe me, things will change.  

Losing lasts so much longer, and the best part is, you can count on it. Winning is so fickle and will stay that way. You win once, you need it again. It's like opioids.  

The Cubs are more like medical marijuana. Past pain melts into future pain. For the newly initiated winning Red Sox, addiction to those trophies is just that. Bottom line, winning has changed everything. Life now for those who have suffered for many years is not necessarily better, just different. 

For the Cubs, there is still time to fold the tent. 

There is a guy named Theo Epstein, who goes from city to city and manages to ruin the feeling of losing pride, of making love the key, not a ring. 

He's good at it. So much for today's sermon. Cub fans take notice. Life is dangerously close to changing forever for you. The cost is high, and I don’t think you’ll like it. 

Whatever! 

Since the NFL and MLB have thrown their future in with DraftKings, it won't matter anyway. That becomes a big distraction. Your team can lose and you can win. 

It’s a big preventative to being a fan with too much emotional investment. 

“The Universe is under no obligation to make sense to you.”-  Neil DeGrasse Tyson, astrophysicist.