Knicks Opening Night 2008/2009

I went to my first Knicks game at Madison Square Garden back in 1997. It was in those days when the Big Fella Patrick Ewing used to patrol the paint for New York and on the opposing Orlando Magic a guy named Penny Hardaway was a young upcoming superstar in the NBA. Now, roughly 11 years later, I finally got to see my first Knicks victory in person yesterday after leaving the arena with a hanging head numerous times in between. So personally, the Knicks home opener against the Miami Heat was definitely something special for me. But of course this wasn't the reason why yesterday wasn't like any other night for the New York Knicks. It was the beginning of a new era and a long awaited goodbye to probably the darkest period in franchise history. And of course, Opening Night itself with all the pregame show isn't just another game, no matter what year it is.

While the offseason talk among the Knicks has been more concerned with excitement and entertainment than with actual results, yesterday proved that both things can exist in unison. Jamal Crawford and company overran the Heat for about 3 and a half quarters and withstood a late Miami comeback on their way to a 120-115 victory. Crawford, who spoke the season's opening words before the game among raucous cheers of the Garden crowd, led the team with 29 points and was supported by five other Knicks in double figures. The game was an early indictment what new head coach Mike D'Antoni is all about: Sharing the ball, pushing the tempo and having fun on the basketball court. Of course that fun only reaches the group that is actually on the court and playing which didn't include highly prized veterans Stephon Marbury and Eddy Curry yesterday, who both got a big, large DNP and were the night's huge stroyline next to the actual victory. But first to the happenings on the court. Offensively the Knicks looked like they are truly buying into the newly system which is based on a lot of player movement, tempo, unselfish passing and good spacing. Nearly at all times during the game we could witness extra passes, sharp cuts to the basket and quick uptempo basketball. Jamal Crawford, Zach Randolph and Nate Robinson at times fell back into old habits of overdribbling and boneheaded decisions. But you can't take all their individual strength away in favor of the team concept, therefor these guys are by far the Knicks most talented offensive players and they have to create on their own from time to time. While it's hard to really pick out an individual in New York's exceptional team effort, Wilson Chandler (17 points, 9 rebounds) looked the best among the guys in orange in blue. At times, he seemed like the best athlete in the building (even with Shawn Marion and Dwyane Wade suiting up for the Heat) and he presented us a newfound confidence he didn't possess last year. When I talked to him last season he said confidence would be a huge factor for him making the next big step as a player and judging by the preseason and last night's performance, he's well on his way. He moved great without the ball and constantly found holes in the Miami defense, finishing strong on most of his drives. He also was the lone Knick who actually resembled somewhat of an inside presence defensively, challenging a bunch of shots and playing hard nosed, aggressive defense.
Which brings us to the big problem this Knicks team will face in the upcoming months. Sure, mental lapses like at the end of the fourth quarter, when they let a 21 point lead dwindle down to 3, are bad. But the defense is what will present the most problems to a team that is undersized and also not very adapt defending their own basket. The Miami Heat, starting combo forwards Michael Beasley and Shawn Marion and no true center, were a good matchup for the Knicks. But even against a small Heat frontline David Lee, Zach Randolph and Malik Rose had huge trouble inside. Otherwise you wouldn't allow 6-8 Udonis Haslem to explode for 23 points on 10 for 14 shooting. Those are all star numbers, the only problem is that Haslem is as close to being an all star as he is to being a professional ballet dancer. Which for all of you believing in his dancing skills, is damn near impossible. What will happen when the Knicks face true All Stars on the inside? The likes of Dwight Howard, Chris Bosh or Kevin Garnett? Sure, with speed and agility the pairing of Randolph and Lee will also present some problems for strong powerful frontlines trying to defend them but in the end, size is what matters in this league and it will prevail over any gimmick lineup the Knicks will try to assemble. It isn't just the big men matchup alone but the inability of the Knicks to rotate and challenge shots. Once a guard beats his man, he has as much stress scoring in New York's paint as he would have lying on the beach in Florida during the offseason. The Knicks frontline lacks length, size and actual athleticism. While Lee is a good athlete, he doesn't play big at all and neither do his teammates upfront. Something needs to happen here, there's no question about it. But as we all know, this Knicks team isn't a finished product by any means which leads us to the other big storyline of the evening.

Eddy Curry and Stephon Marbury, two cornerstones of the former Knicks regime under Isiah Thomas, didn't play a minute in yesterday's game, fueling discussions of both players' status under D'Antoni. Curry isn't in the rotation because he came in out of shape, something that finally has backfired on him after years of too many cookies in the summer. But Marbury's demotion came surprising, mostly maybe to some fans who chanted "We want Steph" in the third quarter, met my boos from other fans. D'Antoni is showing his teeth here and he makes it clear that you can only crack this rotation by sporting a winning attitude and a team first mindset. By sitting both Curry and Marbury he also slams the door behind the recent Knicks era of overpriced veterans, losses over losses and a boatload of scandals. Neither Curry nor Marbury figure to be in the longterm plans of the Knicks (unless they change their ways which especially for the 31 year old Marbury is unlikely) and with the building of a future core picking up steam, they are the odd men out. Maybe they will soon be used as a trade bait to find a few young guys who might fit into the plans of D'Antoni and GM Donnie Walsh of creating a young base or clearing cap space for the summer of 2010 when many big name free agents will be available. Al Harrington is all but gone in Golden State and seems to be on the Knicks radar and Memphis point guard Jarvaris Crittenton, who looks perfectly suited for playing under D'Antoni, is also rumored to be available. While all this drama took a lot of today's headlines, let's remember what yesterday's game was about. The Knicks and their fans celebrated the start of a new era with a victory and a thunderous party before, during and after the game. It is a small little step and there will come a lot more bumps in the road but the New York Knicks are finally on their way back out of hell. It'll be a long journey but for now, Knicks fans, just enjoy the moment and look ahead to what might happen a few years down the road or even next Sunday, when the Milwaukee Bucks visit the Garden. Once again the Knicks will play a meaningful game and it should be exciting, just like last night...

Boston Red Sox: The Heart Of A Champion

Under the dark and cold skies of a Boston night in October, Fenway Park, one of the great cathedrals in all of baseball, was silent as a graveyard. Even in this hour of silence you couldn't hear any beating. But there was one beneath the white jerseys of the Red Sox. Somewhere inside of them a fire was burning and a heart was beating. Still beating. And it was the heart of a champion.

Trailing the Tampa Bay Rays in the American League Championship Series by 3-1, the Red Sox faced elimination in Game 5 on Thursday night. And the end of their season was inching closer and closer with every inning. They Rays jumped in front by 7-0 and with evey passing at bat, more and more fans left Fenway Park. Stunned, shocked, hopeless. But for those who stayed, who kept believing in their proud team, the rough hours turned into a night to remember. David Ortiz, struggling all series long, made it 7-4 with a homerun in the bottom of the seventh. J.D. Drew followed him up with a homer in the eighth and Fenway erupted as if the Sox had just won the World Series. All of a sudden the swagger, the pride and the hope, it all was back. And when Coco Crisp singled in the tying run off Dan Wheeler, you could hear it beating all around Boston. It weren't the hearts of the Red Sox players but the stands in a ballpark that had turned from a graveyard into a frenzy. And to make this a legend that will be told for many many years, Drew got his second clutch hit in the 9th as he singled home Kevin Youkilis who was greeted by thunderous cheers and his emphatic teammates at homeplate. After the game, which lasted almost 5 hours, Terry Francona maybe put it best: "It was simply magical."

Damn sure it was. In 79 years baseball hadn't seen such a comeback on as big a stage as there is, with everything on the line in an elimination playoff game. But Francona also reminded Red Sox Nation that it's only the first step on a long climb that lies in front of his team. "Hopefully there will be a moment when we can sit back and say that this was what put us over the hump. But we are still climbing." They are as the series will go back to St. Petersburg on Saturday for Game Six. Josh Beckett will start for Boston and face James Shields, trying to keep the momentum on the side of the defending World Champions. It's still a long way to go but with last night in the books, no matter what happens from now on, the Red Sox can end their season with their heads up high. But that's all in the future. For now, Boston lives to fight another day. And as we saw around midnight at Fenway yesterday, they will fight... until the very end. With the heart of a champion.

NFL Rookie Report Week 6

As Week 6 in the NFL once again proved, everything can happen on any given Sunday. The Giants lost to the Browns, Washington falls to the lowly Rams and all around the league we saw interesting developments. Same can be said among the current rookie class where we also had some surprising breakout games, some players continuing their pro bowl caliber play and others stepping onto the scene for the first time. Let's have the weekly look at the rookies' play in week 6.

Offense:
We have to look no further than Atlanta to find some of the most impressive rookies of the 2008 class. The surprising Falcons beat the Chicago Bears and again got a tremendous performance from their first year signal caller Matt Ryan. The third overall pick completed 22 of his 30 passes for 301 yards and a touchdown. That gave him a 116.1 rating for the day and was just another reason for Falcons fans to smile about the upcoming years and to forget about a certain player with the number 7. Two other rookies help Ryan in Atlanta's offense: Tackle Sam Baker once again looked great on the offensive line and wide receiver Harry Douglas had a true breakout game against the Bears. Douglas, critisized by many before the Combine, caught 5 balls for 96 yards, both season highs. Matt Forte had another strong showing in the same game for Chitown with 110 all purpose yards and a rushing touchdown.

The other rookie starting quarterback, Joe Flacco in Baltimore, struggled this weekend despite a good completion percentage and 241 yards in the air. In a blowout loss at Indianapolis, Flacco found himself on his back 4 times and also threw 3 interceptions. Former Michigan star running back Mike Hart got his first real action for the Colts and rushed once for 2 yards and caught a pass for 18 yards. A little more impressive was the performance of Detroit's Kevin Smith who poured in 62 yards on only 5 carries against a tough Minnesota front and also added 11 receiving yards. His numbers scream for more touches. Unlike Smith, Eagles rookie sensation DeSean Jackson and Rams' receiver Donnie Avery don't have to worry about playing time right now. Jackson caught 6 balls for 98 yards and with now 433 total receiving yards he ranks 11th among all NFL receivers for the season, in front of some big names such as Terrell Owens or T.J. Houshmandzadeh. Not bad for a 5-10 second rounder that couldn't save himself from negative predraft buzz. Donnie Avery helped the Rams to celebrate their first win of the season with a nailbiter at Washington. The 5-11 Avery hauled in 5 passes for 73 yards against a very talented Redskins' secondary. A number of other pass catchers had solid showings this weekend, too. Jordy Nelson grabbed 4 balls for 42 yards and tight end John Carlson (Seattle) caught 4 passes for 22 yards including a 6 yard touchdown from backup QB Charlie Frye. Running back Ben-Jarvus Green-Ellis got his first action for the New England Patriots and caught a pass for 9 yards. The Carolina Panthers felt how valuable rookies already can be as Jeff Otah missed his second start in a row. The Panthers got destroyed by division rival Tampa Bay and the offense stuttered without it's starting left tackle in all areas.

Defense:
Looking at the defensive end, we can also start with an Atlanta Falcon. Linebacker Curtis Lofton racked up 8 total tackles in his team's win against Chicago and contiues to be a disruptive force in the middle. Fellow linebacker Keith Rivers recorded 6 tackles in a losing effort at the Meadowlands. In that game, Jets rookie cornerback Dwight Lowery passed another important test going up against Chad Johnson (sorry, that namechanging crap can't be taken serious) and T.J. Houshmandzadeh. While both had their moments, Lowery played well and at no point lost his focus. He finished with 3 tackles and defended two passes. For the Bengals Corey Lynch had an early career highlight. Not only did he defend a pass from quarterback legend Brett Favre, no, he also got his first career interception against old number 4. Defensive tackle Pat Sims out of Auburn also had a strong outing for Cincinnati with 4 solo tackles and an assist.

Aqib Talib also had a great game on Sunday. The big and physical corner intercepted a pass from Jake Delhomme, batted down two other throws and also added 3 tackles in an important division game. The second overall pick Chris Long had a key play against Washington when he recovered a fumble to go along with 3 tackles. Two other well known rookies led their respective tackles this week. Chris Horton, safety for the Redskins, finished with 10 stops against St. Louis and Jerod Mayo collected 7 tackles for the Patriots. Bryan Kehl also stood out as he got his first heavy duty for the New York Giants. The former BYU star finished with 6 stops at Cleveland. Kenny Phillips had 4 tackles in the same game for the Giants but was part of a secondary that got killed by Cleveland's air attack. Alex Hall had two tackles for the Browns and also sacked Eli Manning once. Trevor Laws (Eagles) and Calais Campbell (Cardinals), both heralded defensive line rookies, had solid outings with 2 tackles apiece and Campbell also forced a fumble against the Dallas Cowboys.

Special Teams:
Devon Bess had 113 kick return yards for the Miami Dolphins and also had a nice punt return for 25 yards. As if his receiving prowess wouldn't be impress enough, DeSean Jackson also comes around as a return man. After recording his first return touchdown last week he netted two punt returns this week for 28 yards. His teammate Quintin Demps had a tremendous 63 yard kick return against San Francisco on his way to 116 total return yards. The highlight play this week came from Tampa Bay's Geno Hayes though as he blocked a punt against Carolina and returned it 22 yards for the score. He also added 3 tackles and defended a pass, respectively.

Knicks On The Verge Of A New Era

Looking at the roster of the New York Knicks today it's hard to see many changes. Yes, there is the newly aquired Chris Duhon, who came from Chicago, and there's italian rookie Danilo Gallinari, the 6th pick in this year's NBA Draft. Oh, and how could I forget Patrick Ewing Jr. who hopes to make the roster as a first year player and follow in the footsteps of his father, who's retired number is looking down on today's Knicks from the Madison Square Garden rafters. Overall, that's not what you would call a radical rebuild, something that seems inevitable for a team that lost 216 games in the last four seasons. Yet the storied franchise from the Big Apple is still on the verge of a new era with the 2008/2009 season just weeks away. New general manager Donnie Walsh and head coach Mike D'Antoni were the Knicks' big offseason (or last season) aquisitions and they are now in charge of bringing the team back to long forgotten glory.

Not that former GM and coach Isiah Thomas didn't have the same intentions. But unlike the new men in charge, he not only lacked a certain plan but also a winning and well respected resume around the league (as an executive I might add). Walsh, a big part of Indiana's success in the 90s and the early new millenium, and D'Antoni, who transformed the Phoenix Suns into a perennial championship contender in recent years, know how to win and what it takes not only for a team to change it's culture but also for a franchise. If anyone needs further proof, we only have to look back a few days at the Knicks training camp. While the players were the same guys who invented losing as an entire new art form, the coach was different and so was the vibe all around the team. It went way beyond D'Antoni's on court tactics that intend to make a Knicks a running, fastbreak team. No, the entire culture of the team is changing. You could sense an upbeat atmosphere, a new motivation and a group of players that figure there are going to be changes for the better. But next to all the positivity, Mike D'Antoni's remarks from Tuesday's practice tell the most important early chapter of what hopefully will be a blockbuster success story with a happy end down the road. He wasn't satisfied with the effort of his players and he reminded us all that there something needs to happen inside everyone of the Knicks. "You play three or four years and not every play matters, then you develop bad habits", said D'Antoni about his team's recent "success". "When not every game matters, then your mind plays tricks on you. You think you're playing hard but you really aren't." With those words he hit a very sensitive nerve that has been nagging on this franchise for years. Being able to win comes from within a group and how they act every day. It takes more than just making a jumpshot or beating your man. It is a mental thing, too. "Of course these old habits have to change. Then we can think of becoming a good team, when we understand how hard it will be." What might sound like a sidekick at former Knicks regimes is actually much more of a direction for the future. What happened, happened. But now things have to change. Not only players.

And things will change. Maybe not today in the Knicks first preseason game against the Toronto Raptors, maybe not in the first regular season game, maybe not even this year or next year. But by listening to Donnie Walsh and Mike D'Antoni, you understand that they will make the certain changes that will take care of the losing culture around the Garden. When a player isn't willing to follow, he will be removed sooner or later. When a player doesn't fit this kind of way, he will also be shown the door one day. This hasn't happened yet in terms of roster changes, but believe me, if necessary, D'Antoni and Walsh will make these decisions. It will take time, no roster can be build in one season. But under the new leadership of holding people accountable, it is more than likely that the franchise makes steps in the right direction. Right now, the Knicks are at the bottom of the ladder and have many many stairs to take. Knicks fans though can be happy that they have the right persons leading the team up those stairs that will hopefully end one day at the top of a podium...

NFL Rookie Report Week 5

With every passing week more and more rookies start to see the field and begin to breath their first true professional air. Of course some rookies have already established themselves as top performers on their respective teams and even start to scratch at the bottom of the league's elite at their positions. Now let's take a look at the rookie performances from week 5 and who made an impact or his first big play in the pros.

Offense:
A number of receivers got their first career catches this weekend. The list includes former Michigan star Mario Manningham for the New York Giants (1 catch for 6 yards), Buffalo's 7th round draft choice Steve Johnson (1 catch for 8 yards) and Arizona's Early Doucet. The former LSU Tiger made the most of his chance, catching 6 passes for 42 yards. He might look at more playing time and plenty of opportunities from now on in Arizona's high octane offense. The Cardinals game against the Bills had another rookie receiver stepping up in the Bills' James Hardy. The tall wideout presented a nice big target, especially on third downs, and finished with 35 yards on 3 receptions. Another receiver who might have increased his playing time this weekend is Washington's Devin Thomas. He could be a valuable part in Jim Zorn's West Coast offense as he caught 2 balls for 28 yards at Philadelphia. He looked much more comfortable than he did in recent weeks, basically following the development of the entire Redskins' squad. Tight end Tom Santi had a nice showing for the Colts as he caught 4 passes for 27 yards, including a key touchdown in Indy's comeback victory at Houston.


Three rookie running backs particularly stood out in week 5: Houston's Steve Slaton, Arizona's Tim Hightower and the Cowboys' Felix Jones. All of them have more than cemented their roles as key parts in their teams' offense and continue to make big plays. Slaton rushed for 93 yards on 16 carries and two scores against the Indianapolis Colts. He also showed off his explosivness with an impressive 41 yard run. Hightower also scored two touchdowns, including one for 17 yards. He carried the ball only 7 times but made the most of it, collecting 37 yards on the ground. Felix Jones also didn't need the ball much to make his presence felt. He finished with 93 yards on just 9 carries, once again proving how much of an explosive runner he can be. His 33 yard touchdown run against the Bengals was easily the Cowboys' highlight of the game.


On such highlight runs the offensive linemen mainly have an assisting job but are just as important as the ball carrier. Numerous rookies look terrific in the trenches early in the season. Jeff Otah starts for the well playing Panthers and Atlanta's Sam Baker does his job for one of the most surprising offenses in the league. Gosder Cherilus made his second start for the Detroit Lions but as you can imagine, Detroit isn't the greatest place for a rookie to shine. Running back Kevin Smith had a nice outing though, finishing with 56 all purpose yards and a 12 yard touchdown run. A much more impressive performance took place in Miami with the Dolphins beating the San Diego Chargers, aided by top draft pick Jake Long. The big, mauling left tackle thrives in Miami's running attack and looks more and more comfortable in pass blocking. Carl Nicks made his second straight start at guard for New Orleans.

Defense:
Something is happening down there in Miami as Bill Parcells and company have quickly changed the culture of the franchise. Young defensive players Kendall Langford and Phillip Merling once again looked very good against the run. They along with their teammates allowed only 60 yards on the ground against San Diego. Another defensive lineman getting more and more reps is Eric Foster for the Indianapolis Colts as he had 5 solo tackles and batted a pass down against Houston. The smallish Foster (6-2, 265) fits right in with the rest of the Colts defense that builds on speed and quickness.

Plenty of quickness can also be seen among the defensive backs in this rookie class. Chris Horton led the Redskins in tackles, finishing with 8 stops in another impressive road victory in the NFC East. Fellow safety Kenny Phillips is looking very good for a strong New York Giants defense. He recorded 7 tackles in the Giants' blowout victory over the struggling Seattle Seahawks. Brandon Carr (Kansas City) is slowly getting used to blowouts, too, playing for the lowly Chiefs, yet he does a solid job in the secondary. Against Carolina he finished with 8 tackles, suffers though from the overall state of his entire team. It's hard to look good on a team as young and inexperienced as the Chiefs. Charles Godfrey finds himself in a better spot as the starting free safety for the Carolina Panthers. He recorded just 2 tackles but was part of an impressive Panthers' backfield that only allowed 92 yards in the air. Keith Rivers didn't have his usual high number of tackles but made plenty of other plays in his team's close loss to Dallas. He forced a fumble, defended a pass and intercepted a Tony Romo pass that he returned 39 yards. Rivers is proving to be a very versatile linebacker who is capable of making plays all over the field. Defensive end Jason Jones out of Eastern Michigan recorded 3 tackles for the Tennessee Titans and continues to earn his reps among one of the league's best defensive fronts. In Jacksonville Quentin Groves finished with half a sack and 2 tackles but couldn't prevent his team from losing to the Steelers. Defensive back Orlando Scandrick (Dallas Cowboys) had 4 solo tackles against Cincinnati, Leodis McKelvin had 5 stops against Arizona and his Buffalo teammate Reggie Corner finished with 2 tackles, the first two of his NFL career. Overall the Bills' secondary had a rough day though against the Cardinals as Kurt Warner and his receivers racked up 250 yards in the air. Just like Corner, two other defenders recorded the first stops of their pro careers: Cliff Avril (Detroit) and Ali Highsmith (Arizona) each had 2 solo tackles. Another very good rookie performance was turned in on Monday Night Football as Tyrell Johnson continues to play well at safety for the Minnesota Vikings. One of the stars at the Combine, Johnson had 3 tackles, a fumble recovery, defended a pass and got the first interception of his NFL career in the dying seconds of the Vikings' road victory at New Orleans.

Special teams:
Though he didn't have a very impressive day as a receiver (1 catch), DeSean Jackson still got Eagles' fans excited against Washington as he scored on a 68 yard punt return. Brett Kern was the most impressive rookie kicker of the week. Of his 5 punts 2 found their way inside the 20 yard line and overall he averaged 49.6 yards per kick. On Monday Night Reggie Bush shined with two punt returns for touchdowns and one of those was aided by a first year player. On Bush's first score, JoLonn Dunbar had an absolute monster block near the sidelines, paving the way to the promise land for his teammate.

Injuries:
Left tackle Branden Albert (Kansas City) didn't play due to a hyperextended elbow. The Saints suffered another serious injury, this time to rookie defensive tackle Sedrick Ellis. The former USC Trojan had to get arthroscopic surgery on his right knee and could be out for a month. Carolina's defensive end Hilee Taylor had to leave his team's win against the Chiefs with a minor knee injury. Explosive wideout Eddie Royal suffered an ankle sprain in Denver's win against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Chicago Cubs: The Weight Of A Century

As the Los Angeles Dodgers celebrated in Wrigley Field for the second straight day, the Chicago Cubs left the diamond with their heads down. Their stunned faithful in the stands exited with the same expression. Some looked up to the heavens as if they wanted to ask the baseball gods how all of this was happening. As the cold wind was blowing through the emptying stadium it seemed as if it would take all glimpse of hope up in the skies, out to Lake Michigan and beyond into the dark night, never to return. Atleast not this season. Not with the way the Cubs played, with the fear of failure on their mind and the load of a 100 painful years on their shoulders.

Over the course of the year you get to see many bad teams like the Pittsburgh Pirates or the Seattle Mariners from time to time. They all had their moments where you could have labeled them an offense to the game of baseball, that's how terrible they played. But last night's performance by the Cubs tops everything that you might have seen during the MLB season. The fans saw a lifeless team if there has ever been one and players that looked like the played the game for the first time ever. Bobbled ground balls, terrible at bats, frightened faces without emotion - it all added up as the Dodgers won the game 10-3 and took a commanding 2-0 lead in the National League Division Series. "It just wasn't good baseball, it was terrible", said Cubs manager Lou Piniella after the game. "These were propably our worst performances of the entire year. It wasn't fun to watch." No, it wasn't. It's no exaggeration to say that the Cubs faced a little more pressure than any other team in this year's playoffs. They are the team everybody dies to watch. They were the story that everyone wanted to see have a happy end. And given how the team played this year, with their 97 wins, the strong pitching and the dangerous lineup, it seemed more realistic than ever that they could finally bring that World Series title back to the city for the first time since 1908. This was a good team, maybe even the best in baseball. They looked immune against the talk from the outside, the ghosts of former failures and the heavy pressure to perform. Yet with the postseason on the horizon something changed within Lou Piniella and his troops. Who can say what it is, they might not even know themselves, but all of a sudden it seems like the team has lost all of it's confidence. All the smiles, the poise, the strong character from during the season - blown away. They keep it real to their franchise's history as if they want to prove that the Cubs can't win. They are the "lovable losers" and they can't come through either. But that is not true. A curse doesn't exist on the field or in a city. The curse exists in the people's heads and as the last two games proved, it exists in the minds of this team. This version of the Cubs is afraid to win, afraid to fail again and they don't believe in themselves. Despite proving all year long that they are one hell of a good baseball team. Now they fail to show that they have what every great team has and that is mental toughness.

How come that they all of a sudden chase pitches way out of the strikezone after being one of the most patient teams all year long? How come they commit one horrible error after another despite showing good defense during the season? Why do the pitchers lose their poise? We could ask more and more of these questions and the answer would be the same. It's not because the Los Angeles Dodgers are the better baseball team or because the Cubs are a bad baseball team. You don't win 97 games if you don't know how to play. No, the reason for the Cubs downfall is that they bow down in front of a myth that has been part of baseball legends for so many decades. As a player you have to forget about that. It takes toughness under such circumstances to believe in yourself and to fight of the ghosts that have haunted so many players before you. After two games, these Cubs don't have that toughness. Actually, it looks like they never had it. No matter who you pick, if it is the struggling Alfonso Soriano, the declining Derrek Lee, the rattled pitchers, all rounder Kosuke Fukudome, they all showed the same fear, the same lack of guts and the inability to raise their game to the occasion. They dropped all their strongpoints of the year, their good, patient approach at the plate or their undying believe after falling behind. Nobody stepped up and put the team on his back either. Carlos Zambrano tried to do it but fell short. Lou Piniella could have tried it by moving a runner to third in the first inning with nobody out. He decided to let Ryan Theriot swing and strike out. It was a crucial situation not to score in that first inning as it only added to the doubts in his players' minds. In the end, they failed as a team in a monumentally bad effort from top to bottom.
You could pick hundreds of symbolic situations or images from last night to describe the Cubs' state of mind. Mark DeRosa's postgame interview isn't one of them: "Don't count us out, stay with us. We're not dead." Well, even though it's hard to believe, he's right. There is hope. Like in 2004, when the Boston Red Sox were in almost the same situation as they Cubs are in now. Down 0-3 against the New York Yankees in the ALCS after decades of disaster and without any hope of bringing back the long wanted World Series Championship. That Red Sox team though fought back in a legendary comeback and later won their World Series ring. The talk was the same about curses, ghosts and losing. Yet the players stepped up, they showed their guts, their toughness and their heart. Even though they didn't have history on their side as no other team had ever come back from a three game deficit. This year it looks better for the Cubs actually. The Yankees once came back from 0-2 to advance against Oakland. So could we say history is on the Cubs' side? Not really as the history and how they deal with it is the reason why these Cubs are where they are right now. And they better find their hearts quickly or the lights at Wrigley Field will not shine again this season. For another year until the ride begins again. With another added year of weight on their shoulders...