Sport-Blog.com

Major league baseball has many teams with diehard fans. We watched the formerly cursed Boston Red Sox win World Series last year, defeating the talented favored New York Yankees. One team whose dedicated fans have watched their team fall short year after year, are the usually loveable Chicago Cubs. Cubs' fans maintain their loyalty in the face of upsetting losses, and unbearable costly mistakes. With baseball season before us, Chicagoans are ever hopeful that this is the year their beloved Cubs will bring a championship home to the Windy City and the bill goat curse will finally be broken.
Although most people don't believe in curses, for Cubs fans it is hard to ignore the black cloud that has seemed to hang over Wrigley Field for decades. The Cubs have not won a championship since 1908, but have come close. The famous curse on the Cubs is said to have been placed by a tavern owner who was passionate about the Cubs, but whose pet goat was not allowed to enter the fourth game of the World Series in 1945. The curse has supposedly lifted, but Cubs fans will not believe it until they see their team win the World Series.
Many changes took place within the Cubs roster this year, the most talked about being the trade of Slamming' Sammy Sosa. Sosa had long been a favorite amongst Chicago fans, but an embarrassing corked bat incident coupled with a bad temper had fans angered and upset with this player. Sosa was eventually traded to the Baltimore Orioles for Jerry Hairston Jr. and two minor league players who manager Dusty Baker believes have good potential. Another fan favorite, Moises Alou was traded as well. The combined trades of these two top players worries some, but Dusty Baker tries to assure concerned Cubs fans, that the new team will be able to overcompensate for the loss of Sosa and Alou.
Overall, the Cubs are looking like somewhat of a different team this spring. The pitching well is deep with Kerry Wood, Greg Maddux, Mark Prior, and Glendon Rusch returning. As far as our catchers go, we have Henry Blanco and Michael Barrett lined up to play. According to Baker, the combination of Maddux pitching and Barrett behind the plate has looked good in spring training and the pre-season. In the infield, the Cubs have Nomar Garciaparra, Todd Walker and Derek Lee amongst others. And, in the outfield the team will be playing Todd Hollandsworth, Corey Patterson, Jason DuBois and a couple more talented youngsters.
In the great city of Chicago, there are few fans as devoted as the Cubs fans are. On any given game day, Wrigley Field and its surrounding areas are thriving with energy. Fans line up before dawn to purchase tickets, and those who cannot attend the game gather in the local bars and pubs, watching intently and cheering on their team. At the start of every single baseball season, Chicagoans cross their fingers and hope that this will be the year of the Cubs. Hopefully, this season, the devoted fans will be rewarded, the curse of the Billy goat will be broken, and the Chicago Cubs will emerge champions.