Don't Ever Give Up

0-2. We've been here before. The NL Divisional Series, Cubs down 0-2. We were here last year, and it didn't end well. We were here in 1998, and it didn't end well. In general when you go down 0-2 in a Divisional Series in Major League Baseball, its bad. Only one team has come back from being down 0-2 since divisional play started, the Yankees did it in 2001 vs the Oakland A's. This should be a ray of hope, but I have long maintained that this series was fixed. I don't feel like explaining my reasoning. I work with a Yankee's fan who, while a good guy overall, can be a tad irritating when the Yankees are winning (this is like saying "it got a tad stormy in Galveston"). He was fairly quiet for most of the season this year.

Well, the key thing to remember is that they're 0-2. Somebody has to win 3 games. I say it is going to be the Chicago Cubs. Why would I say this?

• By my account, at least 6 times this year the Cubs lost 2 games in a row and then won at least 3 in a row
• Last night pitching didn't kill them. Stupid nervous mistakes did. Hopefully we're past that now
• The offense is bound to wake up at some point
• I see no reason not to be cocky. The worst thing that can happen is that they lose, and I turn my sports focus toward the upcoming hockey season. As Crash Davis said, "You gotta play this game fear and arrogance". The Cubs will win, all the sports radio talking heads who said it was over will look silly, but most will claim they picked the Cubs all along
• I believe

So, maybe its "fear and ignorance" rather than fear and arrogance, but I say the bandwagon is still rolling. No, I'm not a band wagon fan, I'm pretty diehard. But if you jumped on the bandwagon, stay with it. I say to all the people around the country who became Cubs fans through the years because they were on WGN a lot, and WGN was on every basic cable system in the country, "Come home old Cubs fan, the door is open".

In closing, I'll come back to the title, a quote from former North Carolina State University basketball coach Jim Valvano who during his famous speech in 1993, clearly weakened by cancer, stated passionately and believably, "Don't give up, Don't ever give up" (it wasn't the first time he said it, but this was probably the most famous speech). I used this quote for two reasons:

1. The Cubs are down 0-2. I believe they will come back and win the series. Last night's loss was depressing, but I am not giving up
2. Some people face real adversity. Sometimes there is karma involved. More often it seems to be random. Right now I'm sure some person who doesn't deserve it is battling cancer. I don't know why. Sometimes the only explanation that makes sense is "S*** Happens". This is just baseball. Its not that big of a deal

If you haven't seen it before, or haven't seen it lately, Valvano's speech is worth watching.