The Chicago Sun Times sayeth: 7 key questions for the Cubs as pitchers and catchers report.

This got me thinking. What other questions should the Cubs be asking themselves? From the viewpoint of a South Sider, here’s what I came up with:

1. Are you ever going to admit that Wrigley Field needs to go?

Wrigley Field is falling apart, despite nets to catch falling concrete. The insistence on keeping the Park leaves the Cubs with below sub-par training facilities, fans with multiple view obstructions, and an over-reliance on day games. Day games are fun to watch, but cripple the recovery time for a team returning from a West Coast Road trip. Plus, the joint smells like urine. What? Oh, I’m sorry, that’s TRADITION.

2. Will you continue to blame outside sources for poor play?

This has been talked about a lot. According to Cub fans, the reasons why they haven’t won a World Series in 102 years is because of a goat, a black cat, and Steve Bartman. 2003 NLCS Game 6: Alex Gonzalez had a key error that left the inning open, Mark Prior threw a wild pitch, Ivan Rodriguez hit a single off Prior, then Derrek Lee  (as a Marlin) hit a 2 run double. But it’s a fan who interfered with a FOUL Ball that cost the Cubs a World Series appearance, not any of what happened afterward, including losing game 7. The Cubs even blamed the booth announcers for their woes in 2004.

3. Will the Cubs and their fans realize that just “really wanting it” isn’t going to get it done?

2007 and 2008 saw the Cubs get swept in the first round of the playoffs. Players and fans alike talked about the “distraction” of making it to the World Series and the effect it has. There’s not a single player in baseball who hasn’t felt some level of distraction about making it to the Fall Classic, but somehow, every year, 2 teams seem to overcome this. NONE of these players have been waiting 102 years. They’ve been waiting as long as they’ve been playing, and that has little to do with the name on their shirt. Saying that they feel a curse now that they’re Cubs is like saying you worry about being burned as a witch when dressed as one for Halloween because of everything that went down in Salem. Ask the 2004 Boston Red Sox if they won because Babe Ruth’s ghost allowed it.

4. When, not if, but when Lou Pinella quits, how long will it take for the past 4 years to be blamed entirely on him?

Depends. If he quits mid-day, it will be in the Afternoon Edition of the Chicago Tribune. If he quits after 4:30, it will make the next day’s morning edition.

Bottom line: Quit whining and start grinding. Making it to (and winning) the World Series will take more than seances, Eddie Vedder songs, or parading Steve Bartman’s head down Waveland. It will take dedication, sweat, and lots of hard work. Any questions should be directed to the 2005 Chicago White Sox, who were picked to finish 5th in their division that year, but were in 1st place from Game 1 to Game 162.

But that’s not what Cub fans think. The White Sox suck, right Cub fans? There’s nothing you could learn from a bunch of crackhead carjackers is there, you elitist yuppie scum?

Ahh…. I love baseball.