Polamalu Sets Tone, Ziggy Delivers and the Steelers Cruise to No. 2 Playoff Seed

See what happens when the best defensive player in the league is on the field? The guy is magic. Of course, Sarah Silverman says Jesus is magic.

So if Troy is magic.

And Jesus is magic.

Then Troy is Jesus. (In cleats, instead of sandals, naturally.)

As to the rest of the team, they seemed to remember that despite last year's Horror Show by the Lake (Browns 13, Steelers 6), they are, in fact, the Pittsburgh Steelers and that they were playing the Cleveland Browns, a team which finished the last two seasons at 5-11 and last posted a winning recording 2007 (10-6), although somehow, it feels more distant, the notion of a winning Browns team.

Pig Ben looked as sharp as I've seen him look all year, putting the ball in perfect spots, finding open receivers, getting rid of the ball with alacrity and running from time to time. He was the beneficiary of the best performance by his offensive line all season and though I have been critical of Bruce Arians in the past, he called a great game, but really only needed to do so for two quarters with his team leading 31-3 at the half.

A word about Evander Ziggy Hood. The original draft report on Hood at CBS Sports, contains the following tidbits of information:

Positives: More than the sum of his parts. … Legitimate NFL size. … Plays with a passionate, physical style. … Locates the ball quickly and pursues well down the line. ...

Negatives: Lacks the elite explosiveness or strength usually associated with highly rated defensive tackles. … Only moderate initial quickness. … Flashes the lateral quickness to elude and collapse the pocket, but is too inconsistent in that area. … Often plays too high and loses leverage, negating his own strength and size.

I often think scouting is crazy bananas; guys flame out as often as they deliver and how a guy looks standing around in his underpants at the scouting combine bears little relation to how he will actually perform at the highest level of competition, but this report is dead on for Ziggy. He does pursue well down the line and he plays contain very well. The coaches love his passion and dedication. Still, until very recently, he didn't get much of a push and lacked explosiveness at the point of attack. I've been bumming about that. Actually, I've been kinda carping about it.

Did I expect too much? Probably. I often do that with first round picks. Solid is just not good enough for a first round pick in my mind.

I'm sure I unwittingly expected Ziggy to contribute immediately in the mold of Heath Miller and Pig Ben, but I should try to be more mindful of the Lesson of Troy Polamalu. There were times during Troy's rookie year that he looked completely and utterly lost out there, leading many of us to question Bill Cowher and Kevin Colbert's decision to move up in the draft to get him. Silly. He has turned out to be nothing less than the best defensive player in the league and one of the greatest Steelers of all time. Heady company.

In yesterday's 41-9 romp over the Browns, Ziggy was credited with two tackles for losses, one sack, four solo tackles, and one other QB hit, none of which begins to accurately describe his overall performance. Perhaps the loss of the great Aaron Smith is what Ziggy needed. Maybe he needed to get on the field more, get in the mix more; maybe he learns best by doing. However it happened, clearly Ziggy has turned a corner. Will he turn into the next Mean Joe? Or L.C.? Probably not, but he is really coming on down the stretch which is a very good sign for the Steelers defense heading into the post-season.

Pig Ben Sparks the Offense Over the Browns

Sometimes erratic, sometimes reckless, and sometimes positively breathtaking, Pittsburgh's Pig Ben Roethlisberger returned, turning a pedestrian offense into an explosive one, making throws of 50 yards to both Mike Wallace and Heath Miller, and tossing a beauty of an over the shoulder pass to Miller to sock the game away. Other times, he strangely overshot receivers and threw an ugly interception on the first drive, but all things considered, it was about as good as anybody could expect and better than most predicted. There were times when he was vintage Ben and good enough that his QB rating was a lofty 112.7. So, there's that.

Bruce Arians called a great game and I so rarely say anything nice about BA that I'd like to go on record saying that I thought he had one of his best games in recent memory. He was aggressive without being greedy, daring without being hasty or thoughtless. He didn't get away from the run, even when the Browns were bottling it up; he called plays that allowed Pig Ben to hit six different receivers. 27 passes and 35 runs on the day and that strikes me as a really nice balance.

Rashard Mendenhall turned in another impressive game, running with power, stiff arming defenders, sticking his head into tight spots, and hanging onto the ball. Issac Redman added 31 yards, each of them hard fought and well-earned. The line, despite shuttling in players as Doug Legursky and Chris Kemoeatu were injured (both returned), did a really solid job up front and it looked like Maurkice Pouncey had a real bounce back game after struggling a bit against the Ravens.I want to give a big shout out to Flozell Adams here. He wasn't flagged all day and that has to be a first in his career. Plus, he positively clothes-lined Cleveland DB Joe Haden as he rumbled back and forth across the field after picking off Pig Ben. The Hotel is 35 years old and the Steelers list him at six feet, seven inches and 338 pounds. He was the only Steelers player who was able to run from one sideline to the middle of the field, probably covering more than 70 some yards, to take down a speedy, elusive corner. Seriously? That might have been the most impressive thing I saw all day.

On the other side of the ball, the Great Troy was quiet, but James Harrison seemed to make a point of trying to be a one man tour of destruction, sending both Josh Cribbs and Mohamed Massaquoi to the locker room in the first half. And Lawrence Timmons turned in another monster performance and was a large part of the reason that the Steelers were able to hold Peyton Hillis to just 41 yards rushing on they day.

As to the opposition, I think the best things to have happened in Cleveland in a long time may have been the injuries to Jake Delhomme and Seneca Wallace. I thought Colt McCoy played with a tremendous amount of poise, no matter how many times Harrison, Timmons and Lamarr Woodley hammered him and lord knows the kid is accurate when he has time.

Oh, and congrats to Hines Ward, who turned in a very Hines Wardian day -- five receptions for 54 yards and a head-shaking, tackle breaking touchdown. He is now tied for fourth on the all-time list for most consecutive games with a reception at 164. Just who are these people who don't think he's a Hall of Famer?

Mexican Inspired Stewed Chicken on Tap for the Steelers Beat Down of the Browns

I am off to some far off land called Greensburg to watch the Steelers beat up on the Browns this week. I am taking with me some Eggplant Dip, which I previously posted here.

But that's no reason to not post a new recipe here. This dish is great for chilly fall days and nights. It's a dish I make regularly. It takes some time to roast, but the prep itself is quite simple and fast. It's rustic, delicious and can be served with rice, rice & beans, roasted potatoes, roasted butternut squash or on tortillas as the base of tacos. I've used it in every one of those combinations and it was fantastic every time. This week, I'm going to make some with cumin scented rice, recipe below.

Ingredients:
2 bone in, skin on chicken breasts cut in half (4 pieces)
1/2 or 1 whole can of chipotles in adobo sauce (these are generally about 7 ounces)
10 carrots, peeled and cut into large pieces
3 cloves of garlic, peeled and smashed
1 large yellow onion, peeled and diced
1 bay leaf
splash of wine or beer

1 1/2 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon cumin seeds
3 cups uncooked jasmine rice
2 small limes, juiced
6 cups cold water
2 teaspoons salt

In a large, oven-safe roasting pot, brown and salt the chicken breasts on all sides in a small amount of olive oil. (I had to do them in batches to get them nice and really brown.) Remove from heat.

Add the onion, garlic, carrots and bay leaf.

Run the chilis through the blender or food processor. You want to decide if you want it super hot or medium hot. If you like a lot of heat, use the whole can; if not, use half the can. Use one whole can of water though. You want the chicken to really stew. Pour the blended chilis over the chicken and carrots and add a splash of wine or beer, whichever you prefer or have at hand.

Cover and bake at 350 degrees for 90 minutes to 2 hours -- there's so much moisture that you can't really overcook it. Let it rest for about 10 to 15 minutes before serving and you can do the rice while it's resting.

For the rice, heat butter over medium heat in a large saucepan. When butter is melted, add cumin seeds and saute for 1 minute. Stir in the rice and cook for 2 minutes.

Turn the heat to high and add the lime juice, water and salt. Mix well. Bring to boil on high heat. Reduce heat and cook covered on low for 15 minutes until water evaporates.

When done, the chicken should be falling off the bone. Be careful with those little bones.

Go Steelers!

Three Things the Steelers Need to Do to Avoid a Repeats of Last Year's Embarrassment

It seemed unthinkable, actually impossible, that a team led by Ben Roethlisberger could lose to one led by Brady Quinn, that a franchise with six Super Bowl trophies could lose to a team that was 1-11 coming into the game, that Mike Tomlin could be outcoached by Eric Mangini. And yet, on an early December, 2009 night in Cleveland, that's exactly what happened.

Cleveland 13 - Pittsburgh 6.

The horror. Oh, the horror.

But the 3-1 Steelers can avoid falling into the same or similar traps, elevate their record to 4-1 (1-1 in division) and re-ascend to their rightful place as perpetual tormentors of the Browns. It's pretty simple and like a jitterbug, it's just three basic steps:

1. No special teams brain farts. There is no question that return man extraordinaire and Mr. Everything in Cleveland, Josh Cribbs was the best player on the field in last year's abomination of a game. In his career, Cribbs has torched the Pittsburgh special teams units three times for touchdowns. My god, but he must love playing against the Steelers.

The kick coverage teams were the worst in the league last year, so bad that I think high school coaches used film of the Steelers and then said to their charges, "okay, boys, just do it the exact opposite of these guys and we'll be fine." But the coverage teams have been much improved this year and special teams as a whole (except for Skippy's horrible field goal misses) have been a real high point so far, largely due to additions like Stevenson Sylvester, Jason Worrilds and Will Allen. So, before anybody worries about zone blitz schemes or how Pig Ben will fare, those guys need to take care of business: tackle Cribbs. Bottle him up, stay lane sound on returns, don't try to do anything fancy and just stop the guy. Hell, trip him. I don't care. Just get him on the ground.

And it would be nice if Jeff Reed at least pretended he cared, too.

2. Consistent defense. In last year's nightmare, Cribbs worked out of the wildcat and ran for 87 yards (averaging nearly 11 per touch) and those in Cleveland who have a clue, think that Cribbs is their best hope. I tend to agree. So the first thing the Steelers need to do is Stop Cribbs in the wildcat.

Then they have to stay gap sound to bottle up Peyton Hillis and after that, it shouldn't be to hard to confuse and harass Colt McCoy.

Of course, I said that going into last year's game ... but still, these Browns aren't the Brian Sipe or Bernie Kosar editions. Which is to say, they just aren't very good offensively. Heck, they came into the season with Jake Delhomme, the man who never met an ill-advised throw he didn't like as their starter, and the underwhelming Seneca Wallace as the back up. Both of those guys are hurt and it looks like the Browns will start rookie Colt McCoy at quarterback. So the Steelers defense doesn't have to do anything spectacular to win this one. They simply have to protect against any big plays, stay gap sound, be violent and thus, contain and smother any vague hopes the Browns might have.

3. Ball control. It goes without saying this is something I'd like to see more of long term, not merely in this game.

I'd like to see an offense that, while it has Pig Ben at it's disposal, doesn't rely entirely on him, a more balanced attack, with Rashard Mendenhall get at least 22 touches in this game. In the first four games, with defenses keying on him, behind a line that is hardly great (but is, admittedly, better than I thought it would be) Mendenhall managed to average 4.6 yards per carry. With defenses now having to respect the pass, Mendenhall can be even more productive, so let's hope that Arians doesn't forget about him, just because the franchise quarterback is back on the field.

As we all know, the NFL is a funny, cyclical animal. The current cycle dictates that teams are positively obsessed, cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs crazy with "stretching defenses" with the long ball. But in the early years of this decade, teams who dinked and dunked lead the way - the 2000 Ravens, the 2001 Patriots (they later became a long-bomb machine, but in 2001, not so much), the 2002 Bucs and the 2002 Raiders. The Steelers have a guy in Mike Wallace who nobody can catch, so I'm not saying to abandon the long game, but that it would be good to balance that with a short, first-down geared, clock-grinding attack - a passing game that goes underneath to Hines Ward more often. It seems so obvious, but get the ball to Hines. He's a first down machine and doesn't hold all the franchise receiving records by accident. Dude knows what he's doing.

One more thought on the obsession with going deep. Right now, San Diego has the most "vertical" offense in the league -- Philip Rivers leads the league in total yards and in yards per attempt. Yet, the Chargers are a very disappointing 2-3 and I have to wonder if they will even make the playoffs. The Cowboys throw more than any other team - nearly 66% of the time - and they are on the brink of disaster. You just don't want to run a team like Norv Turner or Wade Phillips. I'd like to see the Steelers go anti-Turner, anti-Phillips.

Basically, they just need to not do anything stupid this week and leave the stupid up to the Manginius.

Thoughts on the Return of Pig Ben

Pig Ben returns to the field Sunday after serving his four game suspension for conduct unbecoming a grown up person. The questions swirl around.

What kind of reception will the fans give him?

What does this mean for team chemistry? What kind of reception did his teammates give him?

Will he be sharp? Or play more like Carson Palmer has of late?

I think Pig Ben is going to play lights out, perhaps better than he's ever played heretofore (and it's been a pretty spectacular career already), because athletes, the ones who perform at this level, are mostly driven and myopic and have a unique sense of the world and their place in it.

It makes me wonder about the weirdness of professional sports and the rules of conduct in the inner-inner-sanctum thereof.

The smallest slight is coaxed, nurtured into a dis of monumental proportions. Then, once it has been built up into an epic insult, it is fed off of as motivation. The New England Patriots trotted out the tired old "no respect" saw year after year, even though most people recognized their greatness, even while we, er I, resented it. Lather, rinse, repeat. Michael Jordan used to convince himself that fans, media, and other players had been critical just to get himself even more psyched for games. So the slights don't even have to be real to be used as fuel.

Enter Pig Ben. Since his meeting with Judge Dread, he has been saying and doing all the right things. He's been talking about the fact that he had a lot of growing up to do and he was working on that. He's been talking about his obligation to his teammates and the community. Meanwhile, he's been working out like a lunatic (he looks to be in the best physical condition he's been in since his rookie year) and doing yoga with his mom. Take it for what it's worth and everybody's mileage may vary on his credibility.

Publicly, he has been humble. And humbled. But inside? Inside, I expect that he feels that he has to quiet all the critics, make them -- us -- choke on our words. And the only way to do that is win football games, play better than he's ever played, better than anybody else is playing. Some people, most people, would wither under that kind of scrutiny, pressure and general condemnation. But I expect it will have the exact opposite effect on Pig Ben.

Roethlisberger's BFF Ray Lewis can probably explain it. In January of 2000, Lewis was arrested in the stabbing deaths of two people. Lewis' attorney (also Pig Ben's attorney), arranged for Lewis to testify against the other two defendants and the murder charges against him were dropped, reduced to the charge of obstruction of justice.

Almost a year to the day later, Lewis' Ravens won the Super Bowl, in no small part because of Lewis' play on the field in that game and throughout that season. The guy has had many great seasons, but perhaps none greater than that year. Normal people, after an ordeal like that -- being involved in or at the very least, witnessing two killings, being investigated, indicted, testifying and all that jazz -- would be thrown off our games. We would just be a mess. But not Ray.

Then there's the other example. Evil Hoodie got caught with his hands in the cookie jar, busted red handed while violating a league rule about filming other teams. Evil Hoodie was fined and the team was docked draft picks. The rest of the NFL reveled in the great comeuppance. But like Ray Lewis, rather than be disturbed by the whole kerfuffle, Evil Hoodie was even more defiant, more determined to run roughshod over the league and thumb his nose at the commish. His team rallied around him, ripped off 18 wins in a row, often rolled up the score on opponents in the process. It led Bill Simmons to dub that season "the Eff You Season," a totally accurate term.

The point is, these are not normal people. The things that would throw most of us into months of self-recrimination, doubt and inertia, instead drive them forward to their greatest performances. It's an alternate reality, through the rabbit hole, out the back of the wardrobe and into the NFL.

That quality allows them to be the elite. They are all undeniably great at what they do, and yet, would you want to spend a night on the town with Ray Lewis? Be married to Bill Belichick? Go on a date with Ben Roethlisberger?

It's an upside down world, the one of pro athletes.

The Grumpy Browns Face

From True/Slant on November 17, 2009:


Browns Fans Checking for a Pulse.

Has a professional football team ever performed worse than the Cleveland Browns did against the Baltimore Ravens on Monday Night Football?

For as dull as the game was, it was likewise strangely compelling. I couldn’t turn away, completely fascinated by the Browns’ ineptitude. It was like watching the living dead play football and I had to think that George Romero would be a more appropriate coach than Eric Mangini.

Certainly, other teams have had more turnovers or more grossly mismanaged the clock, been flagged for more penalties or had heinous special teams shanks and misfires, but not one team has ever been the festival of ineptitude witnessed by the Monday Night audience. Hello, Cleveland!

If dirt or grass were eligible receivers, Brady Quinn would be a Hall of Fame bound quarterback.

If wide outs were paid to run apathetic routes with their hands in their pants, the Browns would be all world in the receiving department.

If coaches were judged on their ability to mismanage personnel and devise tepid, timid gameplans, the Mangini braintrust would be in a class of their own. Heck, Rob Ryan and Eric Mangini couldn’t even get 11 guys on the field to defend against what turned out to be Baltimore’s only offensive touchdown of the night. Christ, send Derek Anderson out there. He’s not busy.

Flat out, these Cleveland Browns are positively inert, which accounts for the primetime appearance of the Grumpy Browns Face ™ on the shores of Lake Erie. Though they share some things in common, like an abject, utter despair, the Grumpy Browns Face ™ is distinctly, decidedly different from the Sad Buffalo Face, despite the proximity of the cities and the heart-breaking history of each respective franchise. A quick stroll through the valley of pain, Cleveland Browns style:

Red Right 88.

The Fumble.

The Drive.

The Chris Palmer era. Five and Twenty-Seven, baby!

Super Bowl XXXV.

And general post-expansion malaise.

That’s without even getting into Art Modell high-tailing it to Charm City with the beloved franchise, so it goes without saying that Browns fans have plenty to be grumpy about.

Unlike the Sad Buffalo Face, the Grumpy Browns Face is specific to the Browns franchise and not the entire city of Cleveland. (In fact, Cavs fans look more anxious and Indians fans just look drunk.)

But Browns fans wear generations of frustration and heart-break right on their kissers. The Grumpy Browns Face is the physiognomical correlative of a lover scorned and jilted. More than that, even: it is the kind of unique, searing pain experienced by a woman (or man) who is repeatedly tossed aside, left at the altar, stood up, and cheated on. This is the expression of a person who regularly wonders what he or she did in a former life to deserve such pain and torment in this one. It is most definitely the look of a person intimately familiar with betrayal.

It’s the face of Job tweaking on crystal meth and drunk on Nattie Light.

Since the Browns came back into existence after aforementioned Modell hijacking (speaking of betrayal), the Browns have played precisely one playoff game. ONE. Which they lost. Meanwhile, the hated division rival Steelers have won two Super Bowls, and the even more loathed Ravens won one. Even Bengals fans are hopeful.

In 2003, the Bengals drafted Carson Palmer. A year later, the Steelers drafted Ben Roethlisberger. In 2008, the Ravens drafted Joe Flacco. Legitiimate, NFL Franchise QB’s, each one of them. Roethlisberger has two rings already. Palmer and Flacco are each certainly capable of leading his team to the promised land, assuming all the other myriad factors fall into place.

Since that Palmer draft, the Browns have drafted Luke McCown, Charlie Frye, and Brady Quinn, and started a veritable murderer’s row at QB: Kelly Holcomb (9-15 record), Jeff Garcia (76.7 QB rating – the second worst of his career), Trent Dilfer (11 TD’s, 12 INT’s and 7 lost fumbles), former Zip Charlie Frye (2007 QB rating of 10; and I thought QB ratings were like the SAT’s where guys got 20 points or so for just lacing their cleats), Derek Anderson (with a QB rating of 35.5 for 2009 ) and Brady Quinn, who seems congenitally unable to throw the ball further than six yards beyond the line of scrimmage.

Currently, the Browns offense ranks dead last in points scored and are minus 17 in the turnover department, also good for dead last in the NFL. If you were a Browns fan, you’d be P.O.’ed, too. The Grumpy Browns Face was on full display on Monday night for all the world to see. It wasn’t pretty.

Careful, Browns fans, if you do that long enough, your faces may just stick like that.

Five Teams to Head Bang By

trueslant.com/jodydiperna/2009/07/16/five-teams-that-make-fans-want-to-smash-their-heads-on-their-desks/

From True/Slant on July 16, 2009:

Five Teams that make fans want to smash their heads on their desks

There are teams whose fans throw up their hands in disgust, wallow in despair and watch through paper bags. There are franchises with nothing to celebrate in the rear-view nor any promise of success on the horizon.

Then there are the Pittsburgh Pirates, a franchise in pursuit of a record breaking 17th consecutive losing season. Somehow, the locals remain invested enough to smack their faces off their desks in frustration. Trust me, I know.

It’s particularly bad because Pittsburgh fans can always point to the other local franchises, and few hold up well against the standard set by the Super Bowl champ Steelers and Stanley Cup champ Penguins. Of course, the Pirates don’t help themselves much by (a) losing a lot, (b) trading away nearly every player with any talent, spark or connection to the fans, and (c) losing a lot. (The losing. It bothers folks.)

Still, I suppose there are worse things than being a Pirates fan. Like having your eyelashes tweezed out one by one. Or being questioned by a knuckleheaded pissant like Jeff Sessions. But keeping in the world of sports, as the Pirates complete their annual crawl of shame, here’s my very unscientific short list of fans who have it worse than I do as a Buccos fan:

New York Knicks. Only the Knicks would amass a payroll larger than the GNP of Papua New Guinea and fail so miserably on court. Only the Knicks could allow Isiah Thomas to run the team into the ground from the front office, then add head coach to his job description. To add whipped cream and cherries to it, he was paid to stick around but kinda go away. There is failure, there is incompetence, there is malfeasance. And then there is Isaiah Thomas. It may get better for Knicks fans, but to hoops fans all over New York, particularly those who grew up with Frazier or Ewing, it must feel like James Dolan purchased the team specifically for the purpose of torturing them. Commence head banging.

Buffalo Bills. Remember back in the 1990’s when the Bills lost the first of their four consecutive Super Bowl losses on an errant, last-minute field goal try? Yeah, well those were the good old days for Bills fans. Ownership is financially strapped and there has been talk of moving the team. Since the retirement of Hall of Famer Jim Kelly, the fans have witnessed such luminary quarterbacks as Drew Bledsoe (past his expiration date), Kelly Holcomb, Alex Van Pelt (I am not making that up), J.P. Losman and Trent Edwards. The Bills wear some of the busiest, most hideous uniforms in all of the NFL. And, as though Buffalo fans haven’t suffered enough, enter Terrell Owens (and his shadow, Drew Rosenass.) Good times.

Cleveland. You cannot look at any one single Cleveland franchise without recognizing the sorry state of affairs all over. Context, like timing, is everything. Cleveland fans haven’t enjoyed a championship of any kind since the 1964 Browns. In the 1980’s the Browns lost to the Broncos in back to back AFC Championship games, dubbed “The Drive” and “The Fumble.” but they would be more appropriately titled, “Kill Me, I’m A Browns Fan,” and “Please Kill Me, I’m a Browns Fan.” Did I mention the hijacking, um, relocation of the franchise a decade later? Yeah, that, too.

The Indians came close to a title, but lost in the 1995 World Series to the Braves. And for a super-special encore, they followed that up with the 1997 soul-crushing loss to the Marlins. Do not say the name Jose Mesa in northern Ohio unless you want a fist to the throat.

Those kinds of things take a toll on the collective sports psyche of a town, so much so that ESPN conferred the title of most tortured sports fans on Cleveland a few years back.

But, you say, the Cavaliers have King James! They just got Shaq! This is the year, baby. Except I can’t hear you over the constant, ear-ringing din about Lebron leaving for a bigger market as soon as this contract is up. Every media outlet from Boardman, Oh. to Bristol, Ct. insists he’s already gone, ready to trot off to some bigger market to make more money and become more famous. (I wonder, how much more famous could the guy even be?) Lebron’s assumed departure must hang over Cleveland fans like the sword of Damocles. It’s no way for the city to enjoy what might be the last best chance it has at a title.

Detroit Lions. No list of of futility can skip the team which drives fans to the streets with torches and pitch forks while burning the general manger in effigy. The dome? Football indoors is depressing all by itself. Add the Lions to the equation and I can actually feel my body decaying while I watch them. The Lions draft record was once read at a comedy club. It killed.

Some fans have their hopes dashed every year, but at least they have hope. Despair, thy name is Detroit.

Chicago Cubs. When I was a younger, I thought Cubs fans were reinvigorated each spring. They seemed excited when pitchers and catchers reported for spring training and the tingle of a new start mingled with the spring chill that typically remains on opening day at Wrigley. They kept their hopes for a championship just barely under wraps, but they were there. Oh, they were there. Cubs fans meant it when they said get ‘em next year.

In more recent years, in the post-Bartman era, I get the feeling that a century without a title has gotten the best of them. Cubs faithful are tighter, crankier, and just barely teetering on the edge of sanity. Misery loves company. Maybe it all turned sour after the Boston Red Sox fans and crosstown Chi-White Sox fans got to celebrate in 2004 and 2005. With those historic wins, Cubs fans stood alone as the loneliest long-suffering franchise. It doesn’t seem fun for fans anymore, which is a bummer even for me. Every loss carries the weight of 100 years, every missed opportunity seems inevitable. The Cubs are the face of disappointment. Goats optional.

Honorable mention: L.A. Clippers, Ottawa Senators, N.Y. Jets, Hartford Whalers (I interviewed some locals a couple of years ago for a story on Ron Francis; they’re still bitter).