Bad Business Cubs

My first fandom memory was of Michael Jordan hitting that final shot against the Utah Jazz to secure the Chicago Bulls' sixth and final championship. I was nine years old, watching my favorite player take my team to the mountain top again. Ironically, it is also my first dealing with sports being a business, as Jerry Krause promptly blew up the team. It was ego, but also based in finances and ultimately set the franchise back for seasons.

That was an old team though. Scottie Pipen had back injuries, MJ and Dennis Rodman had being playing for a long time; wrong decision or not, the end was likely near. Certainly, there was no way management and ownership would set back a team filled with young superstars? Perhaps that's the curse of being any sort of Chicago franchise, being left with teams that just don't quite fulfill their potential and feeling like owners don't put their money where their mouths are.

There is no one who was happier to see the Chicago Cubs win the World Series than my father. He told me he had seen all of his favorite franchises; Bulls, Bears and Blackhawks all win championships in his lifetime but didn't think he'd ever see the Cubs do it. When they did, he shed tears. For his birthday the kids bought him one of the presses used to print the paper the following day. I'll never forget because it took awhile for him to see that because the box was stuffed with the front page itself and he was so meticulous in straightening them all out to keep.

My father sums up how fleeting the high was. In the aftermath of the Cubs World Series parade, one could reflect and look forward to the future. A young core of Kris Bryant, Anthony Rizzo, Javy Baez, Kyle Hendricks, Kyle Schwarber and Theo Epstein in charge, would mean enjoying playoff seasons and chances to win more rings and have more parades. Little did anyone know that after the flame out late in the 2018 season that saw the Cubs go from another division title to being bounced in the wildcard game in days, this Cubs' dynasty was over.

As quick as the build up was, the fall from the mountaintop was even faster. Being a fan means a fresh season comes with fresh hope. Surely that core, the foundation of a team that won a World Series after 100+ years, would be around for seasons to come. Instead, management removed any hope in one crushing trade deadline; 2021 felt like dead man walking, despite the reports of Cubbies talking to Bryant, Rizzo, Baez, and Schwarber. The end of their tenure was fast approaching and, by 4pm on July 31st, they were all gone except Wilson Contreras.The slow death was finalized with several gut punches as not a single World Series hero was retained.

The general manager that broke the 'Curse of the Great Bambino' also broke the 'Billy Goat Curse' yet was also key in the fall from the tops of baseball. I hoped Theo Epstein and Jed Hoyer were ushering in a new era of playoff baseball and chances of seeing the Cubbies in a few fall classics. Instead I was fooled and the return of the lovable losers was just a reminder of who I am rooting for, a team that can't get out of its own way. My hope has long been traded off for reality that October for me means turning my attention towards football. Is it better to have the hope or to just know your team isn't going to compete.

Somehow the Chicago Cubs have found a third answer, tricking fans. After taking a young Wold Series core through a slow death Chicago is now in a rebuild with seemingly no direction. Yet, we were promised the checkbook would open this season and the return to contention was coming. Instead they didn't even make an offer to the premier free agent they were tied to, Carlos Correa. One by one their targets have come off the board and the frustrating off season was demonstrated best by Christian Vazquez signing with the Twins despite getting the same offer from the Cubs. Even free agents don't believe in the Cubs.

Nothing I have seen has given me hope that Cubs 2.0 is just around the corner. Tom Ricketts is an owner more interested in money, Jed Hoyer has no track record to make me believe he can build a serious playoff contender and all the rumors about this trade or that free agent signing just give false hope only to be crushed by reality. I am a Cubs fan who has seen one world championship and chances of seeing another appear no closer than they did 108+ years ago. So many pundits, so many fans are left asking 'What are they doing?' as one of the richest franchises, a club with some of the highest ticket prices, acts as if the they are children of the poor.

The Cubs are a premier franchise in the MLB, yet are acting more like the Pittsburgh Pirates. Instead of spending to be with the likes of the Dodgers, Yankees, Astros or Red Sox, they want to take advantage of Wrigley Field being a place to see and cash the checks. Management seems to think they can go against the market, but that's not how it works. Management, and ownership, are worried about 13 years from now while they flounder in 2022. Reports have come of fans ditching their season tickets as they're tired of being tricked with no proof that anything will change.

A big part of our sports fandoms is handed down from our parents and the Cubs are the team my father holds closest. While I move further away from baseball and the lovable losers, my father swearing them off is indictment of the failures of this ownership. While the MLB tries to find a way to connect with new generations, the Chicago Cubs are destroying any hope and belief fans have. The Cubs have returned to more of what a long suffering Cubs fan is used to; 90+ losses each year, periods of really bad baseball, a winning streak just to get your hopes up, followed by losing a bunch of games. In the end, no October baseball with the trade deadline reminding you of a team in a perpetual rebuild.