Two things you don’t hear too often when it comes to sports in Chicago:
1.) The Bulls remain undefeated.
2.) The Cubs are in the World Series.
First, the Bulls. They’ve played two games, and won both of them! They beat the Celtics on Thursday (which I missed as one of my friends scheduled a get-together conflicting with the Bulls’ ever-important home opener). I do wonder why I keep some of these friends around.
The second game was last night (Saturday), when the Bulls handily defeated the Pacers, but there was another conflict…brought about by rarely heard fact #2.
Yes, the Cubs are in the World Series, and played last night, but looked more like the Bad News Bears than the future World Series Champions. With this most recent loss, the Cubs are now up against the wall, facing elimination. In case you haven’t figured it out yet, this is going to be more “Cubs Chat” than “Bulls Banter.”
The Cubs have only managed 1 win, and the Cleveland Indians have got 3. To win the World Series – you need 4 wins.
As we all know, there’s no crying in baseball. But I sure did feel like crying Friday night, and Saturday night…
Joe Maddon, the Cubs’ manager is fond of saying, “Don’t ever permit the pressure exceed the pleasure.” And during his post-game presser, speaking of today’s (Sunday’s) game – “We have to have a one-game winning streak.”
It sounds all well and good, and let’s hope these young Cubs can get the one-game streak going tonight. Then, it would be back to Joakim Noah’s favorite vacation spot, Cleveland for 1-2 more games.
No matter what happens, this fan, and Chicago, and Cubs followers of all ages are better for having witnessed the excitement, teamwork, attitude and spirit the Cubs have brought to the city this season. And importantly, we can all learn a lot from this wacky, smart, charismatic yet unorthodox Cubs manager Joe Maddon.
If we all employed a little more of his philosophies in baseball games and in life, we could potentially be more successful, and have lots of fun along the way.
For instance, “Do simple better.”
And, “In our world, for me, every day is Friday night.”
While many predicted the Cubs would win the World Series this year, that’s a lot to live up to for this group of mostly young 20-year olds, and in my view, they have far exceeded expectations already. Win or lose, the Cubs have captured our hearts and imaginations.
There’s still a lot more baseball to play. Joe Maddon talks about “moments.” In keeping with his philosophy to approach every game the same way, it’s no surprise that in speaking of game five, he said, “We just need that one moment.”
And it’s been reported that the video screens in the Cubs’ new clubhouse provided instructions on how to approach Sunday’s pivotal game 5:
SCHEDULE FOR SUNDAY
DRESS AT 5:30 p.m.
Game at 7:15 p.m.
They’ve got the “Do simple better” covered. Now it’s time for the one-game win streak.
Go Cubs! Beat the Indians! #FlytheW #WorldSeriesChamps
PS – See Red! Go Bulls! Remain undefeated
bullsbanter 