Bleacher Bums Forum

Yeah, regular season is great...but there has been a let's-temper-expectations thread on this board all season.

Don't care for that at all.

World Series is not iceing on the cake. It's what these guys play for.

And, same for fans. Let's think like Yankees fans or Cardinals fans. Things are different now.

This. 

Archer threw a 1-hitter in Houston with 11 K's on just 98 pitches.

Don't set your goals very high.  That way you will never be disappointed.

Seriously, you should have a primary goal that is attainable and a "stretch" goal that might prove difficult to reach.  A hitter may establish a goal of hitting 20 home runs.  But if he has reached that number by September 1, there should be a stretch goal of maybe 25 homers.

In 2015, the Cubs goal should be to obtain a wild card spot with a stretch goal of winning the division.  In 2016 those goals will be to win the division and if things go their way, the World Series.

Speaking for myself, I'm not trying to "temper expectations" of anyone. But if the only thing being a fan is about is playing for the World Series, it's a mystery to me why any of us have followed the Cubs so closely and faithfully for decades, most years of which it was clear that the team had virtually no chance to getting there.  I enjoy the game itself, I enjoy rooting for favorite players and I especially enjoy watching the team perform well, even in years they don't get to the World Series.

In any event, I'm sorry that you don't care for how others approach the season.  I had not realized there was one and only one approach to being a proper fan.   

Aside from some Cubs fans, I wonder how many teams have fans who look at winning in post-season as iceing on the cake--and emphasize about a nice regular season and how much they enjoyed rooting for their favorite players. This says something about rooting for a loser for decades, I guess. Can anyone imagine a Cardinals fan EVER saying what Ron just said when their club is odds-on favorite to be in post-season?

Wake Up! Your lovable losers are in the dust bin. You don't have to think like a loser anymore. Be Here Now.

Management has taken a systematic approach to improving the Cub organization.  This has resulted in the development of a young ML roster that has shown it can compete at a high level.  But to my knowledge it would be unprecedented for such a young team to go deep in the playoffs.  That doesn't mean it can't happen, but does mean that it is sensible to keep one's expectations in check.  Reb, you're welcome to your opinion that this perspective is due to years of my being beaten down as a Cub fan.  I view it more as being objective about the current team.

Of course your perspective is due to years of Cubs not winning anything. It's human nature. That is something to overcome, not to pretend it isn't there.

Cubs fans, by and large, think differently than Cardinals fans. How can we not? We come into each season with baggage.

Cubs players? No, they don't. They couldn't care less about what happened years past. If they get that at all, it's from fans telling them how deceased grandma rooted for Cubs for 65 years, so please win for her.

We should think a bit like the players.

No, losing in the wild card or losing in division series or losing in NLCS is not a good outcome. Nobody here should be satisfied with that or view getting that far as iceing on the cake. We got to see our favorite players perform. It was nice. Yippee.

No, not good enough. Let us attempt to discard the mental baggage. It's hard to do but that era of Cubs baseball is dead and gone.

Until recently I didnt realize how old a lot of you guys are.

No wonder you all give me a hard time.

Im the youngest one here.

I've always wondered where I fall on the JR, Dusty age scale. 

You are 23 years older then.