I actually think the reason for the Cubs losing this - and every - year is that the team's ownership has sold their souls to Satan.

They want to keep losing on the field because that will keep the mazoomah from nationwide merchandise rolling in. As soon as they win the Series the joyride is over.

isn't the the flip side of this question? they knew they were gonna have the best record in the NL for several weeks, and that the team with the worst record would be whoever came out of the west. at most, they would have had to assign scouts to the dodgers and d-backs.

sounds like an excuse to me...

the cubs choked -- as a team. they're also missing a truly fearsome hitter in their lineup, someone like, ummm -- what's that guy's name? oh yeah -- manny ramirez.

speaking of the sox, there's trouble in beantown. pedroia and ortiz aren't hitting, beckett doesn't look right, and suddenly they're in a must-win game this evening.

for the column today. You are a good writer, and you gave me a nice morning laugh. They were outplayed. And they are cursed. Hehe.

The Cubs owners sold their sould to the devil? Considering the Tribune is the Devil, all the accounting would be internal.

I was visiting an old college roommate in Chicago during the 2003 NLCS. On the night of the infamous "Steve Bartman incident" I remember it feeling like half the city had just been punched in the stomach. The World Series, which was all but a lock during the seventh inning stretch was already slipping away, but pretty much everyone around knew the Cubs were going to lose the series by the end of that dreadful eighth inning. That familiar feeling was back this year, but much earlier. I didn't even bother watching after game one. I had a feeling the sweep was on.

It's true that perhaps the Cubs could have scouted better, but King is wrong when he says that it's been clear that the Cubs would play the winner of the NL west. Until the last day of the season, the Cubs could have played either the Mets or the Dodgers, depending on whether the Mets secured the wild card. Most Cubs fans (including me) believe they would have handled the Mets easily, but you never know. In any event, the Cubs had an opportunity to play dead against the Mets while simultaneously scouting them for the NLDS. Instead, they took the series and put Milwaukee in a position to make the playoffs.

But the five-game series is a travesty. Way too flukey to be fair. Make it seven.

Hear hear! I'm with you!

King, you hear that? Division Series games should be best of seven, not best of five. Change that for next year, will ya?

The Cubs were swept because of bad karma. When Bud Selig awarded them two extra home games in Milwaukee against Houston after Hurricane Ike, the Cub fans booed the handful of Astros fans in attendance. Sure, Zambrano got a no-hitter against a team of players who had two hours of sleep following the hurricane, but that was their last celebration of the season.

Sometimes justice does prevail.

The ref'ing in the Steelers-Jaguars game last night was unbelievably terrible. Any rational human being could see that it looked like the refs were trying to throw it for the Jaguars. They did everything possible to try to stop them, but the Steel Curtain still prevailed. Here are the ones I saw, from the 3rd/4th quarters:

- A "roughing the passer" call (15 yd/1st down penalty) called when a Pit linesman was a 1/2 step and 0.5 second away from the QB. This is a legal hit in any other non-on-the-take world.

- A marginal call of personal foul of the open field hit after the ball was tipped in flight and the Jax receiver didn't get his hands on it.

- A bullshit 15 yd penalty for Ward for literally holding the ball out to the Jax sideline after making a nice catch. WTF?

- The Jax QB fumbles the ball on the last drive and he is ruled down, when any person who is not blind can see from the replays that he fumbled the ball.

When will there be accountability for such poor refereeing in the NFL?

So if it were a 7-game series instead of 5, the Cubs would be down 3-0. Think they would win 4 in a row? That would be way more flukie than any 5-game series outcome. Face it, the Cubs choked, and they would have choked in a 7 game series too. Although, I also think the the Dodgers are a much better team than given credit. Torre took a while to get the team on the right track, but with the addition of Manny, they are looking pretty good. And their chances of beating the Phillies seems good too. Poor Cubs, but at least the fans get to wallow in another year of loveable loser syndrom.

I disagree with your premise that if it were a 7 game series, the Cubs would be down 3-0. A seven game series changes the entire mindset of a team. Unlike a 5 game series, losing the first game of a 7 gamer is not that big of a deal. Winning game 2 after you've lost game 1 is imperitive in a 5 game series, putting untold amounts of additional pressure on players. If the Cubs knew it was a 7 game series, they likely would have played more relaxed in game 2, rather than panicked. It's all speculation - but one thing is certain: you can't assume everything would have played out the same if the circumstances were different.

While I do think baseball's postseason is long enough, there is something inherently unfair about a 5 game series. Baseball has a 162 game season. Thus, a 5 game series represents 3% of the season. In football, the one game playoff represents 6% of the season. In basketball, the opening rounds are 7 games, representing 8% of the season.

In other words, a five game series in baseball is PARTICULARLY flukey, especially compared to other sports.