We have potential for the tussle of a lifetime, folks. Just picture this for a moment. Savor it. Contemplate the ramifications in these four magical words:
Cubs Versus Red Sox.
Two perennial losers. Two World Series wastes of space, going head to head. The match-up that you can only envision ending in the seventh game, bottom of the ninth, bases loaded, game’s tied…and a meteor hits the stadium and obliterates both teams.
Seriously: Who would you root for? I’m not interested in the opinions of fans of the respective teams. I’m talking about people such as–well, myself–who have no vested interest one way or the other. And all of you who are poised over your keyboard about to pretentiously announce that you don’t give a dámņ about baseball…shut the f**k up, would’ja, please?
Me, I’m thinking the Sox, just to get poor Bill Buckner off the hook.
Any thoughts? Let’s ponder it now before events in the playoffs make it moot.
PAD
• 
Meme I’m trying to spread; the magic number for Armageddon is now 14, as 7 Cubs wins and 7 Red Sox wins leads to the End-of-the-World Series. (Hey, Stephen King’s on record as saying the world would end if such happened…and he’s a Red Sox fan! [as am I]).
My own favorite scenario sees us on what would’ve been Opening Day 2004, with an announcer going “And we’re now starting the 1500th inning of Game Seven of the 2003 World Series, as neither team seems able to actually win this thing”.
Side note: The last Red Sox series win was in 1918. The opponent? The Chicago Cubs.
Tom, when you’re right…you’re right.
And I think it’s now 13….
Well, I’m a Cleveland Indians fan, gotta root for the hometeam, you know?? But since we just stunk up the place this year, and IF both teams make it… gotta go with the Cubs.
Why?
Simple… I hate Boston.
Heh.
Ha! When I heard who the contenders were, that was my first statement. “I hope it’s the Red Sox versus the Cubbies”. I don’t particularly care who wins, because that, in my mind, is the perfect win-win situation.
Though, um, is you threw me down a hole and threw bricks at me until I chose a team, I’d probably go with the Cubs.
As a Cub fan, I feel like I’m being excluded from this discussion. 🙂
But even if I wasn’t, I’d find it fitting if the Cubs could avenge the 1918 Series defeat, and perpetuate “the Curse.”
Hmmm. Tough call. As a Cardinals fan, I can’t root for the Cubbies, so I must clearly root for the Red Sox. But as a long-time fan who remembers the 1968 World Series, I obviously cannot cheer the Red Sox on, so I must therefore root for the Cubs.
But Cardinal fans remember that the Cubbies stole Dizzy Dean from us back in the late 30’s, so I clearly cannot cheer for the Cubs, so it must be the Red Sox….
I could continue, but it’s late, and I’m running out of Sicilian analogies, so screw it…I’ll go with the Cubs. 🙂
JSM
Well, the Cubs haven’t won for longer than the Red Sox, _and_ they don’t complain as much about it. While a Red Sox fan can go on for hours about curses and Ruth and Buckner and Bucky Dent and so forth, Cubs fans just shrug, enjoy the game, and use the phrase “when the Cubs win the World Series” the way other people might use the phrase “when Hëll freezes over.”
There’s not the sense of entitlement there, like the Cubs _ought_ to regularly win the Series, but outside forces prevent it. It’s just one of those things.
That’s why, if such events come to pass, I’ll be rooting for the Cubs.
One other reason for me to pull for the Red Sox:
God, if they won, would it frost the butts of Yankees fans.
PAD
The Cubs. Why? Because that would be sooo Back to the Future II. 🙂
So here’s a thought- the Series goes 3-3, and Game 7 ends it a Bud Selig-enabled tie.
Wouldn’t THAT be nauseating?
Me, I’m just gonna root for some good baseball. My Phils are out of it anyway…
Funny; discussing this after the closing ceremonies for Veterans Stadium with my friends, I wished for the same Series matchup–but I said it would be an Al Qaeda attack, rather than a meteor.
(Said thought prompted by the iuncredibly annoying and not-a-little-ominous hovering and circling of the entire last game there by some schmuck in a press ‘copter)
I contemplated this very subject on my website after the Cubs clinched the NL Central. Since my beloved Cardinals aren’t in the postseason, I’ve decided to exert my energy rooting for the Red Sox (which is a tad bit difficult in this first round, because I love the A’s pitching).
As I wrote on my site, I figure the World Series will come down to Game 7, bottom of the 9th, scoreless game. Pedro and Prior (or Wood) have pitched perfect baseball to this point (not necessarily perfect games, but, you know, no runs allowed, lotsa strikeouts, that kinda thing). Nomah comes up to bat with two gone in this bottom half of the inning when suddenly…(wait for it)…
Pop.
The world implodes.
The space-time continuum ruptures.
Nature simply wouldn’t know how to handle a Cubs/Red Sox World Series. It would have the universal equivilant of a brain-freeze, unable to comprehend that one of these two teams is finally going to win a championship after so many long years.
So nature will shut itself off, shivering in a corner somewhere, babbling to itself: “Cubs…Red Sox. Buckner…Carey. Fenway…Wrigley.”
And thus ends my post. Sorry it’s so long. As you can tell, I’ve spent way too much time contemplating this. And on the off chance the world doesn’t fracture its psyche over the Cubs/Red Sox ramifications, I’m picking the Sox in 7, winning it all against the Cubbies at home in Fenway, with Pedro bending over so the Bambino (and his curse) can kiss his behind.
Unless the A’s win it instead (read MONEYBALL – great book).
Cubbies vs. my Twins would be the perfect World Series.
A) The Twins are looking good having spanked the Yankees Tuesday and as we learned last year good things come to the teams that can knock the Yankees out of the playoffs.
B) Simple, the Red Sox are cursed! It will never happen but who am I to not allow someone to dream their little dream.
And all of you who are poised over your keyboard about to pretentiously announce that you don’t give a dámņ about baseball…shut the f–k up, would’ja, please?
…HA! How’d he know!
What a choice! As a Cleveland Indians fan, I would love to see the Red Sox take a beating (Hëll-LOOO, Manny, you rotten sunuva*%!@#$&+@%^#$%%!@#$%^*#@#$%^#!)
On the other hand… New York Yankee fans would contemplate suicide. Joe Torre would be hanged and burnt in effigy (well, only in effigy – we HOPE!)
On the gripping hand… I don’t like Boston all that much anyhow. But the Cubs seem to have something magical about their plight… and they NEVER dumped Babe Ruth either.
I guess the way to go is, slam the team who got the curse. NEVER fight the curse. (We did unto Rocky Colavito, and look what happened to the Indians for the next forty years!)
Beaing Australian, I don’t know much about baseball, but this puts me in mind of the Australian Football League in ’97, when we ALMOST managed to get a St Kilda Saints vs Footscray Bulldogs grand final (both sides having only one flag to their name, the Bulldogs in 1954, the Saints in 1966). Then the bloody Adelaide Crows had to come in, spoil the party and take off the flag.
**One other reason for me to pull for the Red Sox:
God, if they won, would it frost the butts of Yankees fans.
PAD**
Spoken like a true Mets fan. Since I am one of the afformentioned Yankees fans I would have to cork my bat and put on a Sosa jersey, and (sing it with me):
root, root, root for the Cubbies.
Gotta say, the whole baseball thing on TV just isn’t my cup of tea. Something about wanting to reach through the screen and wring the life out of the babbling commentators keeps playing through my head, I seem to have the same feeling on election coverage.
I think that the Boston-Chicago series would be good for the respective cities, and those that love baseball, but overall won’t do a thing to stop the slide that the sport is encountering. It would generate a few extra stories on the news about fan x has been waiting for this for 50+ years, or how historic this matchup is, but nothing to really help what needs fixing.
The season needs to be shortened, 162 games per team (that’s over 2400 total games per season) just doesn’t make many of the games a must see. Shorten the season to 2 series vs each division rival, and only a select number against other league opponents. Because really do you need 19 games vs someone to figure out who is the better team? Plus, make the rules in both the AL and NL the same. Designated batters either need to be gotten rid of (it was an experiment, it’s either worked or no by now) or added to the NL.
Personally, if it comes to Sox-Cubs, I’ll be rooting for the NFL and NHL games, and for some sense in baseball.
jeff
Baseball? What is this baseball?
No, seriously. Is there really any other sport going on during college football season?
I mean, come on, let’s talk about a game that really matters. A game that is actually fun to watch. Yep, college football.
Now, that’s fun.
Go Gators!
Me, I’m thinking the Sox, just to get poor Bill Buckner off the hook.
I have to agree with PAD on this. Buckner doesn’t deserve to be blamed for the Red Sox losing the 1986 World series and here is way; When he missed that weak grounder, THE SCORE WAS TIED. People seem to forget this fact. The Bosox bullpen had let the game slip away.
As a Met fan it pìššëš me off when people say that the Mets only won because Buckner screwed up. The score was tied and any baseball fan will tell you, anything can happen in extra innings.
Besides, I hate Sammy Sosa and it would make me ill to see him win the World Series. He is one of the biggest phonies in all of sports.
-Tony
James, when your right your right. Twins & Cubs works for me! A battle in the Midwest would be very cool!
I am a San Diego fan, but since I currently live in Boston I would have to root for the Red Sox. If I didn’t, I don’t think anybody I know out here would ever speak to me again.
However, I don’t think that the city of Boston could survive a Red Sox World Series victory. I was here for the Patriots Superbowl win, and it was crazy. The city shut down for a week. If the Red Sox win it would be like Mardi Gras here.The celebration would last so long that nobody would even notice if the Patroits, Bruins and Celtics all won championships.
I think every baseball fan who’s not a fan of one of the other teams in the playoffs is rooting for Cubs vs. Red Sox this year. It would just be too perfect.
This whole thing is win-win for me. I’ve been to Wrigley and Fenway, and the fans at both places are great – really knowledgeable about baseball, friendly… I’d love to see either team win.
Simple math says the Cubbies deserve it more, because they haven’t won since 1908, whereas the Red Sox last won in the relatively recent 1918 World Series. C’mon, if somebody told you they’d been waiting for something 10 years longer than somebody else, you wouldn’t even think twice about who deserves it more, right?
And if the Red Sox win, Buckner finally gets exorcised, which he deserves.
If either team wins the World Series, there’s two things I’m sure of:
1) The party the city throws is going to last for a week.
2) You could take the Super Bowl, New Year’s Eve, and Mardi Gras, roll them all into one, multiply by five, and you won’t even come CLOSE to what that town will be like.
Baseball? What is this baseball?
No, seriously. Is there really any other sport going on during college football season?
I mean, come on, let’s talk about a game that really matters. A game that is actually fun to watch. Yep, college football.
Now, that’s fun.
Go Gators!
Had enough talk about this with some alums. Florida will hopefully go 8-4, but could slide to 6-6.
Now, if you want to talk about the Bucs (bringing this a little closer to the topic of perennial losers finally winning a championship), there’s a team to root for. Let’s just hope the offense is better than Carolina’s next time we meet them.
From Bob Goodsell’s blog yesterday:
Sign of the Apocalypse?
Both the Red Sox and the Cubs are in the playoffs. Should both somehow reach the World Series, it would seem inevitable that one of them would have to win. Anyone who knows anything about baseball knows this can’t happen. Remember the California earthquake in 1989 which delayed the World Series between the A’s and Giants for a couple of weeks? Or the strike which cancelled the World Series in 1994? Kid stuff compared to what a Cubs-Red Sox Series would cause.
Personally, I’ll be even more afraid if the Detroit Lions ever get to the Super Bowl. They won their last championship three months before I was born. I’ll be writing my will if they ever get that far again. Fortunately, I don’t think I have much to worry about.
The link is http://www.aapeace.org
Personally I’m getting a real kick out of it. Enjoyed the Cubs win last night. And I love Jeff Morris’ impression of Wallace Shawn. 🙂
Hmmm… a Sox win would offend every Yanks fan I know, and as a Mets fan that’s something like Directive #2 (“Uphold the heckling of the Yankees at every possible opportunity”). Very tempting…
But I have to go with my NL roots and vote Cubs. At least they can spell their names right. Is it me, or are the Red Sox the earliest example of proof that just putting an ‘x’ in your name does not make one more ‘extreme’?
Not THE John Byrne, but ANOTHER John Byrne
I would like the Cubs to lose, because they opted to air the Cubs game instead of Angel and Smallville in Chicago. Well, they’ll be on later, but this means I have to monitor things to catch it.
I’m a die-hard Cubs fan, so you can guess who I’m rooting for… But I’m going to take this 1 game at a time. So far we’ve got one more post season than the last time we faced the Braves.
Go Cubs! 🙂
I’d root for the Red Sox. I hate the Yankees, but that’s only part of it… Boston has been to a number of different World Series. They just haven’t managed to win. The Cubs haven’t even played in one since god was a little boy. If the Cubs get there and the Red Sox win, that’s really a major victory for both teams.
Because the Red Sox/Yankees thing was brought up earlier… I can understand why Red Sox fans hate the Yankees, and frankly, I can understand why most other people would, too. But honestly, why do Yankees fans hate the Red Sox? Seriously. When have the Red Sox ever kept the Yankees from anything? How have the Red Sox ever done anything on the field to hurt the Yankees, or to keep them out of the post-season, or to keep them from winning every fourth World Series? What’s the deal there?
Might work as pay-per-view if organized well.
Personally I would be rooting for the Red Sox, simply because I want to see the pyrotechnics that we all know accompanies the breaking of a curse. 😉
Besides, this could make a fun stand alone episode of Angel this season, as the gang finds out, due to an off-hand comment made by one of the employees betting in the baseball pool, that Wolfram and Hart is involved in the curse. Btw, I’ve seen the first 2 new episodes already.
Very minor spoiler alert which I wouldn’t even make except that I’m trying to err in the side of extreme caution. Let’s see if I can get invisible text to work
It seems like the show will be very different this season but could be interesting if handled right. And they finally gave Gunn an actual unique role/purpose in the group, in a way which I think will cause some pretty big waves eventually. So far Spike’s been fun, his personality appears intact.
I don’t want to say anything more until everyone’s seen the episodes, could accidentally spoil things for you.
Raphy
Sorry folks, but all I can think about is how this would disable one of my favorite gags from the last volume of Captain Marvel.
Well, the Cubs haven’t won for longer than the Red Sox, _and_ they don’t complain as much about it. While a Red Sox fan can go on for hours about curses and Ruth and Buckner and Bucky Dent and so forth, Cubs fans just shrug, enjoy the game, and use the phrase “when the Cubs win the World Series” the way other people might use the phrase “when Hëll freezes over.”
Agreed, any team that relies on silly superstitious nonsense to explain why the loose the championship, rather than say they were simply not good enough doesn’t deserve to win.
re: last comment,
I need spellcheck!
since the mariners are out of it, i am now fully rooting for the red sox and would love it if the met the cubs.
You’re all wrong. The Apocalypse won’t happen until the Saints win the Superbowl, which doesn’t appear to be likely this season.
I’ve got more of a soft spot for the Cubs. They seem like bigger losers than the Sox who should have won a couple times but failed utterly when the pressure was on.
So I’d root for the Cubbies.
Hi. UK resident here
Question 1. Why is it called the World Series when only US teams play in it ??
Question 2. Is baseball really on the decline in favour of football and/or hockey
Question 3. Haven’t really got a question 3 but two questions on their own looked daft, and i had already wrote down question 3 and wanted to practice some really fast typing.
Test: This senswtence was typed withyout using teh backspace key.
Hi. UK resident here
Question 1. Why is it called the World Series when only US teams play in it ??
Question 2. Is baseball really on the decline in favour of football and/or hockey
Question 3. Haven’t really got a question 3 but two questions on their own looked daft, and i had already wrote down question 3 and wanted to practice some really fast typing.
Test: This senswtence was typed withyout using teh backspace key.
Hi. UK resident here
Hi, UK resident
Question 1. Why is it called the World Series when only US teams play in it ??
We finally annexed Ontario? Woohoo!!! (Toronto Blue Jays, World Series champs, 1992-93)
Seriously though, there was once a newspaper called “The World”. I presume the owner was also the owner of one of the teams at the time. When the championship game was established, it was named after the newspaper. True ’nuff!
Question 2. Is baseball really on the decline in favour of football and/or hockey
Football, yes, apparently so, if you’re referring to the gridiron version. Sad really. Football just doesn’t have the sense of history behind it that baseball does.
Hockey? Ehn… that’s more of a cultish thing, I think. That won’t happen until we annex Quebec as well, and move Montreal to Puerto Rico. Oh, wait…
Question 3.
I’m sorry, I’ve run out of space for three questions. Anyway, I wanted to have my say about this Cubs/Red Sox thing.
I’m a Royals fan (Kansas City, not Windsor), so I really don’t have a favourite. I *had* decided that I’d rather see either Chicago *or* Boston, but not *both*, in the Series, but I think I’ve changed my mind. If that were the case, that would mean that the Twins, Yankees, Braves, A’s (all of whom I despise), and Giants *didn’t* make it, which would make me happy. The Marlins, ehn, they’re alright, wouldn’t hurt my feelings if they got there. (Last year, I *wanted* the Twins to win, only because that would’ve been a thumb in the eye of Bud Selig.)
I guess the topic was Cubs vs. Red Sox — AL gets home field advantage, if you’ll recall. Hm. I’ll say Cubs, but reserve the right to change my mind as the games progress. 😉
The Dreamworld series?
isn’t that what Alan Moore’s Promenthea is about?
In answer to Shed,
Actually there are 2 Canadian teams which play Major League Baseball (Toronto Blue Jays & Montreal Expos), so it is not just US teams competing
Yes football and basketball both passed baseball about 10 years ago for ratings/popularity, althought basketball has suffered a slide back since Jordan’s second retirement. Hockey however is the definite red-headed step child of professional sports and has nearly had teams nearly declare bankruptcy the last couple of years.
As for me, one of the few times I ever saw my dad cry was when we got to stay up late to watch the Red Sox “win the world series” in 1986, and then watching the ball roll through Buckner’s legs. What most people don’t realize is that was only Game 6, but the team was so demoralized for Game 7 that there really wasn’t any way they were going to win that game.
As for the “Curse” most Boston fans don’t seriously believe it, it is something which is “cute” and easy to say and so it’s constantly perpuated by the national media. And the reason why Cubs fans are silent while Boston fans lament, is the Cubs until recently haven’t ever really been in contention, they pretty much always suck. Where as Boston has a history of being just good enough to rip your heart out season after season after season. Heck even this year they were within 2 games with a little over a month left to win the division but then the lost game after game, finally just squeaking in for the wildcard spot.
Of course I’m rooting wildly for a Cubs vs. Sox series, with the Sox prevailing in 7. 😀
Be careful what you joke about. It might really come true. People joked that if the A’s and the Giants were in the World Series together, there’d probably be some sort of major earthquake, and look what happened in ’89.
Guess I’d be leaning towards the Sox, even though I’d agree it’s a win-win situation. But this discussion reminds me of something comics-related: The only superheroes that I’ve known to express a strong opinion about baseball teams are Cubs fan Kitty Pryde and Red Sox supporter Carol Danvers (technically her personality and memories absorbed into Rogue’s mind).
Tilman
Well, I’m a die-hard Cubs fan, so that’s who I’m rooting for, but I definitely want the Red Sox to make it too.
Oh, and I know one person who isn’t a fan of any of the teams in the play-offs and doesn’t want that World Series. But then of course, he’s a White Sox fan, so what on Earth does he know?
About the “world series” it is a myth that it came from the news paper “The World” that myth is described here http://www.snopes.com/business/names/worldseries.asp
As an Orioles fan whose only ray of sunshine this season was the firing of the manager who devastated the team, I have to root for the Bosox, for two reasons: One, you gotta preserve the Cubs position as the eternal loser team. It’s a golden part of baseball lure.
Second, like PAD said, the Yankees fans will hate it. Maybe they’ll even shut up for an hour or two.
I’m a Cardinals fan, but I live in Chicago and have Cubs season tickets, so I’m going to have to root for the Cubs to win in this hypothetical World Series.
As it happens, because the AL won the All Star Game, my (still hypothetical) World Series tickets are for Games 3, 4, and 5 which will be held on Tues. – Thurs. instead of over the weekend when I’m committed to be out of town at two different science-fiction conventions.
Also as it happens, I play fantasy baseball and both Hank Blalock (who hit the game-winning homer for the AL) and Eric Gagne (who gave it up) are on my team.
There’s a tremendous amount of synchronicity going on here…
Well, I’m not sure that either team will make it to the Series, but if they do, I’m rooting for the Cubs. My game 7, bottom of the 9th scenario would have Sammy Sosa trickling a game winning, broken bat RBI single through the legs of Byung-Hyun Kim; while Kim just stands there dumbfounded, holding the piece of cork he caught in his glove. My reasons? I’m just a sick bášŧárd.
Go Devil-Rays!
Between those two…
Red Sox
They seem far more unlucky. While the Cubs haven’t had one in decades…the Sox haven’t had a pennet and since I have no vested interest, but my dad does…he says the Sox.
For me seeing either in the World Series is amazing(course that was the thought of many a Braves fan not too long ago)