Okay, okay, I admit it. I'm a Chicago Cubs fan.

It started a while back when the gloriousness of cable TV brought me daytime weekday baseball in the form of the Chicago Cubs. Unlike the Atlanta Braves (which I always thought was owned by the their cable station), the Cubs just happened to be on WGN all the time. They were rarely any good, even with Sammy Sosa, and it really was amazing when they won.

In truth, I'm a Kansas City Royals fan, and if given the choice, I'll go Royal blue. I actually saw the Cubs play the Royals in Kansas City one year, and I rooted for the home team (and they won!). That and I was born in Kansas, so, you know.

I've never been to Chicago. I don't know if I really like the North Side, or the South Side, or any side. My brother went to Chicago earlier this year, and he said you can buy a one room studio for about a million dollars, so I don't think I'm going to live there any time in my life. Also, I hear that the winters are like Hell frozen over. Seems like there's plenty of jazz, and comedy, and theatre, and what not to entertain people until they run out of money, and any town that builds a second city on the one that burnt to the ground shows a quality resilience. I won't say it's my kind of town, because I don't know, but the Cubs are my kind of baseball team. Lovable losers.

I could root for the Chicago White Sox, but they are in the same division as the Royals and therefore rivals. The Cubs pose no threat to me, and again therefore, they became my TV baseball team. Every fan should have one.

This year, the Cubs did quite well. 97 wins, 855 runs scored, and record of 55-26 at home (all bests in the National League this year). One of their aces, Carlos Zambrano threw a no-hitter in September. Another pitcher, Ryan Dempster won 15 games at home. This team had "all the pieces" to make it to the World Series. Chicago fans were downright cocky before the playoffs.

You know what happened, don't you?

Like the mighty Sampson, someone shaved those Cubs. In their three games against the Dodgers, they were outscored 20-6. Dempster walked seven batters and lost in his outing. The Cubs committed four errors when Zambrano pitched, and were 5 for 28 with runners in scoring position. They lost the series 3 games to 0, and they will go home without a World Series win for the 100th year in a row. 1908 was their last moment of ultimate glory.

Do I believe in the curse of the Cubs? Yes, I do. And after watching a few post-season debacles, I'm ready to tell you who is to blame for all the Cubs misery. It is Cubs fans. That's right. It's us.

I watched that first game when the Cubs were up 2-0. Dempster wasn't pitching well, but he was still ahead. The Cubs faithful sat quiet and pensive, groaning every time the Dodgers hit the ball hard. It's like they expected things to go badly. Seeing Cub fans during the regular season, they are all kicking back, having a good time, whooping it up. In the playoffs, all they could do was sit and cringe, afraid of the big blow, the big screw up, until it finally came. In Game 1 in Chicago, the Dodgers hit a grand slam. In Game 2 in Chicago, the Cubs couldn't field the ball. In Game 3 in Los Angeles, they just couldn't hit the ball. Series over. The goat wins again.

This year doesn't top the ultimate failure, which was letting a dropped foul ball near the stands ruin their chances to go to the World Series a few years back, but if you noticed, they blamed a fan for that infraction as well. Of course, the team went on to blow a multi-run lead, but again, the crowd thought it was sacrilege for a fan to go after a ball in the stands and assumed something awful would come from it. Calm down and get the batter out.

So Cub fans, here's your task for the off-season. Learn to relax. We all get nervous, especially during big games and situations, but you've got to learn to shake it off, have a few beers, and remember to cheer. Root, root, root for the home team. Don't blame, blame, blame for losing the game. It's already been 100 years, you are the lovable losers, so you really have nothing left to lose.

Oh yeah, and just wait 'til next year.

Chris Jungle used to root for the Red Sox, but then they got better than the Yankees.