Now my devotion is all Bears and Illini Football

With the Cubs getting swept by the Dodgers, I have decided to put all sports enthusiasm towards the football teams of the Chicago Bears and the Illinois Fighting Illini. For an offense that lead the NL in runs scored, doubles, total bases, OBP and slugging, I was thoroughly disappointed.

Other pitiful and otherwise disappointing stats of the series:
5-for-28 (.179) with runners in scoring position
9 XBH (12 for LAD)
5.87 starters ERA (1.42 LAD)
14 BB given out by the Cubs pitching staff
The Big 3 (Soriano, Lee, Ramirez) went a combined 9-for-37 (.243)

Our starting pitching (Dempster, Zambrano, and Harden respectively) dug us deep into holes early in the games and the heart of our order was not clutch to say the least. And after pretty much blowing away hitters for months, I was not expecting this out of our staff. Six runs scored over three games isn't gonna win a series 100 times out of 100 in this day and age, and so much more was expected after leading the NL in runs scored.

Saying "Wait 'til next year" sounds especially sour after such a successful 97-64 Division-winning regular season, but it still has to be said. Jim Edmonds was a great (and cheap) pickup, batting .256, 19 HR, and 49 RBI over 85 games as a Cub. Kosuke Fukudome, whom I thought at the beginning of the year had rookie of the year written all over him, seemed to be baffled by MLB pitching, especially on left-handers, during the entire second half.

So much was expected of this team. It was supposed to be THE year, with 7 All-Star selections, the highest payroll ever, and the most wins since 1935.

It gonna be a long winter, but now it's time to turn attention to football.