Fandom is foolish, and other thoughts

So we’re at this point in the season now – a lifetime of Cubs fandom has taught me how to handle this point in the season: You put the hope just out of view. Sure, you know the hope is there; you know the Fire could win six of the final eight, sneak into the playoffs as the hottest team in the league (beat Red Bulls in a final for the ages …); you know the Cubs could sweep the four-game set in St. Louis, take five of six from the Braves, be right back in it; you also know, entirely, with every part of your being, that these outcomes (and others of a similar color and shape) are unlikely in the extreme. You know that it’s far more likely that the Cubs lose three of four to the Cardinals. It’s much more likely the Fire will not make much noise, and that next week’s posts will all be about who to keep and who to jettison in the offseason. We’re at the part of the season where the hope starts to look desperate and clingy.

But it’s still there. Freakin’ hope.

We’ll know soon enough – the next stretch of the schedule is murderous. All we have to do is beat the Royals in Utah, where they lose never, and then follow that up by beating our two closest competitors for the 8 spot (Seattle and San Jose), and then follow that up by beating the two hardest teams to beat in the league (Columbus and Dallas), and then crush the soft-landing part of our schedule (KC, DC, Chivas USA). Oh. All righty then. No problem.

Going unbeaten in that streak, we’d have to win five of eight to get to 44 points, which is how many we’ll need to be safe this year (Even 43 points is below my current projections for Seattle, Colorado and San Jose). Lose one game, and the Fire would need six wins from the other seven.

So that’s where we are, hope-wise. A loss doesn’t snuff it out, and a win in Salt Lake (!?!) would fan the flames. Come on, boys! Dale Fire!

Category: Team News