I'm Depressed and want to complain...

[Alleghenies]

As much as I love the Bears and Cubs, I'm watching ESPN here at work today and they brought up the Bears. I'll forever be a fan of those teams, but I'm so tired of never having a good team. The one year in '06 I cannot consider to have been successful for me because I was on deployment on a submarine(no fancy TV's like the bigger ships), with no idea how my team was doing until I got home, got off the sub, two days later found out that the Bears were in the Superbowl and watched them lose to Payton Manning. The few times they have been good, the Packers always get in the way. Every year it seems, I recall Rodgers(Farve before him) putting together a last minute drive to walk them down the field an win the game. I really detest the Packers as much as one can really dislike a team. The only time I remember the Cubs being good was the Steve Bartman year in the playoffs, that was right before I left for boot camp. I want so badly to experience a championship with one of the teams I love. Everyone should get one of those in their lifetime, right??? Instead the best thing I have is traveling back home to Illinois in the winter to my cousin's house, where they play the 85 Bears-Patriots superbowl on VHS every year and I can watch Walter Payton win a game that I do not remember because I was one year old. Regarding the Cubs, I really want to believe that all those young players will come around one day, but years of disappointment have tempered my expectations and I'm only 30.

I remember reading about a study at a university where they did experiments to find out why it can hurt so much for a sports fan(or experience joy which I never have), and it is because they found that the same chemicals and nerves fire in the brain controlling emotions when you are watching the game as if you were actually playing it yourself. This is why it hurts so bad, and it does hurt every year. Oh well, as every young Cubs fan learns to say, "There's always next year."

PS, while I do consider myself a hockey fan and therefore a fan of the Blackhawks, I never have felt much when the win because hockey always starts after football and spring training is starting by the time the Stanley Cup is over and I just could never get that much into it. Regarding the Bulls, well I pretty much hate basketball so, yeah, nothing there. I remember actually rooting against the Bulls when I would meet friends to watch playoff games because I wanted them to experience the pain that I felt every year(they weren't baseball/football fans).

Anyway, I'm done now, but this felt good. The only thing better would be to see the Bears get trounced again this week so my hopes of heads rolling may come true.

[Simon]

Im watching baseball only since 2010 and my team already won World Series 3 times.
I must be the luckiest person in the world :)

[Alleghenies]

Im watching baseball only since 2010 and my team already won World Series 3 times.
I must be the luckiest person in the world :)

Yeah, that's really too bad. Living in the bay area for 5 years, I really tried to like the Giants, but another NL team was just too much, so I liked the A's when they were struggling to reach 500 that year. I still follow the A's despite living in Texas now, and they break my heart just like the Cubs. Since I didn't grow up in the area, I don't hate the Giants like many lifelong A's fans do, but I really, really wanted to see the Giants to lose so my friends in California would complain about the Giants losing, so I could come back and preach to them how lucky they really are. Am I bitter or what?

[Simon]

I didnt know A' fans hate Giants, i personally like Oakland and what Bill James is doing there.
I only hate Dodgers and the most that arrogant prick Puig.

[Alleghenies]

I didnt know A' fans hate Giants, i personally like Oakland and what Bill James is doing there.
I only hate Dodgers and the most that arrogant prick Puig.

Well they are across the bay and they are rivals. I guess I never heard people talk that much about it specifically, I just vividly remember several conversations surrounding a hat that came out once that had like a coexist thing on it where half the hat was Giants then the other half of the hat was A's. The fans at the game I was at made several choice comments about the Giants and about how stuff like that just shouldn't happen and how you have to like either one or the other. I didn't hear many other fans repeat this sentiment so maybe I just incorrectly assumed that all fans from both teams hated each other.

Regarding the Dodgers and Puig, I couldn't agree with you more, although my hate comes from teams that spend big and do well with their money because as a disgruntled Cubs fan, I saw them spend big and fail big so I naturally despise teams that do it successfully.

[Rory]

As much as I love the Bears and Cubs, I'm watching ESPN here at work today and they brought up the Bears. I'll forever be a fan of those teams, but I'm so tired of never having a good team. The one year in '06 I cannot consider to have been successful for me because I was on deployment on a submarine(no fancy TV's like the bigger ships), with no idea how my team was doing until I got home, got off the sub, two days later found out that the Bears were in the Superbowl and watched them lose to Payton Manning. The few times they have been good, the Packers always get in the way. Every year it seems, I recall Rodgers(Farve before him) putting together a last minute drive to walk them down the field an win the game. I really detest the Packers as much as one can really dislike a team.

No worries Daniel. Your Bears have a whole year to regroup til we trounce their sorry arses again. There are 3 games the Packer Nation wants to win more than anything: To beat the Bears, beat the Bears again and win the Super Bowl. Yes in that order. If we only won 2 games in a season and both are against the Bears, it's a successful season.

The Cubs have some good young talent. But I think they gotta hold on to more of them instead of trading em off. They have great tradition and their time will come. Heck at least you guys have won a World Series. We(Brewers) have never tasted that glory. Only came close once.
You guys have the best ball park in baseball and great fans. So it's not all that bad on the Cub's front.

But as far as the Bears......"The Bears Still Suck"

Go Pack Go

[Borealis]

Im watching baseball only since 2010 and my team already won World Series 3 times.
I must be the luckiest person in the world :)

Sure beats my following the Giants since 1970...

[Alleghenies]

As much as I love the Bears and Cubs, I'm watching ESPN here at work today and they brought up the Bears. I'll forever be a fan of those teams, but I'm so tired of never having a good team. The one year in '06 I cannot consider to have been successful for me because I was on deployment on a submarine(no fancy TV's like the bigger ships), with no idea how my team was doing until I got home, got off the sub, two days later found out that the Bears were in the Superbowl and watched them lose to Payton Manning. The few times they have been good, the Packers always get in the way. Every year it seems, I recall Rodgers(Farve before him) putting together a last minute drive to walk them down the field an win the game. I really detest the Packers as much as one can really dislike a team.

No worries Daniel. Your Bears have a whole year to regroup til we trounce their sorry arses again. There are 3 games the Packer Nation wants to win more than anything: To beat the Bears, beat the Bears again and win the Super Bowl. Yes in that order. If we only won 2 games in a season and both are against the Bears, it's a successful season.

The Cubs have some good young talent. But I think they gotta hold on to more of them instead of trading em off. They have great tradition and their time will come. Heck at least you guys have won a World Series. We(Brewers) have never tasted that glory. Only came close once.
You guys have the best ball park in baseball and great fans. So it's not all that bad on the Cub's front.

But as far as the Bears......"The Bears Still Suck"

Go Pack Go

This just in: The Alleghenies will not ever be trading with the Tempe Knights under their current leadership.

Rory, when my relief walked in the door yesterday and I said that I was mad because the Packers were winning and I was really hoping the Eagles would win, he said why? Now, he knows I was a Bears fan, he wished me and the Bears luck when I relieved him in the morning when I walked in wearing my bears t-shirt and Bears jacket(which I was still wearing later that evening) so naturally I was at a loss for words as to why I had to explain why I hate the Packers so much. To his credit(and everyone else in Austin), they are hugely into college football down here, but not pro football as much. Still, I literally stood there with my mouth working for sound to come out because I really didn't know how to begin the dissertation as to why Bears like to eat stinking cheese.

From one end, I wish you and your Packers luck, because I don't wish heartbreak upon anyone. On the other hand, it is the Packers so I really hope their bus crashes(not to kill anyone of course, just enough to end their season prematurely).




Regarding the Cubs and why I should be thankful............
Every one of the 16 original teams that started baseball as we know it has won at least twice. The Cubs won in 1907 and 1908, right after the whole thing started. They have not won since. The Brewers didn't come into existence until 1969. I think Cubs' fans have good reason to be a little more distraught than teams like the Brewers.



P.S. I didn't really mean that thing about not trading with you. :)

[Rory]

This just in: The Alleghenies will not ever be trading with the Tempe Knights under their current leadership.

lmao...gotta love the Packers/Bears rivalry.

[roncollins]

Being a Cubs fan has taught me to love the game itself. :)

[Alleghenies]

Being a Cubs fan has taught me to love the game itself. :)

Yeah, I'm forever thankful because of how I grew up on a small farm in Central IL with no cable. I grew up in the Pat Hughes/Ron Santo era and it was amazing. I fell in love with those guys and I think I can honestly say that as big of an influence my brother had in me actually playing the game, the Pat and Ron combo had an even larger influence in me actually loving the game. There is just something about baseball on the radio that is magic. It brings back a lot of fun memories hearing Pat and Ron(Coomer) again this year, even though it is a different Ron.

As "young" as I am(30), I really only watch baseball on TV during the playoffs. Normally I have a real problem getting into the game on TV and I think it is a real reason why baseball has declined amongst the younger generations(including mine). I think with all the gadgets and tech that children now have in this digital age, it destroys their imagination and so when they see a game on TV, why would they want to watch such a boring slow paced thing. The TV totally eliminates the need for imagination and it is harder for me to think about all the strategic elements going on in the game because I just sit there as a vegetable. I have found that with the radio, since I already imagine the smell of the grass, the view of the fielders when Pat says they are playing shallow etc, it is much easier for me to imagine the strategy going on behind the cat/mouse game between the pitcher/catcher, which is what I see as being the true magic part of baseball.

I cannot recall where I heard it, but the average NFL game on TV displays about the same amount of actual action that a MLB game puts on the TV, I think they are both something around 10 minutes. Using this bit of information, why is it that Football is growing and Baseball is declining? I think that even when being a vegetable, people like action. Action movies, action video games, violence, they are all great, and every football play has 22 guys flying around, killing each other, and all this happens about every 30 seconds. In the same time, a game of baseball may have what, like 2 pitches? This is where I think baseball loses the crowd. Without the strategy behind the game of baseball to keep you interested, without the storytelling that the announcers get into, talking about history, players' lives and other things, people lose interest. The beauty of football is that it can be enjoyed by more people. I love watching the game because I played it, and I can appreciate just watching the middle linebacker during a play follow him reading a play, not get fooled by a counter and making the tackle, while my wife can just sit there, not really knowing any of the intricate strategy that goes on in the game but still get enjoyment about it because there is lots of action happening on the screen.

I'm not really sure what this turned into, sometimes I just like to type my thoughts, even if they are unorganized. I know a lot adults that still love the game, understand the strategy and have a smart mind but still do not like following baseball whether on TV or radio and I know a lot of people that hate the statistics but enjoy watching it on TV, but overall the sport I love has declined and I fault a big reasoning as being our current culture. Even educational "games" and electronics like leapfrog sicken me. I'm not saying these are wrong on occasion, but It makes me sick how many kids cannot live without an iPad and it makes me sick because they don't appreciate the same things I did growing up like discovering my fathers piping materials on the farm and creating a maze of water pipes and waterfalls and building dams out of the mud and trying to overflow and break them with just water. Anyway, I need to stop my rant now, I used to think that only smart people liked baseball and if you weren't smart, then you couldn't truly appreciate baseball and that is why you didn't like it. Well that viewpoint has obviously changed. I'm not really sure where I went with all of this, but I just want more people to like baseball and those are my thoughts.


I'm bored on work at the night shift, leave me alone. Actually, don't so I can respond and type some more tonight.

[Arroyos]

Im watching baseball only since 2010 and my team already won World Series 3 times.
I must be the luckiest person in the world :)

Sure beats my following the Giants since 1970...

What about us poor suckers who've been following the Giants since they moved to Frisco in '58?

[Matt]

Im watching baseball only since 2010 and my team already won World Series 3 times.
I must be the luckiest person in the world :)

Sure beats my following the Giants since 1970...

Complete disagreement Mike. I think having experienced the Giants through some of the bad breaks (Solomon Torres, oh how I loathe thee!) makes the last 5 years all the more enjoyable.

[Borealis]

Im watching baseball only since 2010 and my team already won World Series 3 times.
I must be the luckiest person in the world :)

Sure beats my following the Giants since 1970...

Complete disagreement Mike. I think having experienced the Giants through some of the bad breaks (Solomon Torres, oh how I loathe thee!) makes the last 5 years all the more enjoyable.

I was just referencing the great success after years of failure... It's been all enjoyable!!!

Solomon Torres... Man... I was the first in line at Tower Records, where the one-game playoff tix were to go on sale for the tie-breaker game v. the Braves, should the Giants beat the... dodgers... ugh... that day. Leading up to game time, the line swelled, then Torres took the mound... and the line grew shorter... 103 wins gets you... earlier tee times...

Oh... and just for Shizz & Giggles, WP Kevin Gross threw a no-no v. the Giants the previous season... man... IDK...