The Bernstein Brief: Nothing Romantic For Cubs In NLCS Butt-Kicking
By Dan Bernstein--
CBSChicago.com senior columnist
(CBS) There's nothing romantic about a butt-kicking.
That's the only upside to that kind of NLCS loss for the Cubs, the absence of any invitation to invite the outcome into their pathetic annals of mawkish, mystical lore. There are no boogeymen on whom to redirect blame, no bad-luck bounces or "if only" moments.
The Cubs were outpitched, out-hit, out-fielded, out-run and run right out of the playoffs in a sweep. A mismatched four games laid bare. The Cubs never led, never really threatened and never even gave much reason to engage.
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Failure that total and obvious has the benefit of shedding alternate history, and all the "coulds" and "shoulds" that come with it. There's no point, because no one aspect makes any real difference in a landslide.
A memorable season that fell short at least had the courtesy to end in a way that everyone will want to forget.
Dan Bernstein is a co-host of 670 The Score's "Boers and Bernstein Show" in afternoon drive. You can follow him on Twitter @dan_bernstein and read more of his columns here.