Who's laughing at Dempster now? No one at all
<!-- Article Publsih Date -->July 18, 2008
<!-- Article By Line -->BY
JAY MARIOTTI Sun-Times Columnist
<!-- Article's First Paragraph -->We're only 96 days from Game 1 of the World Series, 14 weeks from the unspeakable Cubbie dream, and I've yet to make fun of Ryan Dempster. I thought zingers would be a staple all season after he declared so wildly, "I think we're going to win the World Series. I really do. Enough of the curse this, the curse that, the goat this, the black cat, the 100 years."
But so far, I find myself in mild awe of his springtime audacity. Not only do the Cubs have baseball's best record, they've also convinced the cynics long accustomed to doubting and mocking them -- hi, mom -- that there actually is more to like about their October chances than dislike. So when Dempster launched a commentary during All-Star Game festivities about Cubdom, slightly scolding fans and media for not believing as firmly as the players believe, I did nothing this time but sit back and listen. Until further notice, he's the great Wrigleyville orator.
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The Cubs' recent winning ways have started to convince some longtime cynics that this could actually be the year.
(Tom Cruze/Sun-Times)
Sun-Times Columnist Jay Mariotti <!-- begin poll --><!-- end poll -->
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"We're the 2008 Chicago Cubs. We can't control what happened in the past," he told a media throng in New York. "Sometimes people don't want to believe. They want to wait for the thing to go wrong in Chicago. And I think that's part of the problem. If you believe in the talent and trust your ability, then your chances are going to increase. If you don't think you can do it because some black cat ran on the field or some guy brought a goat to the park, then you're going to start doubting yourself."
If his inspirational run continues, someone is going to attach a "Ryan" to the Dempster Street exit sign in northern suburbia. Of course, what he must understand as someone who didn't grow up in this city or country is that Cubdom is conditioned to be fatalistic. As a native of Gibsons, British Columbia, what could the guy possibly know about the 100-year ache, the generational hand-me-down of pain and agony? But his observations are well-taken nonetheless, a proper read on the paranoia that always will accompany any uprising. Remember, since Jim Hendry began making the biggest baseball decisions and Tribune Co. started spending like a major-market operation, the Cubs have sporadically flirted with glory. They did five years ago, four years ago, last year. Each time, there was a saboteur, whether it was Bartman, the petty clubhouse preoccupation with The Evil Stoney or a combination of Alfonso Soriano's lousy series, Lou Piniella's call in Game 1 to yank Carlos Zambrano and Ted Lilly's re-enactment of Tanner Boyle's glove-throwing tantrum in "Bad News Bears."
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