Did the Cubs make the playoffs?

It is my belief that I wasted nearly 10 hours of my life this week watching, what may have been, the least inspiring sports performance that I have ever witnessed. The Chicago Cubs got swept 3-0 by the Arizona Diamondbacks, and honestly, it feels like they lost 10 games instead of 3.

The whole lore of being a Chicago Cub fan is that you are always looking forward to next year. The Lovable Losers. Well let me tell you something, unless there are major changes, next year won't be for many more years to come. I mean, it's already going to be over 100 years since their last World Series victory. Do some trend analysis on that one.

So what in the hell do we have to look forward to?

Arizona was playing a LOT of young guys in this series. As I said previously, the energy level of the Dbacks made the Cubs look old and in the way. Here is the kicker: Mark Reynolds - .279BA/129 SO's/.349 OBP/37 BB, Stephen Drew - .238 BA/100 SO's/.313 OBP, Augie Ojeda - .274 BA/1 HR/.354 OBP, Chris Young - .237 BA/.295 OBP/141 SO's...32 HR's/27 SB's. These are all young guys who had very mediocre seasons (with the exception of Young) for the Dbacks. However, 3 out of 4 of these guys could have easily been the MVP of the NLCS. They played HUGE.

You can't tell me that the Cubs couldn't have used some more youth and energy in this lethargic and uninspiring series. Felix Pie brings that to the table and so does Geovany Soto. This team needs an infusion of youth. That was evident in this series. Some people may not agree because of the lack of offensive output of say, a Felix Pie. I don't care if Pie bats .001 for the season. The guy plays with passion and that is exactly what most of these veteran Cubs were lacking.

With that being said, those youngs guys can't pull through without a guy like Eric Byrnes. I would have given my right arm to have Byrnes instead of Soriano, Lee, and Ramirez this series. That guy played with some f'in heart and provided a great example for the Dback youth, while the 3 big boys for Chicago played like old fogies. So how in the hell do you correct that? Your 3 best players playing without guts and producing at a non-existent level.

What is even more disconcerting than this poor performance, is that every legitimate owner is disgusted with the way the Cubs blew their wad this past summer, i.e. Jason Marquis $5MM per year. So what is the new owner going to do? Not spend a dime since the payroll is already at top 5 level and Wrigley Field is a huge expense waiting to happen? Sign anyone in sight.....A-Rod. I would put my money on option 1.

And with that, this same team will not win the NL Central next year. They will start the season off better, but to expect more than 90 wins is absurd. Not with only 2 legitimate starting pitchers, a catcher who throws out 2 of 52, and a lead-off batter who strikes out 130 times, has 30 BB, and has an OBP of .330. The Brewers will be better, the Cardinals will revamp and already have Pujols, and Houston and Cincinnati are 1 or 2 players away from contending. The competition isn't going away.

I, however, will hope to be looking forward to seeing Ryan Theriot in his second full year, Felix Pie in his first full year, Geovany Soto in his first full year, Mark DeRosa at second base for a full year, Kevin Hart in his first full year as a MLB starter, Carlos Marmol in his first full year as a closer, and a team that knows what to expect on Day One from Sweet Lou.

Major things will be changing soon in Cubdom, let's just hope some of it comes from the heart.