For all the Cubs Fans: 21 other teams missed the playoffs

I shed a tear for the Cubs fans, but what about the other 21 teams who missed the playoffs?What is different about the Cubs from Texas, Oakland, San Francisco, San Diego, Florida, and Philadelphia? Why are there a handful of stories about the Cubs and their teary eyed fans? Why do THEY get to bombard the world with stories of failure? Isn’t it time somebody stopped this?

I’m not saying that these writers wrote garbage, because they did not. But the Cubs are just one of 22 teams that failed to make the playoffs and one of 7 with a chance.

Do I have to shed all of my tears on them, or am I allowed to keep one for Barry Bonds and his Giants, who overcame the BALCO investigation to set records while Jason Schmidt pitched his team into contention?

Am I allowed to shed a tear for Texas and Buck Showalter, who did everything he could to give Texas a chance, despite using 30 pitchers, including 17 starters, throughout the season, finally getting eliminated in game 158?

Am I allowed to shed a tear for Philadelphia and Larry Bowa, who led his troops after a dismal mid-season stretch back into the race, only to run out of time to catch up?

And am I allowed to shed a tear for the likes of Kansas City, Baltimore, and the New York Mets, which all entered the season with huge expectations and ended it with losing records and empty stadiums?

I know what the Cubs fans have put up with these last nine decades. I know what the Cubs fans have seen come and go. I know what the Cubs fans were thinking after Steve Bartman’s foul ball interference and Leon Durham’s ball-through-legs incident during their respective NLCS’s. I know what the Cubs fans are thinking now, knowing that it will be another year. But I also know that you are not alone in your misery, but you think you are.

The southsiders, as hated as they might be, have not won the World Series since the “Black Sox” scandal. The Red Sox have been cursed since that same era. Houston and Montreal have never even qualified for the World Series; San Diego has lost it twice. The Giants have not won a World Series since before they relocated, and Tampa Bay took 7 years to get out of last place.

You have the right to cry, but so does everyone else. You had your turn, now move on. The Bulls could be playoff caliber this season, and the Bears are in the race. The Blackhawks will go undefeated for those who think optimistically, and Northwestern just beat Ohio State.

You may have lost your Cubbies, but it is time to move on. Wrigley Field will rest, and come April you will pile in, remembering the heartbreak of years past. But don’t let that bog you down now. Make these the best five months of your life. You won’t get them back.

In 2005, there is a chance. But this year was not the Cubs turn.