I admit it...

[World's #1 Astros Fan]

DPD.  Except for maybe Hammel and Coghlan and everyone hates them, even their teammates I bet.

I feel like Denorfia really missed an opportunity here.

Considered him--particularly due to the resemblance to Dempster-- but I think Norf is properly-rated.

[SKO]

...at this point I think Fork is mostly trolling SKO and Eli with his "the Cubs are going to be guaranteed awesome for the next 5 years" bit and I get a big kick out of how quickly they pounce on every statement.

I'm pretty sure he is, too, but I don't really care.

I'm just slowly venting it all out now so I don't stab Fork or anyone else who tries to play Cubs Fan Emotion Cop here or on twitter when some of us have the gall to actually be upset about our team losing in the playoffs. If they lose an NLDS to the Cardinals or something on a walkoff homer or a blown save or something and I hear WELL THEY WERE A YEAR AHEAD OF SCHEDULE ANYWAY before I have had the chance to properly grieve someone's gonna get my rage vomit all over 'em and it won't be pretty.

Y'all have been warned.

[PenFoe]

...at this point I think Fork is mostly trolling SKO and Eli with his "the Cubs are going to be guaranteed awesome for the next 5 years" bit and I get a big kick out of how quickly they pounce on every statement.

I'm pretty sure he is, too, but I don't really care.

I'm just slowly venting it all out now so I don't stab Fork or anyone else who tries to play Cubs Fan Emotion Cop here or on twitter when some of us have the gall to actually be upset about our team losing in the playoffs. If they lose an NLDS to the Cardinals or something on a walkoff homer or a blown save or something and I hear WELL THEY WERE A YEAR AHEAD OF SCHEDULE ANYWAY before I have had the chance to properly grieve someone's gonna get my rage vomit all over 'em and it won't be pretty.

Y'all have been warned.

Look, I'm not going to tell you how to live, and I know this thought probably never crossed your mind, but you might want to stay off the internet starting at about 6 pm tomorrow. 

[SKO]

...at this point I think Fork is mostly trolling SKO and Eli with his "the Cubs are going to be guaranteed awesome for the next 5 years" bit and I get a big kick out of how quickly they pounce on every statement.

I'm pretty sure he is, too, but I don't really care.

I'm just slowly venting it all out now so I don't stab Fork or anyone else who tries to play Cubs Fan Emotion Cop here or on twitter when some of us have the gall to actually be upset about our team losing in the playoffs. If they lose an NLDS to the Cardinals or something on a walkoff homer or a blown save or something and I hear WELL THEY WERE A YEAR AHEAD OF SCHEDULE ANYWAY before I have had the chance to properly grieve someone's gonna get my rage vomit all over 'em and it won't be pretty.

Y'all have been warned.

Look, I'm not going to tell you how to live, and I know this thought probably never crossed your mind, but you might want to stay off the internet starting at about 6 pm tomorrow. 

I intend to. That is my gift to you. My wife is taking possession of my phone, and some friends are coming over so that I have to pretend to not be a crazy person in their presence (while this may seem counterproductive, it is a method that's proven successful in the past as there's only a select number of people I will make a total ass of myself in front of).

[Tonker]

...at this point I think Fork is mostly trolling SKO and Eli with his "the Cubs are going to be guaranteed awesome for the next 5 years" bit and I get a big kick out of how quickly they pounce on every statement.

I'm pretty sure he is, too, but I don't really care.

I'm just slowly venting it all out now so I don't stab Fork or anyone else who tries to play Cubs Fan Emotion Cop here or on twitter when some of us have the gall to actually be upset about our team losing in the playoffs. If they lose an NLDS to the Cardinals or something on a walkoff homer or a blown save or something and I hear WELL THEY WERE A YEAR AHEAD OF SCHEDULE ANYWAY before I have had the chance to properly grieve someone's gonna get my rage vomit all over 'em and it won't be pretty.

Y'all have been warned.

Look, I'm not going to tell you how to live, and I know this thought probably never crossed your mind, but you might want to stay off the internet starting at about 6 pm tomorrow. 

I intend to. That is my gift to you. My wife is taking possession of my phone, and some friends are coming over so that I have to pretend to not be a crazy person in their presence (while this may seem counterproductive, it is a method that's proven successful in the past as there's only a select number of people I will make a total ass of myself in front of).

Well, aren't we the lucky ones?

[Eli]

I'm not nervous at all. Not just because I believe Jake Arrieta will throw 17 scoreless innings if that's what they need to win, but also because it isn't like 2008 where the window was closing. The window is still not fully open. Whatever happens here is just the next step in the plan.

No nerves here either, Brother Fork, and I think I'll be ok if the Cubs lose. I just don't want them to lose through some boneheaded idiotic fluke soulcrushing play.

Fuck that.  I'm nervous as hell and I will absolutely not be all right about the Cubs losing.  Are you kidding me?  162 games as one of the very best teams in baseball and all of a sudden, good night?  I'll be fucking gutted.

Do you have a way to watch over there? Or are you going to have to follow Gamecast or whatever? That'd be even more brutal.

Mlb.tv on my PS3, old chum.  I'll be watching both live, and in HD.  And in the small hours of the morning.

Does MLB.tv include the postseason? I thought it was regular season only. I guess you'd know better than me.

Yeah, you buy a full-season pass at the beginning of the year.  In case I've bungled (and I'm sure I haven't), though, you can buy a post-season pass for next to nothing anyway.

Ahh, looks like you're good because you're international. It's not included for us here in the U.S.

[SKO]

...at this point I think Fork is mostly trolling SKO and Eli with his "the Cubs are going to be guaranteed awesome for the next 5 years" bit and I get a big kick out of how quickly they pounce on every statement.

I'm pretty sure he is, too, but I don't really care.

I'm just slowly venting it all out now so I don't stab Fork or anyone else who tries to play Cubs Fan Emotion Cop here or on twitter when some of us have the gall to actually be upset about our team losing in the playoffs. If they lose an NLDS to the Cardinals or something on a walkoff homer or a blown save or something and I hear WELL THEY WERE A YEAR AHEAD OF SCHEDULE ANYWAY before I have had the chance to properly grieve someone's gonna get my rage vomit all over 'em and it won't be pretty.

Y'all have been warned.

Look, I'm not going to tell you how to live, and I know this thought probably never crossed your mind, but you might want to stay off the internet starting at about 6 pm tomorrow. 

I intend to. That is my gift to you. My wife is taking possession of my phone, and some friends are coming over so that I have to pretend to not be a crazy person in their presence (while this may seem counterproductive, it is a method that's proven successful in the past as there's only a select number of people I will make a total ass of myself in front of).

Well, aren't we the lucky ones?

Like many people I scoured the internet until finding a fringe messageboard what could tolerate my insanity.

[Saul Goodman]

...at this point I think Fork is mostly trolling SKO and Eli with his "the Cubs are going to be guaranteed awesome for the next 5 years" bit and I get a big kick out of how quickly they pounce on every statement.

I'm pretty sure he is, too, but I don't really care.

I'm just slowly venting it all out now so I don't stab Fork or anyone else who tries to play Cubs Fan Emotion Cop here or on twitter when some of us have the gall to actually be upset about our team losing in the playoffs. If they lose an NLDS to the Cardinals or something on a walkoff homer or a blown save or something and I hear WELL THEY WERE A YEAR AHEAD OF SCHEDULE ANYWAY before I have had the chance to properly grieve someone's gonna get my rage vomit all over 'em and it won't be pretty.

Y'all have been warned.

Look, I'm not going to tell you how to live, and I know this thought probably never crossed your mind, but you might want to stay off the internet starting at about 6 pm tomorrow. 

I intend to. That is my gift to you. My wife is taking possession of my phone, and some friends are coming over so that I have to pretend to not be a crazy person in their presence (while this may seem counterproductive, it is a method that's proven successful in the past as there's only a select number of people I will make a total ass of myself in front of).

Well, aren't we the lucky ones?

Like many people I scoured the internet until finding a fringe messageboard what could tolerate my insanity.

We can't all be BCB material, competing for those coveted LSA's bestowed upon us by the Voice of Cubs Nation.

[flannj]

...at this point I think Fork is mostly trolling SKO and Eli with his "the Cubs are going to be guaranteed awesome for the next 5 years" bit and I get a big kick out of how quickly they pounce on every statement.

I'm pretty sure he is, too, but I don't really care.

I'm just slowly venting it all out now so I don't stab Fork or anyone else who tries to play Cubs Fan Emotion Cop here or on twitter when some of us have the gall to actually be upset about our team losing in the playoffs. If they lose an NLDS to the Cardinals or something on a walkoff homer or a blown save or something and I hear WELL THEY WERE A YEAR AHEAD OF SCHEDULE ANYWAY before I have had the chance to properly grieve someone's gonna get my rage vomit all over 'em and it won't be pretty.

Y'all have been warned.

Look, I'm not going to tell you how to live, and I know this thought probably never crossed your mind, but you might want to stay off the internet starting at about 6 pm tomorrow. 

I intend to. That is my gift to you. My wife is taking possession of my phone, and some friends are coming over so that I have to pretend to not be a crazy person in their presence (while this may seem counterproductive, it is a method that's proven successful in the past as there's only a select number of people I will make a total ass of myself in front of).

Well, aren't we the lucky ones?

Like many people I scoured the internet until finding a fringe messageboard what could tolerate my insanity.

You assume too much.

[SKO]

...at this point I think Fork is mostly trolling SKO and Eli with his "the Cubs are going to be guaranteed awesome for the next 5 years" bit and I get a big kick out of how quickly they pounce on every statement.

I'm pretty sure he is, too, but I don't really care.

I'm just slowly venting it all out now so I don't stab Fork or anyone else who tries to play Cubs Fan Emotion Cop here or on twitter when some of us have the gall to actually be upset about our team losing in the playoffs. If they lose an NLDS to the Cardinals or something on a walkoff homer or a blown save or something and I hear WELL THEY WERE A YEAR AHEAD OF SCHEDULE ANYWAY before I have had the chance to properly grieve someone's gonna get my rage vomit all over 'em and it won't be pretty.

Y'all have been warned.

Look, I'm not going to tell you how to live, and I know this thought probably never crossed your mind, but you might want to stay off the internet starting at about 6 pm tomorrow. 

I intend to. That is my gift to you. My wife is taking possession of my phone, and some friends are coming over so that I have to pretend to not be a crazy person in their presence (while this may seem counterproductive, it is a method that's proven successful in the past as there's only a select number of people I will make a total ass of myself in front of).

Well, aren't we the lucky ones?

Like many people I scoured the internet until finding a fringe messageboard what could tolerate my insanity.

You assume too much.

Maybe you should instead accept your part of the blame. Perhaps 14 year old SKO would have been better off if he'd discovered the pollyannas of BCB, but instead he found you people, and his formative years were spent listening to PANK's rants and Slaky's cynicism and Andy's irreverence.

Y'all corrupted my youth and want to bitch about the man I became. For shame. FOR SHAME.

[Quality Start Machine]

Not that the Cubs' players need me to worry about their feelings, but isn't the "whatever happens is fine because it's just the start a window" thinking kind of insulting to the guys on this team and all they've accomplished? None of them -- not even the young ones -- are sitting around thinking that.

But go ahead, use whatever pre-emptive coping mechanisms you need to use, I guess.

They shouldn't be thinking that, because they are the ones who will actually be playing baseball. But for me as someone with no influence over the outcome of the game? I think you're overthinking it.

Not to mention, years of writing about the Blackhawks has gotten me a little accustomed to winning, and having a team that will be really fucking good for a while. This is what it looks and feels like.

[PenFoe]

...at this point I think Fork is mostly trolling SKO and Eli with his "the Cubs are going to be guaranteed awesome for the next 5 years" bit and I get a big kick out of how quickly they pounce on every statement.

I'm pretty sure he is, too, but I don't really care.

I'm just slowly venting it all out now so I don't stab Fork or anyone else who tries to play Cubs Fan Emotion Cop here or on twitter when some of us have the gall to actually be upset about our team losing in the playoffs. If they lose an NLDS to the Cardinals or something on a walkoff homer or a blown save or something and I hear WELL THEY WERE A YEAR AHEAD OF SCHEDULE ANYWAY before I have had the chance to properly grieve someone's gonna get my rage vomit all over 'em and it won't be pretty.

Y'all have been warned.

Look, I'm not going to tell you how to live, and I know this thought probably never crossed your mind, but you might want to stay off the internet starting at about 6 pm tomorrow. 

I intend to. That is my gift to you. My wife is taking possession of my phone, and some friends are coming over so that I have to pretend to not be a crazy person in their presence (while this may seem counterproductive, it is a method that's proven successful in the past as there's only a select number of people I will make a total ass of myself in front of).

Well, aren't we the lucky ones?

Like many people I scoured the internet until finding a fringe messageboard what could tolerate my insanity.

You assume too much.

Maybe you should instead accept your part of the blame. Perhaps 14 year old SKO would have been better off if he'd discovered the pollyannas of BCB, but instead he found you people, and his formative years were spent listening to PANK's rants and Slaky's cynicism and Andy's irreverence.

Y'all corrupted my youth and want to bitch about the man I became. For shame. FOR SHAME.

Made you a criminal and sent you down a wayward path before stealing your youth?

[SKO]

...at this point I think Fork is mostly trolling SKO and Eli with his "the Cubs are going to be guaranteed awesome for the next 5 years" bit and I get a big kick out of how quickly they pounce on every statement.

I'm pretty sure he is, too, but I don't really care.

I'm just slowly venting it all out now so I don't stab Fork or anyone else who tries to play Cubs Fan Emotion Cop here or on twitter when some of us have the gall to actually be upset about our team losing in the playoffs. If they lose an NLDS to the Cardinals or something on a walkoff homer or a blown save or something and I hear WELL THEY WERE A YEAR AHEAD OF SCHEDULE ANYWAY before I have had the chance to properly grieve someone's gonna get my rage vomit all over 'em and it won't be pretty.

Y'all have been warned.

Look, I'm not going to tell you how to live, and I know this thought probably never crossed your mind, but you might want to stay off the internet starting at about 6 pm tomorrow.  

I intend to. That is my gift to you. My wife is taking possession of my phone, and some friends are coming over so that I have to pretend to not be a crazy person in their presence (while this may seem counterproductive, it is a method that's proven successful in the past as there's only a select number of people I will make a total ass of myself in front of).

Well, aren't we the lucky ones?

Like many people I scoured the internet until finding a fringe messageboard what could tolerate my insanity.

You assume too much.

Maybe you should instead accept your part of the blame. Perhaps 14 year old SKO would have been better off if he'd discovered the pollyannas of BCB, but instead he found you people, and his formative years were spent listening to PANK's rants and Slaky's cynicism and Andy's irreverence.

Y'all corrupted my youth and want to bitch about the man I became. For shame. FOR SHAME.

Made you a criminal and sent you down a wayward path before stealing your youth?

Once, as a wet-behind-the-ears youth who had never even hailed a cab, I took the train into the big city to meet these people. A tiny man offered me weed. I got caught in the middle of a stand down between a man in a velvet blazer and an angry Sun Times columnist obsessed with debt loads. Some older gentlemen conspired to ply me with free whiskey until I found myself disgorging a not inconsiderable amount of bacon and sausage into the tiny man's toilet.

Yet these same people wonder how I turned out so angry and messed up.

[Canadouche]

I'm not nervous at all. Not just because I believe Jake Arrieta will throw 17 scoreless innings if that's what they need to win, but also because it isn't like 2008 where the window was closing. The window is still not fully open. Whatever happens here is just the next step in the plan.

No nerves here either, Brother Fork, and I think I'll be ok if the Cubs lose. I just don't want them to lose through some boneheaded idiotic fluke soulcrushing play.

Fuck that.  I'm nervous as hell and I will absolutely not be all right about the Cubs losing.  Are you kidding me?  162 games as one of the very best teams in baseball and all of a sudden, good night?  I'll be fucking gutted.

I freely admit that my outlook is determined by my own issues. Like a lot of people here, I was devestated by what happened in 2003, to the point where I basically blacked out the entire season for a number of years. Minimalizing my expectations is what I have to do, because I can't afford to spend a month in a black cloud if they get eliminated. I certainly understand anyone who would likely get worked up if they are eliminated.

[Canadouche]

I'm not nervous at all. Not just because I believe Jake Arrieta will throw 17 scoreless innings if that's what they need to win, but also because it isn't like 2008 where the window was closing. The window is still not fully open. Whatever happens here is just the next step in the plan.

No nerves here either, Brother Fork, and I think I'll be ok if the Cubs lose. I just don't want them to lose through some boneheaded idiotic fluke soulcrushing play.

Fuck that.  I'm nervous as hell and I will absolutely not be all right about the Cubs losing.  Are you kidding me?  162 games as one of the very best teams in baseball and all of a sudden, good night?  I'll be fucking gutted.

Do you have a way to watch over there? Or are you going to have to follow Gamecast or whatever? That'd be even more brutal.

Mlb.tv on my PS3, old chum.  I'll be watching both live, and in HD.  And in the small hours of the morning.

Does MLB.tv include the postseason? I thought it was regular season only. I guess you'd know better than me.

Yeah, you buy a full-season pass at the beginning of the year.  In case I've bungled (and I'm sure I haven't), though, you can buy a post-season pass for next to nothing anyway.

Ahh, looks like you're good because you're international. It's not included for us here in the U.S.

I wonder if Canada counts as "international." I hope so.