Everyone should be rooting for the Chicago Cubs in the MLB postseason, and here's why:
Success will shut up their insufferable fans.
The Cubs haven't been in a World Series since 1945, and haven't won one since 1908. The one positive outcome from that is a semi-clever t-shirt that says, "Anyone Can Have A Bad Century."
Beyond that, though, it's the kind of non-stop woe-is-us whining that Boston Red Sox fans used to unleash until they started winning World Series.
Cubs fans embrace their misery. They're the ones who relish following the lovable losers, the team that never wins. Twenty straight losing seasons only made Pirates fans angry. Cubs fans celebrate the non-stop heartbreak.
There's the curse of the billy goat, the black cat that crossed Ron Santo's path in 1969, and Steve Bartman. Lots of Bartman. He was the oddly-dressed, headphone-wearing fan who reached for a foul ball that Moises Alou appeared to be poised to catch in the National League Championship Series game against Florida on Oct. 14, 2003.
Alou threw a fit, which made Bartman an instant villain. Things got worse as the Marlins rallied to win the game after they'd been four outs from being eliminated in the series. Bartman had to be escorted out of Wrigley Field. He's been in hiding ever since.
If the Cubs win the World Series, Bartman can rejoin society, or at least go to the supermarket without a disguise.
The Cubs were free to get hitters out after the Bartman foul ball, but somehow managed not to do that. They were also allowed to win the deciding game of the series, too, but that got away from them as well.
But in Cub fan mythology, it was all Bartman's fault, no doubt aided and abetted by the billy goat and the black cat.
Folk singer Steve Goodman wrote, "A Dying Cubs Fan's Last Request" that summed up the experience of rooting for the team that never wins. When Goodman sang "Take Me Out To The Ball game," he would revise the lyrics to, "Root, root, root for the home team/If they don't win, what else is new?" Goodman died of leukemia at age 36. Some of his ashes were scattered at Wrigley Field.
Cubs fans wallow in their misery. Now they're in danger of having the kind of success that's eluded them for 107 years.
This year's Cubs aren't an especially lovable bunch. Manager Joe Maddon may be too cool for his own good. But they're good. Not only can they win it all this year, they project as contenders for years to come.
Root for them. Let's see how their fans celebrate success instead of throwing the usual pity party.
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--CALLING A PENALTY
The Steelers' Cam Heyward got a hefty fine from the NFL for putting his late father's nickname, "Ironhead" on the eye black strips he wore in last Monday's game.
That seems harsh, but the NFL really has no choice. If the league lets players freelance on messages attached to themselves or uniforms, it then gets into the slippery business of evaluating (and potentially censoring) each message.
Heyward's tribute to his father, a bone cancer victim at 39, is certainly not objectionable. But what if someone else decides to pay tribute to O.J. Simpson? Or Aaron Hernandez?
Players are paid well, and part of the deal is the NFL dictates what messages they can display on the field.
It's a tough but necessary policy.
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--HOMECOMING
Arizona coach Bruce Arians has said all week that today's game at Heinz Field is just another stop on the schedule.
But if his Cardinals leave with a win and at least 40 points on the scoreboard, you have the feeling Arians will have an extra bounce in his step.
Being fired by the Steelers turned out to be a positive thing for Arians, but it had to sting in the moment.
Without his friend Ben Roethlisberger in the game, Arians will have no remorse about making the Steelers suffer if the opportunity presents itself.
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